THE GREAT COMMISSION - SOUL WINNING.
A Command
YOU Cannot Avoid
A message from Evangelist Abeiku Okai (Brother In Christ)
TEXT: Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost: teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
When a father or a master is about to depart, his last words
are always the most important. And such important statements are intentionally
reserved for the last hour because that is the actual thing the father or
master would want to be done in his absence. In Luke 19:12 a travelling master
said unto his servants, occupy till I come.This master had given his
servants some pounds to do business with. The pounds did not belong to the
servants but the master. Therefore the servants were to use the pounds as
directed by the master.
In the same vein, one of the last and most important
statements of Jesus before he ascended into heaven is found in Matthew
28:18-20. It is this command we call the great commission. There are few things
to look at:
1.
Go
2.
Teach
all nations
3.
Baptise
them
4.
Teach
them to do – train them.
Just as the pounds belonged not to the servants, but the
master, so the calling and gifts of God are not for us. Our mission is to use
whatever resource, gifts and talents and time available to do the master’s
will. The master’s will – what we are commissioned to do as Christians - is to GO.
1.
WHERE DO WE GO?
i.
We Go
To All The World.
Mark 16:15
The Gospel of Mark gives
us the precise answer to the question: where
do we go in fulfilling the great commission. Jesus said; Go ye into all the world.‘All
the world’ in this verse refers to all ethnic groupings, et
ethne– the social system (kosmos); that is, different kinds of
people in and at different locations with different culture. It could be your
community, your work place…everywhere. A hymn writer says; spread the joyful news wherever man is
found. Once you can see people or just a person, know that the harvest is ripe.Go there.
ii.
We Go
Where The Spirit Bids Us.
Acts 8:26-40
Every true Christian is
led by the Spirit. For without the Spirit of the Lord it is impossible to fulfill any law of God. You can never know where to preach the word of God until
the Holy Spirit leads you. And you can never make any impact until the Spirit
of God works with you and through you. It is on account of this that the Lord
Jesus said to the disciples not to leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, which
is the Holy Spirit.
Philip the Evangelist
was led by the Spirit to preach the word to the Ethiopia Eunuch. The result was
fantastic.
So to fulfill the great
commission, you have to be led by the Spirit. You will hear the Spirit bidding
you to go this way or that way to minister. When you hear the Spirit speaks,
obey immediately. Your prompt obedience to the voice of the Spirit will make
you a great fisher of men.
2. WHO
DO WE REACH?
i.
All
nations
Jesus came to the lost
sheep of Israel and he told the disciples to reach the uttermost part of the earth starting
from Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). They were to start from Jerusalem because Jerusalem
was where they were. It is best to start fulfilling the commission from where
you are: your immediate environment such as your household, and your workplace.
Reach your family members, your neighbours, your workers and colleagues at
work. Do not think too far away. You can create great impediment if you want to
have a bigger platform, go on radio or television before you preach the gospel.
Start from exactly where you are with what you have; it’s enough.
ii.
The
Lost
Many churches today
mount crusades and parade believers on the crusade grounds thinking they are
fulfilling the great commission. Jesus was clear on the subject of soul
winning. He told the disciples to win the lost; those who do not know Christ
and have not accepted him. Bible says he who has bathed needs no bathing again
(John 13:10). A believer no more needs salvation. He is saved already and
should rather let his salvation reach other people.
You are sent not to
destroy somebody’s church by claiming the members into your congregation. Of
course there are many church goers who are not believers and such are also
target for the gospel of salvation. But it is always best to be led by the
Spirit in your effort to bring the lost into the fold. Go out and bring in the
lost. Anytime I see a lost soul the Spirit says to me: the harvest is great. Let’s go out and bring them in.
iii.
Church
Goers
Several believers assume
church attendance is the same as salvation. So in soul winning process they
ask: “Do you go to church?”
If the person says, ‘Yes
I go to church’; they are satisfied, concluding in their minds that the fellow
is saved. If the person answers: ‘No, I don’t go to church’; they will ask?
‘Why?’ And then encourage the fellow to find a church to attend or at best join
their church. This is a wrong soul winning system.
Going to church is not
gaining salvation. Salvation is more than mere going to church though you
cannot rule out church attendance as a true believer.
Some sheep are in the
fold but are not part of the sheep. They do not belong to the master. It is
your responsibility to allow the Spirit of the Lord to use you to identify those
sheep in the fold which do not belong to the master yet. Jesus loves the church
goer as well. But going to church does not make one a Christian.
Some church goers are
genuine in their search for God. The problem is that they have not yet bit the
fruit of salvation. Present the apple of life to them. Many churches are not feeding
the members with the right food so many genuine church goers are not realising
their main problem, which is lack of salvation.
They engage the members
in hours of fasting, prayers, prophetic ministrations and ‘power-packed’
services. All are good but sadly, most members are still not saved.
Be zealous about winning
them for Christ. It does not matter whether the church goer is a member of your
church or not, you have to present the gospel of salvation to him/her. Never
make a mistake to think that every member of your church is saved.
iv.
The
Hypocrite and Self-righteous.
Jesus does not only want
the church goer, He also wants the hypocrites and even the self-righteous
folks. He is ready to bring them to the understanding that salvation still
awaits them. Don’t condemn the hypocrites or self-righteous folks; pray for
them until God brings change in their spirit.I got repented in a ministry that
believes salvation is through absolute obedience in the Jewish traditions such
as going to church on the Sabbath (Saturday) from 6am to 6pm; removing the
sandals before entering the chapel; women not permitted to minister the word of
God; not speaking in tongues or permitting deliverance services, etc. The
ministry also believes righteousness is attained by striving to obey all the
law – self effort. At the time I used to condemn those who believe in what I
now believe. I thought they were wrong and I was right until the Lord removed
my scale of self-righteousness and know-it-all Christianity.
Without any influence
from any other church I began to experience the move of the Holy Spirit in my
life. I prayed for others and they spoke in tongues, got delivered from demons
and experienced many other miracles. This began to happen while I was in the
secondary school. All along I could still not speak in tongues because my belief
was still not firm to accept it. After the secondary school, one day while
praying alone in the middle of the night, the Spirit empowered me and I began
to speak in tongues for more than hours. Nobody led me to any of these
experiences.
I realised my nakedness
and inability to obtain salvation and righteousness by myself. I realised how I
had tied God’s hands with my self-seeking righteousness. There are more people
out there in this same situation. They think they know but they are totally
lost.
Keep praying for those
who have innocently lost the way. They are like the Saul of Damascus who became
Paul the Great Apostle; they need Jesus to strike them down and re-shape the
direction of their hearts. Like Ananias you are being directed by God to open
the eyes of the hypocrites and self-righteous. God loves everybody and
everybody has the opportunity to be saved until death ends it. So reach out for
all through prayers and the word.
3. TEACH
ALL NATIONS
In the Greek language,
this point denotes making of disciple or enrolling as a learner or pupil. The
Greek word used is Matheteos.It thus means that
you should enrol people into the school of Christ, making them disciples or
pupils who will learn from the Great Teacher and become His students.
Jesus is not just
sending you out to preach. He has made you a Public Relation Officer; an
advertiser and an Admission Officer. Your assignment also includes telling
people about the school, distributing the admission forms and actually
admitting them into it. You work with the Holy Spirit. He is the boss and you
are directly under Him, enlisting students into the school.
4. BAPTISE
THEM.
i.
Baptism
is a symbol of acceptance into Christendom. When an unbeliever is won, the next
most important thing to do is to baptise the person. What matters primarily is to have the person
surrender his or her life to Christ and then baptise him or her. God does not
expect the new believer to become an outright obedient person, obeying all
religious laws and requirement before receiving baptism. If you bring a fish
home, you first have to clean the fish before using it for any other purpose.
Many churches spend too
many times on teaching the new believer to obey and accept all laws before
baptism. This is un-scriptural.
The Ethiopian Euncuh,
after receiving Christ, said to Philip: This is water, what prevents my baptism?
Yes, teach the new believer
to get him spiritually and mentally ready for baptism. It should be his or her
personal choice based on scriptures. But that does not mean too many time and
requirements must be spent before baptism. Once the person makes up his or her
mind for Christ, and thus submits, what prevents his or her baptism?
ii.
Spiritual
Baptism
This is equally an
important form of baptism needed by the new believer. You do not need to be a
matured Christian before receiving Spiritual baptism. You rather need it before
you can become a matured Christian. Without Spiritual baptism you cannot do the
will of God as a Christian.
Spiritual Baptism is
basically the fall of the Holy Spirit upon the new believer to equip him or her
in their walk with God (Acts 1:8). Teach the new believer about the Holy Spirit
and let him or her be receptive to the Spirit. When God opens the new
believer’s heart, the Holy Spirit automatically enters. This is followed by
many signs including speaking in tongues.
The major sign of the out-pour of the Spirit is that the believer becomes zealous for the Lord. If a
new believer is not serious about God and his or her new faith, pray for the
Spirit to baptise him or her. And teach him devotedly about the scriptures.
Be careful of the ministry of condemnation. If the person
has not yet received the Holy Spirit baptism it is not a sign of carnality.
