 So today, we're in Luke chapter 15 and what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you that chapter in two installments Today, we'll look at verses one through ten and then we'll look next week at Verses 11 to the conclusion of the chapter in verse 32 and so as is my normal way of doing things I'm going to read to you verses one through ten Give you some background lay a context and a foundation for you then move into application And so we're looking today at Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 10 Let's begin reading at verse 1 and I'll read I'll read to verse 7 and then we'll pick up at verse 8 Later on in the study. So beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 7 Then all the tax collectors and sinners the sinners drew near to him to hear him and the Pharisees and scribes complained Saying this man received 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 99 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 have found my sheep was which was lost. I Say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents then over 99 just persons who need No repentance and so let me give you a background lay some foundation Then we'll look at these first seven verses I'll pick up at verse 8 and we'll conclude at verse 10 in a few minutes and so as we begin throughout the Bible God is revealed as One who seeks out those who are lost You see it from the very beginning of the Bible Remember with me all the way back in the book of Genesis when you see the the story of the fall of man You see that it's Adam who sinned and Yet it was God who sought him out in Genesis 3 verses 8 and 9 it says He and his wife they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and His wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God Among the trees of the garden Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him Where are you? You see Adam and Eve had taken of the forbidden fruit they hid themselves in shame in remorse in guilt and Instead of running to him and crying for mercy. They chose to try and to hide from him They didn't seek out the Lord. It is God who sought for them and it's God who called out to them And he called out this question. Where are you? You see when you begin your Bible reading and you're in the book of Genesis and you begin to read through scriptures and And all you're in chapter one chapter two. I've shared this before But it bears repetition at this point If you will read the Bible Not just will say not just with the words themselves, but if you would actually look at the punctuation It's interesting because you'll find you know the end of a sentence They put a period you might see a comma, but you never see a question mark until the third chapter, which is interesting So when you go through the Bible, you'll see a period you'll see colon perhaps a semicolon and a comma and all of that, but if you began just looking at the punctuation It's interesting to note that the first question that's ever asked in scripture is asked by the serpent and The first question you find in scripture is when the serpent says has God said So the first question mark you ever find in scripture comes out of the mouth of a serpent and the first thing that is questioned Is God's word which is to this day the same to this day? God's word is constantly questioned You see why because it is the word of God that brings salvation and if Satan can undermine our trust in the veracity of Scripture then he can undermine the opportunities for salvation. So the very first question was related to Has God said the interesting thing is the next question that is asked is Adam. Where are you? So when you listen to Satan the next question is going to be and now what has that done for you? Where are you? Because that's what happened God had given him commands and said do not eat of this particular fruit of the garden They had taken of it their eyes had been opened and now God is saying Adam. Where are you? Why because Adam has fallen and So it's not Adam who is looking for the Lord It's the Lord who's looking out for Adam and it's not as if God doesn't know where he is It's not some, you know cosmic hide and seek Where Adam is hiding somewhere behind a fig leaf and God just can't see him and he's just walking around saying gee I wonder where he is When my kids were small we used to play hide and seek in the house all the time And my kids would they would try and hide from me and they would put a blanket over them and sit in the middle of the front room and they just and I would walk by and I would stand right next to them some of you parents have done this before You'd I'd stand right over them and they'd be right there in front of me and I'd go I'd say Marie I can't find the kids. Where are they and then you hear them giggling You know and and I lift it up and it's Marie hiding I come on, baby You know Too big to play that game But we would do that, you know, we would go through the house and I would pretend and it's not as if I didn't know where they were I knew where they were so so God is not playing cosmic hide and seek in this passage He knows where they are what God is doing is he is saying where are you in the sense of make your confession? Tell me honestly where you are seeing that you have listened to the voice of the enemy seeing that you have you have questioned me and and my authority and the veracity of my word and my