UPPER ROOM OR SUPPER ROOM CHRISTIAN? Pt.7

COMMITMENT TO SOUL WINNING

Another important lesson we can draw from the early church is their commitment to soul winning. Evangelism was not a department in their church as we have in modern churches rather evangelism was the task of everyone. After the Holy Spirit came on all the believers in the upper room, they became mobile evangelists. Lay men in that era preached the gospel everywhere they went, they were happy to share their new found faith with the people they met. After persecution scattered the church in Jerusalem, the brethren still preached the gospel wherever they went: "Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews."(Acts11:19 NLT)

The dispersal was only a vehicle/ means through which God allowed the message of His love to spread. These early believers didn't care about their comfort, uppermost in their hearts were lost souls and how to reach them with the message of the kingdom. In less than two years, the early church conquered Asia Minor for Christ: "This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord."( Acts19:10 NLT). Upper room Christians have a burning heart to see souls come to the Lord and discipled. Upper room believers see every sinner as a potential believer if preached to. They are not comfortable seeing people walk the broadway leading to eternal damnation. Upper room believer doesn't just give or support evangelistic causes with money but is actively involved in preaching in buses, on the street, sharing tracts in public places and everywhere door opens.

The upper room believer doesn't separate his career from this holy assignment of "Go Ye". Career or business platform is an opportunity to share Christ's love with people. The upper room Pastor will teach his flock how to win souls, lead them into action and grow the church by bringing in the lost not by sheep stealing. Supper room Christians have the lost as best of friends yet they haven''t deemed it fit to share their faith with them. They don't care about their eternity. God expects a radical change from you as regards winning the lost. We must be deliberate and intentional about it because the lost is uppermost in God's heart. It should not be something we do only when motivated by a church leader. The baptism of the Spirit is not just for you to speak capital letter tongues, that empowerment is for you to be a witness for Jesus Christ, Acts1:8. If we receive the same Holy Spirit the early church received, we'll do what they did- evangelism. If you speak in tongues and you're not speaking to men about the love of Christ and eternal salvation, you'll leave us in doubt about the source of your tongues.