Swimming Upstream
“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.” Acts 28:23-24
The Apostle Paul was in his element, “the natural or fitting environment for a person or thing” (Webster’s Dictionary), when he was preaching the gospel. It was during these times that he was most at peace and joy, that is when he could expound upon the word of God and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many as he could. I can picture him preparing for this preaching opportunity to some of his fellow Jews by first praying for wisdom and insight and then studying the Old Testament passages concerning the prophetic writings that foretold the coming of Christ. We don’t know if he had these scriptures in his possession at this time. Most likely he did not, however, knowing Paul as one of the most committed believers, he would have many of these scriptures memorized, which sets a good example for all believers. One of my former pastors had memorized nearly the entire Bible. He could quote a verse from any book and tell exactly where it was in scripture. Many in America do not value scripture like those in some countries that are closed to the gospel. Scripture memorization is a good practice for several reasons. Verses can come to mind when in discussions with others because it is always goods to have the truth to back up one’s position on any subject. And there’s no better truth than God’s word.
When the day of Paul’s presentation of the gospel came, many of the Jews arrived at Paul’s residence. He preached the gospel to them, supporting his words from Old Testament prophets and from the law of Moses, both references with which the Jews would have been very familiar. He preached all day. (And some of us have trouble sitting through a 30 minute sermon!) I suppose, at the end of the day, he was not really tired but rather energized because he was doing what he loved, what he was meant to do. As has been the case throughout the eons of time that humans have been around, some folks believed the truth and some did not. I have often wondered what percentage of people on earth have believed that Jesus suffered, died on the cross to pay man’s penalty for sin, and was resurrected to new life, receiving that truth, repenting of sin, and living a life of commitment to Christ. My guess would be that the percentage of truly born again believers is fairly low. As believers, we know a lot of other believers by way of family and church, but if we were to be placed in an area outside of our comfort zone where there were few or no churches that preached the gospel and thus few believers, we would be a very small minority. When we see statistics that report that 75 percent or so of Americans call themselves Christians, I find that hard to believe considering how society has sunk so low in morality.
Some of these folks who claim to be Christians do believe that there is a Supreme Being who will judge them for their “good works”, but apparently they believe He will be a rather lenient Judge who will overlook their sin and allow them into heaven. These just might be the folks who have not taken their Bible off the shelf, dusted it off, and read it for themselves. Paul was not the only man of God who grieved for his fellowmen, particularly the Jews, but that concern only gave him incentive to try and reach as many as he could for Christ. We need more people like Paul who are willing to do whatever is necessary to bring the gospel of truth and salvation to the lost world.
And this is where we stand today. All of this talk about social justice, systemic racism, white guilt, riots, protests, marches, packing the court, abortion “rights”, and the politicizing of just about everything will never go away as long as earth remains in its present state. People are more divided now that ever by design. Very few are making sincere attempts to bring people together, a seemingly impossible task. Thus, what is the Christian to do? Wring our hands and give up? No way. This is a great opportunity to give people hope with the gospel. People need Jesus. We need to tell them about His saving grace. Will they listen? Will they believe? Just like in Paul’s day, some will and some will not. The job of the Christian is to share the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do His work of bringing conviction upon the sinner which results in the sinner either accepting the truth about himself or herself or rejecting the only means of salvation. Repentance and belief in Christ is the only hope for a world gone mad.
I ran across a couple of quotes by the Bible commentator Matthew Henry, who wrote over 300 years ago, “When we cannot bring as many as we would for the service of God, we must bring as many as we can, and extend our endeavors to the utmost sphere of our activity: if we cannot reform the land, let us put away iniquity far from our own tabernacle.” He went on to write, “Those that resolve to serve God must not mind being singular in it, nor be drawn by the crowd to forsake His service. Those that are bound for heaven must be willing to swim against the stream, and must not do as the most do, but as the best do”. In other words, don’t be afraid to stand for Christ regardless of what others are doing. Not everyone will accept the gospel, but thank God for those that do.