If you would, please turn in
the Word of God to 1 John chapter 2. I remember Brother Henry saying
that he had been a so-called preacher for many years, and
then the Lord saved him and said, God rewrote my Bible. If you're
a believer, you know what he means. Things that We thought
we knew became old and things we couldn't see till God removed
the scales. And then we wondered how in the
world we ever miss it. Until God reveals it to you,
you won't see it. John is an apostle to the Jews. These are Jewish people he's
talking to and they could not conceive how God could save anyone
outside of Judaism, especially a Gentile. I have great respect. John is
such a loving man. Chapter 2, verse 1, he says,
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
not. And if any man sin, that's a
question, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And He is the propitiation, that's
a legal term, for sins. He paid the price for our sins.
Not ours only, but also for the whole world. There was a time when you and
I thought that meant every child of Adam and Eve. We know now
that's not the truth. And hereby we do know We know
this. We know that we know Him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, if we keep His commandments. That's to rest
on Him. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keepeth his
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know
we that we are in him, in Christ. He that saith he abideth in Christ,
ought himself also to walk, even as Christ walked. Brethren, I
write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment,
which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which you have heard from the beginning. again a new commandment
I write unto you which thing is true in him and in you because
the darkness is past and the true light now shineth. For he that saith he is in the
light and hateth his brother is in darkness even unto now.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him. I understand that never stumbles,
those of us who are in Christ. But he that hateth his brothers
in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth,
because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. This is verse 12. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven. you for His name's sake." How hard it is for us as believers.
Do you believe that? God has told us, His children,
that our sins are forgiven in Christ. All the sins that I have
committed, all the ones that I'm committing right this very
moment, Every sin that I'll commit until this flesh dies, in Christ
God has forgiven." I pray he'd give me the faith to believe
that. This week was a time, hopefully, for you and your family. And
I was thinking, God has blessed us here in Christ. But one of the blessings is to
have new children, new babies, little children. Those little
children are completely dependent on their mother and dad. For
some things, most of them, for everything. They are life to
that baby. That's what John is telling us.
You and I are little children. We are totally dependent on Christ
for everything. And I pray this day that He would
give us the faith to believe it. that our sins are forgiven. Let us go to Him in prayer. Lord, we pray today that You would visit with us and send
Your Spirit, that Your hand would be on the
heart of Your servant, our brother, Brother Craig. that you would
put your words into his heart and into his mouth, that you would give him your
spirit to declare to us the truth of Christ and his salvation. And Lord, as your people, we
are little children. We are depending on you to speak
to us this day and give us the faith to believe in Christ and
on Christ, and faith to know that our sins
are forgiven. The faith to love you, to worship
you, to praise you, and to walk in you. Give us this
grace, we pray. Amen. Our Lord's timing, and I know
this is such an understatement, but it's always so perfect. So
perfect. Michael was supposed to have
scripture reading last Sunday, and he got sick and wasn't able
to be here. And I asked him if he would do
it today. And that passage of scripture that you read is so
perfect this morning. the message that I would like
to try to bring from Psalm 119, if you'll turn with me there
in your Bibles. I fear that there may be some
misunderstandings when it comes to 1 John chapter 2, and I'm
so glad that Michael read that passage, and I hope that in light
of Psalm 119, which is the longest chapter in the Bible, the very
last verse of that psalm, that the Lord will be pleased to shed
some light on what we just heard read from 1 John chapter 2. I have three points to this message
this morning. The first point is that God's
sheep do go astray. The second point is that the
Good Shepherd always seeks and finds them. And the third point
is that they can never fall from grace. They can never forget
the commandments of God. Here it is in one verse, I have
gone astray like a lost sheep. The title of this message is
Hope for Lost Sheep. Hope for lost sheep. And David
says, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. Here's my hope. Oh, people talk
about finding God. That's not how the Bible talks.
Lord, you find me. I'm lost. I can't find my way
out. Seek thy servant. For I do not
forget thy commandments." The first point is God's sheep
do go astray. Isaiah put it like this in Isaiah
chapter 53 verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray each unto
our own way. There is a way that seems right
unto man, but in the end that way leads to death. How often
times we go astray. how oftentimes we choose our
way over God's way. My little children, I write unto
you that you sin not, but if any man sin, he has an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Oh, how we
can relate to that hymn. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. How easily distracted we are
by the glitter and the glamour of this world. Like a lost sheep,
I've gone astray. Now I'm not talking about just
falling into some gross sin, although there's nothing a believer
can't do. The Lord gives them a long enough
leash. He'll do anything. But I'm talking
about the feelings that we have as believers all the time. Lord,
I just can't seem to stay focused. I can't seem to stay in love
with you. I just can't seem to be there. I get taste of your
grace and how sweet it is, but Lord, as soon as I'm tempted,
I take my eyes off of you and I go astray. I go astray. Like a young child,
ignorant of the dangers that lurk in the shadows of dark places,
we wander. We wander away. W-O-N-D-E-R. We wander away. That's especially true. It's
especially true. You know there's only two kinds
of people in the world. There's sheep and there's goats.
