We've had a blessed service so
far. Scripture reading in the office,
Psalms reading here. Now I pray that God will speak
to you by his word. From Luke, chapter 15. Luke, the 15th chapter. 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 was 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 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. Now, what we have before us here
is the parable of the lost sheep. Commonly known parable, as far
as the words of it are concerned, at least. And the lessons that
could be drawn from this parable are numerous, but we must reverence
the word of God, and reverence it particularly in this way,
so that we do not take a portion of scripture and make it teach
just what we want it to teach, no matter how doctrinally sound
it is. But rather, let's find what the intent of God is in
the passage and learn what the Lord would teach us from that
specific passage. Now when we look at parables,
there's need for some clear instruction and often repeated instruction
in dealing with them. Let me give you three or four
things. First, we must never build doctrine upon parables. Our Lord's parables are illustrations
of truth, not expositions of truth. We build our doctrine
on the plain statements of Holy Scripture. The parables simply
illustrate that which is taught elsewhere. When you read a parable,
it's obvious that there is no intent that everything in the
parable exactly fit the doctrine. The parable is just a story.
That's all. I give you an illustration, and
sometimes I'll be preaching elsewhere, and, you know, fellows who are
real bright theologians will come up and say, well, you know,
your illustration is kind of faulty here or there. Well, I'm
glad you caught that. It was just a story illustrating
one point. It wasn't intended to be a volume
of theology. And our Lord's parables are not
intended to be volumes of theology. They are illustrations of truth.
And we interpret the parable by the plain statement of truth.
Let me give you an example. We just read in this parable
about ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. Were
there not any such thing? There's not any such thing. The
scriptures are very plain. There's no such thing as a just
man that doeth good and sinneth not. So you can't begin to think
about these parables as referring to someone who's truly just and
needs no repentance. Only a picture of folks who think
they are. Remember, too, that the parables are just illustrations
of gospel truth. They may or may not be actual
events. I give you an example in Luke
16. When you get to the story of the rich man and Lazarus,
and the rich man lifting up his eyes in hell, and the folks just
get all bent out of shape, whether that really happened or is that
just a story, is it a parable? It doesn't matter. It just doesn't
matter. The point is, it is to illustrate
specific truth. And then thirdly, and this is
very important, remember that the parable is intended to teach
one thing, just one thing. There may be many things that
might be justly and properly drawn as conclusions from the
parable, but the purpose of the parable is to teach just one
thing. Now the best way to find out
what its purpose is, is to read it in its context. The parable
of the 10 virgins. I've heard folks deal with that
and talk about the moral virtue of virginity. And that's good.
That's not what the parable is teaching. The parable is teaching
the necessity of watchfulness and prayer. The parable of the
laborers. I've heard folks argue that to
be teaching the justification for labor unions. Well, maybe
or maybe not, but that's not what it is. The parable of the
laborers is designed to teach God's sovereignty. That's the
purpose of it. And this parable that we just
read shows one thing. I want you to get this one thing.
I'm going to try to give you four or five directions of looking
at it, but it shows one thing. Our Lord's intention in this
parable of the lost sheep is to show us the deep, self-sacrificing
love of the Son of God for perishing sinners. the deep, self-sacrificing love
of the Son of God for perishing sinners. I wonder why, when we
talk about the love of God for sinners, we feel constrained
somehow to define and qualify it. Our Lord's intent is to show
his deep, self-sacrificing love for lost, perishing sinners. This parable opens the very heart
of the eternal God to us and shows us how pleasurable it is
to God Almighty to save sinners because He delights in mercy. Now, our Savior's audience, as
He gives this parable, is a strange-looking congregation. It was an assembly
of irreverent, disreputable riffraff made up of poor beggars harlots,
publicans, and sinners. Folks that the good people in
society would have nothing to do with. The scandalous accusation
which the Pharisees hoped to use to discredit our Lord gives
us the key which unlocks the parable. They said this man receives
sinners and eats with them. These Pharisees wouldn't have
anything to do with such people. So they pointed their fingers
at the Son of God and said, this man does. He receives sinners
and eats with them. And I'm so happy to tell you
he does. This parable was then addressed by our Lord to these
Pharisees. He tells us in verse 3. He spake
this parable to these Pharisees who said this man receives sinners
and eats with them. Described here, ninety and nine
just persons who need no repentance. He's talking about these Pharisees.
And though they thought they were good and righteous men,
they had no need of a Savior. They had no need of grace. They
didn't need mercy. And so our Lord says to them,
the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.
They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners through
repentance. And this is what it tells them in the parable.
Now, let's look at this parable, and let me show you five things
in the parable. First, the shepherd himself.
In this parable, our Lord Jesus portrays himself as a shepherd. What a blessed picture that is.
Our Lord is not a hireling shepherd. He is not a shepherd that's just
hired to do a work without any care, but our Lord is an owner
shepherd. And he's portrayed throughout
the scriptures as a shepherd. I am certain that we, in our
Western culture, in our modern society, we can't really get
an appreciation for what a tender picture this is. When David looked
out over the fields and considered his life, and his experiences
in life. He sees a shepherd tending a
flock of sheep. He remembers how he himself once
cared for sheep, his father's sheep. When a bear and a lion
would have destroyed the sheep, David said, I snatched them out
of the lion's mouth. And I killed the bear and I killed
the lion because I cared for the sheep. And he says, that's
what my God and Savior is to me. The Lord is my shepherd. That means I shall not want. That means goodness and mercy
pursue me all the days of my life. And when he gets done,
I'm going to dwell in his house forever. One of the most beautiful
pictures, most frequently used in all the Bible of our Savior,
is that of a shepherd. A shepherd is one who knows sheep. He tends sheep. He serves sheep. He cares for sheep. He knows
how to protect them. He knows how to nurse them. He
knows how to lead them. A shepherd is one who leads sheep
out in the morning. He guides them through the day,
tends them and protects them all the day long and folds them
when the day is done. Our Lord Jesus is called Jehovah's
Shepherd, that one who was smitten for the sheep. Zechariah chapter
13, the word is, Awake, O sword, against one that is my fellow.
Smite and slay the shepherd. And the Lord Jesus is that voluntary
shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The Lord Jesus
is the shepherd, and all the sheep belong to him. We are his
because the Father gave us to him. We are his because he purchased
us with his own blood. We are his because he, being
our shepherd, assumed responsibility for us before the world began.
The Lord Jesus is that shepherd who knows his sheep. He knows
who they are, but more than that, he knows them. He knows all about
them, but more than that, he knows them. He says, I know my
sheep. He identifies with his sheep.
He knows exactly what you are. He knows exactly what you experience. He knows exactly what you feel. He knows exactly what you go
through. He knows the path you take because
he is one of us. Our Lord Jesus is one who knows
the sheep. He says, I know my sheep. These sheep are people for whom
he became responsible before the world began. The father trusted
them to his hands. And as the sheep were trusted
to his hands, He pledged himself to go and bring the sheep home.
He pledged himself to redeem them, to save them, and to bring
them to glory. He says, other sheep I have,
them also I must bring, and so it must be. Now what does this
mean? He assumed responsibility for
them. If I am hired to do a job, and
I am promised to pay on fulfillment of my responsibilities at that
job. I am honor bound to do the job,
no matter who's watching or who's not watching. But more than that,
I'm responsible to do the job. I said I'll do it. Now, that
means you turn it over to me. I'm responsible for it. And any
failure, no matter what excuse I give, is my responsibility. Any failure, no matter what may
come up, is my responsibility. Any failure, no matter how difficult
the task is, I have assumed responsibility for it. I said I'll take care
of it. And I've been trusted with the
job. And if I fail, it's my shame. Now hear me. Hear me and rejoice. Hear me and give praise to God. Jesus Christ, our shepherd, assumed
total responsibility for our souls before the world began. Total responsibility. Responsibility
for our sins. Responsibility to bring in righteousness. Responsibility to save us by
His grace. Responsibility to keep us. Responsibility to secure us. Responsibility to protect us. Responsibility to provide for
us. Responsibility to bring us at
last to glory. And any failure would be His
shame forever. That means the sheep are secure.
That means all is well with his sheepfold. That means there's
no possibility anything should go wrong with these sheep. All
right, now secondly, let's look at the sheep. Benjamin Keech, a Baptist preacher
who was the first pastor of the church where Spurgeon later pastored
and before him, Gill. in London, he gives this synopsis
of this parable. He says, the 100 sheep represent
all mankind as belonging to Christ, their creator. The 100 sheep,
they represent all of Adam's race. The 90 and 9 represent
the self-righteous, The Pharisees of this world, the religious
folks who are just and righteous in their own eyes, having no
need of repentance, and they are left to perish in the wilderness
of their own self-righteousness. And the one lost sheep represents
all of God's elect in this world. All those who are bought by divine
grace to know their lost and ruined condition, Our Savior
says, I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. God's people in this world are
accurately set forth and described as silly, dirty, helpless, ignorant,
straying sheep. We were lost by the fall of our
father Adam. And we went forth as soon as
we were born. We went astray, speaking lies.
