SPEAK CLEARLY
Recently, my wife and I purchased a new cordless phone. We had trouble with hearing on the old one we had. So we bought a new one that was supposed to be state of the art. It’s the newest and the greatest.
We got it home only to find that on occasions people on the other end could not hear us clearly.
This is so true in life with how we tell others about Christ.
We may be willing to share with others, but sometimes we may not SPEAK CLEARLY.
We have something very important to say that can help them with whatever is going on in their life.
But we are not sure if we are able to say everything that needs to be said.
This has always been a common problem for Christians.
Text: Acts 17:1 thru 5
By looking at these verses, we can see that what we have to say about Christ can be very important.
The response to what people hear us say can go either way.
We see there were a lot of devout Greek people and a few of the leading women who were persuaded by what Paul had to say.
This was not an easy task for the Apostle Paul. He was not a Greek. He had nothing in common with the people he was talking to. Paul was
Paul was –
• A square peg in a round hole.
• A single minded and a single god Jew in the middle of a lot of very liberal Greeks who were used to there being many gods to worship.
• A man who hated idol worship talking to pagan Greeks who had idols on every street corner for everyone to worship.
The Greek people often thought of themselves as being superior to everyone else. Especially the Jews.
None of this kept Paul from telling others about Christ. He just opened his mouth and started preaching.
Paul was influential with the Greeks because of several reasons.
But one of them was because he was such a great communicator.
Paul was not intimidated with the intellect or the prominence of the Greek people.
Paul knew what the Greek people thought of him, and it didn’t slow him down for a minute.
Paul spoke with confidence in what he believed and lived by.
What is interesting about this story is that Paul succeeded with the Greeks, but not with his own people.
Verse 5 says - the Jews were not persuaded. There was quite a ruckus started and caused some problems.
As a result, Paul was sent down to Berea to minister in the synagogue there. There, Paul was received a little better. In fact look at verse 11.
Apparently, these Jews were very impressed with what Paul had to say.
You just never know what God’s going to do when you let Him control your life. It can be a mixed bag of emotions for you when you serve Him.
Any preacher would like to pastor that church in Berea. Folks are eager to hear what the preacher has to say.
But he better know what he’s talking about because those folks are going to search the scriptures everyday just to see if what he is saying is of God.
When you share a word from God with people around you at work, or your family or friends…do they search the scriptures to see if what you are saying is true or not?
The fact of the matter is there is a lot of spiritual junk being passed around by some questionable preachers.
You need to know who you can trust and who you can’t.
Don’t pick out a few preachers to be your favorites, and hope they are telling you God’s Truth.
I don’t want you to believe me, I want you to believe only in God’s Word. The Word is your guide.
There’s not a preacher out there who is worthy to be your spiritual guide.
The folks in Berea didn’t take Paul’s word for it.
And there were lot’s people that came to hear him.
Paul was a great preacher only because he caused people to go and search out the scriptures daily.
Likewise in your place in life, you are a great preacher also. As long as the people you talk to are eager to hear what you have to say about the gospel, and will study their Bible.
Well specifically how did Paul do it?
1. He got their attention. Cp. Verse 22. He said, “Here is what I notice about you folks…” He didn’t tell them anything about themselves that they didn’t already know.
2. He used relevant illustrations. Cp. Verse 23. You got these idols in your life that mean a lot to you. I have seen what your life is all about. But the God I know is far greater than anything you have ever known.
3. He made understanding God very easy. Cp. Verses 24 thru 27. This is a simple means of giving glorify to God. This is so that others can see how important it is to make ourselves totally accountable to the Lord.
4. He made loving God a very personal/intimate thing to do. Cp. Verse 27(b) and 28. To Paul, God was not some far away inanimate object that did not care about those who worshipped Him.
5. He told them what they should do and what they shouldn’t do. Cp. Verse 29. Paul had to declare sound theological doctrine to give them the instruction they needed. This was the ground work for the more important issues.
6. He told them the story of redemption. Cp. Verse 30 and 31. This is what the people had to surrender their lives to in order to experience salvation and be saved from their sins.
7. He accepted the fact that some would believe and some would not. Cp. Verse 32. To this day, the response of the people is still the same.
The nature of man has not changed since Acts 17.
What will we do to make the difference?
1. Prepare our hearts with God.
2. Be kind and considerate to those we speak to.
3. Wait and be ready for the right moment that God has planned to use you.
4. Study hard.
5. Pray hard.
6. Deliver the plan of salvation with clarity and simplicity.
