December 11, 2005

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Appeals Made to the Lost

 

Introduction

 

   The Great Commission to the apostles charged them to make known the Gospel over the whole world.  We still seek to continue that work today because new generations are continually being born.  They too must hear the Gospel of Christ.  Jesus gave the needed response in giving the commission.  He said, “Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19.)  In Mark’s account, he said, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.  He that believes not shall be condemned.”  (Mark 16:16.)  Luke recorded that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.”  (24:47-48.)

 

   In expressing the Gospel today, to Christians and non-Christians in the audience, I want to describe the kind of appeals that the Bible makes to the lost.  What convinced them to obey the Gospel?  How does God want us to present His message?  What do the lost need to hear?

 

Jesus Died for You!

 

   Jesus made it clear what he wanted the apostles to preach. Matthew just said that they should teach all nations, and to teach them all things whatsoever Jesus had commanded them to observe.  Mark was more pointed, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”  (Mark 16:15.)  Luke recorded: “Thus it behooved Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day.”  (Luke 24:46.)  Therefore, what should be proclaimed is the Gospel, the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ.

 

   Paul described it in his letter to the Romans.  He wrote, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?  How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  How shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent?  As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!”  (Rom. 10:13-15.)  Calling upon the name of the Lord began in the days of Enosh, Seth’s son.  (Gen. 4:26.)  This first reference in the Bible means that men began to worship God.  From the Old Testament prophet Joel (2:32—whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved) it passed into the New Testament by the quotation by Peter on Pentecost (Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13).  The phrase does not mean just to verbally call his name, but to humble oneself before God and worship him.

 

   Paul’s reference to those proclaiming the good news comes from the prophet Isaiah. The prophet described the deliverance from captivity in Babylon.  He said that God’s work in this deliverance would be greater than the one in Egypt.  Messengers would precede the captives announcing the good news of deliverance.  They would skip from mountain to mountain top, speedily making known their return home.  (Isaiah 52:7.)  Paul did not mention the mountains as Isaiah did, but it makes it very vivid and exciting.

 

    Preacher should be like those messengers coming from Babylon announcing the freedom of God’s people from captivity.  The freedom from the captivity of sin is a greater work and deliverance than any the Jews ever experienced.  It behooved Jesus to suffer and die for the sins of mankind.  This is the Gospel that we proclaim.  This is the appeal that is made to the lost.  Someone died in your place and suffered for your redemption.  He arose from the dead the third day.

 

   “The love of Christ constrains me because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.  And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them are rose again.”  (2 Cor. 5:14-15.)  This is the first and greatest appeal to the lost.  This is what God wants to draw us to him.  (John 12:32.)

 

The Feeling of Being Left Out

 

   An appeal that is found often in the Bible is an appeal to our sense of wanting to be included.  No one really wants to be left out, to be left behind, or left outside.  Humans are social by nature.  We like clubs and societies and groups.  We want to be included in them.  There is no greater group like that small group that began on Pentecost with the band of twelve apostles proclaiming the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ.

   Three thousand people died the day the Law of Moses was given.  Three thousand obeyed the Gospel and were saved the day the church began.  (Exodus 32:28, Acts 2:41.)  The Law was an administration unto death, Paul said.  (2 Cor. 3.)  The Gospel is an administration unto life.

 

   But concerning being left out consider the following examples. 

 

1) Peter told Simon the sorcerer, “You have no part or lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”  (Acts 8:21.)  How would you like to be told, You have no part in Christianity.  You have not obeyed God’s Word! 

 

2) Paul and Barnabas once shook off the dust of the city of Antioch of Pisidia from his feet and went into Iconium to preach!  (Acts 13:51.) 

 

3) A man once went to a marriage feast, but dishonored the host by entering without the proper wedding garment, provided by the host.  He was asked why he came in without the garment.  He was speechless.  He was then bound hand and feet and cast into outer darkness.  (Matt. 22:2-14.) 

 

4) Jesus told a parable about ten virgins.  Five were wise and five were foolish.  The five foolish were foolish because they did not prepare to bring sufficient oil for their lamps while they waited for the groom.  While they were gone to buy some oil, the groom came and went into the house.  The Bible says, “And the door was shut!”  (Matt. 25:10.)  The stood outside in the darkness while those inside enjoyed the wedding feast.  This is the appeal to the sense of belonging and wanting to be included.  The lost will be excluded.  They will be left outside. 

