In Acts 22, Paul was placed on board a ship to sail to Rome, so that he could stand trial before Caesar. Paul sailed along the coast of Asia, through Cyprus and boarded another ship to Italy. The ship sailed with a lot of difficulty and Paul advised the crew of what he sensed would happen. “saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives”” (Acts 27:10). The Centurion who transported Paul, paid more attention to what the crew had to say that what Paul said. As they were in winter, it was not deemed suitable to remain at the harbour, but to sail to Italy.

As the ship set out at sea, they encountered a storm which carried them along for days. The crew threw cargo and other items overboard in order to lighten the ship. They eventually gave up hope that they would be saved, after being in the storm for days. They were so anxious that no one aboard had anything to eat for days. Paul decided to address the crew and scolded them for not listening to his earlier advise. Nevertheless, he encouraged them that there would be no loss of life, because an angel assured him that he would make it to see Caesar. In addition, God would spare the lives of everyone on board the ship. “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told” (Acts 27:25).

The ship continued to sail for another fourteen days and the sailors intended to use a boat to escape the ship. Paul warned them that they needed to stay on board in order to live. He also encouraged the men to eat and took bread, gave thanks to God and began to eat. “Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves” (Acts 27:36). Once they had enough to eat, they threw the rest of the wheat overboard. The next day they discovered land and those who could swim were encouraged to jump overboard and swim to shore. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners because they feared that they would try to escape. The Centurion stopped the soldiers from carrying out their plan, as he wanted to save Paul.

In the end, not one person aboard the ship died, either to the storm, at the shipwreck or at the hands of the soldiers. God kept his word and Paul and the entire crew were spared from the storm. We could say that it would have helped if the men had listened to Paul and not set sail. In any event, God was gracious to spare not only Paul, but everyone on board. Paul’s faith was a witness to them that he served the true and living God. Although a prisoner, Paul spoke with authority and overtime the men listened. They even took caution and remained on board, when they wanted to use a boat to escape. They also followed Paul’s lead and ate in order to maintain their strength.

God kept his word and they were spared from death, but they were required to listen and obey. They lost the ship and their cargo, but every life was spared. The crew had to throw thing overboard that was deemed valuable. They had to choose between saving lives, rather than holding unto material possessions. Isn’t it strange that during times of difficulty, we may be willing to part with material possession, if it means the preservation of life. God was with Paul during the storm which assured him that they would be safe.

A.P.-Y.

Isaiah wrote about Gods perfect peace and proclaimed a song to be sung in Judah. Judah was strong and surrounded by walls of salvation. “Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in” (Isaiah 26:2). Those who place their trust in God, remain in perfect peace. God is our everlasting rock who has humbled the proud and brings down the arrogant. They are trampled by the poor and needy, but the path of the righteous is level. “In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul” (Isaiah 26:8). The song continued to express an earnest desire for God.

Isaiah said that when God’s judgements are in the land, the inhabitants learn righteousness. If favour is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness. The wicked deals corruptly even in the land of righteousness and does not show regard for the things of God. “O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them” (Isaiah 26:11). God’s reward for his people is peace and he causes us to advance. There are other gods and systems that have ruled over the earth. Other gods are dead as God will destroy them and wipe away their memory.

God has increased his people and enlarged their territories. They cried out to him in their distress through silent prayers, when they were being chastened. “Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord” (Isaiah 26:17). Their pregnancy did not bring forth a seed and there was no deliverance. The dead shall live again and those who are downtrodden will sing for joy. God’s people are warned to hide until his fury has passed. “For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain” (Isaiah 26:21).

In this song, Isaiah spoke of God’s love for his people and his gift of peace. He also spoke about judgment for the inhabitants of the earth, in order to teach righteousness. Judgment is punishment for sin and we know that the Lord chastises the one that he loves (Hebrews 12:6). In the same way that children need discipline to learn good morals and values, people need judgment to learn the righteousness of God. No one loves discipline, but it produces fruits of righteousness. “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17)?

A.P.-Y.

In Revelations 3, John wrote to the church in Philadelphia, the words from Jesus who holds the key of David. This key of David opens doors that no one can shut, and shuts doors that no one can open. Jesus was sympathetic to the Philadelphian church who seemed powerless. As such, he had set an open door before them that no one would be able to shut. This church had kept the word of God and had not denied the name of Jesus. God would cause those of the church of Satan who lied about his people, to bow down before his church. God would also keep his church from the trials that were to come on the earth, due to their patient endurance.

Jesus told the Philadelphian church to hold fast to their crown of reward, so that no one would take it from them before his return. “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Revelation 3:12). Isaiah also prophesied concerning the key of David, when he spoke about God’s judgement against Jerusalem. God was not pleased with Isreal’s leader who he vowed to move out of office. “I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station” (Isaiah 22:19).

