Transcript
Speaker: That is so sweet. Whenever we hear back from some of our students, college students that we invest in through scholarships, if you've never given to the First Baptist Church, scholarship fund right there is an example of how much it's appreciated. And we're excited. You know, they're growing. Couldn't you hear in Amanda's words there how she's growing in Christ and God is opening doors before her, just like her internship this summer.
Speaker: She has been in Europe. I think she went to nine different countries. Maybe the main one was Spain. But anyway, just so excited to see the growth in Christ that's still going on even when she's at college so praise on the lord for that word of thanks and so if you would look with me at Luke luke fifteen um been looking forward to this time to look with you at luke chapter fifteen it's probably one of the
Speaker: best known and best loved chapters maybe in the whole bible but for sure in the gospel of luke But in this chapter, Jesus gives us three parables that clearly fit together.
Speaker: It's like he designed these so that they fit right together. Some call this chapter the lost and found desk. The first parable is a parable of lost sheep. The second one is a parable of the lost silver.
Speaker: And the third one that we won't get to today Lord willing, next Sunday is the parable of the lost son or a prodigal son. In the first parable, it's like they lose one sheep out of a hundred.
Speaker: In the second one, this lady loses one coin out of 10. And then in the last parable, This man loses one son out of two. He's excited, though I'm excited, that our ladies are going to be starting this new study on the attributes of God.
Speaker: i think that is an amazing thing that we continue to increase. in the knowledge of God. Are you growing in knowing who God is? Well, one of the things I found interesting as I was reading through John MacArthur's commentary on this passage, he says that one of the overlooked attributes of God is his joy.
Speaker: Is God joyful? I think he is at his heart. You know, in David's song of thanks recorded in first Chronicles chapter 16, he says this in verse 27, splendor and majesty are before him.
Speaker: Strength and joy are in his place. In Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter eight, verse 10 says, do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Speaker: So the joy that God has, he wants to share with us. So in our text, we will read how a shepherd searches for a lost sheep that has strayed away from the flock. And when he finds it, you know what he does?
Speaker: He rejoices. He rejoices. But joy longs to be shared with others. And so the shepherd calls together his friends and his neighbors. You know what he says? says,
Speaker: He says, rejoice with me. And that's what I think the Lord is saying to everybody that's here today. Those that are listening by live stream, he wants us to share in the joy that he has. As a matter of fact, even in heaven, every time someone comes to know Christ, it says there is great joy in heaven.
Speaker: It's interesting that in the second parable, the woman who found her lost coin does the same thing. She's going to call together her friends and her neighbors and say the same exact thing.
Speaker: Rejoice with me. If you ever found something you were so excited about it, you just had to tell other people. Maybe you lost your keys. Maybe you lost your cell phone or your wallet or something very important. But when you find it, you're so excited and you just want to tell somebody.
Speaker: Some really nice ladies in our church have been meeting up here this past week, and they've been cleaning out and organizing a storage room in our church. And so I'm so thankful for the work they're doing. But in the process, you know what they did?
Speaker: They discovered in our church, in that storage room, a treasure. It's a painting done by a member back in 2000. Her name was Marguerite Obenhaus. Some of you may have known Miss Marguerite. I certainly did.
Speaker: I remember going to visit her the last time i visited her in her home She had a whole bunch of pictures on several different shelves. And she was like probably in her mid to late 90s at that time. And she could tell me everybody in those pictures exactly who they were. So I thought, man, she is so sharp.
Speaker: She actually lived to be 103 years of age before the Lord called her back. to be with him on July 5th, 2019. But she taught Sunday school even into her mid-90s.
Speaker: And then she also taught kids in this community at the Live Oak Art Center. And so she would teach them the basics of painting. But right here, is that painting that she painted. And it's such a great job. I'd sit there and admired it. And I thought, I want to share that with y'all. I was so excited that I found it. It's like out of the joy that I had, I wanted you to also know about that joy.
Speaker: But this week when I was preparing a message on the parable of the lost sheep, that I thought about these ladies and what they discovered. And so I thought, you know, I'm going to name this message today, Rejoice With Me.
Speaker: because it's mentioned two times in our text. So I hope you found it now, Luke 15 verses 1 through 10. Would you stand in honor of God's word? I believe God's going to speak. You know, there's a promise that he gave in Isaiah where he said that his word would not go back to him void.
