How to Preach the Gospel Well (A Good Witness of Jesus)

At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples that when the Spirit of truth would come, He would testify of Him, and that they also would bear witness of Him (John 15:26-27). And even after His resurrection, Jesus said that when the Holy Ghost came upon them, they would be witnesses unto Him (Acts 1:8). In this way, Jesus told His disciples several times that they must be His witnesses (Luke 24:48). This word applies not only to the disciples of Jesus, but also to all of us who believe in Jesus today. This is because the Spirit of truth is the Spirit who testifies only of Jesus. Therefore, now that we have received the Holy Ghost as a gift, we must live as witnesses of Jesus. And in order to testify of Jesus well, we must also know how to preach the gospel well.

 

 

 

First, a person who desires to preach the gospel must have a heart that seeks to please God rather than to please men. The reason is that only then are we called “the servants of Christ.”

 

Galatians 1:7-10 “7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

 

We too must have the same heart as the apostle Paul, so that when we preach the gospel, we will not be concerned about men’s approval. This is because, as the passage above says, a servant of Jesus is a servant who pleases Jesus, not a servant who pleases men. Therefore, when we preach the gospel, instead of being conscious of men’s approval, we must first be able to think about what would please Jesus. Then how should we preach the gospel so that it may please Jesus?

 

John 3:34 “For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.”

 

As this passage says, the one whom God has sent speaks only the words of God. The reason is that God gives the Spirit without measure. Why does receiving the Holy Ghost cause one to speak only the words of God? The reason is that “the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth.”

 

John 16:13-15 “13Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

 

According to these words of Jesus, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, and He is the One who guides us into all truth, that is, into the truth, the Word of God (John 17:17). The “things to come” in this passage do not refer to future events that are not recorded in the Bible, but to the Word of God that is recorded in Scripture and given to us in due season.

 

Mark 13:7-11 “7And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. 9But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them. 10And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.”

Matthew 24:45-47 “45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.”

 

As these passages teach, the Spirit of truth will bring to our remembrance and teach us the words of Jesus in due season. Therefore, we must preach only the Word of God, recorded in Scripture, which He gives us in due season. God is never pleased when those who preach His Word add to or take away from the Word of God.

 

Revelation 22:18-19 “18For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

 

This passage clearly teaches us why we must be faithful only to the Word of God. It is because the one who preaches must preach only the Word of God, and the one who hears must hear only the Word of God.

 

John 8:46-47 “46Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? 47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

Mark 4:23-24 “23If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 24And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear...”

 

Long ago, among the feasts that God commanded the people of Israel to keep forever throughout their generations, there was the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Exodus 12:15-20). Just as the word itself indicates, it was a feast in which “leaven had to be removed” from among them. Later, Jesus explained that this leaven was not the leaven put into bread, but the leaven that refers to other teachings that are not the Word of God.

 

Matthew 16:6-12 “6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

Therefore, we must now remove from ourselves all leaven, that is, all teachings other than the Word of God, and we must eat only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, namely the words of Jesus.

 

Matthew 26:26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body.”

John 6:48-51 “48I am that bread of life. 49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

 

Among some who preach the gospel, there are those who use the passage below to say that we should “preach the Word of God through worldly parables.”

 

Matthew 13:34 “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them.”

 

However, the reason Jesus preached the Word through many parables was this:

 

Matthew 13:35 “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

 

As this passage says, it was in order to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet beforehand. Therefore, Jesus spoke in parables to those to whom it was not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, while to those to whom it was given, He explained and interpreted those parables (Matthew 13:10-16). In this way, Jesus had a clear reason for speaking in parables. But among preachers today, some try to preach the Word of God through worldly parables simply because Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables. However, contrary to their own thought that they are making the Word of God easier for people to receive, this may actually become an act of mixing in leaven. Therefore, we must certainly be careful. Just as Scripture says that none of God’s words lack their mate (Isaiah 34:16), those who preach the gospel must join only the Word of God with the Word of God. Through this, it is very important to deliver the will of God to people exactly as it is written. That is why the apostle Paul asked the brethren of faith to pray for him as follows:

 

Ephesians 6:19-20 “19And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

 

In this passage, an “ambassador” is not someone who speaks his own thoughts and will. Because an ambassador is one who is sent, he has the duty to deliver exactly the words and will of the one who sent him. Therefore, a person who has become an ambassador, like the apostle Paul, must speak what he ought to speak, that is, he must preach Jesus Christ, the mystery of the gospel (Colossians 1:26-27), exactly as He is recorded in Scripture.

 

The apostle Paul also explains why those who preach the gospel became necessary:

 

1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

Romans 10:12-15 “12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

 

As these passages teach, because this world cannot know God by its own wisdom, someone must preach so that people may hear. Therefore, people need a preacher in order to believe, and they must believe in order to call upon the name of Jesus and be saved. Here, the preacher must speak only the words of Jesus, because faith comes only through the words of Jesus.

 

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

 

Therefore, when we preach the words of Jesus, we must not try to preach them with excellency of speech or of wisdom. This is because, as the passage above teaches, faith cannot be received through beautiful and moving words, or teachings, of men, but only through the words of Jesus. That is why the apostle Paul clearly conveys this meaning again in the following passages:

 

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

2 Corinthians 11:2-6 “2For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 5For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 6But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.”

 

 

Now, in conclusion, if we briefly summarize again how to preach the gospel well, as we have seen above, it is important to preach only the words recorded in Scripture without mixing leaven into the gospel. And by rightly discerning the will of God through joining the Word of God with the Word of God (Romans 12:2), one must reveal only Jesus Christ (Titus 1:3) and give glory only to the name of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:12). Such a person is a good witness of Jesus. This is because to God, only Jesus Christ is His joy and glory. This is the very reason we seek to do all things “by Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).

 

2 Peter 1:16-18 “16For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”

 

Amen.