Author: Pastor Vince Wall
There are two things that every believer in Christ will never be able to do when they get to Heaven. We will never be able to sin again, which is great news, but on the other hand, we will never be able to win a single soul to Christ. The opportunities to win souls are now on Earth and not in Heaven.
The fact that we can never sin in Heaven is truly wonderful, for sin devastates and alienates us from God, who created us. To be absent from the presence and the power and the prevalence to sin will be amazing, for we will be just like our Saviour.
‘..But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2).
Jesus never sinned, and we will have a sinless, resurrected body in Heaven, clothed in His righteousness. Nothing impure will enter Heaven in the future (Rev: 21.7), and I am glad that one day every believer in the Kingdom of God will walk on the highway of holiness. ‘And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein’ (Isaiah 35.8).
The Second thing I can never do in Heaven is to win souls there! The time to win souls is now because there are no lost people in Heaven. Never again in Heaven will I have the privilege of explaining the good news of the Gospel to the needy.
Rescue the Perishing
In 1869 the blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby reiterated the Gospel mandate we now have on Earth in her famous hymn Rescue the Perishing.
‘Rescue the perishing care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave, Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus the Mighty to save’.
God wants every born-again Christian to be a soul winner in some way! All believers should be asking the Lord how they might use their time, talents, and treasures to win souls for His glory.
You and I, as Christians, are to use our wealth here on Earth to advance the Gospel. We are to use our riches on Earth so that we might have riches in Heaven, and part of our riches in Heaven will be people. Jesus said: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven..” (Matt. 6:20). I think apart from seeing Jesus, one of the greatest joys in Heaven will be to be welcomed into Everlasting Habitations by friends that have come to Christ due to our influence.
Jesus said: “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9).
Right now, we can be accruing friends for all of eternity. We can make eternal investments here locally whilst ever we live on Earth, as well as all over the world, through our support of missions that will reap dividends for all eternity.
The Apostle Paul called the Philippian Christians his joy and Crown. “Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved” (Phil. 4:1). Paul knew that his earthly investments in people would result in his joy and rewards in Heaven.
In John 4, Jesus wins one soul to Himself at a well, and that woman, in turn, begins to win many in her own city (John 4:39).
While Jesus was on Earth, soul-winning was important to Him. Jesus encouraged His disciples to see the harvest before their very eyes on Earth, which, if reaped, would result in fruit and rejoicing in eternity. “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together” (John 4:35-36).
We should all want to hear the same words in Heaven that the Master spoke to his servant in the Parable of the Talents. “ His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:23). The Servant’s future in the Parable of the Talents was affected by his faithfulness to His Lord and Master.
Gospel Tracts as Ministry Tools
Gospel tracts are a great way to reach people for the Lord, and it is something that everyone can easily do to fulfil the Great Commission that God has given to each of us. There are results from tract distribution. Never believe the lie that nobody reads tracts.
In April this year, James Herringson went with his family to Mauritius as a missionary and in his first prayer letter, he reported: “We were rejoicing to have one new visitor in church last Sunday for our special Easter service. Then as we were packing up, an elderly man made his way up the stairs with one of our gospel tracts in hand. He had been looking for us all morning and was upset that he had missed the service.
He had walked past another church but said he was determined to find us. He then opened the tract ‘Truth or Tradition’ and, with great concern, asked to know the difference. We invited him to the shops for our fellowship lunch. He sat down and told me he was getting old and needed to know the truth before it was too late. It was obvious that the Lord was working on his heart. An hour later, at our table in the middle of the food court, he bowed his head and asked the Lord to save him. I’ve never seen anyone saved as eagerly. He left with more tracts in his hands, saying he had better learn what they say so he could tell his loved ones. Then he couldn’t stop thanking me that he had come to know in one hour what he had been searching for all of his life. If only prayer letters could be stained with tears.”
If one was to put out three tracts per day every day of the year, you have the potential to reach over 1,000 people in one year. If you put out six Gospel tracts every day of the year, you have the potential to reach over 2,000 people in one year. If you just put out 10 Gospel tracts every day of the year, then you could reach 3,650 people. If a Church of 50 people each put out ten tracts per day for one year, that would be 500 tracts per day going into their community. Five hundred tracts each day of the year enables you to potentially reach 182,500 people in just one year, and if only one-quarter of the people receiving the tract read the tract, then you still have over 45,625 people reached. The famous evangelist D.L. Moody said, ‘So if we only lead one soul to Christ, we may set a stream in motion that will flow on when we are dead and gone…’ – (The Overcoming Life).
The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, said, ‘When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready . . . Get good striking tracts or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts.’
R.A. Torrey, Moody Bible College’s second president, said, ‘Tracts are the Gospel prayerfully extended from the scriptures: outstretched arms of love where many may never read a Bible, enter a Church or talk with a believer. For the conversion of the unsaved, a tract will often succeed in winning a man to Christ, whereas a sermon or a personal conversation has failed. There are a great many people who, if you try to talk with them, will put you off, but if you put a tract in their hands and ask God to bless it after they go away and are alone, they will read the tract, and God will carry it home to their hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. Use tracts to send to people at a distance. It does not cost a tract much to travel. You can send them to the ends of the Earth for a few cents. Especially use them to send to people who live in out-of-the-way places where there is no preaching. There are thousands of people living in different sections of this country where they do not hear preaching from one year’s end to another. It would be impossible to send an evangelical preacher to them, but you can send a tract, and it will do the preaching for you”.
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:21)
Would you like to be a part of this valuable ministry of sharing Gospel tracts? Visit the His Word Media website to order or support this ministry through prayer or donations.
Image from His Word Media website
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