Latest / HBCWestminster / 5.16.21 Luke 15:1-10 Pastor Danny Gardner

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5.16.21 Luke 15:1-10 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Luke chapter 15 verses 1 to 10, I've titled this morning's sermon, You're Never Too Lost to be Found. You're Never Too Lost to be Found. And this will actually be part one because I'll pick up when we meet again. I'm going to cover two parables. Really, Luke chapter 15 is three parables. That's the whole chapter. The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and then what I'm going to call the parable of the lost son, what we call...
• 0:24
  The parable of the prodigal son. And so those are the three parables. And I'm going to divide it. We're going to look at the first two today. You're never too lost to be found, part one. And then when we cover the parable of the lost son, we'll do that. You're never too lost to be found, part two. And so really, it just is the gospel. It is evangelism. These three sermons are a call for people to be saved. If you've got your Bibles open to Luke chapter 15, verses 1 to 10, I would ask you to stand in the honor of reading of God's word. I'll read it. We'll pray and begin.
• 0:54
  In verse 1, Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he's lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he's found it,
• 1:19
  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 found my sheep that was lost. 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's found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me for I have found the coin that was lost.
• 1:48
  Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Lord, thank you for your willingness to save. I thank you for the truth, Heavenly Father, that we, though we are fallen, though we are debauched and wretched and lost,
• 2:12
  because of our sin, that we are never too lost to be found. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came to seek and to save that which was lost, and that you are ever willing to save us from our sin. We rejoice in the gospel this morning, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. When my youngest, when my middle son, Zach, who is now 16 years old, when he was four, I took him to AT&T Park in San Francisco.
• 2:42
  to watch a baseball game that's where the san francisco giants play and uh i and pearson who was about seven and zach all went just the three of us uh and we went to watch this baseball game and you know i had
• 2:54
  These ideas of kind of grandeur, you know, it's an epic baseball stadium. It's beautiful beautiful beautiful San Francisco is a beautiful city and we were there at AT&T Park and it was a massive crowd and those of you who have parented young kids will certainly sympathize as
• 3:12
  you recall what it was like to corral young ones through large crowds when you are shoulder to shoulder and as you're looking at your tickets and then you're looking up at signs and all the while walking and looking down and looking up and walking and trying to keep your
• 3:28
  kids together and they don't know where you're going and they're just you know in awe of the number of people and and looking at buildings and looking at the stadium and all of those things and thinking about all of the fun things they're going to eat and popcorn and everything else you know trying to corral them and keep them together all the while looking down and then looking up and then walking and doing all of that trying to find your seats in that pandemonium and commotion
• 3:50
  At one point I stopped and Pearson stopped with me. We were all walking together in the crowd But Zack who was just in front of me and just a little dude kept walking He didn't know that we had stopped and I was either looking down or looking up But I didn't notice that he continued as I stopped I was looking at a sign and the crowd kind of filled in around him and you guys he disappeared he disappeared
• 4:14
  In the middle of a massive crowd in the middle of a massive city in the city of San Francisco I had lost my four-year-old son
• 4:25
  I, of course, scrambled. I told Pearson, you stay right with me, right? I mean, holding his hand so I don't lose two, holding his hand. And I scrambled and I'm yelling his name and I'm pushing people out of the way, looking for my boy before he gets completely lost. And when I found him, which was not all that long, it was only probably less than a minute. But when he realized that he was lost, immediately started crying, whining, whimpering. You know, he's just a little dude.
• 4:53
  terrified, and I was terrified, and when we were reunited, what response do you think I had when I found him? What was my response? Perhaps you will remember the 1990s movie Dead Poets Society. It's a great movie.
• 5:11
  When Robin Williams challenged his students to reconsider how they viewed the world. And, you know, if you've got this downtrodden, very somber group of students going to a very somber and solemn school, and he's talking about that barbaric yelp. I mean, a yell of victory, a yell, a scream of celebration. I mean, that's what I did. I found my little boy, a barbaric yelp. You know, yes, yes, thank you, Lord.
• 5:40
  I have found him. We find in Luke chapter 15, two times in our text in verses 7 and 10, that heaven rejoices. Heaven rejoices when lost sinners are found.
• 5:55
  And what I imagine, church, when heaven rejoices, what kind of rejoicing do you think that is? Do you think when a sinner repents and turns to God and the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, when that blood works again and that sinner crosses over from death to life, do you think when that happens and news spreads among the myriads of angels in heaven that another sinner has repented and the blood of Jesus has worked again, do you think they just mildly clap and say, well, that's nice?
