The Son of Man Came to Seek the Lost (Luke 19:10)

Gospel of Luke chapter 19. Again, I'll say the same. We appreciate the hospitality of our beloved brethren and sisters here in the Assembly in Stout.

Indeed, they've made this weekend a very enjoyable time, and our brethren have made it profitable, too. I wish us to go away with appreciation in our hearts. Thanksgiving for the fellowship of the saints.

And most of all, it would be a great blessing if this night were to be crowned, as it were, with your salvation. It would be a wonderful way to end the conference, for one to be trusting Christ as their Savior. I just want to read with you one verse in Luke chapter 19.

I hardly have to have you turn your Bible to it, because I'm sure you know it. Luke 19 and verse 10. Here's the end of the story having to do with Zacchaeus.

And we read these words, For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Notice that verse again, The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. You could hardly put it any more simply than that, could you? Gospel could hardly be expressed in more simple terminology.

The Son of Man, God's Son, came into this world with one great purpose, to seek and to save that which was lost. I want to look at it this way. I want to speak to you about the lost, and then we'll think about the seeking, and then we'll think about who it was that came to seek, the Son of Man, and then what he came to do to save.

That's the conclusion of it all, because the whole purpose of the Son of Man coming was for that great result to be realized, for you to be saved, and to know your sins forgiven, and be sure of heaven, and have no question or doubt that your soul is secure for eternity. This is a verse that really should ring true in every heart, and perhaps you've read it many, many times, and like I had, you memorized it, and you knew the truth of it, perhaps in some measure, but have you ever taken it to yourself personally? Because the Word of God never gives us any blessing, never results in any good, unless we realize God is using that to speak to us. He's speaking to me, and he intends you to receive it as it were, just directly for you, and as if nobody else were in this world whatsoever.

There are certain conditions sometimes attached to certain things that men can receive in this world. Suppose, for example, you were to see a notice as posted that certain people that have worked in a certain place at a certain period of time, that they're entitled to a great amount of money because the lawsuit on their behalf has been settled against that company or that corporation for which they worked. It was dangerous conditions, something else that caused the result to be seen, and so you realize here's a notice that says if I worked at that place at a certain period of time between these years, and I was employed in a certain position, then I'm entitled to receive a great amount of money as a result of it.

There are certain qualifications. There are certain things that you had to meet to be able to receive that. It was not made available to everybody, but only that certain group of people.

And if you were the one to qualify, you'd say, I'm in a hurry to go and claim what is rightfully mine, and I want to receive it as soon as possible. Well, you say, is God's salvation limited? Is God's salvation restricted? Is it only for a small number of people, perhaps a little section over here, and all the rest of them are left out? I can tell you, in one sense it is, and another sense it isn't. In one sense it is because it's only for the lost.

Only those that are lost are the ones that can be saved. But then you ask yourself, does that include all the rest of them? No, Fred, I can tell you not, because all of us are lost, and we need God's salvation. All of us are perishing.

All of us are far from God. All of us are on the road that is leading downward toward eternal destruction. And whether you realize it or not, whether you've ever faced it or not, or whether you're willing to acknowledge it or not, it's still true, because the Word of God declares it, and God's sacred scriptures make it very clear.

You say, well, if everybody's lost, why should I worry? I'm just one of a great multitude of people. We're all going down the same way. We're all treading the same pathway.

Hey, I'm just one among millions. Not a big deal, huh? Well, now let me ask you, suppose you're in a boat, and you're floating down the Niagara River. You've probably been there, the Niagara Falls.

And you're going down the Niagara River. Beautiful time, beautiful day, enjoyable weather. Everything's going well, isn't it? And maybe there's a hundred other boats on that river at the same time, and you're all going the same way.

Taking down with the same stream, and the same force of the water is bringing you closer and closer to the falls. Who are you concerned about, the 99 or yourself? Are you concerned about all the rest of them? Are you concerned about, I'm the one that's in danger? I'm the one that's going to perish if my boat goes over those falls. And I need to be rescued.

I'm afraid there's so many people tonight. Perhaps you're one of them. You think only of the fact that I'm just one of a many.

I'm one of a great multitude of people. I'm no different from the rest of the people around me. And why should I be concerned? Friend, you should be concerned because you are the one that's perishing.

And it doesn't make any difference about all the rest. Because that won't help you one bit. It's not until you realize you qualify that you can be saved.

God offers salvation universally. God makes it possible that the work of Calvary is available to all men. My friend, only those that recognize in their hearts, in a deep way, in a genuine way, I need salvation.

