Standing Steadfast Under Trial - Acts 4:18-20

  
 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 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 4:18-20

    In the current world of ‘cancel culture’ many are being fired from their jobs, publicly excoriated for their very words (and thoughts), and figuratively being chased down like Frankenstein monsters for simply speaking the truth. This is the way of the 21st Century world. Language itself is being wrung through rigorous draconian censorship not seen since Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.
    The Apostles, Peter and John, were called before the high priestly council and told not to speak of Christ or in His name anymore or they would be facing incarceration and possibly worse - “saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”  - Acts 5:28.
    The apostles had to make a choice: preach Jesus or cease preaching in His name. The choices were simple; the threat was real. Lesser men would have bowed their heads and quietly slipped into obscurity. But these were not lesser men; these were Christ’s chosen disciples. Rather than cower and shrink back in fear and quietude, Peter spoke for them all. “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.’” - Acts 5:29-30. Peter not only declared his responsibility to obey God rather than men but boldly leveled his indictment of the scribes and Pharisees to their faces. The courage Peter and the apostles showed was fueled by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and no man was able to scare them into silence!
    Many of our pastors and preachers today are being faced with the same godless arrogance of the cancel culture crowd. There have actually been instances where they were ordered by local secular authorities to present their sermons for scrutiny before being allowed to preach. Their churches have been ordered to stop Sunday services under threat of jail, ostensibly to keep the current pandemic from spreading, yet crowds of thousands are permitted to protest in the streets and attend entertainment gatherings and fill the local Walmarts and other grocery locations without suffering any of the prohibitions reserved for Christian gatherings. Pastors have been arrested for holding services. But all this is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg as the clergy has been accused of hate speech for simply preaching the Gospel!
    There is no telling where and when this satanic madness will end. In fact, reading the paper or watching the news will confirm the aggressive nature of the authorities when it comes to God’s holy word. The atheistic taunts of the secular humanists continue to accuse Christianity of hate crimes on a weekly basis when all our pastors are doing is preaching the word of God, something they have done for over 2,000 years despite the jeers, the threats, and the reality of continuing persecution and martyrdom.
    The Apostles knew what the intimidation and peril of preaching Christ to a ‘Christ-less’ world. “and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” - Acts 5:40. The persecution continues to this very day. As Christians, we must make up our minds like God’s warrior, Joshua, did - “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15.
    With all the anti-Christian rhetoric and hate on part of the authorities today, it won’t be easy. Even Jesus said as much - “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18-19. As Christians, we must stand up and preach the Word of God boldly and without fear for we have God on our side. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” - James 1:12.