Evil Whispers

Day after day in the temple courts, and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is Christ. (Acts 5:42)

When you read this passage apart from the text that comes before it, it could give you the false idea that all was well with those who proclaimed the good news with zeal. Imagine having the determination to preach each day, from house to house, almost without pause. These proclaimers where none other than the apostles of Jesus, and they did not do these after some great miracle or some glorious happening. The events before this were tense and bloody.

No, not the crucifixion of Jesus. The setting was after the coming of the Holy Spirit. The apostles did these proclamations after they were flogged by the Sanhedrin who tried to stop them from speaking in the name of Jesus.

Now, obviously, the apostles did not listen to the order, arguing that they must "obey God rather than men"(Acts 5:29). And yes, didn't Jesus tell them to "go into the world and preach the good news to all creation" ? (Mark 16:15).

This should be the same with us in this age. We are told to love God with our whole being and to love all men as we love ourselves(Matthew 22:37-39), enemies included. We try to obey the Lord yet soon, obstacles come, trying with all might to stop our doing what is right and tempting us to act as the world acts. There are evil whispers telling us to put ourselves before anyone or anything and to pursue earthly pleasures no matter what. When the Sanhedrin comes to order us these things, it's the time to stand firm. It is the moment to give that same argument---we must obey God, we must obey God, we must obey God. If then we are handed over to bear sufferings for righteousness' sake, remember how Jesus counted such kind of suffering as a blessing:

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.(Luke 6:22)

The apostles must have remembered this when they left the Sanhedrin. They were "rejoicing because they have been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:41)

Dear apostle, keep doing what is right.