Now among the sheep, there's lost sheep and there's safe sheep. And so among the lost sheep,
that's particularly true prior to our conversion. Prior to our
conversion, that's all we know is to go astray. All we know
is our own way. All we know is the way of the
world. And like other men, we just follow after the same things.
We are in every way. In outward appearances and in
motivations, we're just like the men of this world until the
Lord is pleased to reveal himself to us. Like Mary Magdalene, who
came and anointed the Lord's feet with that precious ointment,
who the scripture says the Lord cast out seven demons. That's
where we were. That's where we were, under the
grip of Satan. and he had to lead captivity
captive. He had to come into the very
pits of hell and draw us out. Like that demoniac in the gatherings,
cutting himself among the tombs and chained, that's where we
were. That's just lost sheep. If you can't identify with these
examples, then perhaps you're still lost and don't know it.
But that's where God finds His people. He finds them in bondage
to sin, like Onesimus running from Philemon and falling into
the pit of prison in Rome. The Lord has to send us a gospel
preacher. He has to send us in the way
of truth in order to deliver us from our wayward ways. What did David say? I have gone
astray like a lost sheep. Lord, that's just, that's my
nature. And if you don't come seek me
and keep me, There's no end to what I might
fall into. Some, on the other hand, are
delivered out of the darkness of man-made religion. We've been bruised like Saul
of Tarsus. We have zeal without knowledge. Persecuting the church, having
no interest in the truth of God, lost in the wilderness with no
water. Like the woman with the issue
of blood, we've spent everything we had on physicians and only
found ourselves to be worse off in the end than we were in the
beginning. I have gone astray. I went astray
in the world. I went astray in religion. Like Matthew, the tax collector. merchandising men's souls for
our own profit, steeped, steeped in free will, man-made religion. There's no darker place to be
lost in. You can be a whole lot more lost,
if that's possible, in a brightly lit church building than you
can be lost in a smoke-filled, dim-lit bar room. You can be
a whole lot more lost in moralisms than you can in degradation. Scripture speaks of those false
prophets as being wolves in sheep's clothing. Some of us were sheep
in wolves' clothing. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep." Where did the Lord find you? Bruised and broken by the
sins of your flesh? The pleasures of sin left you
empty, crippled, and crawled up into a cave like a lost sheep? gasping in your dying breath
without any strength of saving yourself, or in the darker deceit
of man-made religion, works religion, blinded to the truth, trying
to establish your own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness
of God. Where did he find you? Lost. In your self-righteousness, you
blasphemed the God of grace in thinking that you could save
yourself. In religion, you played the hypocrite, pretending to
be keeping the law. Washing the outside of the cup,
not knowing that the inside of it was full of corruptions. Whitewashing
the tomb, not knowing that the inside was filled with dead men's
bones. Where did the Lord find you as
a lost sheep? Or are you still lost? Are you
still lost? God's sheep, they get lost. After conversion, they get lost. Oh, when Peter said, I go fishing,
he thought it was all over. He thought, I've blown it. There's no hope for me to be
recovered now. I've forsaken the Lord with cursings.
I've denied Him openly. At His darkest hour, at the time
when He needed me the most, I denied even knowing Him. Surely there's
no hope for me. Oh, tell Peter that I've risen. And when the Lord came to the
seashore, Peter was out there with John and James fishing.
Peter said, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Peter, do you
love me? Lord, thou knowest that I love
you. Yes, Lord. I can't stop loving
you. In the midst of all of my wanderings,
in the midst of all my sin, in the midst of all my denials,
in the midst of all my worldliness, I can say, yes Lord, I love Thee. Martha, how often times we become
like Martha, encumbered with many things, many cares of this
world. rather than being as we ought,
like Mary who had chosen that one thing that was needful sitting
at the feet of Christ. We get so busy with the things
of this world, prone to wander away from Christ. Oh, we get deceived by the pleasures
of sin for a season, don't we? David certainly did, and he was
a believer. John Mark forsook the gospel,
forsook Paul. Paul said, I'm done with him.
