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We all have to know the Bible and some of the historical facts so that when we meet a thoughtful and educated person, we will be able to present an answer to his question that convinces, persuades, and subdues him.
In preaching the gospel, you may meet a very educated and thoughtful person. He may say that he is not a bad person, that he has a good marriage, and that he tries to live a good life. Everything may be going very well for him. While you are presenting the gospel to him, he may ask how anyone can really know that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Because this question involves a very great matter, your conversation with him must be a little longer, slower, and more thorough.
When we preach the gospel concerning the resurrection of Christ to a thoughtful person, we can use the migration of people from northern Europe to the United States three or four hundred years ago as an illustration to show how we believe that something happened long ago, even when we were not there to witness the event. The reason we believe that many northern Europeans migrated to this country is because of three things: the historical record, the actual descendants of these immigrants, and the physical evidence in the surrounding environment. When we use such an illustration, we should stress these points repeatedly in order to convince and subdue our listener. First, the historical record, the written history, tells us that such a migration took place three or four hundred years ago. Second, the descendants of those who migrated are now present among us, and they can trace their genealogies back to these immigrants. Their being in this country today is strong evidence that such a migration took place. Third, the physical surroundings, such as the different types of buildings, point to a migration because the original inhabitants did not have such dwellings.
The proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ likewise has three key elements: the historical record, the Christian descendants, and the effect of Christ and His resurrection on human society.
The Bible contains the historical record concerning not only the resurrection of Christ but also the entire history of Christ. The first page of the New Testament presents His genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17). The Bible, having come through many generations, has been recognized by the entire world as a great book.
Some may argue that the Bible says things that are not true. The way to determine whether a book is true or not is to examine its contents. If a book has a low standard of morality and ethics, such as the book of Mormon, we are justified in not believing it. But if a book has a high standard of morality and ethics, we must believe it. The Bible has been universally recognized as a book with the highest standard of ethics and morality. Therefore, we have to admit that whatever it says is true.
The contents of the Bible include many different items. The prophecies concerning the nation of Israel are just one important section. Because of Israel’s degradation, God became unhappy with them, punishing them by dispersing them among the nations. This prophecy concerning the dispersion (Deut. 28:62-64; Luke 21:24) was fulfilled six hundred years before Christ when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Judah (2 Chron. 36:6-21). The loss of their country was a sign of God’s punishment of the children of Israel.
The Bible also predicted that one day the land would return to the Jews (Matt. 24:32; Luke 21:24) and that they would be formed into a country. The nation of Israel was formed in 1948, and in 1967 Jerusalem was returned to the Jews. This prediction is strong proof that the Bible is a trustworthy book. It was written by God Himself through the prophets in the Old Testament and through the apostles in the New Testament.
The Bible also contains the words spoken by the Lord Jesus. His words are deeper, of a higher standard, and more full of meaning than those of any philosopher including Plato and Confucius. For instance, the Lord Jesus said that He is the light of the world (John 8:12), the life (14:6), and the resurrection (11:25). He called us to come to Him and drink (7:37), and He offered Himself to us as the bread of life (6:35). The words spoken by the Lord Jesus are unique and profound; no other person could speak such words. The words of the Lord Jesus are so profound that one philosopher remarked that if the Christ portrayed in the Gospels is false, then whoever wrote such a portrait is qualified to be Christ.
No one but the Lord Jesus could say, “Come to Me...and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28), or “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven...He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (John 6:51, 57), or “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37). Confucius and Plato could not say such things because they were not such a person as the Lord Jesus. Chapters 5 through 7 of the Gospel of Matthew show the high standard of the Lord’s teaching. No one but the Lord Jesus ever uttered such a word about loving our enemies (5:43-44). In human history there has been only one person who could speak and did speak such things, and His words were written down in the Bible. The Bible as a record of history is very high in its morality and ethics; therefore, it is very believable and trustworthy.
The second reason we know that Jesus Christ was resurrected is by the spiritual descendants of those who witnessed it. Peter, John, and the other apostles, including Paul, were witnesses of Christ’s resurrection and were the first generation of Christians (1 Cor. 15:4-8). This first generation told the next generation, and the next generation told the succeeding generation until the report reached us today. Our spiritual forefathers can be traced back to the first generation. In China everyone believes that there was a person named Confucius, not only because of the written history but also because of his descendants who are living in China today. These descendants can trace their genealogy back to their forefather Confucius. We Christians can also trace our genealogy back to Peter and John, the first generation of Christians.
The third reason we know that Jesus Christ was resurrected is by the effect of His resurrection on human society. Christianity is the product of His resurrection. The whole earth being under a calendar that is based upon the birth of Jesus Christ is also a strong evidence of Christ’s resurrection. This indicates that Jesus is Lord of all.
