Adrian Rogers - The Soul Winner's Six Mighty Motivations
Take your Bibles, please, and turn to Second Corinthians chapter 5. And when you've found it, let me tell you something. Your achievement in life will be primarily motivated by your motivations, impelled by your motivations. Now what motivates you, impels you, drives you, and will cause you to be whatever you end up being. I heard of a little boy one time who, a young man really, who was going through the woods. And he heard a growl and looked behind him, and there was a great grizzly bear. And the boy began to run and the bear began to run. And the boy said, "This bear is going to get me and devour me unless I find some way of escape," but there seemed to be no way of escape.
And then he saw a tree. And there was a limb that went out. The limb was fifteen feet high. He said, "Nobody's ever jumped fifteen feet high straight up, but I've got to do it if I save my life". And the bear was right there with his warm, moist breath on the nape of that man's neck. And with a prayer, this youngster gave a leap as hard as he could. Now he missed the limb, but he caught it on his way back down. That's motivation. I want to speak to you about the soul winner's mighty motivation. We've been praying for revival, a weeping revival, a sweeping revival. And now we're asking God for a reaping revival. We want to bring souls, bound in the golden chains of the Gospel, and lay them at Jesus' feet. The mightiest soul winner that I've known anything about or read about is the apostle Paul.
And in Second Corinthians chapter 5 we find out what motivated Paul, what drove Paul, what impelled Paul, what made him the greatest missionary the world has ever known, and we're going to learn from that. And if you've never been a soul winner, I want you to listen today very carefully. If you are a soul winner, you will be blessed and encouraged by this. Now there, there're several things I want you to learn. The very first thing I want you to learn is the soul winner's compulsion. Paul had a compelling motive that drove him. What was Paul's compulsion? They said, "Paul, why do you work so hard"?
And here's his answer, Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9, "Wherefore, we labor," here's the reason now we work so hard, "Wherefore, we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him". Now that doesn't mean that we work to get to Heaven. What he is saying is, "I want to be acceptable to God. I want God to be pleased with me". Ladies and gentlemen, if you're not endeavoring to bring souls to Christ, you are not acceptable to God. I don't care how much money you give, I don't care how faithfully you attend, I don't care how eloquently you may preach, I don't care how faithfully you may live, I care not how circumspectly you may walk.
Listen, if you are not endeavoring to bring souls to Jesus Christ, you are not acceptable to Him, you're not pleasing Him. And no matter whom you may please, if you displease God, you're a failure. And if you please God, it really doesn't matter how many people you displease. And the way to please God is to bring souls to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is your compulsion. Andrew Murray, a great Christian of yesteryear, said, "There're two classes of Christians: soul winners and backsliders". Now you're one or the other. Paul said, "You want me to tell you why I work so hard? I am compelled to be acceptable to God".
That's the first reason, the soul winner's compulsion. Number two: I want you to see the soul winner's compensation. Look if you will now in Second Corinthians 5 verse 10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad". There is a day coming when we will be compensated. The Bible calls that the Judgment Seat of Christ. Now this is not the Great White Throne Judgment where the unsaved will appear. The word "judgment seat" here is the Greek word bema, B-E-M-A. And what it was, was a raised platform in the middle of the Olympic field where runners would come and receive their reward, or else they would be disgraced and received no reward.
And there would often be a laurel placed on their head that sooner or later would wilt and fade away. But we are going to be compensated as we win souls for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what is our compensation going to be? Just put in your margin there First Corinthians 9 verses 24 through 26, "Know ye not that they which run a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things". That is, if you're going to run a race, you've got to train yourself. "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown," that is, just a wreath around their head, "but we, an incorruptible. Therefore, so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air".
Paul says, "Look, if you want to get the crown, you've got to train yourself. You have got to discipline yourself. You have to run with all of your might. And when you box, it's not shadow boxing, as one who is beating the air. This is a fight. And it is a real fight". Have you ever come to the place where you realize that one of these days you're going to face the Lord and receive a crown if you're a soul winner? I am a "has-been" athlete, but I did play some football. I was the captain of a championship team. And our award was a little gold football, which I gave to my sweetheart, Joyce, a little gold football. And then because we played football, we were called lettermen. That is, we got a sweater with a letter on it. Our letter said PB, Palm Beach High School. And then because God blessed me with some success, I got some loving cups, some trophy cups.
