Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.
Pretty profound, eh? I've thought so for a long time, mainly because it's true! But as I am now one hearing these words from a different point of view, from some of my friends that is, I tend to see something a bit differently. Let me explain, the Lord has worked in my life over the past year or so in ways I have never imagined or expected. It seems that at every turn something changes about what I had planned, now I have no plans whatsoever (go figure). I'm fully convinced that our God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth for the purpose of declaring His glory through sacrificing His own life in place of all humanity. This act revoked His enemy, Lucifer's, authority in the lives of those who would put their trust and faith in Him for redemption and salvation. His death is a testimony to the Truth of the nature and love of God and brings freedom from the oppression of sin and death in a REAL and IMMEDIATE way to those who abandon their lives in exchange for His. My friends, His FREEDOM is a real one, a true one, a healing and complete one where this world no longer means anything but opportunity and the future is seen in light of eternity's hope. His intention is as plain as nature, all things reproduce after their own kind. The apples to apples, the bees to bees, the dust to dust, and the Spirit to spirit all reflect His intention. He gave a command in the garden, a physical understanding to physical beings of His origin, "Be fruitful and multiply." He presented this same command to the disciples, His own spiritual offspring in a spiritual context, "Go and make disciples." Both the Old and New Testaments are full of the language of FRUIT, and as I am beginning to see this more and more and more in the context of freedom, and as I share of the movement I have seen here and in other areas of this country, where disciples are made and the bound are freed for real, and as the invitation to be near this blessing is extended; I hear the words of Gamaliel returned to me, "That's really neat, but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of movement. I don't feel like that's where God is leading me. I don't know right now, I'd kinda like to watch and see how God does things with you guys first." and I cringe. You see, Gamaliel was a wise man, yet in His wisdom He missed the profound truth that was spoken to Him perhaps minutes earlier than His words were.
Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
You see, Gamaliel's wisdom that brought neutrality kept him from falling under a curse or guilt for killing men who were innocent, but in the same way he missed out on the blessing of the Spirit and the glory of God that the men before him were testifying to. He had no valid reason to doubt, for they were witnesses to it all and plainly spoke to them the fruit of their obedience. Was this so wise? I suppose it depends on what you prioritize... in terms of human caution and safety, yes, it was wise. He did the safe thing and stayed back from a risky work of the Lord taking place all around his town. Yet in the terms of the Kingdom, where everything is upside down and safety has nothing to do with physical well-being, well, he was a fool now, wasn't he? The language of love is risk and obedience... love for God is no different. What is faith if it is not risky and what is wisdom if not placing the glory of God at the foremost place of our motivation? I do not know, but as I am met with people who wish to remain neutral in a battle for the soul and life of my own generation, I cannot help but think of Gamaliel and weep.
The freedom Christ died for you to have is a real one. The road is narrow, yet worth every heartache and right you will give up to travel it. His strength is real and immense, and His joy is in no way hidden. For you who choose to stand by and watch, no that you will miss the blessing of the obedient. For you who contemplate His call, know that obedience can only happen right now, you cannot obey tomorrow any more than you can yesterday, obedience is now. For you who walk the road in weariness and with a burden for His people, press on, my brothers and sister, press on in His strength and by His grace, you are of the chosen, called to His glory and bound together by His love, press on, press on, press on. For you who fear and tremble at the sight of the road, come, lay your burden down, it is not worth carrying, accept His freedom from the lies that have no place in your life and live anew.
Neutrality is not an option, nor is it wisdom. It is caution bred of fear, and fear by it's nature is not faith, therefore it cannot glorify God.
Let's go.
..............................
Hebrews
1 John
James
Acts 5
Galatians
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