When God speaks




“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

I will never forget the first time I preached. It was a very short fifteen minute talk on love. I had been practicing it for weeks, waiting for the time when I’d be invited to share the word. Then one day, the leader of this multi-faith group asked me to talk at one of the meetings. After I had given the talk, I went to my little prayer room and asked Jesus what he thought of it. “Not bad,” he said, “but that was you talking. Next time let me do the talking.” It took me a few months to figure out how that worked, but once I got it, I discovered the secret to powerful preaching. It is also the secret to making a strong defense of the faith, as Jesus says today, so its important we know how this works.

Allowing God to do the talking doesn’t mean you just go up in front of people without any preparation and start talking, believing the Spirit is gonna talk for you. It consists of: One, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Two, being filled with the word of God. Consequently, when the occasion arises, the Holy Spirit within you will help you bring out the right and relevant words you need to say at the time. Often, he will give you insights even as you are talking, things you have never thought of before, and I just love it when this happens.

We have several instances where we see this happening in Scripture. On the day of Pentecost, when Peter went out with the eleven and gave his first sermon, he was filled with the Holy Spirit who had just been poured out upon all of them. Then he began quoting rather obscure passages of Scripture. However, these weren’t texts that he was unfamiliar with. He had undoubtedly read them or heard them, and when he was speaking, the Spirit brought them to mind, and backed the words up with his power. The result: 3,000 people accepted Christ that day.

On another occasion, we find Stephen doing something similar. His example illustrates what Jesus said in today’s passage. I paraphrase: “When dragged before people, don’t worry about what to say, for the words will be given to you at the time by the Holy Spirit who will speak for you.” Stephen was one of the first deacons of the Church. He worked great signs and wonders, which earned him the jealousy of many people. They hauled him before the Sanhedrin on trumped-up charges. In his defense he delivered this awesome sermon. 

Three thousand people didn’t accept Christ as a direct result of Stephen’s preaching. However, there was a man standing there, listening to him talk. You know who that was? That was Paul, and although Scripture doesn’t talk about the impact it had on Paul, I am convinced it primed him for the conversion that would take place a few days later. Paul went on to become the world’s greatest evangelist and I am sure that Stephen would be credited with much of what he had done. Amazing, ya?

So, this is how it works. Therefore, if you wanna know what to say when you are suddenly called to preach, or if you find yourself having to make a defense of your faith, make sure you know God and know his word. And then let God speak for you.

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/m-v3qJm2jZc



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