“Mans utter LOSTNESS without Christ!”

Main Text: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

We will be looking at other verses too, but I would like us to briefly look at three Greek words found in Luke 19:10 they are:

SEEK - Greek is Zeteo - which means TO SEEK AFTER.

SAVE - Greek is Sozo - which included in its meaning is TO SAVE, DELIVER, PROTECT (AND HEAL).

LOST - Greek is Apollumi - which means TO DESTROY UTTERLY, KILL THE IDEA IS NOT EXTINCTION, BUT RUIN, LOSS, NOT OF BEING, BUT OF WELL-BEING.

Now based on the Greek lets expand this verses to take in it’s full meaning:

“For the Son of man is come to seek after and to save, deliver, protect that person which is lost, that is being utterly destroyed, to the point of spiritual ruin, eternal death, which is separation from God, not extinction being.” - Luke 19:10 (BibleFoods input included to help bring out the meaning of this verse).

Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost - Which was ALL OF US before salvation..

Let’s briefly look at 4 points on mans LOSTNESS:

1. None righteous, no not one!
As it is written, There is NONE righteous, no, not one: - Romans 3:10

No matter how “good/righteous” you may think you or someone else is in their self. The bottom line is that apart from accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE”.

2. Our HUMAN righteousness is FILTHY before God!
But we are ALL AS AN UNCLEAN THING, and ALL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS FILTHY RAGS; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. - Isa. 64:6

Our own human righteousness is FILTHY rags.

3. We MUST see our LOSTNESS!
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be WHOLE [strong, not weak or sickly] NEED NOT a physician, BUT THEY THAT ARE SICK.
- Matt. 9:12
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: FOR I AM NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS [THE SPIRITUALLY SICK] TO REPENTANCE. - Matt. 9:13

We know by the above scriptures that apart from Christ none are righteous, but in this passage, there were those (false religion) who thought they were self-righteous, which is really self-deception. IF YOU DON’T ADMIT YOUR LOSTNESS (SPIRITUALLY SICK) THEN YOU CAN’T BE SAVED, DELIVERED ETERNALLY BY THE GREAT PHYSICIAN JESUS, AND YOU’LL DIE DECEIVED AND ETERNALLY LOST. SAD BUT TRUE!

4. NONE need to go into eternity LOST!
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us ward, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH [being utterly destroyed, to the point of spiritual ruin, eternal death which is separation from God, not extinction], BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE. - 2 Pet 3:9

JESUS WILL IS THAT NO ONE STAY LOST!!!

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I would like to close with some thought provoking quotes on this subject [Brackets are my thoughts]:

“Go here, go there, go wherever souls are perishing”.
[Many years ago I came across this quote and it still rings loud in my heart]

"Our prime object should be to induce the sinner to obey [repent] God." - Finney

"NO DOUBT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS ARE NOW IN HELL, BECAUSE THERE WERE THOSE AROUND THEM WHO GAVE THEM FALSE COMFORT........... that they would not let sinners remain in anxiety till they had submitted their hearts, to God.......” - Finney
[Sinners, the lost, being anxious about their lostness is GOOD, it will prayerfully bring them to repentance. Don’t give them false hope and comfort, if they are lost.]

"SINNERS OUGHT TO BE MADE TO FEEL THAT THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO, AND THAT IS, TO REPENT; THAT IT IS SOMETHING WHICH NO OTHER BEING CAN DO FOR THEM, NEITHER GOD NOR MAN; AND SOMETHING WHICH THEY CAN DO, AND DO NOW. Religion [Christianity] is something to do, not something to wait for. And they must do it now, or they are in danger of eternal death." - Finney

[From LOSTNESS to Salvation is something each of us must INDIVIDUALLY, i.e., make that decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I can pray and witness to a person, BUT I can’t accept Christ for that person. THEY MUST DO THAT THEIRSELF.]

"It must be in the language of common life.......in the New Testament you will observe that Jesus Christ invariably uses words of the most common kind. The language of the Gospel is the plainest, simplest, and most easily understood of any language in the world." - Finney
[Make sure that the Gospel is communicated in a language that the LOST person can understand, don’t use fancy theological terms that they don’t understand. When I got saved many years ago in 1975 I didn’t understand any of the “Christian Lingo” so I used the terms I knew, which weren’t many! As a new born Christian, I would tell people I was a “Jesus Freak”, it was the term I understood and that represented the Christians of my day.]

"There are more lost people alive today than ever before in history. And we have less time than ever to reach them. HOW CAN WE SIT BACK? Doesn't it trouble us that there are one billion souls who have never heard the name of Jesus? Doesn't this move us to action?
- Dr. Michael Brown

There are more than 12,000 distinct people groups without a native church. Out of the 6,100 languages spoken today, OVER HALF OF THEM DO NOT HAVE EVEN I VERSE OF THE BIBLE, AND NOT EVEN ONE TENTH OF THEM HAVE A COMPLETE NEW TESTAMENT. Earth's population grows by over a quarter of a million human beings every day. JESUS BLED FOR EACH OF THEM. What in the world are we waiting for?"
- Dr. Michael L. Brown

What are we waiting for?! There are many lost! Let’s do our part to bring them to Christ by our witness and prayer. Have a Jesus blessed week! Jim (BibleFood@aol.com)