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The Truth seemed too good to be true.
It’s always an honour for a guest speaker to be invited back. But to repeat his sermon? That’s rare. When Paul spoke in the synagogue in Antioch at Pisidia, they begged him to come again next week — to preach the same message! How do we account for such a favourable response?
The Roman world was full of Gentiles searching for truth and meaning in life. Many attended synagogues and worshipped the God of Israel. But most stopped short of conversion to Judaism. This required four things: male circumcision, baptism, animal sacrifice and submission to the Law of Moses. In other words, if you want to be saved, you have to proselytise — give up your ethnic and cultural identity and become a Jew like Moses.
That was too much for most seekers. But now, says Paul, they can be saved without becoming Jews. How?
Through [Jesus], forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you (Acts 13:38). By His death, Christ has torn down the wall between Jew and Gentile. Members of every ethnic group can now be saved without becoming Jews, without proselytising.
The Word does the work when we pray and preach.
No wonder Paul’s sermon became the talk of the town. Next Sabbath, almost the whole city was crashing the gates to get in. They listened to the Word. They received the Word. They believed the Word. They glorified the Word. And they spread the Word throughout the region (Acts 13:48-49). Good News goes viral.
Where the Gospel of Jesus is preached and disciples are made, the Church of Christ emerges without fail. The Word does the work when we pray and preach. The apostles said: We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).
The Protestant reformer Martin Luther preached Jesus without the cultural baggage of the Holy Roman Empire. No one was more amazed at the results than he. Looking back on his trial at Worms, he wrote: See how much [God] has been able to accomplish through me, though I did no more than pray and preach. The Word did it all.
For 70 years, Billy Graham prayed and preached Jesus. No rhetoric. No money. No tradition. No controversy. No denominational branding. Hundreds of millions listened. Hundreds of thousands believed. He just gave them the pure Gospel of Jesus.
The Word did it all.
Fast and pray
- Singapore is ripe for harvest. Over 80% are yet to believe in Jesus. Pray for Celebration of Hope 2019. This is not mass evangelism. This is personal evangelism on a mass scale, climaxing in the public proclamation of the Gospel at the National Stadium from 17-19 May. Agree in prayer with Bishop Rennis Ponniah, Celebration of Hope Chairman: There is good news to be shared with everyone. Are you ready to be messengers with ‘beautiful feet and burning lips of love’ to go and tell others that God’s wonderful salvation has come in Christ Jesus? The time has come for us to do so with courage, joy and winsomeness.
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Today and every day, pray for the Church to overcome apathy. May we return to our first love — no longer living for ourselves and no longer preaching ourselves but Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 4:5). Ask for a fresh revelation of Christ’s sacrificial love for sinners. Ask for eyes to see the lostness of the lost. They are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Ask Jesus to overwhelm us with his compassion for the lost. He is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 to track down the stray until he finds it (Luke 15:4).
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Today and every day, pray for pre-believers by name. Start with those at home. Widen the circle to include unsaved families in your block, colleagues at work and friends on campus. Pray for divine appointments. Declare Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim Good News anywhere and everywhere, across all class divides, online and offline. Cry for open heavens. Ask for open hearts, even among the irreligious. Dream big. Expect Good News to go viral. Envision a great homecoming, turning the heart of Singapore Godwards. Ask in faith. Give thanks. Pray for divine favour to mobilise many more to be Gospel messengers with ‘beautiful feet and burning lips of love’.
- Is there a secret to winning souls? What can we learn from Billy Graham, the world’s most famous evangelist? Simply this: Be plugged into the power source via prayer and the Word. His colleague, TW Wilson, called him “the most completely disciplined person I have ever known” … Even under the pressure of travel schedules moving him from city to city, often through many time zones, he strove to study and pray each morning (Christianity Today). Pray. Jesus says: I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Listen. Learn. Live.
Read the devotional from Day 9: Absent Without Leave here.
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