I'm surprised that these publicans
and sinners came to hear Christ. I'm not surprised. I understand. He offered them help and hope.
He spoke of grace for the guilty, so the guilty came to hear about
that grace. He talked of rest for the weary.
Come unto me, all ye that are weary and are heavy laden. I'll
give you rest. He spoke of mercy for the helpless,
hope for the hopeless. He talked about forgiveness of
sins. He talked about salvation. And
a person who knows anything about the holiness of God, and about
his own sinfulness, has no problem with these people talking to
their Christ. You'll go to where there's hope.
you are saved by this help. Let me show you a scripture.
Turn with me to Genesis 40. Genesis chapter 40. I'm not going to try to tell
you all this story, but Joseph was in prison. Genesis chapter
40 verse 1. And joining him in prison, I
don't know how long he'd been there, but he was in prison down
in Egypt. They came to pass after these
things that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had
both offended their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was
angry against two of his officers, the chief of the butlers and
the chief of the bakers. And he put them in prison. He put them in ward in the house
of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where
Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard
charged Joseph with them, and he served them, and they continued
the season there in jail. And these two fellows had a dream.
You remember? The baker and the butler had
a dream. And they told Joseph their dreams. And Joseph interpreted
the dream. He told the baker that the king
would behead him. He'd take off his head. But he
told the butler Here in verse 13, he said, Yet within three
days shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you unto thy
place. In three days he's going to restore
you to your place. Now remember that. And thou shalt
deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manner
when thou wast his butler. Verse 14, Joseph said, Would
you, when you come back to the palace in Pharaoh's good graces,
would you think on me? Would you think on me? In your
margin it says what? Remember me? Remember me with
thee when you come, would you remember me and show kindness?
I pray thee unto me and make mention of me to Pharaoh and
bring me out of this place. Well the fellow, his dream came
true and they restored him back to the palace. Did he remember
Joseph? Look at the last verse, verse
23. Verse 22 said he hanged the chief
baker as Joseph had interpreted. Yet did not the chief butler
remember Joseph but forgot him. Would you remember me? What other
man in bondage And under judgment said that to somebody. End of
Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, almost identical
words. In Luke chapter 23, verse 39,
one of the male factors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
Thou be the Christ, say thyself unto us. But the other answering
rebuked him, Don't you fear God? seeing you in the same condemnation,
and we indeed justly. We receive the due reward of
our deeds, but this man has done nothing amiss. And he said to
Jesus, Lord, you're not going to stay dead. You're coming into
a kingdom. You're going to be restored to your place in the
kingdom of God. Would you think on me? Would
you remember me when you come into your kingdom? Well, he wasn't
forgotten. He wasn't forgotten. Our Lord
never forgets a sinner. Oh yes, he said, today I'll say
unto you, you'll be with me in paradise. So I understand. I understand Joseph casting his
hope on this man that was going back to the prophets. But the
man failed. And all men fail. And all hopes
cast on men fail. But the Lord Jesus is afraid
of sinners. He never forgets a sinner. Never
forget. Lord David said, If thy Lord
shouldest mark iniquity, who could stand? But there's forgiveness
with thee. There's forgiveness with thee.
And these sinners flocked to hear him. And I'll tell you something
else. I'm not surprised that they do need to hear him. Verse
2. I'm not surprised these Pharisees murmured. No. I'm not surprised that these
Pharisees and scribes and And the religious fellows were offended
because of the Lord showing mercy to these undeserving people.
Not at all. I'll show you an illustration
of that. Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. This is the attitude
of self-righteous people. It's a holier-than-thou attitude. It says, stand away from me.
