Truth Magazine

By Raymond Harris

Preparation of the Local Church

There is an old saying, “Anything done well, must be prepared for.” That is certainly true of something as important as a series of meetings where the gospel of Christ is to be preached. Anything that involves the eternal souls of men and women should never be taken lightly. Considerable forethought and preparation should precede all the endeavors of the church.

Local Preacher and Teachers

The classroom teachers at all levels should begin to talk up the meeting at least a month before it starts. In the classes for the younger children special posters, banners and projects can excite the interest of the students. Teachers thus can help to spur interest in the meeting throughout all family members.

Likewise the local preacher should “preach up” the meeting a Sunday or two before it is to start. His interest and enthusiasm can have a great deal to do with the mental attitude of the whole church. Announcements, sermons and classes can “set the stage” for the first day of the meeting.

Special Prayers

For several weeks before the meeting, those leading the public prayers should invoke God’s blessings upon the meeting preacher, his family and his work. They should pray that nothing would hinder his involvement in the special effort to preach the gospel.

All members of the local church should be encouraged to remember the meeting preacher in their private prayers. Public and private prayers should be made in behalf of his health, his family and his safe travel.

Song Leaders

Song leaders should be selected and assigned for every service. These assignments should be made far enough before the meeting to allow the leaders to select their songs and prepare themselves thoroughly. The singing is most important. It can make or break the meeting. It can excite both the audience and the preacher; or, it can drag them down and all but kill the whole affair. Song leaders have a great responsibility in a gospel meeting.

Other Special Assignments

Every member should be urged to meet and greet all those attending the meeting. Some churches find it beneficial to assign specific couples to station themselves at each entry door. There they have the special responsibility to meet and get the names and addresses of all visitors. This information can be invaluable for meeting follow up. Also, it often helps in the growth and development of the couples involved.

All Members

Of course every member should be informed the first of each year about the dates of all meetings and special events of the church. B y doing this, a member will have no excuse for scheduling vacations and other personal activities that will conflict with church activities.

Every member should be urged to make a personal effort to invite or bring someone to the meeting. Neighbors, relatives, co-workers, former classmates and friends should receive special attention. In recent polls, the number one mason given for visiting a church was “someone invited me.”

“Anything that involves the eternal souls of men and women should never be taken lightly.

Considerable forethought and preparation should precede all the endeavors of the church.”

The Building

Most of us do a little extra house cleaning when we invite visitors into our homes. The same should be true of the church building at meeting time. Needed repairs should be made and the general appearance of the building should be neat and clean. Often a strong first impression is formed by the appearance of the church building. Whether that is right or wrong, it matters little when we are trying to reach people to save their souls. A little extra work on the building at meeting time can pay big dividends.

Also, special attention should be given to the temperatures in the auditorium. In our meeting preparation we should be sure that furnaces and air conditioners are in good working order. If visitors suffer through extremes of hot or cold, the sermon may have little effect on them.

The Preacher’s Preparation

A gospel preacher who is invited to do the speaking at a special series of services should feel a great weight of responsibility. Regardless of how experienced the preacher may be or the size of the church involved, every such invitation accepted should be looked upon as a great challenge.

1. The preacher should do all within his power to arrive for the meeting in good health. A sick preacher will likely preach a sick meeting.

2. The preacher should do all within his power to arrive for the meeting as rested as possible. Long hours of travel and multiple meetings may make this difficult. The exhausted, bone weary preacher will have a hard time generating powerful, soul-stirring sermons.

3. The preacher should limit his outside interests. I have seen meetings that never got off the ground because the preacher had his mind on everything but the book. A preacher caught up in business interests, sports, an up-coming debate or domestic problems will give precious little of himself to the work at hand.

4. The preacher should be prepared spiritually. He must give the same sincere effort whether the church numbers 30 or 300. Also, he must graciously accept the food and accommodations provided for him during his stay.

5. Sermon selection and preparation is of paramount importance. This may be the most vital part of the preacher’s preparation. If he can figure it out, the preacher needs to preach, what is needed, where it’s needed, when it’s needed. The preacher should pray about this matter. He should not try to preach the same eight sermons every-where he goes. He should not preach certain sermons just because those are the ones he likes. Every meeting should be special! In his preparation, the preacher should try to determine the needs of the local church and do his best to meet them.