I need to be saved. You say, well, what does this word mean to be lost? Well, most people think, well, it just means I can't find my mother. I don't know where I am.

I'm wandering around and I'm just not sure where my place is. I don't have my cell phone. I don't have GPS.

I don't have any other way. I don't have a map. I don't know where I'm going.

Well, no problem. I'll find my way sooner or later. That would be all right, perhaps, if that were the meaning of the word.

But that's not what the word means. If you want to think about yourself being lost, and perhaps you're wandering and you don't know where you're going. You don't know where you are.

Think of yourself being lost in a dense forest. Some would be to think about yourself out of a dense forest. You're watered off the pathway.

You don't have a way of knowing where you are. You don't know have any way of knowing direction. You don't have any way of sustaining yourself because you don't have water with you.

You don't have any food with you. And you know that in that forest, you can hear off in the distance the lions. I could feel the rumble of the bears in the thickets.

And you know that underground there's the poisonous snakes. And the air is full of venomous insects. You're lost.

You don't know where you are. But you're in danger. You're in real danger.

And that's where you are tonight, friend. You don't know where you are, perhaps. Maybe you do know where you are.

But I want to tell you, friend, you're in danger. And if you were in a situation like that, out lost in the dense woods with the dangerous animals around and not knowing how could be delivered and no cell phone and no way to contact anybody and no way to sustain your life, you're lost. And you're going to die sooner or later.

And you don't know when. I don't think you'd be one that would say, well, I'll just take my time and maybe somebody will find me or I'll find a way out. You would be in a hurry.

You'd be crying for help. You'd be listening for somebody shouting in the distance. You'd be doing anything possible to attract the attention of somebody that would somehow come to rescue and deliver you.

My friend, that's where you are tonight. You don't realize that you're in danger every day that you live. You know, there's only two people, two, I should say, two individuals.

One of them is an animal and one of them is a person that are spoken of as being lost in the New Testament. One is a sheep. In fact, all through the Bible, you'll find that the word lost is applied to sheep.

You know, a domestic sheep wandering away from the flock has no way to defend itself. You read about dogs getting into a flock of sheep and they can kill half of them, 30 or 40 of them in one night. They have no way to defend themselves.

Sheep have absolutely no defense and they have no directional sense. They never find their way back. They're lost and they're in danger.

Real danger. And in Luke chapter 15, it tells us about a sheep that was lost and the shepherd went until he found it. Thank God, that's a picture of salvation.

But it also tells us in the same chapter of a son that was lost and that son was in a far country. That son was far away from home and that son came to the confession in his own soul. If I stay where I am, I'm perishing with hunger.

He was not only lost to his father, not only far away from where he ought to be, but he knew he was going to die where he was. He was perishing. That's what the word means.

It tells us, friend, that those who are not saved are lost. I've told the story before. It's an old one.

It's a true story of a young man that was walking down the street. In the old country, he saw in the front window of a storefront a little sign that caught his eye. That sign says, everyone who is not already saved is already lost.

Lost. If you get a hold of the fact, friend, tonight that you're lost, you'd be in a hurry to be saved. It's people that don't realize they're lost that are casual about salvation.

It's people that don't realize that they could perish and be in eternity. I can tell you, friend, before this meeting is over, you could be in hell. Are you willing to continue in that condition? I wouldn't be.

And I can tell you, friend, if it ever gripped your soul that I'm in danger of losing my precious soul forever and forever and forever, you'd want to be saved tonight before you leave this meeting. It's not enough to know about salvation. It's not enough to think that I know the Bible.

I know the verses that they use to preach the gospel. It's not enough to think, friend, that if I know those verses, I can get saved whenever I want to. Someone told a preacher that.

He said, well, why not try it right now? Just give it a try and see if you can do it on your own terms in your own time. God's salvation is a work that he accomplishes. And I can tell you, friend, until you face the fact that you are lost, absolutely, terribly, eternally lost, you'll never be saved.

I think of souls today that didn't want to face the fact that they were lost and they're in hell, never coming back. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost, that which is lost. This man Zacchaeus was lost.

He was seeking the Savior, but the Lord was seeking him. It's always that way that works. And so we find these who were lost, they were perishing.

I want to try to get a grip on your heart, friend, tonight, that your attitude toward the gospel of thinking sometime, whatever it suits me, whatever I feel like it, then I'll go in for God's salvation. Just don't forget this. You're lost right now.

