The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 15, verses 1 through 7. The subject is about the lost. And in particular this morning,
about lost sheep. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 15, beginning with verse 1. 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 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. And
when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors,
saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I 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." Now
that was a a slur, if you will, on those
Pharisees who justified themselves. There's no such thing as a man
who doesn't need repentance. But he was talking to them who
thought they didn't need any repentance, who thought they
were just before God. And there can be no doubt as
to the context nor the object of these parables, he spake this
parable unto them. He was talking to these Pharisees,
these scribes, the murmuring Pharisees. In the Persian version of the
Bible, that word man is left out. And I'll tell you how and
why it was left out. It's perfectly good that it's
in there. It's of God that it's in there.
And I'm not trying to say anything about that. I'm just trying to
tell you how, when they looked on him, This. They couldn't even
utter the word man. They were so disgusted with it.
This. Edith was sinners. They wouldn't even entitle him
the word man. They were so disgusted with it.
They were disgusted with his kindness to sinners and publicans
that they couldn't hardly stand him. And it was a slap in their
face and a clear defamation of their character. They were legalists. What is a legalist? We talk about
legalists all the time. What is a legalist? Well, men
and women that believe by their obedience to the law they could
make themselves acceptable to God. That's a legalist. They
think by something they can do. Love your father and mother.
I can go on and on and on with the laws of God. If I do that,
if I can do that, then I'm gaining favor with God. And the more
of it I can do, the more favor I gain with God. But in the scripture it says,
by the deeds of the law, No flesh shall be justified in
his sight by the deeds of the law. By the deeds of the law,
they believe they could produce a righteousness by which they
could obtain favor and fellowship with God. If I keep this and
do that and observe this, then I'm gaining favor with God and
now I'm in fellowship with God. I can quit doing what I'm doing
and start doing this and now I'm in fellowship with God. Oh,
no, you're not. No, you're not. By the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified. God's not going to
justify you because you've changed your habits. That's not being
justified. Justified before God means that
you're just before Him. He's looked on you, and what
will God approve of? A perfect righteousness. Perfect
obedience. Nothing less. And you can't produce
it. I can't produce it. And actually there's only two
kinds of religion in the world. We're talking about the scribes
and pharisees who were legalists. And what is a legalist? And scripture says there are
two kinds of religion in the world, works and grace. That's
how you sum it up. If by grace, then is it no more
works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. And these men were work mongers.
They were self-righteous religionists who thought they knew God, but
didn't. We know our God. We know the
God of this world. We know the God that sold to
us by religion, but we don't know the God of the Bible. And
that's what makes men upset when you preach the truth. Because
one fellow said, well, my God wouldn't do like that. Brother
Barnard said, well, I expect you're right. But the God of
the Bible would. In Romans chapter 2, verse 17. Now Paul was a Jew. He was a
Pharisee of the Pharisees. And so at one time he was in
that number. that Christ is talking to here
in Luke 15. But in Romans 2.17, Paul said,
Behold, thou art a Jew. I'll give you that. You're a
Jew. You rest in the law. Huh? We're talking about rest. Where can we rest? You're going
to rest in the law? That means you're resting in
your works. That ain't risk, that's work. Thou riskest in the law, that
is, put all your hope and confidence in the law and in their obedience
to it. And makest thou boast of God. They said to Christ, we'd be
not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
He said, if God was your father, you'd love me. I come forth and
come from God. And then here's another boast
they made. We know his will. Not if you're still trying to
present yourself to God through the works of the law, you don't
know his will. And then Paul said, and you approve
of the things that are most excellent being instructed out of the law.
