Lester Kamp
“Ye shall not teach in this name.” The church has always had its enemies. Here the opposition to the church is coming from the religious leaders of the day, the Jewish Sanhedrin. The very ones who should have known God’s Word and who should have recognized Jesus as the Messiah were determined to stop the growth of God’s people, the church. Paul stated that the Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1: 16). Even the enemies of the church recognized the power of the Word. The Sanhedrin knew that if the church were to be stopped then the reaching of the church must be stopped. Earlier, Peter and John had been threatened “not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18).
Their reply was significant, “We cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Their determination to teach in the name of Jesus was unwavering in the face of threatening (i.e. potential harm and even death). How often have we allowed far less to keep us silent about Christ, the Gospel, and the church purchased by the precious blood of Christ? Often we are persuaded not to teach by our own indifference, by the press of time, by convenience, or by the influence or words of others. Sometimes those who ought to know better and do better—those who are members of the church—discourage others from teaching the lost about the good news of Jesus Christ. We should recognize that anything which discourages us from doing what God wants us to do has to be wrong and that we should not allow these temptations to ensnare us and cause us to be silent. We must speak; we must teach!
“Behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” Sometimes we have a tendency to exaggerate our accomplishments. The statement here comes, however, from the enemies of the church; this is no exaggeration. These early Christians has literally filled their city with the doctrine of Christ. There is the challenge for us—to fill our city with the doctrine of Christ. Thousands of souls in our city and county need to hear the Gospel. They desperately need to heed this message. They are lost without it! We can fill this city with the Gospel. To accomplish this task we need the commitment we see in the first century church. We need to rise above discouragement and indifference. We need to work harder to teach more. Lets make this the year in which we fill our city with the Gospel. By the close of this year will even the enemies of Christ be able to declare, “you have filled the city with your doctrine!”?
