Go on Speaking
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.––Acts 18:9–11
Sometimes we get the question about does God’s sovereign work of election (Ephesians 1–2) impact the way we think about evangelism. If God is sovereign, then why evangelize? If God is sovereign, then why worry about sharing the gospel with people. It’s an often stated question or assumed criticism of churches whose leadership believe in the foundational work of God in salvation.
But, people that believe these things also believe that God uses means. We believe repentance is necessary. We believe the gospel must be preached. We believe those things because the Bible says them and so we seek to hold together the tension the Bible gives us.
Perhaps this passage more than most gives us a way that we not only hold those things in tension––but that our belief in that sovereignty motivates and enlivens us to share the gospel.
There was a lot of persecution breaking out in Acts 18. It would have been easy to shrink back or move on. It would have been easy to assume the whole town was rejecting Jesus and no one else would come to know him. But here, God tells Paul to go on speaking and to not be silent. Why? What’s the motivation? What’s the logic? For I have many in this city who are my people.
God has chosen people in that city! They belong to him. So, go tell them about Jesus! Go find them and give them the good news. They belong to me and the way they’ll come into my kingdom and pass from darkness to light is that you go on speaking. That’s a great motivation to speak the word of Jesus to people. It’s not about your convincing them or your winning them over; it’s your inviting them into the family that they already belong to in God’s sovereign providence. It’s about the work of God in them being awakened as you speak the good news to them and the Holy Spirit does his work.
I want to encourage you to take steps to engage your neighbors, co-workers, extended family, and friends. Start by writing their names down and praying for their salvation every day. Think of ways to engage them in hospitality and conversation––with a text, phone call, snapchat, or even a handwritten letter or card (old school, I know).
God has people in these south cities. Let's go on speaking, knowing that he will be with us and he will do the work of saving as we continue faithfully speaking.
