The Salvation

"Be it known... that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." Acts 28: 28 KJV

One of the great mysteries in life is how two people can be offered the same salvation, and yet, one person will receive it as a gift of God's grace, and another will reject it as an expression of complete nonsense or abject heresy. The Holy Spirit warned that not everyone who sees and hears The Truth will be healed from their spiritual blindness and deafness.

"Paul had spoken one parting word, 'The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, 'GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, '"YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM." '

Two thoughts come to mind, upon reading that statement.

"Familiarity breeds contempt." - Author unknown

"It is possible to become calloused handling the holy." Dr. Curtis Vaughan

When I asked my friend, and Greek professor, Dr. Curtis Vaughan, "How is it possible to know more about the Word of God than ever before, and still have a coldness in my heart towards The Truth of it?" He responded with the second statement listed above. He touched a nerve.

Note to self: Never confuse reading about God, studying about His Son, and talking about The Spirit's ministry to be a substitute for intimate conversation with God. The work of the ministry creates callouses on hands, and hearts, but the joy of the ministry is a result of callouses on your knees. Make sure your life and ministry are marked by both.

Paul longed for his Jewish brothers to get in on what God was doing in the world. Some did. Some didn't. Paul refused to give up on them, but he turned his attention to those who would heed The Gospel, not just those who were in need of it. Thanks, Paul.

My root system is clearly Gentile. From my mother's side of the family, Irish heritage flows freely from those who entered ports in New York City, and New Orleans. From my father's side, German Lutherans entered America at the port of Philadelphia. Religious persecution drove them to America. Another group of Dad's folks, Puritans, landed in Connecticut and then Long Island. There is not a Jew among them. Without The Gospel being shared with the Gentiles, God's grace would have never reached my ancestors.

This passage holds special meaning to me, and should be seen as the launching pad for the transformation of Western Civilization. Never despise the day of small things. What appears to be insignificant to the powers that be is often a seismic shift when driven by the power of God. Paul was not a dim candle, flickering in a prison cell. He was a major beacon of hope sending out a message of salvation. Looks can be deceiving.

Hearing The Gospel involves heeding it, not just needing it. Those who need it must heed it. Paul would have many hearers of The Word, while imprisoned for two years in Rome. They would not all obey what they heard.

Praying for the preachers of The Gospel is a huge part of the effectiveness of their message. Praying over the hearers of The Gospel to believe it and to receive it is no less crucial.

Blinded eyes, and deafened ears are not transformed by the eloquence of the preacher, but by the healing hand of The Spirit of God. Praying for a preacher to be a scalpel in the hand of The Great Physician prepares the messenger to be a clean and sharpened instrument in the hands of God.

Still, pray for the first sign of healing in the life of a hearer. This is not a request for more information, but the initial act of obedience to what they have already heard. Pray that hearers of The Word do not delay their obedience to it. Salvation is not a result of hearing or seeing the truth, but of obeying what is heard and seen.

"Delayed obedience is still disobedience." Henry Blackaby

"Prayer is the intimate communication between the Heavenly Father and His child." Don Miller

Pray for the next generation of believers to hear and see The Gospel and to respond to it with their obedience, not their resistance. Pray that their hearing and seeing of The Gospel would bring complete healing to their blinded eyes, and deafened ears. Pray for this new generation of believers to usher in the next Great Awakening. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!