Now we mortals love certain people, but if there are things in their life that we do not like, we generally brush them aside.
We all can be thankful indeed that God the Father loves everyone, He even loves the most ungodly sinner on the face of the earth. He does not love their evil deeds, but He does love them.
Sometimes, those who have been saved for a long time forget what it means to be lost. It is a terrible thing to be lost.
Illus: Years ago, Dr. Odell Belger went to a special meeting held in London, England. The meeting was held at the same church that C.H. Spurgeon was the pastor of many years ago. About three hundred preachers had chartered an airplane for this trip. When they arrived, they were transported to a brand new hotel. In fact, it was so new that they had not even put up a sign on the outside yet. But after the long flight, most of them were tired, and were going to get a good night’s sleep. But Dr. Belger was excited about going to this famous church, and he asked Dr. Bob Gray, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, if he could tag along with him because he had never ridden a subway before. Dr. Gray was delighted to have him, and put his hand on his shoulder and said, “I will take care of you!”
They had a great meeting that night, and as they began to go back to the hotel, Dr. Gray got his ticket and began to talk to some men as he began to walk toward the subway, but before Dr. Belger could get on, the doors closed. He was left on the opposite side of London, England from his hotel, and did not even know the name of his hotel because they had just arrived, and there was no name posted. After traveling in the subway for many hours, he asked a lady if she could help him. She stayed with him until he found his way back to the hotel.
To make a long story short, it was around 9’clock when he walked into the lobby, and Dr. Gray said, “I am sorry that we got separated last night, what time did you get in?” Dr. Belger told him, “I AM JUST NOW GETTING IN!”
Dr. Belger found out the hard way that it is a terrible thing to be lost. But to be spiritually lost is even worse.
It is a wonderful thing when in this lost condition you can meet someone who cares about your situation, and will help you find your way.
This is exactly what we Christians should be doing, helping the many who are lost to find their way to God.
• This parable of the “Lost Sheep” is all about us trying to help the backslider who has gone astray, find his way back unto the Lord.
• This parable of the “Lost Sheep” tells us about the Lord’s concern for the lost.
There are three parables that express His concern for the Lost. • "The Lost Sheep" - Luke 15:1-7
• "The Lost Coin" - Luke 15:8-10
• "The Prodigal Son" - Luke 15:11-32
In this sermon we will deal with the parables of “The Lost Sheep” and “The Lost Coin”. Let’s look first at -
I. THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS PARABLE
The church today gets derailed in many ways. The devil will often take good things and use those things to keep the church from staying on track.
But the Lord always stayed focused on reaching the lost. For example, in this parable, the Pharisees and Scribes grumbled about Him associating with the lost of that day.
Look at, Luke 15:2, we read, “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
The lost people knew that He cared for them.
Illus: Did you know that we are told that even dogs know if we love them or not? And I will tell you something else:
• A child knows if their Sunday School teacher loves them
• A lost person knows if a Christian loves them
These sinners knew that the Lord loved them, and that is why they “Drew” near to hear what He had to say to them.
Look at Luke 15:1, we read, “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.”
Look at the word “Drew” this is the word “Eggizo” (Pronounced as “Eng-id'-zo”) TO MAKE NEAR, APPROACH, DRAW NIGH.
They loved to be in His presence, and He loved to be in their presence. Jesus was NOT OF THE WORLD, but He was OUT IN THE WORLD doing everything He could to reach the Lost.
This is something the Pharisees and Scribes would not be caught doing. The Pharisees and Scribes could not get beyond their biases, but the Lord reached out to everyone.
Illus: Some people remind me of some of the labor unions in this nation. They are of the persuasion that if you do not belong to their labor union, you do not have the right to work. If any sensible person thinks about this, they can not help but conclude that THIS IS NARROW AND SHALLOW THINKING.
But there are people in every society that will exalt themselves above everyone else, and they personally feel that if you do not belong to their race, religion, or group, you do not count for much!
The Pharisees and Scribes felt this way. Again, look at what they said, “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
But while the ungodly can look at others with contempt, the Lord looked at them with compassion.
Look at verses 3-4, we read, “And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
Even the Pharisees and Scribes had to admit that, yes, that's what they would do if one lost sheep went astray.
Their un-loving spirit MOTIVATED the Lord to tell this parable of The Lost Sheep. This is THE MOTIVATION OF THIS PARABLE, but let’s look at-
II. THE MESSAGE OF THIS PARABLE
This parable has a powerful message.
The Lord, in this parable, tells them if they lost a valuable coin they would lay aside everything they were doing to find that coin.
Look at Luke 15:8-10 we read, “… what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”
Well, that brings us to a very important question, WHY WON’T MANKIND SEEK TO WIN THE LOST? Certainly the souls of mankind are valuable!
People today have all kinds of excuses for why they do not seek to win the lost, but none of the excuses are valid.
The reason they do not seek to win the lost is not because of an EXCUSE, but because of a REASON.