Now let me tell you what happened. The thieves came into our house one night and got the golden football. It's gone! Who has it now, I have no idea. What about the sweater? The moths got the sweater. It's gone! What about the cups? I have no idea where they are. I don't know. I have no idea. But I'm going to tell you something, friend. When you win souls to Jesus Christ, you don't receive a corruptible crown. You receiveth a crown that fadeth not away, a crown of glory. What is this Judgment Seat of Christ? Well, it's going to be a reward for some, and it's going to be a regret to others.
First Corinthians chapter 3 this time, put this in your margin, verses 11 through 15, "For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones," that's one category, "wood, hay, stubble," that's another category. Now listen to this, if you are a Sunday morning bench warmer, listen to this, "Every man's work shall be made manifest," one of these days the way that you lived is going to be made manifest, "for the day shall declare it," what day? The day of the Judgment Seat of Christ, "because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is".
Not what size it is, but of what sort it is. God is looking for quality, not quantity. Now listen to this, "If any man's work abide which he hath built there upon," on Jesus Christ, "he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire". Now what is this telling us? It tells us why Paul labored. He said, "There's a compensation. There's the Judgment Seat". Every mother's child is going to come to the Judgment Seat of Christ, the bema, if you've been saved. One of these days you're going to see a replay of that old television program, "This is Your Life," and the life that you lived is going to come into review before the Lord.
Now if you're a soul winner, your life will be gold and silver and precious stones. If you're not a soul winner, your life will be wood, hay, and stubble. Gold and silver and precious stones can't burn; they've already been through the fire. Wood, hay, and stubble will be consumed by the fire. Your life will be revealed. It shall be tested by fire. Now what's it going to be? I want you to imagine yourself right now standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Are you going to be satisfied? There's going to be a reward for some. Some people say, "I don't believe in rewards". Well, God does.
Jot these Scriptures down, Revelation chapter 22 verse 12. Jesus said, "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be". What is that? Whether it's gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. Put this down, First Corinthians 3 verse 8, "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor". Did you see that? His own reward according to his own labor. Look if you will in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 20. Jot this down, Jesus said, "Lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal".
There are treasures. Don't get the idea that everybody's going to be the same in Heaven. They're not. That verse from the Lord Jesus Christ makes absolutely no sense at all if we all have the same treasure. There is treasure that we're going to lay up. The Judgment Seat of Christ that Paul is talking about here in Second Corinthians chapter 5 is a time of reward. But it will also be, listen, Christian, listen, brother, listen to me! It's also going to be a time of regret for some. First Corinthians 3:15, "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire".
What does that mean? You're going to be singed but saved. You'll get into Heaven with your coattails smoking. Everything that you live for will go up in flames. Our church this morning is filled with people whose lives are wood, hay, and stubble. And I'm telling you, as surely as I stand here, one of these days, and much sooner than you may realize, you're going to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and receive the things done in your body, whether it be good or evil. There's not going to be any soul winning in Heaven. You're going to come to the Judgment Seat and receive the things done in your body while you're here, now, living, breathing. All the soul winning you're ever going to do for all eternity you must do now.
How sad it will be to go to Heaven and not have won souls and brought souls to Jesus. "Must I go in empty-handed, must I meet my Savior so? Without one soul with which to greet Him, must I empty-handed go"? Don't you want to bring somebody to Heaven with you? I had a denominational worker, worked for the entire Southern Baptist Convention, call upon me. I went to visit him. He was on his deathbed. I shall never forget what he said to me. He said, "Pastor, I am saved, and I'm going to Heaven". He said, "I am not afraid to die". But now listen to this. He said, "I am ashamed to die because I've not been a soul winner. I've not been a soul winner. I'm ashamed to die".
Can you imagine facing the Lord Jesus Christ and never, ever even really trying to bring a soul to Christ, to go empty-handed to Heaven? O my friend, you say, "Well, if I just get to Heaven, it'll be fine with me. Just build me a cabin in the corner of Glory land". Friend, I don't know how, I cannot explain it, but the Bible says clearly and plainly and unmistakably, "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss". One of these days in the clear light of eternity you will say, "O God, why was I not a soul winner"? Now, you don't win souls in order to get to Heaven. You get to Heaven by the grace of God. "I cannot work my soul to save, that work my Lord has done; but I will work like any slave for the love of God's dear Son"! Paul said, "You want to know what motivates me? What is my compulsion? To please Him. What is my compensation? I am going to the Judgment Seat of Christ".
