Profile of the Lost

Thank you, Gavin, for leading our songs this morning, and thank you for being here today. We’re happy to have everyone, especially our visitors, on this Memorial Day weekend. We’re glad you came our way. And we’re very thankful that we have the opportunity now to study from God’s Holy Word.

We’re going to start this morning with Luke chapter 19 and verses 9 and 10. Luke chapter 19, verses 9 and 10. Maybe you’re familiar with the context of these verses. It is the story of Zacchaeus. And if you’ve ever been in a children’s class, maybe you’ve heard the song, Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. Such a wonderful song to teach our children, and also to reflect our children.

And that’s what God wants us to do with our lives. And at the end of that story, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. And Jesus came through and told him, I’m going to your house today, Zacchaeus. And at the end of that story, Zacchaeus, who had been a tax collector and had defrauded many people of money, said that he was going to repent, give that money back, and that he was going to do better. And that’s what God wants us to do with our lives.

In this story, Jesus said to Zacchaeus, Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Zacchaeus had been lost, the implication is. And there are others in this world who are lost and in need of the Gospel.

And so from this story of Zacchaeus, when Jesus says He’s come to seek and to save the lost, we ask ourselves, what is involved in seeking and saving the lost? This morning, we want to put together a profile of the lost, and we’re going to do that based upon a historical incident, a true story, the story of the rescue of Elizabeth Smart.

Elizabeth Smart was lost on June the 5th, 2002, when an intruder came into her home and kidnapped her from her very room. Amazingly, nine months later, on March the 12th, 2003, she was rescued. The news media analyzed this story in great detail. And in doing so, they gave us a blueprint for rescuing the lost.

Let’s look at a few of the things that we’ve learned from this and apply them to our opportunity to seek and to save the lost today. To rescue the lost, first of all, one must recognize that the lost are lost. In the case of Elizabeth Smart, from a period of two hours, the parents did not know that she was lost.

She shared a bedroom with a younger sibling, and the sibling who witnessed the abduction waited for two hours. She was in such terror, I suppose, before she worked up the courage to go tell her parents. And for that period of time, the parents did not know that their daughter, Elizabeth, was lost. They did not recognize that the lost was lost.

Today, we need to recognize that there are lost souls around us in this world. In Luke 5, verses 31 and 32, Jesus answering said unto them, “…They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

And when we think about what Jesus says here, we recognize that there are those around us who need repentance, We need the physician, the great physician, Jesus Christ, who has come to seek and to save the lost. But we need to know how to recognize the lost, that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save.

Matthew 18 and verse 11. In the case of Elizabeth Smart, they created these posters and they put them out everywhere. Please find me. Have you seen this girl? Included her name, her age, her height, her weight, her clothing, all of these details that one needs to know to recognize the lost so that they can be found.

In the case of lost souls, we need to know how to identify the lost. And there are two classes of lost. Those who have never been saved and those who have drifted back into being lost. Jesus said this in Mark chapter 16, verses 15 and 16, regarded those who needed to be saved.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And so we have these marching orders in reference to those who have never been saved but need forgiveness.

To go out to them, to preach the gospel to them, so that they may believe and be baptized. Because that’s how salvation comes to an individual. But then there are others who, having believed and have been baptized, drift back into being lost. Once again, we have this instruction in Galatians 6 and verse 1 to recognize them and bring them back.

Brethren, a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. And so we have instruction to restore those who have once again become lost after being saved.

And so some need to recognize that the lost are lost, and those who are lost also need to know that they are lost. You know, in the case of Elizabeth Smart, one of the most phenomenal things about the case was that Elizabeth eventually came to identify with her captor and not really realize that she was lost.

When the police came to her and asked her what her name was, she replied that her name was Augustine because she had been brainwashed by her victim or by her abductor. Others who fall into captivity sometimes experience what is called Stockholm Syndrome where they feel like they will be saved by remaining lost. It’s such a sad condition. The lost need to know that they are lost.

In the case of lost souls today, how many believe that they are saved, yet they are actually lost. The one talent man in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34 believed that he could be saved by staying lost and not doing the things that he needed to do.

Do we know that we are saved? Or do we just think we’re saved? That’s a question we need to ask ourselves and that we need to help others wrestle with as well. We can know that we are saved. According to the Scriptures, there must be some recognition, some recognition of the lost.

But then secondly, in this profile, one of the things that is noted is that there is someone who is responsible for the lost being lost. In the case of Elizabeth Smart, it was a man named Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee.

They came into Elizabeth’s Salt Lake City home and abducted her there. The man was a self-styled street preacher slash drifter, and he was recognized as dangerous to those who knew him, his step-sons and step-daughters. When we think about the spiritually lost, the Bible declares that sin Men and Satan are responsible for the abduction of lost souls. Peter describes Satan in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8 when he says, “…Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, in verse 16, Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants you are whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? We become the servants of those we obey. And if we obey sin and Satan, then we become His servants and become lost as a result, Just like Elizabeth was lost because she obeyed her captor. We need to listen to those who know who is responsible for the loss being lost. And in the case of Elizabeth Smart, some thought about the parents. Some thought about another man. Many thought that they knew who the abductor was, but it was Elizabeth’s sister, Mary Catherine Smart.

