Seems like there’s a different meaning in that song tonight, in the depths of our hearts: “Shine, Jesus, shine.”
Well, tonight is the last of my forever-long series of Evangelism Basics, so extended that some of the sessions had to be listened to at extra-fast speed. I mean, whoever endured to the end—I don’t know if it said you’ll be saved, but…
I appreciate going along together in this course—not the course of Evangelism Basics, but this course that we’re on, that we’re running on—and being gospelers together and being able to share in this together. Even though it was difficult to go through those twelve times, I think some of it is schedule, some of it is a spiritual feeling, some of it is—I don’t know what—but difficult for us to go along together too.
But either way, I feel like the Lord has met us a lot this weekend. I feel like many of the things mentioned in those sessions have come back out. You hear it in other people’s stories or in things that Dana shared.
The goal of this series has purposefully been called Evangelism Basics because the goal is just to bring us to the point of stepping out into the advanced training by the Holy Spirit. In those times, we tried to focus on what we can find from the Word of God, to grasp the principles so we are not confused, but so that the Word of God can enlighten us a little bit—that these are scriptural principles that we discover in evangelism.
So they are very basic. Even though some illustrations are given and some little helps, really, the practical—the most thorough teaching—happens on the job, in motion, as we are going.
With this series, there are twelve sessions, and I want to tell you why and how some of this came about. Tonight we are looking at soul winning, which is a term that comes up with evangelism, but sometimes we may wonder, “Where are the Scriptures for that?” Or, “What does that actually mean?” Sometimes it gets a bad name. So we will talk about soul winning tonight.
There is a binder in the hallway for everybody. It has the Gospel Trumpet things on it, and at the top, in really small words, it says, “Evangelism Notebook.”
Now, here is the theory. This is not the Evangelism Basics. This is for us to step into the advanced training, or rather, our hands-on personal lessons beyond.
At the beginning, there is a prayer log—a salvation prayer log. It has start and finish columns for dates, then a place for a name, and then a notes column. This is for short notes, just little bits.
Sometimes you put a finish date, and the person is not saved, but every time you pray for them, you feel, “I shouldn’t be praying for them.” And that is okay. That is even scriptural. It does not mean that they have sinned a sin unto death, like in 1 John 5, but the principle is there.
Pray for someone that they would have life, unless they have sinned the sin unto death; then stop praying for them. I will not get into what all that means, but sometimes the Holy Spirit Himself will even say, “That’s enough for that one.”
Or you put the finish date because they died. I have had to do that a few times. I do not know if they got saved, but you can also put the other date when you hear of—or get to experience with them—them coming through to Christ. In the notes, you can jot some things down, especially if it is something other than them being saved.
The rest of these pages are blank, except they have a date at the top and a location. This is for our experiences and the lessons that we learn. This is evangelism training number one, and it goes all the way through to number seventy.
If you remember the seventy that went out two by two, we had the Evangelism Basics of the twelve going out two by two—these twelve sessions. So this is for your seventy going out into the cities where the Lord is going. There are seventy slots. I just did half-pages, but the backs are blank. If you need more, you can, of course, add more.
I realize some are not necessarily going to use a three-ring binder to keep notes. Even if you just put it in front of you and want to keep your notes on your phone, that is completely fine. If it can be used, great. If it is a symbol, that is okay too. The point is just to get the concept: learn from the experiences.
Now, this is to be used this year. Reach seventy this year by God’s grace. Really, if you are praying for opportunities—if you pray for one opportunity a week only, and you pray seven days a week, “Lord, just give me one experience this week”—that is about fifty-two experiences. You almost reach seventy. And I would guess, if you had just asked for one a week, sometimes He will give you a bonus and you will reach seventy.
This is not seventy times where someone is saved. This is seventy times of an obvious witnessing experience, an obvious, “I got to share with someone,” and so on.
Write down the experience. You are going to forget. You might not forget—some things you do not forget—but I have forgotten so many.
I actually started to write down notes after I had been saved for a few years. I had been saved for four years, and then I started purposefully keeping an evangelism notebook in an organized way. Every experience I had, I wrote down what happened. I was in Jerusalem when I started this. Then I wrote some lessons learned.
For example, one day—I do not even know what happened. I do not know if it was that I got to talk to somebody or what, but most days I was able to at least get rejected with my tracts. But I remember writing, “Hell is real.”
That was my reflection. I wrote, “Hell is real.” I wrote some other words about it, but it dawned on me that day. It had never really clicked with me that hell actually is real, that it really is a destination, that the lake of fire is real.
I think everyone in this room would agree, and I agreed the four years before that, that I was a Christian—and even before—but that day, looking out, I saw it like I had never seen it before. Somehow it just clicked: hell is actually real. It changed my mind with a lot of things, even with talking to people.
That is what this is for. They are out there. If you need a template or something, email me. I can send you one. But even if it sits on your shelf as a reminder, take notes when you have experiences. Jot them down. Type them up. Whatever it is that you do.
This is the way the Lord continues to teach us. If you could see notes from five years ago from an experience, you may learn again today from yourself five years ago because you have forgotten something. It also makes you actually ask the Lord for the lesson.
I was really impressed yesterday with the workshop. Everyone who got up had their own lessons learned. It was not supposed to go like that. It was supposed to be that they had a story but no point, and then Brother Dana was going to share the point. But thank God, everyone already knew. They already knew their lessons.
That is why most of the time he was like, “Nothing to say.” Even if anything was said, it was basically stuff that had already been said. What you see there is that the Holy Spirit already teaches us from our experiences.
Finishing the Evangelism Basics, we want to go on into other things. Tonight, as we look at soul winning, the concept is partly taken from Proverbs 11:30.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life;
And he that is wise winneth souls.
That is one of the places where they get “soul winning,” winning souls. “He that is wise winneth souls.” So they use that term with evangelism. But it is not the only place.
Actually, for years I thought that was it. I thought that was where they got it, and that it was quite a borrowed phrase or something like that. It is completely New Testament terminology, and I want to read some of that also.
In Proverbs 11:30, you are looking at two layers: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that is wise winneth souls.” Those really go together. The righteous one, out of the abundance of their life as a righteous one, has a witness. The fruit of it is life-giving, like the tree of life. They are sharing that eternal life.
At the same time, like a lot of the Proverbs, another way of saying it is, “He that is wise winneth souls.” In the Book of Proverbs, the wisdom to gain is discovered to be personified. In New Testament terminology, we see that Christ is our wisdom.
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.
—1 Corinthians 1:30
Christ is our wisdom. When we need wisdom, it says in James 1 that if any of you lacks wisdom, just ask in prayer, and God will give you wisdom.
