Seeking the Lost

Introduction

Good morning. It’s wonderful to be with you here today and thankful for the elders inviting me to come to speak with you. We were in Florida to visit family in Tampa, and so it was a good opportunity for us to come over here this morning and to talk to you. This lesson will look for the first chart. There we go. All right. This lesson will be in two parts. First, we’re going to talk about the work in New York State, what we’re doing up there. And then after we’re done with that, the second part of the lesson will be talking about biblical principles of evangelism that we can find in the New Testament. And then we’ll close the lesson. Now, just to give you a history of my association with New York State, I’ve worked in New York State as an evangelist for over 20 years.

In the year 2000, my family traveled up to the area on vacation to visit some people that we knew up there. And the congregation up there in northern New York was only about five years old at the time. And so when we arrived at their house, there were a whole bunch of Christians from the area and in other places in New York and also brethren from Canada there to beg us to move to New York. At the time I was preaching in Kentucky. And so we thought about it and prayed about it a lot and decided that’s where we needed to go because the need was so great. And so I worked with a group there that met at Evans Mills, New York, near Fort Drum.

Preached there for about three or four years. And then there were a couple of people I baptized in the Syracuse area, which is in central New York. And so we moved down there and worked in that congregation for 16 years. And one of your members, Matt Floyd, and his brother Kevin were members there for a time. And so after working with that congregation, we moved back up to Northern New York or work with them for a while. We commuted. And then we decided to move to Florida. My wife, Lana, was offered a job at Florida College to be a professor in marketing and in business. And the plan was for me to preach in Florida, but that fell through at the last minute. And so the school invited me to work on the staff.

But after a couple of years, I missed the work.

The brethren up there wanted us to come back very badly. And so we are back up there again. And I want to thank you for supporting me in that work of spreading the gospel of the Northeast. Alana and I could not be there without your help and without the help of other congregations. And so we’re very grateful for that. And I know the brethren in New York are very grateful for your helping us in that as well. I want to introduce you to some of the brethren there and talk about the work. But before I do that, I want to show you a map of the area so you can kind of see where we’re where we are. See the blue star up there is where we are, and so it’s in the far north part of the state.

And as far as the uh closest congregations to us, uh Albany in driving time, let’s see, is right there, and so three hours to go to that congregation. Uh if you go south, there are two congregations there in South New Berlin and Sydney. So it takes about two and a half hours to drive there, and then a congregation over here in uh Canadega, uh Manchester, about two and a quarter hours. So those are the congregate closest congregations to us there. Uh if you count the on the other side of the border in Canada, there’s a group that meets there in Kingston. So after you cross through the border, it’s about uh about an hour and 20 minutes to to get there. So not a lot of congregations there, they’re all spread out.

But let me tell you, brethren travel that distance to go to gospel meetings to support other congregations. Brethren enjoy being together. And one thing about living in the Northeast, uh, you you learn to get along because if you get upset with brethren in a congregation, you can’t go to the other congregation in town. Uh you have to learn to get along together. And so uh I I think there’s a great atmosphere, I believe, among among the brethren up there. It’s very, very precious to us. Um we are the only congregation in what’s called the North Country, and this would be this area up here, and let me just show you some pictures of what it looks like. Now, just to the north of us, and also to the uh west are the Thousand Islands area, and uh the the St.

Lawrence River serves as the boundary between the U.S. and Canada there, and uh we we live about 30 minutes from the Canadian border, that’s how far north we are. Now, this is a popular tourist destination in the summer, and there are literally over a thousand islands in that in that area. Very beautiful. If you go directly to the east of us, there are the Andirondack Mountains. And so here’s a picture of Lana and uh the wonder dog Jake. They’re on on top of one of the mountains up there. Very beautiful country, and uh that scene is overlooking Lake Plasted in the background. So uh we’d love for you to come visit us and uh to come enjoy not only the the great scenery there, but also some special brethren there.

Uh this is where the church meets there. Um this is near the the main entrance to the Fort Drum Army Military Base, and it is on Highway 11, the main road going north there from the base. There’s the road out there on the left-hand side. Um here’s the front door of the of the church there, the church building. And uh there’s something very important in that picture, and that would be the snow shovel. We get a lot of snow up there, uh a lot of lake effect snow coming off of Lake Ontario. I read where that area uh gets about an average of 102 inches of snow a year, and I believe that to be a conservative estimate. Uh and there’s just a lot of snow, and you need more than a snow shovel most times.