Who saw the abductor and identified Him. Police acknowledged her testimony, but they didn’t take it seriously enough. How about us? Do we take Jesus’ warnings seriously enough about those who are responsible for being lost? In John chapter 8 and verse 44, Jesus says regarding Satan that he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

There are those who, unfortunately, dabble with sin and with Satan and don’t take Jesus’ warnings seriously enough. And thereby, unwittingly, cooperate. We need to listen to Jesus. He knows the truth. He says to us in Matthew chapter 15 and verses 18 through 20, the truth about sin and the problems that are associated with it. He says, But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

These are the things which defile a man. Jesus knows who and what is responsible for one being lost. He tells us in Matthew 7, starting in verse 21, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Jesus tells us what we need to do, but so many refuse to listen to Him. Do we know who is responsible for the lost? When we think about the lost, we think about the reporting of the lost. And one of the ways to get the message out in the case of Elizabeth Smart was, Because America’s Most Wanted, that was something that the family used to get the news out about her being lost. Once there was a proper understanding of who caused Elizabeth Smart to be lost, then people could look for the right individuals.

In the case of lost souls, once we understand what causes people to be lost, then we can be on the lookout as well. We do not want to be ignorant of the ways that people become lost. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 11, he didn’t want Satan to get an advantage of us, And that we did not need to be ignorant of His devices. We needed to know these things. We need to know that there are false apostles out there, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. No marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore, it is no great thing if His ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose ends shall be according to their works, 2 Corinthians 11, 13-15. Yes, there was one who thought himself to be one of God’s workers, but he was actually a worker of Satan.

He was the one who became responsible for Elizabeth Smart being lost. How many in the religious world today will deceive others and cause them to be lost because they refuse to stand up for all the truth that is within the Scriptures? So many will be lost because of this. We need to report that the lost are lost. And that means getting the message out.

Ed and Lois Smart made flyers, they held news conferences, they told their friends anyone who would listen, they did everything they possibly could to get the message out to all. Today, we need to do the same. In Acts 8 and verse 4, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere, preaching the word.

Ring the message out is what we need to do to help to save the lost. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 16, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. We need to repeat the message again and again. The Smart family held news conferences twice a day for six months before Elizabeth was found.

The message was repeated on TV and on flyers, on the radio, anywhere they could get the message, they got it out. We must not think that repetition is a bad thing. Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1 and verses 12 through 15, Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth.

Yes, I think it meet or necessary, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.

Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance. Do we see the importance of repetition, repetition, repetition when it comes to saving the lost? Winston Churchill said this, Never give in. Never, never, never, never. And we must never give in when it comes to preaching the gospel to save lost souls.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. Fourth, someone must rescue the lost. In regard to Elizabeth Smart, Ed and Lois sought for her constantly. They did not merely leave it in the hands of others. They did what they could with what they had. And they engaged many others to search for her as well. Law enforcement.

Friends and family. Those who are first responders. Anyone and everyone who would get involved in the work of searching. They accepted their help. We also must be involved in the work of searching for lost souls. In Acts chapter 4, verse 20, the apostles said, “…we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” They thought so much of Jesus and His message and the need for the lost to be saved. They had to say something. When we love others, we will say something. God wants us to say something. Jesus said, And how think ye? If a man have a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine, which went not astray.

Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18, verses 12 through 14. How do we think about the lost? We need to train others to help us seek the lost. The parents educated their friends. They enlisted help to look for their daughters.

We also need to train individuals to seek and to save the lost. 2 Timothy 2, verse 2, Paul wrote, “…the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall also be able to teach others.”

This is the effort of reaching and teaching the lost. The more you have to seek, the better the chances are that the lost will be saved. In Matthew 9, verses 37 and 38, Jesus said, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.

But then finally, when the lost are found, there is great rejoicing. I remember the day that Elizabeth Smart was found. I know that some of you are too young to remember that day, but I remember that day. I was watching the news and I saw the joyful parents come out and Ed Smart stood there before the media in front of the microphones, raised his arms in triumph, and said how he was so He’s so very grateful that she was found. Don’t you know that God feels the same way when the lost are found? Jesus said, Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Luke chapter 15, verse 7.

And it was meet or suitable that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. Luke 15, verse 32. God is just waiting for the lost to be found.

And when they are found, He rejoices just as much and even more than Ed Smart rejoiced when Elizabeth was found. We have a great challenge before us to seek and to save the lost. Elizabeth today is an adult And she tours the country in speaking engagements and telling people how they can find the lost because this continues to be an ongoing issue in our society today.

Even now, there are those who are being kidnapped, being taken advantage of, being used for ill purposes, and they need to be rescued. But what a great tragedy it would be if those who are rescued in this life were rescued only to be lost for all eternity.

Can you imagine being in the same place of punishment for eternity as those who captured you, kidnapped you, and did unspeakable things to you? What a horrible, horrible existence that would be. But that’s exactly where many will find themselves one day.

They say, what are we doing to rescue the lost so that they don’t have to spend an eternity away from God the Father? Let’s get out and preach the gospel message. Let’s let others know that they need to hear the Word of God.

Believe it. Repent of their sins. Confess Jesus as Christ and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins so that they can be rescued, that they can be saved, that they no longer need to be lost. Let’s get out and find those individuals who have turned away from the Lord and bring them back. Rescue the lost.

Let’s get involved in this great work of seeking and saving the lost. It is what our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do today. Perhaps you are lost. This morning, you can do something about that. You can come to Jesus and be saved and no longer be lost. What a great day that would be!

What a wonderful time of rejoicing we would have because you have come back to the one who loves you and cares for you more deeply and more significantly than anyone else in this whole world. What a reunion. What a joyful time. Why not respond to the Lord’s invitation now while we stand and sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!