Today’s devotion gives us wisdom on how and when to obey the government’s rules. If it’s for our welfare, we ought to follow them, but if we’re commanded to stop preaching Christ, then we must follow what the Apostle Peter did.

Bible Reading of the Day
AM – Esther 4-6
PM – Acts 5:17-42

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝖂𝖊 𝕺𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝕺𝖇𝖊𝖞 𝕲𝖔𝖉 𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝕸𝖆𝖓
𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝟓:𝟒𝟐𝐊𝐉𝐕
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕.
During the pandemic years, I spoke with a pastor friend in the Philippines about their situation. They expressed frustration over the ECQ or Enhanced Community Quarantine, claiming that the government was infringing on their freedom to worship. I was surprised, as similar restrictions were experienced worldwide, including here in Singapore. However, such measures are not meant to hinder worship but to support efforts to control the virus’s spread and protect public health.
I believe that God is the ultimate authority. He establishes human governments, elevates kings, and removes them (𝟏 𝕾𝖆𝖒𝖚𝖊𝖑 𝟐:𝟕-𝟖; 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖇𝖘 𝟖:𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟔; 𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖊𝖑 𝟐:𝟐𝟏; 𝟒:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖). Paul also states, “𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅…” (𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟏𝟑:𝟏-𝟐).
In today’s message, the disciples were instructed not to speak the name of Jesus Christ. This contrasts sharply with the current situation during the pandemic, where restrictions are due to Covid-19. When the government told the apostles not to mention Jesus’ name, the apostles answered, “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒚𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅” (𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟒:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟎). Afterwards, the apostles went out boldly to proclaim the Word of God.
They were arrested again and asked, “𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆? 𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒚𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆… 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, ‘𝑾𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏'” (𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟓:𝟐𝟖-𝟐𝟗).
What should we do if a government bans Christians from preaching the Gospel? The answer is, “𝑾𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏” and trust Him. A close look at 𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖜 𝟐𝟔:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟐, 𝕷𝖚𝖐𝖊 𝟐𝟐:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟏, and 𝕵𝖔𝖍𝖓 𝟏𝟖:𝟏-𝟏𝟐 shows that Jesus did not resist His arrest, instructing Peter to put away his sword. Similarly, Paul submitted to the Roman authorities, even under Nero (see also 𝟏 𝕻𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝟐:𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟏). Although Paul was eventually executed by the government, he did not oppose them (𝟐 𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖞 𝟒:𝟔-𝟖).
The New Testament does not indicate that we should oppose our government, regardless of its flaws. When the government commands something contrary to God’s will, I will obey God first (𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟓:𝟐𝟗). If they prohibit me from preaching Jesus, I will continue to do so anyway (𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟒:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟏). Should I be arrested for my faith, I will pray and trust God to determine the outcome.