KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 19:3 “And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.”

Apostle Paul encountered the brethren of Ephesus and started to ask them certain questions. He asks very fundamental questions about their faith. Apostle Paul did not want to make any assumption about the brethren in Ephesus.

  ‘Questions, and especially the right questions, ‘create doors in blank walls for access.  Apostle Paul did not know the spiritual level of these brethren, and the best way to be of proper help to them was to know what they knew. Every worker in the Gospel, among every new set of brethren, must employ this approach. In cases when you have been informed about what the brethren knew, don’t hesitate to probe further into their spiritual state.

With these approaches in mind, one may also seek from the Holy Spirit the true spiritual state of the brethren. The Spirit remains a guide, teacher, and revealer of mysteries. The underlying point to all these things is a sincere love for the brethren and a true desire to help them to the best of your ability.

   In Acts 19:3, Apostle Paul asked them about the kind of baptism they had.  These brethren said they were baptised into John’s baptism. Now, considering their first answer about the Holy Spirit and their response about their type of baptism, we could easily conclude that those who introduced them to the Christian faith were probably John’s disciples who had not associated with Jesus’ apostles. These brethren might have gone about talking about Jesus and so won some souls. They had very little knowledge about the doctrines of Christ.

These developments found in this passage are rather interesting but have a lot to teach us. There are many people who profess to be Christians but do not have the right fundamental teaching of the Christian faith. When certain individuals visit our churches claiming to be Christians, we must not be hasty to fully inculcate them into the main church stream. It would be very proper to take them through a foundational programme so that every wrong teaching and concept that they might have would be corrected. In our passage, these men talked about being baptised according to John the Baptist’s baptism. These brethren might not be Christians in the first place since every Christian was to be baptised in Jesus’ name. Apostle Paul would have made a big mistake to assume that they were knowledgeable Christians and had gone ahead to start teaching them the higher doctrines of Christ.

 PRAYER

 Dear Father, grant us divine wisdom to be able to ask the right questions all the time. Help us to be able to discern the true spiritual state of all those that we have to deal with. May our impact be very fruitful in Jesus’ name.

 FURTHER STUDIES

 Titus 1:9 “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

Titus 2:1 “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 19:2 “He said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost”.

  Apostle Paul asked the brethren in Ephesus whether they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed, and they answered, “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost”.

   Please note that the term Ghost is an old English word for Spirit. It has nothing to do with the Spirit of a dead person. The answers from the brethren in Ephesus were quite alarming since the church of God was birthed by the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Although this is quite alarming, many Christians, although they claim to know about the Holy Spirit, do not know him in reality. One act that reveals that some Christians don’t know Him is the way people command him to do things for them, like an errand boy. The approach has no reverence, and no wonder His influence is not seen and realised. We could address Him as the dear Holy Spirit, and then the request may follow. Most of us just say Holy Ghost does such and such for me. The Lord calls Him my father, who lives in me (John 14:10)

   Who is the Holy Spirit?  The Holy Spirit is God. (1st Corinthians 3:16) Acts 5:3-4 reads “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hath thou conceived this in thy heart? Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.” Peter says the Holy Spirit is God. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with God. (1st Corinthians 3:16) In John 16:7, the Lord introduced Him as our comforter, that is, our helper, counsellor, advocate, stand-by, guide, strengthener, and intercessor.

 If you acknowledged him as God, then you would fear and reverence him. Benny Hinn, a world-renowned healing evangelist, says the Holy Spirit is Christ Jesus’ unlimited. The Lord Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Jesus in person was limited to ministering only at one place at a time, but with the coming of the Holy 6 same Spirit, working in the disciples could do the same work throughout the world.

The following is from Kelvin J. Corner’s book titled the foundation of Christian Doctrine page 71 “The Holy Spirit is the third divine person of the eternal Godhead, coequal, coeternal and coexistent with the Father and the Son in His ministry to convict and convert men, as well as to reveal the Son and the Father to the believer.”

 The Holy Spirit is living in you. He is the God of the universe. Relate with him as such and admit His power over every challenge that comes against you.

PRAYER

Thank you, heavenly Father, for giving me your Holy Spirit, by whom I am empowered like my Lord Jesus Christ to reach out to men and bless them like he did.

FURTHER STUDY:

John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”.

