Will you ever give up on the Lost?

The Titanic was called an "unsinkable ship." There were those who said, "Not even God Himself could sink the Titanic." Man had come to the conclusion that he was in charge of his own destiny.

After the great ship sinks, only a portion of the passengers survive in lifeboats. One crewmember decides he can’t give up hope and goes on a desperate search, looking for the slightest sign of life in the cold, icy waters. As the lifeboat floats through the sea of dead bodies, the surviving passengers are overcome by agony and despair.

(Show video clip about rescue after the Titanic shiwreck)

What is your real spiritual condition? Are you sinking? Are you going down with the ship? Today I want to challenge you to know your true spiritual condition and to get into the lifeboat that God has provided for you.

2 Corinthians 6:2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. l tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

1. Our goal is to make sure that people are truly repented.

What is true repentance?

Think of a husband and wife in a car, the wife tells her husband to turn right at the next junction and by mistake, he turns left. When he realizes what he has done, he says to his wife “I’m sorry love, I went the wrong way.” But if that is all he does, it isn’t enough. His saying sorry isn’t getting them any closer to where they want to be; it isn’t even stopping them getting further away. To get where they want to be, he needs to stop the car, turn it around and go back on to the correct road that his wife told him to take in the first place. That is repentance.

Feeling remorse is not repentance. Judas Iscariot was remorseful for betraying Christ, but he didn't turn to God asking for forgiveness. He lacked repentance preferring to hang himself.

Repentance is not basically a religious word. Imagine that you were going through the desert guiding a group of people. You know that you are lost but you don’t want to admit it and keep going in circles. What is repentance in this situation?

1. You need to admit: I’m going in the wrong direction. That’s the first act of repentance.

2. The second act of repentance is to go in an alternate direction. It implies that you not only do this but you admit it to your companions.

REPENTANCE

Involves a change in the way we think and act. It results in a change in lifestyle. The normal New Testament use of this word involves a change from a sinful way of life to a way of life that honors God.

REMORSE

May accompany the admission of wrongdoing, but it can also be present when nothing wrong has been done. It focuses on the consequences or effects of one's actions on others, but does not necessarily imply that those consequences were caused by wrongdoing. (In 2 Corinthians 7:8-9, remorse is contrasted with gladness or joy.)

A change in one's actions can be associated with remorse - though this does not always occur. When it does, the biggest difference between the words "remorse" and "repentance" might be the emphasis. (The one would emphasize the sadness, while the other would emphasize the changes in conduct.) Repentance is the more permanent of the two. Remorse can be temporary. The absence of remorse can be quite permanent.

2. A LOST SHEEP – A LOST COIN

Luke 15:3-10 Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

How does the scene from Titanic relate to lost souls?

⇨What is heaven like? What is hell?

⇨In the Stories Jesus told in Luke 15, what happened when the lost were found?

⇨What was the point Jesus was trying to make in parables like Luke 15?

⇨Will it ever be to late for people to receive the gift of Salvation?

3. HOW TO WIN SOULS: WITENESSING

Revelation 12:11

They overcame him (the Devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Dr Bill Bright from “Campus Crusade for Christ” used to make these questions in order to help people to learn how to give a testimony:

1. What is the most important experience of your life?

• Answer: "Knowing Christ as my Savior is absolutely the most important experience in my life," is he inevitable answer.

2. What is the most important thing that you can do to help another person?

• Again, the answer is always the same: "Help him to know Christ."

To give our testimony we need to learn more the culture of the people you want to reach out to.

It is very important that we try to associate with non-Christians. In a multi-cultural community most Christians will be operating much like the Good Samaritan. He didn't wake up thinking "Today I will start a ministry to Jews". He was simply being sensitive to the people God brought across his path. Where do you normally meet non-Christians? At the corner shop? At the bank? At the café? In your neighborhood? At the petrol station? When you order pizza?

Open your eyes and see who God leads across your path today.

Be friend of non-Christians. Here are some suggestions to get you started in befriending non-Christians: Invite someone over for afternoon tea or for dinner; Give each other cooking lessons; Watch a video, game, movie together; Find out what hobby they enjoy and do it together; Do a loving action for them; Invite them to your parties. As you befriend people you will have many opportunities to learn about their specific culture. Then you need to create an interest in the Gospel. Your testimony can help to bring salvation to the people that listen to you.

How to Witness:

1. Before I received Christ, I lived and thought this way…

a. What were your attitudes, needs, problems, world view?

b. What did your life revolve around? What was most important to you?

c. How did you look for security, peace of mind, happiness?

d. What was your small god? How did you find your activities unsatisfying?

2. How I received Christ

a. When did you first hear the gospel? How? Or, when were you first exposed to dynamic Christianity?

b. What were your initial reactions to Jesus Christ?

c. When and why did you begin to feel positive about Christianity?

d. What was the turning point in your attitude? What mental barriers did you face?

3. After I received Christ, these changes took place

a. What changes did you see in your life, actions, attitudes, problems (use specific examples).

b. How long did it take before you noticed changes (be honest and realistic)?

4. (OPTIONAL) Memorize a pertinent or a favorite Verse:

a. What Bible verse do you think would challenge your hearers the most?

b. What Bible verse has helped you the most in life?

c. Please don't give the reference when speaking (most non-Christians do not know what a "Deuteronomy" is). You can introduce the quote with "The Bible says" or "Jesus said".

Conclusion

ILLUSTRATION by Theodore Wedel: On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little life-saving station.

The building was primitive, and there was just one boat, but the members of the life-saving station were committed and kept a constant watch over the sea. When a ship went down, they unselfishly went out day or night to save the lost. Because so many lives were saved by that station, it became famous. Consequently, many people wanted to join the station to give their time, talent, and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, new crews were recruited, a formal training session was offered. As the membership grew, some of the members became unhappy that the building was so primitive and the equipment outdated. They wanted a better place to welcome the survivors pulled from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged and newly decorated building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They met regularly and it was apparent how they loved one another. They hugged each other, and shared with one another the events of their lives. But fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions; so they hired lifeboat crews to do this for them. About this time, a large ship was wrecked off of the coast, and the hired crews brought into the life-saving station boatloads of cold, wet, dirty, sick, and half-drowned people. The beautiful meeting place became a place of chaos. The carpets got dirty. So the property committee immediately had a shower built outside the house where the victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside. At the next meeting there was rift in the membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities, for they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal fellowship of the members. Other members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all those people who would be shipwrecked, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. And that’s what they did. As the years passed, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a place to meet regularly for fellowship, and for special training sessions about their mission, but few went out to the drowning people. History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit that seacoast today, you will find many meeting places with ample parking and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.