THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUL WINNING

Mark 16:15

Intro.

  1. has God given us an impossible task to perform
  2. we can do anything God commands us to do - Acts 1:8
  3. Christians are suppose to bear fruit - John 15:16
    1. the fruit of a Christian is not love, joy, peace… (these are the fruit of the Spirit)
    2. the fruit of a Christian is other Christians
    3. "he that winneth souls is wise"
  1. why are so many Christians not involved in this most important work?
  2. we invest our time, energy, and our money in those things we feel important
  3. if we could see the extreme importance of soul winning, we would make any sacrifice & suffer any inconvenience to keep others out of hell
  1. it is important because of the peril of lost souls - John 3:18
    1. any person not trusting Jesus Christ is already condemned
      1. if life would suddenly be snatched away, he would lift up his eyes in hell
      2. to the unbeliever, the only thing between him and hell is a beating heart
    2. hell is not the figment of someone’s imagination (it is a real place of suffering)
    3. if a Christian could spend just 5 minutes in hell, what a difference it would make - Luke 16:27-28
  2. it is important because of the value of souls - Mark 8:36-37
    1. according to Jesus, one soul is worth more than the whole world (the wisdom of soul winning)
    2. Christians have been bought, now we belong to Christ - I Corinthians 6:20
    3. only Christ has sufficient resources to purchase us from lose (redemption)
  3. it is important because of the payment that Jesus made for the soul - I Peter 1:18-19
    1. no one can fully understand the suffering that Jesus experienced in order to pay for our sins
    2. those that die and go to hell never pay their debt in full
    3. just before Jesus died; He said, "it is finished" - John 19:30
  4. it is important because of the products it produces
    1. it produces increased attendance
    2. it produces joy among the members - I Thessalonians 2:19-20
      1. its hard to find a sad face at a hospital nursery
      2. the same is true of the local church, where people are being "born again"
    3. it enables a church to do more
    4. produces clean members - John 15:2 "purgeth"
  5. it is important because Jesus said to do it - Matthew 28:18-20
    1. what Jesus did not say
      1. because men are lost & will burn in hell, go ye therefore…
      2. one soul is worth more than the whole world, go ye therefore…
      3. being saved is the most important thing that can happen to a man, go ye therefore…
    2. Jesus said, "all power or authority is Mine, go ye therefore…"
    3. the greatest reason for winning souls is that the greatest Authority has told us to do it
    4. not to win souls is to disobey the greatest Authority, and to become perhaps the greatest rebel