Truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. (Isaiah 59:15, KJV)
Wherever you may be, you must be seeing a growing opposition to the Church, as we are in Britain. Our government allowed IKEA, garden centres, and then pubs and restaurants to open – with very little restriction, many of them are full – before they made any provision for churches to reopen! Then there were big crowds going to the beaches, and several major protests, and raves where young people get together with loud music in close contact – and the police didn’t do much about it. And yet the government put so much restriction on the churches that, although technically they were finally allowed to reopen, still by September most hadn’t, simply because of the restrictions imposed. It wasn’t ‘real church’. Among other things, you were supposed to wear face masks, you weren’t supposed to sing, or greet anybody outside your own family, etc…
I was thinking, what has the Bible to say about this? I thought, the best place to start is in the Acts of the Apostles, the record of the early Church after the Holy Spirit came down. It’s the original pattern for the Church. And by the time I got to Chapter 5, I had already come to one clear understanding, and that is, that the early Church was persecuted! The more you read on, the more you find, it’s a story of persecution and opposition!
I was quite intrigued, in Acts 3, when Peter and John went up to the Temple and stopped at the cripple lying there at the gate. This cripple had been there daily! Perhaps Jesus had often passed him by! Anyway, the lame man calls out to Peter and John for money. That’s why his friends were putting him there, people going into the Temple were likely to be more generous! But Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you. In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Immediately the lame man leapt up! He’d been a cripple all his life – totally healed! And all the people saw him walking and praising God, they KNEW him, they were amazed at what had happened! Peter said, “Why are you amazed? Why do you look on us as if we had done this miracle, as if by our power or holiness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied and crucified… HIS Name and faith in HIS Name has made this man strong!” Peter was very clear!
That’s why, when I pray with the sick, I say “I’m not a healing evangelist, I can’t heal you, but I know Someone who can – His Name is Jesus! I want YOU to call on the Name of the Lord – HE will heal you!”
But Peter’s reply caused such a disturbance as he continued to preach Jesus and the resurrection from the dead, that by Chapter 4, the priests and the captain of the Temple, and the Sadducees, laid hands on Peter and John and locked them up in a prison till the next day! The big thing that upset them was ‘resurrection’! I need to preach on this more myself! Jesus rose from the dead to prove that there is a resurrection, life after death. We NEED to preach the resurrection of the dead in Jesus’ Name!
So next day, Peter and John were brought before the whole religious council – the High Priest, his kindred, the rulers, elders and scribes – for questioning, “By what power, by what name have you done this?” And Peter replied, “If we are being examined about this man and how he was healed, let it be known to you and to the whole of Israel that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand, totally healed!” After much discussion they were ‘let go’, but forbidden to speak to any man or to preach at all in the Name of Jesus!
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29, KJV)
As you continue into Chapter 5, you realise that the Apostles were now constantly being put in prison, simply for preaching the Glory of the Gospel of Salvation and Healing in the Name of Jesus! In Acts 5:27, when they were arrested a third time and brought again before the council, they were charged in v28, “Did we not strictly command you that you should not preach in this Name? But you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine!” But in v29 Peter and the other Apostles answered, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Even now there is some criticism of me because I believe we should obey God rather than men! People look at the restrictions put on the churches and say, “Obey those who have the rule over you.” Yes, I agree with that – in matters pertaining to normal life. Speeding in your car is punishable by law, that’s quite right. But the controversy begins when the law forbids us to do what the Bible commands us to do. That’s why Peter said, “We have to obey God!”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, NKJV)
When Truth falls
In Isaiah 59:15 the prophet says, “Truth falls, and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgement.” In our day, Truth has fallen. And those who depart from evil make ourselves victims… It displeases God! Verse 16, “And He saw that there was no man and no intercessor.”
The Church today needs to get back to prayer, back to intercession! I live by prayer. Prayer is my daily communication with God. When I was in the communist prison there came a time in that cell in my loneliness, persecution and suffering, that I cried out to God, “O God, I cannot pray anymore, because everything I ask for, there is no answer! It’s as if the Heavens are as brass, shut up against me. But O God, if I can’t pray, I have nothing, I have no life. It’s as if You have turned Your back on me!” It was then that God began to speak to me and I remembered how the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us how to pray!” And I asked Him, teach ME how to pray! It was a tremendous lesson, the greatest lesson in my life, there, in my prison cell! I began to cry out to God, and it was as if the whole roof of the prison blew off, and I could feel the presence of the Angels, I could hear the worship and music of Heaven, the Angels singing, I could hear the Glory of God! It’s the only time in my life I’ve heard such a song and such music. My soul was filled with the Glory of God. I jumped up to my feet and I ran around that tiny cell, singing at the top of my voice, “Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, how great Thou art!” I sang the Glory of God, because I experienced in that prison more of the Glory of God than I’ve ever felt in any other moment on earth!
In that moment I experienced a breakthrough in prayer! Why was I in prison? Because I was standing up for what I believed in – the Authority of the Word of God! I challenge you to have the faith and the courage to stand for what you believe and let no man dictate to you! I pray you will stand up to persecution and lose your fear!