29 Sep A Heart for the Lost

Last Sunday, Pastor Jeremy Chasteen preached from 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5 and showed us that the presence of others helps us persevere until Jesus returns.

Read: Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:8

This Sunday is “Missions Sunday.” We have the privilege to hear from guest preacher Willie McLaurin: Interim President and CEO for the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Willie will show us that we are called to carry the gospel to our neighborhoods and the nations from Acts 1:8. Additionally, we will hear testimonies of gospel ministry from several Crosspoint members, and Pastor Jeremy will share more vision about our missions’ partnerships and church planting strategy. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this devotional from Milton Vincent lead you to exult in your righteous standing before God in Christ and to greater passion to evangelize the lost.

Reflect: “A Heart for the Lost”

The more I rehearse and exult in gospel truths, the more there develops within me a corresponding burden for non-Christians to enter into such blessings. This is also what seems to happen to the Apostle Paul while writing the book of Romans.

In Romans 5 Paul exults in his righteous standing before God (Romans 5:1-11). In chapter 6 he speaks of the freedom from sin which Christ has accomplished in the lives of believers (Romans 6:1-2, 6), a freedom which Paul later confesses had not yet become fully realized in his own daily practice (chapter 7) (Romans 7:19). Nonetheless, coming into chapter 8, he recounts the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). With increasing flourish, he rehearses numerous gospel themes throughout the length of chapter 8, and he climaxes the chapter with a triumphant exclamation regarding the endless love of God which enables Christians to conquer overwhelmingly in all things (Romans 8:35-39).

What effect do such gospel meditations have upon Paul? What emotions do they produce in him besides the obvious joy he feels while reciting them? Paul bares his soul at the very beginning of chapter 9: “I have great sorrow,” he says, “and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Romans 9:1-4).”

Coming down from the heights of gospel meditation, Paul’s heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow-Jews to experience the saving power of the gospel. His burden existed long before he started writing, but it is undoubtedly intensified by his rehearsal of gospel truths in Romans 5-8, a rehearsal which inevitably leads his thoughts toward the plight of those outside of Christ.

Hence, if I wish to have a ‘Romans 9′ kind of burden for non-Christians, I should become practiced at celebrating the gospel as Paul does in Romans 5-8. Over time, my joy in the gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief-stained joy will lend a God-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost.

“A Heart for the Lost,” in A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Milton Vincent

Sing: Song List for Sunday

1. “Lamb of God,” by Vertical Worship
2. “On That Day,” by CityAlight
3. “Hallelujah, What a Savior,” Arr. Austin Stone Worship
4. “Facing a Task Unfinished,” by Keith & Kristyn Getty