Luke chapter 15 Luke 15 we looked at verses 1 & 2 considering
the the words there this man receiveth sinners and eateth
With them, but let's just make another comment or two on those
two verses and then we'll that'll lead us into our text this morning
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to
hear him now That's still the same ones who come to hear him
now in a spiritual sense Here this morning in every place.
The gospel is preached. I guarantee you sinners That
know their sinners are hearing Him, they come to Him. And that's
who will. If you don't need Him, you won't.
The more of a sense of your sinnerhood you have, the more anxious you
are to hear the Savior. That's always the way. Then verse
2, the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. Religious people who are not
sinners in their own eyes, always have a problem with Christ and
what he says and what he does and his people and everything
else about him. They always have a problem with it. They're going
to find something wrong. These self-righteous ones, they
were shocked and appalled that Christ would associate with the
likes of us. But the teaching here is clear.
His message is one that appeals only to those who are sinners. People who are righteous in their
own eyes don't want to hear about grace. They want to be pumped
up, you know, and feel good about themselves. To acknowledge a
need for mercy is to acknowledge guilt and helplessness. And the natural man will not
do that. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
water of life. He said, if you drink of the
water that I give you, you'll never thirst again. Well, thirsty
people aren't going to drink. I mean, people that aren't thirsty
are going to drink. If you're thirsty, you're going to drink.
Let him that is a thirst come. He's the bread that came down
from heaven. So who's going to eat? Who's going to partake?
Those that are hungry. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. after righteousness he's the great physician so naturally
he's surrounded by sick people and naturally he receiveth them
wouldn't be much of a doctor that turned away sick people and look at verse three he spake
this parable unto them I wanted to look at verses one and two
again because of the context of this now you got the sinners
and publicans who happy to fellowship with it and then these religious
Pharisees that have a problem with him and everything about
him and so he speaks this parable saying 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 on his shoulders
rejoicing. The Lord turned the whole thing
around on them and asked them this question. He put it on them. He put it on them. He did that
a lot. Asking questions is a good way
to teach because it forces an answer. You're going to answer
it. In your heart you're going to think about it. It forces
you to think about it. Our Lord taught this way a lot.
When he dealt with Simon in Luke 7, you remember the man he was
eating in his house and the sinner woman came and wept and bowed
at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with the hairs of her head.
And Jesus answering Simon said unto him, Simon I have some what
to say unto thee. And he said, Master say on. And
he said, there was a certain creditor which had two debtors.
One owed 500 pence and the other 50. And when they had nothing
to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? Question. And he answered, well, I suppose
the one that owed the most. The Lord forced him to tell the
truth. even if he didn't understand
it and didn't, he didn't love the Lord but he was forced to
understand, to say it, to acknowledge it. That's what he's doing here. The parable of the Good Samaritan,
that lawyer in Luke chapter 10, he was one of the Pharisees that
justify themselves. And he asked him, which now of
these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among
the thieves? The answer is obvious. The gospel
is obvious. The truth of the gospel is obvious.
He receiveth sinners? Of course he does. And that's
how he's presenting this here. Now Christ is comparing these
sinners to this lost sheep. That's the point of the parable.
Upon this occasion of receiving sinners and eating with them,
and the Pharisees having a problem with that, he says, which one
of you had a lost sheep, wouldn't go get it? And that's interesting,
isn't it? Because the story says that they
came to him. The Republicans and sinners came
to him. But what he teaches here is what's
really happening is I went and got them. Boy, don't let's miss
that. Don't let's miss that. He's saying,
he's calling, what's the one sheep? Now let's think about
this. The Pharisees didn't say sinners
are coming to this man. But that's what happened. They
came to him, they gathered around him, that's what it says in the
text. But that's not what the Pharisees, they said this man receives them. He made them tell the truth,
he forced them to preach the gospel that they didn't even
know, they hated. And that's his way now. The lost sheep didn't come to
the shepherd. He's going away from the shepherd, but the shepherd
goes to him. And also there are several sinners,
publicans and sinners, plural, in verse 2, but only one sheep
in verse 4. I wonder why that is. Because every one of God's sheep
are the one that went astray. Every one of them. What did he
say? We've turned everyone to our
own way. Everyone. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. And this tells us also that though
there are a multitude, John said in Revelation, that no man can
number And yet to our Lord, it is as though there were only
one. You are the only one and so am
I. He died for you. He didn't die for the multitudes.
He died for you and for me. We just happen to make up a multitude.
