WILL YOU RELENT...?

"Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “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 4:1-19, NKJV)

A definition of the word relent is 'become less severe or intense.' Think back to when you were born again. Have things changed? Has your zeal waned? Are you still on fire for Jesus or have you become spiritually tame (if there is anything like that) or fruitless? Do you have a thriving relationship with Jesus or are you going through the motions? For those of us who claim to speak in tongues, are you speaking a heavenly language or some mumbo-jumbo like kawasaki, kawasaki, suzuki, suzuki, honda, honda?

We may not want to hear this but unfortunately, it is a reality. We have millions of churches worldwide but the Church's influence is reducing or being compromised. We have the Word of Life but our utterances lack conviction. We have direct access to God but very often we speak like people without authority. We have been called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ but we often appear to be self-serving. We profess to be people of faith but our belief system is tied to material and temporal acquisitions. We are quick to believe for cars, houses, money in the bank but not for souls that are ravished by the enemy, Satan. We spend hours in front of a TV but can hardly find time to pray or study the Word of God. We are quick to voice out the fact that God forgives but we are plagued by besetting sin and involved in a self-indulgence cycle. Yet, the Word of God states that without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

These are uncomfortable truths. What would you have done if you were in the shoes of Peter and John? These men were bold even though they were perceived to be uneducated and untrained. Hmm. Untrained in what? They were untrained in the things of the world but trained by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word of God without fear or favour. They did not go out searching for pulpits and sanctuaries, they were out there in the midst of the unsaved preaching the Gospel. The Sadducees realized they had been with Jesus. Have you been with Jesus today? What did He say to you? Did He tell you to ignore the unbelievers or to preach the Gospel to all creatures as found in Mark 16:15? 

Peter and John had decided long before the encounter with the lame man that they were going to be sold out for Jesus. They had forsaken their earthly professions, and left everything to follow Jesus. As far as they were concerned, they had nothing to lose but everything to gain. Is that how you see it? Many Christians today cannot bear the thought of forsaking all to follow Jesus. They think that standard was for first century believers and that these days we have to be more sophisticated (whatever that means), more 'reserved' and less assertive. The last time I checked assertive means 'having or showing a confident and forceful personality.' This is opposed to being aggressive which means 'ready or likely to attack or confront; characterized by or resulting from aggression.' Let us not forget that Jesus said, 

"... whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33)

Would we say that the Mainstream Media (MSM) is tame and relenting? Are we not bombarded with all sorts of rubbish through media outlets, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, TV, etc? Why should we shy away from sharing the Good News? If we found someone drowning and we could save the person, what attitude would we have? Assertiveness is a positive trait whereas aggression is to be avoided. Jesus was assertive, the disciples were assertive, the prophets of old were assertive, Apostle Paul was assertive. That is why Apostle Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16)

Apostle Paul, Peter and John had no Option B. There was only one way forward - preaching of the Gospel with signs following in obedience of the commands of Jesus. They woke up each day with a deliberate resolve to win souls, to preach the Gospel, to make known the salvation of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. They were not apologetic about their beliefs, did not relent their efforts, were not mindful of what people thought or said. Their ultimate goal was to please God. Is that your goal?

Isn't it sad that the one thing we can all engage in is the very thing that most of us shy away from? Oh yes, we can talk about shoes, cars, houses, football (both American and British), food, politics, economics, academics, etc. for hours but are uncomfortable sharing our faith with others. So, the questions arises, what do we really believe? Who do we believe? Do we believe in the same Jesus that the early Christians believed in and were ready and willing to die for? Why don't we talk about these things in our churches? WHAT IS GOING ON? 

Apostles Peter and John proclaimed, 'Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” That name is JESUS and at His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Even though they were threatened with dire consequences, they did not keep their mouths shut. You see, that is God's standard. Some people call it foolishness, others call it gross irresponsibility, still others dismiss it as evidence of mental or psychological dysfunctionality. I would rather be a foolish man in the house of the Lord than a wise man in the palace of a king. The Bible says,

 '... the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.' (1 Corinthians 1:25)

The real foolishness is in being passive, being ashamed of the Gospel and wasting one's life on things that are temporal. May God help us to give of ourselves wholeheartedly to the work of God knowing that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). The way forward is abiding in Jesus (John 15:1-5), letting go and letting God have His way.

May you have a blessed day in the Lord.