We often feel like we do not know what we are doing. Every step of the way in these twelve sessions of Evangelism Basics, we keep repeating that we still do not know what we are doing. But the Lord is wise, and the Holy Spirit knows exactly what the Head of the church is doing through the church, and He is leading us.
We come constantly, as gospel sharers, as Christians, as disciples, to the point that we are always in need of Him to teach us how to preach the gospel. If you come to the point where you know how to do it, you may have been disconnected from the One who is doing it.
It is just like when the disciples say, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Can we still pray that at a prayer meeting? “Lord, teach us how to pray.” What that means is, “I still need the leading of the Holy Spirit to know how to pray tonight.” It is not that I have memorized the right words to say in a prayer.
If prayer simply becomes in your mind knowing what to say, you are not having a prayer meeting. You are not having the two or three coming together on earth, touching the heart of heaven and bringing it down to earth, binding on earth what is bound in heaven, and so on. Instead, you are just praying from yourself, disconnected.
The same is true with witnessing. We still do not know what we are doing, but our wisdom is Christ Himself.
He that is wise winneth souls.
Christ wins souls. We are connected with Him as the body of Christ, and He is going forth through the church, preaching the gospel, leading ones to Himself. All that the Father has given to Him, He is bringing them in. Everyone who comes to Him, He is receiving them. He is winning the souls.
I want to read another passage that has this in 1 Corinthians 9. There is another place where the winning of souls is mentioned.
For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.
—1 Corinthians 9:16
This is the internal working of the spirit of the gospel—the very fire of the gospel, the love for the lost. There is a necessity upon him.
Then he goes on to explain his lifestyle result. I believe this is a wise man, wise in winning souls. I do not want to emphasize the wisdom so much as catch the heart of a soul winner—why he even uses this term.
And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews;
To them that are under the law, as under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
To them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law.
To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak:
I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
And I do all things for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof.
—1 Corinthians 9:20-23
These are souls. The word soul earlier today was used in its organ meaning in the Bible, but the word soul is also used in the Bible for people—for a whole human. As it says in Acts 7, seventy-five souls went out. It is simply talking about seventy-five people.
So the word soul is used also for people. “He that is wise winneth souls” is not talking about the part of you that is a soul. It is talking about the person—the whole person.
Win them to what? Not win them to his opinions, but win them to Christ. It is a gaining to Christ. It is bringing them in to Christ—a winning to Christ, a winning of souls.
Paul then speaks of those who run, not running aimlessly, and those who fight, not beating the air. He says that he disciplines his own body and makes it his slave, lest after he has preached to others, he himself should be disqualified.
With all of this said, we just want to catch the heart of a soul winner: “I do all things for the sake of saving some.” He says, “I became to the Jews as a Jew. I became as without law to those who are without law. If someone is weak, I became as weak.”
He is laying down his life for all of those souls in order to win them. What you see here is a renewed mind. It is not just a denying of self because I am a disciple of Christ and because the Lord calls me and commands me. He has been lifted up even from that stage to be so concerned with the Lord’s heart for those souls that there is almost no question of denying self.
He is like, “Sure, if I can just gain that soul. If I can just reach that person, let it go.”
I do not know if any of you have seen or heard of Schindler with the Nazis. There was a movie back when I was in high school, I think, Schindler’s List.
If you do not know the story, Schindler was able to save many Jews in a wise way, employing them and saying that they had certain special skills so that they could work in his factory.
At the end, when everything was over, he was brokenhearted because so many had died. It all dawned on him, and he said, “I could have saved more.” He pulled off his watch. Now, this is in the movie, but he said, “If I had just sold this, I could have saved maybe two more of those people, those souls.”
He was looking at his belongings, looking at his shoes, at everything he had. “I could have had more loss to myself, and I could have saved more.”
That is the heart of the soul winner. They have seen souls, and they have seen souls from the viewpoint of Christ. They say, “In order that I might gain some, I beat my body and make it my slave. I am running this race.”
This is the heart of the soul winner, just like when Paul was about to go to Jerusalem and everybody was warning him, “You are going to suffer there. There is going to be persecution there. Save yourself,” basically.
They knew from prophecies, even from Agabus, and from discernment: “This is not good. This is not going to end well.” But Paul said:
But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
—Acts 20:24
“I make no account of my life as dear to myself.” That is the very heart of the soul winner. Basically, you see souls. In order to win souls, we have to lose soul. In order to win the soul of the person, we have to lose our own soul-life. We have to lose ourselves sometimes. We have to deny ourselves.
Paul became a Jew to the Jews, and we can see that he was wise in winning souls. He was just open to the Lord, but his heart was for those souls.
So he goes on to Jerusalem. There is a problem, the crowd wants to kill him, and they are beating him. The soldiers grab him and pull him away, but then he gets permission to share with them. He became to the Jews a Jew. He shared in the Jewish tongue, and he shared his background, which matched up with many of their backgrounds.
It is not that he was changing his personality suddenly or becoming a different person. He was just bringing to the forefront his connection with those souls in order to win them, just to bring it up, just to get the Word in.
In another case, he became as a Roman to the Romans. When the Romans were about to whip him and question him, they found out that he was a citizen. He used wisdom step by step. He shared little bits, but he did not always share all of his rights as you might think.
In Philippi, he could have shared that he was a Roman citizen. Instead, he had wisdom, and he was willing to be a prisoner to win the prisoners—or to be a prisoner whose back was whipped by Roman guards in order to win the Roman guards.
He did not stand up for himself. He did not say, “You know I am a citizen, right?” Instead, he was beaten on his back. Through the night, as they praised the Lord, the jail shook and the doors were released. Really, the door to the heart of that jailer was released.
The jailer came and said, “What must I do to be saved?” After he was saved, he bandaged the wounds on the backs of Paul and his companion, and then they baptized him and his household in water. It is a beautiful thing.
Then the next day, the leaders of the city were saying, “Please get this guy out of here,” and he said, “I am a Roman citizen.” They could not put him in jail or whip him without cause, but he did not use those rights until that point. He was using it all for the sake of the gospel.
It looks like this guy has a get-out-of-jail card all the time: “I appeal to Caesar.” But he appealed to Caesar not because he was unwilling to spend his life and die at the hands of the Jews in Jerusalem. He appealed because he was ready to go to Rome and preach the gospel there.
If it must be that he goes in chains, then he goes in chains. Then some of Caesar’s household get saved, as it says in the letter to the Philippians. He ends up appealing to Caesar, going to Caesar another route, and preaching the gospel that way.
“He that is wise winneth souls,” but the soul winner has a heart for souls. They are able to be wise because they are willing to lay down their own souls.
That probably sounds confusing, but to be a soul winner and to receive the wisdom of the Lord, when the wisdom comes, we ourselves have to be willing to give up.