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”

 KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 3:3 “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”

 Apostle Paul described the brethren in Corinth as carnal or fleshly Christians.  These people were born again, but they were controlled by their senses and not the power of the divine life. There is a divine life in every child of God, and this divine life leads the Christian when he or she is controlled by God’s word. The Holy Spirit’s power in this life. He must rule or control us

 A Christian is not a mere man. He is not a natural or ordinary human. He is a supernatural person. Christianity is not just observing certain doctrines, but a manifestation of the supernatural life of God in a man. The Christian is a son of God according to John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.” If you have believed in the name of Jesus, you are a son of God. What does it mean to be a son of God? In John 10:29-33, after Jesus had said, God was his father or the Son of God, the Jews took up stones to stone him. This was what they said in John 10:33″ The Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, maketh thyself God.” The Lord said he was the Son of God, and the Jews also understood that by calling himself the Son of God, He was making himself God.

As sons of God, we are not ordinary mortals. We are one with God who gave birth to us by His word. 1st Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. ” You have been born by the word of God, and so you are a divine person and must live by the word of God, and that is the only thing that must control you. You must not live to strive with one another over men of God or any carnal thing. 1 Corinthians 3:21 “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours”;

 It is very miserable for a Christian to live like other humans. When the Christian lives by what he feels, sees, thinks, tastes, or hears, he cannot be controlled by the divine life. If the Christian accepts that he is a sinner, helpless at the power of demons, and that the devils can easily inflict sicknesses on him, then he has chosen to live an ordinary human life.

Romans 8:9 says, “but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” You are not in the flesh and must not be controlled by the flesh. You are in the Spirit and must be controlled by the word. The word says you are the righteousness of God. Accept it and live like one. You are the healed of the Lord, and stop calling some sicknesses your sickness. Jesus took all those sicknesses in his passion. Agree with the word and accept that you are healed. THE LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN IS WHAT OUR LORD JESUS LED AND SHOWED TO US.

 CONFESSION

Thank you, heavenly father, that you gave birth to me by your infallible word. I have your life in me, and it has made me a partaker of the divine nature. I live a higher life, manifesting holiness, wisdom, peace, and dominion in Jesus’ name.

FURTHER STUDY:

Romans 8:7-8” Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So, then they that are in the flesh cannot please God”.

2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 19:1 “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,”

Apostle Paul had a great ministry in Corinth but left for Ephesus to continue with the work. Paul left the work at Corinth for Apollos to continue.

Paul’s letter to them shows the happenings in the Corinthian church after Apostle Paul had left Corinth. Although he was not physically present, he communicated with them through writing. He kept following up on them. He wrote the following to them in 1st Corinthians 3:1-3: “And I brethren could not speak unto you as spiritual but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal, for where there is among you envying, and strife and divisions are ye not carnal, and walk as men.” 

   I believe Apostle Paul wrote this letter with a lot of pain in his heart. He had spent a long period teaching these people, expecting them to understand the realities of the divine life, but they didn’t. These people were still living as mere men. He described them as… “and ye walk as mere men.”  He called them babies who could not take meat but milk. Please, milk, we know, is taken by babies who do no work. Taking milk, therefore, means doing nothing with the word of God you hear. Sadly, many children of God are also taking milk. So long as you are not applying the word of God you hear, you are a milk drinker, and therefore, you are a baby.

   Apostle Paul says further that because they refused to apply the scriptures, it manifested in their behaviour. There were divisions, strife and envy in their midst. Some of them started saying, “I belong to Paul,” and others claimed they are for Apollos.  In our modern era, some Christians claim we are the best church. Others say we have the greatest number, and we have the best pastor.  In 1st Corinthians 3:5, Apostle Paul said, “Who then is Paul, who then is Apollos but ministers (servants) by whom ye believed as the Lord gave to every man.”

   We pastors, prophets, or evangelists are ministers, “one who ran errands” or servants of God, used by God. No one must be divided because he belongs to man of God A or man of God B. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT AN ASSOCIATION TO ANY CHURCH BUT A COMMITMENT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGH HIS CHURCH.

PRAYER

Father, I pray for all children of God to be yielded to the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ, and do those things that bring glory to His name.

FURTHER STUDY:

 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 ” I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So, then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase”.

Hebrews 5:12 “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:11 “And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them”.

