Dr. Dan Reed was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1951. He was saved at the Woodland Avenue Baptist Church in 1973 while studying engineering at Auburn University. Sensing the call to preach in 1973 he enrolled at Tennessee Temple College under the ministry of Dr. Lee Roberson. Finishing his B.A. in December of 1975 he was called to Emden, Missouri , a town of 61, to pastor the Community Baptist Church. Pastor Reed has started two churches and two Christian schools during his 33-year ministry. He is currently the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church of Acworth, Georgia. (Learn more about Dr. Reed HERE)

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-4, Acts 4:31, Ephesians 5:18

Text: Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;  but be filled with the Spirit.”

In Acts 2 the entire 120 in the upper room were waiting on God in prayer for “the promise of the Father.”(Luke 24:49) When the day of Pentecost was come, the Scripture tells us they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they left that place to preach with boldness and win 3000 souls to Christ. Later in Acts 4 it happened again that “they prayed…and were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness.” The church grew by leaps and bounds because the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly used God’s Word with power to win people to Christ. Later, Paul commanded everybody in the churches to “be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Great soulwinners have always been men and women who believed in the power and unction of the Holy Spirit. There are those who say that the filling of the Holy Spirit is just being yielded to do what He says. But the Scripture teaches plainly that we are to plead and cry for the Holy Spirit’s fullness so that we can win souls. In Luke 11 Jesus tells the story of the importunate man going to his friend at midnight because someone has come to him in need of food. Jesus says that the man would not rise and give him bread because he was his friend, but because he kept pleading, he got up and gave him what he needed. Then Jesus said, “If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Did you notice that He said we must ask Him for the Holy Spirit?.

My first church was in a little town called Emden, Missouri. It was just a crossroads with a population of 61! The nearest town was 10 miles away and it only had 1000 people. It was a farming community and houses were far apart. When God led me there I was 24 and new at pastoring and I made a whole lot of mistakes. But I had read Dr. Rice’s book on the Power of Pentecost and His book on soulwinning which taught that winning souls was a matter of having God’s power and that in order to have His power, you must pray and plead for it. So, I would go out behind the church on Saturday nights, look up into the sky and beg God to fill me with His Holy Spirit. Many, many nights found me walking back and forth across the pasture quoting Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing on thine offspring.” I was young, a little brash in my preaching, but oh, how God blessed that year that I was there with over 70 public professions of faith and many  baptisms.

Maybe the reason we do not win souls much is that we don’t do what Jesus said about praying and begging God for His power! The fullness of the Holy Spirit is given us primarily to win souls and we must have an earnest, heartfelt desire to do it in order for God to fill us! In fact, Acts 5:32 says that He only gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. Why should He fill you if you are not willing to obey Him, first by continually begging Him for that fullness and then by witnessing to those around you?

Questions to Ponder

1. Do you have seasons of prayer where you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit to help you win souls?

2. Do you have regular times to go soulwinning? No one is a consistent soulwinner who does not go soulwinning consistently.”

Would you consider purchasing…

Revival

By Martyn Lloyd-Jones / Crossway Books & Bibles

Revival is the lifeblood of a vital church. Without the fervor revival brings, the church cannot accomplish its mission in the world. Yet today’s church is rife with apathy. How can revival be rekindled? Clearly and forcefully, Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the circumstances which produced past revivals, discerns why each generation needs revival, and shows how revival will come about today. 316 pages, paper from Crossway.