Just like Brother Dana mentioned, there is a cost of time and money and going forth. Even this costs some time if you go to have seventy experiences this year or more. You are going to be praying. You are going to have a prayer log. This takes time.
Brother Dana said, “Write down six names.” I thought that was a great idea. If you write down six names, do you know how long it will take you to make mention of them? Maybe two minutes a day, or maybe one minute, just to rattle off their names.
Sometimes you get caught, though. You mention one name, then another name, then another name, and you are caught with a prayer that the Holy Spirit is leading you in. You pray a little longer. Now you have spent three minutes of your precious time. Are you willing to die to yourself for the sake of winning souls?
This is a very small thing. If we keep it on top of our pillow on our beds just because of the prayer log, great. “This goes on my pillow, not on my shelf.” Now, you do not really need to do that, because one day you might put your head on it and get hurt. But if there is some reminder or something like that, that can be helpful.
What I wanted to do in this time, even as an example, was mention these things about soul winning: Christ is our wisdom. This is what we have been training for. This is what we have been seeking the Lord for—to go forward together with Him as our wisdom, as our trainer, and discover His wisdom.
In order to do that, we also step into the discovery of His love for souls. We do all things for the sake of winning some. So we become soul winners.
For this time, I do not have much else to say except that I wanted to ask James to sit up here with me and share some stories together, basically letting you in a little bit on our notebooks.
We jotted down some reminders, so I actually have a piece of paper up here this time. Normally I do not, but I have some reminders of stories. The reason is to bring out principles and lessons, but also just so that, hopefully, we can catch something.
The ultimate best thing would be for all of us to go out witnessing together, and we would just catch things together. You just catch it. But another way that it is caught is when you hear stories together.
James used to live in Richmond, and we used to witness together quite a bit. Because of that, I thought it would be appropriate to ask him to share some stories back and forth, as we have been encouraged to go out in twos and do things together. We learned a lot together and were able to experience some things together.
James: This first one I shared in part in the fellowship group yesterday, so for those who were in my group, I apologize for this first part.
I believe Jeffrey and I, and some others—Christy may have even been in the car with us, and Catherine—were on our way up to maybe Harvey Theaters on I-95. At one point, we got stuck in traffic.
We were pretty much at a dead stop. I looked at Jeffrey and thought I would make a little comment, a little joke. I said, “Hey man, we should get out and hand out tracts.” I was kind of kidding, right?
Jeffrey looked back at me and said, “You know what? We should.” I was like, “Hey man, I don’t know. I’m not feeling it.” He said, “I’m feeling it. You faith it.”
The next thing you know, we were out of the car. We had a strategy: run up to the front of the line so that we could work our way back.
As we started jogging up to the front of this line of cars, Jeffrey started praising the Lord—just praising Him, seeing the Lord Jesus on the throne. As we were praising the Lord Jesus, all of a sudden, we looked up. I just saw the Lord on the throne.
I had a lot of apprehension, fear, and uncertainty in my heart. But all of a sudden, when I saw the Lord and realized that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the whole situation turned upside down.
It was no longer as though I was afraid of the people or wondering what right we had to approach them. In this world, when you go out, they say, “You have no right. You have no right to tell me about Jesus. Stay out of my space.”
All of a sudden, standing before the Lord, we were empowered within with boldness to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord and to hand out those tracts.
I took the right lane. As I was going back, I think I handed out maybe twenty-six, and every single one was rejected. If it was not for seeing the Lord and being empowered by the Lord, I think I would have given up and quit.
But the Lord empowered us. As we continued to hand out tracts, the next seventy, eighty, or one hundred people took every last one of them all the way down the line. They rolled down their windows, and then we got back in the car.
The great thing about ten or fifteen years ago was that no one had a smartphone. Everybody was reading the tract because they had nothing else to do. They were stuck in traffic.
The line began to move, and we saw car after car after car reading those tracts. Praise God.
I think some of the lessons are, first, that we need to pray for boldness, and we need to praise the Lord when we are going out. If you see the Lord, all the fears go away.
You are no longer looking in the light of being before man, but you are before the throne of God. In that place, there is boldness to preach the gospel.
Also, there is companionship. We have heard so many times about going out in twos. I would not have gotten out of the car on my own, but Jeffrey had the faith. We were able to receive the faith together and hand out those tracts.
Jeffrey: Yeah, I probably would not have gone out either. That was crazy.
Jeffrey: I was going to mention a smaller story connected in a way. Before coming to Richmond, back in Lexington, I had previously been in Jerusalem. Christy and Catherine were there, and sometimes we would go out and hand out tracts together.
We did not have the awesomeness of the structure Brother Dana was talking about with his gospel band going out, and I thought that was great. But sometimes we would have coffee and other things to hand out to the homeless at a park.
Something wonderful was that when we went to a public bus stop and handed out tracts, all of us could catch together the boldness that is upon the church.
I had learned this concept from a Watchman Nee book, The Communion of the Holy Spirit. Before that, I would try, and it was hit or miss. I never knew how it worked to be filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with boldness.
But he put it so sharply and scripturally: Pentecost is what brought the boldness, but what brought Pentecost was Christ being ascended. If you are going to step into the anointing upon the church, then it has to do with the ascension of Christ.
When you praise Him, you behold Him in His ascension. Your faith touches that spot, and then you are already in the anointing that is upon the Head and upon the body, which has come down all the way to the garments, like was said at the breaking-of-bread time.
From then on, whenever I felt no anointing, like I was just some separate thing, I would begin to praise the Lord and see Him ascended. Then I would discover that there is an anointing upon the church, especially in a group.
Sometimes, when that boldness would come, I think I would start walking too fast. Poor Catherine and Christy would be a little behind me because I was like, “Here we go!” But it was okay because somebody can spearhead the way and somebody else can back you up.
There were scary people on the side, but I would just walk up because I felt like there was an anointing upon the church. You forget about yourself. The Lord met us just by praising Him.
James: Around the time Jeffrey moved to Richmond, he encouraged me in praying for the lost. I started praying specifically for a few different people, and on my prayer list were the neighbors next to me.
I had been praying for them for maybe a year or more. One day I came home and they were in my yard with a domestic-violence type of issue. They were yelling at each other. I pulled halfway into my driveway, and the woman was yelling, “Call the police! Call the police!”
I looked at the other guy, who looked demon-possessed, and I was like, “I don’t know what to do.” I got out of the car, really not sure what to do. All I was thinking was, “I want to just pull away. I want nothing to do with this.”
The Lord reminded me, “You have been praying for these souls.” So I got out of the car, and we had some dialogue. At one point, she ran in to call the police. I was there with this guy, and he looked like he wanted to fight me.