Apostle Paul’s life has many lessons for the modern-day Christian. After the Lord told him to keep preaching in the city of Corinth, Paul quickly changed his mind about speaking to the Jews any longer. He stayed in Corinth for one year and six months.

Paul was completely given to the work of God.  He chose not to marry so he could be more effective in the Lord’s work. In 1st Corinthians 9:5, He says, “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? He said he had the power to marry a wife like the other apostles, but he did not, for the sake of the work.  How could he have been moving easily from one place to another if he had a family? The church and its leaders must be very cautious about the way we seek to push upcoming youth into marriage. As much as marriage is very important and some would have to marry so they do not burn, there would still be some who would be like Paul and would be able to achieve a lot for the Lord.

The following is what Paul says concerning those who may be married. 1st Corinthians 7:32,33 “But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world how he may please his wife”. Apostle Paul was given to pleasing his master and Saviour. He did not want any divided attention, and as he says in the later part of verse 35  “that ye may attend to the Lord without distraction”

Not all children of God are called to be married.  Some would definitely be given solely to God and his work.  Many too would have to marry.  The church must promote both views, giving the youth both options. After all, life is not about what we achieve physically, but ultimately how we please the Lord. This is the kind of consciousness that we must give to the church body. It is rather unfortunate that most of us Christians are earth-conscious and are rather fleshly minded.  We should be heavenly-minded and earthly beneficial as well.

In Acts 18:14, Apostle Paul was arrested by some Jews who brought him to Gallio, the deputy of Achaia, to judge him. They complained about Paul changing their way of worship from the law to God’s grace. Gallio said he would have nothing to say about their religion. Note: The deputy set him free. At this point, it was not time for him to be arrested. God, our father, holds the right to whatever happens to us, depending on how we relate to his word.  Do not be afraid.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, enlighten the church body to learn to place you first in all things. Deliver the church from the subtlety of the worldly spirit. May the church make Jesus Lord indeed and not play lip Lordship.

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 19:12 “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it”.

Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:8 “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized”.

  Apostle Paul kept preaching in Corinth and achieved some success. In verse 6, although some of the Jews opposed Paul, our key scripture tells us that some of them got converted. Never back out of your evangelistic missions or outreaches when people oppose you. God’s word and power supersede all and will definitely prevail. The chief ruler of the synagogue and his household were saved. A great number of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised. You will achieve success as a master if you don’t give up.

   In verse 6, Apostle Paul shook his raiment and said unto the Jews who opposed him that he was free of their blood and decided to go solely to the Gentiles from then. He said that he had preached to the Jews and that he was free from their blood. Are you free of the blood of all men?

In Ezekiel 33:2-6, the Lord declares that when we fail to warn the sinner of his ways and he dies in his sin, God will require his blood from us. What does it mean for one’s blood to be required of you? Let’s look at 2nd Samuel 4:11″………

Shall I not now, therefore, require blood from your hand and take you away from the earth?” The word of God shows by this scripture that if you fail to warn a sinner of his or her ways and he or she dies in his sin, your life will be given for him or her.

This is very serious, and we must not shut our mouths from sharing the word with others.

 In Acts 18:9, the Lord spoke to apostle Paul in a night vision, saying, “……be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace.” Paul had earlier said that he was no longer going to speak to the Jews but to the Gentiles. The Lord said unto him not to hold his peace and that he was with him. Please, dear child of God, don’t stop your work of ministering to others about Jesus. This is the LORD’s business. He would have done so if he were here in person. Ministering to people is His prime occupation, so don’t hold your peace. If you are saved and you are not involved in ministering to the lost, then you have not enlisted in the Lord’s fundamental call for His children. You are not laying down treasures in the kingdom of heaven for your soul.

  In the message of the Lord to Paul, he assured him that he was with him. This should be a refreshing reminder to every child of God involved in the work of God. God is forever with you. He promised he would never leave you nor forsake you. Matt. 28;19&20

CONFESSION

I would not stop sharing the word of God with the lost. The Lord is forever with me. As I go about sharing the word to others, He speaks through me.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

 Matthew 10:27 “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:4 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”

Apostle Paul left Athens for Corinth. At Corinth, Paul continued with his life purpose. That is to project our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear reader, our life mission is to project the Lord Jesus to our world. He is the reason we are alive today. Men must know that he is the answer. This is exactly what Paul did.

