Persuasion

I have been reading some of Acts this morning. I came across 18:4,

Every Sabbath [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (NIV)

Here is an important reminder about an aspect of preaching to non-Christians. We believe that the declaration of the gospel is a supernatural event. The message is to be handled as a holy message from God and not to be tampered with. But the method we use is to be one of reasoning with a view to persuasion. We preachers must not be content to simply stand up and declare truth. It takes more effort than that. We must seek to appeal to the mind. Win it, and hearers will have no excuse for the moral condition of their hearts.