The Model Soul Winner

Sermon delivered on September 18th, 2016

By: Pastor Greg Hocson

Scripture Text: John 4:1-29

 

Introduction

When Jesus Christ was here on earth, He made it clear to the disciples why He left the glories of heaven and came to earth. And we read that in ...

Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

He came from Heaven to earth, and He died, rose again and lives in order to save the lost - this was His Father's business. This is why the Father sent Him into the world - to seek and to save the lost.

 

Not only did He make it clear His purpose for His coming, He all so made it clear that this is His plan for every true follower of Jesus Christ. His plan for every follower of Jesus Christ - to be a participant in reaching the lost.

Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

 

God's will for the church is not just to gather every Sunday and sing, sing, sing. His will for the church is not just to sit on the pew, listen to preaching, and listen to more preaching, and listen to endless preaching and get blessed. Nor is His will for us is not to withdraw from society and live like monks and hermits in caves or convents monasteries.

 

His will for the true followers of Jesus Christ is ...

Matthew 28:19 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.

 

John 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

When Jesus said these words, He meant, among other things, we were to give ourselves to winning souls, even as He did.

 

We must realize that we are all called upon to win souls. It is every follower of Jesus Christ to make disciples, to evangelize, to witness, to seek and save the lost. And how is this going to be done? I am glad our Lord taught His disciples not only by His word but by His action. He was the master soul-winner. He left us an example how to go about this task of winning souls.

 

When He said ...

Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

He meant that we were to follow His example.

 

In our texts this morning we read Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan woman, and from this encounter we can draw three lessons on how to reach the lost.

 

I - Soul-winning Requires Overcoming Barriers

Let us consider the four barriers Jesus had to overcome in His encounter with the Samaritan woman.

 

1. Jesus Overcame Comfort Barrier

John 4:6 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. 

 

It was about the sixth hour.  It was noon. It was hot. Jesus was tired and sat down. Jesus needed to rest. But in spite of these inconveniences, our Lord took the opportunity to speak to the woman at the well and offer her the living water. 

 

Aren't you glad that Jesus did the same thing for you and me. When He saw you wounded (spiritually) He did not pass you by. He was not like the certain priest and the Levite who passed on the other side when they saw the wounded Samaritan.

Luke 10:31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32: And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33: But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34: And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

 

He was willing to put Himself to some inconvenience to win one sinful woman to Himself. 

 

How many opportunities have we missed because we are so preoccupied with our own affairs; with our own convenience; with our comfort zone; with our space?

 

Our Lord could have made that an excuse for relaxation, but instead of viewing His tiredness as a disadvantage He turned it to an advantage. 

 

2. Jesus Overcame the Gender Barrier

John 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8: (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9: Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

In many places in the Middle East, there are barriers between men and women. It was socially unacceptable for a Jewish man, to speak to any woman in public. The rabbis even thought that Jewish women should not be taught the Scriptures. So for Jesus to ask the woman for a drink is shocking enough, but for Him to direct the conversation into spiritual things with the Samaritan woman was something out of the ordinary!

 

So when the disciples came, they were greatly surprised when they saw their Master talking to the woman. 

John 4:27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

 

There were only two options for Jesus: to leave, or to witness. Jesus chose to break the gender barrier. He ignored what was not socially acceptable, choosing to witness instead.

 

Warning:

There are times when it is unwise to do this. There are times when young Christians need to be careful about speaking in private to a member of the opposite gender.

 

"Christ's road from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria. We should not go into places of temptation but when we needs must; and then must not dwell in them, but hasten through them."

 

3. Jesus Overcame the Racial Barrier

John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Our Lord was a Jew and the woman was a Samaritan, and the Jews do not associate with Samaritans. They refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. 

 

There was great hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews, and the hostilities between the Jews and the Samaritans went back centuries. After the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., they deported most of the Jews and replaced them with foreigners, who intermarried with the remaining Jews. The children from mixed marriages between Jews and Assyrians were called Samaritans. So the Jews viewed the Samaritans as biological half-breeds. 

 

This is why the woman was surprised when Jesus asked for a drink from her, a woman of Samaria, for Jews. She was surprised because Jesus did not show the anger of His own nation against the Samaritans. 