I said, “Bruce, I don’t want to fight you. Let’s go have some tea.” So he went inside. We had a cup of tea or coffee or something, and as we were talking, he began to pour out his heart—things from his childhood, problems, all these things.
As he was sharing the depths of his heart, I was talking to the Lord. I said, “I just can’t relate with him. I don’t love this man. I don’t know how to sympathize with all that he has been through.”
The Lord said to me, “What do you mean you don’t love this man? You have been praying for him for two years.” In that moment, the love of Christ filled my heart. I was able to weep with him, really able to love him and care for him in that moment.
One lesson learned was that when we are praying for the lost, the opportunities will come. Actually, I was praying for the lost at that time. I was not praying for opportunities. I did not want opportunities. I was just trying to pray for the lost.
The Lord will bring opportunities knocking at your door, and there is no way to get around it. If you are afraid of opportunities, do not worry about it. Just pray for the lost.
In praying for the lost, two things happen. The Lord prepares their hearts and the situation, but really, He prepares our hearts. When we are in that moment and sharing with that person whom we may naturally not be able to relate with, the Lord has shared His heart with us.
We are able to weep with them, rejoice with them, and really love that soul.
Jeffrey: I was going to bring up something about going in twos, the differences among us, and the balancing. It is helpful to have another person who is different from me to talk with someone.
One time, my uncle’s girlfriend was on her deathbed. She really was dying at the end of hospice. It was her last night or two. My wife and I drove there in Kentucky, and I was so thankful to co-work with Catherine.
I could not help her. I had seen some things, but when I saw her there, it looked like death was upon her—enough to shock you and scare you. I was taken aback.
But my lovely, gracious wife went in with such compassion and care. Eventually, I do not even know if I got to share anything useful with my uncle’s girlfriend. Instead, I pulled my uncle aside into another room, and we talked and prayed. He was someone I could work with.
With her, Catherine prayed for her and then started to sing songs. It was wise. It was the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. He gave her songs, and she sang with a beautiful voice.
This lady was dying, in pain even with hospice care, and in fear. But she changed completely. Even though she could not do much, her whole being changed through Catherine’s little bits of sharing, her praying, and her singing.
It was really a singing over someone, literally. Everyone could tell, and even the fragrance in the room changed completely. It was a wonderful experience.
It seemed like she got peace with God through those songs, because she changed and was able to rest. She had not been able to sleep, but she had peace. Her face changed, and everything changed. We believe that probably she met the Lord during that time.
I was so thankful because it was something I could not do. We are all unique and different, and the Lord loves that and wants to use us differently. In some cases, you are going to be more useful than in other cases.
Never feel that, if you are going in twos—if it is Peter and John—it means it is always Peter who is talking. There is a time when John steps in, even if we never hear about it.
James: Also, tracts. I do not know how many here have handed out tracts before. Quite a few.
When Jeffrey came to Richmond, he was pretty big on tracts. I did not know what I thought about them at the time. I said, “I don’t know about handing out those things. I’m okay with sharing with people, but handing out those tracts…”
One time I went to the hairdresser and was sitting, waiting for my turn. There was a young girl sitting next to me. I did not have anything that I felt I could use to break into a conversation with her, but I said, “Can I give you this to read?”
There was a pamphlet-type tract on the Samaritan woman. She said yes and began to read it. All of a sudden, I saw tears running down her face. I knew the Lord had touched her.
Right at that moment, her ride came, the horn beeped, and she went out. The Lord impressed on me that He is mighty to save. It is the Lord who saves, and He is able to use this tract, this media that we hand out.
Even if you are a bit fearful, it is easy to say, “Can I give you this to read?” They can say no, but it is sometimes an easier thing to do. Sometimes the situation is appropriate for it, where you do not have time or a way to talk with them, but you can hand them a pamphlet.
Another time I was at the airport. By then, I was really into handing out tracts because I had seen the power of God through tracts. The Lord said, “Give this lady over here a tract.”
I thought, “I have a better idea. I’m going to start at the other end of the airport and give everyone a tract until I get to this lady at the end.” So I started handing them out, and I got rejected, rejected, rejected. I think maybe seventy people rejected me.
One person took a tract until I got to that lady at the end. I said, “Can I give you this to read?” She said, “Yes, thank you.”
She took that tract. The flight got delayed, and she sat there for the next twenty minutes and read the whole thing through. I trust the Lord used that to minister to her heart.
The lesson learned was: walk by the Spirit. If the Lord says, “Give someone a tract,” just give that person a tract. You may save yourself a whole lot of embarrassment.
Jeffrey: On the thought of tracts, I went out one day to buy an electric teapot. I was really set on getting this thing. I was a tea guy then—a coffee guy now—but I was a tea guy for a while.
On the way out, the Lord said, “Stop at the meeting place and pick up some tracts,” because there were a whole bunch stored up there. So I stopped and grabbed a bunch.
I was meeting Jeff Holder and Michael Berman at Target to get the electric kettle. We were there looking at teapots and kettles—the brother thing. Men. That is what guys do.
The whole time I was there, the Lord said, “I want you to go downtown to Monroe Park, where there are a bunch of homeless people, and hand out those tracts.” I was like, “Well, I’ve got to get my teapot.”
Finally, the Lord had His way, and by His grace I was able to submit to Him. I asked the guys with me, “Do you guys want to go hand out some tracts with me?” I was hoping they would say yes because I did not want to go by myself.
Thank the Lord, they said yes. The Lord had provided my two companions. We did not have just two; we had three.
We got there, and I said, “Let’s split up.” So I did end up by myself, but at least they were kind of with me.
I came across a young man in the park. I handed him a tract, and he would not even look at me in the face. He just put out his hand. I shook his hand and gave him the tract.
Then he said, “Will you read it with me?” I said, “Okay.” We sat down and read it together. It was about the Samaritan woman. After we were done, he said, “I want to read more. Can we keep reading?”
I said, “Okay, John 4.” We just kept reading John 4 and John 5, reading through the Scriptures.
Eventually, about thirty or thirty-five minutes later, I was wondering where the other guys were. They had apparently been watching to make sure I was okay. Eventually they came over.
I said to him, “Do you think you would want to go with us to a church meeting tomorrow?” He said, “Yeah.” He was homeless, so there was nowhere to pick him up from. We said, “We’ll meet you here tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.”
Sure enough, we came back the next day at 9:00 a.m., and he was waiting. He came to the meeting with us.
He came another time or two. He was living with another homeless man in an abandoned house and was taking care of him because he was handicapped. At one point he disappeared and we had not heard from him.
