96. Principles of Spreading the Gospel and Bearing Testimony to God

Principles of Spreading the Gospel and Bearing Testimony to God

1. You must, according to God’s words, bear clear and insightful testimony to God’s work of the last days. You must dispel people’s conceptions and imaginings, removing the obstacles and hurdles that stand in their way.

2. You must conscientiously analyze and look into every potential convert, establishing actionable proposals and striving to open up the situation as effectively as possible.

3. You must choose the right recipients for the gospel, and flexibly adopt a variety of enlightened methods. As long as you do not break the law or commit a crime, you should do whatever it takes to gain more people.

4. You must look to the work of the Holy Spirit and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You must employ flexible, efficient methods to spread the gospel both directly and spontaneously. Where the situation permits, you can do so openly.

Relevant Words of God:

In the future, when the gospel is spread, you should be able to speak of your own knowledge, testify to all that you have gained in your heart, and spare no effort. This is what should be attained by a created being. What is the significance of this stage of God’s work? What is its effect? And how much of it is carried out in man? What should people do? When you can speak clearly of all the work done by God incarnate after coming to earth, then your testimony will be complete. When you can speak clearly of these five things—the significance, content, substance of His work, His disposition represented by it, and His work principles—then this will prove that you are capable of testimony, and that you are truly possessed of the knowledge. What I ask of you is not a lot, and is attainable by all those who truly pursue. If you are resolved to be one of God’s witnesses, you must understand what God loathes, and what God loves. You have experienced much of His work, and through this work, you must come to know His disposition, and what He loathes and loves, and understand His will and His requirements of mankind, and use this to testify to Him and perform your duty. You may say only this: “We know God, His judgment and chastisement are so severe. His words are so stern, they are righteous and majestic, and they are inviolable by any man.” But, ultimately, do they provide to man? What is their effect in people? Do you truly know that this work is good? Are God’s judgment and chastisement able to reveal your disposition? Are they able to reveal your disobedience? Are they able to expel those things within you? What would you become without the judgment and chastisement of God? Do you truly know just how corrupted you have been by Satan? All of this is what you should equip yourselves with and know today.

from “Practice (7)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

In the future you will spread the gospel and widen the work of the Age of Kingdom, and it’s not enough to merely be able to talk of God’s work today. To broaden His work, it is more important that you are able to resolve people’s old religious conceptions and old means of belief, and leave them utterly convinced—and getting to that point involves the Bible. … Although you do not eat and drink the Bible, you must understand the Bible, you must achieve the correct knowledge of the Bible, and only in this way will you be able to know what God’s 6,000-year management plan is all about. You will use these things to win people over, to make them acknowledge that this stream is the true way, to make them acknowledge that the path you walk today is the path of truth, that it is guided by the Holy Spirit, and has not been opened up by any human.

from “Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

God’s work is carried out according to people’s actual circumstances, and is based on their innate caliber. This is also the principle of spreading the gospel: You must proceed slowly, letting nature take its course, until you speak the truth to someone clearly. Only then will they understand, and only at that time will they be able to put aside the Bible. If God did not do this stage of work, who would be able to break with convention?

from “Concerning the Bible (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Another function of apostles is to focus on spreading the gospel. Of course, saints can also do this work, but they must be wise in doing so, and must refrain from stirring up trouble. The above are the current ways of practice. Also, as a reminder, you must pay attention to making your sermons more profound, so that all may enter the reality of My words. You must closely follow My words, and make it so all people may understand them clearly, and unambiguously. This is most crucial.

from “The Second Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

Evangelism without applying God’s words cannot generate the effect of truly witnessing God. In fact, only God’s words are the truth and the best testimony to God. Evangelism without applying God’s words cannot communicate the truth clearly. No matter how many letters and doctrines are spoken by man, they are not as powerful as the word of God. It is very difficult to achieve the true effects of gaining and saving people without communicating the truth through God’s words. Therefore, evangelism requires learning how to apply God’s words before communicating the truth. The effects are better this way. Even a thousand or ten thousand words of man cannot have a decisive effect. In key moments, it is still God’s words that have power; only God’s words are the truth and can demolish satanic fallacies by striking the vital point and point out the essence of truth. As long as God’s words are applied accurately and on point, communicating a few words of experience and knowledge can achieve immediate results. Accordingly, evangelists must be familiar with God’s words. Communicating the truth when adept at applying God’s words makes it easy to gain people. Any communication of the truth without applying God’s words is not a true testimony to God’s work. Simply talking of letters and doctrines and empty theories is usually and mostly a waste of one’s energy, that’s for sure. Only by frequently and accurately applying God’s words and then communicating the truth to preach the gospel is it truly witnessing God. This is the only way to gain the work of the Holy Spirit and fulfill one’s duty up to standard. This is beyond question. Practicing accurate application of God’s words to communicate the truth and witness God is an important principle of evangelism. All those who preach the gospel must strictly comply in order to conform with God’s intentions.

from “Deviation Problems in Preaching the Gospel That All Churches Must Resolve” in Annals of the Fellowship and Arrangements of the Work of the Church (II)

Some people who spread the gospel go about it in whatever way they want to and employ whatever means they desire. They are not willing to fellowship and discuss with others, nor are they willing to find out about situations by inquiring into them in depth, and they do not consider how to gain more people. They think up some simple way then get things done, just going through the motions. This is doing things the way one wants to. In sum, not seeking the truth or doing things according to the truth, not determining the best method to resolve problems based on actual circumstances, and not considering the benefit to God’s house and work results—all such behavior is doing things one’s own way.

