Acts 5:29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God, rather than men.
Oh my people, my people, it’s a beautiful Monday morning! So let’s rise and greet it with joy nuh; the joy of our great God, from whence comes our strength! And I have to chuckle at the amount of moans, groans, excuses and inappropriate language I receive in response. But Friends, Monday is a day like any other, it just happens to be the day we return to work after a couple days off and we tend to feel lethargic and lazy to get back into the crazy, slave-like workweek routine. That makes it an unalterable fact, so we might as well just learn to like it, or at least try and live it productively, instead of casting that negative net over it, as we’ve been conditioned to do. And the first step we’re going to take to bring it into a positive and productive pattern is to sing a wonderful, loud and lively rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. So altogether now, let’s banish those Monday blues with joyful praise to our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ Yes Friends, if we don’t get right into God and His Word as soon as we get up, especially on a Monday morning, the enemy will likely creep in and set the wrong tempo and thus spoil our day, which we obviously don’t want to happen. And now we’ll turn our attention to our Bit: ‘Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God, rather than men.’ Oh my brethren, that’s where the believer’s earthly walk has to all start from; obeying our Supreme Maker and not the creation of His hands. For if we keep on obeying men, our world is just going to sink deeper in the mire of greed, selfishness and evil that’s now got it by the throat in a deadly stranglehold. We believers are very guilty of standing idly by while the wicked have their way with God’s world and His people. It’s time we stop doing that and stand up to them Friends, else Christ’s Church runs a real risk of slowly fading into oblivion. And that’s something we definitely can’t afford to let happen. What a great disappointment it would be to Jesus, after giving up so much for us. No Friends, we need to be strong and stand up to the wicked man, who is trying to remove God from our society. We can take an example from the apostles who had much more to lose than we do in those days of unrest and serious persecution of Christ’s Church. The whole thing started after Peter and John healed a lame man by the temple. When the Jewish elders found that out, they took the apostles to task, asking: ‘By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them…Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:7-8, 10, 12) We all know that’s gospel truth Friends, but how many of us have the parts to proclaim it unashamedly like the apostles eh? Too many believers today suffer from a combination of shame, fear and lethargy when it comes to proclaiming the Word of God, that’s why Christ’s Church is in such sad shape. The early believers both literally and figuratively laid their lives on the line to proclaim the gospel, but we who have much less to fear, are afraid to do so. Just imagine the guts it took for Peter and John to talk back to the Jewish council when they told them to stop preaching Christ crucified. ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’ (Acts 4:19-20) Yes Friends, that took plenty B. B and B for lowly, uneducated folk to talk to the powerful council in such a disrespectful manner. But all the council could do was threaten them again, then release them, ‘finding nothing how (for which) they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.’ (Acts 4:21) Oh mih fellow believers, that’s what happens when we go out and diligently and sincerely do God’s work: the people see and believe and glorify the Father! And that’s our main purpose here on earth. But unfortunately we’re not doing a very good job at it at all. We either preach one thing then do something completely different, which leads the people to believe we’re hypocrites like the Jewish elders in Jesus’ time, or we just do nothing at all and allow the wicked to take over. Both approaches are totally unacceptable my Friends, which means we have to change our habits if we want to successfully bring others to Jesus. And we’ll end with some wise advice from Peter: ‘And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy (blessed) are ye: and be not afraid of their terror (threats), neither be troubled. But sanctify (set apart) the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer (a defence) to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (reverential awe).’ (1 Pet.3:13-15) Oh Friends, please let’s follow that wise and wholesome advice nuh, so that we can truly do our bounden duty, seriously affect the lives of others and bring them to belief in Jesus. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Much LOVE!…if we obey God to the best of our ability…then man won’t have any hold or sway over us…
SCRIP-BITS 