What is that? Let me read to you that. Psalm
65. They say, stand by yourself. Don't come near to me. I'm holier
than you are. I'm holier than you are. And
God said, these people are a smoke in my nose. They're a fire that
burns all day and a smoke in my nose. They claim to be holier. Look at Luke 7. And one of the
Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him, one of these
religious fellows, desired the Lord Jesus that he would eat
with him. And he went in to the Pharisee's house and sat down
to meet. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner,
when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house,
brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind
him weeping. began to wash his feet with tears,
and wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet,
and anointed them with the ointment, a sinner coming to the feet of
the Savior, the compassionate one." When the Pharisee, when
this religious man which had bitten him saw it, he spake within
himself. Now listen to him. He said, this
man, if he were truly a prophet, He would have known who and what
man or woman this is that touches him. He wouldn't allow her to
touch him, much less come near him. She's a sinner. And Jesus
answering said to him, Simon, I have some what to say unto
thee. He said, Not to say unto me. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. One owed him 500 pence, one owed
him 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, both of them had nothing to pay. He frankly, freely forgave
them both. Now tell me that, for which of
them will love him the most? Simon Edison said, I suppose
it's he to whom he forgave the most. He said, unto him you rightly
judge. He turned to the woman, he said,
you see this woman Simon? I came into your house and you
gave me no water to wash my feet. She's washed my feet with tears,
wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss of
greeting, but this woman, since the time I came here, has not
ceased to kiss my feet. My head withal you did not annoy,
but this woman has annoyed my feet. I say to you, her sins,
which are many, no question about it, but they are forgiven. She
loved much, and to whom little is forgiven, the same love is
little. To whom much is forgiven, they
love much. Why these sinful people flocked
to Christ. Why they loved him. Why they
adored the things he said. His countenance, his whole being. I know why these Pharisees stood
up. Because they were holier than thou. To whom much is forgiven,
he loves much. He needs much. Great sinners
need a great Savior. Little sinners don't. They don't
need a Savior. They need somewhere to exercise
their gifts. and their goodness, and their
works, and their righteousness. And so our Lord, the two groups
of people here, sinners and self-righteous people. So our Lord turned to
these self-righteous people and spake this parable. Now, it's
one parable for the benefit of those who are not here this morning.
This is not three parables, this is one parable in three parts.
Like Spurgeon said, it's a great pyramid with three sides. On one side is engraved God the
Father, on one God the Son, on the other God the Spirit. And
here in the first part of the parable, he said, verse 4, What
man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one, does not leave
the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost
until he finds it? And when he finds it, he lays
it on his shoulders rejoicing, and when he comes home he calls
together his friends and neighbors and says, Rejoice with me, I've
found my sheep which was lost. Who's the leading character here?
The Lord Jesus, the shepherd of the sheep. The sheep are his. The sheep are lost. He comes
down from Galilee, seeks the sheep, gives his life. He seeks
them until he finds them. And when he finds him, he puts
him on his shoulder and takes him home. That's the love of
Jesus Christ, that's redemption. All right, here's the second
part. Either, he says, he's continuing the same path, either, what woman
having ten pieces of silver, she has ten, they're all hers,
if she lose one piece of silver, She does not light a candle and
sweep the house and search diligently until she finds it. And when
she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says,
Rejoice with me. I found the peace which was lost.
Now who is the chief character in this part of the story? Well,
not the coin. The coin is lifeless. Dead. Lying in the dust. Doesn't know
where it is and doesn't care. Belongs to the woman then. It's
not the liet, it's not the broom she swings with, it's the woman.
As the shepherd is our Lord seeking his sheep, the woman is the Holy
Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ who seeks
the lost coin. Like the sheep belongs to the
shepherd, the coin belongs to the woman. It's her coin. It
was valuable to her. I don't know the worth of it,
but it was valuable to her. She was not content to leave
it lost. She's going to find it. So what
does she do? She lights a candle. What is
this candle? There's light. The coin's lost
in the darkness. The coin's lost in the dust.
The coin's in a place where it can't be seen unless there's
a light. And the light's the word of God.
Now let me show you this in Ephesians 1. The Holy Spirit with the Word
of God finding the lost. Now here is the whole story in
Ephesians 1. First you have the Father, you
have the Son, and you have the Spirit. All right, verse 3 of
Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he had
chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him and love Christ,
where did he get his sheep? The Father gave them to him.
