Having the Right Attitude
Toward Souls
and the Truth

Having the Right Attitude
Toward Souls and the Truth

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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A Debtor to Souls

Romans 1:13
Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

How Paul planned to go to Rome. How he wanted to do something there!

Don't we get that way sometimes? We want to do something; we'd love to have an opportunity to go somewhere, yet are unable to.

We want to look at this statement: have some fruit among you. Paul had more in mind than just going to visit the Romans. He wanted to go preach to them, to do what he could to help them.

Paul had in his mind what we ought to have in our minds: having it in our heart to reach out. For if we don't take it to heart, we probably won't do it.

Romans 1:14
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

Are you a debtor? Do you owe money to somebody? Then, you're a debtor to them. But what do you owe as a Christian?

What is Paul saying when he said he was a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise? It was a debt he owed to those whom he would reach out to help. It was a debt to help the poor and the needy, to help those who were down and out.

Do you think of yourself as a debtor? Well, do you realize that you owe something to lost souls? What would God want you to do for them? He would want you to reach out with all your heart to do what you can to see that they get saved.

Do you consider yourself a debtor in that realm? Or do you just pat them on the back and say, God bless you . . . and good bye.

You should want to do more than that. You should want to get involved in the work of soul-winning, want to have a deep concern for the lost and dying. Look at those souls and realize that they're not yours. They belong to Jesus. He puts it in your heart to work and labor that you might help them come to Him.

Paul felt this need, and he was doing something about it. He was putting his heart into it. He had souls on his mind that he wanted to win, and he had a good reason in his heart for doing it.

We too should be in the realm, as debtors to souls, to be busy working and laboring to win them unto Christ. We should be serious when it comes to reaching out to souls. We should be more determined to do what we can to bring souls to Christ.

Paul was a man who had a right attitude about sharing the Gospel. Everyone doesn't have that. Do you?

People often have the wrong attitude:

I don't care what happens to them!

I'm not going to bother with them.

So, now, here Paul shows us what a right attitude is:

Romans 1:15
So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

How near ready are we?

Paul is talking about being ready to go. He was ready. He was fully ready. He knew it would be fruitless, on his part, to go someplace where he had no mind to win souls to Christ.

Getting Ourselves Prepared

Getting ourselves ready before doing something is important.

In the course of today did you get ready for anything? Was there something you had to take time to get ready for? Did you get ready to go to work today? Did you get ready for school? There are a lot of things that you have to get ready for.

I want you to think about getting ready like Paul was ready here in verse fifteen: ready to win souls.

Here was a man who was a great soul-winner. He really cared about souls. He wanted to win as many souls to the Lord as he possibly could win. And the fact that he put his heart and all his labor into it would let us know that, in the day when he stands before the Lord, he'll have a lot of reward that many others won't have.

Many won't have much reward because they weren't willing to put themselves into that place of having that right attitude.

Many things are governed by our attitude.

To have anything less in our minds than to serve Jesus and to care is a wrong attitude.

Can you say you're ready? Are you really ready? Can you say, For as much as is in me, I am ready?

Paul let those in Rome know what he was going to do before he got there, so they could get ready to receive what he had to give.

Do we want to really get serious like that? Do we like to get ready for church, ready to receive from the Lord what He has to give?

Maybe one of the things that hinders many times is that God's people aren't ready. Are we ready for revival? Are we really ready? We can nod our head at anything and say we are ready, but are we?

The thing we would want God to see in us is what He saw in Paul: a concern for souls. Paul's purpose in going forth with the Gospel was to see the name of Jesus declared to those he went to.

We should be more concerned about this. We should recognize that we are debtors and also recognize that there is a time to get ready.

Now, Paul said he was ready, so there was a time when he got ready. He knew he had to be ready. He knew all the things that he went through in reaching out to souls, and he was willing to keep reaching out. He was willing to give his life if necessary: willing to die for Jesus.

Do you think like that? Do you have an attitude like that? Let your attitude be one that is willing to do all that is needful in reaching souls.

Are You Ashamed?

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Do you have problems with being ashamed? Are there times when there's a person who needs to be witnessed to, but you're ashamed to speak up?

Why do you have to be ashamed? What is there to be ashamed of? I'm not ashamed of Jesus. He died on the cross for me. He has done so much for me, why should I be ashamed of Him?

