You turn again in your Bibles
to the first of the readings which we had from Luke and chapter
15. Luke chapter 15, chapter which
contains three parables of Christ regarding that which was lost
and that which would be found. I want to draw your attention
to the first of those parables of the sheep which was lost. and for a text we will read from
verses five and six and when he have found it he layeth it
on his shoulders rejoicing 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 rejoice with me
for i have found my sheep which was lost. I want to look at this
parable of the lost sheep in three aspects, firstly the sheep,
secondly the shepherd, and finally the finding of the sheep. The
first thing I draw attention to is that which was lost, the
sheep. What man of you heaven and 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? Here we read of a shepherd who
has lost a sheep. There are many things that we
can say about sheep. But the first thing to know here
is that they are sheep. It was a sheep which was lost.
Not goats. We read of sheep here. And sheep
have a certain character and a certain nature. Sheep are not
the brightest of creatures, or at least not in how they appear.
They tend to follow one another. They tend to wander about. They
tend to just live in the fields and eat the grass, and they're
content as long as they're fed and watered. But if they are
left without a shepherd, they wander about, they are lost,
they fall in the ditch, they get caught in the bracken. Sheep
in many ways are stupid, helpless and weak. And in the scriptures
we often read of this illustration of the sheep and the flock and
the shepherd of the sheep. And mankind is often likened
to sheep. People are often likened to sheep. For God's people are those who
like the sheep have gone astray. And like the sheep are prone
to going astray. And like the sheep need a shepherd
to prevent them from going astray. And like the sheep are helpless
and are weak, are foolish and are wayward. Yes, there was a
sheep which was lost, a sheep. Secondly, I'd point out that
fact that they were lost. Here was a sheep which was lost. All we like sheep have gone astray. All God's people have gone astray. As it says in Isaiah in chapter
three and verses six and seven, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have every one turned to his
own way, and the Lord have laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is done, so he openeth not his mouth. All we like sheep
have gone astray, the sheep are lost. And mankind is lost. Mankind went astray from his
maker. When God created man and put
him upon this earth, when God put man in the garden, when he
created man, male and female, it was not long before man turned
his fist against his maker and turned away from his maker and
his maker's ways and rebelled against God in the garden and
said, I will do things my way. I will decide which way I go.
And turned against his God. And turned from the ways of righteousness
and of peace. And turned into the ways of rebellion. And turned against his maker
and sin entered. And man fell. And man went his
own way. And all mankind followed. And
though it was Adam in the garden who sinned against his maker,
All mankind has copied the example of his father Adam, and all mankind
from the womb has gone astray. All mankind, every one which
is born, is born speaking lies, and is born seeking his own things
and his own ways, is born with a selfish heart which desires
his own things. All we like sheep have gone astray.
None turns back to God by nature. None thinks to turn aside from
the path in which everyone follows. Everyone heads in the same pathway. Everyone's heads seeking their
own things and their own ways. We're all made the same. We're all of the same nature.
We've all gone astray. We're all lost. As a consequence
of our rebellion and our waywardness, we're lost. And left to ourselves,
except there is some intervention, except there is one that comes
to turn us from the path which we have chosen to take. And to
turn us around and to put us upon a different path, we will
carry upon that path. And we will head along that path
until the day in which our life is drawn to a conclusion. till
the day in which death comes across our pathway, and which
takes us out of this world and into the next, and which ushers
us off this pathway which we have chosen to take, and brings
us upon a different pathway, from which we can never depart,
and from which we can never escape. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray, and left astray, we will remain astray. Not just for time,
but for eternity. Your sheep are foolish. Sheep go astray. Sheep are foolish. And the sheep are lost. And there's
this sheep in this parable who was lost, who had gone astray. But there's something else I'd
like to tell you about sheep, that sheep are vulnerable. They're
vulnerable, they've not only gone astray, not only in their
foolishness and their folly have they thought that they will go
their own way and they will be all right. Not only has mankind
like sheep gone astray and thinks that he will be all right, that
he can govern his own pathway, that he needs not God, that he
is self-sufficient. But the folly of his way is that
if the truth be known, he is vulnerable. Like sheep, he is
vulnerable. He is surrounded by predators.
