Tuesday, December 15, 2015
For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own
expense. He welcomed all who
visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop
him. Acts 28:30-31 (NLT)
The
last three sentences of the book of Acts are so full of hope and instruction it
virtually leaps off the page with God’s “game plan” for evangelizing the world. There are at least five words that can help
point us in the right pathway for spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ:
Struggle
Paul’s
life following Christ was a battle. At
first the early church wanted nothing to do with Gentiles. Paul was convinced that God was opening the
doors to the entire world, not just the Jews.
Success of the Gospel always means there will be a battle for truth to
triumph over wrong ideas born of selfishness and stubbornness.
Independence
Paul
lived at this stage with no financial support from others. It is axiomatic that worldly success depends
on fundraising, networking and power-brokering.
The Gospel must be independent of personal agenda and indenture to
“fund” outreach and evangelization.
Hospitality
Paul
welcomed everyone; now that is a loaded phrase in our age of dividing the
camps. The apostle probably did not have
anything more than a desire to proclaim Christ without pedigree
consideration. His open acceptance and
defense of the Gentiles witnesses to Paul’s stand on offering Christ to all
people.
At
Rome, the ancient capitol of the empire’s influence, He probably encountered
many people who were pariahs, those who would be unwelcome in a lot of churches
today.
Proclamation
Paul
didn’t waste his breath arguing about small things like we do today in the
church. His concern was spreading the
Good News that Advent had indeed come, and God was willing for all to come into
his presence through Jesus.
And
he did this proclaiming of the Gospel boldly! There was little political correctness about
Paul; neither was there room for a watered-down, hat-in-hand, timid, Mary
Poppins’ spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. Paul didn’t pull punches; he preached the
truth.
Doctrine
Whenever
someone showed interest in the Gospel, Paul’s life immediately became invested
in helping the seeker understand God’s ways.
Doctrine
is part and parcel of Proclamation!
Without doctrine, you can energetically declare something in which you
believe, but it may be flawed and dangerous.
In the same way, in every doctrinal presentation there must be the “preaching”
that appeals to more than the mind; Christ’s message is for the heart too!
For You Today
Out
of struggle and an independent hospitality the church proclaimed a truth
(doctrine) of Jesus Christ – and it is irresistibly true.
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