HE THAT WINS SOULS IS WISE
Prov. 11:30
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: AGGIE HELPS SHSU WIN $1 M
1. Mick, a student at SHSU, appeared on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and won $500,000. He chose to risk it all on the final question.
2. "Which of the following birds does NOT build its own nest?
a). Sparrow; b). Thrush; c). Magpie; d). Cuckoo?"
3. "I haven't got a clue." said Mick, ''So I'll use last lifeline and phone my friend Bubba over at Texas A & M University."
4. Mick called up Bubba, and repeated the question to him.
Bubba said, "That's simple, it's a cuckoo." "Are you sure?"
5. "What do you mean? I go to Texas A & M! I know what I’m talking about!”
6. Mick hung up the phone and told Chris, "I'll go with cuckoo as my answer." "Is that your final answer?" asked Chris. "Yes."
7. There was a long, long pause and then the presenter screamed, "Cuckoo is the correct answer! Mick, you've won $1 million!"
8. Later that night Mick called Bubba to thank him for his help.
"Tell me, Bubba? What did you ever study to know that the Cuckoo that doesn't build its own nest?"
9. "Everybody knows that! Cuckoos live in clocks!"
B. THESIS
1. There’s a lot of things that are going on that I don’t like; a lot of things I would change if I could. I’d like to:
a. DEFUND Planned Parenthood and stop the murder of innocents. I’d like to…
b. SECURE OUR BORDERS, stem tide of refugees.
c. Put PRAYER BACK INTO SCHOOLS;
d. Make MARRIAGE BTW A MAN & A WOMAN;
e. BALANCE THE BUDGET, so we don’t go broke;
f. Put everybody BACK TO WORK; I’d like to
g. Stop ENVIRONMENTALISM from killing jobs;
h. Give everyone the FREEDOM TO FOLLOW THEIR CONSCIENCE and worship God how they want!
2. Unfortunately, there’s little we can do about those issues. We should never give up the fight, but the truth is, we can’t legislate morality for lost people.
3. We can get all steamed up about things we CAN’T change, OR, WE CAN FOCUS ON SOMETHING WE REALLY CAN CHANGE!
4. It’s my belief that if every Christian in America would reach and disciple 3 or 4 people in their lifetimes, America would become a Christian nation!
5. That’s something we CAN do! I CAN WITNESS TO SOMEBODY! I CAN tell somebody about Jesus, what He’s done for me. And when we do, we make the world a better place.
C. TEXT & THESIS
1. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.” Prov. 11:30.
2. This morning we’re going to look at 5 REASONS WHY IT’S WISE TO WIN SOULS.
I. SOUL-WINNING WAS JESUS’ PRIMARY WORK
A. THE REASON HE CAME
1. IT’S WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” I Tim. 1:15. Mt. 4:19, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” Lk. 19:10.
2. Soul-winning is the most rewarding work. There are no joys to match that of seeing a person receive forgiveness and new life!
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. A lighthouse keeper on a rocky peninsula was joined by a childhood friend. "Do you ever get lonesome out here by yourself?" his friend asked.
2. The lighthouse keeper smiled and said with a special light in his eyes, "I used to, until the night I saved 4 men from drowning. Since then, I’ve learned the thrill of saving a lives. Once rescued, they were changed; I saw how grateful their wives and children will be the rest of their lives to have their husbands and fathers back safe.”
3. He scanned the horizon. “Say, is that a boat out there?" His insight made him always on the lookout for other boats so he might save men and women from a watery grave.
4. Likewise, if you bring someone to new life in Jesus Christ, you’ll also get a new vision of evangelism!
II. BECAUSE OF HUMAN MISERY & TRAGEDY
A. THIS LIFE FULL OF SADNESS
Job said that our days are “Few…and full of trouble” Job 14:1.
1. Marriages fall apart. Husbands and wives bicker, fight, and are unfaithful. Divorce rates hover near 50%.
2. Jobs are lost; loved ones die before their time; there’s never enough money; children go off the deep-end and our lives are hit by a tsunami of problems.
3. People regularly say to me, “I’m so grateful I have Jesus! I don’t know what people do without the Lord!” They don’t do good!
4. We look on the outside of people and they look like they’re ok, but statistics show they’re not. Check out the millions of sedatives and stimulants prescribed. Psychologist’s offices are jammed. Everywhere people are sad and live with tragedy.
B. THE GOSPEL IS THE ONLY HOPE
1. People will never be fulfilled without God in their lives. We’re empty without God being in our spiritual lives. There’s a sense of estrangement from the Creator.
2. The Bible says, “But the [godless] are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest….“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isa. 57:20-21. David said, “My soul finds rest in God alone!”
3. Peace comes when the war is over -- when hostilities have ceased. When we’ve repented and made peace with God, then we’ll have peace with God.
4. People are hurting and we have the answer. Only Jesus can really improve their lives. We have to tell them!
5. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” Jn. 14:27.
C. VIDEO OF WITNESSING ************
Stranger Igniter-HD
III. BECAUSE IT STOPS SIN
James 5:20, “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
A. HOW WONDERFUL TO SAVE A LIFE! FIRE FIGHTER
1. A house is in flames. In it - a woman with her boy, who can’t escape -- the flames & smoke prevent her.
2. But a firefighter comes with protective gear. He enters the house. Though scorched with fire and almost overcome with the heat, he fights through and finds the woman and her son.
3. Putting them under his coat, he explodes out of the building – a hero to the family and city. He jeopardized his life, and perhaps his arm was disabled, but declared, "I’ve saved lives from death!" How noble!
