Souls aren’t temporary, they’re eternal. They will exist on and on whether they make heaven or hell their home. This is something not to take lightly, we must reach out and do our best to reach out to them. They hurt, they’re confused, and their hungry and we sit by each day watching them walk towards the flames of hell. We must be a catalyst in their lives, turning them towards God. He is the answer to their pain and distress.
We can witness by inviting them to church, but that’s not the only way. We must do that, but there is another way that we can win souls. Intercession!!
Act 12:4-10 (4) “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.(5) Peter, therefore, was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.(6) And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.(7) And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.(8) And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.(9) And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. (10) When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
Peter was imprisoned by King Herod. The lost are being imprisoned by hell. With shackles on their hands and feet. The devil’s trying to stop them from knowing who God really is. They want to be loosed from their sin and the fiery shackles.
Let’s read verses 5-7 (5) Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Peter was being kept in the prison, but BUT BUT there was a church praying. Come on CHURCH we have power through our prayers.
Acts 1:8 ” But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. . .”
(6) And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. (7) And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
That night Herod was going to take Peter and kill him. The devil thinks he has got them and that they are dead, but our God has a way of messing the devil’s plans up. They may be close to dying, but my God is able. Because their intercession Peter was set free.Look what our prayers can do. Come on, our prayers set the captives free!!!! Not only that they destroy the devil’s plans.
2 Cor. 10:4 “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
We must come together just as the church did we must pray for them. He has promised to hear our prayers. He heard the Church’s’ prayers then, He will hear them now. Not only that but was it not God that said in Ezekiel 22:30 ” And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
He is still looking he hasn’t stopped looking for people to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. He will listen. God heard Daniel when he prayed for Israel, but He wasn’t able to get to Daniel to let him know, because, he had a run in with the prince of Persia. (Daniel 10:1-13) Though it took time God heard the prayers from the beginning and answered them. He will also answer ours, though it may not be the next day, we must still wait and pray. Consistent prayer brings about revival and results.
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” We can’t faint if we want to reap the Harvest!!!
The Harvest is vast, it’s huge. Matthew 9:37 “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” There are over six billion people in the world, and most of them don’t know the Truth. We have to reach out. We can’t let the devil have that many souls. We can’t stand idle in the field of Harvest waiting for Jesus to tell us to witness.(Matthew 20:1-3 or you can read the whole parable) He has already chosen us to be witnesses, once we receive the Holy Ghost we are chosen to be a witness. (John 15:16, Acts 1:8) So there is no reason for us to stand idly by waiting to be told what to do.
In II Kings 4:1-7 we find a story of a woman whose husband had died and she had nothing except a pot of oil. She went to Elisha and cried unto him asking for help and asking what she could do. (3) “Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.” (4) “And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. (5) “So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.” (6) And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
This is a type of God filling people with His Spirit. The vessels were not all the same size or color and yet they were all still filled with the oil that came from that one pot. It doesn’t matter what size they are, what color they are, how they look, how they act we must go and get them and bring them in so that the One and only God can fill them with His Oil (Holy Ghost). It’s not just a sit back and watches them come in thing. We must go out and reach them and once we do our part God will do his part. Once we go and reach out he will reward us by sending us, hungry souls.
I remind you again that this isn’t a game this is eternity. They that are lost will spend an eternity rolling over and over in the unquenchable flames of Hell. They walk unawares, blind, not knowing they are in Hells’ grasp. Where is the compassion that Jesus had in Matthew 9 on the multitude? We can’t lose that passion, that burden, that sense of anguish for them.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t always been in the truth that I have this burden, but everyone should have it. I was wondering for something more. I hated church, didn’t want to go didn’t like it. But, when I found this it was what I was looking for. They are looking for something more than what their being given. They want this experience just as I did. They are hungry for something more. We have to reach them. I’m going to end this with a poem I wrote. I just hope that somehow I got my burden across so that you can see how I feel. Thank You for taking precious time to read this. May God Bless You.
They look at us with sorrowful eyes
But we seem to ignore their pain filled cries
We say they need help but we do nothing, nothing at all
We watch them walk down a dark, gloomy, and bloodstained hall
As we watch we see them fall
Fall, fall, fall into a pit of unquenchable fire
But these flames will never expire
Now they live an eternity in Hell
Only because we made some excuse not to tell
