This subject has sadly been neglected in many teachings on soul-winning and it has T in turn accounted for many failures in our evangelistic efforts in our communities, neighborhoods, Churches, State and Cities. We have recorded many failures and heartaches simply because we overlooked or down-played the importance of warfare. Apostle Paul stated the main reason why we are not making great strides in soul-winning in II Corinthians 4:3. Effective soul-winning therefore includes breaking the seal Satan has placed on people’s mind and hearts. (Acts 26:18).
1. KINGDOM OF SATAN
The kingdom of Satan is ruled by the god of this age, assisted by principalities, powers and rulers of darkness of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; Eph. 6:12). The people of the kingdom are all sinners, unregenerated humanity who have been kept in bondage to sin, evil, darkness, wickedness, deceitfulness and things of this world (Rom. 3:23; Psalm 2:1-2; Romans 1:18-32; Eph. 2:12. The devil wants the glory due to God (Isa. 14:12-14; Gen. 3:5; Matt. 4:9) and love to be worshiped and therefore achieve this aim in two ways:
(a) Keeping lost people from being saved. He therefore placed a seal on their heart and deceived them into disbelieving the gospel message.
(b) To make human beings and the society as miserable as possible in this present life. The wars, poverty, oppression, sickness, greed and selfishness and similar evils too numerous to mention are evidences of his work.
2. NING THE WORTH OF A SOUL – Mark 8:36-37
In the passage of scripture quoted above, Jesus stated that one single soul is worth than the whole world. Our body is the house in which our soul lives (II Cor. 5:1-2). The Greek word for Tabernacle is ‘skene’ – a tent, temporary dwelling. and camping place. Man is not only flesh and bones; he has soul and spirit in the body. When Jesus talked of the seriousness of losing one’s soul, He joined soul and spirit together under the single word, soul.
How much do we care for body? And how much do we care for soul? The body lives for a while and then is buried in the earth; it is the soul that lives forever (Eccl. 12:7; Gen. 2: 7). The body is the least important part of us, but we are ignorant of this truth.
(a) Value Of A Soul
1. Workmanship determines value Gen. 2:7 Eph. 2:10. The soul is of great value because it was created by God. It is of high value because it comes from God and will go back to Him (Eccl. 12: 7). The soul is of great value than the wealth of the whole world. Collect all the money in all the banks in the world together and put it on the scale in the balance. Put a single soul on the other scale of the balance. A soul is worth more than money. It is of great value than all the birds, animals and other creatures of the world.
2. Durability determines value Mark 8:36-37. When all the wealth of the world and its glory would have burnt up in ashes and completely forgotten, the soul would still be alive. The soul will surely live forever. It is more durable than all the pomp and pageantry of the whole world.
3. Demand determines value 1 Peter 1:18-19. In order to redeem the soul of man, the very Son of God had to shed His precious blood. The soul of man is of great value that it demands the very precious blood of Christ to redeem it. When some of the angels fell into rebellion with Lucifer, nothing was done to redeem them. God only preserved them for their punishment in torments everlasting flames of fire. But when man, made in the image of God, fell into sin, immediately God revealed His redemptive plan to save man from sin and hell. Does that not show the importance of the soul?
4. Rarity determines value. Rarity and scarcity reveals the value of a thing. The soul of man is rare, nothing can compare to it. You are rare, there is no other you, you are not a copy, but an original. Potentiality determines value – Rom. 8:29. The prices of things depend to a large extent on the potential for greatness that it possessed. The potential of the soul is that one day we are going to be changed to be like Jesus.
(b) Vanity Of The World – 1 John 2:15-17: Eccl. 2:9-11
1. No one has ever gained the world. Napoleon, Nebuchadnezzar, Charlemagne the Great of France and Alexander the Great all tried and failed
2. No one keeps what he gains. (Eccl. 2: 18). Everyone who purports to gain the ephemeral things of this world will soon realize at the point of death that no one can keep what he gains.
3. The world does not satisfy. John. 4: 13. Wealth, riches, fame, popularity, position and class cannot satisfy and bring joy, happiness and contentment to the human heart. Only Jesus can satisfy. There is the vacuum in the human heart that cannot be filled with anything but Jesus.
(c) The Vastness Of Being Lost
- It is an irreplaceable loss – Mark 8:37.
- It is an irreversible loss. The only way out of the hell is to stay out. – Heb. 9:27.
- It is an immeasurable loss.
- It is an inexcusable loss. You will have no one to blame. God has given you His best and all.
In the light of all these, we conclude that no trouble is too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labour too hard and no expense too large in the effort to save one soul. When million’s eternities have each lived out their endless ages and has rolled by into the unthinkable past and time is no more, the soul will still be living. A soul will never die. Satan hates the soul and will do anything to ruin and destroy the soul. God loves the soul and has done everything to save the soul. What you are willing to give, to do, to suffer, to sacrifice, to spend in order to save a soul shows which side you belong, either for God in soul winning or for Satan in soul-wrecking.
2. Our authority – Matthew 16:18
a. Jesus has come-Matt. 16:16
b. The church has come – Matt. 16:18
c. The kingdom has come – Matt. 16:19
Jesus has come and the rule of Satan is checkmated. The church has come and the gate of hell must bow before its advance. The Kingdom has come and all the host of the enemy must be rooted out.
Jesus Christ obtained the final victory on the cross over Satan (Col. 2:15) and his cohorts, but gave the binding and casting out responsibility to the church.
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3. OUR RESPONSIBILITY – Luke 10: 19; Luke 11:21-23; Matt. 12:29; Jude 23.
Part of our responsibility is reconciliation – 2 Cor. 5:18-20. The strong man that kept the people in bondage to sin is the devil, assisted by numerous demons. We have been given power and authority (Matt. 10:1; Luke 9:1-2; Mark 16:17-18) to deal with these evil forces and release those in their bondage. And this will only be possible through warfare prayer. It is then that our soul-winning can really be effective. God is calling us to fight on our knees for the gospel.
4. WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE – II Cor. 10:3-5
The spiritual strongholds that rule over our communities, the hardening and darkening of the heart of the people will only be overcome by serious warfare prayer. Our weapons are:
- The name of Jesus – Phil. 2:10-11.
- The blood of Jesus – Rev. 12:10.
- Fasting – Matt. 17:21.
- Power of agreement – Matt. 18:19. e. The Word of God – Heb. 4:12.
- The power of the Spirit-Acts 1:8.
- Intercessory prayer – Jude 23.
We should intercede on behalf of those we are hoping to witness to and bind all the spirits that harden, darken and deceive them and claim them for the Lord. God is willing to save everyone (1 Tim. 2:4). But warfare prayer, binding of all deceiving, hardening and darkening spirits in their life must continuously be made on their behalf until we are assured of answer and then go and preach to them and surely they will be converted.