Turn with me, please, to Luke,
the 15th chapter. In these first seven verses of
Luke 15, we have the parable of the lost sheep. Now the lessons
which could be legitimately drawn from this parable are numerous,
but we must be careful that we do not use the Lord's parables
make them teach just anything we want to teach, even if the
thing we're teaching is doctrinally sound. We must seek to understand
what the parable is intended to teach, and then use the parable
to teach that very thing. Let me give you three or four
words of instruction about interpreting parables. When you're reading
the scriptures and you come to a parable, remember these three
or Number one, don't ever build your doctrine on a parable. Don't do that. Parables are illustrations,
they're pictures of divine truth, not declarations of divine truth,
and there is a difference. Let me give you an illustration
from this very passage. We build our doctrine on the
plain statements of holy And then we interpret the parables
by those plain statements of scripture. Now, all kinds of
heresy, all kinds of confusion has been promoted by trying to
go to a parable and make it say what it doesn't say. Look here
in this seventh verse of Luke 15. Our Lord says, I say unto
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. Now who on earth could that be?
We know from the plain statement of scripture there's no such
thing as a just person who needs no repentance. There is not a
just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not, the
scripture says. All is sin to come short of the
glory of God, the scripture says. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. So when you come to this parable
and it speaks of the ninety and nine just persons who need no
repentance, we know that it's not talking about people who,
in the strict sense of the word, are absolutely just before God
and need no repentance before God. There's no such animal as
that in the world. More than that, I would have
you to remember that the parables are stories. They're illustrations
of gospel truth. I have heard fellows at times
go over to this passage in Luke 16 and just raise sand, because
somebody said that it was a parable. Well, it doesn't matter whether
the parable is a true story of an actual historical event, or
whether it's a story that has just simply been made up to illustrate
the truth that's told. Sometimes when I'm preaching
and I use an illustration, I tell you a true story. Generally,
I say this is a true story, but sometimes I don't. And sometimes
I tell you a story that simply illustrates the truth. It may
or may not be an actual historical event. It doesn't matter. The
point is, it is a picture, so that you can form in your mind's
eye a picture of the truth that's being illustrated. Well, that's
what the parables were given for. And each parable, thirdly,
is designed and intended by God to teach one specific gospel
truth. Now, that's so important. That's
so important. A lot of times, fellows interpret
parables like they were centipedes, that is, they had many legs on
which to walk, when they were intended to be parables that
stand on two feet. And we must be careful, we must
be very careful, that we don't try to make everything in the
parable fit. When you start to illustrate
something, any illustration that you give of anything falls short
of giving the perfect picture. The illustration simply gives
a picture, and it sets forth one specific thing. Now, as you
read the parable, remember they're just pictures, and they are designed
not to set forth a multitude of truths, but to set forth a
specific truth. For example, in this parable
that's before us, the parable of the lost sheep is recorded
to illustrate one thing. One thing. As a matter of fact,
all three of these parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin,
and the lost son, all set forth one specific truth. They show
us the deep, self-sacrificing love of the Lord Jesus Christ
for perishing sinners. Now that's the point of this
whole 15th chapter of Luke. And these parables must be interpreted
within their context. The best way to determine what
the truth is, which a parable illustrates, is by studying the
context in which it's found. Look within the passage and see
what the passage is teaching. I'll give you a couple of examples.
In Matthew 25, you have the parable of the ten virgins. Now, it would
be wrong for us to use the parable of the ten virgins teach the
moral virtue of virginity, even though we encourage virginity. We recognize it's a good thing,
but it's not taught in that parable of the ten virgins. That parable
is intended to set forth the necessity of perseverance and
watchfulness as we see the day of the Lord approaching. We also
have in Matthew 20 the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.
Now, you'd be amazed at all the ways I've heard that parable
used. I've heard fellows who believed in, who were strong
labor union fellows. I was raised in the labor union
movement as a boy and I've heard fellows try to take Matthew 20
and make it a cause for organized labor. And then I've heard capitalists
come along and they would say, no, no, this is a cause against
organized labor, and it could be bent in either direction if
you were the mind to so bend it. But the parable isn't designed
to build organized labor at all. The parable is designed to teach
the sovereignty and the freeness of divine grace. Is it not right
for me to do with mine own what I will? That's what the parable
is designed to teach. So as you study the parables,
as you look at them, you want to know what they are intended
to be, look within the context and you'll find it very quickly.