Here's the third thing that motivated Paul: the soul winner's conviction. Look if you will now in Second Corinthians 5 verse 11, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men". Knowing the terror of the Lord. "But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also made manifest in your conscience". I want you to underscore that phrase, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, "the terror of the Lord, we persuade men". Paul didn't have a take-it or leave-it attitude; this is a motivation. Paul knew there was a death to die, a judgment to face, and he said, "Knowing the terror of the Lord".
Knowing what it means for a soul to die unredeemed and to die and go to Hell, the terror of the Lord. And I realize today that you don't hear Hell from many pulpits, but I want to tell you, as surely as I stand here, there is a place of everlasting fire that the Bible calls Hell. And when you lead a soul to Jesus Christ, no longer are they facing an eternity in Hell, no longer must they face the terror of the Lord, but they can know the grace of the Lord. Now, you say, "I don't believe in Hell".
Well, if you don't believe in Hell, let me ask you some questions. If there is no Hell, is not the Bible a bundle of blunders, because the Bible itself warns us over and over against, about Hell? Now if you don't believe in Hell, just jettison your Bible. Just announce to God that you're smarter than God, you don't need the Word of God; the Bible is a blunder. If there is no Hell, is not Jesus Christ a deceiver? Do you know who the greatest Hell-fire preacher in the Bible was? Not some backwoods preacher, but Jesus Christ Himself. Mark 9 verses 43 and 44, "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than, having two hands, to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched".
If there's no Hell, is not the Bible a bundle of blunders? If there is no Hell, was not Jesus Christ a deceiver? If there is no Hell, was not Calvary a mistake? Why did Jesus die on the cross? To save us! I want to tell you by every mouthful of spit they put on the Savior's face, by every handful of beard that they jerked from His cheeks, by every stripe the lash marked His back with, by every bruise that the rods put upon Him, by the searing nails that were driven into His quivering hands, by the blackness, the utter midnight of His heart as He cried, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me"? With all of that, do you mean to tell me that Jesus died to save souls from Hell that doesn't exist? Was not Calvary a blunder if there is no Hell?
Now I want to ask you another question. If there is no Hell, how can there be any Heaven? The same Bible that tells us about Heaven tells us about Hell. You can't say, "Well, I'll only believe the part that tells us about Heaven". Paul said, "Let me tell you what motivates me: the terror of the Lord"! Now this is a generation that has failed to understand the terror of the Lord. In Romans 3:18, the Bible speaks of people living in the last days, and it says there's "no fear of God before their eyes". You say, "Well, isn't God a God of love"? Yes, He is, and we'll get to that in a moment. But if you preach the love of God to the exclusion of the judgment of God, you haven't given a whole picture. You've only given half the truth. And when half the truth becomes the only truth, then that half the truth is an untruth.
Now let me give you another motivation that the apostle Paul had. The apostle Paul, his motivation was compassion. Notice the soul winner's compassion. Look if you will now in Second Corinthians 5 verses 13 to 15, "For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God". Now what does that mean, "beside ourselves"? Whether we be schizoid, whether we've lost our mind, whether we be insane.
There were people who were saying the apostle Paul was not mentally stable. He is beside himself. He says, "Well, if so, It is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us," that's another motivation, "the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead; And He that died for all, and that He died for all," and, by the way, if you're a five-point Calvinist, how do you explain this? He died for all, not for just some, "then were all dead; and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again".
Paul's compassion is driving him. He's speaking of the love of Christ, the love of Christ that was shown to him, and now the love of Christ that is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost. How can you say you love Jesus and not be concerned for souls that He died for? Oh, you say, "Well, I just don't have a love for souls". I'm going to tell you something. It's not a love of souls or a love for souls that motivates you. Jesus Christ said to Peter, "Do you love Me? Do you love Me? Then feed My sheep". Because we love Jesus.
Now what drives me, what motivates me is not my love for people; it is my love for Jesus. Yes, I love people, but the chief motivation of my life, the chief motivation of my life is His love for me and, therefore, His love through me. I asked Bill Gaither, what are greatest song lyrics ever written? He said, "Beyond any shadow of a doubt, these are the greatest lyrics ever written:" "Could we with ink the ocean fill? And were every sky of parchment made; Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky". Oh listen, God loves you! But He loves those all around you. He wants them to be saved, and Paul is moved with compassion.
Now I want you to notice next the soul winner's confidence. Second Corinthians 5 verses 16 and 17, "Wherefore," now he's still talking about what motivates him, "Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more," that is, after the flesh. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new". Now here's his confidence: that if I lead a soul to Christ, if I bring a man to Christ, he will be a new creature. God will put a new man in that suit without even unbuttoning the coat. He becomes brand new in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now he says, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh". What does he mean? He said, "I don't look at people as to whether they're big shots or little shots, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, weak or strong, famous or non-famous. That's all of the flesh. I see them as a soul for whom Jesus died". The other day I went out in my yard. And, there was a man out there working in the front. And I was going to go out and say hello to him. And God the Holy Spirit seemed to say to my heart, "Speak to him about his soul". I very calmly talked to him about how he could know, he could go to Heaven when he died and how he could have power and peace in his life right now by receiving Christ as his personal Savior. He bowed and prayed with me and gave his heart to Christ.
And I thought to myself, how easily I could have passed that man by. How easily I could have just given him a "good morning" and passed him by. Jerry Parker, Jerry told me a story. Jerry received a phone call, and this person said, "I have your number on my telephone. Did you call me"? Jerry said, "No, I didn't call you". Said, "Well, this number was there. You must have called". He said, "No, I didn't call you. I don't know how the mistake has been made, but while I have you on the phone I want to ask you a question. If you died today, would you go to Heaven"? The man said, "Well, I really don't know".
Jerry said, "Let me tell you how you can know". Led him to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ right there on the phone. Some days later, the phone rang again. This time it was a woman. Said, "Did you call my house"? He said, "No". Said, "Well, I have a number here that you called my house". Jerry said, "Is your husband so-and-so"? "Yes, he is". "Well, let me ask you a question". "Are you sure if you died today, you'd go to Heaven"? She said, "Well, no, not really". "Would you like to know"? "Yes, I would," and he led her to Christ also. I want to submit to you that wasn't a wrong number; that's the providence of God. But the providence of God is all around you.
Friend, if you could only see that we have this conviction, that if any man is in Christ Jesus, this confidence, that if any man's in Christ Jesus. You know our trouble? We see people after the flesh. We think, "You know, if I could win somebody important to Christ, that would be great". But, friend, all people are important to Christ. And you need to stop seeing them according to the flesh. The up and out are just as lost as the down and out. But the down and out are just as precious as the uup and out. And don't call any man common if Jesus Christ died for him. We need to stop seeing people through the flesh.
Years ago, I heard a story that moved me greatly. Down in Tampa, Florida, a man was driving a highpowered boat and he was going under a bridge. He hit a bridge pylon, was thrown out of the boat, and nearly drowned. They fished him out of the water, and they had him there on the bridge giving artificial respiration to him, trying to do what they could do. A man stopped. He thought, "That's interesting. I want to see what is happening. There it is, there's the boat. He hit here. Now look at the people. They're giving artificial respiration. That's interesting. What an epic this is that I get to see". And then they turned the man's face this way and the man who'd been crossing the bridge said, "My God, that's my brother. That man is my brother".
When he saw the face of his brother, he was transformed. He said, "Hey, call the ambulance! Listen, get him artificial respiration. You people pray! That's my brother". Do you know what he did? He saw him after the flesh. Before then he was another man. You need to see every man as your potential brother. You need to see every woman as your potential sister. You need to have this confidence that, "If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature". Second Corinthians 5:17. When we fish for fish, we take a fish out of a beautiful life into death, but when we fish for men, we take men out of a horrible life into Heaven, into a beautiful life.
Now, listen, the sixth thing of these six things that I want to mention to you is what I want to call the soul winner's commission. Look if you will now in Second Corinthians 5 verse 18 through 20, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ," that is, He saved us, "and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation". You have been called to the ministry. Say, Amen. You have been called to the ministry. And what is the ministry? It's the ministry of reconciliation. "To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead," that is, in Christ's place, "be ye reconciled to God".