Paul reasoned with the Jews and the Greeks, persuading them that Jesus was the Christ. The Jews were expecting a Messiah or a Saviour in the form of a king like David who would deliver them physically from the gentile world, that is, the Roman rule.

They could not bring themselves to accept that this Saviour would have to die to save them. The Lord Jesus, talking to the Jews, spoke in John 5: 39″ Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me”. The law and the Prophets all testified of him, yet these Jews never accepted him as the Messiah.  Isaiah 53:1 says, “Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Isaiah continued to prophecy about the sufferings of Christ and even said Jesus would be despised and would not be esteemed. (Isaiah 53:3b).

These were some of the scriptures Paul came to know through the Holy Spirit. This was why he kept reasoning and persuading the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

The Jews had a wrong understanding of Jesus. Our world today also has the wrong concept of Jesus.  The world has different pictures or views of Jesus. One view they have of him is through the religious mind. He is seen as one of the teachers of these religions. Others also see him through the life of false men of God, whose god is their belly and their glory is in their shame. They see Him as a money-making organisation. (Philippians 3:18). Others also see him through the teachings of philosophers whose teaching is purely vain deceit proceeding from the traditions of men and the rudiments of the science of this world. (Col 2:8)

 The answers to the confusion of our world are in the bible. We must present the Lord Jesus relentlessly, reasoning with men as Paul did. God’s word is truth. We have to present the true Jesus to our world. The true Jesus is loving, powerful, healing, humble, transforming, and will bring peace to the heart of any man who welcomes Him.

 PRAYER

O heavenly father! help us that as we talk about our Lord Jesus to people, the Holy Spirit would reveal Him to our world. In Jesus’ name, I have prayed.

FURTHER STUDY

John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”.

John 8:31-32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 17:23 “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you”.

Read Acts 17:22-34

In our passage, Acts 17: 22-34, Apostle Paul preached to the people of the city of Athens. His preaching gives us a lot to learn about in communicating the Gospel to certain groups of people.       Apostle Paul addressed them first as superstitious. (Superstition is to believe in mystical things that are not necessarily factual.) people. This was a way to get them to listen to him, since that word was to provoke them to know what he had to say afterwards.

Apostle Paul was not going to major on their worship of many gods; he quickly switched over to an inscription about the unknown God. Paul drew their attention but did not say anything further that would annoy them. Paul then referred to the God of creation, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In sharing the Gospel, do not spend too much time on other matters, but quickly stay on course with the word of God. He said you ignorantly worshipped him and that Paul had come to declare him unto them, implying he had also come to show them the right way to worship him.

   Apostle Paul unfolds who this God is. He says he is the creator of all things and that he does not dwell in temples made with human hands.  This point was very important and also peculiar to them since they were very idolatrous. Always make your message relevant to your audience such that they can easily relate to it.

 In verse 27, Paul declares it is right that they seek after this God who has made himself available. He added that even their poets had said “in him, we move, live, and have our being”. In verse 29, after saying we are all offspring of this God, he added that this God is not like unto gold, silver, stone, or any graven art proceeding from men.

 Apostle Paul then calls on them to repent, after which he introduces the Lord Jesus as God’s appointed Judge for all men on a day he has appointed. Paul also established that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead to confirm that He is the one appointed. The bible said at this point, some mocked, and others said we would hear him at a later time. The good news is that some of them believed and cleaved to him. In sharing the word to some people, some would openly reject; others would reflect on it, and there would be some who would believe. The important thing is that the message would have gone forth, giving the Holy Spirit something to work with in the hearts of men.

PRAYER

Father, I pray for a revival of cutting-edge evangelistic messages that would bring many who oppose the gospel to be converted to Christ.

FURTHER STUDY.

 Mark 4:14 The sower soweth the word.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 17:18 “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.”

In our previous study, we looked at the first group of philosophers, that is the Epicureans whom Paul encountered. The second group of philosophers are the Stoics.

Most of these philosophies are doctrines taught by People who have been deceived by the devil” Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1st Timothy 4:1). The idea is given to one person who goes about teaching others.

The doctrine of the Stoics was taught by a man called Zeno. They believed the universe was created by Ò, that all things were fixed by fate, believing that God was also restricted to the influence of fate. They believed passions and affections were to be suppressed and that happiness was due to the insensitivity of the soul to pain. These were people who became naturally tough in the view of life.