Where did the Holy Spirit get the sheep, or the coen? The Father
gave them. The Father gave us to Christ,
and he predestinated us to the adoption of children. by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
And all of this to the praise of his glory. Rejoice with me,
I have found my sheep. Rejoice with me, I have found
my coin. Rejoice with me, I have found
my son. The glory is mine. The happiness
is mine. I have found that which is mine. To the praise and the glory of
his grace where he hath made us except in the blood. Now here
is the Lord Jesus. in whom we have the redemption
through his blood. The forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of his grace. This is the shepherd who came
down to redeem the sheep the father gave him. And it cost
him his blood, it cost him his life, it cost him to be tested
and tried and tipped and in all parts as we are. The man of Silas
acquainted with grief, he paid an awesome, awful price to redeem
us through his blood. In verse 8, he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness
of time he might gather together in one all the sheep, all things
in Christ, all the sheep, all the Father gave him, both which
are in heaven, but not in the land, and they which are on earth,
even in him. All of them, he's going to gather
them together in the fulness of time. When the fulness of
time is completed, God's purpose, Christ is going to gather them
all. In whom also we obtain an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who works all things after the
counsel of his own will. that we should be to the praise
of his glory. Rejoice with me. The praise. He saves us. God the Father chose
us for his glory. Christ redeemed us for his glory. All right, here's the Holy Spirit.
In whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth. What
does the Holy Spirit use to quicken a sin? You have the quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. The coin is lifeless. The
coin is dead. The coin is in the dust. Dust
thou shalt return. The coin doesn't exercise any
activity. It has no strength, no power,
no will, nothing. The woman is seeking that coin.
And the woman takes a life to illuminate, to enlighten. And
the Spirit of God takes the word. of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. We're born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible seed by the word of God. And in whom
you trusted, in whom you were found, in whom you were saved,
in whom you were rescued, after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise That word is
a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. And the Spirit
of God takes the word and finds to the praise of his glory. I
look back at the text a minute. It says this woman did light
a candle. But she didn't just walk around
with a candle and lit it. She got a broom. And she moved
some furniture. That's right. Moved some furniture. Moved a table. Swept around. The Holy Spirit doesn't play
games when he's seeking one of God's own. He'll move furniture. He'll move families. He'll move
people. He'll move whatever he pleases
to move to find that sheep. I think of, in my life, way back
then, how in this world How in this world would it ever have
been planned on my part, being born and raised in Alabama, left
high school, went in the Navy and roamed around in the Pacific,
came back and went to school and married? I'd wind up in Ashton,
Kentucky to hear the gospel. Now you figure that out. God
had to move some things. I mean move some people and some
things and move on the posture here. I got a little amused the
other night when they got to criticizing George Bush for going
to Bob Jones College and speaking. If my wife hadn't gone to Bob
Jones College, I wouldn't be in Ashland. Did you know that?
That's all. The pastor here, Don Wells, didn't
know me. But he let him honey and then
he went to Bob Jones College. And my wife went to Bob Jones
College and they met one another. And he thought a lot of her,
and he heard her sing. And when the fellow recommended
me to him, he said, I don't know Mahan. He said, well, he married
Doris Freese. Oh, I know Doris. Have him come
up here and meet with me. Honestly. And I came up here
and heard the gospel. God moves in mysterious ways. And that's when the Holy Spirit
starts after one of his own. He takes a broom and sweeps the
floor. You might sweep some chap clear
out the door, but you don't sweep that coin out the door. They
like the chap which the wind driveth away. He'll sweep a lot
of things. He'll move a lot of things. He'll
uproot some people. I'll tell you, my wife's folks
and my folks too wasn't too happy when we moved 550 miles away
and took all the grandson they had. It doesn't make them happy
at all. God's going to find his sheep.
It's her coin that's lost, and she's going to move some furniture,
and she's going to sweep, and she's going to find that coin.
What does it say here? She searched diligently until
she found it. How long did it take? I don't
know. It doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter. Let me show you another scripture
that will be a blessing to you, Luke 19. I want to say, when
I read this, just as you hear it, and don't be embarrassed
if you don't figure out what he meant, because that's true
of all of us when we first read anything. It takes time. But
I read King through Jericho, and he didn't do much for very
many people. He was on his way out of Jericho, and a man named
Zacchaeus, a publican, one of those publicans, He had heard
of Christ, and he was a little fellow short of stature, and
he ran ahead. There was a mile of people, just
a mile of Jews and all these folks crowding around, and this
little fellow Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed up on a sycamore
tree beside the road so he could see the Lord when he passed by.
