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When man disobeyed God\u2019s command through Satan\u2019s deception, he became corrupted, was brought under the dominion and rule of Satan and was destined for destruction.\u00a0 His relationship with God was severed.\u00a0 But God in His love, promised to restore man back to Himself.\u00a0 However, the consequences of this disobedience passed on to all men from generation to generation until God fulfilled His promise by sending Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son to earth for the redemption of man.<\/p>\n
All through His time on earth, Christ engaged Himself in the work of reconciling men back to God.\u00a0 He completed this work by His death on the cross, and resurrection according to God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 Before He returned to His Father in heaven, He commissioned His followers to proclaim the \u2018good news\u2019 of redemption to all creatures so they can believe and accept that Christ died for the redemption of their souls.\u00a0 Soul winning therefore is an important mandate which all believers owe as a duty.\u00a0 We shall, in this study, examine the implications and the requirements for effective soul winning.<\/p>\n
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Soul winning, also referred to as evangelism or witnessing, is a process of letting people understand their sinful and dead nature before God.\u00a0 It involves explaining to them what God, in His love, has done through Jesus Christ to liberate men from the consequences of sin and Satan\u2019s dominion.\u00a0 It also entails encouraging them to see the need for them to believe the message and accept the person of Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior, so as to be truly free from Satan\u2019s rule, and be made children of God, having the hope of eternal live in God\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n
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This assignment is urgent because:<\/p>\n
-It is to be carried out within a specified time, until Christ comes back.\u00a0 His coming is very imminent, Revelation 3:11, 22:7.\u00a0 No one knows when this will be.<\/p>\n
-The harvest is ripe and the harvesters need to be urgent in order to preserve the harvest from rottenness or wastage.<\/p>\n
-Life is very, very short.\u00a0 \u201cYou have made my life not longer than the width of my hand.\u00a0 My entire lifetime is just a moment to you: at best, each of us is but a breath\u2019, Psalm 39:5 (NLT).\u00a0 Job said, \u201cWe blossom like a flower, and then wither.\u00a0 Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear\u2019,\u00a0 Job 14:2 (NLT).\u00a0 These scriptures buttress the urgency of the assignment.\u00a0 The opportunity given for the work is short, John 9:4.<\/p>\n
Jesus, at the end of His earthly ministry commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and preach the \u2018good news\u2019 with the sole purpose of winning souls.\u00a0 We are Christ\u2019s followers today and by implication, we are commissioned by Christ to go and win souls.\u00a0 We should be involved because the command is to us and if we fail to go, we will be disobeying our Master.\u00a0 There are grave consequences if we fail to heed the command and be involved in this exercise.\u00a0 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 clearly states that God reconciled us to Himself and thereafter committed to us the work of reconciling others to Him.\u00a0 Moreover it we fail to tell people, how will they hear and believe so they can be saved.\u00a0 There is the danger of God holding us accountable if people we are supposed to preach to die without hearing the gospel, Ezekiel 3:17-19.\u00a0 As believers, we are all awaiting the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and one of the conditions for His quick return is that this good news must be preached to all creatures; so it behooves us to ensure that people within our reach hear the gospel.<\/p>\n
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Holy Ghost Empowerment, Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49-50:<\/span><\/p>\n The power to preach the gospel is given by the Holy Ghost and this power manifests in the area of courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability and authority.\u00a0 These attributes are basic necessities for effective soul winning.\u00a0 This was evidenced in the address of Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost where over 3,000 souls repented and believed in Jesus and they were baptized the same day, Acts 2:41.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit empowered Peter, who previously denied Jesus because he was afraid, to speak so powerfully that his hearers were pricked in their heart by the words from his mouth.\u00a0 Holy Ghost baptism is very necessary for effective soul winning.<\/p>\n Love and Compassion for Souls:<\/span><\/p>\n What prompted God to send Jesus to earth for the salvation of mankind is Love.\u00a0 \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life\u201d, John 3:16.\u00a0\u00a0 When Jesus saw a great crowd of people who appeared to have lost hope and were described as sheep without a shepherd, He was moved with compassion for them that He began to teach them, Mark 6:34.