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 upon 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.
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