The Lost Sheep and Coin, Part 2

Luke chapter 15 is where we are in our study of the parables, the windows to the soul. Luke 15 is about one parable with three stages. One parable with three pictures. It's about the parable of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost sun. They're not three different parables. They're the same parable. The text is very clear. He told them this parable. He talks about the sheep. He talks about the lost coin. He talks about the lost son. It's all one parable. To help us understand something very significant about the salvation of a sinner.

Our outline is the same. We have the instruction, and then we have the implications. Let's read in Luke 15. Now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near to him to listen to him. and both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble saying this man received sinners and eats with him and he told them this parable saying 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 which is lost until he finds it and when he is founded he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he comes home and he calls together his friends and his neighbor 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. Or what woman, if she has 10 silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost in the same way I tell you. you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

The instruction, the instruction, two things I want you to see. The picture of the lost sheep and the picture of the lost silver coin. God is so good. Because you see, God's going to talk to the men and the boys, and then he's going to talk to the women and the girls. God just encompasses everybody. He just understands where we are at. And you're going to see that in a second.

Remember the culture, the time. The stories he tells, they get, but they're earthly stories with heavenly meaning. So he gives the first one, the first picture in verses three to six.

Don't miss parable. What man among you? Stop right there. What man among you? What man? It implies that the compassionate behavior he describes would be expected of any common sheep farmer. No shepherd worth his salt would be satisfied with 99 sheep out of 100. See, we don't understand that. We don't get that. You know, we're like businessmen, you know. You know, just let him go. Cut your losses. Move on. But not a shepherd. Now, these people understand that. That they got a hundred sheep, that they know all by name, and every night they count, that that shepherd would lay down to make sure that those sheep could not get out anyway without going through him first.

He would bind them. He would heal them. He would take care of them. He knew them all by name. And every night he would count them. One, two, three, four, five, all the way up, 200. to make sure that they were all together. He had great love for the sheep. Great love for them. So much so that if one wasn't there, he would leave the 99 and seek the one that was lost. Ah, you see, you know, we're not a group to God. We're individuals to God. He knows it's all by name. He cares for each of us individually, right?

So much so that he seeks after us. individually. He doesn't seek after us in groups. That's why I got a problem with mass evangelism, you know, as if we come to God in groups. That's not how you come to God. You come to God individually. God calls you by name and you come to Him and you respond to his prompting in order that you might understand the true essence of his character, his saving grace. And this shepherd would seek that loss, sheep. And when he found him, oh, what would he do? He'd carry him home.

He put him around his neck with the bulk of that body against his breast, with the legs up around his neck. And he'd hold that sheep on the way home. And what do you think he said? I told you not to wander off like that. What do you think you're doing? How dare you disobey me? Shame, shame, shame, shame. I'm going to spake your bottom. We get back to the fold. That's not what he said? No. Carries him, brings him back, and rejoices over the one that was lost. But now has been found. He sought him with a passion.

He would look all over the hillside under the shrub. He'd have to find that one sheep. It had to be back in a part of the fold. His joy was abundant. It was overflowing when he comes home. He calls together his friends, his neighbors, saying rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. Now, you know, I got to tell you, I don't understand this. I got a hard time. You know, number one, I have no love for animals, none whatsoever.

And you know all folks have been with it, you know that. You know, we moved to our new house, and, you know, we got a couple of cats and a dog, and, you know, I could take them or leave them. And in our old house, the house you rented, our cats were able to stay in the house. But now that I bought a house, there are no animals in my house. None. They can't come in. This is my house. This is not a dog shelter. It's not a cat shelter. This is my house. So the cats moved outside. And they would stay in at my shining glass store weeks on end, just looking, wondering, why?

Why are we now outside? We were once inside, but now we are outside. Can we please come in? I can just hear him saying that. And I just look at him and say, sorry, fellas, you're not coming in.

One day, one of them ran away. It was gone. My kids were devastating. I was rejoicing on the inside. My cat is gone. My cat is lost. This is great. I don't have to buy any more cat food. I don't take care of him. No more cat bills. This is great. He's gone. And my kids searched high and low for that cat. Five days they searched high and low. And they found it. Much to my chagrin. They found it. They brought it home. And they were so ecstatic, man. They were just hugging and kissing on this cat. I'm thinking, oh, Lord, why?

Why me? But you know what? My kids didn't call the neighbors. Say, rejoice, we found our cat. They didn't call the friends. Hey, we found a cat, man. Come over to the house. Let's rejoice. Because it's a cat. It's an animal. But a lost soul, a completely different story. And so the shepherd, who is the picture of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, the great shepherd, the guardian shepherd. When the lost soul is found, there is great rejoicing. Because he says in verse number seven, I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over.

one sinner who repents that over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Can you fathom that? Can you understand that? That in heaven, when someone gives their life to Christ, it is the ultimate spiritual high five. It's all you can do to contain all of heaven's joy over one sinner who repents of his ways. We don't get that. We don't understand that. But in heaven, they get it. They get it. I began thinking about this. Why? How come? You know, the Bible tells us in 1st, Peter chapter 1, verse number 12, that the angels, the angels, they don't understand salvation.

