The beginning of a new year brings many thoughts to mind. It is quite natural to think of personal goals and the aspiration of a better life as the new year unfolds.
However, there is one thing infinitely more important than any measure of temporal prosperity the new year has to offer. Jesus sums it up with these powerful words. He says: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
Clearly, Jesus teaches the soul can be lost in eternity. Lost--how fearful the thought. To be lost is to die with no hope. Those who die lost will open their eyes in a place of outer darkness. This place is outside the presence of God. There is no light there and it follows there are no personal relationships there. In that hopeless place the morning never comes to brighten the soul. The day never comes, rather those who perish from the presence of the Lord must endure the darkness of an eternal night.
What would a man give in exchange for his soul? I assure you those who even now are engulfed in the torments of everlasting punishment would give the whole world but for one more opportunity to repent and be saved by His marvelous grace.
I must hasten to tell you all men are by nature the children of wrath. Said another way, by virtue of the fall of Adam everyone comes into the world estranged from God and under the curse of the lost condition. We fell in our representative head—Adam.
Thus, by one man many were made sinners. The fall of Adam introduced a spiritual reality that exists in the heart of every subsequent member of the race. Each descendent of Adam is a sinner by nature. Indeed, as the prophet says so concisely, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).
I must say this kindly but hear me well: you are by nature a sinner. Like everyone else, your heart was estranged from God even from your mother’s womb. We all begin life with no spiritual life. We are alienated from God and go astray from our mother’s womb (Psalms 58:3).
The Bible says there is none good, no not one. We discover very early in life that although we may pursue the good most of the time, we nonetheless yield to the presence of indwelling sin in many ways. We are fallen and possess a nature incapable of meeting God’s standard of holiness. We are thus lost in Adam.
The Bible says all have sinned and all come short of the glory of God. Can you accept the truth your own heart confirms, namely that you are guilty in the sight of God and are most certainly lost? My friend, seeing your lost condition is the first step toward reconciliation with God. In fact, as this realization floods your soul please know the goodness of God is at work leading you to repentance.
While it is true all men are sinners and do not naturally seek the Lord, it is equally true the Lord seeks for us. The Bible says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
My friend, the Lord will deal with your heart. He will come seeking for you just as He did the first Adam. Upon disobeying the Lord, Adam and Eve attempted to hide themselves from the Lord among the trees of the garden. But the Bible says, “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9).
We are all just like Adam. We run from God in our fallen state but thank God He comes looking for us! The grace of God that brings salvation will appear to you in some season of your life. Said another way, the Spirit of God will deal with your heart and draw you to Christ.
As the famous hymn so aptly says:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see
Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
Be careful to listen my friend, lest you harden your heart and die unrepentant.
Despite the goodness of God who in grace pursues a lost world, many persist in a lost condition. Our world is characterized by the ungodly who war against God. Think about the universities of not just America, but the world. For the most part, God is pushed out of our so-called schools of higher learning while room is made for every fowl spirit bent on fostering rebellion against the knowledge of our Creator and Redeemer.
Indeed, ungodliness is finding expression amongst both the cultured and the barbaric. Nothing illustrates the lost condition any more than the cultured academic who articulates unbelief in his exalted place as a tenured professor at a leading university. His students for the most part turn out to be learned men who proceed to occupy prominent places in society from which they can live out a life of cultured rebellion against the knowledge of God.
Beware my friend, if your education has left you with no knowledge of God you are tragically lost. It is time to humble your heart before God and come to the knowledge of salvation through His Son. Such was the case with one of the greatest intellects the world has known. Following his dramatic conversion to Christ, Saul of Tarsus became known as the Apostle Paul. Once the grace of God opened his eyes to the knowledge of Christ and brought him to repentance, he wrote:
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Not only is our lost world characterized by the ungodly, but it suffers greatly from the problem of false spirituality. Millions of misguided souls are very zealous of their special brand of false spirituality. Our world is quite open to the deception spawned by the spirit of antichrist. Let me say this as clearly as I can: if you are involved in any kind of spirituality that refuses to confess that Jesus is the unique Son of God, God come in the person of the promised Messiah, then you are lost.
Conclusion
All the things we deem so important at the beginning of a new year seem of no consequence in comparison to preparing for eternity.
Now I must ask you, are you lost?
Lost. The word should send a shiver down the spine. Lost and all because of neglect, or unbelief, or self-will against God. My friend, if you persist in resisting the Holy Spirit one day you will be beyond the reach of God’s grace. Think about that.
This is without question life’s greatest tragedy. While there are many heartbreaking tragedies in this life, none of them compare to the fearful reality of a soul departing this life unprepared for eternity.
Remember, not one soul must go to the place called hell. And yet as the Son of God says, there will be few saved in comparison to the multitudes destined to face eternal separation from God.
I close with the story of a famous man who is rapidly approaching the end of this life unprepared to meet God. If I mentioned his name, everyone in this building would know him. He is fighting a battle with cancer and in a recent interview I listened with interest to see if he would acknowledge the Lord.
Instead, as far as death is concerned, he basically said he would deal with what comes when it happens. He shared no assurance about heaven and in reference to God his statement clearly indicated he did not know the Lord in a personal way. In fact, he could not speak about the Lord clearly at all. While he was not disrespectful his comments left me with the stark reality this man is about to take a leap into the dark. Clearly after almost 80 years on the planet and despite much learning, this man has successfully pushed God out of his thinking.
I am sure he has the idea that if there is a God somehow everything will work out alright. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My friends, there is a God. He is our Creator and in the person of his beloved Son, He is our Redeemer. Furthermore, He has commanded all men everywhere to repent. Those who fail to repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus will die in their sins. Jesus says clearly, that if you die in your sins, you cannot come where he is. Such souls are lost.