You see the difference? He didn't just die for a group
of people. He said, this is my blood which is shed for you.
Boy, that's precious to me. The Lord loves each one of us
as though we were the only one. That same truth is shown in verse
7. We'll look at this next time. He says, I say unto you that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth
more than over the ninety and nine just persons which need
no repentance. I said next time we'll see that
in a minute here. One sinner. That's what rejoices his heart. Saving you So what does the shepherd do?
He goes after it. Which one of you, having a lost
sheep, wouldn't leave the nanny and nanny and go after it? Go
after it. Now think about this. Why does
the shepherd go after that sheep? In the grand scheme of things,
if you've got a hundred sheep, one of them You just lost 1%
of your livestock. Is that going to ruin anybody's
day? Is that really worth? If you drop a penny anymore,
do you pick it up? If I drop a penny, look, if it's
a quarter, I'd probably go for it. When we go on our walk, we'll
see pennies laying around on the road. I don't even stop and
pick them up. It ain't worth anything. But I'll tell you what now. Our
Lord goes after this one sheep first of all because it's his
sheep. Look at the language there in
verse 6. When he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I found my sheep. He laid down his life for his
sheep. Not because they're worth anything.
But they're worth everything to him because he loves them.
They're his. Now if this man had been a hireling
that lost a sheep, he'd say, oh that's 1%. Who cares about that? Read John
10, 11 through 15, the hireling doesn't care anything for the
sheep. If a wolf comes and takes one of the sheep, he's not going
to risk his life. Not his sheep, but the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. That's what it took for him to
bring us home. He had to give himself. Now the next reason that this
shepherd goes after the sheep is also from John 10. We just
quoted from John 10 where the harling, he don't care anything
about the sheep. It's the good shepherd that loves the sheep.
In John 10, 14, he said, I know my sheep. Well, first of all, that's love,
isn't it? That's why he goes, they're his
sheep. He knows them. It doesn't just
mean he knows about us. But I'll tell you this, he does
know about us, too. You know what he knows about
us? He knows, first of all, that we're defenseless without him.
We don't have a chance. We don't want a chance because
our chances are all bad. A sheep without a shepherd is
just food for a predator. We have no defense. We're weak,
we're slow, and we're not real clever. And soon we'll be destroyed,
we'll be devoured by the adversary. who walks about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. And unless he comes for us, that's
exactly what will happen. I'll tell you what else he knows
about us, he knows that we're helpless. In another way, not
only are we defenseless, but even if a predator doesn't come,
we can't provide for ourselves. We'll wander off in some rocky
wilderness where there ain't nothing to eat. We can't find
water on our own. Sheep are just that way. They
need somebody to take care of them. They can't find food or
water. They've got to be fed. He leadeth
me beside the still waters. He prepares a table before me. If not, I'm not going to get
anything to eat. The Lord is my shepherd and therefore I'm
never going to lack anything. I'll tell you what else he knows
about us. We've already hinted at it. We're stupid. We're not ever going to find
our way home. Not ever going to. A lost sheep is never in
a million years going to find his way home. He'll stay lost
until somebody finds him. He'll stray further and further
away from home and safety unless he comes after us. And that's
what he did. That's why he did it. He's not, there's that song, you know,
come home, he calls to the sheep, come home. We're too far gone
for that now. He's going to have to come after
us, isn't he? He's going to have to come after us. And even when he finds us now,
you think about this, even when he finds us, he doesn't say,
alright now, here we are, here I am, now follow me home. Now I know that there's a sense
in which we do follow the Lord. But that's not our security.