In this passage of the parable of the lost sheep, we see the
the picture of Christ, our shepherd, the only one life in us, and
it shows forth the overwhelming love of Christ for perishing
sinners. This parable opens to us the
very heart of the eternal God, and it shows us how pleasurable
it is to our God and Savior to save perishing men, because he
delighteth in mercy. Now look at our Lord's audience
in verse 15. As our Savior preached, or verse
1, I'm sorry. As our Savior preached, he gathered
around him a rather strange crowd of people. The religious folks
didn't have anything to do with it. The religious leaders denounced
him. He traveled for three and a half
years from seaside to hillside. He traveled from town to town.
He attracted large crowds wherever he went. Everywhere he went,
the Pharisees, the religious leaders, the religious well-respected
people of town turned thumbs down on him and said, no, he's
a devil. He's a whine member. He's a glutton. He's a friend
of publicans and sinners. But when our Lord came to preach,
in verse 1, then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners."
Of course, it's here. When he got a congregation together,
they were the most scandalous people in town. Publicans, harlots,
drunkards, thieves, vile outcasts of society, the riffraff of society. They came together to make up
the assembly to which our Lord preached. And because this was
true, the Pharisees raised a scandalous accusation against them. Verse 2, The Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. They accused the Lord Jesus Christ
of loving the company of publicans, harlots, and sinners, of receiving
sinners and eating with them. These Pharisees would have nothing
to do with such riffraff. These Pharisees would have nothing
to do with such common trash. They pointed their fingers down
at the Son of God, and they said, this man receiveth sinners, and
he even sent down, elbow to elbow, an East Messiah harlot. They
thought by doing so they would discredit him. They thought that
by doing so they would mar his name. That's wrong. Birds of
a feather flock together, you know. After all, if he eats with
them, he must be one of them. After all, if he delights in
their company, he must delight in their deeds. Well, I'm here
to tell you, and I'm here to tell you with great pleasure,
that their accusation is just the same. The Lord Jesus Christ
loves sinners. He loves sinners. He loves sinners. Oh, I know God's angry with the
wicked every day. I know that God Almighty is a
God of wrath and of justice. But I'm here to tell you that
wherever, wherever you find me a sinner, I mean a sinner, a
man who knows himself to be a sinner, a low, helpless, fornicating
sinner, find me a sinner. Buddy, I'll point my finger at
his face and say, I've got good news for you. Jesus Christ loves
you. He loves sinners. He loves sinners.
They're not an exception. He delights in the company of
sinners. This man does receive sin. This man is the friend of
publicans and sinners. This parable was then addressed
to these self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. Look at it in
verse 3. And he spake this parable unto
them. Unto them. Now, there's much
here in which our hearts rejoice, but the terrible was spoken to
these scribes and Pharisees, these self-righteous, stuck-up,
egotistical, good, moral men. They are the ones whom our Savior
describes as the ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance. They thought they were good.
They thought they were righteous. They thought they were upright
men and that God would receive them. They presumed that they
were so good, they didn't need a substitute. They didn't need
someone else's righteousness. They didn't need pardon. They
were good and they needed no savior. They didn't want grace. They wanted their merit. And
so in the parable, our Lord says to them, The Son of Man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost. They that are whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to
call you good, righteous, moralists, but sinners to defend us." Do
you see that? Our Lord is saying to them, my
ministry, my ministry is for you. I know you don't need me. I know you don't want me. I know
you have no need of my righteousness and no need of my pardon. I know
that you have no need of my grace and no need of my mercy. I know
that you're whole and you have no need of a physician, but I'm
come. I'm come to seek and to save
lost, helpless, perishing sinners." And then he gives us the parable
of the lost sheep. Now, I want to call your attention
to five things I see in the parable. There's much, much more that
could be said and should be said, but I recognize we only get so
much, so let's just limit ourselves to these five things in the parable.
First, I want you to see the shepherd. In this parable, our Lord Jesus
Christ portrays himself as a shepherd. He's not a hireling shepherd,
one who has been hired to take care of the sheep, but he's an
owner shepherd. There's a big difference. A hireling
shepherd works because of what he gets out of the work. He takes
care of the sheep because of what he gets out of it. But the
owner shepherd takes care of the sheep because of his sheep.