Illus: He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." (Benjamin Franklin - Instant Quotation Dictionary, p. 123.)
Illus: George Washington Carver said, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." (Instant Quotation Dictionary, p. 127.)
Illus: John Bisagno says that 99.5% never win a soul to Christ.
The reason they have never won a soul is not because they do not have an excuse, they have plenty of them. Every one of them has an excuse!
However, there is a vast difference between an EXCUSE and a REASON.
There is no excuse for Christians not to be winning people to the Lord.
Illus: W. Werning said, "When the church goes into the homes with its message, then we can expect the homes to come to church."
The REASON that many professing Christians have never won a soul to Christ, is because they do not care where their family and friends ARE GOING TO SPEND ETERNITY!
You may say, “Preacher, that is a terrible thing to say about people.” Listen, it is a terrible thing to say, but it is terrible because it is true, AND I CAN PROVE IT!
It is amazing that people DO THE THINGS THEY SHOULDN’T DO, and it is also amazing that people DO NOT DO THE THINGS SHOULD DO.
For example, they figure if they can come up with a good excuse, that solves the problem.
• Why is it that people do not pray? - Because praying is not as important to them as watching television!
• Why is it that people do not study the word of God? - Because the Word is not as important to them as spending time with their friends!
• Why is it that people do not attend church? - Because church is not as important to them as playing golf or fishing!
• Why is it that people do not tithe? - Because tithing is not as important to them as taking God’s money and buying something for themselves!
The way to learn about people is to not pay any attention to what they say, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY DO!
Why? PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE IMPORTANT!
Look at verse 4, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
Every one of them would admit this is something they would do. Why? Because to them, sheep were important.
But when it comes to the souls of men, the devil has successfully derailed the church, and soul winning is something that is seldom even mentioned in many churches.
But this parable teaches us that Christ is a SEEKING SAVIOR!
Notice, the Bible tells us that once He finds the sheep, He does two things:
• Look at the FIRST thing He does.
Look at verse 5, we read, “And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders….”
Notice, the word “Shoulders” is plural. That is, he does not throw it across His shoulder, but He supports the lost sheep with both shoulders.
Shoulders stand for “Strength”. And our salvation does not depend on us, it depends on Him.
• Look at the SECOND thing He does.
Look at verses 5-6, we read, “And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
The good shepherd calls together his friends and throws a party, for he has found the sheep that was lost.
Conclusion:
Look how the Lord closes this parable. Look at verse 7, we read, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
After the Lord tells this powerful story of “The Lost Sheep,” He goes right into telling the story of “The Lost Coin,” that carries the same message.
Look at Luke 15:8-10, we read, “Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”
Illus: W. Werner said, God is, “…not willing that any should perish... “ (2 Peter 3:9) Our Lord is clearly not pleased with:
• Fishing without catching (Luke 5:4-11)
• An empty banquet table (Luke 14:15-23)
• Sowing without reaping (Matt. 13:3-9)
• A fig tree that bears no figs (Luke 13:6-9)
• Lost sheep that are not brought into the fold (Matt. 18:11-14)
• A lost coin that is sought but not found (Luke 15:8-10)
• A ripe harvest that is not reaped (Matt. 9:36-38)
• A proclamation without response (Matt. 10:14)
The true believer believes that unfruitfulness is a terrible disease.
Someone said, “FUNNY HOW”….
• Funny how we set our clocks to arise at 4:00am or 5:00am to be at the job by 7:30, yet when Sunday comes we can't get to church at 11:00am to praise the one who gave us the jobs!
• Funny how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother, but find it hard to introduce them to our family.
• Funny how small our sins seem, but how big "their" sins are.
• Funny how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God.
• Funny how much difficulty some have learning the gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone else.
• Funny how we can't think of anything to say when we pray, but don't have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.
• Funny how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God's direction for our lives.
• Funny how so many church goers sing "Standing on the Promises," but all they do is sit on the premises.
• Funny how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel.
• Funny how we sing about heaven, but live only for today.
• Funny how people think they are going to Heaven, but don't think there is a Hell.
• Funny how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant.
• Funny how when something goes wrong, we cry, "Lord, why me?" but when something goes right, we think, "Hey, it must be me!"
We say these things are funny, but actually they are not funny at all.
Certainly the Lord does not think it is funny that many churches have been completely derailed, and there are multitudes tonight that are headed for a Christ-less eternity, and many Christians will not lift a finger to help them.
These Pharisees that were complaining about the Lord eating and spending time with sinners, ought to be ashamed of themselves because they had no compassion for the lost whatsoever.
But listen, they have lived their lives and must stand before the Lord Jesus and give account of their lives. We are still living our life. If you find yourself aligned with them, you can still do something about it.
Ask the Lord to give you a passion for the lost, and go out there and seek those who have gone astray.
I. THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS PARABLE
II. THE MESSAGE OF THIS PARABLE
