The Lostness of Man

We, as Christians, are a counter-culture. We should change what we oppose. We shouldn’t relate to sin. We should not compromise. We need to speak boldly. Your enemy will define you. Where would David be without a Goliath? We have to reclaim lost ground to present a pure Gospel. You have to see the iniquity around you in order to cry out for judgment and justice. Otherwise, the man who speaks and lives by truth becomes prey and is consumed. We have neglected some doctrines. Jesus has come to seek and save the lost (Luke19:10). He didn’t just come to pay the price. Satan blinds man from understanding his lost state (2 Corinthians 4:4). There is a blindness that a person doesn’t know he has. We have a Gospel revelation of our identity, nature, and fate. His name is Jesus. The lost don’t have that revelation. The way to Jesus is exclusive: He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). There is only one Gospel! Attitudes of inclusion do not belong in the vocabulary of a Christian, because we don’t want people to go to hell. There is the judgment of God, and hell is a reality. Man is accountable for his sins. By nature man is a child of wrath. The Gospel is to save man out of his lostness and of suffering eternal damnation. Hell is a motivation for evangelism. The real account in Luke 16:19-31 of a certain rich man and Lazarus was revealed to Jesus. There are seven truths from this Scripture. 1) Consciousness will continue after death with forms of communication. 2) He retained his memory and sentiments like a living man. 3) The good are rewarded, and the wicked are tormented with the recognition of what they deserved. 4) He was aware of others’ final destiny. 5) He was resolved that there was no means of transition. 6) All further efforts for salvation are abandoned after death. It’s over! 7) There’s complete brokenness. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Jesus affirmed the validity of the Old Testament. Value the Scriptures. Jesus knew He would be the One raised from the dead. Jesus didn’t stay here, because if you don’t believe the Scriptures, you’re not going to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. The revelation of the power of the Scripture is greater than raising someone from the dead. The rich man is still there in everlasting flames! This should motivate you and affect your prayer life and how you represent Jesus. Man’s lost state is sealed at death. In the resurrection, both good and evil are raised from the dead. He is the same Jesus that was raised from the dead. The saved will go to rewards and eternal life. Those who died in sin, separated from God will be placed back in a resurrected body to endure the consequence of that sin in that body and punished eternally. Hell is torment in fire, flame, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, eternally. Romans 2 says that the goodness of God draws men to repentance. Preaching hell is for the perishing Christians. You owe the debt of love to those who haven’t heard. Preaching of hell is to bring revival to a once-living church. Without the Gospel the heathen will go to hell. The fate of the lost is in the hands of the church. Are we the blind men? Do we do what we can to bring in the lost? Scriptures are more powerful than experience. Life is short. Old things have passed away and what needs to become new is a new perspective of the judgment of God and the perils of hell and the lostness of man. We need to oppose hell and Satan’s blinding of peoples’ minds. Don’t let your perspective of the lost wane. All things become new. He gave us the ministry of reconciliation, which is new (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). This is committed to you. You are a minister of reconciliation. Pettiness comes in when we lose our vision of God’s commitment to us. You are here in Jesus’ stead. We go, stand, and speak for Him. Be reconciled to God. Souls hang in the balance by what you do. Commit to do the work of an evangelist. Encourage others with your testimonies. (Pastor Bob shared his testimony. While he was walking he stepped across a threshold and he saw a pit and people around this pit, a big black hole. All of a sudden, someone would fall into the pit and disappear. He was seeing people he would never see again. One after another fell into the pit. The Lord spoke to him and asked him to reach a million souls. God rebuked him for asking why didn’t He speak this to him when he was younger. God dealt with him about the sleeping state of the church and his love-walk with people. His life was changed. There’s not another chance for those who go to hell.)