The owner shepherd takes care of the sheep because he's got
some vested interest in the sheep. Now our Lord Jesus Christ is
that owner shepherd. He is the one who both tends
the sheep and owns the sheep. He is the one who cares for the
sheep and provides for the sheep. I sat this morning in my easy
chair at home while y'all were in places dressing and I tried
to picture a shepherd. You and I have a difficult time
doing that in our society because Everybody who has cattle or sheep
now had better have a fence, and a pretty good fence. And
they keep them in the fences, and so you don't have this nomadic
lifestyle that was so common and prevalent in our Lord's day,
and it's still common in the Far Eastern country. But our
Lord pictures himself as a shepherd. Try to picture it now. That shepherd
goes early in the morning at the crack of dawn, and he takes
the sheep out of the fold, one by one. And he leads those sheep through
the day. He leads them to the fine, shady
green pasture where there's still water. And as he leads them along,
he watches them. He watches them. Oscar tells me that he sees every
one of his cattle at least once a day. He's got to watch them.
He's got to watch them. If you don't watch them, pretty
soon you'll come out and be laying there dead. Or that shepherd,
all the time he's leading those sheep. If one gets a little too far
over as opposed to the edge of the precipice, he'll take the
crook on his back and pull it back in its proper place. He
watches for the dangers that lie ahead. David said the wolf,
or the bear, and the lion came, and he killed them both to defend
his father's sheep. Well, that shepherd takes care
of those sheep, and he leads them all through the day. And
then he brings them in at the end of the day, and he folds
them in the fold. And he even watches those sheep
at night. Though he sleeps, his mind is
on the sheep. Though he goes in and he takes
his relaxation, his mind is on the sheep. He has a special ear.
Any disturbance out there in the fold, he knows about it,
immediately has an ear for it. One of that shepherds, that shepherd
is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He's a shepherd. A shepherd is
a man who tends sheep and serves sheep. He's one who knows sheep,
leads them, feeds them. He protects them. He nurses them.
He gets sick, and he restores their health. He leads them out
in the morning, and he brings them in in the evening, all safe
and sound. One of the most beautiful and
most frequent pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ is that of
a shepherd. He's referred to as a shepherd.
David said, the Lord is my shepherd. I'm his sheep. He's my shepherd.
And since he's my shepherd, I shall not walk. I shall not walk. Look
in the scriptures. Come back to the book of Zechariah.
I'll give you several references and we'll look through three
of them. Look in Zechariah chapter 13. The Lord Jesus Christ is
Jehovah's shepherd, the one who was smitten by the sword of divine
justice, so that his sheep might go free and be saved. Look at
Zechariah 13, 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man that is my fellow. You see that? Jesus Christ
is the shepherd, the God-man, one who is God's fellow, saith
the Lord of hosts. Might the shepherd and the sheep
shall be scattered." You might read it, the sheep shall go free.
Our Lord said when they came to arrest him, who did this?
They said, we seek Jesus of Nazareth. He said, okay, if you seek me,
let these go their way. If you take the shepherds, you
can't take the sheep. And when God says to the sword
of justice, awake and mark the shepherds, the sheep will go
free. The sheep will go free. He says
that the sheep might be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon
the little one, and it shall come to pass, as a result of
the smiting of the shepherd, that in all the land, saith the
Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third
shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and
will prize them as gold is prized. and they shall call on my name,
and I will hear them, and I will say, It is my people, and they
shall say, The Lord is my God." The Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah's
Shepherd, the one smitten for his people. Christ is the Good
Shepherd. We read it in John 10, verse
11. He said, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives us his
life for Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly, voluntarily laid down
his life for the sheep. We deserve to die, but Christ
took our place. He died in our womb, and then
I said as I substitute, Christ Jesus willingly put our sins
upon himself and made them his own. That's the reason he died.