• 6:25
  Oh, that's great. You know, that's great news. I don't think it's subdued at all. I think it is a barbaric yelp. I think it is the same reaction I had when I found my son. He was lost and now he's found. And church, that is the attitude in heaven. That is the eagerness with which heaven receives.
• 6:51
  sinners, you'll notice in verses 1 and 2, verses 1 and 2 kind of set the context, and the context is important. As I said, the context in these two verses sets up three consecutive parables, which Jesus will tell. He doesn't stop talking. This happens in verses 1 and 2, and Jesus starts preaching, okay? He tells these three parables because of what happens in verses 1 and 2. It says in verse 1, the tax collectors and the sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
• 7:19
  We find in verse 1 that sinners were attracted to Christ like bugs to a light bulb on a dark summer night. They were just surrounding him, swarming him. There were always massive crowds of sinners and tax collectors. The wording here does not imply a one-time event like it happened once, but could literally be rendered. Same wording. Sinners were always drawing near.
• 7:47
  Another way to word it, sinners were busying themselves drawing near. And don't miss the fact, church, don't miss the fact that the Lord Jesus let them draw near. The people that he wanted with him were those that were sinners. And let us follow the example of Christ as we too are not to be of the world. We don't want to be stained by sin. We're not to be of the world.
• 8:17
  Another way to word that we are not to set our watches By the town clock does that make sense like we're not going to take our cues from the world We're not going to set our watches by what the world says by the town clock. We're not going to determine our morality We're not going to define right and wrong. We are not going to get our word definitions from the world
• 8:38
  we're not going to measure our success using the world's ruler we are not going to educate and train our kids the way the world does because the world is off the rails but we are to be in the world we're not to be of the world but we are to be in the world we are to engage the world the way that christ did christ was accessible we see in verse 1 and so should we be
• 9:02
  Christ was gracious to those in need, and so should we be. Christ was unintimidating, and so should we be. He was available to sinners. It should also be noted. My favorite phrase in this morning's text comes in verse 2. When the Pharisees and scribes finally catch up with Jesus, now you'll recall that the emphasis of his teaching shifted in chapter 14. For several chapters from 11 to 14, he had been...
• 9:30
  confronting the religious elite, the Pharisees, the scribes who were coming against him. And he was confronting them over and over, but there was a shift. We talked about it last Sunday, a shift in his preaching away from the religious elite now to the training up of his disciples. And we notice in verse two that the Pharisees and scribes finally catch up with Jesus. And it says they grumble about him. Look at verse two, the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled.
• 9:57
  So you see this swarm of sinners around Christ, right? Which is exactly what Christ wanted. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. What a testimony, the very thing that we rejoice in and from which we derive the most joy in our faith. The fact that we can have communion with the Father through the sacrifice of the Son.
• 10:24
  That is the joy that we have in salvation that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them I mean that is literally that's communion, right? That is the Lord's table. We celebrate he eats with them. He has fellowship with them. He has communion with him That is the very thing for which the Pharisees held him in contempt The word for grumble is used only one other time in the New Testament
• 10:50
  One other time, the Greek word for grumble, I know the English word grumble is used other places, but that Greek word is only used twice. Both times it is used by our author in the Gospel of Luke. The other time it's used in chapter 19 and verse 7, when the Pharisees saw that Jesus was willing to go into the house of a wee little man. Do you remember that? The man Zacchaeus, the short tax collector. And Jesus was willing to go into his house and eat with him, a sinner.
• 11:20
  And they grumbled. That word for grumble literally means to murmur greatly or to murmur constantly. They argued, they grumbled, they complained. They castigated Jesus continuously because he was willing to receive sinners. Now, the reason I find this wording so fascinating.
• 11:41
  Is because in that one declaration in verse 2, this man receives sinners and eats with them. In that one declaration, which was intended to be a criticism, we actually find the gospel itself. What better way to share the good news than to say simply that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them.
• 12:01
  Just try this, church. Just go around. The people that you've been sharing the gospel with, your friends, those you have a relationship with, those who are in your circle of influence already but don't know the Lord, just go to them and ask them, is your life perfect? Have you lived a perfect life? Do you ever make mistakes? Do you ever wish you have any regrets? Do you ever wish you could go back and do some things over? They'll say, yeah, of course. I mean, you know me. I'm not perfect. Great. Great. Jesus is for you.
