Though Paul Grice was a philosopher and
not a theologian, he had
principles that can apply in sharing our
Faith with others seeking and
curious about Christianity. 'Grice's Maxims'
were his ideas for
effective communication, which often prove
true in daily
communication.
Today we'll discuss the Quality Maxim and
see how the Holy Spirit can
help us be bold in telling the truth of
the Gospel to those who have not
seen the Beautiful Light of the Lord.
Quality - Providing accurate information
- true and accurate, with the
degree of accuracy stated in the message.
How do we provide accurate information
about the Bible? By both what
we have been taught and what we have learned
from reading the Bible.
The more you read, the more you lead,
and the more you know about the
Bible, the more you grow in your Christian
walk!
Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God
(Romans 10:17) and we must be
exposed to it in order to know what it
actually SAYS. How can you know
what a hot shower feels like unless you
are exposed to its hot water?
That hot water can relax your muscles
and relieve tension, just as
reading the Bible can put your Spirit
in the Peace of God from the God
of Peace and relieve tension. Time alone
with God is great for any
stressful situation. When the going gets
tough, the righteous get going
into their prayer closet! Humble yourself
before the Lord and He will
lift you up! (James 4:10)
Providing the true message of Jesus Christ
- His death on the cross for
the payment of our sins, His resurrection
to conquer death and hell, His
Deity -but fully man on earth, but also
Fully God, and His offer for
Salvation - while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us (Romans 5:8),
and forgiveness of sins - He is faithful
and just to forgive us of ALL
our sins and cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness
(1 John 1:9). All this
is within guidelines of good Biblical
doctrine.
"Preach the word; be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
- 2 Timothy 4:2
The Bible is our ultimate source of Good
Doctrine. If it doesn't fit
the profile of the Bible's teachings,
it doesn't pass the test. If you
remember in Acts, the Bereans (from Acts
17), they checked everything
that they were taught. Even in church
situations (hehe, and Bible
studies), we all know that humans make
mistakes. Check the message with
the Bible and prove this message for yourself.
"And the brethren immediately sent away
Paul and Silas by night unto
Berea: who coming thither went into the
synagogue of the Jews. These
were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the
word with all readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily,
whether those things were so. Therefore
many of them believed; also of
honourable women which were Greeks, and
of men, not a few." - Acts
17:10-12
Longer exposure of your mind to the Word
also has great benefits, and
the more you allow it to take effect in
your life, the more fulfillment
you will have in daily life. The Joy of
the Lord will be your strength
and you will see a drastic change even
with a slight increase to time
spent in the Bible.
"All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good
works." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
When telling others the wonderful message
of Jesus Christ, don't be
surprised to hear the unexpected. A great
deal of people believe their
'own religions' due to their wanting to
be 'individual,' which in this
case could be used as 'rebellious' or
'lost.' Christianity is
definitely about conforming to the image
of God's Son, but you don't
have to be a conformist to join. Each
person has been given individual
talents and characteristics, but the commonality
among Christians is the
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness,
Gentleness, Meekness,
Faithfulness, and Self-Control that has
been placed in their life by the
Holy Spirit's Awesome Power!
"For the time will come when they will
not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap
to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; And they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables." - 2 Timothy
4:3-4
Sometimes you will be so astounded at what
people believe that you could
previously only imagine a similar belief
system to be from a comic book.
However, remember to have compassion on
them, as we all had to have
compassion on our own heads, because like
sheep we all have gone astray.
Yet if we are Christians, we were lost,
but now are found, and are set
free indeed by the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."
- 2 Timothy 4:5
Don't be scared or shrink away if the devil
attacks. He is angry
because he knows his time left is short
(from Revelation 12) and doesn't
want to lose souls currently in his possession.
Some have noticed that
the phone will ring right when you get
to the heavy part of the
Salvation message. Make sure that distractions
are not around! We are
not guaranteed tomorrow, and who knows
what will happen. Remember that
the time for Salvation is now, and anyone
can be a Child of God. All
who call upon the name of the Lord will
be Saved! (from prophecy through
Joel in Joel 2:32 and mentioned
by Peter in Acts 2:21 and mentioned by
Paul in Romans 10:13)
Along with this maxim is the issue of the
degree of confidence of the
accuracy of the information. If we are
unsure of a message's accuracy,
we modify our boldness by using a clause
similar to 'I am not sure if
this is true or not' or 'someone else
thought' or 'I heard'. Well, did
you see any Prophet or Apostle in the
Bible say 'my Redeemer probably is
living.' ? I certainly didn't!
