Focus: Heart for the Unsaved!

Text. Lk.15:2

"This man receiveth sinners."

The Lord Jesus Christ was accused of being welcoming to sinners, and for me, that's a good accusation.

The unsaved long to know Christ and be saved, but a lot of us are very unwelcoming to them. The psalmist says, "I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul" (Ps.142:4). A lot of us do not care for the lost. We have lost our moral bearings when it comes to caring and loving the lost, and doing everything in our power to lead them to Christ.

We tend to forget that we were once sinners before Christ saved us, and I believe we will do well to remember that 'every sinner has a future' as 'every saint has a past.'

Jesus says, "But he answered and said, I am not SENT but unto the LOST sheep of the house of Israel… For the Son of man is come to SAVE that which was LOST" (Mt.15:24; 18:11). Jesus Christ was passionate about saving the lost souls. He committed Himself wholly to it even to the extent of dying on the cross. 

Paul too was after souls. He says, "For the love of Christ constraineth us…Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2Cor.5:14,20). He says again, "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1Cor.9:22). Paul had intense passion for souls, and he did everything possible to win them. He made sacrifices and put his life on line for them. He says concerning his fellow Jews, "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom.9:3).

Emil Bruner clearly said a long time ago that "the church exists by mission as fire exists by burning," and he got it right. 

The mission of every Christian is to win souls, and no other assignment on earth can replace it.

Christ Himself says to us, "Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" (Lk.14:23). Paul says, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2Cor.5:11). Compel them. Persuade them. Plead with them. Pray for them. Fast on their behalf, if you have to. Feel for their souls. Make earnest effort. Love them and take steps of faith to reach them. Care about their eternal destiny. Have a heart for the unsaved. 

Win as many as possible in your lifetime. Snatch them from the fire of hell. God has given you grace and wisdom for souls. Touch their lives through your godly lifestyle and your witness for Christ.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter