Soul-Winning Seminar | Pastor Jared Pozarnsky

Okay, let's go ahead and get started. Let's open in a word of prayer. Dear heavenly father, I thank you for the opportunity to be here. I pray that you meet with us as we uh sharpen our soul-winning skills. Lord, we thank you for making us your ambassadors. Help us to always be studying [music] and always be striving be better and better at that um throughout our lives. We thank you for this great responsibility and ask that you just [music] uh lay any changes or any um any uh new skills um on our hearts today [music] and help us to take those going forward um in our Christian growth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right. So, welcome to the 2026 Verity Baptist Church soulwinning training. [music] All right. So, we're going to do this every year. My goal is to keep this uh training under an hour just to give you kind of a structure of what we're going to do is hopefully you have the verses in front of you and you have a pen. If you have any questions throughout uh the the explanation or the presentation, just write those questions down and we're going to do questions at the very end. Okay? Okay. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go through an explanation of the soul-winning um presentation. Okay. And um I'm going to go through an explanation down to the uh the details of every single verse. And then um what we're going to do after that is I'm going to go over and I'm actually just going to give a souling presentation for you all to watch um that matches the the verses in front of you and that matches the explanation that I gave. All right. You have the list of the verses in front of you. And look, if you do things a little bit differently, uh there's, you know, if you're like, "Oh, I have Romans 5'8 in a different place or I don't use Romans 5." You know, this isn't to say you absolutely have to do this this way, but this is a tried andrue method and this is just to sharpen everyone up so we don't end up falling off a cliff. Um, as a soul-winning church, we always want to be thorough with the gospel. The point is the goal of our soul-winning program here is that when we pray with someone, that person is saved. That person has trusted on the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not want to be people that are going out and just putting our foot in the door and having people just be polite to us and praying just to get us off uh off of their lawn. We always want to be thorough and we want to be um actually getting people to understand and to believe to believe on Jesus Christ. All right? that it's not, you know, that's one of the attacks of soulwinning is that, you know, those people aren't really getting saved. We don't want to be those people. So, we're going to be thorough soul winners. All right. What this is not, before I get started, this is not to teach you every single tip and and and explain every little nuance of how to give the presentation itself. I've got over 200 soul-winning tips that I've created over the last few years. Um and that will be given by the soul-winning uh the soul-winning leaders on Saturday mornings. Those tips and just learning from your soulwinning partner um will also help you sharpen and get those tips as well. Okay. Um now let's get go ahead and get started. All right. So the preparation like how do we want to look when we go soulwinning? So I don't want to spend a ton of time on this but basically you should look decent. You know you should not be wearing anything. We don't have a dress code for soul winning, but the guys should, you know, wear business casual type. You know, a lot of guys wear ties. That's great. Uh the guys could wear a colored polo shirt like this. That's fine. All right. We want to look decent. We don't want to wear, you know, anything offensive or worldly because we are representing. We're ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We're representing what Christians should look like and act like. All right? So, ladies, of course, should dress like Christian ladies and that's never been a problem here. All right. The structure of how we go soulwinning here is we have one speaker and we have one silent partner. This is very important. Okay? Because if you've ever been out soulwinning, how many of you been soulwinning and like both people are just talking uh to the person at the door. It is an absolute train wreck and it's not a good way of doing things. So um a common thing that you'll hear is like so the point is when you're a silent partner, you're silent. That's it. And we knock until we talk typically. So you knock until you visit with somebody or say hello to somebody and then it's the next person's turn. When you're silent partner, you're silent partner. And it's a very, you know, don't critique the person you're soulwinning with unless they ask for your critique because it's very um easily, you know, it's easy to offend someone that you're soulinning with. Um especially if you just jump in all of the sudden. Um your turn will come up. Silent partners are silent. And then of course if you are the talker and you get hung up or you get stuck, you can always pass off to the person but then you become the silent partner. Okay? So it's always one person. You have to kind of imagine being the person at the door having two people just like coming at you can be overwhelming. All right? So we want to just make sure that um the silent partner is silent and the silent partner should be praying and just um trying to remove distractions or whatever. Okay. Um the attitude the attitude that you should have out soulwinning is we should always remember we shouldn't have um this was a great uh message brother Matt gave this morning um just about the attitude of we're uninvited guests. They did not ask us to come there and we are coming there with an important message and we are coming there in a in a you know we should be in a mode of humility and compassion u for this person. And look people can tell if you care. if you're there and you're just going through the motions, you're just trying to knock off your soul winning for the week. Um, you know, we've all had those days where we feel like that, but you know, we need to be able to show people that we care because people can tell if you don't care. Um, and they can they decide if they're going to talk to you in like the first 10 seconds of that conversation when they open the door. All right? So, we should have a humble, caring attitude. And we're not also trying to force people to listen to us. We are looking for the right fish. We are looking for that person that has that heart that is seeking the truth. And once you get to be an experienced soul winner, you will realize that in less than a minute, you will be able to find out if you are talking to somebody that has an open heart that's actually interested in knowing the truth of the Bible. All right? So, um, we're looking for that person. We're not there to just like force belief on somebody. If it worked, we would do it. It doesn't work. Okay? So, that's the attitude. All right. Let's get into it. You've got the verses in front of you. Um the first thing that we need to do is we need to introduce ourselves when we knock on the door. We need to get to the question, right? We're trying to um we're trying to ask the question on whether or not people know if they're going to go to heaven or not, but we need to get to that question. You can't just have somebody open the door and just be like, "Hey, do you think you're going to go to heaven or hell? What do you think it is?" And we need to, you know, have an icebreaker. So, we hand an invite to someone and we say, "Hi, you know, we introduce ourselves. Hi, we're from Varity Baptist Church. Um, we're just out here inviting our neighbors to church and we just wanted to, you know, to give you an invitation to our church. Do you go to church anywhere?" And a common thing that people will do when they're first starting out soulwinning is they really try to rush through this beginning part to try to get to the the heaven question. Okay? But we actually want to listen to what they say. And I understand that we don't really we're not very concerned about where they go to church really. We're more concerned about what they believe. However, this is the first chance that you have to actually listen to that person. And you will become a better soul winner if you understand that soul-winning is actually a conversation between you and that person. Okay? So if you ask them, hey, where do you go to church? And they say, well, I go to uh St. Mary's Catholic. Don't just like well more important you know let them finish let them talk. If they want to tell you that I've gone there for 10 years or 20 years or whatever, oh that's that's great. You know, I'm glad that you know, you go to church, u listen to their answer. Listen to their answer. And then you can ask them the question. And I like to listen and I like to record what they tell me because that is going to be important when you're giving them the gospel, uh, you know, later on in the conversation. All right. So, at this point, you understand that they go to a Catholic church or wherever it is. You can kind of make some assumptions about what they believe, but you want to ask them what they believe, and you want to find out what they believe that it takes to get to heaven. And you want to actually record and remember what that answer that they give you. Because when you show them something that the Bible says that's different, you want to point that out to them and show them, do you see how the Bible says something different? This is super important. All right? Because people do, if somebody is a Catholic or a Buddhist or whatever it is, they can't add Jesus to their belief. They have to let go of that belief and accept what the Bible says. Okay. So, we're from Varity Baptist Church. We're out in your neighborhood. We're just inviting folks to church. Do you go to church anywhere? Yeah, I go to church. And they tell you where they go to church. You say, "Okay, well, that's great. We're not trying to, and I always say this, we're not trying to steal people away uh from their