SOUL WINNING

Matthew 4:18
The word "follow": Before Jesus makes you a fisher of men, He wants you to
deny yourself and follow Him. Follow before you fish. Deny Self because when
you don't and yet continue to follow, Self is never willing to accept training
from Jesus.
When God created man He did so in His own image and made the container
(the body) so that He can live His life through it. God's life went out of the
container when man disobeyed. A new life from from the devil called "Self"
took control of the container.
The cross deals with Self. That is why Jesus requires a denial of Self.
fisherman that has not been moulded gives birth to other generations of Self.
1. Self is what a man is independently. Self does not depend on God but
Himself.
2. Self loves to be noticed. Everything Self does is not for God but to showoff.
3. Self loves to protect Himself and his own interests.
When we follow, our character, perception and thought life are transformed
and likened to God's. You can never speak of soul winning without discipleship.
The process:
1. Salvation;
2. Denial of self;
3. Discipleship
Paul says, "I want to do good but ..." The one who is constantly bent towards
evil is not the devil but Self. Self allows people to applaud you and loves to

live a life of hypocrisy; hypocrisy is living a lie. If you live a life of hypocrisy
you are working with the devil because he is the father of all lies.
A disciple is a student willing to be like his teacher; to be able to walk before
God. If I am a doctor, Self dictates that God must understand that He is now
addressing a doctor when He speaks to me.
We do not fish by speaking. We fish by the life of Christ that is in us. Before
vessels can be used they must be cleaned; if not, those that eat from them are
eating from contaminated vessels. If you are part of a congregation, scrutinize
the vessels you eat from. Jesus can nevr use Self.
Self loves to succeed. He hates to fail. If he hosts a crusade he gets angry
when people don't come to the altar call. If that nature is in you, it is not the
will of God.
"Follow me and I will MAKE you"
Self is angry when he preaches and nobody repents. Self gets jealous when
others preach well. Romans: Adam's sin affected us. Self is alive in pastors
even today. As a pastor you have the power to rebuke others and yet Self is
alove in you. If Self is not dead, the fruit of the flesh is alive. If you don't take
Self to the cross, people will clap their hands for you and God will fold His
hands. The Bible says that you will not inherit God's kingdom.
Self will downplay another brother to comfort himself and cover his own
shame. God is not there when Self is present. You and Self are preaching and
winning Self. Self produces self.
Self is very defensive. If you criticize him he will be angry at you. He does not
accept correction. If you have that nature and "win souls" with it, the church is
not growing forward but is actually regressing.
Sslf will do anything as long as his signature will be on the product and he will
take the glory. When we fish others they are not inheriting Jesus but they are

inheriting Self .
Jesus rebuked the pharisees and the sadduces, calling them a brood of vipers
because they had said, We will not be like our fathers who killed their own
brothers." Little did they realize that they had inherited Self from their
fathers.
Two races:
1. Adamic race: God cannot help it woithout killing it. Jesus was the last born
of His race when he died on the cross.
2. New generation: Jesus was the first born of this generation. The old one
died and was depleted at the cross.
Once you start following you must LEARN from Jesus. Analogy: Yoke with oxen
for ploughing - an untrained bull must always be paired with a perfect and
trained one. Learn from Jesus how to plough. The untrained one is afraid and
wants to leave the yoke; it cannot, however, because it is yoked with the
trained bull. "Learn from me, for I am meek."