The two main hindrances will be fear and discouragement, but neither should stop you! Again, it's like learning how to drive a car. Did fear or discouragement stop you? NO! You knew it was something you needed to learn and you did. It is the same with using gospel tracts for Christian evangelism.
The bible tracts need to mention REPENTANCE FOR SALVATION, with repentance meaning TO TURN FROM EVIL. The FOCUS MUST BE FAITH IN JESUS for salvation. NEVER use any tract that teaches or implies once saved always saved or any other form of Calvinism.
So once you have sound gospel tracts in your possession you need to sow those gospel seeds as far and wide as possible. Pray before going forth. Walk down a public sidewalk and extend your arm with the gospel tract so it is EASY for the potential recipient to receive it from your hand. Remain calm as you say something like, "Did you get one of these" OR "Here sir" or "Here Ma'am." I have said many different things to people as I have handed them gospel tracts, including "Good reading" and "Better than money."
The blessing to observe someone reading the gospel tract is beyond
words. That same person can take that same gospel tract home and look up
all the verses in their Bible for verification, if they want. That is a
main advantage over a verbal witness, which in many cases will soon be
forgotten.
I was glad to receive your recent mailing. It has been awhile since I have written. I want to tell you that I have never stopped praying for you ... and also for Evangelical Outreach. Your tapes, CDs and DVDs are still a great blessing to me. It must have been about 3 years ago now when my son brought home one of your Heaven/Hell tracts which changed my life. I had never heard anything but OSAS doctrine. Never give up proclaiming the truth.Certainly, there are hundreds or even thousands of other people who have been helped and encouraged to live for JESUS after getting that same bible tract. We are just sowing gospel seeds as a farmer spreads seed in his field or a fisherman does with his bait before the fish. You can EASILY do the same and reap good fruit for the kingdom.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19).Regardless who you are as a Christian you can fulfill your responsibility as a minister of reconciliation, in part, by distributing doctrinally sound gospel literature.He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mk. 16:15).
He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things (Lk. 24:46-48).
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42).
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Rom. 10:14).
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith (Heb. 13:7).
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).
Gospel tracts penetrate homes, prisons, hospitals, offices and foreign countries. Though you can't speak a foreign language, you can distribute gospel literature in that language and still be effectively understood for the Gospel's sake. Tracts can be passed on to one person after another and continue to bring forth salvations. This is what happened for our ministry as we sent a Bible and a few of our own salvation tracts to a person in Ghana, Africa. He in turn passed one of our tracts on to his friend, who repented after reading it and talking to a friend.
Tracts can give the salvation message to those never saved, to those once saved but now lost; and beyond that they encourage those currently saved. In fact, Christians are to affect other Christians in the following good way:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).A good example, such as a Christian distributing gosel tracts, can do this in part! Furthermore, the following command is also being obeyed by those that spread gospel tracts:
Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:15,16).
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself (Ezek. 33:7-9).Surely Paul's evangelism considered that passage a New Testament responsibility, as we read in the following:
But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles" (Acts 18:6).
Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God (Acts 20:26,27).
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise (Prov. 11:30).Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever (Dan. 11:3).
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isa. 52:7).
A Christian distributing gospel literature should be tactful and polite. He should also be kind and patient, like he'd want the person to whom he is witnessing to be to him if the tables were turned. Remember the following:
And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2:24-26).If possible, the soul winner should never hand out wrinkled or dirty gospel tracts. Again, would you want someone to hand you a piece of literature that is less than good in appearance? Not likely!Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Pet. 3:15,16).
I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:33).For souls to be saved, they must first hear and receive the word of God. See Luke 8:11-15. Furthermore, the early Christians, from all walks of life, held out the word of life:
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life - in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing (Phil. 2:14-16).Unlike in our day, first-century Christians witnessed! Male and females all spread the salvation message. It was not just the apostles, as we learn from the persecution connected with Stephen:
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went (Acts 8:1-4).NOTE: only the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. All of the other Christians left Jerusalem and witnessed as they traveled! Consider also the following:Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord (Acts 11:19-21).
The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere (1 Thess. 1:8).In John 17:18, the context reveals that the pronoun them refers to all of the Lord's disciples, that is, all Christians. Another similar Scripture is the following one:
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world (John 17:18).
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).Again, the context shows it was the 120 in the upper room (Acts 1:15) and not just the Lord's apostles that were to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. That number was composed of both men and women!
In our day, salvation literature will help in this noble endeavor of spreading the Lord's Gospel. Yet, it seems that few realize how important Bible tracts are as they continue to let precious witnessing opportunities slip through their fingers to the eternal detriment of others and themselves as well. Remember we can be held accountable for another's blood.
Friend, if you don't have a tract ministry, start one today! It takes very little effort to get literature out, even for shy people. Let our ministry help you with our own favorite salvation tract written by this ministry. It has a message of Heaven, printed in blue, on one side and a message of Hell, printed in red, on the other side. Both sides are loaded with relevant truths about salvation that sometimes will stop people in their tracks as they read it! We've seen this on multiple occasions.
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