OPEN: A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said,
"Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents.
The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 PM for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $3.50.
(pause)
Then my wife’s father died and left us ten million dollars."
APPLY: There’s a lot to be said for hard work and perseverance, but in this man’s case his wealth had less to do with own character than with the generosity of his wife’s father.
About 250 years ago, John Newton composed one of the most popular songs ever written. It’s called Amazing Grace. Sing that first verse with me again:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found, I was blind but now I see”
(repeat) “I once was lost… but now I’m found”
In that phrase, John Newton was referring to some Biblical stories Jesus told and he was using those stories to explain his own conversion experience.
In the book of Luke, chap15, Jesus told the stories of three people who’d lost something valuable
A shepherd lost one of sheep that had wandered away
A woman lost a coin from her dowry
And a man lost his son – the prodigal son…who gave up his home/family for bright lights and loose living.
Each story told of the anguish these people had experienced in having lost something of value AND each story ended with a peculiar phrase…
The shepherd says ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’ Lk 15:6
The woman says ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin’ Lk 15:9
And the Father of the prodigal son says “we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’" Luke 15:32
The sheep, the coin and the son – they had all been lost… but now all were found. And Jesus was using these stories to tell about how God seeks and saves the lost.
But there is an “oddity” about these stories… one significant difference between the three that stands out to me.
* The shepherd loses the sheep - and what does he do?
He leaves the 90 & 9 and goes in search of the one that wandered away
* The woman loses one of her 10 coins – what does she do?
She vigorously sweeps & searches through every room until she finds that coin
* A father loses one of his sons – what does he do?
…(pause) He sits home and wait for his son to come to his senses and come home.
In two of those three stories, God is shown as searching for that which was lost.
BUT in the 3rd story… God is shown as waiting on the porch eagerly watching for the moment his wayward son changes his mind.
Theologians – down thru the ages – have struggled with this question of how much influence or choice people have in their salvation. Certain theologians have even gone so far as to say that we have NO choice in our salvation. God does it all. He chooses who will be saved and who will go to hell… and we don’t have a say in the matter.
Now, if Jesus had only told the stories about the good shepherd and the woman with the 10 coins you might actually believe that. I mean, the sheep didn’t have any choice in whether it was returned to the flock, and the coin didn’t get to vote on whether the woman picked it up off the dirt floor. Thus, if those were the only stories told by Jesus, you might come to believe that we play no role in our salvation. God seeks us and picks us up and like the sheep and the coin we’d have little choice in the matter.
But then Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son… and the Father sits at home
The prodigal son returns because he decided to.
If that had been only story Jesus had told about being lost and found you might come to believe that your salvation all depends upon you.
But Jesus told ALL THREE stories so that we’d realize that
1. God IS actively involved… in seeking you for salvation
2. That God ISN’T going to force you or I to become Christians. We have to make that choice ourselves. We’re not sheep, and we’re not coins… we’re men and women created in the image of God.
But what we’re focusing on this morning is the part God plays in seeking and saving people.
Let’s revisit our text for this morning: read with me – John 16:7-11
“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I’m going to the Father, where you can see me no longer and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
According to Jesus, one of the purposes of the Spirit’s was to seek and save the lost by convicting (convincing) them of certain things.
· First the Spirit makes people UNCOMFORTABLE with their sins
· Second, He makes them feel the NEED of God’s righteousness in their lives
· Lastly the Spirit makes them sense the URGENCY to make a decision there’s a judgment day coming.
ILLUS: I just read the most amazing story about a homosexual activist named Michael Glatze. Until he left the homosexual movement 1½ years ago he was a rising star in their ranks.
At the age of 22, he was the editor of the “Young Gay America”.
He received numerous awards and recognition, including the National Role Model Award from the major homosexual-rights organization “Equality Forum”.
At this point, the media gravitated toward him, leading to appearances on PBS television and MSNBC and being quoted in a cover story in Time magazine called "The Battle Over Gay Teens."
And in 2005, he was featured in a panel with Judy Shepard, the mother of slain homosexual Matthew Shepard, at the prestigious JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
"It was after viewing my words on a videotape of that ’performance,’" he writes, "that I began to seriously doubt what I was doing with my life and influence." Knowing there was no one who he could approach with his questions and doubts, he began to turn to God.
The radical change in his life, he recalls, began with inner "promptings" he now attributes to God
"I hope I can share my story," he said. "I feel strongly God has put me here for a reason. Even in the darkest days of late-night parties, substance abuse and all kinds of things – when I felt like, ’Why am I here, what am I doing?’ – there was always a voice there.”
Toward the end of his time with Young Gay America, Glatze said, colleagues began to notice he was going through some kind of religious experience. And just before leaving that magazine - not fully realizing why he did it - he wrote his thoughts on his office computer, ending with the declaration: "Homosexuality is death, and I choose life."
Commenting about later, he said “I was so nervous, it was like I wasn’t even writing it myself". And even then he didn’t know why he simply left the words on the screen for others to see. "People who looked at it were stunned; they thought it was crazy," he said.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56481
What caught my attention about that article was the constant reference to the outward conviction he kept experiencing as he made his way out of this sinful lifestyle. God’s Spirit was “convicting” him of his sin, of his need for righteousness… of the urgency of his decision.
