Open your Bibles as we're in the series on the parables and in
we're in Luke 15. I have sent myself an enormous
task and I probably won't complete it as there are so much
information in in these parables.
Title of tonight's 3 parables is our Search and Rescue in Luke
chapter 19. So I open your Bibles to Luke
15. That's where we'll be.
But in Luke 19, verse 10, it says for the Son of Man has come
to seek and to save that which is lost.
To seek and to save that which is lost.
That's you and me. The essence of Christianity and
of the gospel is this, to seek and save that which is lost.
For the Son of man, God in the human flesh has come and refers
to his birth. He was born in Bethlehem.
This Sunday will be, I think, 69 days away from when we celebrate
his birth, His incarnation, God putting on the body of a man His
entry into the world. And why did he come?
He came to seek to save that which is lost.
Jesus came for you and I that that should make you just
astounded, astounded that God, the God of the universe came and
considers you. The word seek means to pursue.
It means to look for, to watch for.
It means to strive for. It took effort to search after
God became a man Incarnate, born into this world for the purpose
of pursuing. And then comes another
infinitive of purpose and to save.
Jesus Christ came into the world with the purpose of pursuing out
the lost. Devastated we are, ruined, we
are destroyed, men and women we all are, in order to save us
from danger, to rescue us from harm, to save us from our sin
and from ourselves and from death and hell.
In fact, in Matthew 121, the message was given you, you shall
call his name, the child born in Bethlehem, Jesus, for He shall
what He shall save his people from their sins.
Jesus Christ today can save you from all your sins.
I look at the World News, I look at the situations and the
problem isn't politics. The problem isn't Trump or Gaza
or Hamas. The problem is sin.
Sin has come into the world and we see it wreaking havoc in our
world. It's what causes us pain and
sorrow. Jesus came to save us.
He came to call sinners to repentance.
In one Timothy 115, Paul wrote. It is a trustworthy statement
and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. That's why the church is here.
He came to save us and the church is where groups of saved
people get together and thank him.
Now I want you to understand the setting of our passage of
Scripture tonight and Luke 15. The setting is found in the 1st
2 verses. That's let's read Luke 15.
Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him.
There's Jesus to hear him. Notice who came to hear him.
Tax collectors and sinners drew near to him to hear him.
And the Pharisees and the scribes complained about him
saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.
And then verse 3, it tells us why we have these three
parables. So he spoke parables to them,
saying, and he's speaking to the Pharisees.
All the tax gatherers, collectors, and the sinners were
coming near to hear Jesus speak. Church is for sinners.
Church is a place where if you're broken, if you shattered,
come to church, come and hear what Jesus says because you've
tried everything else in the world and it's failed you.
Then it says in verse 2, and almost without explanation, it's
apparent to us this is a typical reaction.
And both the Pharisees and the scribes, the religious leaders
began to grumble saying this man receives sinners and he eats
with them. Terrible notice back in verse
one, it says that all the tax gatherers and sinners were
coming near to him. All of them, not some of them,
not a few of them, but all of them.
You know, sometimes I wonder what is the problem with people
not coming to church? Is it they think that church is
about church or is it a place where you can come like I did
when searching for Jesus and I went to church and all they'd
spoke about was fights and jumble sails.
I didn't hear about Jesus parable #1 and they all have the
same basic point. Verse 3.
And he told them this parable saying, what man among you, if
he has 100 sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the
99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost
until he finds it. Notice it's relentless.
And when he has found it, when he has found it, he lays it on
his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, Hey,
rejoice with me, come gather, for I have found my sheep which
was lost. I have found not our sheep the
sheep. I have found my sheep which was
lost. The idea of verse 4 is the
phrase What man among you? If the idea is that no one would
do anything other than this to go out to look for the lost
sheep, you all know you would do this.
Jesus said to the scribes and the Pharisees, if you were a
shepherd and you had 100 sheep, but you lost 1, you would leave
the 99 safely. They were safe in the fold.
You would go out to find that one lost sheep.
Every shepherd would do that. It was not only a matter of
duty, it was a matter of affection and of ownership. 3
things. Over a period.
