Personal Work

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear:" (1 Peter 3:15) Brethren this tell is that we must be prepared to give an answer to every one that asked about eternal life. But many are not prepared. Why? We are so busy with the things of this world that we don't have time to study. Members of the church in times past were known as talking Bibles. If people had a Bible question and didn't have a Bible handy, they would ask a member of the church. It is not that way today. Many in the denominations know more about the Bible than members of the church. Because of this lack of knowledge in God's word is one of the reasons many do not do personal work. When we become so busy that we don't have time to do God's work, we are too busy.

I am afraid that we don't see the consequences of not doing personal work. Personal evangelism is a responsibility God has put upon all Christians to perform to the best of their ability. This responsibility is not optional. Upon every one who has learned, the Lord has placed the responsibility of telling others what he has learned. When to the apostles He said, "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..." the command to "go" was passed on to those who should obey the gospel. From that moment it has been the responsibility of the baptized disciple to follow that command.

The vast majority of Christians have never dreamed that the command is personal, individual to every child of God; that it is his responsibility to go into his own personal world and declare the soul-saving message of the gospel to every creature. It is out of this misconception that the popular but utterly unscriptural phrase, has been coined, "If we cannot go, we can send someone in our place." But are we ever told "either to go or to send?" NEVER! We are commanded to do one thing only, and that is to go. That command cannot be obeyed by proxy; it can be obeyed only in person. This lays upon the heart of every Christian the sublime obligation to serve God as an individual herald of the gospel within he own personal world.