There have been times in my life, usually during beautiful worship, when God has drawn near, and His presence felt heavy in the room. Have you ever attended a meeting like that? Imagine what it would be like to have that kind of encounter with Jesus present in the flesh:
They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick (Luke 5:17).
When we experience the presence of the Lord in a meeting, we often think, "If only my friend had been there to experience God’s presence; he would have given his life to Christ!” However, people need more than just an experience of God’s presence; they need an understanding of how to connect with God through His Word, as we see when we examine the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. The Scriptures show that people became very open to the Lord when they witnessed God’s power at work. Let's observe what took place during one of Peter's ministry trips:
32As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord (Acts 9:32-35, Emphasis added).
What led the towns of Lydda and Sharon to turn their hearts to the Lord? The miraculous healing of Aeneas convinced them of God’s closeness to His people; however, they still needed the understanding to connect with God on their own. Paul the apostle wrote, “How shall they hear unless a preacher is sent to them” (Romans 10:14). The clearer the explanation of what Jesus accomplished, the greater the chance that an individual will experience a heart change and be born again of the Spirit. Paul emphasized the importance of the Word of God in conversion, as he writes in the passage below:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17).
Peter was the first apostle to publicly preach the Gospel. God bestowed this great honor upon him on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended with tongues of fire upon the disciples' heads, and they spoke in different languages. People heard the Word of God proclaimed in their own tongues, even though they knew these men were "simple country folk," primarily from Galilee. A miraculous event, a loud wind, drew them in, but Peter still needed to make the Word of God known to them. Upon hearing the Gospel clearly, they cried out, "What must we do?" They needed more than just an experience; that experience captured their attention, allowing them to listen to the Word of God. They responded to the message of the Gospel because they were cut to the heart. That is the power of the Word of God.
We may encounter individuals who have become hardened to the Gospel. They might have grown up in church, hearing the Word of God, but for one reason or another, they have positioned themselves against it. A person can become vaccinated by religion with a dose of false truths, keeping them from the reality of Christ. When someone has become apathetic, how can we engage them in conversations about spiritual matters? Depending on how well you know someone, you might begin discussing something that concerns them, which helps you move beyond surface-level conversation. Tomorrow, we will discuss some suggestions for starting conversations. Hopefully, these ideas will inspire approaches to spiritual topics with someone in need and guide them to Christ. Keith Thomas
Check out our video teachings on YouTube at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@keiththomas7/videos
תגובות