In the previous sermon, the speaker covered that God is seeking for people to intercede. Are we willing to be the person to intercede for the church, weaknesses and all types of problems?

Other than than, what else is God seeking?

Eze 34:11-12
In the Old Testament, we see the Lord clearly promises to seek the scattered sheep. In the New Testament, the Lord Himself came in the flesh to seek His sheep. He once gave a parable saying, “He who has 100 sheep and having lost one, will he not leave the 99 to seek the 1 lost sheep? He will not give up until he finds the lost sheep. When he does, he will rejoice and call his friends and neighbours to rejoice with him. Likewise, when a sinner repents, there will be great joy in heaven.”

From the 4 gospel books, we can see examples where God seeks out the lost sheep.

Luke 19:5-10
The Lord Jesus said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

What’s lost here? It’s not to say man has lost his soul. If he has, he’s dead. If a man has a soul in him, why is it said that his soul is lost? Because of sin, man has lost his way back home. Because of sin, the soul will be subject to judgement in the future and thrown into the lake of fire. The Lord Jesus has come to save the soul from judgement in the future, because He has already died for the sins of men on the cross. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus will have forgiveness of sins and be able to return to the heavenly home.

Sadly, man continues to allow his soul to be lost. He’s only concerned with the matters of the flesh. He’s not willing to consider the matters that concern his soul.

In the primary rainforest in South Africa, the people there have a strange habit. After walking for a certain distance, they’ll turn back and call out their names. This is because they’re worried their soul can’t keep up with their bodies and get lost.

Villages in China also have similar habits, especially after they attend a funeral. They worry the souls of their children will not be able to catch up and get taken away, so after going a certain distance, they’d call out the names of their children, even if the children are just beside them. The child must reply, “I’m back!” or “I’m following closely!”

There might be the case where the child is ill and hasn’t recovered for a long time. Things will be burnt at the doorstep and they will call out, “Come back!” This is in case the child’s soul is having too much fun playing around and wanders too far away.

We might think it humorous to hear such superstitions. But if we ponder over it, it is quite meaningful. Our point of view is that since such people live in rural areas, their way of thinking is lacking. But they place great emphasis on the soul inside man. They’re afraid the soul will get lost. For us who live in modern developed societies who aren’t superstitious and logical, we are more concerned about the matters of our flesh. Very rarely do we calm ourselves down to think about the soul. For the sake of the flesh, we look for delicious food. When we have time, we ask each other where to eat next. For the sake of pride, we look for all kinds of statuses. For the comfort of our bodies, we look for comfortable houses. These aren’t wrong in itself. But we forget to look for a resting place for our souls. Everyone knows there will come a day we will die and depart from this world. When that day comes, is it the end of everything? That’s what we wish. If so, we’ve nothing to fear.

But why are we so afraid of death? What we really fear is where we’re going after we die and the judgement we’ll face thereafter. For each and everyone of us, our conscience tells us that heaven watches the deeds we do. Even if no one knows what we do, heaven watches. We also believe that good and bad will be repaid accordingly. Maybe in this life and what you can currently see, you can’t see the retribution. But your conscience tells you that there will be justice one day, and that is the judgement that comes after death.

This is why we shouldn’t just busy ourselves with matters of the flesh but also matters of the soul. If man does have the realisation that he needs to be concerned with matters of the soul, Jesus will definitely allow him to be able to understand and see.

Just like Zacchaeus who climbed up the tree. No one knew why he sought Jesus so urgently, but Jesus did. ‘And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”’ (Luke 19:9-10)

What had Zaccchaeus lost? Not health, he was healthy. Not wealth, he was a rich man. Not help for his problems, he was at peace. Then why did he seek the Lord so urgently? Why did he climb a tree?

Have you climbed a tree before? It’s not easy. It also doesn’t put you in a flattering position. Zacchaeus was a man who usually lived in honour. Why would he climb a tree? But he didn’t care if people mocked him. Zacchaeus was of short stature and couldn’t see Jesus. That’s why he climbed up.

Would just seeking Jesus fulfil what he wanted? He didn’t voice out his needs to Jesus. Does Jesus truly know what his needs were? When Jesus passed the tree, He looked up and saw him, saying, “Zacchaeus, come down.” How did Jesus know someone was in a tree. Maybe we may think being able to notice someone in the tree isn’t so surprising, as long as you’re observant. But then how did Jesus know his name?

Zacchaeus was delighted when Jesus called out to him. He knew he had placed his belief in the right person. If Jesus didn’t even know his name, how would He know his needs and have the power to address them?

When Jesus called his name, he came down in haste. There was no need to explain his needs to Jesus; Jesus already knew. What Zacchaeus needed was the salvation of his soul. He knew Jesus came to save sinners and would receive eternal life. He believed and that’s why he sought. He knew he was a sinner. Even the crowd acknowledged he was a sinner, evidenced by how the crowd murmured about Jesus choosing to stay with a sinner when Jesus announced He would stay at Zacchaeus’ house. They reckoned no one should have anything to do with a sinner. But Jesus came to save sinners.

