Faithful in Evangelism

What's the wisest thing we as Christians can do to honor God?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Do you consider yourself a wise person? Or let me put it another way. Does God consider you a wise person?

I want to tell you something very frankly. If you are not endeavoring to win souls, you sir, you lady, are not wise. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 30, he that winneth souls is wise. Did that get into your heart? He that winneth souls is wise. Why is this truth?

Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the dynamic teaching and insights of Adrian Rogers. The wisest thing we could do in the eyes of God is to remain faithful in evangelism. Our souls are of great worth.

Every soul has the potential to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ or to stray further and further from him. That's why the Lord has commanded us to win souls for his glory. Psalm 126 reveals the soul winner's promise. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers reveals how to be faithful in evangelism. You take God's word and find Psalm 126. Psalm 126. We're going to look in verses five and six.

Psalm 126 verses five and six. Here's one of the great promises in the Word of God. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. That is the soul winner's promise. Do you consider yourself a wise person?

Or let me put it another way. Does God consider you a wise person? I want to tell you something very frankly. If you are not endeavoring to win souls, you sir, you lady, are not wise. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 30, he that winneth souls is wise. He that winneth souls is wise. Hey, did that get into your heart?

May I say it again? He that winneth souls is wise. Why is this true? First of all, because of the great worth of a soul. It doesn't say if you get wealthy, you're wise. It says he that winneth souls is wise. Jesus, when he spoke of the great worth of a soul, said what should it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

And what was he saying there? That one soul is worth more than all the world, all the stocks, the bonds, the rubies, the diamonds, the banks, the schools, the sports emporiums put together. One soul. Why is a soul so valuable? Well, what makes anything valuable? First of all, is it desirable? Does someone want it?

Well, you say, how can we tell whether someone wants something? The price, they'll pay for it. Any appraiser will tell you that in making an appraisal of a piece of property, the prime question is, what is someone willing to pay for it?

Isn't that true? What is someone willing to pay for it? What was the Lord Jesus willing to pay for you?

1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19, for as much as you know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb without blemish and without spot, Jesus with His blood in agony and blood died upon that cross, because that's how much He valued a soul. A soul is valuable not only because of desirability, but it's valuable because of durability. What is going to last forever?

These buildings are not going to last forever. The clothes you wear are going to disintegrate. Your gold and silver will turn to canker. What will last forever? A soul. When God made the human soul, God made it in His own image, and your soul could never cease to exist any more than God could cease to exist. Your soul will go on endless, timeless, dateless, measureless. When the sun, moon, and stars have grown cold, your soul will still be in existence. There was a time when you were not.

There never will be a time when you are not. Your soul will exist forever, either in heaven or in hell. You say, do you believe in everlasting punishment in hell?

Indeed I do. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 10, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The beast and the false prophet are human beings who will be tormented day and night forever and ever. You see, desirability, durability, I'll tell you another thing that makes a soul so valuable, it's possibility.

Possibility. What your soul can become. Occupying the seat that you're in this morning are really three persons. You say, well, no wonder it's so crowded.

There are three persons there. There's the person you are now. There's the person you could be and will be if you give your heart to Jesus Christ ultimately.

And there is the person of vileness and wickedness that you will ultimately be if you turn from the Lord Jesus Christ. The person sitting next to you is the most sacred thing you will ever see on this earth apart from the face of Jesus when He comes. The person sitting next to you is the most sacred thing you will ever see. There's nothing more sacred than a soul made in the image and the likeness of God.

Think that that person next to you has the potential of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and the horrible potential of spending an eternity in the very pits of hell. You're wise to win a soul because of the value of a soul. You're wise to win a soul because of the command of Christ. You see, soul winning is a command of our Lord.

It is not a suggestion. It is a command. Matthew 28 verse 18, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

The word power literally means authority. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. And you can put all of the Bible into two words, come and go. Come to Jesus and then go tell others.

That's what it is. He that winneth souls is wise. Now go back to the verse that we read and we're going to look today at the soul winner's promise. And there are four things I want you to see in this passage of Scripture. First of all, I want you to see what I'm going to call the soul winner's program. In verse 6, He that goeth forth. He that goeth forth. You'll never be a soul winner until you get at it, until you go forth.

