Fearless Soul Winner

Pastor Mike will be teaching on being a fearless soul winner. He will be in John 4:25-32.

Lift up your eyes. Lift up your eyes off the problems of this world. Lift up your eyes from the politics of this world. Lift up your eyes from all the stuff that is going on in this world and realize that whatever that drama is and whatever that is going on are nothing but sideshows from the devil designed to distract the church from doing what it is called to do and that is to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders with Hope Worth Having. We’re delighted that you are with us today in this radio broadcast as we continue to dissect the word of God verse by verse. Today we’re gonna be in the Gospel of John chapter four, verse 25 through 32.

And I wanna talk to you about a fearless soul winner. Jesus was one who always went after the souls of mankind. He was not afraid, he had great courage as he shared the Gospel. And I wanna challenge all of us to be fearless soul winners as we look at the life of Christ.

So let’s get into the Bible, John chapter four, verse 25 and understand what it means to be a fearless soul winner. I want you to take your Bible this morning and I want you to join me in the Gospel of John chapter four and we’re gonna be in the section verse 25 through 42 and I want you to turn there and in this section of the Gospel of John as we have been going through it chapter by chapter, we are now in chapter four and we have been dissecting it and last week we talked about how to worship.

I want you to remember that this is the longest conversation that Jesus… Jesus has with anyone that is recorded in any of the Gospels, and that as He is interacting with this Samaritan woman, that He is revealing and unveiling who He is to her.

And so as He is reaching out to her, unveiling that He is truly the Messiah, He is the one that the prophets have prophesied about, and that He is the one who offers living water, who will bring eternal life to her, life that is everlasting, that she will never ever have to thirst again.

Because the things of this world only make us thirstier, and that we want them more because they never satisfy our life, but only Christ can satisfy each and every one of our hearts. But then we come down to verse 25, that in this conversation with her, as he has taught her about what is true, authentic, and accurate worship, he begins to really show her that he is the Messiah.

And I want you to come with me to verse 25, and I want you, as we read God’s Word this morning, I want to ask you to stand with me. We’re going to read God’s Word, and I want you to follow along the Open Door Church.

If you were to say, what kind of church is the Open Door Church, I’d like to think of us as a church that is a Bible church. And so we encourage you to bring your Bible. We encourage you to follow along in your Bible as we study the Scriptures this morning.

Verse 25 of chapter 4, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When He is come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. And upon this came His disciples and marveled that He talked with the woman.

Yet no man said, what seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to the men, 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. In the meanwhile, His disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat?

Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Say, Nachi, that there are yet four months and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.

And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together and herein is that saying true. One soweth and another reapeth.

I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor other men labored, and you are entered into their labors. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

So when the Samaritans were coming to Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them, and He abode there two days, and many more believed because of His own word, and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of Thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

I want you to pray with me this morning, and I’ve entitled my message, The Fearless Soul Winner, and I’m going to ask you, would you to, as we pray together, ask the Lord to speak to you, and to ignite in your heart a compassion for lost souls.

Father, this morning as we come to your word, we come with great reverence, and we come with great anticipation. We are excited about what your truth has to say to us in our hearts. We also understand, Lord, that we are living in a unique times, and that these are special days.

And Father, this season that we are in opens new doors for us to witness on your behalf. I pray, Father, that Christmas, for us, would be more than just all the celebrations of this and that, thankful for those.

But Lord, would you help us to see people like you do? And would you put us across? people that are struggling, hopeless, and without any help unless you intervene in their life and may we take that living water to them.

We pray all this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. You may be seated this morning. Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John can be called a chapter of surprises. That’s right. It really is a chapter of surprises.

Think about this. While Jesus was traveling through Samaria, he encountered an immoral woman, and he offered her eternal life. And the woman at the well is surprised that Jesus would even speak to her.

She is shocked that Jesus would speak to her first because she is a woman and It was not kosher for rabbis or teachers to speak to women, much less do it publicly. She is surprised because she is a Samaritan.

Jesus is a Jew, and Jews did not speak to Samaritans, and they looked down upon them. They were very prejudiced towards Samaritans. She is surprised because her life is a mess. She is living with a man who is not her husband, and she has been through one relationship after another.

Her life is a wreck, and yet Jesus Christ overcomes all those barriers, and He speaks directly to her heart. The Gospel of John chapter 4 is a chapter of surprises. The woman of Samaria accepts Christ’s offer of salvation, and then she goes back into her city, her hometown, and she begins to tell everyone what happened, and the people are surprised at the change in this woman’s life.

They are surprised at her testimony. They are stunned, and they are shocked as to what she is saying. Why? Because the people had shunned her. Why do you think she showed up at the well midday as opposed to early in the morning or in the late evening when the other women showed up to get water for their families?

But we also see another surprise. We see that the disciples are surprised. They are surprised, first of all, that when they come back, they went grocery shopping. I don’t know if you ever want to send a group of guys on a grocery trip, amen?

