Take your Bibles and turn back
with me to Luke, Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, and we'll be
looking at verses 1 through 7 this morning. The title of the message
is, Only the lost are found. Only the lost are found. I know
that's just so deep, isn't it? Did I just lose anyone? Only
the lost are found. This is what the Lord is conveying
here. Let's begin in this, our text, verse 1. Then drew near
unto Christ, unto Him, all the publicans and sinners, for to
hear Him. In the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah
chapter 53, he asked this question, Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? To whom is salvation
revealed? I often ask this question when
I preach the gospel. I often ask, who is hearing? Who hears? I see your faces. I see when you come into worship
whether you have physical tiredness which is a common to us all.
I look and see your faces to whether you know some are intently
listening and some may not be. I can't tell what's in your heart
though. I can tell what's on your face
but I can't tell what's in your heart. I can have somebody looking
at me intently, awake and alert, seeming like they're interested
when all the while their mind is somewhere else. I remember
someone telling me that they had looked up at the ceiling
or something and saw the little face up here. Don't look. Now
you look. Everybody look. So I can't tell
what's in your heart. You may look at me intently,
but you may be thinking about your plans for this afternoon
after service. You may be thinking about the
meal that we're going to eat together. I don't know what's
in your mind and heart. I can't tell that. I don't know
who hears and who doesn't, who believes and who doesn't, who
hath believed the gospel, who is saved by the Lord. I cannot
tell. But I know this. that only sinners
will hear the gospel. Only sinners. I say to you this
morning, as Christ said in the previous chapter, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. Let him hear. And who is going
to hear? And then drew near unto him. To who? Christ! This morning,
I hope you're not drawing near to me. I hope you're not drawing
near to your family. I hope you are drawing near to
Christ. And I know this, if you are a
sinner, you will draw near to Him. Because He is the only one
that can save you. He is the only one that can help
you. I can't help you. I can't save you. I can't make you here. Why? Even because I can't give you
ears to hear. That's something that belongs
only to God. Only God can give you ears to
hear. And Jesus said, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. Who are they? Well, I'll tell
you, they're sinners. They're sinners who hear. The Lord reveals to us who hear
and believe are sinners. They draw near to Christ and
hear Him. But, He says, and the Pharisees,
they were there too. They were there also. But they
didn't come to hear, they came to complain. They came to complain. They murmured, saying, This man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. I'll tell you what,
to the religious, that's horrible. But to sinners, that's good news. That's good news that Jesus Christ
is a man that receiveth, who? Sinners. Sinners. That's good
news to sinners. These Pharisees heard the preaching
of the Gospel. They heard the message, and it
was the same message. Jesus didn't have one message
for the Pharisees and one for sinners. He had one message for
them both. They both physically heard Him,
but only one truly heard Him. One group only heard Him. That's
sinners. Pharisees don't have any interest in these things.
The difference is they murmured and hated the Gospel. These are men who had no interest
in the message because they had no need. They had no need. Listen. If you have no need of a Savior,
It is because you're self-righteous. Self-righteous. If you have no
need of Jesus Christ this morning, if you have no need of this message
of Christ and Him crucified, of forgiveness of sins, you are
in defying God. You are in hatred of His Christ
and you defy Him saying, I have enough and I don't need Him. That's what they said. And I'll tell you, you'll have
no interest in this message. Because the message of the gospel
is a message of grace. And anyone who has something
to offer, they don't need grace. They want to hear how good they
are. They want to hear how God loves them and like they are. They want to see God condescend
to their level so that He can enter into their sin with them. No. I don't have a message for
self-righteous people. Not a good one. I got a message
for you, but it's very bad. It's a message of doom and hail.
You self-righteous who do not need Christ, I only got a message
of doom and hail. God hates the self-righteous.
God hates proud boasters of religious works and good deeds. God is
angry with the wicked every day and for those who will not repent.
and believe on His Son. Friends, there is coming a day
when God will judge the world in righteousness and every sin
will receive a just recompense of reward. That means every sin
will earn what its wages are. The wages of sin is So every sin you've committed,
if you defy God, if you have no need of Christ, I tell you,
you'll pay for your sin in eternity in hell. That's not a popular
message, is it? That's not a populist message.
