Title: Obedience to God
2010·04·23
The Bible promises that if we obey the Word, we will be blessed. “If you listen carefully to the word of the LORD your God and keep and do all his commands that I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you above all the nations of the world. If you obey the word of the LORD your God, all these blessings will come upon you, saying, Blessed will be in the city of Lini, and blessed in the fields; blessed shall be thy children, and of the produce of thy land, and of thy cattle, and of oxen and of sheep, thy basket and loaf of bread; If you go out with a blessing, you will be blessed” (Deuteronomy 28:1-6).
But at the same time, the Bible says that those who live by faith will be persecuted. “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Most of us hate being persecuted. But living by faith and being persecuted for the sake of the Lord and the gospel is the greatest privilege and blessing. Great glory and reward are promised here. That is why the Lord told us to rejoice when we are persecuted. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. The reward is great, for so persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).
Persecution also strengthens and grows the church, and it is an opportunity to experience the power of God. Therefore, persecution and suffering in the church are beneficial, not harmful. When the early church faced persecution, they prevailed boldly and preached the gospel more powerfully.
second persecution
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to preach the gospel boldly. There were many who heard the gospel and returned to the Lord. “Those who received the word were baptized, and on that day the number of the believers increased by three thousand” (2:41). When Peter and John raised a man who had been lame since birth, everyone's attention was focused on the apostles. And the gospel was preached more powerfully. “Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men was about five thousand” (Acts 4:4).
motive for persecution
The second persecution by the authorities was much more severe than the first. They arrested the apostles and put them in prison. The Bible tells us about their motives for persecuting the apostles. “The high priest and all those who were with him, the faction of the Sadducees, arose in their hearts full of envy” (verse 17), and they were those with supreme authority, who persecuted and threatened the apostles with that power. However, that authority did not apply to the apostles. Obviously they had all the power. However, the apostles not only did not submit to their authority, they were still successfully preaching the gospel to Jerusalem in full. Many people were paying attention to the church and listening to the gospel. The traditional authority of the authorities was being overtaken by the new authority of the apostles.
What was even more difficult was that there was nothing they could do to stop them. The authorities thought that the execution of a man named Jesus, the leader of the disciples, could calm the wave. So Jesus was crucified and put to death. But the wave was getting stronger. So in the past, I tried to catch and threaten some of the poorest Galilean fishermen, but to no avail. Never before had their power felt so powerless. So, full of envy and hatred, they wanted to persecute the church even more intensely. They captured the apostles and put them in prison.
powerless powers
It is right to obey God.
The apostles, who were again questioned before the Sanhedrin Council, clearly stated why they were forced to preach the gospel in violation of the council's injunction. “Peter and the apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (verse 29). These words clearly express the principle of our conduct today.
God is an almighty Creator, and He saved us by lavishly sending His only begotten Son for us, who have no hope of eternal destruction because of our sins. We became children of God by being saved through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, only God is our master. Therefore, we must obey only God. This should not be just a doctrine or theory. If we acknowledge God as the supreme and only Master, we must live a life of absolute obedience to God in all cases. And this is what we deserve. Even if we suffer or suffer losses, it is right to obey God.
Because the early church had such a resolute confession, it was able to overcome all the persecutions with such power. How faithful the church today is to these confessions determines its power and influence. But today too many saints are ignoring this principle. Isn't that why we are today incompetent Christians? No matter what kind of persecution or damage we face, we should be able to resolutely confess, “It is proper to obey God.” If the church does not compromise with the world, it will still manifest its power.
We are witnesses.
This is the witness. A witness is a person who testifies to what he has seen and heard. However, the word witness also means martyr (the English word martyr is the Greek word for witness, μαρτυ