What do you mean "I'm lost?"

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “ 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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20

We as Christians often throw around the word, "lost." To the unbeliever, our usage of the word escapes them. They don't understand that we are talking about them, people who don't know God.  In worldly terms, "lost" is defined as someone who is unable to find one's way, someone who does not know their whereabouts, or someone who is unable to be found. It can also be defined as something no longer retained or possessed.  So to the world, they know who they are and where they are so they think it ludicrous to be called "lost."

Since we are discussing people who don't believe in Jesus, let's look for "lost" in the new testament. The word is used sixteen times in the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible.  Except for one occurrence where lost is mórainó (I make foolish, make useless), the Greek word used is apollumi.   This Greek word for "lost" is defined as destroyed, lost, perished.  To further explain the meaning, apollumi is properly, fully destroyed, cut off entirely, violently and completely perished.  It implies permanent and absolute destruction or cause to be lost (utterly perish) by experiencing a miserable end.  Let's look at two verses that use apollumi to bring better understanding. 

For the Son of man came to save [from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost. 
Amplified Bible Matthew 18:11

"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
New King James Version Luke 19:10

In Matthew, Jesus is discussing that we must have the faith of a child to enter the kingdom of heaven.  He also stresses that if anyone causes a child to stumble spiritually that there will be dire ramifications.  Finally, we come to verse eleven where Jesus summarizes and begins the parable of the "99 sheep."  Jesus tells us that He has come to save from the penalty of eternal death (separation from God) that which was apollumi, to be destroyed, perished, lost by experiencing a miserable end (hell).

In Luke when talking about how salvation has come to the house of Zacchaeus (tax collector, sinner), Jesus again summarizes that He has come to seek and to save from the penalty of eternal death that which was apollumi.  This Greek word for "lost" is more than the worldly definition of someone who doesn't know their way.  The word has spiritual meaning.  Apollumi paints a picture of certain miserable destruction and an eternity separated from God.  In a sense, a person is unable to know the way home and is doomed.

As we pray the F.L.O.C.K. acrostic, it is very important to understand who we are praying for when we come to "L" or "lost.". The basis of this prayer for the lost is in the two main passages tonight. These are Jesus' instructions to the believer.  Through the study of these Scriptures, we will see that our instructions (mission) are very simple but can be very intimidating.  Let's dig deeper into Acts.

Before returning to heaven, Jesus tells the disciples that they will soon receive "power" to help them.  The Greek word is dunamis which is physical power, force, might.  It is the source of the English word, dynamite.  Dunamis describes a believer who is able to do powerful deeds and marvelous works by applying the Lord's inherent abilities.  But how can we as sinners receive the power through God's ability?  When God's holy, sacred, breath of life, the Holy Spirit, "has come upon you" (dwells in you).

Only through the dynamite of the Holy Spirit can we as believers fulfill Jesus' instruction to be "witnesses" of Him.  The Greek word here is martus or an eye- or ear-witness who after His (Christ's) example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Him by their belief and obedience to His instruction.  Believers are to tell everyone about Jesus to the eschatos, remotest part of the ghay, the earth or the area we live which God uses to prepare us for eternity.  RULE ONE: Tell the story.

In tonight's verse from Matthew, Jesus first establishes where He gets His authority or in the Greek, exousia. His power, moral authority, influence, conferred power, delegated empowerment comes from God.  With that exousia, Jesus directs us to journey the world to all the nations. The translated word here for nations is ethnos which is race, people, the nations, heathen world, Gentiles.  As believers, we are travel throughout the heathen, unbelieving world making disciples.  More specifically, mathéteuó, we are to help someone to progressively learn the Word of God to become a matured, growing learner, a true Christ-follower.  We are to train the new believer in the truths of Scripture and the lifestyle required, helping a believer learn to be a disciple of Christ in belief and practice.  RULE TWO: Teach the life. 