And if left to ourself, we would surely perish. You see, sheep
can't protect themselves. Sheep have no sense of direction.
Sheep have no strength. Sheep can't even bear their own
young by themselves. Sheep are the most helpless things
in this world. Now thirdly, look at the search
described here. The shepherd leaves the 90 and
9, leaves them in the wilderness. How come? Because they don't
need him. He leaves these 90 and 9 self-righteous
in the wilderness and goes out in pursuit of his one lost sheep. He searches and will search continually
until he finds the sheep, that one lost sheep. He knows the
sheep that's missing. He has a picture of it in his
mind's eye. He thinks of nothing but the sheep. He has no regard for the 99,
those who have nobody to heal. He has no concern for them. They're
not on his mind. He's concerned for the sheep.
This one lost sheep seems to possess his entire being. One of my sheep is lost. And
immediately the search begins. Now let me see if I can illustrate
the search for you. It is an all-absorbing search. The one lost sheep consumes all
the shepherd's thought. This one lost sheep consumes
all his care. This one lost sheep is the only
thing he has on his mind. He can neither eat nor sleep
until he finds this one lost sheep. The poor wandering sheep
has absolutely no thought of the shepherd. He doesn't even know who he is.
No concern for the shepherd. But the shepherd thinks of nothing
but the sheep. Can you get hold of this? Our
great God and Savior has one thing on his heart in
time. And that's the salvation of his
people. It consumes his every thought. It consumes his heart. It consumes all the course of
history. His heart is fixed on the salvation
of his people. Not only is this an absorbing
search because he loves his sheep, And he knows all the pits into
which the sheep may fall, all the wolves that seek the blood
of his sheep. And he knows how helpless the
sheep is. But this search belongs to him, and it's his responsibility,
because his honor is at stake in this sheep. And he's searching
definitely for one lost sheep. The shepherd goes after His sheep. He's seeking his sheep. I don't know how to state this
emphatically enough. He's not seeking all. He's seeking
his sheep. He's not seeking these 90 and
90. He's seeking his sheep. His concern is for his sheep. And this definite search is most
active. no hills too difficult, no mountain
too high to climb, no valley too low, no trouble too great. He's seeking his sheep. He'll
go wherever he has to go, whatever distance is necessary, and whatever
depths are necessary, seeking his sheep. If you try to picture
in your mind's eye some image of the Son of God. I can't think
of a better image than this. You picture him with his sheep
on his shoulders, held in his bosom, covered with blood, bruised
and mangled. and covered with the filth of
this world, and covered with human spit, and covered with
all the vileness that men can heap upon him, covered with all
the scars of his agony. But he carries his sheep with
a smile on his face, headed home. That's the pitch of the shepherd.
He is given to the salvation of his sheep. And he searches
until he finds it. He's not going to give up the
search. And one more thing, it's a personal search. It is Christ
himself who goes after his sheep. He set his heart on you. my brother,
my sister, before the world began. He set his heart on you. And he had been on your trail
all your life. And he's not going to give up
until he brings you home. You understand this? He searches
for his sheep. Spurgeon said it is glorious
to think of him still personally tracking sinners, who though
they fly from him with desperateness of folly, yet are still pursued
by him, pursued by the Son of God, by the eternal lover of
men, pursued by him until he finds them. As you know, I used to go to
Jamaica every year. I went down to preach for folks down there
in Kingston, various cities around Kingston. And in that country,
as it is common in many of the island countries, you'd see sheep
and goats everywhere. I mean, it's all downtown, still
running straight, everywhere. And I said to Aaron on one occasion,
I said, how does anybody know who those animals belong to?