They don't understand it. They have yet to grasp it how the God of the universe would send his son to die for sinful man. They don't get it. And yet they were at the announcing of the birth of Christ, they were with Christ to his temptation, in his ministry on earth. They were with them at the resurrection. They were with them at the ascension. They assisted in the salvation work of Christ. And yet, they don't get it, Peter says. And the Bible says over in 1st Corinthians 4, verse number 9, that the angels, as they observe God's power in the life of the Apostle Paul, it says that Paul became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to man.

Even Paul was a spectacle to the angels. They don't get it. But one thing they understand is that when God's happy, they're happy. When God rejoices, they rejoice. When God's excited, they're excited. When God says, we're having a party, guess what?

The angels are having a party. Because in heaven, everything's done the way God wants it done, right? And so when one sinner repents, they all go bonkers up there. And we were like, oh, golf clap, you know. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. See, we don't understand. We don't get it. But God's saying, you know, this is the way it is. That's the way it is in heaven. When one of these sinners, one of these tax gatherers, one of these publicans repents, one of these drunkards, one of these idolaters turns from their way, I go seek them, I find them, and I bring them back to the fold.

And I tell you, there is more joy in heaven over one of these than 99 righteous ones. That is, as he speaks to the publicans and as he speaks to the Pharisees and the scribes, those who are teachers of the law. He says, listen, in all your ritual, and in all your own tedious laws, as much as you keep them and as much as you think that you are the best around, I want to tell you something, this is what it's about. It's not about you. It's about the one lost soul. that I have come to seek and to save.

Wow. That's the way our God is. Then comes the second picture, the picture of the silver coin. Or what woman, if she has 10 silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. Now think about that. After I went to lunch today, I had some coins in my pocket, you know. And if I lost the coin, it's not a big deal. You know, if it's a pin, I'm not going to do anything about it. If it's a nickel, I might look for a second.

If it's a dime, I might look for two seconds. If it's a quarter, I might need it to buy USA Today, so I'll look a little harder. But if it's a coin, it's just not that big deal. Ah, but you must understand that when a Jewish girl was married, she would wear 10 silver coins, 10 silver coins. And those silver coins were like wedding band today. They were important. Every one of them. Not just one of them, not just nine of them, but all of them. Because you see, they symbolized to everyone that she met that she now was a wife.

She would soon be a mother and she was now united with another man. And it would be great calamity to lose one of those silver coins. It would be like you losing one of the diamonds out of your ring. unless you only got one diamond, right? You know? My wife has gone through three diamond rings. She lost the first one when we were engaged.

We were water skiing on a lake in Vermont, and we were at a family camp with our church, and she was out in the water, and she was water skiing. And someone said, oh, Lord, your diamonds on your hand, you'll take it off. She goes, oh, okay. And she took it off while she was in the water. There it went. And as we were sitting there, I'm looking over the side, thinking, what are you doing? Am I sure I want to marry you anymore? And I'm watching this diamond ring go down deeper, deeper, deeper in the Lake Spofford.

There it is, right there. Grab it, honey. Grab it. And she was trying to grab it. She grabbed it, the water would move. We lost it. Now, I had spent a number of years saving up for that wedding ring, saving as much money as I could to make sure that she had the nicest ring I could get her. But I wasn't going to dive 30 feet at the bottom of Lake Spofford to find. it. I'd buy her another one. So I did. Several kids later, she was in the operating room, and the nurse said, you know, Mrs. Sparks, you have your wedding rings on.

You take those off. I said, I didn't give it to me. I'll take care of it. Well, you know what? I lost it. I don't know where it went. We can't find it this day. So I had to buy her another wedding ring. I mean, this is ridiculous. But that's the way it is, you know. And so those things are important to us. To a Jewish lady, Oh, the silver coins around her forehead was symbolized that she was married. She loses one. Oh, she got to find it. And so she light the candle. And you know, you can't turn the lights on.

There's no electricity in those days. No flashlights. You know, can you imagine switching for something in the middle of the night? How difficult that would be? Even during the day, it's hard. And so she has to remove the furniture. She has to sweep under the bed. She has to light the candle. She has to do everything she can to find the one silver coin. And when she finds it, oh, yeah. Yes, I found the silver coin. And the Bible says, and when she has found it, she calls together friends and neighbors say, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin, which I had lost in the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Ah, there's joy. There's great joy over one sinner who repents. Just one. Christ is trying to paint a beautiful, beautiful picture of the ultimate celebration in heaven when that which is lost is found. Now the Pharisees, scribes, careful students of the scriptures, should have understood this character's sight of God. Ezekiel 3311 says, as I live, declares the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He's compassionate. Isaiah 62, verse number five, says, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

And God says there is unrestrained celebration, uncontained joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

Because why? Because of God. God is filled with joy. The Bible says, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God.

over one sinner who repents. Why? Because that's the character of our God, which leads us to our third main point, and that is the implications.

Three things I want you to see. God's character, our condition and commission. First of all, God's character.

There are no more glorious truth in all of Scripture than Luke chapter 19, verse number 10, where it says that the son of man came to seek and save that, which is lost. From the human point of view, that is the most important truth in the Word of God. that the son of man came to seek and to save that which is lost. Isaiah 45, 22 says, turn to me and be saved. Listen, all the ends of the earth. God says, I want you to turn to me and be saved.

Why? Because at the heart of the character of God is the salvation of lost souls. The compassion of God, the love of God, the pursuit of God, the desire of God, is that he wants lost souls to be found. Luke 532, I had not come to call righteous men but sinners to repentance. People who know they're lost. God is a savior. He's a savior of mankind. Ezekiel 34, verse 16 says it this way. I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick. When God entered the world in human flesh, he was known by his divine name, which means Savior.

That was his name. Think about it. He left the wonder of glory. Think about what he had to do to seek you. To leave the wonder of glory, the perfect place. You know, most of us never want to be inconvenienced to do anything. You know what I'm saying? Let alone if we're in the perfect place. Why? came to seek and to save that which is lost. Number two, what's our condition?

Well, simply this, we're lost. We're lost. I love how Matthew says it over in Matthew chapter 9 when he said these words. Verse number 35, and Jesus was going about all the cities and villages, teaching the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of the sickness and seeing the multitudes, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. Isn't that what the Bible says?

All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. We're lost. That's our condition. Man is lost in his sin. He's lost in his own selfish desires. And the Bible says in the 1st Peter 2.25, for you were continuing.

strain like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. The Bible is very clear. In Romans 3, verse 10 and 12, that man is totally depraved. Totally depraved. In Ephesians 2, that man is spiritually dead. In 2, 4, that man is inwardly darkened. In Matthew 9, man is hopelessly downcast. He's lost because he is without a shepherd. That's what a psalma said in Psalm 23, verse number one, the Lord is my shepherd.

Can you say that tonight? Not that the Lord is a shepherd. That means nothing. Or the Lord is the shepherd. That doesn't mean much either. But is the Lord my shepherd, your shepherd? If so, you'll never want. Your cup will run over. He'll lead you beside the still waters. He'll restore your soul if he is your shepherd. Paul says in Ephesians 4 that we are excluded from the life of God. We are alienated from his life. And therefore, because we are dead in our trespasses and sin, he comes and seeks us.

Our condition, we're lost. We need to be found. and that's God's responsibility. He does that. So what's our commission? What's our commission? This is so important. I love our church. I love our church so much. This is a great place to be. I spent the last four days with the pastor of a church who is struggling tremendously in ways you'd never imagine. A big church. But four days I spent with this man. I would never want to be in his church. Never. I love our church, man. This is a great place to be.

Great place. I was telling them, I've had eight year honeymoon. Many of eight years? Eight years of honeymoon. I'm looking for eight more years of honeymoon. I don't think it's ever going to stop. But, you know, and I'm all for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and building the body and preaching the word. And we need to do that, and we're all for that. We do that. But you know what? There's always balance, isn't there? There is balance. And sometimes it's easy for us to get out of balance.

One man said this way. The problem with the church today is that we stopped being fishers of men and started becoming keepers of the aquarium. Isn't that good? It's not original with me. I wish it was. So I'll quote the guy giving credit. I don't know who it is. but he gets the credit. And that's true, isn't it? You know, there is the balance of what we're supposed to be doing as we come together and we worship God. You know, that's why church is one day a week and that's seven days a week. That's why we gather together in the Lord's Day.

We worship the Lord, we celebrate what he's done, we understand what he wants us to do, and what do we do. Then we go out, we do it. Are you doing it? You see, we grow in order that we might glow in order that we might go that's the order. You grow to glow to go. Why? Because God says go into all the world and preach the gospel.

To every creature do that. Go into all the world. Make disciples. We've been trusted with the ministry of reconciliation. That's our responsibility. And that's how the church grows. See? So let me Let me encourage you.

Jesus said, as a father has sent me, so send I you. How did a father send the son? He sent him to seek him and save that which is lost. And Christ says, I send you now to do the same thing.

Let me ask you who you're seeking in order that they might be saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Who are you going after? Who are you praying for? Who are you looking for God to do a mighty work in? Boy, I tell you, that is true joy. When that person gives their life to Christ, that's an exciting, exciting time. And I trust that as we understand this part of the parable, that we might learn to grow, that we might glow with the gospel of God, that we might be better at going with that gospel to people who need to hear that Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Let's pray.