Minister, we're there in Acts, chapter number eight,
and this morning I wanna preach quickly about
the importance of you as a soul winner asking questions.
See, it's important that you go out there
knowing that you're gonna have to ask some questions,
and obviously our goal is to help get someone to the place
where they receive salvation,
where they understand the gospel,
where they're ready to call upon the name of the Lord
for salvation, but before they deal with that,
you as a soul winner, you have to realize
that there's a lot of questions that you have to ask
in order to get that person to that place
to receive salvations, and there's three things
I wanna show you that questions help you as a soul winner
understand when you're out there soul winning,
and number one, you have to understand that questions
help you understand what the person believes.
When you ask a question, realize that that question
is gonna help you as a soul winner understand
what that person really believes.
In Acts eight, verse number 30 again, it says,
And Philip ran thither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Asias, and said,
and notice the question that here we have the soul winner,
and they're asking the Ethiopian eunuch, he says,
Understandest thou what thou readest?
He said, Do you understand what you're reading?
And the answer in verse 31, it says, and he said,
How can I accept some man should guide me?
And right there, we see that the Ethiopian eunuch,
he was not saved, he did not understand the Bible,
and obviously, one of the ways you know if you're saved
is if you couldn't understand, you know,
the basic doctrines of the Bible,
and we see this man, he did not understand the Bible,
and how is it that Philip understood that he didn't know
it was because, well, he asked him.
He said, Do you understand what you're reading?
And see, questions will help you as a soul winner
understand what that person believes.
And here we see the Ethiopian eunuch not understanding,
he says, How can I accept some man should guide me?
So as you go out there soul-winding,
you realize that you gotta have questions prepared
in your mind to ask to help you understand
where this person is spiritually.
You know, when we go out there,
we open up, invited them to our church,
and one of the first questions we should ask is,
Hey, do you go to church anywhere?
And that question right there,
whatever answer they gave you should tell you a lot
about what they believe.
If they say, No, I go to temple, or No, I go to a mosque,
then hey, that ought to tell you, hey, this person
is not even a Christian, they don't even believe
Jesus is God, or they don't even know the gospel.
Or if they say, Hey, yeah, I go to a Baptist church.
Well, you understand that, hey, this person
understands some basic doctrines of the Bible.
But then you follow up with the question,
well, do you know for sure if you died today,
if you're on your way to heaven?
And if they say, Well, I hope so, or I think I am,
well, then that should help you understand
that this person doesn't know the gospel.
This person is not safe.
See, questions ought to help you know
what that person believes.
Not only that, but as you ask during your presentation,
when you give them the gospel, you ought to use questions
to help you to know if they understand
what you're talking about.
You know, when you're showing them verses on sin,
where the Bible says there is none righteous, no, not one,
and you ask them, Hey, did you think you were perfect?
Do you believe that you're perfect?
If they say, Yeah, I'm perfect, or Yeah, I don't sin,
then that ought to show you,
hey, this person's not getting it.
This person doesn't realize, hey, for all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God.
See, questions help you as a soul winner
identify what the person believes.
So when you go out there, be ready to ask questions,
and when you ask those questions,
be ready to hear the answer,
because there's a lot in that answer.
If they say, Hey, no, I go to a mosque,
then hey, you're dealing with a Muslim.
Or they know I'm atheist, hey,
this person doesn't believe in God.
So questions are important as a soul winner
because they're gonna help you identify
where that person is spiritually.
And not only that, but questions also help the person
understand what you as a soul winner are explaining to them.
When you go out there and ask questions,
realize that questions are important
because they will help the person
connect the dots to your presentation.
They will help that person understand
what you're trying to get them to understand.
You know what I mean?
Well, the Bible says in Romans 6, 23,
it says, For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So we read that verse and we say,
hey, the gift of God is eternal life.
You know, not of works, it's a free gift.
And we ask questions, hey,
if I bought you this gift as a Bible,
and if I charge you $5 for it, is that a gift?
That's a good question to ask.
And what it does is it gets the person thinking
and connecting the dots.
So we say, well, no, that's not a gift
because now I'm paying for it.
Or we say, hey, I bought this Bible for you,
it's a free gift.
And if I asked you to wash my car, is that a gift?
And they're gonna think in their mind,
they say, well, no, that's not a gift
because now I'm working for it.
And what we do is we're connecting the dots
to the fact that salvation is a free gift.
And we explain that salvation is a free gift,
not of works, that like in the same way,
a free gift is free, you can't work for it,
you can't pay for it.
Salvation is in the same thing,
you can't earn it and you can't work for it.
But when you ask those questions,
hey, if I charge you for it,
or hey, if I asked you to wash my car for it,
what you're doing is that you're helping the person
connect the dots to bring it back to the Bible.
To realize that, hey, well, salvation is a free gift.
So obviously I don't have to work for it,
obviously I'm never gonna earn it,
but you help them understand,
you help them realize that through you asking them questions.
So as you go out there, you gotta realize
that questions are important, why?
Because questions help you understand
what the person believes.
But not just that, but questions will help
the person connect the dots.
It'll help the person understand
what you are trying to explain to them.
Because in the same way, if a gift is free,
and they just told you it was,
well, salvation is a free gift.
And he also explained, hey, the Bible says
it's eternal life, and you ask,
hey, if God gave you eternal life today,
and in five years he takes it away and sends you to hell,
was that eternal?
And they're gonna process that and think about it,
well, no, that wasn't eternal because God took it away.
Well, the Bible says it's eternal.
The Bible says it'll last forever.
So obviously the Bible is saying is that once you're saved,
you're saved forever and you cannot lose your salvation.
But it is those questions that will help you as a homeowner
to get them to connect the dots in their mind.
To get them to think and realize that, hey,
the Bible says it's free and it's not of works,
it's a free gift and it must be free
and it must last forever because it's eternal.
The Bible says, but not just that,
but questions also give the person you're speaking to
an opportunity to make a choice.
When you ask questions, you're giving that person
an opportunity to make a decision.
Because when we've got soul winning,
that's what we wanna do.
We wanna give that person the opportunity,
the decision to either believe on Christ
or to not believe on Christ.
Go to John chapter 11 if you go to John 11.
John chapter 11.
So you gotta go out there as a soul winner
ready to ask questions.
Ready to not just ask questions,
but to listen to what they're actually telling you.
Because out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaking, they're telling you what they believe.
And when you ask questions,
you're helping that person connect the dots.
But not just that, when you ask questions,
you are giving that person the opportunity
to make a decision, to make a choice.
John 11 verse 25, it says, Jesus said unto her,
now the her there is talking about Martha, it says,
I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live.
It says in verse 26, and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die.
So we have Jesus preaching some great truth,
telling Martha, hey, I am the resurrection,
I am eternal life.
He says, if you were to live and believe in me,
you'll never die.
The same message that we've gotten preached to people.
But then he asks this question,
he personalizes it to Martha,
and he asks her this question.
He says, believe is thou this?
And when he asks this question,
he's putting Martha in a position
where Martha must make a choice.
Or Martha can say, you know what, I don't believe that.
Or I do believe that.
But that is what we do.
We go out and we explain the gospel.
We explain, hey, that Jesus Christ, he is the resurrection.
He is eternal life.
That if you were to live and believe in him,
you'll never die.
It's eternal.
And then we must get them to the place
where we ask them, hey, believe is thou this?
Do you believe what I've showed you?
And before we pray with someone,
it is important that we review what we've talked about,
and we review and we give them the chance
to make a decision through our questions.
And in verse 27, here we see the answer for Martha.
She says, that's him, yay, Lord,
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world.
So questions, realize that questions
will give the person an opportunity to make a decision.
So you and I, before we pray with people,
there are some questions that you and I
ought to ask someone before we pray.
And I have some questions here,
and these questions I actually took
from the Soul Winning Seminar
that you can find on our church website.
But the question you should ask before you pray,
say, do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross,
was buried and rose from the grave
as a payment for your sin?
Like, do you believe the gospel?
And what you're doing is you're giving them an opportunity
to make a choice, because they might say,
hey, I don't believe.
Or they might say, hey, I believe.
And you ask them, hey, do you believe
that salvation is a gift that you don't have to work for
by doing good things?
And what are you doing there?
You're giving them an opportunity to say,
hey, yeah, I do believe it's not a works,
or I don't believe it's a works.
And then you ask, hey, do you believe
that the gift of God is eternal life
and will last forever no matter what you do?
And we ask, hey, do you believe in eternal security?
Do you believe the Bible,
that God will never take away your eternal life?
You should ask, do you believe that God wants to save you
and will give you salvation
if you simply ask him by faith?
And right there, if they say, hey, I believe this.
I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son, and the Holy God.
You know, what you're doing is you're giving them a person
an opportunity to make a decision, to make a choice.
And as soul owners, we must realize that questions
are a way to help us get them there.
We ask them questions so that we can know what they believe.
We ask them questions so we can help them connect the dots
of what we're trying to explain to them
as far as the gospel.
And we ask them questions to give that person an opportunity
to receive salvation, to receive the gospel.
And before we pray with someone, we should ask them,
hey, do you believe what I've showed you?
You ask them and they will tell you,
hey, I believe or I don't believe.
And we do what we're supposed to do,
is we give them an opportunity
to receive the gift of salvation.
So as you go out there, be mindful of your questions.
And when we ask questions, hey, be mindful of their answers
and realize, hey, they're telling you a lot
about their answers.
So let's go to closing word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for this morning, God.
I thank you for our church, Lord.
And for the soul owners, God, I just pray that you fill
this hall with your Holy Spirit, Lord.
And I pray that you help us to be safe, Lord,
and to preach the gospel boldly, God.
We love you.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.