Loving Unbelievers (The Lost) Series

Series : PURSUING THE LOVE OF GOD Part 7

Topic : LOVING UNBELIEVERS (THE LOST)

I. Introductory Remarks.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

During the past few weeks we have been talking about what it means to pursue love in all of the relationships God has ordained for our lives. In this final message of the series, I would like to focus on the relationships we have with unbelievers and how God wants us to have a passion and a love for them as Jesus had.

I have met many Christians who have confessed that they were very excited when they became born again. Most of them went ahead and said that they felt like telling others about their new experience. They could not keep silent, but after several years in Christianity, they stopped telling non-believers about salvation and dint even care about their destiny. If we are to be truthful, I think most Christians fall in this category. In this lesson we are going to learn how to regain our passion for the lost. how to regain concern for the non-believers.

We must recognize that unconcern for non-believers is, in one way, a spiritual growth issue. The closer we get to Jesus, the clearer we will see how much He loves non-believers. We will discover how much he cares for those He died for. Luke 19:10 states this “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” in Mathew 4 :19 the bible records, “And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We regain our passion and compassion for the lost souls by drawing near to Jesus, looking unto Him as our example

God's love knows no boundaries. He doesn't wait for us to acknowledge and believe in Him before He sets His love on us. He loved us while we were still in our sins. Our love for sinners and unbelievers should be the same, since we are called to love as Christ loved. As Christians, we should not be equally yoked with the unbelievers but we are to love them.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)...

II. How to regain love for non-believers (the lost)

When we consider what it means to love unbelievers an sinners and how to go about it, we must look at the example of Jesus, who expressed perfect love to those who were lost in their sins. Jesus was very comfortable in the presence of sinners. He wasn't intimidated by them nor was He judgmental of them.

Luke 15:1-2 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." There are many things that Jesus spoke about the Pharisees. But basically, this is the main problem. They don’t love souls. They love positions; they love money; they love a lot of other things but they don’t love souls. Do you remember the time when Jesus healed a person and they got angry? Now if they love souls would they get angry? Of course not. Someone is healed; someone’s daddy can now earn a living.

There are many examples and illustrations throughout the gospels that show Jesus being very comfortable in the presence of sinners and unbelievers. I believe one of the reasons he was so comfortable was that He had nothing but love and compassion for them. He did not come to them with a judgmental and condemning attitude, but rather one of love, compassion and mercy.

a. Jesus in the Home of Tax Collectors and Sinners - Matthew 9:9-13.

Matthew 9:10-11 And so it was, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" What was it about Jesus that made sinners very comfortable in His presence to the extent that they wanted to be with Him and desired to hear what He had to say?

Matthew 9:12-13 But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." As we look at this passage of Scripture there are several things that jump out at us concerning the attitude that Jesus had towards sinners: