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The gospel preaching we refer to is not the preaching commonly referred to by others. Rather, we are referring to fruit-bearing. The preaching that others generally refer to is done by preachers. Fruit-bearing, however, is the responsibility of every believer. The Bible says that every believer is a branch in the true vine, which is the Lord Himself (John 15:1-2). The unique responsibility of a branch is to bear fruit. Since preaching the gospel is fruit-bearing, it is a responsibility. Therefore, gospel preaching is not a special profession carried out by specialists. It is the daily responsibility of every Christian. No one should regard gospel preaching as a profession. Every believer should regard gospel preaching as a responsibility of his daily life.
It is significant that the Bible uses a vine to describe our relationship with the Lord. There are various kinds of trees. Some, such as sweet osmanthus and cherry trees, are appreciated for their blossoms. Others, such as the pine and the juniper, can be used as raw material. Still others are not appreciated for their blossoms and cannot be used as raw material; they are solely for bearing fruit. Among this group of trees, the most obvious is the grapevine. The vine can never be used as raw material, and its branches are not even good for fuel. The flowers of the vine are almost nonexistent because they are tiny, and they bloom only for a short period. Hence, they are not worthy of any appreciation. Thus, grapevines are solely for fruit-bearing. Other fruit trees, such as the peach tree and the pear tree, have attractive flowers and can also be used for timber. However, the vine is neither good for flowers nor for timber; it is solely for bearing fruit.
The Bible uses numerous kinds of trees as types of the Lord Jesus. For example, in Song of Songs 2:3 the Lord is typified by the apple tree. This indicates that the Lord Himself bears fruit. However, the vine best portrays the relationship between the Lord and us. We are branches of the Lord Jesus who is the vine. The branches of the vine are for bearing fruit. Fruit-bearing is their sole responsibility. Aside from bearing fruit, there is nothing else that they do. Therefore, since we are branches of the Lord as the vine, our responsibility is to preach the gospel, save sinners, and bear fruit.
Gospel preaching is neither a profession nor an outward behavior. Gospel preaching is related to the life within us. Every kind of life has its own ability. Fish can swim in water, and birds can fly in the air. Swimming and flying are abilities of life. The fact that trees can bear fruit is also an ability of life. Trees do not bear fruit because of outward behavior but because of their inner life. Even though bearing fruit is an outward manifestation, it shows the ability of the life within a tree. Since gospel preaching is a kind of fruit-bearing, it is an ability of the divine life. We must see that the regenerated life is within every believer. This life has many abilities, that is, many characteristics and functions. One of these characteristics and functions is to preach the gospel, and not merely to preach the gospel but to preach the gospel under any circumstance. Believers have a special instinct — the urge to preach the gospel. This is not a hobby; rather, it is the life of a believer.
For example, cats cannot be forbidden from catching mice; neither can dogs be prohibited from barking. Catching mice and barking are characteristics of the cat and dog life. Similarly, Christians preach the gospel out of a characteristic of the life within them. This is the reason that the brothers and sisters respond enthusiastically whenever the church preaches the gospel. They willingly spend their energy and money because the life within them is a gospel-preaching life.
The life within us is not merely a holy life, a loving life, and a meek life; it is also a gospel-preaching life. If we try to not preach the gospel, we will feel uneasy and unhappy. On the contrary, when we preach the gospel, we feel joyful and at ease because we are following the nature of our inner life. If we want to grow, we must allow the inner life to develop so that the characteristics and functions of this life can be freely manifested. Once we allow this life to develop and be expressed, we cannot help but preach the gospel.
Therefore, we should not have the concept that since we have “joined” the church, we should encourage others to “join” the church. Neither should we think that since we are members of the church, we should preach the gospel only when the church is encouraging us to preach the gospel. Preaching the gospel under these circumstances is not a spontaneous expression of life. We must understand that gospel preaching is neither a religious activity nor a pious behavior for a believer. It is altogether a matter of life.