 

5) The parables of Matthew 25 reminds one of the lost in Noah’s day.  The lost were invited to come aboard, but instead they mocked Noah and rejected the invitation.  The flood came and the water began to rise.  When Noah and his family were safe inside, the Lord closed the door of the Ark.  “The Lord shut him in.”  (Gen. 7:16.)  But he also shut the lost out.  Can you imagine the sense of being left out that they felt? 

 

6) Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  As the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.  So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then shall two be in the field.  One shall be taken; the other left.  Two women shall be grinding at the mill.  One shall be taken; the other left.  Watch therefore; for you know not what hour your lord doth come.”  (Matt. 24:36-42.) 

 

7) John the Baptist once refused to baptize some Pharisees.  They came to him for the wrong reason without repenting.  They saw all the other Jews being baptized; they wanted to be baptized as well.  That is the way we are as humans.  We do not want to be left out.  Can you imagine how they felt when John refused to baptize them?  (Matt. 3:5-12.) 

 

8)  One of the most interesting examples of being left out is found in Revelation.  The picture is a house with a door.  Someone is standing outside knocking on the door.  But the one inside will not open the door.  The One standing outside is Jesus, the Lord.  The one on the inside is the lost person, but he will not let Jesus in his heart.  (Rev. 3:20.)  Jesus knows what it is like to be left outside.  He was born outside in a stable because there was no room for him in the Inn.  He came to his own people and they received him not.  He was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.  Criminals were carried outside the city to be executed.  Jesus died so that no one need be left out any more!

 

#3: The Warmth and Acceptance of Being Included

 

   The opposite is also another powerful appeal—the warmth and acceptance of being included.  God wants everyone to receive the redemption in Christ Jesus.  He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9.)  There is a popular doctrine among some that is called universal salvation.  It is not completely true—everyone will not be saved, but it is true that God wants everyone to be.  Further, God has provided full atonement for everyone who will receive Christ the Lord.  The doctrine of universal atonement is true.  Jesus tasted death for every man.  (Heb. 2:9.)

 

   In like manner, there are many examples of the lost being included in the Bible.  Here are some of them: 

 

1) “Let him that is athrist come.  And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”  (Rev. 22:17.) 

 

2) On Pentecost, Peter preached this message of good news:  “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is unto you and your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”  (Acts 2:38-39.)  The Gospel is for Jews and Gentiles.  It is for all that are afar off.  Everyone is included in the call of the Gospel to come and enjoy eternal life, to receive the remission of sins. 

 

3) The prodigal son, who wasted the father’s inheritance with riotous living, was accepted home again.  Do you remember the story about a wasteful son who wanted to return home?  He did not know if his father would welcome him back.  He wrote that he would be coming on the bus.  If his father would have him back, his son asked him to let him know by tying a yellow ribbon on the old oak tree by their house.  If he did not see the yellow ribbon, he would just stay on the bus.  When the bus neared his home town, he did not know what to expect.  He had been so disobedient to this father.  His father had every right to reject him.  But when he looked toward his home, he saw not just one yellow ribbon, but a hundred ribbons on the old oak tree so that his son would not fail to see it!!  In the story Jesus told, the Gospel included the older son as well.  The father went outside and pleaded with him to come on inside.  He said, “Son, you are ever with me and all that I have is yours.”  (Luke 15:31.)  This includes everyone—the prodigal and the Pharisee. 

 

4) The Jews for centuries believed that God had included them, but excluded the Gentiles.  But they were mistaken, as so many others who love to exclude others.  Hosea, writing about the Gentiles, said that those who were not his people would be called the people of God.  Paul asked, “Is God the God of the Jew only?  Is he not also of the Gentile?  Yes, of the Gentile also.”  (Rom. 3:29.) 

 

5) To be sure everyone understands, Paul wrote this to the Galatians:  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”  (Gal. 3:28-29.)  One group or another is always prone to exclude someone else.  God wants everyone to be included.