Turn with me to Luke 15, Luke
15. Luke 15, and today we will read
one through seven. Luke chapter 15. 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, saying, 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 is lost, until he findeth? And when he
hath found it, he laith 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. I say unto you, that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. We have a point in time here
where deceptors and sinners drew near to Jesus Christ to hear
what Christ had to say. That is, these publicans and
sinners. They were eager to hear what Jesus Christ had to say,
not as some others that were there. But then we see the doers
of the law, the Pharisees and the writers of the law, the scribes,
complained about those who were gathered to hear him. Not only that, it says they murmured
because Christ received these publicans and sinners and ate
with them. He actually fellowshiped with
them, ate what they ate and talked with them. Just as it is today,
you will hear murmuring against those who gather together to
hear what Christ has to say, small and great. To the sinners
and the publicans who were his, it says it is given to them to
understand, but he spake in parables. To others, and this is the reason,
to others, those who murmur, just as those who do this today,
he spake in parables so that they might not understand, to
confound them. It says in scripture that seeing
they might not see and hearing they may not understand. He spake
this parable, which has three parts, and we're looking at the
first part of it today, but this is one parable, and he did this
for a reason, and I'm not gonna be able to exhaust all the reasons
why it's there or everything that's in this account, but I
see this account, these three parts, showing several things.
First, God's sovereignty, his sovereignty over all things and
his sovereignty over salvation. but also see God's care for his
people, his love, his doing for them what they cannot do for
themselves. And I agree with Robert Hawker
on this when he says this shows these three things. Christ is
showing his holy trinity. He is also showing us his gospel
in these three different parts, I believe. God the Son, God's
gospel attended by God the Holy Spirit and God the Father. I
want to, if God be willing, to bring three messages on this
account. Today's Christ the Shepherd. And next it would be the Gospel
and the Holy Spirit. And then last it would be the
Father. So first today, Christ the Shepherd. First of all, we
see a man who has 100 sheep. And I'm not really going into
what these sheep are or who these sheep are necessarily. All of
them are His to do with as He pleases. He is in total control
of all things, including people. We know this is not just talking
about animals. This is talking about people
because we have the words, one sinner and 99 just persons. But we have to go back a little.
There are those here that had some kind of idea that what they
did should gain them and them only, this is what they thought,
grace enough to hear what Christ is saying and not to such who
were publicans and sinners. These were those that were murmuring.
Surely according to what the natural man who are in this state
think, but surely they are the only ones that did works good
enough to be near to him and hear him. That seems to be their
thoughts here. Surely a man sent from God would
not defile himself by being around such sinners and deceptors as
these publicans and sinners. Surely, I'm sure they may have
thought, he would come up nigh to those who had done plenteous
righteousness acts to make themselves clean enough to be around such
one. That is what we have here, those
hearing Christ. some who think themselves worthy
by their works to hear his words, and others who needed grace if
it was just possible that they might get it. What did the centurion
say to Christ in Matthew 8? The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only and my servants shall be healed. Not
one of those who seek Christ think themselves worthy. Not once God does something for
them. This has nothing to do with them and anything they just
decided to do or in any way. Any way that they have decided
to be a certain way. They just didn't make their self
to be a certain way. No, they are made this way by
Him. They are made to know they are
lost in the wilderness. Not just in the wilderness like
these others, like everyone else who is holding or joining hand
in hand, but they are one sheep lost in the wilderness needing
saving. Now, it does not say anything
about this one and how it became lost. This sheep was lost from
the beginning. This man though was interested
in this one sheep. This man would leave those in
the wilderness which are not lost to go find that which is
lost. He owned the whole flock but
this one was special to him. There's one which is lost and
the one who found this one And it's the only one who was looking
for, he was the only one looking for this lost one. Some would
certainly do this for their livestock. They might believe this kind
of thing about their livestock, but they cannot believe this
of themselves, that they can in some way be lost in the wilderness. I can tell you now that Jesus
Christ from the beginning looked for that which was lost. Lost,
what does that mean? here in this passage. Here it
means to perish. Lost does not mean necessarily
lost my way, per se, here. This does not mean I'm trying
to get to this certain place, but I took a wrong turn and ended
up in the wasteland wilderness. The ninety and nine are there.
