In verse 29, the scripture tells
us the conclusion of the matter with regard to our Lord Jesus
and his conversation with this woman of Samaria. She said, Come,
see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this
the Christ? Then they went out of the city,
and came unto him." What instruction we have here. My subject this
morning is the soul winner. We read earlier in Proverbs 11
in verse 30, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and he that winneth souls is wise. In this fourth chapter
of John, we actually have instructive lessons given us by two special
soul winners. The first is the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, who came to seek and to save this lost sinner. And
the second is the sinner who is saved by God's almighty grace.
In fact, this woman, as far as the chronological order revealed
in scripture is concerned, is the second great witness of Christ
in the New Testament. the first being John the Baptist,
and she now becomes the messenger to those of Samaria carrying
the gospel to them. I want us this morning to carefully
consider this subject, the winning of souls. I hope you're concerned
about that. I hope you're interested in the
souls of men and the salvation of sinners for the glory of God.
Would you want to be used of God? personally used of God for
the saving of chosen sinners? Well, of course you would. If
you're here, I know you would. If you've experienced the grace
of God in Christ, if you've tasted the love of God for yourself,
I know that your answer when I ask that question, are you
interested in the salvation of sinners, is yes. You know your
family, your friends, your neighbors, and your most implacable enemies
need one thing distinctly. They each need Jesus Christ the
Lord. You know from experience now
he is the one thing needful. You know that Jesus Christ alone
can meet the needs of eternity-bound souls. You want to lead others
to him. I know that so. Who here would
not count it his or her highest honor? and most distinct privilege
and greatest blessing to lead a sinner to the Savior. What a privilege to bring a lost
soul to the Son of God. This thing is very important,
but I know some of you are hindered, hindered by a good, noble reason,
but the reason is itself not to hinder you at all. The thing
that hinders you, perhaps, is a great concern for the glory
of God and the truth of God. You want to be useful for the
souls of men, but all you've ever heard about this business
of soul winning, you heard from some will-worshipper, some freewill
Arminian worksmonger, who is not a soul winner, but rather
a soul destroyer, and you're confused by this responsibility,
weighing it against your concern for God's glory and God's truth.
You want to say nothing and do nothing contrary to the truth
of God or that would dishonor the Lord our God. How many times
have you asked yourself, how can I reach that kid next door? How can I make that young man,
that young woman? to see their need of Christ.
How can I minister to my husband, my wife, my son, my daughter,
my mother, my dad? How can I minister to my brother
and my sister? How can I get them interested
in the things of God? How can I preach the gospel to
my mechanic? How can I get my friend interested
in hearing the gospel? Well, the answer is not standing
on the street corner and stuffing folks' hands full of tracts.
That's not the way you do it. That's not the way you do it.
I know that's the way religion does it. That's not the way you
do it. The answer is not to go litter the parking lot with tracks,
sticking tracks in people's windshields. That's not the way you do it.
That's not how you do it. And the answer is not to go into
parks and paint Jesus' face on the rocks, or go to a ballgame
and hold up signs with John 3.16 on them. That's not the way you
do it. Well, Pastor, how on earth do you minister to folks? Well,
if you will follow carefully in the scriptures, I believe
I can give you the answer. It is the privilege and the responsibility
of every saved sinner to seek the salvation of sinners for
the glory of Christ. Now, let's begin back in Proverbs
11, and I want you to see at the outset that all who are born
of God ought to be soul winners. Some may think, well, that's
strange language for a fellow who preaches predestination and
election and divine sovereignty and limited atonement and irresistible
grace. Well, it may seem to be strange
language to some who don't understand the gospel of God's free grace.
But it's not strange language to folks who know something about
God's use of means in the saving of his people. Here in Proverbs
11, verse 28, the wise man says, He that trusteth in his riches
shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. The righteous is a flourishing,
fruitful branch. And he is a tree of life. You
see this in verse 30? The fruit of the righteous, here's
the fruit of it, is a tree of life. And he that winneth souls
is wise. Now I'm not sure what the tree
of life was in the Garden of Eden, but I know what the tree
of life is as it's described in heaven in the book of Revelation.