4. But church, I’m here to tell you something even more noble! A human body which is saved from death today may die tomorrow.
5. But the person who saves a SOUL saves a life from hell for all eternity! There could be no greater rescue than that!
But James points out something better! NOT ONLY WILL YOU COVER A MULTITUDE OF PAST SINS, YOU’LL…
B. PREVENT A MULTITUDE OF FUTURE SINS!
1. If you’ve ever lined up dominoes – if you do it right – once you push the first one, they will knock over all the others. That what a life of sin is like – it initiates more and more sin in a widening circle of people.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAqGcLaE5II
3. But when you interrupt that cycle, you stop all the sin and the ever increasing branches of it going in all directions!
4. God says that Levi “turned many away from iniquity” Mal. 2:6. Dan. 12:3, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
5. James 5:20, “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
IV. THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF A SOUL
A. THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS NOT CAPABLE OF EXTINCTION
1. We are more than just hunks of flesh with cloth on them. Paul said in 1 Thess. 5:23 that we’re a being with 3 parts: body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).
2. Our bodies will grow old and die, but our spirit, which is tied to our consciousness, will survive death. Paul said that “to be absent from the body, [is] to be present with the Lord” 2 Cor. 5:8, if you’re a Christian.
3. According to Ecclesiastes 12:7, at death the human spirit "returns to God who gave it," that is, to God to dispose of it as He sees fit.
4. Jesus said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36-37.
B. THE REAL MEASURE OF OUR WORTH
1. The real measure of our worth is shown by how much God was willing to pay for our salvation. God set such a high price on YOU that He thought you were worth the death of His Son!
2. Perhaps the most compelling of all reasons for winning souls is this – the sufferings of Christ prove the eternal worth of a soul.
3. The terrible extent the sufferings of Jesus are a horrible warning of the certainty of death, the reality of hell, and the terrible price of sin.
4. God allowed His Son to be tortured, beaten, humiliated, and die to save you! “Greater love has no one than this; that He lay down His life for His friends; and you are My friends…” John 15:16.
5. Should we not tell people, after Jesus paid such a high price? God forbid!
6. If HELL IS REAL, should we not warn people? If HEAVEN IS EASILY POSSIBLE TO ATTAIN, should we not tell the Good News?
V. EARTH: FOCUS OF EVERYBODY’S ATTENTION
A. THOSE IN HEAVEN LOOK ON
1. SAINTS IN HEAVEN LOOKING HERE. Heb. 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
2. All these saints are hanging over heaven’s banisters,
watching our efforts to tell the world about Christ. They are the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us in Olympic style grandstands and urge us on in the contest!
3. THE ANGELS’ FOCUS IS HERE. According to Hebrews 1:14KJV, the Angels are "sent forth," from heaven, to minister to earthly believers.
4. JESUS’ INTERCESSION IS FOR US HERE. “He always lives to intercede for them.” Heb. 7:25. Jesus’ current ministry of intercession is not focused on the past, but on those on the Earth now! WHY? BECAUSE…
B. ONLY THIS SPHERE IS STILL IN CONTENTION
1. Heb. 9:27, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
2. The fates of those in heaven and those in hell are already decided. They are either saved or damned. But those who are still in their natural bodies – they are still in peril/ jeopardy.
3. That's why THIS WORLD is the focus of heaven’s attention and the attention of hell! THIS world is the only
location of new recruits for either, and the people around us will either populate heaven or hell. It’s up to US, which!
4. The believers in heaven now wish they could be back on Earth and live their lives differently. Now they can see all things clearly -- that only while we're on Earth can we be a part of God's great work of redemption.
2. Once we’re in heaven, there's nothing more we can do to alter the future for good or to earn rewards.
C. POLAR OPPOSITES DUE TO VISION
1. We live in a world where people wish they could go to heaven. We have problems, bills, troubles, tiredness, and the anxieties.
2. But strangely, in heaven, the inhabitants are wishing they could be back where you are. They can do nothing but wait.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: POWER OF A BURDEN FOR A SOUL
1. There was a prayer meeting where Christians were interceding, and they began to intercede for a specific atheist man’s soul.
2. This man had become an atheist by reading atheist websites on the internet. As they prayed, God put it on one man’s heart to do more than pray.
3. The next day he got prepared, found the address of the atheist, drove his car to his house and knocked on his door.
4. When the atheist opened his door, the Christian man couldn’t even think of anything to say. Tears welled up in his eyes.
5. The Christian just took him by the hand, and said, "Zach! God has put you on my heart. I couldn’t sleep all night last night, but spent the night wrestling in prayer for your salvation."
6. He could say no more so he drove home. The atheist was stunned. He went immediately to his wife. She said, "What’s the matter with you?"
7. "Listen to this," said the man, "I’ve been attacked with a new argument this time. There’s a Christian man, Billy, who came over here to see me. He said, "I’m concerned about your salvation; I’ve been wrestling with God all last night for your salvation.”
8. What’s bugging me is that if he’s that concerned about MY salvation, isn’t it a strange thing that I am not concerned about it? The guy even had tears in his eyes!"
9. From that moment on, the atheist could find no peace about his situation A few days later he called the Christian and invited him back over.
10. When they got together, the 2 of them knelt down together in prayer and the atheist found the Savior. May God give us such conviction about hell that we transmit that concern to others!
B. THE CALL
1. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).
2. Will you begin to value the death of Christ by finishing the work He came to do? *Salvation *Dedication to witness.
