Persuading or Evading?
Pray.
This morning I want to ask you a very simple question. As you live in this world as a child of God and come into
contact with people every day of your life, Are you Persuading or Evading?
Many times throughout the New Testament, the apostle Paul would use the word Persuade referring to sharing
the gospel with lost people. Are you trying to persuade people to accept Christ or are you evading the act of
persuading? Say that three times fast.
As many of us know, the apostle Paul made tents and sold them at times in his life in order to provide for his
needs financially instead of burdening the churches to support him. And I mention that only to tell this horrible joke,
A man kept having this reocurring dream. Night after night after night. One night he would dream that he was a
wig wam. The next night, he would dream that he was a teepee, and those dreams alternated like that for weeks,
one night he was a wig wam, the next night he was a tee pee. So he went to see a psychiatrist.
He said doctor, what do you think of these dreams I've been having? To which the doctor said, I think I know your
problem, You're too tence. (sounds like too tents). Horrible I know.
If you have your Bible's with you , open them to the book of Romans and look at chapter 8 verses 38-39 with me.
The apostle Paul begins that verse there in verse 38 by first stating, for I AM PERSUADED...........
So the first thing that must occur before you can persuade another person to Christ is first be persuaded yourself.
Paul is saying in those two verses that I know without a shadow of a doubt, nothing can separate me from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. A wonderful verse that certainly lets every believer KNOW that they
cannot lose their salvation. But that is another sermon for another day.
Today I want us to focus on the word persuaded. Paul is persuaded, Paul is so sure about what he is saying
here, how? Because of his own life experiences. Paul was beaten several times, Paul was stoned and left for dead,
Paul was shipwrecked on different occassions, Paul was robbed and stripped of his clothing several times. Paul
battled false teachers daily within the churches that God used him to plant. Paul was imprisoned several different
times in his life.
And through all of that, through every life experience Paul was persuaded of this one fact, That God never left
him and that God never stopped loving him. At the whipping post, God loved Him. Shipwrecked, wading in the
water, God loved him. Lying, near death after being stoned, God loved him. Lying beaten and naked in the street,
God loved him, Sitting shackled by chains in a dark, dreary dungeon, Paul knew God loved him.
Nobody was going to tell Paul that God abondened him. Nobody was going to convince Paul that God stopped
loving him. Paul said, God allowed all of those difficult times in my life for various reasons, to which he explains
throughout His NT writings, but here Paul is stating, through it all, God never stopped loving me nor will He ever
stop loving me. And nobdody will convince me to the contrary.
Life experiences played a huge role in Paul's development as a servant of Christ.
Many people ask the question today, why do bad things happen to good people? Paul , I think we would all agree,
was a good person, from a human stand point, not God's. But we would all say Paul was a good guy, a man doing
his best to serve the Lord, so why would God allow all of these hardships to occur in his life?
For the same reason God allows them into your life. My Bible says, God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So we must understand this about God, He is not improving his techniques. God's first attempt at something is
always perfect and never needs improving. How God dealt with Paul was perfect and it is no different today.
God will allow us to experience things in our lives to reveal Himself more real to us. I can preach to you about the
eternal, inseparable love of God, BUT until you EXPERIENCE it, you'll never understand it.
I can preach to you about God's Mercy and Grace till I'm blue in the face BUT until you EXPERIENCE it, you'll
never understand it. If you notice in the Bible, you'll never find an angel witnessing or trying to persuade another
person to accept Christ, Why? Because they have never EXPERIENCED salvation therefore they do not understand
it. An angel can't tell you how wonderful it was and how much Jesus changed their life for the better.
You may have experienced something very horrible in your life. You may be enduring some type of hardship now,
whether it be an illness, job loss, maybe a wayward son or daughter, etc. But understand this, God did, or God is
allowing it for a reason.
I know, personally that I have endured a few rough times in my life. But those experiences that God allowed me
to endure make it possible for me to help others that may be enduring the same things that I experienced.
It's difficult for me to counsel an alcoholic. Because I never had an addiction to alcohol. Yes, I can give them
God's Word concerning alcohol consumption, but I cannot truly understand what the alcoholic is going through, where
maybe you could. The body of Christ is made up of a vast amount of people with a vast amount of varying life
experiences.
There are many things that I cannot relate to people with, But possibly you can. Use those difficult times to
persuade others. Tell them what God did for you during those difficult times. Tell them how God wrapped His
loving arms around you and then walked you through the storm hand and hand. Tell them how God lifted you up
when you were down.
It's quite possible that you could use one of the darkest times in your life to lead another person or persuade
them to accept Christ as their Savior. Nothing relates to other people like life experiences. Show that God is real.
That He's not some mystical being in the sky that is oblivious to mankind. Tell people that our God is very alive
and working in the lives of His children.
Paul was FULLY PERSUADED concerning the love of God because of his life experiences. Nobody could
tell him otherwise. How about you here this morning? Are you fully persuaded concerning Jesus Christ?
Paul wrote in Romans 14:5b , Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Every word in the Bible was
given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore every word is important. Paul here says, Let every
man be FULLY persuaded in his OWN mind.
