February 21, 2022
Monday
Decide Today
Acts 4: 19-20
"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
The Toleration Act of 1689 was an act of the English Parliament giving permission to non-Church-of-England Protestant Christians to worship according to their conscience. These Christians—Baptists, Congregationalists, Puritans—disagreed with the Church of England on various doctrinal issues and had been persecuted for their lack of allegiance, their non-conformity.
This clash of views has happened countless times in Church history—beginning in the first century in Jerusalem. There, followers of Jesus were prohibited by the prevailing (Jewish) religious institution from preaching publicly about Jesus. But Peter and the other apostles did not let this intolerance stop them. Quite simply, they declared that they were obliged to obey God and not man. And they paid a price for standing firm in their convictions. Throughout history, followers of Christ had lived in intolerant societies and paid a price for their faithfulness.
When someone says No to your faith, that is not the time to examine your convictions. The time to decide is before you encounter intolerance. Decide today that you will stand for your Savior no matter the cost.
A point to ponder…
Persecution is like the goldsmith’s hallmark on real silver and gold; it is one of the marks of a converted man.
J. C. Ryle
Read the Bible through in a year
I love you!!!
© 2000-2022 B. Michael Goerlich