Ready to Speak

 Acts 21:39 Paul replied, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people." 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:

39 εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Παῦλος· ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος μέν εἰμι Ἰουδαῖος, Ταρσεὺς τῆς Κιλικίας, οὐκ ἀσήμου πόλεως πολίτης· δέομαι δέ σου, ἐπίτρεψόν μοι λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν λαόν. 40  ἐπιτρέψαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ Παῦλος ἑστὼς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν κατέσεισεν τῇ χειρὶ τῷ λαῷ. πολλῆς δὲ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ λέγων·

I don't have anything particularly profound today.  However, I do want to make note of one thing in this passage.  Here Paul is getting ready to address the mob in Jerusalem.  This is not a huge deal as Paul preached quite a bit. However, what amazes me is that he was just beaten.  As far as I could tell, there is no significant lapse in time between the beating and this address that we'll deal with tomorrow.

How ready are you to preach the gospel?  How ready am I?  Could you roll out of bed and give a clear defense of the hope that is within you?  Could you suffer a beating and then be ready to talk about Jesus?  I would submit that you should be able to at some level if Jesus really is your Lord.  If He's just an addition to your life then you probably won't be.

One small Greek note.  I felt silly when I looked at the footnote for διαλέκτῳ.  This is clearly the word from which we get the word "dialect."  Duh.