Those sheep known by the shepherd would be so well known
by the shepherd he would call them individually by name.
Bible says we're going to get a name, doesn't it?
Each night as they came into the fold, where he laid across the
gate of the fold to protect them from the wolves, He examined
them as they came in. When they came back into the
fold, He would come to know each and every one of them.
I'll look at him. Look at him.
Look, he's had a tough time. Look what's going on.
I need to groom him. I need to fix him.
He's hobbling that one. And when one was lost, the
shepherd would go to find that one to seek it out.
Then in verse 5, after having found it, what does he do?
He lays it on his shoulders. Now I worked with sheep for a
number of years learning to be a livestock buyer.
And so you get the sheep down and they would put the both leg,
grab the front legs, fore legs and the behind legs.
And then they would tie a little rope around them, point them
over and it's like a a woollen cravat, but backwards.
You got it over your shoulder. And that's how you walk, Walk
back with the shepherd's staff, the sheep over his shoulder, and
the valley of the sheep was up against the neck of the
shepherd. Carry the sheep back to the
fold. It says in verse 6.
When he came home, he called together his friends and his
neighbours in order that they might have a celebration, saying
to them, rejoice with me, hey, come with me.
I'm happy, for I found my sheep which was lost.
These are parables of great heavenly joy, the three of them.
The parable only has one basic point.
Remember, it's a it's a, an earthly story with a heavenly
meaning. The joy of the shepherd.
That's the point of the parable. The joy of the shepherd who
sought and found the lost sheep is the point of the parable.
His friends are called into the picture in order that you and I
might understand the tremendous breadth of joy and depth of
emotion the shepherd is feeling. You don't just go.
Oh, that's great. Now close up.
Oh man, that was tiring. And have a wash and go to bed.
No party time. He can't celebrate alone.
It's too big. He's so overjoyed.
It's too wonderful. It's not something he can
quietly say in his heart, well, isn't that nice?
I've got my sheep home. Isn't that wonderful that that's
happened? He's safe now he has to call
together a large group of people for a great celebration because
his joy is so profound, so explosive.
And so the sum of it all comes in verse 7.
And here's the application, verse 7.
I tell you that in the same way, here's the reason for the story.
I tell you that in the same way there will be joy.
And I think it's best not to say more joy.
It's best to translate it without the word more which was
added. If you're going to add a word,
then add the word rather at the end of the phrase.
I tell you that in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over
1 Sinner who repents rather than over 99 righteous persons who
need no repentance. In other words, there is joy in
heaven over 1 Sinner who repents to the extent that God calls for
a celebration. Think about that.
The moment you got saved, you made an impact in heaven.
You made an impact with God. Question is, what does this mean
to you? And I listening tonight this
parable that God is the seeking shepherd whose desire is to find
his sheep. You don't find God.
Well, I I found God. No, you didn't.
No one's ever found God. God found you.
God sought you out. God is fulfilled in the finding.
God is fulfilled in the finding, but the joy is so great with God
that he can't contain it in Himself and it must be shared
and it becomes the joy of heaven.
What an amazing truth. The emphasis again is on the
seeking heart of God who seeks until he finds.
That one that is lost in those who's rejoicing cannot even be
contained until it is spread throughout the angels of heaven.
What a tremendous thought. God in the deepest part of his
nature so longs for the soul of a lost man, and I find this
astounding. And a lost woman that he pursues
you. He went after you to the degree
that having found you the celebration heaven itself is
barely big enough that we might say to contain God's joy.
In Isaiah 53, verse 6, the prophet Isaiah wrote these
words. All we all we like sheep.
What got stray, we're lost. We have turned everyone to his
own way. Sheep wanders off and the second
parable starts in verse 8, the lost coin in each of the three
parables, something was lost also in being lost, the sheep,
the coin, and we'll see two prodigal sons are lost.
They could do nothing in and of themselves to change their being
lost. They were lost and what asked
what else is it? When you're lost, you're
hopeless. You know when you're lost, you
don't know where to go. How often have you gone into the
car park trying to find your car and you go, I don't know.
