Whether it is right in the sight of God

.... to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19, 20). Peter and John had been hauled up before the religious leaders. In the Name of Jesus they had healed the man at the beautiful gate,  who had been lame for forty years from birth (Chapter 3).  In the aftermath of that, they were  preaching the resurrection of Jesus,  and the religious leaders were greatly disturbed. They could not however, deny that a notable miracle had taken place. What they did then, was threaten them and command them not to speak or teach in the Name of Jesus (Chapter 4). And the title verse is Peter and John's reply.

In addition to obeying God rather than man, there are a number of things here that we need to emulate, in being ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15). And many,  if not all of them,  need to be part and parcel of our turning from our wicked ways in order to claim God's healing of our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). First and foremost they were all together in one accord (Acts 1:14; 2:1, 46; 4:24). Note the repetition,  denoting importance! Without this, all the other things I am about to mention are blunted. So next this was  witness to what they had seen and heard, it was under the anointing and fullness of the Holy Spirit (verse 8, 31), it was accompanied by prayer (4:31), it was reasoned from the Scriptures (Chapters 2 and 3), and was delivered with boldness (4:13, 31).  And the results of all this, was that the gospel came not in Word only,  but in power and love and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:4).

To come back to obeying God rather than man, it needs to be said that this does not give us cart blanch to disobey either the religious or the civil authorities. Paul has some sobering words in this regard.  “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:1, 2).  Even Caiaphas High Priest who delivered up Jesus,  was used of God to prophesy that it was expedient that  one man should die for the people (John 11:49-52). And then there was Cyrus!  The point here, is that Peter and John were being given a command that directly contradicts the command of Scripture.  We see this  for example in 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” In view of Paul's comment “those who resist will bring judgment on themselves,  we need be careful to otherwise obey.

Father, heavy on my heart this morning is the need for Your church to be unified. We are not talking about uniformity, with no differences, but rather that differences are held in love,  producing a rich and complimentary harmony.  Forgive us Lord, forgive me where I have not been eager to maintain the unity that You purchased at such great cost to Yourself. Help us too Lord to obey the ordinance of man where they do not contradict Your law, and give us discernment where there is doubt in Jesus Name Amen