Hear and understand

It’s clear from Scripture that a genuine convert is one who hears and “understands” (see Matt. 13:23). Perhaps this is why Philip the evangelist asked the Ethiopian eunuch if he understood what he was reading (Acts 8:30). This understanding seems to refer not only to sin, but also to the gospel.

My great desire is for sinners to understand the gospel and be saved. Although God alone saves the sinner, from the sowing to the reaping, I believe that, as a preacher of the gospel, my job is to strive (with the help of God) to bring about "understanding." So rather than using “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:4), I keep the message simple in the hope that the sinner will grasp what I am trying to say.

My gospel presentation may begin with a parable about a man stealing another man’s lamb (as with Nathan and David), or with a quote by Athenian poets (as with Paul when he preached in Athens). I may use metaphors, similes, statistics, quotes, personal experiences, and of course I present the Law, the gospel, and the necessity of repentance and faith.

Jeremiah 50:7 All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, The Lord, the hope of their fathers.