Faith is made up of
three things: knowledge, belief, and trust…Faith is believing that Christ is
what He is said to be and that He will do what He has promised to do. (Spurgeon,
C.H.)
“Whoever will call on
the name of the Lord will be saved.” How
then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they
believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a
preacher?..So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:13-14, 17)
When sharing the gospel publicly, and more specifically
through open-air preaching you will likely be stopped from preaching by someone
who claims to be a Christian. Oftentimes
when preaching in open-air, you will be preaching to a moving crowd. Someone may walk by and hear you talking
about sin and judgment. Another may walk
by and hear you talking about Christ redemptive work on the cross. I use to think that there was the possibility
that those who claimed to be Christian, who stopped the preaching of the gospel,
were simply judging the snippet that they heard as being the whole message. But then I
began to preach in open-air the historical story about Jesus as witnessed by
the apostle John and I noticed that I was still being stopped, when it was obvious that I was reciting a story.
So let me ask a series of questions to those of you who
claim to be Christian, and yet do not think that the gospel should be preached
publicly in open-air:
- Are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior?
- Do you believe that whoever will call on the name of Lord will be saved?
- How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
- How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
- How will they hear without a preacher?
In order for someone to trust in Jesus promise of eternal
life they have to first believe in Him.
In order for them to believe in Him someone has to tell them about Him. Evangelism is simply imparting the knowledge
that we have been given about the Lord to other people. I cannot make anyone believe in Jesus, and I certainly
cannot make anyone trust in His promise, but I can tell people about Him; so
that is what I aim to do for as long as I draw breath.
In Christ alone,
Mike Peek
