What is personal evangelism?

Evangelists, as their names would suggest, are heralds of the glad tidings, preachers of the gospel of the grace of God, who awaken the careless and win souls to Christ. It is not every one who is an evangelist, though all should have the love of souls, and be ready to point the sinner to Christ. But men who are evangelists by gift have a true passion for souls, true longing and travailing in birth for them; they are instructed how to present the gospel, how to gather in the souls, to distinguish true anxiety from false, and reality from mere profession. It is their joy to bring sinners to Christ, to see those who were in the world brought into the Church. The evangelist is a man of prayer, for he realizes that the work is all of God, and that "methods" are but of little worth. He is a man of faith, who counts on the living God. He is a student of Scripture, that he may present only the truth to souls. He is a man of courage, not fearing to go even where "bonds and imprisonment" may await him, that he may carry the glorious gospel of the blessed God to the perishing. He is a man of energy, instant in season, out of season. He is a man of perseverance, not discouraged if he fails to see immediate fruit from his labor. Lastly, he is a man of humility, glorying in another, saying from the heart, "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

Faith says, "No; we must never give up. God's gospel must be preached to every creature under heaven. And even though men reject it, God is glorified and His heart is refreshed by the precious message of His love being told out in the ears of perishing sinners." We would encourage the heart of every beloved evangelist on the face of the earth by reminding him that however the Church has failed as God's witness to the world, yet the precious gospel tells out what He is to every poor, broken-hearted, bankrupt sinner who will only trust Him. The thought of this has cheered us during forty-eight years of evangelistic work, when the condition of the Church was heart-breaking to contemplate.

In speaking of the work of an evangelist, we must not confine it to public halls and rooms, which, of course, demand a distinct gift from the Head of the Church. We believe it is the sweet privilege of every child of God to be in a condition of soul to tell the glad tidings to individual souls in private life; and we must confess we long to see more of this. It matters not what our position in life or sphere of action may be, we should earnestly and prayerfully seek the salvation of those with whom we come in contact. If we fail in this, we are not in communion with the heart of God and the mind of Christ. In the Gospels and Acts we see a great deal of this lovely individual work. "Philip finds Nathanael." "Andrew first finds his own brother Simon."

Moreover, the one absorbing object of the preacher is to win souls for Christ, to the glory of God. For this he labours and pleads; for this he prays, weeps, and agonises; for this he thunders, appeals, and grapples with the heart and conscience of his hearer. His object is not to teach doctrines, though doctrines may be taught; his object is not to expound Scripture, though Scripture may be expounded. These things lie within the range of the teacher or lecturer; but let it never be forgotten, the preacher's object is to bring the Saviour and the sinner together — to win souls to Christ. May God by His Spirit keep these things ever before our hearts, so that we may have a deeper interest in the glorious work of evangelization!

<His heart burns with tender divine love for the unconverted; he knows that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses; and, as an ambassador for Christ, he beseeches men to be reconciled to God. The divine sovereign grace of God, which, concluding all mankind under sin, expects nothing from them, but offers eternal life to all that believe, impels him to persuade men. His heart speaks to hearts; and his words, pure and divine, are placed in such a manner as to convince the sinner and win souls for Christ. With his gift is power to convince souls by the preaching of Christ through the word, energized by the Holy Ghost. He starts from an exalted Christ; his message is divine; he knows that no hindrance is in God; he is aware of the strength of Satan's ties, but he never doubts the grace which is superior to them; he makes up his mind for difficulties and opposition, as well from saints as from the world; but with all lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, and forbearance, he maintains his position, because his resources are in God; his joy is that Christ is glorified by him; and cheerfully, hopefully, and unostentatiously he awaits his Lord's "well-done." In private as in public, in season (fixed time) and "out of season" (at all times) he is instant (or ready) with a word for the unsaved. "The love of Christ constrains him," not only love to Christ; but Christ's love ― that which loves the unloveable, that which loves His enemies, that which was not checked by death ― the love of Christ constrains him. Starting with the thought that the Lord is worthy of every soul around him, the evangelist tells of GOD'S righteousness by faith of Jesus Christ, whose direction is unto all; whose application is upon SUCH AS BELIEVE (Rom. 3:22).>

It is such testimony that God owns and blesses. And it is within the reach of all to speak the simple word pointing out the direction in which salvation is to be obtained, backing up the word with a faithful life. Very few are able to explain to audiences the doctrine of justification by faith and expiation by blood. But everyone can point the sinner to Christ, and say, "That is the One to save you." Only you must give others to see that you have been to Him yourself, and that He has given you something not to be obtained anywhere else.

