How to be an effective soul winner?
1 Cor 13:1-3; Gal 5:16-18
Rev. David Ang
2 Nov 2018 

To be an effective witness for Christ we need to apply the principles of the Bible. Firstly, to be an effective witness for Christ we need to witness with love. Secondly, we need to witness in the power of the Holy Spirt and thirdly, we need to witness in the power of prayer.

Love.  Jn 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.” Rom 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We love because he first loved us – 1Jn 4:16-19. Nothing shall separate us from His love. Rev Ang, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us. Because his love dwells in us then it should flow through us to others. Witnessing is ineffective without love.” 1 Cor 13:1, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

Rev Ang, “Without love witnessing can become very routine. It becomes man-centred. In our Bible school, we have evangelism every day. But there were times we were going through the motion because love was absent. Even in Christian service there were times we did not have the heart to do it because love was absent. It is possible to preach the gospel without love for soul and without love for God.”

The Power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He indwelt us when we first believed. Ro 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Rev Ang, “In witnessing we need the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot accomplish the work of God without the help of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, it is important for every Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means the Holy Spirit take complete control of our life.” We must be fully yielded to the will of God – Eph 5:17, 18. Rev Ang, “The word ‘be filled’ in Greek is in the imperative mood which means it is a command not an option. God commands every Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Rev Ang, “The disciples of Jesus Christ needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature – Lk 24:47. To be effective in the ministry we need the power of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be accomplished in the power of the flesh” – Jn 6:63.

Rev Ang, “The apostles were effective witnesses for Christ because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The things of God can be accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit but not in the energy of the flesh. When a ministry experiences failure the blame is usually put on the employment of wrong methods of evangelism. The people in the ministry should consider whether they have been filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit – Lk 3:21, 22. Rev Ang, “As Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, He started to perform many miracles, preached powerful sermons and reached out to the multitudes. He had the full measure of the Holy Spirit. He performed His works in the power of the Holy Spirit.  If Jesus needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, what about we as believers?”

Rev Ang, “Men of God like D L Moody, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday, Charles Spurgeon and John Sung were great soul winners because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. These men were dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

Rev Ang, “What made Peter’s preaching powerful on the day of Pentecost?  On that day 3,000 people were converted.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:8).

According to Rev Ang, the modern-day tongue movement has perverted the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongue is the initial manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The movement emphasises the practice of healing, having prosperity and tongue-speaking; it attempts to glorify the Holy Spirit and worse, the charismatic manifests another spirit. The bible reveals to us that the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ and not Himself (John 16:13-14). The Charismatic does not have the burden of living a holy life, separated from sin.

It is the Holy Spirit who controls us, not vice versa. “In witnessing we need the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot accomplish the work of God without the help of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is important for every Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Power of Prayer.  Witnessing must be undergirded by prayer. The prayer life of Jesus is our example – Mt 14:23; Mk 1:35; Lk 5:16; Lk 6:12. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Daniel and David showed themselves as prayer warriors in the biblical record. Jesus told us that men ought always to pray. Rev Ang was impressed that we gave half an hour to prayer before his sermon every night in the Conference. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer for witnessing (Lk 11:11-13; Acts 1:14; 1 Tim 2:1-4).