Many people in this city belong to God. Do you believe that? Is that true of your city? It is likely true of your city and my city and every city. God has a plan to reveal himself to the people of the world everywhere. Look to him to reveal who has a heart to hear of his love.
7 Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
Acts 18:7-11 NLT
Paul was determined to go from place to place sharing the story of Jesus with people in synagogues, both Jews and Greeks as the people were called in those days. Some people came to know Jesus and trusted in him. Others rejected him and his message with hostility. This is the nature of sharing the story of Jesus. We have to be careful to not take personally that Jesus is a stumbling block to many – his message is offensive to many human hearts.
As followers of Jesus, we might wonder why this is so. It makes so much sense to us. It seems so clear that everyone should be interested and willing to follow. But the nature of the gospel of Jesus is that it provides freedom from our sin which caused our separation from God. There are many people who will not accept their sinfulness. They are stuck on their righteousness or the balance of their good over their evil. The idea of falling short of God (Romans 3:23) is offensive.
Paul found that many Corinthians were open to hear and receive the message, and the Lord clearly wanted Paul to focus on this group. We see a vision presented to Paul here in which he is encouraged to be bold and articulate and to speak out all the more for the sake of the gospel. God told Paul that many people in this city belong to him. That was enough for Paul. He stayed there preaching and teaching the gospel for 18 months.
Which makes me wonder how many people belong to God where you are. How many people in your circle, where God has placed you, in the context where you work and live and play, belong to God? How many is he planning to bring to himself for his glory?
Isn’t that a question we should be asking? Isn’t that the group of people we should be hunting for? God knows them. He will reveal them to us. They are eager in their hearts to hear the message of hope in Jesus!
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 