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.