author: Reinhard Bonnke
translation: Anna Geshele
The first disciples of Christ began to preach without experience in this matter. They had no methods or techniques, and could not listen to educational lectures. And yet, how did they act?
Jesus was walking along the seashore and met Galilean fishermen. He invited them to come with Him and become “fishers of men.” It was from this raw material that Jesus made the Apostles, people whose names the world will never forget, who were to change the world.
After the ascension of Jesus, the future of the Faith rested on their shoulders. But these were people who never left the boundaries of their village, did not swim further than their fishing boats took them. It is to them, with their ardor and sacrifice, that we owe the precious knowledge of salvation. The world is in their debt. The apostles began to use in practice the concepts: faith, love, hope, forgiveness, kindness, and other values that were alien to ancient pagan culture. God’s peace gradually changed society. Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher, even had Christ’s sayings inscribed on the walls of Rome when he became Roman Emperor in 161.
The first converts were Jews, and the first church was formed in Jerusalem. Thousands accepted the faith, including the priests of the Jerusalem Temple. And twenty years later, when many Christians were in other places, the Apostles remained in Jerusalem, working to plant the faith (see Acts 6:7; 8:1; 21:20). John wrote, “for God so loved the world” (John 3:16). At that time, not the whole world had seen these people. This will happen later. Jewish believers tended to think that Jesus was the Messiah only for Israel. Even when Jesus rose from the dead, it was seen in terms of the rebirth of Israel (see Acts 1:6). Jesus embraced the whole world with his arms. He said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem…and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Greek “eskhatos” is used here – last, so the last phrase can sound: to the last place on earth.
Paul, Jew to the Jews…
To spread the gospel to other nations, God prepared one man, the Apostle Paul. He was a Roman citizen from birth, but remained a true Jew, calling himself “a Jew of the Jews.” (Philippians 3:5) His personal interests were centered on the salvation of his people (see Romans 9:1-4). He settled for a time in Antioch, a city of Galilee with a large Jewish population, where he was able to experience the influence of both cultures. God called him to take the Gospel to other countries (Acts 13:1) and after some time, with the blessing of the church in Antioch, he set out on his first great journey. Wherever he was, fulfilling his calling, his native people remained a priority for him.
Whenever Paul arrived in a new place, he first visited the local synagogues. This was the will of God. Jewish synagogues existed throughout the Mediterranean region. Jews who changed their place of residence, or were in other lands on business, formed communities in the cities of the Roman Empire, and adhered to the traditions of Moses. Likewise, Peter writes to the Jews “scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bethany,” in the regions of Asia Minor. (See 1 Peter 1:1). And Paul himself also belonged to the Diaspora. He was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, a large city located in the southeast of what is now Turkey (see Acts 22:3)
Hundreds of thousands of Jews left their country, enslaved by the enemy. After the fall of Assyria and the capture of Babylon, 600 years before Christ, the remnants of the Jewish people were constantly subject to tyranny. A century before the birth of Christ, the Syrian king Antiochus IV decided to destroy the Jewish faith. We read the mention of sacrifices in chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The exiled, scattered Jews became the conduits through which Paul was able to reach the Gentiles.
…I became everything to everyone…
Paul believed in Damascus two or three years after the resurrection of Christ, and “immediately began to preach in the synagogue about Jesus, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). This was his method. In Jerusalem he “preached boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He also spoke and contended with the Hellenists” (Acts 9:28,29). Moving from country to country, he first came into contact with people by coming to synagogues, where, as a rabbi, he could preach. As soon as he went to the pagans, thereby provoking scandals, opponents created opposition.
Here is a brief description of how the pioneer evangelists had to work. This dangerous endeavor of finding ways to preach the gospel throughout the world required courage. Paul went through everything from humiliation to rejection “that he might save at least some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Christians were able to take risks, they were not interested in the opinions of others, and they could not stop someone else’s tricks. Not only Paul, but also the new converts also put themselves at risk by going to places where they might not be welcomed with open arms.
Paul spent two years preaching the gospel at the school of Tyrannus in Ephesus. In Athens he debated with local Jews, Epicureans and Stoics, and was then invited to the Areopagus, then the supreme body of the judiciary. Although the congregation was not so numerous, the Apostle Paul boldly preached about Christ crucified. He convinced some and they accepted what he said. Among them was Dionysius the Areopagite. In Rome, Paul preached Christ crucified, and was not afraid to mention that Rome was also to blame for this.
…in the name of the Gospel
According to Scripture, the Apostles gathered to decide who should go to which country to evangelize. It is known that Thomas and Bartholomew went to India, where they died for the Gospel, showing unprecedented courage. We live in times that were radically influenced by Christianity, and therefore it is difficult for us to imagine how dangerous it was to interfere with spiritual and moral foundations, culture, and beliefs; a world that was in godlessness and barbarism, although it already possessed the military power of the Roman Empire.
The gospel came into the world calmly, confidently, like the tide. It was carried not only by the Apostles and Evangelists, but by ordinary believers. Many of them were slaves and boldly accepted suffering and even death for Christ. I remember a touching incident. In Rome, during excavations, a drawing and inscription were discovered on the kitchen wall in the palace: a crucified man with the head of a donkey and the inscription “Alexamenos worships his God.” Apparently this boy was not afraid to talk about Christ and Calvary to the other page boys. Someone added a note: “Alexamenos remains faithful,” perhaps Alexamenos himself added it.
Christians at that time did not even think about leaving the Great Commission of Christ. This was the whole meaning of Christianity. This became what was called an apprenticeship program. Until the end of the third century (313), death was a constant threat to witnesses. Before the Empire officially adopted Christianity, cities and markets were filled with believers, and pagan temples became sparsely populated.
Young Christians were ready to die for Christ and did not hide their religion. Devotion to Jesus Christ had no limits. The Jews were given to understand that only God would send an anointed one to Israel. Jesus became him; there was and could not be anyone else. Christ did not leave room for ritual routine, the observance of which should lead people to salvation; He Himself became salvation for us. The only thing He asked of us was baptism and remembrance. He did not ask to remember His death, He asked to take bread and wine in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19). When we preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must be clear about Who we are talking about. The name of Jesus is not a talisman, not an emblem. We speak of Him as the Christ of all Scripture, of Him who He is.
The Old Testament is His black and white print, the New Testament is His color photo. The Old Testament talks about God, and Jesus added that it also talked about Him. He fulfilled the Scripture by making it incarnate, giving flesh and life. Christ is the embodiment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, but He is even more than the embodiment. John the Baptist also testified to Jesus, and then became convinced that Jesus had gone far beyond his prophecies. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Source: slavabogu.ucoz.ru
