"False Doctrines In Christianity Today" by Ray Kane

"I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO HEAR THAT MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH" [3 John 1:4] Many well meaning yet mis-taught Christians and others who claim to be Christians are preaching lots of things that sound 'good' on the surface but at the root are anything but true. Some of these lies (modern unscriptural ideas about Christianity) are discussed below as a wake-up call to all true born-again Bible-believing disciples of Jesus Christ.

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LIE #1: God wants his children to be financially prosperous.

Matt 6:19-20 - "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal"

Luke 18:22 - "Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me."

Matt 8:20 - "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

First and foremost, a Christian should be content in all things and should be overjoyed with the tremendous spiritual blessing of salvation that Christ paid such an enormous price for.  God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust.  Some Christians will have more money than others and some with have better health than others.  It is all a matter of God's sovereign will, as to whom He blesses, in what way, and at what time.

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LIE #2: If you have enough faith God will give you whatever you ask for.

James 4:3 - "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

1 John 5:14 - "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us"

God is not a genie in a bottle. He does not perform miracles based upon the power of our minds.  A true and faithful Christian will be thinking primarily about giving and serving and not about what they can get from God.

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"Flee from the Wrath to Come!" by C.H. Spurgeon

(Delivered by C. H. Spurgeon, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, on October 23rd, 1881. No. 2704)

"Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matthew 3:7

"Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Hebrews 6:18

We will first consider the question of John the Baptist: "When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, You brood of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" I have no doubt that the Pharisees and Sadducees were very much surprised to hear John addressing them in that way; for men who wish to win disciples, ordinarily adoptmilder language than that, and choose more attractive themes, for they fear that they will drive their hearers from them if they are too personal, and speak too sharply. There is not much danger of that nowadays, for the current notion abroad now is that gospel ministers can sew with silk without using a sharp needle; and that, instead of piercing men with the sword of the Spirit, they should show them only the hilt of it; let them see the bright diamonds on the scabbard — but never let them feel the sharpness of the two-edged blade. They should always comfort, and console, and cheer — but never allude to the terror of the Lord.

That appears to be the common interpretation of our commission; but John the Baptist was of quite another mind. A Pharisee came to him — a very religious man, one who observed all the details of external worship, and were very careful even about trifles, a firm believer in the resurrection, and in angels and spirits, and in all that was written in the Book of the law, and also in all the traditions of his fathers, a man who was overdone with external religiousness, a Ritualist of the first order — who felt that, if there was a righteous man in the world, he certainly was that one. He must have been greatly taken aback, when John talked to him about the wrath of God, and plainly told him that that wrath was as much for him as for other people. Those phylacteries and the broad borders of his garment, of which he was so proud, would not screen him from the anger of God against injustice and transgression; but, just like any common sinner, he would need to "flee from the wrath to come!"

"John Calvin: Teacher and Practitioner of Evangelism" by Dr. Joel Beeke

Many scholars would take issue with the title of this chapter. Some would say that Roman Catholicism kept the evangelistic torch of Christianity lit via the powerful forces of the papacy, the monasteries, and the monarch while Calvin and the Reformers tried to extinguish it. (1) But others would assert that John Calvin (1509-1564), the father of Reformed and Presbyterian doctrine and theology, was largely responsible for relighting the torch of biblical evangelism during the Reformation.(2)  Some also credit Calvin with being a theological father of the Reformed missionary movement. (3) Views of Calvin’s attitude toward evangelism and missions have ranged from hearty to moderate support on the positive side, (4) and from indifference to active opposition on the negative side. (5)  A negative view of Calvin’s evangelism is a result of:

! A failure to study Calvin’s writings prior to drawing their conclusions,
! A failure to understand Calvin’s view of evangelism within his own historical context,
! Preconceived doctrinal notions about Calvin and his theology to their study. Some critics naively assert that Calvin’s doctrine of election virtually negates evangelism. To assess Calvin’s view of evangelism correctly, we must understand what Calvin himself had to say on the subject. Second, we must look at the entire scope of Calvin’s evangelism, both in his teaching and his practice. We can find scores of references to evangelism in Calvin’s Institutes, commentaries, sermons, and letters. Then we can look at Calvin’s evangelistic work (1) in his own flock, (2) in his home city of Geneva, (3) in greater Europe, and (4) in mission opportunities overseas. As we shall see, Calvin was more of an evangelist than is commonly recognized.

"HELPFUL DOOR-TO-DOOR SOUL WINNING GUIDELINES"

1. PRAY FERVENTLY:

Pray privately (i.e. at home) well in advance of outings and pray privately for the people you
make contact with. Pray as if the eternal destiny of people's souls depended on God hearing
and answering your prayers, remembering how Moses interceded for rebellious Israel many
times (Exodus 32, Numbers 14, etc.) and how Paul prayed for his fellow Jews (Romans 9:3).
Pray according to God's promises in His Word. For example, you could pray that God would
give you the joy of the Lord for your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Remember: "Except the LORD
build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Psalm 127:1)

2. THINK LIKE AN AMBASSADOR:
Remind yourself that you are going out with the intention of trying to best represent your
precious Lord and Saviour. Groom yourself as if your appearance really matters. Dress neat,
be clean, use breath-mints, etc.