He became sin. He became sin. and I marvel that I can say it
without my voice breaking. The Son of God, in human flesh,
became sin. He became, he who sinned, sinned. What does that mean, that nobody
who knows is the Son of God? Nobody who knows is the Son of
God. He who, you know sin, He who had no sin, he who never
committed or thought an evil thing, he was made to be sin
for us. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He willingly took our sins upon
himself and made them his very own. He willingly endured the
penalty of God's holy law which should have fallen upon us. Our
good shepherd willingly paid the debt we owe. Jesus paid it
all, all the debt I owed, sin had left the crimson stain, he
washed it white as snow. Our Lord Jesus Christ, dying
in our stead, fully satisfied the terrible flames of divine
justice against us, which we could never have satisfied. In
Hebrews 13 verse 20, Paul calls the Lord Jesus Christ the great
shepherd, who rose in triumph and victory over death, over
death, hell, and the grave. In 1 Peter 5 and verse 4, Christ
is described as the chief shepherd, who shall soon appear the second
time without sin unto salvation. Look over in 1 Peter chapter
2. Let me show you this one. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 23. For when he was reviled,
reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteousness
through his own self. bear our sins in his own body
only to prove that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes ye were healed. Now listen to this. For you were
a sheep going astray, but now are returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of our souls. He's the shepherd and the bishop
of our souls, the one who saves us, the one who preserves us,
the one who holds us in life of the last days. The Lord Jesus
Christ is described by Isaiah as the shepherd of the sheep,
who gathers his lambs in his arms and carries them in his
bosom. He is described in Ezekiel 34
and verses 22 to 25 as the shepherd of the covenant, that one in
whom all the blessings of the covenant reside, that one through
whom all the blessings come down to us, that shepherd of the covenant
in whom we have peace. So Christ is the shepherd. And
the sheep belong to him. They belong to him. He speaks
here of his sheep. And my friends, we are his. We are his. We who believe are
his sheep. What a title. What a privilege.
Well, I don't see much privilege in being a sheep. I wouldn't
either. Except they're his sheep. That's the privilege. They're
his sheep. Deadly, dumb, ignorant, helpless, defenseless creatures
they are, yes, but they're His! Deadly, dumb, helpless, defenseless
creatures. His sheep. The sheep were given to Him in
the covenant of grace before the world was. The Father gave
the sheep into His hands. The sheep were His by a lawful
purchase. He bought us with His own precious
blood. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. I lay down my life in their place. I lay down my life for their
ransom. I lay down my life to buy them
unto myself, and buy them in business." The sheep belong to
the shepherd. And my friends, the Lord Jesus
Christ, our great shepherd, knows his sheep. He said, I am the
good shepherd. I know my sheep. I know my He
knows His sheep with a peculiar knowledge of love and grace.
He knows all about them. He knows who they are and where
they are. He knows all that they experience.
He knows when He will find them. He knows exactly how to bring
them home. He knows all of their trials
and all of their troubles. He knows all of their needs and
He knows how to provide everything that they need and to protect
them. But there's more. Not only does He know all about
His sheep, He knows it, he says. He knows it. He says to the wicked
on his left hand, depart from me, ye churches. I never knew
you. Now what does that mean? What
does that mean? Someone has us to believe by
their doctrine, they insinuate, that what it means is the Lord
Jesus Christ to say, I don't know your name. Who are you? Where did you come from? What
have you been doing all your life? Where have you been living?
What have you been doing with all the things in God's creation?
I don't know you. I don't recognize your face.
That's the truth. He made them, Baptist. He created
them. He knows them. He's God. But
he says, I know my people. I know my people. What he's saying
is, I don't know you. I know them. My heart's not on
you. My heart's on them. I have an
experience of love with you. I've given my heart and love
to him. I know my Jesus. He knows his
own. Now second, I want you to look
at the truth. Look in verse four. What man
of you having an under cheek? Now, I won't just kind of reason
with these fellas. He said, now fellas, you're accusing
me of being the friend of publicans in the senate. Well, suppose
one of you. has a hundred sheep. If he loses one of those hundreds,
does he not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness? They're
safe, they're sound, they're in the wilderness, they're in
no danger. So, you would recognize that
that man who owns those sheep would leave the ninety and nine
in the wilderness and he would go after that one lost sheep. He would go after that which
is lost Well, the Pharisees, being reasonable men, would say,
well, certainly I would do that. If I owned a hundred sheep and
one of them was lost, and ninety-nine were safe, I'd leave those ninety-nine
safe ones, and I'd go after the one that was lost. Well, our
Lord Jesus Christ says just this to the Pharisees. He says, I'm
leaving you ninety and nine. I'm leaving you to our faith. I'm leaving you who need no mercy. I'm leaving you who need no savior. I'm leaving you and I'm going
after one lost one lost. I'm quite sure that Benjamin
Teach is correct in his analysis of this verse. Mr. Teach interprets
it like this. He says the hundred represent
all mankind in Adam. You see, all mankind belongs
to Christ. Everybody. Whether they're fallen,
depraved, wretched creatures such as these lost sheep, or
whether they are moral, self-righteous, egotistical creatures who need
no savior, who need no shepherd. They all belong to him. He's
the Lord of all the dead and the living, the righteous and
the unrighteous. Jesus Christ is sovereign king over all God's
creation. God has given all flesh into
his hands that he might give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given him. So Mr. Keats says the hundred
represent all mankind in Adam. The ninety and nine represent
the self-righteous Pharisees of the world. Those who in their
own eyes and in their own opinions are just and righteous. They
have no need of mercy. And so these who are just and
righteous, who have nothing to be ashamed of, who have nothing
to lament, he leads to terror in the wilderness of their deluded
religion. He leads them to faith. He leads them to faith. They have no need of repentance
in their Most of the people I meet are like that. Most of the time.