loving concern for you seeing that you have chosen to take of a Fruit that I have commanded you to not to eat Where has that taken you and he could ask the same question to us today? Seeing that you know to do right, you know what is wrong and And and and yet you've listened to the voice of something whether it's inside or outside Something inside has responded to something outside and you've done what is wrong So my question to you today is he would say to me to us. Where are you? Where has it gotten you? Where has your choice to do these things taken you is your life as fun as you thought it was going to be? Is it as blessed as you wanted it to be? Where has it taken you you have questioned my word you've questioned my love you've questioned my concern Where are you and that's what we see in the book of Genesis? Where are you? Instead of running to him crying for mercy they chose to try to hide from him. They didn't seek him It's God who sought them. It's God who called. Where are you now when you read that? You might hear the voice when God says where are you? You might be hearing the voice of a an arresting officer a police officer who is saying halt in the name of the law or something like that stop That's not the voice of the Lord in this passage The voice of the Lord is in a in a tense in a way that is actually not an angry voice It's a broken-hearted voice It's the voice of a father Who has lost their child? It's the voice of a father whose child is lost and the and the father's crying out for that child When my daughter Corinne was a year old and was learning to toddle and to walk Marie and I Went to a store called Sears. There used to be Sears We went to a place called Sears. We went to Sears in Pomona We were going to purchase something and my daughter Corinne was right next to us And I got caught up looking at some product And Marie got caught up trying to make me buy it and so we were looking at it and I look and My daughter's gone It only takes a moment for a child to just wander off You know this if you're a parent doesn't take any time at all for them Just to wander off and that she took off she wandered off and she's a toddler maybe 12 14 months just learning to walk and I have to tell you there was a panic in me there was a panic in me Where are you and I went looking she was just what had gone around the corner? I am thank God But even back then people were taken off with people's children and my heart froze in my chest So I can understand to some degree to some degree The voice of the Lord crying out saying Adam, where are you? Where are you? And it's not like he's angry. It's that his heart is broken Why because his son is disappeared because his son has wandered off His son is lost God's word reveals that the reason the Lord seeks us out is because he loves us It's his desire to seek for to find and then restore those who have fallen Psalm 78 verse 37 speaks of the nation of Israel in this way It says for their heart was not steadfast with him nor were they faithful in his covenant But he being full of compassion For gave their iniquity and did not destroy them Yes, many a time he turned his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath He has compassion he has loved and he doesn't turn away in second Peter 3 verse 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness But his long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance and that's God's desire for us So this revelation of love that seeks is most perfectly manifested in the ministry of Jesus Christ You see Jesus is revealed as the one who seeks out the lost That he might find them and that he might restore them That's what he said his his his mission on planet earth was In in Luke 19 verse 10. He said the son of man has come to seek and to save That which was lost in first John 4 9 and 10 It says in this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world That we might live through him in this is love not that we loved God But that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins every father every mother knows that When when the mama's about to give birth There's already a love that can be established between that parent and that child long before the child is born All four of my kids my grandchildren There's already a love that I had when Marie told me we're gonna have a baby There was already a bond or bondage one of the two that was beginning to take place There's already something strong there in my heart because this baby is gonna make their parents And then I'm gonna be able to hold and love this child and that's just the way it is So you loved your child before your child loved you Your parents loved you long before you knew you had parents and we have a father in heaven Who loved us first and he cares for us and he desires to save us and that's why Jesus said that he came to seek and To save that which is lost and so this chapter We're looking at here chapter 15 gives us a clear picture of the love of God that is revealed in Jesus toward us Now what you have here in chapter 15 really is a single parable that's divided into three sections or three parts and This morning we're gonna look at the first two parts We're gonna look at the lost sheep and the lost coin and so as we begin this beginning in verse 1 Luke says then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to hear near him to hear him So he begins by sharing with