"HE THAT WINNETH SOULS IS WISE"

By David J. Riggs

Intro.
   A. The mission of Jesus Christ is the mission of the church.
      1. The Lord's primary mission in the world is clearly stated in
         Luke 19:10.
      2. Soul-winning is therefore the real work of the church--for
         the church is Christ's spiritual body--carrying forward the
         great work which He Himself began while here in the flesh.
      3. When a congregation stops winning souls, it loses the
         primary purpose for existence.
   B. I am persuaded that many Christians today have misplaced values
      in regard to personal work.
      1. They see no need and have no sense of urgency about it.
      2. Some preachers are not very enthused about it. They seem to
         be more interested in much "book learning" or "book
         writing," than in winning souls. (Consider 1 Cor. 8:1; Eccl.
         12:12).
   C. The wise man said--Prov. 11:30.
      1. To this Daniel added--Dan. 12:3.
      2. Saving souls is the greatest work that can be done, and all
         Christians should give much time and attention to it.
         a. No greater or more enduring work can be undertaken.

I. THE NECESSITY AND URGENCY OF PERSONAL WORK.
   A. It is necessary and urgent because the harvest is plenteous.   
      Matt. 9:37-38; John 4:35
      1. We get things in reverse today, thinking that we have plenty
         of teachers but no listeners, but Jesus said that the        
         harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few.
      2. Some have a bad attitude concerning personal work. They
         are too quick to say, "It won't do any good," or "No one is
         interested."
         a. Two salesmen in the late 1800's were sent from this
            country on separate missions to Africa to view the
            possibilities of selling shoes. One salesman wrote back
            to the company and said that the prospects for selling
            shoes in that country was absolutely no good because
            everyone went barefoot. The other salesman wrote back
            and said that the prospects for selling shoes there was
            fantastic because everyone needed shoes. How is your
            attitude toward personal work?
   B. Because it is the greatest work ever.
      1. There is no other task that compares with it in importance.
      2. This is seen in the worth of a soul. If one owned all the   
         rich oil fields, all the giant skyscrapers, all the large   
         ships, all the factories, all the silver and gold, all the  
         land, all the livestock, all the buildings, and all the     
         houses, it would not equal the value of one soul. Matt.     
         16:26
         a. It is made in the image of God. Gen. 1:26-28
         b. It's value is seen in what it cost to redeem it. 1 Pet.
            1:18-19
      3. Winning souls is more important than feeding the hungry,
         sheltering the homeless, or providing health care for the   
         sick.
         a. If we knew a bridge was out, would we not try to stop
            cars from plunging over into the river? Why not then try
            to keep souls from plunging over into eternal torment?
   C. It is necessary and urgent because God's plan of salvation
      demands it.
      1. Disciples are the vessels through which the gospel is to be
         carried to the lost. Rom. 10:14; 1 Cor. 1:21
      2. Only the gospel will save men. Rom. 1:16  It is not "a"
         power, but "the" power--the only one.
      3. People must hear and learn in order to come to Jesus. John
         6:45
      4. Christians are God's chosen instruments by which His word
         is taught, and we need to do our very best in this important
         task.
   D. God's work of the church requires it.
      1. It is the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Tim. 3:14-15
         a. It upholds, defends and proclaims the truth.
      2. Churches are light-bearers. Rev. 1:20
         a. A woman of the liberal persuasion said, "I'm too busy in
            church work to do personal work."  This is the sign of
            the times. Many are so wrapped up in social activities,
            committees, etc., that they have lost sight of the true
            mission of the church.
         b. Winning souls is the real work of the church and we
            need to continue to put much stress on it.
   E. God's commands to the individual Christian demands it.
      1. Phil. 2:15-16; 1 Pet. 3:15
      2. All Christians have the responsibility to warn. 1 Thess.    
         5:14; Ezek. 3:18-19
      3. Responsibility is placed on each of us in the great
         commission. Matt. 28:19
         a. "Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
            you." I have commanded you to go; teach them to do
            likewise. 2 Tim. 2:2
      4. All should be teachers. Heb. 5:12
         a. Some members of the church say, "I don't have the
            ability" and thus excuse themselves from all
            responsibility in the matter.
         b. All do not have the ability, nor the knowledge, to be
            public teachers; however, all can do personal work in
            their own way in their own surroundings.
            (1) We all can teach our children, friends, relatives,   
                and neighbors.
      5. Luke 14:23 -- "compel" denotes to put constraint upon, to
         constrain, whether by threat, entreaty, force, or
         persuasion..." (Vine, p. 219). 2 Cor. 5:11
         a. "When in the better land before the bar we stand, how
            deeply grieved our souls will be, if any lost one there,
            should cry in deep despair; you never mentioned him to
            me. You helped me not the light to see, you met me day
            by day, you knew I was astray; yet, you never
            mentioned him to me."
   F. The example of the Lord, and of the early Christians, demands  
      it.
      1. To be like Christ.
         a. From the beginning of His ministry and onward he gave
            Himself completely to the preaching of the Word.  John
            9:4  We need to follow in His steps.
      2. To follow the example of the early Christians. Acts 5:42;
         8:1-4; 11:19-21; 1 Thess. 1:8
         a. We need their zeal.
         b. The reason we are not reaching many for Christ today is
            because we have too many who would not skip one
            meal or miss a little sleep in order to teach someone.