"And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by the river-side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake to the women which resorted thither." They had not much light, but they were anxious clearly, to get the gospel, and God's messengers very wisely sat down, and spake to the women. I sometimes say, I think the gospel got into Europe in the character of an after-meeting. I mean, in what should be the character of an after-meeting. There was no preaching. I do not find that either Paul, or Luke, or Silas preached. They "sat down and spake to the women." Do you know, if you Christian young men were to go in a little more for that conversational evangelising, you would be amazed at what would be the outcome. I was talking to a young man coming to the meeting tonight. He has only been converted six weeks, and he said to me, "Doctor, I think we who are turned to the Lord, ought to be showing our light" "Yes, certainly," I replied. "And do you not think we should try to turn others about?" "Most surely," I answered. "Well," he said, "it strikes me that Christians do not do that very much." I replied: "You are quite right. We should bear testimony to other people, but I am afraid we are too much inclined to relegate our testimony to other people, — people called preachers, — and think that it is their duty alone to do so." But that is not so; if you know Christ and love Him, you will tell anybody you know about Him. That is the way to spread the gospel, and it is wonderful how it will spread.

This gives a peculiar solemnity to the preaching of the gospel; the issues of life and death, heaven and hell, are involved in its proclamation. "For we are unto God," says the apostle, "a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor. 2:15-16.) This weighty and solemn truth is known to all Christians, and should lead all to watch and care for the salvation of immortal souls. True, all are not evangelists in the sense of being public preachers, but all may evangelize by saying a word for the heart or conscience as the Lord gives opportunity. All that is needed for such a work is love for souls — a love which acts in harmony with the heart of Christ. This is the best gift of the evangelist. Millions of souls will be in heaven at last, and swell the song of the redeemed, who were brought to know the Lord by a word fitly spoken, by personal conversation and prayer. All-important as the ministry of the word to Christians most surely is, it is never a question of life and death.

But some one will say, probably, 'What can I do? I cannot preach. I do not feel qualified for the work.' Perhaps not. Still there is much work to be done besides preaching the gospel. We can seek to bring our friends and neighbours to the gospel services, for instance, so that they may hear the words of life. It would be well also if we cultivated a more implicit faith in the power of the word alone to reach the hearts of sinners. Again, a tract may be given by the way, or a word spoken to some weary heart, which may result in eternal blessing for the soul, and bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus. Thus every Christian may be used in some way, if not in the same way, in proclaiming the message of salvation to all, through Christ.

The question of speaking to souls is a question of personal love to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not say you have no gift for it. Do you love Christ? If so, you will never lose an opportunity of speaking a word for Him.

What a wonderful thing is the grace that picks up the vessels of Satan's power, delivers and cleanses them, and then deposits in them some spiritual gift by which others may be helped. Christ ascended on high that He might send down the Holy Ghost with the glorious news which, when believed, delivers sinners from Satan's power, and brings them from darkness to light. And there is the value of preaching. The preacher goes out and tells the simple tidings of the love of Jesus and the value of His blood. Any one that believes and decides for Him, God will give His Spirit to, and very likely make him the means of blessing to somebody else. That is the way the gospel spreads. First of all you receive the gospel yourself, and then constrained by His love you go and tell others what Jesus has done for you. Like the man whose eyes Jesus opened, you can say, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25). Who wrought this marvel? Jesus. My hearer, believe in Jesus, and then go home and tell your friends: "I have found the Lord. I am delivered. I am set free. His blood has washed all my sins away."