The part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse 15 where the Bible reads, so as much as in is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. For, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For, it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. That's what I want to preach about this morning, being ready to preach the gospel. Are you ready to preach the gospel, meaning that if given the opportunity would you be ready and capable of giving someone the gospel? Of winning someone to Christ? If you were confronted with an unsaved person and the opportunity to get them saved, would you know what to do?
Do you know how to go out and knock doors and give the gospel to people and to do a thorough job and to be effective? Paul said I'm ready. As much as in me is. He's saying, I've got the word of God in me, I've got the teaching. I am ready to preach the, and we need to be ready also. Go, if you would to Acts chapter two. You say why would you teach this on a Sunday morning? A lot of churches, they'll have maybe a separate soul wining class or maybe you show up at one of the soul winning times and they'll have some training for you. The reason that I'm going to teach this on a Sunday morning is because I strongly believe that everybody needs to be a soul winner. Soul winning is for everybody. Preaching the gospel's for every single person. I'm going to show you that in the Bible. It's not just for a pastor. It's not just for a select few or the young people.
It's something that all of us as God's people should take part in. The Bible says that Jesus said in Mathew four, you're in Acts two, but it says they sayeth unto them, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. That's what being a follower of Christ is about. It's about reaching people with the gospel. Otherwise when we got saved we might as well have just gone straight to heaven. The reason that we're left on this earth is that we might reach the lost with the gospel. That's why we don't move our church out to some commune somewhere or go live out in isolation somewhere and do our own thing. No, we leave in the city of Phoenix, we live the city of Tempe so that we can be where the lost are and reach them with the gospel. That's why we're here. The Bible says in Acts chapter two, verse sixteen, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. What's the this that he's referring to?
In this passage there were a hundred and twenty believers in that early church. About the same number of people as are here this morning. There were about a hundred and twenty people in the church and the Bible makes it clear that included the women also. It was man and women. The Bible talks about the fact that there were all these devout men from all over the world, from all different parts of the world, that were gathered at Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost and while they were there that early church is actually giving them the gospel or preaching them the gospel. They're actually doing soul winning amongst this crowd of people that have assembled and God performed a miracle in this chapter where they actually are able to speak foreign languages that they'd never learned. It was a miracle, because people are from all over the world and yet they were able to give people the gospel in their own language even thought they were all Galileans.
It was an amazing miracle that took place. Look at what it says in verse seventeen. This is what is said in reference to this event. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, watch this, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. What's the context of this scripture? An event where God's people, men and women, young and old, were giving the gospel unto people who were visiting Jerusalem from all parts of the world and they are preaching the gospel unto these people and God says, this is the fulfillment of a prophecy that God will pour out his Spirit upon both male and female and they would prophesy. That the young and the old will prophesy.
This passage proves, and I can turn to a whole bunch of other passages but that's not what the sermon's about, just to prove you that soul winning's for everybody. It's not just a man thing. It's a man and woman thing. It's not just for the young. It's for young and old. All of God's people can be used differently to reach souls for Christ. In fact this is an extreme example but my grandfather got saved as a result of a five year old boy who gave him the gospel. That's an extreme situation but a five year old boy walked up to my grandpa and preached him the gospel and quoted the salvation verses to him from the Roman's road. He didn't get saved right then and there but he was so impressed by that he said I'm going to this kid's church on Sunday. He went to that church and then a few days later the pastor came and visited him in the home and won him to Christ.
He got saved as a result of that seed that was planted by that five year old boy. God wants to use everybody to get people saved and to win souls. He can use us all in different ways. First of all let me say this. The best way to learn how to give the gospel or how to go soul winning is to go soul winning and to be a silent partner. You don't have to turn there but in Luke ten chapter one, it says after this things the Lord appointed other seventy also and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He himself would come. Jesus Christ at one point ordained twelve apostles. Then, later he appointed seventy apostles and these seventy apostles He sent them out two by twos, so basically thirty-five groups of two, He sent them out into all these cities and told them to preach. They went out soul winning. There is a Biblical precedent or a Biblical example for going out and knocking doors two by two.
The best way to learn is just to get out there as a silent partner and just listen and just follow somebody around. That's how I learned. That's how I learned soul winning. I still want to teach you this morning and I want to make sure that our church is on the same page with soul winning also. I'm probably not going to get through all the material this morning. It's probably going to spill over into the night but I'm going to get as far in this as I can this morning. You say, I'm just going to tune out because I'm not interested in soul winning. Shame on you because heaven and hell are real. If heaven and hell are real then we aught to be ready to preach the gospel. You say, I'm not going to knock doors. What about your mom? What about your dad? What about your brother and sister and your coworkers and your friends and your family and your neighbors? Are you ready to preach the gospel. Are you going to get an opportunity and fail to take that opportunity because you're not ready?
What do you say? I can tell you something. There were many times when I wanted to win people to Christ growing up and I just didn't really know what I was doing and so I failed. I had never won anybody to Christ until I was seventeen years old, when I went out and knock doors and followed somebody around and learned from them, then I started being effective at my job with family and friends giving them the gospel. I'd gotten the experience, I was ready to preach the gospel. First of all, let's start out, this sermon is in three phases and again I might not get through all of it this morning. The three phases of giving the gospel is the beginning, the middle, and the end. The reason I say that is because the hardest part of giving the gospel to somebody is the beginning and the end. The middle's not that hard. I see people struggle the most with just getting started, starting the conversation. Getting into the gospel. That's the tough part. Then another tough part is sometimes people get toward the end and they don't know how to land the plane.
