Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Charles Spurgeon
What are 3 joys of soul winning that I know of when sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ? Which ones might you include?
Joy in Heaven
I know this joy is not something that you’ll ever see or hear but we can at least know for sure that there will be great joy in heaven when someone is saved because Jesus said “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). Then, after speaking about the woman who searched the whole house for one lost coin, Jesus once again says “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). When Jesus repeats a phrase or the Bible mentions something more than once, then it must be very important. It’s like God trying to get our attention so this shows me just how precious every soul is to God. This aligns with Peter’s words that God is “not wanting that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). Is that our desire too?
Joy on Earth
Recently a fellow brother and I went out to witness and found a man on the street who thought that he was going to heaven because he said, and I quote “I’m a great person.” I said, “The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and “just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12). It was “by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19) but the good news is that God “made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). This man had never heard that before. He didn’t know that we can’t be saved by being a good or even a “great person” (Eph 2:8-9). It seems that we had never known such joy afterwards because this man thought that he was good enough to go to heaven but upon hearing that he was in trouble and would be judged after he died (Heb 9:27) he had to rethink his previous assumptions about how we go to heaven. It’s now how we get to heaven as much as Who we get to heaven through (John 6:44). I cannot describe the joy that we both had of witnessing for Jesus Christ. Whether they repent and trust in Christ is not up to us but to God…we are simply to be faithful to the Great Commission and leave the results up to God.
Joy in the Saved
People that have been snatched out of the pit of hell and been delivered from the wrath of God have not even been able to describe the joy that they feel after having been saved. Maybe the Ethiopian eunuch might come close because after he was baptized it says “when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). Philip was able to point this eunuch to Christ and he was full of joy after being saved but Philip was also “preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ” (Acts 8:4b-5) and what was the result? “The crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip…so there was much joy in that city” (Acts 8:6, 8). Don’t you want that too?
Conclusion
Is there anything more joyful than leading someone to saving faith in Christ? It may be topped only by our own salvation experience. There are more than 3 joys in soul winning. Which ones would you include?
