Friends Don’t Let Friends Die Lost
Ps. 126:5, 6; II Cor. 4:3
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/FriendsDieLost.html
Would you pull out your garden hose to help save your neighbor from a fire? If you were a doctor, would you be able to tell someone if they had a terminal disease? How about if you had the cure? That makes it easier doesn’t it? If you would take the car keys away from a drunk then you should witness to a friend. If you would sit by the bedside of an ailing family member then you should invite them to church.
God has called upon the people of GBC to buckle down and make the big decisions about life and eternity and what is truly important, and to set our priorities upon getting the gospel out and personally leading people to Jesus and salvation. And God has called me to lead you to do it!
When God looks down on Decatur He sees 2 kinds of people:
You say, yeah, black and white…no!
Democrats / republicans…rich / poor…no!
• Saved or
• Lost
—on way to heaven or hell!
In the Bible, unredeemed, unforgiven sinners are regarded as LOST, not this politically correct term, ’unsaved.’ [Eternity challenged]
2 Corinthians 4:3
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
Mt. 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Luke 15:6
Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Luke 15:9-10
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Amazing Grace…I once was LOST…
What does it mean to die lost?
The best description I can give would come by some deathbed quotes from some who died lost:
[we don’t hear as many of these today because of modern drugs / we keep people doped up / die unconscious often]
Author, Voltaire, atheist who fought Christianity:
“I am abandoned by God and man, I shall go to hell!” He died lost!
• Voltaire note: His condition had become so frightful at the time of his death that his infidel associates left his bedside. His nurse said repeatedly, "For all the wealth of Europe I would never see another infidel die!"
Thomas Hobbs: “I am taking a fearful leap into the dark!”
Sir Thomas Scott, Chancellor of England:
“Until this moment I thought there was neither God nor hell, now I know that there are both and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty!”
Charles IX King of France: “what blood, what murders, what evil counsels I have followed…I am lost, I see it well.”
"I am suffering the pangs of the damned!" - Tallyrand
"I’m lost! Lost! Lost!", "Damned! Damned forever!!" – Adams [His agony was so great that he tore hair out of his head as he died.]
"Stay with me! Stay with me, for God’s sake! I cannot bear to be left alone!" - Thomas Paine
"The devils are come! The devils are come! Hell and damnation!"
"Give me more Opium, that I may not think of eternity!" - Mirabeau
"I can see the old devil in the bedroom!" - A. T. Adams note: he said this in fear, not as a joke.
"Devils are in the room, ready to drag my soul down to hell!" - Brown
"Hell! Hell! Hell!" - Kay [his family fled in terror from the house as he screamed this.]
"What argument is there now to assist me against matters of fact? Do I assert there is no hell while I feel one in my own bosom? That there is a God I know, because I continually feel the effect of His wrath. That there is a hell, I am equally certian, having received an earnest of my inheritance already in my own breast." - Sir Francis Newport
"THE FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS NO GOD" - GOD HIMSELF Psalm 14:1
Compare that with George Washington’s final utterance: "Doctor, I am dying, but I... am... not... afraid." It is reported that he then folded his hands over his chest and ended his days on earth by saying, "It is well."
Two days after collapsing on the floor of the House of Representatives of a stroke, John Quincy Adams said, "This is the last of earth! I am content."
And Patrick Henry told his doctor as he lay dying: "I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die." [give me liberty or give me death!]
D.L. Moody: "Earth is receding, and Heaven is opening. It is my coronation day."
John Wesley’s last words, "The best of God is with us."
I’ve stood beside the deathbeds of both the lost and the saved, and there is no comparison, even under heavy sedation.
Bobby Combs:[Sharon’s brother, 30 yrs. Old]
“Praise God, here they come!”
Jesus: “Into thy hands I commit my Spirit…”
THE TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN A DYING BELIEVER WHO WAS STONED TO DEATH:
"Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."
(Acts 7:56.)
ANOTHER CHRISTIAN MARTYR AND APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST NAMED PAUL SAID:
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21.)
2 Cor 5:8 -
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Oh, what a privilege to be saved…o, what a tragedy to die lost! Friends don’t let friends go that way!
Ps. 126:6
1. The soul winner’s going
The lost are never commanded to go to church…but we are repeatedly told to go out and bring them in! [Great Commission-go ye...ye be me!]
Luke 14:23
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
John 1: 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
…and nothing happens until we go!
2. The soul winner’s weeping
v. 6 weepeth
v. 5 sow in tears…
This is about having compassion on lost people!
We need a burden! How long has it been since you shed tears for a lost person?
It’s high time Christians stop looking down on/condemning lost people and start loving them.
The greatest compliment ever paid to Jesus was when he was called a name: “Friend of Sinners” [Pharisees meant as insult!]
Jesus never looked down on them, He loved them…
Jn. 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Going, weeping…
3. The Soul winner’s sowing
v. 6 bearing precious seed
What is the seed? It is the Word of God!
Lu 8:11 -
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
1 Peter 1
1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
This tells us something: The Word of God is not only to be gathered around, it is to be scattered around!
Farmers? [out standing in your field!] You don’t stand around a barrel of seed and pray for harvest? You scatter it…and that which makes contact w/ good ground WILL take root…but not in the barrel!
It’s not our job to analyze / judge the soil…but sow seed in it. In the parable of the sower, Jesus sowed seed in 4 places:
By the wayside—birds of air ate it
On stony ground—seed got in on surface, but rock ledge beneath wouldn’t allow for roots!
Among thorns—that seed got in and went down, but then couldn’t get out!
On good ground—bore fruit
Not for us to decide who will or won’t say yes …we are to invite everyone!
“Don’t waste your time on him!”
[wonder if that was ever said of you before saved?]
I Cor. 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Going, weeping, sowing…
4. The Soul winner’s Reaping
2 key words in our text:
v. 6 “doubtless” be bringing his sheaves
v. 5 “shall” reap in joy!
There’s no joy I’ve ever experienced as a Christian like being a part of someone’s salvation / what a thrill!
I’ve had the privilege of preaching to hundreds / singing to thousands / now writing for tens of thousands…but there’s no joy like that 1 on 1 time…hand picked fruit!
With very rare exception I say that we aren’t doing what we’ve talked about today…because our text says if we were, we would DOUBTLESS produce fruit. Several of us could line up at the end of the year having each one reached one, but many could not. [got yours?]
We shouldn’t hide the truth, shouldn’t be afraid to take our stand. Some say, I love to talk about the Lord / yes, w/ those who will definitely agree, we do, but...
II Cor. 4:3 but if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost!
“Don’t say that…I’m sowing seed, I’m trying…”
Great! According to God today, you SHALL reap in joy… DOUBTLESS! You will reach one, you will get yours!
Ill—pastor at deathbed of church member who said, “I’m not afraid to die…but I am ashamed to die…God left me here on earth to reach others…I take no one with me!”
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/FriendsDieLost.html
