Secret of soul winning

People today are simply overeducated. Going to church is becoming like attending post graduate class where you sit to learn stunning revelations by an inspiring and insightful professor. The professor/preacher probably spends fifteen to twenty hours per week, researching the sermon materials he is about to deliver to the congregation. Hence, church goers are getting well equipped with tremendous knowledge on anything Scripture-related and its implications. But what would you do with the knowledge you accumulated inside your brain? The information may be helpful for you to become an informed and a better believer, but would you be able to share it with an average person on the street so that he or she would understand it and want to become a believer too?

First and foremost, God's desire for the believer is not to become a Bible scholar. Paul said to Timothy that God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4) Jesus did not recruit well educated scholars to be his disciples. He probably enlisted normal people like fishermen and tax collectors to be his witnesses on purpose -- with the exception of Paul. That means that you do not have to be a preacher or an evangelist to share the good news. Some people believe that since they are just ordinary people, all they could do is to support the missionaries and the evangelists with their givings and prayers. Not so. You can simply base your salvation headquarter in your Jerusalem (Acts 1:8), i.e., your living room.

The tool

Today, by the grace of God, some believers are sharing the good news of salvation every day. These people never set foot in a Bible school. Hence, they are not Bible scholars by any stretch of the imagination. Yet they are not sharing the gospel of salvation just once in a blue moon. They have been sharing it for a long time, some even years. How do they do that? They are achieving success by simply reading the Salvation Lessons to someone, and explaining it to them when necessary.  The online book is about God's salvation plan for human race. It is not like any other inspirational book that you read it through once and be done with it. It is a tool to explain God's salvation to whoever has ears to hear, why he would want to be saved, and how he could get saved. It is for the presenter to read it to the student, or both of them to read together by taking turns. It consists of 24 lessons, and is written in a very simple and easy-to-understand manner. There are questions to answer at the end of each lesson that will help the "students" remember what they just learned. 

How to share

You as a presenter don't even have to leave your home in order to share the salvation lessons. You can simply share it with friends and family members. The student can be one person or more.  If the person you are sharing does not live with you, you can make phone call or video call without ever leaving your living room. It's typical to use phone, Messenger, Viber, and Zoom for this purpose. Share only one or two lessons per session because it's important to give the student time to mentally process the information. It is a good practice to allow the student to read the lessons instead of the presenter doing all the readings.

Some people repeat the lessons more than twice because the student learns a lot and is not satisfied with reading just once. Some students find the lessons uninteresting at first; then subsequent lessons catch their attention; some gain new knowledge after reading other lessons. Each person is different. No matter how the material is received, the important thing is to keep sharing the lessons without feeling discouraged until the end. The only thing that is needed is to have a desire to share. It is also helpful for the student to answer questions posted at the end of each lesson.

Feedback

Some feedbacks from the presenters are interesting: "I don't know about the person I was sharing it with, but I now have a clear understanding of God's salvation." By simply using these lessons plan, many people have received the assurance of salvation. Both presenter and student gain new knowledge and discover information previously hidden in plain sight.  That make them want to continue studying. 

Our responsibility

Christ said this about witnessing. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). Jesus sent out his followers to the end of the earth, but the believers continued to gather in one place. "Many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about 5000." (Acts 4:4) From the beginning, it might not have been God's plan to establish mega churches because the Bible said, "At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." (Acts 7:1) The Gospel is meant to be spread out to the end of the earth. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations," (Matthew 28:19) 

Who can share

The Holy Spirit is not given only to the leadership of the church but also to everyone who believes. While not everyone can serve full time, it is possible to share the Gospel of salvation, whenever the opportunity presents itself, with the help of the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter said, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) Like Peter said, believers are those who are chosen to reveal God's honor and grace. Therefore, you and I are responsible for sharing God's honor and grace with others. However, people only want to share inside of the church. Even then, they only share about worldly blessings they received. If the church you are attending is not emphasizing saving the lost souls, it is not doing its job.

Jesus said, "I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18) Through the gates of Hades, many people have fallen into Hades every day. The church's responsibility is to overcome or close the gate of hell. How can the gate be closed? It must be closed by telling the good news of Christ's salvation. Christ said to Peter, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19) The Lord Jesus said that Peter had been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. With that key the door of heaven must be opened for the people on earth so that they may be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. The key that was given to Peter was the good news of Christ's salvation. This church must proclaim God's salvation to everyone. That is the mission and the most important task assigned to the church.  

Store treasures in heaven

The Bible said, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" Obviously, human soul is more valuable than the whole world in the eyes of God. The Bible said, "“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19-20) It is obvious that you cannot send your gold and silver to heaven. Even if it is possible to send them, what will you do with gold and silver in heaven. After all, heaven does not even need your gold. The streets of heaven are paved with gold. The only treasures you can store up in heaven are human souls. That means we need to proclaim God's salvation to others so that they may believe and their life may also be "hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3) That is what the storing your treasures in heaven is all about. Therefore, let us all be fishers of man while we are alive and there is still time. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-20) If you send human souls to heaven, your heart will also be up there, isn't it?