I heard from Paul, "...nevertheless I am
not ashamed: for I know whom I
have believed, and am persuaded that he
is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day."
(2 Timothy 1:12b)
Now you can say, 'well Paul SAW Jesus.'
What about Job?
I heard from Job, "For I know that my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God:" (Job 19:25-26)
David said, "All nations whom thou hast
made shall come and worship
before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify
thy name." (Psalm 86:9)
We can't just think, but we need to KNOW
that our Redeemer liveth! A
great deal of it is Faith, but it's in
no way a "blind faith." Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
Blind faith would infer 'no evidence,'
so blind faith is just an
oxymoron. The Christian Faith is FULL
of confirmations of God's
Existence and Supreme and Divine Power.
"For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse." - Romans
1:20
If we present a message of just doctrine
in a boring fashion, what are
people going to think? Doctrine is good,
but where will it lead if we
aren't honest in our emotions about it?
Christianity is NOT a boring
lifestyle (not a religion, but a relationship),
but it's full of amazing
things that will set you in awe with God
and how Awesome He is! Take
the time to read the Bible, take time
to pray to Him frequently, and see
how Wonderful Jesus is! Hallelujah! God
is Good, and that's not just
part-time!
The boldness of our witnessing will come
from the Holy Ghost. Jesus
told His disciples when he was leaving
for Heaven (after His
resurrection and visit on earth) to "tarry
ye in the city of Jerusalem,
until ye be endued with power from on
high" (Luke 24:49b). The whole
ministry of the Apostles was empowered
by the Holy Ghost, and a ton of
account of that is found in the book of
Acts, where the mighty rushing
wind came into the Upper Room and the
Apostles and the rest there
received the 'Baptism with the Holy Ghost'
as Jesus had promised in His
time on earth. They even were empowered
to speak others' languages and
led many to Christ that day. Peter's first
sermon in a land where
nobody really was Saved led THREE THOUSAND
to Jesus! That's Power and
Boldness for you!
Before you witness, the best thing you
can do is turn it over to Jesus.
Ask Him to help you with the right words
and that He would make you
bold in what You say. He will, just trust
in Him! People were amazed
after the Sermon on the Mount, given by
Jesus, because He had not just a
message, but Authority! We aren't supposed
to be offensive (as in
offending others by our own actions as
opposed to the Bible's Message),
but we are to present the offense of the
Cross.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and
also to the Greek." - Romans 1:16
God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of Power and
Love and Hope, and if we are
Christians, we need to represent Him while
we are here on earth. We can
spew out every doctrine in a monotone
voice, but that wouldn't be the
most effective way of witnessing. Put
some Life from the Lord behind
your message. Tell others your testimony,
maybe even, how God has been
working in your life lately! God doesn't
want us sitting in a seat of
fright, but standing out in a crowd showing
forth His Glory.
So in this battleground, remember to keep
your Quality excellent and
'Grade A', but to back it up with fire
from God (and don't bring your
blow torch because you won't need it!),
and that's only THROUGH His
Power and asking Him for it. The message
of Salvation is NOT complex.
We goofed, Jesus was sent, He died for
the payment of our sins and was
the perfect Sacrifice for us, He rose
again that upon believing on Him,
asking Him to be our Savior, we will have
eternal life with Him in
Heaven and a better life (life more abundantly)
here on earth.
If you haven't asked Jesus to be your Lord
and Savior yet, I can
honestly say that you have been missing
out. If you ever have felt that
your life is without purpose, He has a
purpose for every one of us. He
knows what we will enjoy most and do best.
If you ever have been
extremely stressed out or depressed, Jesus
provides the Joy you need.
Cast all your cares upon Jesus, He will
give you Awesome Peace, even
Peace beyond our understanding! You will
never be the same again if you
choose Christ, and it won't be a change
for the worse or for dullness.
Jesus Christ gives the most fulfilling
and exciting ride of your life.
If you wish to accept Jesus as your Savior,
and you are sorry for your
sins and want Him to help your life out
enormously, pray a prayer out
loud to Him right now, "Jesus, be my Savior.
Forgive my sins, cleanse
my heart, put me on Your Perfect Path
for my life. Bless me and give me
the Joy, Peace, Fulfillment, and Eternal
Life you promise to Your
Children. Thank You, in Jesus' Name, Amen."
God doesn't require 30 people to be around
you or even 20 or 10 to ask
Jesus to be your Savior. Just you and
Him - it's a personal
relationship. Prayer is a wonderful Gift
from God!
God bless you, and keep reading the Bible,
praying, and praising the
Lord!
"Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged
sword in their hand;" - Psalm 149:6