LOST CHRISTIANS
Scripture: Luke 15:4-7
A Message by Pastor Rex E. Faile, Sr.
Lakewood Christian Church
Luke 15:4-7
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
(KJV)
Introduction: Can you ever remember a time when you did not know where you were or you did not know where everyone else was? My earliest remembrance is when I was a small child and had went with my mother to K-Mart in Charlotte, NC. I wandered over to the toy dept. and got separated from mom. Did I go to hollering and crying because I was scared and alone? You bet! Another time I was with mom in San Diego, CA. I was about 5 or 6 and took off down the road on my uncles bicycle. Made a couple of turns…and lost again. Every house looked the same and they were packed in like sardines. Again, I went to hollering and crying…obviously they found me.. I’m here today J
What was my emotional state in both these episodes? Unadulterated fear! Why? In the first place I knew where I was…but didn’t know where mother was. For a 4-5 year old this was terrifying. My security…my home…my peace…my comfort…all drifting away!
In the second I knew neither where I was or where my mother was!! I had no idea how to get back…thankfully, the family came for me and found me.
Lost Christians…sounds like an oxymoron. But in this message I want to stretch our understanding beyond the heaven and hell issue for these are generally the terms we use when applying to “salvation.” Does Heaven and Hell have a part in this message? Always? But let us not think today so much on the “start and finish” of our journey, but as we say so often, on the process.
I. Salvation and the “Lost” Issue
*For the purpose of this message we deal primarily with “sanctification”
A. Salvation has 3 components
1. I am saved “from the penalty” of sin (this took place at the new birth)
A. Justified
2. I am being saved “from the practice” of sin (this is part of our maturity)
B. Sanctified
3. I will be saved “from the presence” of sin (when I put on the heavenly)
C. Glorification
I. Why are People Spiritually Lost
* These are only primers to evoke the listeners to thought as to where they might be
A. Following others…. I’m just a passenger
B. Trusting our emotions or instincts…My inner self
C. Willfully and Intentionally Lost…Living on the Edge
D. Wrong Directions…GPS gave wrong signal
E. Full Steam Ahead…But to where??? Insanity…losing our way and doubling our efforts with no help
F. Finally…and For Us All… “We Are All Born Lost!”
Ultimately…All the above were “unprepared” for the dangers that would soon
Come
II. The Consequences Of Our Being “Lost”
* Again, these are only primers to help the listener evaluate their own pursuits
A. We bring grief to the Owner.. He’s lost one of His own
B. Ask Yourself This Question…
1. “Is My Life Bringing Joy or Grief To God and Those Around Me?”
2. “Is My Life a Help or Hindrance to the Building of God’s Church and Kingdom? Am I a FULL-TIME committed, faithful, humble, servant that is consistently Blessing and being a blessing?
3. Is my life ON COURSE with God so that everyone knows “where I am?
C. If God is happy with me…I can be happy with myself !!
III. Define Saved and Lost - If we have a good definition of salvation then all the “counterfeits” will come to light in its truth.
*The following scriptures validate the blessings of our salvation and warnings otherwise
A. Salvation - Our reconciliation (having once been enemies to God but now receiving forgiveness and newness of the Spirit) to God by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, becoming partakers of the covenant and all its promises, full of hope and God’s power in both this world and the world to come. (definition mine…surely not exhaustive but a place to start J)
Eph 2:12-13
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
(KJV)
B. LOST -
1. WITHOUT CHRIST
1a. No covenant
2a. No hope
3a. No God!!!
