Take No Thought How or What Ye Shall Speak

Acts 4:5-12

Jesus said in Matthew 10:18-20 "And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Basically, he said for us to not plan out a defense for ourselves. Rather, trust Him and let the Holy Spirit speak through us. That is exactly what we see in our text today.

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And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:5-12

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Peter and John were brought before the elders and scribes, and the High Priests for preaching Jesus. They were on trial. When they were asked "By what power (authority), or by what name, have ye done this?", they did not defend themselves. Rather, they preached Jesus. Recently, I have had two friends who were targeted by Facebook for proclaiming the truths of the Bible. One of them (that I know of) wrote an appeal to Facebook to explain why his message was not hate speech. Before I knew that he had already wrote his appeal, this scripture came to mind. I thought, "What an opportunity to proclaim Jesus just like the Apostles".

As Christians, our lives are not about us. We are to live for Christ. This means even when we are on trial and could face consequences. Our ultimate goal is for Jesus to be glorified. When He was on trial He did not defend Himself. Jesus was focused on fulfilling the will of the Father. That is exactly what he tells us to do in Matthew 10. That is exactly what we see modeled for us in Acts 4.

We used to think that this kind of stuff only happened in other countries. Now, depending on what leadership is in control in our nation, we see it happening in the U.S. Christians are persecuted for taking a stand for God's Word. They are brought to trial and condemned as being hateful and evil. We can expect this type of persecution to get worse the closer we get to the return of Christ.

Besides simply being obedient, what better way to present the Gospel to a captive audience. When on trial, people are often afforded the opportunity to present their case. They get to speak whatever they feel necessary for their defense. I know this is not always the case, but God can and will open that door. More important than our getting off without charges is that people hear the Gospel. These trials were the beginning of a young man named Saul hearing the Gospel. It would yet be some time, but he would eventually become Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles and one of the most prominent writers of the New Testament. Seeds were being planted by Peter and John that would produce a great harvest.

Father, help me to not be so self focused that I miss opportunities to present the Gospel. May I put my desires for freedom aside that the name of Jesus may be preached. I pray that if you desire for me to face these trials, that I will be obedient however far you desire for me to go.