And you are confident that thou thyself art a guide to the blind,
a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the
foolish, and a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge
and of the truth in the law. Well, my friend, the scripture
is very clear on this matter of self-righteousness and law
righteousness and work salvation. Because of man's sin, his depravity
of nature and ignorance of God, he cannot approach God based
on himself. based on himself. By the deeds
of the law, there should no place be justified in himself or by
the laws and knowledge of sin. If I present myself before the
law, I'm going to come away the same, because that's all the
law is going to tell you. You're guilty. Guilty, guilty,
guilty, guilty. And if you have a right understanding
of the law, it can only condemn. It can't offer any hope. It just condemns. What it says, Romans 3.19, to
every sinner, it says not to justify him or give him peace
or rest or hope before God, but it says to shut his mouth and
make him guilty before God. That's what the law says. Guilty. And then he tells us, but now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all and upon all
them that believe, because all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. And this is what prompted this
parable. It was spoken to the scribes
and Pharisees who despised the free grace of God. They hated
it. And they hated it because it
exposed their pride and ignorance of God and gave no respect to
their works and sacrifices. Can you imagine the work that
Cain did? I've gardened most of my life.
Lord, you've gardened. I've worked, ain't I? You know,
people think you throw some seed out there and it just grows up
and makes fruit. Oh, no. No, you got to be out
there hoeing that garden, watering that garden, pulling the weeds
out of it, and fertilizing the garden. You got to work. You
got to work. But this righteousness of God
is without the law. It's without your works. Without
your works. Well, what works does it depend
on? His. His. There's no other reason
for him to come into this world. He could have judged this world
from heaven and did in Adam. He don't have to come down here
and become a man to judge the world. And he don't have to come
down here and become a man to leave us an example. We have
thousands of examples. He tells us that what he calls
our fathers, the prophets, and all these men of God, David and
Moses, and you can go on and on. These were all examples unto
you. He didn't have to come here to
be an example, although he is. He came here to seek and to save
that which was lost. And that's what prompted this
parable. It was spoken to the scribes and Pharisees who despised
the free grace of God and it exposed them, exposed their works
and their sacrifices. And old Cain, he worked and worked
and worked and he brought that sacrifice and God just went by
and didn't even take note of it, just walked right past it. Do y'all kids still have to do
science projects? We used to have a science show
and you'd have to do something and they'd come up there and
the judges would walk through. And I never will forget, boy,
I worked myself to the bone getting this big old fancy, what I thought
was a great science project. And man, they walked right past
it. He didn't even slow down. He just took one look and just
walked right on. I didn't even get an honorable mention. And
that's exactly what happened when God saw his sacrifice. The point of the sacrifice is
a picture of Christ. He's looking to Christ, and he
established that in the garden. He killed a lamb. He shed its
blood for their sins, and he clothed them with its skin. That's
the righteousness of Christ. He looks over at Abel, and here's
an old bloody lamb. Boy, he approved that. He proved
that. But Cain, all that work he did,
God didn't even look at it. He just walked by and just... Made him mad, didn't he? What
was he all upset about? The free grace of God. That's what he's upset about.
And when his brother tried to tell him about it, he killed
him. He killed him. As many have died for the same
reason. And while this parable is spoken
to those who despise them, it offers much hope and happiness
to the lost. It wasn't spoken to them, but
they're listening to it. And man, it's giving them hope.
Giving them hope. And this is one parable with
three distinct teachings. The lost sheep in verses 3 through
7, and the lost coin in verses 8 through 10, and the lost son.
The Prodigal, verses 11 through 24. And in this trilogy of parables,
he sets before us the work of the Son, the work of the Holy
Spirit, and the work of the Father, and the salvation of lost sinners.
