Sermon Central
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Tears Of A Soul Winner
Contributed by Darren Rogers on Sep 4, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Do we shed tears for those who are lost? How do we sow the seed of God’s Word? With tears in our eyes or do we just go through the motions?
The Tears of a Sould Winner
A farmer may weep due to the drudgery of his labour, but after the ground has been tilled, the seed planted and the harvest brought in, the same farmer returns from the same field rejoicing in the fruit he has received.
Let me remind you this evening, Jesus declared this world to be a field, John 4:35. He also indicated that we, His people, are the farmers who are to plant, tend and reap the harvest here. God’s call to you and me is that we be active in spreading His message to a world that is perishing. You and I are to be witnesses and soul winners in this present day.
After we have been delivered from our sins and saved by God’s grace, we should be moved by a burden to see others have what we have been given. We are to take what we have, the Gospel message, the seed, the Word of God and we are to go into a lost world and sow it for the glory of God, trusting Him to take our few seeds and turn them into a mighty harvest for His glory.
I. Attitude of Soul Winning
1. Attitude of Pursuit - Goeth Forth
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
It is all very well to praise God, but after we have praised Him and prayed to Him we must get to work, because work is a blessing and not a curse. God gave Adam and Eve work to do in the Garden of Eden before sin ever entered into the world.
In Scripture the people God has used for special service were those who were busy when He called them.
* Moses was caring for sheep - Ex 3
* Gideon was threshing wheat - Judges 6
* David was tending the family flock - 1 Samuel 16
* Nehemiah was serving the king - Nehemiah 1
* Peter, Andrew, James and John were busy fishing - Luke 5:1-11
* Matthew was in his tax office - Matthew 9:9
The sower is to "go forth" and sow that seed. The verb form there is in the present tense. This speaks of a continual, consistent going and sowing. When Jesus gave His men the Great Commission, He said to them "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations" Matt. 28:19a. That word "Go" has the idea of "as you go." In other words, your testimony is not something you should be able to turn on and off like a light switch, but we are to be constantly going and telling a lost world about Jesus.
"goeth forth" The verb tense points to a continual ministry of bearing the precious seed of the Lord’s Gospel to a perishing world. There has never been a moment, and there never will be a moment, when the message of the Gospel is not needed in the world. The whole idea is that we are to be making disciples "as we go!"
When the Bible says, "Bearing precious seeds," that little phrase has the idea "of leaving a trail of seeds." The idea here is that everywhere we go; we are to be dropping the Gospel seeds! Are you sowing as you go? Are you saturating your community with the seeds of the Gospel message? God help us to do just that!
2. Attitude of Passion - Weepeth
Notice that this farmer goes out to sow and as he sows he is shedding tears, v. 6. Why does he weep? Because he knows that everything depends on the next crop. He has a burden for the harvest and he wants to see the seed multiplied so that his people might live!
Is that a price we are prepared to pay? Are we prepared to weep over lost souls, lost sons, lost neighbours and friends?
Three times in the Gospels we are told that Jesus wept.
a. He wept for His friend - John 11:35
Standing before the tomb, sensing the heartbreak around Him, Jesus wept. Knowing that in a moment He would perform the greatest miracle so far. He would bring back to life a man rotting in the tomb, He wept at the sorrow and anguish that sin and death brought in its path.
b. He wept for His country - Matthew 23:37
He stood on the heights outside the city and wept because Jerusalem and the nation had rejected Him. He could see into the future. He could see the appalling things that would happen within a generation. He wept because a nation that had received so many blessings could be so stubborn and foolish in rejecting Him, the Messiah.
c. He wept for the world - Luke 22:44