We must believe in Jesus, because we know we have many weaknesses and sins. Only Jesus has the power to forgive our sins and save our soul. Hence we must seek Jesus that we may be saved and enter into eternal life.

The Lord Jesus also instructed His disciples to preach the gospel to save those who are lost. To us who have been saved, we thank Him. Should we then not take up the responsibility to preach the gospel to save those who are lost? Don’t just think this is the work of preachers. While it is indeed the work of preachers, shouldn’t we as believers partake in this work as well?

Mark 5:18-20
This man who was demon possessed wanted to thank the Lord for saving him by following Jesus and bearing testimony. But Jesus turned him down. Why? Because Jesus didn’t want him to preach the gospel. Of course not. Instead Jesus said, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things God has done for you.”

Not everyone is able to be a full time preacher, but everyone has to do the work of preaching the gospel. While Jesus didn’t permit him to follow Him around to preach the gospel, Jesus told him to preach the gospel to his family and friends. The work of preaching is not just for preachers but for everyone. We must all do our part to peach to our friends and family.

The work of evangelism is very important. This work is practical. Some people don’t have the time to listen to sermons in church. Perhaps service times clash with their work time. But personal evangelism can do its part here, we can speak to them anything.

Some people are open to listening to the gospel but may not like to listen to sermons. Not that they don’t like to listen to the word of God per se but perhaps because they feel they aren’t able to voice their views (because it’s one way) or perhaps because they feel the sermon content is not so applicable to what they’re facing. This is when personal evangelism plays its part.

What each person is currently facing, his/her level of understanding, and faith are different. Personal evangelism can take all these differences into account. This is why personal evangelism is such a practical way to preach the gospel. Actually, personal evangelism is the most effective way to preach the gospel.

There was a general US Survey which had a quota of 10,000 Christians. One question in the survey was: “How did you come to believe in Jesus?” 1% believed because they received a pamphlet. 2% believed because of door to door evangelism. 4% believed on their own accord because of their problems and needs. 6% believed when a pastor came to visit and preach to them. 75% believed when a family or friend preached to them. The remaining 10% believed because they were born into the faith.

From the survey, we can see personal evangelism is the most effective way. Most of our believers in church today were brought in by friends and family. Our early believers were all very passionate about preaching the gospel to their family and friends. There were less deacons and preachers then. So very naturally, our believers took up preaching to their family and friends. But today we seem to have the misconception that preaching is for preachers and direct our friends to the preachers. But we are mistaken. Our friend speaks to us directly about their problems but if we direct them to the preacher, they’d keep saying, “Ah one day.” They’re willing to tell us because they’re close to us but not to the preacher.

A scholar once came to church and always debated. The preachers feared having a conversation with him lest they be unable to answer him. One day a brother encountered the debater who asked him, “Why did you believe in Jesus?” The brother said, “Oh wait here I’ll get the preacher!”
“You don’t need to get the preacher. I want to know why YOU decided to believe.”

This is why Jesus told the cured demon possessed man to go and preach to his family and friends. We can’t tell the Lord, “I haven’t followed or learnt from you directly, how can I preach the gospel?” The 12 disciples were indeed directly taught by Jesus, and that’s why more was required of them. While we were not taught directly by Jesus, we have experienced the grace of the Lord. All we need to do is to testify how the Lord has had compassion on us.

Why was the apostolic church able to spread so greatly? There were few full time workers. Who preached the gospel and built the church then?

Acts 8:1
The church was suffering a great persecution then. Most of the believers were concentrated in Jerusalem. Due to the persecution, the believers were scattered to Judea and Samaria, bringing the gospel along to these places. They used their houses as service places, and invited family and friends. When the apostles came, they gathered at these houses which became prayer houses and eventually churches.

The work of preaching the gospel today is the same. We have believers who migrate to other countries, use their homes as service points, gather their friends and families, and have Bible studies. Preachers are sent to help them. Prayer houses are set up and eventually a church is formed.

The church in the apostolic times and the church today both arose in like manner. This goes to show how important the work of personal evangelism is. The Lord is seeking for the lost sheep. He also wants His believers to be of the same mind as Him to seek the lost sheep. Of course the work of preaching the gospel needs the work of the Holy Spirit. So we must pray for this work.

Col 4:2-4
What in particular should we pray for when preaching the gospel?

1. For God to open the door for the word. To have the opportunity to preach. If the door to preach the word is closed, we wouldn’t have the chance to preach even if we wanted to. We must ask God to open the door for the word to have the opportunity to preach the word.
2. To open the mouths of those who preach, that the mysteries of Christ may be made manifest. We may speak things we ought not to be speak or things that are unnecessary. It’s not easy to speak according to what one ought to speak.

The speaker has been speaking sermons for 47 years as of year 2020. Looking back and thinking about the words he had spoken, he reckons there were some things he need not have said. He tries not to be longwinded and go over time. He asks for the congregation to pray for him and all speakers that they may speak the word of God according to His will.