They get through the material but then they don't really know where to go next. I'm going to spend extra time on the beginning and the end. First of all, let's start about the beginning. This is going to apply to door knocking but a lot of it is going to have carryover value just into your personal life and I'm going to explain how that works. Turn to Ephesians chapter because that's the next scripture that we're going to look at is in Ephesians chapter six. Number one, here's my tip for soul winning. Don't knock like the police. I've noticed a trend in our church of people knocking doors like they're the police. It's a bad idea because you know what you're doing is you're just making people on edge and agitated. Before they even get to the door they're already like, what in the world? Who's banging on my door? Point one, don't knock like the police. This isn't a search warrant that you're executing.
Here's what I always tell people. If you're going to knock like the police then knock the door and just get out of the way because a shot guy blast might come through the front door. That's what the police do when they beat on the door like that, they beat on it and then they get out of the way. Don't knock like the police. Have a friendly knock and by the way knock on the hinge. I always do this. I always knock on the hinge side of the door. You say, why not? Why not knock on this side? Every once in a while a door will be ajar and you walk up and go ... and it's real awkward, when the door just swings open and the people are like, why did you just bust into my living room? If it's a little bit ajar and you knock on the hinge side it doesn't do that. Some of this is just real practical and some of it's going to be Biblical. Number one, don't knock like the police. Have a friendly knock, something like this ...
You can have your own style but have a nice friendly knock. Knock loud enough to be heard but in a friendly. You might knock a couple times to make sure but don't just ... I've been soul winning with people in our church that will knock ... What in the world? A bad idea. That's number one. Number two, smile and be friendly when you greet them. You need to be nice. The Bible says, let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt. There's no reason to go in there just frowning. You need to be smiling, friendly, look people in the eyes, shake the hand. That's just basic common courtesy and kindness that the Bible teaches anyway. Number three, you need to pray for boldness. Look down at your scripture there at Ephesians six, verse eighteen. It says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. It's saying pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for the saints.
Then he says this, and for me. He's saying pray for me. Look at Paul's prayer request. Pray for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. What does boldness mean? What's a synonym for boldness?
Congregation: Courage.
Pastor: Courage. Right. What's the opposite of boldness.
Congregation: Fear.
Pastor: Fear. Being timid. Cowardly. Do not be timid and cowardly and fearful when you go soul winning. If God be for us who can be against us? We're on the winning side. The Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken. We need to pray. You say, I'm just nervous. I'm scared. Here's the best way not to be scared and nervous. Do it more. The first year of soul winning I was nervous every time. For the first year. The more you do stuff the less nervous you are. The first hundred times I preached I was very nervous but after you've preached a hundred, two hundred times, you're not as nervous anymore. The way to get over fear is to, number one, pray for boldness. Say, oh Lord, please, give me boldness Lord. Remove fear. The Bible says, God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. You say why is this important? You're fear or your boldness comes across under the person that you're talking to whether you not it or not. Whether you think it does or not.
Have you ever heard the expression that they say dogs can smell fear? The dog smells fear it's going to chase you and bite you more? Everybody can smell fear and when you come to the door and you're weak and timid and cowardly that rubs people the wrong way. They can sense that about you. It's better to go in boldness in the power of the Holy Spirit and go to that door with confidence and look them in the eye and be there to preach the gospel. Not only that but God commands us to preach it with boldness. The best way to get boldness is, number one, go soul winning more and get the experience. It's going to come with time and number two pray for boldness. This should be a prayer request. Pray it for yourself and for others. That's the first three things. Don't knock like the police. Smile and be friendly. Pray for boldness. What do you say when that door swings open? You get there, you're smiling. Here's what I say. I say hi, I'm pastor Anderson. You would say, my name is whatever. Fill in the blank.
I'd like to invite you to Faithful Word Baptist Church. We have these invitations. This is just a good ice breaker just to say, hi, how you doing? I'm pastor Anderson. Just wanted to invite you to Faithful Word Baptist Church. I hand them this and then I just say to them, do you go to church anywhere? Right away I'm getting to the point. Don't you hate it when people come to your door and they don't get to the point? Nice dog, nice flowers. It's like, what are you here for? I just show up and just say, hi, how you're doing. I'm pastor Anderson. Just want to invite you to Faithful Word Baptist Church. Do you go to church anywhere. They're either going to say, no, I don't go to church or they're going to list for you the church that they go. They're going to tell you, I go to First Church of the Deep Freeze or I go to Second Presbyterian or I go Grace Community or I go to Holy Martyrs of the Faith Catholic Church or whatever. Whatever church they give you, no matter what they answer my answer's always the same.
I had them this and say do you church anywhere? No matter what they say, doesn't matter what the name of the church is that they give. I always say, more important than going to church, if you were to die today do you know for sure you'd go to heaven? First I just invite them to church, ask them if they go to church anywhere. Then, whatever they answer I just say, more important than church, if you were to die today do you know for sure that you'd go to heaven. That's a great question to get on the subject of the gospel. On salvation. You're gauging where people are at in what they believe by asking that question. You say, what's the significance of that question? The Bible says, these thing have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of Son of God.
The Bible also says in Romans eight, sixteen, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. People who are saved they know they're on their way to heaven. They know this is through faith and they know that they've trusted Christ. That's why that's a great question to start with. Here's how you would adapt to this into an informal situation, meaning you're not out soul winning, you're not knocking doors. You're just with a guy at work. You're driving in the work truck together on a long drive. You're alone together. You got a good opportunity there. By the way, anytime you're alone with somebody that is an opportunity to give the gospel. Anytime you're alone with someone. I'm not saying, let's stop working. Let's keep the clock going but let's stop working and just talk about the gospel for the next hour. Obviously that would be dishonest to do at your job, but a lot of times you're driving and it's that or listen to a bunch of junk on the radio or talk nonsense.
When you're alone with somebody in that work vehicle that's a great time t give the gospel. Or at lunch time or whatever the opportunity arises, you can get people saved at work. Here's how you would adapt this to friends, family, coworkers. Basically all you have to do is just ask somebody, do you go to church? Or you could even say, are you a Christian? That's another great question. If I'm driving down the road with my buddy at work, hey, Joe, are you a Christian? He says yes, then I say, let me ask this Joe. Do you know for sure if you die today you'd go to heaven. Then, here's the thing. Everything else I teach about soul winning is the same from here on out. The biggest mistake I made when I first started soul winning was that when I went door to door I had a lot of great success but in family, friends, coworkers, I was failing because I felt like I had to approach it completely differently and you'd get in this big long drawn out discussions all over the place for two, three hours.
Treat day to day soul winning like you treat the door to door soul winning and you'll be successful. That's the best tip I can give you. That's why it's so great to go door to door. You get all these experience and practice. Now you can get your loved ones saved. It's real easy. You start the conversation in a similar way. Says, hey Frank, do you go to church? Is that really an awkward question to ask? Is that really weird or uncomfortable or strange or random or out of the blue, just to say, do you go to church at all. It's such a great question to start the conversation, then you just say, do you know for sure? If they say, no I don't then if they say no you can just say, are you a Christian? If they say, no I'm not, just say, let me just tell you what the Bible says about how to be saved so that you can become a Christian. If you want you can decide whether you believe or not.
If they say, yes I am a Christian then, do you know for sure if you died today you'd go to heaven? Pretty simple, huh? It's a great way to bring up the gospel. It's easy. It's not awkward or uncomfortable or strange. It's just an easy way to bring up the gospel to your friends and loved ones and so forth. What do we do with their answer when we ask them, if you know for sure if you die today you'd go to heaven? If they say no, then you just say, can I take five ten minutes and just show you from the Bible how to be saved then? Can I just show you some scriptures how you can know for sure?
If they say they're not sure then say, can I just show you from the Bible how you can know for sure? You'd like to know that, right? Here's the thing. If they express any doubt that's where I would go next. If they say, what about this? What if I ask them, do you know for sure if you die today you'd go to heaven and they say, I think so. Is that a hundred percent sure?
Congregation: No.
Pastor: What if they say, I'm pretty sure I'm would. Is that a hundred percent?
Congregation: No.
Pastor: No. Any time somebody says, yeah, I'm pretty sure, I just say, can I show you how you can be a hundred percent sure. There's being a hundred percent sure and pretty sure. When they say pretty sure, I think so, I hope so, maybe, I have no idea. Then I say, can I just take a few minutes and just show you from the Bible how you can be a hundred percent sure? If they say yes, let's say they say, I know, a hundred percent sure. Does that automatically mean that they're saved?
Congregation: No.
Pastor: If they say, yes, I know for sure I'm going to heaven? Then, the next question is, what do you believe it takes to get there? That's my next question, just, what do you believe it takes for a person to get there? At this point, they might say, you've got to go to church, you've got to live a good life, you've got to follow all the commandments? Then, right away they're showing you they're not trusting faith in Christ, they're believing in works. That's why the next question after, do you know for sure, is if they express a hundred percent certainty then you say, what do you believe a person has to do to be saved? If they give you all this answer of works salvation, I just say, the Bible actually says something different than that. Can I show you what the Bible says we have to do to be saved? That's where I'll go next. Sometimes they'll give you an answer where you'll ask them, what do you think a person has to go to heaven and they'll say something like this. Just believe in Jesus, which is the right answer.
Or they might word it in a way that they've grown up with. They might say something like, you just have to accept Jesus as your savior. Or you just have to ask Jesus into your heart or believe in Jesus. However they word it, something along the lines of it's not works. It's just through being saved through Jesus. If they give you that kind of answer, you know what? They still might not be saved. A lot of people just say that. There's one more question I like to ask to weed out, just to make sure, and that is, do you believe there's anything you could ever do to lose your salvation? Let's say you were to do something really bad. Let's say you quit going to church, because a lot of people will just be like, to be saved just accept Christ as savior. Then you're like, do you think there's anything you could do to lose it? Yeah. Of course. If you don't live right you're going to lose it.
It's like, wait a minute. You just told me all you have to do is just receive Christ as savior. Now, all of a sudden you've got to live right, you've got to keep the commandments, you got to go to church. Look, here's one thing I don't do. I don't stand at somebody's door and badger them and ask them twenty questions. I don't just grill them and interrogate them and them twenty questions. All I'm asking them is just, do you know for sure? How do you know? Do you think you can lose it? That's the series of three questions. Is it perfect? No, but it'll weed out ninety-nine percent of people that aren't saved. Sometimes you can be obnoxious when you ask them fifteen questions. Just those three questions will weed out and help you determine, is it really possible for us to know for sure that anybody is saved or not saved? We just know that about ourselves.
We know our heart but this will be ninety-nine percent accurate or whatever. That's the way I see it. If you ask them do you know for sure? How do you know? Can you lose it? That is a good way to determine where these people are at spiritually. If they get any of the questions wrong, it's, can I just show you from the Bible what the Bible says? It'll just take a few minutes. Let me show you how you can know a hundred percent sure according to the Bible. Be kind about it, like, that is the wrong answer buddy. You just got it one hundred percent wrong. Let me just show you what's really going on pal. You be kind about it and just say, the Bible actually says something different. Can I just show you a few verses? Just show you? That's how you get into the conversation. If somebody says no at that point. Sometimes at that point somebody will say, no thanks. I'm busy. I've got food on the stove. I'm watching the kids. I don't really have time right now.
They're holding a video game controller in their hand telling you how busy they are. If someone is busy, they say no, they don't want to talk, then here's what I always say. If they say yes, I show them the gospel, but if they say no I say this. No problem. I understand. I just say let me leave you with the one quick verse though. First I say no problem. I understand. That way they're more receptive to listen to the one verse because I'm acknowledging the fact, you don't have time right now. Let me leave you with one verse. Why leave them with one verse? Go to first Corinthians chapter three. Why leave them with one verse, because on verse is better than nothing. That's why.
