The LOST Generation

Judges 2:7–12 NKJV

So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger.

Three Previous Generations

The Pharaoh Generation (slavery, bondage, oppression, hopelessness)

The Moses Generation (salvation, deliverance, freedom, covenant)

The Joshua Generation (faith, obedience, courage, possession)

The Lost Generation

This generation arose after The Joshua Generation had died.

This generation is sometimes called “The Apostate Generation” or “The Judges 2:10 Generation”

Characteristics of The Lost Generation

They did not know the LORD

Today’s generation does not know the LORD.

Some say they know the LORD, but their lives deny it.

To KNOW the LORD is:

To LOVE the LORD.

To FEAR the LORD.

To SERVE the LORD.

To OBEY the LORD.

To BE LIKE the LORD.

To MAKE HIM KNOWN.

They did not know the work which the LORD had done for Israel

Today’s generation has been robbed of their history and their heritage.

Today’s generation does not know what Christ did for them on the Cross.

They became morally corrupt (did evil in the sight of the LORD)

Today’s generation has embraced the perversions of the sexual revolution.

They forsook the LORD God of their fathers

Today’s generation no longer identifies themselves with the God of the Bible or with Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

They followed other gods

Today’s generation has embraced mysticism, spiritualism, new age, witchcraft, Satanism, and false religions.

Today’s generation has assimilated into the culture around them. They have adopted their secular mindsets, their immoral conduct, and their anti-God attitude.

Concepts such as “Political Correctness”, “Save the Planet”, “Wokeness”, “Entitlement”, and “Cancel Culture” have replaced the teachings of the Bible.

They provoked the LORD to anger

This generation is experiencing the judgment of God rather than His blessing.

The Condition of Being “Lost”

Nobody gets lost on purpose.

In fact, the opposite is true. People work hard to not be lost.

Many take a wrong turn or a series of wrong turns and are now turned around.

Most people “nibble their way” to lostness. Like a sheep, they nibble on one turf of grass to another until they do not know where they are.

Lost souls are nibbling their way to lostness by moving from one activity to another, from one relationship to another, and one desire to another, until they are lost.

Nobody who is lost knows exactly when it happened.

There is no clear boundary between knowing where we are and having no idea where we are.

Few who are lost know how to be “unlost”.

Fewer still will admit they are lost.

Daniel Boone, when asked if he ever got lost out in the wilderness, replied, "I can't say I was ever lost, but I was once bewildered for about three days.”

Are you lost? Are you wandering around with no clue where you are or how to get “unlost”?

This Lost Generation does not know how to find its way back to God

It has abandoned its moral compass, the word of God.

It has stopped listening to those who have found the Way.

It has ignored Jesus, Who is The Way.

This Lost Generation Needs a Fresh Encounter with the Person of Jesus, the Shepherd of their Soul

Luke 15:1–7 NKJV

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

This Lost Generation Needs a Fresh Encounter with the Cross of Jesus

The Cross at the Heart of the City: “At the heart of the city of London is Charing Cross. All distances across the city are measured from its central point. Locals refer to it simply as ‘the cross.’ One day a child became lost in the bustling metropolis. A city police officer (A ‘bobby,’ as they are referred to in London) came to the child’s aid to try and help him return to his family. The bobby asked the child a variety of questions in an attempt to discover where the boy lived, to no avail. Finally, with tears streaming down the boy’s face, he said, ‘If you will take me to the cross I think I can find my way from there.’ What an apt description of the Christian life. The cross is both the starting place of our new life in Christ, but also the place we must return to, time and again, to keep our bearings in life.” --Stuart Strachan Jr.

Lost Soul, The Savior is Calling Your Name.

Look to the Cross and Come to Jesus and You Will Be Lost No More!