3. A WORKMAN BRINGS THE RIGHT TOOLS:
A. Carry an easy to read Bible: avoid anything too large or too small and avoid computer
Bibles and anything else that would be distracting to you or to others.
B. Bring an extra New Testament with you to give to someone that may not have a Bible but
would like one. The Bible should be labeled with your church or ministry's contact information
to provide a way for the person to obtain follow-up information and additional discipleship.
C. Bring tracts appropriate for who you will meet: tracts in various foreign languages
(Spanish, Hindi for people from India, Arabic for Muslims, etc. Bring tracts that , Jewish,
Catholic, Muslim, etc. Be sure to check out our article "Good Versus Not-So-Good
Evangelistic Literature."

D. Bring something to write down information about people you contact and prayer requests
or other needs they may inform you of.

"But I Don't Have The Gift Of Evangelism"

Saying you don't have the gift of evangelism as a way of avoiding responsibility for sharing

your faith is equivalent to saying:


1. I don't have the gift of caring about the souls of other people.


2. I don't have the gift of appreciation for what my Savior did for me.


3. I don't have the gift of obedience to Christ's commands to preach the gospel and make
disciples.


4. I don't have the gift of getting out of my comfort zone to tell people that Jesus is the only
way to Heaven.


5. I don't have the gift of storing treasure in Heaven.


6. I don't have the gift of doing what all true believers should want to do.


7. I can't share a gospel that I don't appreciate because I don't possess it myself.


8. I won't share a gospel that I don't see the dire need for, since the salvation I have is not real.


9. I won't point people to Christ or warn them about hell because I am more concerned about
what people will think of me than about what God thinks of me.


10. I think evangelism is only for pastors and professional evangelists, and I am neither of
those two classes of people and I love having that excuse because I am really a false convert
who has no allegiance to the Lamb Of God.

Ray Kane

"NATURAL MEN IN A DREADFUL CONDITION" by Jonathan Edwards

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, "Sirs what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:29-30

We have here and in the context and account of the conversion of the jailer, which is one of the most remarkable instances of the kind in the Scriptures. The jailer before seems not only to have been wholly insensible to the things of religion, but to have been a persecutor, and to have persecuted these very men, Paul and Silas; though he now comes to them in so earnest a manner, asking them what he must do to be saved. We are told in the context that all the magistrates and multitude of the city rose up jointly in a tumult against them, and took them, and cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Whereupon he thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And it is probable he did not act in this merely as the servant or instrument of the magistrates, but that he joined with the rest of the people in their rage against them. And that he did what he did urged on by his own will, as well as the magistrates' commands, which made him execute their commands with such rigor.

But when Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises at midnight, and there was suddenly a great earthquake, and God had in so wonderful a manner set open the prison doors, and every man's bands were loosed, he was greatly terrified. And in a kind of desperation, he was about to kill himself. But Paul and Silas crying out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here," then he called for a light, and sprang in, as we have the account in the text. We may observe:

First, the objects of his concern. He is anxious about his salvation. He is terrified by his guilt, especially by his guilt in his ill treatment of these ministers of Christ. He is concerned to escape from that guilty state, the miserable state he was in by reason of sin.

Second, the sense which he has of the dreadfulness of his present state.

This he manifests in several ways.

"Christian Fools" by A.W. Pink

“Then He said unto them, O fools and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”Luke 24:25

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Those of you who read the religious announcements in the newspapers of yesterday would see the subject for my sermon this evening is “Christian Fools.” Possibly some of you thought there was a printer’s error and that what I really meant to announce was “Professing Christian fools.” The paper gave it quite correctly. My subject tonight is “Christian Fools.” Probably some of you think that this is a most unsuitable title for a servant of God to give to his sermon, and yet I make no apology whatever for it. It fits exactly my subject for tonight: it expresses accurately what I am going to speak about: and—“what is far more to the point—it epitomizes our text: “Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”

Those words were spoken by Christ on the day of His resurrection: spoken not to worldlings but to Christians. That which occasioned them was this. The disciples to whom He was speaking were lopsided in their theology: they believed a certain part of God’s truth and they refused to believe another part of the truth that did not suit them; they believed some Scriptures but they did not believe all that the prophets had spoken, and the reason they did not was because they were unable to harmonize the two different parts of God’s truth. They were like some people today: when it comes to their theology; they walk by reason and by logic rather than by faith. 

In the Old Testament there were many prophecies concerning the coming Messiah that spoke of His glory. If there was one thing the Old Testament prediction made plain, it was that the Messiah of Israel should be glorious. It spoke of His power, His honor, His majesty, His dominion, His triumphs. But on the other hand, there were many prophecies in the Old Testament that spoke of a suffering Messiah, that portrayed His humiliation, His degradation, His rejection, His death at the hands of wicked men. And these disciples of Christ believed the former set of prophecies, but they would not believe in the second: they could not see how it was possible to harmonize the two. If the coming Messiah was to be a glorious Messiah, possessing power and majesty and dominion: if He would be triumphant, then how could He, at the same time, be a suffering Messiah, despised, humiliated, rejected of men? And because the disciples could not fit the two together, because they were unable to harmonize them, they refused to believe both, and Christ told them to their faces that they were fools. He says, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”

"Love Thy Neighbor" by Charles H. Spurgeon

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"—Matthew 19:19.

