The Lost Sheep

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Lance Sparks

The Lost Sheep
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Scripture: Luke 15:1-7

Transcript

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15 is where we are, and we'll be here for a number of weeks as we look at this great parable that is spoken in three different stages.

It is one parable because that's what Jesus said when he said these words, and he told them this parable. And the parable moves from one story to the next story to the next story without any breaks, telling us that it's one parable with three stages, all emphasizing the joy of God over lost souls that are saved. You know, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 17, that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The greatest miracle of God is the salvation of a lost soul. It is not the creation of the world, although that's quite a miracle. It was not even the creation of man. It is the recreation of a lost soul into the image of almighty God that glorifies his beautiful name. Well, we tend to look at salvation as some kind of just extra thing that's tacked on to life, or we look at it as no big thing whatsoever.

But in heaven, it's a huge thing. It is the only thing. It's what really makes heaven, heaven, because it was so long ago that our Lord decided that he would redeem a bride for his son. And so the Bible is about redemption. The Bible is about salvation of lost souls. And so when we realize that when a soul is found, it is transformed in a way that brings glory and honor to God. And so we walk in newness of life. We have the spirit of God that empowers our life. And so salvation is not just another stale transaction that takes place in the life of man.

It's what life is all about. That's what the Bible is all about. It's about the redemption of lost souls. And so Luke 15 tells us the story of what happens in heaven when lost souls are found. Our Lord has a profound pain over humanity's lost condition. It greatly affects him because he is a personal God. He wants all men to be saved, 1 Timothy 2, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's why he pursues lost souls so relentlessly. He goes after them. And that's what this parable is about.

It's in three stages because the first two stages speak of the ministry of our Lord. And the last stage speaks of the responsibility of man. The ministry of our Lord centers around redemption. Responsibility of man centers around repentance. And that's what the parable consists of. It explains to us how it is our Lord came to seek and to save that which is lost. The Bible is very clear that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He desires them to be saved. And so we're going to look with you this morning at the setting of Luke chapter 15, then the scene itself in the first two verses, and then the story begins with the lost sheep.

And then we'll move next week to the lost silver. And then the following weeks to the lost son, or really truly the lost two sons. And we'll explain to you why they're both lost and what the parable means for not just the sinners that are there, but the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes that are also there. The first two verses give us the setting and the scene centered around why this parable was given.

First of all, the setting. There's a message that was given. The message centered around the hard sayings of Jesus. There was a master who was present and it speaks of his heart sensitivity. And then there is man and his condition, the lost condition of man. You must understand the setting because the setting leads you to the scene. The scene leads you to the story. The story leads you to a summation of our responsibility. The setting centers around the hard sayings of Jesus. There are multitudes of people following him.

He turns and says to them, if any man come after me, hate not his father, his mother, his brother, his sister, yea, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. If any man does not take up his cross and follow after me, he cannot be my disciple. If any man does not sell all of his possessions, he cannot be my disciple. The hard sayings of Jesus. Centered around counting the cost of what it means to be a follower of Christ. And he concludes that section by saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

You need to be listening to what he says because this is the characteristic of people who are in the kingdom of God. From that message, centered around the hard sayings of Jesus, we go to the master and look at the heart sensitivity that he portrays.

The heart sensitivity of the master that speaks about his relentless pursuit of lost souls. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 115 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Paul said, I'm the chief of those sinners. Over in Luke 5, verse number 32, Christ says, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

In Isaiah 45, 22, the Lord God says, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth. Way back in the garden of Eden, when Adam sinned, God pursued him. Because God is a relentless pursuer of man. Asking the question, Adam, where are you? Not because he didn't know where he was, he knew where Adam was, but he wanted to have Adam understand his condition. Getting him to come to grips with his separation from God. See, why is it, do you think, our Lord, in all the wonder of glory, would leave that wonder of glory to enter into the womb of a girl?

To then leave that womb and enter into the warmth of a grotto? Then to grow and to walk the streets of Galilee, in order to work the works of God. That he might, he might weep in Gethsemane, in order to be, to be whipped at Gabbatha. In order that he might be wounded at Goggatha. That he might win over the grave, to be worshiped in glory for all eternity. That's, that's our Lord. That's, that's what he does. The whole Old Testament spoke of a coming Redeemer, who would come to save lost souls. Everything in the Old Testament foreshadowed the arrival of a Savior, a Deliverer, a Rescuer, a Redeemer of man.