Congregation: That's right.
Pastor: GOd's word has power and I've talked to a lot of people who heard one verse that really made an impact on them. They thought about that verse for years and then eventually years later they got saved. God's word is powerful like that. You're doing a great thing. If you can just leave somebody with one powerful verse you've accomplished something. You might go out soul winning for an hour and you say, we couldn't give the gospel to anybody, but you'll probably leave one verse with ten people. You're doing something for God. You're making progress. You're accomplishing something for the Lord. Look what the Bible says in first Corinthians three, five. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Sometimes one person plants that seed of the word of God, another person comes and waters it and reaps the harvest. Then it says this. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Here's the key verse in verse eight. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. That is a key statement. Everybody understand that. He that planteth and he that watereth are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. What does it mean when it says they're both one? It means that the same person both plants and waters. Basically, when we go out soul winning sometimes we're going to be planting. Sometimes we're going to be watering. Some people just say, all I do is plant. That doesn't jive with this verse.
This verse says he that planteth and he that watereth are one. Same guy. We're all doing both. You don't want to just never get anybody saved? All I do is just give everybody a verse. No. You do both. That's why we leave them with one verse. You say, what verse should I leave them with? One of the verses that I would lave them with is John three, sixteen. It's a famous verse. They might've heard it before. It's powerful. It teaches the gospel. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I give them that verse and then I just give them a quick though about that verse. Notice it doesn't say, whosoever joins the church. Notices it doesn't say whosoever keeps the commandments. It says, whosoever believeth. That's because all you have to do to be saved according to scripture is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not based off how good we are. We're all sinners. We all deserve hell. We're saved through believing in Christ. Basically I'm just giving them a super fast gospel in a nutshell with one verse. Not enough for them to fully understand the gospel probably but it's something to give them to think about. It's a good planting of a seed. I give them one verse and then I expound it in about twenty, thirty seconds. Then I say, have a great day. I don't want to leave them with a bad taste in their mouth. I want the next guy to be able to come along and be able to present the gospel. You say, why even ask? Why don't you just get straight into the gospel? That's what I used to do. When I first started soul winning I said, I'm not going to ask people if they want to hear it. Just preach it to everybody. Here's what I noticed. I was wasting a lot of time with people who weren't listening and didn't want to hear it, and there's somebody else down the street who does want to hear it.
If somebody doesn't want to hear it, they're completely not interested, they're hardened to the gospel. I don't want to sit there and just talk to them for twenty minutes while they're going, yeah, uh huh, yeah, and just not listening. It's a waste of my time. My time is valuable. Therefore I'd rather just leave them with a verse. I'm not just saying, nuts to you. I'm leaving them with a scripture but I'd rather get to the guy, when I go soul winning my goal, and different people have different goals with soul winning. You know what my goal is with soul winning? Get people saved.
Congregation: Yep. That's good.
Pastor: My goal when I go out soul winning is get somebody saved. If I'm talking to somebody that has no interest in what I'm saying, I'm moving on because I want to get somebody saved. If we had unlimited time and unlimited energy and unlimited resources, we'd just put our foot in the door and talk to every person and just keep, no. It's smarter, I think. Different people have different opinions but my opinion is I'd rather leave them with one verse and get to the guy who is interested, who's paying attention, who wants to hear it. That's what I do. Let's get into part two, the main presentation. We figured out how to start the conversation, right? We've figured out how to get into the gospel. What's a verse we could leave with them. John three, sixteen. Acts sixteen, thirty-one. First John five, thirteen. Whatever powerful verse you want to leave and explain quickly. If they say yes. Yes, show me, now we've got to show them. Which leads us into part two, the middle.
We've covered the beginning. Now we're into the middle. Now it's time to open our Bible and actually show the person how to be saved. Here's something that I think will help your soul winning. Just realize that the same gospel works for everybody. You don't have to have a different gospel for every person. I'm not saying you have to do it the same every time. You might just get bored with that and you might just talk to different people in different ways but as a beginner it's smarter to learn one way to do it and get used to turning to those scriptures, finding them, know how to explain it. Then as you get more advanced, you can branch out, you can use a little more variety but in the early days it's smarter to just get a system that works, use it, get good at it, and you know what? This system I'm teaching works. Are there other ways to do it that work too? Yes.
Are there other good ways to go soul winning? Yes. This is the way I go soul winning. I've done it every single week virtually, for the last, let's see, I started when I was seventeen. I'm thirty-two now. Fifteen, sixteen, this summer it'll be sixteen years that I've been using this method to win people to Christ. I've taught it to many people who have used it successfully. This method works. When I first started soul winning you know how I did it? The way that the guy taught me. Once I got comfortable with that I started making it my own. That's the best way to learn. When you give the gospel don't feel like, it's a Jew, I need a totally different gospel. It's a Catholic, I've got to go with a totally different gospel. Mormon, totally different gospel. Atheist, totally different gospel. Those religions do have some things that specifically need to be addressed. I tag those on at the end.
I tag them on at the end. I don't just to want to start out first thing, let me tell you about the great whore of Revelation. The Roman Catholic church. I'm not going to sit there and just, because people are just like, whoa. I always give the plan of salvation first. What is the power of God unto salvation. The Bible says I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. That's another one quick verse to leave with people by the way. Notice it says to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. What's the plan of salvation for the Jew? The gospel. What's the plan of salvation that the Greek needs? The gospel. What's the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the remission of sins is the gospel and it works for everybody.