us the audience now this audience is tax collectors and sinners So Luke reveals the audience is deemed unworthy by the religious Pharisees You see Pharisees would not be found with these people They were the outcasts that the deplorables of society. They were the tax collectors. They were the sinners Now a tax collector was hated. It was a hated group amongst the Jews during the time of Christ Not that everybody loves tax collectors today, but during that day, they were a hated group They had bought franchises from Rome Entitling them to levy taxes. It was their job to levy taxes on Jewish citizens as well as those who were traveling through Israel and the Jews hated them why because they hated being governed by pagans and despised tax collectors for working for pagan Rome and so a tax gatherer was considered a trader They were looked at as apostates because they served pagans. They made money off of their own people's misery Over time many became wealthy You see taxes had a set standard But many would increase the basic tax to make more money if the basic tax was ten dollars on something They would jack the price to twenty dollars So they were making a profit off of the misery of their own people and so they could become wealthy You see that in the case of a man named Zacchaeus In Luke 19 verses 1 and 2 it says Jesus entered that entered and passed through Jericho Now there was a man named Zacchaeus. It was a chief tax collector and he was rich So when Jesus went to stay at Zacchaeus's house the people grumbled about it in Luke 19 verse 7 It says when they saw it they all complained saying he's gone to be a guest with a man who's a sinner They hated Zacchaeus because he was a man profiting off of them and then they have the sinners The sinners had poor reputations. They didn't live according to the law of Moses They were known for their exceptionally sinful lives openly sinful lives You see there are people whose sins are apparent and there are other people whose sins follow after them There are some people when you see them, you know this person sins You just know it by looking at them this person sins you can see it Maybe they're standing there with the cigarette in the wrong end in their mouth This person's a sinner, you know that Then there are others who hide it well You look at them and they look like decent people and but they're still sinners So some sinners are obvious and others are hidden These people are notorious It's like that woman in Luke 7 who came to Simon the Pharisees house and the one who had washed Jesus's feet with her tears and all in When Simon saw her approaching Jesus Remember Simon said within himself if this man truly were a prophet He would know who in what manner of woman this is that's touching him and then he goes on to say for she is a sinner She was quite obvious a sinner. She was known for her sin. She wasn't hiding her sin So the reputation had followed her in to that room and so Jesus is there with people like that sinners people who don't care about the law and Yet, these are the people who are gathering the listen to him speak Now something about Jesus made them comfortable with him They came to hear him and I have to be honest with you Jesus as you read your Bible. He never minced words. He didn't change his way He spoke is very clear. He didn't hide truth from people, you know I've been in the ministry a long time and I read a lot of material a lot of magazine articles and things like that about the state of the church today things that relate to the church and There are quite a number of people who are writing concerning reaching this generation they call them the millennials and all and and there are quite a number of people who are writing in giving Suggestions and part of what they've been saying is don't say things that are hard to hear don't offend them But I've read other things and it says quite the opposite as a matter of fact I know that human beings whether they're called by Gen X millennial or or whatever you want to call them You know, we create such artificial categories. Anyway What we need is we need the truth and we need to be loved that's what we need and Jesus did not hide the truth and Jesus loved the people and he didn't change what he was saying He didn't look at his audience and say oh my goodness. I got a lot of young people here I better be careful not to make him sad. He didn't do that. He would just speak the truth Why this the truth will set you free because that's what it is I'll note that with you for just a second in chapter 14 verse 25 through 27 Notice this with me. It says now great multitudes went with him He turned and said to them If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters Yes, and his own life also he cannot be my disciple and whoever does not bear his cross and come after me Cannot be my disciple verse 25 says great multitudes You would think that Jesus would want great multitudes to listen Well, what did he do with the multitude? He challenged them. He says you've got to leave it behind and follow me in verse 33 of the same chapter He says whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple So Jesus didn't mince words. He didn't make it easy to hear. He told the truth and his love for them And his authority was extremely attractive That is something that that they needed and Because he loved him and because the word was true They listened