“Go Ye”

by Bill Harmon
Preacher’s Study Notes 1993
“Go ye therefore and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).


The message that our God is trying to get across is this: We are to teach others about the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). We have got a whole world to teach, you and I, and it seems to me that we are getting behind every day. We must reach out to the souls, not just of our area, and begin doing what is commanded for us to do, locally, as well as in other places.

May I cite an incident found in God’s Word? There was a man who was cleansed by the Lord. After he was cleansed he wanted to go with the Lord. He said, “I want to go with you.” But what was he told? Do you know what Jesus said to him? “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee” (Mark 5:19). The message to him was clear. This man knew who Jesus was, he knew what He had done for him personally, he knew what the Lord could do for all men, and it would be a tragic situation if we did not share the gospel.

May I share some practical things to make our faith public — it is not private. It cannot be private.

Take two or three tracts with you everywhere you go. You might say, “I couldn’t give someone a tract.” O.K., if you can’t give it, leave it. Leave it in the restaurant where you dine, in the service station where you trade, or leave it in the Laundromat, or leave it in the grocery store, wherever. Start that way. But then the next time you go to the grocery store or laundromat, hand it to somebody. All they can say is, “I don’t want it.” Put it back in your pocket, you’re not hurt. That’s all they can say— “I don’t want it.” Then you might work up, after having those tracts with you for a while, to give to a co-worker or a friend.

Another idea: when someone in your neighborhood speaks to you and they are having a problem, you might tell them how the Lord helped you. You might ask them, “Would you like to go with me? I’ve received some help in this particular place.”

Another idea is that if there is a friend, or someone else who says, “I’m just unhappy where I’m going;” invite them to attend the worship, and say, “When the service is over, I’d like to take you to lunch, it’s my treat.” They won’t turn down an invitation like that, I’ll assure you.

All of these things are things we need to do. Another thing that is very important, and I think that we have a problem with this in some places (in other places we do not), but if a visitor comes into the congregation, seek out that visitor. Rather than going and seeing your friend that sits up in the front, and talking to them, find out who that visitor is, what their name is, whether they are a member of the church or not. If they are not a member of the church, get their address, and that very week go see them. You would be surprised how much could be accomplished. That individual is one that you can reach that way.

Another idea is, suppose there is a member who is not attending the worship. They are not coming. If they are willfully neglecting the assembly, they are just as lost as that person who has never obeyed the gospel. Go visit them.

Someone has made this statement, and I think we have not realized it yet — “We will never take the gospel to the lost until we believe they are lost without it, and we will never take the gospel to them, until we really believe we are lost if we don’t.” There is our problem. This is a serious matter.

Churches that grow want to grow. Their leaders want it. Their members want it. Their hearts long for it. They plan for it. They work for it. They talk about it all the time; not just occasionally, but all the time.

Our speaker mentioned that gospel meetings were not successful. I like the fact that both of them mentioned revival. May I share with you how to have a successful revival?

A gospel meeting or revival is not an end to itself. There are several things that should come out of it. Everyone should participate in this great work, and we could have successful gospel meetings today, if we would follow these ABC’s:

Advertise the gospel meeting or revival. What I mean is this: Not long ago I read where a man went to a city in the east, and he asked this question (this was of denominational people): “How many of you came by the newspaper advertising that you saw that was written?” Eleven people stood up. “How many of you came through the radio and television?” There were eighteen people that stood up. Then he asked a key question. “How many of you people came because someone asked you?” Three hundred and forty-eight people stood up.

You need to:
advertise.
always pray for success.
abandon all sin.
absorb all the good lessons.
abound in enthusiasm.

Then the B’s:
be one hundred percent in your attendance.
bring every friend you can.
bear your share of the work.
be zealous in your efforts.
be on time.
be thankful.

The C’s:
call and invite your friends.
center your thoughts on God.
come to every service.
consume spiritual food.
capitalize on your own talents and influence.
cultivate a genuine love for lost souls.

Read 2 Timothy 2:24-25!
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” This is the way you are to approach lost souls!

Do you know that one of the most effective personal workers I ever worked with never led a public prayer or delivered a lesson in a pulpit? We started in a store-front with nine members, and within a year we had increased sixty percent. This man would take me with him to the bank, the grocery store, to the feed store, to the farm implement company, and to everyone in the country that he ever thought attended the worship service. Yet, he never led a prayer, never spoke from the pulpit. We had to borrow the baptistery of a church in that town, and after a few weeks and months they said, “What’s going on?” It was because that man was sharing the gospel, helping me to meet people I didn’t know.

Growing churches follow this motto: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” What is the main thing? It is evangelism! That is what we are talking about this morning. An evangelism that is done everywhere, all the time, by all the people, and then God will give the increase!

If we study New Testament conversions, and we will, you will find that nine of the fifteen incidents were initiated by individuals, Christians, going and personally reaching and seeking the lost. If you had a method where you stood on your head on the street corner, and it reached souls, I wouldn’t argue with it. There are all kinds of methods, the problem is this: we do not use them or practice them. There are all kinds of ways that we
can reach people, but we need to implement them and begin now!
411 Willow Dr., Wichita Falls, Texas 76305.