(This sermon is a mixture of segments with a reinforcing song mixed in with each part.)
John 10:7-10 (Please find this passage in your Bible and follow along)
The Plight of the Lost …
- The Bible teaches that apart from Salvation through Jesus all are lost
- There is one called the devil. How do I know that? Jesus spoke of him.
Jesus had encounters with him. The evil one is found in both the OT and NT.
- I do not believe that the devil can experience anything that we would consider to be pleasant such as joy, happiness, satisfaction or any type of friendly relationship such as family or friends. But because these are terms we as humans understand let’s use them in “quotes” to help us understand the plight of the lost and what it has to do with the evil one.
- The evil one is perfectly happy for us to be happy as long as we do not find salvation through faith in Jesus.
- The evil one is perfectly happy for us to live our lives in torment as long as we do not find salvation through faith in Jesus.
- The evil one is perfectly happy for us to go to church every day of our lives as long as it is just a religious activity and we never find salvation through faith in Jesus.
- The evil one is perfectly happy for us to fill our minds with the temporal things of this world, good or evil, as long as we never think about our eternal destiny. As long as we never find salvation through faith in Jesus!
(Sing the first verse of Rescue the Perishing A Capella)
Luke 19:10 NIV
“The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost!”
Matthew 23:37 NIV
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
From the very beginning of the Bible where the Lord comes to Adam and Eve after their sin the Lord was pointing in faithfulness to the plan of salvation.
And then if you go all the way to the last book in the Bible you see Jesus standing outside a church filled with people who believe themselves to be self-sufficient, faithfully knocking on the door to see if they’ll let Him in.
The Lord has faithfully come to each of us through the Word of God or through personal testimony or through preaching or through a gospel tract. However it may have come about it was the Lord putting His plan of salvation faithfully in our path; calling us to Himself.
“Come unto Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest …”
For those of us who have come to know the treasure of Christ aren’t you glad for His faithfulness?
(Sing A Capella the first verse and chorus of Great is Thy Faithfulness)
There’s a video called EE-TAOW about missionaries to the Mouk tribe in Africa.
This tribe was walking in spiritual darkness. The Lord in His great faithfulness call a middle aged couple with very limited missionary background to take the Gospel to the Mouk people.
Over a matter of months the missionaries started teaching the Mouk the story of the Bible from creation to the death and resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
They did not start out with the Gospel story as found in the NT but built the foundation from the beginning.
The Mouk understood the significance of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin from the story of Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and the Lord providing a sacrificial ram sheep in place of Isaac.
So, when they heard that Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of their sins they started testifying that they believed that their sins had been forgiven because of Jesus’ sacrifice.
They started shouting EE-TAOW, EE-TAOW! It’s TRUE, It’s TRUE!
And the celebration went on for two hours.
Other nearby tribes noticed the difference. They wanted to have what the Mouk now had. They said that the eyes of the Mouk people had previously been filled with darkness but now their eyes were filled with light.
When a person is saved, really saved, there is a transformation from light to darkness within them. This may happen quietly or it may happen with great rejoicing. Either way that person will now be filled with the presence of Jesus, the spiritual Light of the world.
The Mouk and each of us were one day translated from the realm of darkness into the realm of light.
One song says it this way …
(Sing the first verse and chorus of He Brought Me Out)
There is a time of great rejoicing and peace in the heart of a person who comes to know Jesus as their Savior. But here in America where such a decision is rarely tested by family or society rejection it is often not long before a believer drifts into a mode of just coasting along.
No longer a vibrant spirit within. Sometimes just going through the motions with very little interaction with the Lord. Very little prayer. Very little time in the Word of God. Only gathering with the people of God when it’s convenient.
The lives of many people can drift in that direction. The lives of many churches can become more focused on church growth or eventually church survival instead of working diligently in and for the Kingdom of God.
When that happens it often looks like the church of Laodicea found in
Revelation 3:14-22
Please turn to Revelation 3:14-22 as Heather comes to sing a song written from that very Scripture
There is only one remedy to the condition of a follower of Jesus who has become lukewarm and that is found one Chapter back in
Revelation 2:2-5
The church in Ephesus was busy doing the works of the kingdom but had lost their first love for Jesus.
Isn’t it amazing that a church or a person could be doing the right things but not be right with God?
Binary Explosive - Have you ever heard of a Binary Explosive?
A Binary Explosive is made up of two chemicals which are both harmless when kept separate but when they are mixed the produce a tremendous explosion.
That is how the kingdom of God works. We see it throughout the Scriptures.
James says “Faith without works is dead” - dead faith is NOT good!
Revelation 2 says to the church in Ephesus “your works are good but you’ve lost your first love” for Jesus and consequently they are in grave spiritual danger.
In Deuteronomy, the book of the law we see the love for God and obedience to His commands inextricably linked.
Look at these verses:
Deuteronomy 11:1 NIV
“Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always.”
Joshua 22:5b NIV
“…love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to keep His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Loving the Lord and obedience to the Lord are inseparable.
The person cannot be a Christian without a relationship with the Lord.
A person cannot be a Christian without obeying the Lord.
A person who tries to obey the Lord without a relationship with the Lord is in essence trying to earn his way to heaven.
If that were possible Jesus’ sacrifice and death was in vain, useless, pointless.
A person who says that they have a relationship with the Lord but does not obey the commands found in the Bible is a false Christian.
The cause of Christ is deeply wounded by both ends of the spectrum.
When someone claims to know and love Jesus but has no clue as to what the Word of God teaches or ignores what the Word of God teaches their behavior will reflect poorly on the Name of Jesus.
When someone tries to make Christianity into a set of do and don’t-do rules with out the love and compassion of Christ people will be driven away by calloused actions.
We need to love Jesus and we need to know what His Word says and obey Him out of that Love for Him.
That is the equivalent of a spiritual binary explosion and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it!
(Let's sing this song as a commitment to the Lord - "I’d Rather Have Jesus")
Closing remarks and prayer
