INTRODUCTION:

1. Luke 15 is one of the best-known chapters in the New Testament.
2. Luke 15 contains three well-known stories – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (“The Prodigal Son”).
3. Many Bible teachers have pointed out the unity, the similarities, and the repetition in the three stories, and have suggested that it is really only one parable, not three parables (15:3; cf. 15:8, 11).
4. I.M. Haldeman called it “The Threefold Parable” and said, “It is one parable with three successive parts.”
5. He said the sinner is seen in three categories: a wanderer (lost sheep), a lost value (lost coin), and a squanderer (lost son).
6. Interestingly, the three similar stories represent the place in soulwinning of each Person of the Trinity.
7. In the parable of the lost sheep we have a beautiful picture of Christ the Good Shepherd.
8. Next, we see the church, filled with the Holy Spirit, and led by the Holy Spirit “seeking diligently” (15:8) for lost souls.
9. And then we have a beautiful picture of the love and compassion of God the Father, welcoming the Prodigal Son (15:20).
10. In the Bible, God compares lost sinners to lost sheep (15:4). The prophet Isaiah writes, "All we like sheep have gone astray" (Isa. 53:6).
11. Perhaps there are some here tonight that have gone astray. Or perhaps you are starting to head in that direction.
12. Perhaps there are some here tonight who are lost. The word "lost" in the Bible is a very strong word (Luke 15:4, 6).
13. The same Greek word that is translated lost in Luke 15 is translated "perish" in John 3:16 (cf. Scofield margin). It means spiritually lost. It means being alienated from God; it means on your way to the torments of eternal damnation.
14. One of the most precious verses in the Bible is Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
15. According to our Lord, you are either saved or lost.
16. When the great Titanic went down in 1912, 1,635 people drowned and 705 were rescued. A few hours later, the names of those known to be saved and the names of those known to be lost were posted on two different bulletin boards outside the office of the White Star Line in Liverpool, England. There were only two lists.
17. Beloved, up yonder in heaven, next to the throne of God, there are only two lists (John 3:18, 36).

1. THE LORD GOES AFTER LOST SHEEP
2. THE LORD REJOICES WHEN THE LOST ARE SAVED
3. THERE IS JOY IN HEAVEN WHEN THE LOST ARE SAVED

 

I. THE LORD GOES AFTER LOST SHEEP

1. The shepherd was concerned over one lost sheep (Luke 15:3, 4). We ought to be just as concerned.
2. One of the greatest preachers of all time was John Wesley. He said that the church has but one job and that is to win souls.
3. Many Christians have lost sight of this. Most preachers today do not even win souls. People all around them are lost and on their way to hell but they do not seem to care. May God have mercy on them!
4. I recall reading an interview of a pastor with a big church down south. The interviewer asked the busy pastor about his schedule. There was no mention at all about soulwinning, evangelism or even church visitation.
5. So there is a problem with Christians not going after lost sinners.
6. Our Lord said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
7. Here is another problem we face: most people do not see themselves as lost. It is a terrible thing to be lost and not know it.
8. A sheep could fall off a cliff, could break a leg, could get devoured by wolves or coyotes, could get bitten by rattlesnakes, could get stuck in a thorn bush, or in a number of dangerous situations. A lost sinner is just as helpless as a lost sheep, and is in just as much danger.
9. The Lord goes after lost sheep. This parable is not about 99 sheep in the wilderness. This parable is about the one lost sheep that got away.
10. Before we go any further, let me remind you that it is the Lord that goes after lost sinners and it is the Lord that saves lost sinners. We often hear people say they have "found the Lord," but the Bible says, "And when he hath found it…" (Luke 15:5).
11. If you are saved today, do not tell others you have found the Lord. How could you find Him? He was not lost; you were the one who was lost. You did not find Him; He found you. He says: "For I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:6b).
12. A few years back I read in the newspaper about a drunken man who fell asleep while smoking in his bed. The whole house burned down but a brave fireman climbed up to his bedroom window and saved his life. Do you think the newspaper reporters praised the drunken man for saving himself? Do you suppose the headlines read: DRUNKARD FINDS FIREMAN WHILE SLEEPING IN BED?
13. Or, DRUNKEN HERO SAVES HIMSELF? No, it was the fireman who did the searching, and the rescuing, and the saving.
14. Beloved, if you are saved today, give God the glory. God does all the saving. All a lost sinner can do is repent of his sin (15:7, 10, 17-22) and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
15. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13).

 

II. THE LORD REJOICES WHEN THE LOST ARE SAVED (15:5).

1. It does not say here that the shepherd found the sheep and gave him a beating for being lost (15:4-7).
2. All these parables emphasize the same point – the Lord rejoices when lost sinners are saved. The father did not whip his prodigal son (15:20-24).
3. The Lord did not come into this world to punish lost sinners, but to save lost sinners. "For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17).
4. Our Lord said in John 12:47, “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
5. Lost sinners are already condemned. When they get saved they are no longer under condemnation.
6. Our Lord said in John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
7. Rom. 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
8. Lost sinner: God does not want to beat you and then cast you into hell. The devil wants that. God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners (John 3:16).
9. The shepherd in this parable represents the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
10. Our Lord said in John 10:15, “I lay down my life for the sheep.”
11. Our Lord said in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”
12. The Good Shepherd is persistent. He goes after the lost sheep "until he find it" (Luke 15:4).
13. The Good Shepherd is caring – “And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders” (15:5).

 

III. THERE IS JOY IN HEAVEN WHEN THE LOST ARE SAVED (15:6, 7, 10).

1. Our Lord said, "And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me" (15:6).
2. Do you rejoice when people get saved? You ought to. They are rejoicing up yonder in heaven (15:7, 10).
3. One of the most thrilling things for me is when sinners come forward to get saved. And then I look out into the audience and see the faces of smiling Christians. We ought to smile because the angels are rejoicing up in heaven (15:7, 10).
4. And I do not think we have to limit verse 7 to just God and the angels. I believe all the saints up in glory rejoice when sinners get saved.
5. Maybe there is some lost sinner here with a Christian mother up in heaven. Or maybe a Christian father, or grandmother. If you get saved today there will be great rejoicing up in heaven!

 

CONCLUSION:

1. Ira Sankey was on an evangelistic tour with D.L. Moody in Scot­land when he spot­ted the words to a poem in a Bri­tish news­pa­per. The poem was written by a woman named Elizabeth Clephane.
2. Ira Sankey tore the po­em from the newspa­per, put it in his pock­et, and for­got all about it.
3. Lat­er that day, at the end of their ser­vice in Edin­burgh, Moo­dy asked Sank­ey for a clos­ing song. Ira was caught by sur­prise, but the Ho­ly Spir­it re­mind­ed him of the po­em in his pock­et. He brought it out, said a pray­er, then com­posed the tune as he sang. Thus was born “The Nine­ty and Nine.” This was Sank­ey’s first at­tempt at writ­ing a hymn tune. They say it was not bad for a first try!

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

 

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

 

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

 

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

 

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”