In And Out Of Season ( 2)
Tunfavourable conditions of life are the best times to testify about Christ. The gospel of Christ is the best antidote in times of human misery. The light of the gospel shines brightest in times of adversity and pitched darkness.
As we said in our first edition, in the book of Acts, the disciples preached the word under different circumstances and situations, under favourable and unfavourable times. We have many examples to buttress this point. In Acts 4: 1- 4, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin Council for healing a lame man. They were persecuted, interrogated and warned not to preach Christ any more, but they insisted. “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard,” ( Acts 4 : 18 - 20 NKJV ).
After they were released, they prayed and were filled with the Holy Spirit afresh. Consequently, we read: “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness,” ( Acts 4 : 31 NKJV ). The more the disciples were threatened and persecuted, the more they preached the gospel and the church grew stronger. The disciples did not cower to threats during unfavourable conditions. We find a similar trend in Acts 5. After the death of Ananias and Sapphira, a great fear arose ( verse 11). Amid the fear, God caused miracles to continue to occur, leading to increased souls being won for Christ ( verse 14). Again in Acts 7: 1- 53, we see Stephen addressing the establishment. In verses 51- 52, he accused the Jewish leaders of being “uncircumcised in heart and ears and for resisting the Holy Spirit.” This accusation infuriated the Jews who immediately martyred him ( 54- 60). Unknown to the disciples, there was a man called Saul who stood by and probably heard the prayers of Stephen forgiving his killers ( verse 60). Not long after that, Saul was converted and testified about Christ. In Acts 8: 1- 8, a fierce persecution arose after the death of Stephen, leading to the dispersal of the disciples. Rather than discourage the disciples, their witness about Christ intensified. Philip went to Samaria and preached the gospel. That led to a whole city being converted to Christ. In addition, Simon the sorcerer was saved.
Fast forward to Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were thrown into prison, they remained undaunted in their con victions. In prison, they sang and prayed to God. Their prayers provoked an earth - quake, which led to the conversion of the jailer and the family.
Acts 27 was another unfavourable period in which Paul sei zed the opportunity to admonish his fellow prisoners and travellers to Rome. Paul proclaimed the gospel during the stormy voyage to Rome. Eventually, Paul with 276 persons on boar d the ship miraculously escaped death and was marooned on the Island of Malta.
Also in Chapter 28, Paul preached the gospel in Malta, despite being bitten by a viper on that Island. In Malta, he prayed for the fath er of Publius who lay sick with fever and dysentery and he was healed. That opened the door for many others to seek Paul’s prayer of healing. Many were turned to Christ on the Island. Thus, these examples from the book of Acts show thatunfavourable and uncertain times are the best times to preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit can use any situation to his advantage if only we are willing to obey the command to preach the gospel “in season and out of season.”