“Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you… Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!… Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 24:25, 26:24,28
Paul testified before two governors and one king. He got a reaction out of all three. Felix got scared, Festus told Paul he was a mad man and King Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a Christian. The scriptures do not tell us if any of these men were persuaded to the point that they become a Christian, but one thing is clear, Paul preached with authority and power. We believers don’t save souls, we preach to them. We must preach to get a reaction. Not by irritating people so they finally shout back in anger, but with genuine Holy Ghost authority. You cannot do this unless you are filled with the Spirit. We don’t need evangelism techniques and outreaches, we need believers to be filled with the Spirit.
“And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.” Acts 22:18
We all know that the Lord allows us to go through many trials to perfect us, but don’t forget that He also leads us totally out of and away from trials too. Probably more times than we ever realize.
“And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” Ez. 11:5
Just as each of us need the blood of Christ to wash our sins away, we need the word of God to wash our thoughts away.
“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:26-27
Paul was pure from the blood of all men. The main reason is that he preached the whole counsel of God. The ear tickling preachers of our day, who preach what the people want to hear, are not be able to say that they are pure from the blood of men. To bring this to a more personal level, do you believe and live the whole counsel of God. Do you believe the whole bible? Do you believe it is all for today? You may believe a good portion of it, but that is not sufficient, you must believe, live and preach the WHOLE counsel of God.
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Col. 1:13
Christians can fall into having secret sin. Secret sin is something that is done very privately and has become very hard to get the victory over it. One of the reasons there may be a struggle with secret sin is because a believer’s faith can waver at times. They can forget that our Heavenly Father has delivered them from the power of darkness. They can begin to doubt that He continues to deliver them from the power of darkness. If you are one that is struggling with secret sin, rise up in faith again, repent and believe God for that power to deliver you.
“Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.” Jg. 14:8
This is what Caleb said about the ten spies who gave a bad report. Many in the church blame the prophet or preacher for Christians getting discouraged. They claim the ministers need to be more loving and not say such hard things. However, they are not the ones who cause Christians hearts to melt, it is those who act out in unbelief.
“That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:” Acts 17:27
This is a strange phrase, “they might feel after Him.” The four words, “they might feel after” come from one Greek word which means to manipulate, verify by contact and search for. What Paul is preaching here is contrary to much of what the church offers as salvation. Paul doesn’t say, “repeat this prayer after me.” He is saying that salvation comes to those who truly seek Him out. Those who do not rest until they have a verification that they have touched God. Salvation indeed is a free gift, but that doesn’t mean that it is flippantly distributed like flyers from a politician. Salvation is for all who seek it out, or I should say, Seek Him out.
“And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Lk. 14:23
The Jews were invited to the supper, but they had other things to do that were more important. Then the poor, maimed, lame and blind (Gentiles) were invited to the supper, and yet there was more room. Then it comes down to our generation where there is one more call to the highways and hedges. Highway means road, it means to progress. So we see in this day how the world has progressed toward sin. It is getting more evil every day. Hedges means fence or barrier. Today we are seeing more people bound by sin, by their mind and false religion. God is sending His Spirit in this day to reach down into the lowest gutter and deepest filth and calling out to them who today can stop walking the road of sin and break free from their chains of bondage. HALLELUJAH!