A few weeks later, we got a call from David. He had gotten arrested—there is a funny but inappropriate story there—and he had gotten housing downtown in Richmond through social security. He wanted us to come pick him up.
We picked him up and took him to the meeting. From there, the Lord continued to lead us in different ways.
Jeffrey: He eventually got saved. I forget how it happened, but his face changed when he got saved. It was not as scary.
He was hungry for the Word and was reading the Word, but he would not read the New Testament until he got there, starting at Genesis. You know how long that is going to take.
Actually, he took about a month or two. As he read through the entire Bible, somewhere along the way, he just met the Lord.
After he was saved, I found out he was reading and reading. I was praying for him to be a disciple. I was not involved in finding this guy, but I cared for him and was excited about him.
I said, “Will you read some of the New Testament with me if I read it with you?” So we took up the Gospel of John. I would go to his apartment and read a chapter each week.
We started going there to read with this new believer because we were going and making disciples. I wanted to help him learn the story of Jesus, and the Gospel of John is a really good starting place.
But the place where he was living was a happening place. He was an outgoing guy, and every time we were there, people stopped by. They would ask for a piece of bread or whatever, or just say hi. So many friends kept coming over.
By the time we got to John 4, with the Samaritan woman again, one lady came in. She asked, “What are y’all doing?” because she saw us with our Bibles open.
We invited her to sit down and read. David did, actually. She sat down, we read the story, David shared some of it, and we explained some things. She broke down into tears and became a Christian right during that time.
Eventually, from going to read the Bible with him, some others were added in. Some were Christians who did not have fellowship, which is often what gospel preaching turns into in this country. The gospel needs to be preached to a lot of backslidden Christians too.
We were happy to help some Christians walk with the Lord and discover what the Word of God said. It was wonderful just for others to get saved because of going to read the Bible with this guy.
We were not starting a Bible study, actually. We were not starting an evangelistic work in a certain area, per se. There was just this one soul, found in a really strange case to do with tea, and then a door opened for friends in his apartment place.
James: This really was the Lord opening a door. If we are so focused on what we are doing and are not willing to respond to that still, small voice, then we miss these opportunities.
The Lord was doing more than just going down to share with David. He was opening a door into an area in Richmond that we would never have been able to get into. It was an area where you do not just go down and start talking with people, because there is no openness to it.
But as Jeffrey brought up the idea of reading with David on Tuesdays, the intent was to help him get grounded and help him come through in a stronger way. David started inviting people every time we came.
First there were two, then three, then four, then five, then six. Then there were too many to fit in his little apartment, so we went out to the main area of the complex.
It was kind of crazy, because you had people coming in drunk, giving you kisses, and sitting down. But we continued. Sometimes, because we were in that open room and people were walking through, we had to go through all the distractions. That was the witness.
One time, a drunk man came in. The Bible study was going, and James had already had to take someone else aside. I took this man aside, while another brother was left thinking, “I don’t know what to say or do. I’m just a new Christian too.”
But the Lord met them. This man was not clear-minded, so I prayed for him because I could not get through to his mind anyway. Something happened just by the Lord.
He stood up out of the chair overjoyed. His eyes changed, his face changed a little, and he started telling the others, “Get over here, everybody! Get over here and sit in that chair and let that man pray for you. You got to see this!”
He was saying it because he got “zapped.” I think God just zapped him. I have no zapping power. If I pray for you, I have never zapped anybody. But I think the Lord just met him and sobered him up a little bit.
He did not understand the gospel, because his mind was gone, but he knew that if you sit in that chair and that man prays for you, something happens and it changes your whole being.
That was his gospel preaching right from when he got saved: “Sit in the chair and let this man pray for you.”
James: One of the main things the Lord taught us through our time down there was His care for mankind. We had a sister in the Lord coming at one point, and when we got a room on the second floor, where we were meeting and having Bible study, she prayed:
“Lord, thank You for coming to reach us down here, bringing light into darkness.”
What we came to see was how the Lord cares for mankind. He sees these souls, and He makes a unique way in because He cares. No one cares.
Even in her prayer, she said, “No one cares about us. No one cares. No one wants anything to do with us.”
I have to confess, in my own heart, many times I went down there out of obedience to the Lord because I felt like He was commanding me, not because I loved those souls. I wanted nothing to do with it.
I used to dread Tuesday nights. I was like, “Tuesday night. I’m always afraid I’m going to go down there and die.” Praise the Lord for Carolyn. She used to pray, “Lord, protect these brothers on their way out of here.” I was so thankful for that, sister.
But it really was the Lord’s heart for mankind. We hear stories about C. T. Studd, people going into the heart of Africa, seeing a vision of the Lord Jesus, and bringing His Word—the gospel—to them.
I felt it was something like that: the Lord cared, and He wanted to bring light into darkness. But are there laborers who are willing to go? Are we willing to go at the nudge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord?
He might want to do a work. He might want to save souls. But there have to be willing laborers to go, even into uncomfortable situations.
One time, a young man came and said, “I’m an apostle. I’m a prophet. I’m this.” He might have been saved—I do not know—but he was definitely difficult.
He was dirty and homeless. He was itching his feet the whole night and talking about toe fungus. But the Lord gave this word within: “I want you to wash his feet.”
Washing feet is humbling—not only for the person who is washing, but for the person getting their feet washed. It is actually more humbling to have your feet washed than to be the washer.
But the Lord said, “I want you to wash his feet,” literally. I felt that the Lord wanted to humble this man in some way. By God’s grace, we were able to wash his feet.
The reason I bring it up is that sometimes the Lord leads us, and we think, “Lord, are You sure You really want me to wash his feet?”
Last year we talked about being strong and courageous. Sometimes the Lord leads us in things where we think, “I cannot think of anyone else who has done this recently, so I’m really not sure this is the Lord.”
I am not saying that we get crazy and do all this crazy stuff. But the Lord does lead us in these things, and I think it is part of being a fool for Christ.
Even if we made a mistake and washed his feet, even if we got fungus on our hands and got some disease, the Lord is so merciful. Brother Kong has that story about praying for a dead man whom they did not know was dead yet, and he had some contagious disease. The Lord is merciful even with our foolishness.
I am not saying we run out and do crazy things. But if the Lord is leading us, respond to those things. I think we will find the Lord wants to manifest Himself, His power, and His glory, if we are willing to cooperate with Him.
Jeffrey: That is the thing with wisdom and soul winning: wisdom belongs to Christ, and we are just trying to discover it. We are fools for Christ, and He leads us step by step.
If we do not try to experience His leading, we do not get the sense of how it works. There is also His sovereignty in all of it and His orchestrating.
One time, in going downtown, I had driven the same path every week. There was a certain spot at a toll where, when you get on the downtown expressway, everyone in the car would get quiet, and we would begin to pray for the souls together.