Now that's unusual, isn't it? He was inquisitive, not just
Jesus. And our Lord came that way and
stopped right on that tree and looked up and said, Zacchaeus,
come down. Called him by name, Zacchaeus,
come down. There's all kinds of folks around
there, but he called that man. For I must abide at your house
today. Look at Luke 19 there. Is that
what I'm saying, 19? Yeah, Luke 19. And verse 5, he said, looked
up, he said, Make haste and come down, I must have bought at your
house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully.
And when they saw it, they all murmured, and they said, He's
gone to be the guest of a man's ascender. And the wealthy doing
this. And Zacchaeus was overwhelmed
and overcome. He said, Lord, his own language
he knew. He'd been cheating folks for
years, he's a tax collector. He said, Lord, behold, half of
my goods I give to the poor. If I've taken anything from any
man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said,
here's what I want you to look at and figure out what he meant.
This day is salvation come to this house because he also is
a son of Abraham. There were sons of Abraham all
over that place. Arabs, Jews, Israelites, everywhere. And this man is the son of Abraham.
What does the Lord mean? I'm going to his house because
he's the son of Abraham. Salvation comes to his house
because he's the son of Abraham. I found him because he's the
son of Abraham. God gave him to Christ before
the world began, the seed of Abraham, through Isaac. That's
right. You're a son of Abraham if you
save. Everybody who saves is a son of Abraham. That's what
it says in Galatians. Turn over there to Galatians.
Galatians chapter 3. He said this man is not just
a Jew, he's a son of Abraham. In Galatians 3 verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed.
where the promise is made. He didn't say it to seeds, all
these folks, as many, but to one, to your seed, which is Christ.
This man was related to Abraham in Christ, in Isaac. Look at the last verse. If you
be Christ, if you be his, then are you Abraham's seed, and an
heir, according to the promise. Christ said, Zacchaeus, come
down. is an heir according to promise.
He's a lost coin, he's a lost seed. I found him. That's exactly
right. All right, let's read the last
one, the last part of this parable, verse 11. I won't go into the
jar, I dealt with that this morning, the presence of the angel. And
he said a certain man had two sons. Two sons. Now remember that, two sons. And the younger of them said
to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that follows
to me. And he divided unto them his living. Not many days after,
the younger son gathered all together and took his journey
into a far country, and there wasted his substance with rapturous
living. And when he had spent everything,
there arose a famine, a mighty famine in the land. He began
to be in want, and he went and joined himself to a citizen of
that country. And he sent him into the fields to feed swine.
That's about the lowest thing that a Jew could do, is feed
pigs. And he would faint and fill his belly with the rest
that the swine did eat, and nobody gave anything to him. And when
he came to himself, he said, How many hard servants of my
Father's have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger.
I will arise and go to my Father, and I will say to him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven before thee, and I am not worthy
to be Called our son, making him as one of your hired servants.
And he arose, came to his father, which was a great way his father
sighed, had compassion, ran, fell on his neck and kissed him.
Son said, Father, I've sinned against heaven in your sight,
not worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his
servant, bring forth the best robe, put it on him, put a ring
on his finger, shoes on his feet. We've been keeping that fatted
calf all these days for celebration. Kill it, let's eat and be married.
My son was dead, he's alive, he's lost, he's found, he's begun
to be married. I've heard people try to preach
the gospel from this one part of the parable, and it can't
be done. Because there's no shepherd seeking a sheep. There's no spirit
seeking the lost. There's no sacrifice. There's
no suffering. There's no blood. There's no
savior to bring the sinner home. There's no light of the word
to convince this man of sin to reveal to him the Lord Jesus
Christ. He came to himself. His mind
was going over this thing of, I'm in a mess. Back in my father's
house, even people that cut his grass are better off than I am.
People that feed his sheep are better off than I am. People
who clean his stables are better off than I am. I'm going to go
home. And I'm going to say, Father, I've sinned against him, and
then you decide I'm not fit to be called your son. And he came
home. He wasn't brought home. He came
home. He walked home. Nobody put him
on his shoulder and bowed him. He walked home. But the Lord
Jesus is not talking about the particle here. He's talking about
the Father. In the first part, the salvation of the sinner exalted
the shepherd who gave his life for the sheep. And the second
exalts the Spirit who takes the Word and finds the lost cause. And here he exalts the Father
who welcomes us at our home and kisses him and forgives him.