And so when Jesus arrived as that Deliverer, he had a name that would save his people from their sins. The Bible is about the redemption of lost souls. It gives us the story of the plan of God on how he is going to redeem lost souls. How he's going to retrieve them. How he's going to recover them. How he's going to rescue them. How he's going to redeem them. That they might experience his wonderful glory. That's what the Bible's about. That's the story we have to give to people. That's the good news of the gospel.

And so we have the hard sayings of Jesus, followed by the heart sensitivity of Jesus. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And there would be people who would listen.

Not many of them, but there would be some. But it leads us to number three, man's hopeless situation.

Man's hopeless situation. And that's how, that's how the Lord understands his great ministry from heaven's perspective. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

That great emphasis in the book of Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. I think that sometimes we have missed the boat on man's condition. Turn with me just for a moment, if you would, to Ephesians chapter two.

And let me explain to you the sevenfold characteristic of man's condition. So you can truly grasp why it is man needs a savior. Ephesians two verse number one says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature, children of wrath, even as the rest, but God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you have been saved. He tells us that man is spiritually dead. He's dead in his trespasses and sins. He is separated from almighty God. He can't get to God. He is spiritually dead.

Not only that, he is totally depraved, totally depraved. He says that you walk according to the course of this world. Romans one explains to us what that means in verse number 28, when Paul says, and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.

And although they know the ordinances of God and that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Man is not only spiritually dead, he is totally depraved, Paul says. Not only that, he is satanically deluded. The text tells us very clearly that we walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Fallen man is satanically deluded. That's why Paul would say over in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse number 24, 25, and 26, these words, he said, and the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth.

And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. Lost man is held captive by Satan to do his will. He is satanically deluded. He is totally depraved. He is spiritually dead. He is outwardly disobedient. The text tells us that according to the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, that's why Paul would say over in Ephesians four, verse number 17, this I say, therefore, and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart.

And they having become callous have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Lost man who is spiritually dead is totally depraved, is satanically deluded, is outwardly disobedient in all of his actions because number five, he is inwardly defiled. He is inwardly defiled. The Bible tells us verse three, among them, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of our flesh. They are inwardly defiled. Not only that, they are hopelessly darkened.

It says, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Hopelessly darkened. Second Corinthians four, four says that man, lost man has been taken, no, he captured by God, by satan, but that he has been blinded by satan, so he might not see the glorious gospel of the truth, of the light that God wants to give him.

Man is hopelessly darkened. Therefore, he is eternally doomed. The Bible says, and we're by nature children of wrath.

By nature. That's man's condition. That's the lostness of man. That's where man is. And the only way he can ever be saved is by a God who pursues him relentlessly, finds him, rescues him, restores him, and redeems him. That's what God does. And that's what Luke 15 is about. And that's the setting surrounding this chapter. It's about the sayings of Christ that are so hard and so harsh, you ask yourself, who would ever respond to that? Who would ever say, yes, that's what I want. I want to give my life away.

I want to love God so much that my love for others looks like hate. I want to be the kind of man that's willing to deny himself, take up his cross and follow Christ, willing to sell all my possessions. Who would ever do that? That's why Christ says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And then he opens his heart up to us to show us what gives him the greatest joy. And that is the conversion of lost souls. But man, because of his lost condition, because of his hopeless situation, so desperately needs a redeemer to pursue him. And that's what Luke 15 is about. So let's move to the scene, verses one and two of Luke 15. The text says this, now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near him to listen to him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes, excuse me, began to grumble saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.

So the question comes, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Who's that? Well, that's all the tax gatherers and sinners who have come near to listen to him. They want to listen because our Lord is a lover of lost souls. And he would come to reach those who are lost, who recognize their condition. He can't save those who don't recognize their condition. They don't see themselves as spiritually dead. They don't see themselves as totally depraved. They don't see themselves as inwardly defiled and outwardly disobedient.

They don't see themselves that way. But the tax gatherers did. Those sinners did. That's the riffraff of society. The harlots, the drunkards, the prostitutes, all those people who would one day occupy the pews in the church. Listen to what Paul says in the first Corinthians chapter six.