You need to plow somebody to plow the the driveway there, the parking lot. The brethren had been renting a uh space in a small strip mall close to there, but because rent became too high, uh they decided to purchase a building. They found this building which somebody was trying to sell very cheap. It had been a uh associated with uh uh crematorium, it was like the uh what do you call that? A devotional area for that. Uh so they didn’t get much business, uh, they wanted to sell that really quick. The brethren uh purchased that very cheaply, and uh there are a lot of the brethren in the congregation who are good at doing carpentry work, and so they are uh devoting their time and energy to redoing the inside.

And as you can see, well, there’s the there’s near the the Fort Drum there near the uh Army base. Uh that road in that picture goes right in front of the church building just up the road there, and here is the sign within the army base as you go in. Uh this is what I was going to get to. The inside of the building there, it was terrible when when it was purchased, but uh, due to the talents of the members there, the men, they fixed that up really nicely there, and that’s the auditorium. Uh with the next picture, uh, I ask everybody to kind of move closer together. That’s the congregation there, and they know that uh their picture was being taken for your benefit, so you could see them.

And uh in that picture, there are about 25 brethren. Uh we average about 35. There were some missing when I took that picture. And to describe the congregation, it’s really a mixture of two different cultures. Because you have those obviously who are from the military, but there are some in the congregation who come from Amish Mennonite type backgrounds. And so very, very different culture there. You have military and farmers. And it kind of reminds me in the New Testament that you have in congregations that are the that Paul was writing, you have a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. And so you have those cultures coming together and people becoming one in the Lord.

Here are some of the soldiers there that attend with us. And we kind of draft them to help in renovating the building from time to time.

He is retired military. He’s one of those that wanted to stay in the area. And though he has a lot of health problems, he is there almost every time.

He’s one of the farmers there. And his specialty is with cows. And young ladies, he is available. Here is a picture of his mom and dad there on the left. That is Gary and Colleen Tweety. They were dairy farmers for years. And they’re uh the original family that started the congregation there. And let me tell you, to be dairy farmers in the cold north, you’ve got to be tough people. And uh they they definitely are, and they’re some of the nicest people that you could ever meet. Uh they were baptized about 30 years ago by Skip Seabree, who uh was in New York for a time and uh traveled, Skip traveled from southern New York, Walton, New York, to study with him quite frequently. They live even farther north in New York State than where the church building is.

And one of the funny stories about when Colleen decided to be baptized, uh if you’re if you want to find water in the winter time, you know you would have to knock through the ice, right? And that’s not ideal. So, being farmers, they had a cattle trough, and so they decided to fill that full of water so she could be baptized. And while that was taking place, and while she was giving her confession of Christ, the cows came up and kind of encircled that and just watched that whole thing. So it was kind of a funny story that they like to tell uh about that. Another couple, this is John and Rhonda Bosworth. They’re from the West Coast. He is retired Air Force, and uh after he retired, they traveled all over the United States to decide where they wanted to live, and they wanted to go where they thought they were needed the most and where they could help the most.

And so they decided to move to northern New York in uh 2003, 2004. Uh, and we’re certainly glad that they did. And I believe these two men up here are qualified to be elders, and I pray that that will be the case sometime soon. All right, uh, another family I’ll show you before we move on. This is George and Janice Bosworth and their six children. George is John Bosworth’s son, and his wife Janice was converted by George out of the Mennonite church. And it’s a wonderful family, well-behaved children. And George is one of the most zealous Christians that I have ever met. He is always doing something. He’s initiating Bible studies.

And he is an amazing young man. It is an absolute joy to work with these brethren, many of whom I’ve known for 20 years. And they’re glad that we’re there, and we’re glad that we’re there. And there are a lot of other people that I could introduce you to, but because of time, let’s move on to the second half of the lesson. Now we’re looking at biblical principles of evangelism in the New Testament. And sometimes I get asked, well, what’s the secret of teaching the gospel to people? Well, there is no secret. You just do it. Because the Lord has supplied the means of salvation, that is through Christ. And he supplied the message of it. We have it right here. And so all we have to do is to tell it to others.

