Robert and James left their business and sold their estate to devote their time to preaching the Gospel. The first modern Protestant missionary society was started by William Carey , the first missionary to India. Carey had little education, but taught himself science and languages. He translated the Bible into 11 languages. He went to India and started by preaching to large crowds that gathered in the streets of the brothel district. One of his converts was a young British sailor named Robert Flockhart , who went back to the British Isles and preached in the streets of Edinburgh for 43 years until his death.
Chamberlain would go to the Ganges river where Hindus gathered, and start an argument with one of the Brahmins. When the argument drew a crowd, he would preach to the assembled Hindus. The Modern Missions Movement was started by street preachers!
Other famous preachers started their ministries by preaching in the streets. It is well known that The Salvation Army started out doing a lot of street preaching!
Coming to Modern Times there is a remnant today of those who still carry on the mission of street preaching. A particular aspect of open air preaching is utilization of the Free Speech Platforms on College and University Campuses. Today others follow in his footsteps. Though little recognition and support has been historically given to such men, the Father will accord them their true glory and reward.
We have only scratched the surface concerning the impact that street preachers have had on the world. Open-air preaching is the most used method for Biblical Evangelism. We believe that the Gospel is a confrontational message, a call to forsake all known sin, and a committing of the soul and the whole being to Jesus Christ. We fervently oppose the message that one can continue in sin while in a relationship with God. Beginning at around noon, with no amplification, Ellen and I approach the free speech area in the secular universities and lift up our voices, crying aloud and sparing not against sin, as the Bible says to do in Isaiah Is I believe that one of the greatest needs in America today is aggressive evangelism in the open-air.
Many of our modern methods only reach those that want to hear it, read it or tune in. Open-air preaching reaches those who would not to a traditional evangelistic meeting otherwise. I have tried it all: pizza suppers, musical outreaches, door-to-door witnessing, literature distribution, book tables, etc. All these have been effective to a degree, but open-air preaching is by far the most effective as well as the most controversial.
In Bible times life was much simpler than it is today. Why then should you consider or emphasize the description of preaching found with Scripture? This chapter will show the weakness found in contemporary approaches vs. In addition to this, the actual idea of preaching has been re-defined as conversing, witnessing, sharing, or the like. This deception has, for all practical purposes, virtually eliminated the actual practice found in Scripture. All of these approaches share a common ingredient:.
Literature is useful, but only to those who take the time to read it. While God uses these methods to reap some of those who are ready, the rest of the world goes without. Public preaching is the number one method of outreach used in the Old and New Testament…is the most effective way to get the Gospel to the most people, in the shortest time and at the least expense! What then is preaching? As we have outlined, preaching today is narrowly defined and misunderstood to the exclusion of the above definition.
It typically refers to invited people, invited speakers, and scheduled services. And understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
Old testament prophets often preached at the gates of the city. The gates were the busiest place in town. The cities in Bible times were surrounded by walls for protection, and all traffic in and out of the city went through the gate. It was the place to be to get a message to all visitors Genesis as well as the citizens going in and out to work in the fields , and the king and all dignitaries.
All kinds of activity took place at the gates:. These then are some of the things that took place at the gates. A man preaching at the gate would not only reach large crowds, but also have an impact on and a direct outreach to such varied arenas as: the business community, court decisions, idolatrous meetings, soldiers, government, etc. Amos Jeremiah These things have some limited value, but again, what is the main method of outreach in the Bible? What is the most effective way to reach the most people at the least expense?
What is the method that most accurately reflects the real character of God? What is the method that is most consistent with the message of Heaven or Hell? What is the one method that receives the least amount of teaching, encouragement and promotion? In Judges when Jotham had a message to get to a crowd of people in Shechem who wanted to kill him , how did he do it? Jotham found a safe place from which they could all hear him, and lifted up his voice. Jotham was an open air preacher ca.
The best example in the Old Testament of a foreign missionary is Jonah. God sent him to warn Nineveh. Jonah was charged to preach to Nineveh as we are to the world! He was preaching as he was walking, i. Jonah was a street preacher, walking the streets as he preached his message of judgment and truth.. Beginning with John and moving to our commission to the whole world we are instructed in Mark ,. Our job is to preach the Gospel to every creature in the world.
The first preacher in the New Testament was John the Baptist. Once again, his preaching was lacking comfortable buildings, music, entertainment, etc.
Our task as Christians is to show forth the reality of God's blessed reign. We are to bear witness to the invisible kingdom of God and make it visible by testifying to its existence in a variety of different ways. Bearing witness to the reality of God's kingdom includes telling the story of Jesus and calling people to repent and trust in Him—evangelism—but that does not exhaust the ways we bear witness to our Lord's saving reign.
For example, the love we show to other believers is a powerful testimony to the rule of Jesus our King. When we love one another in the church, we show that we belong to Christ, who pours His love into our hearts John — Another way we witness to the kingdom of God is through our celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Strictly speaking, the Lord's Supper is not an exercise in evangelism, though it visibly portrays some of the content we preach in evangelism. As often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we show forth the Lord's death until He comes 1 Cor. We should note two things at this point. First, that we will be witnesses to Christ and His kingdom is not in doubt.
Today's passage records Jesus' final words to His followers before His ascension, and He says, matter-of-factly, that those who serve Him will be His witnesses. We will either be good witnesses or poor witnesses, but we will certainly be witnesses. It is inherent to being a Christian.
But such speaking often results in a balancing act between the one and the other. It is better to stay with the wonder of the Scriptures, which has till now remained above any theory of Scripture. Higher than any thesis is Scripture itself. The relationship between Word and Spirit is very special in the witness that the Spirit gives through Scripture.
The Holy Spirit testifies in Holy Scripture, because he himself has inspired it. Then in the third place there is also the personal witness that is admittedly closely connected with what we have said, and yet may also be differentiated from it. That is how salvation is anchored in our lives. The Spirit accomplishes this by means of the preaching of the Word. Scripture is the Word through the Spirit. One can personally know that Scripture is the Word, through this same Spirit.
And one can also know that you know this - that is, through the witness of the Spirit I know and experience my own living relationship with the Christ, and in him the full adoption as child and salvation.
In all three relationships we see the work of the Holy Spirit. It remains a question whether there is sufficient insight into the fact that the Spirit is witnessing through the preaching, that is, that he uses the preaching to make us hear the voice of God himself. Among us, has not this realization possibly been pushed too much into the background? The Reformation has spoken clearly about this, in the same line of thought. As an example I mention the well-known co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism, Caspar Olevianus, who also provided a clear explanation of this textbook.
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