The Importance of Soul-Winning
Jeremiah 20:7-9, "O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But [his word] was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not [stay]."
Introduction:
A. Soul-winning is Rarely Accomplished by a general Appeal From The Pulpit.
1. Individual Work is of primary importance --- and nothing can substitute for it.
2. It has been estimated that Only 5% of evangelical Christians make any Earnest Effort To Win Souls for Christ.
B. Every Christian should shudder at the thought of Meeting The Lord of The Harvest With No Souls, no sheaves to lay at His feet.
"Must I go, and empty handed,"
Thus my dear Redeemer meet?
Not one day of service give Him,
Lay no trophy at His feet?
Must I go, and empty-handed?
Must I meet my Saviour so?
Not one soul with which to greet Him:
Must I empty-handed go?
I. It Helps The Christian!
A. A Barren believer is Good For Nothing ...
(You can do anything else better after you get to heaven).
B. A Christian is like a Tree planted in the earth to Reproduce His Own Kind.
Psalms 1:3, "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
C. The one who finds Christ and then follows Christ Must Inevitably Become A Fisher of Men.
Mark 1:17, "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."
D. The Fruit of right living is Souls.
Proverbs 11:30, "The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise."
II. It Helps The Church!
A. The church that is Ablaze With Soul-Winning Zeal is a Progressive church.
B. Paul reckoned it Vain to found churches that did Not Hold Forth The Word of Life in the midst of perverse people.
Philippians 2:15-16, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."
C. Evangelize or Fossilize! --- that is The Issue.
D. A church Without Its Lamp Lit in this dark world is running the risk of having its Lampstand Removed.
1. Revelation 2:4-5, "Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
2. A church that is Not Winning Souls (locally & world-wide) is a Failure.
3. If all you do is Meet To Worship God --- you can do that Better In Heaven.
III. It Helps The Community!
A. When a Few Christians in a church get Truly Revived --- the Whole Community will soon Benefit from the blessing.
B. Corruption in our communities is due to the fact that our Churches Have Lost Their Salt Savor.
Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity, from sin and the grave;
Weep o'er the erring one, Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
C. We must not allow Denominational Barriers to blur our Vision of Winning Souls to Christ.
IV. It Helps The Country!
A. It was Not Babylon that destroyed Judah in 588 B.C. --- it was Backsliding (Jer. 6).
B. It was Not Assyria that destroyed Israel in 721 B.C. --- It was Sin (Hosea 4).
C. Nineveh Repented and averted coming disaster --- But Nineveh did Not Repent Until Jonah Repented (Jonah 3:4-10)
D. Although the rapid growth of Communism and Humanism is enough to make a wide-awake citizen shudder --- it will Not Be Communism Nor Humanism that will destroy America.
1. Consider the fact --- America Spends Six (6) Times As Much On Liquor As For All Religious And Welfare Activities.
2. The hand-writing is on the wall.
Daniel 5:27, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."
V. It Helps The Cause of Christ Everywhere!
A. No church should Gamble On The Prospect of a Missionary candidate Winning Souls On The Foreign Field who has Not Been Winning Souls Here on the home field.
B. A trip across the ocean blue --- will not make a missionary true.
C. The Field Is The World.
Acts 1:8, "... ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
VI. It Reaches All classes of People!
A. Christ talked to individuals of all classes.
1. Nicodemus --- John 3.
2. The woman at the well --- John 4.
3. The guileless Nathanael --- John 1.
4. Peter and Andrew --- Matt. 4.
5. The man born blind --- John 9.
6. Matthew the tax-collector --- Matt. 9.
7. Zacchaeus the publican --- Luke 19.
8. The thief on the cross --- Luke 23.
B. The church is Not to be a Reservoir but rather a River that channels out the living waters to a thirsty world.
VII. It Conforms To Christ's Command!
A. The church has Majored On The Promises of God while Sitting On The Premises --- and Minored On His Commands.
(( The Preacher who --- joined President's Health Club --- wanted to be a Spectator ))
B. The Blood Of Millions will be On Our Hands.
Ezekiel 3:18, "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."
C. We should all be as Paul.
Acts 20:26, "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I [am] pure from the blood of all [men]."
D. To Be Saved from sin and the flames of an eternal hell carries with it --- not only Unspeakable Privileges --- but also Frightening Responsibilities.
II Corinthians 5:17-20, "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."
E. It Produces Abundant Results!
1. Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus and Simon Peter won thousands to the Saviour.
2. Kimball led Dwight L. Moody to Christ and Moody won thousands to Jesus.
A Search For The Truth
