PERSONAL EVANGELISM

I. Introduction. What are your responsibilities in taking the Gospel to the world?

A. In order for you to get saved, someone was responsible for taking the time to bring the saving message of the gospel to you. Make no mistake about it - no one just “becomes” a Christian. They must be urged to repent, and trust only in Christ as it is declared in the Bible (see Acts 26:17,18).

B. That responsibility of “preaching the Gospel” was then passed upon you, so that others around you might be saved! That responsibility does not rest only with preachers, and pastors, but with every Christian!

C. As Christians, we are commanded by the Lord to do our part in evangelising the whole world with the gospel (Matt 28:19,20; Acts 1:8).

D. This lesson will focus on equipping you with the key Scripture verses that you can use to lead someone to Christ, as well as practical ways to make the Gospel clearly understood by the hearer.

II. The Need for the Soul-Winner (Romans 10) - Someone who persuades people about Christ’s saving power.

A. The Soul-Winner is Needed Because of The Condition of the World (Rom 10:1-3) - LOST

1. Everybody is “religious” (Jew, Gentile, heathen, civilized) - working their way to God and heaven! But ______ are saved (Mt 7:13,14).

2. Everybody is born _________ (Eph 4:17-19). They are blind and incapable of getting to heaven. It is not “in them” to know how to come to Christ! By nature they are “the children of ___________” (Eph 2:3).

B. The Soul-Winner is Needed Because of The Power of the of Truth (Rom 10:4-8)

1. God’s Truth makes a person ______ from the condemnation of this world (John 3:18, 36; 8:32).

2. God’s Truth directs a sinner to the Saviour - It stops them from trying to get to Christ their own way - they must come God’s prescribed way!

3. God’s Truth can be possessed by anyone, anywhere, right in the palm of the hands, and even on the tip of the tongue (Rom 10:8).

C. The Soul-Winner is Needed Because of The Simplicity of Salvation (Rom 10:9-13). A person must:

5. Never be ashamed of God’s plan - You can confidently live now that you have heaven for sure!

It is all wrapped up in a person simply “calling upon the Lord and asking Him to save them from their deserved punishment of hell!”

D The Soul-Winner is Needed Because of The Lack of _____________ (Rom 10:14,15; Luke 10:1,2). It has never been a popular job!

4. How shall they preach without other Christians sending them? Supporting them as they go freely - as missionaries and church planters?

E. The Soul-Winner is Needed Because it is the Only Way that Works (Rom 10:16,17). Truly, not everyone who hears will believe the gospel. But there is no better way! Faith is all that God is looking for (Heb 11:6)! And faith ONLY comes by hearing the presentation of the word of God - not through miracles and visions, and gifts - but through proclaiming Christ’s love for sinners!

1. As a Christian, you must realize that you yourself cannot "save" another person's soul, nor can you by your own power draw that person to the point of salvation - you can’t force people to respond.

2. The Son had to first completely pay for their sins through His sacrifice on the cross (2 Cor 5:21), as the Lamb of God.

3. The Holy Spirit must ____________ them of their sin (John 16:7-11). People must realize that they are guilty before God.

B. Your Part. While the supernatural act of salvation can only be done by God alone (John 1:12,13), it is the Christian that God has chosen to use as a tool to bring about salvation!

1. In Matthew 13:3-8, we are the __________ that sows the seed of the word of God in the hearts of hearers (Mt 13:18-23).

2. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 states that we are ________________ that must reconcile man to his creator through salvation

Some thoughts: make sure that you pray before you go and present the Gospel. Let God cleanse you from personal sins, and then empower you to do this most miraculous work! Also, try and always have a partner with you who can pray while you witness, or who can witness while you pray.

a. Use well-written Gospel leaflets! Make sure that everyone gets a Gospel leaflet that you talk to so that they can read it later if they don't get saved right then.

b. Have a New Testament with you. Mark the important verses (i.e., Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23; 5:8, 10:13, 17; John 1:11,12; etc.).

6. Bring current events into the conversation in order to get them to realize that life is short and that they need a Saving God, not just a religious system!

7. Have set times to go - Participate in church-wide soul-winning. If you don’t make time for this, it will never get done, and you are in disobedience to our Lord’s greatest command to the Christian!

1. Conversation/Current Events - Look for ways to get the Scriptures into the conversation (like Jesus did with the woman at the well in John 4).