The word fully there is key. Notice Paul didn't say, be partially persuaded. Partial persuasion is rejection. Partial
persuasion obtains hell after life. Paul said you must be FULLY persuaded in your OWN mind, concerning Jesus.
Are you fully persuaded in your way of thinking towards Jesus? Obviously it begins with salvation, but
Christian, beyond that, are you FULLY persuaded ?
Many people claim that they believe in Jesus but they don't believe that He was virgin born. Many people believe
in Jesus but they don't believe in the flood of Noah. Many people believe in Jesus but they don't believe people lived
to be 900 years old in Genesis. Many believe in Jesus but they don't believe the Red Sea split open.
Folks if you believe like that you are not FULLY persuaded in your own mind.
Now, the question will come up, What if I believe that Jesus died for my sins and I have accepted that sacrifice, but
I don't believe in Noah's flood, am I still saved? To which I say NO. You cannot pick and choose which parts of the
Bible to believe in. That is not being FULLY persuaded in your own mind. That is partial persuasion.
We're told in the Bible that every word in the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, to say
that you don't believe part of it, is to call God a liar. Yes you must accept Jesus as your Savior, but you must accept
every part of God's word as well. To which I will elaborate, In John 1:1 we read, In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. That verse is speaking about and describing Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Word of God that became flesh. Your faith in Jesus goes beyond what He did on the cross. You
must have 100 percent faith in the Word of God, which entails Jesus' sacrifice as well as everything associated
with Jesus, which is the entire Word of God. You cannot believe that His Sacrificial blood cleansed you from your
sins and reject the fact that Jesus walked on water and say that you are saved. Today we hold the written mind of
God in our hands. Jesus was the word of God in the flesh. FULLY persuaded. FULLY.
You will only endorse what You , yourself FULLY believe in. Many people do not witness or persuade others to
accept Christ as their Savior because they, themselves are not FULLY persuaded. They doubt certain areas of
the Scriptures. So until you Fully accept God's Word as the authority in your life, you will not point others to do so
either. Thus, you will do more EVADING than PERSUADING. So it's quite possible that someone here today,
does more evading than persuading because they, themselves are not FULLY persuaded.
Paul was FULLY PERSUADED therefore, he did much persuading. Analyze this area of your Christian walk and
ask yourself right now, Am I fully persuaded?
Because if you're not, every area of your walk with Jesus is being hindered. Maybe you're listening to this and
you say, I am fully persuaded concerning Jesus and God's Word and that 's wonderful. But are you?
Do you believe God when He talks to you about your money? Many Christians are not Fully persuaded concerning
their giving financially to God. They hold back because they are not FULLY persuaded that God will bless them
accordingly, so they steal from God weekly.
Many are not fully persuaded that God will bless them for their obedience to Him, so they live disobediently.
Many Christians will not pick up their Bible's and study them or speak to God in prayer as often as they should
because they are not FULLY persuaded to do so. They do not fully take God at His Word.
LET ME make this Crystal Clear so nobody is confused on what I'm saying. I stated earlier that you cannot
be truly saved and not believe every word of God's Holy Word. BUT you can be saved even though you do not
follow it. You can say, YES, I 100 percent believe and I am fully Persuaded that every word in that book is true,
but I'm just not living accordingly. That is simply living in disobedience to God and you are grieving the Holy
Spirit that God placed within you. When you don't believe every word in the Bible you are calling God a liar and
that is blaspheming the Holy Spirit because according to 2 Timothy 3:16, He authored the Bible and that is the
unpardonable sin. And the Bible clearly says, Liars will not inherit eternal life, and that is the lie to which that verse
speaks about. But believing and not applying is not blasphemy, it is simply disobedience.
So, Understand this as I close. Partial Persuasion concerning Jesus' sacrifice and shed blood on the cross will
NOT get you to heaven. Partial belief in God's Holy Word will not get you to heaven.
And Christian, Partial Persuasion concerning God's Word in your life, and applying His principles to it
will NOT cause you to lose that eternal
life that He gave you at the moment of your salvation, but it will STOP you from receiving God's blessings in your
life. God does not give out Partial Blessings to Partially Persuaded Christians. Just like there is not a Partial
Heaven or a Partial Hell. To enter into God's Glory, you must be Fully Persuaded. To enter into an eternal lake
of fire is anything less.
Where are you at with all this? Maybe God has spoke to you this morning concerning a certain area of your
life this morning. Maybe it's salvation. Maybe it's about being a more obedient servant of Jesus. Maybe it's
concerning your financial giving. Maybe it's about your duty to share the gospel with others. Whatever it is
be obedient and be FULLY persuaded to God's call in your life.
I had a man tell me one time, half an apple is better than no apple to which I said, but why settle for half an apple
when you could of had the entire apple. Folks, God has got so much more life out there for you to enjoy but too
many of us settle for half an apple because of our partial persuasion concerning His Word in our lives. Yes we
believe it to be true BUT many of us fail to live FULLY persuaded in every area of our lives. And until you decide
to surrender your life to His Will and His purpose, get used to eating half an apple.
Let's Pray.
