Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light” (I Peter 2:9).
2. The call of God to service.—The second call of God is to serve Jesus Christ. This call
to service is extended to all men, and everyone who knows Jesus Christ should serve Him.
Recently at an ordination council a young man said, “The spiritual need and the
command to go constitute the call to the ministry.” I was horrified at this response. The need and
the command do not constitute a call to full-time Christian service; the call of God to full-time
ministry is felt in the heart. However, every full-time servant must respond to the need and be
obedient to the command, even as all Christians must respond.
The need is lost men going to Hell. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”
(Rom. 3:23) and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). What motivated Bill Monroe to give
up a job and move to Florence, South Carolina, without a guaranteed salary? Surely his desire to
preach did not move him 800 miles. There were plenty of lost souls in Indianapolis, Indiana. An
internal call to start a church sent him to Florence, South Carolina.
What motivated Jack Dinsbeer to begin preaching without a salary? He wanted to do
more than present his sermons each Sunday morning. He felt the internal call of God to preach.
The men in this book believe that every human being without Jesus Christ is lost and going to
Hell. Bob Gray said, “We have 55 Sunday School buses because we are not content to let people
go to Hell without trying to reach them with the gospel.” Jesus went through the towns and
villages of Galilee preaching the gospel. When He saw the multitudes He was moved with
compassion. Based upon Christ’s observation of human need, which was more than their
socioeconomic need, He immediately called His disciples. The need of men prompted their call
to discipleship. “And when he had called unto him his twelve” (Matt. 10:1). Today, every
Christian is called to be a disciple.
The need among the world is the first step in the call of God to service, but the call of
God to full-time Christian service is deeper than just knowing men are lost.
The command of Jesus Christ to “Go” is the second step in the call of God to service. The
Great Commission is still the marching orders of the church. Before He ascended back into
heaven, Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19). This command was not limited to
the eleven apostles who heard Him; all Christians are obligated to carry out this command. But
the call to full-time service is deeper than just obedience to God’s command.
New Testament churches begin when the man of God goes. Jerry Falwell went to
Lynchburg, Virginia, to start a church; Tom Malone went to Pontiac, Michigan, to start a church,
Jewell Smith went to Orlando, Florida, to start a church. After these men go, then they send their
members out on Sunday School buses, “going into the highways and the byways to bring
children to Sunday School.” They send their soul winners out in organized visitation to win men
and women to Jesus Christ in homes and shops. The command to “go” extends to all Christians.
All those who go are carrying out the Great Commission; yet the call to full-time
Christian service is more than going even though it includes going. All Christians should know