It's the same for the Hindu, the Muslim. You say, I'm afraid to go soul winning because I don't know what to do when I talk to a Muslim. Give them the gospel. I don't know what to do if I'm confronted with an atheist. Give them the gospel. I don't know what to do if they're Hindu. It's the same for everybody. Believe on Jesus Christ works for everybody, if they'll believe. The first thing I do. Now, we're into the meat of the presentation. That was all the intro, getting into the conversation. The meat of the presentation. There are four elements to the meat of giving someone the gospel. The four elements that I see when I'm giving someone the gospel is, number one, I've got to show that person that they're a sinner and that the punishment is hell. Here's the thing. If they don't know that they're a sinner and if they don't know that the punishment is hell, what are they even being saved from?
The Bible says that thou shalt call His name Jesus. For he shall save His people from their sins. How can you be saved from your sins if you don't even admit that you have sins? You don't even know what sin is. You don't even acknowledge your sins. The first thing I'm going to do is show them they're a sinner and show them the penalty of sin. That's the first thing. Secondly, I'm going to explain to them how Jesus Christ came to this earth. I'll explain His life and ministry and how He died and was buried and rose again to save us from our sins and to save us from that punishment. Thirdly I'm going to show them from the Bible that faith alone is what saves us. Faith just means believing. That faith or believing is what saves us and that it's not our works that save us. It's not by being good or getting baptized or going to church. The fourth element that I'm going to show them is that you cannot lose your salvation, that is eternal life.
Those are the four elements. There are a lot of people in our church that have been soul winning for a long time and if you go soul winning with them you're going to say, wow. They don't go soul winning the same way as you do pastor Anderson. They do it much differently. That's fine. That's okay. There's a whole Bible filled with verses to use to give the gospel. There's more than one ways to skin a cat. You don't have to all be a bunch of clones and robots doing it the exact same way. I recommend, as a beginner, don't try to get all crazy and creative. As a beginner, if you'll smart you'll find somebody who is a successful soul winner. Pastor Anderson. Learn his method, use it, and be effective. Then start to develop your own style. I think everybody should have their style because God could use us all differently because we're all unique. There are people that if I went to give them the gospel they won't get saved but if you talk to them they will.
We're different. They might be put off by me but they like you. Or vice versa. Usually that's how it going to be though, that they're put off by me but they like you. People don't like me. I don't know why. What I'm saying is, everybody's different. Nobody is going to be exactly the same, especially once they get more advanced they're going to do it their own way but let me say this. Those four elements need to be there or you're not being thorough. You need to go over the fact that they're a sinner and that hell is there. That's an important component. You need to go over the gospel of Jesus Christ and the fact of His death, burial, and resurrection, and teach that, who Jesus was, and not just assume that everybody, you know the whole story. Just explain it briefly. You need to go over the fact that salvation is by faith alone and not of works. It's critical. Listen to me now. You need to go over eternal life with people. You need to go over the eternal security of the believer.
This is where we diverge from a lot of independent fundamental baptists. Here's the thing. Every independent fundamental baptist will agree that you cannot lose your salvation, that it's eternal life, and that once saved always saved. If you don't believe that you're not saved. You should listen to my sermon. I preached a sermon a few months ago called Once Saved Always Saved. You can download it and listen to it. It makes it very clear scripturally and why you have to believe that. Here's the thing. Most fundamental baptists, they skip that component completely. They'll go out and just, hey, you're a sinner. Jesus died for you. Believe on Christ and a lot of times they'll go through it really quickly and not really make the gospel clear. Sometimes they'll even spend just two minutes, three minutes, four minutes. This is where they get a reputation for one two three repeat after me.
Wham bam thank you ma'am. Just a quick soul winning. Just blast through it. When I go soul winning I'm not trying to race to the next door. You need to love and care about the person that you're talking to enough to do a good job, and not just, I want to blast through this and get to the next door. No, you need to love and care about that person enough to do a good job. I'd rather have one conversation that I did a good job on than a bunch of sloppy conversations. Those are real human beings. Take your time and do it right, but don't beat a dead horse. If they understand the point move on to the next point. You don't need to just beat a dead horse and keep going over the same thing. You can be super redundant but take the time necessary. Is it possible to win someone to the Lord in five or ten minutes? Yes, it is. Here's the thing.
If you can win them to the Lord in five minutes it would have to be somebody who is already ripe for the picking, they already know a lot about the gospel, they're already ninety percent there and there are a lot of people out there like that.
Congregation: Yeah, there are.
Pastor: They know a lot about Jesus. They already know a lot about who He is. They already know a lot of verses but they've just never been saved. They just don't get it that it's by faith alone. Sometimes you'll run into people like that where they already know a lot and you just have to go over points three and four with them. I'm saying this. Everybody's different. For me personally an easy person who already knows the gospel a little bit, but they're not saved, but they've heard a lot about Jesus. They're a person who's in church. To me the average that it's going to take me to thoroughly go through the plan of salvation with that person is about ten to twelve minutes, is what it's going to take. Just for an easy victory. Five minutes would have to be just the perfect scenario. Honestly ten or twelve minutes is about what it takes me. How many minutes does it take, Brother Garrett? I know you already recite how many minutes.
Congregation: Fifteen minutes.
Pastor: You don't say fifteen. I go soul winning with him and he tells them and says, it's going to take me fourteen minutes. It's always really accurate. He takes about like fourteen minutes to go through it. Nobody can say that Brother Garrett is not being thorough. A lot of people will attack us and say, you can't get somebody saved in ten minutes. You can't get somebody saved in fifteen minutes. Here's what I always say to them. I always say, watch my ten minute soul winning demonstration on YouTube, that's exactly ten minutes long. Watch that demonstration and then tell me what I left out. I said that to a guy, a pastor. He went and watched it and he said, you know what? You're right. You didn't leave anything out. You did give the gospel clearly and effectively in ten minutes.
