1)Praying—“And as they were beseeching…and spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). For the gospel preaching to be effective, one must be a praying person.
2)Being filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit— “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). To fulfill our prayer for the preaching of the gospel, there needs to be the outward filling with the Holy Spirit.
3)Following the Spirit—“And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join this chariot. And when he ran up…” (Acts 8:29-30). To be able to preach the gospel, express the Lord’s life, and bear the fruit of life, one must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
4)Being ready in season and out of season— “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). In order to preach the gospel with results, one cannot be limited by time.
5)Loving people, spending and being spent for them—“But I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls, even if loving you more abundantly, I am loved less” (2 Cor. 12:15). Loving others, spending and being spent for them, is also a wonderful and excellent way to preach the gospel.
6)Speaking the word of God—“…spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Speaking God’s word and not our own is a great secret to successful gospel preaching. To this end, the booklet “The Mystery of Human Life” published by Living Stream Ministry is highly recommended.
7)Visiting from house to house to find the sons of peace—“The harvest indeed is vast, but the workers are few; therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest. Go on your way…And into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon it” (Luke 10:2-6). In order that the gospel may be preached in a widespread manner with plentiful results, the most excellent way is to visit from house to house by knocking on doors to find the sons of peace and to bring them to believe, to be baptized, and to be saved.
1)Being rewarded—“…preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward” (1 Cor. 9:16-17). The reward here surely includes the crown of righteousness mentioned by the Apostle Paul (who also wrote these words) in 2 Timothy 4:7-8. It is difficult to ascertain what else this reward will include. In any case, it will surely be glorious.
1)Being woeful—“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). This is a word spoken by the Apostle Paul, who was faithful through his whole life to preach the gospel for the Lord. He said that woe would be to him if he did not preach the gospel. We do not know what woe may come, but surely it will not be a comfortable or honorable thing. This should serve as a warning to us!
2)Being taken away—“Every branch in Me [the Lord] that does not bear fruit, He [the Father] takes it away” (John 15:2). These are the Lord Jesus’ personal words of warning to us, saying that the Father will take away every one of His branches which does not bear fruit; thus, this one will lose all the supply and blessing of being His branch and of abiding in Him. What a warning this is!
(Life Lessons, Vol. 2 (#13-24), Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)