July 27

We don’t often hear harsh words coming from the pulpit these days. Seldom will a preacher be bold enough to tell the truth without regard for the feelings of the listener, but that wasn’t so with the early church. Paul and Barnabas were preaching on the Sabbath, and people began to gather, but the devout Jews became jealous of the crowd, and spoke against what they were saying. Paul and Barnabas held nothing back, and with no fear of retaliation blasted them, telling them, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” How many times do we want to say something like that to the stiff necked people of this world? “Since you don’t think you deserve eternal life, we will take God’s word elsewhere!” They ended up having to shake the dust off their feet and leave that town, but what a way to go out! We have to be so careful with our words these days, but if the Holy Spirit takes over, let Him have His moment, the way Paul and Barnabas did.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46