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I believe, friends, that the most glaring omission

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in today's gospel is the lost sinner.

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Old-time preachers used to say that a

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sinner could not get saved until they first

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were lost.

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Jesus emphasized this, for the Son of Man

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is come to seek and to save that

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which was lost.

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God's Word underlines this as well.

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We see in Luke's Gospel a lost sheep,

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a lost coin, and a lost son.

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We used to sing the theme in our

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old hymns, I once was lost, but now

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I'm found.

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But in the average congregation today, there is

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a noticeable absence.

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Where are all the lost sinners?

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No one wants to admit they are lost

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today, undone, and hell-bound.

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Modern evangelism has made it too easy to

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accept Jesus, and it's redefined the lost sinner

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by calling him the unchurched.

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The primary goal of modern evangelism is to

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increase church membership, to make someone who is

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not a church member into a church member.

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Subsequently, our evangelistic efforts are only recognized numerically.

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The more numbers a church has, the more

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successful that church is.

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That's how most pastors measure their success in

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ministry today, by the size of their congregation.

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It matters little if most of the church

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members are yet unconverted.

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But where, oh where, are the lost sinners

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today, in need of a Savior from sin,

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the worth of a soul is seldom talked

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about today?

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As long as I'm running three thousand on

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Sunday, then as a pastor I'm a big

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success.

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That's how we think the church has become

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a corporation, run by CEOs, measured by bank

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accounts.

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I want to go back in time, friends.

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I want to read you a story today

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that most of you are quite unfamiliar with,

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but we need to be familiar with it.

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It tells us how to share the gospel.

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It tells us how to define what the

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real gospel is, and how to find a

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lost sinner.

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It's a story related by D.L. Moody,

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about a time he preached in a prison.

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Everyone in this story is rich with the

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gospel of the Son of God, and I

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want you to pay close attention to it,

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friends.

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Listen to this remarkable story.

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You will benefit from it.

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It will help you to share Christ with

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others more effectively.

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Hear now the words of D.L. Moody,

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as he related them in a sermon in

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1893.

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I was invited one day, some years ago,

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to visit and preach in the tomb's prison,

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New York.

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I had supposed that I should address the

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prisoners face to face, as I used to

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talk to prisoners in the chapels of most

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of our jails.

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But when I got there, I found I

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had to stand on a little iron railing,

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running from one tier of cells to another.

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There was a tier above, and one below,

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and one on the same level as me.

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There I talked, to a great long narrow

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passageway, to gates, to bars, and to brick

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walls.

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It was pretty hard preaching.

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I had never attempted to preach in that

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way before.

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I did not know, when I got through

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with it, how they had received me, and

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so I thought I would go and see

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them.

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I went to the first cell door, and

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looked in.

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I found the men playing cards.

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I supposed they'd been playing all the time

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that I was preaching, and took no interest

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in the sermon.

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I looked into the window, and said, How

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is it with you here?

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Oh, chaplain, we do not want you to

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have a bad idea of us.

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I said to myself, There is no one

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here to be saved, for there is no

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one lost, and I got away as quick

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as I could.

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I went to another cell.

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There were three or four men in there,

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and I said, How is it with you

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here?

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Well, stranger, we will tell you.

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We got to bad company, and the men

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that did the deed got clear, and we

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got caught.

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I said to myself, There is no one

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here for Christ to save, for there is

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no one lost, and I went along to

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the next cell, and then I said, Well,

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my friends, how is it with you?

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One of them said, A false witness went

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to court and swore a lie upon me.

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He was perfectly innocent, and ought not to

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be there.

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I went on to the next cell, and

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looked in, and said, Well, my friends, how

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is it with you?

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They were innocent, all of them, thank God,

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but the man that did the deed looked

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very much like them.

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They were perfectly innocent, and so I went

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on.

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I never found so many innocent men.

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They were all innocent.

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I found a great many innocent men under

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lock and key, and they were all trying

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to justify themselves.

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There was no one guilty, but the constables,

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the justices, were magistrates.

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They were the guilty ones.

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I got discouraged.

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I thought I would give it up, but

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I kept on, and I found one man

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in a cell alone.

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He had his elbows on his knees, and

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he had his head buried in his hands.

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As I looked in, I could see the

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streams of tears running down upon his cheeks.

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They were the first tears I had seen.

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It did me good to look at them.

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I said, My friend, how is it with

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you here?

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He looked up.

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It was a look of remorse and despair.

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He said, Oh, sir, my sins are more

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than I can bear.

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Thank God for that, said I.

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Ain't you the man that's been preaching to

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us?

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Yes, sir.

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And yet, I thought you said you were

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a friend to the prisoner, and you're glad

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that my sins are more than I can

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bear?

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I replied, I am glad that they are

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more than you can bear, for if they

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are more than you can bear, you can

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cast them on the Lord Jesus.

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But I am the worst man in this

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prison.

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Then he began enumerating his sins, and what

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a heavy load they were.

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It was refreshing to stand there and hear

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him tell me it was the Lord Jesus

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that had gotten into that cell and into

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that man's heart, and I told him so.

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Then I told him to pray to God

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to forgive him and to take away his

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sin.

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He thought God would never forgive such a

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sinner as he was.

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I told him, you can get all those

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sins multiplied by 10,000 forgiven because you've

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committed probably 10,000 more sins than you

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have thought of.

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You can sum them all up and write

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underneath the blood of Jesus Christ, his son

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cleanseth from all sin.

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And I stood there and preached the gospel

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to that thirsty soul.

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He seemed to drink it in.

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I said, let's get down here and pray.

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And we did.

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He inside and I outside.

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And after I got through prayer, I said,

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my friend, now you pray.

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I pray.

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It would be blasphemy for me to pray

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for a wretch like me to call upon

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God.

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I said to him, call upon God, ask

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for mercy.

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That's what you want.

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Ask him to have mercy upon you.

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The poor wretch could not lift his eyes

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toward heaven.

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He knelt down on the pavement, and all

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he could say was, God, be merciful to

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me, a vile wretch.

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After his prayer, I put my hand through

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the window in the door.

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He got hold of it and shook it.

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And a hot tear fell on my hand.

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That tear seemed to burn into my very

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soul.

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I said, I'm going to the hotel between

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nine and twelve o'clock.

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I want you to join in prayer and

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make up your mind that you will not

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sleep tonight till you know.

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That night, I got much interested in prayer

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for the man.

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My heart was so overborne that I could

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not go back to Chicago without going down

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to the prison to see him.

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I went down and I got the governor

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of the tombs to let me in, and

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I went to his cell.

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And when I got there and saw him,

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the remorse and despair had all disappeared.

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He was all gone.

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His face was lit up with a heavenly

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glow.

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He seized my hand and tears of joy

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began to flow.

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He pressed my hand and shook it and

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said, I believe I am the happiest man

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in the whole city of New York.

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I thought when they brought me to this

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prison, I should never go out again.

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I thought I'd never could walk down Broadway

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again.

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I thought I could never see my godly

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mother again.

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Now, thank God that they brought me, for

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if they had not, I would have never

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have known Christ.

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He said when he prayed, the Lord Jesus

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heard his prayer.

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I asked him what time of the night

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he thought it was, and he said he

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thought it was about midnight when the Lord

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Jesus had come into that cell and saved

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his soul.

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My dear friend, can you tell me why

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it was that God came into that prison

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and passed by cell after cell and set

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that one captive free?

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It was because he took his place as

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a lost sinner and asked for mercy.

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Well, that's the end of the story, friends.

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You can't get saved until you first get

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lost.

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The gospel is for the hungry, the weary,

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and the thirsty.

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Let me ask you, friend, are you hungry

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for God?

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Are you sick and tired of your sins?

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Are you thirsty for Christ?

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Jesus says, if any man thirst, let him

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come unto me and drink.

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He that believeth on me, as the scripture

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has said, out of his belly shall flow

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rivers of living water.