No, but that's the truth. I'm not here to tell you lies.
I'm not here to fluff you up. I'm here to tell you the truth.
I'm just a watchman. I'm just one standing on the
tower telling you God is coming. God is coming in judgment. Repent
and believe the gospel. I tell you that unless you are
as righteous as God Himself, you will not escape His judgment. This is God's Word, it's not
mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. That's God's Word, not mine. Now does this concern you this
morning? Does this have any concern? Are
you interested in this? Are you a sinner? Or are you
doing okay? Do you have nothing with which
to be accepted by God? Or do you believe you still have
some goodness in you? Are you a sinner in need of repentance? I know this to be true. Only
sinners then will draw near because only sinners have a need. That's
just so. You don't have a need, you won't
draw near and you won't hear. You'll murmur and complain about
this gospel every time you have to hear it. Until you have a
need. Now because those self-righteous
murmured, they said, this man receives sinners and eateth with
them. And this is the reason why we have these parables. Now
I told you that there are three parables in this chapter, but
they are one parable. They all have to do with something
that was lost and is found. That's the common theme of these
parables. Something is lost and something
is found. The one we'll look at today is
the shepherd looking for the lost sheep. And when he finds
it, he brings it to his home rejoicing. And the second one
is about a lost coin. The third one is about a lost
son. And I want you to see this, that all of the Godhead is involved
in this. You see, the first one we're
going to deal with today is the shepherd. That's the son, isn't
it? He is the good shepherd. The
second parable has to do with the Holy Spirit. Is not the Holy
Spirit the one that gives light and life to the dead? Think about that coin. Isn't
a coin a lifeless thing? That pictures us. And the Holy
Spirit is the one that brings the candle of the light of the
gospel and sweeps up and stirs up conviction in the heart of
the sinner and brings the sinner home. And the third has to do
with the Father's love. The Father's love for His children,
His Son. the one that was lost and is
found. So let's look at this parable together. The first one.
Jesus said, 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 the one which is lost until he find it? The parable of the shepherd and
the lost sheep. Now Jesus appeals to what these
men understood. We don't have sheep and we don't
have shepherds. Anybody a shepherd? We've got
dogs or we've got cats and we don't have herds and sheep. I
don't think anybody. But these people understood what
he was talking about. They knew what it was to be a
shepherd. They either knew somebody was a shepherd or they were.
These people, that's how they made their living. And so he's
telling them something they understood. And he puts this question to
them. He said, which of you, having a hundred sheep, if he
lose one, which of you doth not leave the ninety and nine in
the wilderness and go after the one? The plain answer is no one. Who in his right mind would leave
ninety-nine sheep unprotected to find one dumb lamb that went
off? That would be uneconomical, wouldn't
it? That would not be prosperous. That would not enter the mind
of these people. That would be foolishness. Yes,
you may take them to a barn or a shed, and you may put them
in a shed, something that's protected, but he didn't say that. He said,
which of you, having a hundred sheep, would not leave ninety-nine
in the wilderness to go find the one? The answer is nobody. No one. Who would do such a thing? Only God. Only God would do such a thing. No one would do this. It would
be unreasonable to the carnal mind and human logic to leave
ninety-nine in danger to search for one. Our Lord is revealing
to these people not the mind or reason of man, but the heart
of God. This is what He's telling us.
This is what God has done. God has rejected the ninety-nine
who need no repentance. And He goes after the one that
is lost. Do you not see that God only
searches for the lost? That God only finds the lost? This is what He's telling them.
This is the mind of heart of God in salvation and His rejection
of the self-righteous men who have no need of repentance. Now
then, let's look at the characters. The characters in this parable,
there are three. The shepherd, the 99, and the one lost. The first one is the Shepherd,
which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to know this.
He owns all 100 sheep. He owns it all. He owns it all. Jesus in this parable is the
Son of God, the Shepherd, and He owns all things. Go to Psalm
50. Look at Psalm 50. Psalm 50 in verse 12. God says this, He said, If I
were hungry, I would not tell thee. God says, If I could be hungry,
I wouldn't tell you. Why? For the world is mine and
the fullness thereof. Friends, listen to me. Jesus
Christ owns everything. Everything. Everything in this
world was made by Him and for Him. Where does that leave you? You are owned. You're not your
own. You are owned. Jesus Christ owns you because
He made you. And I tell you, you are subject
to Him. I don't care if you feel subject
to Him or you think that you shouldn't be subject to Him.
