All right, we give our attention to the study of God's Word together today, and today's message is entitled, How to Share the Gospel with Most People. I'll explain what I mean by that title here in a couple of minutes, but what today's message really is aimed at is at preparing each of us to share Christ with someone we meet or somebody we already know whether it's somebody that we meet like for example if you join together with those who are going to the park on Saturday you're going to be meeting strangers you're going to be encountering maybe somebody that you know but probably a stranger and and how do I share the gospel with this person depending on what kind of a person it is maybe you've already invited somebody to church Maybe you haven't, but especially if you haven't, sometimes some of our anxieties with regard to inviting somebody to come to a special service, like what we're doing next week, where I'm going to go through and answer the question, who is a true worshipper? of God, sometimes an anxiety might be, well, what if they ask me about salvation? What if they ask me to share the gospel or something like that? How do I know what to do or what passages to look at, et cetera? And so today we're gonna go beyond just the invitation. To hear me preach here next week and talk about how you can share the gospel with several different kinds of people that you already know and types of people that you are likely to meet. Now I have a few caveats that I would like to share here with you before we get into it. They are all ease, so Chuck will be happy, but the three E's that kind of set the parameters of what we're going to talk about. First of all, the list that I'm going to go through in the types of people is not exhaustive. So when you're talking about all the different cults, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, you're talking about other religions, whether you're talking about Muslims or Hindus, or even if you were to get into witchcraft or any of those kinds of things, I'm not going to go down, I'm not giving you definitive answers for every type of possible person that you might encounter. For today's purposes, we're going to do a general topical approach, and I'm going to take you to some passages that help you to walk through the gospel and lay it out for most types of people that you're going to encounter. Frankly, for somebody that's really entrenched in a cult or a belief system that is not true biblical Christianity, a lot of times it's going to require more than one conversation and you're going to need to go and find out what their specific objections are, what their specific questions are, and you're going to need to do some study and come back and say, I've got answers to your questions and let's go on. So the list that I'm going to go through here isn't exhausted. It also isn't exclusive as far as the text that I'm going to take you through. I'm not telling you this is a cookie cutter. This is the only passage you can go to when you're dealing with somebody who is a religious person or whatever. I'm going to give you my favorites. I'm going to look at some specific passages that you may have a better one. You may have a better one biblically. You may have a better one because of how you understand it and how well you know it. But I'm gonna share with you what my choices are because I know them, I know them well. I've used them personally many times in various conversations and with various people throughout the years. And some of you have been on the doorstep with me when we've gone through many of these passages and you'll see that the approach is still unchanged because the word is unchanged. I'm not trying to be relevant. Now the questions, listen, The whole contemporary focus on everything from gender self-identity to whose lives matters and all of those other kinds of things. Listen, those are just the current cultural issues. The scriptures never change. So I'm not gearing any of this specifically even to our culture or our local situation. These are generally types of people that you're going to encounter, and these passages I'm going to take you to answer the objections flat out, regardless of who you are, if you fall into this general category. And then the final thing is the approach that I'm gonna give you isn't exact. It's not like that you approach every conversation. I can just tell you these are the words you memorize and this is the order you ask questions in. If you've ever gone through Evangelism Explosion or, boy, it just flew out of my head. There's about five different programs. They're all based on the same general approach. where you ask if you were to die tonight, do you know for sure you go to heaven? And then you respond based on that question to another question, to another question, to another question, etc. I've read, I don't know, half a dozen different approaches to that. And I use that basic approach, but I'm not telling you these are the steps that you go through when you share the gospel. The conversation can go seven different ways from Sunday. OK, I'm going to tell you in general the passages that answer objections. Generally, the steps I follow, whether it's going up and standing on somebody's doorstep and knocking on their door, meeting them in a park, meeting them in a bus station, sitting down next to them in a plane. Most people that sit down, now I don't make my wife, I don't present the gospel to my wife if she sits next to me, but pretty much anybody else that sits next to me. Well, you should have chosen better when you picked your seat. And I'm not saying that like I'm flawless in that, okay? And sometimes I feel really awkward. I used to love going door to door with either Albert or Dan because Dan can start a conversation with anybody. And I've seen Albert start a conversation with the garden gnome that was out front of the house before we even knocked on the door. I feel awkward. I feel strange. I have a difficult time a lot of times starting conversations that may surprise you, but it is true. And if you don't believe me, ask my wife, because when I was in Bible college, one of the things I had to do was go knock on, what was it, 100 doors or whatever it was. And I still remember, we spent 20 minutes driving around neighborhoods and not stopping. And Kath goes, well, what's wrong with this cul-de-sac? What's wrong with this street? It's just not the right one. And I drove for 20 minutes, and finally she said, pull over the car. We're just gonna get out and go knock on the doors. It doesn't matter which doors they are, dear. And so if you got a sense of anxiety of meeting new people, trying to figure out how to start the conversation, folks, you're not alone. To this day, it's an awkward thing for me to do. I half apologize for being there. Listen, I'm so sorry to bother you. Please forgive me for interrupting your afternoon. I'm sorry, I was gonna share the gospel, but I know you don't wanna hear it, so I'm just gonna go away. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, who are you? I mean, I literally had one play out that way one time. Please don't go away, tell me, it's okay. What did you want to say? And then I wound up going through the whole gospel presentation. Now, I will also say this, and Dan and Albert can probably attest to it. Once we get to the subject of the gospel, I can go all day. Right? I turned into a little energizer bunny. I don't know how it happens, but if you feel awkward or whatever, it's normal. At least I think. Well, I guess you're like me, so maybe you are abnormal. But we're all abnormal together then. Okay? I'm not telling you there's some set way and you have to be flawless. I'm just telling you at some point you need to broach the subject of eternal life. simple little questions like if you were to die tonight do you know for sure you go to heaven asking if they go to church where do they go to church when was the last time they were in church those kinds of questions those little kinds of diagnostic questions however you ask them whether you already know the answer or not they help you to determine what kind of a person you're talking to now As we as we now take a look at the types of people that you can meet and that you can share the gospel with. Let me just tell you how to broach the subject of the gospel with each of these different types of people, OK? The first one is a category that is probably the number one most common type of person you will run into. It is unequivocally the most common type of person that I have run into, and it is what I would call good people. Good people. When you meet good people. This is how you go through the presentation of the gospel with them. And when I say a good person. Almost everybody that I have met. With with one exception, I remember when Harry and I were up the street here. One person I met said they were perfect. OK, Other than that one person, everyone that I've met that I've shared the gospel with or tried to share the gospel with has admitted they're not perfect, okay? But admitting you're not perfect is not the same as seeing yourself as a sinner. In fact, one of the ways that you find out that you're talking to a good person is when you broach the subject of heaven, If you were to die tonight, do you think you'd go to heaven? Yes, I do. And then when you ask why, the answer, and this is probably two out of three times when I've talked to somebody, they say, well, because I guess I'd have to say because I'm a good person. And as they go on to elaborate, they mean they're not an axe murderer. They're not a terrorist. They're not a pedophile or whatever. They're not Hitler. They're not Napoleon. They're not some conqueror or some evil person. They don't torture people that they're comparing themselves to what they think the worst is or or bad people are and say that. Well, that's not me. You know, I try to do good. I think I'm a pretty good person. They compare themselves in their mind to the people that they don't like and the people that are mean what they view as mean or are mean to them, etc. And and they got that's that's not me. So I guess I would have to say I would think that God would accept me because I'm I'm a good person or I'm better than Most people. When you're talking to a person like this. You need to understand that first and foremost, your goal is not to share the gospel with them. Your goal, first and foremost, is to help them to see that they need the gospel. Because it isn't good news that Christ came and died for you if you don't see your need for his death to pay for your sins. The first thing you have to do is help them see their need and then you can share the Gospel. Offering somebody a coat. That is standing on a beach and 100 degree weather is probably not very interesting to them, right? Make sense? Unless they really were convinced that you were, as you were telling them that acid rain was coming and it'd be a good idea if they were wearing it and right now on their way to their car, they're probably not interested in it. And that's what you have to do first. You have to help them to see that they are sinners. And most people do not see the need of a savior. If you take your Bibles just with me to begin with and look at Matthew Chapter 9, you'll see this was true in Jesus's day as well. This is in the midst of Jesus doing a an abundance of miracles. Of all kinds of miracles, casting out demons, healing people that are sick, giving the strength to paralyzed limbs, etc. And in Matthew 9 in verse 9, Jesus goes on and he sees a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collectors booth. And he said to him, follow me. And so Matthew gets up and follows him. And notice the immediate reaction of the spiritual leaders of the day. It happened that Jesus was reclining at the table in the house. Behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and they were dining with Jesus and his disciples. So Jesus, having called Matthew to follow him, Matthew gets up, leaves everything behind, becomes a disciple of Christ and starts to follow Jesus. And then what happens? Matthew hosts, the other Gospels tell us Matthew hosts the banquet and invites all of his friends and co-workers to come meet Jesus. And what does Jesus do? He sits down with all these sinners and begins to share the gospel with them. The Pharisees see it and they say to his disciples, why is your teaching eating with the tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard, he said, it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick go and learn what this means. And he quotes from the Old Testament. I desire compassion and not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners. Even Jesus himself. Spent time with people who recognize themselves as sinners and invited them to repent and become a part of his kingdom. If you if you think you're already right with God. OK, if you're a religious person and you think you're already right with God based upon your religion, then until you recognize yourself truly as a sinner in need of a Savior, as opposed to somebody who got himself right with God, you're not really going to be interested in the Gospel, right? So the first thing you have to do with a person that doesn't recognize their need of a Savior is help them to see they need a Savior. Now. My favorite text to go to. Is the rich young ruler. And normally I go to Matthew 19. Sometimes I go to Luke 18, but normally I go to Matthew 19 and will go that will use that as our our text for today. You could even go to Mark 10 if you want. This account is recorded in all three of the synoptic Gospels in Matthew 19 Mark 10 and Luke 18. And it's a time when Jesus spoke to a person that was basically a good person, viewed himself as a good person. I want you to see the way Jesus walks through this. And what I would do, standing on somebody's doorstep, sitting at their kitchen table, having somebody over to my house, sitting down in a counseling room or in my office or wherever, what I would do is I would open up the Bible and I would have them read together with me. And I would walk through, just like what you see me do in the pulpit, I would just walk through it. in a conversational style, walk through the text and help people to help the person to see what Jesus says when they're when he's interacting with somebody like this. So, for example, the conversation goes, however, goes to get here. I say, so if you were to die tonight, why do you think Jesus would let you into his heaven? And the answer? Oh, I think because I'm a good person. Really? Would you be interested to know that Jesus had a conversation with somebody very much like you? that thought the same thing you do, would you be interested in seeing how he interacted with that person? You know what? I don't think I've ever had somebody say no to that question, but I always ask because I'm not trying to force anything on anybody. I'm not here to condemn. I'm here to invite you to be reconciled to God. I'm here to offer as a representative of Jesus Christ. I'm here to offer you an invitation to the kingdom. I can't save you. I can't fix your problem, but I can certainly speak to you about who can and tell you about him and show you in his word what he says. So in Matthew 19, Jesus meets somebody very much like you. I want you to notice that in verse 16 of Matthew 19 we're told someone came to him that is to Jesus and said teacher what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life. And the same account