Now we've been reconciled, and we've been reconciled by Calvary. God has brought us to Himself. But God did not save you simply to sit, to sour, but to serve. We have been reconciled. Therefore, it follows as night follows day that we have been given a ministry of reconciliation; that is, to get people reconciled to God. And in this verse, Paul says we are appointed ambassadors, Heaven's ambassadors. What is an ambassador? An ambassador is somebody who represents the person of a King in the court of another. I was in Washington. I'd been there for a presidential inauguration. I caught a cab, and I was dressed fairly nicely. The cab driver looked back at me and said, "What do you do"? I said, "I am an ambassador". He said, "You are? From where"? I said, "A very important place". I said, "I serve a King". "A King"? I said, "Yes, I am His ambassador".
I told that cabbie about Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you something, friend, you are an ambassador! You say, "Well, I don't have much education. I don't have any money". You are an ambassador! Can you get any higher than being an ambassador to the King of kings? You are somebody. You're not a fifth wheel. God has appointed you. And if you're not interested in being an ambassador when you have been appointed an ambassador, you are guilty of treason against Heaven's King. To refuse is not only to be ineffective, it is to be in revolt. If you're not interested in evangelism, to some degree you are in apostasy.
"Friends all around us are trying to find what the heart yearns for by sin undermined; I have the secret; I know where ‘tis found, only true pleasures in Jesus abound. Jesus is all this world needs today. Blindly they strive, for sin darkens their way". Friend, let me tell you something, these people stumbling in darkness can walk in light if you will only open the Word of God and share with them how to be saved.
"Well, Pastor, I'm not trained". Well number one, you don't have to be trained. You share what Jesus has done for you. You'll be surprised how your testimony will have effect. And then you need to get trained. I want to ask you a question. If you received $1,000 cash for every soul you led to Christ, would it make a difference in your life? You think about that. If you received $1,000 cash for every soul that you led to Christ. It's really a matter of motivation. These are six mighty motivations. And I want to start with the first one again, and that is, Paul said, "Look, I do this that I might be acceptable to Him to please Him".
I've read of a concert violinist who stood before a vast audience and played his violin in a masterful way. When he had finished the concert, he turned and left the stage. The people were still standing and applauding, applauding, applauding. And behind the stage they said, "Go back out there. They are applauding for you. Go back out there. They're all standing". He said, "No, they're not all standing". He said, "You see that man on the third row? He's not standing, and he is my teacher". Now, friend, I don't care how many people applaud you, if you don't please Jesus, what difference does it make?
Bow your heads in prayer. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Would you pray, "O God, give me compassion for souls. Lord, help me to be a soul winner". Would you pray that? When I was a teen, I was in a service in Ridgecrest, North Carolina at our retreat center. A man preached on soul winning. He said, "How many of you will promise this year to win a soul to Jesus Christ"? I lifted my hand and made a solemn promise to God that I would do it if He would only help me, and I began a life of soul winning. I want to ask you, now I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but how many of you in this building will say, "O God, I want to win souls to Jesus Christ".
Now if you can't win an older person, win a younger person. If you can't win your own children, win somebody else's children. But say, "O God, lay some soul upon my heart and win that soul through me". Pray it right now. Pray it, pray it, pray it, and mean it, because one day you're going to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and your life may go up in smoke like wood and hay and stubble. Still, while heads are bowed, I want you to begin to pray for those round about you who may not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. And, friend, what's all this soul winning business about? It's about getting people like you saved to know Jesus, to be saved by His power divine.
Listen carefully now, all that is necessary for you to be saved has already been done. Jesus suffered, bled, and died on the cross. He paid your sin debt with His shed blood. He rose again from the dead to show that He is the Son of God, and He wants to save you, and He will save you if you'll trust Him. Now that's doesn't mean just intellectual belief. It means put your faith in Him, trust Him, like you trust an airplane when you get on it. You may believe it can fly, but you don't trust it until you get on it. Would you pray a prayer like this if you'd like to be saved:
Dear God, I know You love me and I know You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust You. I do trust You right now, in this seat, this moment I trust You. I'm not asking for a feeling. I don't look for a sign. I trust You now to save me. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Begin now to make me the person You want me to be. Thank You for doing it, Jesus. Lord Jesus, help me never to be ashamed of You. Give me the courage and the strength to make this public. In Your name I pray. Amen.