He said my sheep hear my voice and they do follow me. But you
know what that really is? Just like it says these publicans
and sinners came to Him to hear Him. That's in our experience. We do that. We come because we're
hungry. Why are we hungry though? Why
don't we come to Him? Why do we follow him? I'll tell
you why. Because what's really happening is he's picking us
up, laying us on his shoulder and bringing us home. That's
what us following him looks like. I'm glad my security doesn't
depend upon my wisdom, my faithfulness, my following him. But it depends
entirely upon him. He layeth it on his shoulders.
And I tell you this, if I had to go after a sheep, I would
lay it on my shoulders complaining, how many times am I going to
have to go and get this stupid sheep and carry it home? I'd lay it on my shoulders scolding
and saying, you stupid sheep, where did you think you were
going? He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And we know what it took for
him to get where we were, to find us and to lay hold on us. And still he layeth it on his
shoulders rejoicing. It was for the joy that was set
before him that he endured the cross, despising the shame. Verse six, when he cometh home,
he calleth together his friends and neighbors. saying unto them,
rejoice with me. Well, I won't in on that, don't
you? I won't in on that. Rejoice with me. For I have found
my sheep, which was lost. Where does he take the sheep
once he has it on his shoulders? Look at that beautiful word.
The fifth word in verse six, one of my favorite words. He
brings us home. You're never gonna be home until
the Lord brings you home now. You may have the most beautiful
home anybody ever saw in this world. That's just a picture. That's just a picture of Christ. and what it means to be with
him forever. He calleth his friends and neighbors
saying, rejoice with me. Now you think about this, this
shepherd from start to finish, he's all about the sheep. You think about this now. At
the beginning of the story, He has one purpose, one thought,
one interest, one all-consuming desire. I'm going to go find
my sheep. I'm going for the sheep. I'm
going to get that sheep. I've got to find my sheep. And
in the end, there's one thing to this party. They're going
to have a party. Let's have a party. What's the theme? I found my
sheep. One calls for joy. Why is he
rejoicing? Because I found my sheep. And
he's home now. He's home. When our Lord's parents
looked for him in Luke 2, he said, didn't you know, didn't
you understand that I must be about my father's business? In
John 9, he said, I must work the works of him that sent me
while his day. I've got something I've got to do. And I got to
do it now. When Satan tempted him, he said,
man shall not live My bread I have loaned but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." When the disciples worried
that he hadn't eaten in so long, they said to him, Master, eat.
And he said, I have meat to eat that you know not of. And here's what he said, my meat
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. What is that work? I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which He has sent me, that of all which
He has given me, I should lose nothing. That one sheep, I can't live without it. I can't
do without it. I've got to go get him. He's
not going to lose any of us now. That's His will. That's everything
He's been about. That's why He came down here
now. That's why he came. To seek and to save that which
was lost. And that's why in this parable
this man had one purpose in the beginning and one joy in the
end. And I don't understand that. I don't know why he'd go after
a worthless sheep that ain't worth going after. I know why
he did. It's because he loved me. But
why did he love me? Why was I that precious to him? And then the Lord said to those
self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees that turned up their
noses and said, we wouldn't have anything to do with people. What's
he doing fellowshipping with them? And he said, I say unto you that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner. that repenteth. We see the spiritual truth of
all this. That sheep is a sinner. It's
every sinner that repenteth. Now think about that. Over one
sinner that repenteth. In that story of that sheep,
he said, likewise, like that, like one sheep going astray. What was the sheep's part in
this whole thing? Being an idiot, being self-destructive,
and helpless. That was his part in it. And
the shepherd did everything good and everything right and everything
necessary. Isn't that right? But our Lord
describes that over as a sinner repenting. So let me tell you
this. Repentance is a change of mind.
You change your mind about who God is. You change your mind
about what you are before God. You take God's word for it. Because
you look at yourself and you go, well, you know, I've been
a pretty good guy. I love my mama and I've done
this. You're not a pretty good guy. And you're going to have
to listen to what God says about that because you can't see it
without Him revealing it. And you'll never see who He is
and you'll never understand how God can save a wretch like you
until you take His word for it. And that's what repentance is.
