Lesson 1: Basic Requisites To Soul Winning

Lesson One: Basic Requisites To Soul Winning

What kind of person does God use in soul winning? 

 

SAVED

Jesus said, "If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch."  Matthew 15:14.  How true!  You must know the way before you can show others the way.

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day were "blind guides."  Read Matthew 23.  Later Paul warned Timothy of those who desired "to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm."  These blind teachers are depicted as "having strayed...turned aside to idle talk."  See 1 Timothy 1:6, 7.  Before his conversion the apostle Paul himself had been a blind teacher of the law.

Cultists have one thing in common.  They all have no assurance of salvation, because their salvation is based upon good works, and they don't know whether they have been good enough to be saved.  Now if they haven't received eternal life, how can they lead others to the way?

The messenger that God uses in soul winning knows the truth of Ephesians 2:8, 9.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  Salvation is a present possession.  "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life."  John 3:36.  The soul winner bears testimony to a sure salvation received through faith in God's incomparable Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The soul winner testifies to others, because he (or she) has a testimony to share.  It is a sad commentary that today many churches in the United States are full of idle talk.  Many professing Christians are silent because they have nothing to say.  They themselves have never experienced a new life in Jesus.  A Christian was criticized by a member of another church because he was witnessing for Christ.  He was told, "The people in our church don't go around telling others about God."  The witnessing believer replied, "Maybe that's because they have no story to tell."

How different is the poetic testimony of Catherine Hankey.

I love to tell the story,
More wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies
Of all our golden dreams.

I love to tell the story,
It did so much for me.
And this is just the reason
I tell it now to thee.

 

And that's just the reason that the soul winner witnesses for the Lord.  He has been saved, and has a wonderful story to tell.

 

Spirit Filled

Before Jesus ascended into heaven He said to His disciples, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  Acts 1:8.  The soul winner is empowered for service by the Holy Spirit.  Apart from the indwelling ministry of the Spirit of God nothing of eternal value will be accomplished.  Jesus said as much in Luke 24:46-49.  The apostles were told to "tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

The supernatural fulfillment of this statement occurred on the Day of Pentecost.  Read Acts 2.  Throughout the book of Acts we find that the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the bold witness of the apostles go hand in hand.  It is written, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."  Acts 4:31.  God's Spirit is a missionary Spirit.  He is the One who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  See John 16:8.  Everywhere that the Holy Spirit is at work, the word of the Lord grows mightily and prevails in the salvation of souls.  For example, read what happened at Ephesus in Acts 19:1-20.

Some Christians want the Holy Spirit to work in their lives on their terms.  They prefer the ministry of John the Baptist over that of Peter and Paul.  John performed no miracles, whereas the apostles spoke in tongues, healed the sick, and experienced the miraculous in their lives.  Regarding some gifts of the Holy Spirit many Christians want to pick and choose.  According to 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, the spiritual gifts are a "manifestation of the Spirit...for the profit of all."  It is the Spirit of God who does the picking and choosing.  "But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one as He wills."  Not everyone filled with the Spirit speaks in tongues.  However, everyone filled with the Spirit is empowered in their witness for Christ.  The manifestation of the Spirit is manifestly missing in many churches.  The Holy Spirit is quenched.  See 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

Soul winning is a spiritual battle.  As such "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."  2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.  The winning of souls is God's work, and He works through those who are filled with the Spirit.

How can the believer be filled with the Spirit?  God only fills that which is His.  Whatever we present to Him, He accepts.  Whatever He accepts, He cleanses.  Whatever He cleanses, He fills.  Whatever He fills, He uses.  Do you want to become a soul winner?  Be filled with the Spirit.  Ephesians 5:18.

 

Lesson 2: The Message Of The Soul Winner

 
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