Oh, but the Lord recovered him, didn't He? He recovered him. Just as God sent Nathan to speak
to David, He recovered him. And so, the Lord said through
the Apostle Paul, send John Mark for he is profitable to me. Oh,
like a lost sheep he went astray, but I've sought him out and I
brought him back. The brethren in Corinth were
guilty of sins that are some unmentionable. Had they not been
mentioned in the Word of God, we couldn't speak of the incest. We couldn't speak of believers
taking other believers to court. We couldn't speak of them turning
the Lord's table into a feeding frenzy, fighting one another
for food. We couldn't speak of those things
if they weren't written in the Word of God. They're so shameful.
And yet, how less shameful are the things that we do to one
another? Is there anything that the Lord
won't allow His children to do? Yes. Yes, there is. He will not allow them to stop
believing. He just won't. He just won't. And the hounds
of your sin will drive you into His arms every time. That's my
hope. My hope is that He won't allow
me to stop believing. I can't not believe. You see, the proof of our salvation
is not how well we're doing or how our outward appearance might
seem. The proof of our salvation is
faith. Faith. That's the evidence of
things not seen. The Good Shepherd always seeks
and finds His sheep. They may have fallen off a cliff.
They may be caught in a thicket. They may be crawled up in a cave. He knows where they are. And
He always leaves the ninety and nine. And He always seeks after
the one. He's not going to lose not one.
Not one. Lord, like a lost sheep I have
gone astray. Lord, seek me! Seek me!" He may allow you to become on
the very brink of disaster, to where you are peering over the
very portals of hell. Nigh unto destruction, looking
down into the fire and brimstone of the destruction of your soul. But He won't let you fall over.
He won't. He will renew the fear of God
in your heart. He will cause you to cry for
mercy when you don't know your way home. And when He does, you won't be
saying, well, I found the Lord. No, you'll be saying, He found
me. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know how to get out
of here. I didn't know what to do about it. And He came and
He sought me out. He sent His servant like David
after Mephibosheth and fetched him by His grace and brought
him back to His table. Mephibosheth was in Lodabar. He was in a place where there
was no bread and no water. There was no hope of salvation
where Mephibosheth was. Hiding out, David sought him
like Abraham sending his servant after the wife of Isaac and bringing
Rebekah back willingly. So the Lord sends his spirit
out into the highways and byways, out into the wilderness, and
he finds his children. And He compels them. And they
come. They come. Sometimes the Lord lets His children
get in places where... I love the water. I love the
ocean. I love being out in the water. And I love thinking about
what it was like navigating by the stars. You know, just being
able to take that sextant and put it on a star and figure out
which way you're going. Sometimes you get out in the
sea of trouble and it's so dark you can't even navigate by the
stars. The Lord knows where you are. He knows where you are. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Lord, seek me. Seek thy servant. Sometimes the woods are so thick
that you don't have a map. You don't have GPS. You don't
know your way out. You're just going in circles.
And you're coming back to the same place. And you're cold and
hungry. Lord, come get me. Come get me. That's David's prayer. Like a
lost sheep, I went astray. Seek me, Lord. Come find me. And when he does, he doesn't
beat his sheep. He doesn't do like we might do
to a wandering child and whip him all the way home. Oh no. When the Lord Jesus Christ made
eye contact with Peter that night, those weren't looks of condescension. They weren't looks of anger.
They weren't looks of disgust. They were looks of compassion.
and pity. That's what broke Peter's heart.
When he cried uncontrollably, he saw the compassion in the
eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when Nathan confronted David
with that parable about the man who stole the sheep and said
to David, thou art the man, You know, at one time I thought that
Nathan just stuck his finger right in the chest of Nathan
and said, you're the man. I don't believe that. I believe
that Nathan's eyes were swelled with tears and he looked at David
and he said, David, you're the man. You're the man, David. Can't you see it? And David's
heart was broken. And Psalm 51 was written in response
to that. No, he doesn't beat the sheep.
He doesn't use the rod of correction. He doesn't remind them of his
law. He gently picks them up, pulls
them to his breast, sets them on his shoulder, brings them
back into the flock, and feeds them. Feeds them. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth to repentance. It's His mercy toward His children
that cause them to love Him. We love Him because why? He first
loved us. Lord, like a lost sheep I have
gone astray. Seek me, Lord. Seek Thy servant. With the voice of compassion,
Lord, speak to me. You should think, well, the Lord
will show mercy upon me if I'll rededicate myself to do better. Speak to me, Lord. Have mercy
upon me. Remember that I'm made of dust. The Lord said, come unto me,
all ye that are burdened and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. It's light. It's easy. Why? Because I've already pulled
the load. Learn of me. I'm meek and lowly. That's who I am. I'll speak to you in a still,
small voice. I'll treat you with tenderness
and kindness and mercy. That's what I want. Isn't that
what you need? He's a tender shepherd. When the father was waiting for
the prodigal, he didn't stick his finger in his face. He didn't
say to that wayward son, I told you it was going to turn out
like this. No. No, he was at the end of the
driveway. And he saw him coming from a long way. He knew he was
coming. He knew he was coming. And he lavished him with kisses
upon his neck, is what he says. And he called for a servant.