They say, well, you know, nobody's perfect. And I'm just a man. But you come along and you say,
uh, your problem is that you deserve eternal damnation because
you hate God. Not me! They say, sir, I just
didn't pay you. Not me. I paid my time. Not me! I'm religious! Not me! I never stole anything! I never
drank a drop of alcohol! I never smoked a cigarette! I
never went to one of those honky tonks! Not me! Our Lord says, just stay where
you are. Just stay where you are until
you see your soul. a wretched, helpless, defiled,
hell-deserving, vile sinner, you will never, ever meet mercy. Mr. Keats says that this one
lost sheep represents all of God's elect in the world who
are brought by divine grace in time to free their lost and ruined
conditions. The Savior says, I am not But
to the lost Keith of the house of Israel. Try to picture that
lost Keith. Keith has straggled off. He's wandering here and there,
grazing a little bit wherever he finds something to eat as
he goes along. He wanders through the woods, over the rocky places. He just keeps going. He just
keeps going, senseless, aimlessly, without purpose, without goal,
without direction. He's just wandering, wandering,
wandering. There's a wolf on the hillside
watching him, ready to devour him. There's a lion crapped down
over here under the rock, ready to pounce upon the sheep, and
the poor dumb sheep. Doesn't need a note. Doesn't
need a note. He just wants it. Aimlessly wants
it. Having a good time eating his
grass. Having a good time going his
own way. Having a good time because he's
too ignorant to be concerned. Just wants it. Oscar Baby, that
kid's dead and gone. That's who we are. That's God's
elect in this world. God's people in this world are
set forth as silly, lost, helpless, ignorant, defenseless sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. We were lost, all of us were
lost by the sin and fall of our father Adam. Paul describes it
in Romans chapter 3 in verse 12, if you want to turn there.
Romans chapter 3, he tells us that we're all lost by the sin
of Adam. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. Now, what Paul
is saying is this. All of God's people, though they're
God's people, chosen and loved of God, like all other men, they
all went astray. They are all together become
unprofitable. When our father Adam stand against
God, we stand in Him, and we went astray. And we became unprofitable
creatures. We became worthless creatures.
We sinned and rebelled against God. And by that sin and that
rebellion, we all went astray. Well, I don't like that. He regards
that as sin. And I'm sorry, you don't like
it. That's the way it is. But top that off. We all went astray
as soon as we were born. And Psalmist David says in Psalm
58, 3, the witches go astray are estranged as soon as they
are born. Just as soon as they're born,
they start lying. Why? Because it's in their nature.
It's what they are. I'm glad none of your children
are here right now, Bob. Did you ever teach one of them
to lie? You ever say, now Johnny, now this is the way you tell
a lie. If you want to hide something from your mama, now you got to
turn the covers up and make up a story here, make up another
story there. Now this is the way you get by
in this world, Johnny, to tell a lie. Did you ever teach them
to do that? Did you ever have one who didn't? Nah. Nah. Nah. All of them. All of them. Say, laying in the
crib, little baby learns to laugh or learns to speak. Laying in
the crib, just squall and cry and pinch and holler. And you
think, my soul, what's wrong with the baby? Must be starving
to death. You give him a bottle and you
fix it up. Or he must be wet. You reach in his diaper to see.
