Heralds Digest

  “ And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Acts 5 : 40 - 42 KJV The reason why the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is ceasing from believers’ lifestyles has never been our confrontation with the challenges of life. Sometimes, challenges, oppression, persecution and oppositions even create the needed opportunities for a deeper encounter with the Commissioner, Jesus Christ. Commission ceases only from a lifestyle that ceases to sustain an encounter with the Commissioner. Little wonder why grown men and disciples of Jesus Christ here were elated by their shameful beating at the council of elders; and they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus...

  “But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” ” Acts 5 : 19 - 20 NKJV In societies where everything goes, insane and unlawful activities are bound to grow beyond the leaps and bounds. Therefore, restrictions and regulations through administrative locks and government policies are often put in place for checks and balances. Unfortunately, human nature and godlessness have shown that these restrictions are mostly applied against the spread of the gospel of salvation than the desired regulation against ungodliness in the land. In the early church, the religious leaders in the sect of the Sadducees and the high priest were indignant to the gospel of salvation. Even today, there are numerous gates against the mandate to go into all the worlds and preach the gospel of salvation through every believer’s daily lifestyle. But whether gated through abuse by principa...

  “ And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”” Acts 5 : 38 - 39 NKJV Faith fight and false fight have common characteristics, i.e., a fight for a kind of relevance. When Peter responded to the council’s commandment for the disciples to respect their self-centred relevance “ we ought to obey God rather than men” , it became obvious that life never granted anyone the option of sitting on the fence with regards to choosing. You either choose to tow the path of the faith fight or to adopt the lifestyle of the false fight. And by learning from the disciples’ experiences with the council, the faith fight often attracts temporary suffering and shame for the course of Christ; but in the words of Gamaliel and unlike the false fight, the faith fight can never come to nothing. Unfortunately, those seemingly sm...

“Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life... And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Acts‬ ‭5:20, 42‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.5.20,42.nkjv Given the accolades and accompanying privileges of the public ministry, many people often envy ministers when they stand on the pulpit to preach. Without ruling out the proliferation of the altars by those who are imposters, those who are called into public speaking must have succeeded in their commitment to private ministrations. Peter and the rest of the apostles were highly esteemed by the people, not because of their public preaching, but due to the influence of their private honour of the Lord and His Spirit. When Christ is fully lifted up in believer's private life, he is endeared to public preaching for the expansion of God's kingdom. Even though the weights against public speaking can come in terms of indignation fr...