Turn with me to Luke 15. Luke 15. When the Lord of glory, the God
of heaven, the Lord of glory, When He gives a command, His people, His followers, His
believers have a heart to obey that command,
don't they? We want to obey our God's command,
don't we? Well, here is our Lord's command
for us this morning. Look in Luke 15 at verse 6. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me. Rejoice with me. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. Why? Verse six goes on to say,
for I have found my sheep which was lost. Be happy. Be cheerful. Celebrate with me. Verse 7 says,
I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth. Absolute joy. Absolute joy. Inside the pages of this book
right here, Inside the pages of this book is the best news
a sinner has ever heard in his life. The absolute best news
that a sinner has ever heard. If you are a sinner this morning,
rejoice with me. Let's rejoice together. Verse 1 says, Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. Do you
know who will come for bread? Not the full, the hungry will. You know who will come for water?
Not the satisfied, the thirsty. You know who will come for help?
Not the strong, the weak. You know who will come to Christ?
Not the righteous. Sinners. Sinners will. Verse 1 says, Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. This place right here, these
blue walls, this little cathedral ceiling, This is a place for publicans
and sinners. It's why it was built around
1949. It's a place for publicans and sinners. This message this
morning is a message, it's a gospel for publicans and sinners. That's the only people this message
is for. This Christ The God of heaven is for publicans and sinners. He's for them, publicans and
sinners. Verse one says, then drew near unto him all the publicans
and sinners for to hear him. They were drawn to him. They were just drawn to him.
They all came to him. And the reason they came was
to just hear him. They just wanted to hear him.
I just want to go hear what he has to say. What were they hearing? Words of life. Beautiful words. Wonderful words. They all came
saying, would you sing them over again to me? What were the words? What were
they hearing? Look at verse 2. And the Pharisees
and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners. And the word started spreading
like wildfire. This man receiveth sinners. Who? Which one? You see him right
over there? That man right there. This man? This man who was born king? That man? Don't you mean the one over there
in the gutter? No, I mean him. This man who astounded the scholars
with his wisdom when he was 12 years old in the temple? This
man? You know Solomon was the wisest
mortal on earth, but there is a greater than Solomon here.
You know that? A greater than Solomon. This man that heals the sick
and cures the blind, this man? This man that feeds thousands
with a couple of fish and some bread? We're about to go eat
in a minute. And I promise you, there's more
there than a couple of fish and some bread. There's more there
than any of us could ever dream of eating. But this man can take
two fish and five loaves of bread and feed thousands. This man that raises the dead,
this man receives sinners. He receives sinners. Look at
verse 2. And eateth with them. He eats with them. This man doesn't only receive
sinners, he's the friend of sinners. That's who this man is. He's
the friend of sinners. He has dinner with them. He really does. He has dinner
with them. He'll sit down and have dinner with them. He communes
with them. He walks with me and He talks
with me and He tells me I am His own. This man. Turn with me over to Exodus 33. Exodus 33, look at verse 8. And it came to pass when Moses
went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up and
stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until
he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and
stood at the door of the tabernacle. And the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door. And all the people rose
up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. I love that. Face to face. He talked to him face to face
as a man talks to his friend. Go over to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 verse 8 says, but thou
Israel art my servant. Jacob, sinner, trickster, supplanter,
worthless, the one we didn't like. I used to like Esau. I wanted it to be Esau. I was
a kid and I used to hear that story and hear that story and
think, I wish it was Esau. I'm not a big fan of Jacob. But he said, Jacob, whom I have
chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. Verse 10, he says,
fear not, fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed,
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be
as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou
shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended
with thee. They that war against thee shall
be as nothing and as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy
God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I
will help thee. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. All the publicans
and sinners drew near to him to hear him. Just to hear the
beautiful words, the glorious news that came out of his mouth. Tell that to me again, one more
time. Listen to this song. Sometimes
when we read the words, we enter into them more than when we sing
the words, don't we? The Lord Jesus will receive.
Sound this word of grace to all. Who's the all? All who the heavenly
pathway leave. All who linger. All who fall. That's who I want
you to tell it to. Sing it o'er. and or again, Christ
receiveth sinful man. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receives sinful man. Come and he will give you rest. Trust him for his word is plain. He will take the sinfulest. Christ receiveth sinful man.
Now my heart condemns me not, pure before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot
satisfied its last demand. Christ receiveth sinful men,
even me with all my sin, purged from every spot and stain, heaven
with him, I enter in, sing it o'er and o'er again, Christ receives
sinful men, sinful men. Go back to Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 1 says, Then drew
near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto
them." Our Lord preached the gospel. This is our gospel. Verse 3, He spake this parable
unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them? And I can just go ahead and tell
us all, we are that lost sheep. That's us. We weren't just misplaced
for a little while. The word lose, if he should lose
one of them, the word lose means to destroy fully. It means to
perish, to die, ruined. That's me and you. Ruined, separated,
lost. We just read in that song, who
the heavenly pathway leave. When man sinned in the garden
and he left that heavenly pathway, man did not just become lost. That's what people think happened
back in the garden. Well, man became lost. Let's go find him.
