A PASSION FOR LOST SOULS Luke 15:1 24 Mount Sinjar Desperate and obvious
LUKE 15:1 24 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people even eating with them!
LUKE 15:1 24 3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 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? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
LUKE 15:1 24 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety nine others who are righteous and haven t strayed away!
LUKE 15:1 24 8 Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin. 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God s angels when even one sinner repents.
LUKE 15:1 24 11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now before you die. So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
LUKE 15:1 24 13 A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
LUKE 15:1 24 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17 When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
LUKE 15:1 24 18 I will go home to my father and say, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.
LUKE 15:1 24 22 But his father said to the servants, Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found. So the party began.
Not So Obvious The Condition of Lost Souls Psalm 119:11 I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you Evangelism? Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son
PITY PLAN PERSISTENCE POWER
HOW DO YOU FEEL? Matthew 7:13 (NLT) The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. Matthew 13:49 50 (NLT) 49 Jesus said: this is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, 50 throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hebrews 9:27 (NLT) And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.
NO SECOND CHANCE HELL IS TERRIBLE John 14:6 (NLT) 6 Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 1. John 1:12 As many as received Him, to them he GAVE THE RIGHT to become children of God, even to those who believed in His name."
The Lost Are Enemies of God Eph. 2:1 3 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God s anger, just like everyone else.
TERRIBLE NEWS FOR UNBELIEVERS John. 3:18 "He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Rev. 20:15 "And if anyone's name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
TERRIBLE NEWS FOR UNBELIEVERS Mt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13 "shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Rev. 20:10..."the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
HOW DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT THIS? Eze.33:11 "As I live! declares the Lord GOD 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, back from your evil ways! Why then will you die... GOD IS HOLY HE CANNOT OVERLOOK SIN Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved,"
A PLAN TO SAVE THE LOSS Why did Jesus come to earth? To present a 100% plan of escape from Hell! JOY even over one sinner s escape Lk. 15:15 A Plan For Us: Luke 9 Sent out the 12 Luke 10 Sent out 72 others V 20 Rejoice because your names are registered in heaven! Matt. 28 & Mk. 16 The Great Commission
What is your plan for witnessing? 1. Personal Testimony 2. Rule of 7 3. Different ways to repeat the gospels 4. Get 14 minute CD Gospel presentation by me through the church secretary 5. Look for people going through problems. 6. Invite people to church.
A Scary Reason To Plan Eze.3:18 19 "When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself."
You are not responsible for a person s salvation. But, you are responsible to be one of the witness to that person!
GOD LOVES THE WORLD AND WANT TO SEE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE SAVED! KING DAVID: LUSTED, ADULTERY, MURDER SAUL: HATED CHRISTIANS EVEN MURDERED THEM REPENTANCE = FORGIVENESS
3 RD WORD : PERSISTENCE LOST SHEEP LOST COIN LOST SON YO YO MA
LOST PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD THE LOST ARE TOO VALUABLE FOR US TO QUIT TRYING TO REACH
POWER ACTS 1:4,8 Jesus commanded them, Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I Told you before. 8. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me Everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
WITNESSES NEED POWER The Jews and then the Romans began terrible Persecutions against the Christians, but they refused to stop preaching the gospel until they literally Won over the Roman Empire.
WHAT ABOUT TODAY? WE ARE IN A SEASON OF TRANSITION One of the most persistent prayers within the American church in recent years has been for revival
DON T BE DISCOURAGED Habakkuk 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."
REVIVAL IN 3 RD WORLD 500 MUSLIMS COME TO CHRIST EVERY MONTH IN IRAN EVERY DAY: 20,000 AFRICANS COME TO CHRIST EVERY DAY: 10,000 TO 20,000 CHINESE EVERY DAY WORLDWIDE: 174,000 TO CHRIST 3,500 NEW CHURCHES EVERY MONTH
CHURCH WAKE UP IN AMERICA HAVE PITY ON THE LOST MAKE A PERSONAL PLAN FOR YOURSELF BE PERSISTENT SEEK HIS POWER
HERE IS A PRACTICAL APPLICATION BEFORE YOU LEAVE CHURCH 1. MAKE A LIST OF FIVE PEOPLE THAT YOU WILL PROMISE THE LORD THAT YOU WILL WITNESS TO. 2. TAKE A MOMENT AT THE ALTAR BEFORE YOU LEAVE AND ASK FOR HIS POWER TO HELP YOU WITNESS