The soul-winner's feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The good news is so sweet that the soul winner must enjoy it himself. The messenger of a king may carry a package or a letter whose seal he dare not break, but it is not so with God's messengers. The soul winner must know the gospel that he is to take to the sinner. He must be able to say, "I have tried it myself." If you seek sinners, you must be saved yourself, and the sweet gospel that won you must be fresh in your heart. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 99]
A preacher never understands other parts of the Bible as well as that portion of the bread of life which God has led him to break for others. The sweetest verses in my Bible are those used when I have preached with tears and power, and others have been blessed. It is a gospel of peace that you carry, and part of the soul-winner's preparation is the sweet enjoyment of the assurance of his own salvation. One who rejoices that his name is written in Heaven may get other names written there, too. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 100]
One of the most moving passages in the Bible is Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus tells us of the rich man who died, and was buried, "and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments." If we believe the Bible, we must take this account at face value. Jesus did not call it a parable. He gives the name of Lazarus, who lay at the rich man's gate full of sores. Lazarus was a real person and the story is not fiction. The rich man was a real person. Doubtless, Jesus would have given his name too, but for the loved ones or friends of the rich man who would be grieved or embarrassed. The account is a true story of what happened to two men, one who went to Heaven and the other who went to Hell. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 103]
Many say they do not like deathbed stories, but such men will have one of their own some of these days. It is foolish not to face the fact of death, and the eternal certainties that are beyond death for the saved and the lost. Preachers should preach as Jesus did about a Paradise where the saved are comforted and consciously happy, and about a Hell where the unrepentant are "tormented in this flame," as the rich man said he was. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 103]
Those who would be Christians must believe, as Christ did, in a literal Hell of eternal, conscious torment for those who do not repent of their sins and seek salvation. No argument against a literal and eternal Hell of torment can weigh against the plain statement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do not believe what Christ said should certainly not call themselves Christians, nor pretend to believe the Bible. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 104]
Those who would win souls must carry in the background of their minds this fundamental fact, that men without Christ are lost, Hell-deserving and Hell-bound, and will lift up their eyes in Hell, tormented in flame, if they are not led to repent, to turn and trust Christ before they, like the rich man, die unsaved. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 104]
We are all mightily interested in the unseen world. Our interest in those we love does not cease when they die. We know from the Bible that the soul does not cease to exist at death. There is life beyond death. Even savages instinctively know that this is true and only the hardened, perverted, embittered and wicked cynic denies the eternal existence of the soul. - John R. Rice [The Soul Winners Fire, pg. 104]
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