Dying without God
By Ray Gano
I was talking to some folks, good bible believing folks and the topic of salvation came up. I asked them if they could share the gospel with someone out of the scriptures and what scriptures would they use.
The air became "uncomfortable."
One spoke up and said, well I would use John 3:16.
I asked "How can you share the gospel with John 3:16?"
"well all one has to do is believe and that person will go to heaven. "
I asked, "do you know that in James it says…"
James 2:19 (KJV) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
I said that here in scripture we see that the also devils believe, will they go to heaven?
Silence…No one knew how to answer this.
Folks, many good bible believing Christians do not know how to share the gospel. We live in a world where millions of people never heard of Jesus Christ, never seen a Bible and do not know who God is.
It is estimated that if you took the entire population of Canada, US, Central and South America, you would have the amount of people who are ignorant of Christ, the Bible and God.
Here is a heart wrenching story which is true...
Dying Without God
A youth at one of the large iron works in Sheffield was some time ago accidentally thrown on to a red hot amour plate. When he was rolled off by his fellow workmen, it was doubtful if he could live, as nearly all one side of him was burned to the bone. His workmates cried, “Send for the doctor,” but the poor suffering youth cried, “Never mind sending for the doctor; is there anyone here can tell me how to get saved? My soul has been neglected, and I’m dying without God. Who can help me?”
Although there were three hundred men around him, there was no one who could tell him the way of salvation. After twenty minutes of untold agony he died as he had lived.
The man who saw this accident, and heard the cries of the dying youth, was a wretched backslider, and when I asked him how he felt about the matter, he said, “I have heard his cries ever since, and wished I could have stooped down and pointed him to Jesus, but my life closed my lips.”
Does your life tell sinners that you are saved, or does it close your lips, when those around hear your talk and witness your actions?
- “Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved Compiled By Solomon Benjamin Shaw – page 301 published in 1898
If you were there in this iron-works plant and you were one of the people witnessing this, could you have stepped forward and presented the gospel out of the Word of God and then prayed the sinners prayer with this young man thus ensuring his place in God's Kingdom?
I am not talking about giving a testimony, I am talking about using the God's Word. The reason I say this is because it is not our own testimony that saves, it is the power of God's Word that saves. It is His son who died on the Cross and it is His Word that must be presented. Our words fall short, but God's Word is eternal.
Problem is that many pastors are no longer teaching on how to present the plan of salvation. Why? Because they do not want to admit that people are sinners and that the price of sin is death and Hell.
See telling "good" people that they are going to Hell is not a popular topic. In fact, topics like that "put people off" causing them not to return to a church. People are more interested in their "Best Life Now" and how to live a "Purpose Driven Life." Happy fannies in seats equates to lots of money in the bank for these types of pastors. Which they should be really called "hirelings" and not pastors. They are called to serve mammon, not Christ.
Now odds are that if you attend one of these mega-churches that preach some "Best Life Now" or "Purpose Driven Life" you wouldn't know where to turn in your Bible to lead a person to the Lord. I know because a long time ago I went to one of these churches and I can say with confidence that I was just as ignorant also.
Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
For those who may not know, these verses are commonly called "The Great Commission." Christ gave this commission to all who believe in Him to go out to all the world and proclaim the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried and on the third day He rose again according to the scriptures.
Please note here that Christ uses the word YE. This is being used in the first person and not as a group. That means that Christ is speaking directly to each and every one of us.
There is no retirement plan when it comes to the Kingdom of God. We are in His service till He takes us home.
So knowing that, we need to be busy about the Lord's work.
How To Share God's Plan of Salvation
It is very easy to share God's Plan of Salvation using His Word, remember, it is not YOUR words that get a person to heaven, but God's. So always stick with God's Word and not your own. We are talking about a person's eternal soul.
1. ONE MUST ACCEPT THAT THEY ARE A SINNER.
Romans 3 :23 (KJV) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. "
Romans 3: 10 (KJV) "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one ... "
No one is perfect, No one has lived up to God's perfect standard. We are all sinners, you, me, Joe Bob down the street.
2. ONE MUST ACCEPT THAT AS A SINNER THEY OWE A PENALTY.
Romans 6:23 (KJV) "For the wages of sin is death .... "
Ezekiel 18:4b (KJV) "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."
The consequences of sin is death, just as God's Word clearly states. This death is described in the Bible as the second death in the lake of fire.