It's not about a number. It's about being thorough. You can be thorough in ten minutes. Here's the thing. If somebody is a child it's probably going to take a little longer than ten minutes because you gotta really break things down to them. If somebody is really mixed up in a false religion, it's probably going to take a little longer. You're going to have to explain why some of that stuff if wrong. You take fifteen, twenty minutes. I would say that an easy victory is a ten minute deal. That's what the basic soul winning demonstration online is. It's just a basic, easy, perfect scenario is what that is. That's why it has basic in the name. Something more advanced, we uploaded a demo, Brother [inaudible 00:39:47] and I, Brother Garrett and I, we made some demos demonstrating a Pentecostal, demonstrating like Joseph. I think those videos were more like fifteen or twenty minutes because you had to deal with some of that stuff.
Again, just be thorough, take your time and go through it. This isn't a race to, we've talked to twenty people. No. I'd rather just get one person saved and do it right and then we'll do the next door. I say this. Talk to every person like it's your mother.
Congregation: That's good.
Pastor: If you were talking to your mother would you be in a hurry to get to the next door or would you do a good job? It usually takes about ten minutes minimum. Eight or ten minutes minimum is what I would say. Don't get too hung up on the number. Those are the four components. They need to be there. Those elements need to be there in order to be thorough. Let's back up, and again I'm not going to get through all this this morning. Let's back up and let's look at those four components and slow down. Number one component is show them that we've all sinned and that the punishment's hell. Here's where I go to show them that. The first place I go is Romans three, twenty-three. In Romans three, twenty-three, if you want to turn there, it says, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. That's just a great verse right there to show them that they're a sinner.
You're not really pinpointing them because you're saying all have sinned. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. It doesn't matter who you, it doesn't matter how good you are. You come up short. You don't measure up to God's standard of right and wrong. An optional verse you could also turn to, I would say Romans three, twenty-three is the core verse. Here is an optional verse you could turn to if somebody makes a weird face when you show them that verse. Romans three, ten says, as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. That's another supporting verse that you could use if you feel it's needed, to say, I'm not righteous, you're not righteous. Someone who's righteous, someone who's doing right all the time. We're not righteous. We're sinner. Then I want to show them the penalty to sin. I flip over one page in my Bible to Romans six, twenty-three. It's convenient. It's right there. Boom.
I show them the first part of Romans six, twenty-three where it says, For the wages of sin is death. I say to that person, we're all going to die someday, psychically, but the Bible talks about a second death. Let me show you in Revelation. I show them that the wages of sin is death but I say psychical death is not the end. That's not it. It's not, you die psychically and that's it. I take them to Revelation and I show them the second death in Revelation twenty, fourteen. In Revelations twenty, fourteen, the Bible says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The Bible teaches that the place, the lake the fire, is known as the second death. A lot of people think this event is called the second death. No. The place is called the second death. I'll prove that to you.
I show them Revelation twenty, fourteen and fifteen and I say, this is the second death and I read them those two verses and then here's what I ask them. What do you call that place that we just read about, because I say, here's the second death, lake of fire? Ninety-nine percent of people are going to tell you it's hell. When they see the lake of fire, you're not in the book of life, you're getting thrown there. Now, so far, I've shown them, you're a sinner, the wages of sin is death, but not just psychical death. There's also a second death in the lake of fire. Then I take them down to chapter twenty-one, verse eight. Same page. Right down the page, twenty-one, eight. Its says, but the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Notice, the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
See how the lake of fire is the second death? I show that person this list of sins that are going to wind you up in hell. Sometimes I'll say to them you're probably not a murderer or a sorcerer. No, I've never done those things but wait a minute. What about all liars? I say, I know I've lied before. Have you ever told a lie before. Ninety-nine percent of people are going to say, of course, I've told many lies. I say this. You know what? The Bible says all liars are going to go where? Then they say, the Bible says all liars are going to hell. Now what did they just understood? Wait a minute, I've sinned, I've lied. I always say to them, you've probably done some of the other things on the list too. You might have, and you've probably done other things that are worse than lying but even if all you've done was tell a bunch of lies in your life that's still where you're going. All liars.
That right there, what I just showed you, Romans three, twenty-three, Romans six, twenty-three, Revelation twenty, fourteen and fifteen, and Revelation twenty-one, eight. That covers this point. This point has been fully covered by those scriptures, to teach them that we're all sinners and we all deserve hell. Sometimes you might need a little more support on this because some people might balk at this. I show them this and they balk at it and say, I don't think we've all sinned. Then you're going to need some additional verses on being a sinner. First John one, ten, for example. Or they might balk and say, I don't think hell's a real place. Then you could take them to other supporting scriptures. Mark chapter nine is a good place. Mark chapter nine, the last eight verses of that chapter nail it. It talks about hell fire. There are other supporting places you could take them if needed but really this covers it.
Another verse that I sometimes like to throw in, if i feel that this needs to really be driven home, is Revelation twenty, ten. It's on the same page. You're already there. If I feel like it's needed. If I feel like this person needs to hear this point a little more in-depth, I take them to Revelation twenty, ten, that says, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. That really drives home that hell is an eternal punishment. Again, what are the core scriptures for this phase? Romans three, twenty-three, Romans six, twenty-three, Revelation twenty, fourteen and fifteen, and Revelation twenty-one, eight. That's the core. That's the backbone, those four. With a lot of people that's all you're going to need. They've already heard about hell. They already understand it. They already believe in hell. A lot of the people you talk to say, I already know that.