Speaker: And so I want you to join with me after we read through here that this would not go back to the Lord void, but it would accomplish what God wants to send it forth to accomplish. Here's what it says in Luke 15 verses 1 through 10.
Speaker: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbling, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.
Speaker: So he told them this parable. What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them? does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it.
Speaker: And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost.
Speaker: Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance or what woman having 10 silver coins if she loses one coin does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.
Speaker: Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Let's go with the Father in prayer. Lord, in this room today, I'm sure there are so many people who they repented of their sin.
Speaker: They placed their faith in Christ and you saved them. Jesus, you went to the cross for them. And they probably remember that day, the joy that they experienced.
Speaker: But also maybe they were not aware of the joy that heaven experienced. the day they trusted Christ. And so across this room, Lord, with all the different times and all the different years that are involved, there must have been so much rejoicing in heaven over these. But there may be there just may be one lost sheep that is in this room today.
Speaker: Let that one precious soul know how greatly you love him or her, that you would go, you would leave the others and search and search and search until you find that lost one.
Speaker: And Lord, the more I've learned about sheep this week, the more I realize how dangerous it would be for a lamb to be out there all by themselves. And so Lord, you want to find them so that they'll not be mangled and wrangled out there in the darkness.
Speaker: And so Lord, help them know that you've been searching for them. You've been seeking them. So bless us, O Lord. Like we said at the beginning, we ask that you would let your word accomplish what you send this message forth to accomplish.
Speaker: In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
Speaker: Did you know that joy is mentioned in this passage? I don't know if you could hang on to it all the different times, but either joy or rejoices, they're both, yeah one or the other, are mentioned five times in 10 verses.
Speaker: I thought, well, why don't we just examine this joy from five different vantage points? Let's observe Luke 15, 1 through 10. In what, with, let's pretend for a moment.
Speaker: Let's pretend that we're making a spherical video here. That we're gonna look at this thing from 360 degrees. So maybe you're gonna see this parable from ah an angle, a perspective, a viewpoint that you've never considered before.
Speaker: But the whole thing is gonna be about the same thing. The joy Christ has when he finds one that is lost. Well, let's look at the first vantage point found in verses 1 and 2.
Speaker: The joy of association. Maybe you would assume that lost people, that people who are still sinning and rebelling and so forth, maybe you would assume that they don't like Jesus. They never liked Jesus. They didn't want to be around Jesus.
Speaker: that would not be true. There must have been something special. That must have been something uplifting for tax collectors and sinners to be around Jesus. Did you catch what it says in verse 1? Now the tax collectors and sinners were all, were all drawing near to hear him.
Speaker: They wanted to hear him. Isn't that amazing? You know, if we were to rewind the Gospel of Luke, you could go back to Levi's house in chapter 5, verses 29 and 30, and you would see something very similar happened.
Speaker: When Jesus was invited into Matthew, who wrote Matthew's Gospel, his name was Levi at that time, but levi He invited all of his friends and Levi was a tax collector.
Speaker: So he had tax collector friends and sent friends who were still considered sinners by others in the community. And you know what? They just liked being there in Jesus' presence.
Speaker: And then there's chapter 7, verses 34, 39, where a Pharisee invites Jesus to go over. And you know what they said about Jesus? They said, he's nothing but a friend of sinners.
Speaker: He's a friend of sinners. thought that was interesting. But where it says they were all drawing near to hear him makes me think of how chapter 14 ended. Because this is the first verse of chapter 15, right?
Speaker: So look at how chapter 14 ends. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall it saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.
Speaker: He who has ears to hear Let him hear. Now listen to the next verse, one. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing drawing near to hear him.
Speaker: to hear him. Isn't that amazing? The gospel is good news. And people who know that they need that good news, they want to hear it. They want to know, tell me that somebody can take away the guilt that I feel for my sins.
Speaker: And of course, Jesus calls them to repentance. You know, some people think that repentance is a bad word. Repentance is a very good word. Repentance is a word that's motivated by love.
Speaker: When God's saying, you're going in the wrong direction. Love says, come back. I want you to live. I want you to have abundant life. So come back.
Speaker: Go toward me, not toward the world, not toward flesh, not toward Satan. And so Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul, you know what they all preached?
Speaker: Repentance. It means you're going this way. You realize I need to turn and go the opposite way. And so would you be willing today to say, if Jesus calls me, I'm willing to go in a way I've never walked before.
