CONSIDERING HOW TO USE THE MYSTERY OF HUMAN LIFE
You have to consider the use of The Mystery of Human Life. Is it practical in your gospel situation? You must study its use. Opening with The Mystery of Human Life might be quite good for certain persons, but I do not believe it is appropriate for everyone. Thus, you have to consider how to use it for the greatest profit. Suppose you feel to use The Mystery of Human Life. Still you have to study to determine how to use it. It may be best to speak in this way: “Sir, here is a book in my hand. It talks about something marvelous which I would like to share with you. What it talks about is the mystery of our human life.” This kind of application is very understandable.
APPROACHING GOSPEL PREACHING AS A SCIENCE
As I have told you before, you should not consider gospel preaching an easy task. Rather, it is like a difficult scientific course. The classroom training helps only to open the door of this wide field. From there, you must enter through the door and begin to consider, day and night, how to carry out your scientific research. To preach theology or biblical knowledge is not adequate. The only way that works is to make the message practical. This is the secret you all must learn.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF BIBLICAL POINTS
You have to consider how to make all the biblical points practical. I have used marriage life as an example in quite a few of my messages. This makes the message more practical.
If you are going to reach certain persons, first of all, you must know their real situation. If you are going to help those in high school or junior high, you must learn their real life situation. Second, you have to consider what portion of the holy Word can be applied to that particular situation. You must have some verses or portions in the Bible as the base of your speaking. The basic thoughts in the Bible are the top ones. No logic can exceed the logic of the Bible. There is no comparison. When your preaching is based on the Bible, your preaching will become powerful, yet it must be practical. You have to speak on the practical situation but with some portions or some verses from the Bible. Therefore, the third point is to learn to speak in a way that is always practical. If you take care of these three points, you will be able to learn a lot.
PREACHING TO OUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS
It is hard to say whether it is easier to talk to a person whom you know or to a person whom you do not know. We may have relatives whom we have known from our youth. Because we know them so well, we may not know how to talk to them. Our knowledge of them may hinder our ability to talk with them. Sometimes it is rather hard for us to preach the gospel to our relatives. It may be better to ask some sisters or brothers who do not know our relatives to speak to them. There may be more impact in their speaking.
We have much to learn in order to preach the gospel effectively. If we are going to speak to someone whom we have known for several years, we can exercise to speak to him as though we do not know him at all. Then we can speak something new, fresh, and particular to him. When we know a person so well, sometimes it is hard to know the best subject to use. If the person is proud, it is best not to talk about being proud. It may be better to talk about the Lord Jesus or even about the danger of the lake of fire. That might have more impact. If we know the person so well, and he realizes that he is a proud person, he may not want us to bring up such a subject. A strong reason that we are not always effective in preaching the gospel to our relatives is because we know them so well.
(The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee)
