how to preach the gospel (1)
Date: August 23, 1948Place: Kuling
Six ways to preach the gospel
God presents the gospel to man in different ways. In preaching the gospel we have to follow these ways to present the good news to men effectively. Throughout church history many evangelists raised up by God have gained sinners through these ways. Here we would like to analyze these different ways of preaching the gospel. The Bible unveils these ways, and God’s evangelists have used them again and again in the past. Broadly speaking, there are six ways to preach the gospel. Today we will take a look at these six ways. Those who have had experience in preaching the gospel, as well as those who are about to launch into this work, should pray to God to show them one of these ways. The way you choose should match the kind of person you are. Generally speaking, everyone should choose one way. He may choose more than one way, but he should major in one of them, while treating the others as supplementary ways. Of course, when one moves to a new place, he may take a different way based on the situation of that place. These six ways of preaching the gospel can be classified under two categories. The first is negative, and the second is positive. Three ways are found in the negative category, and the other three ways found in the positive category. On the negative side there are sin, judgment, and the world. On the positive side there are God’s love, God’s righteousness, and a living faith. Let us first speak about the three negative ways.
Sin
Some put emphasis on the evil and ill of sin. The Bible shows us that sin is both loathsome and evil. Many servants of God often use this way to preach the gospel. An evangelist may use this method to point out the evil of sin, and sinners may feel the sinfulness of sin and be condemned and convicted. The basic goal of this method is to awaken men to a consciousness of their sin. Those who use this method have to do it with skill; they have to be enlightened concerning the matter of sin. A gospel preacher has to have his own style; he has to develop his own specialty. If you take this way, you have to apply yourself to it. You must make others feel that they are sinful. You have to convict them with a sense of sin. You have to show them that sin is filthy. Let them feel the pressure and burden of sin. You should not only talk about sin as a term, but you must let them feel the pain of sin, the repulsiveness of sin. Taking this way requires one skill: You must let people feel sin. There is no need to do too many things. As long as you can make people weep when they think of their sin, the gospel will get into them, and you will have done your job.
In order to take this way, you must concentrate on convicting men of their own sins. If you choose this way, you must spend time before the Lord. You should ask the Lord to show you how to awaken men to a sense of sin. Of course, you must first have experienced the pain of sin. You must first have confessed your sins before others can pick up a profound sense of sin. If you want to take this way, you must apply yourself to this subject, whether in private meditation, in the study of the Scripture, in listening to sermons, or in research for stories and illustrations. In everything you should ask yourself how you can increase men’s sense of condemnation concerning sin. You should take this task to heart. If you do, you will be able to present the evil and ill of sin to men in your preaching in a vivid way. When they see sin, they will be able to know the Lord’s salvation.
Judgment
After man sinned, he was sentenced to death by God. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). However, death is not the end of man; after death there is judgment (Heb. 9:27)! An unbeliever will suffer judgment after he dies. The punishment is eternal perdition. He will suffer in the lake of fire forever. The Gospels speak of the Gehenna of fire (Matt. 5:22). Luke 16:19-31 speaks of the story of Lazarus and the rich man. It indicates that an unbeliever will suffer in the fire of Hades after he dies. This shows that the fire of Hades is for now. When an unbeliever dies, he will go straight to Hades to suffer its fire. The Bible is very clear and explicit about death, judgment, hell, and the lake of fire. In preaching the gospel, we cannot be general. General preaching will only produce general results. Every gospel preacher must have something specific and particular. Some preachings specialize in judgment; they make people feel the horror of judgment. Paul was a good example. He knew the terror of judgment, and he made others feel this terror (Acts 24:25).
A man can receive the Lord through a message on the evil of sin, or he can receive the Lord through a message on the terror of hell. It is hard to find a person who is good in every subject. Do not think that you are a champion in everything. You have to find your specialty. As long as you can develop a specialty, you can save men. Some are good at preaching about hell; they can make people fear and even tremble. Once when Charles Finney was preaching, men held on to the pillars of the chapel for fear of falling into hell. One of his specialties was the terror of hell. In order to pry something open, we have to use a sharp and pointed knife. The same is true in preaching the gospel. All we need is one specialty; there is no need to be too broad. In learning to preach the gospel, you do not need to learn everything. If a man tries to be good in every subject, he will end up not being good in any of them. It is best if some brothers can specialize on judgment.
The world
What is the world? It is the pleasures of sin. When the book of Hebrews speaks of the pleasures of sin, it refers to the enjoyment in Egypt, which is a type of the world (11:25). Many people are afraid that they will have to give up the pleasures and enjoyment of the world once they believe in the Lord. A gospel preacher should show others that even gaining the whole world means nothing if one loses his own life. What can one give in exchange for his own life (Matt. 16:26)? The Lord Jesus gave a wonderful parable in the Gospel of Luke. The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly, so he wanted to build larger barns to gather his wheat and goods. Then he said to his own soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry.” God, however, said to him, “Foolish one, this night they are requiring your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be?” (12:16-20).
In John 4:13 the Lord said to the Samaritan woman, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again.” To be thirsty is to be dissatisfied. The Lord’s word clearly shows that a man can be satisfied by the world temporarily, but he soon will be dissatisfied. A man can never be fully and constantly satisfied. This is the very nature of the vanity of the world. Every drink in the world makes a person thirsty again. A man can receive something from the world, but this only makes him thirsty for more. The water of this world will never satisfy. It is better to accept the Lord. This kind of presentation can become a key to pry men open and to lead them to the Lord.
The rich man in Luke 16 made merry every day in splendor, but he suffered in the fire of hell in the end. The world is empty. In speaking about the vanity of the world, you have to use the book of Ecclesiastes. You have to show others that there is indeed nothing worth pursuing in this world. It is most foolish to waste one’s years in the vanity of the world. The Lord Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again.” He also said that He had another kind of water. This is the living water which enters into man and satisfies his thirst. The water that the Lord gives satisfies man in his inner being. Once a man is satisfied inwardly, he will no longer crave outward things. We have to show them that many people who were once empty and thirsty have now realized that their vanity and thirst have turned into satisfaction and joy through receiving the living water of God. This living water of God has satisfied their thirst, and they do not need worldly pleasure any longer.
It would be difficult to find another woman in this world as evil as the Samaritan woman. She was not satisfied with one husband; she went and picked out another. Not being satisfied again, she went and picked out yet another. In the end she was not satisfied with any of them. She was seeking for satisfaction in the human life. Her switching of husbands was the ultimate symptom of her pursuit of human satisfaction. She first was married to one man, thinking that she would be satisfied. When he did not satisfy her, she changed to another one. This went on five times, and she was still not satisfied. This is exactly what the Lord meant when He said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again.” She was never satisfied. Every enjoyment of this world only satisfies temporarily; it is never a genuine and eternal satisfaction. There is no satisfied person on this earth, and there is no happy person on this earth. To a woman, a husband is the most secure thing. Yet this woman was not satisfied with her husbands. It goes without saying that nothing else would satisfy her. The world can offer only salt water; a man becomes thirstier after drinking it. Many people indulge themselves in the pleasures and enjoyments of this world, but they are trying to quench their thirst with salt water. Once a man has the Lord, he will be satisfied inwardly, and he will no longer be thirsty.
If you resolve to take this line of preaching, you should give up trying to do well in everything else. A gospel preacher should not think that he can do everything. If the Lord wants you to take this line, you should honor this line. You should spend time dwelling on this line and developing this line. Each person has to find a line that best suits him; he cannot imitate others. Never waste time on a line that does not suit you; that is a mere waste of energy. In preaching the gospel, the key is not to learn many methods but to get men saved. You have to develop your own specialty. Everyone needs to have his own line. Today the Lord is taking the way of the Body. If we all will coordinate together, we will be able to preach the full gospel of God. Evangelism is a work that belongs to the whole church; no individual can do the job perfectly. We are merely members of the Body. For this reason each of us must have our own specialty. When all the specialties are added together, we have the perfect and full gospel.