UR SAVIOUR very often preached upon the moral precepts of the law. Many of the sermons of Christ—and what sermons shall compare with them—have not what is now currently called "the gospel" in them at all. Our Saviour did not every time he stood up to preach, declare the doctrine of election, or of atonement, or of effectual calling, or of final perseverance. No, he just as frequently spoke upon the duties of human life, and upon those precious fruits of the Spirit, which are begotten in us by the grace of God. Mark this word that I have just uttered. You may have started at it at first, but upon diligent reading of the four evangelists, you will find I am correct in stating that very much of our Saviour's time was occupied in telling the people what they ought to do towards one another; and many of his sermons are not what our precise critics would in these times call sermons full of unction and savor; for certainly they would be far from savory to the sickly sentimental Christians who do not care about the practical part of religion. Beloved, it is as much the business of God's minister to preach man's duty, as it is to preach Christ's atonement; and unless he doth preach man's duty, he will never be blessed of God to bring man into the proper state to see the beauty of the atonement. Unless he sometimes thunders out the law, and claims for his Master the right of obedience to it, he will never be very likely to produce conviction—certainly, not that conviction which afterwards leads to conversion. This morning, I am aware, my sermon will not be very unctuous and savory to you that are always wanting the same round of doctrines, but of this I have but little care. This rough world sometimes needs to be rebuked, and if we can get at the ears of the people, it is our business to reprove them; and I think if ever there was a time when this text need to be enlarged upon, it is just now. It is so often forgotten, so seldom remembered, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
I shall notice, first of all, the command; secondly, I shall try and bringsome reasons for your obedience to it; and afterwards, I shall draw some suggestions from the law itself.
I. First, then, THE COMMAND. It is the second great commandment. The first is, "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God," and there, the proper standard is, thou shalt love thy God more than thyself. The second commandment is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour," and the standard there is a little lower, but still preeminently high, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." There is the command. We can split it into three parts. Whom am I to love? My neighbour. What am I to do? I am to love him. How am I to do it? I am to love him as myself.

"Christmas Season Joy" by Shane C. Montgomery

    Christmas is the time of year when just about everybody becomes holy.  There is a great spirit of giving, a time of putting others before ourselves.  It is a wonderful time of year.  Many will go out of their way to provide for others less fortunate then themselves, putting in more hours at work to raise more money to purchase gifts for others and volunteering at shelters, soup kitchens, hospitals, the church and other ministries.  This is indeed the time of year when people put forward their very best, it is a time when we all become just a little more holy.  We hear people say, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" and rightly so.  We see more and more folks getting upset about when others use the dreaded abbreviation, "XMas" instead of "Christmas" and rightly so.  Even though most do not understand the "X" was the earliest known symbol for early Christians, as a way of marking themselves in secret so as to prevent persecution.  The Koine Greek letters "Chi and Rho" the first few letters in "Christ" were placed on top each other and that formed somewhat to look like a cross or an "X" depending on how it was written.  If you do not know Biblical Greek, you can easily find the alphabet on line by simply "Googling" it, and you can see the proper Greek symbol for those letters.

  Christmas is truly a great and wonderful time of year, where else do we see and hear so much about Christ outside the church?   We as believers are of course happy about this, this embracing of Jesus Christ by such a large portion of the world.  Even if they do not normally attend church, they will celebrate the birth of our Savior, and in this we are pleased, we often pray and hope for those we love who are not converted that a Christmas miracle will happen and those family members or friends might be saved and regenerated.  But usually within a few days of Christmas all that is behind most folks and these same people who were saying "Jesus is the reason for the season" are now planning their big New Years Eve party, complete with alcohol.

  We see this every year and we have come to expect it to be this way, those outside the Church embracing Christ for a short season and then returning to their old ways and their old sinful lives.

   Where do we go from here?  How about the Gospel of John chapter Three, verses 22-36?  What does these verses have to do with Christmas?   Or with non-believers?  Or even with believers?  Why and how would this bit of Scripture help us understand better?

"Simplicity in Preaching" by J. C. Ryle

King Solomon says, in the book of Ecclesiastes, "Of making many books there is no end" (12:12). There are few subjects about which that saying is more true than that of preaching. The volumes which have been written in order to show ministers how to preach are enough to make a small library. In sending forth one more little treatise, I only propose to touch one branch of the subject. I do not pretend to consider what should be the substance and matter of a sermon. I purposely leave alone such points as "gravity, unction, liveliness, warmth," and the like, or the comparative merits of written or extemporaneous sermons. I wish to confine myself to one point, which receives far less attention than it deserves. That point is simplicity in language and style.

