You never fully appreciate freedom of speech and religion until someone tries to take them away. The Bill of Rights in the American Constitution says that we possess the freedom to speak, to assemble, and to practice religion, or no religion.
The Baptists in Virginia were among the patriots in the early days of our Republic asking for the Bill of Rights to be included in the Constitution. John Leland and Isaac Backus knew that under the state church in Colonial Virginia, the Baptist preachers were thrown in jail for preaching the good news of Jesus. Having experienced the state persecution of their faith, they and others prevailed upon James Madison to grant these freedoms.
When Peter and John preached Jesus, they offended the established religious powers of the day. The priests and Sadducees controlled the Temple and its worship. They even employed a police force to carry out their will. Peter and John preaching the resurrection put them on the wrong side of these authorities. Pharisees believed in the possibility of resurrection while the Sadducees did not. They arrested Peter and John and put them in jail.
Obviously, the leaders’ efforts to contain and squelch the influence of the gospel failed. Luke is eager to remind us that the gospel is finally unstoppable. You can imprison the preachers, but not the truth. Many who heard Peter and John believed and the number of the men grew to five thousand.
We enjoy freedom to share our faith, but not to compel others to comply or believe. How will we use that freedom today? A lost world is dying to hear.