If someone came with us who was very talkative, we had to have a talk with them about not talking too much, because you kind of lose your life with too many words. It just leaks it all out.
Being quiet allowed you to quiet your heart and focus on the Lord. But one time, during the normal routine, I missed my turn. I had taken this trip many times, but I missed the turn, turned around, and missed it again.
I was late to the scheduled Bible study. By that point, maybe ten or fifteen people were coming, and they were all there waiting.
At this time, we were going through Romans or 1 Corinthians, and I was making tracts for each week. They would have a little bit of the chapter we were reading and a little gospel message based on the chapter. That way, people had a new tract to give out because we were running into the same people.
I was handing out the tract as normal and gave it to one lady who was in a rush to meet someone. She was just being polite: “Oh, thank you. What’s this?” But she was actually on her way to meet a drug dealer around the corner for crack.
She was saying, “Hi, how are you doing?” and was gone, but I was like, “I’ll tell you how I’m doing.” She asked what the tract was, and I started explaining it. I was long-winded. I shared with her maybe five minutes about what was going on.
I was already late. I should have been diligent and gotten to the Bible study, because we had missed our turns. But if we had not missed those turns—whether right or wrong, whether I was mindless that day or not—the Lord used it.
I had never seen her before or given her a tract before. This time I met her as she was going out and caught her in the path.
Because I talked so long, she missed her appointment. She was upset because you cannot stand on the corner for long before the police come. She had an appointment at a precise time; if they were not there within thirty seconds, they were gone.
She had some endearing terms for me: “That white fool.” But she had the tract in her hand. She had not read it, but it had the time of the Bible study on it, up in the chapel in that building.
She thought, “I might as well go to this Bible study.” She was depressed, so she went and sat there.
I think we were just at the point of reading Scriptures around. We had not gotten far, but she burst out into tears and said, “I need a Savior. I need to be saved.”
Through that Bible study time, she came through to Christ. She ended up having a lot of friends and relatives who were also wonderful ones to share with eventually.
I bring up that story because our accidents sometimes are used. That sovereign thing of missing some stuff and still handing things out—you never know what someone is going through.
James: One time we went down to Monroe Park to hand out tracts to the homeless. One man started resisting and questioning, “Who are you guys? Who are you to be talking to me about this and giving me this tract?”
At one point, he talked about how quickly he could take us out. He said he had been in special forces and could take us out in two moves or something.
Then he pulled out a big knife from his back pocket and opened it. I was not worried until he stood up and that knife was maybe six to twelve inches from my gut.
But the Lord spoke to my heart—and I think to Jeffrey’s heart at the same time—that he could not touch us. We belonged to the Lord. Unless the Lord gave permission, he would not be able to.
He was not saying that he was going to attack us. I do not want to give the wrong picture. You could just tell that the enemy was using it to scare us. But there was assurance within. The Lord gave us confidence that He would keep us in those situations.
I did take a little step back because it was really close. Jeffrey held his ground. Eventually, as we continued to reason back and forth, he took the tract and received it.
Jeffrey: Yeah, he eventually took it. That was scary.
Another scary time was during that other Bible study period. We were driving out of the area, and a lady came up praising Yahweh. She was being very religious, but something seemed strange. Something was wrong.
She was saying some good things, but she was not saying the name of Jesus. James was driving, and she came to his window asking for a ride just down the street.
We could not quite pinpoint what was wrong, but the discernment the Lord gave was to remember the Scriptures about testing the spirits. We had at least a sense that there might be possession there.
James asked her, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh?” Or, “Can you confess that Jesus is Lord?” These are things mentioned in 1 John and 1 Corinthians 12.
Her reaction was angry. Before that, she had been praising God and Yahweh, but when it came to that, she became angry and mad. Then we knew that something was going on.
If we had just been the kind guys we want to be, we might have said, “Sure, we’ll give you a ride.” But there is protection in discernment. There is the ability of the Lord, if we are open to Him, to say, “Wait, maybe not that one.”
We had given people rides there, even strangers, but in that case, I think the Lord gave James wisdom to say no. Eventually, when she was ranting, we were able to pull off.
James: This is another point about going out in twos. She was trying to manipulate us. She was saying, “I really need a ride. I’m just this little woman. I’m not going to hurt you guys.”
We did not really feel like she was necessarily going to physically hurt us, though I thought she might burn me with her cigarettes. But more than that, I felt there was an enemy trying to set a trap for us to let her into the car—a woman in the car with two men.
I felt she was going to do something that would not have been good, either physically or in a way that would cause a problem.
When you are with two, you can look at each other. You are feeling the pressure: she is asking for a ride, and do we just turn her down? There were people we had preached the gospel with sitting there watching us. Do we, as Christians, say, “No, sorry, we can’t help you. We can’t give you a ride”?
There was pressure, but as the Lord gives discernment, and when there are two, you are able to discern the Lord’s mind together and say, “No, really, we shouldn’t.” There is protection in going together.
Jeffrey: I just want to finish by mentioning a couple of things. We bring up these stories because, with soul winning, the Lord is teaching us along the way.
The heart behind it is that we actually go forward. The call is already upon the church, and we can step into that calling.
I believe this weekend, through our brother Dana, the Lord used him in a prophetic way to free up our generation—to hear that we are the ones in this generation. We are in the flow of that, and the Lord would use each one in their own generation to reach their generation.
Sometimes it seems like there is opposition, but I believe we are freed from it. That opposition is not actually upon the church. I think it is a façade.
It does not mean there is no spiritual warfare. It does not mean there are not people against it. But constantly what keeps coming up is, “Don’t get distracted with evangelism.”
When you read the Bible, though, there is no separation. Paul said, “I make no account of my life as dear to myself, so I can finish my course and the ministry that the Lord has given to me, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
What is that? It includes his work as a Christian, sharing with this world. It definitely includes the building up of the church.
He preaches the gospel in one city, but he wants to go back. Why? To preach the gospel more? To win more souls? Actually, to make disciples. Actually, to establish churches.
His heart is to preach the gospel, and that gospel is so large. The good news is Christ. As large as Christ is, that is how large our good news is.
When we talk about preaching the gospel, we are including the whole package of what is going on out there. It begins with the world coming into Christ and being built into the church and all of God’s purpose.
That is the race Paul is on. There is a prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. That is his course, and in the same breath he says it is to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
The building up of the church and the evangelism of the church are so connected—or supposed to be—that when you try to disconnect them, you limp around. We get a church limping around and going in circles as if with only one leg. Something becomes unhealthy.
But I believe we are freed from that. There is an open door to go forward. The calling of the Lord is just to go forth and do the work of an evangelist, to go forth and be His witnesses.