He didn't just become lost. He became fully destroyed. Dead, totally separated from
God, ruined, absolutely ruined, no ability to find his way back. And even if he could find his
way back, he could not be accepted in the presence of God again.
He has been ruined and infected by sin. And all of the things
that God has done pertaining to man, the scripture says the
angels desire to look into them, don't they? They're curious about
them. Can you imagine what the reaction
was when the angels and the host of glory saw man sin? Can you imagine what their reaction
was? They know we're a ruined state. He stationed them with
his children. God created light and it was
so good. And the angel saw light. Whether
they were then or after that, I don't know. But God created
light and it was so good. And then he created the heavens
and he made the ocean and he made the grass and the trees.
And it was all so beautiful and so good. And then he made the
sun and the moon and the galaxies and the solar systems. And it
was so perfect. And then he made fish and he
made whales. Cattle, he made birds. And then God said, let
us make man. And all the angels noticed. He's
made in the likeness of God. This one's different. He looks
just like God. And God breathed life into him
and he became a living soul. And then God made woman for the
man and they became one. And it was all so good and it
was all so wonderful. And then all of a sudden, man
sinned against God and the angels and the whole host of glory said, Man is dead now. Man has become
ruined, become defiled, severed from God. There's no hope for
man. And then Jesus Christ stood up
from his throne and all the angels looked to him. What's he going
to do? He said, I am going to seek and
to save that which was lost. And the angels desired to look
into that. As poor wretched sinners, no
God and no hope, it seemed there was no one to help. But God in
His mercy, salvation supplied, emptied heaven. He said, angels,
you go stationed with them. I'm getting off my throne. I'm
coming down myself. He emptied heaven and He came
down Himself and a ransom was found. Verse 4 says, 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,
fully destroyed, and dead, and ruined, until he find it? Verse 5 says, And when he hath
found it, not if, When he hath found it, he layeth it. This vile and dead and putrefying
and stinking ruined sheep. Not this beautiful little creature
that's just laying over there eating some grass. No, he was
totally defiled and destroyed and ruined. He layeth it on his
shoulders. He takes that death. He's laying
over there dead is what he's doing. And he takes that death,
that rebellion, that sin. Have you ever seen a dead animal
at the height of its decomposing? Oh man, the rot and the smell. Verse 5 says, When he hath found
it, he laith it on his shoulders. He takes all that sin and all
that decay and He lays it on Himself. He bears their iniquity. Isaiah said, Surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. What does that mean for us? It
means with his stripes we are healed. With his work, with his
effort, with everything he did, we are healed. As soon as the
burden of that sheep is laid on his shoulders, revival comes. Redemption comes. He is brought
back to the fold. As soon as all that burden is
laid on the shoulders of the one who saved him, and that sheep
quickened, revived, is laying on his shoulders, riding on the
rescuer, singing all the way, I once was lost and now I'm found. Verse 5 says, When he hath 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. He didn't say, My sheep came
home. He said, I went and got him.
Why did you do that, Lord? Why did you do that? Go to Hebrews
12. Hebrews 12 verse 2 says, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. He did it to rejoice. That's why He did it. He did
it for His rejoicing. He did it for our rejoicing.
And now He says to everything that hath breath, rejoice with
Me. Rejoice with Me. Rejoice in Me. Rejoice in what I have done.
Look back one more time at Luke 15. All of our Lord's heavenly host
knows All of heaven knows that man was ruined in that fall.
They know that. And all of his host lives to
just watch him work. In glory, everything's eyes are
on Jesus Christ. We're just going to watch him
work. And they desire to look into these things. They love looking into these
things. And every time the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ gets up
off of his throne and goes down to the wilderness and walks up
to one of these dead sheep and picks him up and lays him on
his shoulder and causes that sheep to say, I've been found,
all of heaven erupts. with absolute joy. All of heaven cries every single
time. All of heaven cries to God be
the glory. We saw man before. We saw everything
that happened to man and look what he has done. He hath gotten
the victory. It belongs to the Lord. He's
led captivity captive. Look at verse 10, Luke 15 verse
10. Likewise I say unto you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth. Lord come save us. You know all
we like sheep have gone astray out into the wilderness and we
all laid down and we all died. Come save us. Come save us, Lord. Come pick us up. Come put us
on your shoulders. Bring us back to your fold. Let
us hear you and all of heaven cry, rejoice with me. I found
my sheep. I want to be found. Lord, find
me. All right, let's stand together.