4 Commands of Jesus Christ (The Great Commission)
1. Go - A very direct command, especially used by commanding athletes to begin the race or match.
2. Teach (Preach in Mark 16:15) - Preach the good news to the unsaved; making them know the way to salvation.
3. Baptize - invite them to be part of God’s family and to testify to all about God’s goodness; make them accept Christ Jesus as their personal God and Saviour.
4. Teach - equip the new believer to GO, TEACH, and BAPTIZE.
The beautiful feet of a soulwinner
Rom 10:16 states “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” The very first thing that is being cleansed is the very thing that is being used for God’s glory.
Note the first command of Jesus - GO. Every athlete knows that their feet are the first to go bad rather than any part of the body. Note that most athlete rely on their feet to win. If the feet are bad the whole body falls apart.
The army values the feet more than any part of the body. Boot camp inspection starts with the feet first. Why? Because the most important thing in the army is the feet.
In swimming, what part of the body cramps first? The feet, why? The body relies too much on one’s feet to float. Stop paddling your feet and you begin to drown.
In martial arts, most of the movements rely on footwork rather than body work. Good defensive and offensive maneuvers rely on good footwork. Even in boxing, good footwork determines the winner. Take for example, Manny Pacquiao; he defeated all his big and tough opponents with his lateral movement; and when you say lateral movement it means a lot of good footwork. Remove the footwork of boxers and you will watch a match of brawns rather than brains.
The Virus called “COLD”
Ever tried to sleep in a cold night with a blanket wrapped around you? Most people instead of covering their bodies cover their feet instead. The reason behind it is that the feet get cold first before the whole body. That is why the US Army is spending more on good-quality boots for their soldiers to help protect the feet from water (to stop from getting cold). Physically, it is our feet that get cold first.
Spiritual cold is also absorbed by the feet first. Notice that most Christians that backslide begin to grow cold in their “feet-ministry” (to GO). They began to skip prayer meetings and began to make excuses for their absences. They began to stop their witnessing (testimony) and began to develop shyness. They began to stay away from visitations and began to be busy on other matters (that doesn’t require much attention). They began to deny the calling of God and began to develop self-pity and self-condemnation (just an excuse for their selfishness). All these things are the cause of the virus called COLD that attacks our feet.
Clean Feet
Before you go to sleep, what part of the body do you clean first? The feet, of course. The feet are the one’s getting dirty first. In Japan, before you enter a house you have to remove your shoes and if you’re barefooted you have to wash your feet (not your hands or face). That is one reason why Japanese homes are clean and neat.
Thus, cleaning one’s feet is of prime importance to a sanitary way of living. If your feet are dirty, you feel dirty all over. If your feet are clean, you feel clean all over. If your feet are cold, you are cold all over. And if your feet are warm, you are warm all over.
Spiritual dirt begins at the feet first.
· Disguising feet - This is the kind of Christian feet that never goes to any place that glorifies God but to places that serves the flesh. These are the feet that go to church on Sundays but go to their wants for the rest of the week.
· Invalidating feet - This is the kind of Christian feet that goes to house visitations (and other church activities) and starts to make arguments just to prove him right and everyone else wrong.
· Rebelling feet - This is the kind of Christian feet that never honors the man of God or the word of God.
· Two-faced feet - This is the kind of Christian feet that backbites; the kind of feet that is called “balimbing” in Tagalog; the kind of feet that supports not the man of authority but the man of power.
The Beauty that is Soul Winning
A pastor have asked me once (after presenting some evangelism techniques using cards and the like), “Pastor, why are you teaching so much on evangelism? What is the big deal on soul winning?” It was a great surprise for me that a fellow minister would ask such questions. The answer to his questions is quite simple: it was commissioned by Jesus Christ.
The Benefits of Soul Winning
The basic secret to solve all the problems in the church
· Lukewarm church - Newly won souls confesses their faith in Christ more than matured Christians. Confessions of faith strengthen the faith of others and tend to drive them to evangelism.
· Falling church (church that lacks wisdom) - Prov. 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Most churches tend to look for leaders who are business wise, talented and skilled. But from the verse above, God gives extra wisdom to those who win souls. As Dr. Jack Hyles might put it, “I would rather have a soul-winning ignoramus run the business of my church than a group of big shots who won't come to prayer meeting on Wednesday night.”
The basic secret to solve problems in the church and in our homes
· Financial difficulties - “If you have trouble raising your money, just get some sinners converted. When Jesus wanted some money, what did He do? He caught a fish with money in its mouth (Matt. 17:27). The same is true if you will get busy about soul winning. Now if you have a little trouble in the church, go soul winning.” - SOUL WINNING by Dr. Jack Hyles.
· Emotional difficulties - Problem with most Christians is that the reason for every misunderstanding lies on their different viewpoints. Stick to the vision that Jesus had given - the vision of soul winning - and note that even though there are different viewpoints you begin to understand one another. John 15:16 - states that Jesus had chosen us. To do what? To win souls. Why? Soul winning makes us love one another (v. 17). Thus, soul winning is the core of it all.
Brethren, the reason we are here today is not to parade ourselves to the congregation but to show our brethren the faith that is in us. You didn’t choose Jesus. He had chosen you, the Lord is speaking directly to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, to GO, PREACH, BAPTIZE, and TEACH. If you are doubting yourself and your abilities consider this testimony and distinguish yourself:
There was a fellow in Texas who, when he got converted, couldn't even spell Jesus. The first year he won 169 (souls) to Jesus. (One time) he picked up a hitchhiker and tried to witness to him. The hitchhiker shook his head. He then talked real loud, but the hitchhiker pointed to his ears and shook his head. So this new convert started writing the Gospel out and the hitchhiker pointed down xand shook his head. He couldn't read, he couldn't hear, he couldn't talk. So this soul winner, who went to the third grade and couldn't even spell Jesus, stopped the car and got out, took his Bible, pointed to the Bible, pointed to his heart, pointed to Heaven, made a motion to open your heart and let Him come in, got on his knees and began to pray. The deaf and dumb fellow got on his knees and mumbled a bit, got up with a smile of Heaven on his face, pointed to the Bible, pointed to Heaven and pointed to his heart. - Dr. Jack Hyles (Italics-mine)
Whoever you are, whatever you do God will use you for “the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few (Matt 9:37)”. If anybody can do it, you can, too. For you are not just anybody to God and this world but you are somebody to Him and He has chosen you. This is your chance, a chance that will change not only your life but the lives of the souls you will win for Christ.
The Soul-Winning Church
By Ptr. J Balao