Week 29—Friday Acts 26:24-29
Acts 26:24-29
“TESTIFIED AND SPOKEN THE WORD OF THE LORD”
We are emphasizing the fact that the New Testament was the Word become flesh. This verse is to the point: “Now when they [Peter and John] had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem” (Acts 8:25). Suppose it had read, “Now when they had spoken the word of the Lord.” It would have been the Word become word—something outside themselves. But when the passage reads, “They had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,” it was definitely the Word become flesh. And because testimony dropped out of our preaching, power has also dropped out. Note, we are not witnessing to ourselves, but witnessing to what a great Redeemer has done. The pastor who determined that he was not going to preach anything that was not operative in his own life found his preaching taking on power. “That which is to reach the heart must come from the heart.”
Leontyne Price, the singer, before a concert would say, “Now, dear Jesus, You got me into this. You get me out.” And when criticism comes she says, “Well, they say I have a good voice. If I have, then I can learn the rest.” Basically she was sound, the word of song become flesh. She could add the rest. If there is a basic soundness in people, we can put up with not-too-perfect trimmings. But if the center is the word become word, no amount of put-on trimmings will atone. Something tells everyone’s heart: “This is reality speaking” or “This is unreality speaking.”
So New Testament preaching was the expression of an experience, the interpretation of a fact at work in the preachers. It did not come out of texts of Scripture only, but out of the texture of their lives. It was Deep speaking to deep. Hence power. A young man sat down on a bus beside a radiant Christian and said, “I thought when I saw you that you had a face that had visited someone you loved.” She had. For she was visiting with Jesus all the time.
O Lord Jesus, as we hear you we do not hear words—we hear you. We feel that the essential Person is speaking. And we listen with bated breath. For you have the words of eternal life. For you are eternal Life. We thank you. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: All my preaching shall be a witness—the word of preaching become flesh.