You don't have to wait to perish. You don't have to wait to be lost. But while you're lost now, there's still hope of being saved.

But it might not be in the future. Well, think of this. He came to seek, it says, and I want to tell you why.

It's because the lost don't seek on their own. It's God's volition. It's God's purpose.

God has taken the first move. He's the one that has done the work to seek. And we find that's true.

He came to seek from the very beginning. You say, how long is the Son of Man, how long has God been seeking the lost? I can tell you, friend, it's from the very beginning. When man sinned, the moment that man sinned in the garden, God was seeking him, seeking him.

Man was trying to hide from God, just like people do today. Ignoring the desire, the call of God, but they had to finally come out and face God because God was seeking them, seeking them. And he's still seeking sinners today.

You know, sometimes we read a notice. I see it on the internet now and then, or you see it in the news. Other sources that so-and-so is lost.

Might be a young girl, might be a child, might be a teenager, might be an older person that's wandered away. They say this person is lost. They need help to find them.

They're concerned because they know that they can't last and go on the way they are. They seek others to help them find them. Sometimes when people are lost, they use a dog, a bloodhound sometimes.

You know, a bloodhound has the ability to sniff the person's clothing. They can get on their track. They can follow them.

They follow them wherever that track goes. Might go this way, might go that way. They might stop for a while.

They might double back. Doesn't make a difference. That dog is going to chase that track as long as he's able.

And I want to tell you, friend, there's a bloodhound from heaven that's been on your track from the day you were born. God is seeking you. He began seeking you from the time you came into this world.

And every day of your life, every avenue of your behavior, every activity you've been engaged in, every direction you've been going, all your ways and all your different ideas and your opinions, he's all been following them. He's following them. You say, I don't like somebody following me.

I can tell you, if it was someone following you to do you evil, you wouldn't want them following you. But here's one that's following you to do you good. He wants to bring you blessing.

He knows your danger. He knows where you are. He knows where you're headed.

He knows what could happen at any moment. And he wants to rescue you, friend, before it's too late. You keep on going the same way and ignoring the fact that the being, the bloodhound is on your track.

I'm thankful. I'm thankful that he found me early. I'm thankful I heard his call.

I'm thankful I realized there's one who was seeking my soul and realized nothing but for my good and my salvation. I can tell you, friend, he'll seek you until it's too late. The time will come when he won't seek you anymore.

There's a time when the grace of God comes to an end. I think it's when you leave this world and you go out into eternity. Some people say, well, God is such a God of love.

He'll never put a child of his in eternity in hell. But I think I'm right. I agree with that.

He'll never put up one of his children in hell. My friend, you're not one of his children. And God's love and God's grace is extended to you right now, right in this meeting tonight.

The grace of God would seek to reach you and give you eternal blessing and deliverance and salvation, security and assurance. But my friend, you cross the line into eternity. There's no grace.

There's no love. There's no goodness. There's no hope.

God's salvation is for you in this life now. And so we have one of us seeking. What a genuine blessing it is.

It makes me marvel because I realize he's the only one that could come to seek. It required the son of man to come to seek and to save the lost. It wasn't some angel.

You'd never see an angel becoming a man to come to die for man's sins. You'd never see God providing the archangel Michael. To give salvation for your soul.

It required the son of man. The one who came into association with manhood. The one who was eternally God.

But he came in this world that he might seek you and come to seek me and bring us into the eternal blessing of salvation. And when I think of the one that came or the one that came to seek you and save you and who he was, it tells me how great is the interest of God in your salvation. If God would move heaven, as it were, to give a soul salvation through the work of Christ, what could you ask him to do more? How could you justify yourself when you stand before God and say, I know Christ died for sinners, but I wasn't willing to accept it.

He came to seek and to save the lost, but I wasn't willing to acknowledge it. The very son of God came. No trifling matter, no little thing.

Nothing to be ignorant about. That God moved heaven in his own time in his way to provide salvation for you tonight. The costly matter shows a divine interest in your soul salvation.

Man goes casually on day by day, hands in your pockets, wandering down the pathway of life. Not a big deal, is it? I can tell you it's a big deal to God. It costs God everything to provide salvation for you.

God sent his eternal son in this world by way of incarnation, a unique birth, a special way of coming to guard his perfection, guard him as a perfect one that could go to the cross and endure the judgment of sin. He came, friend, that he might not only seek you, but he came to save and what a cost he paid. The one that came, the one who came from heaven, the son of man.