church, but more important than church, you know, God forbid if you died today, do you know if you would go to heaven? And then most people are going to say, you know, well, maybe or I'm not really sure or whatever they say. Um, what I like to do is I like to just use this very common phrase of, "Okay, well, if I was your friend and I asked you, how do I get to heaven? What would you tell me?" Record button or where is it? Then I record what they say. All right? Because now they're going to speak to you in the context of you. You know, they're giving advice to you now. And this will really show you what they believe. And this is where they say, well, you know, you have to it there's a lot of things. You have to go to church and you have to be a good person and you have to believe in Jesus. And usually, you know, a lot of times they put believe in Jesus in there. All right? And then you just remember what they said. All right? You remember what they said in that answer? Now, if they say like faith in Jesus or you know, faith in Jesus, believe in those things, we can't just accept that they're saved by saying by faith in God, faith in Jesus, right? If they say faith in God, I'm going to follow up with that and say, "Who is God?" Because a lot of people just like God is Buddha and Allah and all these things. So, I'm always going to drill a little deeper and and all many times I'll say, "Well, does God have a name?" And then many people will say Jesus. But then even further than that, you have to follow up and say, "Well, do you think that now that you've had faith in Jesus, do you think that there's anything that you could do where, you know, God would take away that salvation from you?" And this, of course, is what we're looking for here is their belief in eternal security. And this is super important because if somebody believes that you have to have faith in Jesus, this was me. This was me. I told the Baptist for years, they would come to my door and I'd say, "Faith in Jesus, faith alone. Praise God. Amen. You want some water? But they never follow it up with eternal security. And if somebody believes they can lose their salvation, if they believe that they have to work to keep it, it is the logical equivalent of working to get it. And it's super important. All right. So, we follow up and we say, is there anything that you could do to lose your salvation? like if you stopped going to church or you stopped doing those things that they said they were made them a good person or whatever, they say, "Well, of course you can't just do whatever you want." All right. And then from there, I just say, "Well, you know, the Bible says something a little bit different. Do you mind if I show you?" And I never say, "It'll take me just one minute." I just say, "The Bible says something a little bit different. Do you mind if you know I take a few minutes and show you?" And if they say yes, here we go. All right, we get into it. All right. And we never, another thing we never do at Varity Baptist Church is we are never going to give someone a two-minute gospel presentation on what we think they need to hear. Like, okay, this guy just needs to hear about eternal security. I'm going to Titus 1:2 this thing and I'm out of here in like two minutes. Right? Because we don't know. We are not Jesus, you know, and the woman at the well. We don't know what they know and what they don't know. You don't know if they don't believe in hell. You don't you don't know if they believe in a god that would never send anybody to hell. So the point is we're going to go through the whole gospel presentation with that person. And it's super easy because all you have to do is just preface it with all right. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you from the Bible how you can be sure that you're going to heaven. By the time I leave here, you'll know for sure on what the you'll know for sure what the Bible says on how to get to heaven. Whether you believe it is up to you, but you'll know what the Bible says. All right. Now, there's a few things we need to understand first, which may you may have heard before, but I'll be sure to point out where the Bible says something different from what you just told me. So, what that kind of explains is that I'm going to go through the whole thing with you, but when the Bible says something different, and of we'll just assume it's a works salvation thing because that's what it always is, but I'll just say I'll point out where the Bible is different from what you told me. All right? So, we're going to give them the whole gospel. So, the methodology here, if you look down at your verses, the methodology here is basically, I mean, it's pretty simple. It's there's certain sections that we're going to talk about, but it's basically you read a verse and you explain the verse, you know, and a lot of people think, well, I can't get I can't start soling until I have that whole piece of paper uh memorized in front of me. But here's the thing, like, you know, you got one of these in your hand, and all you need to do is just mark those verses in your Bible and know how to basically you just need to know the path through your Bible. That's it. because I'm always turning I I don't even I don't even quote the verses to people like just off the top of my head. I show them the verse. Like I literally read it out of the Bible every single time that I give the gospel to somebody. So you don't have to just, you know, memorize um the verses. You can I mean it's good to memorize the verses, don't get me wrong. All right? But you don't have to have things memorized to start soulwinning. All right? So we're going to start going through the gospel. The first section, of course, is recognizing that they're a sinner. All right? You're not going to have any trouble with 99.9% of the population when you tell them that they're a sinner. People know this. All right? I mean, I I can count the people that have told me that they are sinless that I've ever met on one hand. I mean, it is rare that you're going to find somebody that's like, "No, I'm perfect." All right? And if you do find that person, the conversation probably shouldn't be very long because that's a very arrogant um person. All right? but in Romans 3:10. So, the first thing that you need to understand is that the Bible says, you know, and I'll always just kind of start off. I'll say, you know, let me ask you a question, um, so and so or John or whoever I'm talking to. Um, are you perfect? And no one says, yes, I am. All right. You say, well, the Bible actually says that in Romans 3:10, the Bible says, as it is written, there is none righteous, know not one. So, the Bible is saying, no one is righteous. What does it mean to be righteous here? Again, I'm What am I doing? I'm trying to have a conversation with them, right? So, as much as I possibly can, I want to get this person talking back to me because that's going to keep them engaged. Number one, I'm always going to use their name. I'm kind of looking for a reason to use their name, too. So, I'm going to be like, you know what? Um, you know what, Mark? Uh, what what does righteous mean? What do you think that word means? And then I'll let them talk. And whether they get it right or wrong, it doesn't really matter. And like, you know, right part of the word. Basically, what the Bible is saying is no one is perfect. All right. And over here in Romans 3:23, it's on the same page or very close in your Bible. The Bible says, "For all has sinned. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So the Bible is saying, Mark, that everyone is a sinner. All right? Everyone is s sinner. And then I always ask I ask them again, what's a sin? What does that word mean? What's a sin? And people will they'll say like, oh, you know, murder or they'll they'll give you specific examples. Usually they'll say murder or stealing. and and I'll kind of go to the I'll be like, "Yeah, like the ten commandments." Because most people have heard of the ten commandments, especially if they're Catholic and they said that they've been in church, I'll usually go to the ten commandments. You know, don't lie, don't steal, be good to your mom and dad, all that stuff. But there's actually hundreds of commandments in the Bible. And the Bible is saying that every time we go against something God wants, that's a sin. The sin is a transgression of God's law. All right? That's what a sin means. And how many people have sinned? So right away you're just this is very very easy here getting people to recognize and just admit like because people will start to think and be like yeah like everybody everybody's sin nobody is perfect. All right. And then what I'll go and then I'll go to Romans 6:23 and I'll say, "Well, you know, since we've broken the law, since we've broken the law, and I warn against analogies, folks. I warn against analogies other than the gift. But I do use one analogy here. And the reason I use this analogy is because everybody gets it. And like a lot of times you don't want to get too crazy with analogies because analogies only make sense to you a lot of the times with your experience in life. But I'll use as soon as I go through Romans um Romans 3 talking about how nobody's perfect and they've already told me they believe in works based salvation. They're going to get to heaven because they're good enough. What I'll do is let's say and their car is usually sitting right there in the driveway. I'll say let's say I stole your car. Let's say I stole your car and I took your car on a joy ride and I wrecked it and I started on fire and I threw it in a ditch somewhere. And then I got arrested by the Sacramento PD and they brought me to a judge downtown and that judge said, "You know, uh, Pastor Jared, did you steal uh Mark's car?" And I was like, "Yeah, I stole it, but I'm really nice." And then every single time they laugh before I even say anything else, they laugh. And they laugh and I said, "Do you think he's gonna let me go if I tell him I'm really nice?" And they chuckle and they laugh and they say, "Of course not." You see, but what I did was I just I'm I'm attacking I'm attacking their thinking about works in their mind already because right there they realize they know. See, they hold a contradiction. Somebody that believes that they can be good enough to get to heaven, they hold a contradiction in their mind. They have cognitive dissonance about this idea that they could be good enough to get to heaven and that good works somehow cover bad works. But right there they see that nothing I can do, no matter how good I am, doesn't cover up the fact that I stole your car. I have to pay for that thing. I have to, you know, serve the penalty, pay the fine for that thing that I did wrong. And they get it right away. They get it right away. So the Bible says, and that's a great transition to Romans 6:23. So, the Bible says there's something we owe for our sins. Just like I'm going to owe something, no matter how nice I am, I'm going to owe something for that crime, we owe something for our sin. And the Bible says that what we owe is death. Look at Romans 6:23. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Now, we need to kind of explain that the Bible here is not just talking about them physically dying. Okay? We need to explain, you know, we need to explain hell. We need to explain the death of their soul. We need to explain that second death. Right? So, the Bible says that we actually owe something for our sin. The wages of sin is death. But here's the thing, Mark. This is not just talking about a physical death because we're all going to die physically one day. The Bible is talking about a spiritual death or what the Bible calls a second death. And then I'll flip over to Revelation. And now's where we get into Revelation 20 where 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. And right there, you can say, "All right, what does the lake of fire sound like to you?" Notice being cast into the lake of fire is the second death. This is the death the Bible is saying that we owe for our sins. So, we're equating these two things. Well, most people will equate the lake of fire when you ask them that question. They will say, "Well, it sounds like hell." And I get that the lake of fire and hell are not exactly the same thing right now. That the lake of fire that hell will one day be thrown into the lake of fire. We're not going to get into that stuff with them. What we're trying to show them is the spiritual death of a soul being cast into hell after the physical death. All right? And that equates the wages for their sin with an eternity in hell is what we're trying to get them to see. All right. And then in Revelation 218, so after Revelation 2014, what I usually say is look, the Bible teaches that the wages for our sin is actually going to hell. And the Bible teaches that hell is a place of eternal torment. It's a place of eternal punishment. It is not somewhere that you just you just don't go in the ground. It's not somewhere you go and you just burn up the Bible. It's the worst thing that you could ever think of it. There's additional verses for this that you usually will not have to go to. But additional verses if you want to make notes are 2 Thessalonians 1:9, that is talking about everlasting destruction. Revelation 14:11, the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. Jude 1:6, everlasting chains. So this shows the everlasting nature of hell. But you can just explain that in words. You can just say that, you know, the Bible says that because of our sins, we deserve to go to hell. And many people will accept that. Some people need a little bit more explanation about that. Another thing I will add just verbally is I will say Jesus himself talked about hell more than he talked about heaven. And then I'll ask them the question like why do you think I'm trying to get them engaged, right? Why do you think Jesus and I'll tell them like not a lot of people will tell you that today? Because a lot of churches don't even talk about hell because it's it's unpleasant. But I'll tell them why do you think Jesus talked about hell so much. And I would say about 70% of the people get this answer right where they will say well because he didn't want people to go there or he was warning people. And and I'll tell them like that's exactly right. God doesn't want people to go to hell. Look over at Romans 2:18. The Bible says now the Bible gives us a list of people that are going to go to hell. In Romans uh Revelation 2:18, the Bible says in death and hell, sorry, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoreongers and sorcerers and idolattors. And at this point, I'll say these are pretty bad people. And I stop saying like like you've never murdered anyone. I stopped doing that because I met a couple people that said, "Yeah, I have murdered somebody." So, oops. You know, but I don't say that anymore, but I just say, "That's a pretty bad list. Murderers, sorcerers, idoltors." But then look what God says. "And all liars." And then I'll ask them, "You ever told a lie?" And then they always say, "Of course." shall have their part in the lake which burnth with fire and brimstone which is the second death. So what God is trying to do here Mark is he is trying to show us all these bad people but then he says oh by the way everybody that's ever sinned because everybody has told a lie. He's trying to show us that anyone who has ever sinned which is everyone that I already showed you deserves to go to hell. But do you think God wants you to go to hell? And everyone always says no. But but listen to what they say to you. No. Mark, do you think God wants you to go to hell? Mark, do you think God loves you? And everyone always says yes. They always say, I mean, with the same consistency that they believe that they're a sinner, they will always tell you, "Yes, I believe God loves me, and I don't think God wants you to go to hell." So look, Mark, this was the bad news. This was the bad news. And here's the thing, folks. If you can do a good job on what I've showed you so far, you should have their attention for the rest for as long as you need it. Because if you can do a good job on explaining the condition that they are in and the punishment that they are facing and they believe you, you can take as much time as you want from here on out. So that's how important it is that we go into this first part of the gospel presentation and look, we just we give it to them like the Bible says it's true. Hell is not fake. Hell is not a it's not a toy. Hell, it is real and it is upon them. All right. Then I'll take them to Romans 5'8 and I'll show them like, "Yep, Mark, God does love you." The Bible says in Romans 5:8 it says God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So the Bible says God does love you. Now let's go back to Romans 6:23 where I showed you the wages of sin is death. Now that you understand that, Mark, now that you understand that, let me show you, you know what the what God has done for you so you don't have to go to hell. I'm sorry I had to give you that bad news first. You're like, "This guy shows up at my door, tells me he's going tell me I'm on my way to hell, but look, I'm here to tell you how to get out of it. I had to tell you the bad news. I'm not here to lie to you, right? You should have their attention now for as long as you need it." Now, you go to Romans 6:23b and you start explaining the gift. And this is how I explain this verse. All right, I'll read it to them. It says, "But the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And I always say I'll always say there's three things I need to get you to see here. Right? And the first one is this is that it's a gift. All right? It's a gift. Right? And then I'll take the invite that's in my hand and I used to use other things but you know I would use my sunglasses or something but don't use anything of value even a Bible because you know how about if I give you my sunglasses and I say well give me $5. And one guy's like, "Okay, I'll buy them. They're nice." [laughter] Like, "Okay, this is not working." Use the invite that's in your hand. It's something that's cheap. It's something that's that's simple. Let's just say I gave you this invite because you've already done that. You've already given them the invite. I said, "This is a gift now. Um, give me five bucks." And they'll be like, "Well, you know, no." I'm like, "Is it a gift if you have to pay me $5?" And everybody understands that. And then we always use the wash your car analogy. How about I give you this invite and I say, "Hey, you know, Mark, this is a free gift. All you have to do is wash my car once a week for the rest of your life." I always put in the rest of your life because like that's work salvation, right? Because you got to keep it going for the rest of your life. They're like, "Yeah, that's not well. Why isn't it a gift, Mark?" And then let them talk. Let them tell you. Let them figure it out right in front of you. It's awesome. They'll tell you like, "Well, because because I'm because I'm You want What you want them to say is that Word?" "Oh, because I had to I had to buy it from you." And then you What about my What about my car? What about my car? Washing my car. Well, no, because I had to work for it. Ah, remember that, Mark? Remember what you just said. The second thing I want you to see, the second thing they need to see is that the gift is What is the gift? The gift is eternal life, Mark. So it's like if I give my kid a bicycle, the gift is a bicycle. But if I give him eternal life, it's it Well, this gift, I'm not giving anybody eternal life, but this gift is eternal life. How long is eternal, Mark? And I'll just ask this question every time that word comes up. How long is that again? No one's ever said when I when you ask somebody, "How long is eternal?" They never say two years. They never say 20 years. They never say 30 years. They're like, "Well, forever or all the time or you know the whole thing, you explain the idea that it's eternal life." All right. And then the third thing that they needed to see is this gift is through Jesus Christ. And here's where I explain Jesus. All right. Now, I'll just launch into explaining who Jesus is. Like, you've heard of Jesus, right? And look, you're going to see more and more people that have not heard of Jesus, especially younger people. I'm noticing there's more and