Soul Winning Techniques from the Master.
Luke 18:35-41
(INTRODUCTION)
I haven’t been preaching too long. Only been preaching for 6 years. My first sermon was in this building, a little over six years ago. And if you think my messages today are bad, you should have heard them then! I would always get really nervous before I preached. There’s something about taking the inerrant, infallible word of God, and studying it and preparing it and presenting it, that’s just intimidating.
And I would always get incredibly nervous, before I preached. I’m not the only one.
(ILLUSTRATION)
I heard a story of a young gentleman who surrendered to preach. This young man had a great home church. The church's pastor thought he would give the young man some experience by letting him preach one Sunday evening. The young man eagerly accepted, and prepared diligently for hours and hours in his study and prayer time. He had never preached before, but he wanted to make sure he really nailed it!
Sunday night came, he dashed up to the pulpit, he threw his arms back, he looked straight at the congregation... and his mind went completely blank. The only thing he could stutter out was…. "D-D-D-D-D-D do you all know what I’m about to tell you?"
The congregation shook their heads no. The young preacher nervously stated, "Well, neither do I," and he set back down.
The pastor, wanting to encourage the young man, went to him and said, "Son, gather your thoughts and preach! Tell this congregation the message God has given you!"
So obediently, the young man dashed up to the pulpit after collecting his thoughts, he threw his arms back, he looked straight at the congregation... and his mind went completely blank. The only thing he could stutter out was…. "D-D-D-D-D-D do you all know what I’m about to tell you?"
Caught up in the moment, and wanting to encourage this young preacher, they nodded their heads yes!
To which the young preacher responded, "If you know, then there is no point in my telling you!" And he sat back down.
Once more, the great Godly pastor, wanting to encourage this young man, went to him and told him to get up there and preach!
So obediently, the young man dashed up to the pulpit after collecting his thoughts, he threw his arms back, he looked straight at the congregation... and his mind went completely blank. The only thing he could stutter out was…. "D-D-D-D-D-D do you all know what I’m about to tell you?"
This time the congregation was confused. Some nodded their heads yes to try to support the young man, some shook their heads no because they were just plain confused.
To which the young preacher responded "Those of you who do know, tell those of you who don't! And he went and he set back down.
The pastor of the church got up, and said "I’ve been preaching for over 40 years, and in one statement, this young man summed up over 40 years of ministry."
Those of you who do know, tell those of you who don’t. Those of you who do know Jesus, tell those who don't. Those who have a born-again relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, must tell those who don't.
You see, in finality we’ve been given a great and awesome task to share the Gospel with everyone we know. We’ve been given an awesome charge to go to the nations and tell the world about Jesus. Those of us who do know are supposed to tell those who don't know.
But the problem is, those who do know aren't telling those who don't know!
Statistics tell us that 95% of Christians have never won anyone to the Lord.
Why is that?
Maybe we don’t know how to witness, or we don’t know how to lead people, or where to find people, or what to do?
With that in mind, the main point of the next few weeks is for us to look at these Scriptures in Luke 18 and 19, see the evangelism of Jesus and learn “Soul Winning Techniques from the Master." So that we can evangelize too! The whole point of these messages is for us to look at these texts and say "hey, I can do that!"
Let's look at Jesus' evangelism, and see that our evangelism should model or imitate His.
The Christians evangelism should be provocative. (v.35-38)
Look here at Jesus’ evangelism. It was provocative.
What does provoke mean? To stimulate or incite a strong emotion. Just by passing by, Jesus stimulated this blind man, Jesus incited this blind man to produce a very strong emotion.
Look at the text.
What are you saying preacher?
I’m saying when Jesus came around, this blind man, knew who He was and what He did.
Look what he calls Him; Son of David. Son of David was a messianic title. People who called Jesus Son of David were saying, Jesus you are the Messiah; Jesus, you are God’s chosen to redeem the people.
He was saying, Jesus, I know who you are, and I know what you do!
And I’m saying, our evangelism, should be provocative, people should know who we are, and what we stand for, and what we represent.
If the world does know the difference between you and them, then you’re probably not living your life for Jesus. When people look at us, they should know who we are and what we stand for.
Paul elaborates on this in Romans 12, when he tells the Roman audience to "be not conformed to the world."
When we step into the doctor's office, or a restraunt, people's language and attitude should be much more positive simply because they have heard of us, and how we stand for truth in a wicked time!
Our personality, by nature, should provoke people to inquire of us and who we are! And once they inquire of us, they will find out about Jesus!
Jesus' evangelism was provocative. But it was also personal as well.
The Christians evangelism should be personal. (v.39-40)
Our evangelism should be personal because Christs' was first personal.
Jesus wants the blind man brought to Him. Christ didn’t distance himself from people. Christ dealt with people personally, he was personal in all his encounters.
I believe if we want to see people saved, we’ve got to be personal with people. If we want people to come to the Lord, we’ve got to get personal with them.
We need to build relationships with people, right? That’s what Jesus did. He brought the man close to Himself.
I think the best soul winners are the soul winners that connect with people. When I go soul-winning, when I go to someone’s house, I immediately scan their environment for something to talk about. Family, pictures, sports memorabilia, and I love Golf coffee mug, whatever, and then open doors and connect with people. We've got to connect with people and be personal with them.
Statistics tell us, tt takes the average Christian, over 60+ visits to win one person to the Lord. We’ve got to be personal and go to the lost, rather than distance ourselves from them.
Thirdly, and finally...
The Christians evangelism should be pertinent. (v.41)
What does pertinent mean? Applicable, relevant.
Our evangelism should be relevant.
Listen friends, society is trying to tell us this is nothing more than a dry, dusty book, that means nothing, but the flipside is true. This is the most relevant applicable thing in the world today.
I believe that the Bible speaks to every single need we have.
From homosexuality, to lust, to anger, to marital problems, to alcohol abusement, to sour relationships, this book speaks to every situation we find ourselves in because it’s God’s Word, and it’s timeless and it will never pass away.
Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never fade away.
Let’s be relevant in our evangelism!
Let's give people what they need! And what they need isn't dead religion, it's the Living God and the Living Saviour!
(ILLUSTRATION)
One Sunday morning, an evangelist was preaching revival, and came to a church. He preached a tremendous powerful, message that really stepped on toes.
You know the Holy Spirit does that from time to time, He likes to step on our little piggies.
At the end of the service, and elderly lady came up to the evangelist and said, "preacher that was a tremendous sermon, one of the best I’ve ever heard, but it did step on my toes." The preacher started shaking his head and said, "Ma’am I am so sorry. I never meant to step on your toes. I meant to step on your heart."
What are you saying preacher? Sometimes, the Holy Spirit likes to step on our toes doesn’t He? Sometimes He gets to our heart, and convicts us. He wants us to evangelize, and if we are going to be good evangelists, what better evangelist to teach us than Jesus Christ in the Word of God.
The Word of God speaks to our situations.
Why does it do that? Because it’s relevant and it speaks to our needs.
Christs evangelism was provocative; it stirred hearts. It was also personal, relating to people's needs. And it was pertinent as well.
This world needs Jesus Christ, and they need us to tell them about Jesus and they need us to tell them about Jesus now.
(CLOSING ILLUSTRATION)
I worked at a funeral home for some time. To be honest, I saw a lot of things I didn’t want to see. So many young people buried because of drugs.
One particular funeral was for a 34 year old man who had overdosed on pills. He had a 9 year old son. The son and father shared a bed, and they went to bed one night.
The boy woke up the next morning to find his father dead beside him. It was an overdose. At the funeral, the boy howled. I'll never forget his screaming.
At the end of the service, as they dismissed the rows, they finally got to the first row where the family of the dead man sat. One by one they all went up to the coffin to see this loved one. Lastly, the boy went up to the coffin to see his dead father.
I'll never forget his words as long as I love. Between the weeping he cried out, "Not my daddy, not my daddy, not my daddy... daddy no." The boy reached inside the coffin and wrapped his arms around his dead daddy, screaming, "not my daddy."
The man in that coffin, didn’t need a pill, he needed Jesus Christ. He needed someone to tell Him about the richness and mercy of our Lord. He needed a soul winner to come to him and share the good news of Jesus.
Let’s make a commitment this year to be better soul winners. To be provocative, personal and pertinent. Let's make a commitment to tell people about Jesus. Let's make a commitment to learn the "Soul Winning Techniques of the Master."