And lost is the key word. I don't care what he's talking
about in this parable, it's always lost. The sheep is lost, the
coin's lost, the son's lost. And when the Pharisees saw where
he went and to whom he ministered and how he ministered, they murmured,
saying, this man receiveth sinners and eats with them. Oh, but one
day somebody might save me when I'm gone, dead and gone, long
buried. He preached to sinners. He was looking for sinners. He
offered hope to sinners. He set a table before sinners. You remember what the Lord said
to that bunch? Same bunch. And they're sitting
around him and he said, thank not that I came to call the righteous. I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now you go learn what that means
and come back. I have mercy and not sacrifice. And this is how the self-righteous
men summed up the ministry of Christ. What they thought as
they saw him eating and receiving sinners is that he had a compromising
spirit about him. And he was willing to compromise
the strict justice of God to be friends with sinners. That's
what they thought. And brethren, this is not some
blatant statement to the world at large, but this parable, it
clearly states what he's doing. He's searching for lost sheep. And now what's this? The lost
coin, the lost son. And this parable, it's about
who he is and why he came and what he was doing and where he
was going afterward. So let's read this morning. Luke
this morning at the lost sheep. What does our Lord say about
these sheep? Let me just briefly give you
five things. First of all, he tells us they're sheep. Now these
men thought they were sheep, but they weren't. He said, I'm
looking for sheep. I'm looking for sheep. They said,
if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. What was he talking
to them about that day when they said that? When they said, if thou be the
Christ, tell us plainly, what was he talking about in that
whole chapter? Talking about the shepherd and
his sheep. Huh? That's what he was talking about
when he was walking. Talking about the shepherd and his sheep. My
sheep, he said, hear my voice. I'm looking for lost sheep. Well, how'd they get to be sheep?
These were sinners. He's rock-casting the world.
Nobody cared about them. How'd they get to be sheep? Why
was our Lord looking for sheep out there? He said, I know my
sheep. I know where they are. I knew
them before they was ever created. I know them. I know their down-sitting
and their uprising. I know all about my sheep. I
know my sheep. He says in John 10, 29, he said,
my Father which gave them me. That's how they got to be sheep.
In John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me. They're all sheep
by God's eternal election of grace. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God, Peter said. And he's not talking about every
drunk, idolater and sinner under heaven, but the sheep who live
among them and have a nature like theirs. That's who he's
talking about. You can't distinguish them. He
gave that parable of the wheat and tares and he tells us, don't
go in there pulling up weeds in my garden. You don't know
wheat from weeds. I'll take care of that. You just
preach to them. Just go out there. And every sinner is not elect,
but all the elect are sinners, saved by grace. All of them. And every eternal and heavenly
blessing, he said, is according as he hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Read it in Ephesians 1.
See what it says. All spiritual blessings and heavenly
blessings are in Christ. And you're blessed, and God is
your Father, as He has blessed you with all these blessings
according as He has chosen us in His Son before the foundation
of the world. They're all sheep. Secondly,
they were His sheep. He wasn't looking for somebody
else's sheep. He was looking for His sheep. Ain't that what
He said? He wasn't just looking for strays.
He wasn't out in the wilderness looking for whosoever might He
might stumble across, like they did in the old west, they go
out and look for strays, unbranded strays, and claim them for his
own. But his sheep went astray and
he came searching for what belonged to him. And oh, what a slap in the face
of self-righteous Jews it must have been for him to call them,
they despised, sheep. You despise me because I'm eating
with these sinners, but I'm looking for my sheep. And I know where
they are. And I know how they are. And
how angry they must have gotten, as he plainly points out their
own ignorance and ungodly attitude. They were all sheep. They were
his sheep. And thirdly, they were lost sheep, gone astray in an unforgiving
wilderness, wandering among the predators and vipers, roaring
lions. Now what it says about Satan?
Like a roaring lion, he's couched down, waiting for the opportunity. He takes poor sinners. men and can just take them and
turn them and get them to do His will according to His will. Anytime He wants to. Anytime
He wants to. The only thing that can prevent
Him from getting you is Christ. That's it. Lost sheep are not
going to find their way. They've got to be sought out.
Walter left yesterday, was working on my shop over there, and he
left. And I said, where'd Walter go? He went to get a goat's head
out of the fence. He can't get himself out. You
have to get him out. They got to be sought out. The
Holy Ghost said through the prophet Isaiah, they shall all be called
the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And they shall be
called sought out. Sought out. Lost sheep. cry out, and they become desperate. And all his sheep are lost sheep. And then fourthly, the shepherd
is seeking his lost sheep. In Matthew 18, 11, for the Son
of Man has come to save that which was lost. You remember
the Gentile woman that came to him? And he said, it's not me,
for the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost. He said,
I'm not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Gentiles were considered dogs, and that's what he told her.
