“AND THE WICKED COMETH IN HIS STEAD”

MEMORY VERSE: And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. Acts 12:19

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 13-16

BIBLE READING: Acts 12:6-19

Proverbs 11:8 says, “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” There are two lessons to learn from this text. Firstly, the righteous will be delivered out of trouble. It does not matter how tough the challenge maybe, the Lord will deliver him. Psalm 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Secondly, the wicked comes in his stead. In Acts 12:6-19 Peter (a righteous man) was put in prison by King Herod to be tried and mostly likely killed. They kept him in a secured prison chained in between two strong soldiers. In the middle of the night, an angel of the Lord walked into the prison and led Peter out whilst the soldiers slept. When the soldiers woke up the next morning and could not find Peter, they went to tell Herod. Acts 12:19 says, “And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.” The soldiers were killed in the stead of Peter. Isaiah 43:4 says, “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.”

Several years back, i was writing an exam when the invigilator decided to conduct a random check to ensure that exam malpractice was not going on. Unknown to me, the boy who sat directly behind me brought in a paper that contained the answers to the exam questions. When the invigilator got to where i was sitting, he found a squeezed paper under my chair. He picked it, checked it and found it was the answer to the exam questions. (The boy behind me had thrown it there to get me into trouble). The invigilator excused me from the exam hall.  At the end of the day, the boy was caught and made to repeat the class while i was promoted. I don’t know what you are going through but one thing i know is that my God will deliver you. The righteous has nothing to worry about because it will be well with him (Isaiah 3:10). The wicked, on the other hand, needs to worry and his worry is justified. Those who are involved in fraudulent practices needs to worry. The wicked needs to worry for several reasons. For instance, if they fail to repent their peace will be taken away from them and that will happen very soon (Isaiah 57:21). Not only that , he or she will be used as a substitute for the righteous in the day of evil (Proverbs 11:8). This is why you and i must examine our lives. Have you accepted Jesus as your personal lord and saviour? Not until a man does that, He is not righteous before God. If one claims that he is saved and he is still indulging in exam malpractices, bribery, corruption, fornication, etc, that individual does not understand what it means to be saved.

NOTE: The reason why you need to witness like never before to people, especially members of your family, is that they could be used as a substitute for the righteous in the day of evil .

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world