The Nature of Soul Winning Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Nature of Soul Winning Part 2. He will be in John 15: 26-27.

It is not going to be your eloquence and your ability to reason or debate that is going to make you an effective witness for Christ. It is going to be your submission and your yieldedness to the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders. Today we’re going to be in the Gospel of John continuing our study on the nature of soul winning. We’re looking at verse 26 and 27 and the expansion of the early church was a result of every Christian being involved in evangelism and so we’re kind of just trying to really raise that awareness, this program, and make sure that all of us are looking for opportunities that we can really tell others about Christ and bear witness for Him and to be able to do that through the power of the Spirit of God.

So, I want you to grab your Bible, maybe a pencil, a pen, and some notes and let’s start studying together on the nature of soul winning. Now the Apostle Peter gave us some advice about our witnessing and he said in chapter three of verse 15, in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, meaning keep God first in your life.

If you want to be an effective soul winner to the lost people, if you want to be effective in reaching others for Christ, keep Him number one in your life. That’s very important and have that reverence and have that commitment to follow Him in your life.

But he goes on to say always being prepared. Now that’s where we struggle sometimes. We’re not always ready. We’re not always prepared. And we have, want you to know that in our church family there are many opportunities for you to be prepared and you can take classes and you can take courses, but I tell you I’ve learned this, that the best way to be prepared is that more is caught.

taught. And I would encourage you to team up with leaders in the church, other people who are good at witnessing for Christ, and to go out and make visits with them and learn how you can share Christ with others through watching their life.

But he says be prepared to make a defense or to make the case to anyone who asked for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. And so as people are watching our life, as we follow Christ, that people ought to see something unique about us.

They ought to see something unique about us. Now through the years I’ve learned how to speak diplomatically to people. It’s not that I always do it, but I have learned how to do it. I just don’t always activate it.

But one of the things that I would always say to my kids, they would say something about someone, and I’d say, well look, let’s just not judge them, and let’s not put them down, let’s just call them unique.

unique. They’re unique people, okay? And so people are unique and yet we recognize that we’re called to be unique and that we’re called to be distinct and different in this culture, that we actually stand out, that there are things about us that are not normal when it comes to the ways of the world.

And that as people see that in our lives, that they begin to ask questions, why are we so different? And why is it that we have this hope? You know you go into work and you know you’re always down and you’re always negative and it looks like you just got baptized in lemon juice and you’re discouraged and the world’s falling apart and everything is a mess in your life in the sense that you’re always thinking negatively about everything that happens in your life.

I’m going to tell you the world’s going to be like man stay away from that person because they have no hope. They have no peace in their hearts and what they got please let’s not get it but what we really ought to be is living such a different lifestyle, such a unique lifestyle if you will, that even as we walk through trials and we walk through tragedies and we walk through transitions in our life that we are not falling apart because we have confidence in the Lord.

We have our trust in the Lord and that we know that God’s got a plan and a purpose and he’s up to something special in our life and that there’s joy in our hearts and that joy just seems to overflow and it comes out and people see it and they say man what’s the matter with you?

You know what I mean? What’s the matter with you? You keep coming in here singing, you keep coming in here smiling. We would like for you not to smile so much. Have you ever met people who smile too much?

Well friends I want you to know that we have the opportunity to give a defense of what we want. believe and that as we do it we do it with gentleness and respect we don’t grab people and drag them down to the altar and we don’t push and argue with people to get to the cross you know I want you to know that in all my witnessing and trying to help people come to Jesus I never led anybody to Christ because I won the argument now I have won some arguments I have won a few arguments but it didn’t help the cause it helped my pride to swell because I knew the answers to these difficult questions that they would come up with but what I have learned is when you are gentle with people and you respect people that they will listen to your message if your life is consistent with your message and that if you choose to walk in a way that honors Christ the Spirit will empower us that we may be able to share Christ with others the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians In chapter two,

verse four, that his speech and his preaching were not with persuasive words or of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of the power. I tell you friends, it is not gonna be your eloquence and your ability to reason or debate that is gonna make you an effective witness for Christ.

It is gonna be your submission and your yieldedness to the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And that as he feels you, you will sometimes say things that you cannot believe came out of your mouth. And you say, I didn’t even know that I knew that.

But that’s the power of the Spirit of God. He can work, there are times I preach and say things and people say, Pastor, thank you for saying that. And I say, what did I say? And they say, Pastor, you said this.