is in both Mark and Luke as well and in those cases a couple of other details are given that get confirmed even in the Matthew 19 text here and that is that this guy was wealthy and he was young and he was a ruler in those days so this is. You know, this is your middle class American or upper middle class American. This is somebody that really is a good person, has a good reputation in the community. He's young, he seems to have his whole life in front of him. He's got everything going for him. And yet I want you to notice that he still comes to Jesus because deep down in his heart, he knows there's something missing. Right, because he goes to Jesus and he says, teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? What's he saying? I want eternal life. And and but I I there's something inside me tells me that there's still something missing. What is it? What good thing shall I do? What do I need to do to make sure I go to heaven? And Jesus said to him, Why are you asking me what is good? There is only one who is good. Now, what's the significance of that question? What did Jesus just say to that person? There's only one person that's good. And guess who that isn't. It isn't you. See, the first thing that people need to understand is that we're all sinners in need of a savior. I don't care how good you are in comparison to everybody else around. Maybe you really are the best person, the most noble, moral and upright person in the Antelope Valley, in Southern California, in all of the United States, in the whole world, in all of history. But you are not perfect. There is only one who is good. And you know who that is? God. But if you want to notice the next half of the verse. If you want to if you wish to enter into life and you want to know what you need to do in order to enter into life. You know what it is. Keep the commandments and notice by the way he says enter into it which means you're right. You don't have it. You're right, you don't have eternal life. And if you want to know what it takes for you to do to get there, you need to keep the commandments. So then the man says to Jesus, well, which ones? Can you narrow it down for me a little bit? And Jesus said, you shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Well, where do those four come from? Ten Commandments. And even today, almost everybody knows that. Right? So almost no matter who you're talking to, they're familiar with that. And you can even ask them. So where do those commandments come from? Oh, those are part of the Ten Commandments. Right. And you can ask the person that you're talking to. So if this was Jesus talking to you, what would you say? Have you ever committed murder? Have you ever committed adultery? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever told a lie? Well, you know, and the one that people will confess to, you know what the one that people will confess to is. Guess which one of those four? Lying. Lying, because it's so easy to go, well, I mean, I have I mean, I haven't always told 100 percent the truth. I mean, I want to stay married when she says, do I look fat in this or should I wear the blue one? I mean, what do you say? No, dear. Of course you don't look fat. You know what I say? I like the red one. Go with the red one. You always look great in red. Look, at the end of the day, we all know that we haven't been perfectly truthful. And because of the nature of our society and fallen humanity and our awareness that it is impossible to be flawless in our speech, We're all ready to admit that our speech, our truthfulness is not flawless, but we've all accepted a less than perfect standard in that truth category, right? I don't even have to go to the way our politicians and our news media works today to illustrate this has always been part of human communication in society. Okay, we have justified not telling the whole truth or telling lies, flat out lies. We have justified that kind of a behavior for us going all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. Shifting the blame, not assuming responsibility, flat out lies, deceptions, etc. The deception is part of the fall. But most people would not view this as worthy of eternal condemnation. And yet that's what Jesus says. You wanna enter into life, you're gonna have to not commit murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not by our false witness. Notice also in verse 19, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself. Now, as a believer, you already understand that we fall short on all of those. It is very helpful to help the person that you're talking to see that they fall short on that as well. And the reason that I go to Matthew 19 is because it is closest to Matthew 5, which is easy to use to illustrate that Jesus is going to articulate for us what God's standard even on thou shalt not commit murder and thou shalt not commit adultery is so that you know full well what his standard is on thou shalt not steal, bear false witness, honor your parents, and love your neighbor as yourself. They are absolute standards. just to show this to you you can go back to Matthew chapter 5 and I remind you of what most of you know very well verse 21 you want to highlight this in your Bible or note it if you don't have it memorized Matthew 5 21 Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says you have heard the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and that whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court and Who's the ancients? The Israelites in Jesus, or excuse me, in Moses's day, the Old Testament context. You have heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder. That's the Ten Commandments in Moses's day. That's what God said the standard was. And whoever commits murder is guilty before the court, right? If you take another person's life, capital offense requires capital punishment. You get executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother is guilty before the court. And whoever says to his brother, you're good for nothing, shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. And whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the what? Fiery hell. You know what Jesus just did? He illustrated very clearly what God's standard ultimately is. It is not the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments is the elementary standard. It's what you teach to little people. It's what you teach people at the beginning of what God's standard is. God's standard is you shall not commit murder and if you commit, that's a capital offense and there's a capital punishment for a capital offense. But what I want you to understand ultimately is even firing off hateful words, even being angry, Even even even just a hateful dismissal of your spouse and say, leave the room or whatever. OK, that is murderous, a murderous heart that that is worthy of eternal condemnation. It's worthy of the Lake of Fire by itself. There's no excuse for that. There's no escape from that. And by the way, the standard is the same for adultery. Verse 27, you have heard that it is said you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone that looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her where in his heart. You know what that means? One lustful thought and you're already guilty of the sin of adultery. And worthy of eternal condemnation, one hateful word ever fired off a word in anger. Ever told a lie, however small? Now we go back to the other one, stealing. Have you ever taken something that isn't yours? Do you have a pen or a pencil or a tablet at home that really belongs to work? How about a pad of sticky notes? Well, those are really small things. It's still stealing. And it's worthy eternal condemnation. Oh, this has gotten heavy really fast. Yes. Yes. And that's what Jesus is doing with this rich, young ruler. He says, why are you asking me what is good? There's only one who is good. And the implication is, is not you. And he says, well, what do I need to do? Keep the commandments. If you want to be good, you've got to keep the commandments. Well, which ones? So he goes with the easy part. Don't commit murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't lie. You walk somebody through that. Ask them if they've broken those commandments. You're a good person, right? Yeah. Would you be interested to know that according to the Bible, you're a murderer? You're an adulterer. You're a thief. You're a liar. I mean, I was I was blown away when I learned these things. How about how about this one? Honor your parents. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Honor your parents. As a kid, did you ever disobey your parents? How many of you are kids or have ever been kids? OK. Everybody but Barbara. OK, so did you ever disobey your parents? See, nobody, none of us are good. None of us escaped God's standard of perfection. That's why Jesus goes with this tab, this these easy, obvious commandments, because it illustrates very clearly when you're talking to somebody who thinks that God's going to accept them because they're a good person. The one thing you have to help them to see that, according to God, they're not a good person. They are worthy of the fires of hell. When when you get to verse 20 though of Matthew 19, you'll notice that the young man says all these things I have kept. What am I still lacking? Listen, you this is Jesus talking. OK, is there anybody that could share the gospel with this man better than Jesus? Is there? And yet he still doesn't get it. OK, this is important for all of us to know. Salvation is not going to be based upon you putting together the most convincing argument. If they don't accept, if they reject what you have to say, if they say they don't want to hear anymore, it doesn't mean somehow that you've done something wrong. OK, this is a heart issue between the person and God. All you're trying to do is help them to see the truth for their eternal sake. for the sake of their eternal soul. So what you need to do is just help them to see it. And by the way, when Jesus went through this with the young man, he said, all these things I have kept, what am I still lacking? And so what does Jesus say? If you wish to be complete, if you really wish to satisfy everything that's required, then go sell all your possessions, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and then come and follow me. Why does why does Jesus called on this guy? You know, he doesn't ask the Peter, James and John to sell their fishing boats. You notice that. He doesn't ask Lazarus and Mary and Martha to sell all their possessions and come follow. Why does he ask this rich young man to sell everything and come follow him? Because what's most important to this man, he wants that assurance of salvation. He wants to be able to go to heaven when he dies, but not at the cost of really giving up everything in order to have a right relationship with God, because he and his life are what's really most important to him. And that's what blinds him to the fact that he doesn't really keep all those commandments. So he calls for a total commitment. If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions, give it to the poor. You'll have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. By the way, why give it to the poor? Why not just give away everything that you have? Why give it to the poor? You give it to the poor and you are never getting it back. It is scattered to the wind. You aren't changing. This is a this is a no going back kind of a decision, right? Well, that's what Jesus calls for. You want eternal life? You're going to have to commit your life to Jesus Christ. You're going to have to become one of his disciples, even if it costs you everything. By the way, you'll notice as we work through the rest of the types of people, it's a universal statement. This is what it takes to have eternal life. This is what it takes to be right with God. Also notice in verse 22, when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving. Why? Because he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to his disciples, truly, I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And when the disciples heard this, they were astonished and said, then who can be saved? And looking at them, Jesus said to them, with people, this is impossible, but with God, what? All things are possible. You wanna know the only way that a person like this gets saved? This is the only way anybody gets saved, and that is God changes a heart. Leading people to Christ is you are. No one is dependent upon you being able to reason them or convince them to come into the kingdom. God, in his gracious mercy, has chosen to use us as fallible instruments to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he marvelously has chosen to use as a means to to share the truth with people and open their minds to the truth. It is the Holy Spirit who works the work of regeneration in a person's heart, and then all of a sudden they want. what God has to offer in the person of Christ. You're just there as a spokesman for God to point them to the truth and to share the truth with them. You're not accountable for how they respond. Jesus does it perfectly and the guy doesn't get saved. It isn't about you as an evangelist. Your responsibility, though, is just to be faithful to point people to the truth. And I think this is a fabulous passage coupled together with Matthew 5 to help people who think they're going to heaven because they're good people see they're not good people. And listen, I would not suggest you memorize this and quote it to people. I would suggest that you show them in the Bible for themselves. You can quote scripture all day long. How do they know that's not just your opinion? And don't spend a lot of time saying, well, I believe I believe I think nobody cares what you believe. Nobody cares what you think. Listen, I'm a pastor. Most of the time, nobody cares what I think in my own house. That's why I quote scripture all the time. I'm being a little silly there, but but you understand what I'm saying. Nobody cares what we believe. This is the truth of God. Every word from cover to cover is inspired by God. It's either true or it's not. My eternal destiny is built upon its truth. So what I want you to see as I'm as I'm explaining the gospel, I want you to see this comes right out of the scripture. By the way, this really does do a marvelous job. This is why I give away Bibles. This is why we have Tons of, well not tons anymore because we give so many away, but this is why we have so many paperback, New American Standards, the same NAS 95 that we have in the pews, the same NAS 95 that I preach from. You go out and knock on doors for the church and you can take some Bibles with you and you can give them away. They're about four bucks a piece. Why would I give away a track when I can give away a Bible? And then as I've got a Bible I can say, so do you have a Bible? No, I don't have one. Oh, here. And now you do. And now I left the Bible with them forever. Better than the Gideons. I had a conversation with you and left the Bible. And I'm not criticizing the Gideons. I'm just saying, right? The tracks I give out are 66 books. And we open it up and we walk through it and I say, hey, well, once you read it and you read it yourself and you're seeing that you're interacting with God and his word, not with me. That's a key to this whole process. The more you can have people looking at what the Bible says, as opposed to listening to you, the more