When the number of believers increased, the high priests became insanely jealous and had the apostles arrested. Beware – pride, self-righteousness, and jealousy are used by the devil to destroy the church.

That night, God sent his angel to open the prison doors. The angel did not tell the apostles to hide in a safe place--he sent them back to the front lines (20). So the apostles went back to the temple and taught the Bible. When they were discovered, they were arrested again. The high priest said, “We told you not to preach about Jesus. You are making us guilty of his blood!” They answered, “We must obey God... God raised Jesus...whom you had killed... He exalted him as Prince and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness to Israel. We are witnesses…” The Sanhedrin wanted to kill the apostles. But Gamaliel's advice silenced their fury, so they flogged the apostles and let them go. The apostles rejoiced that they could suffer for Jesus' sake, and continued teaching the Bible and proclaiming that Jesus is Christ. They had overcome fear and become victors in Christ. Are you afraid of testifying? Let’s learn from the apostles’ faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead and obey his words to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Ac 1:8).
Application: Lord, help me to overcome fear with faith and rejoice in suffering.
One Word: We must obey God rather than men