The sheep are vulnerable. There are predators all around
them. They are prey to the wolves, which we read of in Matthew 10,
which we read of in Acts 20. Wolves come in amongst the sheep
and devour the sheep. Sheep are vulnerable to the lions
and to the bear. In 1 Samuel 17, we read of David,
who was a shepherd who tended the sheep. And David recounts
how he fought off a lion with his own hands, how he protected
the sheep from the bear. Yet the sheep are vulnerable
to the wolves, to the lions, to the bear. They need a protector. And I tell you today, whether
you are a sheep, or whether you are a goat, whatever you are,
you are vulnerable. And though you might think that
you can protect yourself, you have many enemies which surround
you, which are ready to slay you. Many enemies within and
many enemies without. You are surrounded by predators. There are those things which
will slay you and cast you into an eternity of darkness, except
one come to rescue you. Sin will slay you. Satan will
slay you. And in the end, death, the last
enemy, will slay you and will take you in its claws and keep
you forever. a predator from which there is
no escape, except one comes to find that which is lost before
it's too late, before that sheep which is lost should fall in
a ditch and should never be rescued, and except that predator which
can never be escaped, death should come upon it. Yes, the sheep
are lost, and the sheep are vulnerable and the sheep need a rescuer,
a protector. They need a shepherd like David
to rescue them from the lion and from the bear and from the
wolf. They need a shepherd. Sheep need
protection. But God's sheep have a shepherd.
God's sheep have a shepherd. I want to point you to that shepherd
this day. that shepherd who left the 99
sheep who were safe in the sheepfold and was willing to leave the
99 and to go after that one which was lost until he found it. This
shepherd, this shepherd of the sheep, God's sheep have a shepherd,
the good shepherd. that shepherd of whom we read
in john and chapter 10 the good shepherd the one who is the shepherd
of the sheep the door the one who is the door by which the
sheep enter into the sheepfold by which they find protection
in the company of the flock by which they are protected from
those predators and those wolves which would come upon them by
whom they are rescued and saved, found and brought into peace
and safety. This shepherd, a mighty shepherd,
a good shepherd. Oh, this shepherd's like none
other. David was a shepherd. David knew what it was to look
after the sheep. David knew what it was to leave
the sheep and go after that sheep which was lost. David knew what
it was to wrestle with the predator. To wrestle with the lion which
would slay his sheep. But here's a shepherd unlike
any shepherd. David was a great and a loving
shepherd. A brave shepherd. One who would,
as it were, give his life for his sheep if it were. But here's
a shepherd greater than David. Here's that shepherd to whom
David was but a figure. The good shepherd. The good shepherd. Consider this shepherd and just
who he is. He's the good shepherd. Then if good, this shepherd must
be God. For there is none good but God. If truly good, if truly a good
shepherd, he cannot be but God. And yea, this shepherd is God,
for this shepherd is the Son of God. And not just the Son
of God, but God himself. Not just God's Son, but God's
eternal Son. The only begotten of the Father,
one with the Father, equal with the Father, one God in three
persons. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Son of God. The majestic,
the mighty, glorious Son of God, this One who was so great, so
majestic, so high, so mighty, almighty, the Son of God, the
perfect, the righteous, the glorious Son of God, the Creator, the
Good Shepherd. This is the Shepherd of the sheep.
