The art of street-preaching
Geoffrey Kirkland at “The Cripplegate” gives us an earnest plea for street preaching. As one who has wrestled through the pros and cons of this, and will, God willing, be out later today in the town square to declare Christ to the best of my ability, I have a lot of sympathy for his essential argument, though I might query some of his particular emphases and reasoning. He quotes Spurgeon, who said,
No sort of defence is needed for preaching out of doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting-house.
If you click through, just bear with the unusual number of errors in the writing, and put it down to an earnest man in a great hurry as he suggests nine reasons for street preaching:
- It presents the gospel to people who may not otherwise step foot into a church.
- It allows the preacher to obey the most frequent command regarding the manner in which the gospel is presented.
- It follows the historical pattern of pastors open air preaching.
- It plainly understands the command of our Lord to “go into the highways and the country roads” and compel sinners to come.
- It trusts wholly that God’s Word will never return void.
- It encourages believers to go out together as a team and it mutually stirs others to more fervent and urgent evangelism.
- It convicts Christian passers-by who are not sharing their faith to consider evangelizing with greater zeal.
- It always glorifies God because His Word is being proclaimed.
- It depends wholly on the sovereign Work of the Holy Spirit to quicken dead hearts to new life as sinners hear the word preached.
