Gospel Amidst Storm

This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to be borne in its own times. For which I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I speak the truth; I do not lie), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-7

Gospel preaching has always been a spiritual battle as this is a battle to save sinners for whom Christ died. Jesus Christ the Savior of the world died for all men yet there is a need to herald this good news to all men so that all men may hear the gospel and believe into Him. Without the heralding of the glad tiding, how can all men possibly know who and what the Lord Jesus had done? Therefore, the church and the saints' unique responsibility is to preach the gospel; this is also the great commission Jesus Christ commissioned before His ascension.

Mt 28:19Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Last Saturday, as usual, a brother and I paired up to preach the gospel in the shopping area in our neighborhood. In coordination, we followed the Lord's leading in each one and as we walked around we preached the gospel to whoever comes our way. At one point my brother suggested that we take a round of the shopping complex and meet people along the way. As we did so, the Lord had placed the right people at the right time for us to preach the gospel. There were three open contacts out of the many we have met. 

A food delivery boy was waiting for his order to be confirmed. He was browsing through things on his phone. As we approached and preached the gospel to him, he showed signs of interest. We further preached the gospel in detail and also led him to pray the sinner's prayer to receive the Lord.  Based on eye contact, his response, and the Spirit's witnessing within our spirit, we could sense that he was a son of peace. We got his contact number and gifted him a New Testament in Hindi.

As we walk by the road, we saw a man waiting for someone with his two-wheeler nearby. As we preached the gospel he immediately echoed from within his being that he believed into the Lord Jesus Christ. I was rather surprised and asked him further when he first believed, he said about 5 years ago. He was so excited that we could meet him and shared the word of God with him. He even promised to come to visit us on the following Lord's day, which he did with his wife, son, and brother-in-law.

When he visited, I felt the burden for him was to minister the truth concerning baptism. As he and his wife confessed that they both believed into Jesus inwardly already, we still preach the gospel to confirm his understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we all read together a lesson on "The Mystery of Human Life" in Hindi. And further led them to call upon the Lord's name and pray the sinner's prayer. Since they were very firm in their faith, we also helped them to know the meaning and need for baptism. Therefore, we ministered to them the eight significances of baptism. We, therefore, prayed for them and encouraged them to pray and consider their baptisms. We also set up a home meeting on Saturdays to start the coming week.

Another secret seeker and lover of the Lord Jesus Christ were also met after meeting the one described above. This one also has a strong faith in the Lord and has been a regular audience of a Christian preacher online. For a few years now, he has been in touch with the Christians and has inwardly developed his faith by daily reading the Bible. After we met this one, we invited him to the meeting as there were also storms of dust disturbing us standing on the roadside. A few minutes later, two of his colleagues also came and joined us after their work. To the three of them, we ministered the truth concerning baptism as they already believed and are yet to be baptized. 

These were the Lord's blessings in the gospel preaching. It was such an encouragement and an incentive to me especially. In fact, for the past month, we have been preaching the gospel and though we got some contacts who listened to us, we have not been able to make the second contact. The feeling was like sowing seeds in the air with no definite result that the seed would take deep root in the soil and grow. Looking at the result I was inwardly very discouraged though I did not express it to anyone else. As the church, we go out regularly no matter what. Therefore, when the Lord gave some seekers it was really a reward and an incentive to go on preaching the gospel. Only the Lord knows if these ones will be baptized and be shepherded into the church life, but one thing is for sure, the word of God we preached to them will not go in vain. 

This is an experience of gospel preaching amidst an inward spiritual storm trying to discourage us and the outward dusty storm trying to stop us from preaching the gospel; gospel amidst storms.

May the Lord continue to work in them and bring them to full salvation. That they all may be baptized and shepherded into the church to become remain fruits for the Lord's testimony.