from “What Does Doing Things One’s Own Way Mean” in Records of Christ’s Talks

The practicing principles and intelligent way to preaching the gospel must be determined in accordance with the actual environment. Satan currently remains in control and the great red dragon is still engaged in its final struggle, so it is even more necessary to use intelligent methods; we can preach only to those who believe there is a God and seek the true way. It is therefore first necessary to learn how to identify people and only converse with and feel out those who seem like good, dignified and decent people. Do not bother with those who seem like bad, foolish people or people with poor caliber; this is a form of wisdom. Some demons may appear civilized, courteous and have a good temperament, but they are not necessarily good people who love the truth and could actually be truth-hating atheists. It’s like how some officials may seem rather dignified, but are precisely truth-hating demons. Preaching the gospel to such people is looking for trouble and could easily bring problems. Even if you discover that the person is decent and honest, you must still observe the surrounding environment and background before finding an opportunity to speak. This is for the sake of safety. Once you can be sure that the person is a suitable target for preaching, you should first talk about testimonies of believing in God and observe their response to see if they are interested in the truth, and then decide whether or not to bear witness to God. This is safer. If two people are coordinating in preaching the gospel they should also learn how to cooperate, on the one hand first feeling out the target and on the other working together to communicate the truth. Furthermore, they must also constantly observe the reaction of the target in case of an unexpected situation. Only by coordinating in this way to preach the gospel will it be safe. It not only makes it easier to gain people but also guarantees safety at the same time. Those who preach the gospel and testify to God must pray to God with one heart and mind in order to properly fulfill their duty. That way, they will be able to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That is the most important practicing principle of spreading the gospel.

from “Deviation Problems in Preaching the Gospel That All Churches Must Resolve” in Annals of the Fellowship and Arrangements of the Work of the Church (II)

Evangelism staff must learn how to establish good interpersonal relationships. At the very least, they should not make the people they come into contact with feel uncomfortable. They should exhibit saintly decorum and not be dissolute or raucous; they should have decent attire, be dignified and upright, be natural in conversation, understand etiquette, respect and not argue with others, be natural and easygoing around others, be good at chatting, possess affinity in dealing with people, and be able to mix quickly and freely with others. Whether it is staff responsible for putting out feelers or presenting testimonies, they should all be able to get closer to the target of the evangelism within a relatively short period of time and earn their trust, thus making the target drop their defenses and cautiousness. This makes it easier to create a relaxed and harmonious communion atmosphere and paves the way for effective testimony presentation.

from “The Intelligent Ways to Spread the Gospel” in Only If One Believes in Almighty God Can He Be Saved

There is another situation, and that is carrying out evangelism work without wisdom: not observing the circumstances when interacting with people, not knowing how to judge the situation or look for opportunities, and certainly not knowing where it is appropriate to start; not having a method or technique when doing things, not taking the proper steps, just blurting everything out in one breath in front of people and then leaving as soon as they get their words out. Acting this way makes a person seem reckless, a little silly, and quite foolish too. This is also a shortcoming people have, and everyone has had too many failures in this regard. Spreading the gospel cannot be done without wisdom or patience. The more impatient you are the more you will fail. Being slow-tempered and having a bit of wisdom gives you an advantage, whereas those who are impatient and can’t restrain themselves and lack wisdom will definitely not be able to do this job. It is best if a quick-tempered person is partnered with a slow-tempered person. If both are impatient then they’ll end up going home even quicker. Spreading the gospel and doing the pastoral work are different. Evangelism work is most in need of wisdom, love, and tenderness. This work cannot be done without enormous patience. When necessary, you even have to humble yourself to express the sincere and clear love you have for people. Some have deeply moved others by kneeling down and asking for God’s grace at the key moment. This cannot be done without patience and without a sincere and loving heart.

from “The Proper Form of a Believer of God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

All of God’s chosen people who truly understand the truth concerning preaching the gospel should practice “direct preaching” and “spontaneous preaching.” Direct preaching is testifying to God’s work directly. It is spreading God’s word openly, boldly, and straightforwardly. As long as God’s work is witnessed clearly, it can directly and effectively eliminate all sorts of human notions and fallacies. As long as God’s work is communicated clearly, all problems are resolved easily. This will naturally eliminate many of people’s conceptions and misunderstandings about God and will certainly achieve the result of making people accept the true way. When people are basically certain that it is the work of God, more than half of their notions and problems are already resolved, and the remaining notions and doubts are not big issues, and can be resolved gradually by communicating deeper into the truth. This is because when people can be sure that it is the true way, they will develop a need to seek the truth and accept the true way. Communicating the truth at this point makes people’s notions much easier to eliminate. … Of course, direct preaching and spontaneous preaching require reading God’s words often to drive and control the communication. As long as the power of God’s words is utilized properly, good results can be attained, and it can definitely turn people’s notions around and spur them to investigate and seek the true way. Direct preaching and spontaneous preaching were the basic methods adopted by all evangelists during the Age of Grace, and it is only due to the harsh environment brought by the great red dragon’s furious resistance of God and persecution of God’s chosen people that people are unable to carry out direct preaching and spontaneous preaching in certain situations. We should now return to these ancient and basic methods of preaching the gospel, directly spreading the word of God through direct preaching or spontaneous preaching in suitable environments and bearing witness to God’s work through using God’s words often. When problems that are difficult to resolve are encountered, we should adopt reading more passages of God’s words to eliminate people’s notions and entanglements, and to steer the communication toward the right topic. The effects of preaching the gospel are quicker and the results are better this way. At the same time, it will also train people’s preaching ability and wisdom. Accordingly, God’s chosen people should all equip themselves with the truth and adopt the best preaching methods of direct preaching and spontaneous preaching to bear witness to God and gain more people.

from “Planning and Implementation of the Spread of the Kingdom Gospel” in Annals of the Fellowship and Arrangements of the Work of the Church (II)

from：Practice and Exercises for Principled Behavior

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