I don't know why mothers always do that. Reach in there to see
if the diaper is dirty or wet. And they find out nothing wrong
with the baby. Oh, what's wrong? What's wrong
with that baby? You fix it up. Just quiet. Just
quiet as you can. It's lying simply because it's
in its nature and I get my way. That's our nature. Unintentionally,
without deliberation or forethought, it's our nature. The wicked are
estranged from the women. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. And left to themselves, the sheep
would all surely perish. You see, sheep have no sense
of direction. I had an old dog one time. I got to having some difficulties
with it. I couldn't bring myself to shoot the thing. Couldn't
bring myself to take it down to Humane Society and have it
put to sleep. So I decided I'd haul it off, take it out somewhere
where some farmer takes it up and they have to have it. And I took that dog off 15, 20
miles from home. He almost beat me home. Just almost beat me
home. There he is. He knows his way back. Not a
shoot. Not a shoot. He's got no sense
of direction. Wonders on aimlessness. The sheep
roam in wonder, straying further and further from home. If danger
comes, they have no quickness with which to flee from danger,
no ability to find a hiding place, and they have no defense for
themselves. If left to themselves, the sheep will perish. Now thirdly,
this parable particularly emphasizes the search. The shepherd leaves
the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and he goes out to search for
his one lost sheep. His search will continue until
he finds that one that is lost, until he finds the last of his
elect. He knows the sheep is missing,
and he knows all about that sheep and every characteristic. He
has a picture of that sheep in his mind, and he goes out on
the search. That one thought seems to consume
his heart. That one thought seems to possess
his being. A sheep is lost. A sheep is lost. A sheep is lost. And he goes
out to search for that sheep. It's an all-absorbing search.
That one lost sheep just consumes the shepherd's tender heart.
He can neither eat nor sleep until he finds that lost sheep.
The poor wandering sheep, dumb brute animal, has no fault for
its shepherd. But the shepherd seems to think
of nothing else but the lost sheep. I read a humorous story
yesterday. A young man who was an immigrant to this country
from the Orient many years ago in San Francisco applied for
membership in a Baptist church there. One of the beacons asked,
said, well, tell us, young man, how it is that you came to find
the Savior. And he looked a bit puzzled.
And he said, me no find you. Jesus find me. This sheep didn't
find the shepherd. The shepherd find the sheep.
Do you see that? The sheep is not seeking the
shepherd. I heard that buffoon from down in Louisiana again
last night talking about the world, waiting for somebody to
come and bring them the good news. The world doesn't even
know there's any good news to be brought. And they're not interested
in it until somebody comes and tells them. Unless God does something
for them. The sheep has no thought of the
shepherd. But the shepherd thinks of nothing
but the sheep. He thinks of nothing else. He seems to have this one thing
consuming every thought of his mind and every feeling of his
heart. He loves that sheep. And he cannot
bear the thought of that sheep being lost. He knows all the
pits in which the sheep might fall. He knows all the wolves
that might be lurking after the sheep. And he knows the poor
sheep is both defenseless and senseless. More than that, that
sheep belongs to the shepherd. He bought it too. See it? It's precious to him. He bought
it with his own precious blood. We talked about the Lord Jesus
Christ losing some of those for whom he died. What absurdity! What absurdity! Jesus Christ
bought the sheep and he will search, search, search, search
until he finds that sheep. He'll not bear that one should
be lost. More than that, he's the shepherd of the sheep. He's
the shepherd. It's his responsibility to find
the sheep and to save the sheep. He's the shepherd! He's honor-bound
to save the sheep! Suppose one was lost. It'd be
a holiday in hell if one should perish for whom Christ is shepherd.
It'd be a holiday in hell. Say, well, it was just one of
the weak ones. Satan would raise his head, he would laugh, and
he would say, look, world! He cares only for the strong,
the weak perish. So, it was one of his strong
ones that perished. And Satan would raise his ugly head and
he'd say, Aha! Aha! I told ya! He can't even
save the strongest of his people. No, the shepherd, he will not
bear the shame and the dishonor of losing one of his sheep. He'll
not answer. That was a good argument that
Moses used with God in prayer. You remember when God said to
Moses, step aside and I'll kill these folks and I'll raise up
another nation out of your seed. Moses said, Lord, what will the
Egyptians say? What's the Egyptian going to
say about your name if these people perish? What's going to
happen to the honor of your name if you lose one of these? Our
Lord Jesus Christ will not bear. He will not bear shame and dishonor. He'll find you. He'll find those
sheep. And it's a definite search. He
knows who he's looking for. The shepherd goes after his sheep. That one definite particular
sheep. He has his eye on that sheep.
