The Mission of Christians:
Saving the Lost

Date: July 13, 1997-A.M.
Speaker: Harvey Porter
Main Scripture References: Luke 19:10; John 4:4-42

Sometimes I read John’s Gospel, and it’s my favorite Gospel. Then I read Matthew, and it’s my favorite. And so I vacillate—whichever one I’m reading, I think that’s my favorite. But as you well know, all four of these Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John] paint a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ that always draws me closer—makes us love Him more, makes us respect Him more…and makes us realize what a marvelous thing it is that God sent His Son to this earth to “seek and to save that which was lost.” [Luke 19:10]

That’s really our lesson this morning. Jesus came to SEEK and to save that which was lost. The whole mission of Christianity is seeking the lost. And even in the Old Testament, God was seeking through His people. And that’s a great thought, that the Creator of the universe, God, Who is from “everlasting to everlasting,”[Psalm 90:2; Psalm 103:17; Psalm 106:48] is interested in you…and you…and me!! He wants us to live with Him forever—in perfect peace, love, beauty, and harmony!! All the things that we’re seeking in this life are laid up for us in heaven, [Matthew 6:20]. And in the Christian life here on earth, we have just a foretaste of what it will be like in heaven. Isn’t that marvelous?

And I am confident that the idea is that God wants to make us long for heaven. And if we love Him like we should, we want to be with Him. I don’t even have to tell you that you desire to be with those whom you love. That is the truth throughout the world. And when you think about what God has done through Jesus, you want to be with Jesus. And when the first one who died for the cause of Christ, Stephen—stoned to death in Jerusalem—lifted up his eyes while they were gnashing on him with their teeth, he uttered these marvelous words, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God,” [Acts 7:55].

Other passages tell us that when Jesus went back to heaven He was seated at the right hand of God, [Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:12; Hebrews 12:2]. I don’t know if I’m making too much out of that or not. But I wonder if Jesus stood up for the person, Stephen, who died. Now, we may not die as a martyr, but we can die as one in the faith! And when we see our Lord, we hope that He will say, “…Well done, thou good and faithful servant: …enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” [Matthew 25:21; Matthew 25:23].

So He came to seek and to save the lost. And His desire has not changed one iota. And all of us are helpers with Him, [1 Corinthians 3:9]. We, too, must have a mission of seeking to bring as many people, whom we love, to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that they may live eternally in the presence of God. And incidentally, “whom we love” ought to be everybody.

Well, as I read John’s Gospel this past week, I read a passage that’s so familiar to me, and to you, and yet it holds so many teachings and wonderful things for us to contemplate that I want to speak on it again this morning. I’m in the 4th chapter of John’s Gospel. And I’ll say, by way of introduction, that Judea was the province to the south, and Galilee was the province to the north. And the pure-bred Jews lived in these two places. But when the Babylonian captivity came, the Jews that were left—not led off into bondage—moved to the center part of the Bible lands, and that center part was called Samaria. And they intermarried with some of the Edomites, and they became a mixed group of people. When those Jews that finally came back from Babylon came to Jerusalem and rebuilt the city—and some came to Galilee—they had nothing to do with these “half-breed” Jews. So the half-breed Jews built a temple at the Hill of Samaria, and they worshipped there because they weren’t welcome in Jerusalem when Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement and all those feast days were to be celebrated. So there was animosity between these two people.

Not so with our Lord! He’s going to walk through Samaria as He is going down to Galilee. And that’s where we find Him in the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John. [John 4, beginning with verse 4: ] “Now He had to go through Samaria. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar…,” Incidentally, it’s still there—the ruins are there. And incidentally, Jacob’s well, we think, is still there. It’s been there as long as we’ve got any recorded history. And it still produces water. And you can let the bucket down into the well, and it goes 70 feet before it strikes that cool, clear, rich, pure water. And then you pull it up, and everybody who’s a witness wants to drink from it. And I’ve drunk from it a number of times. And I think it’s the right place. “…near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour…” That’s 12:00, high noon.