And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 5:38-40

There was a religious leader named Gamaliel, he was very well respected and honored among the leaders. He advised them to leave the Christians alone. His logic was very clear, if the Christians were not from God, then the movement would die out. However if the Christians were with God, then the religious leaders would actually be fighting against the living God!

Now if the religious leaders really had any fear or respect of God, they would have let the Christians alone, however notice what they did after they agreed with Gamaliel. They beat the Apostles and forbid them to speak the name of Jesus! It just shows you the heart of the Pharisees and Sanhedrin , really didn’t love God but loved their religion more!

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.  Acts 5:41-42

The Christians counted it as joy to suffer for the name of Jesus! The more the persecuted Christians, the more they grew in number. Since Jesus rose from the dead, Satan has been trying to eliminate Christianity, however it just kept growing , even today where billions of people identify themselves as Christians

As Gamaliel said, if Christianity isn’t from God then it would have just died out. The fact is , even after over 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is alive and well. Christianity will never be eliminated because God is with us, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and Jesus is on the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Christians rejoiced at suffering for the name of Jesus, is this still the same mentality the Church has today? We need to get back to our roots since the beginning, to live is Christ and to die is gain in Jesus Name Amen!