  When Apostle Paul went to discuss the scriptures with these people, they made the following expression: “What will this babbler say?”  The word babbler suggests the idea of ‘one who collects seeds’, and the Greek used such a word for the poor person who collected grains in the fields after the main harvest had been done. This was an insulting word. Apostle Paul was too mature to even consider such insults. He knew they were lost, and it was just normal for them to speak and act wrongly. Everyone involved in sharing the word must accept that the sinner is not cultured in the way of righteousness and has the potential to say or do anything wrong or vile.

 In our modern world, secularism has given birth to all sorts of world views or mindsets. Some think and claim they don’t accept any religion but believe in God. Some claim there is no God at all. Others blatantly attack the bible, and some even claim the Lord Jesus never existed.  All these mindsets are views carried by individuals deceived by the devil (Revelation 12:9).

 As we discussed in our last study, it is the Holy Spirit who communicates to the spirit of men. He can use just one word to arrest the spirit of a man.  He can also reveal Jesus Christ in person to them.   What initiates the process is sharing the word in the power of the Spirit.

  How can the word be shared or given in the power of the Spirit?

1) It must be shared out of love. Love gives access to the Spirit to reach out to the person in question.

2) The word must be shared in Faith. You must trust the Holy Spirit to get across to them and win them for Jesus.

3) Lastly, share the word in hope; This is sharing with an expectation that the Spirit of God would one day use the word you shared to bring them to a decision. There have been people who were saved many days or years after reflecting on the word shared.

Every child of God must be fully or truly settled in his heart concerning the authenticity of the bible and should not allow himself to drift from the word of God in communicating the truth to them.

PRAYER

Father, I pray for as many as the God of this world has blinded their minds from the knowledge of the truth that they would receive the gift of salvation, in Jesus’ name I have prayed. Amen

FURTHER STUDY:  

  1 Corinthians 2:1” And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God”.

1 Corinthians 1:23 “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness”;

KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 17:17 “Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him”.

Athens was given to idolatry, yet Apostle Paul faced the problem squarely. He did not turn away from reality. Many of us see so many wrong things going on, yet we do nothing about them. Success is seeing a need and taking steps to answer that need. Why do people refuse to engage in various issues that need to be corrected? Some feel they would disturb their own peace by getting involved in solving some of these problems. Others also think they may not be able to stand the opposition that may come against them. Others still feel or think these problems are there to stay, and nothing can be done about them. These notions are all fake. God can use very simple efforts of diligent people to achieve a lot. Remember, the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me”. There is nothing impossible to the ability of the Spirit of God who lives in us. Please note that the Lord Jesus has commanded us to share the gospel with EVERY PERSON. This should be our understanding as we approach the task.

Please let’s consider the key scripture once again. Within the key scripture, we see the plan Paul devised to attack the issue:

1. He started with the Jews in the synagogue.

2. He was able to get the devout people (Gentiles) who went to the synagogue to learn.

3. He then visited the market daily, where he met the philosophers to discuss the gospel with them.

Apostle Paul is such a wonderful man. He was waiting for his men to arrive, yet went ahead to solve a problem that was at hand, for them to join him when they arrived.

When Paul engaged the Athenians at the marketplace, he encountered the following philosophers

I. Epicureans

II. Stoics

Who were the Epicureans? They were philosophers who believed that the world was not created by God. They also believed the gods did not provide any help to the human soul and did not believe in the immortality of the soul. They also held that pleasure is the chief good. Please consider how different these people are from today’s secular worldly person are? They are the same. Apostle Paul was not frightened about their beliefs but took pains to talk to them about Jesus. Please note that it is not how convincing one may sound that wins the lost, but how much we trust the Holy Spirit to communicate the truth to them.

Please understand that it is not the mind of man that the Spirit of God seeks to win, but the spirit. Be very clear in your presentations, yet communicate the gospel in faith, always trusting the Holy Spirit would speak to the spirit of this individual.

  PRAYER

Father, fill Christians with wisdom and grace to effectively communicate the gospel to the modern-day sophisticated sinner. As your children engage men in presenting the gospel, let them receive rhema words for every enquirer.

FURTHER STUDIES

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”:

Jeremiah 1:8 “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.