Soul-winning

by G. JARVIE, Insein | Category: General | Dec 1964

"He that is wise winneth souls" (PROVERBS 11.30).

It is not the will of God that men should perish; on this the Scriptures are very clear. In the Old Testament we read "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live" (Ezekiel 18. 32).

In the New Testament we read "God our Saviour; who willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2.3-4). Much has been written unwisely by great men on the subject of predestination, because they have laid much stress on some scriptures without comparing them sufficiently with other scriptures. The wise servant of Christ will keep to what is revealed, comparing scripture with scripture. He will leave the secret things to the Lord, to whom they belong. We know that God desires that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

In Daniel 12.3 there is a very precious promise, which every servant of Christ should ponder "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

With such a promise we cannot be content to bear little fruit. We can see that, in this matter of soul-winning, wisdom has a big part, and we remember that this will be given to us liberally, if we ask it in faith (James 1.5-6). We must begin here. It is not more activity we need first, nor more organized effort. It is more faith to lay hold on the promises of God. Mr. C. H. Spurgeon has wisely said, "It is essential that we have faith if we are to be useful, and that we should have great faith if we are to be greatly useful. We need the mountain-moving fight, by which in old time, men of God 'subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises'". Faith in the promise of God wol bring wisdom, and he that is wise winneth souls. Men are not wan by much speaking, they are won by wise speaking.

It is not intended in this article to discuss the ways of winning souls; God, by His Spirit, will lead those who are wise, and souls will be won. Do not let us lament the failure of the past, nor think that it cannot be done, because we have seen little fruit in the past. Let us forget the things that are behind and press on. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Faith and wisdom will lead on to another thing, and that is to prayer - not merely to long prayer, nor to zealous prayer, but to prayer in the Holy Spirit. This is the prayer that counts with God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin, and without this conviction, none will be truly converted. The servant of Christ knows that it is not his reasoning merely, or his preaching that brings men to Christ. It is the Spirit who does it. We must be wise enough to wait on God to discern the leading of the Spirit. We know what we want; we want God to use us, and to save men through our preaching. We want the small assemblies to increase and to become strong. We want other things too. But what does God want? What are His purposes? If we rush into prayer to tell all that we want, we may pray for long periods and see no apparent answer. Let us say like the Psalmist "My soul, be thou silent unto God; For my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62.5, R.V.M.). Then we may see things differently, and pray differently. We may see that there are things in our lives, and in our assemblies, that need to be corrected before the Spirit of God will work. What is the value of our work, or of our prayers, if we do not make way for the Spirit of God to have His way with us first? Let us be wise. First things must be put first, if we are to be soul-winners. We must have power in prayer, before we can have power with men. And power in prayer is not necessarily long or zealous prayer, but prayer in the Holy Spirit. It is praying according to His leading. This demands the inner life, the secret walking with God.

Faith and wisdom, and prayer in the Holy Spirit will lead on to power, that is the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no substitute for this, if souls are to be won. We all know this power when it is present, and we know when it is absent. Paul wrote thus "My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"

(1 Corinthians 2.4).

That was the secret of his fruitful ministry, and many men of God since have known the same power, and have borne much fruit. We cannot allow any failure on our part to contradict the testimony of men of God, who have known this power, and have borne much fruit to God. It may be true that in the past such men have been few, and they seem few today. But need they be so few? Are not wisdom and the leading of the Spirit open to us all? We are not all gifted as public preachers of the word; there are wise brethren and sisters who have won souls though they were not public preachers. Wisdom and the fulness of the Spirit are not the preserve of preachers only! They are the promise of God to all who seek them. We are content with too little!

It is true however that public preaching is the most powerful means of turning men to Christ, and we should pay much attention to it. We know that there is much preaching that fails to reach anyone.

The preacher on the platform is on a vantage point. The people have gathered to hear him, and if his preaching is in the power of the Holy Spirit, then it is possible that some will be saved - if unsaved people are present. But if his preaching lacks the power of the Holy Spirit, then it is unlikely that any will be saved. So the greatest need of the preacher is for the manifest power of the Holy Spirit in his preaching. We have, all of us, many times, come short, but we must not be satisfied with this. To fail in regard to this power, is to fail in our objective, that is the winning of souls.

Three things are important in preaching the word. Firstly the preacher must receive His message from God. There are times when the Lord gives His servants the word to speak without special prayer and meditation. We must wait upon Him, and the word that He lays upon our spirit we must meditate upon. A message received in this way will touch some hearts.

Secondly, the preacher must present the word concisely and to the point. Many good messages are ruined because the preacher speaks too long. The power is in the proclamation. The gospel cannot be told too simply. We have all erred in this; we need to be wise men, and to win souls.

The third point in our preaching is an appeal to the people to accept Christ as Saviour. Earnestly, quietly and with dignity we should call upon our audience to accept Christ. The appeal is the time for decisions, and if the word has been with power, adequately set forth, decisions may be made. That is a solemn time. The appeal should be followed by brief prayer. Long prayer is out of place in a gospel service.

What a harvest field lies before us! There are the great cities of Britain and America, and stretching out beyond these, there are vast areas where many have never heard the glad tidings. "To the uttermost part of the earth." When we feel the pulse of divine power, we will lift up our eyes and look on the fields, "white unto harvest". We remember that those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars for ever and ever. The Spirit will surely lead us outward to greater fields of service. The present arrangement of things in the world is doomed. But men can be saved out of it, and not only saved, they can come to the knowledge of the truth; they can be obedient from the heart to the word of the Lord. How privileged are we to whom has been committed this dual ministry! For this service we need faith and wisdom, with prayer in the Holy Spirit and the power of God.

G. JARVIE, Insein | Dec 1964
General