He replied, "The only thing we need are things which begin with the letter 'A'." He then explained: We need:
• A lot of tanks.
• A lot of money.
• A lot of guns.
• And a lot of soldiers.
In order for us Christians to win this war in soul winning, everything we MUST have also starts with the letter "A". We need:
• A lot of confidence.
• A lot of conviction.
• A lot of consecration.
These are MUSTS. The Bible shows us that without these things we will not be effective soul winners. Without these things we will not get the job done.
Let us look at three MUSTS if we are going to be effective soul winners for Christ. The first is the:
I. THE CONFIDENCE OF A SOUL WINNER.
Illus: A man worked for an insurance company for a number of years and was considered to be an average salesman. He changed to another company and became an above normal salesman. He was asked, "What made the difference, for the first company you were average, but for the other you were far above average." He explained it this way, "When I worked for the first company, I always felt like I was cheating people because that company did not offer the customers what it should offer them for their money, but this new company provides what people need and I feel that now I am actually helping people."
Every good salesman will tell you that if he is going to be effective, he must believe in what he is selling. He cannot just say it with his mouth, it must be from his heart.
Illus: During the 1992 presidential campaign, Patrick Buchanan traveled the country telling the American people how we need to keep American jobs in America and we need to buy products made in the USA. He was gaining ground with this type of campaigning because it seemed to come straight from his heart. He was doing great until it was discovered he bought a foreign car and it made the evening news all around the country. Why did that change things? If you are going to sell someone on using USA products, you must believe in your heart it is right and practice what you believe. He lost his credibility and after that he could not recover his momentum.
If we are going to tell lost people that they NEED THE LORD JESUS, we had better be sure that WE HAVE HIM!
Illus: D. L. Moody said that in all his experience he never knew one single Christian worker worth his salt who was not absolutely sure of his salvation.
Illus: Andrew probably would never have led Peter to the Lord if he had just said, "They have found the Messiah." But, he came running to Peter and said, "WE have found the Messiah." It makes a difference when we have that PERSONAL CONFIDENCE because WE KNOW CHRIST PERSONALLY.
Illus: Charles Trumbull, editor of "The Sunday School Times," tells of a businessman who asked twenty-five different Sunday School teachers in the city of Philadelphia if they KNEW FOR SURE THEY WERE SAVED. Twenty-three of the twenty-five could not say that they knew for sure that they were saved.
We can not teach others how to be saved unless we know for sure we are saved!
Illus: That would be like trying to teach a person about calculus when you had never learned it yourself.
Daniel 11:32 says, "...the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
Success in soul winning belongs to those who KNOW GOD. You cannot fool people. The world you are witnessing to KNOWS IF YOU KNOW THE LORD!
We can not have a-
A. False confidence.
Most of us would be in trouble if we based our salvation on how we felt sometimes.
Illus: There is a song that we used to sing in our church that began, "I woke up this morning feeling fine. I woke up with heaven on my mind..." To be honest with you, sometimes I do not feel so fine when I wake up, and it is my guess that sometimes you do not feel so fine when you wake up either!
One day you might catch one of those people who depend on "feelings" and if he is not feeling so good that day you might be able to lead him to the Lord ten times. Why? Because they base everything on feelings.
People like that are as confused as a termite in a yo yo. Their feelings go up, and they think they are saved. Their feelings go down, and they think they are lost.
B. Firm confidence.
Others would answer, "I have faith in God's Word and I obeyed what God told me to do in His Word!" We do not have to wonder from day to day if we are saved.
We can KNOW we are saved! I John 5:9a says, "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater..."
Illus: John uses an illustration everyone can relate to. If a man has been indicted he will have a hearing. During his hearing he may say, "I am not guilty," but WITNESSES may repeatedly say, "We saw him commit the crime. He is guilty of the crime he is charged with." We would believe those witnesses.
Notice, John says, "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, and we go on to read, "...for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Notice the word "KNOW" in the last sentence. The only kind of salvation the Bible teaches is a KNOW SO SALVATION.
It does not teach a "hope so," "possibly so," or a "maybe so," salvation. The only effective witness for Christ is a person WHO KNOWS HE IS SAVED!
When we KNOW we are saved we can then lead someone else to have that same BLESSED ASSURANCE. God knew we could not be effective witnesses for Him unless we had an assurance of our salvation. That is why there are so many scriptures that tell us we can know for sure that we are saved. For example, II Timothy 1:7-12, I John 2:3-5, I John 3:14, 19, 24; I John 4:13-16, St. John 1:12, John 5:24, Luke 10:20, Romans 10:8-10, and Romans 10:13. All these verses, and many more, tell us that we can POSITIVELY know that we are saved. We can go to a lost world with CONFIDENCE that as God saved us, He can also save them. This CONFIDENCE is a must in our witnessing. Then, if we are going to be effective soul winners, we MUST have -
II. THE CONVICTION OF A SOUL WINNER.
As important as it is that we KNOW that we are saved, it is also a MUST that we be CONVINCED that men and women outside of Christ are hopelessly and eternally lost. Every day we look at lost people and we...
