Preaching the Gospel: Profit to the Assembly
Norman Crawford

The gospel pioneers who came to North America with a burning passion to win lost souls called the buildings in which they preached Gospel halls. They never taught that Christians belonged to the Gospel hall, rather it belonged to Christians and was used for the preaching of the gospel. We are saddened and even baffled that many places that once preached the gospel as a regular practice have ceased to do so. The two most often heard excuses for this failure are that there is no sense in preaching the gospel to Christians, and a personal presentation of the gospel to an individual is a better method.

The Gospel to Christians

The "gospel to Christians" is an excellent description of two of Paul's epistles, Galatians and Romans. The epistle that most clearly teaches the order and functions of an assembly has three maior themes: the Cross, the Church of God and the Coming of the Lord. If gospel truth is not valuable to believers, much that is contained in these major epistles of the NT is not for us. This article is intended to show from Scripture the value of the gospel to believers.

Personal Witness and Public Declaration

Is a one on one testimony all that is needed to fulfill the commission of the Lord, "Go ye into all the world and preach (kerusso) the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15)? Surely we would never discount the value of personal witness, and a life "that becometh the gospel" (Phil 1:27) is a vital necessity, but is it enough and does it fulfill the commission? No.

In January 1946, Mr. Lorne McBain asked me to join him for gospel meetings in Michigan. It was a great privilege to work with a veteran evangelist, and the lessons learned in many years with him are still of the greatest value to me. We visited a lady next door to the schoolhouse where we were preaching. As yet she had not attended a meeting, but she showed interest. On that first visit, Mr. McBain gave her a full explanation of our ruin in sin and God's one remedy, the precious blood of Christ. When we left her home, he said, "That dear woman needs to hear preaching." I was puzzled and asked what more she could hear than what she heard that day. Patiently he explained that God uses "the preached Word" to bring conviction and awakening to a soul. God's method is an evangelist speaking as a herald. Years passed before I learned the full import of this lesson.

Four different words that are translated "to preach" are found in 1 Corinthians 1: 17, 18, 21 and 23. Verse 17 uses the general word to evangelize. It means to make the gospel known by every available means. "The preaching of the cross" (v 18) is Logos, the Word, and is the Person we preach (Col 1:28). "The foolishness of preaching" (v 21) is kerugma and means the actual truths of the gospel: propitiation, redemption, substitution, reconciliation and justification. "But we preach Christ crucified" (v 23) is kerusso and is found 61 times in the NT. It is the word "preach" in the great commission and always means a public declaration by a herald, an evangelist who preaches the gospel. The Holy Spirit is so careful of the use of this word that when Philip preached personally to the man in the desert, the word is "to evangelize," not to preach as a herald (Acts 8:35). God is sovereign and can reach people by whatever means He chooses, but we need to understand that God's method is, "How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (Rom 10:14-15). "Preacher" and "preach" are from kerusso, the public declaration of a herald. The profit to an assembly of gospel preaching is at least sevenfold.

1. The Defense of the Gospel.
From prison, Paul declared that "I am set for the defense of the gospel" (Phil 1:17). He links this defense with the fact that "Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice" (v 18). An assembly is "a pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15). The truths that we believe and preach comprise a body of teaching, "the apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42), "the faith once for all delivered..." (Jude 3). If we cease to preach truth, we may soon lose it.

2. The Glory of Christ.
The names given to the gospel include, "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24), "the gospel of the glory of God" (1 Tim 1:11). In the gospel, the grace of God is proclaimed, and the glory of God is the result. Paul's statement that it is "the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor 4:4) means that whenever it is preached, it brings glory to the Lord Jesus. This is a blessed fact if there never was a sinner who believed it. What a privilege to glorify Him!

3. Effect upon Believers.
Christians often express their appreciation of ministry and then add, "But there is nothing that so stirs my heart as the gospel preached in power." It takes us back to the cross; back to our own conversion; impresses on us the realities of eternity in contrast to the empty things of time and the world, and gives us a fresh, personal conviction of the plight of lost souls, driving us to our knees to pray for them.

4. The Privilege of Inviting Others to Gospel Meetings.
Without a regular gospel meeting, how can souls we contact hear the gospel preached? How privileged we have been to have heard the gospel preached from our earliest days! Our children, our families, our neighbors and fellow students or workers can be invited to come and hear the gospel, and "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom 10:17).

5. New Converts Added to an Assembly.
The great majority of believers in assemblies were awakened and saved through series of gospel meetings. When there is a regular exercise to have such series, there are times of plowing and sowing, but "in due season we shall reap if we faint not" (Gal 6:9). There are times of visitation (1 Pet 2:12). Faithfulness in obeying the Word to "Preach Christ" will have eternal results as well as giving us the joy of seeing souls saved and added to the assemblies.

6. Following a Pattern.
There is great joy in following the pattern of the Book of Acts and the example of the pioneers who brought the gospel to us. We cannot console ourselves that we are leaving the door open for people to come to hear the gospel. That is not the pattern. It means, "Go ye." There is no substitute for door to door work. Sunday school and children's work has often been not only the means of reaching children, but their parents as well.

7. Developing Gift in an Assembly.
The gift of an evangelist is received at conversion, but gift must be developed (1 Tim 4:14). Without regular opportunities to preach the gospel, there cannot be this development. Open-air meetings afforded many of us an opportunity to preach the gospel regularly. To this was then added the opportunity to preach in halls and rented buildings. Godly elders were able to judge if a gift had been given and encourage those who were gifted.

We have a great gospel heritage. Our minds are flooded with memories of times of great blessing when gifted evangelists preached the gospel with power and God was pleased to work in the salvation of many souls. Even one soul is worth more than all the world. The rest of the great commission must also be obeyed: "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt 28:20). Let us seek help from God to continue faithfully until He comes!

• Preaching the Gospel: Directing the Message to the Need - David Oliver
• Preaching the Gospel: How do I Present it? - Paul Kember
• Preaching the Gospel: Personal Responsibility to Witness - John Dennison
• Preaching the Gospel: Prayer and the Message - Jim Beattie
• Preaching the Gospel: Prayer and the Message - John Slabaugh
• Preaching the Gospel: Preparing for the Message - Albert Hull
• Preaching the Gospel: Preparing for the Message - Eugene Higgins
• Preaching the Gospel: Preparing for the Message - Jim Smith
• Preaching the Gospel: Presenting the Message - Harold Paisley
• Preaching the Gospel: Presenting the Message - Marv Dirksen
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• Preaching the Gospel: Principles Which We Stress - Eugene Higgins
• Preaching the Gospel: Principles Which We Stress - Jon Procopio
• Preaching the Gospel: Profit to the Assembly - Clarence Black
• Preaching the Gospel: Profit to the Assembly - David Oliver
• Preaching the Gospel: Profit to the Assembly - Norman Crawford