I also found something else interesting in that article. Glatze said he thought opponents of homosexual activism were "mean and crazy, and they wanted to hurt me… I thought they were out to get me… They made me really, really mad – and scared, I think. I wanted them to go away."
Glatze said he couldn’t allow himself to think they were sincere in their beliefs. But he now has deep respect for a Christian aunt who disapproved of his lifestyle. She "was never judgmental, but always firm," he said.
Now – I want you to note the role his grandmother played in his conversion.
He said, she had been firm in her opposition to his homosexuality… but she was never judgmental. Apparently she was one of the 1st ones he thought of when he broke from his old way of life.
This is one the pivotal ways in which the Holy Spirit acts, because the Holy Spirit NEVER seems to work without US. Christians always seem to be involved in the FINDING of the LOST.
Romans says it this way: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:13-14a
The unsaved need to hear someone tell them about Jesus. That someone is US. The Holy Spirit works through US - you and I - to tell people about Jesus.
God works on a multi-front basis:
* His Spirit works INSIDE of the people around us to convict them of their sin, their need for righteous, and the urgency impending judgment.
* And His Spirit works on the OUTSIDE - through us to talk to those same people about Jesus.
ILLUS: An excellent example is the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.
This Ethiopian official is on his way home from worshipping at the Temple in Jerusalem.
THEN we’re told that a deacon in the church - told by an angel to stand near the official.
And while this deacon (Philip) is standing there he sees that the Ethiopian is reading from the Bible. And so, Philip starts up a conversation (“do you understand what you’re reading?”) and before you know it, the Eunuch is asking Philip to baptize him into Christ.
Philip wasn’t even a preacher – he was a deacon - but he was AVAILABLE. He was willing to be used by God and because he was willing to be used God gave him an opportunity to FIND that which was LOST.
So… how do we make ourselves AVAILABLE for God to use???
ILLUS: Well, every day that I go up town for something, I pray for God to give me an opportunity to speak to someone about Jesus. Sometimes He does/ sometimes He doesn’t.
Back when I was in Bible College, I would drive up to Sault St. Marie, MI on a regular basis for my internship, and invariably I would pick up hitch hikers (I don’t advise this… but I did do that). Before picking up the hitchhiker, I would pray for God to give me an opportunity to speak to them about Jesus. But I had one rule: I would not initiate the conversation. My passenger had to do that. And invariably, he did. And we’d have a long discussion about faith and church for the next several miles.
As one man once said “I find that when I pray, coincidences happen.”
So… what I want to do right now, is have us all pray that God gives us an opportunity this week to speak to someone about Jesus. (Lead the congregation in prayer).
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Now, of course, there is one more item involved here… the word of God.
Jesus told about a farmer going out into the field and sowing the seed and getting a marvelous crop. And then Jesus said: "The seed is the word of God.” Luke 8:11
It is difficult, if not impossible to bring people to salvation without the Bible. No matter how smart you may think you are… and how persuasive your abilities may be… neither you nor I are quite as good as God’s Word.
Hebrews 4:12 says “… the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
We need to know our Bible so that we can give people “memory verses” to help them learn about how to become God’s children. So, I’ve taken the liberty of making cards available for you to use.
You can take them home and study them.
You can hand them out to friends.
Or you can mark up a Bible with them and hand them out to someone to read.
GO OVER THE CARD (Information is at the end of the sermon)
CLOSE: A minister friend of mine related how his brother Jim had been a man who would have nothing to with church. He preferred to "enjoy" life, party, drink... and drink... and drink.
He was a salesman for "84 Lumber" and not only drank while at meetings, but also had his home well stocked.
One day, as Jim was in a fast food restaurant, he was approached by a seedy looking man in a long black trench coat and scraggly hair.
He just knew it was a beggar looking for a handout.
But instead, it turned out that the stranger asked if he could give him something. Taken back, he said "sure."
Out of his trench coat, the stranger took a witness Bible and said "read this."
Quietly, Jim took the Bible and later - at home - he began to read it and became convicted by what he saw in its pages.
The Bible had notations in the columns that advised him to turn from one page to another to read the underlined scriptures.
The final reference shook him. It was found on page 84 of the Bible - and he himself worked at 84 Lumber. He ended up pouring all of his booze down the drain and never touched another drop. And he was soon baptized and became faithful to Christ.
HANDOUT INFO
I used Microsoft Publisher to create 4 cards per sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper. These 4 cards had a message on both sides (I copied the master onto 67 pound card stock).
Side one: Entitled "We Have A Problem"
Text: All religions (other than Christianity) teach that man can be acceptable to God by doing good works. The Cross declares you can’t do enough to be good enough. The cross declares: you couldn’t earn your salvation, so God did it for you.
The cross declares: God took your sins upon Himself so that you could be free from the guilt and shame of the past.
It’s a repeated message from Scripture: “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
And “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Turn this card over to learn how to receive that free gift (Courtesy of the Church of Christ at Logansport, 753-8552)
Side two: Entitled "How To Receive God’s Forgiveness"
Text:
1. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved..."Acts 16:31
2. Repent (turn away) from your sins.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins
may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” Acts 3:19
3. Confess Jesus as your Lord & Master
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’
and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
4. Be Baptized (immersed) into Christ.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Mark 16:16
