Soul-Winning Motivator Podcast #178
Welcome to the Soul-Winning Motivator Podcast #178.
This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. As always, it is so good to be with you today to challenge you, encourage you, exhort you, and motivate you to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ right where you are to those who are not believers in Christ. Even though we will share some instructions on how to witness for the Lord from time to time, we believe that most Christians do not need to learn how to witness for the Lord, they just need to go and do it; so our aim is more motivational than instructional.
Our soul-winning Passage from the Word of God today is Isaiah 6:8 which reads: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”
Allow me to share with you some insights regarding this Scripture from the Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable:
God then asked for a volunteer to serve Him, evidently among any present in the throne room. “Us” is a plural, and the plural in Hebrew (but in no other Semitic languages) adds intensification. It only hints at plurality within the Godhead, but the New Testament makes that plurality clear. This may be a plural of majesty, or the Lord may have meant Himself, the seraphim, and the heavenly host.
Note the balance of divine sovereignty and human choice in His words: He would send someone, but that someone needed to be willing to go. God’s grace to him in not consuming him, but rather cleansing him, motivated Isaiah to volunteer to be God’s servant.
This section is a major revelation of the grace of God and the condition for spiritual cleansing. It is one of the premier salvation passages in the Old Testament. God’s grace on this occasion so impacted Isaiah that his ministry bore this hallmark, as we observe in this book.
“Here in this matchless passage we find the reason why so few are willing to serve God. They need above all the conviction of sin. Only when a man has been convicted of sin and has understood that the Redeemer has borne the guilt of his sin is he willing and ready joyfully to serve God, to go wherever God may call him.”
Many preachers of this passage have pointed out that the order of events is very significant. First, after gaining a greater appreciation for God’s holiness and his own sinfulness, Isaiah said “woe,” acknowledging his own uncleanness. Second, the seraphim said “lo” (“behold” in the NASB), pointing to God’s provision for cleansing. Third, God said “go” (v. 9), giving the prophet a mission to fulfill.
Our soul winning quote today is from A. W. Tozer. He said: ““The trouble is that the whole ‘accept Christ’ attitude is likely to be wrong. It shows Christ applying to us rather than us to him. It makes him stand hat-in-hand awaiting our verdict on him, instead of our kneeling with troubled hearts awaiting his verdict on us. It may even permit us to accept Christ by an impulse of mind or emotions, painlessly, at no loss to our ego and no inconvenience to our usual way of life.”
Our soul winning devotional is part 43 of our series titled “The Master Plan of Evangelism” from Robert E. Coleman.
Delegation – He Assigned Them Work
I will make you fishers of men. – Matthew 4:19
Jesus was always building his ministry for the time when his disciples would have to take over his work and go out into the world with the redeeming gospel. This plan was progressively made clear as they followed him.
The patience with which Jesus brought this out to his disciples reflects on his consideration for their ability to learn. He was never premature in his insistence on action. The first invitation to the disciples to follow him said nothing about going out and evangelizing the world, although this was his plan from the beginning. His method was to get the disciples into a vital experience with God, and to show them how he worked, before telling them they had to do it.
On the other hand, Jesus did not discourage their spontaneous reactions to bear witness to their faith, and in fact, he seemed delighted that they wanted to bring others to know what they had found. Andrew got Peter, Philip found Nathanael, Matthew invited his friends to a feast in his house—and Jesus responded to these new introductions with gladness. It is well, also, to note that on several occasions Jesus specifically asked those who were helped by his ministry to say something about it to others. However, in none of these early instances is the real purpose of their life of witnessing made a matter of explicit command.
He used his disciples in other ways to help along his work, such as caring for the manual burdens of getting food and arranging accommodations for the group as they followed him. He also let them baptize some people who were aroused by his message (John 4:2).1 Outside of this, however, it is rather startling to observe in the Gospels that these early disciples really did not do much more than watch Jesus work for a year or more. He kept the vision before them by his activity, and in his call again to the four fishermen he reminded them that following him they were to be fishers of men, but it does not seem that they did much about it.
For that matter, even after they were formally ordained to the ministry a few months later, they still showed no evidence of doing any evangelistic work on their own. This observation perhaps should cause us to be more patient with new converts who follow us.
But as Jesus was beginning his third general tour of Galilee, he doubtless realized that the time had come when his disciples could join him more directly in the work. They had seen enough at least to get started. They needed now to put into practice what they had seen their Master do. So “he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth”. Like a mother eagle teaching her young to fly by pushing them out of the nest, Jesus pushed his disciples out into the world to try their own wings.
In our next episode, we will look at Delegation – Briefing Instructions
* * * * * * * * Let’s Pray * * * * * * * *
Dear friend, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, may I encourage you to get to know Him today.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time,
Keep the soul winner’s fire!
BCNN1 WP 