Personal Soul Winning

 

Text: Matthew 28:19-20

• 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. Amen.

Introduction:

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary.  His death made it possible that all humanity might be saved.  If the world is to be saved, someone must tell them of Christ.  If no one will tell them, they will die in their sins.

This is the reason Jesus spoke the words found in our text.  This passage is often called the Great Commission.  The Church is commanded to be the one that will go and tell the world of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The Book of Proverbs tells us, “he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).  According to the Scriptures, those who go and tell lost souls of salvation are wise.  Those who neglect to go and witness to the lost are unwise.  The mature Christian must be willing to witness so others might be saved.

There are four basic truths found in this text which give you the basics of personal soul winning.  You will learn these truths in this lesson.

I.  Who Should Go

In the Great Commission, Jesus gives the command to go.  The first truth you will discover is who should go.

A.  Church

The vast majority of sound Bible scholars agree that the Great Commission was given to the local church.  There are two ways the local church seeks to accomplish this task.  The first way the local church carries out the Great Commission is through preaching.  The church calls a soul-winning pastor who preaches so that souls can be saved.  God has chosen preaching to save those who will believe.  The second way the church fulfills the Great Commission is through missions.  Realizing the supreme importance of winning souls, the church sends missionaries throughout the world.  We, the local church, are to go so that the lost may be saved!

B.  Christians

The Church is the one Jesus commissioned to witness to the lost.  The local church is composed of individual Christians.  Therefore, you and I are personally responsible for going and telling others about Christ.  Who will tell your family members, your neighbors, and your co-workers about Jesus?  While the missionary goes throughout the world, it is your job to win those with whom you are in contact.  If you do not go and tell them, they may go to Hell.

The reason you must go to them is that many people never go to church.  That is why you, as part of the local church, must go to them.  That is exactly what the Great Commission is all about.

II.  Where You Go

The Savior directs our going saying, “teach all nations. . . .”  John 3:16 tells us that God loves the World.  Therefore, He has commanded the Church to go throughout the world to reach the lost.  In Acts, Jesus tells us, “ye shall be  witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

You should note the geographic strategy of His plan to go.

A.  Community

Your first priority is to witness in the community in which God has placed you.  This community is where you live and where your church is located.  These people are your neighbors.  You must love them enough to tell them about God’s great salvation.

B.  Country

We are to go outside the boundaries of our local community to be His witnesses.  This will take the cooperation of our churches working together.  Our own nation must be evangelized!  So together, we must go and tell our own people of His saving grace.

C.  Corners of the World

The Lord instructs us even to go outside the boundaries of our nation and our own people to witness.  He instructs us to be His witnesses “unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”  So the local church sends out missionaries to reach a lost and dying world for Christ.

III.  What You Do

Jesus said,   “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. . . . ”  You and I are to teach them how to be saved.  There are two ways you may teach them.

A.  Explain To Them

The first way you may teach them is to explain to them.  Luke tells us of the Ethiopian eunuch who needed someone to  explain to him the way of salvation.  When Philip asked him if he understood the Scriptures which he read, he replied, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” (Acts 8:31a).  God has ordained that someone should guide or teach the lost from the Scriptures the way to be saved.  Will you be that someone?

B.  Exhibit Before Them

The second way we are to teach them is to exhibit before them.  In order that they might believe your witness, you must live out a godly life before them.  Why should they listen to you?  Is there something different about your life that would make them want to listen unto you?  In order to witness to them, you must exhibit unto them that you know the way of salvation.

IV.  Why You Go

Last, consider two reasons why you should go.

A.  Command of the Savior

The first reason you should go is that it is a command of the Savior.  The words of the Savior are not a suggestion, but rather a commandment.  Failure to go is to failing to obey!  He said “Go ye therefore. . . .”

B.  Crisis of the Sinner

The second  reason you should go is the crisis of the sinner.  Luke 16 reminds you why you must go.  Luke tells of a rich man who “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments . . .”  (Luke 16:23).   It is the crisis of the sinner that compels us to go.  If you do not go, they may be eternally lost.  Surely you would not ask why you should go if you saw someone you could save in a burning building.  You would say I could not help but to go.  So go–lest they perish!