Lesson 4 – how to win a soul to Christ – part 2
On last week we discussed 7 points of our 13 point soul winning plan, today we will finish the rest. Up to this point, we have discovered that the individual does not know that if they died they would go to heaven, and we have proceeded to share the four things an individual needs to know in order to be saved. Those four things are: one, that we are sinners… two, that we deserve punishment in hell for our sins… three, that Jesus died for our sins and that he is the only way to heaven… and four, that we must receive Christ by trusting him, accepting him as lord, and calling on him for salvation. Now we will proceed by showing you how to encourage someone to receive Jesus Christ as their savior. Like we have said before, we can’t force someone to be saved and we also cannot judge how sincere someone is, if they say they would like to be saved, then it is our job to guide them in how to do that. (“And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Esais, and said, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?...” Acts 8:30-31a)
8.) Review points 4-7 and make sure they believe them.
It is important to make sure that a person understands the gospel and is making a real decision to call upon Christ for salvation. For instance, my daughter; who is seven years old, came to the altar the other day when we gave the invitation. My heart was touched, and I went to ask her why she came to the altar. She said that she came to pray about being saved. I asked her if she knew why she needed to be saved, and she responded that no that she did not know why she needed to be saved. At that point I realized that she did not understand the gospel and was probably not ready to be saved. Therefore, after you share the gospel with someone ask them if they believe, that they are sinners, that God will punish sinners, that Jesus died to save us from our sin, and that if they will repent and ask Jesus to save them that he will do it. If they agree and understand this proceed to point nine. (“But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some and hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23)
9.) Ask them if there is anything that would keep them from receiving Jesus today.
The previous point helps us to know if the individual is ready, this point helps them to decide if they are ready to be saved. When you first ask this question, initially in the person’s mind they are going to think, “of course I want to receive Jesus; I don’t want to be guilty of rejecting him.” However, you may have to explain that it is a big commitment. (“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:27-28) In light of that, I ask them would they be willing to start going to church, try to stop drinking, and begin reading the bible and praying ect. You can explain to them that it may sound hard to do those things. (“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2Corinthians 8:12) you can simply ask them is they are willing to try. Explain that we don’t have the ability to stop or start these things but if we will commit our faith to Jesus Christ he will perform it in us. (“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6) Once I explain this to the individual I then ask them if they feel like the lord is speaking to their heart and if they want to be saved today. If they say yes, then we go to point 10.
10.) Encourage them to pray and ask Jesus to save them.
I tell them first that I am going to pray and then after I am done praying then they can pray. I then say lets bow our heads. I pray a simple prayer like this: “dear Lord, I come before you in Jesus name, this individual has said that they would like to receive you as their Lord and savior please help them to do that today, in Jesus name.” I don’t say amen until after they have prayed. While our heads are still bowed, and after I have prayed I tell them now its your turn. I explain that the prayer cannot save you the Lord does that, it’s about whether your heart is sincere or not.(“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14) I explain that they can simply pray, “Lord please save me from my sins, I now give my life to you, Lord, thank you for saving me.” At this time I now give them a chance to pray out loud; If they are unwilling to pray, I take that to mean that they are not ready; If they do pray then I proceed to point 11.
11.) Say a prayer of thanksgiving for their salvation.
Once they are done praying I ask them that if they really meant it to take my hand please. Once they take my hand I then pray a simple prayer like this: “dear lord, I come before you in Jesus name, thank you for saving this individual, please help them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, help them to pray, read their bible and start going to church, in Jesus name, amen. We should thank God for their salvation because the bible says: (“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angles of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10)
12.) Help them to be assured of their salvation.
It is good to help a person be assured of their salvation, because it leads to follow through. If a person applies for a job and then never hears back from the company, they will never come for work, even if the company did hire them, because they have no assurance of the job. In the same case with salvation, if someone isn’t sure that they are the Lords then they won’t go to work for him either. A simple way to help them be assured of their salvation is to look at (Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”) Here is a commentary on this verse from evangalist David Wood: “Who does whosoever mean? (anybody) Does it mean you? (Yes) On whom did you just call? (Jesus) What did you ask Jesus to do? (Save me) Did you mean business? (Yes) What did he promise to do? (save me) Save you from what? (hell) Can God lie? (No) Then if you died right now, where would you go? (Heaven) If you died tomorrow, where will you go? (Heaven) If you died ten years from now, where will you go? (Heaven)” From this simple deductive reasoning they will realize that if they were sincere that Jesus holds his part of the bargain and they are saved. This will help them to grow and avoid the devils doubts. Now go to point 13.
13.) Help them to make a public profession.
It’s important that the individual starts going to church after they get saved. Before you leave get some sort of commitment from them to attend at least one service a week at church and also set a day and a time for them to start having discipleship classes with you. Tell them that when they come to church that they need to speak with the pastor about making their salvation public. Share with them (Matthew 10:32 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”) Tell them that when they share that they got saved with other people that God the son will go to God the Father and speak about them. Think about how great that is; the president probably doesn’t know our name but the one who created heaven and earth will be speaking about us when we share our faith with others.
In closing:
At this point you have completed the soul winning plan, once you are finished you can give them a lesson book for their discipleship classes, and have them fill out the part about the date of their salvation. I like to use a simple book called “fruit that remains” by David Wood. I hope you will memorize this plan and then begin to try to win your friends, family and acquaintances to Christ; not because your pastor wants you to, but because you want to be obedient to Christ.