We are His witnesses. This is the calling upon the church that we can accept and be free to do.
I do not have a major conclusion to this time, except more of a transition. That is why I thought it would be appropriate for James to finish our time tonight.
The transition is into actually going and doing the work of an evangelist. We have been set free—set free from the bondage we have bound ourselves up in, even in worrying about the church.
I believe our older brothers and sisters sometimes do not have as much opportunity. But if we are faithful to the Lord, the Lord will move in the whole church.
It probably is our responsibility in our generation, in our younger age group, to spearhead the way, especially in this area. It is more difficult for those who are older.
May we learn from our older brothers and sisters how to shepherd. May we all work together in the church and fulfill our calling. Amen.
James: I just want to take a look at two passages of Scripture.
Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
—Matthew 9:37
And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
—Matthew 28:18-20
Lord Jesus, we want to return and thank You for being with us, Lord, our entire lives, even this weekend, for meeting us in such a wonderful way. We sense, Lord, that You are here with us, calling us, drawing us, and bringing us onward.
Whatever else You would have to speak to us tonight, Lord, do speak to us, Your servants here. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Tonight, right before the discussion-group time, Brother Moore asked me to go out and get some dressing, some vinaigrette, from the store.
He asked, “Do you know anyone who will go out and get it?” I was thinking, “I don’t know, but I guess I can go.” So I went out.
On my way out, I thought the closest place was Ukrop’s up on the corner. It had been a long time since I had been in Richmond. It was not Ukrop’s anymore—it was Martin’s—and those in Richmond know that Martin’s had closed down too.
But on the way there, the Lord gave me the impression that He had purpose in me going out to get this dressing, that it was not an accident. He was leading, and I needed to be aware and look to Him for opportunities.
I tried to go to Martin’s, but it was closed, so I went all the way down to Kroger, which was, of course, the Lord’s appointment. I had a tract in my car, and I put it in my jacket just in case I got a chance to hand it out.
When I went into the store, I was looking for dressing and could not find it. I started asking some associates. Two guys were talking about work, saying, “A job is a job.”
I said, “Yeah, I know. I’m with you. A job is a job.” One of them asked, “Do you want to give me a job?” I thought, “I might need a job myself here soon.”
But the Lord brought it to my heart: “No, I want to give them a job.” So I said, “No, I don’t have a job to give you, but the Lord wants you to be His servant.”
As soon as I said, “The Lord Jesus wants you to be His servant,” he said, “Ah, I’m an ordained minister.” I said, “Oh, praise the Lord.”
He asked what I wanted help with, and I asked where the dressing was. He pointed me down the aisle, and I said, “All right, the Lord bless you, brother.”
But something did not seem right about that response. I got the dressing, and then I felt the Lord wanted me to go back and get a different kind of dressing.
When I came back, he was in a different area. I thought, “Let me go talk to this guy a little bit more. If he’s a brother, we can have some fellowship.”
His name was Jim. We were having a regular chat. I said, “You’re an ordained minister. How did you get saved?” He said, “Oh, I got saved fifty years ago.”
I asked, “How did you meet the Lord?” He said, “I met the Lord fifty years ago.” I asked again, “Well, how did you meet the Lord?” He said, “I got baptized.”
You wonder sometimes when you hear that response. A lot of people have been churched and are nominal Christians, but they have not ever really met the Lord.
I said, “What about how you met the Lord for yourself in a personal way?” He said, “The Lord talks to me, and I talk to the Lord.” From there, he started sharing about his children and different things in his life.
He wished his children knew God and had a walk with the Lord. We talked through that a little bit. In the end, I could not tell exactly whether he was saved or not, but it was possibly an opportunity of witnessing to another believer.
As the conversation was wrapping up, someone needed something. It was New Year’s Eve, and the place was packed. Someone needed those little toothpicks for meatballs or hors d’oeuvres, and they were sold out.
As I was walking away, he said, “Next time you’re in town, come see me. I want to talk more.” You see, there is an opportunity to witness even to perhaps a believer.
Then I got in line. A man walked up behind me with a bottle of wine and some Häagen-Dazs ice cream. I said, “That’s all you need. You’ve got the ice cream and the bottle of wine. Looks like you’re all set for the new year.”
He said, “Yep, I’m all set. How about you?” I said, “Man, I’ve got Jesus in my heart. I’m all set. I’ve got everything I need. How about you? Do you have Jesus?”
He said, “Well, I have some friends coming over tonight, and I made an apple pie.” I was thinking, “Okay.” He explained that he had the ice cream and wine as welcoming things for the friends.
We just talked naturally. I said, “What’s the point of eating apple pie if you can’t heat that thing up and put some vanilla Häagen-Dazs ice cream on it? It really brings the apple pie to life.”
There did not seem to be much opportunity in the conversation. Eventually, I had to check out and walk away. But I was able to commit him to the Lord.
As I walked away, he said something to the effect of, “You have all the help you need.” He was talking about the Lord. Maybe he was saved. Maybe the Lord just wanted to provoke that brother a little that night.
Maybe when he went to his New Year’s Eve gathering, he could testify, “I met this crazy guy at the store telling me he has Jesus in his heart.”
Then I needed some cash, so I stopped at the ATM. I saw an associate whose name tag said, “Gabriel.” I said, “Gabriel, is that the Gabriel in the Bible?” He said, “Yes, it is the Gabriel in the Bible.”
I said, “I have a nephew named Gabriel. It’s a wonderful name. I believe that God gives names even to our parents, because there is a calling upon our life. I don’t think it is a coincidence that your name is Gabriel. The Lord has a calling upon your life.”
He looked at the other guy he was talking to and said, “Your name’s Matthew. That’s in the Bible too.” I said, “Matthew—another good name, a disciple of the Lord Jesus. The Lord has a calling upon your life.”
Then we began to talk. I said, “Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? Have you given your life to the Lord?” Gabriel said, “Oh no, I’m not a Christian. I have a slightly different thought on things, and I’m going a different way.”
Gabriel asked Matthew, “Matthew, are you a Christian?” Matthew said, “No, I’m not a Christian.”
The Lord opened a door. I began to share with Gabriel. I really think Gabriel was the one the Lord wanted to speak to in that situation.
I said, “Gabriel, a messenger of God—God has called you to be His messenger. God has a purpose for your life. And Matthew, to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus—the Lord has a purpose for your life.”
The Lord opened an opportunity to share a little about the vanity of life—how this life has no depth, no purpose, but God has a purpose and is wanting to bring you into that purpose.
There was an opportunity to give a call: “Do not waste another moment. Do not live this life in complete vanity for no purpose, but come in to find your purpose in the Lord. He is calling you. His love is for you.”
