All right, turn with me to Luke
19 this time. Luke 19. A dear brother of ours, we love
him so much, he lost his mother and they had a funeral for her
last week out west. and I talked to him on the phone,
and his family had asked him to speak, or actually they asked
him if he wanted to speak at the funeral, because his family
does not believe the true God of Scripture. And when his father died just
a few years ago, spoke at his father's funeral, and all of
his relatives hated the message he preached. They all hated the
God that he preached, the true God of Scripture. And they told
him that he was a false prophet at his own father's funeral.
And they persecuted him for the truth's sake. What a blessing. Our Lord said, blessed are ye
when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. He said, rejoice
because they did that to every single prophet that came before
you. Whether a man preaches or not,
if he comes to know who the true God of Scripture is, and if he
bows to that God, and if he loves and confesses that God, he is
going to be persecuted for Christ's sake, for the truth's sake. Well,
our brother's relatives, they ask him if he wanted to speak
at his mother's funeral. And he said, yes, I do. I do.
He did last week. But he said, I want you to know
up front that I am going to preach the true God of scripture. And so they told him, you can
have 10 minutes. They said 15 at most. So he told
me on the phone, I took 20. And he said, I said some things
about my mother, some things I loved, some loving things.
And then he said, I preached as clearly and as plainly who
Jesus Christ really is and what he has really done. He said,
I preached that as clearly as I could. And he said, after the
service, they asked all the pallbearers to go outside and wait while
they got the casket ready. He went with the other pallbearers,
and he said whenever he got up and walked outside, a girl cousin
of his, and he has a lot of family out there, he said he has 80
cousins, first cousins. I think there were 15 children
in his mother's family. He said a cousin, and he said
I hadn't seen most of them in 50 years. And he said, I got up and I walked
outside and this cousin of mine got up and followed me out, walking
straight up to me. And he said, I thought, well,
here we go. Here we go again. You know, here
it comes. I'm about to get the chewing
out of a lifetime right here at my father's mother's funeral.
And she walked up to him and she said, I don't know how to
tell you this. I don't know the words to use.
I'm not sure what to say, but I'm lost. She said, I'm lost. And she told him, she said, I
need what you just told me about. Can you believe it? This is what Brother Tom told
her. He said, if you know, standing
right there by the, you know, waiting on the casket, he told
her, he said, if you know that you're lost, he said, you are in the best
place you could possibly be. 4. He quoted a verse of scripture. Look at Luke 19 verse 10. He told her, you're in the best
place you can possibly be. Luke 19 verse 10, for the son
of man, and I can hear his voice saying it to her. For the son
of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Do you know what that makes me
want to be? Lost. I've never wanted to be
lost so badly in all my life. I want to be lost with her. Lost. Let me show you why. Go with
me where we just read over in Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 3, And he spake
this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until
he find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. God said, which
one of you doesn't do that? Did we just understood what he
said? The man had a hundred sheep. A hundred sheep. One of them became lost. The God who owns everything on
this earth. The cattle on a thousand hills
don't belong to Dickie. They belong to God, and he loans
them to Dickie. Okay, so the man owns 100 sheep.
One of them became lost. And what did that man do? He
left the 99, and he went after that one lost
sheep. That one lost sheep. And when he found it, he beat
the sheep. No! He laid it on his shoulders. And he carried it home rejoicing. And that poor, dumb, ignorant
sheep is sitting there riding his shoulders all the way home. When he made it all the way home,
he called all his friends and his neighbors saying, rejoice
with me, for I, he didn't say my sheep came back. He said,
I have found my sheep, which was lost. Lord, make me lost. I'm serious. Make me lost. I spend so much of my life in
a lukewarm state. He said, I would that you were
either hot or cold. I understand that if I'm going
to be one of the two, usually it's going to be cold. So Lord,
make me cold. Make me lost. Don't let me be indifferent to
this. If I'm without Christ, show me
that I'm lost. Show me. Because if I ever become truly
lost, I mean truly lost, Christ will come find me. He will. He will. He'll put me on his
shoulders and he'll carry me home if I ever become lost. You'll
carry me home. Verse 5, When he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing, and when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was
lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven, over one sinner that repenteth more
than over ninety and nine just persons which in their own mind
need no repentance and their own heart need no repentance. You know what that verse 7 right
there is saying? What our Lord is saying? Here's
what he's saying. I came not to call the righteous. I came not to call the righteous."
