Winning Souls To The Lord

I Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;“

I believe that there are four things that are absolutely imperative if I am to live the life that the Lord has called each and everyone of us too. None of these will save me for only a born- again experience with Jesus will allow me some day to stand in the presence of God the Father in Heaven. But if I am to live successfully in this world, which should be the goal of everyone who has named the name of Jesus, then these four things are absolutely important. 

First, I need to be in the word. I need to learn how to rightly divide the word, or in other words, allow scripture to interpret scripture. According to Romans 12:2, we are transformed by the word of God so that we can know what the will of God is in any situation.

Second, we need to have an active prayer life. This is where we commune with the Lord. Prayer should never be a one-way communication for if it is, then it is only us telling God what we need or want, that is not what the Lord created prayer for. No, Prayer should be a two-way conversation where not only we talk but we sit quietly and listen to the voice of God as He speaks to our spirit. James tells us that we have not because we ask not. The child of God who does not have an active prayer life is robbing him or herself of the greatest experience they can have.

Third, I believe that we need to be in Church. Remember that our relationship with the Lord is not only vertical where we communicate with Him, but it is also horizontal where the Lord uses our relationship with people to make us more and more like Christ. The church is to be a loving community where we support one another, and rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. We need one another, and this is why the Lord tells us not forsake the assembling of ourselves. 

The fourth and final thing is we need to share our faith with others, especially those who don’t know our Lord. Peter writes to us that we should be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks. The question that needs to be asked is why would anyone ask you? This is why Peter writes to sanctify the Lord in your heart, therefore, they would notice that you are not like the people of the world, but you live different. Because we live in this culture of political correctness many are afraid to ask someone if they know the Lord. Do you know that the same word in the Greek for witness is the same as the word for martyr? Yes, there is a cost, but the most wonderful experience a Christian can have is to lead someone to the Lord. 

Pastor Lee Cruse can we even begin to imagine what could happen in this church if everyone here determined that they would win souls for the Lord? Let us as the church at Grace Bible go forth to bring as many souls as we can to the Lord Jesus.