Don’t preach sermons of condemnation, referring the person back to his or her
forgiven past. Rather encourage the person through the ministry of redemption, referring the person to the abundance grace
of God and how God wants to better his or her life through the Gospel. Give the
person hope in Christ and back it with fervent prayer on his or her behalf.
5. TEACH
THEM OBEDIENCE
Teaching the gospel is
the ultimate assignment of every believer and it is mandatory for every child
of God to be able to teach the word of God. Without spreading the Word how do
people hear it? And without teaching it how will new believers understand it? You
do not reach the lost empty-handed. You need to have the message – from God and
be able to teach it.
To teach the word of God
to unbelievers is to fundamentally give testimonies of Christ’s death and
salvation for all. At least you do have a testimony of how God saved you from
sins and set you free. All you need to do is to let others know of this
wonderful saving power of the Lord. Tell them of God’s mercy (John 3:16; Romans
3:23; 6:23; 8:1)
Soul winning does not
end at a person receiving Christ. At least a principal part of the job is done
when the fellow gives his or her life to Christ. But there is much more
afterwards. That is where the fellow is now to be taken thoroughly through the
scriptures to become an obedient follower of Christ.
There are basic
doctrines the new believer has to be abreast with: repentance from dead works; faith towards God;
baptism; laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead; eternal judgement, etc.(Heb.
6:1-2). From then you need to help the new believer to grow from being a baby
unto maturity (1st Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-14; 1st Pet. 2:2).
This aspect of soul
winning might not necessarily be in your domain because God has given everybody
his or her special gift. Paul said, I have planted,
Apollos watered…(1st Cor. 3:6). Probably yours is to go out,
preach and bring in the people. That alone is also great. Another person in the
church, probably your pastor or the bible teacher, will do the rest of the job.
You may even just be inviting your friends to church and indeed some of those
invited friends will get repented. God will reward you for that. So you have no
excuse in not fulfilling the great commission.
6. PRAY
FOR THEM.
Maybe there is a Bible
teacher in your church who is in charge of teaching the new believer how to
grow unto spiritual maturity; whatever the arrangement is, you cannot be an
effective soul winner if you do not pray for your won souls and help them to
build up. In his letter to the Colossians Paul said: …since the day we heard it [of your
faith, we]do not
cease to pray for you…(Colossians
1:3:11).
Prayer is important in
soul winning. While all the works from start to finish is done by the Holy
Spirit, you need to commune with the Spirit on their behalf. Sometimes all you
can do is to just lead the person to Christ and forget about baptism and teaching
of the scriptures. Maybe you repented the person in a vehicle while both of you
were travelling. And afterwards you never got the opportunity to meet the
person again. Is your work then in vain? NO! Paul said;
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.(1st Cor. 3:6)
The rest of the work is
for the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will use another believer elsewhere
to build the person up. But your prayers for the person will do a lot of good
to make that possible. In 2005 I repented a gentleman called Jerry, through the
direction of the Holy Spirit. Later I lost contact with him. Nevertheless, I
continued to pray on his behalf so that the Lord keeps him safe in the
sheepfold.
In September 2012, I had his cell phone number
and called him only to be gladly informed: “Daddy, today I am a resident pastor
in Accra.” I was exceedingly glad and full of praise to God.
I did just a minor part
of the job: repenting, baptising and teaching only the basic principles of the
Gospel. The bulk of his preparation into maturity and ministry was done by
another servant(s) of God I never know.
Let prayer be your basic
armour before, during and after soul winning.
FINAL WORD
Beloved in his Vine-yard, I am glad the Lord has led you to
read this material. It is, in fact, a direct message from the Holy Spirit to
you. It is my prayer that you do not put it down and forget about God’s
assignment for your life. As a child of God, do not be concerned with the
affairs of this world. Bible says seeks first the kingdom of God. I pray that you
achieve God’s purpose for your life and become a great soul winner in this
End-Time.
Do not worry about what you need. God will not send you on a
mission without provision. God knows how to give good gift to His children. I
have never regretted being a soul winner and I know you will never also regret.
We are in the end time, your obedient to the voice of the
Spirit will keep both you and your people safe from the evils that are about to
wreck our world. Jesus is coming soon and He is waiting on you. Paul said in
1st Cor. 9:16 ...for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is
unto me, if I do not preach the gospel!
It is dangerous to run away from God’s work. One day you
will give account of the gift of salvation He has given you so make use of it
and start doing what you are called to do.
You
can contact us:
Paradise Mission Gospel Ministry
P.O. Box SB 45
Senya Beraku
(+233)024-928-7855/024-992-4048/
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