Let me ask you a question, friend.
Are you saved?
Are you?
Then let me ask you this.
Have you ever been lost?
How do you know you're saved if you've
never been lost?
Modern evangelism has omitted and ignored the connection
which Jesus taught between a lost sinner and
his need of repentance.
In the Gospel of Luke, we have ample
illustrations of these two truths as Jesus time
and time again taught his men the path
to eternal life.
There are two verses found in Luke's Gospel
that describe both Christ's purpose in salvation and
man's duty regarding it, and they are like
two mighty door hinges upon which the way
of salvation opens and closes.
These verses are Luke 5.32 and Luke
19.10. Let us read these one by
one.
Here now is the word of God and
may the Spirit of the Lord attend the
reading of his holy word.
Luke 5.32 declares, I came not to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
And Luke 19.10 states, For the Son
of Man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost.
Jesus is looking for lost sinners who need
to repent.
This is better illustrated by his parables in
Luke chapter 15 about the lost sheep, the
lost coin, and the lost son.
The man who lost his sheep said, Rejoice
with me, for I found my sheep which
was lost.
And the key to understanding this is found
in Luke 15.7 where Jesus states, I
say unto you that likewise joy shall be
in heaven over one sinner that repented more
than over ninety and nine just persons which
need no repentance.
Then Jesus speaks a parable about a woman
in a lost coin where she loses a
silver coin and sweeps the whole house looking
for it, and when she finds it she
exclaims, Rejoice with me, for I have found
the peace which I had lost.
And I notice Christ's observation, Likewise I say
unto you there is joy in the presence
of angels, of God over one sinner that
repenteth.
The emphasis in these parables is on the
words lost and repentance.
Then Jesus relates the parable about the lost
son who took his inheritance and squandered it
and riotous living until he was forced to
attach himself to a man who had some
swine.
And he fed those swine and ate of
their husks.
And we see this prodigal finally come to
his senses and he returns to his father's
house.
And when he sees his father he says,
Father I have sinned against heaven and in
thy sight and am no more worthy to
be called thy son.
We see here how the relationship is restored
once repentance is exercised.
And in Luke chapter 13 we find a
call to repentance by our Lord.
In 13.3 we read, I tell you
nay but except you repent ye shall all
likewise perish.
And that applies to the famous lost seminary
professor who claimed that repentance was not necessary
for salvation.
It applies to the chairman of the deacon
who has never exercised repentance.
It applies to all baptized church members who
rest upon an empty religious profession by being
strangers to repentance.
Friend have you ever been a lost sinner
seeking a savior from sin?
Have you ever felt your need of a
remedy for sin in the person of Christ
Jesus?
If you merely walked an aisle and accepted
Jesus as your personal savior chances are you've
missed repentance.
And if you miss repentance you miss faith.
Because in Acts 20.21 we read how
the apostle Paul preached the gospel testifying both
to the Jews and also to the Greeks
repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Like I said friends if you miss repentance
you miss faith.
And if you miss faith you miss Jesus
and end up with a false profession that
will eventually send you to devil's hell.
Repent before it's too late.