Turn with me in your Bible to Luke, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15. Luke, chapter 15. This chapter consists of three very familiar parables. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. And these are not just familiar stories, they're the heartbeat of the Gospel. Christ came into the world to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. If we're wandering like sheep or helpless like a coin or rebellious like a son, we're all incapable of saving ourselves.

Last week, we saw that God's ways are past finding out. God can't be understood. but he must be believed. That's what faith is. It's believing the God of this book, the God of this Bible, who we cannot understand. We don't understand him, but we believe him because what he says is so, and God has revealed to us that what he says is so. And even though we don't understand God, we can discover from his word, from this book, some wonderful things concerning his heart and his way and especially here in the parable of the lost sheep.

Now we only have time to cover this first parable of the lost sheep, but the message is the same of the other two parables, and that is salvation is of the Lord. Now that's a simple statement, five words that make up the whole of the Bible. Five words that give God all the glory that He deserved. Five words that show us man is the one who did the sinning and God is the one who does the saving. It's amazing to me how few people really know and believe that. Salvation is of the Lord. What does that mean? Salvation is not a man. Man didn't pick himself up by the bootstraps. Man didn't let go and let God. Man didn't make Jesus their Lord. He was Lord long before man ever came into the picture. People don't give their hearts to Jesus. And mercy and grace gives men and women new hearts that are capable of believing because by nature, no man or woman can come to Christ that they may have life. And no man or woman will come to Christ that they might have life. God's got to first give them life. And then he gives them the ability.

Let's just look at the first seven verses here. Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse one. then drew near unto him, that being the Lord, all the publicans and sinners for to hear him." Now, publicans were tax collectors. They were hated by folks. I'm not a big fan of the IRS myself, but you can see why these guys, because they extracted more than they should have, and they stuck it in their own pockets. Well, sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Verse two, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, complained, saying, this man, speaking of the Lord, Receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Not does he just receive them, he eats with them. And he spake this parable unto them. The Lord then spoke this parable of the lost sheep unto them, saying, verse four, what man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it, that being that lost sheep, on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. And I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance."

Now this parable gives us the gospel. It shows us what sinners are. It shows us who Christ is. And it shows us how God truly saves sinners. And I emphasize that statement on how God truly saves sinners, because, listen, repeating a prayer with Franklin Graham on the television won't make it happen. It's not going to get it done. walking down the aisle from where you sit to the front of the church, joining that church, getting baptized by that church, won't save you. It won't. These things will only cause you to think that doing those things saved you. I can't tell you how many times I've heard at funerals, you know, so-and-so was saved because They came to the front of the church and they accepted Jesus. Listen, we don't accept Jesus. We're accepted in Jesus, but we don't accept Him. He's Lord whether we recognize Him as Lord or not. These things won't save you, just make you think you're saved.

Well, what then preacher will save you? What did I say, Emmanuel, five words? Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord saves you. Trusting that Christ kept the law. God gave the law, not for us to keep in order to be saved, but he gave us the law to show us our inability To keep it and that was to drive us to Christ who kept the law for us The law that you and I have offended and broken Christ kept it and here's the beautiful thing is that he kept it perfectly because if we offend in one point If we don't keep the law 100% and all of the law We're guilty of the whole law

Salvation, salvation's of the Lord. It's trusting in Christ's shed blood, which without the scripture says, there is no remission of sin. What does that word remission mean? It means deliverance and freedom. No freedom from sin. Oh, listen, sin will put you in bondage. It sure will. But with Christ's shed blood, there's deliverance and there's freedom from sin.

Salvation is of the Lord. It's rejecting any thought whatsoever of you and I earning or meriting or deserving the favor of God, and it's bowing to the truth that Christ did all the work for His people. What's there for me to do? Nothing but believe, and I can't even do that unless God gives me a heart to believe. So what does that mean? Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord. And this brings deliverance and it brings freedom because, listen, if you can do nothing to save yourself, if it's all according to Christ's finished work, and He said it was finished on the cross, He said it's finished, then the beautiful thing about that is that you can do nothing to be lost. Isn't that something? That's just so wonderful.

All my life growing up in church, it was like, well, you do this and you'll be lost and you'll go to hell. And if you don't do this, you'll be lost and you'll go to hell. Doesn't have anything to do with me. It has to do with what Christ did for me. And a lot of folks will say, you know, you're misleading people. No, no, no, no. It's where deliverance and freedom comes. Now, we don't just go out and live like hell because of that. We, out of love and reverence for the one who loved us and gave himself, don't want to displease him. We want to be pleasing to him. So we don't sin that grace may abound, possibly, God forbid.

Our salvation is certain because salvation is of the Lord. And if salvation is of the Lord, and it is, then you're safe and secure in the shepherd's fold. And it's God who makes it happen. The Bible unequivocally teaches that salvation is of the Lord. And then he adds, not by works of righteousness that we've done. I'm so glad it added that because what he's saying there is that we don't have any righteousness to add. And if we add anything to the finished work of Christ, then we make it unaffectual, unaffected.

It's God who has mercy on whom he'll have mercy. That's what Paul said. That's very plain and simple statement. God has mercy on who? On who he wants to. God has compassion. Who does God have compassion on? On whomever he wants to. And then he adds, in whom he, God will, he hardeneth. Those who in the end are found in heaven, listen, will find themselves there by God's choosing, by God's calling, by God's keeping. That's what it means when salvation is of the Lord.

God alone is the source. God alone is the cause. God alone is the accomplisher of salvation. Not part God and not part you. All God, all of it. Salvation originates with God. Salvation is accomplished by God. Salvation is applied by God. Salvation is preserved by God. God gets all the glory for our salvation. And that's the problem today in religion. Men want to share in God's glory.

Well, what must I do to be saved? What's my part in this? Where is there some credit given to me? There is none given to you. is all given to God. Salvation totally rests on God, not us.

As we just read, the telling of this parable is triggered because the Pharisees, the so-called righteous leaders of the day, the scribes and the Pharisees, were grumbling that the Lord welcomed tax collectors and known sinners to come unto Him. And these publicans, these tax collectors and sinners, they were despised by the scribes and the Pharisees. Oh, they just hated them.

And the first words which were actually murmuring out of their religious mouths in verse 2 is this, this man received sinners and eats with them. To eat with someone meant acceptance and fellowship with them. It displays that they're thought worthy of one's company. You don't want to go out and enjoy a meal and fellowship with somebody that hates you. It displayed a sign of intimacy and trust, the same as excluding someone from a meal often meant rejection and social judgment. Eating with someone was a sign of agreement and endorsement. It was saying, they're all right. I don't mind at all sitting down and having a meal with them.

And with the scribes and the Pharisees, it suggested that the Lord did not condemn their behavior. and that he somehow acknowledged them as part of God's covenant people. And boy, this upset the scribes and the Pharisees greatly. Why? Because it undermined their sense of religious piety. It challenged their social authority. It contradicted their self-righteous views. It highlighted their blindness to God's mercy.

And the scribes and the Pharisees hated all this attention that Christ gave such folks as these, and enraged and exposed them for who and what they were. What were they? Self-righteous hypocrites. Do you know any of them?

Our Lord tells this parable not to entertain them, but to reveal the heart of God. This is God. This is what God is really like. So the first thing that we see in this parable is the sinful human condition, the lostness of the sheep. Verse three, and he spoke this parable unto them, that being the religious scribes and Pharisees, by asking this question, verse four, what man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them? Now, here is the first blow of truth that he gives. Sheep get lost. They drift. They wander. If you look up online or get out an old encyclopedia and look up sheep, you'll find out that's their character. They're prone to wander. They're prone to get in trouble. They're prone to leave the other sheep. Pretty soon you'll find one of them in a group of 100 and he's drifted off somewhere.

Listen, you and I are like sheep. That's what we're compared to in the Scripture. Prone to wonder. You could accurately say that's their nature. And that's our nature. We're prone to wonder. We're prone to leave the God that we profess to love.

It's the nature of sheep to wander from the fold. And in our fallen and sinful state, we have no sense of direction or danger. This is who the Lord came as. The lost. Publicans and sinners. And that's so comforting to me. You know why? Because that's what I am. I'm a publican. I'm a sinner.

The Lord continues there in verse 40. He says, being the true shepherd, leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it. I love how he added those last three words. The Lord is telling them why the publicans and the sinners draw nigh to hear him. That's who he came to save. He's got the words of life to publicans and sinners, not to good folks.

The Lord said in another place when they were complaining about the same thing. He asked the disciples, the publicans, the Pharisees and scribes, asked the disciples, why does your master eat with these notorious sinners? That's who He came to seek and to serve.