He said, just go try to bother one of them. Just go try to take
one. It won't take you long to find
out who it belongs to. Everybody knows where his animals are all
the time. Everybody. And they are easily
identified by them. And they watch them. You don't
bother them. You don't bother them. Will you
hear me? Our shepherd is constantly mindful of and watching his sheep. And every path in which he allows
them freely to roam is but his ordained path by which he is
pleased to bring them to the place where he finds them. And the search is always successful. Turn to John 10. John chapter
10. Let me show you one more time
this statement I quoted just a little while ago. I know that
all men will not be saved. Not everyone who hears the gospel
will believe. It may be that many I love dearly,
for whom I labor with heavy heart, will perish under the wrath of
God. Some of you may. But this I know, not one of Christ's
sheep will perish. It won't happen. Not one of those
lost ones for whom he suffered and died at Calvary will perish
at last. Not one he came here to save
will be lost. Our Savior speaks of his commission
from the Father as our shepherd. And this is what it says in John
10, 16. Other sheep I have. Do you see that? Not I shall
have. Not I hope to have. Other sheep
I have. They're already mine. They don't
know it yet, but they're mine. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold. They're not yet gathered. Them
also, look at it, I must bring. How come? Because I said I would. Because I'm the shepherd. Because
I've redeemed them. Them also I must bring. Because
my Father purposed it. And they shall hear my voice.
And there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now, look at the
salvation mentioned in this parable. Verse 5. When he hath found it. One of the old writers said in
his incarnation, Christ came after his lost sheep. In his
life, he continued to seek it. In his death, he laid it upon
his shoulders. In his resurrection, he bore
it on its way. And in his ascension, he brought
it home and rejoiced. Picture the ship. He's falling
over the edge of a steep, high cliff. The night's dark and stormy. He has no footing. And all he sees above him is
the bolts of lightning. And here's a collapse of thunder
and the rolling of a storm above it. All that's below him is a
dark, dark, dark pit. And he slips and slips and slips
and slips. What does the sheep do? He just falls. What else can he do? He just
falls until the shepherd comes to where the sheep is and finds
the sheep. And when he finds the sheep,
he reaches down the long arm of omnipotent mercy and lays
hold of his sheep. And he puts it on his back, carries
it on his shoulders. What a place for the sheep to
be. This is a place of rest. This is a place of security.
This is a place of peace. The shepherd lays the sheep on
his shoulders, and as he lays the sheep on his shoulders, he
carries it all the way home. Hold your hands here and turn
to Ephesians 2. Let me see if I can give you a doctrinal picture
of this. And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in time past. in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature
children of wrath, even as others." What can the sheep do? He just
falls, strays, never thinks of turning, never imagines returning. Nothing but destruction and misery
in his way. The lightning flashes over his
head, the soul that sinneth it shall die. But then suddenly
something happens. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, thy grace
who you saved. The hymn writer put it this way,
I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very
deeply staying within, seeking to rise no more. But the master
of the sea, he heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me. Now safe am I. The shepherd goes after the sheep
until he finds it. And when he finds it, he lays
it on his shoulders and carries it home. He says, I give to them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Moses describes God's
word to Israel like this, The Lord thy God bear thee as a man
doth bear his son in all the way that you went until you came
to this place. And one more thing, look at verse
5 and see the satisfaction both of the shepherd and the sheep.
And when he had found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing.
Isn't that amazing? Him rejoicing because he found
me. Him rejoicing because I'm his. Him rejoicing because of
his goodness to me. He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors and says unto them, rejoice with
me, for I found my sheep that was lost. I say to you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repented. More than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. I don't understand a whole lot
about this thing of repentance as it's set forth here because
it doesn't look to me like it has anything to do with what
the religious world describes as repentance. What does sheep
do? He didn't do anything. It's something
the shepherd did for him. And I'm telling you, if the Lord
God turns your heart to him, if God gives you a heart of repentance,
If God Almighty causes you to despise what you are and to seek
His face, it's not something you've done for God, it's something
God's done for you. This man who had lost his sheep
is filled with joy in finding it, and the sole source of his
joy is his sheep. Isn't that amazing? I told you
his heart is consumed with the sheep. He's got just the welfare
of his sheep on his heart. And now he finds his sheep. And he's laughing. He's rejoicing. He's tickled to death. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Oh, the sheep cost him dear,
his love for it. But as a mother who's gone through
horrible birth pains gives birth to a child, she picks up the
baby, lays it on her breast, and you've never seen such a
smile. Oh, that's the joy of the shepherd
when he's found his sheep. Not only is he satisfied, but
the sheep satisfied. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house. What a blessed picture of God's
grace. Look at verse 7 and learn this. There's a holiday in heaven. every time one of the sheep had
been found. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. More than over ninety and nine
just persons who need no repentance. Now as Christ has given and gives
himself to you. My brothers and sisters, let our hearts turn to him in relentless consecration to
give ourselves to him. as his heart is consumed. Utterly consumed with the devotion
of his love to you. Let our hearts be utterly consumed
with the devotion of love to him. Now that's the parable of the
good shepherd and the lost sheep. All right, Ron. You come listen
to him, please.