The natural man said it, that they, let us break their bands
asunder and cast their cords from us. I will not have this
man to rule over me. Oh, you can do that all you want
to, but truly, He does rule over you. He rules over everyone there. He is in control of them. They
do not own themselves. The Lord declares him to be the
rightful owner of all things. Solomon, in Proverbs 16, verse
4, said, The Lord hath made all things for himself. Listen to
this. Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. So you mean God owns the wicked
and the righteous? Yes. Yes. God owns them all. He is the owner of all 100 sheep. Therefore, listen to me, although
you may not think it logical, God will do with you as He pleases. That's just so. God will do with
you as He pleases. If He will damn you or save you,
He'll do with you as He pleases. And He owes you nothing. You know that? You have no claim
on God. None whatsoever. I know that this last week many
of you were disappointed. with the decision of the Supreme
Court concerning these Sodomites? Don't be. Don't be. God even rules over them. God has made them. They are not
their own. And they cannot do what they
please. They only do what He has purposed
to be done. what He has purposed to be done.
Friends, that's not the root of God's judgment upon this nation,
but it's the evidence of it. The evidence of it. That God
has given them over to a reprobate mind. And I say this not for
your discouragement, but for encouragement. Our God rules
over all things. Isn't that true concerning the
death of His Son? The Apostle tells us over in
Acts, he says that these men put Him to death, they put Christ
to death according to God's divine will, God's purpose, which God
before ordained should be done. God ordained the death of His
Son, yet those wicked men were doing exactly what He determined
them to do. They did what they wanted to.
But I tell you, God is in control of all things. The Lord is still
ruler over His people. The events of time and eternity,
especially the salvation of the elect, God is completely in control. For God has said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardeneth.
You get that? You walk out of here, and you
walk out of here hard-hearted, I tell you this, you'll pay. You'll pay for that sin. If you
don't go to Christ, if you don't come to Christ and repent, you'll
suffer for hardening your heart. But I tell you this, God truly
hardens your heart. I'm not here to rectify God's
sovereignty and your responsibility. I'm just here to tell you. Just
here to tell you. God rules over all things. Second
of all, the ninety and nine. Who are they? Well, these ninety
and nine are those like those Pharisees. They are self-righteous
people. These are self-righteous people
who need no repentance. Now this, like this parable,
is opposed to human wisdom. Human wisdom says that those
who deserve mercy should have mercy. Isn't that right? Well,
I deserve it. It's my right. I want it and
God's got to give it to me. It's my right. That's natural wisdom. And all
men by nature believe they're worthy. These religious Pharisees thought,
because of their obedience and sacrifice, because of their moral
character, because they did not stray from the law or the Word
of God, that they deserved God's mercy and salvation. If you're one of those who's
supposed to be accepted by God based on some work you've done,
you're one of the 99. If you're such in one who believes
that eating the Lord's table, being baptized, joining the church,
if you're supposed to be saved by your free will, plus the work
of Christ, I tell you, Christ will profit you nothing. This speaks also to those who
continue to live in sin and will not repent. Isn't it true that
if someone is not willing to repent, it is because they don't
think they need to? It's kind of contradictory to
say, well, I know I need to repent, but I won't. No, you don't need
to then. That half-hearted repentance
doesn't land you in the middle somewhere. You're still part
of the 99 who need no repentance. You may not deny that you're
a wicked person, but if you have need, if you have no need of
a Savior, You are professing only that Christ is of no value
to your soul. You're confessing that your law
is your lust and yourself is your God. If you don't need Christ,
you are confessing your lust is your law and yourself is your
God. I tell you by the authority of
the Word of God, if you continue in this course until the end,
it is because Christ has left you in the wilderness of your
sins. And you will be devoured by God's justice. You will perish
in your sins. You see, now notice this, those
who are the ones Christ seeks, they are the lost. The one that
was sought was the one that was lost. What man of you, having
an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the
ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which was lost
until he finds it? Friends, the lost sheep is the
sinner. The one that is left, the one
that is left all, and Christ has left all to find the one
that is lost. All men belong to Christ, but
I tell you there are some of Adam's race who are peculiar,
who are special to Him. They are His elect. They are
His elect. And by sovereign grace and love,
He has chosen, listen to me, He has chosen to save only the
lost. He is only chosen to save that
which was lost. These that are elect of God,
these are those that were chosen in Christ before the world began,
given all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Christ Jesus then came into the world to seek and save them alone. Is this not a question? Have
you been asked this? Why did Christ come into the
world? What was His purpose? For whom
did Christ die? I tell you, He tells us plainly,
He died for His sheep. He died for His people. He came
into the world to seek and to save who? That which was lost. Lost. Our Lord did not come into the
world to save all men, but those that the Father gave Him. This
is why He could say, of those which the Father had given Me,
I should lose nothing. How many is He going to lose
that the Father gave Him? He's going to lose nothing. He
came to save them. Jesus confesses that He is the
Good Shepherd and He came to give His life for the sheep. Friends, this is the gospel.