• See what they are wearing.
• See what they are driving.
• Hear what they are saying.
But, most of us do not see them as indivituals who are eternally lost.
Illus: One day Hudson Taylor, that great missionary to China, was being ridiculed by some evil men. Before he went to China they asked him, "Taylor, do you really think that the heathens will be lost if you don't go to China to tell them about Christ?" That great missionary said, with a tender voice, "No! I do not think they will be lost if I do not tell them about Christ. I know they ARE LOST! That is why I must go to China."
That is the motivation that drives a person to be a soul winner - when he can look beyond what he sees with his physical eyes and he can see people who are doomed, whose only hope is to accept the Lord Jesus, Who came and died for their sins. That is what caused the apostle Paul to be the great soul winner he was.
Look at what he said in II Corin. 5:11, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." Also, look at verse 14, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead."
It is a MUST that we KNOW WE ARE SAVED, and it is a MUST that we KNOW THAT ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOT ACCEPTED CHRIST ARE ETERNALLY LOST! Knowing they are lost, we also have to understand that JESUS CHRIST is their ONLY SOURCE of SALVATION!
Illus: Some think of salvation as a game they plan, like the television game called "The PRICE IS RIGHT." Remember there were three doors to pick from. The contestant was allowed to pick any door he liked, and if he picked the right door he would win the grand prize. If he picked the wrong door he would win a lesser prize, or perhaps even just a consolation prize.
The fact is:
-There are NOT many ways to be saved. CHRIST SAID, "I AM THE WAY."
-There are not many doors. CHRIST SAID, "I AM THE DOOR.”
In I John 5:12 We read, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
Illus: Dr. Jerry Falwell was on ABC's "NIGHTLINE" program several years ago and he was asked, "Am I hearing you right, are you saying that unless a person accepts Christ he cannot be saved? If that be true, the Jews who do not believe in Christ are eternally lost." Dr. Falwell said, "You are absolutely right. The Bible teaches there is only one way to heaven and that is through His own beloved Son Who died for the sins of mankind!" There was a day when people would have expected that answer, and would have ridiculed "NIGHTLINE" hosts for implying anything different, but what a sad commentary on our country that Dr. Falwell was ridiculed for his answer, and the audience permitted it!
Let's just set the record straight: It is of no consequence:
• What I think.
• What you think.
• What the liberal news media thinks.
• What Larry King thinks.
The only thing that counts is what THE WORD OF GOD STATES.
In Acts 4:12 We read, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
You can not be saved through the name of Mohammed, Confucius, or Buddha!
In John 14:6 We read, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME!?"
To be an effective soul winner it is a MUST that we
• KNOW WE ARE SAVED.
• KNOW THE WORLD IS LOST.
• And that we KNOW BELIEVING ON CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY one can be saved!
Since Christ is the only way, we need to spread this gospel everywhere we go. Now, as we do this, we need to consider,
III. THE CONSECRATION OF A SOUL WINNER.
This is the third MUST in being an effective soul winner. It is a MUST that the world be able to look at our lives and see the FRUIT we bear, that we are truly born again. There is nothing that turns people from Christ quicker than the person who professes to be saved, but who displays not one shred of evidence of his salvation.
Illus: John Bunyan wrote of those with a similar problem. He wrote in "Pilgrim's Progress," of those who were saints ABROAD and devils at HOME.
Isaiah 52:11 speaks to us about the need of living a CONSECRATED life. We read, "Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord." God can only witness through a clean vessel.
Illus: If someone brought you a glass that was filthy, would you drink out of it? Of course you wouldn't! Why then do professing Christians give God dirty vessels and expect Him to dwell in them?!
We Christians had better never forget, actions speak louder than words! We have Christians today, all over this country, who profess to be saved, but you cannot help but wonder what they have been saved from because they lie, cheat, curse, and do the same things that lost people do. When we are not CONSECRATED TO CHRIST we make our testimony for Christ null and void. Paul recognized there are things that confront us that we might not know how to handle. He says in I Thess 5:22, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." In other words, if anything has even a hint of being interpreted as being evil, then we are to run away from it as fast as we can because it will destroy our testimony!
Conclusion/Summary: In the previous message we preached about:
In this message we have preached on:
I. THE CONFIDENCE OF A SOUL WINNER.
II. THE CONVICTION OF A SOUL WINNER.
III. THE CONSECRATION OF A SOUL WINNER.