The tree of life is Christ himself. And every believer Every child
of God, every sinner saved by God's free grace is in this world
as Christ himself and is a tree of life. What does that mean? He's nourishing, he's fruitful,
he's healing. That's what we are in our influence. The believer in his influence
in his various spheres of life, in his prayers, in his service,
in his deeds, by his example, influences men and women so as
to bring forth fruitfulness to them and nourish them and bring
healing to their souls. Without question, I know this
People say, well, nobody but Jesus can win a soul. I know
that. I think you know I know that.
None but Christ can bring sinners to himself. Only he who purchased
men's souls can turn souls to himself. It is the Lord Jesus
Christ and Christ alone who calls dead sinners to life. It is Christ
and Christ alone who gives eternal life to whom he will. It is Christ
and Christ alone who gives sinners repentance and faith in himself.
And yet, our Lord Jesus Christ has chosen in his great grace
and condescending mercy to use saved sinners to draw lost sinners
to himself. And this is mercy indeed. This
is how Paul spoke of it. He said, Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Oh my, what a privilege is mine. God has put me in this business
of proclaiming his grace to sinners for the saving of sinners, for
the saving of men's souls. If Christ is made of God and
to us wisdom, then he is made of God and to us wisdom in such
a way as to make us wise. And the wise man Solomon declares
by inspiration, he that winneth souls is wise. This is our Lord's
great commission. Turn to Matthew 28. The risen
Christ here gives marching orders to his church. These are orders
given to the churches of Christ collectively, and these are orders
given to every individual believer personally. He says to us, Go
ye therefore. Quite literally the word is this,
while you're going. It's James Jordan. What's he
doing? He's going through this world.
That's what he's doing. He's a pilgrim just going through
this world. Marching through this hostile land to the glory
that awaits us. Now the Master says, while you
are going, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Now, this
we call the Great Commission. Certainly it involves the support
and sending out of missionaries around the world. Certainly it
involves the distribution of gospel literature. Certainly
it involves the radio broadcast, television broadcast, whatever
means we have of disseminating the gospel as a body of believers.
Certainly it involves all that. But, Lindsay, it involves you,
where you're going, carrying the gospel to law centers. It
involves Bobby Estes, where he's going. carrying the gospel to
Los Angeles. Now, while you're going, teach
folks the gospel. Teach them the gospel. The souls
of men are our business. Let us ever be about the Savior's
business. The righteous wife must seek
to win her lost husband by living with him and living before him
in meekness, in sobriety, reverencing him as her husband. The believing
neighbor must seek to win his unbelieving neighbor by his manner
of life before him, by his faithful witness to him, and by his prayer
of faith for him, by that work of faith and labor of love. Listen to what James says. No,
turn around and look at it, if you will. Turn to James 5. It's
interesting the language our Lord uses in the scriptures.
He uses language good Calvinists never use. He uses language just
totally inconsistent with the creeds and confessions of the
good Reformed faith. Listen to what he says. Brethren,
verse 19, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert
him, well, wait a minute, Bob Potter can't convert anybody.
He says if one errs from the truth and somebody else converts
him. Converts him. converts him converts
it turns it oh you can't do that no you can't but God through
you can read on let him know that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death oh my what a prospect and shall
hide a multitude of sins." Well, you can't do that. No, you can't. But God can. And he might just
use you to do it. He might just use you to do it.