And this shepherd came to save that which was lost. He left
the 99 for that one sheep which was lost. This one who was the
creator of heaven and earth came into this world, made a little
lower than the angels. He came for the suffering of
death. He came for his sheep. He came for his own. He came
for that which was lost. Yea, this shepherd, his love
for his own is a love which we will never comprehend. His love
for his own was so great that he should leave the glories of
heaven, that he should leave his father's side. that he should
leave the safety and glory and wonder of what it was to lie
in the bosom of the Father and to enter into this dark and this
evil world, to enter into this world in which he would be rejected,
this world which would not receive him. But his love for his own,
for his flock, was that great, that he humbled himself, that
he took upon himself flesh, that he was made a man that he was
made lower than the angels that he came for that sheep he came
for them he came for him he came for that lost sheep for he loves
his sheep he has compassion upon the sheep as we read in Matthew
9 and verse 35 and Jesus went about all the cities and villages
teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion
on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as
sheep having no shepherd, as sheep having no shepherd. This
shepherd's heart was moved with compassion he looked upon the
multitudes he saw them scattered and because they fainted and
were scattered abroad he was moved with compassion they were
as sheep having no shepherd and the shepherd came unto those
those sheep which were scattered which were lost he came unto
them to find them to find them yes he came to find the sheep
to lay down his life for the sheep to gather in the sheep
For he said to one other, he said, I am not sent, but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Unto the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. As we read in John chapter 10
and verse 14, we read of this shepherd, this good shepherd.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me. but I lay it down of myself,
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. Here the good shepherd
came for his sheep. He knows his sheep and is known
of them. He's known of them. For in coming for his sheep,
in laying down his life for the sheep, in so doing, He divides
mankind into two. When Christ came for his sheep,
when he came for the lost sheep of Israel, when he laid down
his life for the sheep, in so doing, he divided the entire
race of mankind into two. Into sheep and into goats. For
mankind is divided into two. Not all mankind is spoken of
as Christ's sheep. Whilst all may be described as
sheep as having gone astray, not all are Christ's sheep, not
all are his sheep for whom he came. Mankind is divided into
two. All mankind have gone astray,
yes, but there are those who are sheep and there are those
who are goats. There are those who are Christ's
for whom he laid down his life, those whom he came to find. And
there are those who are not, who like the Pharisees in John
chapter 10, receive not his witness. They believe not on him. Why
not? Because as Christ says unto them
in verse 26, ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life. There are those like the Pharisees
who hear not his voice and they believe not because they are
not his sheep. Yes, mankind is divided into
two. There are two types of people in this world. Two seeds, two
offsprings. There are those who are born
of Adam and there are those who will also be born of the second
Adam, the second man, the last Adam of Christ. There are sheep and there are
goats. There are those who believe and
there are those who don't believe. There are believers and unbelievers. There are children of God and
there are children of the devil. You may fight against it all
you will. You may contend against it all you will, but that is
the simple truth declared in this book. Christ says, I lay
down my life for the sheep. And he says of those who believe
not on him, he says of those who receive not his witness,
you believe not, because you are not of my sheep. That's the
truth. as Christ laid down his life
for the sheep and for none other. And all those for whom he laid
his life, laid down his life, all those for whom he died will
be gathered in on that great day of judgment. And they will
be divided from all other. Turn to Matthew in chapter 25.
Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31. where we read of that day in
which the Son of Man shall come in his glory, that day which
approaches faster than we may think, that day which approaches
all mankind upon this earth, we read of that day here. When
the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before
him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one
from another. As a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye
gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink. I was a stranger, and ye took
me in, naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited
me. I was in prison, and ye came
unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungred, and fed thee,
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee, a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we
thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye
have done it unto me. Then shall he say unto them on
the left hand, Depart from ye ye cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an hungred,
and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me
no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took
me not in. Naked, and ye clothed me not.
Sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or a
thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did
not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of
the least of these, ye did it not unto me. And these shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Yes, there are sheep and there
are goats. And I ask you today, Which are
you? Are you a sheep or are you a
goat? Do you hear or do you reject? Do you give water and food to
the least of these Christ's brethren or do you pass them by and mock
them and jeer them as you would unto their pastor? and unto their
shepherd. Are you a sheep or are you a
goat? Which are you? For whose voice
do you hear? The question is whose voice do
you hear? For there's a voice you see. The shepherd has a voice and
the sheep hear his voice and the sheep are known for they
are those who hear his voice. and follow him and the goats
hear not his voice and do not follow have you heard his voice yes his voice not a natural voice
this is not a natural voice this is not simply a man that comes
into a room and speaks Many heard the Lord Jesus Christ when he
walked upon the earth as a man. Many heard his teaching and his
words and they heard his voice, that natural voice. But they
never heard with the heart in the inner man. They never truly
heard the voice of the Son of God. Though they were dead, they
never lived. For the dead hearing shall live.
And when the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, they live.
