Thursday, October 4: Acts 5 - Safety second, gospel preaching first.

I am reminded that the apostles will say in the next chapter they couldn’t stop preaching and praying in order to wait on tables. That statement was no cop out to a cushy life. Preaching for them meant putting their life on the line.

In today’s chapter the apostles are arrested for preaching Jesus. I lift a few verses starting with verse 17. Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life" (17-20).

What caught my attention was that they were freed from jail by the angel in order to resume preaching, in order to resume doing what got them placed in jail in the first place.

In this instance they were not freed in order to escape with their lives. They were freed so that the preaching of the Gospel would not stop! "Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life." The apostles were the preachers and they were all in jail, which means preaching would stop. God said, “No way!” And God dispatched an angel to free them to keep on preaching.

The apostles gladly accepted God’s directive and the next morning were back in the temple preaching the full message of the gospel fearlessly.

They were arrested again and the Jewish leaders were going to kill them, but cooler heads prevailed so they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go (40). (By the way, flogging was a horrendous beating.)

These men willingly accepted this outcome as part of their calling. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (41).

I find myself deeply challenged by the apostles’ dedication. Telling people about Jesus, preaching, proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel through miracle and literally putting their life on the line came first no matter the cost. Wow… the cost of belief!

Much to chew on, Oh Lord, so much to ponder and meditate upon… Thank You for this Word, as hard and challenging as it may be. Amen.