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We must learn how to deal with all of the various cases or situations in preaching the gospel. Our preaching of the gospel should not be that different from our normal talk. Even if we teach the Bible, it should be done as part of our practical dialogue with the person who is listening.
We should not use inappropriate examples or passages from the Bible to answer a question. One saint was speaking with a person who indicated that he was mad at God. An inappropriate response to this person will raise more questions and create problems. It would be profitable to say, “You may be mad at God, but God is never mad at you. God loves you. Regardless of how long you would be mad at Him, He still loves you.” This is the gospel. It may not be Bible teaching, but such a word will touch his heart. Spontaneously, he would say, “Then what should I do?” Tell him, “You do not need to do anything; God is doing everything for you. He is here right now waiting for you to receive what He has done for you, and He has sent me here to tell you the things that He has done for you.” Then he will say, “What are the things that He has done for me?” Tell him, “Well, first of all He came to be a man, and He died on the cross for your sins. Isn’t this wonderful?” Then he may say, “What should I do?” At this point you can encourage him to simply say to God, “Dear God, thank You. I was mad at You, but I have just now realized that You are never mad at me and that You came to be a man and died on the cross for my sins.”
If he has difficulty praying, you can escort him in his prayer by asking him to follow you. Help him to take the first few steps. This is the proper preaching of the gospel. Some do not believe that people can be saved within just a few minutes, but it all depends on how you present the gospel. In this situation you escorted one to pray, and he prayed a sincere prayer to God. God means business with us, and the Lord told us that if we believe in Him, if we receive Him, He will surely give eternal life to us (John 3:15-16).
We have unconsciously been molded by religion into a certain form. We do not realize how much this mold restricts and limits our releasing of Christ to others. One brother testified that he was surprised by one person’s response to him. The person said, “All you people do is talk. I am a man of action. You are wasting your time with me. You should go to the poor people, the people in need. If you want to help someone, come get me, and I will go with you and work together with you.” This response was not what the brother had expected, and he did not know what to say.
I would have encouraged the brother to respond immediately with, “Very good! Let us go now. We will go to work. We will take some action.” This is a word of insight into the thinking of the one you are visiting. Learn to have an ear for whatever a person may say. If he goes with you to visit others, you will gain many opportunities to impart the riches of Christ into him. This gives you the time to infuse him. You should never argue with him, but take this way to care for him practically.
Some people like to use the situations existing in the world as an excuse to reject the Lord Jesus. They reason that if there is a God, why would He allow so many things to happen? They mention the wars with so many people being killed. Others reason that God should perform miracles to take care of all these problems. One of the most common questions raised by thoughtful persons is why God would allow these sorts of things to occur.
We can answer such a question by saying, “Yes, you are really right. Nearly every thoughtful person would ask the same question. Honestly speaking, I don’t know how to answer you. This question is too great. If I can answer you, I must be God. He is God. God is mysterious, and we do not understand everything that He does. But one thing we know is that in the Bible He tells us that He wants us to repent and that He wants us to believe in Him. Now, I don’t know that much, but I must tell you I do know that I should repent, and I did. I do know that I should believe in the Lord Jesus, and I did. I also know that God wants you to receive His salvation.”
This approach condenses all the potential problems into one point. In this way you save yourself from being tempted into a misleading problem. You could argue with him three days and three nights without result. The more you argue, the more he has to say. You should not follow him into these things. You must say something to restrict him, to bring him back to the point for which you came to see him. You came to him to bring him to Christ.
Learn never to fight or argue with people. In considering this present case, a good verse with which to bring such a one back to the point is Deuteronomy 29:29 which says, “The things that are hidden belong to Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed, to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” What has God revealed in the Bible? The Bible reveals that we are sinners, that we have to repent, and that we have to believe in the Lord Jesus. Right away you can bring this one to the point toward which you are working. However, if you use your Bible too much, you will fall into Bible teaching rather than conversing.
Someone may say that he does not want to believe in the Lord Jesus because he has been damaged by religion. He may refer to all the ugly things that are happening these days in religion, such as the preachers who are misleading people and taking their money. At this juncture we should not discuss religion with such a person. Forget about that. Rather, with such a case, it is better to point out to this dear one that today, in this universe, there is God, who is absolutely good and bright. Also there is Satan, the devil. God is working today, but His enemy, the devil, is also working. In Matthew 13 the Lord told us that while He is working, the devil is also working. This is why you have wheat, the good ones. You also have tares, the bad ones. Even among His twelve disciples, there was Judas. Later in the New Testament, a number of Christians were deceived and misled. But we cannot give up the positive side because of the negative side. It is not wise to reject being wheat just because of so many tares. This is the way we can respond to such a case.
While you are talking with someone, you can realize what kind of person he is from his attitude or from the tone of his words. If he is highly educated or quite knowledgeable concerning the Bible, you have to consider how to proceed with him. Your answer must be according to his level of education and according to the amount of knowledge he has about the Bible. If he is not highly educated and not knowledgeable concerning the Bible, you can take a simple, clear way with him. Remember that you should never fight or argue. Do not say no to people’s words. Rather, use whatever is brought up by the person to instruct him.
Suppose someone asks you what church you attend. Some may answer that we do not take a certain name but that we just meet according to the city. This kind of answer may be ambiguous and confusing to him. The best way to answer is to avoid all the various involvements. This kind of question is usually asked by a Christian. It is best to simply say that we are not denominational. We just meet in a simple way. After you have visited with him for some time, and it appears that he is a real seeker after the truth, you may be able to share more with him concerning the church.
With those who have a limited knowledge of spiritual matters, it is always good to center on the fact that God is real. Such a word calms all kinds of doubts and questions. It is hard for anyone to say that God is not real or to say that there is no God. Since God is real, we all have to consider what such a God has to do with us and what we have to do with Him. This kind of talk will lead others to realize that there are so many things in this universe that are far beyond our knowledge. Even medical doctors have to admit that there are many things about our human body that they do not understand. Another item we do not understand thoroughly is electricity. We do not have the capacity to know all these things. We do know that God is here. He is concerned with us, so we must be concerned with Him.
Someone was asked whether a terrible criminal who has committed all kinds of crimes and has become demon possessed can be saved. This kind of case provides a good opportunity for us to preach the good tidings, the gospel. In the New Testament two criminals were crucified with the Lord Jesus. While the Lord was on the cross, one of these criminals was saved by Him. This is recorded in Luke 23. This is a strong proof that a criminal can be saved.
Regarding demon possession, we must learn not to be so demon conscious. Such thinking is a deceit of the enemy. Christians have to ignore the demons. Wherever we go, the demons will flee.
Learn to be freed from formality. Christians must be those who are always singing, praising, and rejoicing. When we are not rejoicing, our minds will be soaring, but the best way to consolidate our soaring minds is to sing. Then our minds will be concentrated, and the Lord will get the praise and the glory. How glorious if we come to all the meetings of the church in such a way!
If you drop your formality when you go to visit people, you will not go as a pastor, a missionary, or a Bible student. Rather, your going will be in a normal way as a regular human being. In this way your going will be so nice and pleasant. You must forget about your status. Do not try to behave. Just live. To behave yourself in an outward way is hypocrisy. Just be what you are. While you are going to knock on doors, you should be singing and rejoicing. Hymns, #717 is a good song for us to sing. The chorus of this hymn says,
Christians should be living creatures (Ezek. 1:5-25; Rev. 4:6-8).
