by Fay Dodson
In teaching someone to be a successful soul winner, I always start with teaching the following three points.
1) You have a responsibility; your part is only to go and tell.
2) The Holy Spirit has a responsibility; the Holy Spirit’s part is to do the convicting, and He never takes a day off!
3) The person to whom you are talking has a responsibility; that person has a choice to accept or reject the Gospel.
Most often, ladies try to take all these responsibilities on their shoulders because they are used to doing everything for everybody. And yes, of course, the great commission says to get them baptized. But first, the person to whom you are witnessing has to make the choice to accept Jesus as his personal Saviour before you can get them baptized. And we are to do everything we can humanly do to follow-up and get people to church and disciple them.
Still, we must remember that we are human, and we can only take our responsibility. When we have done all that we can do, we have to leave our converts with the “Babysitter,” the Holy Spirit, and He will take care of them.
Let me share the testimony of Elisabel Martinez. She is a wonderful Christian lady, a great soul winner, and a member of the Friday and Saturday Phoster Clubs here at First Baptist Church:
(Click on the image for more information.)
One day in August 1976, my friend and I were approached by Vida Thomas and Sue Taylor, two college ladies who were bus workers from First Baptist Church. We were asked, “If you were to die today, are you 100 percent sure you would go to Heaven?” We answered “No,” and they graciously showed us from the Bible that Jesus had paid the price for our sins. Then we both accepted Jesus as our Saviour. Miss Vida and Miss Sue invited us to church, and I attended that first Sunday. I rode the bus faithfully every week for three years. At the age of 16, I quit attending church; but I came back to the Lord in October of 1982, at the age of 19, and have been attending ever since. I attended the Spanish Department for 14 years. In October 1996, I began attending the English Department. I joined Phoster Club on November 15 that same year.
At the Phoster Club Christmas banquet in December of 1997, I was seated to the left of Miss Carol Frye. She began asking everyone at the table how we were saved. When I shared my testimony, she said she was going to Mrs. Vida (Thomas) Collingsworth’s church in May of 1998 for a Mother-Daughter Banquet. She asked me to come with her to give Mrs. Vida a surprise. On the way to the banquet, Miss Frye told me not to tell Mrs. Vida who I was; but, when we arrived, she recognized me immediately! Although I had not seen her in 19 years, we could not fool her!
Miss Frye spoke on, “I Can Keep Going” at the banquet. Her last point was that we don’t know our future rewards. She asked Mrs. Vida and me to come forward, and she told the ladies that I was Mrs. Vida’s convert. Many of the ladies were crying because Mrs. Vida now has rewards for more than 1,000 people that I have led to the Lord since I came back to Him in 1982. She is a “grandmother” in the faith, too, because I have a Spanish lady whom I have trained to be a soul winner.
We just don’t know whom we’re going to meet and whose lives are going to be changed when we tell them about the Lord Jesus! ✥
The following are the verses Vida shared with Elisabel and the verses Elisabel now shares with people she meets.
I would like to ask you a very important question. If you were to die today, are you 100 percent sure you would go to Heaven?
“Pause-Peaceful Moments with God” 60 Day Devotional by Sharon Rabon (Click the image for more information.)
You can know! In I John 5:13 the Bible says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life….”
Here’s how you can know. In Romans 3:10 the Bible says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one,” and in verse 23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Those verses mean that I’m a sinner, and it means you are a sinner also.
Now, here’s where sin came from. In Romans 5:12 the Bible says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world…” This means Adam committed the first sin in the whole world. “…and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” That word death doesn’t mean just dying and going to the grave; it means separation from God forever and ever in a lake of fire. This is our punishment for our sin, and it is a debt you owe as of right now.
But, the story doesn’t end there! In Romans 6:23 the Bible tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Going to Heaven is a gift; it’s absolutely free! You can’t buy it, work for it, go to church for it, or be good for it. It would be as if a friend went to the store and purchased you a present. He paid for it, wrapped it, put a pretty bow on it, and brought it to you. He did every-thing for you; all you have to do is receive your gift. That is exactly what Jesus did! He left His home in Heaven and came to earth. He died on the cross and shed His blood. He bore our sins in His body and paid for them. He did everything for you; all you have to do is receive His gift.
Now, you know you are a sinner. You realize there is a penalty for that sin, and you can’t pay for it yourself. You believe Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for your sins.
Then, this is what you need to do. In Romans 10:9-13 the Bible says, “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Now, “whosoever” means YOU. We could put your name in that verse: “For ___shall call upon the name of the Lord, and ___ shall be saved.”
If you will trust Jesus to take you to Heaven when you die, just bow your head. If you mean this with all of your heart, pray this prayer: “Dear Jesus, forgive me of my sins. I trust You today, Jesus, and only You, to take me to Heaven when I die. Thank You for saving me. Amen.”
According to the Bible, if you were to die today, where would you go?
That’s right! In John 3:36 the Bible says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”
If you believe the blood of Jesus took your sins away as you just now prayed, contact us! We would love to hear from you!
Photo by Steve Richey on Unsplash
