Cochrane Alliance Church

I have been encouraged by the number of times we have seen in our recent readings that the people of God have “spoken” to those who are seeking truth, or who are struggling with their faith, or even to those who out and out hate God and His people.  We saw Moses and Aaron speaking forth God’s words to the rulers of Egypt who rejected them at their peril.  But what I would like to focus on is the proclamation of the truth of the Gospel by the spoken word in the Book of Acts, and what the results of those words were.   

In Acts 2, Peter addresses the crowd explaining that the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel and that the resurrection of Christ was spoken of by David many hundreds of years previously.  The crowd was “cut to the heart” and declared, “What shall we do?” In Acts 4, Peter and John were “. . .speaking to the people. . .” and  “. . .were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”  Again, the reaction of the people was that “. . .many who heard the message believed. . .” 

In Acts 7 we read the wonderful speech given by Stephen as he recounted the history of God’s working with His people and how He brought all the pieces together to finally deliver our Saviour into time and space.  This time the crowd had hard hearts and Stephen was stoned to death.

In Acts 8, Philip came alongside the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah the prophet.  “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” Once the eunuch had understood the truth as explained by Philip, he believed and was baptized. 

In Acts 10  “Peter began to speak” to those gathered in Cornelius’ house reminding them again of some of the main events that had recently taken place.  In verses 42 and 44 he says, “(Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.   . . .While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.”  

In Acts 13 Paul, Barnabas, and their companions were actually invited to speak in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.  Paul, like Stephen, began with the history of the children of Israel and, after explaining to the people the good news that what God had promised to the Jewish fathers had been fulfilled through Jesus, we are told that “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”  And so it continues on through Acts where we read of the apostles contending for the truth of the Gospel by starting back in history and tracing God’s dealings with mankind right up to the resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Holy Spirit.  

Friendship evangelism is great and living a holy, righteous life is absolutely necessary because by doing so we honor God and set a powerful example for our community, but there needs to be more.  We mistakenly think that people know the whole truth of the Gospel and have just chosen to ignore it or disbelieve it.  Now that I have read through the book of Acts again I feel a new conviction that it is important for me to verbally explain to those around me the truth of God and his dealings with mankind from a historical position up to the present.   If my listener does not want to accept what I say as truth, that is his decision, but it is incumbent on me to speak up about sin and salvation in order for the Holy Spirit to convict and convince. 

I love I Cor. 1:18-31 where we are reminded that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.