Anti-Christian Laws Can Propel the Gospel

In the book God’s Smuggler, Holland missionary Andrew van der Bijl describes how he smuggled thousands of bibles into communist Russia. Known as Brother Andrew, he took many trips hiding bibles in various places in his Volkswagen Bug. He would pray that the soldiers did not find them while crossing the border because he would be put in prison if they did. The demand for the bibles was so great that on each trip he would pack more and more.

Eventually he was filling his car with so many bibles that they were obviously visible to anyone. Even a near-sighted, half-blind man could easily see the bible stacked in his car. Brother Andrew would pray before reaching the border, “God, you gave sight to the blind, now I ask for you to make those with sight blind so that I can bring these bibles to those who need them.

Most people hear about Brother Andrews exploits and are convinced that God worked miraculously. Some skeptics think that these soldiers were just lazy and didn’t really care what he was transporting. But the communist government knew that bibles were somehow getting into the country and had given orders to stop them. These soldiers knew that to disobey their orders would mean punishment, imprisonment, and even death at the hands of communist Russia.

I have a friend whose father did something similar in the 1990s. He smuggled bibles using technology. He worked for an American company in a foreign country and would always enter the country with a laser printer, cases of toner, and a computer with a Bible program installed under a fake name. Once in the country he would print bibles non-stop and distribute them.

He knew that if caught he would be deported and that a national caught with one of these bibles could be imprisoned or killed, so he prayed that God would prevent the officials from finding the program on his computer. He would also pray that God would protect those that received the bible from him.

It is great to see and hear stories of how God used believers to help share the story of Jesus with others. There are numerous stories of missionaries that have gone into dangerous parts of the world. Sometimes these missionaries have been killed because of the work they were doing to tell others about Jesus. But God doesn’t just use believers to share the Good News about Jesus. He also uses unbelievers.

Today we look at a religious man who was not a follower of Jesus, but nonetheless had a major impact in helping the Gospel to go viral.

When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. A Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re going to do to these men. Not long ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his partisans were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. That man also perished, and all his partisans were scattered. And now, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” So they were persuaded by him. After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name. Every day in the temple complex, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:33-42, HCSB)

Gamaliel reminds everyone that the leader of this movement known as The Way has been killed. In the past when this has happened, the followers soon disappeared and the movement died. He encouraged them to do nothing to the followers of Jesus because he believed that the same would happen with them.

Gamaliel’s advice was to wait it out and see if the movement disappears like those in the past. If it did, then he was certain that the movement was one started by men. But he cautioned that if the movement does not die out than it is possible that it was something started by God. He warned the leaders that if it was a movement by God that they could easily find themselves fighting against God by persecuting these men.

It seems as if the leaders actually listen to them, yet they couldn’t help but add their own form of justice to the decision. They had the men flogged, most likely with a cat of nine tails, then they once again ordered them that they are not to talk about Jesus or speak in His name.

The Apostles left the court rejoicing that they were seen worthy by God to be beaten for their faith. No, they were not sadists that just enjoyed pain. Remember our video last week from Martin Luther King, Jr. about unjust laws? MLK understood that if he disobeyed an unjust law that he must be willing to pay the price for that. Even if it meant that he would go to prison.

The Apostles understood that if they followed God’s call they would have to disobey unjust laws. The punishment for disobeying these unjust laws was a badge of honor for them because it showed how faithful they were to follow God. Each scar was a symbol of their obedience to Jesus.

God used Gamaliel, an unbeliever, to share some wisdom with the Jewish leaders, who were also unbelievers. They were persuaded by his wisdom and allowed the Apostles to live so that God could use them to spread the news about Jesus. Does God still use unbelievers to get his message out? Absolutely.

Often governments make laws banning the Bible or Christianity and that has only caused many within their nation to seek out these things. In fact, the persecution of believers has had the effect of strengthening the resolve of those believers to be more serious about God. During the height of the ban on Christianity in communist China, millions of followers still met in secret churches each week. A missionary that worked with some of these groups was about to travel back to the United States and asked the believers in China how Christians in America could pray for them.

They told him there was nothing, but that the Christians in China needed to pray for the church in America. He was shocked by their response. They understood that under persecution the church in China had thrived while the church in America had declined even with their freedoms. It is estimated that by 2020 China will be the largest Christian nation in the world.

Islamic countries throughout the world have made Christianity illegal. Penalties for converting to Christianity or for teaching Christianity include prison and death. Even so, the church continues to be strong in nations like Egypt, where more than a dozen Christians were recently killed while on their way to church.

Syria had a large population of Christians. These followers of Jesus have been targeted by the government of Syria as well as by ISIS. Many of those that have fled Syria are Christians that have fled to nations where they now have the freedom to tell Muslims about Jesus.

In Cuba, Castro did not like the power of the church, so he ordered the size to be limited. Believers simply started more churches so they could keep the size under the limit. Castro reduced the number and the believers started more churches. Castro reduced the number so that believers could not afford to build new churches or maintain existing buildings, thinking this would kill the church. Instead, believers started churches in homes. Castro kept reducing the number and believers kept starting new churches. The church in Cuba is now much larger than it was before Castro originally ordered the size of churches to be limited.

God used unbelievers during the time of the early church and the story of Jesus went viral. What man means to use for harm against the church, God uses to bring glory to Himself and in turn strengthens His church.

What does this tell us? God is at work constantly to grow and strengthen His church. God wants the world to hear about Jesus. When we think there is no way, God will make a way. At Elevate Church, we want to be a part of God’s plan to see the Good News go viral once again…in Annapolis, the United States, and throughout the world.

What about you?