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| John Whitefield open air preaching |
Here are 21 reasons why. Please let me know if you think of other reasons.
1. Obedience to God
We have been commanded to do so. We really need no other reason. (Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 4:19, Luke 24:46- 47, Mark 16:15, John 20:21, Acts 1:8
2. To glorify God
God is glorified when we bear fruit. (John 15:8) Spiritual children are spiritual fruit. Our purpose is to glorify God and serve Him.
3. Because we Love God
It's the greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:36-40)
The question is, do you love God?
4. To Love others
Do you strive to love others as much as you love yourself, and as Christ loved you? (John 15:12) Are you grateful that you know the Lord? Do you want others to know Him? Treat them the way that you would like to be treated, and go talk to them about the gospel.
5. 10 Out of 10 Die.
People are dying every day. Are you doing anything to at least FIND OUT if your friends are Christians, or interested in Christianity? Or if they are professing Christians, have you asked them any questions to find out if they are truly born again?
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:20a)
6. Hell exists.
Jesus said, "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5) Hell isn't just death. It is eternal conscious torment. Does that concern you that you may have friends who are going there?
7. Heaven exists
If you had an invite to a really fun, exciting, memoral event, would you want to invite others? If you're going to heaven, do you want others to go there too?
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)
8. Life is short, eternity is forever
Do you believe God's Word that after we die we live FOREVER? Do you ever pause to think about how short this life is, compared to eternity?
"We have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only one short hour before sunset in which to win them." -Robert Moffat, a Scottish missionary
"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [emphasis added]" (2 Cor. 5:1)
"Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last."
-C. T. Studd
9. We are to commanded to imitate Paul.
Some will say that we cannot imitate Jesus exactly since He was God, thus we don't have to witness too often. But we are commanded to imitate Paul. He CONSTANTLY proclaimed the gospel all over the place, and he did it in love. (1 Cor 10:33- 11:1)
10. The joy of seeing a spiritual "child" walk in the truth
"I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth." (3 John 1:4)
11. Treasures in heaven will cause your heart to be more focused on heaven than earth
Where is your heart? Is it as focused on heaven as you want it to be? Build treasures in heaven and you'll focus there automatically.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth currupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt. 6:19-21)
12. It deepens our gratitude for the cross
When you're constantly talking about the gospel, you are consistently reminded of what you were saved from, and it deepends our understanding of what God did for us in Christ. "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:2)
13. The labourers are few.
"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few" (Matt. 9:37)
14. To remain in silence is a sin.
"To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). If you DON'T... their blood will be on your hands. (Ezekiel 33:7-9) Paul said in Acts 20:26-27 that He preached the whole counsel of God and that made him innocent of their blood.
Charles Spurgeon Quote: "My anxious desire is that every time I preach, I may clear myself of the blood of all men; that if I step from this platform to my coffin, I may have told out all I knew of the way of salvation."
"When I walk in the fear of the Lord, I'm more afraid of NOT sharing the gospel than I am of sharing it." - Landon Thompson
15. Closer friendships
When you ask spiritual questions, and find a Christian, or you find someone who ends up receiving Christ, you have more and deeper friends than before if you didn't know if they were Christians!
Why? Because as Christians, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ. So we become family. (1 John 3:1)
Some people may think that they have close friends who aren't Christians. Well, the question is, have you at least shared the gospel with them? Ray Comfort says "You are not their friend if you don't give them the gospel."
Picture: If you saw a friend wearing headphones sleeping on a train track with a train coming at him full speed, half a mile away, would you come up to him and talk to him about his profession, his problems, his passions? Or would you WARN him?
16. Excitement
It's exciting, exhilarating, and extraordinarily amazing that God uses feeble people as His ambassadors to preach the gospel and save souls. (2 Cor. 5:20, Romans 10:14) Do you realize what an honor it is that God uses the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe? (1 Cor 1:21) Every time you go to the grocery store, or the mall, or the gas station, or ANYWHERE, you know that you may find someone who comes to know the Lord after you preach the gospel, Not to mention you may meet other brothers and sisters in Christ from witnessing.
Some people go sky diving for the thrill, adrenaline, and excitement. Go share the gospel and you can get your share of those without paying money.
17. To be an example
Christians are inspired, and stirred up to love and good works when they see YOU sharing your faith. "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).
18. Unbelievers rarely come to church.
I've heard it said that non-Christians come to biblical church about as often as a criminal visits a police station. One trait of a biblical church is that it preaches the whole counsel of God, including sin which is often not explained in unbiblical "churches." (See John 3:20) We need to bring the message to them, not wait for them to come to us. That's what the 12 apostles did, and the early church fathers.
19. Your life as a Christian belongs to God.
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor. 6:20) Even if you end up like the many martyrs. Are you willing to die for Jesus? How do you know? A good test is this: Are you willing to live for Jesus?
"For to me to life is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)
20. Evangelism causes us to search the Scriptures
When someone says "What verses say that Jesus is God?" That causes you to search the Scriptures doesn't it? "Be diligent to present yourself approved unto God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Tim. 2:15)
21. It deepens our prayer life
When you talk to people about their fate, and explain that if they die in their sins they will end up in hell, it causes you to cry out to God for them. Paul said "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. " (Rom. 10:1)
When you decide to witness, fear and feeling inadequate are normal. They cause us to fall on our knees and rely on God. "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Is there anyone that you need to share the gospel with?
Will you?