Speaker: I've always been walking away from Jesus. But starting today, I want to walk toward Jesus. That's exactly what's happening. You see, I think that verse one shows us those who were grateful for grace.
Speaker: But some people aren't grateful for grace. Look at who is mentioned in verse 2. who Who was there that was not grateful for grace? Well, it says the Pharisees and the scribes grumbling.
Speaker: They grumbled saying this man receives sinners and eats with them. But these sinners, these tax collectors, they were just like me when I was 18 years of age.
Speaker: I could not believe God's love for me after all I'd done during my high school years. I'd really wiped out. I'd lost it, you know, in terms of spiritual things and morality.
Speaker: But the Lord said, I'm drawing you to myself today, Victor. And I couldn't take it. I mean, I just totally went with arms wide open. I could not believe that somebody loved, that someone loved me and I was so broken.
Speaker: I heard about a lost and found article that was placed in a local newspaper. And here's what it said. Lost dog. Crippled in front paw, blind in left eye, mangy on his back and neck, tail missing, recently neutered.
Speaker: Answers to the name, Lucky. Wow, can you imagine? it You know what? I think that dog was lucky though. He was lucky because he had somebody that loved him.
Speaker: He had somebody that wanted him and he had somebody that was looking for him. Maybe you feel like that. you You're saying, well, pastor, I got all kinds of problems. You don't know all the things I've done in my life.
Speaker: No, I don't know all the things that you've done in your life, but I know this. know that in this passage, Jesus is going to portray himself as coming to look for people just like you, just like me, just like all of us. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God.
Speaker: And so we need to say, okay, God, it's great just to be here today. It's great just to associate, to be around Jesus, to be around the Bible, to be around Christian people.
Speaker: But the second vantage point takes us in another direction. It takes us away. It takes us away. The joy in evangelization. You see, this picture, it this parable contains a picture.
Speaker: It's like a word picture. Jesus is going to paint a picture for us. It's a picture of outreach. It's a picture of evangelism. And so if you want to know, what does evangelism look like?
Speaker: Well, it's right here. Let me just walk through it with you briefly. He said, one man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds I love that.
Speaker: because it means that there's someone lost. Have you ever done a background study on what happens if a sheep is lost, gets away from the flock, away from the shepherd, away from sheepdogs, and he's out there all by himself?
Speaker: Do you know that they're so defenseless? They can't fight back. What does a sheep do? bad you know It's like, what is that gonna do? That does nothing, you know?
Speaker: Well, I mean, he's not only defenseless to predators, he's also helpless if he ever gets cast down. Have you ever been cast down? When a sheep gets cast down and his legs go up, you know what?
Speaker: How he can get back up? He can't. He can't get back up. Maybe someone here is you're like, I've fallen and I can't get up. You know what?
Speaker: That's exactly what... But get this, if no one goes to find that sheep, he's a goner because he will die like that. It's just a matter of hours if it's a hot day, maybe days if it's not a hot day.
Speaker: But a sheep is so defenseless and so helpless. And that's why someone has to say, you know what, I'm going to go after the lost. I'm going to leave.
Speaker: I'm going to make sure that I don't just come and gather here on a Sunday morning. I'm going to go out into the community and I'm going to look and search for those that are cast down, for those that are, you know, so vulnerable to predators.
Speaker: But how long are they going to search? Well, that's the length of evangelism. What does it say? Jesus says in the parable, until he finds it, until he finds it. In other words, he's not going to stop.
Speaker: Do you know that the Lord has maybe been looking for you all your life? I can just remember feeling that God had been looking for me all my life until I was 18. That's when I finally said, okay, you found me.
Speaker: But what does he do when he finds a lost lamb? Well, the parable says it like this. And when he's found it, He lays it on his shoulders. He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.
Speaker: You know there's a lift in evangelism. There's a lift in evangelism whenever a soul winner goes out there and he says, i got I finally was used by God to lead someone to Christ. Have you ever in your life experienced the joy of leading somebody to Jesus?
Speaker: There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. The joy that enters into the heart of a soul winner. You see the first vantage point was the joy of the seeker who says, is it really safe for me to come to church? Is it really safe for me to go to Sunday school?
Speaker: Is it really safe for me to come to these events? And Jesus would say, come on, we want you here. But then it also there's this vantage point of the soul winner who says,
Speaker: I have to go find them. And when he finds them, what does it say he's doing? He puts the, do you know how much an adult sheep weighs? It's like over a hundred pounds.
