The Terror of Being Lost!

October 28, 2007

Introduction

 

            When our oldest son Tim was only a little boy of 4 or 5 years old, we were driving from Mansfield to Cedar Hill by the old country roads between the two cities.  He sensed that something wasn’t quite right, and asked the question, “Are we lost?”  Not long ago, I asked him if he remembered that.  He said, “Dad, can you imagine what it’s like when you are a little boy, totally dependent on your parents for everything, and they are lost?”

 

            I still remember the panic I experienced in San Antonio many years ago when I was trying to get to the airport before the last plane left for Dallas.  It was a terrible feeling as I reached for my trusted map but didn’t realize that my “over 40 eyes” could no longer read fine print and I had no idea why I couldn’t read the street names as I had always done.

 

            The Terror of Being Lost!  It’s a terrible experience.  It reminds me of the story of a man who was flying in a private plane, and asked the pilot how they were doing.  He said, “Well, I have some good news and some bad new.  The good news is that we are making very good time.  The bad new is that we are lost!”  That bad news erased the good news didn’t it.

 

            Why is it so bad to be lost?  Do we even have to explain it?  You can’t get home if you are lost!  Isn’t that the whole of the story?  You can’t get home if you are lost!  Home is where you live.  It’s where you eat, it’s where you sleep, it’s where your creature comforts are, it’s where you family is, it’s a place of safety and comfort, and it you are lost, you cannot get there.

 

            Sometimes we are lost and don’t know it.  Our son Tim didn’t know he was lost until he asked.  The man in the private plane didn’t know he was lost until he asked.  When I’m flying, I sometimes wonder, is this the right plane?  Am I going to the right city?  There are no signs up there to identify where you are.  Some are lost and do not know it.

 

            Jesus used the idea of being lost as He described our spiritual condition.  (Luke 19:9-10 NKJV)  "And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; {10} "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.""

 

            Now things have changed a bit.  We are no longer taking about being lost on the country roads between Cedar Hill and Mansfield, or lost in San Antonio, or lost in an airplane; Jesus is speaking of being lost spiritually, which is far worse than any of these.   So what does it mean to be lost spiritually?

 

Body

I.        Does the Bible say about being lost?

 

1. But Jesus described being lost in different ways.

 

1.      Jesus used the illustration of the lost sheep.

 

(Luke 15:3-7 NKJV)  "So He spoke this parable to them, saying: {4} "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? {5} "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!' {7} "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."

 

2.      He referred to the lost as being cast out into outer darkness.

 

(Mat 22:11-13 NKJV)  ""But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. {12} "So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. {13} "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

 

3.      Jesus referred to be lost as to be cast into hell.

 

(Mark 9:43-44 NKJV)  ""If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; {44} "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'"

 

4.      How bad is it to be lost?  It’s better not to have been born.

 

(Mat 26:24 NKJV)  ""The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.""

 

2. Isaiah spoke of the sheep going astray.

 

(Isa 53:6 NKJV)  "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

 

3. Paul spoke of the terror of the Lord.

 

(2 Cor 5:10-11 NKJV)  "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. {11} Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences."

 

4. Peter preached a sermon that cut to the heart.

 

(Acts 2:36-38 NKJV)  ""Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." {37} Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" {38} Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

 

II.     We have the gospel—the good news!

 

1. Peter’s sermon was the first gospel sermon of the Christian age.

2. Paul spoke of the power of the gospel.

 

(Rom 1:16 NKJV)  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

 

3. The gospel is to be obeyed.

 

(2 Th 1:7-9 NKJV)  "and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, {8} in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,"

 

4. The gospel is defined.

 

(1 Cor 15:1-4 NKJV)  "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, {2} by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain. {3} For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,"

 

III.   How do we obey the gospel?

 

1. We are buried with Him in baptism.

(Rom 6:1-4 NKJV)  "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? {2} Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? {3} Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? {4} Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

 

2. Jesus explained baptism as the new birth.

 

(John 3:3-8 NKJV)  "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." {4} Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" {5} Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. {6} "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {7} "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' {8} "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.""

 

Conclusion

 

I.        Do you know someone who is lost?  If so, will you help them.

II.     Are you lost?

 

1. If you’ve never been baptized, why not now?

2. If you’ve been baptized, but have wandered from the way, will you return to the Lord?

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

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