I ought to be able to tell my readers something about "simplicity," if experience will give any help. I began preaching forty-five years ago, when I first took orders in a poor rural parish, and a great portion of my ministerial life has been spent in preaching to laborers and farmers. I know the enormous difficulty of preaching to such hearers, of making them understand one's meaning, and securing their attention. So far as concerns language and composition, I deliberately say that I would rather preach before the University at Oxford or Cambridge, or the Temple, or Lincoln's Inn, or the Houses of Parliament, than I would address an agricultural congregation on a fine hot afternoon in the month of August. I have heard of a laborer who enjoyed Sunday more than any other day in the week, "Because," he said, "I sit comfortably in church, put up my legs, have nothing to think about, and just go to sleep." Some of my younger friends in the ministry may some day be called to preach to such congregations as I have had, and I shall be glad if they can profit by my experience.

Before entering on the subject, I wish to clear the way by making four prefatory remarks.

1. For one thing, I ask all my readers to remember that to attain simplicity in preaching is of the utmost importance to every minister who wishes to be useful to souls. Unless you are simple in your sermons you will never be understood, and unless you are understood you cannot do good to those who hear you. It was a true saying of Quintilian, "If you do not wish to be understood, you deserve to be neglected." Of course the first object of a minister should be to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but "the truth as it is in Jesus." But the next thing he ought to aim at is, that his sermon may be understood; and it will not be understood by most of his hearers if it is not simple.

"What The Gospel Is Not, Clearing Up Some Common Misconceptions"

WHAT THE GOSPEL IS NOT

A helpful way of understanding what the Gospel is, is to point out some common misconceptions about salvation. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is NONE of the following, no matter how many people may be saying these things:

This is NOT the Gospel:	1. God has a wonderful plan for your life.
This is NOT the Gospel:	2. God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
This is NOT the Gospel:	3. You can be saved anytime you want just by accepting Christ.
This is NOT the Gospel:	4. Say some "sinner's prayer" and if you really mean it, you are saved.
This is NOT the Gospel:	5. Anyone who believes in God (according to just about any religion) will get to heaven.
This is NOT the Gospel:	6. Anyone who is a "good" person will get to heaven.
This is NOT the Gospel:	7. Anyone who believes in Jesus and calls Jesus "Lord" is a Christian.
This is NOT the Gospel:	8. All it takes to become saved is to exercise saving faith in Christ.

NONE OF THE ABOVE are "the Gospel" or even a part of it, no matter how many churches, pastors, evangelists, preachers, or teachers say they ARE the Gospel.

By Ray Kane!  comingintheclouds.com

"Halloween. A Night of Fright or a Night of Witnessing? by Shane C. Montgomery

I truly love this time of year.  The leaves are falling in a bright, colorful snowfall, the air is brisk and clean and you can almost taste the oncoming winter on your lips.  Another great thing about this time of year is that my wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, (Sept.27,1986) not to mention my birthday falls on Oct. 9 and my wife has hers on Oct. 13, and our youngest son, Ryan was born on Oct. 22.  To top it all off, Halloween ends what is always a great and wonderful time of year for our family.
Halloween is of course somewhat of a puzzle for most believers, they do not know what to do, should they celebrate, decorate the house and lawn, let the little ones go out trick or treating, or by doing that are they embracing a pagan and evil holiday?   You will find Christians on both sides of the fence here, and some standing right on top of the fence somehow!  But I think this to be a massive waste of time, for the record, it is not evil.  If you choose to let your kids go out dressed like Transformers or Pirates, then I applaud you for letting your kids be kids, just as your parents allowed you way back when.  But if you go out on Halloween and watch gore porn movies, start fires, drink blood and so forth, then maybe you just might have a problem and should avoid Halloween.  Of course anyone who desires those types of activities are not Christian to begin with, but you get my point.  All in all, we often make a way bigger deal about Halloween than we need to, just let the kids have some fun, watching Scooby Doo and getting candy while in a costume is fine, don't get all fundamental and go berserk on other believers who do.  

  I look forward to Halloween, every year, Lord Allowing, we take our youngest son out trick or treating, we all go, me, my wife Jeannie and our oldest son Brandon.  While mom concentrates on keeping track of little Ryan and his candy grab, me and Brandon are handing out Gospel tracts.  We normally will pass out around 400-500 tracts, and witness to a good number of people.  We try to always use themed tracts aimed at Halloween and we avoid the really ill advised tracts such as "Chick Tracts" which are nothing but bad taste and poor judgement.  Avoid handing out Chick Tracts at all cost, they do more harm than good and they truly turn people away from the Gospel and Jesus Christ and that is not what we are trying to do in the Great Commission.   There are so many good tracts out there today and many are of the highest quality, such as my favorite tract company, "Custom Tract Source."   Their tracts are simply amazing, and very affordable, I recommend them to everybody.