Speaker: Man, I'd have to take a buddy with me to make sure I can make it back home, you know? But I thought, isn't this neat? That he's not complaining about the weight.
Speaker: He's not complaining about the journey. No, what does it say he's doing? He's rejoicing. There's a joy in those who reach out. And that's what tonight, when we have all these ministry fair booths, that's really what it's about. We're trying to reach out, but we're also trying to help people grow so that they can reach out.
Speaker: Well, let's move to the next vantage point, number three, the joy of restoration. The joy of restoration. You see, I think the seekers will have a joy whenever they realize, you mean Jesus actually wants me to come and listen to the gospel?
Speaker: To come and learn the word? To come and see that he's got a plan for me? Yes. And the soul winner says, when I find a lost land, there is nothing like the joy I feel.
Speaker: But in this one, it's the restoration. And so I want you to think about the Savior. And the Savior, the joy that enters the Savior's heart. Why in the story did the shepherd not go back to the pasture?
Speaker: Would you look with me at this verse 6? You know, when he left, it says, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he's not lost him, does not leave the 99. Where?
Speaker: In the open country, out in the pasture. But now look at verse 6. And when he comes home, He calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I found my sheep that was lost.
Speaker: You know what I thought about was restoration. You know why God gets so excited? Because he's wanted to have a personal relationship with each one of you. And maybe you've been rejecting him and rejecting him.
Speaker: you You feel like he's going to judge me. He's going to reject me. I've had enough rejection in my life. The Lord said, no. Have you ever had restoration in your life? I want to bring you to my house.
Speaker: I want to introduce you to my friends. You know, when I saw this verse, I thought, oh, I see it now. When it says, and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found sheep.
Speaker: I've found mine. You see, I think that one thing we need when we're restored, we need identity. Some people get their identity from their job. Some people get their identity from how many people like them on social media or whatever.
Speaker: You know where the best place to get your identity from? It's from the Lord. To say, I belong to Him. He loves me. He laid down His life for me. He created me. Everything I have in my life, He entrusted to me.
Speaker: Isn't it amazing when you look at it from the vantage point of the Savior that he sent? All I've ever wanted it it's just for you to know me, to let me love you. I want to be loved by you. And so I thought, well, the restoration of his identity, but there's also the restoration to his family.
Speaker: Are you called? Am I called? Are we called to live the Christian life by ourselves? No, no, we're called to live the Christian life with brothers in Christ, sisters in Christ.
Speaker: You know, young people need mentors. They need those who who've been through life already. But then those who are nearing the end of their life, they like to look back and they like to know that young people are on fire for Jesus.
Speaker: And we've got some that are right here in our church. But what a joy it is whenever people are restored to, who are they called? Well, he says his friends, his neighbors.
Speaker: That's right. That's why he took him home. That's why he took that lost lamb home. He wanted to say, you're restored to me now. And because you're restored to me now, get this, you're safe.
Speaker: You're secure. You're not lost anymore. There are no more predators. There's no more getting cast down because the shepherd's there. He said, you're safe now. You're safe at my house.
Speaker: But also notice that there's restoration throughout eternity because in the application, Jesus moves into verse seven, just so, just just like that, just like that painting, just like this parable.
Speaker: He said, just like that, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
Speaker: Wow. To me, I think it's amazing that our restoration lasts for eternity, for eternity. I mean, sometimes we get ah into a marriage, we get into a family and things end, but isn't it amazing that God says, you come to me.
Speaker: And in John chapter 10, verses 27 29, he says, you come to twenty nine he said you come to me And you will never leave my hand. I will always hold you safe and secure in my hand.
Speaker: Nobody can snatch you from the Father's hand, from my hand. And so I think, thank you, God, how personal that is. You know, I thought also that Jesus reached out to the multitudes for sure. So like a group like this, this would be really on the Lord's heart, right?
Speaker: But you know what? He also reaches out to individuals. He wants to have conversations. He wants to rescue individuals. And so I thought, has he ever done that in scripture? You know what I discovered?
Speaker: Jesus had 40 conversations with individuals, not just groups, not just multitudes. I mean, individuals such as there was a woman at a well.
Speaker: There was a man at the pool of Bethesda. There was a rich young ruler. There was a man named Nicodemus. There was an adulterous woman. There was a man named Zacchaeus. And I could just go on and on.
