Never Stop Preaching

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

NEVER STOP PREACHING

Acts 14:1-7

14:1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news.

NIV

Why does the truth divide people so much? The truth is the truth, yet some people refuse to listen even when they hear it. Why is it that those who refuse to believe the truth want to poison the minds of others? From this narrative, the Jews who stirred up the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas used an age-old principle of trying to destroy the character of their opponents, to the point of physically harming them. Yet, no matter the situation, Paul and Barnabas continued to speak boldly about the message of grace, and they were enabled to perform miraculous signs and wonders. We wonder if we were to speak the message of grace as boldly as they did, we might be enabled to do miraculous signs and wonders in the presence of those who oppose God's grace. Sure, it is good to spend time with other believers, but we cannot simply hide within the walls of the church, so to speak. Looking out at the sinners with judgmentalism. Sure, Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogues first with the message about Jesus, the grace of God. Some believed, some were stuck in the law of Moses, and opposed their message openly. Of course, we are not going to convince everyone; in fact, we are not supposed to convince them, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are only supposed to tell them the truth about the grace of God. The question is, how can we do that? Where can we interact with unbelievers? Maybe the younger employed believers work with unbelievers and have the daily opportunity to share the message, but what about those who are no longer in the work force, retired, old, and maybe even a bit feeble or sickly? How do they fulfill the great commission of going into all the world and preaching the good news to everyone? What if we stood in some store and just started sharing the good news boldly? Would we be asked to leave? Would they call the police on us? Maybe, just maybe, some would listen, some would believe the message of God's grace. Maybe if we were that bold, we might be enabled to do some miraculous signs or wonders. Who knows, if we never speak up, we will never know. Paul and Barnabas never stopped; they continued to preach the good news. Could we do that? Could we never stop preaching the good news?