Rom 5:8-11
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
(KJV)
A. Saved
1. Christ’s love and death for us
2. Justified by his blood
3. Saved from God’s wrath
4. Reconciled by Jesus’ death
5. Joyful in God because of our atonement
B. Lost
4a. Sinners
5a. Under God’s wrath
6a. Enemies to God
2 Cor 5:17-21
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
(KJV)
A. Saved
1. A new creation
2. ALL THINGS becoming NEW
3. ALL THINGS of GOD (He’s doing it!!)
4. Reconciled by Jesus Christ
5. Given an eternal purpose and ministry (the ministry of reconciliation)
6. Ambassadors of God for Christ
7. Christ made to be sin for us
8. So we can be MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM!!
Col 1:20-22
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
(KJV)
B. Saved
1. Peace has been made (No longer enemies.. hallelujah)
2. Once alienated and enemies by “wicked works”
3. Now reconciled in Christ’s body through death
4. NOW presenting us HOLY and UNBLAMABLE and UNREPROVABLE in God’s sight…. Hallelujah!!!!
* It is important to note that these verses for the most part are descriptive of an individual lost in the sense of justification. In other words they’re not born again and are still outside of Christ.
IV. A LOST SON, SHEEP, CHRISTIAN
*This part of the message deals with the “process” of maturity and sanctification.
A. Here is the tragedy for the lost Christian….we are LOST in our journey
Or in the process of our sanctification. Too many Christians have lost their
Direction due to many things. May God’s lost children be found and set
Back on course is our prayer.
1. One may be a son but forfeit their “inheritance”
Gal 4:1-2
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
(KJV)
1a. For fleshly relief and pleasure
Heb 12:16-17
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
(KJV)
2a. Through rebellion (pride and self-will…strong willed)
Luke 15:11-14
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
(KJV)
3a. Through ignorance (they don’t know)
Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (KJV)
Prov 29:18
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (KJV)
4a. Through apathy (they don’t care)
Hag 1:5-9
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
(KJV)
5a. Through slothfulness (they won’t work)
Prov 13:4
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. (KJV)
Prov 12:24
24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. (KJV)
Prov 15:19
19 The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain. (KJV)
Heb 6:12
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (KJV)
6a. Through unbelief (they don’t believe)
Heb 3:17-19
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
(KJV)
B. All the privileges of a son squandered in a foreign land and vain pursuits
* A last note of WARNING…The sheep was called LOST, The son was called DEAD…in the book of James the backslider is said to have been “converted” and whose soul has been “saved.”
WHETHER WE ARE CALVINISTS OR ARMENIAN IN OUR THEOLOGY WE CANNOT DENY THE IMPLICATIONS OF TO THOSE SOULS WHO ARE LOST AND IN THAT CONDITION FEEL NEITHER CONCERN OR CONVICTION FOR THEIR SINFUL WAYWARDNESS TO GOD. THIS COULD IMPLY THAT EITHER THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN SAVED OR HAVE PASSED THAT LINE OF DEMARCATION WHERE AS JAMES SAYS,
James 5:19-20
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
(KJV)
BE IT FAR FROM ME TO SAY WHERE THAT LINE IS OR WHO HAS PASSED IT. BUT MAY THIS SERVE AS A STRONG WARNING TO THOSE OF US WHO PROFESS TO KNOW CHRIST BUT LIVE OUR LIVES APART FROM HIM.
I Jn 2:3-6
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (KJV)
I Jn 3:8-10
8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
(NAS)
Conclusion:
For the purpose of this message the “Lost Christian” is the one who in the process of maturity has lost their spiritual relationship to the Lord. Our love for other worldly things have choked our love for God and His Word. We feel no attraction to the heavenly home. Our lives produce no spiritual fruit, we have no joy, we wander from one situation to another feeling more the victim than the victor. We go from grief to grief rather than from victory to victory.
We need revival!! Confession in humility. A truth faith that acts upon the Word of God and not just talks about it. We need a turning from this world and our love for it to a renewed commitment to Christ and His mission in the world. Prayer, fasting, and repentance until we feel the pain of a Father who misses us and desires time with us. A revived hunger for God’s Word, Wisdom, and direction in our life. A pleading until we again feel the shame and pain of a world without Christ. That we might again go forth with weeping for the lost (why? Because we love them and feel their pain!!) bearing the seed of God’s Word bringing the sheaves of the harvest back to God for His pleasure and rejoicing! Today, may we again say, “I once was lost but now I’m found…Was blind but now I see.”
MAY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ADD HIS BLESSING TO THE PREACHING AND TEACHING OF HIS WORD. AMEN.