   As I write this, it is Friday night, I have prepared my Intervarsity Messenger Bag, all stocked up with tracts, around 1,000 this time and beginning tomorrow afternoon we will be visiting a city we have never witnessed in.  They are having a special early bird trick or treat, people are to bring their kids to the downtown shopping district and the local businesses will pass out candy, and we will be there to pass out tracts to all the parents and business owners, we avoid giving tracts to small children, normally anyone under 12 that is, unless the tract is something fun like the above photo of the Frankenstein over sized million dollar bill tract, kids love these.  Taking along a stack of Gospel of John booklets from Pocket Testament League and of course, a Bible to quote from.   Really praying that God will plant a seed tomorrow.

   I always look forward to witnessing, it is getting harder and harder to do, with my failing health and the fact that so many people are turning against accepting tracts all together, some get very nasty unfortunately, but overall it is always a great experience, and just serving the Lord is enough for me!   This Monday this same city will be holding their normally scheduled trick or treat night and Lord Willing we will be there passing out tracts and witnessing as well, this time to parents along the sidewalks and adults who pass out candy from their front porch.   Every year we always run into a least one person passing out bad tracts, never on the sidewalks mind you, but from their house, it is almost always the in poor taste Chic Tracts, last year my 7 year old received one that had a story of a little girl who went trick or treating and as a punishment for sinning so bad, God gave her cancer and she soon died and the mother was upset.  To me this is just pathetic!  Why give something that nasty and tasteless to small children on a night they love and look forward too?

   It has been awhile since I have done any serious witnessing, though I witness everyday, but not on a large scale as of late, so I am looking forward to getting back in the saddle again, but no matter what happens, people will hear the Gospel, people will hear about the forgiveness of sins that can only come from Jesus Christ, and no matter what, God will be glorified, even if I stink it up, God will be glorified!

Be Holy!
Shane

 

"Preach the Gospel" by Charles H. Spurgeon

                                                                                         


"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel."—1 Corinthians 9:16.



HE greatest man of Apostolic times was the apostle Paul. He was always great in everything. If you consider him as a sinner, he wasexceeding sinful; if you regard him as a persecutor, he wasexceeding mad against the Christians, and persecuted them even unto strange cities, if you take him as a convert, his conversion was the most notable one of which we read, worked by miraculous power, and by the direct voice of Jesus speaking from heaven—"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"—If we take him simply as a Christian, he was an extraordinary one, loving his Master more than others, and seeking more than others to exemplify the grace of God in his life. But if you take him as an apostle, and as a preacher of the Word, he stands out pre-eminent as the prince of preachers, and a preacher to kings—for he preached before Agrippa, he preached before Nero Caesar—he stood before emperors and kings for Christ's name's sake. It was the characteristic of Paul, that whatever he did, he did with all his heart. He was one of the men who could not allow one half of his frame to be exercised, while the other half was indolent but, when he set to work, the whole of his energies—every nerve, every sinew—were strained in the work to be done, be it bad work or be it good. Paul, therefore, could speak from experience concerning his ministry; because he was the chief of ministers. There is no nonsense in what he speaks; it is all from the depth of his soul. And we may be sure that when he wrote this, he wrote it with a strong unpalsied hand—"Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel."
Now, these words of Paul, I trust, are applicable to many ministers in the present day; to all those who are especially called, who are directed by the inward impulse of the Holy Spirit to occupy the position of gospel ministers. In trying to consider this verse, we shall have three inquiries this morning:—First,What is it to preach the gospel? Secondly, Why is it that a minister has nothing to glorify of? And thirdly, What is that necessity and that woe, of which it is written, "Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel?"
I. The first enquiry is, WHAT IS IT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL? There are a variety of opinions concerning this question, and possibly amongst my own audience—though I believe we are very uniform in our doctrinal sentiments—there might be found two or three very ready answers to this question: What is it to preach the gospel? I shall therefore attempt to answer it myself according to my own judgment, if God will help me; and if it does not happen to be the correct answer, you are at liberty to supply a better to yourselves at home.

"A Call to the Unconverted" by Charles H. Spurgeon

A Sermon(No. 174)Delivered on Sabbath Evening, November 8, 1857, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

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"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."—Galatians 3:10.

Y HEARER, ART THOU a believer, or no? for, according to thine answer to that question, must be the style in which I shall address thee to-night. I would ask thee as a great favor to thine own soul, this evening to divest thyself of the thought that thou art sitting in a chapel, and hearing a minister who is preaching to a large congregation. Think thou art sitting in thine own house, in thine own chair, and think that I am standing by thee, with thy hand in mine, and am speaking personally to thee, and to thee alone; for that is how I desire to preach this night to each of my hearers—one by one. I want thee, then, in the sight of God, to answer me this all important and solemn question before I begin—Art thou in Christ, or art thou not? Hast thou fled for refuge to him who is the only hope for sinners? or art thou yet a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, ignorant of God, and of his holy Gospel? Come—be honest with thine own heart, and let thy conscience say yes, or no, for one of these two things thou art to-night—thou art either under the wrath of God, or thou art delivered from it. Thou art to-night either an heir of wrath, or an inheritor of the kingdom of grace. Which of these two? Make no "ifs" or "ahs" in your answer. Answer straight forward to thine own soul; and if there be any doubt whatever about it, I beseech thee rest not till that doubt be resolved. Do not take advantage of that doubt to thyself, but rather take a disadvantage from it. Depend upon it, thou art more likely to be wrong than thou art to be right; and now put thyself in the scale, and if thou dost not kick the beam entirely, but if thou hangest between the two, and thou sayest, "I know not which," better that thou shouldst decide for the worst, though it should grieve thyself, than that thou shouldst decide for the better, and be deceived, and so go on presumptuously until the pit of hell shall wake thee from thy self-deception. Canst thou, then, with one hand upon God's holy word, and the other upon thine own heart, lifts thine eye to heaven, and say, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see; I know that I have passed from death unto life, I am not now what I once was; 'I the chief of sinners am, but Jesus died for me.' And if I be not awfully deceived, I am this night "A sinner saved by blood, a monument of grace?'" My brother, God speed you; the blessing of the Most High be with you. My text has no thunders in it for you. Instead of this verse, turn to the 13th, and there read your inheritance—"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." So Christ was cursed in the stead of you, and you are secure, if you are truly converted, and really a regenerated child of God.
But my hearer, I am solemnly convinced that a large proportion of this assembly dare not say so; and thou to-night (for I am speaking personally to thee), remember that thou art one of those who dare not say this, for thou art a stranger to the grace of God. Thou durst not lie before God, and thine own conscience, therefore thou dost honestly say, "I know I was never regenerated; I am now what I always was, and that is the most I can say." Now, with you I have to deal, and I charge you by him who shall judge the quick and the dead, before whom you and I must soon appear, listen to the words I speak, for they may be the last warning you shall ever hear, and I charge my own soul also, be thou faithful to these dying men, lest haply on thy skirts at last should be found the blood of souls, and thou thyself shouldst be a castaway. O God, make us faithful this night and give the hearing ear, and the retentive memory, and the conscience touched by the Spirit, for Jesus' sake.
First, to-night we shall try the prisoner; secondly, we shall declare his sentence; and thirdly, if we find him confessing and penitent, we shallproclaim his deliverance; but not unless we find him so.

