RESCUE THE PERISHING

                           

William was a dairy farmer and a committed Christian in North Carolina. He had a real desire to see his family and friends saved. So in 1934 he and others invited traveling evangelist Mordecai Ham to their town. William's son who was 17 years old went to Mordecai meetings. The boy was so convicted of sin that he received Christ and was born again; that boy’s name was Billy Graham.

Billy Graham became a fearlessly preacher of the gospel. Many of his crusades were televised and his ministry grew to include radio, television, books, and other written material. It is estimated that Billy Graham preached to more individual people than any other person in history. His live crusade audience numbered 215 million people in over 185 countries.

One wonders how many people looked at that young man and saw the potential in his life. There's no way Mordecai Ham who led him to Christ could have known all this. There was nothing special about the 17 year old Billy in the crowd that day. You can never tell what impact the person you lead to Jesus will have for the Kingdom of God? Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.”

Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). He commanded his disciples to be soul-winners (Matt 28:19-20); for three years he trained them how to be soul winners. They observed what he did and listened to what he said. If anybody wants to be an effective soul winner, Jesus had some lesson written down in his word.

One day Jesus was sitting at Jacob’s well when a Samaritan woman came to draw water (John 4:1-30). He said to her, “give me a drink.”  He said “whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. Then he made an amazing offer “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”

God is the fountain of life, in Jeremiah 2:13 we find him complaining. He says “my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water”. In John 7:37-38 we are told “on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

“Sir, give me this water”; Jesus responded by confronted her sinful life. She said, “I know that Messiah is coming… he will tell us all things.” Jesus said “I who speak to you am he.” She went into the city and said “come, see a man… could this be the Christ?” She took the good news to them even though they had treated her as an outcast. She was a changed woman now. She was so eager to bear witness to Jesus that she even left her water pot behind.

Her testimony was so powerful that those who heard it went out to see the person who had transformed her. His disciples were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But Jesus knew other things that they did not know. He knew that she was not only a woman from the people the Jews despised (Samarians), she also had loose morals .Yet  he gave her attention and redeemed her soul.

The woman was impressed by the warmth and insight of Jesus. It was unusual for her to hear kind words from a Jewish man. She was also surprised that he knew her life so well. His warmth and insight earned him the ‘right to be heard’. It’s not always easy to be listened to especially by strangers. Some people will blow you off before you can even start the conversation. Earning the right to be heard means gaining respect that leads to them trusting the information you are sharing.

 For many reasons the Samaritan woman would have been despised by most of the religious leaders in her days. Yet it’s amazing that Jesus chose her to be his first witness in Samaria. Paul wrote to the Corinthians “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things...so that no one may boast before him(1 Cor.1:26-30).The gospel is not only for the respectable; It’s is also for those who have made shambles of their lives. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. (Luke 5:31-32).  

Andrew is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament. He was a disciple of John the Baptist when John saw Jesus passing by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”  Andrew followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and he brought him to Jesus. Andrew formed a human link between the saviour and his lost brother. Majority of those who come to the Lord are brought to Him by someone.

Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” which, when translated, is Peter (John 1:35-42). At Caesarea Philippi Jesus again said to Simon “blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah...I tell you that you are Peter” (Matt.16:13-19). The name Peter means “Rock.” Jesus was saying that God would transform Simon’s unstable character into a rock of steadfastness and godly character.

Was what Andrew did worth the effort? Imagine how he must have felt at Pentecost when Peter preached his first sermon and 3000 people came to Christ (Acts 2:40-41). We have no idea how many people were brought to the Saviour directly and indirectly through the ministry of Peter. Only eternity will show the real result of his labours. When we set out to win anyone we never know what the Lord will make of that one.

Jesus had told Peter “follow me and I will make you a fisher of men (Matt 4:19). One day Jesus borrowed Peter’s boat and when he returned it he told him, “Simon…let down the nets for a catch.”  Because Peter was such an experienced fisherman, he knew how unfavorable the conditions were. The best fishing is at night, not in the day time. The crowds and loud teaching could have scared the fish away.

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” This was Peter’s great statement of faith and trust in Jesus’ word. Peter obeyed not because the circumstances seemed right; Jesus’ directive did not make much sense to him, nevertheless he obeyed. The first secret of success in Christian service is utter obedience to the Lord at all times.

Peter and his fishing partners John and James caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break and the boats began to sink. When Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” He and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish.  Jesus said him “do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men. They forsook all and followed Him (Luke 5:1-11).

When Jesus directs our work, it makes all the difference. We can work hard and long with little results if we do it on our own. But when Jesus directs our work, we see amazing results. We may mend our nets and use all our skill and knowledge of fishing, but these on their own can only fail. The Lord must be present and working in his power if there are to be any results that bring glory to Him.

When Jesus told Peter that “from now on you will catch men”, Peter, John and James forsook all and followed him. From then on they would cast the net not into the sea but into crowds of men. And, Jesus would draw men into his kingdom supernaturally, the same way he drew in the fish into the net. Soul-winning work is not primarily man’s work but the Lord’s, and He does that through his servants.  

Jesus started with these three disciples, then twelve, then hundreds, then thousands, and millions through the centuries. The most effective testimony is that of a consistent, Christ-like life, but the most powerful medium that God uses in the salvation of sinners is the personal testimony of believers.  So let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story, those he redeemed from the hand of the foe (Ps. 107:2-3).

If we are gripped by a realization of the fleeting nature of this life and of the endlessness of eternity, we shall be constrained to persuade men to be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:18). If we believe what the scripture says concerning the destiny of the lost we shall surely feel drawn to do something for their salvation. There is no work in the world than is more important and rewarding than introducing other people to the Saviour.

We may judge the importance and greatness of this work when we remember that Jesus left Heaven and went to Calvary to win souls. We may be very ordinary people like Andrew. He did not rank with Peter. We are not told that he ever preached a sermon. Peter preached many sermons, but there would have been no sermons from him had it not been for the soul-winning of Andrew.

It is important to remember that even if we have been faithful in our witness it may not be our privilege to lead that one to Christ. Sometimes we shall plant and somebody else will harvest later. Other times we shall harvest what somebody else had planted earlier. When we faithfully done our part and the person does not accept Christ, we should not get discouraged. We don’t save souls, only God can do that.

Paul told the Corinthians “Apollos...Paul (are) only servants, through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ..The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor; for we are co-workers in God’s service (1 Cor.3.5-9). How much attention does the church today give to the lost.