3. Conviction (Guilty) - Work the Scriptures into their situation so they can be convicted of sin. Get them to _________ the Scriptures (Jn 5:39) to see that their own good works and religion have failed them (Tit 3:5).

4. Conversion - Press them for a decision, and wait for Conversion (John 3:3,7) - This is a work only the Holy Spirit can do (John 16:7-11).

6. Commitment - Get them to realize that Christ is committed to them, and therefore, they should now be totally committed and loyal to HIM, at the cost of everything else (John 6:66-68; Mt 10:37,38)!

2. A person must understand that _______ died for him while he was still a ________, and NOT after he got his life cleaned up (Rom 5:8).

3. A person must come to God with genuine, godly repentance (Rom 2:4; Acts 20:21; 2Cor 7:10). Emphasize the meaning of repentance: To change your life's direction because you realize you are UNgodly (currently going against God's laws), and are headed for judgment.

4. A person must believe that he can only be justified (i.e., made righteous in God's sight) by trusting the blood of Jesus Christ to have paid for all his sins (Rom 5:9; Eph 1:7).

5. A person must above all understand that it is his faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ that saves him, and not any additional good works (Rom 3:28).

6. A person must call upon the Lord Jesus and ask Him specifically to save them (Rom 10:9,10,13). God cannot do it without their request!

"If you died today, wouldn't you like to know that you would be in heaven?" "If so, let me show you out of the Bible..."

THE ROMAN'S ROAD TO HEAVEN

Who is good? Rom 3:10-12 says "There is _______ righteous, no not one."

Who has sinned? Romans 3:23 says, "For _____ have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

The eternal cost of your sin. Romans 6:23a states, "For the wages of sin is _________."

Nothing you DO can save you. Romans 3:20a says, "Therefore by the ______ of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."

God's love has made a way! Romans 5:8,9 declares, "But God commendeth his ______ toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

You must place all your faith upon Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9 explains, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." And verse 13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.”

A. Your Life not Being a Good Example - When your walk does not match your talk. You may be the only Bible that your co-workers, and family will ever read (2 Cor 3:2). Therefore, don't give anybody an excuse from being saved because your "walk" is no different than theirs (2 Cor 6:17)! Live what you preach (Rom 2:21-23)!

2. Have your partner occupy the attention of any children, or the spouse if they are present in the room.

3. Get somewhere where you can comfortably open the Bible so it can be seen by both you and the other person.

1. Final authority being only the Bible (Matt 4:4; Rom 3:4; John 17:17; John 8:32,36)

6. Religion ends up substituting the tradition of men in the place of the commandments of God (Mark 7:7,10)

7. Salvation is not by works at all (Eph 2:8,9; Tit 2:5; Isa 64:5), no matter how good they are.

8. Watch out for anyone who forbids people to marry or to eat meats (1Tim 4:1-3)

9. All pastors are to be married as a general rule (1Tim 3:2). Peter was married (Mt 8:14)

10. Baptism is NOT important to our salvation (1Cor 1:17) - it is only for after salvation.

12. There is no purgatory (2 Cor 5:8; Heb 1:3; 9:27; Rom 8:1) - either heaven or hell!

13. A person is justified only by faith alone in Christ Jesus (Rom 1:17; Gal 2:16)

Scriptures relating to Protestantism (Many of the issues are the same as with Catholicism)

2. Thinking that “My church is better than others” is not what matters with God (John 3:3)

3. “I keep the 10 commandments” is impossible (James 2:10; Tit 3:5). Everyone must repent and be born again.

4. Thinking “I am part of the elect” is only true if you are a Jew (Isa 55:6,7; 1 John 2:2)

Scriptures To Deal with a Jehovah’s Witness. These people have been really confused.

1. Jesus is God come in the flesh (1Ti 3:16; Mt 1:23; Isa 7:14; Ro 9:5; 1Jn 5:20; Heb 1:8)

2. Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament (Isa 40:3 & Matt 3:3; Dt 10:17 & Rev 19:16; Ps 68:18 & Eph 4:8-10; Ex 3:14 & John 8:56-58)

7. The 144,000 witnesses of Revelation 12 are real Jewish male virgins (Rev 14:1-5)

8. If a prophet ever makes a false prediction, that person is to be stoned with stones, and disregarded (Dt 18:20-22)

2. You can know that you have eternal life right now based upon the sole authority of the written word of God (1 John 5:11-13)

4. Decide the final authority issue (Rom 3:4; John 17:17; John 8:32,36; Matt 4:4)

10. The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for our sins (1 Cor 15:1-4)