Go! And Proclaim the Seeker of the Lost
Luke 19:10 (NLT): "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."
Introduction
Today, we continue our “Go! And…” series with a vital call: Go! And Proclaim the Seeker of the Lost.
Luke 19:10 is one of the most beautiful and powerful summaries of Jesus’ mission.
It captures the heartbeat of the Gospel and the burning passion of Heaven itself:
The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, came to seek and to save those who are lost.
This verse is simple enough for a child to memorise and deep enough for a lifetime of study.
Today, we will dig deep into this truth.
We will see the urgency of Christ’s mission, the mercy of His seeking, and the power of His saving!
May our hearts be stirred anew to worship Jesus as Lord and Saviour—and to go out boldly, seeking the lost, just as He did.
1. Christ Came to Seek the Lost
Luke 19:10 – "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."
The Greek word for "seek" here is "zeteo" (??t??), meaning "to actively pursue, to search diligently."
Jesus did not wait for sinners to find Him; He came into the world actively pursuing the lost!
Luke 19 is the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector despised and rejected by society.
Yet Jesus sought him out, looked up at him in the tree, and called him by name.
Jesus still seeks the broken, the outcast, the sinner—you and me.
Jesus is not just a passive observer of human history—He is the active, loving Saviour who came from Heaven to earth to seek and save.
John 10:11 (NLT) – "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."
The Good Shepherd seeks the sheep.
He lays down His life to bring the lost sheep home.
If Jesus sought you, who are you seeking today?
We must reflect His heart and pursue the lost, in love and grace.
Charles Spurgeon said, "You and I might have sought Christ if He had not first sought us, but it would have been like seeking a grain of wheat hidden in a field of weeds."
How true! We are not naturally seeking God; He is the Great Seeker.
Thank God He looked for us when we were lost in the weeds of sin!
2. Christ Came to Save the Lost
The word for "save" is "sozo" (s???), meaning "to rescue, deliver, heal, and preserve."
It speaks of total salvation—spiritual, eternal, and complete.
In Jesus’ day, to be "lost" (Greek: "apollymi" – destroyed, perished) was to be outside of covenant relationship with God.
Salvation meant being brought back into life, into fellowship, into the family of God.
Jesus does not merely offer advice or self-help tips; He offers salvation—life from death!
1 Timothy 1:15 (NLT) – "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them all."
Paul knew the magnitude of Christ’s saving power—and he never forgot it.
Romans 5:8 (NLT) – "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."
He loved us when we were unlovely and unlovable!
Christ’s mission is not finished in you if you have not surrendered your life to Him.
It’s not enough to admire Him—you must trust Him for salvation.
John Piper says, "Christ did not come into the world to assist us in meeting the demands of the law. He came to fulfill the demands of the law for us, so that by faith we would be saved."
Christ is not our helper to heaven—He is our only way to heaven.
3. The Urgency of the Lost Being Found
Imagine a mother who loses her child in a busy shopping centre.
Does she say, "Oh well, I’ll look for him next week"?
No! She drops everything to find her child.
Tears, panic, urgency—she will not stop until her child is safe.
This is the heartbeat of our Saviour.
2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) – "The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent."
What a beautiful reminder of the heart of our God! His seeming delay is not a failure to act—it is mercy extended. Every moment that Christ has not yet returned is a moment saturated with divine patience, giving sinners another opportunity to repent and turn to Him.
Our God does not delight in judgment; He delights in salvation.
He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
And Church, if God's heart beats for the repentance of the lost, so should ours!
Let us be bold, let us be faithful, and let us proclaim Jesus with urgency and compassion until He comes!
Luke 15:4 (NLT) – "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?"
What a beautiful picture of the relentless love of our Saviour!
Jesus is not content with ninety-nine safe—He pursues the one who is lost.
He seeks until He finds, because every soul is precious to Him.
The heart of God is not passive; it is passionately active, longing to restore the wandering, to rescue the broken, to redeem the sinner.
And Church, if that’s His heart, it must be ours too.
We must never see people as statistics—we must see them as souls Jesus came to seek and to save.
How urgent are we about the lost?
Are we content while friends, neighbours, and family members wander off toward eternal destruction?
4. The Personal Call to Respond
There’s an old story about a missionary who was preaching to a tribe for the first time.
After hearing about Jesus seeking and saving the lost, the tribal chief stood up and said:
"I have been walking through the jungle of life alone. Today, I hear footsteps behind me—Jesus has been chasing me all the way."
That day, the chief repented and trusted Christ.
Friend, maybe you hear the footsteps of Jesus today.
He is pursuing you.
Don’t keep running.
Turn and be saved!
Gospel Presentation:
The Son of God left the glories of Heaven.
He lived a perfect, sinless life.
He willingly went to the cross to bear the punishment for your sins and mine.
He died, was buried, and three days later He rose again in glorious victory!
Because of His finished work, we can be saved—not by works, not by religion—but by trusting in Christ alone.
Romans 10:9 (NLT) – "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Call to Action:
If you have never trusted Christ, today is the day of salvation.
Repent—turn from sin—and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour!
If you are already a believer, will you share His heart for the lost?
Will you go? Will you proclaim? Will you reflect the Seeker of souls?
Benediction:
Beloved, as you go,
Go with the love of the Father,
The grace of the Son,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Go! And proclaim the Seeker of the lost—until all may hear, until all may know, until the lost are found!
Amen.
