Dealing With The Lost #(2b Of 6)

One thing we all will agree on is that a church should be a place where sincere Christians have gathered for worship and to see from God’s Word how they can reach the lost.

Illus: The story is told of a two thousand member Baptist church that was filled to overflowing capacity one Sunday morning.

The preacher was ready to start the sermon when two men, dressed in long black coats and black hats entered through the rear of the church.

One of the two men walked to the middle of the church while the other stayed at the back of the church. They both then reached under their coats and withdrew automatic weapons.

The one in the middle announced, "Everyone willing to take a bullet for Jesus stay in your seats!"

Naturally, the pews emptied, followed by the choir. The deacons ran out the door, followed by the choir director and the assistant pastor.

After a few moments, there were about twenty people left sitting in the church. The preacher was holding steady in the pulpit.

The men put their weapons away and said, gently, to the preacher, "All right, pastor, the hypocrites are gone now. You may begin the service."

I am glad you are here tonight and I hope that even the hypocrites are here, because they need to hear this message from the Word of God.

God’s church has the awesome responsibility of reaching the lost for Christ, and we must not get side-tracked from that mission.

Illus: The beloved Vance Havner said that he asked a preacher how he was getting along.

The preacher said, "We are living in idolatry - just sitting around admiring our new church. We have arrived; we have it made - no more worlds to conquer." What ought to be a milestone has become a millstone. We have run out of goals. (Vance Havner, from The Vance Havner Quote Book/On This Rock I Stand. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 16.)

How true this is, one of the most dangerous times for a church is when they move into a new church building.

For months and maybe years, their goal has been to build this place of worship. But once they build it, they have achieved their goal.

We sit in our comfortable churches, thinking we have reached our goal, but with millions of LOST people around us who do not know the Lord, how can the church ever feel we have reached our goal?

From the servant of Naaman we can learn a lot about how the church should DEAL WITH THE LOST!

Satan has thrown up all kinds of BARRIERS to keep the church from doing that.

In the last message, we looked at THE BARRIER OF RACE.

We discovered that PRIDE is the source of all RACIAL and SOCIAL prejudices.

We are told there are 160 million lost people, but we will never be able to reach them until we deal with this matter of RACIAL and SOCIAL prejudice that permeates God’s church. It is prevalent in WHITE CHURCHES and BLACK CHURCHES!

We have looked at THE BARRIER OF RACE (which comes from pride), but let’s look at some more barriers we need to remove if the CHURCH IS GOING TO REACH THE LOST.

II. THE BARRIER OF INDIFFERENCE

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOU HAVE BECOME INDIFFERENT?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE INDIFFERENT?

Being indifferent simply means we SHOW NO INTEREST OR CONCERN!

Let me begin by asking you a series of questions,

(1) Are you as concerned about spiritual things now as when you were first saved?

(2) Do you love the Lord as much now as when you were first saved?

Illus: There is a song that states, “He gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by, Oh what a love between my Lord and I. I keep falling in love with Him, over and over and over and over again.”

But many, in their relationship with the Lord through the years, have moved further and further away from the Lord, NOT CLOSER AND CLOSER!

• No SONG seems to be able to touch them anymore!

• No SERMON seems to be able to touch them anymore!

Our churches are filled with people who feel it is not their place or their business to talk to people about the Lord.

This is not what the scriptures teaches!

• Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

• Matthew 5:13-16 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."