Never Being Silenced

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

NEVER BEING SILENCED

Acts 5:25-32

25 Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. 27 Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." 29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead — whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

NIV

This is a great witness to the facts concerning Jesus and the main purpose he came to earth. This narrative is also a judgment about those who rejected Jesus and handed him over to the Romans to be crucified. Instead of the Sanhedrin Judging Peter and all the apostles, they judged the Sanhedrin. That could be our lesson: instead of letting non-believers judge our faith, the Word of God, Jesus judges them. However, everyone has been judged as guilty of sin, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus. We could use this truth about obeying God rather than men; however, that may only apply to speaking up about the resurrection of Jesus, because we are also told to submit to the governing authorities, for no authority exists without the permission of God, or that God establishes. Paul, inspired by the Spirit, has more to say about that in the letter to the Romans, but there is another truth we should focus on. Peter said that the Holy Spirit is a witness to everything about Jesus, whom God has given to those who obey him. What does this obeying God refer to? Does it mean not being silenced by men, but standing up, speaking up, about the resurrection of Jesus? If we take obeying God to apply to all the commands of God, then we would never be given the Holy Spirit, for who has obeyed God completely? On the other hand, we have obeyed in the sense that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We have obeyed God by giving him all the praise and honor. Even our gathering together to worship him is an act of obedience to his word. Yet, the point is that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him. This brings us to the two schools of thought about when we are given the Holy Spirit. Some believe we are given the Spirit at the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. How does that apply to those who consider themselves believers all their lives? When did they receive the baptism in the Spirit? The other thought is the gift of the Spirit, or the baptism of the Spirit with fire, which comes at some time after we accept Jesus; it is a second experience, as we can see in the rest of these Acts of the Apostles. Nevertheless, we must understand that the Spirit is a gift from God; in fact, the Spirit is God because God is triune, and thus we live in the presence of our Lord God Almighty, with the Spirit dwelling within, bringing his power into our lives. Let us live in the power of God, standing up, speaking up, and never being silenced.