I don't see any reason to be ashamed, yet I see many people who are ashamed. They're ashamed to go and speak up. You'd almost have to take them ten miles into the woods before they'd open their mouths and speak up for Jesus.

Now, let's not be ashamed, and let's be ready. Let's not be like so many who just keep "working on the building." We have something more to do than just to work on the building. We have work to do for Jesus. Let's turn our hearts stedfast toward Him and be mindful that there is something we need to do.

And let's start with this: for I am not ashamed!

Is there anything to be ashamed of? No, don't be ashamed of Jesus. Well, I'd better not witness to this one or to that one because . . . There'll always be something you're going by that never lets the work get done that you should be doing.

One of the main reasons many keep quiet when it comes to sharing the Gospel is that they're ashamed. They're ashamed of Jesus, ashamed of the Word of God.

Don't let it be coming up before God that you are ashamed of Him. You don't want to be ashamed of Him, and neither do you want to be ashamed of working for Him.

When you work for someone, you usually go to work and do your job and then get paid for what you did. But, in this realm of reaching souls with the Gospel, this is a different kind of service that we're speaking about here. This is a love service: It is our loving God and serving God from the fullness of our heart. And, if we truly love Him, why aren't we doing all we can for Him?

We don't want to be in the place of letting it slip by. Let's be more open in our heart that there are all those souls, and we should want to do something about it.

I might do that some day. Well, some day you might; but then, some day also you won't be around any longer to do anything!

I'm interested in the power of God being manifest to the lost and dying.

Is it the power of God to play church? Is it the power of God to live a life of ease?

What does this power do here? It's the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe.

It's what Jesus did in laying down His life for us. We don't want to miss out in what the Scriptures are teaching here: I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

There are those who are ashamed and do little in reaching out with the Gospel message.

We're talking about the power of God and how important that power is. It is the power that brings salvation to those who believe the Gospel message. It's the power that makes it work, the power that reaches out to souls. It is the power that was in Paul's heart and mind in the journey he was preparing for here.

Yes, Paul knew the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.

It's the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes — everyone. It's there for any and all who will believe.

So, why should anyone feel ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I don't know why some feel ashamed, but I know there's a lot who do. They don't want to get too close, too involved.

Maybe this message will stir someone's heart. Realize there is more you should be doing, and don't be ashamed to do it.

The Importance of Faith

Romans 1:17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The Gospel reveals the righteousness of God from faith to faith. In our experience with God, how important our faith is. God has given each of us a faith:

Romans 12:3b
God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

God wanted everybody to have faith that they might believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Recognize that God has given you the measure of faith and wants that faith working in your heart and life. It's not just something you have that you run around with. It's something that's meant to be a working part of your life.

Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: from one experience to another.

There will always be something more for the challenges of faith. Our faith ought to be challenging our life from day to day.

We want to be willing to put our heart and our life into seeing what we can do, seeking out what part there is for us.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: the righteousness of God being revealed.

We're talking about faith that works in our spiritual life. Faith is a big part of our walk with the Lord, and, therefore, we want to put our hearts into it. We want to be prepared, ready for what is given for us to do.

How important it is, then, that we be willing to participate in something that requires of us that we really have to manifest our faith.

We're not going to make it without our faith. In other words, we may have a thought of a way wherein we try to get around this and do things without faith. But we can't get around something that is given to us of God to reveal His righteousness.

We should want faith to be active in our lives, at work, that we may work the works of God while it is day, while we have time.

When we do things for the kingdom of God, we do them by faith. We may not have the means; we may not have the money; we may not have the way to do it. But we do have what we need: faith.

What is greater than faith? What do we need that faith won't supply? Won't faith work as good or better as some plan of man — some clever plan to make people's ears tickle?

We want something that's real. We want something that's right: and that something is faith.

God gives this faith.

Take hold of your faith. Don't be lying down on the job, not using your faith.

I believe God can do it! That's faith. I don't have to see. I don't have to measure it. I don't have to try to lift it. All I have to do is believe it.

We have to learn to believe, and to believe out of the depths of our heart. We need to take to heart and believe what God has told us.

And we should be in the realm where we can say: My faith is really working. I was praying, and I was seeking God, and I found out that almost before I asked, the answer was already on the way.

