April 2, 2018

SUFFERING FOR JESUS

Acts 5:40-42

And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Personal Challenge

That which is going on in this passage does not make a lot of sense to most people now­adays, even people active in their church. Peter and some other apostles had just been arrested by the leaders of the synagogue for preaching about Christ and performing miracles in His name. Their very lives were at risk now for being willing to stand firm on their commitment to their Lord, our Lord. These leaders were ready to put these apostles to death for their belief. However, Gamaliel, a Pharisee and a member of the council came to their defense. He believed that if their message was from God, then there was nothing that they could do to stop it. And if it was not of God, then it would die like so many other movements of their day. The council agreed, yet still, beat the apostles and told them to never speak of this Jesus again. Not only did the apostles continue to speak about Jesus, but they regarded themselves as blessed to have had the honor to have been beaten for Jesus. Would we do this for our Lord today? Or would we choose to harden our churches and our hearts to the outside world under the guise of it being our American right to defend ourselves? Would we choose to love those who would try to harm us because that is what Jesus did and wants us to do, or would we fight back? Would we cherish persecution for living the Christ-like way because we know our rewards are in heaven or choose to protect our earthly possessions and lives because we deem then more precious than our God? These are hard questions to answer. They are hard stands to take because they generate persecution from both our enemies and sometimes our fellow Christians who disagree with these beliefs. But we must still make a choice and for every choice, there are consequences, both temporal and eternal. I have made my choice! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!