The public proclamation of God’s word is an awesome responsibility. Local churches and meeting preachers alike should prepare, as if all depended upon them; and pray, as if all depended upon the Lord.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 16, p. 11-12
August 19, 1993

By Paul J. Casebolt

“Priority 1. Quality of being prior. 2. Superiority in rank, position, or privilege. 3.Order of preference based on urgency, importance, or merit” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary).

Others have addressed different aspects of a gospel meeting such as the purpose, the preaching, the preparation, and the advertising. But if we cannot understand or make the application of our priorities, all else will be in vain, or at least, compromised. Look at the definition of our term again, and think about it as we make a few observations.

As I write these lines, I am about ready to embark upon my third preaching trip to the Philippines. There will be several meetings conducted at sundry locations on different islands. People will arrive at the meetings by bus, by taxi, by boat, or on foot. Most will walk.

Some of the venerable vehicles will be delayed by lack of fuel, flat tires, or mechanical problems. All will be crowded beyond belief and beyond capacity. No one knows for sure just what the capacity of such vehicles is.

But all who come to the meetings will come with one common commoditypriority. That priority will manifest itself in the hearts, the speech, and the faces of those who attend; in the rapt attention displayed during two or three consecutive sermons; in the questions asked after the sermons; and in the glad reception of the Lord’s invitation to obey and follow him.

Such living definitions of priority can be duplicated in India, Africa, Italy, and now in Romania and other European countries. Long before our English definitions of priority were printed, the principle of the term blanketed Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and “the utter-most part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The early disciples “went everywhere preaching the wont” (Acts 8:4). The gospel “was preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col. 1:23).

No, all of this wasn’t accomplished by what we have come to call “gospel meetings,” but the definition of priority remains unchanged with the centuries. In some of the earliest teaching of our Lord, disciples were exhorted, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Without priority in the lives of those who hear, the seed of the kingdom, the gospel, falls by the wayside.

But some church members are saying, “Things are different in contemporary America. We have television, vacations, camping trailers and boats, a plethora of sporting events, extra-curricular school activities, and many other things which compete for our priorities during a gospel meeting.”

Are we to understand then, that such things as recreation, entertainment, and other “cares of this life” (Luke 8:14), should take priority over “things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12)? Are we saying that folks of other times and places had no “affairs of this life” (2 Tim. 2:4) to put in proper perspective? That it was easy for them to brave the elements, dangers and rigors of the trail, wild beasts and robbers, the threat of persecution, and death itself? If we are attempting to say that it was easier for those mentioned to establish their priorities, then shame on us.

Given the other things which have been written about gospel meetings, I’m taking it for granted that when a congregation plans such an effort, that meeting is considered to be importantimportant to the congregation, the preacher, and to all who are invited to attend. Or am I wrong to assume this? Do I take too much for granted? I’m persuaded that the priority we manifest during a gospel meeting is the same priority that we manifest in other areas of our lives.

The process of scheduling a gospel meeting will vary from one geographical area to another. Congregations try to schedule around other meetings, the weather, shift work, school activities (from the first week of school to graduation exercises), summer ball and band camps, vacations, and sundry fairs and festivals. It is a small wonder that every congregation within a 50-mile radius wants to conduct a meeting during the same week in the spring and the same week in the fall. But even when every possible factor is taken into consideration, some members still can’t get their priorities in order.

I have given congregations the exact date which they thought would be best for their particular circumstances, but several members still couldn’t get the meeting on their private schedules. Some expect members from other congregations to fill the pews left empty by the local membership.

In my lifetime, we have shortened meetings from weeks to two weeks, to one week, to Sunday through Friday (to skip embarrassing Saturday), to mini-meetings of three days or lessand some members still can’t find time to attend. Or they attend one night and think they have done the Lord and the church a favor. No one is trying to establish a set time, length, or number for gospel meetings. I may be infringing on some other writer’s subject, but if a lack of teaching has played havoc with our priorities, then I’m persuaded that we need more and longer gospel meetings, not fewer and shorter.

We wonder why children don’t obey the gospel or manifest an interest in spiritual things, when their parents don’t have their own priorities in order. We wonder why friends and neighbors “just won’t attend gospel meetings anymore,” when the church members who invite them (or fail to invite them) don’t attend their own meetings. We wonder “why we don’t baptize folks like we used to,” when the ones who have been baptized are either unfaithful or still don’t give spiritual things priority over temporal things.