Pray authentically, personally, from the heart for the people in this world who are headed for a certain miserable destruction and an eternity separated from God (THE LOST). Pray that the lost will have open ears and hearts to hear the Gospel of Jesus.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict us to proclaim the Gospel to the lost.  We are all sinners.  There is no one perfect.  The result of our sinful, imperfect lives is death and separation from Christ.  But the gift of God is Christ, His death, and His resurrection.  By simply believing that Jesus died for our sins yesterday, today and tomorrow, we can be saved and live eternally with God.  Pray the Holy Spirit will convict the lost of their need for a savior, our savior Jesus.  In the end, we do not save.  Our job is to Tell the story and for the lost who repent and believe - Teach the life.

White for harvest

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

John 4:31-35

The first part of the F.L.O.C.K. prayer acrostic is “Families.”  Family is defined as a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.  A key word in this definition is “social” or pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations.  The word originates from the Latin familia, “members of a household.”  In the Greek, family is patria which is lineage, ancestry.  Family is the essential building block of civilization.  Through this friendly companionship with our lineage, society grows in numbers and teaches new members (children) how to live and behave.  How do families tie into our verse tonight?

Let’s examine the context of these verses.  Just before this passage, Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman.  Jesus tells her of “the gift of God.”  In the Greek, the gift is dorea which is free gift, gift not requiring repayment.  Expounding on the definition further, dorea is a gift, freely given and hence not acquired by merit or "entitlement."  Jesus ties the gift of God with living water, water that bestows life not deadness.  As she tries to understand what Jesus is saying, the Samaritan woman doesn’t understand the symbolism yet.  She still thinks of literal water.  Jesus nudges her along expounding her understanding gently revealing her sin.  As with most people when confronted by Jesus, she is transformed and believes that He is the Christ.  When the disciples rejoin Him, Jesus is still in the glow of seeing the Samaritan woman believe.  He cares not for food but for the lost.  “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

The three main feast days of Israel are associated with a harvest.  The barley ripens around Passover.  Wheat ripens around Pentecost. Grapes ripen last in the fall around the time of Tabernacles.  The harvesting of grain in biblical times was not a one to two day chore as it is today.  In ancient times, they couldn’t wait for the grain to fully ripe and become golden brown.  They would begin the harvest before then so the grain would not fall out of the husk while it was being cut. Even though it was harvested earlier, the grain would ripen on its own.  Determining when to harvest was crucial, since cutting it too early would result in immature grain and cutting it too late would mean losing some or all of the harvest.

Christ provides a clue as to when it was the best time to cut the grain, “white for harvest!"  White is the transition color between the green of immature grain and the golden brown of fully ripe grain. At this stage, a reaper, using a very sharp sickle, would harvest the grain.  In a sentence parable, Jesus is telling the disciples of the readiness and abundance of God’s spiritual crop for harvesting.  This is demonstrated by the “many” people who believed based on the Samaritan woman’s testimony.  They have all joined the family of Christ.

God uses families to spread the Gospel.  We want families to join our ministry to first believe, then become disciples learning the Word, serve the family of Christ, and evangelize the lost.  So, for every family in my community, I pray that they will come to church to hear the Gospel so the Holy Spirit can convict them of their need for a Savior.  I pray that families will continue to grow in the love and knowledge of Christ.  I pray that families will serve in the ministry and in the community to show the love of Christ.  These prayers are not for my church to grow numerically, but to reach the lost and teach the believer.  The more families God has helping with the harvest, the more people who will believe.

A beautiful picture of the Gospel being spread to families is the story of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:25-34.

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

Walk with Christ - Pray

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
Matthew 6:5-7

If you haven’t noticed so far in my blog, I’m fond of acrostics.  An acrostic is a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, or motto.  Acrostic can also be defined as a Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as in Psalm 119 – sections are after the letters of the Hebrew alphabet).  This second definition is an “alphabetical acrostic” or abecedarian.  So, this writing technique can be first traced to the Bible.  Acrostic comes from the Greek language for ákros (top) and stíchos (verse).

An acrostic can also be used as a mnemonic which is a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.  So far in my blog, we have used acrostics such as W.O.R.D., A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.S., and A&W.  Probably the most famous acrostic was made in Greek.  ΙΧΘΥΣ (transliterated - Ichthys) is an acronym for "Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr", which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".  Ichthys is the Greek word for fish therefore a partial reason the fish is used to symbolize Jesus from the early days of Christianity to now.