He says this in verse number nine. Now, do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor feminine, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. These are the people that occupy the pews.

This is the way you used to be, but you were washed, but God washed you, but God cleansed you, but God sanctified you. He set you apart, but God justified you. That's why if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. You were this way. You are no longer that way. Why? You've been cleansed. You were living this kind of lifestyle. You're no longer that way because you have been separated from that lifestyle. You are now sanctified. You have been justified. You have been declared righteous before God.

Now everything is changed. This is the way you used to be. God has changed you. That's why salvation is a miracle of God. It's a transformation of the life that it might follow God. And so you have these tax gatherers, you have these sinners willing to listen to what Jesus has to say because they have no hope. They are hopelessly darkened. They don't know where to go. They don't know where to turn. They don't want nowhere to do. They're not accepted by the religious establishment. They don't share Christ with them.

So you move from the people and their condition to the Pharisees and their complaint. Instead of feeling the heart of God, they begin to complain, this man, he eats with sinners. He associates himself with the riffraff of society. Now you must understand that the Pharisees, they would never associate with people that weren't like them. They would misinterpret all the different verses of the Old Testament, like Psalm 1, when it says that the godly man doesn't walk or stand or sit in the council of the ungodly or walk with sinners.

They would interpret that as these tax gatherers, these riffraff people. And they would disassociate themselves with them. They would not, according to the rabbis, even teach them the law of God because they were so despicable. They were so disdained. They wanted nothing to do with them. And they did not want a Messiah who would come and associate with those kinds of people. That was the furthest thing from their mind. And so they would begin to complain. They would begin to murmur. They would begin to grumble about why this man would spend his time, his effort, his energy associated with these kinds of people.

Because they would never do that. And they were the representatives of the law. They were the ones who in their mind embodied the law of God. They were the ones who were in favor with God. And they would say, we don't want a Messiah who does this. That's why he can't be our Messiah. And they totally missed everything the Old Testament said. It is amazing to me that people who studied the Old Testament missed everything the Messiah said. They just missed everything. And it's so clearly portrayed in the Old Testament.

And so you have a prophet in the Old Testament who gave a critique of all the leaders of Israel. If you got your Bible, turn back with me to the book of Ezekiel, the 34th chapter. Ezekiel chapter 34. Listen to what the prophet Ezekiel said about the shepherds, quote, the leaders of Israel. Verse one, then the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, thus says the Lord God, woe shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves.

Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with wool. You slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened. The diseased you have not healed. The broken you have not bound up. The scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost. But with force and with severity you have dominated them. And they were scattered for lack of shepherd. And they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.

My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. And my flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth. And there was no one to search or seek for them. God is furious with the leaders of Israel. You're only concerned about yourself. You're not concerned about the sheep. And my people have wandered everywhere. So far that they have wandered that no one cares for them. No one seeks after them. No one goes for them. He says, therefore, you shepherds hear the word of the Lord as I live, declares the Lord God.

Verse eight, surely because my flock has become a prey, my flock has become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd. And my shepherds did not search for my flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock. Therefore, you shepherds hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds and I shall demand my sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep so the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. But I shall deliver my flock from their mouth that they may not be food for them.

I am against you. You know, it's never in a good position for God to say he's against you. And he was against the leaders of Israel. Well, the sad thing about this is that it never changed. You'd think that it would change after hundreds of years, but it never did. So when Jesus, the chief shepherd came, everything was the same. These leaders of Israel, these Pharisees, these scribes, these, these Sadducees, these elite religious people did not care for the flock of God. They only cared for themselves and God would condemn them.

Says in verse number 16, God says, I will seek the lost. I will bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with my judgment. And then he says in verse 23, I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord will be their God. And my servant David will be Prince among them. I, the Lord have spoken. God says, I am going to set my servant David.

This is not King David. He's been dead 500 years. So it's the Messiah, the son of David. I'm going to give them my shepherd and my shepherd will watch over my flock. And my shepherd will seek after my people. And my shepherd will care for those who are broken and those who are wounded. And my shepherd will do for them what the shepherds of Israel have not done. So there was a critique given way before Christ ever came in the new testament about the leaders of Israel. The sad thing is that nothing ever changed.

