Our New sermon series is entitled, “The Ends of the Earth,” an obvious reference to Acts 1:8.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
For the most part, we understand this verse, Jesus made this commanded to his disciples just prior to His ascension back to heaven. This verse, along with the Great commandment at the end of the book of Matthew (Matt 28:19-20) Jesus commands His church, His people into the whole world with the Gospel, to be His witnesses. Not just locally, but throughout the land, even to "the end of the earth." We will be discussing taking the Gospel, and being witnesses to the end of the earth.
Before we are called to be international missionaries, we must first be missionaries right here at home first. How can we be expected to share the gospel cross-culture and cross-language barriers and cross geographic barriers when we can not share the gospel with our neighbor, our co-workers, our friends?
Today we will discuss "Who are the Lost" and why reaching the lost is important.
Luke 15:1–10
Opening Ill: I read this humorous story of a guy who prayed this prayer every morning: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"[1]
For some of us, isn’t that how we look for witnessing opportunities? It has to literally hit us over the head. We are hesitant to witness, we resist the opportunity to spread the Gospel. Sometimes we look at the lost and wonder if they are lost for reason and we are content to move on and let someone else share. The Pharisee and scribes were like that.
Luke 15:1–2 (NKJV) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
The Pharisee and Scribes, which Jesus never had a kind word for, accusing Jesus of associating with the wrong people. ‘Let not a man associate with the wicked, not even to bring him to the Law’ is a later rabbinic saying which sums up their attitude. [2]
Luke 15:3 (NKJV) So He spoke this parable to them, saying:
In answering their accusations Jesus spoke three parables. The parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin are very similar. The third parable of the prodigal son is also similar, but we will not cover that story this morning. All three parables centers around God’s concern about the lost of the world and with the repentance of sinners. The theme of these parables is the joy in heaven over the lost being found. The point of the three stories is that God receives real joy and satisfaction when He sees sinners repenting, whereas He obtains no gratification from self-righteous hypocrites who are too proud to admit their wretched sinfulness. [3]
These parables reveal the very heart of God. That is what I hope to uncover this morning. Do we view the lost as God does? These parables are not about backslidden Christians who have lost their way. We must guard from reading too much into these parables so that we turn the whole story into an allegory and distort the main message.
Luke 15:4 (NKJV) “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
Jesus puts it terms most people can understand. “What man of you,” the NIV says “Suppose one of you” have one lost sheep. The economist would look at this and say, one sheep out of one hundred. A one percent lost is acceptable for most businesses. The economist would say to write off that one percent and move on. But even that one percent has great value before God.
Look at the lost coin for a little different perspective.
Luke 15:8 (NKJV) “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
Some commentators will say that those ten coins would have been part of a headband that was given on her wedding day, much like a wedding ring. A lost of a coin would have been like a lost of a diamond in a set of diamonds on a ring. Other commentators will say she was a poor woman and this was part of her life savings. Either way, the lost was real. In a dark windowless house with a dirt floor a lost coin would be difficult to find. But find it she will. She will not accept a ten percent lost. Every coin is valuable to her.
Look at both the lost sheep and the lost coin. Both the sheep and coin were not where they were supposed to be. They were out of place. And so were we. And so is the lost of the world. Not where God desires for all to be.
Next look at the sheep and the coin, both did nothing to be found. The shepherd searched and the woman searched. The Pharisees were shocked to hear that God searches for lost sinners. Every person is valuable to God. Throughout the Bible God has come for those who were lost. This is why Jesus came, to seek out the lost. God came searching for sinners right from the beginning. Think back to the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:8–9 (NKJV) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Where are you? God knew where they were. But sinful man does not know where he is. The Pharisees and Scribes were self-righteous, and they had no clue where they were. God does not settle for a one percent loss or a ten percent loss. He goes after all.
Matthew 18:14 (NKJV) Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
God’s grace has appeared to all men:
Titus 2:11 (NKJV) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
God takes no pleasure in the condemnation of sinners.
