Title Paul's evangelism strategy/Acts 28:16-31
Content Paul's evangelism strategy
(Acts 28:16-31)
Kim Yeol-bang
Paul's evangelism strategy (Acts 28:16-31)
The Holy Spirit told Paul three times, “Do not go to Jerusalem, but go to Rome and preach the gospel” (Acts 21:4, Acts 21:10-12, Acts 23:11). They were going to Jerusalem. He was planning to go before Pentecost and raise the second Pentecost to overthrow the Jews. Eventually, the Holy Spirit brought Paul to Rome through circumstances. Paul was escorted by Roman soldiers to Rome. When Paul arrived in Rome, he continued to try to preach the gospel with his own strength and knowledge, not letting go of his attachment to the Jews. However, there was no fruit of evangelism, and the Holy Spirit did not work. How can we do true evangelism and nurture?
We must humble ourselves in order to evangelize.
Paul disobeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit, "Go to a Gentile" and "Go to Rome," and set up an evangelism plan on his own accord. He worked very hard to change the Jews because he was a Jew and he did not really believe in Jesus because he met Jesus on the Damascus road. But Peter was called to be an apostle to the Jews, and Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul arrived in Rome with a escort of Roman soldiers after passing through several critical moments of death, but he also tried to transform the high-ranking Jews there. “After three days Paul called the chief of the Jews…” (Acts 28:17-)
However, no fruit was obtained, and only ideological debates took place. Not all high-ranking people are like that, but in general, the fact that high-ranking people have a high mind cannot be overlooked. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus said: “I have come to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and restoration of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus did not deliberately seek to meet high people, but he became the friend of the poor and tax collectors. Like Jesus, we must humble ourselves so that we can meet people who are inferior to us.
We must first circumcise our hearts and ears.
To circumcise the heart and ears means to cut out everything that is more precious than Jesus and beware of the yeast of the Herodians and the yeast of the Pharisees. The only way, truth, and life in my life is through Jesus. Do I not value Moses or Paul or David or Elijah more than Jesus? The Jews were uncircumcised in heart and ears, and they held on to Moses and Elijah. They only held fasting, the Sabbath, the law, and the temple without Jesus. Jesus is everything.
“You hear, but you never understand; you see, you see, but you never understand” (Acts 28:26).
The true life of faith is to 1) truly believe in Jesus, 2) walk with Jesus, 3) love Jesus, and 4) honor Jesus. Let's just hold on to Jesus.
Let us humble our hearts, open our own rental house, and preach the gospel.
In verses 30-31, we read that Paul stayed in his rented house for the whole two years (two years), welcoming all who came to him, and preaching the kingdom of God boldly and preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul no longer collects high-ranking people and tries to change them. He opened his own rented house, not a synagogue, stadium, or market, and when the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and those who mourn came, they gathered a few of them and started to study the Bible. This was the most excellent evangelism strategy that the Holy Spirit allowed Paul to do.
We can all use our rented room for the Lord. And I can invite the lowly ones (those who sit on the edge, the sick, the marginalized, the poor, those who are spiritually, mentally and materially inferior and suffering) to preach the gospel. We can all gather two or three or more and teach others in Jesus name. And to encourage them to teach others. This is it. I am evangelizing and nurturing 12 disciples, and having those 12 evangelize and nurture 12 people per person again. Everyone is a learner, and everyone can be a leader. This is the <12 Disciples Meeting>. In this way, the gospel can be expanded the fastest when all people continue to multiply by 12 (Matthew 28:18-20).