And this is the second thing. We see the pursuing shepherd. Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. Christ seeks the lost. Verse 4 says, He goes after the one which was lost until He finds it. That's the gospel. Lost sheep don't wander back home. They wander away, but they don't wander back. The shepherd goes after them until he finds them. He's on a mission. He doesn't stop. His searching is always relentless. It's always effectual.

God initiates the seeking. The sheep don't. God initiates salvation. The sinner don't. The gospel starts with God's pursuit, not with man's efforts. We got this thing backwards. That's why Christ is there this day in Luke 15. Salvation's not generic. Or in general, it's targeted grace to a particular people. Who are they? Publicans and sinners. The worst of the worst.

Paul, one of the greatest apostles to ever live, wrote three quarters of the New Testament, said, it's a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came to the world to save sinners. And then he said, of whom I am she. The man that wrote three quarters of the New Testament said, I'm the biggest sinner of all.

And I'm going to tell you something, this man standing in this pulpit this morning preaching to you the very things that I myself need to hear the most. I'm the chief. I'm the worst. And you would agree that you are. That's the one thing we would disagree on, isn't it? Who's the worst? Christ came to the world to save sinners, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And it wasn't without great cost. The Lord Jesus, the good shepherd, chose to expose himself to pain and to hardship, even to the death of the cross, the worst way a man could die back then.

You know, today, I know the electric chair is You know, that was bad, and now they just lay a man on a table and inject him with, you know, and I mean, you know, it's whatever type of execution it is, it's bad. But the cross, to nail your hands and feet onto a pole, and a lot of people have it wrong. The word actually means a pole. It's not a cross where he's like this. He was nailed like this. And all, when they set that cross, that pole into the ground, it jarred that man, and pretty soon he can't breathe. You know, it's a horrifying death. And that's how men killed God in the flesh. Not without great cost.

And like the lost son, the third parable in this chapter, God did not wait until he came to his senses. God brought him to his senses. He put him in a pig pen. He said, I want you to give me what I got coming to me. And he went out and he spent it all on righteous living. And he spent it all, he got nothing. So he goes to work for a guy feeding pigs. And he's in a pig pen with him. And he got so, he became so hungry that he would have eaten the pig husk. But God revealed to him that his father's servants fared better than he did.

He's out there one day feeding those pigs, those husks. And he said, what am I doing? What am I doing? My servants, the servants of my father live better than I am. I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna beg for mercy. I'm gonna ask my father to forgive me and just make me a servant. I'll fare better than I am. God revealed this to him. He wasted all that he had. And that's not something we figure out on our own. God reveals it to us and causes us to cry out to him for help.

We all lived in the pigpen of this world. Every one of us. And we sought different things to try to make us happy, and none of them did. Just like the lost coin, the second parable in this chapter. God doesn't treat His chosen people as disposable. This woman had ten coins. She lost one of them. And she searched diligently for that one that she'd lost. And she did so intentionally, and persistently, and personally. That's the way Christ does us.

The only thing that we as lost sheep, and lost coins, and lost sons and daughters contribute, you know what it is? Our lostness. Is that a word? Well, we just made it one. Our lostness. Our lost state. That's all we contribute. Our sin. We're not even aware that we're lost. But our great God is, and thank God for His divine intervention. You know what an intervention is. There was that show on TV for a while where the family would get together and intervene and someone that was hooked on drugs or alcohol or whatever it was, well, we're hooked on sin. And there's only one that could deliver us, God.

God divinely intervened. That's what that is, divine intervention. Our salvation required Christ to leave His heavenly abode and enter into our wilderness, into our pig pen. And He did so willingly and voluntarily. That's just amazing. Now the success of the sheep's redemption depends and rests entirely on the persistence of the shepherd. Not the cooperation of the sheep. That sheep is lost. He's in danger. There's wolves looking. There's bears out there. And the sheep then can say, okay, Mr. Shepherd, now if you come and rescue me, I promise never to do this again. No, no cooperation from the sheep. There's none that seeketh after God, Scripture says. God saves those who he seeks.

