Whom to Obey
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 6-7; Acts 5; Psalm 1
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men…”
One of the themes running throughout the early chapters of Acts is the commitment and courage of the early church. They were under constant pressure and persecution, some of them even having to spend time in prison for preaching. Yet, they continued to preach Jesus and the gospel.
This is especially surprising considering their performance a few weeks earlier when Jesus was arrested and crucified. They weren’t exactly a brave bunch then. We know they fled, and of course, we are well aware of Peter’s denials.
What changed?
The resurrection happened. But I think it is more than that. The Ascension also happened and with that the descent of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s church happened. These people were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit filled them with supernatural courage and boldness.
Of course, there was a logic to their courage as well too. This is stated in Peter’s answer to the Jewish leaders: “We must obey God, rather than men.” That is seven words that sums up succinctly the philosophy of ministry we should all adopt.
We have a well of courage and boldness in the Person of the Holy Spirit. He can turn the timid into tigers.
We also need to have a commitment to obedience to God. Its not that we should go around looking to engage in battles with other people constantly. But we should seek to understand and obey the will of God.
Know that not everyone is going to be on board with your obedience. Some will even actively try to stop you from doing God’s work in God’s way.
That is when you have to be able to say, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Amen.