There is a common belief in Christianity that the power of gospel preaching is the issue of sufficient prayer and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that prayer and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit are needed in order to have power for preaching the gospel. However, a new believer does not rely that much on prayer or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for power when he preaches the gospel. Rather, he preaches the gospel because he is a believer. This is his capital, his basic power, for preaching the gospel.
Another inaccurate concept we have is that only experienced believers have the power to preach the gospel. For example, one may think that the elders surely have the power to preach the gospel. However, the exact opposite may be true. A “mature and experienced” believer often has difficulty preaching the gospel because he has become old and cannot bear fruit. No grapes in a vineyard are brought forth by old branches; rather, they are brought forth by new branches. This is why old branches are pruned when winter comes, and then in the following spring, new branches grow and bring forth grapes. The power of fruit-bearing is with new branches. Similarly, every new believer is a new branch in the Lord as the vine. Their power for preaching the gospel lies in their being new believers. Hence, for the church to preach the gospel and save more people, new believers must be encouraged to preach the gospel. If a person is saved this year, he should preach the gospel this year. This is the power of the gospel.
Often, when I was invited by the saints to preach the gospel to their relatives and friends, I would encourage them to invite a new believer instead. It was often easier for him to lead others to salvation than it was for me. I am speaking the truth, although many do not quite accept or believe this because they have not changed their concept. They still think that in order to have power when preaching the gospel, they need maturity in life, sufficient prayer, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This concept causes new believers to shrink back from preaching the gospel. They think that they need to equip themselves and practice before they can preach the gospel. This ruins many newly saved brothers and sisters.
Our concept must be changed to see that new believers do not need to have experience, much prayer, or even the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in order to preach the gospel. Their newly acquired salvation is their capital, their power. The underlying power for gospel preaching is an issue of being newly saved. On the contrary, an experienced apostle may need to pray for ten days, like Peter did, and receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in order to preach the gospel. But today a new believer can be a small disciple. Praise the Lord that he does not need to be an experienced believer to be qualified. As long as he is a new believer, he can preach the gospel. His new experience of salvation is his capital. Any other capital that preaching the gospel requires will come with time. But a new believer can utilize the capital of his new salvation. A new believer is a new branch.
I feel that this kind of encouragement is lacking among us. In particular, some churches that have been established for some time seldom give new believers the opportunity to participate in preaching the gospel. Instead, the preaching of the gospel is always carried out by the “older” believers. The older ones give the gospel message, and the older ones visit the gospel friends. But once a person is old, he may be ineffectual. The more recent a person’s salvation, the fresher and the more effectual is his preaching. A person who was baptized last month and goes to invite his relatives and friends this month will surely be powerful, fresh, and living. He may not present the truth of the gospel accurately, but he can cause others to be saved.
Gospel preaching is different from any other work. Teaching the truth requires absolute accuracy, but preaching the gospel does not necessarily require accuracy. It only requires that people be saved. Some brothers are very accurate when they preach, but people are not saved. Others seem to speak nonsensically, yet people are saved. Brother John Sung, who was very much used by the Lord in China more than twenty years ago, was an excellent example. Some of his gospel preaching was actually not according to the truth. For example, he once said that the “flow of blood” spoken of in Mark 5 refers to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, large numbers of people were saved. I am not encouraging us to teach wrong doctrines, but I want us to see that leading people to salvation does not fully depend on our accurate preaching of the truth. The preaching may be good and correct, but people may not get saved. A newly saved brother may be unclear concerning the Bible and unable to give a message, but as long as he preaches, people will be saved. Therefore, we need to see that fruit-bearing depends on new branches, not on the correct preaching of the truth. Gospel preaching fully depends on the fact that we are believers. This is our power.