You know, well, they're just good church-going people. That's
wonderful. I would prefer to be around good
church-going people, really. But he said, I came not to call
the righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance. If I am going to be found, I've
got to be lost. I've got to be lost. If I'm going
to be found, I've got to be lost. Now, here's the question for
me tonight. Am I lost? Am I lost and how
lost am I? When Christ said, the son of
man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Did he mean
those who were just a little bit turned around for a minute?
You ever been a little bit turned around for a minute? It doesn't
happen much anymore because of GPS. But before the days of GPS,
we used to always get turned around for just a minute. Well,
where am I? The word lost means, in our concordance,
it means ruined and wasted. That's what the word lost means.
Ruined and wasted. What does it mean to be spiritually
lost? It means spiritually ruined and
wasted. Not just slightly damaged, ruined. I mean, it's just ruined. Not
barely salvageable, wasted. That's wasted. Totally wasted. Go with me over to Ephesians
2. Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ
said to Thomas, I am the way, didn't he? I am the way. Alright,
Ephesians 2 verse 12 says, that at that time you were without
Christ. That means without the way. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world." No hope and without God. That means lost. That's what
that means. Ruined. Wasted. No hope without God. On your own. hopelessly lost. Is that me? On my own, is that me? On my own, is that me? Have you
ever had anybody tell you, there's a little bit of good in everybody?
Have you ever actually had somebody say, you've heard that before,
but I've had people tell me that before. There's a little bit
of good in everybody. Now, I mean, let's take out the
word hopelessly. Sure, people get lost. Sometimes
they lose their way, you know, without God. In my flesh, in this world on
my own, am I hopelessly lost? Or is there something in the
back of my mind saying, you can do this. You can do this. Keep going. Keep going. You'll
work your way there. If that's the case, I'm not lost. Get lost in the woods. Two men
together in the woods. They got to be macho. Nobody's
going to give in first. So they keep going. Oh, we'll
get through this. It'll be all right. I ain't lost
yet. If that's the case, I'm not lost.
I'm not truly lost. Well, who is lost? Who is lost? Go with me over to John 6. John chapter 6, look at verse
44. Our Lord said, no man can come to me. And when he said
man, he means woman too. No man can come to the way. No man, zero people, no man. Why? He's lost. That's why. No man can come. He's lost. He's
ruined. He's wasted. It's because of
his sin. No man. Isaiah wrote, all we,
like sheep, have gone astray. Every single one of us. Outside
of Christ, every soul on this earth is completely lost. Every soul on this earth. Now,
here's the sad news for mankind. Here's the sad news for all of
mankind, people in every class, people in every situation, people
in the gutter, people in the pew, people everywhere. Here's
the sad news for all of them. They have no idea that they're
lost. They have no idea. People never realize it at first. Let's go for a hike. Okay. The path is great, but I wanted
to check out something over here. Oh, we're walking and we're talking.
just continuing on about our daily walk. You know, yeah, we
have a daily walk. You know, our business, we're
just going about our business. And they think they're fine.
Yeah. I still, I know I've veered a
little bit. I know, but the path is right
over there. I'm working my way back around.
That's what I'm doing. They think that they are in the
way. No matter what, I got it right there. I know where it
is. Turn with me over to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter two, look at verse
42. It says, and when our Lord was 12 years
old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned the child,
Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew
not of it. They had no idea. Verse 44, But
they supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's
journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. They were traveling through their
journey completely confident all the way that Christ was with
them. All the way. Ask any person in religion, ask
any person in religion, any person in any church, is Christ with you? Absolutely. What a dumb question. Are you
kidding me? I'm in a church. I am totally confident. So were they. So were they. But all of a sudden, they realized. God in mercy caused them all
of a sudden to realize something is missing. Something's missing. There was a dear man, Ed Ballard,
and that's what he used to say whenever he came out of religion.
He was sitting in religion, and he said, I don't know what I'm
supposed to be hearing, but I know I'm not hearing it. Something's
missing. Something's missing. There's
got to be more to this. Something is missing. Is He here? Wait a minute, wait a minute.
We got the organ? Check. We got the piano? Check.
We got the pulpit? Check. We have the preacher?
Check. We have the people? Check. Is
Christ here? Is Christ here? The whole time they were assuming. They just kept assuming. And
the whole time they were getting farther and farther away from
Him with every step they took, confident Christ is with us.
He's here somewhere. They were getting farther and
farther away from Him. But as soon as God in mercy caused
them to realize that I am separated, they went to their acquaintance.