more people out there that have not heard of Jesus. So, what God did, Mark, was he sent his son. God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. That's what I the way I say it. He was born of a virgin. I'm sure you've heard the story. If they're Catholic, they've heard the story. You can throw that in there. Jesus, unlike you and I, Jesus, he lived a sinless life. Jesus never sinned. It's important to put that in there because this is important on how Jesus could pay for our for our sins. Jesus lived a sinless life. The Bible says he was tempted just like us, yet without sin. And then when Jesus uh you know Jesus had a ministry a few years before he died, he raised people from the dead. He healed the sick. He healed the blind. He did all these things to prove that he was God. So he was God and man at the same time. He did all these great miracles to show that he was God. But then Mark, the most important thing that Jesus did was when he was 33 years old, the Bible says that Jesus was arrested, he was tortured, he was beaten, and he was put on the cross. And the Bible says that when Jesus was on the cross, and don't miss this, Mark, when Jesus was on the cross, the Bible says he bare our sins in his own body. market. It was like every sin that you would ever commit, Jesus paid the price for it. But he didn't deserve it because he didn't have sin. And this is where many times they'll look, people will look at their soul-winning partner and they will say, you know, u you know, brother Aldo here, you know, him and I are good friends. And brother Aldo, he he may die for me if he had to, but brother Aldo can't die for my sins because he has his own sins to pay for. I can't die for his sins because I'm not innocent. I have my own sins to pay for. God had to come here and do this himself because Jesus Christ was innocent. So he was that innocent sacrifice that could be that sacrifice that was accepted for our sins. Then of course the Bible says Jesus died and then what happens after three days and three nights and most people that have been in church will tell you, well he rose again from the dead. Many people don't know this by the way so you have to explain it. After three days and three nights, he rose again from the dead. He defeated death. He rose again. And look, I do not um the Bible clearly says that Jesus's soul went to hell. I do not go into it in the soulwinning presentation. If you do, I'm not mad at you, but it is completely not necessary. It is not necessary. So, for me, it just makes that bridge that people have to cross a little bit longer. So, I'm like, what's the point? That's something they can learn later on. um that's not something that that they need to know. All right? So, I don't go into that, but you explain Jesus to them. And then, you know, that he died for your sins. And I I'll many times I'll throw in like, you know, were you born? This is also setting me up for something I'm going to explain later. Were you born, Mark? Were you born 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross? And nobody says I was born 2,000 years ago. So, they say no. And they'll say, "So which of your sins, Mark, did Jesus pay for it?" And usually they will get it. And they will say, "Well, all of them." Because all of their sins were in the future when Jesus died on the cross. Okay. Now, I'm going to head to Ephesians 2 8 and N. And this is where I say to them at this point, and I've already been attacking their premise of works based salvation. I've already been attacking it. But this is where I'll say to them, now I'm going to show you where the Bible says something completely different from what you told me. All right? And look, every single one of these sections, I'm usually asking people as well, do you have any questions after hell? Do you have any questions about that? Do you understand that? You know, after this section, do you have any questions about who Jesus was? And then listen to them and answer their questions because you don't want to be just driving over somebody if they're not believing what you're telling them, right? And if they're not going to believe what I'm telling them or they don't believe the Bible or something like that, I mean, you ever given threequarters of the gospel presentation? They're like, "Yeah, I just don't believe the Bible, though. It would have been nice to know that 15 minutes ago so I could knock the door next door." Okay. So, I'm always asking people after every section, do you understand? Do you have any questions about that? Well, now I'm going to get to the point Ephesians chapter number two, where the Bible says something completely different from what you told me. All right? And then I'll read Ephesians 2:8:9. The Bible says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith and not of yourselves." It is the gift of God. And I'll point out, you see how it says there? There's that gift again. I'll point that out. Not of works. Just so we understand. And he says it again. He says, "Not of works, Mark, lest any man should boast." So notice the Bible says, and I'll really hang out on those three words for a while. Notice how it says it's not of works, Mark. It doesn't say it's a little bit of works. It doesn't say it's a mix of works and faith. It says not of works. It has nothing to do with your works. Look, Mark, I'm not telling you to be a jerk in your life, but I'm telling you that works has nothing to do with whether you go to heaven or not. Not of works is very, very simple. You see how that's different from what you told me? stop and let them answer that because they're this is a key moment. Like if they say to you, "Yeah, that's not really what I meant or whatever." Like that that's not a great thing. Like what you want them to say, what they usually will if you do a good job here, it's like, "Yeah, I see how that's different." That's a that's repentance happening. That's like that change of mind happening. They're changing their beliefs. They're changing what they believe. All right. Additional works verses if you need them. All right. Additional works verses if you need them. Romans 4:4 and five. Romans 4:4 and five. If people come to you and you're like, "Yeah, but you know, you still got to be good and all this stuff." Go to Romans 4:4. Romans 4:5. And what I'll do is I'll read those two verses and I'll be like, cuz those two verses are showing like one guy that's like a really nice guy, but he doesn't believe in Jesus. And then one is a wicked guy, but he believes in well, he's not wicked, but he doesn't have good works, but he does believe in Jesus. And it shows that the guy that doesn't have the good works is going to heaven. So, it's a great simple um passage to go to um for that um but just write those down. I'm not going to go through them. Matthew 7:21 through 23 are great for Catholics. That's a great verse for a couple of verses for Catholics who believe, you know, anybody that call, you know, anybody that just calls Jesus Lord. You know, many that say to me, Lord, Lord, that those are great verses because Jesus at the end of those verses say, you know, I never knew you, it's because they were just bragging about their many wonderful works to Jesus. So, that's a great um couple of verses for Catholics that are having a hard time with that. But then again, you say, "You see how that's different from what you told me?" And they're going to say, "Yeah, I see how that's different." Say, "Okay, Mark. So the only thing that we see, we understand what it is not of. We understand that we can't work for it. You can't be good enough to get it. You can't come to church enough. You can't give enough money. Whatever it is, you can't do enough in your life to get saved. The only question that remains is how do I get the gift?" And that's where we go to John 3. That's where we go to John chapter number three. And look, if you don't go to John 3 in your soulwinning presentation, like I know I said like I mean if you don't go to John 3 though, like my goodness, like you're missing out. Like you got to go to John 3 because it's like the clearest like here's how you get the gift verses, right? And you go to I go to John 3:16 first. So the only thing that we need to know now, Mark, is you know, we know it can't be of works. I can't be good enough to get it. How do I get it? Do you want to see, Mark? And they always say, "Yeah, I want to see." So now you like you got him, right? Like they want to see how to be saved. Look at John 3:16. And everybody's heard this verse before, most people. For God so loved the world that he gave. There's that gift. I always point out every single time the Bible says gift, gift. And I always sometimes I'll say, you see how consistent the Bible is, it just keeps saying the same thing again and again. That he gave his only begotten son. Who's that Mark? Oh, let them answer me here. You know what everyone always says? If you've done a good job so far, Jesus, these answers that people are giving you back, these are clues that people are listening and believing the gospel. All right? That whosoever that means anybody Mark believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. How long is everlasting, Mark? It's the same thing as eternal. Those two words uh mean the same thing. They're interchangeable. But what does that say you should do, Mark? Does that say you have to come to my church? Does that say you have to be a good person? Does that say you have to follow the commandments? Does that say fill in the blank with what they told you that you have to not do? Whatever you find, some Pentecostal person that thinks you can't do these four sins or whatever, fill in the blank with those four sins. That's not what the Bible says. It says believe. That's it. And then I always go to John 3:36. And again, if you don't go to John 3:36, like this is an extremely powerful verse right here to clearly show salvation and eternal security. And I always say like after John 3:16, I always say like, you know, Mark, I could show you a hundred verses that say the same thing. I want to show you one more and then I explain to you what it means. All right. In John 336, the Bible says, "He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life." Many