Soul-Winning
Discipleship Lesson 6
Proverbs 11:30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Jesus tells us that we are the salt and light of the world (see Matthew 5:13-16). He shined brightly as he entered and ministered in the world (John 9:5), but now he expects us to take up the torch (see Philippians 2:15). The most fundamental way in which we can shine is by turning many to Christ (see Daniel 12:3), by preaching the gospel on a regular basis.
The Need for Soul-Winning
The Necessity of the Preacher
There are billions of people in the world, and the overwhelming majority of them are unsaved (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:23-24). There is no way to heaven except through trusting in Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and there is no excuse that unsaved people will have on the Day of Judgment (see Romans 1:20). The great simplicity of the gospel (II Corinthians 11:3) has made salvation easy for us to receive. God himself is actively working in the world, by divine providence (Acts 17:26-27) and divine ministering (John 16:7-11), to bring about all people to himself: “All day long I have stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people” (Romans 10:21). When we go forth to preach the gospel, we are a physical token of God’s mercy to a lost and dying world (see II Chronicles 36:15-16). Sadly, many people go to hell that otherwise would have been saved because of a lack of soul-winners. “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).
Matthew 9:36-38: But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
God has ordained that saved believers preach the gospel (Romans 10:14-15): “For we are labourers together with God…” (I Corinthians 3:9). God has given us the ability and authority to preach the gospel, and thereby to be the instruments of God to save people: “…I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (I Corinthians 9:22). We are the ministers by whom others will believe (I Corinthians 3:5). It is our responsibility to bring the gospel to every person, because the Bible commands us to save others, “pulling them out of the fire” (Jude 23). God is really just looking for even one person who will, with Isaiah, say, “Here am I, send me” (Isaiah 6:8; see Ezekiel 22:30). You are God’s ambassador, and go in his stead (Luke 10:16). You have nothing to fear (II Timothy 1:7), and should be confident and determined as a soul-winner (Ephesians 6:19-20).
II Corinthians 5:18-20: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The Reality of Hell
When a person dies, their soul leaves their body (see Genesis 35:18; I Kings 17:21-22; John 19:30) and immediately either goes “upward” to heaven (see Luke 24:51; II Corinthians 12:14) or “downward” to hell (Proverbs 15:24; Isaiah 14:9, 15; Matthew 11:23). All unsaved people will spend eternity in hell, a place of the most intense sorrow and pain imaginable. Hell is an “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46). This fact of hell provides the single-most terrifying necessity for us to preach the gospel to others: “knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Corinthians 5:11).
- Hell is a place of fire. The Bible speaks of a special type of fire in hell, “hell fire” (Matthew 5:22; 18:9; Mark 9:47), because, unlike earth’s flames, hell’s fire is never quenched (Matthew 3:12/Luke 3:17; Mark 9:43-48). Someone in hell is suffering the “vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7; see also Matthew 18:8; 25:41) in “a furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:42, 50). Eventually, all of those in the fires of hell will be relocated to “a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8).
- Hell is a place of darkness. The Bible refers to hell as “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30), with not a trace of light. They will never again enjoy the sweetness and pleasantness of the light (see Ecclesiastes 11:7). Those in hell are bound in “everlasting chains under darkness” (Jude 6; see also II Peter 2:4), in “the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 13; see also II Peter 2:17).
- Hell is a place of intense pain. The people in hell are in a constant state of torment, and “have no rest day nor night” (Revelation 14:11). They are constantly “weeping,” “wailing,” and have “gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30). They are suffocated by the smoke of hell, “as the smoke of a great furnace” (Revelation 9:2), and “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11). In hell, they are covered with immortal worms which continually chew on them (Mark 9:44, 46, 48; see Isaiah 14:11), and there, “the worm shall feed sweetly on him” (Job 24:20). They are always “hungry”, “thirsty,” “ashamed”, and crying “for sorrow of heart” and they “howl for vexation of spirit” (Isaiah 65:13-14)
Luke 16:22-25: And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
The Command to Be a Soul-winner
There are a number of reasons why we are all expected to preach the gospel:
- Preach the gospel because you follow Jesus
When Jesus approached those he called to be his disciples, he said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). If you are not a “fisher of men,” you are not following Jesus. The most important thing for Jesus was to save people (Luke 19:10)—it was even more important to him than eating (John 4:34ff). Any yet for many Christians, the lost world seems to be their last priority. Jesus wants us to join him in his work. He commands us, “Take my yoke upon you” (Matthew 11:29). When we abide in Christ, we bring forth “fruit” (John 15:2), and then, through more time spent with out Lord, we produce “much fruit” (v. 5), and finally, in a mature Christian state, we yield fruit which remains (v. 16).
- Preach the gospel because God wants you to preach.
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47-48; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8) begins with soul-winning. Salvation is by grace through faith alone (Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:8-9), but God has prepared beforehand many good works he wants us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, God expects us to faithfully preach his word to others; “he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28). If we refuse to preach the gospel, we are committing spiritual murder (Ezekiel 33:1-9). God entrusted us with the gospel, and has committed his word to us in the expectation that we will use it to preach to others (II Corinthians 5:18-19; I Thessalonians 2:4). We, who “were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel” (I Thessalonians 2:4), have this solemn duty, to preach it in all the world and throughout all of our days here below.
Luke 9:59-60: And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
- Preach the gospel because God rewards soul-winners in heaven
Although our good/bad works do not determine whether we will go to heaven or not, they will determine how many (if any) rewards we will receive in heaven (Matthew 5:19; Romans 14:10-12; II Corinthians 5:9-10). We will not all have equal rewards in heaven (I Corinthians 3:14-15). The rewards a believer can receive are glory (Daniel 12:3), honor (I Corinthians 4:5), and power (II Timothy 4:8; Revelation 2:26). Therefore, there are two ways you could enter heaven: as a champion (II Peter 1:10-11) or as a failure (I Corinthians 3:15). If you are a believer, but never go soul-winning, Jesus will call you a “wicked and slothful servant” (Matthew 25:26ff), and he will be greatly ashamed of you (see Mark 8:38). We should daily “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (see Philippians 3:13-14).
I Corinthians 9:24-25: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
- Preach the gospel because you care about others
The second greatest commandment of the Bible is, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). The most loving thing you can do for someone else is to preach the gospel to them. Most people are selfish and care only about themselves, and not about other people for whom Christ died. “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” (Philippians 2:21). We should love others, seeking their good more than our own (I Corinthians 10:33). Paul loved other people so much that he was willing to be “accursed from Christ” if it meant they would be saved (Romans 9:1-3; compare with Moses, Exodus 32:32). Even when we were enemies of God, “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). You should both have and exhibit that same love and kindness to others by preaching the gospel to them (see also Titus 3:4-5). Be moved with compassion and love for the lost, just like Jesus: “Then Jesus beholding him loved him…” (Mark 10:21).
Philippians 2:4-8: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.