closely. I remember a guy in this fellowship years ago now Who told me and he he was talking to me and he said yeah I just gave my heart to the Lord and I looked at him and I said you you've been here for years. I recognize you You know you'd be surprised But a lot of people choose where they they sit and they they sit there every week don't you and And I and I will look out and I will see oh, yeah, they're here, you know Oh, I wonder where they're at, you know, because I will see you, you know And you'll be surprised especially in the front. I started saying no there. Anyway, I had I wonder anyway he He had said to me because I saw me said I just gave my heart to the Lord and I was looking at him and I said You've been here for years You've been here for years He goes yeah, yeah, I said and you just gave your heart to the Lord listen I thought that anybody who was here for years. They got to be saved to put up with me that long But he said no, I just gave my heart to the Lord just because someone comes to church and comes regularly Doesn't mean that they're saved and also Sometimes they come to hear and to listen and sometimes they may be notorious sinners Who find a comfort at being in a group of people that has something different than what they live and After a while they begin to hear what is that difference and you'll be surprised at the amount of people perhaps You're not you wouldn't be surprised at the amount of people who can give their hearts to the Lord Because there's just something about Jesus listen Christians are to share the truth, but we do it with compassion and Concern there are people right now that I really believe are very angry Christians are very angry Christian They're mad about everything mad about everything everything and So they tell people you know you rotten sinner, you know And It's not that sometimes you aren't up front. I have to be real with you about that, but They'll tell me and they're mad. They're always picketing about something. They're always mad about something you know and and I discovered a long time ago if you if you want to be successful in Terms of learning to communicate well What is most important for you is two things one is the truth and two is love for the people if you love people Tell them the truth, but tell the truth speak the truth Paul said in love Love the people you're speaking to and and learn to weep for them Learn to weep for the lost Because a lot of us have forgotten because they can be so obnoxious sometimes people can be so so difficult They they're always looking for something bad and they're always saying something negative in and and If they know you love them they'll listen listen people can correct me Yes, they do and they can especially is is listen to You know with more eagerness if you will if if I know that person correcting me loves me You know when my wife corrects me, you know, I'm not gonna say they're saying I don't go home saying honey Can you correct me today? I'm I don't do that, but I'll tell you when she does I know that her correction comes from My heart that loves me. I know that she wants the best for me I know that and I may not appreciate hearing and sometimes well always I don't but when I hear it I take it to the Lord and I Investigate my heart and I ask God if that's true of me I need to change because I don't want to be that person and that's the way it works So when you speak you ought to love the people you're speaking to the psalmist said it in Psalm 126 verse 6 He said he who continually goes forth weeping bearing seed for sowing Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him learning to weep for the lost and so Jesus is there ministering and these people are lost but notice the Pharisees verse 2 The Pharisees and scribes complained saying this man received sinners and eats with them Now earlier they had found fault with his disciples eating with tax collectors and sinners in Luke 5 29 and 30 It speaks of Matthew Levi. It says Levi gave him a great feast in his own house And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them and their scribes and the Pharisees Complained against his disciples saying why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Well now they take issue with Jesus himself and they complain notice in verse 2 they're complaint He receives sinners and eats with them The word receive means to accept into companionship and not reject it means to accept warmly and lovingly in other words They're saying he receives them because he's a man of similar character. He receives them because he is like them He's eating with them You need to understand that during that day eating a meal and it's still pretty true today Eating a meal with somebody was more than just eating a meal in that day Especially it was if I invited someone to my house, we would have a bowl that we would dip our bread in It's kind of like if you go to a Mexican restaurant or whatever and you have your chips in your salsa And so you would dip in the same bowl You guys know this I mean you go to a restaurant or at home and you have salsa you have some some chips and all of that You dip and your wife comes your kids come, you know retells me. No double dipping that really bothers me go to a restaurant and You have you know six people around a table you have some salsa. Are you through with that? Yeah, yeah, okay, and you'll take it and you eat you'll eat out