That’s not so hard. I think sometimes we worry about saying the right thing, and we become shy, or for whatever reason, we let the devil tempt us into not opening up about the Lord to other people. Well, consider that the Lord told us that we need to go. We need to do this, because in Mark chapter 16 and verse 15, he said to the disciples there, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I mean, that’s our mission. So go. I’ve given you everything that you need. Just go do it. When the Lord told Jeremiah in the Old Testament that he wanted Jeremiah to be a prophet to the people of Judah, Jeremiah resisted that idea. In Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 6, he said, Oh, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.

Why would you choose me, Jeremiah would say? I’m inexperienced, I’m a youth. But God didn’t allow him to use that excuse.

For you shall go to all whom I send you. And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces. Don’t worry about the people who might resist your message. For I am with you to deliver you. In verse 9, the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. I’ve given you the words. You need to have the courage to speak them. That’s what I intend for you to do. And so we need to have that same kind of courage today. I think a good person for us to imitate would be the prophet Isaiah. Because the Lord was saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?

1. Surrender to God’s Providence

What did Isaiah say? Here am I, send me. And we need to have that same attitude that Lord, I am willing to be an instrument of yours to reach the lost. So we need to, first of all, under this first point, surrender to God’s providence. And by that, I want to reference Acts chapter 8. Because we read about Philip and the Ethiopian. And so remember the Ethiopian, after worshiping in Jerusalem, was in his chariot and he was reading Isaiah. This is Acts 8 and verse 28. And so here is a man who wants to know God’s word and is curious about it. And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot. And Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you’re reading?

So here Philip offers himself as a help to this man. And he says, How can I unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. And so Philip started with that scripture that he was reading, and of course applied it to Christ. And that’s what we need to be able to do is we need to find people who are searching for the truth and get the conversation to Christ as soon as we can.

And one who is a teacher. I believe that today, God, through his providence, brings student and teacher together. Now he’s not going to directly tell you, all right, go over here. We need to look for people. And the reason I believe that God today, through his providence, brings student and teacher together is because of what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 and 8. Jesus said, Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. And he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now that’s given in the form of a promise. Because if someone seeks and they want to know, they’re going to find.

And many times God uses us to help people find the truth and come to come to Christ. We need to make ourselves available to other people.

Now that’s what we have to do. We can’t be hermits. We can’t just stay at home, keep the gospel to ourselves. We have to go among the people.

And where the people are, we need to be. And sometimes that’s online as well, because there are people searching for the truth on the internet. Need to have, make sure that we have an online presence in the area that they can find us and maybe learn from what’s on there or contact us. But wherever people are, wherever people tend to go, that’s where we need to go. Also, another thing is that we need to understand our role in this. Now, the apostles prior to the Great Commission were arguing among themselves, saying, Who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom? And they were doing that even in the upper room the night of the betrayal. I mean, it’s not a competition. Being in the kingdom is not a competition.

There’s not to be a competition among those who teach, those who preach.

John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is he who coming after me is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to lose. And so he said, I’m not the person. There’s somebody that you need to know. In verse 29, it says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There he is, right there. He’s here. That’s the person that I’d like to introduce you to. Also, in verse 34, he says, I’ve seen and testified that this is the Son of God. Verse 35, again the next day, John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.

2. See Everyone as a Prospect

When it comes to evangelism, evangelism is not about us. It’s about Jesus. He is the one who died for us. He is the one who had the nails hammered into his hands and feet. He was the one who died and was raised from the dead. And so from our perspective, we should be like John and say, He must increase, but I must decrease. Remember our role. We’re just a messenger. That is all we are. To go to the second point, we have four points in this lesson. We need to see everyone as a prospect. Absolutely everyone.

And in John chapter 4, when Jesus begins speaking to her and asking for a drink, she’s very surprised that he would initiate a conversation with her. She says, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. She’s very surprised that you’re a Jew, I’m a Samaritan. We don’t talk with each other as groups of people. And I’m a woman. You actually spoke to me, a Samaritan woman. See, he saw her as a prospect. And we need to see everyone as a prospective because Christ died for all.

And we need to look at people as individuals, not as groups of people. We shouldn’t stereotype people because they are a certain of a certain background or social economic status or whatever. We need to have compassion like Christ upon every individual. And looking at a passage that Ken referenced earlier in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 35, it says Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep, having no shepherds. And so he looked at them, and many were downcast, they were tired, they needed help. And Jesus says, that’s what I’m here for.

