Introduction – If you are reading this please be encouraged to know that you could be getting involved in the greatest business that there is! (“…I must be about my fathers business?” Luke 2:49) I must caution you, if you are not serious about winning someone to Jesus Christ then don’t waste your time or your teachers; because if you are not serious, then you will never win a soul to Christ! (“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30) If you are serious, then may I say that you will soon win someone to Christ, and these lessons will simply aid to make it easier; because where there is a will there is a way. Gene Gurganus put it this way in relation to soul winning… “Zeal without knowledge is dangerous; knowledge without zeal is dead; zeal with knowledge is dynamite!” (“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall DOUBTLESS come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:6) Of course even if you aren’t serious, I hope you will learn how to do it, and pray that God will help you become serious in the meantime. Now by faith, you should sincerely pray, and thank God for the individual that he is going to soon help you lead to Christ! It is his will to save sinners and he would love to do it through you. When we pray according to his will, we can believe that it is as good as done. (“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1John 5:14-15 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1Timothy 2:4)
Pause, and give time for prayer.
Here is a quote from John R. Rice, “But what about a Christian who believes the Bible and claims to follow it, one who believes that Christ is all he claims to be-the virgin-born Son of God, Creator, Savior, Judge-and has trusted in the Lord Jesus for Salvation, yet does nothing to get other people saved? Not believing in the Word of God, the modernists let people go to Hell; but the fundamentalists who do not win souls let people go to Hell likewise. Although they claim to believe the Bible from cover to cover, in the end the practical result is much the same. It is shocking how few people win souls, and how callous and indifferent most of us Christians are about the lost souls around us for whom Christ died, the souls that he commanded us to warn and win!”
(“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18-20)
I would like to assure you that we have done more for people with less authority. I’m sure we all have had that bullheaded store clerk tell us that the coupon we had didn’t apply to the product we wanted to purchase, and without hesitation we have simply given in to their authority. How, humiliating it will be to stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and admit to him that we have submitted to people of less authority, but we wouldn’t submit to him regarding soul winning. All power or authority has been given unto Christ; there is no one with more authority than him.
He has commanded us to go! If you aren’t going to people to share the gospel with them, then you are deliberately disobeying Christ. May I say that life style evangelism is important, but that’s not what Christ meant by go… inviting people to church is important, but that’s not what Christ meant by go… what he meant by go is explained in (“Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”) When’s the last time you have share the gospel with someone? If you do it regularly then people will be saved because the bible says, (“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11) If you and I aren’t doing it regularly we are deliberately disobeying Christ.
b.) Because they are unaware/unconcerned
The reason Christ has commanded us to do it and why there is a need, is because people are unaware or unconcerned. There will come a point in time when there will be no need to share the gospel. (“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34) But may I say that, that time, is not yet. Many do not know their need of a savior, and they are waiting for you to share the good news with them. We have no problem recommending a contractor, a restaurant, or a movie to someone that they may be unaware of. Why would we not gladly recommend Jesus to those who do not know how to make him their personal savior. Think about it this way: if you knew that someone was plotting your friend, co-worker, or relative’s death, you would have no problem making them aware of these plans! In the same fashion Satan is planning for their eternal death in hell; you must make them aware of these plans, or the bible says their blood will be upon your hands. (“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” Ezekiel 3:18).
c.) Because they may go to hell
Another reason Christ commands us to be a soul winner is because the lost will die and go to hell! Just think if you could be a surgeon and repair someone’s heart, brain, or remove their cancer to save them from pain. Wouldn’t you want to do it? What if you could perform that operation by knowing a simple easy to learn method, rather than taking several years of school. Wouldn’t you learn it in a heart beat and then begin to save as many people from pain as you could? That simple method is the gospel, and the application of it is evangelism. You can save many people from unimaginable pain by being a soul winner. The rich man in Luke sixteen had no problem with being soul conscious once he realized the horrible pain in hell! (“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest 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.” Luke 16:27-28) If we really believed in people going to hell we wouldn’t rest day or night, but we cant be that drastic, so why not allow it to push us to do more than we have been doing and at least make the point to win one person to Christ and disciple them. Charles Spurgeon said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” If we really believe in hell there should be no problem with this becoming a reality. As we now close this first lesson on soul winning wont you bow your head and ask God to make you a soul winner and to give you a burden for those going to hell.
Pause, and give time for prayer.
- Why should I win souls to Christ
- Because Jesus Christ commands it
Here is a quote from John R. Rice, “But what about a Christian who believes the Bible and claims to follow it, one who believes that Christ is all he claims to be-the virgin-born Son of God, Creator, Savior, Judge-and has trusted in the Lord Jesus for Salvation, yet does nothing to get other people saved? Not believing in the Word of God, the modernists let people go to Hell; but the fundamentalists who do not win souls let people go to Hell likewise. Although they claim to believe the Bible from cover to cover, in the end the practical result is much the same. It is shocking how few people win souls, and how callous and indifferent most of us Christians are about the lost souls around us for whom Christ died, the souls that he commanded us to warn and win!”
(“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18-20)
I would like to assure you that we have done more for people with less authority. I’m sure we all have had that bullheaded store clerk tell us that the coupon we had didn’t apply to the product we wanted to purchase, and without hesitation we have simply given in to their authority. How, humiliating it will be to stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and admit to him that we have submitted to people of less authority, but we wouldn’t submit to him regarding soul winning. All power or authority has been given unto Christ; there is no one with more authority than him.
He has commanded us to go! If you aren’t going to people to share the gospel with them, then you are deliberately disobeying Christ. May I say that life style evangelism is important, but that’s not what Christ meant by go… inviting people to church is important, but that’s not what Christ meant by go… what he meant by go is explained in (“Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”) When’s the last time you have share the gospel with someone? If you do it regularly then people will be saved because the bible says, (“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11) If you and I aren’t doing it regularly we are deliberately disobeying Christ.
b.) Because they are unaware/unconcerned
The reason Christ has commanded us to do it and why there is a need, is because people are unaware or unconcerned. There will come a point in time when there will be no need to share the gospel. (“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34) But may I say that, that time, is not yet. Many do not know their need of a savior, and they are waiting for you to share the good news with them. We have no problem recommending a contractor, a restaurant, or a movie to someone that they may be unaware of. Why would we not gladly recommend Jesus to those who do not know how to make him their personal savior. Think about it this way: if you knew that someone was plotting your friend, co-worker, or relative’s death, you would have no problem making them aware of these plans! In the same fashion Satan is planning for their eternal death in hell; you must make them aware of these plans, or the bible says their blood will be upon your hands. (“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” Ezekiel 3:18).
c.) Because they may go to hell
Another reason Christ commands us to be a soul winner is because the lost will die and go to hell! Just think if you could be a surgeon and repair someone’s heart, brain, or remove their cancer to save them from pain. Wouldn’t you want to do it? What if you could perform that operation by knowing a simple easy to learn method, rather than taking several years of school. Wouldn’t you learn it in a heart beat and then begin to save as many people from pain as you could? That simple method is the gospel, and the application of it is evangelism. You can save many people from unimaginable pain by being a soul winner. The rich man in Luke sixteen had no problem with being soul conscious once he realized the horrible pain in hell! (“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest 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.” Luke 16:27-28) If we really believed in people going to hell we wouldn’t rest day or night, but we cant be that drastic, so why not allow it to push us to do more than we have been doing and at least make the point to win one person to Christ and disciple them. Charles Spurgeon said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” If we really believe in hell there should be no problem with this becoming a reality. As we now close this first lesson on soul winning wont you bow your head and ask God to make you a soul winner and to give you a burden for those going to hell.
RSS Feed