Here's a funny story. I'm not going to do parable 3.
It's not going to happen, so I'll leave that story.
So I need to keep one. They were lost and considered
extremely valuable to the owner or what woman next parable.
This is just an an obvious thing, something that's
axiomatic. What woman, if she has 10 silver
coins, and in those days that would be one day's full wage,
about equal in value to the Roman denari.
If she has 10 silver coins and loses one coin, doesn't light a
lamp and sweep the house, the whole house and search what
carefully until she finds it, There's no stopping.
Notice the shepherd went out and he wasn't coming back until he
found the woman's not not stopping sweeping and searching
until she gets that coin. Think about that.
You know, you and I, we pray about our loved ones or God's on
their case. When a Jewish girl married in
these times, she began to wear a headband of 10 silver coins to
signify that she was now a wife. It was the Jewish version of a
modern wedding ring in those days, and it would be considered
a calamity for her to lose one of those coins.
It was the value of a full day's wage, one coin.
Now the floors were made of dirt, and that coin could easily
find its way under some surface dirt.
Our lives without Christ we're covered, and we're hidden under
the filth of the world. When the priests would go to the
temple, before they could go in and serve the temple, the
Levites there was the liver and they had to wash before they
could go in. Why?
Because they get covered with the the filth of the world,
their bare feet doing the things of the Lord without Christ.
We are covered and we're hidden and we get covered with, you
know, we sit in a car and or you go catch a train and you hear
language. You go to the shop, you hear and
see things that you go, oh, why do I hear that?
How come I you see a bumper sticker?
So that's revolting. That bumper sticker.
They cover us. She would be sweeping this
woman, moving that dust and dirt around until she found that
coin. And it was such a wonderful
thing to find it. It was so valuable.
Notice verse 9, when she found it, what does she do?
Go to the band gate. Oh my goodness, I found it.
Sleep. No, she calls together her
friends and neighbours, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have
found the peace which I had lost.
There's a connection, similarity, another word.
She can't contain the celebration in her own heart.
She has to pull her friends in because the joy is so unbounded.
That's the same idea, isn't it? That's the first one, is it not?
The shepherd found the sheep because he sought the sheep.
He rejoiced with all who would rejoice with him.
The woman found the coin because she sought the coin, and
rejoiced with all who would rejoice with her.
The application again comes in verse 10.
In the same way I tell you Jesus has now told the story.
Now here's the meaning. Now follow this.
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner
who repents. Why such rejoicing?
Why does Jesus mention this for the second time?
Now in two parables, verse 7 and verse 10, Luke 15, verse 7, I
say to you that likewise there'll be more joy in heaven
over 1 Sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no
repenting. Speaking of the sheep, because
the heart of God is powered, is driven to seek to to save you,
you who are lost. That's why verse 10.
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels over of God over 1 Sinner who repents notice.
Are you getting the message? Are you getting the story?
Even though the sheep had run away, even though the coin was
lost, they both remained valuable.
You note that they're lost. That doesn't mean, oh, they both
remained valuable in the mind of the owner, the shepherd, the
woman, and they remain valuable in spite of their lost
condition. When you see someone now, I pray
that God has changed your eyesight.
I know that happened to me. I will drive along around the
city when I was in my old work job and I'd go through some bad,
bad parts, a lot of homeless people.
As I pull up, I begin to pray because I see them now.
God would tell I've died for that person.
I hung on the cross for that person I hung on the cross.
I died. I took the nails for that
person. And so I see them now as he sees
them. And what does it actually mean
but joy in the presence of the angels of God?
And notice with me carefully, it doesn't actually say joy among
the angels. There's a difference.
It says there's joy in the presence of the angels of God.
Whose joy is it? It's none other than the joy of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who exists in the
presence of the holy angels. I see God.
I can't fathom this. God rejoicing.
The angels go, wow, you really loves them because they can't.
God beyond this. It's the joy of God.
It's the joy of the seeking. God who dwells in the presence
of angels and of course the angels share in the celebration.
I've got 8 minutes. Verse three, third parable.
We won't finish it. We'll have a good cut out and
it's the parable of the lost sons, not lost son.
Get that? It is not the prodigal son, as
if this is a story of one. It is two sons here.
And Jesus makes that clear in verse 11.
And he said a certain man had two sons.
This is not the story of one son.
This is the story of two sons and this is the lost sons, both
of them and the younger of them said to his father, father, give
me the share of the estate that falls to me.
Notice this and he divided his wealth.
Notice read it between them. So the oldest son, he got the
goods too. We always think, Oh well, he
just the young bloke, he just went off and he took him.
Meanwhile the the oldest brother, he's home, he's just
working. He hasn't got any money in the
bank. No, no, he divided amongst them
both. Now what that tells me is that
son #2 who doesn't speak, the oldest son is also there, and
he's getting in on this as well. The older brother was in this
story as well as the younger, though the younger does.
The talking of the younger is the focus of the first half of
the parable. The father divided the wealth
between them. Verse 12 tells us that so both
of them got what was coming to them.
Verse 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give
me the portion of goods that falls to me.
So the father divided to them his livelihood.
Now what you need to know is that this is completely unheard
of in the Middle East. In that culture then and even
today, for a son to go to his father and demand his
inheritance on the spot is tantamount to verbalising your
wish. Dad, I wish you were dead.
You'd be better off there. Just give me what I just give.
Die. Just just give me my.
What's do you mean? But it's incredible to see the
grace of the father here. He's a loving father, and he
does an unprecedented thing. He gives them their inheritance.
He says, OK, here it is. They got it early and then the
narrative of the parable follows.
The youngest son, verse 13. They have received their
inheritance and it says are not many days later, some period of
time passes, the youngest son realises he's got all that he's
got and so he gathers everything together, decides to go on a
journey into a distant country. There he squandered his state
with loose living. He takes all that he has and
goes on to live his wildlife. And when he had spent
everything, verse 14 says now when he had spent everything, a
severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be in
need. The Lord constructs the parable.
Now young man goes off, spends his entire fortune, then a
famine hits. The best he could do was feed
pigs. Of course, this would be
absolutely horrendous to a Jew to imagine, to having to work
with the most unclean of all animals in Jewish ceremonial
law. And yet that where is where this
young man winds up. From the Father's house, through
riotous living out on the end into absolute poverty, and now
into the pig's house. A graphic picture again of our
lives when we rebel and we want run away from our loving
Heavenly Father. You and I end up, we end up in
the Pigsville. And he was longing to fill his
stomach with the pods that the swine were eating.
And no one was giving anything to him.
He was on his own. When he came to his senses, he
said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough
bread? But I'm dying of hunger here.
The first thing he does is express the sorrow of his human
circumstance. But he doesn't stay with just
his situation. Out of his situation comes the
beginning of repentance because he takes the responsibility for
being in that situation. Verse 18.
Oh, get up, I'll, I'll get up and, and he plans his speech.
I'll get up. I'll go to my dad and I'll say
to him, Dad, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight he
rehearses, He says I'm going to go back.
I'm going to confess my sin against heaven.
That means I've sinned against God.
He's aware of his degeneracy. He's aware of his condition.
That's what you need to do to get saved.
You've got to realise you're lost.
And he's aware that it was caused by his sin, nobody
else's. He has sinned against his
Father. When he says, in your sight, he
repeats, He has sinned against his Father with his
thanklessness and his ingratitude.
He's sinned against his Father with his righteous living,
violating the way that he had been raised.
But more than that, he has sinned against heaven.
He has sinned against God, but notice verse 20.
He got up, came to his father. He put feet to that resolution.
Now a lot of people say they're going to do something, but they
don't do it. I see this as the real action of
repentance. Repentance means to turn around
about turn. He says, and he says in verse
19, I'm not worthy to be called your son.
Dad. He manifested humility.
It's just what Jesus said, you remember in chapter 18, the
public and beating on his breast who was so humble he wouldn't
lift his eyes up and the Pharisee saying God, man, man,
I'm glad I'm not like him. But here's the heart of the
whole parable. And this often gets missed
because we focus too much on the sons.
We ought to focus on the father because this whole parable is
illustrating the seeking God, just as parable one and two did.
Notice this. But while he was still a long
way off, you see, no Sinner on his own can approach near to
God. In fact, in the terms of Romans
chapter 3, verse 11, it says no man even seeks after God.
It's not until God begins the work and the heart that the
Sinner even begins to initially seek.
And while a Sinner is still a long way off, his father saw
him. How did he see him?
I tell you how I believe the Father was out there every day
doing what? Looking for him.
You know, God is looking out every day for the lost here.
And here's the picture of the seeking Father.
He sees that son a long way off. And a father knows his son even
at a distance, and he feels compassion and he runs to him.
And here is the heart of God. It's not a dispassionate God
that we serve. It's a God of great passion and
his heart is wrenched for his son and he doesn't stand there
coldly saying, well, when he gets there, I'm going to give
him just the talent off. No, he ran.
He embraces him and he stinks. He smells like a pig.
And he kept on fervently kissing him.
This is God. This is the seeking God who
sought you and seeks you. The coin didn't seek the lady,
the sheep didn't seek the shepherd, the Sinner can't seek
God in and of himself. There's a degree in which this
parable gives us a full picture than the first two, because the
son does respond to the prompting work of the Holy
Spirit and the parable. This is the heart of the
parable. So while he's hugging and
kissing his son, the son said to him, Dad, and he's about to give
him his speeches reserved. I have.
I've sinned against heaven and I violated God in your sight.
I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
And apparently before he can say any more, I will come one of
your hired servants. The father said to the slave,
hey, quick, quick, get to kill a fatted calf.
Bring out the robe, bring out the ring, bring out the sandals.
He takes over the conversation. Notice that you see, I see
confession of sin here. I see a humble heart.
I see a mourning over sin, but the father stops him.
I love this. He says.
I got my plans for you. He doesn't say first you're
going to be flogged and then you're going to be, you know
this and, you know, come back and work hard and sort some
things out. You got to prove yourself now.
No, he's not only a seeking father, he is a loving.
And here's the other part. He's forgiving, gracious,
generous. This joy is like the joy of the
shepherd who found the sheep, the joy of the woman who found
the coin. So the father says we got to
have a party. Notice it's all three.
We got to celebrate. Forget about the fact he want to
be dead. Forget about the fact that he
wasted what I what I gave him. Forget about the fact that he
lived in sin and immorality. Forget about the fact that he
wound up feeding unceremonly pigs.
Forget about the fact that he came back empty handed with
nothing to offer but he's sin and regret.
Forget about that. We're going to have a party.
This is the heart of God, the God of the Bible.
Forget what he did in the past. That's what God does with you
and I. He forgets what you did in the
past. He knows it no more.
He says in verse 22, Bring out the best robe, put it on him.
Put a ring on his hand. Sandals on his feet.
The fatted calf. Kill.
Let's eat and be merry. Why?
For the son of mine was dead. It's come to life again.
He was lost and been found. And they began to be merry.
You see the point? The parables all have the same
common theme. A seeker who finds and rejoices.
OK, the oldest son. Do I have time now?
I'll stop. We'll pick up the oldest son
next week because he's he's lost too.
He's lost and he doesn't know his father loves him.
I want to tell you, don't ever say to yourself, well, no, I
feel alone. God doesn't love me.
Don't ever say that because that's a lie.
You cannot say no one loves me. I'm alone.
If you're a believer, that's not true.
If you're lost and wandering away, you can't say that because
it's not true. It's a lie because the Bible
says that God loves you. He sent his Son to die for you.
He's come to seek and to save you.
And don't say, oh, you don't know what I've done.
He doesn't care about what you've done.
That's why his son came to wipe that away.
And he has a plan for you, and he rejoices when you come home.
I pray that each and everyone of you know God loves you, that he
found you, that you were lost, that you were hopeless.
Then It's all His work.