No one in this world, and especially none in the kingdom of God, lives
unto himself, Paul tells us. We all influence the multitudes
who are around us, and we all influence them either for good
or for evil. If we are wise, we will seek
by the grace of God to influence everyone around us for good,
for everlasting good. The other night we went down
to the Petersons, Shelby and I and Ron, Pam, our families,
and Paul and Don, they invited us down, and planning to go and
on the way, I had a prayer to God for that family. It's a prayer
I offer continually every time I go into somebody's house, every
time I have the privilege of being around someone for a while,
every time somebody wants to come by and chat, every time
I have the opportunity to be in their company, and this is
my prayer. Lord God, give me grace to influence
this home for good. for everlasting good. I have now the privilege of a
new family member, Audrey Grace, been with us 20 months. I keep
praying what little influence I may have as her grandfather,
God give me grace to influence this child for good. For good. Let my words be for good. Let my behavior be for good. Let my thoughts be for good.
We are going to influence them. We are going to influence them.
We influence one another and we influence everyone around
us, either for the saving of their souls or for the damning
of their souls. Now, Pastor, that's a monkey
on somebody's back. You've got that right. It's more
than that. It's a weight God Almighty has put on our backs.
If we would indeed win souls to the Savior, We must have wisdom
from above. The fact is souls are hard to
be won. Their wills must be conquered,
their prejudices must be overcome, their thoughts must be changed.
In a word, the work is impossible unless he who is wisdom makes
us wise and uses us for the salvation of others. Our labor is nothing
but vanity on its own. I've been at this business of
preaching the gospel for 30 years, better than 30 years. I've been
at this business of trying to serve God and the souls of men
for 34 years, nearly 34 years. And I've discovered something.
There's not one frazzling thing I can do to benefit a man's soul. No matter how hard I work, no
matter how diligent I am, no matter how earnest I am, I can't
do you good. I can't. But I've learned this. Black Christ, there ain't one
thing on this earth I can't do if God's in it. Our labor in
itself is nothing but vanity. But our labor is never vain in
the Lord. It's our responsibility, our
great honor, our high privilege to engage ourselves in the work
of winning souls. No work is so great, no reward
is so glorious as that which belongs to those who are used
of God for the saving of others. Listen to what Daniel says. They
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. Every soul won is a jewel in
the crown of our Savior, a polished stone in his temple, a cause
for joy in heaven and a satisfaction to his soul's travail. Oh, may
God give us grace to consecrate ourselves for his glory to the
saving of lost sinners. Is there any Bible for that?
Sure there is. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 10. In chapter 9, the Apostle Paul
says, I made all things to all men that I might by all means
save some. What a word. He said when I was among the
Jews, I didn't offend them. I tried my best to behave in
such a manner as to cause no offense that I might win the
Jews. He said, when I was among the Gentiles, I didn't pray to
battle as a proud, pharisaical Jew. I tried my best not to offend
them by anything I said or did, unless it was the gospel of God's
free grace itself, so that I might win the Gentiles. He said, I've
become all things to all men that I might win some. If a fellow
was strong, I tried to be strong. If he was weak, I'd get down
there where he is so I could win the strong and the weak.
Now look in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Until this week I had
never seen this admonition in this context. Paul says, Chapter
10, verse 31. Whether therefore you eat or
drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now look at the next line. Give
none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor
to the church of God. Even as I please all men in all
things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that
they might be saved. He that winneth souls is wise."
Now turn back to John 4. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is here held before us. as a great wise soul winner. We read in verse 4, he must needs
go through Samaria. Why must he go through Samaria?
