Jesus was a soul-winner. Proverb 11:30 says
“...He that winneth souls is wise.” To “win” a soul in Hebrew here means
to “take,” i.e., to “fetch” souls for Christ. Only the Lord can save a soul.
1st Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase.”
The Scriptures provide us with two detailed examples in which our Lord shared the Gospel with lost sinners, one being Nicodemus in John chapter 3, and the other being the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. These are precious accounts of Jesus soul-winning. Where would we be without these precious models for soul-winning?
Jesus and Nicodemus
Many people are familiar with John chapter 3 concerning Jesus and Nicodemus, but don't know about a little Scripture in John 7:50 which states, “Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them).” Nicodemus came to Jesus while it was dark outside for fear of being seen with the Savior. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and likely feared persecution and rejection by his peers if seen with Jesus, as evidenced by the flak he received in John 7:51-52 for defending Jesus.
We read in John 3:1-3 . . .
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus didn't hesitate to tell Nicodemus that he couldn't enter into Heaven unless he became born-again. Oh, how this message is needful today in the world. With over 6,000,000,000 people in the world today, most of them are hellbound in their sins without Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:13-14). Their desperate hope is a concerned soulwinner.
“The clock of life is
wound but once, and no man has the power,
to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour;
To lose one's wealth is sad indeed, to lose one's health is more,
to lose your soul is such a loss, that no one can restore.”
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
We read in John 4:3-7 concerning the Samaritan woman . . .
“He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground 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. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.”
Amen! Jesus took the conversation to a spiritual level, which is how we ought to witness to people. Any conversation can be taken to a spiritual level if one knows their Bible well.
For example: If a man says that he works as a doctor, you can introduce him to THE GREAT PHYSICIAN . . . “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). Jesus Christ is the divine Healer of our souls.
Another example is a person who says they work in a bakery. Jesus said in John 6:35 . . . “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” The Bible is filled with many wonderful Scriptures to help us win souls to Jesus Christ. The woman at the well understood what it meant to draw water from the well to quench her thirst, and Jesus used that to appeal to her spiritual need for salvation.