 

Our Lord went out of His way and broke the racial barrier to introduce a lost woman of Samaria to another kind of life-giving water. He deliberately chose to go to a town in Samaria, a place where no respectable rabbi would set foot. There, He told this woman about "living water." Those who drink of it, He said, "will never thirst." It will "become in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).

 

That is grace in action. This is illustrated by our Lord!

 

Jesus did not allow the man-made wall to stop Him from witnessing to the woman. 

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Sin is sin and God's grace truly extends to everyone. 

 

All are on a level; all are saved in the same way; all are entitled to the same privileges. There is no favoritism on account of birth, beauty, or blood. All confess that they are sinners; all are saved by the merits of the same Saviour; all are admitted to the same privileges as children of God. 

 

4. Jesus Overcame the Moral Barrier

The normal time for women to get water was either early morning or later in the afternoon, when it was cooler. But in John 4:6 we read the Samaritan woman went at the well at about the sixth hour, 12 o'clock noon. 

 

John 4:6 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. (about 12 o'clock noon) 7: There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8: (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 

 

Bible commentators tells us that there is a reason why she came to the well at 12 o'clock noon, the hottest part of the day, it is because she was an outcast of society. It was not common in that day for someone to go to a well to draw water in the heat of high noon, except for the outcasts. She had been married five times, and when Jesus spoke to her she was living with a man who was not her husband. 

 

We cannot say for sure why this woman came to the well at noon, but it may be that because of her immoral life, she was not liked by the other women. She wanted to come when she would be alone. 

 

There was the barrier of sin

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15: The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16: Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17: The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

 

But Jesus Christ overcame the sin barrier. 

 

But Jesus broke the personal, gender, racial, and moral barrier. Instead of allowing this to stop Him to minister to the woman, He saw the unique value of the the Samaritan woman. Jesus saw was a woman whose value was not defined by race and culture or even by her immorality. 

 

If we are to win souls for Christ we must overcome our own personal barrier, the  gender barrier, racial barrier and moral barrier.

 

II - Soul-winning Requires Exposing Sin

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15: The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16: Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17: The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

 

Before a person can be saved, he or she must sense their need of salvation. This involves the exposing of sin. This is what our Lord did, He brought out the subject of sin. Jesus did not compromise His message to make it more acceptable. He pointed out the woman's sin. Because our Lord knows that as long as she is satisfied in her sins and content with her life and has no thought for God, salvation will not come to that life! However, when the she sees herself as lost and Jesus as the need of her soul, she can come to Christ and be saved by the grace of God.

 

Our Lord broke the moral barrier by exposing the woman's sin, but He did it without malice, not in a condemning way. As a result the woman did not become angry and offended, but instead she was even thankful that her sins were exposed because it led her to ask for the living water. 

John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29: Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

 

III - Soul-winning Requires Revealing Christ

After exposing sin, there must be a revealing of Jesus Christ. 

 

John 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20: Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21: Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22: Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25: The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26: Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 

 

Our Lord concluded His conversation with the woman by revealing Himself as the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. What a wonderful moment that must have been for her, and for the people of Samaria! 

 

Closing Thoughts 

The Samaritan woman was just going about her daily chores, minding her own business, when Jesus Christ happened to be tired and thirsty and asked her for a drink and then directed the conversation into spiritual matters. She was not seeking to know God. Her five failed marriages, and her adulterous relationship, caused her to be an outcast of society and to keep her distance from God. The only explanation for this story is that Jesus was seeking a sinner who was not even seeking Him. Our Lord reach out to this immoral Samaritan woman, in order to do that He had to overcome man-made barriers. O, may you and I, who are followers of Jesus Christ be like Our Lord in reaching the lost.

 

But maybe you are someone who has a sinful past and right now is living in sin. In the eyes of society you may not have a chance with God, but do not be deterred, the Father is seeking you! Our Lord is seeking you. He came to seek and save the lost. He saved the thief on the cross. He saved Paul, the chief of sinners who was persecuting the church. He saved this immoral Samaritan woman. He wants to save you. He is willing, ready, and able to save you!

 

Over and over, God offers redemption to rebellious men 

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2: Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3: Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

 

COME to Jesus! COME just as you are. COME and take the water of life freely,  without money and without price. 

 

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

 

AMEN!