It was always the same for Israel. Old testament Israel is new testament Israel. New testament Israel is modern day Israel. They have yet to learn their lesson. They have yet to learn what God has said. They have refused to listen to the words of almighty God. So Christ comes. He says, see you as ears to hear, let him hear. In the riffraff from society, the prostitutes, the harlots, the drunkards, the sinners, the thieves, the robbers, they want to listen.

The tax gatherers, the despicable ones, they too want to listen because they have been ousted by the religious establishment of Israel. But the Pharisees and scribes, they don't want to listen.

They want to condemn. They want to criticize. They want to mumble and grumble against Christ. And they want to do all they can to prove that he's not the Messiah. But they are so far from the heart of God. And this whole parable opens us up to us, not only God's heart, but how far the religious establishment is from God's heart. So you move from the setting to the scene to the story itself. Let me read it to you.

It's very familiar to most of us. He told them this parable. What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one that was lost until he finds 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 neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

It begins with a question. It moves to the instruction. And then a profound application. It's a very short story. But remember, when Christ told parables, he told them in a way that those who listened understood, because it applied to their culture. It applied to their time frame. So they would understand exactly what Jesus was saying. He says, what man among you, now this would be a very difficult question for the Pharisees to apply. Why? Because Christ puts them in the category of shepherds, and they despised shepherds.

Of all the different forms of employment one could have, the lowest on the totem pole was to be a shepherd. They were polluted in the minds of the Pharisees. They smelled. They were despicable. They were the lowest of the lowest employed. And for Christ to say, which man among you, which one of you, having lost his sheep, he puts them into the story. And because he puts them in the story, he gets them to buy into all that's happening in the story. Christ is the master teacher. And so he puts them in the story, although they would despise shepherds.

And although they knew that their Messiah would be a shepherd. This is so ironic, because they despised the whole shepherding responsibility, but they knew, according to Isaiah 40, they knew according to Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23, that the Lord was a shepherd. He was the one who would care for people. They knew that. And yet they despised the shepherding responsibility. They would despise everything that a shepherd did. Although they would recognize the value of shepherding, they would not want to be a shepherd, nor be called a shepherd.

So Christ begins with this question that gets them to put themselves into the sandals of a shepherd, because he wants them to understand the magnitude of man's lost condition and the ministry of God to redeem man. And so it begins with this question. Now, in terms of the instruction, understand this. In those days, most people would have two, maybe three sheep. Some would have upwards of 10 or 12. But the story tells us that there's a hundred sheep. And so we would know, because this speaks of a home, a village, a place where people lived, that what they did in those days is that they would put all the sheep together.

Okay? And there would be two or three different shepherds that would watch over those sheep, shepherds from that community, shepherds from that village. They would not be outside shepherds. They would not be hirelings, but they would be shepherds from that village area. So they would be either owners of sheep or relatives of owners of sheep in that vicinity. You need to understand the cultural setting. You need to understand exactly what Christ is talking about here. And all the Pharisees would know this.

They would get this. They understand this because no one person had a hundred sheep. You'd have to get a whole bunch of people together to make up a hundred sheep. And so there would be the sheep who would go out to pasture. And these two or three shepherds would take them out into the pasture to graze. And there was one rule as a shepherd. You only had one rule. Wouldn't you like going to work and only have one rule? Just one. All you got is one thing. One thing and that's it. Just one. Don't lose the sheep.

That's the only rule a shepherd has. Don't lose them. If you lose them, you got to go find them. See, that's the one rule. And so it's not like it takes, you know, some Phi Beta Kappa to be a shepherd so he understands all the ins and outs of shepherding. Just got to make sure you don't lose anybody. And that's what the shepherd did. And so he says very clearly, if he has a hundred 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.

And when he has found it, you see, here's the rule. He goes after it until he finds it. And he doesn't come home until he finds it. That's the only rule. And they would know this. They would understand this. And so as he gives this instruction about shepherding, putting them into the framework of the pasture and these a hundred sheep and one that's lost, they would begin to relate to the story and understand it. Sheep were very valuable because sheep provide wool. Wool provides clothing, right? And so because of their value, they would seek them.

