I. Review: What we want to learn
How to meet people with a happy approach and make friends.
How to find interested people willing to learn.
How to arouse an interest and cultivate it.
How to learn the art of asking the right questions.
How to present the love of God in a way that will motivate to a response.
How to encourage your friend to study on his own.
How to meet his practical spiritual needs.
How to handle objections, or difficult questions.
How to pray for souls effectively, and know our prayers are heard.
How not to get discouraged.
How to "grow" along with our students.
How to motivate, rather than manipulate, to decide for Christ and His truth.
How to present the testing truths, and when. HOW to prepare the student for a meaningful baptism.
How to prepare him to face inconsistencies, weaknesses, lukewarmness in the church.
How to root him and ground him in the truth so he will never fall away.
How, in short, to "win people" who in turn become "soul winners."
II. How your soul can be "won" first
1. Before you can effectively convey "the everlasting gospel" to someone else, you must first understand its "glad tidings." Acts 13:32, 33.
Note: "God will give additional light, and old truths will be recovered, and replaced in the framework of truth; and wherever the laborers go, they will triumph. ... Every ray of light received is to be communicated to others. One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other,-Christ our righteousness" (Review and Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890).
2. For a beginning, identify the "glad tidings" in these passages:
(a) Matthew 11:25-30; compare Acts 26:13, 14.
Note: The common idea is that it is very difficult to be a genuine Christian; especially it seems Adventists think that way. They don't realize how these statements of Jesus contradict their mind-set, which makes it difficult for them to win souls. He actually says it is "easy" to be saved and "hard" to be lost if we understand and believe the "glad tidings "!
(b) Romans 4:23 to 5:1-21; mark the two key thoughts-what genuine love accomplishes, and those "much more" grace abounding statements.
Note: The chapter division should begin with 4:23-25. For whose "offenses" did Jesus die? "All men"-see Isa. 53:6. Therefore, for whose "justification" was He raised? The same, for "all men." Chapter 5 makes it clear that His sacrifice has given "a verdict of acquittal" to "all men" (compare 1 Tim. 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 1:9; 1 John 2:2; John 1:29; 3:16-18). Christ restored the "whole race of men to favor with God" (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 343), and made it possible for "all" to enjoy life and eat their "daily food" (The Desire of Ages, p. 660). What transforms this justification into experiential justification by faith is the "love of God ... shed abroad in our hearts" (how that "love" motivates will be the topic of Study Three). We welcome that love.
(c) Romans 8:3, 4; 10:6-11; Hebrews 2:9-18.
Note: You can read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will find no story of a lost sheep that must seek his Shepherd. But there is a parable of a Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep (Luke 15:1-10). Mark in your Bible the evidences of that seeking Savior, and those repeated statements of how close He has come to us. Note the contrast in the "afar off' "Christ" of the "Immaculate Conception" dogma and its related distortions (1 John 4:1-3). We can't win souls by presenting a Savior who is "afar off."
(d) Galatians 5:5, 6, 16-18.
Note: Faith actually works. And grace is stronger than sin! We have often missed the "glad tidings" in this passage, understanding it backwards. The ten commandments become ten promises to the one who understands the gospel (Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1105). The truth of the two covenants is so encouraging that hearts begin to warm immediately on hearing it. (For helpful discussions of the two covenants, see The Glad Tidings by E. J. Waggoner, chapters. 3, 4; an introduction to the same in chapter 9 of Grace on Trial, or in chapter 5 of "Lightened With His Glory," by this author.)
The true message of the Bible is "glad tidings" for all, including alcoholics, drug addicts, or whosoever will "come." You want to communicate this "glad tidings" clearly. But first of all, believe it yourself!
3. Is salvation dependent on our holding on to God's hand, or on our believing that He is holding onto our hand? Isa. 41:10, 13; Phil. 1:6.
Note: Salvation does not depend on our initiating a "relationship" with Jesus, but on our believing and appreciating how He has initiated a relationship with us by becoming our Savior.
4. How can you see "glad tidings" on every page of the Bible? Luke 24:27; Gal. 3:8 (even Genesis is full of the gospel!); Rom. 10:15.
III. You believe the "glad tidings" yourself
1. At any given moment, in any circumstance, there is "Good News" for you and for the person you seek to help. 2 Cor. 1:19, 20; Rom. 8:31, 32.
Note: Even if one is on his death-bed, God has "glad tidings" for him if he can listen and believe, receiving the gift of repentance God gives. From where every human being stands, no matter how discouraging, you can tell him there is a path leading to heaven. But warn him that he "receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1).
2. As you have time this week, please read the following "agape" passages (the original word for love), and note what soul-winning power is in that word: 1 Cor. 13:1-8; Eph. 3:14-19; 1 John 4:8-18; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15.