And that’s what we should be here for, to help these people.

Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. He says, There’s so many people who need to hear the truth, and we need to fulfill that role and pray for others who will come and do the same as well. One thing I’d like to say politically in this political season, and I get to where I hate politics because it’s become so negative. But there’s so much emphasis now about illegal aliens. And so people are all caught up about illegal immigrants. And honestly, that issue is something for our government to deal with. Alright, we shouldn’t worry about that. Let them take care of that. What I say is that even if someone is here illegally and they’re among us, they need to hear the gospel.

Because if we’re loud about political opinions, then we may discourage someone from even wanting to talk to us.

But we studied with her.

And so she repented and came back and began worshiping with us and bringing her children. And then she made sure that she worked it out to where she could be here legally.

What a blessing it is when people from other countries come to us. I think that’s wonderful. Let’s look at it in that way.

Alright, look for those who need attention, and I’m just referencing Zacchaeus very quickly. We understand Zacchaeus being a tax collector was curious about Jesus as Jesus came through Jericho, got up in the tree, and Jesus looked at him and said, I’m coming to your house today. And because Jesus showed him attention, though he would be an outcast in society, though Jesus showed Zacchaeus attention, he then opened up, and then he himself understood that he needed to do the right thing among other people, and that if he had cheated anybody, he would restore that which he had taken from them. We need to remember that many times we are the only lifeline to many people. And there are people out there who are suffering, they’re going through personal crises, and we need to be there for them.

We need to show that we care. And when we do that, that they’re going to remember that, and they’re going to appreciate that. And they’re going to learn through us what being a Christian is really like.

Oh, before I forget, the lady on the on the left there, Vicky Fetty. She passed away a few years ago. But I put a picture of her up there because she was the one who started the work in Albany. And because of work, she moved to that area and she began looking for people to study with. And it’s amazing how many people she came into contact with and how many people came there. And there were a couple of young families who decided to help her and move to the area. And the church in Albany exists because of this woman. And sometimes we think there’s very little that we can do in the kingdom. But there is plenty because all we have to do is look for people and show them that we care and teach them about Christ.

3. Let God’s Word Convert Those We Teach

And so many great things can happen. Alright, point number three is we need to let God’s word convert those who we teach. Now, what if I said that it is not our job to convert people? Would I be right or would I be wrong? Well, I consider in John chapter 16. I don’t have that verse on the chart there. But John chapter 16, verses 7 and 8, Jesus says to the disciples in the upper room, he says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. So Jesus was going to leave, he was going to die and ascended to heaven. For I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. I’m sorry, if I do not go away, the helper, speaking of the Holy Spirit, will not come to you.

But if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And so he tells the disciples, I’m going away after my resurrection and ascension. I’m sending you the Holy Spirit, and it’s his word that’s going to convict the hearts of people. And really, we need to understand it’s not our job to convert people. We teach people and let the word convert them. Because the power is in the gospel. That’s what we learn in Romans chapter 1 16. It’s the power of God to salvation. So when we talk to people, we need to use a come and see approach. In John chapter 1, when Jesus was calling the first disciples to follow him, he says that very thing to Philip in John 1 and verse 43.

And Philip finds Nathaniel in verse 45 and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. We found him. The one that the prophets talked about. He’s here. He’s living in our time, and you can go over there and talk to them. And what did Nathaniel say? Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And so you have this prejudicial attitude. So how do you deal with that? Well, you tell them, you invite them, come and see. Come and see for yourself. Personal observation will trump prejudice, will trump objections every time.

Many times as I begin talking with people and they say they’re interested in Bible study, but the first time that we sit down together, I want to know more about their background, what they believe, where they’re from, and then start from there. When Paul in Acts chapter 17 was teaching the people at Athens, he understood that they had an incorrect view of the nature of God, and that’s where he began there when he he taught those people. But of course, we have the full inspired scripture for us, and so what we need to do is when we’re teaching people, have them read out of their own Bible. First, you get them one if they don’t have one. But many people already have one. And so have them get their Bible and they ask questions.