They went, where is He? And they realized, I'm separated
from Him. Wait a minute. I am separated
from him. Verse 45, Luke 2, verse 45. When they found him not, they
turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. Some repentance
took place. Let's have a change of mind about
this thing. Seeking him. Verse 46 says, And
it came to pass that after three days they found him. If God will ever reveal to a
sinner that he's lost, he's lost. He's lost in his pride. He's
lost in his own self. He is lost in his sin. And if
God will ever reveal to him that doctrine won't, doctrine can't
show him the way. Doctrine doesn't lead a man to
Christ. Christ leads men to doctrine. Religion cannot show a man or
a woman away. It just cannot do it. You know
what I need? I just, I got to get in church. You know, we got
to get back in religion. We're going to go to an old time
singing tonight. We're going to, that's not what I need. It
won't lead me to Christ. It'll lead me to a bunch of pride
and it'll lead me to a bunch of self-righteousness and it'll
lead me to a bunch of things, but not to Christ, not to Christ. If God will ever reveal to me
that in my flesh, without the mercy and grace of Christ, I
am lost. If he ever reveals that to me,
what should I do? What should I do? That woman came up to Brother
Tom, and I'm sure that she was a very religious woman. He told
me that his whole family out there is extremely religious.
They're all very religious, very zealous. But she said, I'm lost. I'm lost. And here's what she
was asking him when she said that. Here's what she wanted
to know. What should I do? What should I do? There are three things. Three
things that a person should do if he or she realizes that he's
lost. Three things. Now, we don't want
to ever be cute. We don't want to ever be clever
when it comes to telling men and women the truth. But I want
to tell you this so that you can clearly see that God has
written his law on the conscience of man, on the heart of man.
And if man applies this to physical things, how wise would he be
to apply this to spiritual things? I got the answer off the internet.
I googled, what should I do if I'm lost? Three things. And this proves that God's word
is written on the conscience of man. When I googled that, the U.S.
Parks website, the National Forestry, the big, all, you know, the vast
parks, the U.S. Parks website came up. And they had the answer, you
know, to educate people, tell people the truth. We're going
to tell you the truth. According to them, if you ever
become lost, you should do three things. You should signal for help. Help. Help. You know what that means? That
means quit being macho and finally stop and admit, I'm lost. I'm lost. Admit it to yourself. Admit it
to God. I don't care how old you are,
I don't care how young you are, I don't care how religious you
are, I don't care how sinful you are. Every soul on this earth
must admit with David, I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin
is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Lord, I'm
a ruined, wasted, lost sinner. Turn with me to Psalm 119. Psalm
119. and look at verse 176 Psalm 119
verse 176 it says I have gone astray like a lost
sheep seek thy servant for I do not forget thy commandments I've
gone astray like a lost sheep. That's the first thing to do.
Signal for help. Lord, I need help. Help, Lord. I'm lost. Peter said, save me. I'm perishing. Here's the second thing. Second
thing they said to do. According to the U.S. Parks website,
If you realize that you're lost, find shelter. Find shelter. This is what it said. The best
place to be is in a cave or in an opening in the rocks. I'm going to go to that website
a lot more. Those people tell the truth. God told Moses, only place you
can see me and live is in the cleft of the rock. That's it. That's where I'm going to put
you, and once I do that, you're going to be safe. You'll be safe. That rock is Christ. David said,
in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me, he shall set me up
upon a rock. That secret place in the time
of trouble is Christ. That's what it is. You find shelter
as fast as you can. We sing a song that says, a wonderful
Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul
in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of his love and covers me there
with his hand. Find shelter. There's only one,
Jesus Christ. Cry out for help and seek shelter. Here's the third thing. If a
person ever realizes he's lost, this is what they said, stay
put. Don't move a muscle. Don't do
anything. Psalm 107 says, they go out into
deep waters to do great business. They go up, they go down, they
reel to and fro, they stagger like a drunken man, then they
cry unto the Lord and He delivers them out of their trouble. He
makes that raging storm a calm. Just cry out for help. Get in
the cleft of the rock and stay there. Stay there. Moses told the people stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. I'm lost. Sit still. Just sit still. Our Lord said
be still and know that I am God. Just sit still. Wait on the Lord. If you're lost, If God has revealed
to you that you're lost, you're in the best place you can possibly
be. For the Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. He will find you. He will
bring you. He will present you and say, None of them is lost. Of them which thou gavest me,
I have lost none. None of them were lost. They
were never lost. They are all going to be found
in Him. You know what? I'm lost. I want
to be lost right now. Come find me again, Lord. Carry
me home. Alright, let's stand together.