Rejoice in Suffering - Acts 5-6

 Acts 5:40-42 (ESV)

... and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

The disciples have been preaching, teaching and healing in the name of Jesus.   Jesus had sent them out to do this very thing.   Yet, the religious leaders, who crucified Jesus, had already warned them to stop speaking about Jesus.   But, as the disciples would tell the religious establishment:

Acts 5:28-29 (ESV)

saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

After taking counsel among themselves these false teachers decided to warn the disciples, beat them and send them away bruised and battered.   This would, typically, hinder, dissuade, and discourage the most determined person.  Yet, these disciples went out “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”   The “name” referred to here is the name, Jesus of Nazareth.   This is the both odd and beauty of those who have lived for Christ and suffered for Christ.  They are unusual, as they are filled with the Holy Spirit.    The Spirit of God produces within the believer the fruit of patience and joy.  This allows believers to live peculiar in situations that are typically lived differently.   We should note that this beating they took would still hurt and inflict on them real physical pain.   We don’t know if God alleviated the physical pain or not.  We have no indication that suffering for God is “painless.”    Yet, these men knew the “honor” it was to be referred to as “Christ-like ones.”    That knowledge and the ministry of the Spirit in their lives to produce fruit that was unusual for the situation is what makes Christians so different in the world today.