All right. You show them the verse. How does it read in your Bible? And so, if you’re teaching baptism, have them read out of their own Bible what it says. And so that way they can’t say, oh, that’s your opinion. Because they can see it right here. It comes from God. And so that reminds us of in Acts chapter 17, talking about the Bereans who are noble and studied and looked up even the things that Paul had said to make sure that those things were true. See for yourself. And that encourages people to work at learning rather than to depend upon you for what to believe. And really, the role of the preacher or those who are teaching, their role is to teach people how to learn for themselves so they don’t need you anymore.

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, the role of the preacher is to teach others so that they in turn can be teachers as well. Alright, and it’s important to understand we need to live consistent with God’s word. Because if we live hypocritically, then we’re going to ruin the message. Nobody’s going to respect what we have to say. But if we’re living exactly what we’re preaching and teaching, then people will notice that. Now, my first wife died of cancer. And she fought cancer for eight years and did so very nobly, full of hope. During that time, she did not let the pain and suffering of the chemo and the cancer bother her. She was often on the phone talking to people, encouraging them to do what’s right.

4. Stress the Need for Salvation

The area in which we lived at the time. There were many people that knew her because she worked in the school system. And they knew me because of trying to reach people. And I had weekly articles in the newspaper. And when they observed her life and how she lived it with faith and hope, people would say, you really believe what you teach, don’t you? We had credibility with people that we didn’t have before. And so people are watching. And so we need to live consistent with what we teach. Alright, our final point here is that we need to stress the need for salvation. Because yes, Jesus is a Savior. The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. And people need to understand they’re lost.

With many, many denominations today, they they just come as you are. You don’t really have to repent. We just love to have you. But sin results in condemnation, and we need to warn people that they’re in danger of being lost for all eternity, and only Jesus is the one who can save them. We need to teach people about sin and its consequences. I put Leviticus chapter 1 because it talks about the need for atonement for sin. And we could have put a ton of scriptures up there to talk about sin and its consequences and God’s solution for that. But we need to present Jesus as the only solution for sin. Jesus wasn’t just some wise sage that lived, and so he, among others, give us some some good advice, good life advice.

No, he’s the only solution for sin. John 14 and verse 6, I am the way, he said. I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And that’s how we have to present Jesus. He is our only hope. And so when we teach people, we need to have patience with them. And 2 Timothy 2 in verse 24 talks about that, having patience with others. A lot of people that Jesus taught didn’t come around until later. And in my experience, a lot of times it takes many, many Bible study sessions before they come around. Many people that I’ve studied with, some it took them over a year to obey the gospel. I want to use as an example Dave Barry, who’s on the right hand side there.

And so Dave was told, hey, come study with us. And his background, he was Catholic, but uh he didn’t know anything about the Bible. And so we began studying with him every week. And so we studied through the Gospel of John so he could understand who Christ was. This is your Savior. To build faith in him, because that’s the purpose of the Gospel of John. It brings us to faith through the evidence that’s there. And then we studied through the book of Acts so he could see what the church was all about and what people did to become Christians, to be saved. And so after about a year of studying, David approached me and he said, You know, I’m ready. This is for me. I want this more than anything else.

And so we went to his parents’ house, and he was baptized in their pool there. And then he began teaching his parents. And in time, being patient, his mother decided she needed to obey the gospel. And now David is not in New York anymore. He lives in Tennessee, but you can get on the internet there and see him and his stepfather teaching people there in weekly lessons. It’s incredible. And see, that’s what we want. People to receive Christ and then be excited about telling others. And so this is our last chart here. This is the Great Commission. Jesus said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I’ve commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Conclusion

But they’re no longer alive. They’ve passed on. The Great Commission is now our commission. And the world needs the gospel message of Christ crucified, of Christ raised, who sits at the right hand of the throne at the right hand of the Father on the throne above, and he reigns as King of kings and Lord of Lords. And if we don’t teach the gospel, who will? And so we encourage you all, whether we live in New York or Florida, let’s all do our part, wherever we are, and spread the gospel and teach it joyfully to other people. Christ wants us to go. Will we go? If this morning you are not a Christian and you wish to obey the gospel, you understand that Jesus is your Savior, and only through Him can you be saved from your sins.

If you believe with all your heart that He’s the Son of God, ready to make that confession. If you’re ready to repent of your sins, please let us know. And we can help you and assist you in that. And as always, if you feel like that as a Christian, you’ve not been doing what you should, not been as strong and as faithful as you need to be. Let us know. We can all get there together. Let’s be strong together in the Lord. Stand and sing.