A Gospel Hall is a building where people gather to hear the gospel preached. It may also be the meeting place of an assembly of Christians, but the name on the building identifies it as a place where the gospel is preached regularly. The faithful gospel testimony of an assembly is a light in a dark world. It is “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 4:4), and must ever be given great importance.
There are some that teach that “gospel preaching” is outdated. A most frequently heard criticism is, “We are attempting to convert the converted. Nobody comes to hear gospel preaching now. It is time for new methods.,, The above statement contains at least three errors. 1. That Christians do not need to hear the gospel. 2. That unsaved do not come into halls. 3. That we need to exchange the divine method for a newly devised human method.
Let us look at them. The preaching of the truths of the gospel thrills the hearts of true believers. It is to those who perish that “the preaching of the cross is foolishness (tasteless)” (1 Cor 1:18). We should be able to say, “Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Phil 1:18). In this context, Paul links the preservation of truth with the preaching of the gospel. Only once in more than fifty-five years did lever preach the gospel without unsaved in the audience. Don’t forget the children! Impressions about eternity were impressed on my young heart long before I was fully awakened and saved.
That God works is infinitely more important than any method. God has often saved souls when the methods were wrong. He is not limited as to what or whom He can use, but God is Sovereign and we are His subjects. God’s method is: “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor 1:21). The word for “preaching” in this verse means to preach the truths of the gospel, but in verse 23, “We preach Christ crucified” is the word used 61 times in the NT to describe the act of declaring the gospel as a herald. Personal witness is necessary, but this is public declaration. Is an assembly accountable to preach the gospel? Yes. From the assembly at Thessalonica “sounded out the word of the Lord” (1 Thess 1:8). To “sound out the Word” is exactly what we do in gospel meetings. Every assembly has a responsibility to “spread abroad” the gospel in the region around it. This means to reach out with the gospel, not merely to expect people to come to us.
We deeply respect our dear brethren and sisters who are reaching out with Seed Sower texts. The ultimate purpose of such efforts is to contact people who will come and hear the “preached word.”Every assembly should have a regular gospel meeting each week as well as a Sunday School, but assemblies also need a series of nightly gospel meetings as often as possible. We have something unique to offer in our gospel work. God has taught us that “salvation is of the Lord.” We preach that salvation is not Christ and anything added. It is not Christ and the “sinner’s prayer,” nor Christ and the “altar call,” nor Christ and “signing a card,” but Christ only. Salvation is getting past every human effort to Christ alone. A lost, helpless sinner has no ability to do anything. How strange then at this point to tell them to do something! It is not the right faith that saves, but faith in the right Person. It is not how a sinner believes or feels, but Whom he believes. But must not a sinner believe the gospel to make it true? Impossible! It is true. Being saved is no more nor less than giving God credit for telling the truth about my sin, and the truth about His Son at the cross for my sins.
