[Megan1]

Oh yes, salvation definitely does bring happiness! I'm just saying that happiness isn't my focus when preaching to someone. My focus is getting them saved. The happiness is just a plus.

I kind of witness like they do on The Way of the Master if you've ever seen that show (you can Youtube it if you haven't), except not in such an interview style like they do. I do it in a more personal conversation way usually (every case is different). You definitely need to talk about sin and hell, because otherwise they won't know what they need to be saved from and know that they need a Savior. But, you also need to make sure that you make it clear that ALL humans deserve hell and it's not just them- they're not worse than anyone else. I try to relate it back to myself so they know that I was a sinner who needed to be saved too (just 2.5 years ago) and I'm not singling them out. Look at The Way of the Master, minus the interview style, and that's basically what I do.

The bible doesn't give a word for word answer to your question about people who didn't learn about Christ while they were alive. However, I'm pretty sure that they would stll go to hell. Here's my reasons why. Test these against the bible and see if you find anything that says otherwise (I'm not saying that in a debating way; I seriously want to know if it says otherwise): First, God is sending people to hell for their sins, He's not sending them to hell for not accepting Jesus. Accepting Jesus is just the way out. Even if God had never sent Jesus for any of us, it would be completely fair to send us all to hell, because we all sinned. Jesus is just the much-more-than-fair gift that we were given. So, I'd say whoever doesn't choose that gift (eitehr because they couldn't or because they chose not to) just gets what they originally deserved anyways- which is hell. Second, if people could get to Heaven by not knowing the gospel, why did Jesus say it's so important that we share the gospel and get them saved? Wouldn't it be better to not tell anyone the gospel so they could get to Heaven for not knowing? Third, there is a scripture that says that no man has an excuse to not believe in God, because nature and His creations are proof enough that He is real. The bible also says that if you seek, you will find. So, according the bible, not me, anyone can know there is a God without being told. And from there, if they choose to seek Him and not ignore it, they will find the truth somehow (whether God sends a missionary to them, brings them to a church, tells them audibly...which is rare but has happened, etc).

Reguardless of this though, the bible tells us to preach the gospel...so I'm going to preach the gospel either way.