This one that is lost is dead. Ones that are like this are dead
and they know they are. They are eventually in God's
good time, they come to know this by his power. How can a
dead one know they are lost? This is a conundrum. They are
in the wilderness but they are lost. They are not with the 99,
they are all alone by themselves and lost. I know I am lost, destroyed
and perished. only because this one knew I
was lost. Maybe that does not seem to be
true with most of us now. I mean, now that God has done
something for us, we become complacent, and I say that from experience.
But I see now that the only one thing that matters is the fact
that he took such a one and put them on his shoulders. The lost
one. did not ask him to do this. This
shepherd, because he cared about his lost sheep, came by his own
will. He just did it because he cared
for this lost sheep and was going to bring it all the way home.
Jesus Christ is this one who has the strength to carry all
of his sheep to himself. Hear what it says in Isaiah,
Isaiah 40, 10 and 11. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong
hand and his arm 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 the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. We've heard it here many times.
To save, you must first be lost. Those that repent will be those
who are lost. See, those who are lost are on
a path of their own way. They did not take a wrong turn.
They totally went the opposite direction because of rebellion. Only they did not get there by
just taking a wrong turn. They certainly went the wrong
way, don't get me wrong. But they chose to go this way
and the result is lost in the wilderness. They got there by
going that way which they wanted to go and now they find themselves
lost in the wilderness with no hope of finding their own way.
I believe this is given first, this part of the account is given
first because the first thing that one must see when they are
lost is the shepherd who they come to know when he comes to
them. It is his shoulders where we
find our strength. We have none of our own. Our
strength solely comes from him, from his shoulders. You remember
that message that Job did from Exodus? Remember what it said
in Exodus 28, 11, and 12? With the work of an engraver
in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave
the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou
shalt make them to be set in alches of gold. And thou shalt
put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of a
memorial unto the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear
their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. The people of God, as it states
it here, are engraved in these stones, not penciled in so they
might be erased. They are engraven in stone, and
not so that it might be erased in case they do something wrong,
or if they do something wrong. And we don't have to say if there,
if they do something wrong, because the fact is, we will do something
wrong. But God be thanked, he has taken
care of our wrongs. These are typical of the people
of God, these stones, these engraving stones, and where are they placed? On his shoulders. we get from
this lost state to home on his shoulders. We are never on our
own two feet carrying our own selves home. We do not know the
way, nor do we have the strength on our own. We look to him to
get where we are going, and that is home. But what is being described
here is repentance of a sinner. Repentance is a word used here
as it means to think differently or to reconsider. We will never
repent until that great shepherd causes us to repent. That is
to think differently about ourselves and about him. We will never
reconsider our plight without him until he comes in his strength
to cause us to reconsider what we are and what we have done.
to this one who comes to us, and we reconsider what and who
he is. Jeremiah 31, 18 we read, I have
surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, thou hast chastised
me and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, turn
thou me and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. There are many ways that he has
borne us on his shoulders. The one that is the crux of all
this is that great transaction. Something that our Lord did on
his own. No help from you and I other
than to be and to commit those sins that had to be put on him
there. He bore our sins in his own body
on that tree that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. In His power and strength, He
did this, and there was none to help. Even God the Father
turned His back on Him. But His perfect sacrifice was
accepted and satiated God the Father, and I really like that
word. God the Father said, it is enough. Hebrews 13, 20 and
21, we read, Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing
in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom we glory forever and
ever. Amen. We see from that verse that it
is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we do anything. We also see from that verse in
Hebrews that it is the working of God that has made us perfect
in every good work, whereby we do His will. This repentance
comes from God. We see it in Scripture, but hear
it, and you've heard this before, Romans 2, 4. I'll just read the
last part of the verse, Romans 2, 4. Not knowing that the goodness
of God leadeth to repentance. That's in the negative. Let me
read the whole verse, because it's in the negative. Or despises
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? His goodness, his coming to get
his lost sheep is what causes them to repent and take sides
with God against themselves, even when it's in chastisement.