And the third thing we see in this parable is the pursuing and saving shepherd who lifts the sinner. I can't tell you how many times I've pictured this in my mind. Look at verse five. And when he had found it, that being the lost sheep, what does he do? He lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. That's exactly how God saved me, Ro. That's exactly how God saved me. He didn't say, OK, now sheep, let's head on back home. Come on, you know, kick me every now and then. Come on now, you're not moving fast enough. No, he reached down his hand for me. He picked me up and He put me on His shoulders and He carried me all the way home.

My heart's moved when I read that verse, moved because that's exactly what He did for me. This is entirely the Shepherd's work. We don't walk back home, we don't limp back home. The Shepherd comes and carries us home. Salvation's personal, it's hands-on, but it's His hands. It's not by the work of ours, it's by the work of His. It's the shepherd who bears the full weight. A lost sheep is heavy and filthy and resistant, and Christ shoulders the burden of our sin and guilt. That's such a picture of us. On the cross, He bore what we can never bear.

And what is the shepherd doing while he's carrying his sheep? Rejoicing. He's not complaining. He's not going this way. No good feeling. I ought to just beat him right here. No, he's rejoicing. He's singing. He's humming. All the way, carrying that sheep on his shoulders.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising. Our Lord looked over the disgrace of the cross and He embraced the joy that lie ahead, the joy that was set before Him. You know what that was? The salvation of His people. He's on that cross for a reason, to save His people from their...

The shepherd's not rejoicing because the sheep adds value. It's because the sheep was lost and is now found. No anger, no frustration, no scolding. Just Joel, happy about it.

So, to the lost, I say to you this morning, you're not too far gone. You're not too unworthy. You're not too lost. The same Shepherd who searched through the wilderness for one sheep is still searching today. And He knows where you are. He knows where you are, and it's no accident that you're crossing His path this day. And if you belong to Him, and He's your shepherd, and you're His sheep, His grace does not stop until He finds you. He's not gonna quit. I'm so glad He didn't give up on me. All those years, all those years, He never gave up. He pursued me.

The gospel is not God loving the righteous, those who see themselves as being righteous. The gospel is seeing God rejoicing to save the helpless. My salvation is secure because I'm on His shoulders, not on my own two feet. People talk about what men can do and what men need to do. Listen, men and women by nature are spiritually dead. The Bible is very clear about that. Have you ever seen a dead man walk anywhere and do anything? Well, listen, if he can take the first step, then he can go all the way. But that first step's the problem, isn't it? With somebody dead. And that's our problem. We've got to be given life. We've got to be carried.

And then the fourth thing we see in this first parable is the celebrating shepherd. Heaven rejoices over a sinner's repentance. Verse six, and when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me! What's the good news? I have found my sheep, which was lost.

Now listen to me, this is the most amazing thing. God doesn't just rescue sinners. He rejoices in doing so. He doesn't grumble that he has to go and find the sheep. He's thrilled to do it. That's the heart of God. Joy, not reluctance. Religion today is statistical. You know, It never fails when somebody finds out that I'm a preacher, and it's not me that tells them in most cases. There's been a time or two where somebody says, you know, what do you do? And you just say, I'm a preacher or whatever. But anytime, the first question I'm asked when people find out that I pastor a church is, well, how many members do you have? If I told you, you wouldn't be impressed. The Lord's joy is personal, not statistical. That one, you better believe it does. He doesn't shrug and say, well, I've still got 99, let him go. Christ farts with the lost sheep. The one that wondered, the one that failed, the one that is helpless. His joy is alive and expressive, not reserved. He calls his friends and neighbors. This is a public rejoicing. When the shepherd saves his lost sheep, it's too big for him to keep to himself.

His joy is a costly joy. There's weight, there's sweat, there's scratches involved. Don't you imagine that shepherd got scratched a little by this? Our Lord got scratched more than a little. They pierced his hand and his feet and his side. They put a crown of thorns on his head. There was some cost involved in saving these sheep. The sheep just enjoys the ride home. The shepherd's one does all the work.

I remember my dad. Man, I miss my dad. But I remember he had a little old black truck. I always teased him and said, you're the only one that can start that thing. I think he had bailing wire or something that just knew his weight and whatever. I never could get the thing to start. But he had that license plate on the front or whatever you want to call it. God is my co-pilot. Man, I'm telling you what a joke that is. God ain't no co-nothing. He ain't no co-pilot. He's the pilot. And I'm not a co-pilot. I'm like that sheep. I'm just on his shoulders enjoying the ride.

And the shepherd's joy underscores here that the sheep contributed nothing. The shepherd rejoices in what he's done. The sheep didn't do anything. He just got lost. Sinners don't come to Christ by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. Self-made men, self-made women, bull. Nothing to it. Men and women come to Christ because Christ comes to them. The sheep is saved because the shepherd came to them. He carries them. He goes after that sheep because he wants to. He delights to show mercy, the Bible says. He really does. He rejoices because this is His heart. God doesn't save reluctantly. He doesn't drag sinners into grace with a scowl on His face. His joy comes from, becomes the believer's assurance and our security does not rest in our grip on Him. It's because of His joy.

Verse seven, and I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven. over one sinner that repented more than over 90 and nine just persons. And then he says, which need no repentance. I say, he's qualifying who these 99 are. God never saves out of duty. He saves because he delights to. This joy is not over the 99 who see no need of repentance or grace. God's heart is attracted to the desperate ones, the lost ones, the needy ones who know they're lost. And the first step towards being saved is knowing that you're lost. That's what Luke 15's all about. The lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. The point Christ is making is this. Nobody ever seeks a Savior until they understand and recognize that they can't save themselves. You can't be your own Savior. You've got to have a Savior. God doesn't wait for us to prove ourselves. Those that are well have no need of a physician. Christ came not to cull the righteous, but sinners unto repentance. When the Lord speaks of those who need no repentance, He's talking about the scribes and the Pharisees. That's who these parables were for. They're questioning Him, fellowshipping and socializing with the very ones that He came to save. And He says, you're the problem. You're the ones with the problem.

1 Timothy 1.15, very clear. Christ came into the world to save sinners. And men and women don't come to Christ because they don't see anything wrong with themselves. But God reveals to some their need. It always comes back to need. It always does. People are not interested in Christ, the bread of life, because they don't have an interest. It's because they don't have a need.

A lot of folks are interested in the Bible. Most of the time, it's to try to prove it wrong. But I'll tell you who really wants to know the truth, and that's somebody that needs to. That's somebody that needs a pursuing shepherd. That's somebody that needs a merciful God, one who needs mercy.

God always takes the initiative in salvation. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd goes. In the parable of the lost coin, the woman searches. In the parable of the lost son, the father waits, and then he runs, and then he embraces. God does the pursuing. God does the finding. God does the saving. What's the five words? Salvation is of the Lord.

The sheep don't earn rescue. The coin didn't contribute anything. The prodigal son took and gave nothing back. Salvation is personal. One sheep's worth the search. One coin is worth turning the whole house upside down, like that woman did. And a son, a lost son? Means everything to him.

The shepherd rejoices with his friends. The woman celebrated with her neighbors. The father puts on a feast for his son. Kills the fatty calf. Puts a ring on his finger and did all, sandals on his feet.

Luke 15 teaches us that the God of Scripture relentlessly seeks sinners, receives them with overflowing joy when they turn to Him. And this parable exposes the cold self-righteousness that refuses to celebrate grace, like these scribes and Pharisees. Can't you just see them over there? Wow, this man, he draws Republicans and sinners come to him and he even eats with them. Yuck!

The shepherd represents Christ. He seeks the lost with relentless love. The sheep represent us, helpless, wandering, unable to find our way back home. The wilderness represents this world, this pig pen in which we live, dangerous, deceptive, cold, heartless. The shoulders of the shepherd represent grace carrying our burden for us. The rejoicing represents heaven's delight and salvation.

If you're one of his sheep and you've wondered, Christ hasn't stopped looking for you. If you're one of his sheep and you've drifted, he hasn't stopped loving you. If he ever loved you, he loves you still. If you're one of His sheep and you're lost, He's still calling your name. Are you listening? Can't you hear that shepherd? Hey sheep, I'm coming for you. Don't give up hope.

God doesn't wait for sinners to find their way home. He goes after them. And when he finds the one that's lost, he doesn't scold, bargain, or hesitate. He lifts them up, he carries them all the way back home, and then rejoices over their return. Now that's the God of the Bible.

I end with the words of our Lord out of Matthew's account of this same parable. He said, even so, it's not the will of your father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones If you belong to Him, if you're one of His sheep, you were sold before the foundation of the world, and He's gonna find you, and He's gonna bring you into His fold. He said, other sheep I have, them I must bring, and He must.