But it's not His natural voice as a man you need to hear. And
it's not the voice of a preacher with a natural voice you need
to hear. And it's not the words of God
on the pages of scripture which you need to read with a natural
voice and hear. But you need to hear the voice
of the Son of God, the voice of the shepherd, His voice. a supernatural voice, a spiritual
voice, an inward voice, an inner voice, not outward, but inward,
not earthly, but heavenly, that inward spiritual voice of the
Son of God, of the Good Shepherd, of the shepherd of the sheep,
this voice, this voice, And the sheep hear it, and not another. And the sheep hear and believe
it, and they follow. Have you heard his voice? Do you hear it? Can you hear
it? How can you hear it? Where can
you hear it? You will hear it in one place.
in the gospel by those whom Christ sends to preach his gospel by
those who preach his gospel not in the words of man but in the
power and in the speech of the spirit of God by those who utter
the words of that truth of God in the gospel not in word only
but as it were as Christ speaks on high as he sends forth his
speech in almighty power by his Spirit, and as the Spirit takes
the words off the lips of those men whom he sends, and utters
it by the voice of his Spirit, that it goes into the heart of
men, and enters in through the hardened hearts, and breaks in
through the hard hearts, and goes in through the deaf ears,
that guilty, and vile, and dead sinners may hear. by the gospel and the sheep hear this voice
and hearing the voice in the gospel they hear and hearing
they believe and believe and they follow they don't contend
they don't doubt they don't question they hear and they believe they
receive and they follow And they follow him who comes to find
them, him who found them when they were lost, him who came
to them in their lost estate, him who found that sheep in the
ditch and picked it up and put it upon his shoulders and took
it back to the fold. They hear him. They recognize
the voice of the shepherd, the good shepherd, the one who speaks
tenderly unto them. The one who came unto them and
found them. The one who picks them up and
rescues them. This voice, this shepherd. But first they must be found.
For these sheep, this sheep was lost. The goats are lost, yes. But the goats don't hear. And
the goats remain lost. But Christ's sheep hear. Christ's
sheep hear His voice. These are those who hear and
these are those who on hearing believe and on hearing that voice
coming unto them, they cry out and they bleat and they cry out
to that one who can lift them out of a ditch and they cry out
for mercy. They cry out to the one who comes
to rescue. They bleat and they cry and cry
and they are found. For first, lost sheep must be
found. And there is one who was sent
to find the lost sheep of Israel. There is one who left the 99,
that he might find the one, the one. He left the 99 in the fold,
all that he might find. One who was lost, one. All is done for one. All is done
just for one lost sheep. Christ, as it were, left heaven's
height. He left heaven's glory. He came
into this world as a man, into a wretched and a wicked and a
sinful world. He was beaten and rejected and
cast out. He suffered untold torment, untold
misery. untold rejection that we can
never understand he paid a price that we can never comprehend
he paid a great cost just for one just to save one sheep that
was lost all is done for one sheep for one for you Was that
one sheep you? Did he come into this world to
rescue you? Were you? Are you? That one sheep. Caught in a thornbush. Caught in a thicket. Fallen in
a ditch. Helpless, weak. Your life fast
ebbing away. Your strength nearly gone. No
means to get yourself out. no strength in yourself helpless
weak and lost except one should pluck you out is that was that
you for the shepherd came he left the 99 and he came for the
one he saved the one and so in the gospel Not just then, but
now, not just in the parable, but now, truly, spiritually,
in the Gospel. The Spirit is sent forth to find
the One. The Spirit is sent forth into
the furthest corners of this world. And He comes with His
Gospel. He comes in search of that lost
sheep. He comes to find them where'er
they may be, where'er you may be this day. And He brings in
the sound of the Gospel, He brings the sound of the Saviour to them.
He comes speaking of that shepherd which came for the sheep. And
he comes and he speaks, and he speaks those words of the shepherd.
He brings the voice of the shepherd to the sheep. And the sheep,
where'er they are, hear that voice. They hear the voice, and
they call out to the voice, and the voice calls out to them,
and they know the voice. And the shepherd comes to those
sheep, to that sheep that is lost, and he comes to save. And the Spirit comes, and the
Spirit comes in the gospel to declare what that shepherd did
to save the sheep. For it cost the shepherd to save
the sheep. It's not simple to save his sheep. It was not the work of a moment
to save that one sheep. It took a great deal to save
that sheep. When that shepherd came into
this world for the saving of his flock, it cost him. He went to great lengths. The
shepherd had to die to save but one lost sheep. He had to die
and he had to suffer and he was bruised and he was beaten. The good shepherd was smitten. for his own. As he says in Matthew 26, then
saith Jesus unto them, with the approach of his death nigh, he
says unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this
night. For it is written, I will smite
the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad. The shepherd who would save the
sheep would be smitten for the sheep. And when he was smitten,
the sheep were scattered. But having been smitten, this
shepherd would rise. For this shepherd had power to
lay down his life. And he had power to take it again.