Know Christ, Die Once… NO Christ… Die Twice
Revelation 20: 14 (KJV) "And Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. "
If we pay what we owe as sinners, we must spend an eternity in the lake of fire (Hell).
3. ONE MUST ACCEPT THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS ALREADY PAID OUR SIN DEBT.
Romans 5:6 (KJV) "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. "
Hebrews 2:9b (KJV) " ... that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man ... "
Christ was not a sinner, and the Bible teaches that God took all of our sin and placed it on Christ. While Christ was bearing all of our sins in His own body. God punished Him in our place to pay the debt we owe. This is not something God promised to do. It is something God has already done.
John3: 16 (KJV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ."
II Corinthians 5:21 (KJV) "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ...
It is a fact, Jesus Christ has already paid your sin debt.
4. ONE MUST ACCEPT BY FAITH WHAT JESUS CHRIST DID FOR YOU.
John 3:36 (KJV) "He thas believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and h: believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him
In this verse, Jesus divides the world into two groups: those who are believe and those who are not believing on the Son. Those who believe have everlasting life, and those who believe not shall not see life.
The word "believe" means to trust, to depend on, to rely on. It is not the "easy beliefism" that is being taught today where all one needs to do is mark a box, say a mantra and life is wonderful.
To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ means that you accept the fact that you are a sinner, and as a sinner you owe the sin penalty. There is no way in the world that you yourself could ever pay, work, earn your way into heaven. The only way to the father in Heaven is through His Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross to pay the debt you owe. This means that you will completely trust Christ to get you to Heaven, that you will put the of your salvation in His hands and depend on Him for everlasting life.
Now the moment you do this, God promises you are not condemned but have everlasting life and that you shall never perish.
John 5:24 (KJV) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word believeth on him that sent me, ham everlasting life, and shall not come into damnation; but is passed from death unto life. "
Once you have shared God's Plan of Salvation with the person and the have expressed the desire to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, here is a simple prayer you can pray with them asking them to repeat after you…
The Sinners Prayer
“Father in heaven, I know I am a sinner and that there is nothing that I can do on my own to go to heaven. It is only through your son Jesus Christ and the price that He paid just for me that will cleanse my sins. Father please forgive me and wash my sins away. Please come into my life, my heart, my soul and let me be a child of God. Father I thank you for hearing my prayer and forgiving my sin. From this day forward I choose to serve the one true and living God and His son Jesus Christ… amen.“
Now after this, I recommend that you get them a solid KJV Bible. The Authorized Bible has been saving souls for over 400 years. Believe it or not, the language used in the King James Bible is rated for a 5th Grade learning level. Today's modern versions do nothing but confuse and cast doubt, which is the oldest tactic that Satan used in the garden when he asked Eve "Surely Hath God Said?"
Invite the person to attend church with you and if he or she does not live in your area, you can find a good church at the following website - http://www.biblebelievers.com/churches/index.html
This is the church directory that I use and I have helped many people find good solid Bible believing and teaching churches.
Finally, keep this person in prayer daily asking God to help the person draw closer to Him praying Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Do You Know Christ?
If you have read this and you do not know the Lord, take a moment and submit your life to Him.
Jesus Christ loves you and wished to spend eternity with you. Christ told us himself that He goes to prepare a place for us with our Heavenly Father.
John 14:2 -3 (KJV) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
But there is one thing that separates us from the Father and that is Sin. Scripture tells us that all of us have sinned and that the wages of sin is death.
Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But there is good news, for Christ himself paid the price with his own blood on the cross for our sins that we may be cleansed from all unrighteousness. To accept this gift of forgiveness, all we need to do is to confess that we are a sinner in need of a savior, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Word promises us that…
1 John 1:9 (KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior; please do not wait.
If you know you are a sinner and have never made that confession and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Please consider the following prayer!
“Father in heaven, I know I am a sinner and that there is nothing that I can do on my own to go to heaven. It is only through your son Jesus Christ and the price that He paid just for me that will cleanse my sins. Father please forgive me and wash my sins away. Please come into my life, my heart, my soul and let me be a child of God. Father I thank you for hearing my prayer and forgiving my sin. From this day forward I choose to serve the one true and living God and His son Jesus Christ… amen.“
Folks; time is short and we are living in the last days of the last days. We need to be ready at all times to share the gospel and the blessed hope of our Lord’s soon return.
Always remember …
Luke 21:28 (KJV) And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.