That's the key. The Father upon whom all this
grace rests, the Savior loves us and died for us. The Holy
Spirit comes and finds us, but will the Father Will the Father
accept us? He's not obligated to. Will
the Father accept us? Everybody dies, talking about
going to heaven, you know. Will he let you in? You know. You did rob him. You did steal
from him. You did take the inheritance
with Adam and corrupt it and blasphemed it. Let's go back
to that verse we read over in Micah the other night. I got so much out of that chapter,
cold and red, that's a good one. Listen to Micah. It's about 6
or 7 little books back from Malachi.
Micah chapter 7 verse 18. Listen to this. Who is a god? that pardoneth iniquity, that
passeth by transgressions," I mean real transgressions, of the remnant
of his heritage. He will not retain his anger
forever because he delights in mercy. That son never ceased
to be that father's son. I don't know how many days he
sat by that window and watched that hill. If my boy ever comes
back he'll come over that hill and yearn to see him. with forgiveness
in his heart. And finally one day he looked
and, hard to recognize, but I know that walk, and instead of sitting
at the house waiting for him to come in to apologize, instead
of sitting in the house there waiting for him to come in and
fall on his knees, the Father ran outside and met him and kissed
him through his eyebrows. Because he delights in mercy.
He'll turn again, he'll cast compassion on us, he'll subdue
our iniquities, he'll cast all our sins into the depths of the
sea. Who is a God like unto thee? That's what I love Jesus as showing
to him. The kindness and forgiveness
and grace and love of that Father. Random meeting. Let me show you
what he said to him. confessing his sins, and the
father didn't even say anything about his sins. He didn't mention
them. He didn't say, I know you've
sinned. The father said to the servant, bring the best robe. I wonder what that is. I know
the best robe is his robe. The robe of his righteousness.
Put a ring on his finger. The ring is a sign of a prince,
the heir, the king's son. put a ring on his face, put shoes
on his feet, got a new walk, a new way, killed a fatted calf. This my son was dead, he's alive. Well, we started out with two
classes of people, a sinner, sinners, and holier than thou. We're going to wind up with the
same two classes. Let's read the rest of it. Verse 25, Now
the eldest son was in the field, and he came and drew near to
the house, and he heard all that music and dancing. And he called
one of the servants, and he said, What means this? What does this
mean? Oh, the servant said, Your brother has come home, and your
father has killed a fatted calf, because he has received him safe
and sound. And he was angry that he wouldn't
go in. Touch me not. I'm holier than thou." He wouldn't
even go in and greet his brother. He didn't want to be in the presence
of that scallywag. Therefore came his father out
and intruded him. And he said, Father, these many
years that I served thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy
commandments. What did the prodigal say? I
have sinned, verse 21. I have sinned against heaven.
And I say, what did the older brother say? I've never sinned. I've never sinned. I've never
transgressed your commandment. I've never disappointed you.
At any time. Yet you never gave me a kid to
entertain my friends as soon as this is your son. He didn't
say my brother. He got no love. He got no grace.
He got nothing but pride. Arrogance. This your son, not
my brother, he's your son. He's devised your living with
harlots, he's no good, and you've killed a fatted calf. My, my,
I thought when I read that, who loved him the most? Which
son really loves that father? Which son really loves that father? The prodigal, right? Which son
will bring the Father most glory? The prodigal. He's going to tell
everybody about my dad's love and grace and kindness to a varmint
like me. I'll tell you, that's the greatest
man on earth. That's what he's going to say. He goes, glory
to God, that's the greatest man on earth. You know what the older
brother's going to say? He cheated me. I worked hard,
he didn't give me nothing. Which son will never leave? That old ever son will wind up
leaving. He's going to be mad. He can't
stay there where that brother is, and he can't stay there where
that father is. He's got to get out. But that
prodigal son will never leave. He's been there, and done that,
and hates it. He's going to stay home now.
And if you and your prodigal ever get lost, and God makes
you come to yourself, and you come back home, you ain't never
going to leave. The religious people will. The
Jew won't. No, he's been too good to you.
Great is our faithfulness. That's saying number 40.