This is the gospel. That Christ gave His life for
the sheep. for that which was lost." He
came into the world as a substitute, as a mediator, as a high priest,
as someone to stand between us and God, someone to blot out
our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He came into this world
to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to give His
life a ransom. He came to shed His blood to
redeem His people from their sins. And the good news is He
did it. He did it. This is not something
that needs to be finished. This is finished. It's done. The gospel is accomplished. He fulfilled the work and will
of God that you and I could not do. He fulfilled righteousness. And God was so pleased with His
one offering that He sat Him on the throne of God, raised
Him from the dead, and seated Him on the throne of glory forever. That Old Testament dispensation.
When those priests came in, someone asked me how many sacrifices
were made. Well, from the time of the law
on, there were at least two every day. Can you imagine that? Two
sacrifices at minimum every day. That's not including everyone
that brought their offerings in to be sacrificed. Think of
all of the blood. Think of all of the blood of
those animals that were spilled day after day after day, year
after year after year, century after century. And yet they did
not ever take away sin. But this one man, consider this
one man, consider that his one offering for sin was accepted
forever. And he sat down. Those priests
never sat down. They always had to work. They
always had to do. Isn't that what the church is
doing today, the so-called church? They're just doing. And they've
got to keep doing. And man, they're never doing enough. They're always
trying and never ending. I'm telling you, salvation's
finished. This is the gospel. Sinners,
come! The gospel's finished. Salvation's
accomplished. Believe on Christ. Repent from
your sins. Turn to Christ. This is a salvation
message. It's done. And I tell you, only
sinners hear it. Only sinners need it to be finished. Because they can't finish it
themselves. We don't need someone to start
salvation for us to finish it, do we? No, we need somebody that's already
done it all. I tell you, Jesus has done it
all. Jesus has done it all. Are you a sheep? Are you one
of the elect? Are you one of the redeemed of
Christ? These sheep of Christ, they're marked out by this one
thing. They are lost sheep. The Lord
tells us the Gentile woman, you remember she came to him begging
to heal her daughter and the Lord said, I am come for the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now the Jews, that made them
proud, didn't it? When he said that, I imagine
their chest went out a little bit and they said, ah, he didn't
come for you, he came for me. No, he was talking about her.
She just didn't know it yet. He was talking about spiritual
Israel, not Jews, not the seed of Abraham. He was talking about
spiritual Israel. And she was one of them. And
she confessed truth, Lord, I'm a dog. I'm lost. I just need crumbs of mercy.
I don't deserve anything. I need mercy. Jesus is telling us in this parable
that He has forsaken all the self-righteous men and left them
to do one thing, and that is to seek the lost. Are you lost? What a horrible condition to
be lost. Have you ever been physically
lost? Have you ever been in a place where you've never known where
you're at? I've been lost once. I've been lost one time in the
woods, and I tell you what, it is a sinking feeling to not know
where to go. I was surrounded by thorns. I
was surrounded by briars. Every way I turned, I couldn't
tell which direction was which. I was a kid. I didn't know direction
anyway. I was just lost. There was nothing I can do. And
I just sat down and cried. There was nothing I can do. Have
you ever been there? Have you been to a place where
there's nothing you can do? That's what it is to be lost. Do you not see this? Listen,
look at me. Do you not see that salvation
is God's choice and not yours? Do you not see that salvation
is something God does and not you? Man, if you've never been
there, you don't know what it is to be lost. To be lost is
to not have any hope at all. It's to be without hope. Do you
not suppose these men here that came to Christ were without hope? Why else would they draw near
to Christ? Because they were without hope. But I have a good message for
those who are without hope. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save who? Sinners. Sinners. Sinners. Not half sinners. Some of you may be half sinners.
