Boldness To Share The Gospel

GOT BOLDNESS? 

Let’s see how the apostles knew their need for it and how they received it.

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: … It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed….12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. (Acts 4:8-14)

18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

(Notice that Peter “filled with the Holy Spirit” spoke with boldness.)

Let’s continue on.

21After further threats they let them go….

23On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

(Even after all God had done through them, they still felt the need to ask the Lord for boldness to continue.)

24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God…29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

(Notice that all were “filled with the Holy Spirit” spoke with boldness.)

Need boldness to share the gospel? Be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 5:18)

Until next post..."occupy until He comes".

The Miraculous in Evangelism

In this posting we continue our series on the topic of how the believers of early church preached the gospel message, noting that they had no one particular ‘method’ or “approach”. In evangelism, “one-size-fits-all” does not fit.

Let’s look at a day in the life of the Apostle Peter as recorded in Acts 9:32-43.

 “As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 9:32-35 NIV)

Here we see that ALL who lived in Lydda and Sharon turned to the Lord because of one miracle of healing; that of a man who had been paralyzed for eight years.

Let’s read on:

 “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” (Acts 9:36-38)

The miracle of healing (in verse 34) not only resulted in new believers (disciples), but new believers who had faith in God for the impossible. When Tabitha died, the people did not call for the undertaker; knowing of this miracle of the healing of the paralyzed man, they did not hesitate to call on Peter. Let’s read further:

“Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.” (Acts 9:39-43)

Let’s look at how Peter approached this situation

1.    He sent everyone out of the room.

2.    Next he got down on his knees (sign of submission to the Lord)

3.    He prayed (presumably for instructions from the Lord)

4.    He acted as he commanded the dead Tabitha to get up.

5.    He presented Tabitha alive to the believers.

and the result was:

1.    Tabitha rose from the dead.

2.    This incident became know all over Joppa (What a brilliant marketing plan! [Lol])

3.    Many people believed in the Lord

The method or approach of evangelism that the Lord had for Peter in approaching the people of Lydda, Sharon, and Joppa on that day was the effecting of miracles and supernatural healing.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given…. and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles…" (1 Corinthians 12:4-8)

Until the next posting, "occupy until He comes."

The Power of A Godly Life and Miracles in Evangelism

In our last blog post we took a sidestep from the series on looking at the fact that the early church had no one particular ‘method’ of preaching the gospel. In this posting, we will return to that subject. Though the gospel message is unchangeable, the most effective method of communicating it to others depends on the people that we seek to preach the gospel to. Missionaries who go to cultures where people think and live in a way that is very different from their own, know this very well. They must seek to discover how to communicate the gospel in a way that the people will understand fully and then be in a position to respond with their minds and their hearts.

In this posting we will look at how the Apostle Paul successfully presented the gospel message to the Gentiles in Rome. He wrtes:

“I have brought the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I lived before them. I have won them over by the miracles done through me as signs from God -- all by the power of God's Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.”  (Romans 15:18b-19)

His strategy included three things:

1. The gospel message
2. The way he lived his life before them
3. The miracles done through him (as signs from God).

IOn verse 19, Paul said, “In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ…” He said that he did this all by the power of God’s Spirit.  All of these things got the attention of the Romans and won them to Christ. This is a different approach that we see Paul using in other gospel preaching situations-it was the right approach for this particular situation. Let’s not get locked into one particular method of sharing the gospel. By not discerning the approach that will best bear fruit, we could miss out on a harvest. 

Until the next posting, "occupy until He comes."

 CONFRONTING THE PHARISAICAL MINDSET  
IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 

Christ died for the ungodly, Jesus was compassionate toward sinners, but one particular group he was less than kind to were religious people (like the Pharisees and Sadducees). They depended on something other than the Messiah (Christ), of whom the psalms and the prophets foretold, to save them from their sins, “for they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law."(Rom. 10:3)” “Seeking to make a righteousness of their own”, they replaced God’s way of righteousness with their own moral law and requirements” (Rom. 10:3). This produced pride and arrogance in their own character, rather that the peaceful fruit of righteousness which manifests in those who walk after the Spirit (Heb. 12:11).

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 2:8:3 & 4)

Today, we see this same mindset operating also in secular people, particularly those who adhere to the political left. These modern day people embrace Humanism (“man is the measure of all things”) as a means of righteousness to replace God and his moral code as they established their own. In the name of compassion and acceptance, their code includes acceptance and even promotion of any kind of lifestyle forbidden by Scripture (adultery, gay, worshipping the creation rather than the creator [Rom1], etc). regardless of their conflict with God’s standard as revealed in the Bible. This is endorsed and promulgated by the government through public education, government policies, and “political correctness”. They vehemently oppose all who disagree with them and call them intolerant and haters.

The gospel teaches us that we cannot earn favor with God through our own merit or “righteousness”.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast) (Eph. 2:8&9). "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5)

The substitutionary, sacrificial shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ for our sins is the only work that can make us to be in right standing with God, and assure us salvation and eternal life. Any notion of achieving righteousness before God based on one’s own merit must be confronted with the truth of God’s word. People need to hear that although our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6), "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5 NLT)

The gospel of Christ cuts through all thoughts and imaginations that are not in agreement with itself. As we share the gospel with people, we must be ever aware that IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION and this power is of God Himself. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Go and share the gospel, with confidence, knowing that as you do, the power of God and Jesus Himself accompanies the message that you share and God always backs up His Word.

"And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." (Mark 16:20)