SATURDAY January 7, 2023

Resistance to Revival

Now as they [Peter and John] 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.
Acts 4:1-4

God was moving. A revival had begun. Since the Day of Pentecost, the church had grown to about 20,000 people. God had used common ordinary men––fishermen––to spread the Gospel message. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God was using Peter and John’s lives tremendously.

As Peter and John spoke to the people about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, they were persecuted by the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees. These leaders were extremely upset and wanted them immediately silenced. The religious leaders wanted to stop them spreading the news of Jesus’ Resurrection, so they placed them in custody. Despite their aggressive actions as they were being taken away, about 5000 had come to know and believe in Jesus Christ.

Do you remember who tried to silence the Roman guards after they saw Jesus’ empty tomb? It was the chief priests. They instructed the guards to lie and to say that Jesus’ body was stolen. This false report was still circulating among the Jews (Matthew 28:11-15). Now Peter and John, by preaching Jesus’ Resurrection to the people, were frustrating their plans.

I have witnessed people who have become so mad when they hear the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ––sad. Do they not know He died so they can have eternal life? In pride, they do not want to deal with the issue of their sin. It makes them uncomfortable. Some prefer the darkness ––they love and enjoy sin. They want nothing to do with repentance.

True repentance begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before God. It shows itself before a person by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a deep hatred for all sin.
~J.C. Ryle~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!