it is that they recognize they're interacting with God, not with you. And whether you realize it or not, a lot of times those same people are going to go back and check. They're going to prove to be Bereans and go back and check and see for themselves whether it really is. And then they'll start doing Google searches and whatever else. And the next thing you know, you know, we heard a testimony from the waters of baptism here a few months ago, that it took two years of being upset at what I said in the pulpit, working through Romans 13, we got to submit to the governing authorities. Two years later, A young man goes, I was trying to prove Pastor Brian wrong and I just couldn't. It really is what the Bible says. And then he winds up coming to repentance and saving faith. You know, it isn't about how long it takes before the person gets saved. It isn't whether the person ultimately ever does. It's just whether you're faithful in sharing the truth. And it's really just a matter of where in the Bible does Jesus or do the apostles address this type of a question, this type of a person? And most people you encounter are gonna be in this category of good people. So I think if you just learn those passages, I think two out of three times you're armed and ready to go. The second type of person that you will commonly run into is not just good people, but Christian people. Christian people. Now, you may think this sounds strange or out of place. But frankly, my own salvation came about as a result of this. When I met my wife, she asked me when we first started dating, and we had a very long courtship. It was three weeks before I asked her to marry me. But she asked me if I was a Christian about probably eight or ten times in those three weeks. And my answer was always yes. And I meant it. I believed I was. I was answering as honestly as I understood. But was I truly a Christian? No. That came about as a result of being walked through the passages of scripture and seeing not only was I not a good person but learning the shocking revelation that not only was I not a good person but I was a sinner deserving of eternal condemnation. But even beyond that I was not a Christian and I had never been a Christian. That was totally mind boggling to me because I grew up in a denomination where I was baptized as a baby confirmed at 13 and from then on I'm set. Well, you're going to meet some people who walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, were confirmed, whatever. They've been baptized. They identify themselves with with Christ. They believe they are his disciples. They believe they are Christians. And while the number of these kinds of people that you run in today are decreasing over the last 20, 30 years, there's still a plethora of them. I've often been on a person's doorstep and introduced myself and had a person tell me they're a Christian. If if you were to die tonight, do you know for sure you go to heaven? Yes. Why? Because I'm a Christian. Oh, really? What church do you go to? What church are you a member of? When was the last time you went? You know, I stood on a doorstep one time and a guy hadn't been to church for three years, but he's a Christian. This is a couple of miles down the road. Are you a Christian? Yes. Oh, yes. Really? What church do you go to? Oh, I don't really go to church. When was the last time you went to church? I think it's about three years ago for for a Christmas thing or an Easter thing or whatever. I'm thinking in my in my mind, I'm going, hey, that sounds just like me. And then I got saved. That sounds just like me. When you're dealing with a person like this. First of all, you need to realize that the parable of the soils, it's possible to make a profession of faith and fall away. And when you fall away, what does that prove? You never really had salvation. This is like kids that grow up in Christian homes and when they go off to college, they head down a completely different path and you're like, oh, did they lose their salvation? Oh, they're just a carnal Christian. No, what's being revealed is that whatever they did when they were in your house was to please you or to look good or was jumping through a hoop. But once they got all on their own and they really were free to make their own decisions, they demonstrated that their decisions are autonomously motivated. They're motivated based on themselves, not really are they following Christ, regardless of what they said. Well, in this case, you're dealing with people who believe they are Christ's disciples. And there's a few passages you can go to. I think Luke 646 is a good one because Jesus is talking to disciples and he says, why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I say? And then it goes into the illustration of you're like a person who's built a house on the sand and so any kind of trouble comes along. It's going to collapse. You need to be a person who build a house on a rock so that it can stand up to stuff. But a lot of people lose that analogy. My preference would be to go to Matthew 16, the same text that Eugene walked through last week. And I'm not going to go through or correct anything. I just want to direct your attention back to it. I know you know it really well. I just want to show you a few things. And this is what you do in sharing it with somebody who thinks they're a Christian to help them to see that they're not. Matthew 16 now you can go to another. The same lesson is essentially taught in Luke 14. If you want to go there 25 to 33 that will work, but I just like Matthew 1624 again because I typically jump backwards to Matthew 7 in my conclusion. And you're right there a few pages away. So in Matthew 16 verses 24 to 27, I think you have the perfect passage to take people through that say they're Christians that probably aren't to really challenge them on it. Because Jesus makes it clear being a disciple of his is not a matter of just believing in him or agreeing with him or assenting to the facts. It actually results in a commitment to him, a total commitment to him. Now, we saw Jesus call the rich young ruler to make that total commitment. I want you to see what he says to the multitudes of his disciples here in Matthew 16. Notice Matthew 16, 24. Jesus says to his disciples, I think it's important to point that out. It's he's speaking not to the multitudes. He's not speaking to people in general. Who is he specifically speaking to? Disciples. He's speaking to people who already believe they are his followers. And he says, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. These are people that already have said, I'm a disciple of Christ. I'm following you. And he says, well, if you want to follow me, I want you to understand what I require is total commitment. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Notice you have to deny yourself. You say no to you and you have to follow me. You do what I do. You go where I go. If I say come with me, if I say we're going here, where do you go? You don't go over there. You go where I go. Listen, that's the call. And by the way, in the middle there, and this is really easy to illustrate. You must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. What happened to everybody in Jesus's day that took up their cross? They died on it. When Jesus says, you wanna be my follower, you gotta deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. What's he really saying? You gotta say no to you, and you gotta follow me even if it costs you your life. This is the call to be a Christian. This is what Jesus requires. You think that he would want you to be in church then? Do you think that he would be wanting you to read his word? Do you think that he would want you to be speaking to others about him since he's commanded those things in the New Testament? See, you say you're a Christian. But it seems to me your life doesn't match what Jesus expects of a Christian. Now that's a pretty radical commitment when you agree. To say no to me and yes to Jesus and follow him no matter what it costs me. Yes, why would I do that? Well, because of what's at stake. Look at verse 25 because whoever wishes to save his life will what? Lose it you you want this life for yourself. You can have it. You can be a fighter pilot. You can be an engineer. You can be a mailman. You can be a movie star. You can be an athlete. You can be a mom. You can be whatever you want to be. But if that's what's most important to you, understand there's going to come a time when you breathe your last and that's it. And you lose it all. Whoever wishes to save his life is going to lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will what? Find it. You want eternal life? You really want that hope of heaven? It costs you this life. You have to commit this life to Jesus. Or if you want this life for yourself, you can have it. But you're giving up eternal life. You understand? That's the requirement. That's the call of Christ. When somebody says they're a Christian, normally they're mentally assenting to the fact that Jesus came, that he died and paid for our sins, that he rose again the third day and he's coming back. They usually are in absolute agreement and can attest to that. The question is, if you're a Christian, but your life doesn't show it, are you really a Christian? And that's what you're trying to help them see. And you don't want to tell them that. I'm not here to judge, but I do want you to see what Jesus really says so you can make that evaluation for yourself. This is not me. This is not some pastor, some short guy from Ohio that's been stuck in the desert of Southern California for the rest of his life saying, this is what I think. This is what the Bible says. This is what Jesus personally said. Jesus said to his disciples, if anybody wishes to come after me, he's got to deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because whoever wishes to lose, save his life will lose it. You want this life for yourself? You can have it, but at the end you're going to lose it all. But if you lose this life for my sake, then you'll find it. Find what? Eternal life. Notice the comparative. For what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? What would it benefit you, who are the rich people nowadays? Bezos, Gates, and who? Musk, who? Rockefellers, okay, now that's old money, but let's take all of that, let's throw in Steph Curry and LeBron James, and Aaron Judge, who's gonna make a mint, apparently, even if they get swept, right? And all of these guys, it's a Yankees player, okay, Steve? You're gonna fill him in later? Oh, you didn't know, okay. Anyways, so you take all of this money. So what if you had, what's a big number nowadays? A million dollars used to be a big number when I was growing up. What is it? Let's say $100 trillion. And you were the most popular person on the planet for 50 years. And you were the star of everything. You won more championship trophies than Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, and Bill Walton, or not Bill Walton, Bill Russell, all added together. What if you had all of that? You'd have a pretty good life, right? At least according to worldly standards. You could have 1,000 boyfriends or girlfriends, you could have countless money, all the toys for the whole of your life, and then you die. And then what? See, that's Jesus's point. What would it profit a person if he gained the whole world and forfeited his soul? Or put another way, what would it profit a person, or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? Because see, that's really the exchange you're making right there. Whatever you won't give up to really commit yourself to Jesus Christ, that's the price tag you put on your soul. That's what you want this person to see. They already know enough about the gospel to testify to Christ coming, dying, being raised from the dead, et cetera. They've already confessed to those truths and said they believe them. Well, if you really believe them and you think you're going to heaven because you believe them, you do see what Jesus is saying here, right? Apart from really committing to him, you aren't really one of his disciples. Let me tell you why this is so important. Verse 27, because the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his father with his angels, and he will then repay every person according to what? Their deeds. You're going to answer for every sin. And Christ's death won't be applied to you. Really, but but I believe in him. Alright, now here's where we go to Matthew 7 to close this one out. Ready, Matthew Chapter 7 verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, is going to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoa. You mean they're going to be people that think they're Christians going to identify themselves with Jesus Christ and they're not going to heaven? Well, according to what Jesus says, yes. In fact, listen to what he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, notice the double use of Lord for emphasis. Oh, Lord, Lord. Will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who what? Does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter? In fact, here's the most frightening verse in the New Testament, in my opinion. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles? And then I, Jesus says, will declare to them. I never knew you depart from me who practice iniquity or lawlessness. Jesus himself will dismiss them and say, we never had a relationship. You're not really one of my disciples. You're not really a Christian. You're not coming in. Listen, that is what you want to help people who think they're Christians, but probably aren't. That's what you want to help them to see, that being a Christian requires a total commitment to Jesus Christ and anything short of that ultimately is of no eternal value to you. The third category of people, We've talked about sharing the gospel with good people and with Christian people. Let's talk about religious people now. Religious people, yeah, we're talking about people who have convinced themselves that if they just do the right things or do the right things enough or the kinds of things that that will appease God or make up for what they've done that's wrong, they do enough good deeds. OK, either to accumulate merit or to make up for offenses. They believe that they'll get into heaven, they'll be accepted by God. They are usually people tied to a religion or a religious belief system, even if they're not really practicing, like Catholics, most cults. Many of the pagan religions in the first century likewise held to these kinds of beliefs. The sacrificial systems and most pagan festivals were not only there to facilitate immorality, but also to appease the gods so that the gods would be motivated, therefore, to accept them, whether to be to accept their requests or to deliver them or whatever. Many Jews in Jesus's day were essentially in the same camp. And I speak here of the scribes and Pharisees in particular. If you're in Matthew with me, look at Matthew 5 and verse 20. I just want you to see this. This is what illustrates the point for you. Matthew 5, verse 20. In Jesus' day, the people who were most religious, most zealous for the law, most observable in their commitment to holiness and religiosity were the scribes and Pharisees. And when Jesus goes through the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, talking to the Jews about who is actually a part of the kingdom of heaven, he says at the end of his