Some argue that a believer who does not have a proper appearance cannot preach the gospel. Once a person begins to preach the gospel, however, he will become proper. If we wait until believers are proper before encouraging them to preach the gospel, they will become more improper. But if they begin to preach the gospel just as they are, they will become proper. It is amazing that almost all of those who do not preach the gospel are improper, while almost all who preach the gospel are proper. If a person does not preach the gospel, he will gradually become improper. However, with those who are not proper, the more they preach, the more proper they will become. Therefore, as long as one is a believer, he must preach the gospel and not consider other things.
Skills are essential in whatever we do. Hence, skills need to be considered in preaching the gospel, but we should tell new believers that they should simply go and preach the gospel and not be concerned with other things. Our preaching is our skill. There are two things that newly saved brothers and sisters should pay attention to when preaching the gospel. First, they are believers, and this is their power. Second, their preaching is their skill. If they do not know how to preach, they will know how to preach when they preach. If they are unable to preach, they will be able to preach when they preach. They should not ask how they will know or how they will be able to preach, because the more they ask, the more unclear they will be.
Every law is spontaneous and has a natural outcome. Being a Christian is the power for preaching the gospel, and preaching itself is the skill. Both of these are according to the natural law. Therefore, we do not need to learn many methods. We should simply preach according to the natural law.
We often like to do everything in an orderly manner. We feel the same about our gospel preaching, but God may not like it this way. Gospel preaching was always disorderly in the Bible. After Philip met the Lord Jesus, he immediately went to preach the gospel (John 1:43-46). He even said the wrong thing, not caring for accuracy. As soon as he met Nathanael, he preached Jesus to him. Philip seemed to be saying, “Whether or not He is Jesus the Nazarene and the son of Joseph the carpenter does not matter. You must believe in Him. If you do not understand, just come and see.” His preaching was a complete mess, but Nathanael was eventually saved through his preaching. Nathanael was not saved by an experienced, accurate, and skillful evangelist but by a new believer who was unclear, inaccurate, and ambiguous in his preaching. Therefore, new believers must go and preach the gospel. The skill for preaching the gospel is in their preaching. Being a believer is the power, and their preaching is their skill.
In the practice of gospel preaching, we should first make a list of our relatives, friends, colleagues, and schoolmates. We do not need to be concerned for those who are already saved, because those who are not saved are the objects of our gospel preaching. We should first preach to our relatives and friends. According to Exodus 12, if a household could not eat an entire lamb at the passover, the children of Israel were to share it with their neighbors (v. 4). Every local church should lead all the new believers to practice this. Acts 1:8 says that the gospel was to be preached “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The principle in spreading the gospel is to spread from the center. Hence, we need to start with our closest relatives and friends and spread from there. After listing the names of our unsaved relatives and friends, we should try our best to contact them, not to befriend them or to socialize with them but to preach the gospel to them. In contacting them, we do not need to talk or argue much. This may hinder them and shut the door of salvation. When the church holds a gospel meeting, we should do our best to invite those on our list so that they can hear the gospel and receive the Lord.
Second, as the opportunity allows we should endeavor to preach the gospel to all men. A good way is to distribute gospel tracts whenever there is the opportunity. They can be distributed on buses and trains or even at bus stops and train stations. We can distribute them to people on our way to a meeting. Sometimes a team of two or three should distribute tracts at street intersections or important locations. We may even sing gospel hymns, post banners, or speak to people. These should be done without formality. We often did these things when we were in mainland China. It is regrettable that we seem to have neglected them. May we all pick these things up again and practice them diligently.
