Winning Souls is Wise

Winning Souls is Wise

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”(Proverbs 11:30)

Few things can compare with the joy on the face of someone who has recently come to Christ and had their sins forgiven (as exemplified by the girl in the picture above).

Multiply that a hundred times if you happen to be the one who has explained the Gospel to them and led them to Christ.

I have learned I don’t have to be clever to be the instrument in God’s hand to bring someone to Christ. All I have to do is explain the Gospel to them with clarity and compassion. It is not I who performs the miracle. The miracle lies in the message of the Gospel itself:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it [the] righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous [man] shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16 – NASB)

The Gospel is the power of God; not in you, or me, or the gifted preacher. So long as the Gospel is presented clearly and with loving intent, the Holy Spirit will apply it to each individual. If the individual is receptive to the truth, the miracle of salvation will take place. Our part is simply to be faithful by explain it in terms that person can understand.

Yet the Scripture tells us the soul-winner is wise. What makes the soul-winner wise?

• The soul-winner is wise when he or she actually gets out there to share the Gospel. They don’t make the excuse they are not gifted in that way, or it is not their “thing,” as I have heard some declare.

• The soul-winner is wise to realize God has called every follower of Christ to share the Gospel, not just a chosen few.

• The soul-winner is wise in recognizing the power to win souls is inherent in the Gospel message; he is confident the Gospel seed will do its own work. All he needs to do is scatter it and the Holy Spirit will a apply it to those who here it.

• The soul-winner is wise to know that prayer is the indispensable companion to spreading of the Gospel. He does not depend upon a “method” alone, but uses prayer to prepare the ground for sowing, and to water the seed for growing.

The question is, “How wise are you? How wise am I? Are we actually getting out there to declare the Good News. If we are, know that God counts us among the wise.

The Wise Man

(13th July 1992)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”(Proverbs 11:30)

He that winneth souls is wiser

Than all the wisdom known

And in the previous ages,

The winds of time have flown.

The wisdom of the ancients,

Well gathered over time,

Can’t approach the brilliance

Of a poor soul-winner’s mind.

For the simple soul that hungers

To do the Father’s will,

And seeks to bring lost sinners

To the foot of Calvary’s hill:

The Spirit of God grants insight

Into the ways of men

That far transcends the genius

Of the famed with brush or pen.

Now the wisdom of the ancients

May well accomplish much;

If applied with zeal and rigor,

Could achieve the expert’s touch.

But the man who’s set on serving

His Lord and also others,

Is a man who’s always making

His foes into his brothers.

Bring your prize if you’ve a mind to:

Won in the halls of fame,

Or in a great place of learning

Of prestigious name.

And I will bring a soul-winner,

Whom the world will not applaud,

But who’s won the sweet approval

Of Jesus Christ his Lord.

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Camp Worship by Paul M. Walsh. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this link. We have made no changes to this photograph. Lacey Johnson, 9, left, and Jasmine Anderson, 9, right, and Jaimie Brown, 10, in the center background, weep and raise their hands, after listening to a gospel presentation by Jason Mansur, a children’s minister from Harvestime Church of Eau Claire, Wis., while at the Assembly Park Bible Camp, in Lake Nebagmon, Wis., on Monday, July 30, 2007. Anderson said that she wanted to “grow closer

Bicycles and Boys

 

 

Bicycles and Boys

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29 – KJV)

As a boy I had frequent trouble with my bicycle chain detaching itself from the gears and thus stopping my progress.

I am not sure if I did not have the tension right, or if I hadn’t tightened some nut sufficiently. Whatever the cause my chain had this habit of coming off when I was going up a hill, or when I needed to get to my destination urgently.

One thing I learned as a boy with a bicycle: the chain had to be firmly connected to the gears for the bicycle to perform as it was designed to do.

Jesus said the Pharisees had a similar problem: There was no connection between their knowledge of Scripture and the power of God.  They could quote the Scriptures, but they had no experience of the power God could communicate through them. The chain of Scripture was disconnected to the power God was willing to give them.

The Pharisees were acquainted with Scriptures; they had known them almost from their cradles. They had so mixed them up with tradition, however, that they no longer recognized the Truth when they were brought face to face with it. Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

It is possible to be well acquainted with the Bible without not really understand what it is saying. You can know it intellectually, but never encounter God’s transforming power while reading it.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me… (John 5:39 – NASB)

The Pharisees searched the Scriptures, yet failed to recognize the One sent to save them.

We need to know the Scriptures in spirit and in truth before God’s power will be released into our lives.

Knowing the Scriptures

(A Sonnet)

(© Friday 6^th June 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)

 

God’s Word is not to be taken lightly;

It’s not just intended to fill the mind.

Its power and light can shine more brightly

On the heart and cause it to seek – and find.

Don’t be content with knowledge of Scripture,

As if just the knowing is enough to please;

Diligently search till it actually grips you,

And the mind that’s blinded can say it sees.

Treasures of Scripture will not be revealed

To those just wanting to tickle the mind;

God will say quickly, “Now rise and be healed!”

To earnest souls who just seek till they find.

Search the Scriptures till you really know them;

Your heart and your mind will really – glow then.

 

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Picture by Joanne Shennan – used with permission.