"Door-to-Door Evangelism Tips" by Ray Kane

HELPFUL DOOR-TO-DOOR
SOUL WINNING GUIDELINES

1. PRAY FERVENTLY:Pray privately (i.e. at home) well in advance of outings and pray privately for the people you make contact with. Pray as if the eternal destiny of people's souls depended on God hearing and answering your prayers, remembering how Moses interceded for rebellious Israel many times (Exodus 32, Numbers 14, etc.) and how Paul prayed for his fellow Jews (Romans 9:3). Pray according to God's promises in His Word. For example, you could pray that God would give you the joy of the Lord for your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Remember: "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Psalm 127:1)
2. THINK LIKE AN AMBASSADOR:Remind yourself that you are going out with the intention of trying to best represent your precious Lord and Saviour. Groom yourself as if your appearance really matters. Dress neat, be clean, use breath-mints, etc.
3. A WORKMAN BRINGS THE RIGHT TOOLS:
A. Carry an easy to read Bible: avoid anything too large or too small and avoid computer Bibles and anything else that would be distracting to you or to others.
B. Bring an extra New Testament with you to give to someone that may not have a Bible but would like one. The Bible should be labeled with your church or ministry's contact information to provide a way for the person to obtain follow-up information and additional discipleship.
C. Bring tracts appropriate for who you will meet: tracts in various foreign languages (Spanish, Hindi for people from India, Arabic for Muslims, etc.  Bring tracts that , Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, etc.  Be sure to check out our article "Good Versus Not-So-Good Evangelistic Literature ".
D. Bring something to write down information about people you contact and prayer requests or other needs they may inform you of.
4. ACT LIKE TRUE MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD:A. Arrive early for soul-winning outings to ensure that there is adequate time to prepare materials and to pray together.
B. Avoid talking outside of people's doors so they won't hear something you would not want them to hear and so they won't think you gossip about them or others: "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thess 5:22)
C. Be polite to one another. Do not interrupt your partner or hand a person literature while your partner is talking to the person. One should silently pray while the other one preaches and the one who is not talking can also be looking in their tract bag for appropriate literature to leave with the person. Give each other a chance to talk also.
5. COMPEL THE LOST TO COME IN TO YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE:Don't be afraid to loudly knock on someone's door or ring their doorbell twice. Many people may not hear the first ring because they are hard of hearing or because they had the TV or radio on.
6. TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION:A. Do NOT hand a person a crumpled up or folded tract. Do your best to provide people with undamaged, high-quality reading material.
B. Do not interrupt the person you are talking to or the person you are with. If you give someone time to talk, they are more apt to listen to you too. Some people have no one to talk to or have problems or concern that they do feel other people do not want to here.
7. STARTING CONVERSATIONS:A. First, greet people warmly. You can say something as simple as "Hello. How are you today?"
B. Identify yourselves right up front, verbally as well as in print. People don't like to be kept in the dark as to who it is that has invaded their turf and their day. You can just say "We're from such-and-such a church. Here is a pamphlet that explains more about us and about what we believe."
C. When the person says "What do you want?", you can say something like: "We have something of great importance that we would like to share with you... something that will matter to you personally someday." Be creative, asking God to give you wisdom - that is the key to successful soul winning: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)
D. If they say they are busy or not interested, then ask them if you can leave something for them to look at on (not in) their mailbox. It is illegal to put anything in other people's mailboxes.
E. Ask questions to begin conversations, in order to give people a chance to explain where they are at spiritually. You can ask them "Do you know where you will be a hundred years from now? The Bible gives us the answer to that question. Would you like to hear it?"
8. BE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND FRIENDLY:Depending on how the Lord leads you and how much time the person gives you, you may wish to convey to them that:
A. They are always welcome to visit you at the church.
B. There is Sunday school or other programs for them and their children.
C. You are from a Bible-believing Christian church.
D. They should feel free to contact the church at the phone number on the back of the leaflet if they have any questions about you or the Bible or if they would like you to pray for them or their families.
E. You are interested in seeing them in heaven someday and so you are distributing literature that explains God's wonderful plan of salvation.
9. USE WISDOM AND DISCERNMENT:A. Do not share the Gospel with people who are drunk or high. Offer them a tract, say 'have a nice day', and move on!
B. If the person says, "I'm Jewish" offer them a Jewish tract.
C. If a person says, "I'm a Hindu" ask them if they speak Hindi or Urdu or Punjabi, and if they say yes to any of these, offer them a tract in that language. NOTE: Hindi is the most common.
D. If a person says, "I'm a Muslim", ask them if they read Arabic. If they say yes, offer them an Arabic tract.
E. If a person says, "I'm a Catholic", you could tell them: "Then I have something just for you" and then give them a Catholic-oriented tract.
F. If you notice the person has a strong accent, ask them if they read any other languages besides English. Very often people will gladly tell you what language they would prefer to read and then you can offer them a tract in that language.
G. If a person's body language is telling you that they don't want you there or that they have heard enough, don't wear out your welcome. Remember - it is God's job to save a soul. He desires to use us but don't think that you need to read the entire Bible to someone before you leave. God's Word is powerful. The right verses at the right time (i.e. when people are paying attention) can be most effective.
10. WRAPPING UP CONVERSATIONS:A. When you are leaving, ask the person if there is anything that you could pray about for them or their families.
B. After you leave, jot down the person's house or apartment number and details about the visit and plan to visit them again SOON if they showed interest in knowing more about the Gospel. Plan to visit them again anyway, in the future, realizing that God may be working in their lives even though they showed no interest during your first visit.
11. CONCLUDING AN OUTREACH:A. When your outing is over, discuss, in a loving, caring way, any ideas you have for improving each other's soul winning approaches. It is essential that we be open to constructive criticism! God wants humble servants who are anxious to learn from their mistakes and from the experience of others.
B. Close in group prayer asking God to water the seed you have just sown.
C. Don't forget to thank God for using you and for what He is going to do through your efforts!

"44 Questions for the Not-Yet-a-Believer"

In order to be fair in the debate about matters of faith, it's not just the Christian who must be called to the witness stand. Even those who dispute or who otherwise persist in voicing skepticism about Christianity have some questions to answer. In fact, considering the evidence, it no doubt requires more faith to stand outside the circle of those who believe than to join it. To ensure integrity, therefore, on the part of even our readers who are not yet believers, here are a few issues about which you too should be able to give an account.

1. How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe?
   » Learn more about the universe / origin of life / origin of species / origin of mankind
2. How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, and people?
   » In what ways have archaeological discoveries verified it?
   » Bible archaeology evidences
3. Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can one realistically remain unconvinced that the Bible is of Divine origin?
   » Read about fulfilled biblical prophecies...
   Explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years previous to crucifixion being established as a form of capital punishment?

   How could any mere human pinpoint the birth town of the Messiah seven full centuries before the fact, as did the prophetMicah?
   » Read the “God's Story” account of Micah describing the Messiah...

   Account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in one person, i.e Jesus.
   » More about statistical odds surrounding Jesus Christ Go
   » What messianic prophecies were fulfilled by Christ? Answer
   » More about messianic prophecies

   How was it possible for the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to have predicted the virgin birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) 700 years before it occurred?
   » Read the “God's Story” account of the prophets describing the Savior
   » Is the virgin birth a myth?
4. How can anyone doubt the reliability of Scripture considering the number and proximity to originals of its many copied manuscripts?
   » Read about the importance of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls /Discovering the Bible videos explain the manuscript evidence and much more
5. Are you able to live consistently with your present worldview?
   » Visit Summit Ministries for worldview comparisons...
6. Wouldn't it make better sense, even pragmatically, to live as though the God of the Bible does exist than as though He doesn't?
7. In what sense was Jesus a 'Good Man' if He was lying in His claim to be God?
   » Is Jesus Christ really God?...
8. Do you think that Jesus was misguided in affirming the truthfulness of Scripture, i.e. John 10:35, Matthew 24, Luke 24:44?
9. If the Bible is not true, why is it so universally regarded as the 'Good Book'?
   » How can I know if the Bible is true?... / Is the Bible truth or tabloid? / Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans?
   Are you aware that the Old Testament alone claims to be God's inspired word at least 2600 times?

