Sermon Central
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He That Winneth Souls Is Wise No. 8
Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Mar 31, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: An article in The Reader's Digest stated that a man who had throat cancer was cured by his doctor's treating him with strong doses of vitamin C.
This was interesting because the man only received help when he received the strong dosages.
In these sermons on soul winning we hope you are getting a "strong dosage” effect.
It is the prayer of this pastor that by giving these "strong dosages" week after week that many of you will be cured of the silence that is causing those around us to continue down that wide road straight to eternal destruction.
Just think, all over this nation many thousands would have been saved this past week had the church been cured of its spiritual lockjaw!
It is time for Christians to wake up and smell the coffee!
If we are going to be effective soul winners there are some things that MUST happen to us.
The Bible tells us there must be...
1. THE CRUCIFIXION OF A SOUL WINNER.
One of the MAIN REASONS so many are without Christ today is because of UN-CRUCIEFIED CHRISTIANS.
If a survey was taken of average church members who profess to be saved in America it would register excuse after excuse, enough to bring tears to your eyes, as to why they are not winning souls to Christ Jesus.
Did you know that you can tell a lie so many times and for so long that you will soon start believing it yourself.
How do we know that those who claim they cannot win souls are telling a falsehood?
Because God would never tell us to do something we could not do!
He doesn't just tell us that He will make us "fishers of men,” He commands us to be "fishers of men.”
The reason those who are not winning souls to Christ is because they are UN-CRUCIFI]ED CHRISTLANS.
They have their plans, and God has His, but they couldn't care less about God's plans!
Their whole life is built around SELF!
It costs you something to be a soul winner! The un-crucified Christian is like the man of the world, he wants everything given to him on a silver platter and does not want to give anything in return.
God has freely given us salvation, but if we are going to be effective soul winners it is going to cost us something. We have to be willing to crucify this old flesh.
The lord's disciples were soul winners, but it cost them something.
In Matthew 19:27 We read, ...Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee...' And they had!
They gave up their CAREERS, PLANS, FRIENDS, and some even gave up their FAMILIES!
What a tremendous price they paid to be soul winners. How do we know it is worth it when we have to sacrifice?
Because we know they would not have done it had they not known the glory of the Lord and His blessings.
• They were willing to speak out for Christ when it was unpopular.
• They were willing to give their bodies, a LIVING SACRIFICE unto the Lord!
Each one said, “God use me,” and He did! -They were willing to die to self - they became crucified Christians.
Illus: When George Mueller was asked why he was such an effective witness for Christ, he said, 'There was a time when George Mueller died.'
Illus: Martin Luther said of himself, “If somebody should knock at my head's door and ask who lives here, I must not say, Martin Luther lives here. I would say, Martin Luther is dead - Jesus Christ lives here!”
The effective soul winner has completely abandoned self. He does not care:
• What others think of him.
• What is popular or unpopular.
He has not taken a detour around Calvary. He has become crucified with Christ.
Illus: D. L. Moody was so sold out to the Lord he was considered to be a fanatic for the Lord Jesus Christ. The world does not think anything about it when a person is a fanatic about BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, or BASIKETBALL. We find that the word 'fans' comes from the word fanatic. There are people all over who are fanatics about many things. Everywhere they go they talk about their gods of sports, money, hobbies, etc. In fact, some are so fanatic about football they will pay anywhere from $30 to $100 for a seat at a game, and sometimes it is in freezing, rainy, snowy weather. People who do that are more than fanatic, they are lunatic. No one accuses them of that, but just let a person dedicate his life to sharing the gospel with everyone he meets, winning souls to Christ; he is looked down upon as being fanatic. D.L. Moody had died to self. No matter where he was he was always trying to lead someone to Christ. He earned the name, “Crazy Moody.”
Why? Because he was a crucified Christian. He had completely abandoned self and let Christ take up residence within, and control him.
