“He said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”’
Matthew 9:12-13
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He left His disciples with instructions about going into the world to preach the Gospel. They were supposed to preach the Gospel to every creature, to every human being, whether king or beggar in the street. They were to preach the good news to everyone, all the lost. So what is the good news? It is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Jesus came to bring Grace and Truth to this world of darkness (John 1:17), bringing salvation, but we must have the faith to obey God’s terms of salvation. We are commanded to strive to live by the perfect Law of liberty, and that includes evangelism. We are to repent and seek God’s forgiveness and keep being faithful to Him until the end (1 John 1:7-9; Phil. 3:12-14). Those who have not yet obeyed the Gospel must obey the Gospel to become God’s children. That is, they must bury the old man of sin and wash their sins away in the waters of baptism, for one must die to rise into newness of life (Romans 6).
After we obey the Gospel, we must share and teach it to the lost, for it is God’s command! He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not obey will be condemned (Mark 16:15-16). This boils down to how we treat the lost in this world. Are we treating them like Jesus did? Are we treating them like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did? Why not stop and think about it, for you will be judged? Are we more like Simon the Pharisee or God the Father? Do you suppose the Pharisee of Luke 15 would have welcomed or received the prodigal son as his father did? What would have happened had you and I been on the front porch to receive this prodigal son? Would we show compassion toward the one who has repented or show indignation? Why is it that unbelievers treat others better than we who are Christians? There must be something wrong! We must imitate Christ and treat the lost like friends and not enemies as our heavenly Father would do. We must make sacrifices to give the lost a chance to hear the good news, the Gospel of our Lord and Savior!
The Gospel is the power of God to save men that they may turn away from their evil ways to God for direction and guidance. God saves men by the preaching of the Gospel of salvation. It is the only WAY that Jesus is going to heal the sin-sick soul that is dying. The Gospel is given into our hands to teach it to all men that they might be saved from their sins. Every day people are dying unprepared for eternity! God has already provided all the means and the Message to save the souls of men, and we must bring the two together (John 3:16; Romans 1:16). Can we expect to find favor before God with the blood of the lost on our hands (Acts 20:26-27)? Is there any other way of hope for a dying world? What is the condition of the lost without Christ? Is there any other place where the lost can turn to? For that reason, we must carry God’s precious Message and guide the erring back to Him. There are so many lost souls in this world in need of the Gospel to save them. Look up and see how the fields are already white for harvest! (John 4:35). We must lift up our eyes and notice them and approach them the way Jesus wants us to. The opportunities to teach the lost the Gospel are abundant! So let us not slip back into our comfort zones, but let us move forward with to seek and find these lost souls. So we must pray to God to lead us to a lost soul in need of the Gospel!
The Grace of God and the Gospel go hand in hand. In Acts 11:14, Peter spoke to the Gentiles words by which they were saved (cf. 10:33-48). In Acts 20:24, 32, we read that the Grace of God is manifested to all men through the instruction or teaching made possible only through the "Gospel." Paul's ministry was to testify about the Gospel of Grace (Acts 20:24, 32). The apostles ordained by God carried out this commission that began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) where 3,000 souls obeyed the Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 2:37-41). The apostles preached the Gospel not only in Jerusalem but all Judea, Samaria and to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8). All the cases of conversion in the book of Acts show the efficacy of the Gospel. Today as well, we are saved by the Grace of God when we obey the Gospel. It is only by the Gospel that we learn how to please God. Obeying the Gospel of the Grace of God demands that we fulfill the terms of salvation found in the Gospel. To be saved by faith is to attain the mercy of God by obedience to the Gospel of Grace. All this has been possible through the blood and cruel death of Chris (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Salvation by faith in Jesus is founded on the Word of God (Romans 10:17) that leads the sinner to obey the Gospel of Christ (2 Thess. 1:8). There is no justification without obedience to Christ, which is obedience to His Gospel.
Therefore, we must share the Gospel with the lost. God has commanded us to do so (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-2; 1 Peter 3:15). We must share the Gospel with the lost, for it is the power of God to salvation (Rom. 1:16). We must share the Gospel with the lost, for by doing this, we show the lost that we love their souls and don’t want them to be separated from God eternally (Col. 1:28). We must share the Gospel with the lost because we have compassion for them and don’t want them to perish. When the Gospel is taught and is believed and obeyed, it is God’s power to save and transform men. Men like Saul of Tarsus, the worst sinner of our day, and even people like you and me! We must pray fervently to God that He might send us to those who are diligently seeking Him and want to turn away from the wicked way. I was one of those souls who was found when I was diligently seeking God! I was taught the Gospel by someone who reached out to me. We must pray for God’s help that we may find these precious souls, for they are desperately waiting for us to teach them the good news! We must pray to God to use us in whatever way He can to lead us to a lost soul that he might be saved through the Gospel of Christ. Paul instructed Timothy saying,
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).
That harmonizes with the Great Commission as recorded by Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus wants Christians to teach people everywhere about their need to obey the Gospel to become children of God and be saved. But to teach others the Gospel, we must personally study the Scriptures so that we may teach others (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:15-17). It is the responsibility of every member of the Lord’s church, for God will judge us on that final day! The Great Commission begins with the Word, the Gospel. God never said to wait for the lost to come to you, for He has commanded us to go to them. There is no need for fear or intimidation, for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). When Jesus sent the apostles, He assured them saying,
“Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
There is a beloved hymn that’s called, “You Never Mentioned Him to Me.” This moving song stresses the consequences of not speaking to warn the wicked. The song should move us to teach the lost! The words stress our need to get busy in the Lord’s work of sharing the Gospel with the lost, for there is a coming day of judgment when before the bar, we will stand. "The bar" is often-used poetically to refer to judgment, that we must all face (Rom. 14:10). And though we know that many will be lost, we still must teach the Gospel so that no one on that day will be able to say to us, “You never mentioned Him to me,” and then go into the everlasting fire (Matt. 25:41). Therefore, we must help others prepare for judgment so that they will not hear those words, "Depart from me” (Matt. 7:21-23). The Gospel can guide the lost to Christ (Acts 11:14). Hence, each Christian must mention Christ and what He did to redeem us. We must labor in sharing the Gospel so that none may say on that final day of judgment, "You Never Mentioned Him to Me."
What will we do? How will we feel, if at the day of judgment, some lost soul should cry in deep despair, “You never mentioned Him to me?!” If on judgment day, we find ourselves having not obeyed the Great Commission, having not tried to teach lost souls the Gospel of salvation, what do you suppose our Lord will say to us? If you know the lost need to hear and be taught the Gospel, have you mentioned Him to them? God is interested in our souls and the souls of our families as well. So we must open our eyes and see the harvest! The harvest is plenty, and there is much labor to do!
“You Never Mentioned Him to Me”
When in the better land before the bar we stand,
How deeply grieved our souls may (will) be,
If any lost one there should cry in deep despair,
"You never mentioned Him to me."
O let us spread the word where’er it may be heard,
Help groping souls the light to see,
That yonder none may say, ‘You showed me not the way,
"You never mentioned Him to me."
A few sweet words may guide a lost one to His side,
Or turn sad eyes on Calvary;
So work as days go by, that yonder none may cry,
"You never mentioned Him to me."
The chorus,
"You never mentioned Him to me; You helped me not the light to see."
"You met me day by day and knew I was astray, Yet never mentioned Him to me."
May we understand that the Great Physician is here among us, to heal those who are woefully ill, that our great Shepherd seeks those who are lost and gently restores them to the flock. And so we should approach those He brings into our path in the same graceful manner as He did with gentleness, humility and a servant's heart.
Luci
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