Bobby Bosler: Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. I’m Bobby Bosler, and I’m joined here today with Joe Mueller. Joe is on staff here at Falls Baptist Church and Baptist College of Ministry.

He’s a good friend of mine. All of the fancy schmancy graphics that you see here at Falls Baptist Church and BCM, most of them were put together by none other. And he and I have worked together on a number of different projects.

But, you know, I think the things that we’ve enjoyed working together in even more than projects have been the times of ministry we’ve had together. I traveled with Joe here several years ago on an ensemble together, the Octet. We also recorded a couple of recordings together, and it’s been a genuine privilege.

Joe’s one of my closest friends, and I am so glad that we have him here today to share something with you on the Thee Generation Podcast. So, Joe, why don’t you go ahead and share your heart with the young people? Well, thank you, and I count it a privilege to be part of the Thee Generation Podcast today.

And I have been blessed so many times over the last little over a year that the podcast has been going. And I just look forward to getting the podcast every week and being able to be encouraged in my faith and challenged in my pursuit of a life of total surrender and total dependence upon the Lord Jesus.

And so I am just thrilled to be able to today just share a simple truth, a simple thought really from God’s Word that I trust will be helpful for many as we pursue that walk with Jesus and seeing God do what he wants to do through our lives, turning the world upside down for Jesus Christ.

And so I want to look just briefly at a verse in Matthew chapter number 9, a verse that really leads up to a very familiar passage, but not necessarily the verse that’s normally focused on. And this is really something that the Lord continually challenges my heart with and really showing me the perspective, the heart of Jesus, and wanting so desperately for this to be my own heart. I really want to just ask you a simple question today.

A simple question, but a probing question that I trust the Lord can use in our heart. It’s this question, how lost are the lost to you? You see, all around us we’re surrounded by people who need Jesus, people who don’t know him, who’ve never received him as their gift of eternal life.

And yet we see so many people, hundreds, thousands of people every day or week, whether it’s at the store or in our neighborhood or at work or at school. We’re surrounded by these people who need Jesus. And yet it’s very easy for us to pass by and forget that they are lost.

They are lost. But how lost are they to you? Are they lost enough to compel you to action?

And this is what we see here in the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 9 verse number 36. It says, But when he, speaking of Jesus, saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plentous, but the laborers are few.

Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. And we know those last two verses very well. We hear those all the time.

Every missions conference, right, that you would go to, you hear those verses. But notice the motivation for those verses. The motivation for Jesus to give this passionate heart cry is this, that he was moved with compassion.

Because he saw the multitudes, he saw the lost as being desperately lost. You see, if you and I are going to reach the lost with the gospel, we need to have the Savior’s perspective. We need to have the Savior’s heart in order to see that happen.

In order for us to have the right motivation for seeking to tell others of the good news of Jesus Christ, We need to have the heart, the eyesight of Jesus Christ. So how does Jesus see the lost? What do we see here in Matthew chapter 9?

It says that he saw them, it was moved with compassion, because they fainted. Because they fainted. First of all, we see here that Christ sees the lost as weary, as people that are fainting.

And the construction of this passage here is really fascinating because it’s focusing on the fact that this is really the result of something that’s taken place in their life. And now they’re reaping the consequences of that. And so when Jesus looked on the multitude of people around him, he saw people that were weary because perhaps they’d been used and abused by sin because they had made choices that were now reaping the consequences of those choices.

They were victims, yes, victims of their own sinful choices. They were in bondage to sin, and they were every day experiencing the consequences of those past choices. And because of that, they were sick and tired of it.

They were sick and tired of their sin. They were sick and tired of the consequences of the lack of freedom, of the lack of forgiveness. They were worn down.

They were fainting. Listen, all around you, people in our generation, they’re being made weary by sin. Listen, sin might look like it’s pleasurable for a time, but they are sick and weary of it.

And why is it that the alcoholic always needs more alcohol, that the drug addict always needs more drugs, that the person who is in the pursuit of money always needs a little bit more? It’s because what they have isn’t enough to satisfy them. And they get tired and weary of what they have and need something more.

And what they’re looking for, where they’re looking for that fulfillment, they can’t find it. Because all that will do is make them more weary, make them faint. But how often does that cross our mind?

how often do you see the lost as being weary weary of sin and weary of its consequences but not only were they fainting it says that they were scattered abroad see here we see that the the lost are have been led all sorts of different directions they’re going here and there and everywhere they’re pursuing all sorts of things to find joy and peace but in the end they’re left wandering, hopeless, with no answer and no hope.

They’re left alone. Perhaps they’re led away by the teaching of false religion. Perhaps they’re led away by the teaching of self-dependence.

But they’re scattered abroad for whatever reason. Maybe the pleasure of sin, whatever it is, they’re scattered abroad. And they’re wandering with no hope and they need direction.

They need purpose that they can only find in Jesus. us. That’s the only answer for the lost world.

But you know what? We often think, boy, they’ve got a dream they’re pursuing. We look at the athletes and say, wow, they’re going somewhere.

Listen, so many of these people are just empty in the political world, just empty. We’re seeing things fall apart all around us in the world of entertainment and all of these things. And those people, they seem like, oh, they’ve got something.

They’re going somewhere. But really, they’re just wandering. And in the end, there’s no hope.

They’re scattered abroad, going every direction, but getting nowhere. And notice it says that they’re scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Not only are they weary, not only are they wandering, but we see as well that the lost are perishing.

They’re like sheep. Yes, scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. You know what happens to sheep without a shepherd?

They’re utterly destroyed. Some by wild beasts, some by injury, some by a lack of nourishment, and some by their own foolishness. Listen, Satan is out to eternally destroy every lost person on this planet.

He wants them to burn with him in hell forever. And that’s their destiny if they remain in their lost condition. But that’s not what Jesus wants.

That’s not what Jesus sees when he sees someone that is perishing, that is on their way to hell, that is their life is being utterly destroyed. Jesus wants to rescue them because that is who he is.

That’s what Jesus sees when he sees lost people, when he sees your next door neighbor, when Jesus looks down from heaven and he sees that person you come into contact with at the store, that teller who you might say, oh, they seem like a nice person. Jesus doesn’t just see a nice person. Jesus doesn’t just see someone who seems tired.

Jesus sees someone who is hopelessly lost unless he can rescue them. And what we see with Jesus is that that knowledge, that sight moved him with compassion. He had that deep emotion, that deep love within his heart, but it led him to action.

And that was why he said, that was why he said that we need to see that there is a need for labors, a truly harvest, a plenteous harvest, but with few labors. That is why we need to pray for laborers. And we see in chapter 10 that what does Jesus do the very next thing?

He sends laborers forth. He thrust them out, and that is why Jesus wants to thrust you out into the harvest field. That’s why Jesus wants you to go and give the gospel to that person at your school.

Go and give the truth of Jesus, who is the only one who can give them hope and purpose, the only one who can refresh their soul, the only one who can save them from an eternal hell. That’s why Jesus wants you to open your mouth and tell them. So I ask you this, how lost are the lost to you?

Are they as lost as they are to Jesus? Or do we need our vision readjusted so that we’ll see the lost as Jesus sees the lost in desperate need of someone to tell them of him? Wow.

Amen. Thank you so much for that, Joe. You know, a young person, as you’ve been listening here today, I trust that not only has your perspective been challenged, I trust that it will also change your behavior as you yield to him and depend upon him to go and turn the world upside down.

Remember, that’s the Thee Generation. Total surrender. Total dependence.