Acts 4:15-17
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.  But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

This Jesus movement was about to explode, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.  News of this miracle had already spread through Jerusalem, as had the preaching of Christ being alive, resurrected from the dead, having paid the price for our sin.  So this council tries to do some damage control to keep the news from spreading.  They are still trying to squelch the name of Jesus, the truth of Him and His power.  They are still opposing the work of God, in denial themselves about the power of God working before their very eyes.

So they resort to their familiar tactics of violence and threatening.  But it is they who are so threatened by the name of Jesus.  What must it have meant to them that this man whom they had killed was still working and changing lives among them, still performing unbelievable miracles, still a prominent force to be reckoned with?  They had done so much to oppose Jesus, going as far as killing Him, so how could they think that getting rid of the disciples would do any good, either?

The truth is that God cannot be overcome.  The truth is that the name of Jesus will never fade away, nor will His saving power diminish.  No matter what anyone else ever does, Jesus is not going to go away, and those who follow Him and love Him and serve Him will not be silenced.  We don’t have to be discouraged that all things Christian are attacked relentlessly by the world because that’s the way it’s always been.  But we can be encouraged because His truth stands the test of time and the test of persecution and the test of any attack that comes against it because it stands on God Himself.

We don’t need to be threatened into silence or fearful of those who oppose what we stand for as followers of Christ.  There will always be those who oppose our Lord, but that doesn’t change anything about who He is and what He has done for us.  That doesn’t change how He has saved us or worked in our lives, and it doesn’t prevent Him from continuing to work in other people’s lives in the future.  All He wants us to do is be faithful, and how can we not be when He’s been so faithful to us?