Evangelistic Preaching

“EVANGELISTIC PREACHING, PERSONAL NATURE OF”

One of the miracles of the gospel is that it becomes most universal when it is couched in language which is most personal. A crowd has no conscience to be stirred. No heart to be broken. No soul to be saved. Wesley, Spurgeon, Wakefield, Moody knew that. Thus, they learned to preach to a crowd. As Bonnell observes,

"They conquered (the crowd) by ignoring it. Instead of forgetting the individual in the crowd, they forgot the crowd in the individual."

Evangelistic preaching if different from evangelical preaching. The evangelist, be he a pastor or itinerant preacher, is one who impresses upon his people the good news that the gospel is for them. That Jesus is a personal Savior for a personal sinner. That while his love is broad enough to encompass the whole wide world, it is personal enough to applies to them.

"Come unto me all ye that labor," he said, "and I will give you rest,"

The evangelistic preacher is one who, with fervent heart, is constantly pressing home the urgent need for action. That now is the accepted time. That yesterday is already a dream. Tomorrow is but a vision. But, every today lived with Jesus Christ can make every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.