Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
I just ran across a classic awesome MP3 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles titled,
“Misunderstood
Judgment Seat Of Christ.” Brother Hyles explains how God does not
reward us for our motives, but for our labors, regardless of our motives.
There is nothing in the Holy Bible about having right motives to be rewarded by God. God will reward any grumpy soul-winner!
God is going to reward our labors, not our different methods, as long as we are laboring to win souls. We all serve God in different ways, but the Lord is only going to reward our time spent to help get souls saved.
The Salvation Army is famous for doing good works, but you never hear anything about the Gospel or soulwinning! Effectively, the Salvation Army is nothing more today than a big charity, far more army than salvation.
God is going to reward our WORKS for “OF WHAT SORT IT IS”! Many fruitless believers errantly think they will be rewarded in eternity, whose works are mere hay, wood and stubble. They will receive NOTHING! ...
1st Corinthians 3:11-15, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, 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.”
If we take the preceding Scripture passage literally, our works will be tested with fire. Fire will burn up everything in this world one day. I have heard some preachers say that gold, silver and precious stones don't burn, as do wood, hay and stubble. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that all these materials can burn. Gold, precious stones and silver melt too if the fire is hot enough. Every element known to mankind will melt under a temperature that is hot enough. All of the Gospel and secular music recordings will be burned one day. All of the books written and published will be burned. All of the fancy buildings will be burned down. Everything will burn!
It seems to me that the only works which will be rewarded are the ones that produce eternal results; such as, soulwinning and everything related to it, including prayer, financial support for soulwinning churches, and “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). According to Hebrews 12:14, living a holy life relates to winning people to the Lord. The clear implication here is that we ought to continually be trying to win people to the Lord with the precious seed of the incorruptible Gospel. Amen!
Dr. Hyles used to say that God didn't save us
to BE GOOD, He saved us to DO GOOD! You can hear this wonderful truth in
Brother Hyles' insightful MP3 sermon called, “Our
Mixed Up Fundamental Christianity!” Some of the worst Christians do the
most for God! God didn't save us to fill 18" of pew three times a week, and
do nothing for God! Many believers have the wrong mindset that only pastors
and other full-time Christian workers are supposed to go soulwinning, but
the truth is that EVERY BELIEVER ought to be a soulwinner. Proverbs
11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” 1st Corinthians 9:16, “For
though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is
laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the
gospel!” I think it would be absurd for only the apostle
Paul to bear the great responsibility of winning souls. I mean, if Paul felt
it woeful for him not to PREACH THE GOSPEL, and it is of such utmost
importance, it would only be very logical that we would also bear that great
duty, seeing that we are ALL CAPABLE of preaching the Gospel.
Every Believer Has a Duty to Preach the Gospel
There
is a dear saint of God mentioned in the Bible, a lady named Anna who was
about 84 years young, who was a soulwinner. My dear reader, if an 84 year
old woman can PREACH THE GOSPEL of redemption through faith alone in the
cross of Jesus Christ, then SO CAN YOU!!! There is absolutely no excuse for
every believer to do their part to win souls...
Luke 2:36-38, “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
If through all my internet writings over the past 16 years since 2002, I have failed to convince you of the importance, urgency and duty of every Christian to do their part to PREACH THE GOSPEL to win the lost to Jesus Christ, then I have utterly failed you and the Lord.
Do you know what soulwinning really entails my friend? From my own personal experience as a soulwinner, most of what I do is remove the blinders which Satan has placed upon people's eyes through false religion, the falsehood of evolution, foolish worldly wisdom and demonic New Age philosophies (which are promoted by Oprah Winfrey and other false teachers). Jesus foretold that in the end times, MANY false prophets would arise. Matthew 24:11, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24 concerns the 7-year Tribulation period, which follows the instantaneous event of the Rapture (i.e., the removal of the saints from the world).
However, as we near the Rapture and Tribulation, the conditions that Jesus spoke of will prevail. For example: In Matthew 24:37-38 Jesus foretold that the world would return to the horrible moral conditions of the time of Noah. Genesis 6:5, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” From reading the horrific daily news in recent years, I certainly feel like we are now witnessing such wicked times!
When we present “the Gospel” properly, which is to clarify what it exactly means—Christ DIED on the cross for our sins, He was BURIED and physically RESURRECTED three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-6)—It makes it very easy for people to believe and be saved!
“There is power in this Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it... The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to believe.” —Pastor Yankee Arnold, a quote from the excellent MP3 sermon titled, “WHY GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”
We are Saved Simply By Believing the Good News
The Gospel is sometimes also referred to in Scriptures as the “Word of Truth”... Ephesians 1:13, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” The Word of Truth is the GOOD NEWS (i.e., Gospel or Glad Tidings) of our salvation, or if you please, the GOOD NEWS that brings salvation when we trust in it. Ephesians 1:13a, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel...” ...
