Paul, The Model Convert Series

by B.A. you mean boldness and availability…

or by D.D. you mean dedication and determination

or by PhD. you mean power, hope and dependency.

“Preaching Christ” is just a term referring to witnessing and sharing your faith.

So, are you “preaching Christ”? Are you WITNESSING? Are you SHARING YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST? Are you doing everything in your power to get your lost friends and loved ones and coworkers to church where they can hear the Gospel preached?

God help us to witness for our Lord—to “proclaim Christ.”

IV. FOURTHLY, NOTE THAT SAUL GREW STRONG IN FAITH – Verses 22 – “But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.”

Saul “increased the more in strength.” In other words, he grew stronger in his faith; he didn’t stay static. He started out as a baby Christian, with all the weaknesses a baby believer has, but he got stronger in his Christian life.

We’ve looked at some keys to growth already, but let me share two that are not in the text that are taught elsewhere in God’s Word, but I think are very important.

• First is to regularly take in God’s Word.

The Word of God is often compared to food in the Bible.

You cannot grow strong without food. The Bible is your spiritual food; it’s what feeds your spiritual life. It’s what nourishes you and makes you strong.

But some people only get a dose of God’s Word once a week at church. That’s the only spiritual meal they get in a week’s time. Now how strong would you be if you only ate one meal a week?

READ GOD’S WORD DAILY if you want to grow strong in the Lord.

Now be sensible about it. If you’re a baby Christian, don’t start in the book of Leviticus or Ezekiel. Start with the Gospels of John or Mark in the New Testament, and then go over to 1 Corinthians or Ephesians, or something like that. In the Old Testament, Psalms and Proverbs are always good reading, no matter how old you are in your Christian life. Pretty soon, if you’ll stay with it, you’ll gain increased understanding of God’s Word as you work up to the harder books of the Bible.

The main thing is to get into the Word—even if only a chapter or two a day!

• Another key is to immediately confess and forsake sin in your life.

Sin is like deliberately exposing yourself to a bacterial infection. Most bacteria won’t kill you, but they will weaken you. Every time you sin, it makes you spiritually sick a little. It causes you to lose spiritual strength; it weakens you. The goal is to be like Saul and GET STRONGER, not weaker.

So how do you get strong again if you’ve caught an infection? Why, you go to the doctor.

In 1 John 1:9 we are told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If you go to the doctor and admit to the doctor you exposed yourself to an infectious bacteria, he can give you an antibiotic to make you well. And when you go to the Lord—the Great Physician—and admit your sins to Him, He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The medicine of God’s forgiveness will restore you to spiritual health and make you strong again. So be sensitive to God and obey the Lord in every area of your life—and you’ll grow increasingly stronger in your Christian life. But when you fail God and sin—and you will—then without delay go to the Lord and admit you have sinned and be restored to fellowship with God.