They would find them. They would go after them. And the rule was, you go after it until you find it. If it's dead, you still bring it home. If it's been mauled and there's only pieces of it, you bring the pieces home. That was the only rule. Don't lose a sheep. If you lose it, go get it. And if it's dead, bring it back. If it's been shred to pieces, bring back at least a piece of it because somebody in that village owned that sheep and you got to bring it back. And so he says, this shepherd would leave the 99 under the care of the other two shepherds and go find the sheep.

Now, please understand, sheep are not very smart animals. They're very stupid animals. Okay. They're very helpless and they're absolutely hopeless. They wander around and if they get lost and they wander away, sheep can become very depressed. And so they just roll over and they die. You see a sheep, if it rolls over, can't get back up. If it's down, it's down for the count. And if you go seeking a sheep, if you've been to Israel, Israel is filled with what? Rocks, right? All over the place. Well, the color of sheep blends so nicely into all the rocks around Israel.

You've got to really search to find them because it's either a rock or a sheep, a rock or a sheep, which is it? And so you got to go look at every rock, make sure it's not a sheep if you've lost it.

And so you have these sheep who once they fall over, they cannot get back up. They cannot defend themselves. They have spindly little legs. They have no growl, no bark, nothing to intimidate anybody else. They cannot defend themselves. They need to be defended. Somebody, the shepherd must defend the flock because they can't defend themselves. They'll roll over and they'll just sit there until they die because they're helpless and they're hopeless. So the shepherd must go after them. He must relentlessly pursue them until he finds them, until he can bring that individual sheep home.

And look what it says. It says, and when he has found it, the text says, the one which is lost until he finds it, when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing, rejoicing. I found the sheep. It's not like you bad sheep, bad, bad, bad, bad, what is wrong with you? Why is it you wandered off? No, he finds it. He's rejoicing. Why? Because he's got another robe. He's got another dress. He's got another headband. Okay. Somebody's going to be clothed for the winter time. He's going to rejoice over the value of the lost sheep.

It's gone. I found it. And he rejoices over it. Now see, I can't relate to that. I'm not a lover of animals. I can't relate to this. We've lost cats. We've lost dogs. And I have sung the hallelujah chorus in my house. Now my kids don't do that. They cry and I'm in the back room saying, God is so good. I lost another one. And I don't have to go find it. I don't go looking for lost dogs or lost cats. I don't. My kids do. They'll search high and low and they will do everything they can to find them.

And they will cry until they come home. And I'm like, get a grip. It's an animal. It's not a big deal. You can buy another one. Okay. They're just down at the shelter. Get another one. We'll find another one. No big deal. But boy, when they come home, my kids rejoice. And I'm sad. I am absolutely saddened. Okay. I don't get it. But my kids, they love the animals. Well, the value of sheep is far beyond a cat or a dog or anything else. It is, it is the lifeblood of that village. So he finds it. He's rejoicing.

Now sheep are not, not, not easy to carry. They weigh up to 70 pounds. Okay. And so you pick up the sheep, you put the sheep on your, on your shoulders. And so the legs come across the back of your shoulders to the front and you hold onto the legs here. That's how you carry the sheep. And because the other sheep are already back into the pasture, then they are put away, right? They are already home. So he's, the work has just begun. Once he finds it, now the work begins because now he has to walk back in the dark, see, carrying 70 pounds of sheep.

It's not easy. So he's got to bring it back, but he brings it back rejoicing, excited, ecstatic about the one sheep that was lost now has been found. And so he brings it back. It says, and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I found my sheep, which was lost. I found it. And they enter into the joy because everybody in the village knows what it means to lose a sheep. If they lost one, they would be saddened. But the shepherd found the sheep and they entered into the joy of the entire village because that which was lost was now found.

And then Jesus drives home the application by saying, I tell you that in the same way, which way is that? The way in which this village rejoiced, the way in which the shepherd rejoiced, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. In the same way, this is what happens in heaven. You see, you are so opposed to sinners. You are so opposed to tax gatherers. You are so opposed to those who aren't just like you. You are so far away from the heart of God because God goes after lost things.