And I said, really? Boy, I didn’t know it was that good. And you know, I’m just telling you that’s the power of the Spirit of God is that he can give us wisdom and he can give us thoughts and words that we might say to others to help them through a crisis, to help them in a challenge in their life, to continue to guide them through the trials and to help them to see that Christ is the answer.

It is sad that many Christians never confront their friends, their families, their coworkers, their neighbors, even strangers with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul asked the Ephesian believers to pray for him.

And as he asked them to pray for him, he said, he didn’t ask them to pray for his physical health. But he said to them in chapter six, verse 19 of Ephesians, as for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

One of the things we should pray for each other is that God would help us as believers to speak boldly for him in these days. The gospel is commanded to… be preached to all. It is commanded that we share this faith to all people, to every person, and you and I have that responsibility.

Now the second thing I want you to note about the nature of soul winning is that soul winning is really from the Father. Look at verse 26. The Bible says that when the Comforter has come, whom I will say unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father.

Did you see that? Twice, Jesus said in the text, sent unto you from the Father, proceedeth from the Father. He’s talking about the Spirit of God. He is referred to in the King James translation as Comforter.

Other translations have it translated as Helper or Advocate. It is the same Greek word which simply means pericalitas, and it is the idea of a legal assistant. someone who is pleading your case, someone who is coming alongside of you to help you.

The very effort and the very power of being able to be effective of sharing Christ with others comes from the Comforter. It comes from the Father through the Comforter to each and every one of us. The Bible teaches us that this is an important word, that the Spirit of God lives in us and He dwells in us and He is our Comforter, He is our Advocate and He is our Helper.

We see four times that Jesus uses this. Just take your Bible and go back to chapter 14, just one page hopefully for you. And verse 16, Jesus takes His disciples through a process of coming to the realization that the Spirit of God is going to come in His absence and His ascension and live inside of all believers.

Verse 16, chapter 14, I’ll pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter or Pericletas that He may abide with you forever. The disciples, they’re worried Jesus is leaving them. They’re worried Jesus is going to be gone.

But Jesus said, it’s necessary that I leave and I will pray that the Father will send the Comforter, the Pericletas, the Helper to live in you and to dwell with you that His presence may be with you.

Look at verse 26 of the same chapter. But the Comforter or the Pericletas, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, He shall what? Teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.

It’s a twofold promise, a promise to the apostles that they would reme- what Christ taught them they would remember his words they would write those words down in the Gospels that we have that they would remember the parables that Jesus taught but a promise also for us that the Spirit of God will not leave us to where we are helpless or that we are orphans or we have no direction we have no guidance he will not leave us he’s often referred to as the counselor the Spirit of God the Pericletas and he will not leave us but rather teach us and he will help us and he will guide us and he will bring all things to our remembrance this is what the Spirit of God does in us again we jump to chapter 15 where we were just at in verse 26 the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the father we go to chapter 16 verse 7 nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away,

for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. The Father has sent the Son. And Jesus gave his life, and upon his resurrection, he ascended into heaven after 40 days upon this earth.

And upon his ascension, 40 days later, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God would fall upon the disciples. And now, at this point, and you and I are living, as we believe in Christ, the Spirit of God lives inside of us.

He comforts us, he challenges us, he convicts us, he changes us, he guides us, he encourages us. The Spirit of God lives in all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father sent the Son, and the Father sent the Spirit.

The Son’s mission was to pay the penalty of sin. The Spirit’s mission is to empower and enable the believers to carry out the mission of reaching the world for Jesus Christ. In this text, verse 26, we learn that he is not only called the comforter, but he is called the Spirit of Truth.

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. How does this relate to us? As we take the gospel to people who are hostile, as we take the gospel to people who disagree with us, as we take the gospel to a community and a culture that is so different from us, the Spirit of Truth will reveal all spiritual truth to people.

The spirit of truth will illuminate the mind. I have to tell you again, and I can only share from my own experience, but I know this to be true in each one of you as well, but that when I came to Christ, I did not know anything about Jesus nor the Bible, but yet immediately upon hearing the gospel, the spirit of God opened my mind and my heart and my truth to fully understand at the age of 11 that Jesus Christ died for me.

