The Spirit is Stirring Afresh

I did not do well in today's lectures on 1 Peter. In the past several weeks, it has been early rising for me even as I sensed the Spirit stirring afresh in me like before-times when there is a future path to be trodden by faith. After yesterday's exertions of preaching the sermon during Chapel's service plus today's 3 hours lectures, I was reaching the end of my strength - indeed I have laboured in preaching and teaching, Lord for Your glory. Yesterday I waited for 7 long hours before my turn to preach at 11:30am service. It was my last message and the Spirit moved strongly although it was probably more of an academic discourse, part lecture part sermon but with much conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. My interpreter did better than I had hoped for and again many have prayed for her and for me so that the whole College family could listen to God's Word. After the service and Community lunch I returned home to relax for a while and opened my Bible and it fell to Luke 6 where Jesus said, "Woe to you if everyone speaks well of you. Your fathers did that to the false prophets!"
As far as the reception of my sermon is concerned, most of the congregation would have found it hard and unpersuasive; only the humble in heart and those truly committed to God and His Word would welcome a such a message as one I preached yesterday. It was a challenge to many sitting in the pews; some perhaps have been feeling too comfortable for a long time about their level of knowledge until I used a historical analogy quoting Martin Greschat's comment that "the clergy did not keep pace with the vigorous explosion of knowledge at this moment of history" referring to the last decades of the 15th century and early decades of 16th century. More so now in the early decades of the 21st century when there is another explosion of knowledge never witnessed before in history and unless we keep up pace with the growth of knowledge of God's Word we shall be left behind. I quoted from John Wesley's Address to the Clergy seeing that Methodists made up the majority in terms of faculty and student numbers. I could have used Luther and Calvin. Only last week I shared with a Presbyterian minister about the setting up of Geneva Academy in the final years of Calvin's life and how he led the search for the first two posts - Professors of Hebrew and Greek.