Acts 17:1-4 NLT
Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
*************************************
Once again Paul went where people were expecting to find God. And as always Paul used the Bible. It is the Bible that explains the good news. It is the Bible that reveals who Jesus is to hearts that God is preparing. The Bible told us God would send a rescuing Messiah who would have to suffer and rise from the dead. It's the Bible that proves to the heart that Jesus is the expected chosen one of God.
If you don't read the Bible looking for Jesus you won't understand. If you are not familiar with God's whole story you won't be able to prove to your own heart let alone anyone else that Jesus is the saviour. If you ignore the Bible or are mostly disinterested in God's story you will have nothing important to say, you'll have no way to share the good news about Jesus.
Read your Bible. Understand what it says about Jesus.
Ask yourself, "Do I know what the Bible says about each thing in the list below.
- Messiah
- Prophecies
- Suffer
- Die
- Rise from the dead
Notice that the people of Thessalonica listened, were persuaded and joined.
It is a lot like the account of Lydia's conversion earlier.
We should look for people who God is preparing them by opening their hearts. We should use the Bible to tell them about Jesus. And the key things they should hear are that God had been telling mankind (prophecies) that they needed a saviour /Messiah that he would send who would have to suffer and die and then rise from the dead.
Then we should expect God to work so that some people would listen, be persuaded, and join.
1 comment:
Hi Bill
Just wanted to tell you how much i am appreciating your daily insights since I started reading them a couple of weeks ago. Thanks and keep up the good work.
I guess this is true of all of us from time to time, but it seems that many Christians have no real conviction about what the Bible says on a lot of subjects. We only know what our preacher / pastor tells us it says. And, if we're honest, we all know how poor our retention of most things we hear can be. So, the fact that we get so much 'second hand' and don't really develop our own convictions leaves us pretty poorly equipped to persuade others. You rightly challenge us to 'Read your Bible'
Paul G
Post a Comment