Category — Witnessing

C.T. Studd was a wealthy, and athletic young man in the 1800’s that gave up everything the world had to offer to be a missionary to China. He gave the following exhortation called the chocolate soldier to the Christians of his day, and I think it’s still very relevant.

HEROISM is the lost chord; the missing note of present-day Christianity!In peace true soldiers are captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives them their liberty and sends them, like boys, bounding out of school, to obtain their heart’s desire or perish in the attempt. Battle is the soldier’s vital breath! Peace turns him into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the heart, strength, and vigour of a hero.

Every true Christian is a soldier – of Christ – scorning the soft seductions of peace and her oft-repeated warnings against hardship, disease, danger, and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.

The otherwise Christian is a chocolate soldier! Dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. “Sweeties” they are! Bonbons, lollipops! Living their lives on a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution.

“They say and do not” – they tell others to go, and yet do not go themselves. “Never” said General Gordon to a corporal, as he himself jumped upon the parapet of a trench before Sebastopol to fix a gabion which the corporal had ordered a private to fix, and wouldn’t fix himself, “Never tell another man to do what you are afraid to do yourself!”

To the chocolate Christian the very thought of war brings a violent attack of ague. “I really cannot move,” he says. “I only wish I could, but I can sing, and here are some of my favourite lines:

‘I must be carried to the skies

On a flowery bed of ease,

Let others fight to win the prize,

or sail thro’ bloody seas.


Mark time, Christian heroes,

Never go to war;

Stop and mind the babies

Playing on the floor.
Wash and dress and feed them

Forty times a week.

Til they’re roly poly,

Puddings so to speak.

Chorus: Round and round the nursery

Let us ambulate;

Sugar and spice and all that’s nice

Must be on our slate.’

God never meant me to be a jelly-fish! God’s men are always heroes.

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Wrote this for a project I was working on, and thought it might be helpful to my readers.

1. Know that you are a Christian yourself. (1 John 5:12)
2. Understand the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life personally. (Ephesians 5:12)
3. Pray for Boldness and opportunities to witness (Acts 4:23-31)
4. Memorize salvation verses (John 3:16, Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13)
5. Carry Gospel literature, or a Bible.
6. Find a Mentor (2 Timothy 2:2)
7. Show them they are sinners (Exodus 20, James 2:10, Romans 3:23)
8. Show them the penalty for their sin is death in hell. (Romans 5:12, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:15)
9. Show them Christ’s Death paid the penalty (Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 6:23)
10. Show them they must accept Christ’s payment by faith, and turn from their sin (Romans 10:9-13, Acts 2:38, Acts 16:31)

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Today we will cover the part of our armor that gives us mobility to advance into satan’s territory, and snatch prisoners from him. Ephesians 6:15 says, …your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Gospel Sandals (feet shod)- In the time that this epistle was written Roman soldiers wore special sandals for military use that were made of iron and tied to their feet. This allowed them to march farther and faster as well as giving them facility of motion in battle—they could dig in and hold their ground when in hand-to-hand combat.

In the same way that these soldiers needed special shoes we need the security that comes from the gospel of peace. The Word of God is the gospel, or Good News, that brings peace. In other words, believers are ready for battle because “…being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1) They can stand firm, with peace, even in hand-to-hand combat, because they know that their destiny is secure. If you are not sure your saved then you will have no confidence to move forward in battle because satan can always use your doubt to prevent you from advancing.

Even after we are sure we are saved the enemy will constantly try to bring war in our lives because without peace we can never advance in the Christian life. What are some of the tools that Satan uses to rob us of peace thus preventing us from advancing?

• Death
• Sickness
• Finances
• Doctrinal Division
• Family Fighting
• The Economy
• Terrorism

You see if your mind, and heart are absent of peace you will have no ground to stand on, and your fear will cause you to lose footing. But thanks be to God He has the solution, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So stop worrying it is sinful God is in control, He is on the throne, and He is bringing us to an expected end.

The peace of God also affects our decision making process for instance Paul said in Colossians 3:15, “…let the peace of God rule in your hearts” this word rule is a greek word from which we get our english word umpire. In a baseball game an umpire ensures that all actions fall within the established guidelines for the game. Peace is like that for us if we are about to break one of the guidlines of God’s word we begin to lose our peace. So let peace be your umpire for even the toughest of calls.

Preparation

The sandals were a sign of readiness to march and fight the battle. You see the shoes were the part of the army that took the most time to prepare. So for us as servants of God we need to be prepared to deliver the Gospel. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” In other words be prepared to share the Gospel with people you come into contact with. Every believer is called to share the gospel, and that requires preparation. Lets look at some steps we need to take to be prepared to share the gospel.

• Write out your testimony- One of the simplest and most powerful methods of sharing the Gospel is giving your testimony. A testimony is simply this is what I was, and this is what I am now because of accepting Jesus’ free gift of salvation. They can argue with theology, or deny the validity of Christ’s claims, but it’s real hard to argue with a living, breathing example of God’s power, and mercy. So write out your testimony, and start sharing it with everyone you strike up a conversation with. People may throw a gospel tract to the ground but everyone loves a good story.
• Study the gospel- Delve into the book of John, and Paul’s epistles especially Romans. Get to know what exactly happened in you when you got saved so you can explain it to others.
• Find a mentor- Find someone who regularly leads people to Christ, and ask them to take you soulwinning with them. You don’t have to say anything just watch how they do it, and pray while there doing it.
• Carry Gospel Literature- Always be prepared with a new testament, and/or tracts to give out to people.
• Pray for the lost- Nothing will increase your burden for sharing the gospel like praying for lost people. Pray for those you know to get saved, and pray for God to put you in the path of those who need them.
• Be filled with the Spirit- Like anything else in the Christian life you can’t do it without God’s help. Ask God to empower you to witness.

Gospel of Peace
Finally in closing the gospel is a gospel of peace. Satan would like nothing better than to cause your statements to sound like war instead of peace to a lost person. Do not I repeat do not attack someones religion i.e. Mohhamed was a pedophile, or catholic priests are pedophiles. How is that supposed to win somebody the focus isn’t Joseph Smith, or Buddha its Jesus Christ, Jesus said if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto myself. You see we are not in a battle of wills in soulwinning no effective sales pitch will convince them.

Focus on the word of God, and depend on the Holy Spirit of God. Ask him constantly to give you answer of peace to this person. Psalm 19:7 tell us, “the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.” The word of God will not return void so keep their focus on His word, and not your arguments. John 16:8 says that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. So if we involve the Word, and the Spirit in our witnessing we will not fail see results. Let us like Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 be ambassadors of peace, and beg sinners at war with God to reconcile (make peace) with Him.

So today let’s focus on taking the Gospel of peace to people we meet throughout the day.

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