And taking it again, he would rise from the dead. and rising
from the dead, he would gather in that flock again as one company,
as one flock. But first the shepherd must be
smitten. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, 21 to 25, he writes, for even
hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps who did
no sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered,
he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should
live unto righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed.
For you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls." Yes, the shepherd was smitten.
The one who was without sin. The one in whose mouth was found
no guile. The one who when reviled by mankind,
reviled not again. The one who when he suffered,
when he was threatened, he threatened not. but the one who was willing
to lay down his life in the place of justice, the one who was willing
to lay down his life for others, for his sheep, the one who was
willing to die for those who should die, the one who was willing
to bear the wrath of God against sin, against the sin of those
sheep who deserve to die. who deserved the wrath of God
for their sins. The shepherd was smitten. Why
was he smitten? For the sheep. For what cause? Because of their sins. With what
consequence that he should bear their sins, that he should swallow
up the wrath of God, the fires of God against those sins, and
against their sin, against their corruption, that he might take
it away. the shepherd was smitten. With
what end? That he should save those sheep
which were lost. That he should wash their sins.
That he should wash them from head to toe. That he should take
their sins away of these black sheep. These guilty sheep, these
lost sheep, these wayward sheep. These sheep that sought not God. That loved not God. that wanted
not God these sheep who were lost he died he was smitten that
he might save them that he might wash them that he might find
them that he might deliver them and in so doing he saved those
sheep for whom he came he saved those who were lost he saved
them when he was smitten, when he died, he saved them. He really saved them. And when
he saved them, and when he found them in saving them, when he
did that which was necessary to save them, that which was
necessary to reconcile them to their maker, that which was necessary
that he might deliver them from their lost condition, that he
might be able to rescue them from those ditches and those
thorns and those brambles into which they had fallen, and to
bring them out and to put their feet upon a rock, to put them
onto a safe highway, and to lead them, to lead them by the still
waters, to lead them into pastures, that he might lead them in a
safe way. When he did that which was necessary
to save them, he rejoiced. in their salvation. He rejoiced,
he took them up, he found them and he put them upon their shoulders,
that he might lead them home, that he might gather them as
one flock. And having saved them, will he
lose them? Will he lose that one for whom he left the 99? Will he lose him? No. No, none shall be plucked from
his hand. None shall perish, no. He laid
down his life for this one for whom he would die, that one whom
he would save, that one whom he would find. He laid down his
life. Then will he lose him? No. He
took him up and he put him upon his shoulders and he gathered
him and he brings him back to the 99 and he brings him back
to the sheepfold and he gathers him with the flock that they
might follow the shepherd in all things. and being gathered,
they hear his voice, they believe his word, they follow him. For as we read in Isaiah 40,
behold, the Lord God will come with strong hands and his arms
shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather his lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with him. He shall come with strong arm,
with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. He shall
lead his flock like a shepherd. Yes, Christ leads his flock.
He saved them. He leads them. He protects them. He keeps his sheep like David,
he feeds them. As we read of David and Samuel,
David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep
at Bethlehem. So Christ, born at Bethlehem,
came into this world to save his sheep, his father's sheep,
and he gathers that sheep in as one flock that he might gather
them in and lead them and feed them. Yes, Christ keeps his sheep. He's no highling. He doesn't
flee when the wolf comes. He's the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He's the highling
and not the shepherd. His own the sheep are not, he
sees the wolf coming, because he's in hiding and care if not
for the sheep. But the good shepherd knows his
sheep, and he's known of them. As the father knoweth me, says
he, even so know I the father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. and there shall
be one fold and one shepherd. Yes, child of God, sheep of his
pasture. The good shepherd leads his sheep. He feeds his sheep, he protects
his sheep. He shall never leave thee nor
forsake thee. He's the good shepherd. Oh, I
ask you this day, are you a sheep or are you a goat? Are you one
of his sheep? Have you heard his voice? Can
you hear him this day? Can you hear his voice? His voice
calling in the gospel, can you hear his voice? This day, this
hour, do you hear his voice? Then follow him. Follow the shepherd,
follow him. Follow him. Follow him. Amen.