Daily Manna: An Ungodly Command Tuesday 19, November 2013 TEXT: ACTS 4:13-22 KEY VERSE: “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). A national newspaper in Nigeria in its July 24, 2013 edition, published a story of the suspension and expulsion of a number of students by a college for issues that bordered on praying, among others. Apparently, the principal of the school had become uncomfortable with their prayers and fellowship for reasons that were difficult to fathom. A striking miracle had taken place in Jerusalem as a 40 year-old man, lame from his mother’s womb, had by the Spirit of God, been made to walk. The reaction of the Jewish leaders was both curious but understandable. They ought to have given thanks to God for the good done to the impotent man but they could not because the disciples had been with Jesus whom they had rejected. They acknowledged that “indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them (the unlearned and ignorant men) ...and we cannot deny it”. They therefore gave a ‘mild’ punishment to warn the disciples not to teach and preach in the name of Jesus. It is worthy of note that the disciples confronted the Jewish leaders with such a stunning courage. This is a clear evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost. In many churches today, Holy Ghost baptism starts and ends with speaking in tongues while spectacular miracles are on the decline. Some not- well-informed church leaders insist that miracle-working power ceased after the age of the apostles. This cannot be true when we remember what God is doing, even in our own contemporary period. The Lord has need of bold and courageous preachers, leaders and pastors who can stand up to evangelical challenges and say like Peter and John, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”; “we ought to obey God rather than men.” THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Gospel- preaching is not for the chicken- hearted.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 08:57:55 +0000
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