Heralds Digest

  “If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. ”” Acts 11 : 17 - 18 NKJV Reflecting on the danger of self service in the account of apostle Peter, it became alarming how the scriptures are awash with many characters of strong worth and sacrifices who struggled and slumped on the altar of self service. Notable among these characters is Abiathar the priest at the close of his service before king David. Considering the ties between David and Abiathar which were cemented by the blood of 85 peoples in his household and several other sacrifices, it was incredibly touching how Abiathar fell alongside Joab by following Adonijah in rebellion against the counsel of God (1 King 1:7). Peter probably remembered how self service led to his denial of Jesus Chris...

  “ While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them. ”” Acts 10 : 19 - 20 NKJV Another day and week of service comes with great gratitude to God. Unfortunately, Sunday services without spirit surrendering have always made religion out of every believer’s service renderings. And like the experiences of Peter, spirit services are not our usual Sunday-sunday experiences. The whole of the previous chapter was devoted to Peter’s account of spirit services at Joppa and Lydda. And while resting at Joppa before the next assignment, the spirit beckoned again “ Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them. ” Little wonder Jesus had said earlier “ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I dep...

  “Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests? ”” Acts 9 : 21 NKJV The pursuit of justice in this world is limited to the sincerity of prosecution, so it is no longer news that there is no true justice for the persecuted and the oppressed in the hands of an ill-manipulated justice system. But when Saul was arrested by the Lord Jesus on his way to the next field of persecution and oppression, even the brethren would not initially trust the transformation in the justice system. The heavenly justice system provided an amazing arrest of an injurious fellow and brought him into the fold to become a fearless labourer and sufferer of the gospel. Little wonder when Stephen handed over his persecutors into the hands of God for mercy instead of malice and vengeance, he knew so well how the heavenly justice system works. Even to...

  “ Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And there was great joy in that city.” Acts 8 : 4 - 5 , 8 NKJV With scattered experiences in families, workplaces, and societies, it is normal for the people to wear the scourge on their sleeves. Scattered experiences produce emotional outbursts, bitterness and unrest, and possibly by transferred aggression. But Phillip went down to the city of Samaria to spread scents instead of scourge. Someone rightly said our scattered life’s experiences merely revealed the stuff we are truly made of, whether it is kindness and mercy or wickedness and malice. Most often than not, scattered scents are crushed and crunched by the challenges of life for easier production and transportation of the aroma and the flavour of mercy, love and kindness to the world around them. Since there was great joy in the city of Samaria after Philip’s visit, we know...

  ““ You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth .” Acts 7 : 51 , 54 NKJV Naturally, except at the instance of hardness, the Holy Spirit convicts every heart that responds appropriately to the goodnews. For example, the audience of Stephen were privileged to be exposed to a great disclosure of the historical perspectives on the mercy of God upon the Israelites. But at the end of his scriptural revelation like their fathers did, the Holy Spirit revealed their resistance to the goodnews. Even today, hardened hearts do readily scorn and spurn all scriptural disclosure of the mercy and grace of God through resistances to confession and forsaking of all forms of unrighteousness. Therefore, believers are encouraged to be consistent in their pleadings for the spirit softening, even up to the possible endurance of o...

  “ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ” Acts 7 : 25 NKJV The experience of Moses with his brethren during the dispensation of unequal understanding underscores the basis of common crisis in most relationships. While Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood, God was waiting on Moses to be ready as the evangelist. It is always not enough for believers to be fully convinced about God’s vision and mandate as the divine purpose of their existence. A successful mission on godly visions must accommodate the dynamics of unequal understanding of the people on the field. Unfortunately, most supposed servants of God would get mad with both God and the people for their unequal understanding, leading to loss of focus, faithfulness, and fruitfulness. Whereas, Moses had to spend 40 years in Midian to deal with the concept of unequal understanding until God revealed “I have surely seen the ...

  “ Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. ” Acts 6 : 7 NKJV The reality in life is that the spirit spread and stone spread are almost the two sides of the same coin; but mostly treated by men as isolated events. For Stephen, the spirit-inspired spreading of the word of God  invoked the throwing of stones and persecution from the synagogue of the freedmen. And although the eventual stone spread resulted in the martyrdom of Stephen, the word of God continued to spread exponentially with increasing spreading of stones in the early church. Even today, and over the past 2,000 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the persecuted saints in the 10/40 windows are still responsible for spreading the greatest and widest gospel of salvation across the globe. It is readily established that when believers graciously allow all manners of stone spread in their family, ...