of that bowl I do but have you ever looked at the people in the table next to you that you don't know Have you ever say excuse me? Are you through with your chips and salsa? I ran out Can I have yours? No, why not? We are very careful who we swap spit with That's in the Greek We are We're careful who we share saliva with That's a fact and when someone would eat with a sinner that was much much more than simply having a meal They're saying he's like this person This man is sharing in a way that you only share with intimate friends or family That's why they had a problem with him and that's where they're saying he receives these people because he's liked them They're all the same type of people and so he's being attacked He's being attacked for being a friend of sinners But he still is a friend of sinners and I thank God for Jesus who hasn't stopped being our friend And so he's speaking there Now verse 3 He sees this taking place. He sees was taking was being said 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 99 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 99 just persons who need no repentance and so he begins to give us insight through three parables The first insight he's giving is that he's a good shepherd And notice he's a good shepherd who seeks after the lost sheep in Israel Shepherds often developed a strong bond with their sheep Sheep would be raised for food But they were also used for their wool and more often they would be used for the wool and so what had happened is the sheep actually developed a close bond with the shepherd and Jesus speaks of that and that's one of the reasons why in John chapter 10 he called himself a good shepherd He called himself the good shepherd Because he gives us insight into a relationship of a shepherd with sheep in John 10 3 and 4 it says here to him Jesus speaking to him The owner of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name And he leads them out when he brings out his own sheep He goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice And so he's speaking concerning the relationship of a sheep and a shepherd He says that the sheep hear his voice and in other words They recognize his call when a sheep is out and and grazing the shepherd will call and the sheep Recognizes the voice. He says he calls his own sheep by name So he gives his sheep certain names. He calls one daisy the other when he calls lamb chop But he gives him names shish kebab. He gives them names And so he calls his own sheep by name because of that relationship that he has with them and third He said he leads them out and goes before them. In other words. He is taking care of him He is safely leading them. He goes before them. There was a guy in Israel. He was on his first trip He sees a shepherd. He sees some sheep. He sees the shepherd behind the sheep and Turns to his guide and he says listen I've read my Bible and the Bible speaks of the shepherd going before the sheep and and they follow his voice I thought for sure when I was here in Israel that I would see the shepherd in front of the sheep But I'm looking there and I see a shepherd and I see the sheep But the shepherd is behind the sheep and not in front of them and I'm a bit confused Doesn't that happen anymore? And so his guide says no no that still happens in Israel There are still the shepherd who names the sheep goes before them and they follow his voice. That's true But that isn't the shepherd That's the butcher And so the shepherd goes before the sheep and That Jesus says is what he does. He goes before them He brings them safely to home and it says that the sheep follow him for they know his voice They have a personal response You see when sheep were born the shepherd attending the birth of the lambs Would be there and the the baby would would part the womb and would come out and the shepherd very often would take the newborn lamb the newborn and would Dry it off rapid dry it off hold it and begin to speak to it even name it and Would actually develop a tender relationship with that little sheep and from the very beginning that it parted the womb It would know the voice of the shepherd the shepherd would speak to the sheep the sheep would know it He'd give it a name whatever the name may be and that that little sheep would respond And so when it was out there with a hundred sheep He could call Daisy or whatever and the little sheep would perk up her ears and she would come walk and why because she knew the voice of the shepherd and Jesus was simply playing on what the Jews knew at that time and He's speaking concerning the love that a shepherd has for sheep You see the sheep belong to the shepherd and he cares for them not only did he care for them But he also counted them. He knew how many they were Jesus is speaking concerning a hundred sheep and if he loses one He goes seeking for it leaving the 99 in the care of somebody else while he finds the lost one So he knows how many sheep he has and he goes looking for them when one goes astray And he searches until he finds it and so what is it that he's speaking about well The lost sheep is a picture of a lost sinner This is a Sinner a person who's following their own heart. They're not thinking about their course of life They're simply wandering through life It's a picture that that Paul gives us in Ephesians 2 when he says in verses 1 and 2 You he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins In which you once walked according to the course of this world According to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience So he said in which you once walked that word walked in the original language in Greek It speaks of walking aimlessly it speaks of meandering you went from place to place You just meandered and he's saying that before you had a relationship with God your life was empty You had no purpose had no direction You didn't know which way you're going you wake up one morning and you'd say well I'll try this today a few months later. It didn't work. You just do something different your whole life was that way It was moving from one thing to another trying to find some satisfaction Finding trying to find a pasture to graze and trying to find some water to drink Trying to find something that would that would fill the emptiness of your life And and that's what Paul says happened to us. We we meandered we were aimless We had a pointless life we moved from thing to thing place to place and that's what happened with this sheep The sheep wandered off looking for a greener pasture and ended up lost and the shepherd is the one that goes after it You see that sheep may not even be aware that it's lost, but the shepherd knows it is There are times that that people will wander off even at you some of you are married to people who wander off Some of you have kids who kind of wander off and you say where is it? Oh, no He's because some some of us do that Marie keeps an eye on me Because I'll be doing something and she'll be looking at something and and I get distracted and I Just wander off and so she knows that about me You know, I know where she is But she didn't know where I am and then there's sometimes that people wander off and they don't even know They've wandered off but the person You know, it's their turn to watch them that person is Wondering where'd they go and they go searching for them children do this notoriously But people in general can't and that's the point. There are times that you are just wandering You're just meandering, but there's somebody who knows you're gone who's coming after you That's the good shepherd who's following you looking for you calling for you. How does he call for you by the gospel? By the gospel and that message goes out and he's calling to your ears so that you might know that you lost Because you can be lost as you know and not even know you lost That happened to Marie and me just a couple days ago We were driving and I took the wrong turn and as we're driving She says, you know, you're going in the wrong direction and I looked at her and I said But my dad used to say I said, you know, I've just always wanted to see this neighborhood, you know, I Always wanted to see this neighborhood. She said you're lost. I said, no, I got a general idea where I'm at You know, but that's true You can turn and go in a direction that you don't even know you're moving in the wrong direction And so Jesus is calling to us and that's what he's pointing out Now Jesus reveals himself as the shepherd who seeks out the sheep and it's revealing his love his tender concern For the lost it reveals the persistence of Jesus seeking those who are lost Ezekiel 34 says it like this in verses 11 and 12 For this is what the sovereign Lord says I myself will search for my sheep and look after them as a shepherd looks after his scattered flock When he's with them. So will I look after my sheep I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness Now undoubtedly the shepherd is calling out in the wilderness for his sheep by name Like it says in John 10 27 my sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me and Notice verse 5 when he has found it. He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing now that little sheep is exhausted It needs to be carried to safety. It may be injured I've discovered that a life of sin is exhausting. Have you a life of sin is exhausting when you're 13 14 15 And you're starting to discover Sin and things you can do that are wrong and you can stay out when 16 17 18 you can stay out all night You can stay out until three or four in the morning wake up at six and go to work You're not exhausted yet, but if you continue a life of sin after a while your whole life is exhausting It seems like it's just one depressive moment after another one lost opportunity after another One thing you have to live down after another and the more and more you grind out life the tire Do you get the more you try this and it doesn't work? And then I'll try this and it doesn't work and you're going day by day week by week month by month year by year You're grinding out life and it is exhausting. There's no joy. There's no rest. There's no satisfaction There's nothing but thirst. There's a loneliness in your heart and you're reaching out But you don't know what you're reaching out for And Jesus says I'm looking for you. I'm following after you. I'm calling you by name But as long as you're just out there in sin, it is exhausting some 30 38 verse 8 says I am feeble and severely broken I Grown because of the turmoil of my heart. I am severely broken Nothing's working for me. That's what led me to get saved by the way is one day I finally remember waking up saying to God you've got to do something for me because I Can't do this anymore. I can't do this anymore God help me God help me God. I still remember that 20 years of age, but I still remember that God I can't do this. I'm so tired. I'm so tired of hurting people. I am so tired of hurting my parents I am so tired of the life. I've chosen. I am so tired of this God help me I was Exhausted I was exhausted But notice that the sheep does not find him That's because the shepherd wasn't lost The sheep would be anxious. So he gently Comforts the sheep he carries it home like Isaiah 40 verse 11 says he will feed his flock like a shepherd He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with you And notice verse 6 he calls together his friends and neighbors and he says to them rejoice with me He's filled with joy and it isn't because of financial concern He's filled with joy because the sheep is safe and he gives joyful a joyful party Because that sheep that was lost has been found but the self-righteous Pharisees They didn't rejoice that these people were there listening and coming to him You know we have people who are actually angry we have had people angry at our church because we led their family to Christ We've had people call the church and and I remember one conversation in particular where they called the church and they said my son Was into drugs and alcohol. He was addicted But he's now going to your church and I want to know what's going on there because he's changed and This is what they said I can I could handle it while he was an alcoholic and a doper I cannot handle it now that he's a Christian there are people who prefer the lost to stay lost Even even even the religious people sometimes would just as soon Argue about how that person got saved or if they're even saved and they want to argue that person out of their salvation I've told you before about the church during the Jesus movement when hippies were coming to faith in Christ There was a particular church in another state That had a barber on staff So that when a hippie came forward the first thing they did is they took him after praying with them and cut off his hair Because they knew that Jesus wore short hair. Therefore every believer does Crazy, but that's what we do with people. You can't possibly be saved. You've got tattoos You can't be saved. You've got piercings. It's trippy to me. It really is. I've told you this before People go out and they buy their tattoo that thing is permanent. You know that And you put that little hummingbird on the smaller your back. It's going to become a vulture know that And and when you're walking bad decisions, but that one's permanent So what happens is they would say to us you can't be saved because and so there are people who are trying to quench with the Spirit of God does the self-righteous fair say ex-spirit that some people have Actually has a tendency of quenching the work of the gospel And so these Pharisees could not rejoice That these sinners and tax gatherers were coming to faith in God and that's why Jesus is speaking in this way And in verse 7 he says I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner Who repents then over 99 just persons who need no repentance in other words God rejoices when the lost are found and this joy well The one who has joy and desires to share it is the owner of the sheep There are 99 just persons he says who need no repentance. That's an interesting thing to say When he says there are 99 just persons who need no repentance. These are not truly righteous people, but 99 self-righteous people These are people that society respects But are still lost. These are the Pharisees They were those who thought that they were righteous But they were self-deceived in Luke 18 9 Luke says he he told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous And look down on everyone else. You see the Pharisees were self-righteous. They didn't think that they needed to repent in Luke 5 31 and 32 and Jesus said those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick I haven't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance and John 941 Jesus said if you were blind You would have no sin, but now you say we see therefore your sin remains See though there's none so blind as the one who refuses to see and the Pharisees could not get it They couldn't understand it how that these tax-gatherers and these sinners were listening to Jesus and getting saved So naturally they said within themselves. This is wrong That man there Jesus is just like those those other people you just like those tax-gatherers He's just like them because they have things in common And that's why Jesus is speaking and he's making it clear that they're self-righteous Then he moves on in verse 8 to say this Or what woman having 10 silver coins if she loses one coin does not light a lamp sweet the house and search carefully till she finds it When she's found it she calls her friends and neighbors together saying rejoice with me for I found the peace Which was lost which I lost Likewise, I say to you there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who? Repents so this is the second part of the parable a woman and her lost coin. She had 10 She loses one instead of ignoring its loss. She searches for it the question asked be asked why? Well because of its value to her and it wasn't necessarily something that was monetary Married women had a headdress made of 10 silver coins linked by a silver chain Sometimes a woman would say for years to amass her 10 coins Her headdress