It is time for you to surrender your heart to Christ before it is everlastingly too late.
However, there is one thing infinitely more important than any measure of temporal prosperity the new year has to offer. Jesus sums it up with these powerful words. He says: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
Clearly, Jesus teaches the soul can be lost in eternity. Lost--how fearful the thought. To be lost is to die with no hope. Those who die lost will open their eyes in a place of outer darkness. This place is outside the presence of God. There is no light there and it follows there are no personal relationships there. In that hopeless place the morning never comes to brighten the soul. The day never comes, rather those who perish from the presence of the Lord must endure the darkness of an eternal night.
What would a man give in exchange for his soul? I assure you those who even now are engulfed in the torments of everlasting punishment would give the whole world but for one more opportunity to repent and be saved by His marvelous grace.
I must hasten to tell you all men are by nature the children of wrath. Said another way, by virtue of the fall of Adam everyone comes into the world estranged from God and under the curse of the lost condition. We fell in our representative head—Adam.
Thus, by one man many were made sinners. The fall of Adam introduced a spiritual reality that exists in the heart of every subsequent member of the race. Each descendent of Adam is a sinner by nature. Indeed, as the prophet says so concisely, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).
I must say this kindly but hear me well: you are by nature a sinner. Like everyone else, your heart was estranged from God even from your mother’s womb. We all begin life with no spiritual life. We are alienated from God and go astray from our mother’s womb (Psalms 58:3).
The Bible says there is none good, no not one. We discover very early in life that although we may pursue the good most of the time, we nonetheless yield to the presence of indwelling sin in many ways. We are fallen and possess a nature incapable of meeting God’s standard of holiness. We are thus lost in Adam.
The Bible says all have sinned and all come short of the glory of God. Can you accept the truth your own heart confirms, namely that you are guilty in the sight of God and are most certainly lost? My friend, seeing your lost condition is the first step toward reconciliation with God. In fact, as this realization floods your soul please know the goodness of God is at work leading you to repentance.
While it is true all men are sinners and do not naturally seek the Lord, it is equally true the Lord seeks for us. The Bible says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
My friend, the Lord will deal with your heart. He will come seeking for you just as He did the first Adam. Upon disobeying the Lord, Adam and Eve attempted to hide themselves from the Lord among the trees of the garden. But the Bible says, “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9).
We are all just like Adam. We run from God in our fallen state but thank God He comes looking for us! The grace of God that brings salvation will appear to you in some season of your life. Said another way, the Spirit of God will deal with your heart and draw you to Christ.
As the famous hymn so aptly says:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see
Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
Be careful to listen my friend, lest you harden your heart and die unrepentant.
Despite the goodness of God who in grace pursues a lost world, many persist in a lost condition. Our world is characterized by the ungodly who war against God. Think about the universities of not just America, but the world. For the most part, God is pushed out of our so-called schools of higher learning while room is made for every fowl spirit bent on fostering rebellion against the knowledge of our Creator and Redeemer.
Indeed, ungodliness is finding expression amongst both the cultured and the barbaric. Nothing illustrates the lost condition any more than the cultured academic who articulates unbelief in his exalted place as a tenured professor at a leading university. His students for the most part turn out to be learned men who proceed to occupy prominent places in society from which they can live out a life of cultured rebellion against the knowledge of God.
Beware my friend, if your education has left you with no knowledge of God you are tragically lost. It is time to humble your heart before God and come to the knowledge of salvation through His Son. Such was the case with one of the greatest intellects the world has known. Following his dramatic conversion to Christ, Saul of Tarsus became known as the Apostle Paul. Once the grace of God opened his eyes to the knowledge of Christ and brought him to repentance, he wrote:
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Not only is our lost world characterized by the ungodly, but it suffers greatly from the problem of false spirituality. Millions of misguided souls are very zealous of their special brand of false spirituality. Our world is quite open to the deception spawned by the spirit of antichrist. Let me say this as clearly as I can: if you are involved in any kind of spirituality that refuses to confess that Jesus is the unique Son of God, God come in the person of the promised Messiah, then you are lost.
Conclusion
All the things we deem so important at the beginning of a new year seem of no consequence in comparison to preparing for eternity.
Now I must ask you, are you lost?
Lost. The word should send a shiver down the spine. Lost and all because of neglect, or unbelief, or self-will against God. My friend, if you persist in resisting the Holy Spirit one day you will be beyond the reach of God’s grace. Think about that.
This is without question life’s greatest tragedy. While there are many heartbreaking tragedies in this life, none of them compare to the fearful reality of a soul departing this life unprepared for eternity.
Remember, not one soul must go to the place called hell. And yet as the Son of God says, there will be few saved in comparison to the multitudes destined to face eternal separation from God.
I close with the story of a famous man who is rapidly approaching the end of this life unprepared to meet God. If I mentioned his name, everyone in this building would know him. He is fighting a battle with cancer and in a recent interview I listened with interest to see if he would acknowledge the Lord.
Instead, as far as death is concerned, he basically said he would deal with what comes when it happens. He shared no assurance about heaven and in reference to God his statement clearly indicated he did not know the Lord in a personal way. In fact, he could not speak about the Lord clearly at all. While he was not disrespectful his comments left me with the stark reality this man is about to take a leap into the dark. Clearly after almost 80 years on the planet and despite much learning, this man has successfully pushed God out of his thinking.
I am sure he has the idea that if there is a God somehow everything will work out alright. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My friends, there is a God. He is our Creator and in the person of his beloved Son, He is our Redeemer. Furthermore, He has commanded all men everywhere to repent. Those who fail to repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus will die in their sins. Jesus says clearly, that if you die in your sins, you cannot come where he is. Such souls are lost.
It is time for you to surrender your heart to Christ before it is everlastingly too late.
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