PERSONAL EVANGELISM by D. Stuart Briscoe Torchbearers Fellowship, England
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A s we consider the advantages of personal evangelism we cannot overlook the unmistakable fact that it reaches the unreached. How many people today have no real under standing of the basics of the Gospel. They are possessed with doubts and fears, prejudices and superstitions. It is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ, each individual member, to reach these. Since the church can not go as a building it must there fore go as an individual. What do you suppose would happen if every member of your congregation, upon disbursing from church, spread out into different parts of your vicin ity and each talked to one other per son about the Lord? Think what an impact this would have. To be successful, real soul winning must get to the point. I have discov ered that it is possible for an in dividual to have a blind spot to the Gospel. As an example, here is a man who has been attending church for years and yet he is unsaved. An evan gelist or Bible teacher comes to hold meetings and all of a sudden his spir itual need fully dawns on him. All pre conceived prejudices must be broken down in order to win that man for Christ. Perhaps someone has not un derstood a certain aspect of the Gos pel. They are too shy to ask questions which will really help them. No one has bothered to give them a practical witness. If that point can be cleared up it will open the good news for them. As an example, I may have a
problem about Genesis chapter one. There are many people who find them selves in this exact same situation. Since they can’t overcome these basic difficulties they never go any further in the book. John chapter three might do them a world of good but you have to get them to it by answering the other things that bother them. This is the advantage and importance of personal evangelism. As you talk with individuals, diag nose their needs. Find out the true spiritual condition of the one with whom you are counseling. Then bring out all the excuses and objections, pointing the way to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we are faithful we will find that we will obtain results for all eter nity. Carefully study II Timothy 2:2. Here Paul explains the secret of his activity. He tells Timothy to empha size teaching so that he may multiply his efforts as these in turn teach others. Acts 19:8-10 indicates that in the space of two years Paul was instru mental in seeing a continent evange lized in that length of time. If ten people in your church won just one person to Christ this year, at the end of that year there would be 20. If the same thing happened the following year the number would be doubled. Repeated over 10 years and 10,240 would be converted. Personal evange lism is the Lord’s desire for our lives. Let us not fail to engage in it faith fully day by day, and thereby hasten the hour of our Lord’s return. 3
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