Ambassadors represent their countries to other countries, not themselves. Similarly, we who are Christ’s ambassadors represent Him, not ourselves. He speaks through us to people. Let’s consider how to be rich in Spirit-empowered truth-telling.
We share God’s message that He wants to make His enemies His friends. “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20–21 NLT).
The Holy Spirit provides the power for us to be ambassadors for Christ and speak on His behalf (Acts 1:8). He gives us the right words and adds the ring of truth to them. He empowers them to penetrate, soften, and enlighten dark hearts.
When we speak for Christ, we are often labeled intolerant when we insist Jesus is the only way to come to God the Father (John 14:6). But we aren’t sharing our opinions. We are saying what Jesus said. We are His messengers.
The Spirit speaks through the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle Paul when he said that the Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to the Jews through Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 6:9–10, Acts 28:25).
Like stubborn mules, most Jews to whom Isaiah wrote resisted God’s attempts to heal them. Paul encountered the same resistance when as Christ’s ambassador he tried to convince Jews that Jesus was the Messiah (Acts 28:23).
We see two other times Paul said the Holy Spirit was speaking through him. He offered his opinion that a Christian woman whose husband died should remain single. But he believed God’s Spirit led him to write that (1 Corinthians 7:40).
He wrote that the Holy Spirit warned him or perhaps through someone else’s prophecy that in the last times, some would leave the faith and “follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 NLT). Demons also speak through people. We need discernment to know whether a teaching is true.
The Holy Spirit spoke through the writers of the book of Hebrews and Psalm 95. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:7–11 as the Holy Spirit’s words to warn his readers not to turn a deaf ear toward God (Hebrews 3:7–11).
God commanded the Law through the Holy Spirit and Moses. It revealed that sin separated people from a holy God and foreshadowed Jesus’ priestly ministry (Hebrews 9:8). People could draw near to God only after Jesus finished the work He was sent to accomplish.
The Apostle Peter wrote that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets about Christ’s suffering and glorification even though they didn’t know when it would happen (1 Peter 1:11). He insisted that Old Testament prophecies resulted from the Holy Spirit’s moving the prophets to write what they did (2 Peter 1:21). That is true of Scripture as a whole (2 Timothy 3:16).
Finally, the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle John. The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who hears this say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life” (Revelation 22:17 NLT).
So, who speaks for God?
· The writers of the Old and New Testaments speak for Him (2 Timothy 3:16).
· God gifts some believers to speak for Him. Peter asked, “Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you” (1 Peter 4:11 NLT).
· Paul mentions the spiritual gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:10). This is similar to the gifts of preaching or teaching, both oral and written. Like the Berean Christians, we must evaluate oral and written content with God’s supposed authority behind it to see if it is true (Acts 17:11).
· Prophecy also describes God spontaneously revealing truth to a speaker who expresses it to others. We must test the truth of such prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:29).
We can all speak for God when we share His words with others. His word speaks to us and through us to others. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12). #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
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