\u00a0 Love and compassion for souls are great motivators for soul winning.<\/p>\n Perseverance, Acts 21:11-14; 2 Timothy 1:8, 2:3, 4:2:<\/span><\/p>\n Going through Paul\u2019s description of the characteristics of the last days, 2 Timothy 3:1-7, you will discover that it is typical of our society today.\u00a0\u00a0 People are ready to resist anything that challenges their personal life.\u00a0 God\u2019s ways of life and man\u2019s are contrary to each other, so preaching the gospel which tends to turn man from his lifestyle, is sure to face a lot of opposition and stiff resistance.\u00a0 Jude 1:18 tells us that the people who are living in these last days are scoffers whose purpose is to satisfy their ungodly desires, and to get such people to believe the word of God and change their course of life will definitely require a lot of perseverance.\u00a0 Therefore if we must succeed in our soul winning commission, perseverance is one of the essentials.<\/p>\n Prayers:<\/span><\/p>\n In prayers, we communicate our desires and request to God.\u00a0 We know that of our selves we can do nothing.\u00a0 Christ said, \u201cWithout me ye can do nothing\u201d.\u00a0 If we must be effective in our soul winning exercise, we must cultivate the habit of praying like Christ did during His life and ministry on earth. Soul winning is more of a rescue mission.\u00a0 The sinners are under the captivity of Satan, and to get them out involves contention with the power of darkness.\u00a0 These powers have to be dealt with before their captives can be delivered; \u2018the strong man needs to be bound before one can plunder his house,\u2019 Matthew 12:29.\u00a0 Spiritual battles are only won through prayers.\u00a0 Christ\u2019s experience at Gethsemane is a typical example for us.\u00a0 Success in this assignment, truly requires prayer.\u00a0 The good news is that Jesus has conquered the strong man (Satan) and has given us victory.<\/p>\n Knowledge of God\u2019s Work:<\/span><\/p>\n The word of God is Spirit and Life.\u00a0 Any believer who lacks the knowledge of the word of God is spiritually immature.\u00a0 Believers need to build their lives on the word of God and at the same time build God\u2019s word into their lives, Psalm 119:11.\u00a0 God\u2019s word tells us how to live and work for God.\u00a0 One cannot teach what one does not know.\u00a0 A soul winner who lacks the knowledge of God\u2019s word has no message to preach.\u00a0 If we must be successful in our soul winning assignment, we must be consistent and diligent in the study of the word of God, 2 Timothy 2:15.\u00a0 The word of God is a veritable tool for the assignment, without which, failure will be inevitable.\u00a0 God\u2019s word is the word of reconciliation which has been committed unto the believer, 2 Corinthians 5:19.<\/p>\n The authority of the believers\u2019 message is in the word of God, Matthew 7:28-29.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The gospel message is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ as declared by the Scriptures; how God promised to send His only begotten son Jesus Christ to the world to redeem mankind from sin and its consequences.\u00a0 At the fullness of time Jesus truly came to the world, preached God\u2019s message of salvation and God bore Him witness that He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.\u00a0 He was crucified, He died and was buried, the third day He rose from the dead and was seen by the apostles and many other people for many days before He ascended to heaven, leaving a promise that He would come back to take to Himself all those who believe in Him.\u00a0 The sinner should be made to understand where he or she belongs and the benefit\/final destination of anyone who believes the message.\u00a0 The gospel message is wholly and solely centered on Christ and not Church denomination, human personality, doctrine or creed.\u00a0 Any message outside Christ is therefore not the gospel message.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Lord Jesus commanded all believers to go out and preach the gospel to all creatures.\u00a0 The brethren that are gone before us obeyed this command and through their obedience, we received the gospel message.\u00a0 They have handed us the baton and nothing less is expected of us believers today.\u00a0 God is looking for people who are willing to be used of Him to rescue the dying world.\u00a0 This is a call that should be paramount in the heart of all believers.\u00a0 What is your response?\u00a0 Can you answer \u2018here am I. . .\u2019?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mark 16:15 \u2013 \u201cAnd He said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Soul Winning, Part 1 Central Thought: Soul winning is a mandate given to all believers by God. Text: Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 10:1-12 When man disobeyed God\u2019s command through Satan\u2019s deception, he became corrupted, was brought under the dominion and rule of Satan and was destined for destruction.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":744,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
What should be the component of the gospel a Christian should preach to sinners?<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Daily Living Application:<\/h3>\n
Memory Verse:<\/h3>\n