Yes, I mean, like, thank God for texting because I’m always texting my wife, what did you say? What was I supposed to pick up? And what aisle was that on? I don’t see it, Terry. So the disciples go on this shopping, this grocery shopping trip, but they are surprised because when they return, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman in public.

They’re surprised. But there was another surprise. The disciples are shocked that Jesus is not hungry. As a matter of fact, when we look at our text in verse 31 of chapter 4, it says the disciples, they were, the King James has prayed, but it’s the idea of they were pleading with Him, saying, Master, eat!

Because they know that He has been ministering so long, so all day, that He has not even had time for a lunch break. And verse 33, or Jesus said, and verse 32, He said, I have meat to eat that you know not of.

And they’re thinking, well, who brought Him food? Who brought Him some food? They’re not even… thinking on the same plane that Jesus is thinking on. He’s thinking spiritually. They’re thinking materially.

And that’s why in verse 33 they said, the disciples, one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat. Did anybody bring him some food? And Jesus says in verse 34, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

So the disciples are stunned as Jesus transitions from the disciples coming. They’re surprised that he’s talking to a woman. They’re surprised that he’s not willing to take this food. And he transitions into beginning to share with them his plan for global evangelism.

The reason that this plan is so essential is because it is the anointed plan of God. And it is the plan that will work if God’s people will buy into it. And rather than trying other trivialities of man’s ways and methods, if God’s people would buy into the global plan, they would be able to see a great harvest for the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is important about this global plan that Jesus gives about evangelism, because the disciples are all of a sudden, their mind is being renewed by Christ because he is helping them to think differently about evangelism.

The Jews believe that salvation was for them and them alone. When Jesus Christ comes to chapter four, and he reveals himself to this Samaritan woman, it is a shocker to the disciples because they believe that Jesus is come, that he might bring salvation to the Jewish people, and that they are the people of God.

They’re the only ones that are qualified and that have the opportunity for salvation. So in their mindset, they believe evangelism is for the Jewish people to reach out to them, but Jesus tears down that mindset, that false theology, and He breaks through it and shatters that by reaching out to a Samaritan woman.

And as He is revealing Himself to her, He is offering her eternal life, and He wants His disciples to know this. He wants them to understand the plan for global evangelism. And evangelism is a missing word in most churches.

The average Baptist church in America, I kid you not, baptizes one person. A year, rarely sees anyone receive Christ, respond to the gospel of Jesus. Most churches are holding on trying to convince people not to leave their churches as opposed to reaching out to their community.

And the truth is, and I’m not the only one that says this, I mean it’s all across the board, and those who are studying church growth and experts, that the majority of church growth is not evangelism, it’s just people going from one church to another.

Most of the mega churches are simply swallowing up disenfranchised members of a smaller church, and because they can do children’s ministry better, or they can do youth ministry better, or something better that whatever that individual or family needs, they end up going to these mega churches.

And I’m not opposed to mega churches as long as the gospel is preached, and the Word of God is, you’re loyal to the Word of God, that doesn’t bother me. But that’s what most evangelism is. It’s not really going out and introducing people who do not know Christ to the true plan of salvation and how we can receive Christ.

But Jesus teaches us this morning what every believer needs to know about being a fearless soul winner. And that’s what I want to share with you this morning as we look at this passage, and we look at this woman because her life was transformed.

And the Bible tells us in verse 39 of chapter 4 that many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did. What is the Bible saying is that this woman, upon receiving Christ, Christ as her Lord and Savior, she immediately became a soul winner, went back to her community, and began to share what Christ did in her life.

And many believed. Many believed. So what does it take to be a fearless soul winner? Write this down. Number one, you need to know that the harvest is ready. Go back to verse 35. Jesus says in verse 35, as he is unveiling this to his disciples, say, nachi, that there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest.

Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the field, for they are white already to harvest. The harvest is ready. That is what Jesus is telling us. This is God’s global plan of reaching people for Christ, is to understand that there is no delay.

Now is the time. Now is the moment. Now is the opportunity that you and I have been given to reach people for Christ. Now this harvest is available to us to reach and it is ready to be reached because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 34, the Bible says, Jesus says, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Jesus will sit on a mission as we approach the day of Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of our savior.

Do not lose sight of the fact that Jesus was born to die. He was not just a cuddly baby who was in a cute manger with some straws and just happened to be in this unique scenario and situation where it was very humble, but rather my friend God sovereignly and purposefully sent Jesus Christ to come to this earth and he would not come in dramatic or majestic ways into the world relating to what mankind would require of the coming of a king,

but rather Jesus Christ was born to a virgin woman and he was brought into this world in very humble means and he was not revealed to the religious elite or leaders of the day, but rather he was revealed to shepherds and wise men.

And Jesus Christ came into this world for one purpose, that he might fulfill the law and that he might be qualified to die on the cross and that he might bear the sins of mankind upon that cross and that he would pay the.

penalty of our sins, and therefore my friend, you and I would have the opportunity of having eternal life because we are incapable of paying for our sins. The Bible teaches us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And so because we are sinners, the question is, what are we going to do with our sin? Because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, and here we are, we stand between heaven and hell, and which way will our soul go?

If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, my friends, and you put your trust in Him, then heaven is your home. But if you reject Him, and you run from Him, and you will not receive Him, then hell will be your place of abode.

And that’s why this is so important for you to understand that the harvest is ready. The atoning work of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of humanity. He finished his work paying for our sins on the cross.

Jesus said, I came to finish the work. My friends, he did on that cross die for you and die for me and finish and accomplish all that God required of him. Look at verse 42. The Bible says the woman said, and said unto the woman, now we believe.

We believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world. Jesus came and he articulated this when they came inquiring, who is this man that told you everything?

Who is this man that transformed your life? Who is this man that changed you from a life that was a mess and a life that was addicted to sin? Who is this man that is infused in your heart, peace, love and joy and salvation through Christ?

Who is this man? And when they interacted with him, they found that her testimony to be true, but they found that he truly was the Christ. He was the Messiah. He was the one who was promised to come to bring salvation.

And so you and I have a responsibility because Christ has come to finish his work and he did finish it. And he did die on the cross for our sins. Then his plan is that you and I are to take the gospel and to preach it to every person.

Salvation by grace through faith is to be offered to every person on this planet. Do you understand that church? I mean, have you really grasped it because that is what Jesus wanted his disciples to know.

It’s hard for us in an American. culture to really grasp what chapter four is all about and to really see all the barriers. But the Jews believe that the gospel was limited. They believe that it was only for them.

But I’m here to tell you the gospel is for every person on this planet. Take your Bible, go back to John chapter 3, go back to verse 14. Again, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus. He articulates it so well to Nicodemus in verse 14.

He says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be what? Safe. When Jesus uses that key word, world, circle it in your Bible, highlight it in your Bible, He is letting the Jews know, He is letting Nicodemus know that the gospel goes beyond the Jews, that the gospel is to go to all people, that people can find salvation from any ethnic group, from any people group,

that Jesus is reaching out to the entire world, offering the gift of salvation to them, and so for Nicodemus to hear that was stunning. For Jesus to display it in chapter 4 to His disciples was stunning.

And so now what do we do with it? We understand that there is a harvest of souls that are ready now. We are not to wait for months, we’re not to wait for weeks, we’re not to wait for days. We are to go immediately and reach people for Christ.

We are to fan out into this community when we leave this premise and we are to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen, do not qualify them. Do not filter them. Because this is the way Americans are, well we want to reach the middle class.

We want to reach those who are upper class. And we don’t want to reach the poor. They’re too much trouble. They’re too needy. They got too many issues. No my friends. We have to tear those barriers down.

We may be okay with different. ethnic groups hearing the gospel, but are we okay with different financial status of people hearing the gospel? Are we okay that it’s okay that if you don’t have all this great education that you can still hear the gospel, that you can still receive the Lord Jesus Christ?

Is there any limit that you’re putting and that you’re qualifying saying, I’m not going to reach out to them because of A, B, or C? If you’re doing that, you’re violating the spirit of what John chapter 4 is teaching, what Jesus wanted his disciples to know, that the gospel is for the world.

You say, well, the gospel’s just for me. No, it is not only for you, it’s for all of us. And so we must immediately reach people, those who are downcasted, those who are struggling, those who are in the middle class, who think their life is free.

those who are in the upper class who think they’ve got it all, but their life is still empty, we must reach them for Christ. Now what do we do to do that? How do we do that? Jesus gives us two phrases that I think are important for us that we cannot forget so that we would stay focused on the harvest being ready.

Number one, he says, lift up your eyes. Lift up your eyes. What Jesus was saying, don’t focus on the earthly things. What were the disciples worried about? Jesus, you need to eat, man. We went and bought this food for you and you’re not gonna eat.

They were focused on the temporal, the material, and the reason that we don’t have this great excitement and anticipation for reaching people and understand that right now God is putting people in my life.

Right now God is putting people in my path that he is creating divine appointments that I’m to reach them for Christ. Right now the reason is because rather than being focused on the eternal, we’re focused on the material.

Lift up your eyes. Lift up your eyes off the problems of this world. Lift up your eyes from the politics of this world. Lift up your eyes from all the stuff that is going on in this world and realize that whatever that drama is and whatever that is going on are nothing but sideshows from the devil designed to distract the church from doing what it is called to do and that is to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well we’re definitely being challenged in our walk with God and as we look at the life of Christ, we see someone who is an example of what it means to go into our culture and our communities and to share the marvelous good news of salvation that is only found in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope today that you’re picking up principles and that you’re applying different truths into your life that will help you to effectively share your faith with other people. I know that if you continue to follow these truths, they will impact your life.

I want you to join us next week as we’ll be continuing our study on a fearless soul winner. Before we go, I want to remind you that you can go to our website and there you have a listing of all of our broadcasts, radio, television, internet, and social media.

You have the opportunity to learn, to grow, and to hear more of God’s Word into your life. We encourage you to take advantage of that. So check out our website at hopeworthhaving .com This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you, in Christ there is hope worth having.