How would you act if the Lord told you this morning you're
a dog? Well, I'll tell you how his sheep acts when he tells
them that. She said, I'm your dog. I'm a dog, but I'm your dog.
And the master's dog gets the scraps from the table, and I'll
eat the scraps. That's his sheep. That's how
his sheep answer. Peter said, for you were as sheep
going astray, but you're now returned unto the shepherd and
bishop of your souls. And what a motivation for a church. God has some lost sheep. And
he sends us out to find them. How do you find them? You just
call them. How do you call them? Through
the gospel. You just keep preaching the gospel.
Keep preaching the gospel. God in his providence, he'll
arrange you here. You thought you was here by your
own ideas. Well, you got up and said, well, I'm going to go to
church. And you made up your mind to go. And all that's true
enough. What made you think that? Didn't think that on any other
day. What made you think about it today? Did it ever occur to
you that God put that in your head? He draws His sheep. He draws His sheep and brings
them to here. And what a motivation. This world
hates the very idea that men are lost and can never find their
way back to God apart from the intervention of God. But that's
how it is. Salvations of the Lord. God has
a sheep. They're His sheep. They're one
sheep and one shepherd. They're lost sheep. And the shepherd's
engaged in finding his sheep. He don't just let them go. Well,
sooner or later they get in trouble and then they'll call for me.
No, he's seeking. He's seeking his sheep. And then
lastly, He states in clear terms that he's going to find his sheep. When the shepherd finds his sheep,
well, what if he don't find them? They know what is. He's going
to find them. He knows where they are. You go to them. I found my sheep, which was lost. Where'd he find it? In the wilderness.
How'd he find it? He found it exhausted. He found
it in trouble. What did he do for it? He picked
that sheep up and put it on his shoulders. He patted it a while
and put it back down. Uh-uh. He put that sheep on his
shoulders and he carried it all the way up. Huh? All up. You thought God saved
you and then he turned you out on your own. That sheep did all kinds of stuff,
but he did it from the shoulders of the lambs. Bee lambs. Put that sheep on his shoulders.
I saw a wonderful, I don't know what you call it, I guess a video.
And this quadriplegic, he was, I think it was his father that
had him. They had this little thing rigged up where he sat
on his back. probably eight, nine years old,
and this was Special Olympics. And that guy was swimming, he
was running, and that little boy was just smiling ear to ear,
you know, and he'd win this contest, he'd have the fastest swim time
and whatever, and finally his dad crossed the finish line ahead
of all of them and he got the medal. And he was holding that
medal up like he did it. But he did it from where his
dad put him. Where'd your father put you?
You see what I'm saying? He put us in Christ. Now I ain't talking about my
faith, but faith is a gift of God. I wouldn't have any faith
apart from God. You think you can make it all
the way home? Not unless you're on his shoulders. We're kept
by the power of God through faith. Oh, what a thought, being carried all the way home. And then our Lord, when He gets
there, He sets the sheep down. He's back in the fold. No danger
of Him ever getting lost again. He sets them down in the fold. And he presents his poor lost
sheep he saved into glory. And here's what he says. Joy
shall be in heaven. You can't imagine that, can you? Joy in heaven over one lost sinner. Because those in heaven knows
what it takes to save that lost sinner. And when they see Him
presented finally, without sin, perfect in Christ, their joy,
they rejoice in heaven. Joy should be in heaven. And
this repentance is not something owing to the sheep, but to the
Savior of the sheep. And everything He does, He does
from His back. If he had not found them, they'd
never returned. If he had not picked them up,
they'd never made it back. If he had not carried them all
the way home, they'd have died in the wilderness. And then here
in glory, those who were as good as dead
are safe and secure by a merciful and loving Savior. He said, that's
what I'm doing. That's why I'm eating with these
publicans and sinners. And they sit there speechless.
They didn't know what to say. Oh, may the Lord give us some
understanding of the work of Christ in our hearts and minds.