1. “In prayer and in the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4; see also 4:31).
There are some important matters that we must pay attention to in preaching the gospel. The first matter is prayer. In order to preach the gospel, we must pray. A person who preaches the gospel must be a person who prays. Merely preaching the gospel is not sufficient. Prayer must accompany the ministry of the word. Sometimes we cannot release the word of God through ministry, but we can release it through prayer; sometimes we cannot speak the word of God into people, but we can pray it into them. We must have sufficient prayer to lead, accompany, and follow our gospel preaching. We should not have many outward activities that have only a minimal amount of prayer behind them.
1. “The Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join this chariot. And...Philip ran up” (Acts 8:29-30).
Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we preach the gospel, we should learn to follow the Holy Spirit as we move. We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit concerning whom to visit and what to say. However, when the brothers and sisters preach the gospel, they often visit people in a loose way and say the same thing to everyone. This does not work. Those who receive our gospel speaking should be chosen by the Holy Spirit. The words of our gospel speaking should also be chosen by the Holy Spirit. When D. L. Moody was preaching the gospel in a certain place, a man came to him after the meeting. Moody had the leading to ask him if he had peace. He angrily said that he had peace. Moody said, “My God says that an evil man shall not have peace!” The man went home, and the Holy Spirit used this word to work in him. The more he considered his situation, the less peace he had. The next day he went to see Moody and said, “Yesterday, when I told you that I had peace, I was lying. After I went home, I felt deeply within that I did not have peace.” Moody then brought him to know the Lord and His salvation. The word that Moody spoke was not some customary word. He spoke the word that the Holy Spirit directed him to speak in that instant, so it was a living, powerful word. We should pay attention to, pursue, and learn how to be led by the Spirit in the matter of preaching the gospel.
1. “Speak the word of God” (Acts 4:31; see also Luke 1:37; Jer. 23:29; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; Isa. 55:10-11).
The word of God is powerful. It can burn and melt like fire, and it can break and conquer like a great hammer. It can pierce and divide like a sharp sword, and it can water and refresh like rain and snow. Wherever it goes, it never returns in vain; rather, it always accomplishes God’s goal. When we preach the gospel, we must speak the word of God. Our message should be the word of God. The content of our message should include words from the Bible. This is effective. Charles H. Spurgeon once preached the gospel at the Crystal Palace in London. Before the event he tested the acoustics of the building by standing on the stage and shouting the words in John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” A carpenter who was working in the galleries heard the word, believed, and was saved. A. Paget Wilkes, who was much used by the Lord, once spoke at an outdoor gospel meeting in Japan. While he was speaking, he shouted 1 Corinthians 1:18: “The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness!” A Japanese man heard this word as he was going past the meeting place to a bad part of town to engage in sinful things. His heart was moved, and he stopped to listen. Eventually, he was saved. There are many examples like this. Thus, in our gospel preaching we must learn to use the words from the Bible. We must become familiar with the words of the Bible in our daily living. Then we will be able to use them at the appropriate time.
1. “Preach...Christ Jesus as Lord”; “Taught accurately the things concerning Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:5; Acts 18:25).
When we preach the gospel, we should preach nothing but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We should not preach Christianity. Christianity cannot save people; only Christ can. Christ should be the topic and the center of the gospel. We should preach Christ Jesus as Lord and tell others the things concerning Him. We should bring others to know Him, believe in Him, receive Him, turn to Him, and confess Him as their Savior and Lord of all.