He said, bring the robe and the shoes and the ring and kill the
fatted calf. My son that was lost has been
found. Rejoice with me. It was the elder
brother that couldn't rejoice. Why? Because he was bound by
the law. You're not under the law. You're
under grace. Grace is so much better than
the law. The law is a harsh taskmaster. Grace is a loving shepherd, cares
for his sheep. Brokenness begets brokenness. Condemnation begats rebellion. You want your children to grow
up little rebels? You just keep them under the
heavy hand of the law. You keep them under the thumb,
and they're going to break out of that one day. They get old
enough, they'll break from it. Condemnation and judgment and
harshness produces rebellion. Brokenness and grace begets brokenness
and grace. Kind and tender-hearted. That's
the way the Lord treats us. The last part of this passage,
I think, brings into focus the passage you read, Michael, earlier
in 1 John chapter 2. where David says, look at the
last verse, the last part of it, for I do not forget thy commandments. Now the word commandment is used
here to describe much more than just the Ten Commandments. It's
a word that's used to describe the whole of Scripture. And the
whole of scripture we know is the gospel. It's the gospel. The word judgment is used in
judgments, the word precepts, the word statutes, the words
law, the word the way. All of these are words that are
used in Psalm 119 to describe the same thing. the whole of
scripture, which is the revelation of the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're a child of God,
you can't get away from that. You just can't forget it. When the Lord starts a work,
He finishes it. You know, in religion, We used
to call it once saved, always saved. But in fact, all we were
doing was whistling through the graveyard because we thought
that our salvation was the result of something we did. And the truth is that if your
salvation is the result of something that you did, or something that
you prayed, or some decision you made, then the power of losing
your salvation is in your hands as well. In other words, you're going
to lose it the same way you got it. And we just, we just sabbed
our conscience by saying, one saved, always saved. The truth
is that if God's done it, if the Lord sought you and the Lord
found you in your sin and the Lord brought you to himself,
he's not going to lose you. For Lord, I have not forgot thy
commandments. I can't forget them. I do not
forget thy commandments. Truth is you can never fall from
grace. What God teaches cannot be forgotten. What God brought you to cannot
be forsaken. What God has given you cannot
be forfeited. What God has done in you cannot
be forbidden. What God has done for you cannot
be undone. It just can't be. No man can
separate you from God. God's fish can never escape the
net of grace. They just can't. The trees of
righteousness, which are the plantings of the Lord, will never
be uprooted. He plants them by the rivers
of life and he nourishes them and in due season they will produce
fruit. They may not be producing fruit
right now but in due season they will. Heard of an adopted child one
time. who after they grew up changed
their name. That never happened to God's
children. Never happened. When He adopts
a child and gives them His name, that's their name forever. He's
never divorced His wife. Never. It's called the perseverance
of the saint, which is caused by the preservation of the Spirit. And it's a work of grace. Job
in the darkest hour of his despair said, the root of the matter
is in me. I know that. And if you read
some of the things Job said, Job's words were blasphemous,
but he said, the root of the matter is in me. And when worms
have destroyed this body, yet in my flesh, I will see the Lord. I can't get away from it. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. All Israel shall be saved. Not one member of the body of
Christ, not one member of the body of Christ will be amputated
from his body." He said, I know the hairs on your head. You know
what? He knows the hairs on the body
of Christ. He's not going to lose a hair.
Not a hair. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep in God's sheep. Oh, they were a long way astray
before the Lord found them. And after he finds them, they're
still prone to wander. Seek me, Lord. And he does. He never, never allows one of
His sheep, never, to meet their end in destruction. For I have kept Thy commandments. I can't get away from it. I believe. I believe. Whatever else, I just
believe. I believe the gospel. I believe
that all my righteousness before God is wrapped up in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He satisfied the
demands of God's justice when He offered Himself up for my
sins. I believe that. I believe that
I'm not able to save myself, that I'm without strength. Completely,
Michael, as you said, as a small child, dependent on Him to provide
all things for me. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
that You are a God who shows mercy towards lost sheep and
that there is hope for us. We ask with David, that you would
seek us, O Lord. Draw us to thyself. Be kind,
tenderhearted, and merciful toward us. For we are in need of your
grace. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. In the soft back tent, now let's
stand together.