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Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord
Prax, I don't wish to further belabor this discussion that has turned into a debate. I don't think that any special tricks, gimmicks or efforts were put into deciding where in Jerusalem they would be when the HS was poured out. I guess you believe otherwise, and like I already said, that you are completely entitled to your opinion. I don't want to debate, just discuss.
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Did it or did it not get the publics attention allowing Peter to preach to them the gospel?
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If you believe the early church used (man made advertising tools) to try to get people to hear their message, then by all means, use that as your means to justify your position.
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Isn't going around and witnessing to people face to face an advertising tool?
Jesus used the miracles and word of mouth to gather a large crowd so he could preach to them
Mat 4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
Mat 4:24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Mat 4:25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Mat 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
No...I see absolutely nothing wrong with gathering a crowd together to preach to them the gospel
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I just don't see that at all, my opinion. My opinion is that the gospel message was what reached the people.
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I never denied the gospel message reached the people...Im talking about HOW to get the people to HEAR it...You can gather them into one place and preach to them or you can do it by the confront and preach method of personal evangelism but either way if you stand by yourself with nobody to hear what you are preaching..it won't matter.
Faith comes by HEARING and there has to be someone there to hear
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Those around saw the changes in people's lives from house to house, village to village, city to city, and those who had hungry hearts turned to Jesus because of the transforming power of the Gospel that changed people around them.
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But HOW did they SEE unless they went OUT and presented themselves to be SEEN? That is a gimmick. That is a method of gaining attention to a cause.
The church did not hide in caves and preach the gospel to themselves did they? No...they had METHODS of gathering crowds or finding crowds or preaching one on one.
Paul's method was to visit a crowded Areopagus and engaged a large group of people
"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Act 17:23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
Act 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
Act 17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Act 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
Act 17:27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
Act 17:28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'
Act 17:29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
Act 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
Act 17:31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
Another method was to visit Synagogues
We are told to SPREAD the good news, not hide in caves and preach the gospel to nobody.
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The gospel spread like wildfire after the first outpouring of the Spirit. No one had to "pass out fliers or give away toys" to invite people to come and hear the gospel. They came because they saw and heard about lives being transformed in miraculous ways.
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It spread first of all because a large group of people gathered to witness the miracles...that's a method Jesus used
Then Peter preached to them. He could not have unless a crowd had been gathered first.
Then they went out and witnessed to others face to face and in the temple (where there would be a crowd of people)
Each of those are GIMMICKS. They are devices designed to spread the word
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That is the gospel that I want to see spread across this country again! What could be wrong with wishing for, and desiring such a thing? Why would I choose to try "mans" ways of getting people to hear the gospel, when the simple life changing power of the HS in people's lives is all it really takes to spread the good news of the gospel?!
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How you choose to SPREAD IT will be your gimmick.
BTW Why? Because it works!
Because the bible says
Jud 1:23 But save others with fear, snatching them out of the fire; hating even the garment having been stained from the flesh.
Another gimmick Paul had was to become as the gentiles to save them and as the jews to save them. Paul said
1Co 9:22 To the weak I became as the weak, so that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men, so that I might by all means save some.
When you knock on a door, do you just start preaching as they open the door or do you introduce yourself and your mission? You probably introduce yourself...you set up the stage before actually tell them the gospel. Because if they open the door and you just start preaching the gospel without any introduction they will think you are a nut and close the door. You want a favorable condition to preach the word don't you?
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