Nothing will take the place of going. You say, Well, I don't necessarily go out to be a soul winner, but I do want to live a good life so people will see my life and come to Jesus. Hey, I've got news for you. They're not saved by your life, but by His death. And if you do not tell them how you live the life that you live, you're taking praise under false pretenses.

You'll never be a soul winner until you start. Put this verse in the margin. Mark 16, verse 15. And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And when He gave the great commission, He said, Go and make disciples.

It literally means as you go. Now here's the second thing I want you to see. It is the soul winner's passion.

Look at it again. He that goeth forth, and what is that next word? And weepeth. Back up to verse 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Do you know what is wrong today?

We have lost our passion. Look around you and see the confusion, the heartache, the despair, the marching, milling multitudes who do not know. Your heart will be moved with compassion.

Third thing I want you to see. Not only the soul winner's program and the soul winner's passion, but the soul winner's power. Where is the power? Look in verse 6. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed. What is that seed? The seed is the word of God. In the parable of the sower, Jesus plainly said, The seed is the word.

And there's power in that seed. Hebrews 4 verse 12 says, For the word of God is quick and powerful. The word quick is the word zoan. The word powerful is the word inergis.

Zoan is the word we get our word zoo from or life or zoology. There's life in a seed. And because there's life in a seed, there is incredible power. The word of God is quick and powerful. And that is the power that the soul winner has. There is power in the word of God. I have preached it long enough to know that if you keep scattering the seed, it will sprout and give life. And sometimes the hardest heart will crack.

I've seen people come in here with hearts like concrete with steel bands around them. I've seen the word of God get in. Just a little seed. Just a seed. Oh, the soul winner's power. There's power in the word of God.

But now listen. What good is a seed if you don't sow it? It is not what you know it is what you sow that counts. It is not what you know. It is what you sow that counts.

You are to know it in the head. Stow it in the heart and sow it in the world. That is the soul winner's power. You only reap if you sow. Galatians chapter 6 verse 7. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

If you want people to believe, you've got to give them something to believe. The power is in the seed. The power is in the seed. There's the soul winner's program, he that goeth forth. There's the soul winner's passion and weepeth. There's the soul winner's power and beareth precious seed. Now I want you to see the soul winner's promise. What is the soul winner's promise? Look again in verse 6. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed. Here's the promise. Are you ready for it? Shall doubtless... underscore the word doubtless...doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Friend, you shall and doubtless have results. Now that doesn't mean that everybody you witness to is going to get saved.

They are not. Not everyone that our Lord witnessed to got saved. The rich young ruler went away sorrowful.

He could never have had a better witness than the Lord Jesus gave to him. Our Lord, in the gospel of Mark, gave a parable of a sower who went forth to sow. And as he scattered the seed out of his basket, some fell by the wayside. That is, the soil was hard and it couldn't get in. Others fell on stony ground.

It got in, but it couldn't get down because beneath the soil in the subsurface was a rocky ledge. Other seed fell among thorns and it sprouted, but then the weeds and the briars came and choked it out. But some fell on good ground and it brought forth fruit.

In that parable, the sower was Jesus Christ himself. And he didn't say, Well, that's bad soil. I won't put any seed on it.

Or that's rocky soil. He just sowed the seed. Folks, you don't know. You don't know. Many times the person you think is ready to come to Christ, that soil looks so warm and moist and fertile and underneath is a rock ledge.

You can't see it, but they're so hard. But sometimes the soil that you don't think is going to sprout will just bring forth and blossom and bloom and bud and bear fruit. Just sow the seed. Just sow the seed. Everywhere you go, just sow the seed.

Ask God to give you an open door. It is God that gives the increase. You can't make a seed grow, but you can sow a seed. The apostle Paul said, I sowed a pollus water but it is God that gives the increase. We are dependent upon Him, but there is this promise.

If you keep sowing beyond the shadow of any doubt, you will have a harvest. What a joy it will be. What a joy it will be when you win your first soul to Jesus Christ if you've never done that. When somebody puts a bear hug on you and says, Thank you for telling me about Jesus.

