Focus: Oath to Kill

Text: Act.23:12-14

"And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul." 

Forty men bound themselves by an oath to have Paul killed. They put themselves under a heavy curse should they fail to achieve their aim. They were extremely determined or bent on having their way. They felt that Paul posed a great threat to their Jewish religion - Judaism. They vowed to leave no stone unturned until they had succeeded in their evil mission. Forty men against one man. Paul was indeed a mighty terror to Satan and all hell.

It is so sickening that man could go to the extent of eliminating his fellow man just to preserve the status quo, maintain his belief system, and hold on to whatever he feels is important to him.

My point in this message is that the commitment of evil men to their cause is much greater than the commitment of God's people to the cause of Christ. Evil men spare no effort in carrying out their evil designs. They would kill to protect what they have regard for. But church people go on living their lives like there's nothing at stake. Does it really bother us that souls are perishing on daily basis, and many of these souls are all around us, and they are even members of our own families? It's about time we took an oath to save lives, not oath to terminate lives.

Eternity is all that matters. This life is meaningless if there is no eternity.

Jesus showed us a good example. In His high priestly prayer, He says to the Father, "Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition…" (Jh.17:12). Again, He says in another place, "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Mt.18:11). He even at different times followed people to their homes in order to preach, save and heal their souls and bodies. In fact, it was His passion for souls that drove Him to the cross, and there He died to save our souls, and it was for that purpose that He came in the first place. Now He has employed and empowered the church to gather in the harvest of the souls for which He died for.

It was for this cause of bringing in the harvest of souls that Paul burned with extreme passion. He says, "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom.9:3). He preferred to be accursed or damned if that was what it would cost to ensure the salvation of his own people - the Jews. Paul made a great sacrifice to win souls. He says, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Phil.3:8). In 1Cor.9:22, He says, "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." What a man and his mission! What a vision! What a holy and high vocation! What a virtue! What vigor and vitality! What dedication of soul and determination of the heart! What a pulsating passion!

O Lord, help us to have the right perspective, to pursue, overtake and recover all! Our theology is watered down and our fire is burning low. Help us to have the comfort of the Spirit without becoming comfortable in our comfort zones! We consecrate ourselves afresh only for your purpose in Jesus' name. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter