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“From house to house...announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ” means that the gospel can be preached in every home and that the gospel should be preached in every home (Acts 5:42). When we see the expression announcing the gospel, our inner being leaps because, as believers, we have a gospel-preaching life in us. This life can never be fully quenched. As long as we believe into the Lord and have the Lord’s life, there will always be a response in our inner being when the gospel is mentioned, no matter what our condition is. When we pray and sing hymns related to the gospel, we also have a feeling that the gospel is glorious. The more we preach the gospel, the stronger our inner being becomes and the more feeling we have for the gospel.
The increase and spread of the church is carried out through the preaching of the gospel. Without the preaching of the gospel, it is difficult for the church to increase and spread. The book of Acts concerns the spread of the church, and it contains numerous records of preaching the gospel. The church was able to spread because there were many groups of disciples who were witnesses of the Lord. They were not pastors or preachers but the Lord’s living witnesses. In every place their primary work was to preach the gospel. They preached the gospel in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth (1:8). The book of Acts is a record of the saints’ preaching of the gospel.
The way for the increase and spread of the church has been laid out clearly before us. The basis and means for this increase and spread is through the building up of small groups. The preaching of the gospel cannot be carried out by a spiritual “giant” or by a few great spiritual men; rather, it must be carried out through groups of disciples who gather in the cities where they live and who announce the gospel from house to house. Going from house to house is simply the gatherings of the small groups.
The first function of a group gathering is to sustain the brothers and sisters who meet regularly. Although many saints meet regularly, the big meetings cannot uphold their spiritual life. Through the building up of small groups, the saints have more opportunities to fellowship and pray with one another. This makes it easy to sustain their spiritual life.
A small group should also function to restore brothers and sisters who have not met for a long time. In the days to come, many testimonies will confirm this burden as we practice the group meetings. The small group gatherings fill up a lack in the ability of big meetings to restore those who have been absent from the meetings for a long time.
Those who have been absent from the meetings often feel ashamed to come to a big meeting, and they do not know how to function in such a meeting. However, the fellowship in a small group gathering warms and comforts them as if they were at home. Through this warm feeling, they can gradually be restored. The small groups are not an army or a school but a family. In a family there is warmth as well as love. With love and warmth we can restore our dear brothers and sisters one by one. This is the “defensive” function of the small groups.
Although the small groups can uphold existing saints and restore dormant saints, the increase and spread of the church will not proceed in a full way if we focus only on this “defensive” function. We must also focus on the “offensive” function of preaching the gospel from house to house. Through the supply of life and the teaching of the truth, we can uphold and restore the brothers and sisters. Yet when we look around, we still see many relatives, friends, and neighbors who are unbelievers, and we surely have some feeling for them. The city of Taipei is like a big fishpond. In this fishpond there are many who need the gospel. These “fish” should be the target of our work. We should not only uphold our existing brothers and sisters and restore our lost brothers and sisters; we should also go on the offensive to reach our gospel friends, that is, those who have not yet believed in the Lord, so that they may know the gospel and receive the blessings of the Lord’s salvation.
A brother or sister may say, “My meeting life is only now becoming normal. I have been greatly blessed by joining a small group gathering, but I am not sure if I am ready to preach the gospel.” According to experience, however, we must realize that a normal spiritual life is always advancing. The more we try to merely maintain what we have, the more we will lose it; the more we try to keep it, the more it will leak away. When we go out by faith to speak for the Lord, He will be with us, and our spirit will rise up. The more we go out, the more active our inner man will become; and the more we go out, the more we will have the Lord’s word. I believe that many of us have had this experience. For example, when we saw saints put on gospel vests, we were scared and even a little embarrassed, but when we put on a gospel vest ourselves, the Spirit and the Lord’s word emboldened us. This shows that when we go out, the Spirit of the Lord will be with us. The small groups not only join brothers and sisters together through mutual love, care, and concern; they also provide the saints the way to move. Preaching the gospel keeps us in a normal spiritual condition, full of the moving power of life.
In the book of Acts the economical Spirit is for the carrying out of God’s economy. If we want to experience the economical Spirit, we must be in God’s move. If we are not in this move, we have no ground to claim the outpoured Spirit. We all desire to experience the Lord, to have a life that is full of power, and to be the Lord’s witnesses. We can achieve this by entering into the Lord’s move to carry out His economy. When we participate in the Lord’s gospel move, the economical Spirit of the Lord will be upon us.
In order to be blessed by the Lord, a small group must be fully related to the gospel. Whenever a small group loses its gospel nature, it will come to a standstill. Whenever there are gospel friends in a small group gathering, the gathering is full of freshness. Without gospel friends, the gathering gradually goes downhill. Every new face, regardless of whether it is weak or even opposing, fills the brothers and sisters with a fresh burden. Before a new one comes, the direction of the meeting may be uncertain, but once he arrives, the direction and utterance become clear. New faces are the life pulse of a small group. As long as there are new ones, there will be burden, feeling, and utterance. Hence, the small groups truly need the offensive function of the gospel.
In Acts 1:8 the Lord said that the disciples would receive power and be His witnesses. This shows that every believer should be a witness of the Lord. We should not have the concept that only preachers and missionaries can be witnesses of the Lord; we all are the Lord’s witnesses. In the church there are gifts and offices. With regard to the gifts, there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. With regard to offices, there are elders and deacons. A brother may think that he cannot do anything if he is not an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd-teacher, elder, or deacon. However, he surely can be the Lord’s witness. As long as we have the Lord’s life, we are witnesses. A witness does not need eloquence or even any gift.
When we hear about preaching the gospel, we often make many excuses, such as saying that we are not eloquent or gifted. We must cast aside all our excuses for not preaching the gospel. We need to strengthen our spirit of gospel preaching as well as the atmosphere of gospel preaching. We need to raise the value of gospel preaching. Some may think that they are not eloquent, but eloquence is not needed. Even the apostle Paul did not have regard for the “excellence of speech or of wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:1). There is even no absolute measure of eloquence. Even though some may speak more and others speak less, no one can exhaustively speak of the Lord’s grace or fully speak of the mystery of Christ. When we speak of spiritual things, eloquence does not matter, because we all can speak. As long as we open our mouths, we will be able to speak of the things that we have seen.
A witness is one who sees and then testifies. To different degrees, we all have seen the Lord and His grace and mercy. If we have not seen anything, we would not be in the church; if we have not seen anything, we would not come to the church meetings. Since we have seen the Lord, we can be His witnesses. We can testify of the Lord by speaking one sentence or one message; in the eyes of the Lord there is no difference. Whether we speak well or speak poorly, we can still testify. In fact, unbelievers do not pay much attention to how we speak; they want to hear our testimony. When gospel friends come to us, they may not have a strong impression of a gospel message, but they will never forget the testimonies they hear, because these testimonies are full of subjective experience.
In this regard, every brother and sister can give a testimony. Although our testimony may not have a spectacular aspect to it, such as the salvation experience of a notorious criminal or of a person with a long and serious illness, it is still a genuine experience that we can speak of to our gospel friends. We should never underrate our experience; it may be a treasure to an unbeliever. For example, we can testify of our lack of inward peace, which caused us to lose much sleep at night, and of how we found both peace and human rest by believing in the Lord. Even though we think that this is a small matter, it may be the warmest testimony to our gospel friends. Hence, we all can be the Lord’s witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8 tells us that our witnessing should be “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Today our “Jerusalem” is our relatives, friends, and neighbors. Our gospel does not start in Africa or Mongolia. Rather, it starts with our relatives, friends, and neighbors. When it comes to preaching the gospel, many of us are willing to go to faraway places, but we are unwilling to go to nearby places. However, the Lord’s charge does not speak of going from the uttermost part of the earth to Jerusalem but from Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth. Therefore, we should start with our relatives, friends, and neighbors, preaching and working on them one by one. Thus, we should preach throughout all of Taipei and then to the towns and villages in Taiwan. Then we can preach to places that are in the uttermost parts of the earth. This is the Lord’s sequence; this is also the Lord’s order.
Today we should consider those who are around us. We should pray for them, bring them before the Lord, and faithfully testify to them concerning the Lord Jesus. Within a short period of time the gospel will spread out like ripples from a stone thrown into water. This is the Lord’s charge to us, and this is the Lord’s promise to us. When we go out, the economical Spirit of the Lord will be upon us.
Whenever we talked about preaching the gospel in the past, we thought of putting on gospel vests, handing out gospel tracts, and holding a gospel meeting. In the meeting some brothers would lead the singing of hymns and give a message. At the end there would be a “drawing in of the nets” and a collection of names. There is a degree of effectiveness in this kind of gospel preaching, but our recent practice and leading has shown us that this may not be the most effective way. The most effective way is to preach the gospel in every home every other week. If everyone preaches in this way, we will realize that everyone truly can preach the gospel. Our preaching of the gospel should be continual. The most effective way to preach the gospel is in every home continually. This kind of gospel preaching will not result in something great in an outward way, but with every member speaking in a continual way throughout the year, there will be an effective move of the Lord in the gospel.
We truly worship the Lord that He has unveiled this way to us and has enabled us to see this effective way. I hope that through such a fellowship we would rise up and no longer speak of not being eloquent or of not having the gift to preach the gospel. If someone is too “gifted,” he can actually hinder the preaching of the gospel in the homes. For example, if someone is so strong that he sounds like thunder and lightning, it may be difficult for people to receive the gospel. The gospel can be preached in this way in a big meeting, but intense speaking in a small group often scares people off.
In one small group gathering in the past, a brother preached the gospel for over an hour, and then he even wanted to “draw in the net” in a formal way. There were only about ten brothers and sisters in the small group and two gospel friends, so his attempt to “draw in the net” was awkward. With a sense of desperation, the brother even asked the two gospel friends to kneel down to pray in front of everyone. The gospel friends knelt down but only out of a sense of courtesy. After this experience they were unwilling to come to another small group gathering. When we preach the gospel in the small groups, we do not need to be too aggressive or pushy. Otherwise, it will be very easy to make our gospel friends uncomfortable. We truly need the economical Spirit in order to preach the gospel, but the power of the economical Spirit may not always manifest itself as a roaring lion; it can also manifest itself as a gentle lamb.
We should encourage the brothers and sisters in the small groups to open their homes for the preaching of the gospel. This is a very crucial point. Preaching the gospel by opening our homes is different from preaching the gospel in the meeting halls because there is no place for show or façade; it only requires everyone to exercise his or her spirit. Preaching in this way attracts people, and it warms and comforts them. We should encourage all the saints in the small groups to open their homes to preach the gospel. Even a weak saint has something precious to offer. Many so-called weak brothers and sisters become strong when they preach the gospel. Brothers and sisters who do not speak much in a big meeting all speak in a small group gathering. When they go to a church meeting and see older saints who have been following the Lord a long time, they often do not speak. However, in a small group gathering when they see that their gospel friends are unclear about the gospel and do not know the Lord Jesus, they become bold and are burdened to preach the gospel.
We should encourage every brother and sister in the small group gatherings to open their homes for gospel preaching, whether they are strong or weak. Sometimes the so-called weak brothers and sisters actually have more gospel friends than we do, because those who have been in the church for a long time may have fewer friends in the world. If these so-called weak brothers and sisters opened their homes to preach the gospel, they could easily invite ten or twenty relatives, friends, and neighbors to come. This is the best way to preach the gospel.
We also need to lead the brothers and sisters to preach the gospel by themselves in their own homes. This requires constant encouragement. The members of the small groups should pick up a burden to encourage each other to preach the gospel by themselves in their homes. Although this preaching may not be flawless, it will have a much better flavor. When we eat at a good restaurant, we may eat the best delicacies, but we do not have much of an intimate and warm feeling. When we eat at home, however, we eat more ordinary food, but we feel quite intimate and warm. When we preach the gospel ourselves, the taste will be unique and enjoyable. In some groups there are brothers and sisters who are not very strong and who do not often come to other meetings. But when it is time to preach the gospel in their home, they will start seeking and preparing. Perhaps the husband will suggest that the family read John 3:16, about how God loves the world. As the time approaches, he may lack confidence in his ability to speak, so he may ask his wife to listen to what he is going to speak. After speaking in this way, he may realize that his words need to be supported with some verses, so he will look up some related references. Those who preach the gospel in their homes will not only bring unbelievers to salvation but will also be blessed themselves. Preaching the gospel will not be a heavy burden but an enjoyment. The more we preach, the more we will enjoy.
We should practice preaching the gospel in our homes every other week. This is only a suggestion. We can fellowship with the saints in our group about the details concerning the gospel preaching times in the homes.
Since we can continually preach the gospel in our homes, we will have many opportunities to invite our relatives, friends, and neighbors to come and freely hear the gospel. We need to pay attention to the word freely. In the past we have not been so wise. Throughout the year we may not have spoken much to our relatives, friends, and neighbors, but when the New Year’s gospel meeting approached, we tried to invite people, often compelling them to come and hear the gospel. This is not the proper way. The best way is to converse with our relatives and neighbors in our daily life and to establish a basis for friendship by contacting and getting to know them in a normal way. We may, for example, invite them for tea and say nothing to them about the gospel. Then at some time in the future we can let them know that we are having a meeting in our home to read the Bible with some friends and to speak concerning the Lord Jesus and that they are welcome to come. If we have a relationship with them, it will be much easier to invite them.
Leading people to salvation does not involve things that are miraculous or strange. Rather, it is according to the law of fruit-bearing. As long as we labor according to this law, it will be very easy to bring people to the Lord. Since our gospel contacts are also our relatives, friends, and neighbors, we can invite them to come to more than just one meeting. When we contacted people in the past, we would speak of the meeting and say, “Please come to the meeting.” This often made people feel awkward, and it was hard for them to accept our invitation. We need to be in touch with people frequently so that it will be easy for them to accept our invitation when we invite them, and if they cannot come, there will always be another meeting. When we contact people, we should invite them to come freely to hear the gospel.
We also should not give them a strict time to arrive. Some may come a little late, and we should let them. Some may need to leave a little early, and we should not compel them to stay to the end. We should let them freely come and freely leave. Nevertheless, they will always receive something when they come. This is the difference between preaching in our homes and preaching in a large gospel meeting.
The best way to preach the gospel in our homes is to first give a personal testimony concerning our salvation and then speak a short word about the gospel. Small group gatherings do not need a renowned preacher or a lengthy sermon. There are no preachers in a small group gathering because there is no need for a preacher; rather, everyone can testify. For example, after inviting two gospel friends to our home, there can be brief introductions. Perhaps the husband may say, “Before I believed in the Lord, my whole being was empty and without peace. There was no harmony in my family, and I was on the verge of divorcing my wife, but now my wife is sitting right next to me. Thank the Lord. He has saved our family and our marriage, and He has given us two lovely babies. These are all God’s blessings.” When people hear such a testimony, they will feel very warm. Then the wife may say something as well, testifying how her husband’s disposition changed completely after he believed in the Lord. This kind of testimony does not require any eloquence. If the children are a little older and are clear about their salvation, we can even ask them to give their testimonies. In this way, even before the testimonies are finished, our gospel friends will be completely subdued and open to the Lord.
Many brothers and sisters have been saved because of the testimonies they heard in a gospel meeting. While a gospel message may not get into people, the testimonies of the saints always penetrate into people. After giving a testimony, a brief word on the gospel can be given, but it does not have to be a lengthy discourse. We only need to give people a short word concerning the gospel. We should build up the habit of knowing verses that can easily lead people to salvation and even put these verses on the table or mark them in our Bible so that we will be able to use them when the time comes to preach the gospel.
John 3:16 is a very useful verse. After the testimonies, we can ask everyone to read this portion of the Bible together. We may have read this portion many times in the past, but it will be fresh to our gospel friends. Once this word is imparted into them, they will have a sense of the weightiness of the Word. Although testimonies can unveil people, there is still the need for the Lord’s Word. Reading the Word causes people to have a deep impression of what we have spoken.
When we preach the gospel in our homes, everyone should speak. The members of the household should strengthen the meeting with personal testimonies of their salvation and with some speaking on the gospel. We can also invite people to ask questions. Many of today’s young people will not agree with the gospel when they first hear it; they always have some questions. When we speak about one thing, they may ask about another thing. Sometimes they will even “bargain” with you for some additional time before making a decision. In such circumstances we need to be patient when we speak to them. In big meetings there is absolutely no opportunity for this kind of interaction, but in our homes there is an opportunity for them to express themselves. Many times young people have questions, and by allowing them the freedom to ask, their problems can be resolved. When we preach the gospel in our homes, we can do many things that cannot be done in big meetings. We can freely give our testimonies, and our gospel friends can freely ask questions. This can be done only in small group gatherings in our homes.
In some homes there are only husbands and wives because all the children have left home. Thus, they may think that there is not enough support for them to preach the gospel in their home. In such a case they can ask others who are nearby to join them; thus, they can have a gospel meeting with two or three families who live nearby. This will not cause the free nature of preaching the gospel at home to be lost, and at the same time there will be more impact in preaching the gospel. Sometimes we need to combine our homes together, but we should not do this in a rigid way. We should not have fixed rules about the number of families that come together. We should always be flexible.
It is easy for us to neglect to pray for our relatives, friends, and neighbors. We should follow the Lord’s leading to petition specifically for the more hopeful ones to be saved. We all have some experience in praying for people, but many times our prayers are too general. We ask the Lord to gospelize Taiwan, but we have little way to determine whether or not the Lord has heard our prayers. However, if we pray specifically for our relatives and friends one by one, we will pay attention to whether or not the Lord has heard our prayers. Hence, this is a very good opportunity for us to exercise our spirit and faith to see the Lord’s faithfulness.
It is a great strengthening to our faith when we see a person turn and believe in the Lord after praying for him for many months. We all need to learn this lesson. This is not a heavy burden; it is an exercise as well as an enjoyment. We all should pray for our relatives, friends, and neighbors. If we have too many relatives and friends, we need to have specific prayers. In their initial zeal some brothers and sisters write down a hundred names and make a determination to pray for them every day. In the end they do not pray for anyone. Hence, we do not need to focus on too many people at the same time. The best way is to focus on three to five, always looking to the Lord for them in a thorough way. The effect of this constant looking to the Lord will gradually be manifested.
We want to stir up the spirit of the gospel throughout all the churches in Taiwan. Through gospel tracts and gospel literature, we should spread the gospel all over Taiwan. The gospel is preached not only with our mouths but also with our hands. We can open our mouth to testify for the Lord and also testify through the activities of our hands. If three thousand saints are willing to distribute one gospel tract every day, three thousand tracts would be handed out every day. If each saint handed out ten tracts, thirty thousand tracts would be distributed. In this way Taiwan would soon be filled with gospel tracts.
Although the gospel is very common today, we still know that many people have never heard about the Lord Jesus. Their hearts are open, and they would believe if they heard the gospel. Hence, we need to do all that we can to sow the seed of the gospel. Today both truth and lies go side by side. If truth does not spread, lies become prevailing. In today’s society people believe many things that are not true, because they are constantly repeated and spread. We should speak and spread the precious truth that is in our hands even more.
Hymns are the best weapon in preaching the gospel. A man’s mind is harder than his heart, and changing his mind is more difficult than touching his heart. Hymns are the best tool for touching a man’s heart. We have many gospel hymns, and we should learn them one by one so that we can sing and declare them all the time. For example, Hymns, #1024 speaks of our need for Jesus, and Hymns, #1080 speaks of the vanity of everything. We should learn these hymns, and we can write them on paper and put them up in the house, or we can make note cards and place them on the dining table. Then when people come to our house, we can sing these hymns with them.
Today we have things that people did not have thirty years ago, such as tape recorders and other audio devices. We can make good use of them to play gospel hymns at home. We can give tapes to those who drive to work, and we can play songs to those who ride with us to work. In the office, if circumstances allow, we can play music for people during our break times. We should make good use of every opportunity. People may oppose us if we preach the gospel, but no one will oppose us if we sing hymns. Singing hymns will sow the seed of the gospel into people little by little. We should not only use the Bible verses in a flexible way but also use the hymns in a flexible way. The effective preaching of the gospel depends on our flexibility. We need to spread the gospel through big meetings and small groups, through contacting people and making phone calls, and through tracts and tape recorders. After we have done all these things, some results will gradually be manifested.
We cannot expect everyone to be an evangelist, nor can we expect everyone to be eloquent and gifted. Yet if every saint is faithful before the Lord and willing to gain at least one person each year, our numbers will certainly increase. The new way that the Lord has given us is a practical way. I hope that this burden and this way can be brought into the small groups to make every brother and sister a person who participates in the move of the gospel as well as a person who propagates the gospel. In this way the Lord will have a more rapid increase and a more rapid spread among us.
