“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” vs41-42

We can’t be stopped. Let them threaten us & beat us, but we must speak all that we’ve seen & heard. We will not stop testifying of Christ, simply because it upsets men, but in love to Jesus & souls, we will continue. The Apostles were told to stop speaking in His name repeatedly, but they could not, & neither can we. We desire to be faithful above all else: Our reward is with Him, & it is an honor to suffer for Christ.

1 Do not fear what men do to you. Honor the Son, and let the chips fall where they may. We don’t care what happens to us, so long as we’re obedient, & we don’t want SELF-PRESERVATION to determine our steps.

The Apostles were imprisoned but loosed with this command, “Go and stand in the temple complex, and tell the people all about this life.’ In obedience to this, they entered the temple complex at daybreak and began to teach [vs20-21].” This is always the way of Apostles and Prophets. They’ve always been commanded to speak all that God says. God warned Ezekiel and Jeremiah that they’d bear the blame or be confounded, if they held back His word, and we have the same warning [Jer 1; Ezek 2-3]. Faithfulness is a matter of life and death. Repent if you have been wayward, and get back in the game: Speak God’s word faithfully.

2 Salvation is in Christ and precious. Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted this man to His right hand as ruler and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him [Acts 5:29-32].” We have seen this for ourselves: This is not second hand, but something we know in the depths of our being by the Spirit [1 Cor 2:10]. Therefore, we speak so that men might be saved. We aren’t merely obeying God, but we’re testifying the ONLY WAY of salvation, and He is so willing.

Do you see Peter and the Apostles proclaiming repentance and forgiveness [vs31]? He’s telling the murderers of the Son of God that they can be saved! Oh, how we must do this for men. There is nothing cruel about our mission, though it may be painful to kill gods and false hopes. Yet Paul said, “No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to participate with demons [1 Cor 10:20].” False doctrine is idolatry - the worship of a false god - who does not exist, and oh, how this must make our hearts break! Our friends and enemies - people we’re scared of offending - are going to hell, and we must not be afraid to uproot their unbelief and expose every false way. They are hoping in a lie, and we must help them. Let this drive you: the power of life is in your tongue.

3 Do not fear man but count it an honor to suffer. We read, “Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name.” Who are we to be so blessed as to suffer for His name? When we get to heaven, we’ll rejoice in everything that we did for Christ, and we’ll rejoice that we laid our life down. We who are sinners - the abominations of the earth - have been exalted into sonship and love! What a privilege and high honor we have. How sweet it is to say, “I’ve endured this for being faithful.”

Don’t suffer for your sins, but do uprightly, and do not fear [1 Pet 4:15-16].

Man can do his worst, but he can do nothing but kill the body! He cannot separate us from God, and the joy of suffering faithfully is one of the SWEETEST things the Christian can experience.