The Power of the Gospel Tract

I would rather win souls than be the greatest king or emperor on earth; I would rather win souls than be the greatest general that ever commanded an army; I would rather win souls than be the greatest poet, or novelist, or literary man who ever walked the earth. My one ambition in life is to win as many as possible. Oh, it is the only thing worth doing, to save souls; and, men and women, we can all do it! – R.A. Torrey

Tracts are a powerful, practical, and proven tool in winning souls to Christ, anyone can witness and anyone can pass out tracts.

Tracts are powerful

One of the fathers of communism Leon Trotsky said of communist tracts, “The most powerful means of propagating communism is the small pocket pamphlet.”

Why do you have so much junk mail every time you open your mailbox? Companies spend millions in printing for one reason. It works!

The reformer Martin Luther tore away a third of the Holy Roman Empire from the Pope with the power of the printed word. He stated, “We must throw the writer’s inkpot at the devil.”

Gospel tracts are powerful for this one reason — they publish the Word of God (Ps. 68:11; Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:13-14). Nothing is more powerful than the Word of God!   By it the world was formed, by it the armies of the antichrist are defeated, and by it sinners are born again.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Tracts are practical

Tracts are easy to keep in a pocket, a purse, or a glove box.

Tracts can be studied in secret.

Tracts are able to leap language and social barriers.

Tracts are a permanent witness: they can stay in a drawer or in a book or on a shelf for years.

Tracts are economic. Even the best quality tract can be purchased for as little as ten cents a piece.

Tracts allow us to share the gospel in seconds while doing our daily, monotonous tasks. Just consider how many people we can contact in any given day? Think gas stations, grocery stores, planes, waiting rooms, doctors’ offices, bookstands, envelopes along with bills, etc.

Tracts are proven

In England, a man by the name of Leigh Richmond dropped a tract on the pavement and prayed that a wicked man would pick it up and read it and be saved. The man that picked up the tract was John Bunyan, the writer of Pilgrim’s Progress.

God used a tract entitled “The Bruised Reed” to save Richard Baxter, who in turn wrote “The Saints Rest, a Call to the Unconverted” which God used to save Phil Doddridge, who in turn wrote “The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul” that led to the salvation of William Wilberforce who almost single handedly ended slavery while in the English Parliament. Wilberforce also wrote a gospel tract “The Dairyman’s Daughter” which was translated into 50 languages and was influential in leading Thomas Chalmers to Christ, one of the greatest preachers Scotland has ever known.

Our pastor in Oklahoma City Dr. Jim Vineyard was saved after reading a gospel tract someone had left in a motel room in Molène Illinois.

Thousands of testimonies can be given in soul-winning, evangelistic churches all across the country. However, there are many stories that never get told. I was reminded of this when a lady called are church to tell me that her brother whom she had been praying for salvation for years had gotten a tract on his door from our church two days in a row. He normally would have been upset, but this time he read the tracts several times and prayed to receive Christ.   “Please thank your congregation!” I’m sure thousands of unknown instances of this occur without anyone getting the credit until heaven.

Where I live in Jefferson County, New York there are approximately 105,000 people. If we had 100 people in our county that handed out 5 tracts a day, we would reach 182,500 people in one year with the gospel. One hundred people could reach the whole county almost twice!

Let’s make a commitment: “By God’s grace I will hand out ______ number of tracts per week.”