II. OVERCOMING HINDRANCES TO PERSONAL WORK.
   A. We must overcome fear.
      1. One of the foremost hindrances for the average member of
         the church in doing personal work is fear.
      2. The thought of telling someone about the necessary things
         for the soul frightens them. They reason, "What if I should
         make a mistake or say the wrong thing?"
         a. Learning how to ride a bicycle, or driving a car can be
            very fearful to the inexperienced.
         b. Likewise, we can learn to do personal work just as we
            learn to do other things. Learning takes the fear out of
            it.
   B. We need to grow in knowledge.
      1. We must study. 2 Tim. 2:15
         a. The woodsmen who sharpens his ax is not wasting his
            time. We must sharpen our perception of the Word of
            God.
      2. No one can develop his faculties and abilities, and become
         efficient at any work, without diligent effort.
         a. We must spend many hours with the Book and develop
            a good working knowledge of it.
      3. Some want to be teachers, but don't know the truth. 1 Tim.
         1:7
         a. Some show great diligence, but convert people to their
            same falsehoods. Matt. 23:15
         b. What could be more pathetic or terrible than to spend
            endless hours and effort to convert someone and thereby
            only lead him to hell?
   C. We must gain the experience.
      1. If you want to know how to do personal work, go with
         someone who does know how.
         a. Experience takes the fear out of it. We learn best by
            doing; experience gives confidence.
      2. Personal work builds teachers.
         a. In trying to teach others, you will automatically grow.
         b. As you go out and work, you will need to study as
            never before.  People will ask questions and make
            arguments that will cause you to study.
         c. Try to teach others what you know now, and you will
            soon learn more.
   D. We need to become skilled teachers.
      1. We should seek to know what and how to answer everyone.
         Col. 4:6
      2. We should do things to increase our skills.
         a. Read books on personal work, i.e., Hailey's "Let's go
            fishing for men."
         b. Books on salesmanship will help. Some of the best
            personal workers are those who were former salesmen.
         c. Avoid unprofitable discussion. 2 Tim. 2:23
         d. Avoid being arrogant and argumentative. The manner in
            which we go about teaching someone is important. 2
            Tim. 2:24-25
      3. In short, we should be extremely wise, humble, and kind.
         Matt. 10:16
   E. We must put down laziness and indifference toward personal
      work.
      1. We have many skilled laborers who are not doing the work.
      2. Most of us are too busy with other things. We need to get
         our priorities straight. We need to carefully evaluate how  
         we are using our time. We need to arrange time for personal
         work; it is more important than all else.
      3. We will not succeed if we don't try.
         a. In baseball, the batter will not hit unless he swings.
         b. In basketball, the player will not score unless he       
            shoots.
         c. We need to be out doing the work and we will succeed.
      4. Consistency is the key to success.
         a. We often get fired up for a time and then cool down and
            quit.
         b. We need to be diligent always, even when we seem to
            be having no success. 2 Tim 4:2
         c. We need to be always ready and alert to every
            opportunity. 1 Pet. 3:15

Concl.
   A. All of us need to be busy doing the most important work in
      life--winning souls.
      1. As someone said, "Everyone wants to tell you how to do
         personal work, but no one wants to do it.
   B. Let us all be workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
      1. The fields are white unto harvest; let us come rejoicing,
         bringing in the sheaves.