There's nothing like that. I preach to big crowds sometimes. I preached to as many as 500,000 people at one time.

I'm going to tell you the truth before God. The greatest joy that I get is hand-picked fruit when I speak to one person, face to face, heart to heart, and tell that person about Jesus Christ. I've had some thrills. I've had some honors, but nothing is sweeter, more wonderful than introducing somebody to Jesus Christ. They that sow in tears will reap in joy. Did you know that you get more joy out of leading a person to Christ than you got when you got saved? That's true. You get more joy out of leading a person to Jesus Christ than you got when you got saved.

And why is that? Because you know more about what is happening to Him than you knew what was happening to you at that time. Isn't that true? You know more now about what is happening to Him than you knew what was happening to you when you gave your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know that later on He will discover what He received in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now He says we're going to come with rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with us. What is a sheaf? It's a bundle of wheat. You're harvesting wheat and you bundle it up and lie it and then you harvest another and you bundle it up and lie it there.

And why do they do that? They're waiting for the Lord of the harvest to come. And when the Lord of the harvest comes and all those bundles are caught up to meet the Lord of the harvest, what a day that will be.

What a day that will be. I mean, when the battle's over, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves and to lay the golden grain at Jesus' feet and hear those people say, thank you for giving to the Lord. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Say, if your joy is gone and you're discontented and you feel that you've never really yet found the purpose of life, you're successful in business, you're envied by your neighbors and yet your heart is empty, give yourself to soul winning.

You cannot be a faithful Christian unless you give your heart to bringing souls to Jesus Christ. There's an old song that haunts me and I hope it'll haunt you. One line in that song says this, must I go and empty handed? Must I meet my Savior so, without one soul with which to greet him?

Must I empty handed go? I was by the bedside of a dying man who loved God with all of his heart, but he wasn't a soul winner. And in the strange dichotomy, he had been saved, but he never won souls.

He said to me, and if I were to call his name, many of you would know him. He said to me, Pastor, I'm not afraid to die. But he said, I'm ashamed to die because I haven't been a soul winner.

I'm not afraid to die. I know I'm saved, but I am ashamed to die because I haven't been a soul winner. Must I die and empty handed? Must I meet my Savior so, without one soul with which to greet him?

Must I empty handed go? Please don't ask God to help you to win ten people. Please ask Him to help you to win one. Just one.

And when we get that done, we'll start on another. Amen. He that goes forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. If you personally have never yet received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and you want to be saved, He will save you today. He died for your sin.

He paid your sin debt with His blood on the cross. Would you pray a prayer like this? Oh God, I need to be saved, and I want to be saved. And right now, like a little child, I open my heart and I receive you, Lord, into my life as my Savior, my friend, my Lord, and my Master. Begin now, Lord, to make me what you want me to be. And oh Lord, today, help me to make it public. In your name I pray.

Amen. Well, if you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page on the website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith.

We have a response section as well. Share your testimony with us or tell us how this message has affected you today. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title Faithful in Evangelism. This message is also part of the Insightful Factors of Faithfulness series. For the complete collection, all seven powerful messages, call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to lwf.org slash radio or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Are you faithful in evangelism recognizing your program, passion, power, and promise?

Adrian Rogers said, you let Congress make the laws, let the president try to run the nation, let the Hollywood stars have the fame and let those guys play football. But if you are wise, you are going to win souls. We hope you'll join us next time right here on Love Worth Finding. Not long ago, we heard from a listener who let us know how these messages have impacted his family during the pandemic. He said, when COVID-19 began, my wife and I decided to have our Sunday worship in our home with our four children by watching Love Worth Finding on YouTube. It's been a year now and my children's understanding about our Lord Jesus keeps getting stronger every day. Whenever we hear stories like these, we are immensely grateful for the prayers and donations that make it possible to share these timeless messages. Say thank you for your gift right now. We want to send you our Tapestry, Faith and Forgiveness journal. As you read the articles from Adrian Rogers' messages, thought provoking questions and nuggets of wisdom, they'll inspire you and you'll find space to write your own thoughts and notes. Request the journal, Tapestry, Faith and Forgiveness when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD