Hoarding Jesus

The title of my message this evening, friends, is Hoarding Jesus. In Luke chapter 10, and in verse 2, it reads, Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, That He would send forth laborers into His harvest.

Some folks hoard money, some folks hoard gold, I believe a lot of us are hoarding Jesus. Let me ask you, friend, when was the last time you shared the gospel with someone? When did you last witness to a lost soul? Was it today? Yesterday? Last week? Maybe a month ago? Think about it. Who was the last person you shared your faith with? When was the last time you handed out a gospel track and told someone about the love of Christ towards sinful man? Has a year passed without your witness to another? When was the last time you told somebody about the free grace of God? When did you tell a fellow sinner about the mercy, pardon, and eternal life offered in the gospel of the Son of God? When did you tell them about Jesus? Because you have a heart that cares for the souls of men, are we hoarding Jesus? If you are a Christian, then you are an ambassador for Christ, and it is your duty to carry the treasure of the gospel and tell others about this good news.

You are to go out to lost sinners and invite, entreat, require, command, and compel them to come in. It's our duty, friends, to tell others about the Pearl of Great Price while listening to what's happening every single minute of the day. It's been estimated that 83 people a minute die apart from Christ.

Do the math. That comes to almost 5,000 people an hour. That means each and every day, 120,000 people enter a Christless eternity.

That's over 800,000 people a week who perish without Christ. Listen, friends, every month that adds up to 3 million people falling into the torments of hell. Think about that.

Over 3 million souls a month fall into hell and its agonies. Do you realize throughout the course of a year, over 40 million people populate the regions of hell? Let 10 years go by, and another 400 million souls are shut up in hell to scream in agony. Now think in your mind about all the generations since the time of Adam and add up all the hordes of people who have died apart from Christ and occupy hell right at this moment.

It's not hard to see that hell is a very crowded place somewhere on this planet right now. While I'm speaking, over 80 people are dying and landing into hell. Time is short, friend.

Your life is but a vapor that appears for a little while and then disappears. How you've spent your time on this earth will impact eternity. And all that will matter when we stand before the judgment seat is how many sinners we shared the gospel with and how faith we were to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. This message this evening, friend, is called Hoarding Jesus, and I fear many are guilty of that.

And this message is an alarm to awaken us to our duty as believers in sharing our faith with others. We must tell others about the one who came down here so we can go up there. There's a story that's always moved me about the evangelist D.O. Moody, and I can't get it out of my mind.

Moody was in Chicago preaching to his congregation, and he ended the service without giving a public invitation. Rather, he told them to go home and think about it, think what they would do with Christ. But next week never came, for many perished that dreadful night.

It was 1871, and the night of the terrible Chicago fire where the entire city became an inferno and thousands lost their lives. I listened to Moody's words about his deep regret of not giving a gospel invitation that terrible night. What a mistake.

I have never dared to give an audience a week to think of their salvation since. If they were lost, they may rise up in the judgment against me. I remember Mr. Sankey singing and how his voice rang when he came to that pleading verse.

Today the Savior calls, for refuge fly. The storm of justice falls, and death is nigh. I have hard work to keep back the tears today.

Twenty-two years have passed away, and I've not seen that congregation since. And I will never meet those people again until I meet them in another world. I have asked God many times to forgive me for telling people that night to take a week to think it over.

And if he spares my life, I will never do it again. Oh, one lesson I learned that night which I've never forgotten is when I preach, I press Christ upon the people then and there. I'll tell you what, friends, that story sends shivers down my spine.

It reminds me of a face that still haunts me to this day. I was having some work done on my house, and a three-man construction crew would come early each morning, and one man in particular was always the first to arrive. And we'd have to just stand around waiting for the other two, passing small talk.

But I never once shared my faith with this man. And one month later, I was looking through the obituary section in my newspaper, and there that young man's face was. He was just 33 years old, and he had died suddenly.

A month later, I had failed to tell him about Jesus and how he came down to earth so sinners could go up to heaven. And his face still haunts me still. Oh, friends, when we get to heaven, I will wish that we witnessed more for our Savior.

I never miss an opportunity to share the gospel with others or invite them to come in. I've got a story I'd like to close this message with, and I hope it reaches you and sinks down deep in your heart because it's a call for each of us to share the gospel every day. D.L. Moody made a point never to go to bed at night unless he witnessed to a person that day.

Well, soon after his conversion, Moody moved to Chicago, and there it was he began to share Christ with every citizen in that great metropolis. And he just wouldn't go to bed at night without sharing his faith in Christ. Oh, well, one night he got into bed around midnight and realized he'd not witnessed to a lost soul that day.

It was raining outside, but Moody got up out of bed, put on his raincoat, and went through the night. He found a man leaning on a lamppost, and Moody walked up to him and asked him if he were a Christian. The man was offended and cussed Moody and called him Crazy Moody.

There was a nickname the citizens of Chicago gave Moody because he'd stop anybody on the street anytime and ask them if they were a Christian and share his faith. Well, after Moody asked the man if he were a Christian, the man flew into a rage, doubled up his fist, and cursed Moody, who replied, I'm very sorry if I have offended you. Mind your own business, roared the man.

That is my business, Moody replied. As he walked away into the night, going home to his bed, well, several nights later, there was a knock on Moody's door. It was around 2 a.m. Moody got up to answer the door, and to his astonishment, there was the man who had cursed him for talking to him about Jesus as he leaned against the lamppost, and Moody asked him, Oh, what do you want at this late hour? I want to become a Christian, was the reply.

I'm very sorry, said the man. I haven't had any peace since that night you spoke to me. Your words have haunted and troubled me.

I couldn't sleep last night, and I thought I would come and get you to pray for me. Well, that man accepted Christ that night and then asked Moody what he could do for Christ, and Moody put him to work in the Sunday school until the Civil War broke out, and that man was one of the first to be shot down, dying on the battlefield. Friends, I must ask you, Horton Jesus, are we guilty? Are we guilty about Horton Jesus? How can you keep the gospel to yourself? Was not someone responsible for bringing you to the Lord? How can you not weep over the lost around you? Where are your prayers and your tears and your testimony to a dying world? Be like Moody and commit to sharing the gospel with someone every day.

These are indeed the last days, and hell fills with lost people every hour. Ask God to make you a soul winner for Him. Pray that the Lord the Harvest will give you a heart that cares for the souls of men.

Pray with me right now, friends. O King of glory, you died for me. You have a heart that cares for the souls of men.

Forgive me for not telling my generation about your great love for sinful man. O Lord, give me an ounce of Moody. Lord Jesus, give me, I pray this evening, a heart that cares for souls.

Help me to pray for them. Help me to weep over them. Help me to reach them with your gospel.

Help me to be a soul winner for thee. Heaven help me if I hoard Jesus, but let me share Him till my dying day. Amen.