Speaker: Oh yeah. No wonder it says in verse seven, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in in heaven over one.
Speaker: Over one sinner. Over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Let's go to vantage point number four.
Speaker: Vantage point number four is joy in the estimation. So we've looked at the vantage from the the one who's seeking, but yet he's not saved, but he's interested.
Speaker: You're welcome. to come into Jesus presence. You're welcome to learn more about the gospel. But there's also the soul winner's vantage point. And there's joy for him whenever he sees somebody come to know the Lord.
Speaker: And there's certainly joy in Jesus' heart, the Savior. That's vantage point number three. But vantage point number four is us. Most of us in this room, most of us in this room, we we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker: And so we are what's called saved. Do you remember what happened when you got saved? Can you remember the joy that filled your heart? If you need a refresher, you should go to Luke chapter 19 and verse 6 and read about a guy named Zacchaeus.
Speaker: Because 19.6 says that he received Jesus, get this, joyfully. He received him joyfully.
Speaker: Jesus found that little man up in a sycamore tree. Where will he find you? You know, the cultural context of the second parable... Get this. I didn't know this until I was studying this week. Maybe this is something that could help this second parable come alive about the woman who lost a silver coin.
Speaker: What's so big about a silver coin? You know, well, one thing that was big, she only had 10, right? But do you know where she got the 10?
Speaker: In Jewish culture, young ladies, when they were married, they were given a headband. And on the headband, it was... 10 silver coins that were attached to a headband.
Speaker: And so for her, this was a very meaningful thing. This would be sort of like losing a wedding ring, something like that. But I thought, oh my goodness, no wonder she says, I've got to find this.
Speaker: This is meaningful to me. So she's looking and she's searching and so forth. And that's why I think if you and I only knew the estimation of our worth,
Speaker: Sometimes things happen in life and it attacks our self-worth and we feel like nobody thinks I'm important. Nobody thinks I'm valuable. But you know what? Jesus does.
Speaker: Jesus believes that you're or you're valuable, that I'm valuable. And here's the reason why. He said, you know what? If you were to take all the world's wealth, all the gadgets, all the fashions, all the houses and all the cars and put them on one side of a scale,
Speaker: And on the other side of the scale, you put one soul. You know what he said? The one soul weighs more. He said, what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his own soul?
Speaker: what What he's basically saying is, don't you realize how valuable you are? Don't you realize your worth to God? Don't you realize your worth because he made you? And so that's why this lady says, I can't believe how valuable I am that this woman is looking for me.
Speaker: Let's pretend you were the lost coin. You've got value and she believes you have value, but she can't find you. Did you see what it says? Or what woman having 10 coins, if she loses one coin, well, what does she do?
Speaker: Does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it. Yeah. You know, I got to thinking about that and I thought, you know, when something has worth, here's what it does.
Speaker: With the looseness of her lamp in the darkness. You see, they say that there were not very many windows back then. And so her home would have been dark.
Speaker: But she says, you know what? I'm going to light a lamp I'm look everywhere in every little dark corner. You know, Jesus has been looking in some dark places for some around the world, some around this community, some very dark places.
Speaker: He says, I'm going to look with the lamp until I find you. But there's also this whole idea of her using this broom. You see, the broom was removing the dirt and the dust.
Speaker: And so I thought, you know, she not only used lucence of her lamp in the darkness, she also used the persistence with her broom through the dirt.
Speaker: She's gonna, that coin is down here. I'm gonna find it. I'm gonna find it. That's how serious God is about finding me and you, no matter what he's gotta remove. He's like persistent. And then there's the diligence.
Speaker: The diligence until she says, I find it. I don't care if I get discouraged today, tomorrow. It says, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek Diligently.
Speaker: How long? Until, until she finds it. Wow. And it's amazing because by itself, I mean, the coin wasn't really worth a whole lot in our time.
Speaker: I looked up on a website called Testament Press. It'll tell you what one drachma, which is the word that was used here, Greek word drachma, or in if you're going to look at a Roman word, it'd be denarius.
Speaker: But on Testament press, it said it'd be about worth $43.50. $43.50. Maybe you'd say, I wouldn't go to all that trouble. Yeah, you would. You would if it was that if it meant that much to you.
Speaker: You would if you only had 10 and now you just lost one. And we don't have an idea here that she's she's married still. Maybe something's happened to her husband. And so she's saying, and mom, this means so much to me.
