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The Greatest Motivation When Sharing the Gospel

Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching

From Ray Comfort’s book, Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching – Everything I’ve Learned

You will need to continually check the spirit in which you speak. Be careful of sarcasm, condescension, or a self-righteous spirit. It’s easy to react in a sinful manner when people call you names, cuss at you, say things that aren’t true, talk over you, and twist your words. The key is to always let love be your motivation. We don’t like rejection or humiliation, and it’s only the love of God in us that can give us the grace to handle such things.

It is a sad testimony to our lack of love that we had to be commanded to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). It reveals something about our sinful character. When we are held captive to our fears it reveals our lack of love. What would you think of a doctor who had a cure to cancer in his hand, and had to be commanded to take it to his dying patients? Imagine if you asked him why he was hesitating and he said, “I’m afraid they will laugh at me” or, “It’s not my gifting to take it to them,” or, “I don’t know what to say to them.” As Charles Spurgeon said, “We must be ashamed at the mere suspicion of unconcern.” So if we lack enough love to witness or we lack love while witnessing, we need to get on our knees and ask afresh for the help of God.

“If we lack enough love to witness or we lack love while witnessing, we need to get on our knees and ask afresh for the help of God.”

Too often our eyes are dry in prayer and that is reflected in our preaching. Catherine Booth said that if our listeners can’t see tears in our eyes, they should hear tears in our voice.

One observer of George Whitefield said, “I could hardly bear such unreserved use of tears,” for Whitefield was “frequently so overcome, that, for a few seconds, you would suspect he never could recover.” Whitefield said of his tears, “You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction?”

Let us pray for a heart of compassion for the lost and love them enough to warn them of their fate.

You can do this! 

Again, don’t listen to your fears or discouraging thoughts. The time will come when your spirit will be willing but your flesh will be weak because you are old and feeble. Imagine sitting in a convalescent home, thinking about how you wasted your youth pursuing your own pleasures when people were going to Hell. We often apply the verse, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) to the ungodly, when we should apply it to ourselves.

Always keep in mind that you will never be free from fear, especially just before you get up to speak in the open air. Overcome it through thoughts of the fate of the ungodly, the sacrifice of the cross, and the fact that God is watching you. Think of my friend who said that it was less fearful to skydive for the first time than to open-air evangelize, then consider the worst-case scenario if something goes wrong with both. In skydiving, if the parachute fails to open or becomes twisted, you fall to an unspeakably terrifying death. In open-air witnessing, you may make a fool of yourself and dent your ego. There is no comparison. So just do it, and God will be with you.

From Ray Comfort’s book, Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching – Everything I’ve Learned

Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching
1. The Greatest Motivation When Sharing the Gospel

Ray Comfort

Ray Comfort is the Founder and CEO of Living Waters, a bestselling author, and has written more than 100 books, including, The Evidence Study Bible. He cohosts the award-winning television program Way of the Master, which airs in 190 countries.

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