But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. Verse 22
Acts 4:1-22 Civil Disobedience
"Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." Verses 19-20
Peter and John get arrested for preaching the gospel. But they aren't detained because of their popularity with the crowds. The quoted verses are their response to the authorities who tell them to stop preaching.
The commands that are given in the Scriptures to obey the governing authorities carry with them the assumption that our rulers are, in the broad sense, fulfilling their God-given task to preserve life and protect their people and property.
But when the state forbids something that God commands or commands something that God forbids, we, as believers, must not submit to their decrees. We are never permitted to abandon God's commands in order to obey human authorities.
So Peter and John are engaging in civil disobedience in this passage in Acts, but they are doing so in order to be faithful to the Lord's commands.
I like how the reading closes out. Our default position as Christians is to bend over backwards to be model citizens. But when the demands of God's kingdom directly contradict the demands of the kingdom of men, the mandates of our heavenly citizenship must win.
My allegiance is ultimately to Christ, not to a colorful rag.
John 17:020-23,26
I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are--
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.
I have made your very being known to them--
Who you are and what you do--
And continue to make it know,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Jesus is praying for YOU in this passage! Did you know that? It's true! You and I are part of "those who will believe in me."
It's kind of exciting to think that our Savior prayed for us over 2000 years ago, and that it is recorded in the scriptures for us to read.
So what all did he pray for/say about us?
>>>that we might be one heart and mind with other believers
>>>that we might be one heart and mind with God and Christ
>>>that the world might believe because of us
>>>that he has given us the same glory that the Father gave him
>>>that Jesus is in us and we are in him
>>>that we will be mature in oneness
>>>that we will give the godless world evidence that God has sent Jesus
>>>that Jesus has made God's being known to us
>>>that God's love for Jesus is in us
>>>that Jesus is in us
Which of these things speaks to you or excites you the most?
For me, it is the fact that Jesus has made the very being of God known to me, in order that God's love for Jesus might be in me, just as Jesus is in me.
How often do we actually reflect on God's love for Jesus?? I have to say that thought doesn't cross my mind very often. Sure, I love Jesus and I love God. But have I thought much about the fact that God loves Jesus? That's pretty important. And Jesus prays here that this love that God has for Jesus would abide in you and me! And you can bet that if Jesus prayed something, it will happen!
Wow. That's awesome!
Grace and peace, friends.