His mind is on that sheep. His heart is on that sheep. He's
seeking that sheep. He's on the trail of that particular
sheep. There may be hundreds of other
sheep that he comes across along the way, but they're not his.
He didn't buy them. He didn't purchase them. He didn't
intercede for them. He's not responsible for them.
He's looking for his sheep. Illustration that might be appropriate,
down in Jamaica, in every town, along every highway, they have
goats down there like you wouldn't believe. I mean goats run wild. They go everywhere. The goats
run in and out of the shop. The goats run up and down the
main street. Cars stop for the goats to cross over. People don't
bother with the goats. They'll let them around wherever
they want to. Nobody bothers them. I asked Brother Dumas one
time, I said, who do these goats belong to? He said, go over and
pick one up, and you'll find out who it belongs to. You say,
well, nobody owns these goats. They're just running around.
But there's somebody who owns the goat. Somebody who knows
where that goat is, and somebody who's watching that goat. Let
me tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ knows who his sheep are, and
he knows where they are, and his eye is upon them, and he
is definitely after that definite sheep. He's seeking after his
own. It is also an active search.
No hill is too difficult to climb, no mountain too high, no valley
too low. and says, I must, I must bring
my sheep home. It's a persevering search. For he will search, look at it,
he will search and he will search and he will search until he finds it. I like this. This is a personal search. It's
Christ himself who goes after the sheep. He doesn't send an
errand boy. He doesn't send a messenger. He himself goes for the evening. But the Virgin said it's glorious
to think of the Son of God still personally tracking sinners,
who though they fly from him with a 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. And it's a successful search.
for the scripture speaks here of him finding Jesus. Now I know
that not all men will be saved. I'm not trying to get everybody
saved. That's not my goal, that's not my purpose. I know that it's
very likely that some whom I love dearly, some for whom I labor
with a heavy heart, will perish at last. But of this one thing
you can be sure, I mean you can be dead certain of this, not
one of Christ's sheep shall perish. Not one. He said, other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now fourthly, I
want you to get a picture of the salvation mentioned in the
parable. Verse 5, when he hath found." Oh, wondrous words. When he hath found. One of the
old writers said, in his incarnation Christ came after his lost sheep. In his life he sought his sheep. In his death he laid it upon
his shoulders. In his resurrection he bore it on its way. and in
his attention he brought it home to George. He pictures that lost
sheep falling over some precipice on a dark, stormy night. Overhead
it sees and hears the storm of God's wrath. The lightning seems
to strike out against the sheep and says the soul that sent it
shall die. Below the sheep Looks down, sees
the jaws of hell gaping wide open to receive it. And it's
slipping. Slipping, it's losing its footing.
Slipping into hell. Terrified. Perishing. Lost. Lost. Lost. Helplessly lost! Sure for destruction! Damned forever! But the good and he stretches down the long
arm of the shepherd and he takes the sheep away. That's God saving them. The shepherd
does not say to the sheep, now listen, I have sought you and
I've died for you and I've done everything I can I know you're
hanging over the edge of hell and you're losing your footing.
If you'll just take one step toward me, I'll do all the rest.
No, the shepherd doesn't say to the sheep, now if you will
just make a decision, you can save yourself out of this mess.
No, the shepherd soothes down and he reaches down and he puts it on his shoulder.
I can get a picture of him carrying that sheep, holding all four
legs, tied around his shoulders with his own hands. I was sinking
deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within,
sinking to rise no more, but the master of the sea heard my
despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, and
now safe am I. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When nothing else could, and
no one else would help, Christ lifted me. He laid that sheep on his shoulders,
and now I see that sheep. Terrified. Terrified with the
storms of wrath over here. Terrified with the gaping jaws
of El-Siddiq. Terrified with his penance. Terrified
with self-justice, I believe. Laying on the raw shoulders of
the mighty Satan. And he's at rest. He's at rest. No struggle. No struggle in his breast, no
struggle in his mind, no struggle in his body, he's at rest. You see, the shepherd carrying
the sheep is bearing all the weight of the sheep. He's bearing
all the weight of the burden. There's a song, I can't remember
much of it, but I listen to it from time to time. These country
western fellows, like everybody else, got to get a little silly
sentimental religion mixed in, you know. They talk about two
sets of tracks in the sand. Then when the fellow finally
gets into heaven, finally gets in, the Lord tells him, so that's
where I picked you up and carried you. Well, only one thing wrong
with that. When the Lord picks the sheep
up and puts it on his shoulders, he never did put it down. He
never did put it down, not until he brought it safe to glory.