We live by faith. We walk by faith. Yes, we trust God. We put our faith in Him, ever looking to Him, ever committing things to Him. When we have a problem, we go to Him in faith.

Making Excuses for Unbelief
Won't Cut It with God

Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness . . .

Here Paul sets forth to tell us what people were doing years ago, how they were mistreating what God gave to them.

This is something we have to watch out for. We don't want to mistreat anything God has for us.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all who do so, against all ungodliness.

Romans 1:19
. . . because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.

That which may be known of God is manifest in them: There are things that God made known that should be manifest in us.

Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse

Here, God is taking away every excuse which man could make, sending down His power from heaven.

Man likes excuses: I should go to work today but . . . Always ready with an excuse.

Here it's talking about the invisible things of God from the creation of the world. Hey, that's back a few days, isn't it? These things are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.

Unsaved man will be without an excuse to wonder why he didn't go to heaven, why God didn't take him.

I mean, should God take him? In the realm of all his wickedness, when he should have been rejoicing about the creation and thinking about the power of God unto salvation, instead, he loved to turn away to evil things.

Believing Lies . . . or the Truth?

Let's look at that a little further here:

Romans 1:21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The things that have been revealed leave man without any excuse. They can say all they want to. They can have all the ideas they want. But, in the end, heaven is a long ways off to them, because they put aside the things of God. They were not seeking after Him. The things of God had no importance to them.

Romans 1:21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

It doesn't sound good for them. It doesn't sound like there was a great revival going on. Rather, it was the opposite.

There was nothing they were taking hold of that God had for them to take hold of. They didn't want to hear and they didn't want to know.

I want to hear. What about you? I want to hear about Jesus. Let's not be foolish. Let's take it deep in our hearts.

Because they knew God and didn't do anything about it . . . You know God, and you love Him. If you love God, then you're doing something about it!

Because we know God and we love God — and He's important to us — we want, then, that our relationship be made solid and real.

But they went their way. They were unthankful and became vain in their imaginations. Their foolish hearts were darkened. There was nothing left that was good for them.

Now, as far as we're concerned, do we look? Do we know? Do we understand?

Romans 1:22,23
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God! This was a group that was destined, then, not to make it because of their ways and their attitudes. They turned aside from that which was real and right.

We don't want to be part of the crowd that turns away from the Gospel, that turns away from the Word of God. We don't want to be of them.

When they turn away from God, what do they turn to?

We know in the time that we are living, lots of people have turned away from God. They went to church a few times and then up and quit going. They didn't want it any more because there were some things they were going to have to face up to. There was something they didn't want to hear because it spoke of their problem, of their sin.

Do you want to hear?

All of us should really take time to think of how important it is for us to stand firm with God. We need to take to heart that we're going to live the way He tells us to live in His Word, taking His word to heart as it is.

There's more "word twisters" around who like to twist God's Word. They like to twist and turn it. They like to change it. They don't want to hear it as it is written. They try to dodge out from it.

Let's be in the place where we want to hear it from cover to cover. We don't want to be turning aside from it more and more. No, we want to get closer and closer and really put ourselves in it.

Paul tells us more here of what they were like and what they failed to do, and how they just willingly would not listen to God. When they would go their own way with that attitude, it only brought them farther and farther and farther away — brought them deeper and deeper into sin.

They were just getting to the point where they were going closer and closer to a burning hell. Yet, they didn't want to give themselves to God.

Romans 1:25
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Do you want to give yourself to God? You shouldn't want any part of that crowd that changes His truth into a lie.

There are a lot of things spoken here that should get people thinking.

In the times we are living in, we are going to see the same things happening as Paul speaks of: with men turning the truth of God into a lie. In the end, they will wish they could have gone to heaven.

What would keep them from going to heaven? Doesn't God like them? Listen, God loves them, but they failed in every way to hear Him and to take hold of His Word to live His way.

Hey, they wanted to live their own way, and they weren't going to have anybody tell them what to do.

Each of us will give account to the Lord for our life one day. Let's keep a good record, living for Christ and doing all we can to love and serve Him.

Let's Have the Right Attitude

Romans 1:8
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

The beginning of this chapter shows us clearly that not all in Rome were like those we just read about. There were those in Rome who were willing to clean up their hearts and to walk with God.

Let us be amongst these and walk with God in obedience to His Word, bringing glory to His name, letting Him have His way in our lives.