Why Become a Soul-Winner Proverbs 11:30
Someone once asked Lyman Beecher, the great preacher, “Mr. Beecher, what do you consider the greatest thing a human being can do or be?” Without hesitation, the famous pulpiteer replied, “The greatest thing is not that one should be a scientist, important as that is; nor that one should be a statesman, vastly important as that is; nor even that one should be a theologian, immeasurably important as that is. But the greatest thing of all is for one human being to bring another human being to Christ.” (Copied) Every Christian’s job is to witness for Jesus Christ. Past surveys reveal the sad statistic that 90 - 95% of professing Christians never share their faith with non- believers or never have led someone to faith in Jesus Christ. Why should you become a Soul-Winner?
I. Jesus Christ Commanded It
A. Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
B. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
C. As believers, we are to take the initiative to witness to people concerning Jesus Christ. It means that we bring the Gospel to them. Too many instead of going are waiting for them to come to us.
D. Christ taught us by His example. He went out of His way to reach them. (e.g. the woman at the well in John 4)
E. Romans 10:14 “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
F. The Great Commission tells us that we are to evangelize, or bring people to Christ, and to make disciples everywhere.
G. Luke 14:23 “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
H. Soul-winning is not a wish or a suggestion; it is Christ’s marching orders for every believer.
I. Jesus’ Purpose Statement for His Church is the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
II. The Reality of Hell Necessitates It
A. Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.”
B. The Word of God proclaims that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven in John 14:6. If a person dies without knowing Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior there is only one place for that lost soul to go and that is HELL.
C. There are over 162 references in the New Testament alone which warns of hell. And over 70 of these references were uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ!
D. Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
E. Revelation 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
F. Several years ago a book was published, entitled Beyond Death’s Door by Dr. Maurice Rawlings. Dr. Rawlings, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, resuscitated many people who had been clinically dead. Dr. Rawlings, a devout atheist, "considered all religion "hocus-pocus" and death nothing more than a painless extinction". But something happened in 1977 that brought a dramatic change in the life of Dr. Rawlings! He was resuscitating a man, terrified and screaming — descending down into the flames of hell: "Each time he regained heartbeat and respiration, the patient screamed, "I am in hell!" He was terrified and pleaded with me to help him. I was scared to death. . . Then I noticed a genuinely alarmed look on his face. He had a terrified look worse than the expression seen in death! This patient had a grotesque grimace expressing sheer horror! His pupils were dilated, and he was perspiring and trembling — he looked as if his hair was "on end." Then still another strange thing happened. He said, "Don’t you understand? I am in hell. . . Don’t let me go back to hell!" ...the man was serious, and it finally occurred to me that he was indeed in trouble. He was in a panic like I had never seen before."
(Maurice Rawlings, Beyond Death’s Door,(Thomas Nelson Inc., 1979) p. 3). Dr. Rawlings said, no one, who could have heard his screams and saw the look of terror on his face could doubt for a single minute that he was actually in a place called hell– copied
III. Christian Love Demands It
A. We are trying to win souls for Jesus, because created them, loves them and died for them that they shouldn’t end up in hell – because it is the heartbeat of God and desire that none should be lost.
B. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
C. 1 Timothy 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
D. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
E. Someone has said concerning today’s church, “We have stopped caring about the Lost and being a witness for Jesus and care only about self. We have brought self into the church and glorified and exalted it. We have brought covetousness into the church and sanctified it and it is causing the unsaved to mock and ridicule the church… God has called us to lay down our lives, not take it up. He has called us to serve and not to demand to be served. Most go to church so God can serve them…” (copied)
F. We no longer have a heart for the mission to which we have been called. We no longer are soul conscious. We’ll weep over scenes from Hollywood movies and remain dry-eyed as we watch our neighbors, friends and relatives slip into eternity without Christ. I believe that our dry-eyed indifference is appalling to our Lord.
G. Do we love Him? Do we love what and who he loves?
H. 1 Corinthians 5:14, 15 “The love of Christ compels us, because we are convinced that one has died for all...”
I. This quote by Charles H. Spurgeon painted a great mental picture of how our concern and love for the lost should be: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
J. Jude 22-23 “And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
K. Suppose someone were to offer me a thousand dollars for every soul I might earnestly try to lead to Christ, would I endeavor to lead any more souls to him than I am endeavoring to do now? Is it possible that I would attempt to do for money, even at the risk of blunders or ridicule, what I hesitate or shrink from doing now in obedience to God’s command? Is my love of money stronger than my love of God or souls?—From the tract Suppose, published by the Great Commission Prayer League.
Closing Illustration: In Gipsy Smith’s book The Beauty of Jesus. Gipsy Smith told about Peter Apples, a man (during the Civil War) who went into the enemy’s territory. Peter Apples did not know much about being a good soldier. He just knew that when his superior officer said, “Charge!” he was supposed to go. And he was the kind of man who never came back until he made contact with the enemy. One day his officer said, “Charge!” Peter Apples charged. But they came under such severe fire that the superior officer asked them to retreat, to come back. Peter Apples didn’t hear that, so he kept going. He went across “No-Man’s Land” and finally into the enemy’s territory. He went down in a ditch where the enemy soldiers were lined up one behind the other, took hold of the first one in the ditch, grabbed him by the nape of the neck, drug him out and started back toward home with him.
The enemy soldiers took aim and started to shoot, but since their own soldier was being dragged behind Peter Apples, they couldn’t fire. About the time they thought they had a shot, their own soldier would get in the way again. Peter Apples continued to travel with the soldier. Finally he dragged him across “No-Man’s Land” and back into his own territory and dropped him at the feet of his superior officer.
The officer looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, “Where in the world did you get him?” He answered, “I got him over there in the ditch. There’s plenty of them over there, and all of you could have had one if you had wanted one.” (Soul Winning: Every Christian’s Job, Dr. Curtis Hutson)
John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
Do you want one?
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