The weather can be perfect for a given geographical area, but some people still can’t seem to get to the church building. Yet, members from other congregations will drive several miles to attend a meeting, while local members won’t walk or drive around the block to support their own meeting. And some of the best meetings I have ever conducted in northern climates were held in the dead of winter. Some folks can get their priorities straightened out in spite of the weather. But it all depends on whether they want to drive over bad roads to a gospel meeting  or to a ball game.

The problem isn’t illness or caring for the sick. Some crippled folks come to the meeting while healthy ones stay away. Some use their health as an excuse for not attending church assemblies, but they find the strength to attend sporting events, go to the mall, go to fairs and festivals, or go on vacation.

Working to support our families is a worthy cause. But while work keeps some from attending a meeting, it doesn’t keep them from going where they want to go and doing what they want to do, even if they have to take off from work to do it. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). As the heart follows our treasure, so will our body follow the heart. They generally end up at the same place.

Some preachers have flatly rejected the idea that the church has a mission, a work, an organization, or public assemblies. Others have minimized the importance of public assemblies, while encouraging satellite “group” meetings diluted with parties, fishing trips, and “retreats.” And a little Bible is thrown in for respectability. We cannot expect such doctrines and practices to enhance the attendance at assemblies of the church, including gospel meetingsmeetings where the gospel is preached.

We try to arrange our schedules so that we can perform our spiritual duties at a convenient time. Brethren, if we want to avoid hell and gain heaven, we will need to make some sacrifices, and give the Lord some of our valuable energy, time, talents, and material resources. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

It is possible for us to sin by doing that which violates our consciencethat which we believe to be wrong (Rom. 14:23). Conversely, we can sin by failing to do that which we acknowledge to be a good work: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17).

If we acknowledge that gospel meetings are a good way to preach the gospel and edify the church; that we are justified in taking the time and money necessary to conduct such an effort; then we need to get our lives, our hearts, our speech, our bodies and our priorities all together.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 16, p. 13
August 19, 1993

By Ron Holbrook

Whether the preacher’s needs are supplied by individuals, as in Luke 10:7, or by the local church, as in 1 Timothy 5:18, the Bible says in both passages, “The laborer is worthy of his reward.” Preachers and all other brethren need to remember first and foremost that when we labor together in the gospel, this is God’s work and not our own. We plant and water, but God gives the increase. “For we are laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:6-9). As we all labor together, our focus must be on pleasing God, saving our own souls, and saving the lost. With regard to paying the preacher, he should not focus on squeezing every possible penny out of his brethren, and his brethren should not focus on pinching every penny while keeping the preacher as poor as possible. When our attitudes are right toward the work of the Lord, they will be right toward each other as respects the preacher’s pay (Phil. 4:10-18).

Passages and Principles on Paying the Preacher

In both the Old and New Testaments, God ordained that those who devote their lives to teaching his Word are to be supported both by individuals and by the collective treasury of his people according to the need. The Levites who served in the temple and who taught the Law were sup-ported by “the tithes of the children of Israel” (Num. 18:20-24). The priests received a portion of the sacrifices brought to God, including “the first fruit also of thy com, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep” (Deut. 18:1-8). The Shunammite woman and her husband built a small room onto their house for the prophet Elisha, and shared with him the food, hospitality, and love of their home (2 Kgs. 4:8-10). When Jesus sent his disciples out on the limited commission, he ordained that their physical needs be supplied by the people who accepted their teaching (Matt. 10:9-10; Lk. 10:4-8). Jesus taught that those who sacrifice physical needs and comforts for the sake of his kingdom will be blessed “an hundredfold” with such things (Matt. 19:29). This often occurs when Christians share many of the good things of life with gospel preachers. Saints like Lydia constrain preachers to visit in their household, and in other ways supply the needs of such teachers (Acts 16:15; Gal. 6:6).

Paul repeatedly taught by divine inspiration that he had the right “to forbear working” and to be supported by the church while he labored in the gospel. Such support of an evangelist should be sufficient not only for himself alone but also for his “wife” and family if he is married. Paul used as illustrations that a soldier is paid wages while engaging in war, a fanner eats of the crops he raises, and a shepherd drinks milk from the flock he tends. Paul’s readers are reminded that the Law of Moses said, “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” He asked, “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” Since the priesthood ministered in the “holy things … of the temple,” God ordained that they should eat from the altar. “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:4-14).