   Did you know that the Bible has been the number one best-seller every year since the 1436 invention of the Gutenberg printing press?
   » The Bible—an amazing book...
10. From whence comes humanity's universal moral sense?
11. If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care and to live honorably in the world?
12. Explain how personality could have ever evolved from the impersonal, or how order could have ever resulted from chaos.
13. If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?
    » Is the resurrection a myth?...
14. How do you explain the fact that a single, relatively uneducated and virtually untraveled man, dead at age 33, radically changed lives and society to this day?
    » Learn more about Jesus' life, death and resurrection...
    
15. Why have so many of history's greatest thinkers been believers? Have you ever wondered why thousands of intelligent scientists, living and dead, have been men and women of great faith?
    » Do real scientists believe in Creation? / Is the Bible completely accurate, or does it contain some inaccuracies about history and science?
16. Isn't it somewhat arrogant to suggest that countless churches and people (including men like Abraham Lincoln) are all radically in error in their view of the Bible?
17. How do you account for the origin of life considering the irreducible complexity of its essential components?
    » Learn more about the origin of life...
18. How can the Second Law of Thermodynamics be reconciled with progressive, naturalistic evolutionary theory?
    » Second Law of Thermodynamics - Does this basic law of nature prevent Evolution?...
    How do you reconcile the existence of human intelligence with naturalism and the Law of Entropy?
19. Why does the Bible alone, of all of the world's 'holy' books, contain such detailed prophecies of future events?
    » Learn more about the Bible...
20. On what basis can the Bible (interpreted as per historic Christian orthodoxy) be challenged as a sole, final truth-standard (Galatians 1:8)?
21. Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"
    » The Loss of Truth—Are we living in a moral stone age?...
22. Is it possible that your unbelief in God is actually an unwillingness to submit to Him?
    » God's plan
    
23. Does your present worldview provide you with an adequate sense of meaning and purpose?
24. How do you explain the radically changed lives of so many Christian believers down through history?
25. Are you aware that every alleged Bible contradiction has been answered in an intelligible and credible manner?
    » More about Bible contradictions...
26. What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?
27. Why and how has the Bible survived and even flourished in spite of centuries of worldwide attempts to destroy and ban its message?
    » Recommended resource: The Indestructible Book (video)...
28. Why isn't it absurd to try to speak or even conceive of a non-existent 'God' when an existing God would, by definition, be greater?
29. Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?
    » Is Christianity really unique among world religions?...
30. How do you explain the empty tomb of Jesus in light of all the evidence that has now proven essentially irrefutable for twenty centuries?
    » Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead? / Were the witnesses hallucinating?
31. If Jesus did not actually die and rise from the dead, how could He (in His condition) have circumvented all of the security measures in place at His tomb?
    » Did Jesus really die? / How did Jesus die? / What is crucifixion?
32. If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why? Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?
    » Could Jesus' body have been stolen from the tomb?...
33. If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?
    » Could Jesus' have merely fainted? / Is the resurrection a myth? / Did Christ really rise from the dead?
34. How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?
    » Maybe the witnesses were just seeing things?...
35. If all of Jesus' claims to be God were the result of His own self-delusion, why didn't He evidence lunacy in any other areas of His life?
    » Is Jesus Christ's character consistent with his high claims?...
36. If God is unchanging, wouldn't it be true that one who changes by suddenly “realizing” that he/she is “God” therefore isn't God?
37. Is your unbelief in a perfect God possibly the result of a bad experience with an imperfect Church or a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself? » Why should I consider Christianity, if all Christians are hypocrites? / What kind of world would you create? / How did bad things come about? / Why do the innocent suffer? /Does God feel your pain? / Goodness of God / Is God fair? / How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
38. How did 35-40 men, spanning 1500 years and living on three separate continents, ever manage to author one unified message, i.e. the Bible?
    » Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans? / More about thecongruency of the Bible / The Discovering the Bible videos explain the amazing authorship of the Bible and many other evidences
39. Would you charge the Declaration of Independence with error in affirming that "all men are endowed by their Creator..."?
40. Because life origins are not observable, verifiable, or falsifiable, how does historical 'science' amount to anything more than just another faith system?
    » What is the nature of science and scientists? / Why do so many scientistsendorse Evolution? / Frequently asked questions on the Origin of Life
41. What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?
42. Why subscribe to the incredible odds that the tilt and position of our planet relative to the sun are merely coincidental?
    » Consider: Was there a big bang?...
43. If every effect has a cause, and if God Himself is the universe (i.e. is one with the universe, as some non-Christians suggest), what or who then caused the universe?
    » See our Creation SuperLibrary for answer about Creation/Evolution...
44. What would be required to persuade you to become a believer?