They already believe in hell. I don't beat a dead horse if people go it, but if you need a little more support you got verses like Romans three, ten, first John one, ten. You got Mark chapter nine. You've got Revelation twenty, ten. You got Mathew twenty-five, forty-one, just to bolster what you're saying, but once they get it move on. Don't beat a dead horse. A lot of gospels today, the popular thing today when giving the gospel, made popular by the Ray Comforts and Kirk Camerons of this world. Their popular way to give the gospel is to spend ninety percent of your time on this point and ten percent of your time on the gospel. What does the Bible say is the power of God unto salvation? He said I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation. They take a verse from Galatians out of context that says that the law was our school master was our school master to bring us to Christ and they just take one verse out of context and run with it.
The law is our school master to bring us to Christ. It's the law that gets people saved. Just talk about the law, just the law, the law, the law. The law is not the power of God unto salvation. You know what? Yeah, the law is our school master to bring us to Christ, because I wouldn't know what lust was if the Bible had not said, thou shalt not covet. I wouldn't even know that stealing's even a sin if the Bible didn't say thou shalt not steal. Obviously the law is a school master to bring us to Christ because it shows us our need for a saviour, but let me tell you something. Most people out there, it doesn't take you twenty minutes to get them to admit they're a sinner. How long does it take to get the average person? Who here goes soul winning about every week? Let me ask the people, how often does it usually take to get people to admit they're a sinner, Richard Miller?
Richard: Just ask them.
Pastor: Yeah. Five seconds?
Richard: Yeah.
Pastor: How long does it usually take Brother Fairchild]?
Richard: A minute.
Pastor: How long does it take to get somebody to admit that they're a sinner and that they've broken God's laws? It's like it's almost automatic. Duh. I'm a sinner. That doesn't mean that they necessarily believe in hell or that their sins are condemning them to hell. That's why you go through four or five, six scriptures and explain that to them and teach them that, but when they get it they get it. This trendy thing of, the law, the law, use the law, use the law. No. Use the gospel. Look, do we need the law? Yes, but it's not the meat and potatoes. It's the appetizer. It's point one. We need to focus on where God puts the focus which is Jesus. Jesus is the focus. The gospel is the focus. I've literally read plans of salvation where it literally, ninety percent of the page is about how you're a sinner. You've sinned. You're sin, sin, sin. You're wicked. You're filthy. You're vile. You're scum, and then it's just like, by the way, Jesus died for you, now pray this prayer.
It's like, whoa. You know what I mean? They don't even take time to mention the resurrection. It's all about your sin, sin, sin. It's literally the fastest point of the four. It should be the quickest point because it should be easy for people to see. Some people it takes longer but it shouldn't take all day, and you know, oh, you're just watered down. You're going soft on people. No, I'm just not an obnoxious jerk. I'm not an obnoxious jerk that's going to stand in somebody's door and tell them how filthy and wicked they are, because guess what? It's a false doctrine anyway that says that you have to filthy and wicked to go to hell. All you have to do is be a liar to go to hell. You're sending the wrong impression to people if you try to really say, you're a lot worse than you think, buddy. You are a murderer because you hate people in your heart and you have committed adultery because you're lusting after women every day.
You have done this and you've done this and you're wicked, you're vile. It can almost be counter productive because of the fact that you're making it sound like you're going to hell because you're going to hell because you're so bad. Then they're thinking to themselves, no I'm not really that bad. Whereas when you show them the way that I'm teaching, I'm just showing you you're bad enough. That's all that matters. I don't have to prove to you that you're filthy and that you're scum. Lay up, point one, you're scum. That's a good way. You're going to get real far with soul winning. That conversation's going to go real far. Again. Like I said, some people's goal with soul winning is not to get people saved. What's my goal when I go soul winning? Get people saved. Yes, I'm going to be bold. Yes, I'm going to preach the word.
Yes, I'm not going to trim the message. I'm not going to sugar coat it. I'm not going to water it down, but I'm not going around to be an obnoxious jerk and the Bible says, there are some that preach Christ even of contention. They preach Christ for envy and strife. Have you read that scripture? It's in Philippians chapter one. There are people who go out there and their goal is to be obnoxious. Their goal is to get arrested. Their goal is to infuriate people, because it makes them feel like, yeah. Yeah, we're on the front lines. Yeah. It's dumb. If you preach the truth enough people are going to get mad at you without you just going out and purposefully making people mad. Just preaching the truth is going to make, you're going to have people freak out when you say we've all sinned. When you say that hell is real they're going to freak out and when you tell them later in the presentation, if you're trusting in the Catholic Church to save you and the priest and these sacraments, you're not saved. You're on your way to hell.
That's going to make them mad. Why be obnoxious? There's no point. You know what? You say, I'm just going to do what Kurt Cameron said. I'm going to do what Ray Comfort said, but you know what? Number one, Growing Pains was a stupid show but number two, that's beside the point. Number two is that if you watch the soul winning videos uploaded by Ray Comfort and Kurt Cameron, have you ever noticed how the people never get saved in them? They have a show. It should be called, How to Fail at Soul Winning. Literally, somebody shared it to me some photo of a guys, of a unsaved guy, holding a John Lennon DVD. Holding a DVD, and here is the soul winning story of Ray Comfort. Ray Comforts like, I went and talked to this guy and I asked him if I could give him the gospel and he didn't want to hear. I asked him if he wanted to watch this DVD and he said no. I said to him, come on, you like John Lennon don't you?
Don't you like John Lennon? It's some DVD that uses John Lennon to give the gospel. What kind of stupid idea is that? What kind of a foolish thing? Anyway. Come on man, you like John Lennon don't you? I do like John Lennon. Well, here, take this. Can I take your picture now, holding it, and he agree to let us take his picture. Please pray for him that he'll be saved. You're an idiot. You're a retard. I'd rather see pictures of your stupid cat. Send me pictures of your dinner. Why are you sending me a picture of your failed soul winning? You gave a guy a DVD that he didn't even want. He has no interest in the gospel and then you're so stupid that you're like, let's take a picture of it. Here's a picture of me failing. Even when I get people saved I don't take their picture.
