When I was in high school, I took two years of French. Unfortunately, I can speak VERY little in French and understand much less today. During our second year of French, our very fluent French teacher moved to Asia to teach English as a second language (she spoke numerous languages). The teacher that became the new French instructor was not as fluent in French but did the best she knew to do. In fact, there were times that advanced students (more advanced than the teacher) would ask a question, in order to correct the instruction already given. The teacher was not an expert.
All of us have areas of greater knowledge. For some it is construction, for others it is management or technology, and then for others it is the arts in which they excel. What about the church? Where is the church to be an expert. Are we as disciples, experts of the gospel? Are we striving to become learn the gospel with greater depth than before? Some believers are satisfied to continue on with little understanding of the gospel. They would have to acknowledge that their grasp of the gospel has not grown much since they accepted Christ as their Savior many years ago. In fact, a lack of understanding of the gospel is the main thing they point to for not sharing the gospel with others. They cling to “I would not know what to say,” “I do not know how to get started with giving the gospel,” and “I just do not feel comfortable sharing” as their justifications for mission inactivity. We must become experts of the gospel!
Let’s take a moment and see how Paul shares the gospel with the Jews. Acts 13:14-41 reveals 7 elements of sharing the gospel; however, today, we will only consider 4 elements of sharing the gospel from Acts 13:14-23.
RIGHT TIMING
In Acts 13:14, Paul and Barnabas look for the opportunity to declare the true message, the gospel, to the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia. Antioch is not in Pisidia, but rather is it belonged to Pisidia. So, to make the distinction between Antioch in Syria and this Antioch, the ruling province is declared.
Remember, Paul and Barnabas are on a special mission to the Gentiles. However, this does not sway them from speaking to the Jews. So, they “sat down” in the synagogue.
In my younger years, my dad had taken all of us kids out to buy a present for my mom. When we returned home, my dad gave me the job of keeping mom busy so they could set up a new blender in the kitchen. So, I ran into the bedroom where my mom was resting and she said, “what are you up to?” I replied, “Don’t worry Mom, it’s not a blender!” Ugh. I could not even wait two minutes to reveal the surprise.
Did you notice that Paul and Barnabas wait for the right time to speak the good news? They did not come into that meeting and take it over and nor did they interrupt the reading of the Old Testament scriptures. They were there looking for an opportunity and patiently waiting on the Lord. Church of God, go out this week looking for a gospel opportunity, praying for a gospel opportunity, and wait patiently on the Lord!
DIVINE OPPORTUNITY
A soap manufacturer and a pastor were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap manufacturer casually said, “The Gospel you preach hasn’t done much good, has it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of wicked people, too!”
The pastor made no reply until they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity, the pastor said, “I see that soap hasn’t done much good in the world either; for there is much dirt, and many dirty people around.”
The soap man said, “Oh, well, soap is only useful when it is applied.”
And the pastor said, “Exactly, so it is with the Gospel.”
(Source: 1002 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, Michael Hodgin)
In Acts 13:15, the door opens wide for Paul and Barnabas! The rulers of the synagogue open the floor to anyone to speak with these words, “if ye have any word of exhortation say on.” This is what we refer to as a divine appointment. Paul and Barnabas are looking for a gospel opportunity and the Lord opens the door for them to walk through.
God is opening gospel doors for us, but we have to be willing to walk through the open door. This is our mission, right? The gospel is the shared mission of the church. So, we must pray for divine appointments this week and every week to come. Pray for divine gospel appointments at work, at home, in your neighborhood, and with complete strangers – and point them to Jesus!
UNDERSTAND THE AUDIENCE
In Acts 13:16-22, Paul calls on the men of Israel. This is a reference to the Jews. Paul also calls on all those who fear God to listen to what he is about to say. This would be a reference to the religious proselytes that had not yet been circumcised, but had given up idolatry, and were accustomed to meeting in the synagogue with the Jews. Acknowledging those present, Paul shows he understands who his audience is, and he has gained their attention.
Notice how Paul addressed his audience with their background in mind. So, instead of beginning with, “Jesus is the Messiah,” (which is true, but would have the Jews in a defensive position at the start) he provides a review of their history. Since they are not defensive, they are listening to understand what he says. This brief history lesson allows his Jewish audience to hear how Paul is a strong believer of the holy scriptures. In fact, they just finished reading the holy scriptures. Paul has found genuine common ground. Here is the breakdown of this brief history of the Jews that Paul shares:
13:17—Captive in Egypt and delivered by God
13:18-19— 40 years in the wilderness and the promised land
13:20 – Ruled by judges and then Samuel
13:21-22 – Ruled by kings, like Saul and David
13:23—References the promise of a Messiah
When giving the gospel, be certain to understand your audience. To whom are you speaking? Do they have a church background or are they unchurched? Do they associate with a specific religious group that would help you understand if they could possibly have been exposed to a false gospel? Find the common ground of scripture with the churched people groups and be careful to not assume knowledge with unchurched people groups.
DECLARE CHRIST
Acts 13:23 goes on to reveal that through the family line of David came the promised Savior, Jesus. Peter preached this same truth on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:30. Matthew 1:21 speaks of this Savior with these words,
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
This name, JESUS, is the Hebrew transliteration of the name Old Testament name, Joshua. This name, JESUS, means Jehovah is salvation.
Years ago, I began having allergic responses. At first, my arms and neck broke out into hives. Then, my eyes started to swell shut with more exposures to an allergen. After repeated exposures, and not understanding what was going on, my lips and portions of my face would swell to 4 or more times the normal size. I finally discovered that shellfish was one of the culprits (and I was a waiter at Red Lobster!). So, I removed shellfish from my diet. Then I started taking a fish oil tablet, not realizing that this particular supplement used shellfish. After an allergic response, I realized it was the fish oil tablets. The very next week I had an allergic response that was quite advanced. My wife sat across from me with my EPI Pin asking often if I could still breath (we were quite new to the use of the EPI Pin). After everything settled down, we started tracing my steps back to discover what caused this response. We finally realized that everything pointed back to my wife taking the fish oil tablets – and that I was kissing my wife. So, we traced it all back to shellfish, changed fish oil tablets, and kept on kissing!
We had to trace back the foods and supplements I used to find my root allergen exposure. Paul declares that when you trace the Old Testament prophecies back, you find that they all point to the Savior, Jesus! A promised Messiah, coming from the line of David, and called Jesus. There is no other Savior and no other way to God, but through JESUS!
These are the truths of life and death matters for all eternity!
The church of God must become experts of the true message and learn the gospel well, live the gospel daily, and share the gospel often.