“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

IDENTIFYING THE WICKED

MEMORY VERSE: little children, let no man deceived you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous ,1 John 3:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 5, Acts 9, Jer 18, Mark 4

1 John 3:7 says little children, let no man deceived you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Also beloved, a fellow that does wicked things is wicked, even as he is wicked. How do you identify the wicked? The wicked does wicked things. According to Leviticus 20:17, it is a wicked thing for a man to see the nakedness of his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter and vice versa. There are many young ones who peep through the key hole to see the nakedness of adults when they are in the bathroom bathing or in the bedroom changing. There are even some adults who are involved in such practices too. They go and peep through the key hole when the wife of the neighbor is taking her bath. Such adults need deliverance from the spirit of lust! Any child caught doing this should be seriously disciplined because before God it is a wicked act. And this goes to the Parents who dress in the front of their children. This is very bad! Don’t say they are young and you permit them into your bed room when changing. This is unacceptable!

It is also a wicked thing to take advantage of the poor. Psalm 10:2 says the wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. You are married woman, every time there is a misunderstanding between you and your husband you refuse to cook at home to teach him a lesson. This is a wicked act! You call yourself a spirit filled Christian and every time there is a misunderstanding at home you refuse to fulfill the duties of a wife to her husband. Sister that is wickedness! You are an evangelist, every time there is a misunderstanding at home just to punish your wife you begin to fast so as not to eat her food or fulfill the duties of a husband to his wife. Bro that is wickedness! There is nothing wrong in fasting but don’t embark on fasting to punish your partner.

One way to identify the wicked is they borrow and never pay back. Psalms 37:21 says the wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. The wicked borrow and never put measures into place to pay back what they have borrowed. If the lender calls them on the phone they ignore the call. They will not call back and when the lender calls at their home to check if all is well, they tell their children to tell the lender they are not home! Brethren no loving parents will ever teach his or her child to lie. If one way or the other the lender meets them and ask for the money or the item they borrowed, they get angry and begin to insinuate that the lender was rude to them. Some even go to the point of reporting the lender that he or she is disrespectful. It is wicked thing to dodge those you have borrowed things from.

ACTION: Repent from wicked acts and ask for mercy.

IT DOES NOT PAY TO BE WICKED

MEMORY VERSE: with the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright, Psalm 18:25.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 25, Ps 116, Isa 52, Rev 22

What is wickedness? Wickedness is a spirit. So also Goodness is a spirit. Psalm 23:6a says goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. ‘Goodness’ and ‘Mercy’ referred to are angels of the Lord. Anywhere you are in the world reading this message, I want to inform you that these two angels are standing right behind you. They will be there as far as you do not rebel against God. The difference between these two is that wickedness is of devil and goodness is of God. This is why we call the devil a wicked devil and God – a good God.

Luke 6:31 says as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. Wickedness is simply doing things you would not want others to do to you. It is wickedness to delay the salary of your staff on purpose. How would you feel if an employer refuses to pay your son or daughter for no good reason? It is wickedness to give what belongs to A to B. An employment opportunity comes along, you know Mr A has the necessary qualification and experience but you give it to Mr B because he is the same color as you or because he is your friend or family member. Please put yourself in the shoe of Mr A, would you be happy if someone does that to you? You borrow money from a friend or a colleague, instead of appealing for more time to pay back you begin to hide or ignore their calls. The question is would you like someone to do that to you?

It is wickedness not to forgive. The person may have hurt you and all that, but haven’t you done worse to God? Psalm 130:3 says if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If the Lord were to mark iniquities, the world would not exist again.Do not abuse that brother or sister because he or she is vulnerable. There was a particular abusive senior in High School. This senior hated a particular junior with a passion. He made life hell for him; at times he would beat mercilessly for either petty things or no good reason. The boy graduated and joined a martial arts club. He later became a professional. On his way home one evening, he noticed a figure that looked just like his old senior approaching. When he got close, lo and behold it was the old wicked senior. The senior recognized him and didn’t know what to do. Since it was in a lonely park, he began to shake because there was no one around. The senior forgot that there will be a tomorrow.

ACTION POINT: Remember there is always a tomorrow so don’t be wicked.