Who Are The Lost?

The name of this ministry is Seek and Save the Lost. It comes from Luke 19:10 where Jesus says: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. People visit this website from all around the world. Recently, several people have asked the question: who are the lost? This is a very good question. Who are the lost? Who was Jesus talking about in Luke 19:10? He had just told Zacchaeus that he was coming to his house. The people who heard Jesus say this murmured because Jesus was going to eat with what they called a sinner and He wasn’t going to dine at one of the religious leader’s homes. 

Then Zacchaeus says that he will pay back fourfold to those he had stolen from and that he would give away half of his wealth. Jesus then told Zacchaeus “This day is salvation come to this house.” It wasn’t the giving his wealth away that saved Zacchaeus, it was his repentance. He recognized that he was a sinner and that Jesus was Holy. He understood his sinfulness and that he needed a savior. He repented and believed in Jesus (Mark 1:15).

But before Zacchaeus was saved, he was lost. Have you ever been lost? I’ve been lost a few times while driving, but the worst time that I was lost was when I was around 12 years old. My family and I were all walking through some woods. We were heading South and we were supposed to keep an eye on the people next to us. Somehow I couldn’t see the person to my right, so I kept wandering toward that way trying to find them. So I was heading more West while everyone else was still walking South. When we all finally emerged from the woods, I was about 2 miles West of everyone else. I was really scared and I kept thinking this can’t be real. I thought maybe everyone was pranking me, but they weren’t. It felt like a twilight zone moment.  I really was in the wrong spot and I was about 2 miles away from everyone else. After an hour or two, my dad came driving up the gravel road and saw me. He was really mad at me for getting lost, but I was just happy that he found me.

Have you ever been lost? Are you spiritually lost today – right now? Are you like the religious leaders during the time that Jesus walked this earth – thinking that you are alright? Thinking that you are right with God because you go to church? You help the poor? You do good things? Are you counting on your good works to save you? Are you counting on your church membership to save you? Are you counting on your baptism to save you? If you are counting on any of these things then you are still lost. You are still dead in your trespasses and sins. The sad thing is if you are counting on any of these things to save you, then you are probably so busy trying to earn your salvation that you don’t even know that you are lost.

But if you are like Zacchaeus, if you realize that you are a sinner and that God is a Holy and righteous God, then you understand that you have a problem. God demands total perfection and none of us are perfect. We can’t meet that unreachable standard. We fall way short. In fact, we fall woefully short, each and every day. None of us are good, but God is good. None of us have perfectly kept the 10 Commandments, but Jesus kept them. None of us have always obeyed God perfectly in our thoughts, words and actions, but Jesus obeyed God at all times. He always did the will of God the Father.

You see, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Even though all things were made by Him for His good pleasure, we have all sinned. We are made in God’s image, but we have all tainted that image. So it’s important to understand that Jesus is the seeker. Jesus came to seek us out. Even though He made us and even though we’ve all sinned against God, Jesus still seeks after us. He sought us by leaving His throne in Heaven to live a perfect life on this earth that He created, to do the will of God the Father and then suffer at the hands of sinful men for guilty sinners like us. He suffered and died on the tree and then rose from the grave.

Jesus is the victor and just like He was seeking for lost souls 2,000 years ago, He is still seeking today. Jesus came to seek the lost. Jesus came to save sinners from their sins. The apostle Paul said, This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:15). Again, these are the words of a repentant man, just like Zacchaeus was repentant.

Earlier I told how I was lost in the woods as a 12 year old. But I have to tell you that for 44 years I was spiritually lost, but I didn’t know it. I thought I was fine. I had said a little prayer as a child. I was like the religious leaders when Jesus was physically here on earth. I thought I was alright. I was alright in my own eyes, but I was lost and on the road to Hell. I was lost and didn’t even know it.

Do you know your spiritual state tonight? Are you sure of your salvation or are you bumbling down the road to destruction, thinking that everything is alright? Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Are you a repentant sinner who has turned from his sins to Jesus? Or are you a self-righteous person who thinks that God will accept you just like you are? If you die tonight, where will you go? Where will your spirit go? Heaven or Hell? Are you saved ? Or are you lost and don’t even know it? Or are you lost and you realize that you are lost and that Jesus is the only One who can find you?

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Will you swallow your pride and admit that you are lost? When I was lost in the woods as a youngster, I hated to admit that I didn’t know where I was. I kept frantically looking around. I was walking up and down that gravel road. I walked to the highway to my West, but I knew we were all on the East side of that major highway. When I walked to the East, two big dogs would chase me and keep me from going in the right direction and reaching the rest of my family.

Are the big dogs of pride and other sin keeping you from admitting that you are lost tonight? Will you let your pride keep you from humbling yourself and falling at the feet of the Master? Will your pride keep you from bowing to King Jesus? Or if it isn’t pride, what sin are you hanging onto so tightly that you won’t let go of it? What sin is keeping you from being found by our Lord tonight? What sin do you love more than Jesus?

Who are the lost? Every single person that hasn’t surrendered their life to Jesus is lost. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. Our great Lord is a seeking God. He is seeking lost souls tonight. Won’t you surrender to His Lordship? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). Do not continue being deceived by Satan. He is a silver tongued liar and he is the father of lies. Don’t continue living your life under his reign and madness.

Turn to Jesus Christ and live. Jesus is seeking you tonight. Stop running from Him. Stop rebelling against Him. Repent and put your faith in Him. You say you don’t know how to do that? Or maybe you say you tried that Jesus thing out years ago and there was nothing to it? Many people have had some sort of religious experience. In fact, Hell is full of religious people. Many religious people are burning in Hell right now. Don’t join them. Don’t die in your sins and join them. In John 8:24 Jesus is speaking: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Do not die in your sins. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Come to Jesus. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:13-15).

You say you tried this Jesus thing out years ago and it didn’t do anything? Maybe you repeated a little prayer, but you were never saved. You say you don’t know what to do tonight? Lamentations 3:24-26 says: The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Yes, Jesus is seeking the lost tonight and if you don’t know what to do, seek Him. Hope and wait on the salvation of the Lord. Cry out for God to have mercy upon you.

Please read Matthew 15:21-28. The Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. At first He doesn’t answer her. Then He tells her that He was sent for the Israelites, that He shouldn’t take meat from the children and give it to the dogs. She is persistent and she says that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Jesus then tells her that she has great faith and let it be as she requested. Her daughter was healed that same hour. If you say God doesn’t hear your prayers, keep begging Him to save you. Come with a humble heart and be willing to give up all your sins. You can’t keep some to yourself. God commands repentance (Acts 17:30).

Your sins can be forgiven tonight. You can be made alive in Christ Jesus. He is seeking you tonight. Will you admit that you are a sinner? Will you confess and forsake your sins? Will you cry out to the Master “what must I do to be saved?” Will you fully and completely surrender your life to the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Will you repent and trust Jesus? Or will you continue living a life of misery? Will you continue trying to dull your conscience through various activities because you know that you have sinned against our Holy God? Will you continue in your rebellion against God? Will you continue saying “we will not have this man rule over us? Will you continue wandering through life being lost? Will you continue being blinded by the lure of this world and end up eternally damned? Will you stay in your lost condition and remain spiritually lost forever? Will you die in your sins and remain spiritually lost for all of eternity? Don’t do it. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Repent and surrender your life to Jesus. Do this today before it’s too late.

(This message was lifted up on the square in downtown Springfield, MO on June 26, 2015)