The sheep is at rest. And that sheep is secure. He's
secure. The shepherd holds him. Can you
picture? He holds him. And he says, I
defy all of hell to pluck this sheep out of my hand. I defy all of hell to pluck this
sheep out of my hand. How's he going to do that? He's holding off all that. He
says, I'll carry my sheep safe in the glory. And before hell
can get me, it's got to get the shepherd who's carrying me. Got
to get the shepherd. Now look at one last thing. When
he hath found his sheep, 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, I found my sheep. Look at the satisfaction. This man who had lost his sheep
is filled with joy in finding his sheep. And the sheep appears
to be the sole object of his joy, and the sole source of his
joy. I found the sheep that was lost." His soul, his heart, his mind,
his body had all been absorbed in finding the sheep that was
lost. And now he finds great joy and satisfaction in the sheep
that has been found. The shepherd is fully satisfied.
For now, he sets his sheep down and he says, of the travail of
my soul. And I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. This was the joy
he had in mind when he took up the cup of wrath, Dr. Talbot.
Remember the scripture says, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despised and shamed? He took
up the terrible agonies of the cross because he saw this time
when he would by virtue of that cross bring his lost one into
everlasting glory. This is the charge. And the sheep,
why that sheep is satisfying. I can almost hear him saying
that song Judy sings so often, all that thrills my soul is He's
everything to me that she has all of him, for he has the shepherd.
He has the shepherd. And when you get a picture of
the good shepherd, look at him. Look at him. His garments are
stripped off of him. His back is lacerated. His side has a gaping hole in it. His head is bruised and mangled
with his own blood. As he walks along holding that
sheep in his hands, both of those hands have been pierced with
cruel nails. Now you've got a picture of the
shepherd and the sheep. Try to get a picture of that
sheep. That sheikh, saint, and subdued one, in the arms of the
Śekhārāṭī, can learn this. We learn this. He's the vital influence. The heart of Jesus Christ, our
God, the very heart of our God, the very core of the being of
our God, delights in saving sinners. It's the object of his soul. It's the object of his soul. I see the Good Shepherd, the
Lord Eternity assuming responsibility for the And I see him stepping
off his throne in glory and coming down into this world as the womb
of a virgin. And someone says, what are you
doing? He says, I'm seeking my sheep.
And I see him walk on this earth for 33 years in perfect righteousness.
And one of the angels may say, what are you doing? He says,
I'm seeking my sheep that's lost. I see him going up to Mount Calvary.
He cries, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Gabriel
said, but Lord my God, why do you endure this agony? He says,
I'm seeking my sheep that was lost. And I see him ascending
back to the throne of glory. And now he rules the world in
sovereign majesty, governing all things according to his will.
And I might ask, Lord, sovereign king of the universe, what are
you doing then? He said, I'm seeking my sheep
that were lost, and I'm going to bring my sheep straight into
glory, and there shall be one fold and one shell. That's the
object of his heart, the saving of his lost, perishing people. And my friends, there's a holiday in heaven every
time it happens, every time it happens. the Savior, sat down
at Sheol. And he says, Rejoice! Rejoice! I say, I bow my head. And there is joy in the presence
of the angel over one sinner. Huh? Can you believe that? Can you believe that? I hear
somebody say, well, the angels rejoice when a sinner repents.
Well, I'm sure they do. But the one who's rejoicing is
the shepherd who loved the sheep and gave himself for the sheep. Those 99 just persons who need
no repentance, they are left, left to themselves. And I say to you, children of
God, as the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself and was all absorbed
with you, as his soul and his heart and his mind and his being
was filled with thoughts of mercy toward you, I say to you, oh
may God make it so that our hearts are filled with it, healed with
it. Amen.