It's changing your mind from what you think you know to the
truth. Acknowledgement of the truth.
Paul said to Timothy, if God grants them the repentance, they'll
acknowledge the truth. Is that what he said? And that's
how that works. But you know what that looks
like? God's not waiting on you to repent. He did not call and come home.
He went and got you. That's why you changed your mind.
You changed your direction because he picked you up and went the
other way with you. That's why. Do we see that? Do we understand that? One sinner that repenteth. What
a way to describe that story. But that's what happens. We do
repent. We do change our mind. But why do we do that? Well I
was headed for hell as fast as I could go and was happy. And he picked me up and took
me home. And that's repentance. He granted
me repentance. These Pharisees thought that
heaven rejoiced over their wonderful works. They called them their wonderful
works there in Matthew 7.22. How blind we are by nature. They
thought that's what made heaven rejoice. You know when they did
their good deeds and things. Heaven's going oh boy look how
wonderful he is. Heaven rejoices over the Lord
Jesus Christ. Saving from start to finish his
sheep from their sins. When man has done all the good,
wonderful works that he can exercise his free will enough to do, the
only response he will get from the Lord Jesus is, get away from
me, I never knew you. What a difference. What a difference in verse seven,
what was heaven shouting for joy about? One sinner that repenteth. One sinner that repented. As I've said, it's hard to look
at that story of the shepherd going and getting that one sheep
and getting that out of it. The Lord would have to show us
that or we'd never see that. We'd never see, repenting, the
sheep doesn't wander off into the wilderness now and then up
and just say, oh wait a minute now, there ain't nothing to eat
out here and there's a whole lot of wolves out, I think I'll
go back to the sheep fold. That ain't what happened. And
yet we do that. So why did he tell the story
that way? Because the reason we do that is because he goes
and gets us and brings us home. And we'll see this in the next
couple of weeks, Lord willing, but this is not a parable about
a sheep. And what people call the parable
of the prodigal son, there's no such thing. This is all one
parable of a sheep, a coin, and a son. And in the next couple
weeks, Lord willing, we'll talk about the coin and the son. And
that son, you know, he's sitting there in that hog pen, eating
the slop that the pigs eat, and he says, wait a minute, I'm an
idiot, didn't he? What an idiot, why would I do
this? My father's servants are better
off than me. I think I'll go beg for mercy.
We do, we do come to our senses, don't we? But how do we do that?
Oh. Because he turns the light on,
that's why. So we'll see this parable, it's
a three-part parable. In the parable of the coin, the
coin is just laying there, lifeless. It's just a coin. If that coin
is going to be found, it's not going to contribute anything
to its finding. And neither did we. And the Lord teaches us in
this parable of the sheep, and the coin, and the son, how he
saves sinners. But boy, I love the part about
the sheep, don't you? The part about the sheep, he
knows us. He knows we're defenseless. He knows we can't provide for
ourselves. He knows that we'll never come home on our own. And so he goes for us. And then he says, look, that sinner repents and
all of heaven shouts for joy. This is how he comes for he brings
us home. He gives us faith in him and
grants us repentance To the acknowledging of the truth now and heaven's
not shouting for joy now over the resourcefulness of the sheep Heaven is not shouting for joy
over the wisdom of the sheep Heaven is shouting for joy and
singing what I? Worthy is the shepherd. Worthy
is the lamb. Worthy is the Son of God. That sheep was a whole lot more
trouble than it was worth. But that didn't stop him. He
loved that sheep so much that he gave himself for it and redeemed
it unto himself. And he said, of all those sheep
the Father gave me, I'm not going to lose one. And the only way
that happens is he had to come right where we are. It cost him
everything for a sheep that wasn't worth
anything. And he says, rejoice with me.
Can we do that? If we ever see him, we will.
His love. Let's pray.