The
Ideal
Audience
Tony E. Denton, 11/06.
ASiteForTheLord.com
Why does a good speaker vary
the manner in which he speaks?
I.e., why does he sometimes…
~ speak loudly?
~ speak softly?
~ speak using visual aids?
~ speak using illustrations?
~ speak without notes?
~ speak involving the audience?
TO ARREST/HOLD ATTENTION!
But today…   
Instead of emphasizing the duty
of the speaker, let’s emphasize
the duty of the audience.
There are many types of audiences revealed in the New Testament. For example, there’s…
~ The Reticent Audience
As Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the
judgment to come, Felix …
replied, “Go away for now;
when I have a convenient time
I will call for you.”
Acts 24:25
~ The Reticent Audience
~ The Rebellious Audience
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears! You always resist
the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did,
so do you.” … When they heard
these things, they were cut to the
heart, and they gnashed at Stephen
with their teeth.
Acts 7:51 & 54
Then they cried out with a loud
voice, stopped their ears, and
ran at him with one accord….
And they stoned Stephen.
Acts 7:57 & 59a
~ The Reticent Audience
~ The Rebellious Audience
~ The Receptive Audience
Philip ran to the Ethiopian and
heard him reading the prophet
Isaiah. So he asked him, “Do you
understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I unless
someone guides me?” And he asked
Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:30-31
The Bereans were more open-minded
than the Thessalonians in that they
received the Word with all readiness
of mind and searched the Scriptures
daily to find out whether the things
Paul taught were true. So many of
them believed. But…
Acts 17:11-12a
~ The Reticent Audience
~ The Rebellious Audience
~ The Receptive Audience
Now let’s spend the remainder of our
time considering the audience at the
house of Cornelius in Acts 10:33.
We are all here...
Present before God...
To hear...
All things commanded by God.
Acts 10:33b
We are all here…
Notice some contextual statements
which demonstrate that Cornelius
was interested in others … even
before he himself was Christianized.
We are all here…
While Cornelius was waiting
for Peter, he called together
his relatives and close friends.
Acts 10:24
We are all here…
When Peter arrived, he found
many who had come together.
Acts 10:27
We are all here…
In this way, Cornelius is
reminiscent of Andrew who …
sought, taught, and brought.
We are all here…
Andrew found his brother Peter and
said, “We have found the Messiah.”
And he brought him to Jesus. So… 
John 1:40-42a
We are all here…
Obviously we should be like
both Cornelius and Andrew.
We are all here…
“Make disciples…, baptizing them
… [and] teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19-20
We are all here…
Notice also how that they
were all prompt and ready.
We are all here…
“We are all present before God to hear
all things commanded you by God.”
Acts 10:33b
We are all here…
There’s a world of difference
between being prompt & ready
and being tardy & indifferent.
We are all here…
According to the KJV, the Roman
Christians were commanded to be
“not slothful in business.”
Romans 12:11
We are all here…
Notice also the completeness
here by the little word “all.”
Applying this to us as Christians,
I’m reminded of these verses: 
We are all here…
At the institution of His memorial
supper, Jesus said to
“Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Luke 22:19b
We are all here…
On the first day of the week [is] when
the disciples came together to break
bread.  The duty of us ALL!
Acts 20:7
Present before God…
God = Father, Son, & Spirit
according to Matthew 28:19.
The Father and the Spirit are
found in the following verse: 
Present before God…
Do you not know that you (the
church) are the temple of God and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
First Corinthians 3:16
Present before God…
Being present before the Son is
found in the following verses: 
Present before God…
“For where two or
three are gathered in My name, I
am there in the midst of them.”
Jesus said,
Matthew 18:20
Present before God…
“I will not drink of this
fruit of the vine until I drink it new
with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Jesus said,
Matthew 26:29
Present before God…
Jesus said to His Father,
“In the midst of the congregation
I will sing praise to You.”
Hebrews 2:12
To hear…
It has been said that while
Prayer is God listening to us,
Bible study is our listening to God.
To hear…
So let’s be here every chance we
get in order to listen to God’s Word.
To hear…
When Jesus (God the Son) was
telling and explaining the parable of
the sower, here’s what He said: 
To hear…
“The seed is the Word of God. … He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Luke 8:11 & 8
To hear…
At another time Jesus spoke in
reference to God the Spirit: 
To hear…
“He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 2:7
To hear…
We listen to God’s Word through
preachers and teachers: 
To hear…
Let’s get our Bibles and
read this lengthy passage.
Ephesians 4:11-15
To hear…
We are to listen to each other: 
To hear…
Let the Word of Christ dwell in your
richly in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs.
Colossians 3:16
All things commanded
you by God…
These people were to be
commended for desiring to
know what GOD had to say,
not what Peter had to say.
All things commanded
you by God…
“Well did Isaiah prophesy
of you hypocrites, as it is written…
Jesus said,
Mark 7:6a
All things commanded
you by God…
“‘This people honors Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me. …
Mark 7:6b
All things commanded
you by God…
“‘In vain they worship Me, teaching as
doctrines the commandments of men.’
Mark 7:7
All things commanded
you by God…
“For laying aside the commandment of
God, you hold the traditions of men.”
Mark 7:8a
All things commanded
you by God…
There’s a two-fold obligation—
the speaker has his duty: 
All things commanded
you by God…
Paul said that he
kept back nothing that was helpful.
Acts 20:20
All things commanded
you by God…
He also said that he did
not avoid declaring the entire will of God.
Acts 20:27
All things commanded
you by God…
And the audience
also has its duty: 
All things commanded
you by God…
We should be like the Bereans who
were open (or noble) -minded because they
received the Word with all readiness.
Acts 17:11a
All things commanded
you by God…
The Bereans unknowingly
obeyed James who said to
receive the Word with meekness.
James 1:21
All things commanded
you by God…
We should be like the Bereans who
searched the Scriptures daily to see if what
Paul taught was the truth.
Acts 17:11b
All things commanded
you by God…
The Bereans unknowingly also
obeyed John who said to
test the spirits whether they are of God.
First John 4:1
All things commanded
you by God…
Because the folks in the house of
Cornelius were like the Bereans,
they obeyed the Word of God.
All things commanded
you by God…
“Can anyone forbid …
that these should … be baptized?
Peter asked,
Acts 10:47
All things commanded
you by God…
And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. Then they
asked him to stay a few days.
Acts 10:48
It’s clear then that a
good audienceattitude is essential
to effective teaching.
So let’s have the attitude of Cornelius…
We are all here...
Present before God...
To hear...
All things commanded by God.
In other words…
Acts 10:33b
Let’s always be here
on time, reverently
and sincerely desiring to know all
God would have us
to know and do for
life eternal!