times I'll just stop right there and I'll just say Mark the Bible says he that believeth on the son who's the son they'll say Jesus. You say hath everlasting life. Do you know what the word hath means Mark? Some people know some people don't. You explain hath means it's an older word. This is a King James Bible for have. So the Bible says when you believe on the son you have it. It is an immediate show of salvation not being a process, not being something we're working towards or building up or whatever. It's you believe on the sun, you have it. And now you need to explain believe on. You have to explain believe on. Believe on. Look, because and this is something that is a common mistake that I see with people. They must understand that believe on means trust. And you can go to Ephesians 1 if you want. Ephesians 1 11 through13 I believe it is explains this clearly that to believe in Jesus means to trust in Jesus. Or you can just tell them that to believe on Mark doesn't mean you believe Jesus existed or that Jesus believed you know that you believe Jesus died on the cross. There was never a time in my life that I thought believe it Jesus didn't die on the cross. But I was not saved because I was trusting in my works. So they have to understand that to believe on Jesus means they put all of their trust on Jesus. To believe on Mark means you're completely trusting in Jesus. It's not 90% Jesus, 10% you. [clears throat] It's 100% Jesus. And that is a great verse to explain that believe on means trust. And the Bible uses believe on all over talking about salvation. Those two words. All right? It doesn't mean you believed he existed or even that he died on the cross. You believe you're putting your trust in him. And the Bible says when you believe that you have it in a moment. Now there's one more thing you need to understand here. Mark. Now, we're going to explain eternal security. We're going to go to Titus chapter number one. Do you have any questions so far about that mark? You know, open it up to questions, right? Let them ask you questions. Like, pretty simple. Like, many times they're going to be telling you at this point, I can't believe how simple this is. I mean, many times people who have been confused their whole life are going to be telling you at this point, I've never had it explained to me this way. That is a common thing that you're going to you're going to hear if you do this right. You go to Titus 1:2. You know, Mark, I told you you can know for sure. I told you, I made a promise to you when I walked to your door that you can know for sure that you're going to heaven. And the reason is is because once you get this gift, this gift is eternal. And the Bible says that it's not 5 years, it's eternal, which means you can never lose it. Mark, look at Titus 1:2 where the Bible says in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. I forgot to mention, but usually I'll use the invite at this point again and I'll say, "Mark, let me just say I gave you this pen and I said, "Mark, this is yours forever." And I handed it to you. What if I came back, Mark, in and I'm turning to Titus 1 as I'm explaining this. What if I came back, Mark, in five years and I said, "Mark, uh, you know, I don't like the way you've been living your life. I don't like the way you've been treating your family. Give it back to me." And he you take it back from him. And he's like, I was like, "Was it ever forever, Mark?" And he'll say, "Well, no." And I was like, "So, what did I do to you when I said it was forever?" And most times they'll get this answer. Well, they'll say, "Well, you lied to me. You lied to me." And then I'll read to him Titus 1:2, where the Bible says, "In hope of eternal life." And and the way I I read that is like Mark, this is the Bible saying, "Here's how you can know you have eternal life, which God that cannot lie. This is the only thing the Bible says that God can't do is lie. Promise before the world began. So what I'm trying to get you to see, Mark, is that if you can put your trust on Jesus, you can take your trust off of yourself and put it completely on Jesus, God will save you where you stand. And he will seal you with the Holy Spirit, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter number one, and he will never take away your salvation. And at this point, usually they're getting it. John 10:28 is another great eternal security verse if they have any more questions on that. That's one that actually, you know, really helped me out um when I was studying this out. But you can then I mean you can take them to Acts 16 30 at this point in the conversation just to kind of sum things up or you can put that somewhere else in the in the U soul presentation as well. That's just a great simple um what must I do to be saved? And they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Like it it was just it's just simple. Believe believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But the eternal security thing is, you know, I'll use um another example I'll give after I go to Titus 1:2 is I'll say, "Look, you know, when somebody first told me this, if they're having trouble with it, logically thinking about it, I'll be turning to John 10 and I'll be going to John 10:28. Then I'll just explain. Look, here's how it, you know, I'll explain to them like somebody told me this the first time, Mark, and I was like, okay, so you're telling me that if I trust in Jesus and then I become a drunk and beat my wife that I'll still go to heaven. And then you kind of watch their face. I mean, what do you think, Mark? And you see what they say. Because a lot of times people will say to you, they got it at this point. They'll say, yeah, you'll still go to heaven. And you'll say, well, the answer actually is, Mark, you know, that's kind of what I thought, too. But the answer is actually yes. You'll still go to heaven. But here's how it works. And I usually have one of my kids with me. I'll be like, you know, the Bible says that when you get saved, Mark, you become adopted into God's family. And God will punish or he'll chastise his children. Just like a father would punish um his child. Like when my kids were young, you know, and they did something wrong, Mark, you know, they got a spanking, they got in trouble. Do you think I did that, Mark, because I hated them? And I've never had someone say, "Yeah, you hated your kids because you like, no, you did that because you loved them." And then I say, "Well, Mark, what if one of my kids grew up to be an adult and they became a bad person and I kicked them out of my house?" Mark, would they stop being my son? And people always get this. They always say, "No." I say, "That's how salvation works. You get adopted into God's family. God will chastise you after you're adopted into his family." This is how important like the chastisement doctrine is. It's it's directly tied to salvation. Like it's it's part of like understanding eternal security that God will chastise his children. All right? And people always understand that. It's like that's exactly how salvation works. God would never throw his children into hell, but he will chastise you on this earth. Not because he hates you, but because he loves you. All right. And then at this point, I'll ask them again if they have any questions and I'm going to recap the whole thing. I'm going to recap the whole thing. So Mark, let me just go over what we went went through and then I want to show you one more thing. I say, Mark, so you understand that you're a sinner. And Mark, you understand that because of your sins, you deserve to go to hell, but you understand that God loves you and he doesn't want you to go to hell. So he made a way for you not to have to go to hell. And he sent his son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for your sins. Jesus was perfect. He was God and man at the same time. He died and he was buried and he rose again to pay for your sins. Do you believe that Mark? Do you believe that if you put your trust in Jesus Christ today and you stop trusting in your works even 1% and you put all your trust in Jesus, do you believe as the Bible says that God would save you and save you forever? And they're they're going to be affirmatively answering you if you if you did a good job here or if their heart I shouldn't just say it's all on you because it's really their heart as well. And then you say, 'Well, Mark, do you understand that once you've been given that gift of eternal life, that you know, you while you should live a good life and follow the Bible, that it doesn't have to do with any of your works to keep that salvation, that God seals you with the Holy Spirit, and that there's nothing you could ever do to not be saved after that point. And hopefully they understand that as well. And they say, "Well, Mark, if you believe these things, there's one more thing I want to show you." And I'll show them John 10 or I'm sorry, Romans 10:9. and say, ' If you believe these things, Mark, God just wants you to tell him that you believe these things. And that's how I'll kind of um phrase that. And I'll read for him, John 10:9, where the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, and I'll point out, you see how it's the belief, Mark? It's the belief that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For how long, Mark? And they always say forever. Well, not always, but they should say again, how many times are you checking if they believe? You see, you're just checking and you're just confirming through this conversation and through these little things that we're doing here to the point where you know when you're about to pray with this person like, man, you know what they believe. And then, I mean, I'll just pray. I mean, your prayer can be whatever it is, but like I always put like the the confession of the whole gospel that I went through in the prayer. And I always, you know, my prayer looks something like this. Let me just adlib my prayer off the top of my head. You know, so Mark um God just wants you to tell him that you believe these things. You know, Mark, um we could just you could just tell God right now. I could I could help you form the words um in your mouth and you could just you know I could just help you form a prayer and you could tell God you believe these things and we could take care of it right now and then people will say okay sure and I'll tell him like Mark you know this isn't a magical prayer the sky is not going to open and you know this is just you telling God what's in your heart and I'm just a man I can't see your heart I'm just a man that's helping you form the And then I'll just I'll just say I'll just say uh let's let's pray Mark. Just repeat after me. You'll have to tell him. Repeat after me. And then I just say, "Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I deserve to go to hell. [snorts] But I believe that you came to take the punishment for my sins. You died on the cross. You were buried. And you rose again on the third day. And Lord Jesus, I am only trusting in you and nothing of myself. Please take me to heaven when I die. Thank you for saving me. Amen. It doesn't matter if they say thank you or take me to heaven or whatever. The point is they just confessed what they believe in their heart. They just confessed the Lord Jesus. And then I always ask them after the prayer, I was like, "All right, now Mark, did you believe what you just said? It's like, yeah, like, well, that's it, my friend. It's a done deal. You know, the Bible says that you're saved. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit. You know, shake their hand. Congratulations. You know, and then I'll always spend I will always spend after salvation, I will always spend a few minutes talking to people about church and baptism and things that they should do going forward in their Christian life. I'll always say like, "Hey, Mark, you know, how many lives do you have?" you know, and nobody ever says more than one. And I'll say, ' Do you want your life to matter? Nobody ever says no. And I'll say, 'Well, you know, now what God wants you to do is he wants you to get into church. He wants you to get baptized. The Bible says, the Bible says God wants you to learn what you know, the Bible says, and so you can apply that to your life so you can be greatly used by him in your life. God uses ordinary people. And then I'll I'll point to us be like we're not we're not walking around out here on the street to get ourselves to heaven. We're walking around out here on the street because that's what God told us to do because you know that's our reasonable service. I mean here we got this free gift. We didn't get we didn't deserve it any more than you just deserve the gift that you just got. What kind of jerks would we be if we never went and told anybody else how to get it? And just talk to them. You know, listen to them. They'll a lot of times at this point they'll tell you about their life. They'll tell you about troubles they've gone through. Listen, you know, be compassionate to people. Try to make a connection with that person. And at that point, you know, we get follow-up information and we can follow up with them as a church and try to disciple that person now that they've gotten saved. All right. So, look, that's that's the soulwinning presentation. And that was I mean, that was 52 minutes. All right. So, like it doesn't take that long, right? I'm going to show it at the door just like real time. >> Hello. >> Hi. Good morning. >> Morning. >> We're from Varity Baptist Church. We're out in the neighborhood inviting folks to church. How you doing today? Do you have a church that you go to? >> Uh sometimes I It's the community church down the street. I haven't been a minute. >> Okay. Well, we're a Baptist church, uh Christian church. We're about, you know, 10 15 minutes away from where you're at here. So, we're just out inviting folks. Maybe you've seen the building uh before. We're out inviting folks to church >> off of Norwood. Yep. Right across from the Starbucks there. >> Cool. All right. Well, you know, we're not trying to take you away from your church, but one thing that we are doing is we're asking people a super important question today. No matter where they go to church. Okay. We're asking people like, God forbid if you died, you're just a young guy, but if you died, do you think you would go to heaven? Something you ever thought about? I mean, I'd hope so. Think so. >> Okay. Well, let me uh let me ask you this. Uh like let's say I was your friend and I asked you, "How do I get to heaven?" Like, "What do you think it takes to get to heaven?" What would you tell your friend? >> Ah man. Um I think you just got to do your best to do right by people and live right. And um I know the ten commandments are pretty important, I think. And >> Okay. So, like just try to follow the Bible and >> Yeah. >> and all that. >> I think so. Yeah. >> Okay. So, like what if you didn't do those things? Like what if you didn't follow the Bible and like you just kind of lived a bad life? Do you think you'd still go to heaven or >> um I I wouldn't think so. Um >> Okay. >> Yeah. I think you at least got to, you know, try your best or um >> Okay. What's your name? >> Uh Mark. >> Mark. Nice to meet you. My name is Jared. >> So that's a little odd. Anyway, u so Mark, so Mark, um so the Bible says something a little bit, the reason we asked the question is because the Bible says that you can know for sure um that you're that you're going to go to heaven. And the Bible says something also a little bit different from what you told me. The Bible actually says that it's easier to go to heaven than than the way that you said. Um if you had a few minutes, I'd be happy to show you. I got a Bible right here I could show you. >> Uh sure. >> Okay. So what I'll do, Mark, is what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you everything from the Bible. Okay. So, this is a King James Bible. I'm going to show you everything right out of this book. So, it's not just some guy that showed up giving you his opinion. >> Sure. >> Okay. So, Mark, there's a few things that we need to understand first. All right? And I'm sure you've heard a lot of this before, but I'm going to show you a few things that you probably understand first, but then I'm going to show you like when we get further into it, I'm going to show you where the Bible says something different from what you just told me. Okay? All right. And if you have any questions, just just ask me. Okay? >> So, Mark, let me ask you one thing first. Are I mean, you seem like a really nice guy, but are you perfect? No. >> Okay. Well, the Bible actually says that, Mark. All right. The Bible says right here, it says, "As it is written, there's none righteous, know not one." All right. So, the Bible says, "Nobody's righteous." Mark, what does that word mean, righteous? >> Um, like good or um just good. Uh you're you're you're a good person. >> Sure. Sure. I mean I mean like part of the word is right, right? So like the Bible is basically saying like that you do right all the time or that you're perfect, right? And the Bible is saying who's perfect? >> No one. >> None. Right? So, nobody's perfect. Right? The Bible says over here, just a few verses um over it says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All right? So, the Bible says, "Everyone's a sinner." All right. So, what's a sin mark? >> Um I think just something that's bad morally, a murderer or stealing. Um just wrong things, I guess. Okay. Okay. So, the Bible actually like defines like sin as like a transgression of the law. So, it's like every time we break God's law, you know, that's called a sin, right? And you mentioned the ten commandments, right? So, that's part of God's law. Don't steal, be good to your mom and dad, you know, don't commit adultery, all those different things, right? So, the Bible is saying that, you know, everybody has sinned. As a matter of fact, Mark, there's actually hundreds of commandments in the Bible, not just the 10, right? The Bible actually says that like the thought of foolishness is sin. You ever thought of something stupid? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Exactly. Right. So, everybody sinned. This is super easy to understand, right? Would you agree with that so far? >> Okay. So, what we need to understand, Mark, is since everybody has sinned, everybody's broken God's law, right? Let me give you an example. Like, let me see. I I see you got a nice Corvette sitting in the driveway there, right? Like what if I like stole your Corvette and like maybe I could borrow it sometime. No, I'm just kidding. Let's say I stole your your Corvette and I took it on Joy Ride and I wrecked it, right? And I got arrested for stealing your car and they brought me down to a judge in Sacramento and the judge says, you know, Jared, did you did you steal Mark's car? And I was like, and I told the judge, I was like, "Yeah, I stole the car, but I'm really nice." Like, do you think he's just going to let me go, Mark? >> No, of course not. Right. cuz it doesn't matter how nice I am, I have to pay for what I did there. Right? >> So, in the same way, the Bible says that like we owe something or we have to pay for breaking God's law. Okay? Makes sense, right? >> Yeah. >> All right. So, the Bible says over here what we owe. All right. The Bible says here in Romans 6:23, it says for the wages of sin, meaning what we deserve or what we earn, right? You go to work and you you work hard and you make what? >> A paycheck. Money. money, right? So, that's your wages. But the Bible says what you earn for your sin is death. Okay? Now, Mark, you're a young guy. You're going to we're all going to die physically one day, right? Even you, it doesn't matter how old you are, you're everyone's going to die physically. The Bible here is not talking about a physical death. Okay? The Bible here is talking about a spiritual death or what the Bible calls a second death. Okay? This is the death we owe for our sins. Okay? And over here in the book of Revelation, God explains it to us. And he says here in Revelation 20:14, the Bible says, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." You see that, Mark? You see that word, that phrase, lake of fire. What's that sound like to you? >> Uh, kind of sounds like hell. >> Like hell, right? So, you've heard of hell, right? Yeah. >> So, the Bible teaches