was like her wedding ring and It could never be taken from her even to pay off a debt It had great sentimental value to her So in her dark home she had lost her coin and she's searching diligently and Jesus uses this image to emphasize His searching for us until he finds us. You see we're like that lost coin covered with dust lost Useless until found No longer a coin lost the longer coins lost the less probability is there of it being found There are those who are lost for an entire lifetime They sink deeper and deeper into sin sin becomes their identity and being lost their way of life They get known by their sin and that's their reputation and that becomes their identity Well, the woman's coin is lost But she doesn't give up on finding it She tirelessly searches for it because she values it and she uses a lamp to shine a light into the darkness So that she might find it when Marie and I Were young and I asked her to marry me. I gave her her engagement ring and then On our wedding day. I gave her her wedding ring her wedding ring cost $200 It was all I had I didn't have any more than that And so I bought her a wedding ring. It had a carrot one. I'm sorry a quarter carrot That's how small it was it looked like a grain of sand And So I gave it to her and that's all I could afford and so I gave her this ring and and all and but you know You could hardly even see the rock on it Call it a rock Well one day we were at a Bible study and while we were at the study she looked down at her hand and And the sand had fallen out So she was upset and she says I can't I lost my diamond I lost my diamond I'm looking at her and I said honey. I don't know what to say. I lost my I lost man She starts to tear up, right? And so I said I'll go and find it for you, baby. I'll see if it's in the car. Well, I'm night blind I can't see in the dark So I go out anyway I open up the car door and I look down and and there's this little teeny thing glittering I thought it was a piece of glass, but no it was the diamond and I I brought it in You know carefully just carrying that heavy thing in and And we went and had it reset and you know The value it wasn't the value of the money because it's only a couple hundred bucks. It was The sentimental value of the ring that meant something and Jesus is telling us that we mean something Not what we are, you know capable of doing for him but who we are and He loves us and he made every effort to discover us and there we are We'll say under the dust of a bed if you will and he goes down with a light and he searches with the gospel of of grace and Shines on your darkened life and then he finds you and brings you to himself And as he did that he begins to rejoice look at verse 10 I say to you there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents They're joy before the angels of heaven There are those who say it at invitations they'll say Right now the angels are rejoicing that's not what Jesus said. I want you to see what he said He said there is joy in the presence of the angels of God It's not the angels that are rejoicing It's God who's rejoicing God is rejoicing for you God found you and the angels see salvation is something they don't understand See the fallen angels will never be recovered the ones who never fell will have no need of recovery of any sort They're still unfallen angels They don't know the magnitude of the loving grace of God to salvation God knows what it costs because God sent his son Jesus to die in a cross for you And he knows what it costs when his son put his hands on that cross was nailed in when his feet were nailed to that post When his head was swollen from being beaten when the thorns were placed on his brow when he had that that spear pierced His side when he cried out and said it is finished God knows what it cost to save you and God rejoices when you're saved That's how it works He loves you You have to understand that today. He loves you and he gave his son for you and Jesus said there's joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner Rejoices is saved. Why because God rejoices that you were found you may think That you have little value and perhaps to the world you do to the world But to God He loved you so much. He gave his son to die in a cross for you And you say how much do you love me God and Jesus speaks and says I love you so much I love you this much and he stretches out his arms and he dies on a cross for you That's the depth of God's love that we have yet to understand But is that love that rescued you when you were wandering in the darkness looking for green pastures And he was crying out your name all along by the gospel and he was saying come home come home Come to me Come to me Come to me Like the mother who's standing there at the window as her her wayward child is out there in the streets doing bad things And she just every night she's a stancer looking at that window They're looking at that window because one day that child she's praying will come walking up that driveway and come home Well, that's what God has been doing for so many people for so long and he's just crying out your name Where are you come home? Well, guess what we said here on my Lord forgive me and he said welcome home my child I love you. I gave up my my son for you and I am going to be with you and you will be with me forever Why because that's the God that we serve a God who loves us and gave his son