He That Winneth Souls Is Wise No. 9

For example, in Acts 16 we see Paul and Barnabas placed in prison. Notice, in verses 20b - 21, what they were charged with - "...These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans." Paul and Barnabas were not what was troubling them.

Illus: One man got troubled because his wife and children were getting too involved in church. Instead of joining them, and setting a good example as a dad, he told them they could go to one service a week, but no more. He said the reason he limited them like that was because when he was growing up his parents made him go. As a result of their making him go he got so he had no use for the church and he didn't want his children to have that same thing happen. Our question is, why single out church attendance? Why doesn't he practice that same thinking about being made to go to school five days a week, etc.

When men hear the gospel, they get troubled. When they get troubled, you'd better watch out because unless they repent of their sins they will trouble others. In verses 21 - 24 we are told that Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail. But look at those great soul winners. Even after they were beaten and placed in stocks, verse 25 says, "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." What did they do? They sang praises unto God! They were thankful to be able to suffer for the Savior who had suffered so much for them. But notice the Bible says that as they sang praises unto the Lord, the "...prisoners heard them." What a tremendous witness those men were for the Lord. Notice, in that situation, it was life-style evangelism that God used.

There are two kinds of witnessing that we Christians can do.

1. We can speak to someone about Christ who does not know a thing about us.

Many times this has been done and someone was ready to receive Christ and someone they did not know led them to the Lord.

2. We can speak to someone about Christ who has observed how we live our lives.

It is not necessarily what we say with our mouths that leads them to Christ as it is what we say by the way we live. Paul and Barnabas were witnessing in that prison for the Lord by singing praises unto the Lord, and God used their lives. Then God shook that place with an earthquake and Paul was able to lead the jailor unto the Lord. The reason that happened was because those men allowed Christ to work IN THEM and THROUGH THEM! We want the Lord to do the same for us, but before He can, let us look at some things that will help us be soul winners.

I. PREPARATION OF A SOUL WINNER.

One of the reasons that many have never won anyone to Christ is because they never had a plan to win anyone to Christ. That is, many have had a desire to be soul winners. They have the idea that one day a sinner will just walk up and ask what he must do to be saved and they will tell him. No way! The devil will see to it that will never accidently happen. To be a soul winner you must have:

A. A developed plan.

That is, you have already thought through what God's Word says and you are deliberately going to make opportunities.

Illus: Many believe that D. L. Moody was one of the greatest soul winners that ever lived. Do you think that was an accident? No. He developed different plans. He made a covenant with God that not a single day in his life would go by without his talking to someone about the Lord Jesus Christ. One of his favorite plans was his horse and buggy plan. Remember, that was the mode of transportation in that day. When he met someone he felt he could win to the Lord he would go by to see that person on a pretty day and take that person for a ride in the afternoon, in the cool of the day. They would be enjoying a relaxing ride and he would pull over and park under the shade of a large tree, drop the reins, and tell that individual about the Lord Jesus, Who came and died for his sins. Only God knows how many people he won to Christ because he was always developing plans for winning the lost to Christ.

Illus: A Christian couple, in Columbia, S. C., have developed a plan. They invite lost people to their home for an excellent supper. At the conclusion of the meal they give their testimony of how Christ saved them and how He has blessed them. They then invite the unsaved guests to accept the Savior Who died for their sins. Many couples have been won to the Lord because this couple not only desires to win people to Christ, they plan to win people to Christ!