God’s love
Next let us take a look at the three positive subjects. In preaching the negative subjects, we only have to touch them briefly and give others a deep impression of these things. When we move on to the positive subjects, however, we can stay on them continually. We only need to touch sin, judgment, and the world briefly, but we can come back again and again to the positive subjects such as the love of God. Love is a matter of the heart. God is love, and God loves the world. His heart is one that loves sinners and desires their salvation. Many people, however, do not want to be saved. The Lord said to the Pharisees, “You are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:40). God is not unwilling to give His life to man or to save man, but man is unwilling to accept what God gives! The Lord also said to Jerusalem, “How often I desired to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matt. 23:37). The Lord was eager to protect and save them, but they would not want to come under His protection and saving. Today many people think that God’s goal is to condemn man. They think that God does not want to save them even though they may want to be saved. This is man’s thought; it is a great misunderstanding of God. Many people think that it is a difficult thing to be saved. They think that God is reluctant to save them. But God is love, and He seeks out men and desires that they be saved. The Lord Jesus said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). We do not seek salvation, knock at the gate of heaven, and plead for God to open the gate for us. Rather, God seeks to save us, and He came to us Himself to save us. God does not hate us; rather, He loves us and wants us to be saved. A leper came to the Lord and entreated Him, saying, “If You are willing, You can cleanse me.” The Lord stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed!” (Mark 1:40-41). God is willing! God is wanting! God is seeking! Are we willing? Do we want to be saved? God is willing, but are we willing?
This way of presenting the gospel will induce many to receive salvation. This is a broad way. Man is prone to accept the devil’s thoughts. The devil says, “Even though you may want to be saved and go to heaven, God may not want you.” Man always thinks that it is a hard thing to be saved, but we have to tell the sinners, “God is willing, but are you willing?” God desires all men be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). This is God’s heart. God loves us so much that He desires that we all be saved. How much man has misunderstood God’s heart! God is willing to save man. This is God’s love. He intended to save us long ago. He sent His Son to us. By Him our sins can be forgiven, and we can draw near to God. We are not the ones who seek to be saved. God is the One who seeks to save us. Luke 15 shows us that it is not the prodigal son that wanted to be saved, but the father who had loved the prodigal son. While the prodigal son was still struggling afar off, trying to come up with the right reason to convince his father, the father was waiting day and night for his return. The son did not realize that his father was influenced only by love (vv. 17-20). Those who reason do not know God’s love. Do not reason and do not worry whether or not God will accept you. Man tries to persuade God to have compassion on him. But God is love itself. We do not have to change God or appeal to Him in any way. God is love. Man thinks that God is severe, fearsome, and hardened, but God said, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exo. 34:6). Again He said, “Taste and see that Jehovah is good; / Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psa. 34:8). Oh, that all men would come to know His love, taste His goodness, and trust in Him!
This is another line. We must have a line when we preach the gospel. If a man tries to be good at everything, he will end up being good at nothing. Of course, there are times of exception, and we can resort to other ways during these times, but we always should have a specific line that we can call our own.
God’s righteousness
God’s righteousness is related to the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. Love relates to God’s heart, while righteousness relates to God’s procedure, His way. Some gospel preachers do not emphasize God’s love; rather, they emphasize the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. This is the line of God’s righteousness. God crucified the Lord Jesus on the cross for our sins. He no longer can save men according to His whims and likes. He has to save men according to the cross. He is bound by the cross. Before the cross, God could save men according to His desires and likes. The cross, however, removes God’s freedom to choose. As long as man accepts the redemption of the cross, God must save. Since the redemption of the cross is an accomplished fact, God has to justify all those who come to Him through the cross. The Lord Jesus has died for me on the cross. Now I can come to God through His cross. Whether or not God is willing to save me, I will be saved. This is the righteousness of God.
