THE LOST IS FOUND by Pastor Scott Henry

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Our text says that Jesus came “to seek and save that which was lost.” The word “lost” in the Greek means completely destroyed, ruined or dead. In other words, man is completely unable and unwilling to seek after Jesus while he is in a lost state. That’s the very essence of being lost … you don’t know the right way to go. But it goes even further than this when we speak about spiritual deadness. The man who is lost spiritually doesn’t know where he’s going because he doesn’t think he’s lost and neither does he have a compass to help him navigate through life.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2 that man comes into this world dead in trespasses and sin, walking according to the ways of this sinful world, which is according to Satan, and he lives according to the lusts of his flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and is by nature a child of wrath. 1 Cor. 2:14: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” And so we can clearly see on the testimony of Scripture that the man who is lost is neither willing nor able to seek after Christ. That’s why our text says “the Son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost.” Do you confess that Christ found you when you were lost? Do you believe that unless Christ came seeking after you that you would have no hope of escaping your lost condition? This ought to be the confession of every redeemed sinner because it’s the truth of Scripture.

Our confession ought to be that of the Prodigal son’s father in Luke 15: “…for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”, or the blind man in John 9 who said: “One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” Is this your confession? “I was dead, but now I live; I was lost but now I’m found; I was blind but now I see!” We didn’t make ourselves alive, found, or give ourselves sight … Jesus did! And if we don’t realize how bad off we are because of our sins we will never appreciate how wonderful the good news of the Gospel really is!

Do you see the point? Christ Jesus came to seek and save wicked people: convicts, murderers, thieves, rapists, drug dealers, prostitutes, liars, adulterers, homosexuals, idolaters & alcoholics. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Christ didn’t come to save good people … He came to save lost sinners. Jesus said, “I did not come for the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13). So I ask you, once again, is this your confession: “I was dead, but now I live; I was lost but now I’m found; I was blind but now I see”? If so, then praise God for His glorious grace in sending Jesus the Christ to seek and save that which was lost!