God pursues them relentlessly. And when he finds them, not only does he rejoice, but those in heaven rejoice. They are absolutely overjoyed at the fact that one who was lost is now found. And that's what makes heaven so unique and so incredibly special because it centers around the joy of lost things. Christ came to redeem man. When those who are lost are rescued and redeemed, all heaven erupts in joy. He says that there is more joy in heaven over the one that's lost than over the 99 righteous ones.

And this is a slap to the Pharisees who saw themselves as righteous, self-righteous. There is no joy in heaven over self-righteousness. But the one that's lost, there is great joy over. And that's the application that Christ gives. He puts them into the story itself. That's why over in Matthew chapter 9, the Bible says this in verse number 35, And Jesus was going about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

And seeing the multitude, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. He was so, so overwhelmed with the burden of the sheep having no shepherd. Because the leaders of Israel would not invest their lives into the lost sheep, the lost flock. He was burdened by that. And so he gives this story, this parable, that one of the stories, one of the stages of the parable deals with lost sheep. Something that they would all understand, they would all be aware of, and they would all understand from the standpoint that they would realize the shepherd's responsibility to find the one lost sheep.

He says, I tell you the same way, this is the way it is in heaven. Now, in terms of summation, let me help you understand something.

You know, we have a great responsibility as the people of God to be involved in telling people about Christ and having a heart for the lost as Christ has a heart for the lost. How do you govern your heart for the lost? Just ask yourself, when was the last time you shared Christ with somebody? And that will tell you what your heart for the lost is. Is it in the same place God's heart is? That's so crucial, so important. You see, we were called to be fishers of men, but no longer are we fishers of men, we're keepers of the aquarium.

We've stopped becoming fishers of men. We stand at the door and we yell, here sheep, come sheep, here sheep, come on in sheep, instead of going after the sheep, after the lost souls. And sharing Christ with them. And our Lord said these very profound words after his resurrection, as the Father has sent me, so send I you. What a powerful statement. As the Father has sent me into a dark, depraved, diluted, satanic world. So I'm sending you, that you might be the pursuers of lost men. Because Christ has made us his ambassadors.

He's made us the ones that will go after others and tell them about Christ. We are the ministers of reconciliation. He has empowered us with the gospel. He's empowered us with his spirit, that we might go and tell people about Jesus Christ our Lord. That's our responsibility. And we should have the same heart for the lost as the Lord God has for the lost. That we would pursue them, go after them, and help them to understand what it is Jesus Christ himself has done for their soul. That they might experience the joy of heaven.

They might experience salvation from sin and erupt in the joy that heaven erupts in. That's our responsibility. And I read this story and I think to myself, you know, would it be that every one of us in this room would be so consumed with the lost? I mean, why else are we here? We're not here for any other reason but to share Christ with the lost. We're not here to get married. We're not here to have a family. We're not here to raise kids. We're not here to have a job. We're not here to retire. We're not here for any of those purposes.

We do those things. But that's not why we're here. Think God saved you to have a family and raise kids and have a job and retire? No, he saved you so that you would become a minister of reconciliation. That you would share his truth with those who so desperately need to hear it. That's why he saved you. And that's why after he saved you, he didn't take you home to be with him. Heaven's rejoicing over your salvation, but he keeps you here so that you could be that minister of reconciliation to those who need to experience the joy that you've experienced in Jesus Christ our Lord.

That's why we're here. We have so missed the boat in terms of our identity, in terms of our responsibility, in terms of our ministry when it comes to reaching the lost. That's why we're here, folks. And if you learn anything from this parable, learn this, that we have a huge responsibility. Yes, Christ is the one who pursues them, but he pursues them through us. He pursues them through the preaching of his word. He pursues them to those who are willing to go and share Christ with others. He pursues them through his Spirit that goes and convicts men of sin that they might come to a point of repentance.

He uses us in that whole process. He wanted to use the leaders of Israel, but they refused to be used. They did not want any part of this Messiah. We, the church, have been employed by God to be his ambassadors, his representatives of his kingdom. And may God give us the grace to go and to pursue the lost souls that are surrounding us every day with the truth of the gospel. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this great and glorious day, the opportunity we have to rejoice over what heaven rejoices over, that which is lost is found.

And for that, Lord, we are joyful. And we pray for those who are here among us today. If one is lost, may they be found by you. And may they repent of their sins and give their life to Christ and follow you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.