Before released, the Apostles were beaten and warned against preaching in the name of Jesus Christ.

Acts 5:40-42

Click here for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click here for a description of the image of the beast.

“And 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.” Acts 5:40

In the previous post on Acts 5:-39, Gamaliel suggested to the Jewish leaders that they let the Apostles go and eventually the way of the Christ, Jesus, would fade out and come to nothing. The Jewish leaders agreed. However, before the Apostles were released, the Jewish leaders beat them and commanded that they should never again speak in the name of Jesus Christ. This reveals that the Jewish leaders had no relationship with the Holy Spirit and had no experience in the life of Holiness by the sanctification of the spirit. They were filled with despise, vengeance, anger, wrath, jealousy, and murder towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were bitter because people everywhere were being taught that serving God came through faith in Jesus not through the laws of Judaism.

Those of today’s culture lives by the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel, while opposing the presence of the Holy Spirit living within the conscience. Their intent is to cause the fading away of the existence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by beating Believers with social disapproval and antagonism. They do not want to hear anyone speaking of the need for the repentance of unbelief through Jesus Christ.

“So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Acts 5:41

After being beaten, the Apostles didn’t plot revenge, harbor resentment, hold a grudge, nor allowed any bitterness to take root within themselves. Instead, they rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer for the name of our Lord Jesus, the Christ. This is what our sanctification and the life of Holiness is all about. Whatever we suffer for our belief in God and for acknowledging our need for Jesus is rewarding for we who live in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us rejoices when we stand firm in the faith we have in our Lord Christ Jesus.

Living in America, I know the grueling strife and conflict that we face every day as Christians and I know how important it is to keep any resentment, grudge, or vengeance under the blood of Jesus Christ. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing...For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us.” James 1:2-4, Romans 8:18

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Acts 5:42

After the Apostles were beaten, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Christ in every house they entered and daily in the temple. They persevered in their faith, they “weathered the storm”. We also must have that perseverance, “But let perseverance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing…and to perseverance godliness…” James 1:4, 2 Peter 1:6

There is a battle over the temple of God, our body. Today’s culture claims the body as the possession of the beast that has power over physiology to give people what to speak, think, feel, and do. We dedicate our body as the home of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, and we want to be there every day. The god this world serves makes itself to be greater than God by sitting in the body as if it is God, as quoted, “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 The “he” in this verse is the “man of sin”. Click here for a post on the “man of sin”.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11