In the preaching of the gospel, speaking is a must. This is a crucial point that is generally neglected by Christians. Many hold the concept that gospel preaching depends entirely on the testimony of the daily walk and not so much on speaking. This is the enemy’s scheme. The more a brother or a sister speaks the gospel to others, the more their daily walk will be changed. Someone who does not preach the gospel may say, “How can I preach? Look at my daily walk. Since my conduct is poor, I should not speak. If I do speak, it will be useless and may even cause damage.” In reality, however, his conduct will worsen if he does not speak. But if he rises up to preach the gospel, he will be more proper day by day. Brothers, the gospel is not preached by our conduct but by our words. Therefore, we should go and preach. We should go and speak. The more we preach, the better our conduct will be. The more we speak, the more proper our living will become. Our conduct is poor because we do not preach the gospel. One may have been saved for three years but still go to the movies because he does not preach the gospel. If he preached the gospel immediately after his salvation, saying, “I have believed in Jesus. You should believe. Jesus is the Savior of sinners. Jesus can save people from their sins and from their bad habits,” he would be the first one to be delivered from his bad habits. He would never again go to the movies, and if he went, his own speaking would condemn him.
Ephesians 6:15 says that the gospel is a pair of shoes for our feet, which keep us away from the world’s filth. The more we preach the gospel to others, the less they will ask us to join in their sinful activities. They will say, “Do not ask him. He just preached the gospel to us yesterday, so what is the use of asking him?” If we remain silent and never speak the gospel, but instead merely think of our good behavior as being a testimony, our colleagues who gamble and our classmates who watch movies will drag us along with them. There are many such cases. A person often does not have a good testimony before his neighbors because he has never spoken the gospel to them. Speaking the gospel once would preserve him from wrongdoings before his neighbors. Therefore, we should never say that in order to preach the gospel, we need to have good conduct. This word should be spoken to believers who have been saved for a long time. However, we should simply tell the new believers to go and speak. Gospel preaching requires speaking. This speaking is our safeguard.
When I was young, I also heard that it is better to preach the gospel by good conduct rather than by speaking. Later, a servant of God overthrew this teaching by asking, “What verse in the Bible says that the gospel is preached by conduct or that preaching is not by speaking but by conduct?” He pointed out that Acts 4:17-18 shows that Satan always wants to shut people’s mouths and stop them from preaching. In order to preach, our mouth cannot be shut. We should not think that we cannot speak because we are weak; rather, we are weak because we do not speak. Once we speak, we will be strong. We should not think that since our living is abnormal, we should not speak. Our living is abnormal because we do not speak. Once we speak, we will be normal. We must overthrow the common concept in Christianity and not consider our own condition but simply go and speak. Gospel preaching is not simply taking people to a meeting but speaking to people. Even if we do not know how to speak, we must still speak. Even if we cannot speak well or our speaking is incomplete, we must still speak. Oh, I cannot stress this secret too much; I cannot exhaust this mystery. We will know how to speak as we practice. Because the God whom we serve is a speaking God, we should be a speaking people. Our God is not a dumb idol.
This treasure, which belongs to every believer, has been lost and even seized by the children of the devil. The most prosperous people in the world today are the most articulate ones, but they speak lies and deceit. The words that we speak are the truth, yet we do not speak. This is a huge mistake! We should speak constantly. When on the bus, we should stand up and speak as soon as the door closes. When we are in the barbershop for a haircut, we should speak. Whenever we have the chance, we should speak, regardless of whether people listen or whether they believe. Two months ago six hundred brothers and sisters were baptized in the church in Taipei. If, from the day they were baptized, everyone spoke daily, they would stir up Taipei. But the present situation is silent and dormant. This is abnormal. Although some say that gospel preaching causes trouble and brings unrest to society, actually, the gospel stabilizes society. In the newspapers we daily read of such things as murders, suicides, fornication, and robberies. This shows that society lacks the gospel. Therefore, we must go and speak. What the law cannot do, the gospel can; what man cannot restrain, God has the power to restrain. It is a pity that degraded Christianity has turned gospel preaching into a profession that can be used to make a living. Our concept must be changed. At the same time, we must not think that only those who are matured, grown, experienced, and know the truth can speak. Even those who were baptized yesterday should go and speak. We should not keep our mouths shut. A believer’s mouth should not be shut. Believers must speak constantly. We should go and speak. Whether we speak correctly or incorrectly, we still need to speak. As long as we preach Jesus as the Savior, our preaching cannot be wrong. By this continuous speaking, the gospel will be spread.