In the next few blogs, I’m going to examine another acrostic that I picked up when I attended Hibernia Baptist Church in Florida.  I use it everyday as I strive to achieve one of my vision statements, “Walk with Christ.”

• F – Families  –  John 4:31-35
• L – Lost  –  Acts 1:8 & Matt. 28:19-20
• O – Offerings  –  Matt. 7:7,  Malachi 3:10 & Philippians 4:19
• C – Children, Youth, and Pre-School Ministries –  1 Tim. 4:12 & Matt. 19:14
• K – Kindred Spirit –  Acts 2:41-46 & Ephesians 4:3

But before we examine the F.L.O.C.K. acrostic, let’s study tonight’s passage in Matthew.  Jesus has started his ministry and has just called Peter, Andrew, James, and John as His first disciples.  Jesus then travels throughout Galilee teaching, preaching, and healing.  He draws quite a crowd.  Seeing them, he goes up a mountainside and sits down to teach.  This time in Jesus’ life is commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount.”  Our passage tonight is Jesus’ instruction on how to pray. 

Pray in the Greek is proseuchomai or supplicate, worship, or earnest wish.  The word literally gives the impression of interacting with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith ("divine persuasion").  Jesus starts out by saying that we should not pray like the hypocrites who want to be phainó or shed light upon myself, shine, or become visible (look at me).  During the time of Jesus, Jews prayed every day at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00. At those times, they would stop, bow their heads, stretch out their hands with their palms facing up and pray.

The hypocrites cherish, regard with affection (phileó) the opportunity to become famous by men or to impress men.  Hypocrite in the Greek is hupokrités which is a pretender, a performer acting under a mask, a two-faced person, a person whose profession does not match their practice (e.g. says one thing but does another).  As Christians, Jesus requires our lives to be an open book and to be ourselves.  When we pray, we should be honest, transparent, true to ourselves, and seeking God’s wishes.  PRAY AUTHENICALLY.

Jesus further instructs when we pray, to pray in secret or kruptos which in the Greek is hidden, inward, concealed, or make private.  By asking us to go into our room (tameion – inner room, store room, secret chamber, closet), Jesus wants us to pray reverently, from our heart (inward parts), and silently (concealed).  God the Father sees our prayers or blepó which is behold, look, perceive, regard, take heed, watchful, or to see something physical, with spiritual results.  What He sees, He will reward, apodidómi (give back, pay back, render, return, restore).

Again, Jesus is dealing with the hypocrites that make a big show of praying to demonstrate just how much more spiritual they are when compared to us. They desperately wanted others to see them.  The hypocrites used what should be their private, personal prayers to God and put them on display so everyone would be amazed of their godliness and holiness. 

People have used this Matthew6:6 as a defensively position against public prayer.  However, we must make a distinct between our personal prayers and public prayers.  Examining Scripture, we can find in the Old Testament that public prayer was done: Solomon prayed publicly at the dedication of the temple (1Kings 8:22-23), Elijah prayed publicly on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18:36-37), Ezra prayed before "a very large assembly of men, women, and children” (Ezra 10:1).  Furthermore, public prayer was also done in the New Testament: Christ prayed publicly before He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42), Christ gave thanks to God for providing food for the 5000 (John 6:11), Paul kneeled and prayed with the Ephesian elders before he left them (Acts 20:36).

In our personal prayer, we show our heart to God baring our soul, our struggles, our desperate need for him, and our thanks for our personal blessings.  However, in public prayer, we lead others to look on God, rely on God, thank God, praise God, worship God, and pray on the behalf of others.  Please remember the sin of Matthew 6:6 was the public display of private prayer.  PRAY PERSONALLY.

Finally, Jesus instructs us not to be like the pagans, ethnikos or standing outside God's covenant (salvation).  These people repeated their prayers incessantly or in the Greek, battalogeó which is to use meaningless repetition, blubber nonsensical repetitions, to chatter using empty (vain) words.  They didn’t mean or believe what they were saying.  They hoped by the constant repetition that their gods would take care of them.  The Greek word here is polulogia, voluminous words or a great quantity of words.  When we pray, do not grieve God by mindlessly saying the same thing over and over again.  We are to pray earnestly, pray genuinely from our heart, and pray silently, alone with God. PRAY FROM THE HEART.

Attitudes and Worries (A&W)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

I recently heard a very inspiring story that I hadn’t heard before.  I tried to find the story on the internet and found several sites that had referenced it.  The version that I’ll use in tonight’s study was from http://thinsilkthreads.com/worrytree.html

I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work (& his electric drill quit) his ancient one ton truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward he walked me to the car.  We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

“Funny thing is," he smiled", when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Worries and troubles can consume us, if we let them.  Most of our worries deal with things which we can’t control.  For example, how some people view us, how the government works, or how the company you work for treats their employees.  The truth is that we can only control ourselves and how we react to life.  Regardless, our worries are heavy burdens and within our own power – hard or impossible to shake.

This passage in Matthew is one of many where Jesus teaches his disciples.  Just before this passage, Jesus had given warnings to unrepentant cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.  Jesus chastises them for their unbelief in God and in Him.  Jesus had done mighty works of grace in theses cities but they still didn’t believe.  Jesus points out that the believers in Tyre and Sidon would be amazed and would believe.  “For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

From that discussion, Jesus goes on to thank God for revealing His word to babes (Christians who have not matured in their faith yet) and not to wise (learned, cultivated, clever) or prudent (wisdom by personal – not Godly - comprehension).  These young Christians have not had their faith skewed or tainted by the world.  They see the Truth for what it is – from God.

Now, let’s look deeper into our passage. 

Come (or in the Greek – deute – an excited come hither, follow) to Me (Jesus) all you who labor (kopiaó – work either mentally or physically until exhaustion) and are heavy laden (phortizó – overloaded, causing someone to be literally weighted-down, the burden was given sometime in the past to which you still carry), and I will give you rest (anapauó – rest or give intermission after precious toil and care). 

This first verse calls out to people who have been trying to carry the impossible load of the Jewish law and other standards imposed by religious leaders.  These people were exhausted from trying to meet the expectations of the law.  Furthermore, the people were burdened by the thoughts of their own sin.

Yoke is defined as “a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal.”  The Greek word here is zugos which is heavy yokes (burdens) resting on the animals' necks, a balance, a coupling, or figuratively a servitude to law or obligation.  The animals' master used the yoke to control and guide them to perform work.  Don’t miss this picture though.  The yoke was for two animals.  Together, they could pull a load that was impossible for one animal to pull on its own.

In the second verse, Jesus tells us two things.  First, take Jesus’ yoke upon you.  Let Jesus be the leader of your life.  Jesus implores you to learn or manthanó which is to receive instruction, learning key facts, or gaining fact-knowledge as someone learns from experience, often with reflection.   You need to come to realize that Jesus is gentle (praus – humble, mild, meek) and lowly in heart (tapeinos  Having dependence in a gentle and humble Jesus, you will find rest (anapausis which is refreshment, ceasing of labor) for your souls.  Second, the yoke is for two.  Not only does Jesus want to lead you but He also wants to share in or carry your burdens.

In the last verse, Jesus describes how his yoke is different from the burdens of the law.  His direction or obligations are easy.  In the Greek, easy is chréstos which is useful, gentle, pleasant, kind.  Jesus’ teachings are both kind and good at the same time.  The burdens we carry under Jesus are light which is elaphros or not burdensome, of little weight, or figuratively - easily managed (carried) because easy to bear.

Taking upon His yoke, we must follow God’s instructions.  In Matthew 6, Jesus instructs us not to worry.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Worry is a sin.  I have difficulty not worrying about tomorrow.  I have trouble not having a poor attitude.  So, just as in the Worry Tree, I cast my worries and my poor attitudes aside trusting Jesus’ yoke that He will correctly guide me and He will carry me.  What a relief I experience every time that I give my poor attitudes and worries to Jesus. 

To help remind me to pray for God’s help, I’ve posted the sign below at my work and my home.  With Scripture references to help me stay grounded in Jesus’ yoke.  I cast my A&W’s to him, my attitudes and worries.