Setting Off A Stink Bomb
By: Doug Long
Last week my wife did something I was really proud of. She spoke up
and told the truth about God's word.
Unfortunately she has been paying for it since. She said when she
spoke up she did so with respect, but the reaction was comparable
to if she had set off a stink bomb. One of the reasons that the
Church doesn't grow is that the reception we get when we tell
people the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear.
In acts 5:40-42 Peter has a lesson for us to remember.
Acts 5:40-42
"40And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the
apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not
speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41So they departed
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42And daily in the temple,
and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching
Jesus as the Christ. "
Peter considered it an honor to suffer persecution for Jesus,
and we should feel the same way. It is hard though to feel honor
when your friends and neighbors ridicule you for speaking the truth,
but as Christians how can we stop? Peter said something about that
also.
In Acts 5:18-20
"18So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all
nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19But 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. 20For we cannot but
speak the things which we have seen and heard."
When we share the Gospel with friends, even friends that consider
themselves Christians, what we are really doing is trying to save
their souls. If they are hateful to us as a result we shouldn't
feel bad about the good thing we are doing. So go ahead and set
off a stink bomb, you might save a soul.
BACK TO START
Acts 5:40-42 "40And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. "
Peter considered it an honor to suffer persecution for Jesus, and we should feel the same way. It is hard though to feel honor when your friends and neighbors ridicule you for speaking the truth, but as Christians how can we stop? Peter said something about that also. In Acts 5:18-20
"18So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19But 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. 20For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
When we share the Gospel with friends, even friends that consider themselves Christians, what we are really doing is trying to save their souls. If they are hateful to us as a result we shouldn't feel bad about the good thing we are doing. So go ahead and set off a stink bomb, you might save a soul.