First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Lord Jesus shed His precious blood for us. When we come to God through Him, God must save us. He must forgive us. He does not have a choice. If He loves us, we will be saved. If He does not love us, we still will be saved. God is love, but He is also righteousness. He saves us according to His righteousness. Hallelujah! The cross is our handle, our leverage. It is a handle given to us by God. This is the gospel of righteousness. God has accomplished His work, and no one can change it.
We also have the last part of Romans 4, which says that Christ was raised for our justification (v. 25). In other words, Christ could not have resurrected if we were not justified. We can also say that except for our justification, Christ would not have resurrected. In God’s eyes Christ was allowed to be resurrected only after our case before Him was settled through the work of the cross. The fact that Christ has resurrected proves that our case is settled. This is the reason it says that Christ was raised for, or on the basis of, our justification. Looking at it another way, since Christ has resurrected, God will always justify us whenever we come to God through Him. This is another line, a very strong line. This line lays hold of God’s righteousness.
A living faith
The sixth way to preach the gospel is to lead people to a living faith. What is a living faith? It is when man’s heart turns to God and touches Him. This is the meaning of a living faith. God’s Word says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” Therefore, with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation (Rom. 10:8, 10). Believing in the heart is touching the Lord with the heart. This is all that is needed. Some people think that a man has to be clear about the gospel before he can be saved; they try to present the gospel as fully as possible. But in actuality, as soon as a man touches the Lord and says with his mouth, “Lord,” he is saved. On his way to Damascus, the Lord only said to Paul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Paul only opened his mouth, saying, “Lord,” and he was saved (Acts 9:3-6). He became clear about gospel truths later. The thief who was crucified with the Lord mocked Him first. Later, he had a turn within. He touched the Lord and was saved. He was not clear about the gospel. As long as some people turn their heart to the Lord and call on Him with their mouth, they are saved even though they are not clear about the gospel.
The seed of the gospel is the word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). Once a man touches God’s word, he is saved. This is a wonderful thing. Sometimes we do not have to present the word of the gospel too clearly. As long as we can lead men to the Lord, they will be saved. This is another way. This way does not emphasize the speaking of the word, but the act of prayer. Once a man prays, he becomes clear. The way does not involve being clear about the gospel first, but praying first. The key to this way is to bring men to God. This is all that is needed. Once a man is saved, he can be taught the truth. Before he is saved, we should not worry whether or not he is clear. Just bring him to God, and he will be saved.
Everyone concentrating on His own specialty, and the whole Body coordinating together for the gospel
Generally speaking, the Bible gives us these six lines, and gospel preachers in the past generally have taken these six lines. In order to learn to preach the gospel well, we have to pick one of these six lines. Today the preaching of the gospel is not the work of evangelists alone; the whole church has to rise up. Every brother and sister in the church has to do the work of an evangelist. We have to pursue deeper spiritual experiences, but at the same time, everyone has to do the work of the evangelist. No one can use spiritual pursuit as an excuse for not preaching the gospel. On the contrary, the deeper a man pursues after spiritual life, the better he should be at preaching the gospel. This is the complete work that has been entrusted to the church. Everyone has to preach the gospel, and everyone has to have his own line of preaching the gospel. We must all present ourselves to God and ask Him to show us a clear way. This way will bring in the Lord’s blessing. After He has shown us the way, we have to dig deep into it.
Each one of us has to be perfected in one of these ways. We have to pray to God and seek after Him. We have to give our thoughts and our time to it. We have to build up our own topics and material for the gospel. We should not imitate others; we should pay attention to our own specialty. We should do everything to develop our specialty. If everyone develops his own specialty, the preaching of the church will be complete. We will only succeed if we tackle the matter from every different angle. Those who can save souls are wise. If one line will not work in one place and the needs are not met, we have to change to a different line. If one person is not enough to meet the need, we can ask other brothers to come and help us. We should never be proud in the matter of preaching the gospel; we must learn to coordinate. In this way more sinners will be saved.