Some of you are like, well, I'm not all good. I understand that. I did some bad things. I've made
some mistakes. I've got some good left in me.
I am a good person. Didn't come to save you. He came
to save sinners. Full, complete, empty sinners. Christ came into the world to
save full sinners. Are you a full sinner? Then I've got a full Savior for
you. I've got a message from the Savior to you. Come unto Me and be you saved. all the ends of the earth. O
fool sinner, behold, the Shepherd has come to save you. Repent
from your sins, turn from yourself, and believe on the Son of God
alone, and you shall be saved. You shall be saved. And notice
this. Notice how the Shepherd brings
them. Verse 5. He said, and when he hath found it. When does he
find it? He finds it when faith is given. When you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, you're found. Faith is the evidence
of salvation. You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, your faith doesn't find you, Christ found you. Christ
gave you faith. And notice what he does. And
he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. You who have believed,
listen to me. You have great cause to be happy
this morning. You have a great cause. Because
the Lord Jesus Christ not only found you, He has laid you on
His shoulders and will bring you home. What then does the sheep have
to do? Just lay there. Just lay there. Whose responsibility
is it to bring us home? If He has found us, whose responsibility
is it to bring us home? It's the shepherd's responsibility.
Do you not see all the weight of our salvation rests on Him?
All of the responsibility is His. It's His responsibility
to bring us home. And He says He does it, not murmuring. Isn't that what we would do?
We had to go get that sheep. Oh my goodness, we would be complaining
all the way. That dirty sheep, I cannot believe
he went out again. Oh, I would be grabbing his legs
and pulling them down and making him hurt all the way home because
if I had to go out and get that thing. No, he says he does it
happily. He does it rejoicing. It is your
father's, listen, good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It is your father's good pleasure
to give you. Our God is not an unwilling savior. Matter of fact, he is more willing
than the sheep on his shoulder. Let me ask you, will the shepherd
fall or stumble? on his way home. The Lord Jesus Christ shall not
fail nor be discouraged. He will bring his people home
and listen what he says, And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. In closing, go
to Zephaniah. Zephaniah chapter 3. It's right before Haggai. That helps. Zephaniah chapter 3. The Lord
here, He gives a woe at the beginning. He said, Woe to those who are
filthy and polluted. Who is that? The 99. Those who
will not come. Those who will not believe. Those
who will not repent. But in verse 11, He says, In
that day, In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doing wherein thou hast transgressed
against me. For then I will take away out
of the midst of thee them that rejoice in their pride and thou
shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. What a day
is salvation when God says you shall no longer be ashamed. Why shall you not be ashamed?
Because He's taken it out of the way. He's taken our sins
and nailed it to the cross. I will also leave in the midst
of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust
in the name of the Lord. Isn't that you? Isn't that you,
sinner, poor and needy, trusting in the Lord? The remnant of Israel
shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful
tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Be glad and
rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath
taken away thy judgments. He has cast out thine enemy,
the King of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. And thou shalt not see evil...
How long? Any more. Your shepherd has found you. He has put you on His shoulder.
And rejoicing in you, He brings you home and He calls all of
the saints to rejoice. All heaven rejoices over one
sinner that repenteth. rather than 99
that need no repentance. So who's going to hear this gospel?
Only those who are sinners. Who needs to be found? Only those
that are lost. And those who are found are safe
and secure in Christ, and He will bring you home. What have
you left to do but rejoice? What about that? Don't worry
about that. Rejoice. Your Father, your Shepherd owns
all. And He has given all for you to bring you to Himself. Shall He not do it? You bet He
will. You bet He will. May God bless
this to your hearts. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.