We lay down our arms and we submit to this one who has come to place
us on his shoulders. Listen to what he says. This
is Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, that says this in John 10, 11
through 16. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. but he that is an hireling and
not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not. See if the wolf
coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he
is an hireling and careth not for the sheep. 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. It is in his giving his life
for the sheep that is what enables those who are lost to be brought
home. But what else do we see here? We actually see it in all
three of these parts of this parable. First of all, what does
this shepherd do when he finds his sheep? It says he rejoices. Can you imagine that? This one
who was forsaken even of God the Father because of who we
are and all those sins we have committed and shall commit, this
same one rejoices when he finds one of his. It's not that he did not know
we were out there. He knew we were there because
he left the 99 to go find this one. The one lost did not tell
him to come find him. This shepherd died for his sheep
because he loved them from the beginning. There is rejoicing
because of what he accomplished, and now he comes to be with one
of those for whom he died, and he rejoices. But it's not just
him. When he brings it home, he gathers
together his friends and neighbors so that all may rejoice. As has
been said before, you will not be saved in secret. He brings
you to his friends and his neighbors. He will cause you to be around
those he has given faith to and that believe Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. You will not be able to keep
your mouth shut because even the one being carried will rejoice. It's always a time of rejoicing
to see him bringing one of his to himself. Why wouldn't it be? You have
one who by their own doing, their own will, have been lost in such
a state that they cannot recover from it. But he finds that one
and his shoulders shall and have borne that sinner to himself.
I want to read a few verses in different scriptures in the Old
Testament. But what I've been saying from
this text is what the preponderant testimony of the scripture says,
and it just says what I've just been saying. These are three
different books and one verse out of each of these three books
here, but I want to read them. Zechariah 13, seven. Awake, O
sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow,
sayeth the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall
be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. Jeremiah 31 10. Hear the word
of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar
off, and say, he that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep
him as a shepherd doth his flock. Ezekiel 34, 12, as a shepherd
seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep
that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver
them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the
cloudy and dark day. In that you can see God's sovereignty
there. Because he controls all things
and he's done all this. All those scriptures agree and
they testify to us of our great shepherd who gave his life for
his sheep. He did not do this to leave you
lost in the wilderness. He did this with the exact intent
and purpose that he might come find you and put you on his shoulders
and take you home. But listen, it says here that
joy will be over one sinner that repenteth more than is what it
says. That means rather than over 99
who need no repentance. These others here have no need
of reconsidering what they are and what they do, for they feel
themselves to be righteous, and that before God. They may have
a righteousness, but it is not before God. If you feel no need
to reconsider, that is to repent, turn to God from idols, then
you have never been lost. If you have never been lost,
you have no need of saving. Does that mean you will be okay?
No, it just means you need no saving. So you will not be saved
if you remain there. And I only say that because I
do not know God's will. But He does say that those who
are His will be willing in the day of His power. So their will
depends on His will. Those who are in need of saving
will have their Lord and Savior find them. He has promised to
do so. So there is no doubt that He
will. There's no question about His
love toward His people. And that's because of what he
has done, 1 John 4, 9 and 10, very familiar. And this was manifested,
the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. When it comes to his people,
God rejoices to do that which is needed to save them. As we
will come to see, this he does throughout the life of the believer
and in every way. We never are good on our own.
He does not do something for us and to us and then let us
go, and then we somehow find a way to get home. And I like
to say it this way, he does not wind us up like a clock and then
let us go. God has ensured that we will
make it all the way home, the place where he has intended that
we should be, and that is with him. I read something like this
and it makes me want to rejoice, which I believe is the point.
It is his shoulders that we are placed on and he does the placing.
God gets all the glory because he does all the work, all those
works that are meet or suitable to God. So there should be a
lot of rejoicing for what he has done. Here is one verse that
can sum up my message today, and that's 1 Peter 2.25. For
ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls. So let us all rejoice that he
has brought us to himself on his own shoulders, all the way
to himself. And may it be he will find his
lost sheep, that one lost in the wilderness, amen. Dear Lord
God, thank you for all that you do. We have no strength, no strength,
dear Lord, without you. You are our strength. Calls us to look to you, dear
Lord, Be with those who have ailments, dear Lord. Be with
them, comfort them. May it be that if you're willing
that you heal them of whatever ails them. We can do nothing
without you. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.