Fighting Against God

Chuckle:  A reporter asked a 103-year-old woman, And what is the best thing about being 103?"  She simply replied, "No peer pressure."

 

Quote:  "Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force."  --Franklin D. Roosevelt.

 

FIGHTING AGAINST GOD

 

    "So my advice is, leave these men alone.  If they are teaching and doing things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.  But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them.  You may even find yourselves fighting against God" (Acts 5:38-39 NLT).

 

I read somewhere that more people have been killed for their Christian faith in the last century than in all previous history.  Living here in the relative safety of our beloved USA, this may sound preposterous.  However, millions of Christians around the world practice their faith in the face of grave dangers including imprisonment, torture, or even death.  The threat is real and the persecution is real in this modern day.  As I have, you may have participated in offerings for the persecuted church to buy Bibles and other Christian materials for struggling Christians around the world.

 

It's interesting to study how the early church flourished in the face of severe persecution while today many of our churches are floundering in decline with little or no threat of persecution.  But God continues to open people's hearts to the gospel in places where new Christians know that suffering awaits them.

 

In our passage, members of the powerful Jewish Sanhedrin were persecuting Peter and the apostles for preaching the gospel message.  One wise Sanhedrin member, Gamaliel, told his companions that if the gospel message of Peter and the apostles was of God, no amount of persecution would be able to stop the movement, and they might even find themselves fighting against God. 

 

As I read this passage, and thought about the persecution of early Christians, the question came to my mind:  How faithful would I be to Christ and His church if I faced a threat of arrest when I stepped outside my place of worship?  In many places around the world our fellow believers face such threats every day, but yet they remain faithful.

 

    “There is no place for fear among men and women who serve the Almighty, who do not hesitate to humble themselves in seeking divine guidance through prayer. Though persecutions arise, though reverses come, in prayer we can find reassurance, for God will speak peace to the soul. That peace, that spirit of serenity, is life's greatest blessing. --Ezra Taft Benson

 

Those who persecute Christians are fighting against God and will never be successful in quenching the fires of faith in Jesus Christ and in His church.  However, we must remain faithful so there will be no doubt that what we preach, teach, and live are consistent with God's Word and His will.  Let's fight against evil, and be sure we're not fighting against God.   

 

Love, Jerry & Dotse