Romans 10:13-15, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
Carefully notice the Biblical progression in the preceding passage of Scripture:
- Soulwinners are SENT (“Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,” Mark 16:15b).
- They PREACH the Gospel.
- Lost sinners HEAR the Gospel preached.
- They BELIEVE and are saved!
- They CALL on whom they have believed, as evidence of their heart's faith.
I want you to notice a few very interesting truths in the previous Scripture passage and the progression we just went over. Please note that calling upon the Lord is NOT necessary to be saved, but it is a normal thing to do. Before a person ever exits their pew to go down front in response to an invitation, they are already saved. They were saved the moment they BELIEVED in their pew. The Bible confirms this truth in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Many Bible students get this verse wrong, errantly concluding that confession is necessary to be saved. However, we know from other Scripture passages; such as, John 12:42-43, that confession is NOT required to be saved.
John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” If Romans 10:10 means that confession is necessary for salvation, then clearly these chief rulers couldn't have been saved; but they were saved, despite the fact that “THEY DID NOT CONFESS HIM”! That is a beautiful truth, because it clarifies “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3b). Anyone who BELIEVES the Good News of Christ crucified on the cross for their sins, buried, and bodily risen the third day is saved!!!
Some heretics have tried to insist that praying a prayer is necessary to be saved, but that is bad Bible exegesis. In the entire Gospel of John, which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31, nothing is taught about calling to be saved; but rather, simply BELIEVE. We find the words “believe” and “believed” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but not once is the word “repent” mentioned. Of the 24 times that the word “call” is mentioned in the Gospel of John, not once does it concern salvation.
We are SIMPLY told to place our trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins (John chapter
19), and then miraculously raised up from the dead 72 hours later (John
chapter 20). What a precious Savior!!!!!!! In literally hundreds of Bible
passages we are taught to simply BELIEVE to be saved. It is foolish to base
an entire doctrine on one Bible verse; such as, Romans 10:13 or 10:9-10. If
calling or confessing were necessary to be saved, then such things would
have been mentioned in the Gospel of John and the Epistle of 1st John, but
they weren't! The simple Bible way of salvation is to place one's childlike
faith in the Gospel.
Any Works Done for Christ Without Sharing the Gospel Are in Vain
The idea of having a “ministry” that doesn't try to get people saved with the Gospel is foreign to the Scriptures. The “Gospel” is the “GOOD NEWS” of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, the Christ, who DIED on the cross for our sins, was BURIED, and then bodily RESURRECTED on the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-6; John 20:31). The Gospel is the ONLY way that a person can be eternally saved by God, through faith in this very GOOD NEWS! My friend, have you placed your trust (faith) in this GOOD NEWS?
In the sermon, Dr. Hyles rightly says that ALL WORKS ARE SELFISH, because we
all want to be rewarded for them. Even if we want that good feeling which
comes from serving God, it is still a selfish motive. Even if we want to
give God all the glory, it is still a selfish motive, wanting to feel happy
that we gave God the glory. There is no untainted work done for God! The
Bible doesn't say our sins are “as filthy rags” in Isaiah 64:6, it says our
righteousness is as filthy rags. So if we are only going to be rewarded for
our untainted works, we won't receive any rewards. Thankfully, God is going
to reward our works according to “OF WHAT SORT” they are!
In Dr. Hyles' MP3 sermon, “Misunderstood
Judgment Seat Of Christ,” he mentions a lady who became upset with him
when he first came to pastor the First Baptist Church of Hammond in 1959.
She was upset because Dr. Hyles said anyone who is not a soul-winner is NOT
serving God. She explained that she'd been serving God for 20 years in the
church kitchen. But, as Dr. Hyles truthfully said, unless she was preparing
dinner on soul-winning night, she won't be rewarded. A lot of work is done
in Jesus' name, but no soulwinning is ever done.
Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
I
once heard a local man, a former politician, boast about how his family is
buying a local restaurant to “serve God.” Kindly, God doesn't reward us for
going into the restaurant business, unless we are preaching the Gospel to
customers in our restaurant. 
Every
time that a person gets saved, there is joy in Heaven (Luke 15:10; 2nd Peter
3:9).
I
am not saying that God won't reward you for helping an old lady across the
street, or for giving money (alms) to the poor, or any one of a thousand
good works you can do because you want to please the Lord Jesus Christ, but
these are NOT a ministry!!! Don't call such things a “ministry”! You don't
have a ministry unless you are sharing the Gospel. I would hate to stand
before God one day, and be rewarded for doing a bunch of good deeds, but
never had preached the Gospel to anyone! I couldn't live with myself if no
one had ever been saved, because I never gave them the chance, by failing to
witness to them with the free grace Gospel! 