Think again of me, of a person that's wandering in a dangerous wilderness. If anyone is going to seek such a person, they have to go to where they are. They have to go in the environment where they're found.

Same danger, experience the same thing. There he goes into the wilderness, he's calling. He's shouting at the top of his lungs, seeking to reach the attention of a person that's out there in danger.

Listen, friend, the son of man came into this dangerous, evil, vile, violent environment, sinful as it is. And he came just where you and I are in our sin and our need. And he came so that he might seek you.

I'll tell you, it's a wonderful thing to me. I think the holy, pure, spotless, sinless son of man would come into this vile, sinful world and all of its contaminated environment, knowing that he was going to be hated and refused and rejected and treated in such a way. I'll be nailed to the cross.

And he did it so far to show the love of God to provide a deliverance for your soul. A man goes by and he says, nothing to me. I tell you, friends, everything to God.

God moved heaven, as it were, moved heaven and earth to provide salvation for one precious soul, your soul, your soul, individually, personally. Took all the name in there. The son of man came to seek me.

He came to seek you. They lose their lives just to try to rescue someone. The word of God, great work, a work that cost him everything to provide salvation.

Rescue operations cost a great deal. In the meetings we just had here, I referred to the rescue of those 33 miners in that mine down in Chile, half a mile under the ground. No way of escape.

There they were. They were lost. They're perishing.

If no one saved them, it cost $20 million to save 33 men. And maybe you ask yourself, was it really worth it? It was worth every penny to those men that were saved. It was worth every penny to the families of those men that were rescued.

Tremendous cost, but I could tell you, friend, the cost to rescue your soul, the cost to redeem your soul from your sins and give you eternal salvation, cost a lot more than that. You can't put a price on the suffering of Christ. You can't possibly measure all that he endured.

You can't possibly estimate the value of what it meant for him to shed his own precious blood, to bear our sins at that place called Calvary, and to endure the judgment that should have fallen upon us. You can't measure it. It goes far beyond our ability.

I can't grasp it. I can't understand it. The Son of God would love me and give himself for me is more than I can understand.

I thank God every day that there's one who was willing to go and die in my stead so that a soul so unworthy might live. He went all the way to Calvary, friend. He endured the suffering that men heaped upon him.

That's what we can understand. That's what we can appreciate. We can understand nails driven in his hands and his feet, and all the other abuse that he received from the hands of men, crown of thorns upon his blessed head.

I think of my blessed Savior enduring all of that. But when it comes to what he endured from God's hand, the judgment of sin that came down upon him and his crushing load, I can't understand it. I can only say thank God he endured it all for me.

It's all because of my sins that he endured such judgment at Calvary. I say thank God for one who was willing to pay the bitter price to redeem my soul. Friend, it's the Son of God, the Son of Man, who came, came into a world of careless sinners, a world of callous sinners, a world of indifferent sinners, a world of those who ignore the claims of God upon them, a sin, a world of lost sinners.

Friend, that's where you are tonight. You're in a dangerous wilderness, and it's only a matter of time, and you'll be lost forever if you're not saved. Only God knows when that day will come.

Friend, your days are numbered, and you don't know the number. It's a hidden number, but I want to tell you, friend, if you knew your days were very limited, I believe you'd be in a hurry to be saved. I can tell you right now, your days are limited.

You just don't know how many. Thank God for this verse, the Son of Man, the greatness of this person has come. Once he came, and he came and he did the work to seek and to save that which is lost.

Friend, I ask you tonight, are you lost? I know you are. If you're not saved, you're lost. But do you know you're lost? Do you know you're lost? Does it trouble you that you're lost? Better to find out you're lost now than to find out you're lost for eternity when it's too late.

Seek the Savior. He's seeking you. Let's pray.

Our Father, our gracious God, we are thankful to Thee that once again we can seek to warn souls that might flee from the wrath to come. We know that in the minds of most people, they don't believe there is wrath to come. They don't believe there is a judgment ahead.

They don't believe that time is short. They don't believe that they need to be saved now. We tremble, oh God, to think of those that are thinking in their own minds that someday I'll be saved.

But not now, not today. Give me just a little longer. And sadly, tomorrow never comes.

Lord, we pray Thy blessing. Only Thou art able to use Thy word to speak to souls as is so necessary that they might be convicted personally. As they truly indeed are lost, they're perishing.

And without a Savior, they'll be lost forever. Grant Thy blessing, we pray, and the salvation of some precious soul, we ask as we give thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.