On last week we discussed 7 points of our 13 point soul winning plan, today we will finish the rest. Up to this point, we have discovered that the individual does not know that if they died they would go to heaven, and we have proceeded to share the four things an individual needs to know in order to be saved. Those four things are: one, that we are sinners… two, that we deserve punishment in hell for our sins… three, that Jesus died for our sins and that he is the only way to heaven… and four, that we must receive Christ by trusting him, accepting him as lord, and calling on him for salvation. Now we will proceed by showing you how to encourage someone to receive Jesus Christ as their savior. Like we have said before, we can’t force someone to be saved and we also cannot judge how sincere someone is, if they say they would like to be saved, then it is our job to guide them in how to do that. (“And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Esais, and said, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?...” Acts 8:30-31a)
8.) Review points 4-7 and make sure they believe them.
It is important to make sure that a person understands the gospel and is making a real decision to call upon Christ for salvation. For instance, my daughter; who is seven years old, came to the altar the other day when we gave the invitation. My heart was touched, and I went to ask her why she came to the altar. She said that she came to pray about being saved. I asked her if she knew why she needed to be saved, and she responded that no that she did not know why she needed to be saved. At that point I realized that she did not understand the gospel and was probably not ready to be saved. Therefore, after you share the gospel with someone ask them if they believe, that they are sinners, that God will punish sinners, that Jesus died to save us from our sin, and that if they will repent and ask Jesus to save them that he will do it. If they agree and understand this proceed to point nine. (“But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some and hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23)
9.) Ask them if there is anything that would keep them from receiving Jesus today.
The previous point helps us to know if the individual is ready, this point helps them to decide if they are ready to be saved. When you first ask this question, initially in the person’s mind they are going to think, “of course I want to receive Jesus; I don’t want to be guilty of rejecting him.” However, you may have to explain that it is a big commitment. (“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:27-28) In light of that, I ask them would they be willing to start going to church, try to stop drinking, and begin reading the bible and praying ect. You can explain to them that it may sound hard to do those things. (“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2Corinthians 8:12) you can simply ask them is they are willing to try. Explain that we don’t have the ability to stop or start these things but if we will commit our faith to Jesus Christ he will perform it in us. (“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6) Once I explain this to the individual I then ask them if they feel like the lord is speaking to their heart and if they want to be saved today. If they say yes, then we go to point 10.
10.) Encourage them to pray and ask Jesus to save them.
I tell them first that I am going to pray and then after I am done praying then they can pray. I then say lets bow our heads. I pray a simple prayer like this: “dear Lord, I come before you in Jesus name, this individual has said that they would like to receive you as their Lord and savior please help them to do that today, in Jesus name.” I don’t say amen until after they have prayed. While our heads are still bowed, and after I have prayed I tell them now its your turn. I explain that the prayer cannot save you the Lord does that, it’s about whether your heart is sincere or not.(“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14) I explain that they can simply pray, “Lord please save me from my sins, I now give my life to you, Lord, thank you for saving me.” At this time I now give them a chance to pray out loud; If they are unwilling to pray, I take that to mean that they are not ready; If they do pray then I proceed to point 11.
11.) Say a prayer of thanksgiving for their salvation.
Once they are done praying I ask them that if they really meant it to take my hand please. Once they take my hand I then pray a simple prayer like this: “dear lord, I come before you in Jesus name, thank you for saving this individual, please help them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, help them to pray, read their bible and start going to church, in Jesus name, amen. We should thank God for their salvation because the bible says: (“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angles of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10)
12.) Help them to be assured of their salvation.
It is good to help a person be assured of their salvation, because it leads to follow through. If a person applies for a job and then never hears back from the company, they will never come for work, even if the company did hire them, because they have no assurance of the job. In the same case with salvation, if someone isn’t sure that they are the Lords then they won’t go to work for him either. A simple way to help them be assured of their salvation is to look at (Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”) Here is a commentary on this verse from evangalist David Wood: “Who does whosoever mean? (anybody) Does it mean you? (Yes) On whom did you just call? (Jesus) What did you ask Jesus to do? (Save me) Did you mean business? (Yes) What did he promise to do? (save me) Save you from what? (hell) Can God lie? (No) Then if you died right now, where would you go? (Heaven) If you died tomorrow, where will you go? (Heaven) If you died ten years from now, where will you go? (Heaven)” From this simple deductive reasoning they will realize that if they were sincere that Jesus holds his part of the bargain and they are saved. This will help them to grow and avoid the devils doubts. Now go to point 13.
13.) Help them to make a public profession.
It’s important that the individual starts going to church after they get saved. Before you leave get some sort of commitment from them to attend at least one service a week at church and also set a day and a time for them to start having discipleship classes with you. Tell them that when they come to church that they need to speak with the pastor about making their salvation public. Share with them (Matthew 10:32 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”) Tell them that when they share that they got saved with other people that God the son will go to God the Father and speak about them. Think about how great that is; the president probably doesn’t know our name but the one who created heaven and earth will be speaking about us when we share our faith with others.
In closing:
At this point you have completed the soul winning plan, once you are finished you can give them a lesson book for their discipleship classes, and have them fill out the part about the date of their salvation. I like to use a simple book called “fruit that remains” by David Wood. I hope you will memorize this plan and then begin to try to win your friends, family and acquaintances to Christ; not because your pastor wants you to, but because you want to be obedient to Christ.
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