He described God raising up Eliakim, son of Hilkiah and transferring to him the power and authority of Isreal. “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:22). God vowed to establish him because of the rebellion of the former leader, who led God’s people astray. This represented a transfer of power from an unworthy ruler to someone who feared God.

The key of David represents power and authority. Before Jesus’s ascension, he spoke to his disciples. “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). This statement followed the great commission to go into the world to make disciples. In Luke, after Jesus’s disciples returned from evangelism, they were excited that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus spoke of Satan falling down from heaven like lightning and again conferred their authority. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

This power and authority is given to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This same Holy Ghost power, raised Jesus Christ from the dead and has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have power to do the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit within us, opens doors of authority that no one can shut. God also closes doors that the devil would try to open in our lives in order to afflict us. The keys are in the word of God and our knowledge of the things of God. The Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher and gives us the authority to open closed doors and to shut doors that the devil tries to open.

A.P.-Y.

At the church in Antioch, there were elders and prophets who were worshipping the Lord in fasting and prayer. The Holy Spirit instructed them to lay hands on Paul and Barnabas and set them apart for the work which they had been called to do. After they laid hands on them, they sent them out and they were led by the Holy Spirit to visit Cyprus. As they went through the island, they came upon a magician, a Jewish false prophet called Bar-Jesus. This false prophet was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who summoned Paul and Barnabas to hear the word of God. The Magician opposed them and sought to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

Paul being full of the spirit rebuked the magician and pronounced righteous judgement. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand” (Acts 13:11). After this happened, the proconsul believed and was amazed. This judgement was handed out by the Holy Spirit through Paul. Like earthly courts, there are courts of heaven that operate in our sphere of influence. In this instance, the Magician’s sin was defying the plan and purpose of God to lead the proconsul to Christ. His judgement was immediate and blindness fell on him for a season.

We see a similar scenario with Ananias and Sapphira who conspired to lie to Peter. His question to Ananias was, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…?” Peter told Ananias that he had not lied to man but unto God. Ananias immediately fell down dead and was carried off and buried. Three hours later his wife came in and repeated the same story. The result was the same for her. Death and burial was her judgment because they tested the spirit of God. “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and these lessons are hard ones to expound on.

Someone may say that their judgment and that of the Magician was harsh. On each occasion, we saw the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Peter and Paul did not speak through their flesh or from a place of carnality. We should not devise in our minds to judge someone, or plan to speak death or blindness on others. On each occasion, Paul and Peter spoke as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. In essence it was God’s judgement spoken by the Holy Spirit through human vessels. We saw the prophets in the Old Testament such as Elijah and Elisha, execute judgement against the enemies of God. Judgement did not end in the Old Testament as we saw the Holy Spirit rendering judgement through Peter and Paul in Acts.

We are taught not to quench the Holy Spirit or to grieve Him. The Magician tried to exalt himself and his worldly doctrine against God. The devil used him to oppose the plan of God and the Holy Spirit judged him. Ananias and Sapphira sought to exalt themselves and used deception to make themselves out to be who they were not. They walked into the the presence of God to meet with Peter, who led the church and lied. Their sin was carefully crafted and premeditated. On each occasion the fear of the Lord fell upon those who witnessed judgement. The proconsul feared at the Magician’s blindness and saw first hand what the power of God could do. Ananias and Sapphira should have known better as they were among the saints. Either way, the Holy Spirit was grieved by their actions and judgment fell upon them.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

A.P.-Y.

David often described times of searching for God and longing to be refreshed in his presence. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God”(Psalm 42:1). He described himself as a deer who was thirsty and in need of water. This was how hungry and desperate David was for the presence of God. He cried and described his tears as food as he poured out his soul unto God. In Psalm 63, he longed to worship God and vowed to worship Him for the rest of his life. In Psalm 84, David longed for the courts of God. “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Psalm 84:2).

David considered a day in the courts of God, as better than a thousand years anywhere else. He understood when Jeremiah said that anyone who sought after God would find him. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). David was a man after God’s own heart, because he earnestly sought after God. He understood the all surpassing presence of God. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence” (Psalm 139:7)? He knew that whether in heaven, in hell or in the deepest parts of the sea, that the presence of God would be with him. Not even the darkness could hide him away from God.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2). David also experienced peace and rest in the presence of God. He found provision, goodness, shelter and protection. Moses also understood the importance of God’s presence. “And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here”(Exodus 33:15). He knew that the journey from Egypt to Canaan was impossible without God. Moses longed to see the glory of God and spent time in communion with Him.

When we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we will be filled (Matthew 5:6). There is peace, joy, healing, deliverance, freedom and everything good in the presence of God. Most people want to rub shoulders and have association with people with status and power. This is shortsighted, as they miss the fact that everything that we need is in God. When Jesus died, he left us the Comforter in the person of the Holy Spirit. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). Let us spend time in the presence of God. Seek him daily and pursue him intimately, so that his presence will be with us wherever we go.

“And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest”” (Exodus 33:14).

A.P.-Y.