When a person asks a question that is too vague and too broad, we should try to solidify or compress his question into a manageable form. Otherwise, his question is like a kite without a string which soars out of control. The best thing to do in such cases is to open up to some specific verses. By opening up some specific verses, you pin him down. Then you are able to speak a definite word to him, and he is able to ask a definite question. By this definite conversation, you can guide him into the reality of Christ being life to us. You may direct a certain one to read John 6:35. After he reads, you may say, “This is the Lord Jesus’ word. We all believe into Him. This word spoken by the Lord Himself tells us that He is life, even the bread of life. Now we can eat Him. To eat Him means to enjoy Him, to take Him in.” He then may ask how to eat and enjoy Christ. You can tell him that to enjoy Christ, to eat Christ, is just to pray to Him. Then help him to pray. This will surely help him.
Because people may have a lot of religious knowledge, it is best to avoid any discussion of doctrines. Lead them to some solid verses, and stress their content again and again. This will take away any ground for arguments because the verses are the words of the Lord Jesus Himself. This will shorten your discussion very much.
The best way to conduct a gospel dialogue is with one person at a time. You should direct your speaking primarily to one person. Therefore, when you are with a group, you must learn to be keen and alert. Whenever someone speaks, you should discern what kind of person he is, and where he is coming from. By their speaking, you should be able to discern who among them is the one to whom you should address your speaking. In a group of four or five people, we should direct our speaking to one person; otherwise, our time will be wasted by trying to take care of too many in one conversation. Interruptions are sent by the devil to waste time and annul the gospel dialogue. Eventually, due to these interruptions there is little result.
In visiting people, an important principle is always to take the opportunity to impart some word of the Bible into them regardless of the length of the conversation or the nature of the conversation. This imparting of the word is an injection. We may come and go, but the verses will remain with people for a long time. It may be that the person will not allow the word to work very much at first. But after twenty years the verses will still be there working on him. Therefore, we should not allow our time with people to be in vain. We should give them an injection of the word. For this reason we must be very familiar with the Bible, especially the New Testament, so that we can select some golden verses to use at any time without the need of a lot of consideration.
When we go out to preach the gospel, we should know that Satan is opposing us. He will try to frustrate our gospel dialogue by bringing in unanswerable questions. The mind of educated ones is often like a big, bottomless ocean. Again, we must try to pin them down to a particular point. Often we will have to leave the area or field of their question and lead them into another realm. The best way is to turn the person from his or her mind to the spirit. You may say, “Our discussion, thus far, has been completely in the realm of the mind. But we have to realize that we human beings are not of one part only. We have many parts. We have our physical part, our body, and we also have our psychological part, our soul, of which the mind is the largest part. You and I have exercised two parts of our being. We have used our mouths, which belong to our physical part, and our minds, which belong to our psychological part. Yet we human beings also have another part, our spirit. In your mind you may say that there is no God and that you strongly believe the theory of evolution, but at night while you are quiet and calm, there is another sensation within you. This sensation is not in the mind but in another part of your being. This part of your being is your spirit. If you remain in the consideration of your mind, you sense that there is no God. But if you turn to your spirit, you sense that there is a God.” By this kind of conversation, you rescue your listener from the endless psychological realm to the realm of the human spirit.
We have to learn to talk about the human spirit in many different ways using many different illustrations. Suppose you do something wrong. No one knows except you, yet there is a kind of condemnation within you. This is not psychological; rather, it is a matter of the function of the conscience within the human spirit. Publicly during the day, the atheists may say that there is no God, but alone at night, there is something within them — their spirit — which affirms that there is a God. A person may be very rich in material things and enjoy all kinds of entertainment yet still be very unsatisfied. The body may be satisfied, the psychological part may be satisfied, but there is still a part that is not satisfied. This unsatisfied part is the human spirit.
The spirit is the organ for us to contact God. We have the five physical senses for realizing color, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures. The eyes are for seeing things such as color. If you lose your sight, you cannot use your ears to hear color. Similarly, if you lose your sense of smell, you cannot use your eyes to see a foul odor.
Our spirit is the organ for us to realize, sense, and contact God. In our mind we cannot see or realize God. Just as our ears cannot hear color, our mind cannot realize God. In order to realize color, we must use our eyes; likewise, in order to contact God, we must use our spirit. In such a discussion using the above points, it would be good to inject a Bible verse such as John 4:24.
The matter of the church may be raised after you have visited someone for a number of weeks. When this subject is first mentioned, there may not be enough time to adequately cover it, yet it is still good to give a few injections, or verses, concerning the church. You may say, “The church is constituted with Christ as life. According to Ephesians 1:22-23, the church comes out of Christ. Christ is the substance and reality of the church.” This is probably sufficient, especially if he is a Christian and you intend to visit him next week.
On your next visit, you should immediately go to the subject of the church, not wasting any time. After you briefly remind him of the subject of the church, which he proposed for your fellowship, you should wait for him to say something. Otherwise, you will not know where he is. By giving him the opportunity to speak, you may realize that he is a person who has never been saved; that is, he is a nominal Christian. Then you may say, “Today in Christianity there are two kinds of Christians, genuine and nominal. Many came into Christianity without being saved.” You should then talk with him about salvation, helping him to realize that he is not yet a real Christian. This may take all your time, so you should make an appointment to come together again next week. Perhaps over a period of four or five weeks, you may be able to cover the matter of the church, depending on your way of handling this kind of person.
