“We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20
In a America we are a pretty cushioned bunch. A while back at our church we heard a sermon from a pastor from Africa who told about the persecution his people endure in following Christ. They face the possibility of imprisonment or death every time they gather to worship, but yet they gather. In the Voice of the Martyrs magazine there are stories every week about people being jailed or executed for their faith. 
Earlier this week, an entire underground church in Vietnam was raided and people were hauled off. Some will never be seen again. In contrast, in our country we face little reprisal (for the time being) if we openly worship or speak of Christ. But yet it is all too easy not to speak about the gospel truths which we have seen and heard. Far too often, we bury the gospel light we have been given under a basket full of excuses and justifications for our silence.
But this was not the testimony of the apostles. Having seen the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ themselves, having learned at his feet, and having received his instructions to spread his name, they had no other inclination than to share the gospel where ever they could. Notice that Luke says they could do nothing less than speak the truth of what they had seen. Remember that these were the same men who were hiding after the death of Christ. The same men who virtually said, “it was a good run, but it is time to go back to fishing.” 
The same men who had watched Christ beaten and hung on the cross and die in the most painful way known to man. Why, then, just a few days later did they become so compelled to share the word in hostile territory up until the very day of their martyrdom? Because they had seen the risen Christ.
The Jewish authorities had just threatened the apostles and commanded them not to speak any more in the name of Jesus. They no more got back out on the streets when they started boldly sharing the Word again. They could have kept silent, they could have watered down the message, they could have become non-threatening story tellers leaving out the truth of Christ’s ministry, but they didn’t. Instead they determined to “be right in the sight of God” and to reach out in hostile territory with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We too, if we are believers, have seen the risen Christ. We too, like the apostles, should be compelled by Holy Spirit within us to share what we have seen. In our country we might face snickers or name-calling or finger pointing and maybe even occasional discrimination, but no bullets, no burnings, no beatings on behalf of Christ. The apostles had hobbies, interests, and professions, yet they were quickest to talk about Christ above all things. There is nothing we can talk about that is more important to others than Christ. Let’s face it. In America we have been spoiled into silence. It is so easy to share, that we don’t share. It is like having so much food, that we walk away leaving half of it on the table- they sure don’t do that where meals are once a day. In countries where Bible are few, they cherish them. In a country where we can have a roomful, they gather dust. In countries where they cannot speak, they do. In a country where we can speak, we don’t. Ironic, huh?
One of the key forerunners of the Reformation was Bohemian John Hus. He devoted himself to Scripture and taught that Christ, not the Pope, is Head of the Church. He was convicted of heresy and sentenced to be burned at the stake unless he recanted. But he would not and on the day of his martyrdom he said: “God is my witness that the evidence against me is false.? In the truth of the gospel I have written, taught, and preached, today I will gladly die.? As the crackling flames consumed him, he joyfully sang a hymn.
Probably none of us (in the near future anyway) will ever be called to be martyred for Christ, but we are called to speak for Him. It is funny (strange) that those who face persecution are more inclined to evangelize than those who do not. Even more ironic is the fact that many third world countries are actually sending missionaries to America. Those men and women of Christ’s time who had seen and heard the resurrected Christ were clearly and helplessly consumed by the experience and could not help but speak of it. We should pray that we would be filled with the same consuming fire to speak of the things know to be true, in spite of what we might face. We cannot sit in an upper room and say, “finding out about Jesus was pretty cool, now let’s go back to our old lives when we never spoke of Him at all.”
Of course, not all are silent, but if all those who say they believe in Christ, actually lived
for Christ, actually shared Christ, actually centered on Christ- this world would radically change. Let’s draw a circle, jump inside, and ask God to start the change inside that circle. Then we can start reaching outward. The apostles did not try to change Judea, Samaria, and the outer most parts of the world until they were changed inside.
If we are changed we will change others. We can do nothing less.
not superhuman. They were human; they were frail; they were sinners; and just like us they needed God’s grace and power- especially if they were going to keep the gospel alive at a time of small numbers and great persecution.
than any atheistic philosophy I have ever read. The idea that this world, life, and culture are evolving for the better in any way is a pipe dream. Peace on this earth can only be found in one place, and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All other peace is fragile, fleeting, and in the long run, fake. In Jeremiah 17:9 we are told, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”Later in Matthew 15:19 we see that man has a heart problem, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” These comments on man seem to match what I see in the news a lot more than an atheistic view that we are building societies of peace and justice.
Until all things become new through Christ, this world will not get better. The bottom line is this: We are created with a knowledge of right and wrong but without the power within ourselves to enforce it. We will continue to ignore what is right until we are filled with He Who is right. That is not evolution of our world, but revolution in our souls. We must go against our natural tendencies for evil and be filled with that which is good. Until then our world’s progression is nothing more than regression.