Speaker: And the little coin saying, I sure hope she finds me because I can't i can't imagine being without it. When I was in Japan as a missionary, they would take us sometimes to other countries when we would meet with area group, our larger area group. So we would meet with you know missionaries in China, and missionaries Japan, Taiwan, and so forth. Well, I remember we were over in Thailand one time and we had a great time. We rode elephants. We got some good training on working together as a team.
Speaker: But I remember when came time to go, I wanted to have my quiet time before I left. So I got up early, I packed all my bags, had all my bags by the door. They sent the bellboys to come and get the the luggage and so forth. So they did. So I just had my quiet time. I didn't worry about it.
Speaker: But when I finished, they said, hey, the bus is already here. Y'all come on. I stepped my Bible down. And I forgot it. And I went out of the room and we left Thailand on the plane and we got back to Japan and I began to unpack my bags and I said, where's my Bible?
Speaker: I mean the Bible, I write my notes in the margin, where's my Bible? I began to panic. I was like, you know what? That means a lot to me. And so I got on the email and I sent an email to Jeff Palmer, who was a missionary in that part of the world.
Speaker: And I told Jeff, I said, I'm so sorry to cause you this trouble. But you know what? I lost my Bible. And it really means a lot to me. And you know what? He found it.
Speaker: He went to the hotel. They found it. It was turned in. He mailed it to me. And when I got it, man, it was so special to me. You know why? Because I treasured that Bible.
Speaker: Have you ever lost something that you treasured? Well, let me give you one final vantage point. Vantage point number five. And that is the joy of the celebration.
Speaker: Did you notice the similarity between verses 6 and 7 in the first parable and verses 9 and 10 in the second parable? There's a connection between the cause and the celebration.
Speaker: See, repentance led to rejoicing. Repentance, let me make it clear, led to rejoicing. The celebration of joy came before the angels.
Speaker: And I thought, wow, do you know that 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12 says that the angels, they don't even know the intimacy with God that we have because we come through Christ.
Speaker: And so it says that they long to look. The idea is they're looking over the the banister of heaven saying, i wish I knew how special that is to have Jesus love me like that.
Speaker: But you know, Someone has said that there are two parables here that reveal two insights into God's attitude toward the lost. How does he feel about you today?
Speaker: Well, if you're here and you're not yet a Christian, you're still running from God. There's two things these two parables say. It reveals first his compassion for lost souls.
Speaker: He left them right. He left the 99. In the parable, the good shepherd goes looking for that one lost lamb. That's compassionate, cares, but also it reveals his value of lost souls. Are you really thinking that you're not worth anything when Jesus Christ laid down his life for you on the cross?
Speaker: What more? What greater love is there than someone to lay down their life for us? you know, that's why I would close with this, that the best vantage point is to experience the joy yourself.
Speaker: Experience it yourself through a personal relationship with Christ that comes through repentance from sin and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Peter wrote about it in 1 Peter 2, verses 24 and 25.
Speaker: Here's what he says. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
Speaker: By his wounds, you've been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
Speaker: I love that because it says we were straying, but now we're returning, returning to the shepherd. Jesus paid the price for our sins so that we no longer have to bear the guilt.
Speaker: His wounds heal our hearts. Can you hear the voice of the good shepherd calling to you today? Just like the parable, like in this parable where the good shepherd says, rejoice with me.
Speaker: Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost. The good shepherd said in John 10, 10, here's why I came. I came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.
Speaker: That's why he came. I love these two parables. Perhaps as I've shared this, it's really resonated with your heart. Maybe some things you've known, maybe some things you haven't known.
Speaker: But I want to ask our musicians if they would return. And I want us to have a prayer and just pray, Lord, is there anybody here? They don't know you yet. They don't have a personal relationship.
Speaker: And so they didn't know how how valuable they were. They didn't know that God has got great compassion and love for them. But today they saw a picture, two pictures in scripture. There were pictures, but two pictures.
Speaker: And God's trying to say, this is how much I love you. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this time to look into your word. Thank you for the time to sing your praises.
Speaker: And Lord, I just pray that before we leave this room, we need to extend an invitation in your name. It's not in our name. It's in your name. It's for your glory. We're also trying to say, there's any lost lamb out there, if there's any lost lamb out there, the shepherd's been coming.
Speaker: The shepherd keeps on coming and he will continue to search for you until he finds you. So please let today be that day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