introduction, I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you what will not enter the kingdom of heaven? You're not getting in. Now, we think of scribes and Pharisees as bad people because we've we've got gospel lenses on our glasses and we see how Jesus pronounces woes on them, etc. But in his day, they were by everybody viewed as the most religious, the most holy, the most devout. The most committed to living a life of worshiping God. And when Jesus comes out and says, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the people that you think are most religious, most righteous, you ain't getting into the kingdom. That is a monumental statement. Nobody's doing more good deeds. Nobody's doing more religious acts than the Pharisees. And Jesus flat says they're not getting in. By the way, that might be a good passage to start with. You could go to John 3, if you're really familiar with the gospel of John, and introduce Nicodemus to them. Remember, Nicodemus is a man who is the chief teacher of Israel. And having seen Jesus cleanse the temple in John 2, he goes to Jesus at night and he says, we know that you are a man sent from God because nobody could do the things you're doing unless God's with him. And he says, unless a man is born again, he cannot what? Enter the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus, the thing you need to understand first and foremost is I don't care how much you know. I don't care if you recognize me as from God or not. In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you know what you need? You need a new heart because there's no amount of good you can do to earn your way to heaven. And you are among the best. You are among you are the teacher of Israel and you aren't getting in without a new heart. You cannot work your way to heaven. For me, You can go to Romans 3 if you want, but for me, I like Ephesians 2. I think anybody that's got any experience in Awana ought to be very familiar with these verses. And they're really easy to walk through and to teach through. And it really sets the context for how people get saved. And I still remember the same house down the street here. I still remember sitting at the lady that used to live there. I remember sitting at her kitchen table, Harry and I were, she's Catholic. And as I went through the gospel with her, she said, well, that's just your Bible, show me in my Bible. And we were going through Ephesians two, and I said, well, where's your Bible? And she says, right by the front door. And I go over and it's one of those big, pulpit Bibles and it was open to the mass so it was a Catholic Bible and I thought well that's okay because they actually have Romans in there and they actually have Ephesians in there so I just picked it up and closed it and went because it had been there for who knows how long collecting dust and I set it down on the table I felt like Indiana Jones you know the with that big book in the first movie And I open it to Ephesians, and you walk through, it reads almost identical to what you have in the King James and the New American Standard. Well, what does it say in the King James, the New American Standard, and all accurately translated English Bibles? Ephesians 2, 1. Paul is writing to Christians and he says, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. And among them, we all too formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of what? Wrath, even as the rest. OK, when we enter into this world, we enter into this world of sinners deserving of eternal condemnation. And we are all in that boat. We are all in that camp needing a savior. We are objects of wrath. We are those who deserve eternal punishment. And as we continue to live and to sin and to be selfish and self-centered and hateful and mean and lying and deceitful and lustful and evil, as we continue to accumulate more and more wrath for our all we do is make it worse. Verse 4, But God Notice the contrast. That's what we do. Here's what God does. God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ. It is by grace you have been saved. And notice that little word, grace, unmerited favor. That's how a person gets made right with God. Not because you earn it, not because you make up for what you did that's wrong, but because God has shown you unmerited favor. And he has raised us up with him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? So that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. You want to know why God saves people? You want to know why God saved me? Not because I'm worthy of it, not because I'm worth it, not because I would ever become a pastor or because of anything I'll ever be able to do in all of eternity to pay him back. Or to make up for even one sin that I've committed. The reason God saved me was so that he could hold me up as a trophy of his grace. Verse 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not as a result of what works so that no one can what boast. And that's the key. And I still remember sitting up the street here and the lady looked at Harry and me and said, well, then what's the point of good works? I said you got it. She said we're done. because her whole life was about running a halfway house and all this stuff and all these good works that she was doing. Well, you can do as many good works as you want. You will never appease God, you will never earn favor with God, and you will never make up for any sin that you've committed, much less all of them. Well, how do I get right with God? How do I get right with God? You know what the answer is? This is the last point, the last type of person you share the gospel with, lost people. Lost people. You share the gospel with good people, with Christian people, with religious people, and you share the gospel with lost people. You know the best way to do this? I still think, and some of you are going to think this is corny, but I just think it's true. John 3, 16. You already have it memorized, don't you? Well, that's not fair. No, I have to go there because I know it. Yeah. Yeah, that's why I picked it. Notice what the Bible says. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but might have what? Eternal life. You want to know how you can get saved no matter who you are? You recognize Jesus for who he is. Recognize what He's done for you on the cross. You turn from your sin and you give your life to Him and follow Him, whatever it costs. That's what it takes to get right with God. There's no other way. In fact, Jesus goes on to explain here, for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Listen, God didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world. If God just condemned the world, he wouldn't have to send the Son at all. He could just condemn us because we deserve it. And there's nothing we can do to rescue ourselves to save ourselves or to make up for all the sins we've committed. You want to know why God sent Jesus into the world? So that we could be forgiven because God is righteous and just and he will absolutely punish every single sin with his wrath. When Jesus died in our place, he took all the punishment for my sin. Not because I deserve it. And when he opened my eyes to the truth and I turned from my sin and committed my life to Jesus Christ, That forgiveness was applied to me permanently. I am in a no condemnation status. But you still sin as a believer. Yeah, I did this morning. I did it in my most treasured earthly relationship, and then I had to go downstairs and ask for forgiveness again. You say again? Yeah, because I do it. I look forward, some people say Romans 7 is written about an unbelieving life. No, I'm living Romans 7. I look forward to where I'm freed from the body of this death. And in the meantime, I rejoice in the forgiveness that God has for me in Jesus Christ. Because there's no way, there is no way for me to make up for my sins or get to the place where I don't sin anymore. God didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but I'll tell you this. Like Paul says in Acts chapter 17. Paul says in the Areopagus talking to all these philosophical gurus. He says, God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, is now declaring to all people everywhere that they should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. I'll tell you this, Jesus Christ is coming back, and when he comes back, he's going to judge the living and the dead, and there will be no escape at that point. There will be no offer of forgiveness or salvation at that point. If you are not reconciled to God. At that point you will be eternally condemned, and if you exit this life without a right relationship with God through the person work of Jesus Christ that he has done at the cross for us, then you will be destined for the Lake of Fire as well, and there will be no second chance. And there will be no escape. It's eternal condemnation, and that's what the Bible teaches. Now, you can reject the Bible if you want. You don't have to believe me. But Jesus said, Thy word is truth. 2 Timothy 3 says, All scripture is theonupstos, breathed out by God. Even the Old Testament, Psalm 119, Thy word is truth. The Bible's true. It claims to be absolutely, perfectly true. So you can't accept that it's, well, it's true in the places I agree with. Then you're believing in something you believe is lying to you at least part of the time because it claims to be absolutely true in every word. Now you don't have to accept it, you can reject it. I'm just here to tell you this is how you can be reconciled to God. A couple of quick principles to close with. I have four of them here, I'm just gonna state them. When you're sharing the gospel with somebody, focus on what they need to do as well as what they need to believe. Okay? You need to tell them what they need to do. Salvation requires repentance and faith. So tell them about repentance, call them to repentance. It's not just in a repenting on what you believe. It's going to have to be repenting in what you're doing. Take a look at Acts 2 when Peter preaches the message on the day of Pentecost and they come and they say, brothers, what do we do? And Peter says, repent, each of you be baptized. And they get they join the church and they dedicate their life to Christ from that point on. Secondly, focus the person's attention on what the Bible says, not what you believe. As much as you can, direct people to the Bible, show them the Bible, buy them a Bible, buy them a MacArthur study Bible, buy them a $5, $4, $3 Bible. If they're cheaper, get them an NIV. OK, give him a Bible and walk him through the text. Tell him to read the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke. If they're really cerebral, if it's somebody with a, you know, a Ph.D. in philosophy or engineering or whatever. OK, if they've got high academic skills, then send them to Luke. If they're everyday people, send them to John. If they're religious people, send them to Matthew. If they're teenagers, send them to Mark. That's the youth group gospel anyways. The word immediately shows up 58 times in that one. If that can't hold your attention, nothing will. Third, show real concern for their eternal soul and a love for their person. Make them a cake. Make them chocolate chip cookies. Make a card. Tell Him you're praying for Him. Invite Him over to the house. Invite Him to church and tell Him you take Him out to lunch or bring Him over to the house for lunch afterwards. And just share your testimony. Do you remember how you got saved? Tell Him about how you were a sinner. Don't glorify the sin. Tell Him about how you got saved. Don't glorify the speaker. And tell Him how God has changed your life. Tell Him what your values are and why they are your values and how much you appreciate God. And admit that you're still learning and growing. Finally, be clear on the fact that Jesus is the only way the universal text that every gospel presentation needs to go to. Is John 14 and verse 6. Now maybe like the axe passage, there's no other name under heaven. That's fine, but for me it's John 14 because it's Jesus's own words. I am the way, the truth and the life. What? No one comes to the father except by me. Now it's either true or it's false. Either Jesus is a lunatic or a liar. Or he's Lord. And what he's claiming is to be Lord. No one comes to the father except through me. And you know what that means? You aren't going to get right with God any other way than coming to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. And we've already seen in Matthew 16, what does he require? Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. We already saw with the rich young ruler. Well, that was Matthew 16. And we already saw with a rich young ruler. What do you tell the rich young ruler to do? Sell everything and follow me. Call for total commitment. Most people now this is This is a little bit of a gift of encouragement, I hope. Most people that you share Christ with will not come to repentance and faith. You wanna know why? Because most people don't want, nobody wants it unless God is working in their heart. But that doesn't mean that you're doing it wrong, and that doesn't mean that you failed, and that doesn't mean that it didn't glorify God and wasn't worth it, because every time you exalt Christ in the hearing of somebody, you, number one, are behaving just like Christ in inviting lost people to be reconciled to Him, and number two, you are pleasing Christ because He's commanded us to do it, and number three, you are glorifying Christ, exalting His name in the hearing of people who are lost. And for all those reasons, you have every, every reason to rejoice. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for sending your son to die for sinners like us. We really have sinned against you in our thoughts, our desires, the words that come from our mouths, the things that both that we do, that we shouldn't do, and the things that we don't do that we should have done. And yet you who are rich in mercy are those of us who are your children. You have made us alive together with Christ and we give thanks. And we ask you to be with us, especially over this coming week, not because this week is special, but because we've set it aside in a very deliberate and purposeful way as a congregation to obey you. by pointing people to you. And so I pray for next week's message. I pray for those who come and those who invite friends and family, those who invite coworkers and neighbors, those who invite strangers. I pray that you would fill the building next week with those who need to hear the gospel. I pray also for those of us who are members that if we do have a host show up, That we'd all be willing to give up our seats with good attitudes instead of being fussy that we lose our normal pew that That we're just thrilled that people are here to hear the gospel I pray that we would be as I have had the privilege of seeing so many times in this congregation I pray we'd be the kind of people that we normally are friendly and open and excited to have visitors and strangers that that you would really be honored in the way that people see us and that they see that we have a love for you. And they especially see that in the way that we have a love for each other and for others. And may you, oh God, be glorified as we this week truly dedicate ourselves individually and corporately to proclaiming the excellencies of you, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for your glory, and for the good of those who hear of your name. In Christ's name I pray, amen.