Peter and John were speaking to the people, although I believe it was primarily Peter who was talking, and they were teaching and proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead. And the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees were greatly annoyed at this. So they arrested them and they put them in custody until the next day. And the next day these religious leaders brought the apostles before them and they questioned them about what they were doing.
Peter, thus, took this opportunity to share the gospel of
Jesus Christ with them. And he also took the opportunity to let them know that
there is no salvation in anyone else other than Jesus Christ who they had
rejected, and who they had scorned, and who they had crucified on a cross,
although he had done no wrong but only good. But the religious leaders’
response to what Peter said (not all of which is discussed here) was to warn
the apostles to speak no more in the name of Jesus Christ. But I love their
response:
“But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’” Acts 4:19-20 ESV
When the apostles were released, they went to their friends
and they reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And
when their friends heard it, they lifted their voices together to God in
prayer:
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:24-30 ESV
Making it Personal
In America today, so much of what is called “church” is not
the church, but they are businesses of men being marketed to the world just
like any other businesses. Now the true church probably does exist within most
of these gatherings, for they probably began with a core group of Christians,
or those calling themselves Christians. But over the course of many years the
church began to make more and more compromises in order to attract the world to
their gatherings. And so they altered what the church is, and who God/Jesus is,
and what the gospel is all about, so as to appeal to the ungodly.
So what we have now are many gatherings of people who call
their gatherings “church” but who are following business models and marketing
schemes on how to grow their “churches” in place of being led by the Holy
Spirit and by the teachings of the Scriptures. And so many of their leaders are
more like cult leaders and are being trained to be so in many cases, and
everything is under the control of these marketing goals and plans, and so they
have gotten so far away from who the church is and what the gospel teaches, and
so many of them are teaching lies and are denying the truth.
So, what this means for us who are still sharing and
teaching and proclaiming the truth of the gospel, as Jesus taught it, and as
his New Testament apostles taught it, is that we are now being rejected and cast
aside and treated like the apostles were treated. And we are being cautioned
against teaching the truth of the gospel because they don’t want messages any
more about sin, repentance, obedience, submission, and walks of holiness and
righteousness. For they are telling people all that is needed is a one-time
profession of faith in Jesus and they are now guaranteed heaven.
Thus, more and more those of us who are still proclaiming
that we, who are sinners by nature, need to repent of our sins, turning away from
them, and that we are now to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands in walks
of holiness and righteousness, we are becoming the enemy. And those who are spreading
the lies are becoming those who are loved and admired and followed while we are
largely being shunned, ignored, and rejected. So we, like Peter and John, need
to not submit to that, but we must keep speaking of what we have seen and heard
from God/Jesus Christ/the Spirit.
And we must not let those who are raging against us get the
best of us, but we must take our situations and our concerns to the Lord in
prayer. For as they treated Jesus and his NT apostles, so they will treat us.
But this should come as no surprise to us, because Jesus and his NT apostles told
us that these things would take place. Like Paul said, we were destined for
these persecutions. So, we just need to take courage, and trust the Lord, and
keep on speaking the truth of the gospel even if it seems that very few are
even listening anymore. And we must continue to speak with boldness, too.
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs
are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Make
Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn
from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He
will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse
your heart, made new within.
Men
betraying: Our trust fraying.
On
our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking
God to give us answers
That
are only found in Him.
God
is sovereign over all things.
Nothing
from His mind escaping.
He
has all things under His command,
And
will work all for good.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Men
deceiving: We’re believing
In
our Lord, and interceding
For
our nation and its people
To
obey their God today.
He
is our hope for our future.
For
our wounds He offers suture.
He
is all we need for this life.
Trust
Him with your life today.
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