The answer is given in verse 34. We read in verse 32, he said
to his disciples, I must go through Samaria because
I have meat to eat that you know not of." Verse 34, Jesus saith
unto them, this is my meat, my meat is to do the will of him
that sent me and to finish his work. He said this is the thing
that sustains me, this is the thing that motivates me, this
is the thing that inspires me, this is the thing by which I
am consumed, and that is seeking God's election, seeking the salvation
of chosen sinners. Behold, the Son of God in this
chapter, with skillful, gracious art and patience, infinite love,
grace and mercy, wisdom beyond any thought, seeks out a single
soul in private with no one watching, with no one listening, with no
fanfare. He didn't blow a trumpet. He didn't have a song and dance
routine. He didn't call any attention
from anybody. He just quietly, diligently went about his Father's
business. Oh, now that's a man who serves
God. A man, a woman who simply does
what God would have them to do, for the glory of God, with nobody
knowing anything about it but God. That's called serving him. His disciples marveled that he
talked with the woman. They seemed to have forgotten
who they were. where they were, what they were when God saved
them by his grace. Let us not forget. I marvel that he talked, not
just to this woman, but I marvel that he deigns to speak to any
sinner, especially to this sinner. The unrighteous, our Lord tells
us, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Neither fornicators,
nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves or mankind." And Bill Rodder, that's
just exactly what we are. That's where we were when he
saved us by his grace. Such were some of you. The Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed us with his precious blood, robed
us with his righteousness, called us by his grace, saved us by
his power. Now he is here setting before
us a model of what it is to seek the salvation of others. Let
me show you briefly five things that our Savior did for this
woman. He came seeking her eternal good. Seeking her eternal good. Remember when you go home and
you meet your neighbor, your brother, your friends, folks
you work with, here are five things by which maybe God will
use you to do them good. Are you listening? these five
things. First, he befriended a sinner. He came down to Samaria. He came down there to where this
woman was, and treated her as a friend. In verse 5, he cometh
to the city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of grain that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's
well was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey,
sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. The Lord came down here to meet
this Samaritan woman, because he's the friend of sinners.
He went to the lost, the distressed, the fallen, the perishing, the
needy, the desperate, and he walked among them as a friend. Went to where they were. They
weren't about to come to him. He went to where they were. He
went to where they were. Now I know folks misuse and abuse
admonitions like in 2 Corinthians 6 where we're told not to be
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. That's not talking
about witnessing the folks, that's talking about tying yourself
up with them. That's talking about putting yourself in union
with them. But if you're going to minister to folks, you're
going to have to go where they are. You're going to have to go where they
are. And not only did the Master go where she was, not only was
he constantly in the company of publicans and sinners, this
is the most amazing thing, Rex, he who is holiness, he who is
holiness made the vilest of sinners perfectly comfortable in his
presence. Isn't that amazing? They're amazing. They were perfectly comfortable.
He didn't compromise a thing. He didn't compromise a thing.
But nobody shunned away from him. Because he never stood before
anybody and gave the air, much less the word. Stand by yourself.
Don't you come near me. I'm holier than you are. Never.
He was known by his enemies as the friend of publicans and sinners. Let me tell you something. He's
known by needy sinners as such too. He's the friend of publicans
and sinners. Secondly, the master engaged
this woman in a conversation by asking questions, asking her
questions about something which she had an obvious interest in.
She came with a picture on her head. Well, pretty good chance
she might be interested in water. Just a pretty good chance she
might have some interest in water. And he began to speak to her
about water, water. And looking at this thing as
an outsider, you look back at it and you think, this is a little
humorous. Here she comes with great need,
and he asked her to do something for him. He didn't need anything
from her. There wasn't anything she could
give him. But he humbly condescended. to put himself in the position
of being ingratiated to a sinner. He humbly condescends to put
himself in the position of being ingratiated to a sinner. That's astounding to me. That's
astounding to me. He said give me something And
that got her attention. He got her talking. When I was
a young man in college it was recommended that I read Dale
Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People and I did
but I didn't pay any attention to it because I was a young man
and I thought he was a compromiser. I read it again a few weeks ago.
There's some good things to be learned from his practical instruction. One thing I remember him saying,
he said, nobody likes to hear anybody's voice like they'd like
to hear their own. Folks just love to talk. They
just love to talk. They just flat love to talk.
You start talking to them about something, they'll stop you and
say, let me tell you about mine. And we just love to talk. The
master got this gal talking. He got her talking about something
she was interested in. Obviously, his purpose was to
direct the conversation. It was to turn the conversation
in time, to turn the conversation wisely, gradually, to something
beyond her interest. But first, he raised a curiosity
and she must have thought, what an interesting fellow this is.
What a nice man. What a nice man. How polite. He seems so genuine. and spoke to her about something
relevant. If you are going to talk to folks,
folks who have no interest in the gospel of God's free grace,
folks who have no interest in the debates about theology, I
listen, traveling like I do. And I'm thankful I've never heard
it here. If I did, I'd just cringe and then I'd pull you aside and
we'd have a sit-down. But I go places and somebody
come in, some stranger, I mean some fellow walk in, stranger,
off the streets. I mean, do you believe in the
five-point scavenism? What? What difference does that
make? Ain't no point in asking. I was
listening to a woman one time sitting down beside another woman.
And she said, you don't believe in progressive sanctification,
do you? And I thought, I'd sure like to hear you explain the
difference. She just heard some terms throwing them around, showing
stuff. Talk to folks about something
they're interested in. Talk to them about something
that concerns them. Nicodemus asked him about the new birth,
and the Master told him about life. There was a man born blind,
and the Master came and talked to him about light. This Samaritan
woman began at last to ask him about water. And he talked to
her about the needs she had. Needs that she in some sense
at least knew she had. Water! The water of life. And notice this also. The Lord
Jesus stressed the good news. Yes, he dealt with her sin. Yes, He taught her the truth
about the character of God and about the necessity of worshiping
God in spirit and in truth. But he never got sidetracked.
This gal began to talk to him about our fathers. He didn't
pay any attention to it. She began to talk to him about
the way we worship. He didn't pay any attention to it. You
see, in preaching, and our master shows this, when he preached,
He often confronted me boldly, and confronted them plainly.
But in witnessing to folks, confrontation is not the way. That's not the
way to do it. You just simply talk to them,
and don't get sidetracked about one issue. One issue. One issue. Here it is. What think
ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Now
you go down to the shop, you go down to the grocery store,
you go down to your mechanic, you go down to the city hall
and start talking to folks about religion and say what do you
think about abortion? Don't get involved with it. So I'm going
to tell folks what I think, go ahead if you want to. But if
you want to witness to folks, that's not the issue, that's
not the issue. What do you think about prayer
in schools? That's not the issue, that's not the issue. Not going
to fight with you about it. Whatever you think is alright
with me. Not going to change a thing. Not going to change
one thing. Oh, what do you think about, what do you think about
this thing or that? That's not the issue. If you ever find out
who Christ is, that'll take care of all your thinking. Do you
understand that? You understand that? Folks, if
you ever find out who he is, that'll take care of the other
stuff. And if you take care of all the other stuff, and they
miss him, you haven't done them any good. Haven't done them any
good, none at all. There was a woman years ago,
150 years or so more, 33 years old, who had become an invalid
by the time she was 33. She was angry at God, angry at
her parents, angry at her family. Her brother was a gospel preacher. She was raised in a godly home,
heard the gospel all her life. But she was 33 years old and
she was mad at God and mad at the world. On Sunday morning,
she slipped into a small building, sat in the very back of the room,
and there was an old man up preaching. And right in the middle of his
sermon, he stopped, and just, like he pointed straight at her,
and he said, Miss, you, sitting right there in the back, you
can be saved right now. You don't have to do a thing. And his word, she could hardly
hear him, but it was like a barbed arrow shot from the bow of God
directly to her heart. That night Charlotte Elliot sat
down and wrote a hymn. Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. And that's the last thing our
master did. He pressed this woman for a decision. He said, when
she finally got to talking to him about the Messiah, she said,
I'm he. Or he said, I'm he. I'm he. Now
then, now you've got a choice to make. You've got a decision
to make. You can either believe God, or
you can call God a liar and go to hell. But if the claims of
Christ are pressed on you, will you or will you not come to him? Oh, God help you to come. Amen. Lindsey, you listen to him, please.