I was able to look at those guys and say, “I love you guys. I love you because Christ loves you, and He is after you. He desires you, and He wants to bring you in, and He has a purpose for your life.”
There was not an opportunity to bring in the net there, but as I walked away, Gabriel put out his hand, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you, brother.” I do not believe he was born again, but there was something there. The seeds were being sown.
What I left with as I walked out of the store was this simple thought:
The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
How many opportunities? I do not think I would have seen one of those opportunities if I had not been here this weekend, being refreshed in the Lord. If I am not alive to the Lord, if I am not given to the Lord, if I am not full of the Spirit—when you are full of the Spirit, opportunities come upon you all the time.
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Do we see the harvest? I think the harvest is more plentiful than we think.
A few years ago, I went to a Catholic church with a brother in the Lord who used to meet with us, John Roman, a precious brother who was ninety-five years old. You do not meet many older people who are open to the Lord.
Usually, by ninety-five, you have made your choices. You are either following the Lord or you have kind of made your decisions. This brother was open, and he still attended the Catholic church on occasion.
He asked me, “Will you go with me to the Catholic church?” I asked the Lord, “Should I go to the Catholic church?” I felt, “Yeah, you should go.”
I went, and as we were sitting there going through the service, I thought, “What a wonderful presentation they put on.” The priest came down with the big gold cross, the robes, and a very formal presentation.
Even with the songs, they had a young, attractive girl get up and sing with a beautiful voice. You looked at the building and saw this picture of the Lord Jesus, almost three-dimensional, there on the cross. It was a magnificent presentation.
While we were there, we started singing this song:
God, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
God, have mercy on us.
Over and over and over again:
God, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
God, have mercy on us.
There were over five hundred people crying out for the mercy of God.
And you know what the priest preached on? Some political message. I am not even sure he mentioned the name of the Lord Jesus. It had nothing to do with God.
The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
I left that time with an immense sense of our responsibility. Do we sense our responsibility? Do we see that there are souls, maybe more than we think, ready to be harvested? But the workers are few.
It is not just about bringing them into an initial salvation, the salvation of their spirit, some initial experience with the Lord. It is bringing them into this so great a salvation.
Do we see the responsibility we have? It is not only to the lost. It is also to other believers who have not seen God’s purpose—to grow up into sonship, to see that Christ is all and in all.
What Dana talks about—we have all this stored up. Do we know how much we really have stored up within? Because of all that we have stored up within, what a responsibility we have to help both the lost and our fellow brothers and sisters come into the purpose of God.
I left that time thinking, “What a responsibility.”
May it not be, as our brothers shared, that we are just here. Praise God, we are in His house and willing to serve in His house and do all these things. But may the treasure that we have be shared.
Sometimes on Sunday we break bread, and it is so good. I feel like we come to a feast. We are feasting at the Lord’s table.
But there are all these souls out there who know nothing of what we are feasting on. It is almost like we are so used to it that we forget how good it is to have the Lord. We forget what it is to be separated from the Lord.
I was thinking the other day: the only difference between me and a lost soul is the grace of God. Do you know that? Think about it for a minute.
As we were preparing for this time, considering Ezekiel 33, these verses in Luke 16 came to mind:
And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish.
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.
—Luke 16:23-26
There is a certain reality that our fellow man, if they do not come to the Lord, is eternally separated.
I wonder if that reality—may the Lord, I pray even now, bring that reality upon us.
The other day, my daughter Anna—I am ashamed to say it—probably, if I were more full of the Spirit, there would be many more opportunities with my children.
I had recently gone to a conference and been refreshed, kind of had my feet washed, and was full of the Lord. For the longest time, we had not been having our family morning devotion times.
But when we had our family morning devotion and prayer time, we were reading Acts 1. We were talking about the Lord’s ascension and that He will return in the same way that He left.
Immediately, the Holy Spirit came upon us. I felt led to say to my daughter, “The Lord is coming back.”
My daughter is always talking about the Lord coming back. She says, “I can’t wait to see Jesus.” She prays every night about Jesus coming back. She is dying to see Jesus.
But I told her, “Unless you give your life to the Lord Jesus, you have no part with Him. You will have no part with the Lord Jesus.”
I will tell you how she wept. Do you want to know why she wept? The reality came upon her that she was not able, that she was separated from God. That reality came upon her.
May that reality come upon us. To finish the story, thank the Lord, we let that reality sit in for a few minutes. Then we said, “But there is good news. There is good news. You are able to have part with Him. You are able to give your life to Him.”
I believe the Lord brought that reality upon her. Perhaps that is a prayer: that reality would come upon us.
These souls are all around us. We go out. We go to Starbucks. We get a cup of coffee. Do we see these perishing souls all around us, eternally separated from Him?
What do we have if we do not have Jesus? Is there even a reason to go on?
There are all these souls we come into contact with every day. I have to confess for myself, how many times do I go to the store or go here, so caught up in myself that I do not care that the soul in front of me is perishing because I am so focused on getting my cup of coffee or getting something done?
May the reality come upon us in the Lord’s mercy: all around us, souls are perishing.
Even with our brother Hudson Taylor, he saw in China every day a million souls perishing. Do we see around us? Do we see that the harvest is plentiful?
Tonight, I feel the Lord is encouraging us again. I do not feel He is condemning us. He is encouraging.
I think what Jeffrey said was so right. I feel like this weekend, through last night and this morning, the Lord, through our brother Dana, is commissioning us. He is saying, “Go out and make disciples of men.”
Now, as we transition, we have this opportunity by God’s grace, even tonight. Should you have to stop, should you get a flat tire, should you need to stop for gas—whatever it may be—look to the Lord for opportunities to share and testify.
Be those laborers to bring in this harvest. I believe the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Maybe we could pray.
Lord, we come to You tonight, even with these imperfect words. Lord Jesus, we want to thank You. We believe that You have brought us here for a purpose.
Lord, we believe that You are calling us, that You have commissioned us to go and make disciples of men.
Lord, now we are looking to You, even as we have been looking to You this weekend. We are looking to You now.
Lord, we know that if we go out somehow in our own ability, how we will fail and not be able. But Lord, we tell You tonight that we are willing.
We are desiring, Lord, to be those laborers for the harvest.
Lord, would You bring the reality upon us of Your heart? Lord, fill our hearts. Lord, share Your heart with us for our fellow man.
Lord, share Your heart with us. Fill our hearts with Your love for souls, that we would not just go about living our lives, easily slipping back into that place of just going on day to day and somehow missing all these opportunities.
Lord, would You constrain us?
Lord, we want to offer ourselves tonight, that You really would have laborers. Lord, may we be faithful in Your house and faithful in Your kingdom.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.