CENTRAL THOUGHT
Soul wining is the Father’s business in which all believers have a share.
TEXT: LUKE 2:49; 10:1-11; JOHN 9:4; MARK 16:15-
18
INTRODUCTION:
“And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). From the Scriptures, these are the first recorded words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. From the onset, He made it abundantly clear that He was here on a mission- to do His Father’s business. From the first opportunity that presented itself, He launched Himself into this task. One may be tempted to ask- what is this business of the Father
that was such a consuming passion in His life? It was to bring the message of the gospel to the world; the good news of God reconciling the world to Himself by the
sacrificial and substitution death of His Son; to enlist men and women into this business and leave it as a perpetual commission to all who come to believe the message of the gospel. Therefore, as those who have come to embrace the love of God demonstrated in the gospel, we need to see the task of reaching others for God not only as our duty but see it as the Lord Jesus did- it is our Father’s business.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
- To know what the Father’s business is
- To understand the urgency of the business
- To know the requirement of effective evangelism
- To identify what constitutes the evangelistic message
- To appreciate the consequences of not evangelizing.
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1) WHAT IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS?
The Father’s business is the business of evangelizing to the world; it is a world alienated from God by sin- the original sin and the present continuing acts of men which offend God. It is the task of making men understand that as Romans 3:23 says, none is exempted “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. All have sinned andso all have need of God’s forgiveness. The good news is that by Christ’s death, pardon for sin has been purchased.
All who repent and believe in this finished work of grace have their sins remitted and are reconciled to God. Having accomplished salvation by His death, the Lord Jesus has left us the business of telling others, so that being reconciled they may escape eternal judgement and damnation awaiting all those who spurn at God’s offer.
QUESTION 2) WHY IS EVANGELISM AN URGENT
BUSINESS?
From the Lord’s handling of this matter, it is obvious that it was a very urgent business. In John 4:34 He said to the disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work”. To the Lord, nothing else mattered, the first reason for this passionate disposition was that the harvest was already ripe and plenteous (Matt. 9:36-37; John 4:35-38). The harvest was already ripe and therefore must be brought in to avoid waste and loss. Just as God is interested in the souls of men for salvation, so also is the devil but with the aim of bringing them into destruction. That is why we must get them to obtain abundant life in Christ (John 10:10). Secondly, the harvest is plenteous. There is much to be done and so there is no time to waste. If as on the day of Pentecost we can win 3,000 souls per day, reckon how long it will take to reach the current estimated 6 billion that inhabit the world today.
Think of all the barriers the devil has put in the way to
prevent men from being saved. The matter is indeed very urgent, knowing also that there is very little time left to accomplish this task (John 9:4; 1 Cor. 7:29-31).
QUESTION 3) WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM?
a. The Holy Spirit baptism. This is very necessary because the Lord Jesus recommended it and underscored the importance of this experience (Acts 1:4-8). The success of His ministry arose from this touch of God (Acts 10:38).
The indwelling power of the Spirit is what empowers and emboldens men for effective and fruitful evangelism (Acts 2:37-41).
b. Prayer. Prayer is the avenue provided by God for us to draw divine strength for kingdom business. A prayerful life is very necessary in order to regularly renew our strength in God. In prayer we also water the souls of men to make them fertile ground on which the word of God can thrive and bear fruit. Furthermore, the prayer of faith breaks the shackles of the devil that hold men in captivity, releasing them to appreciate and appropriate Christ’s sacrifice.
c. Love and compassion. It is love and compassion that drives us to reach out to men with the message of the gospel. In Matt. 9:36 we can see that the Lord Jesus was moved by compassion in His dealing with the multitudes that came to Him. Because of their importance, we must constantly pray that God will continuously fill our hearts with these attributes.
d. Knowledge of the Word. According to 2 Tim 2:15, we need to study to be workmen of the kingdom, who have agood working knowledge of the scriptures. It helps us to effectively communicate the message of the gospel, which enables the unsaved to reach an informed decision on the matter of salvation (Acts 8:30-35).
e. Perseverance. The experiences and circumstances we go through while preaching the gospel can really try our patience. This is especially so, when those we are trying to win do not even appreciate our efforts. The natural tendency is for us to get angry and give up on them. Even when the people we are seeking to win ridicule us, the Lord expects us to persevere in our efforts to win them, for the kingdom.
QUESTION 4) WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL
COMPONENTS OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE?
i. Romans 3:23: All have sinned and have need of
salvation.
ii. 1 Cor. 15:3: Christ died for our sins. He gave His life as
a ransom for us (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
iii. 1 Cor. 15:4: He was buried, and He rose on the third day for our justification (1 Cor. 15:17)
iv. Acts 16:31: All who repent of their sins and place their faith on the sacrificial death of Christ are pardoned and saved.
v. John 1:12: They are given the authority to become the sons of God.
vi. John 14:1-3: The saved will spend eternity with Christ in heaven while the unsaved will languish in the torments of hell.
Reflect on John 3:16: God so loved the world that He have His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
QUESTION 5) WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES
OF NOT EVANGELIZING?
The consequences of not evangelizing cannot be accurately estimated. Suffice to say that in so doing, we fail to raise more laborers for this enterprise. Who knows whether your convert could turn out to be a Paul, the man who wrote more than half of the New Testament; a Hudson Taylor, the great missionary in China; a Smith Wigglesworth, thatgreat Apostle of faith; Kathryn Kuhlman, the daughter of destiny, or a Benson Idahosa, the man with “fire in his bones”. The list is endless. Every opportunity not utilized to win souls robs us of men and women like these.
Any unsaved soul that slips into eternity is lost forever and is condemned to the torments of hell eternally. If we could, but fail to tell them, of the faith that awaits them, God will hold us guilty of their blood (Ezek. 3:18). It is not the wish of God that any soul should perish. He wills that all men should be saved (1 Tim. 2:4) it is therefore imperative that we take this business more seriously than we have previously done.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION:
The fact that we are saved and are Christians today is the fruit of someone’s evangelistic effort. Such obeyed the injunction of Christ and preached to us, presenting us with the opportunity to be saved. Our membership of the body of Christ, or more particularly a local church assembly, is not just for us to sit down and warm benches. It is our enlistment in the array of men and women busy with our Father’s business. We must endeavor to utilize the opportunities that present themselves daily at work, in our neighborhood, and in the various places where we traffic, to tell someone of the love of Jesus Christ. We must realize that failure to do so carries grave consequences which we cannot change as a soul dies without salvation.
MEMORY VERSE:
LUKE 10:2
“Therefore said He unto them, the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
MON: WHAT IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS?
LUKE 2:49; MARK 16:15-18
TUE: WHY EVANGELISM IS URGENT BUSINESS.
JOHN 4:34-38; MATT. 9:36-37
WED: REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM. ACTS 1:4-8; 2:37-41
THU: REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM. ACTS 8:30-35; 2 TIM. 2:15
FRI: REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM. MATT. 9:36; LUKE 18:1
SAT: COMPONENTS OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
ROM. 3:23; 1 COR. 15:34; ACTS 16:31; JOHN 1:12;
14:1-3