Paul at times exercised this right and at other times sustained himself, as seemed best in each situation. Paul was sometimes supported while laboring with a local church and at other times while traveling and preaching. when he departed from the church at Philippi, that church supplied his needs as he went and sent additional aid “once and again” while he was preaching in Thessalonica (Phil. 4:15-16). Later when preaching at Corinth, he “robbed other churches, taking wages of them,” as a matter of expediency, so as to avoid the opportunity for his critics to charge that he came to Corinth to bilk the people out of their money (2 Cor. 11:8).

Early evangelists were often “brought on their way by the church,” i.e. supported in their travels, when going to debates, going to help other preachers in some work, or preaching in foreign places (Acts 15:3; Rom. 15:24; 1 Cor. 16:6,11; cf. Acts 11:22). All of the passages presented above provide principles which guide us in paying the preacher as he engages in many varied labors for the gospel’s sake, at home or in travels, including gospel meetings. The greatest, guiding principle for all of us to remember is that God ordained gospel preaching to save the world. This is his work and not our own. We must put our faith and trust in him as we do the work he has given into our hands.

Applying the Principles on Paying the Preacher

Brethren are to be commended who open their homes to give preachers lodging, use their automobiles to transport preachers, prepare meals and provide food, wash clothes, repair suits, make typewriters and computers available, supply money when needed, offer the use of an extra vehicle, nurse him when he is sick, invite the preacher to use their phone to stay in touch with his family, send gifts and notes of appreciation to the preacher’s family, and show consideration for his needs in a hundred other ways while he is away from his home to labor in the gospel. They fulfill Galatians 6:6, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” They are “fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life” (Phil.4:3)

When the church contemplates having a gospel meeting, here are questions which brethren sometimes ask the preacher or one another.

1. “What do you charge for a gospel meeting?” A preacher who is worth his salt does not “charge” anything. He preaches for the Lord, to save himself, to serve brethren, to keep the saved from being lost, and to save the lost, not for money. If he can get to the place where preaching is needed and back home again, with or without the help of the brethren who are calling or of other brethren, he should try to go.

2. “What is the cheapest we can get him for?” Brethren who have the right attitude toward the Lord’s work and the Lord’s servants do not try to be “cheap.” They try to be fair (Matt. 7:12). It cost Paul the same amount to purchase a fare on a ship that it cost anyone else. It is fine for brethren to inquire what expenses a preacher may incur so that they can be fair and generous in covering those expenses, rather than leaving him to wonder what their intentions are. His fare, meals, lodging, etc. will cost him what it costs anyone else. If the church plans to put the preacher in a motel during the meeting, brethren should select a place which is truly clean and comfortable, just as anyone would select for an honored relative, instead of making the cheapest price the first priority. The cost of a motel room should not be deducted from the preacher’s pay, leaving him a pittance for his week’s work.

3. “What are some expenses we should consider so that we can be fair?” If he is coming by car, he may have to buy gas, meals, and lodging along with incidental expenses, depending on the distance. Motel expenses vary along the way and it is not always possible or desirable to find “the cheapest place.” A modest room averages $40.00 per night. The U.S. government sets the expense of operating a car at the average of 28.5 cents per mile; a roundtrip of 100 miles costs $28.50, and 1,000 miles costs $280.50. If the preacher drives his car, he may have extra mileage and expenses if he uses his car during the gospel meeting. If he comes by bus, train, or plane, he will have to purchase a ticket and perhaps some meals, along with incidentals. Not all airlines serve meals and food is very expensive in airports (about $10.00 for a sandwich, drink, and chips),It is thoughtful to send money for estimated travel expenses ahead before the meeting. Some of us find that our family must struggle when we take travel money out of the normal budget; at times the strain covers a two to four week period because advance preparation must be made for the trip. In an effort to find cheaper rates, travel tickets are often bought several days or weeks in advance. At times it may be necessary to buy two or three tickets ahead, requiring a total outlay of $500-$1,000! Please consider that there are many hidden costs for the preacher such as luggage, phone calls to stay in touch with his family or to meet other obligations which arise in his work while away from home, the extra wear and tear on suits, literature which he may distribute at his own expense, and other expenses.

4. “What do churches currently pay for gospel meetings?” It varies greatly. Most preachers hold some meetings without any pay in order to help where there is a great need. Some churches are able to pay more, others less; some are stingy, some generous. I have never discussed with other preachers what they are paid for meetings because that is not my focus. Most of my meetings are with smaller churches. In my limited experience, churches often pay within a range of $500 to $700 for a week’s meeting, and about $100 per day for shorter meetings, with some additional allowance for expenses in both cases. Whatever brethren pay, they should remember that it is not “clear money,” because the preacher will not only pay income taxes and 13%+ Social Security taxes, he will always incur hidden expenses.

If a preacher traveled 1,200 miles roundtrip, and was paid $500 plus $200 for travel, deduct $342 for car expense, $80 for on-the-road motel, $100 for food and miscellaneous, $90 for S.S., which leaves about $70 to apply to hidden expenses. If he was asked to pay his local motel bill, deduct another $200, which leaves him $130 in the hole. If his home congregation suspends his regular salary when he is away “getting rich” in meetings, he is really in desperate straits! Thank God, most churches have quit penalizing their preacher that way, and some even offer to make up any such deficit when he returns home. To avoid creating such deficits, thoughtful brethren ask the visiting preacher if what they plan to pay is adequate so that any needed adjustment can be made.

5. “Would it be better to discontinue meetings, shorten them, or use only men nearby to ‘save’ the Lord’s money?” No, such thinking is shortsighted and false economy. God ordained that the money be put to work in his service and gospel meetings are among the most effective things we do to proclaim the gospel. Other methods are fine, but there will never be a substitute for the public preaching of the gospel. Not only do sinners need to hear it, but so do saints (Acts 20:20,31). To always use men nearby locks the church into the danger of regional views which may develop. When men are brought in from different areas, there is the benefit of “cross fertilization,” the opportunity for questions to be raised which may be overlooked in one region, and the advantage of getting the right man for the job in order to be as effective as possible.

God’s patience permits the world to stand so that we can press on in preaching the gospel and in calling men to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Faithful preachers press on in this work with or without adequate pay. Faithful brethren press

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 16, p. 16-17
August 19, 1993

By Mike Willis

“Why should we have gospel meetings? We are not baptizing people any more. Gospel meetings used to accomplish a lot of good when America was a rural nation and non-Christians would visit the meetings. But, now non-Christian Americans will not visit gospel meetings, so they are a left-over relic from a by-gone era which are no longer effective in reaching the people. Gospel meetings need to be discarded.”

Though these are not the exact words used, these are the gist of the argument which I heard a gospel preacher use while conducting a gospel meeting in our area. If this gospel preacher felt this way about gospel meetings, he should not be holding them and surely the church ought to accommodate him by not inviting him to conduct any more.

Let us consider the purpose churches have when they conduct gospel meetings. Reminding ourselves of the legitimate goals of gospel meetings and refocusing our aims on those goals should help us to have more effective gospel meetings.

Faith Comes By Hearing

The purpose of preaching the gospel is simple: this is God’s ordained method of creating faith. Consider these verses:

How 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? And 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! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:13-17).

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 (1 Cot. 1:21).

The only means which God has of reaching the hearts of men is through the preaching of the gospel. We preach the gospel in gospel meetings (or any other time) for the purpose of creating, building, and strengthening faith.

To Save the Lost

None can be saved without faith (John 8:24; Mark 16:15-16). We preach the gospel to save the lost. One of the primary purposes we have in gospel meetings is to win the lost. Even though we admit that fewer non-Christian visitors are attending gospel meetings than at times in the past, still there are non-Christians attending most gospel meetings. Think of the non-Christians who attend the meetings where you attend  the teenagers, mates of Christians, and friends who occasionally come. In nearly every gospel meeting I conduct, there are some non-Christians present and I am preaching the gospel in an effort to save them.

Christians can develop an evil heart of unbelief and fall into sin. The writer of Hebrews said, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in

The Purpose of Gospel Meetings .. .

any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (3:12). We preach to save the erring Christians who have developed an evil heart of unbelief. Inmost gospel meetings that are conducted, there are erring Christians who would freely admit that they are presently in an unsaved condition. We preach with the purpose of saving their souls and restoring them to the Lord (cf. Gal. 6:1; Jas. 5:19-20).

Many erring Christians have been taught the truth on such things as institutionalism, church sponsored recreation, instrumental music in worship, unscriptural divorce and remarriage, and other forms of sin in which they were engaged through the efforts of gospel meetings. Some have repented of their sins and been restored to God through these efforts.

To Keep What We’ve Got

We preach in gospel meetings to strengthen all Christians. We want to hold the ones we have. To do so, we must keep their faith strong in the Lord. The means of doing that is to continue to teach them the word of God’s grace. As Paul departed from the elders of the church at Ephesus, he said, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). The teaching of the word of God’s grace is what strengthens one’s faith. We preach the gospel to hold what we already have won for Christ.

Many families have had their marriage strengthened through lessons on the family, received words of encouragement or hope, learned to pray more effectively, and otherwise been strengthened through the efforts in gospel meetings. Are the Christians in your local church so strong that they need no more strengthening?

Less Preaching is the Wrong Answer

If we understand that preaching is the divinely ordained way to create, build, and strengthen faith, we should immediately see that less preaching will produce less faith! In recognizing the fact that we are reaching fewer people today with the gospel, we must understand that less preaching is not the proper solution and answer to the problem.

What does a person do who wants to eat fresh fish when the fish are not biting? Does he quit fishing or fish less? I used to fish a good bit as a young man. I learned that a person had to fish a lot harder to catch enough fish for dinner when the fish were not biting than when they were biting. We are living in a time when the “fish” (non-Christian world) are not biting. We are, therefore, going to have to work a lot harder to find the good and honest in heart who might respond to the gospel.

As A Testimony to the World

What was God’s message to his prophets when the world became unwilling to listen and hear his word? Did he tell them to quit preaching. I am reminded of God’s word to Ezekiel. He instructed him to go to the hardhearted in the house of Israel, knowing full well when he sent the prophet that the people would not hear. Yet, God said,

But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house (3:7-9).

Noah ministered as a “preacher of righteousness” for 120 years while the ark was being prepared. Yet, he was only able to save his own household. Should he have done less preaching?

We must admit that Americans are less interested in spiritual things today than they were several years ago, if the measuring stick is how often non-Christians attend gospel meetings. We are not stating that gospel meetings should be the one and only means of trying to reach the lost. Home Bible studies, correspondence courses, radio and television programs, bulletins, newspaper articles, and other means of reaching out to those who are lost in sin must be used in the most effective manner possible. Those who calling for fewer and shorter gospel meetings seem ready to discard one of the ways which has been most effective in reaching those outside of Christ. If a person has another effective way of reaching the lost, by all means use it. However, what is gained by discarding another effective tool which also has helped reach the lost, especially in light of the many other goods which are being accomplished through these gospel meetings?

To Save Our Own Souls

We have a responsibility to make sure the world knows the word of God. As God appointed Ezekiel as a watchman for the house of Israel, he said,

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul (3:17-19).

Paul reflected the same concept when he told the elders of the church at Ephesus that he was “pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26) because he had declared the whole counsel of God to them. Can we be free from the blood of all men without preaching the word of God even to those who are unwilling to hear?

No Excuse For Not Working

I have heard brethren excuse themselves from working by saying that no one is interested in the gospel we have to preach. We cannot salve our consciences by such statements. The fact of the matter is that too many churches have fallen into the rut of having a spring and fall gospel meeting from habit and custom. The church buys printed announcements which are mailed to area churches and the meetings are attended by the most spiritual ones from area congregations and many of the saints in the local church. The trouble is that sometimes a goodly percentage of the local church does not care enough about the preaching of the gospel to come to the meeting (or other services than the Sunday morning worship to observe the Lord’s supper). Many Christians are not inviting their friends, relatives, and neighbors to hear the gospel preached. They do not talk to those with whom they come in contact to open doors of opportunities for the gospel. Then when no one comes to the meeting, they say, “Gospel meetings aren’t doing any good any more.” What we need to be saying is this: “We have quit working to reach our friends and neighbors with the gospel. Many of us are too pre-occupied with the cares of this world to even come to the meeting ourselves, much less bring someone with us. We need to repent of our sinful negligence and apathy and give ourselves totally to the Lord’s work.” When this happens, brethren will be tremendously surprised at how much good can be done in gospel meetings.

Let’s not use the excuse that meetings will do no good to salve our consciences when we do not put forth the effort to reach those who are lost.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 16, p. 3-5
August 19, 1993