September 8, 2021

THEY DID NOT CEASE

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

This passage is a great example of the apostles defying the order that was given to them by the religious leaders of the day. They had been brought before the Sadducees for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. After telling the Sadducees that they would continue to obey God rather than them, the Sadducees were furious and ready to kill the apostles. However, Gamaliel, one of the Sadducees, convinced the others to let them live proclaiming that if these uneducated apostles were actually doing Gods' work, then killing them would not stop God from spreading His message. Even after being beaten and commanded to not preach any more, the apostles left rejoicing and continued to do God's work. Their defiance of the order of the Sadducees was not to exercise their personal rights and freedoms. It was not because they personally disagreed with the mandates of the land. They were not defying the order to pay taxes or anything else like that. When the order was to stop doing what God had called them to do, then they defied that order. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!