that when we die physically, we're either going to go to heaven right away or hell right away. But the Bible here is showing us is that because of our sin, we deserve to go to hell. Okay? Now, Mark, the Bible teaches that hell is a place of eternal punishment. You know, there's a lot of people out there like Jehovah's Witnesses, and you know, they teach that you just burn up or, you know, some people say you just go in the ground. But the Bible teaches very clearly that that hell is a place of eternal torment, everlasting chains. It's a place where you go and if you die and your soul goes there, Mark, you never get out. It's like the worst thing you could ever think of. All right? And the Bible says though, Mark, that's where we deserve to go because of our sin. All right? Now, this isn't good news. I understand that. But I'm not here to lie to you. Okay? The Bible over here gives us a list. I'm one chapter over people that are going to go to hell. Okay? Okay, let's take a look at that for a second. The Bible says in Revelation 2:18, it says, "But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoreongers and sorcerers and idoltors." These are pretty bad people, wouldn't you say, Mark? >> Yeah. >> Right. But then look what God says. And all liars shall have their part in the lake with burnth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So what God does here is he lists all these terrible people. And then he says, "Oh, by the way, even if you've lied, you ever lied, Mark?" >> Yeah. Like God uses that one because everybody's lied. So the Bible is saying is that everybody deserves to go to hell because of the sins that they've committed against God's law. Okay. Let me ask you a question, Mark. Do you think God wants you to go to hell? >> I don't I don't think so. No. >> Okay. Do you think God loves you? >> Yeah, I think so. >> So, Mark, God does love you and he doesn't want you to go to hell. As a matter of fact, Jesus on this earth when he was here, he talked about hell way more than he talked about heaven. Why do you think he talked about hell so much, Mark? >> Um, probably because he didn't want anyone to go there, >> right? God doesn't want people to go to hell, but he's a just God and he has to punish sin. Okay? As a matter of fact, the Bible says here in Romans 5'8, to answer your question, said God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So God does love you, right? And he doesn't want you to go to hell. So he made a way so you don't have to go. All right. Now, Mark, I had to show you the bad news in your condition first. Okay? You know, it it was it was not a great story so far, but I I'm not here to lie to you. I'm just here to show you what the Bible says. Okay? So now, we understand that we're sinners. We understand that the punishment for our sin is an eternity in hell. All right? But if we go back to this verse, Mark, where the Bible says, the wages of sin is death, and we look at the rest of the verse, the Bible says, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." All right. So, there's three things I want you to see here, Mark. The first thing is it's a what? >> Uh, it's a gift. >> It's a gift. All right. So, the Bible says that the gift of God is eternal life. And the first thing you need to see is eternal life is a gift. Okay? Now, eternal life is life that lasts for how long? >> Um, for eternity, >> right? It's not five years. It's not one year. It's forever, right? So, it's a gift, right? Let me give you an example here. Let me get that invite back from you. So, let's say, Mark, I gave you this. I said, "Here you go, Mark. That's a free gift from me to you." All right. Just give me five bucks. >> Well, that I'm I'm paying paying for it. >> Yeah. You're buying it from me, right? Right. How about this? Here you go, Mark. That's yours. You can keep that. That's a free gift from me to you. All you have to do is wash my car once a week for the rest of your life. >> Well, it's still not a gift. >> Why? >> Because I'm I'm doing I'm doing something to get it from you. It's not It's not free, >> right? It it's a transaction. You're working for it, right? >> Okay. But the Bible says that eternal life, which is heaven with God, is a what? >> It's a gift. >> It's a gift, meaning it's free. >> You pay nothing for it. All right. So those are the that's two of the three things. It's a gift number one and something that's a gift is free. Number two, the gift is eternal life, right? If you give your kid a bike, the gift is a bike. Eternal life is it's life that lasts forever. And this gift is provided by or through this guy, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Okay. Have you heard of Jesus, Mark? >> Yeah. Yeah, I have. >> Okay. So, of [clears throat] course, the Bible teaches that Jesus was God and man at the same time. 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born of a virgin. You know, he was he was God and man, existing in this person of Jesus Christ. Unlike you and me, Mark, Jesus lived a life on this earth and he never sinned one time. The Bible says he was tempted like you and me, yet without sin. Okay? So Jesus lived a perfect life. The Bible says that Jesus did all sorts of miracles to prove that he was God. He um he healed the sick. He healed the blind. He raised people from the dead. Mark. But the most important thing that Jesus did, Mark, was when he was 33 years old. The Bible says that Jesus was arrested. He was tortured. He was beaten. And he was put on the cross. All right? And don't miss this Mark. The Bible says that when Jesus was on the cross, remember he was innocent. He had no sin. The Bible said when Jesus was on the cross that he bear our sins in his own body. You see, Mark, no matter how good a friends you and I become or we are or whatever, I could never die for your sins because I have my own sins to pay for. No matter how much my friend here, you know, likes me, he can't die for my sins because he has his own sins to pay for. >> Yeah. Jesus, God had to come and do this himself because only Jesus could live a life without sin. The Bible says Jesus died on the cross. He was buried. And what happened three days and three nights later, Mark? >> Uh he he came back. >> He came back from the dead. That's what we celebrate on on Easter, right? Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his defeat of death. All right. So that's who provides the gift, Mark. All right. Does that answer any questions that you had about Jesus or do you have any questions so far? >> Yeah. That makes makes sense. >> So Mark, now I'm going to show you the main difference that the Bible says between what you told me and like what the Bible says about going to heaven. Okay. So you said if you're pretty good and you live a good life and you follow the Ten Commandments, you know, you'll go to heaven. But here you've seen so far that it's a gift. The gift is life that's eternal and it's provided through Jesus Christ. Okay. Look over here in Ephesians chapter number two. The Bible says here it says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith." Grace means something you don't deserve. Mark, right? So like if you rent this house and you get a grace period, the B, you know, the Bible is saying grace. Grace is like, you know, the your rent may be due on the first, but they really let you pay on the 10th. You don't deserve it. They just give it to you. So the Bible is saying that God's going to give you grace here, something you don't deserve. And it says for grace, are you saved? Saved from hell, Mark. Right. >> Right. Do you understand why you had to understand hell now? Because if you didn't understand hell, what would you need to be saved from? >> Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. >> Okay. For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves, Mark. It is the what? >> The gift. >> The gift of God. You see how consistent the Bible is here? >> Yeah. >> All right. And then just to make sure we get it, look what God says again. Not of works. You see how the Bible doesn't say, Mark, it's a little bit of works. It said it has nothing to do with works. You see how that's different from what you told me? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay, >> that makes sense. Yeah. >> Because Mark, if you thought that, you know, you had to do a little bit of works. Do you think that that would be partly of works? >> No. Yeah. >> Right. So, the Bible says it has nothing to do with works. >> Yeah, that makes sense. >> Okay, you see the difference, right? Yeah. >> So the Bible says that going to heaven has zero to do with works and it's a free gift and it's through Jesus Christ. So the only question remains Mark is right it's free. I mean the only question is how do I get this gift? I can't work for it. >> I can't be good enough to get it. How do I get it? Right. I'm going to show you that now. Okay. All right. So over here in John 3. So that John uh Mark, sorry. Um this is a red letter Bible. meaning the red words are Jesus speaking. Okay? So over here in John 3, Jesus himself says this. Look what he says in John 3:16. Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that he gave," there's that gift again. "His only begotten son." Who's that, Mark? >> Uh Jesus Christ. >> Jesus. That whosoever, that means anybody, Mark, do what? >> Believeth in him. >> Believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. How long is everlasting, Mark? >> Forever. >> Forever. It's the same as eternal. Right? So the Bible doesn't say here, do good works. It doesn't say follow the ten commandments. It doesn't say come to my church. It doesn't say get baptized. It says believe. That's what it takes. Right? Now look, Mark, I could show you a hundred verses that say the same thing. I'm going to show you one more. Okay? Look at what the Bible says over here. It says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Do you know what half means? Marks Mark? >> Uh, not not really. No. >> Half. Like this is a King James Bible. So half is an older word for have like you hath that invitation in your hand. So what the Bible is saying is that when you believe on the son, you have you have everlasting life. Okay? You're not getting it. You're not gaining it. It's like when you believe on, you have it. Okay? Now to believe on Mark, you notice these two words that are always used, believe on. The Bible uses those two words to explain people getting saved all the time. Many believed on him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible uses that believe on. What that means, Mark, is not that people believe Jesus existed or even that he died on the cross. What it means is in Ephesians chapter number one, to believe on Jesus means to trust in Jesus. All right. And let me just kind of explain this using your own um beliefs. What you told me at the door. Let's say that you believed as you told me that you had to follow the ten commandments and you had to go to church and you had to be good to your family and you had to do all these things in order to get to heaven and you and you and you do this. >> Who are you trusting in Mark in that case? um what I do >> in yourself, right? So what it takes, Mark, is you have to take that trust off of you yourself, I put that trust on Jesus and what he did on the cross. You see the difference? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. So, let me ask you a question, Mark. Do you believe what I'm telling you or what I'm showing you? >> Yeah. Yeah, I do. >> Okay. That's why I'm showing you from the Bible so you can see that this is God saying this, not me. Okay? So, look, Mark, there's one last thing I need to show you about this gift. Okay? So, give me this invitation again. Let's say, because I told you you can be sure you're going to heaven, right? >> I told you that the Bible says you can know. So, let's say I gave you this invitation. I said, "Mark, that's yours forever." All right? And then I came back in two weeks and I said, "Mark, I don't like the way you're living your life. You know, I don't like the crimes that you're committing out here in this world. I don't like the way you're treating your family. I don't like, you know, the sin that's in your life. Give it back to me." Let's say I came back in 10 years and took it away. All right. What did I do to you when I told you it was forever if I take it away from you? >> Uh, you were kind of dis you kind of lied. >> Yeah, I lied to you. Right. So look, Mark, this Bible, this is God's word. This is God's perfect word. And there is one thing in the Bible that God says he cannot do. Imagine God that created the entire universe. He created everything around us. He created you. He created me. Imagine something God can't do. But there is one thing, and it's right here. And here's how you can know that you're going to go to heaven. The Bible says in Titus 1:2, in hope of eternal life. That means Mark, here's how you can know you have eternal life. which God that cannot what Mark >> cannot lie >> cannot lie promised before the world began. So I'm trying to get you to understand is if you can take the trust off of yourself and you can place it on the cross and on what Jesus Christ did for you, his death, burial, and resurrection. You can take all that trust and put it on Jesus. God will save you where you stand and he will seal you with the Holy Spirit, the Bible says. And he will never take away your salvation. Isn't that the best thing you've ever heard? >> Yeah, it's pretty cool, >> right? It's like it's like way better than like having to try to be good and cover up for that stolen car, which you could never do. >> Jesus paid it all and all you have to do is put your belief and your trust completely on him. You have any questions about that? >> No. I mean, makes a lot of sense. >> Yeah, it does make sense, right? It's simple. It's very simple. So, let me just recap for you, okay, Mark? And then I want to show you one last thing. So you understand that as the Bible says that you're a sinner. >> Yeah. >> Right. And because of your sin, you deserve to go to hell. >> Yeah. >> I mean, not that God wants you to go to hell, but you deserve it, >> right? >> You understand, uh, Mark, that Jesus was God and man at the same time, and he came here and he died on the cross and he rose again on the third day to take the punishment for your sins. Do you do you understand that? >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Do you believe that if as I showed you from the Bible, if you were you put your trust on Jesus and took your trust off of yourself and your works and put it on Jesus, do you believe that God would save you and save you forever? >> Yeah. >> And you believe that there's nothing that you could do from that point on to where God would take away your salvation? >> Yeah. I mean I mean you can't just live however you want though, right? I mean there's some pretty bad people out there, right? Like >> Okay. Okay. Well, that's a that's a good um that's a good question. So, I actually had the same question mark when I was somebody showed me this the first time. You know what I said? I said, "Are you telling me that I could put my trust on Jesus and then I could be a drunk and and beat my wife and I would still go to heaven?" >> Okay. Exactly. >> And and you know the answer is Mark that yes, you still would go to heaven. But I'm going to explain it to you. Okay. I show I told you I'd show you everything from the Bible and I'm going to do that. Okay. So Jesus himself says this. Okay. Jesus himself says, "And I give unto them eternal life." Notice he there's the gift, right? It's eternal life. And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Meaning once you get saved, Mark, no one, including yourself, can take away your salvation. All right. Here's how it works, Mark. The Bible teaches that when you get saved and you put your trust on Jesus, that God adopts you into his family. Okay. And the Bible teaches that once God adopts you into his family that he will chastise his children. He'll punish his children. Like my son is with me here today and when he was younger and he was bad, you know, I would he would get a spanking or I'd punish him. But what if he grew up to be a wicked adult or a bad adult and I kicked him out of my house? Mark, would he stop being my son? >> No. >> No. That's exactly how salvation works. All right. The Bible teaches that you're adopted into God's family after you get saved. And God will punish you on this earth, but he will never throw his children into hell. Right? He'll chastise you, but he'll chastise you because he loves you. Just like a father punishes his children because he loves his children. He will punish you because he loves you. >> Sure. >> Does that make sense? >> So, you still go to heaven, but it's not like you get away with it necessarily. You know, you're punished on this earth for things that you would do wrong, but you still go to heaven. He'll never take away your salvation. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit. >> Make sense? >> Yeah, that makes sense. >> So again, do you believe now that if you put your trust on Jesus that there's nothing that you could ever do in your life to lose your salvation? >> Yeah, I believe that. Okay, that makes sense. >> So, there's one last thing I want to show you, Mark. All right. Over here in Romans 10, the Bible says in verse number nine, the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart, see it's the belief in your heart, Mark, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved for how long, Mark? >> Everlasting for eternity. >> Forever. >> Yeah, >> right. No matter what you do. >> Yeah. >> You're saved for eternity. Okay. You're eternally secure. So what the Bible is saying here, Mark, is that God, if you believe these things, he just wants you to say it. He just wants you to tell him. All right? He wants you to confess it. Right? And look, Mark, I'm just a man. I can't see your heart, but I can help you word a prayer and you could tell God you believe these things right now. Would you like to do that? >> Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. >> Okay, let's just take care of it right now. All right. Now, look, Mark, this is not a magical prayer. All right. This is not like the the clouds are not going to open up and a ray of light's not going to come down. This is simply you telling God what's in your heart. Right? I'm a man. I can't see your heart, but God sees your heart. >> Okay? So, just repeat after me, Mark. Right? Dear Jesus, >> Dear Jesus, >> I know that I'm a sinner. >> And I deserve to go to hell. >> But I believe you came to take the punishment for my sins. >> I believe you came to take the punishment for my sins. You lived a perfect life. >> You lived a perfect life. >> And you died on the cross for me. >> And you rose again on the third day. >> And I'm only trusting in you, Jesus. >> I'm only trusting in you, Jesus. >> And nothing of myself. >> Please take me to heaven when I die. >> And thank you for saving me. >> Amen. >> Now, Mark, did you believe that? >> Yeah. >> Well, the Bible says that you're saved, my friend. Like it's a done deal. It's a done deal. There's nothing you could ever do where you're not going to be in heaven. I mean, this is a great day for you. >> All right. Now, Mark, like, how many lives do you have on this earth? >> Just one. >> Just one. All right. Now, here's where your works do come in, Mark. All right. Your works. Do you have family? >> Yeah. >> Do you have kids? >> Right. So would you like your kids and your family and your wife, would you like them to be in heaven? >> Yeah, of course. >> All right. So Mark, that's where your works come in and learning the Bible and getting into church and getting baptized and being profitable for God. That will matter when you go to show them how to get the free gift of salvation that I just showed you. Right? Because you didn't pay for what I just gave you. You just believed it. >> Right? But how good you follow the Bible and learn the Bible in your life is going to have a direct effect on how profitable you are to [music] everyone around you. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. >> All right. So, let let us get your information and we'll follow up with you and hopefully we can get you into church and you can learn the Bible and get moving in this Christian life. All right. Okay. God bless you, Mark. Great to meet you. All right.