I was a sinner in need of a savior, and the spirit of God wooed me and drew me to Him. As we go out to win souls for Christ, we must be willing to go, but as we go, let us go in the power of the spirit because He is not only the helper and advocate and comforter as we go out there, but He is the one who is the spirit of truth.

and he will illuminate the minds and he will reveal to the hearts the truth and you see my friends people will either respond receptively or they will reject the gospel of Jesus Christ but the Spirit of God will reveal the truth he will open their eyes that they might see the truth every person must make their decision they must respond to God but it will not be because of our failures that they have not come to Christ it will not be because of the failure of the Spirit to illuminate their minds but their choice to reject the gospel but he is the Spirit of truth revealing to the world that they are sinners and Jesus is the true Savior and Messiah so I tell you this it will not be your knowledge of apologetics that convinces people to come to Christ and it will not be your charismatic personality it will not be your winsome words but it will be the power of the Spirit of truth that illuminates the minds of Jesus Christ and this is why friends that I can be up here preaching about something that has nothing to do with salvation and may have something to do with something else that the Bible teaches on and yet somebody will come to Christ because the Spirit of God works in this way in that John reminds us in John chapter 3 that the Spirit is like a wind and it blows wherever it likes meaning that within the sovereign will of God the Spirit of God blows into people’s lives and the wind moves into different hearts and into different minds and the receptivity and the understanding and the response is in relation and correlation to the the power of the Spirit of God in their life.

The third thing I want you to learn this morning about the nature of soul winning is that soul winning is about the Son. Now you’ll note in verse 26, this last phrase, He referring to the Spirit of truth.

He shall testify of me. The witness of the Spirit is always about Jesus. The witness of man is always secondary to the witness of the Holy Spirit. Now again, people get this reaching out and evangelism thing backwards.

They sometimes think it’s based upon the methodology of the preacher, or the methodology of the program, or it’s on the methodology or the style of the music or the order of service. And they think this is what and how people come to Christ.

But I tell you, my friends. that it is the spirit of truth. It is the comforter who works in us, through us, and around us. And that we’re just kind of like along for the ride as we yield our life. And as we surrender to follow Him, we get to be a part of this great redemptive story of helping people define Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

But when the spirit of God testifies, it is always about the Son. The spirit of God does not bring attention to Himself. The spirit of God does not bring attention to people. The spirit of God does not bring attention to other things that are going on.

But the spirit of God brings attention to Jesus Christ. And as we try to discern what is right and what is wrong, what is truth and what is false, what is real and what is fake, we must always remember that anything within the circles of faith, religion, salvation, church, preachers, teachers, anybody who brings attention to self cannot be truly testifying by the power of the spirit.

For everyone who testifies by the power of the spirit will always testify and witness to Jesus Christ. It will always be about Jesus. But I want you to understand where Mike is coming from. But I am bound to the Bible.

So when we sing songs, songs that are man -centered, songs that exalt self, songs that talk about self, even though they have good rhythm and good instruments, I just am not interested in them being sung in our church.

Because I feel… I feel like I have one mission when I walk in here. It is to exalt Jesus Christ. And Jesus gave me a promise that if he be lifted up, he would draw all men to him. Now I’m not criticizing you as Christians for listening to music that maybe is a little man -centered.

I mean, I listen to secular music too, so don’t think that Pastor Mike is walking around and singing How Great Thou Are 24 -7. Be honest with you, I don’t, okay? I’m just being honest with you, but when it comes here in my setting of exalting Christ in the worship service, the songs, the sermon, the worship, every aspect of the service has to be about Jesus, and if it’s not, I’m gonna huddle with the staff and say,

we gotta make changes, we gotta do it better. It’s got to be about Christ. What’s wrong with Pastor Mike? Why would he want the grass mowed before Sunday? Why does he want the bushes trimmed? Why is he so difficult about the lights working every Sunday?

Because I don’t want anything to draw attention away from Jesus Christ. I want that as we gather in this building, I don’t want visitors to come and say, man, these people don’t even mow the lawn. And these people can’t even take care of the bushes.

How much could they ever take care of our souls? I want them to walk in and everything to be about Christ and everything to be about Jesus because I am convinced that if he be lifted up, he will draw all men unto him.

And so this is my methodology. This is my philosophy about reaching people for Christ. And that’s what I want you to know, that the Spirit testifies of the Son about Jesus. And the Bible says that the mission of the paraclete, the mission of the comforter, the mission of the advocate and the mission of the helper is to testify of Christ.

And that should be our mission every day. This is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2 -2, I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucify. The atoning work of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of each one of us this morning.

He finished his work, he paid for our sins on the cross. My job is to simply proclaim that message where there’ll be people who don’t like it, where there’ll be people who disagree with it, where there’ll be people who say Mike is narrow -minded and Mike needs to catch up with the test.

and he needs to have a broader thought pattern. I’m sure there is and are people who say that. But I am riveted on the one truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins and I preach unto you church, Jesus Christ and him crucified.

That’s it, that’s the only message I have. You don’t wanna hear me preach on 10 ways to mow your lawn better because I’m not a good mower. You don’t want me to preach on how you can do this or that better.

You want to hear about Jesus when you come to church. The message, now get this, the message of the church is not political activism. It is not political activism and I love our country. But you don’t need Mike to reiterate Fox News to you every Sunday.

But that’s not my goal here. I do have political opinions. As I told Dr. Dino Padron, every one of my political predictions has never come true. Don’t ever believe anything I got to say about politics.

The message of the church, now I want to go further here, is not social reform. The message of the church is not even behavioral modification. The message of the church is Jesus Christ. My final point, and I know you’re very happy.

And the only reason I have four points is because the text has it. But soul winning is through believers. Again, look again at verse 27. You shall bear witnesses. I told you that the witness of man is secondary to the witness of the Spirit.

We join God where He’s working. The Spirit works on hearts. The Spirit is drawing people to Him. And then He puts those people in your path. And so we’re called to bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.

The phrase you have been with me from the beginning is simply an understanding that the apostles were eyewitnesses to the ministry, the miracles of Jesus Christ. And through the operation of the Spirit of God, they would provide the authoritative foundational witness to the inception of the church.

They have been with Christ. When Judas betrayed Jesus, the qualifications to replace him had to be someone who had walked with Christ, was a witness to His ministry and His miracles. And so we understand that.

But yet this phrase, you shall bear witness. It could be translated, you are witness. to witness Meaning the idea of the phrase is in the imperative mode in that it is that God is commanding and telling us You will witness This is what he has called us to do you will witness and so believers are the final link in the chain of soul -winning in that from the father to the son to the Spirit to To us and We are called to take it to the lost This is what God has called me to do Romans 10 14 says how then shall they call on him?

Meaning the world and whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him and whom they have not heard and how Shall they hear without a preacher? You say pastor we got a preacher, but see he’s not just talking about pastor Mike.

He’s talking about you He’s talking about you proclaiming the gospel. God has chosen his people each one of you as a means to reach the lost. And again the scripture says we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us.

Now get that in your mind that God is pleading to your family. He is pleading to your friends and he is pleading to your co -workers and your neighbors and your strangers that you bump into and you say why do these crazy people come into my life?

Because he is pleading to them through you. And what is he pleading? He is pleading be reconciled to God. You my friend are a special minister. You my friend are a special person to minister to someone this week the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I leave you with the encouragement of soul winners from the past. Matthew Henry said I would thank it greater happiness to gain one soul to Christ than mountains of silver and gold to myself. C .H. Spurgeon said I would rather be the means of saving one soul from death than to be the greatest orator on earth.

Well we know that God has called us to bear witness of Christ to the loss and this is clearly taught. And the only way our witnessing can be effective is through the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is the one that helps us to confront the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We could never do it in our own strength but we are thankful that the Spirit of God encourages us and empowers us that we can do the work of sharing Christ with others. Now, I want to let you know that we are putting out some podcasts now at Hope Worth Having.

So you can go to our website at hopeworthhaving .com and check us out. We got some podcasts there and we would like for you to listen to some of those podcasts because they are syncing up with some of the things that we’re broadcasting.

But also just kind of aligning a lot of the message that God is giving us as we study his word. And it’s a great way, I know sometimes I’ll be listening while I’m exercising, hitting that treadmill or whatever it takes to try to be healthy, right?

But we know that we can be doing some house cleaning or we can be doing some work around the yard. And just to have some encouragement not only helps us stay motivated, but it helps our spirit to be strong and our faith to be rooted in the truth.

So take advantage of our podcasts that are on our website at hopeworthhaving .com. This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you, in Christ there is hope worth having.