Congregation: Right. Exactly.
Pastor: It would make way more sense to take a picture of somebody who got saved than somebody who didn't. Let's just upload pictures of people who didn't get saved. These people are nuts. It's stupid. It's ridiculous.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: I'm trying to think of an example. It's hard to find an example dumb enough of how you can do this. Why don't we just start a YouTube channel of how-to videos, how not to do stuff? Here's how to fail at changing a tire. Here's how to fail at changing your brake pads. Here's how to fail at putting up wallpaper. Here's to grout tile and it comes out like garbage. It's just stupid. If I want to learn how to soul winning i want to see somebody who succeeded. Say, you know, but in real life you fail. Yeah, you fail buddy, because you're a loser. You're not even saved Ray Comfort. Why don't we just change the title of the book of Acts to the failures of the apostles? You know why it's not called the failures of the apostles? They getting people saved in every chapter. They're getting people saved. They're getting people saved. They're not just, will you please, please take my John Lennon DVD and pose with it so I can have something to put on the internet?
That's the loser that you listen to when you listen Way of the Master and Ray Comfort and Kurt Cameron and all their videos are like that. It's all fail. Fail, fail, fail, and more fail. It's stupid.
Congregation: That's right.
Pastor: Who watches this stuff? Oh man, but they are the power of God right there with that law business. I see through your stupid New Zealand accent buddy. I'm not impressed. Your gimmick. Your whole life is a gimmick, Ray Comfort. John Lennon's your gimmick. Hitler is your gimmick. Your New Zealand accent's a gimmick, buddy. Growing Pains is a gimmick.
Congregation: That's good. Amen.
Pastor: Yes, that is good. Let me just wrap up with this. We're out of time. All we got on was point one. I'm like Ray Comfort, I'm spending all my time on point one. The really important points are points two, three, and four. That's the important part but that's why you have to come back tonight to learn about the important part. I hoped you learned something today because, honestly, we need to be giving people the gospel. Door to door is where it all starts. That's where you get the experience. That's where you get a lot of training. That's where you gain boldness my friend. Also, this is something that needs to be a part of our daily lives, our personal lives. We have a lot of opportunities, people that we work with, friends, family, loved ones. If we love them we want them saved. We want them to go to heaven.
I always say to people at the end of point one, I always say, this verse says we all deserve to go to hell but did you know that God loves us? When they yes, I've heard that God loves us, I say this. If God loves us does He want us to go to hell? They say, no, and I say, was He just kidding when He said this verse? They say, no he wasn't kidding. So we do deserve to go to hell, but He loves us. He doesn't want us to go to hell. Here's what Christ did so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. That's where I get into point two. That's where I get into the power of God. That's where I get into Jesus and His life and His death and resurrection. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, I pray that everyone who's here would've learned something from the sermon, Lord, and they would not just walk out and just not apply this Lord. Please help them to learn these methods and these truths. I hope somebody who is sitting in the auditorium would say to themself, I need to go out and knock some doors. I need to go out and do some soul winning as a result of this sermon. I'm fired up. I'm excited. God's working in my heart that I need to do some soul winning. Lord, I pray that there would be someone like that in auditorium this morning that would show up at some soul winning times and then do that Lord. I pray that others would maybe, if they've already been soul winning maybe they've picked up a tip that they could use just to be a little better of a soul winner, Lord, then it's worth it. Father I pray that many would come back to hear the rest of the message and in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Before we sing our last song let me just say this about soul winning, is that we do have a lot of opportunities at our church to go soul winning. The reason why is because we want to make it convenient and easy for you to go soul winning. I understand you might not have a lot of time. Maybe you live far away. That's why we do this. In the bulletin you see that we do have the main soul winning time today at one thirty. That's the longest soul winning time. That's a three hour thing, if you show up at one thirty. Here's the thing. If you've only got an hour just bring your own car and go for an hour. You can bring your own car and go for an hour, but the Sunday is the main soul winning time. It's a three hour thing. Here's the thing. The other soul winning times that are listed there, which are the Wednesday nights at five fifteen. That's a one hour thing. Monday, Saturday, and Sunday, the regional soul winning groups. That's a one hour thing.
That's a good basic way to do some soul winning, but not only that. Even if none of these times or places work out for you all you have to do is just ask somebody. Ask me, ask somebody, and we'll take you soul winning at your convenience. I'll go pick you up at your house and take you soul winning in your neighborhood or a few blocks over. You don't want to be embarrassed your first time in front of your neighbors. We can definitely go soul winning with you at other times. Let me just quickly, real quick, just introduce to you the three leaders of regional soul winning groups because you need to talk to them if you want to go soul winning in those areas. Brother Richard Miller, go ahead and stand up.
He does a soul winning time on Monday nights at six thirty. It meets at his apartment. You talk to him. He'll give you the address. You meet there on Monday nights at six thirty. Then Brother Donnie Romero. Go ahead and stand up so everybody can see you. If you live out on the west side. Even if you don't live on the west side but you say, I want to go soul winning on a Saturday, he's out on Saturdays at ten o'clock. He lives out in West Phoenix around Thomas and forty-third avenue, something like that. You can get with him. Also Brother Shawn Fairchild, go ahead and stand up. Sean Fairchild does a shorter soul winning time on Sunday afternoons at two thirty out in Gilbert. You live out that way or you just want to go soul winning out there, go with Brother Fairchild. We try to make this convenient for you because we want everybody to be able be a part of it.
This is one of the things that makes our church great, is that we love people, and that reach a lot of people and that we knock a lot of doors. That's what we're all about, that's what we want to continue to be about. Brother Segar, come lead us in another song.