On the one hand, we should expect results, but on the other hand, we should not trust too much in the results. We should hope for results, expecting large numbers of people to be saved, even expecting people of fine character to be saved. However, we should not have confidence in results, saying, “It is so wonderful to have more than six hundred people baptized.” We should realize that the best ones probably have not even been baptized and that those who have been baptized may not remain for long. Someone may say that a few of the ones who were baptized are very good but some are not so good. However, the ones whom we think are not so good today may be very good five years from now, even becoming elders in the local churches. But those whom we think are very good today may not do so well later, and their condition may deteriorate. Hence, we cannot quickly evaluate the results of the gospel. We should not trust the immediate results. Neither should we comfort ourselves, saying, “Because we do not trust results, we do not care whether people are saved.” On the one hand, we should always expect people to be richly and dynamically saved. But on the other hand, we should not put our confidence in the results.
When we preach the gospel, our eyes should be closed. We should be fervent in heart yet not so discerning in our mind. Our heart should be burning, but our mind should be “foolish” (1 Cor. 1:21, 23). We should speak concerning the Lord with whomever we meet, telling them that they will be saved simply by believing. Once a person believes, we should tell him that according to the Word of God, he is saved. We should never worry whether one has been genuinely saved and thus may be a tare and not wheat. If we think about discerning people in this way, we will be unable to preach the gospel. We should not be afraid of bringing “false ones” into the church. Discernment of this nature is a matter of church administration, not a matter of gospel preaching. Concerning church administration, everyone should have a clear and sober mind, but concerning gospel preaching, the more foolish we are, the better.
In preaching the gospel, our eyes should be closed, and we should have thick skin. Our skin needs to be thick. We should exercise to be totally oblivious to ourselves to the extent that when we are scolded, we would not realize it, and when we are laughed at, we would not feel it. Then we can preach the gospel. If we blush when others stare at us, our skin is thinner than paper, and we will have no way to preach the gospel. People with thin skin cannot preach the gospel. In order to preach the gospel, we should practice being thick-skinned.
About a hundred years ago there was a preacher named Hunter Corbett who came to northern China from America to preach the gospel. He was thick-skinned and not self-conscious. When he passed through the villages, crowds of children would follow him, throwing dirt at him and mocking him. But he was conscious of nothing and kept walking. After a while he would turn around and say with a smile, “Enough, enough.” By being oblivious of his self, the gospel was eventually preached.
People who preach the gospel should not be sensitive. Sensitive people cannot preach the gospel. All those who are sensitive need to lose their sensitivity before they can preach the gospel. We are not speaking of being thick-skinned by nature. Only those who become thick-skinned and oblivious to the self for the Lord’s sake are useful. This does not mean that we should not know shame and have a sense of shame. Shamefacedness is a protection for our conduct. Particularly with sisters, shamefacedness is a safeguard. But in the matter of gospel preaching, we should abandon this sense of shame and know no shame for the Lord’s sake. Only then can we preach the gospel.
Finally, we come to the faith for preaching the gospel. When preaching the gospel, regardless of the object, the time, or the place, we must possess faith. We must believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). We should not look at the environment, at the contrary situation, or the existing condition. If we are easily discouraged by the slightest opposition, we cannot preach the gospel. Even if the opposition intensifies, we must still believe and continue to preach. Regardless of the situation, we should always believe that the gospel has the power to save people. We should believe that whomever we are speaking to will eventually be saved. This faith includes being unyielding, bold, and courageous. We should be able to say, “I do not care what kind of person you are, how much you oppose, or how difficult the situation is; I do not care about any of this. I care only for the gospel I preach, which is powerful. This is the reason I preach. Even if people are unsaved after three years of my preaching, I still believe that they will be saved. Even though my relatives have not repented after five years of my preaching, I still believe that one day they will repent.” Faith is persistent. This is the faith for preaching the gospel, which is indispensable and requires exercise.