Ezekiel 33:11 (NKJV) Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
What is His will for the masses? How should the masses respond?
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Notice how repentance is central. A person cannot just say I believe and be saved, it must involve a genuine turning towards God and away from sin. People condemn themselves for rejecting the grace of God that has been shown to them. Rejection is evident by the failure to repent. And when the one sheep is found or the one coin is found, when one sinner repents, there will be rejoicing. And with the find there will be rejoicing. Both for the woman and the shepherd.
Luke 15:5–6 (NKJV) And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
Luke 15:9 (NKJV) And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’
What rejoicing takes place. Jesus says that God Himself rejoices.
Luke 15:7 (NKJV) I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Two ways of looking at the 99 just people. Are these those who have come previously to the Lord and are saved? Or is this in reference to the Pharisees and Scribes who are self-righteous and in their own minds, they need no repentance? Let us be careful and not be numbered among the Pharisees and Scribes. The word tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)
But who is joyful in heaven?
Luke 15:10 (NKJV) Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
God rejoices. The expression “in the presence of the angels of God” is an indirect reference to God Himself.
There is rejoicing when God allows me to be present of an unsaved person at the moment of their conversion. What a time it is when we experience the moment when God turns their heart and He claims them as his own. We don’t convert anyone, but God does use people like you and me to convey His message of salvation, the gospel, but it is God, through his Holy Spirit that turn the heart. There is rejoicing in heaven. All those who are lost, need to come to the Lord before it is too late. But who will tell them?
We must have compassion for the lost. We must truly desire to bring joy to God. But the lost world is like a car accident. At the scene of a car accident there are 3 groups of people, each with a different response toward those involved in the accident.
The first group is the bystanders and onlookers. They are curious and watch to see what happens, but have little active involvement.
The second group is the police officers. Their response was to investigate the cause of the accident, assign blame, and give out appropriate warnings, fines and punishments.
The third group is the paramedics. They are the people usually most welcomed by those involved in the accident. They could care less whose fault the accident was and they did not engage in lecturing about bad driving habits. Their response was to help those who were hurt. They bandaged wounds, freed trapped people, and give words of encouragement.
Three groups - one is uninvolved, one is assigning blame and assessing punishment, and one is helping the hurting. Which group do we find ourselves in? Actually, whether you like it or not, when it comes to reaching the lost and hurting, we’re all taking one of these 3 positions.
(1) We are uninvolved and let others do the work.
(2) We condemn people for their foolish behavior, saying things like, “It’s your own fault that you’re in this mess. If you had been going to church and doing like you should, this never would have happened!”
(3) We make an effort to help those who are lost and hurting.
I hope we will be those who are showing compassion like those in the last group. [4]
Helping hurting people can be messy and unfortunately we may seem at the time we loose a few. But are we helping those we can. We planted seeds and perhaps someone else will reap the harvest.
Some of the lost we can find right here within the church. Notice that the lost sheep was “out there” whereas the lost coin was within the house. Our reach must be both in the house and outside of the house. The whole world is our mission field. From the church to our neighbors, to school, at work, our town, our state, our country. And even to the end of the earth. We must sound the warning, the time to do so is quickly drawing down.
If you are here today and you have not been found by God, you can be found by repentance towards Him. We turn by godly sorrow, truly regretting offending a most Holy God.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV) For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Worldly sorry is saying we’re sorry for getting caught. Godly sorry is turning towards God and allow God to mold and shape us to His glory, to be used by Him.
Someone once said, the Church is the only organization the exist for the benefit of its non-members. Who have you reached out and touch? Do you see the Lost of this world as God sees them?
[1] www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/18824/evangelism-by-david-elvery?ref=TextIllustrationSerps
[2] I. Howard Marshall, “Luke,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1005.
[3] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1428.
[4] www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/knowing-the-heart-of-god-christian-cheong-sermon-on-evangelism-how-to-93895?ref=SermonSerps