• 12:27
  Jesus is recruiting. He is recruiting. He wants people in heaven. He wants to forgive them. And you're exactly who he came for. And that's exactly what they're now criticizing Jesus for. It's the very thing we rejoice in. And in their efforts to spread discord and rejection among the people, the Pharisees were actually unwittingly sharing the very message that Jesus came to preach.
• 12:52
  And beloved church, may it also be said of us that we receive sinners and eat with them. What a compliment such an accusation would be. What I love about this declaration, this man receives sinners and eats with them, Jesus actually uses it as a platform to share the gospel. That's what he says. Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what I do. And he's going to use it as...
• 13:14
  a platform the chapter chapter 15 in the gospel of luke the 15th chapter of luke is in my opinion one of the best it is rich in the doctrine of grace that's why i like it so much perhaps more than any other chapter we find in it the elaboration on jesus's purpose statement when he said that he came to seek and to save that which was lost jc ryle has said the very saying which was meant for a reproach
• 13:40
  was adopted by the Lord Jesus as a true description of his office. In other words, he is going to use their accusation as a springboard, as a launching pad to say, that's exactly what I'm doing. You nailed it. You can almost hear his voice. They're all saying, you receive sinners. And he says, you know, that's pretty well said. Let me actually elaborate on that. That's exactly what I'm doing. Ryle continues. He says, few chapters.
• 14:04
  Few chapters have ever done more good to the souls of men and we should take heed that it does good to our souls too. You know, church, the last dozen sermons or so I have preached on Sundays and Wednesdays honestly have felt really heavy to me. I hope they have not felt as heavy to you as they have felt to me. They have been heavy in doctrine. They have been heavy in content.
• 14:29
  I'm just ready to preach some good news. And here it is, church. Good news in chapter 15. The Lord Jesus and even heaven itself rejoices in sinners being forgiven. This is not a heavy sermon. This is great news. Just calling people to come into joy, the joy of heaven. Rejoice with us in the forgiveness of sins. And this morning we share in heaven's joy as we revel in our seeking Savior.
• 14:58
  In chapter 15, Jesus tells three consecutive parables to illustrate the exact point that the Pharisees had preached. Heaven rejoices over the lost sheep, over the lost coin, and then the next time we meet over the lost...
• 15:14
  Son the prodigal son and the readers are meant to come away with the same truth from all three They all three teach the same truth and that truth is this they throw strong light on Christ's willingness to save sinners and as we have said before so I repeat Christ's willingness to save is often far greater than man's willingness to be saved The truth is church that same strong light shines today Christ
• 15:44
  wants to save sinners that is what he wants he does not turn people away instead he offers his own life in exchange for theirs christ we find is ever willing to save that which was lost and that includes you and i and so we can rejoice so let's turn our attention to the first two of christ's parables this week as we do i believe we will see the radiance of the joy of god in the forgiveness of sinners notice he says in verse three
• 16:14
  So he told them this parable. What man of you having a hundred sheep? So he begins by saying, imagine you're a shepherd, right? This is a carer of sheep. So he just says, imagine that you're a shepherd. Now, church, in ancient times, and especially in first century Israel, shepherds were just the worst. They were the worst.
• 16:43
  Despite the fact that so many Old Testament characters were actually shepherds, heroes of the faith were shepherds. Jacob and his sons, the patriarchs, they were shepherds. They were the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel, in fact. Joseph, Moses. Moses was a shepherd. He was their most revered prophet. David was a shepherd. He was their most revered king. Despite that, shepherds were nevertheless despised in ancient Israel. They hated shepherds.
• 17:13
  The shepherding profession was seen as the least among the legitimate occupations. It is the worst thing you can do other than sin to make money. And so shepherds were considered the very bottom of the social ladder. They ranked in the Pharisees' minds, shepherds would have ranked just above the outcast line, the untouchables. The only thing below shepherds were tax collectors and sinners like the sick.
• 17:40
  like the beggars like the prostitutes they would have ranked below shepherds but that was it i mean shepherds were the bottom of the rungs on the ladder shepherds were considered uneducated they were considered unskilled and so they were deemed dishonest they were unreliable they were unsavory to the point that they were actually disqualified to testify in jewish trials you could not have a shepherd as a witness
• 18:07
  The only others in Jewish society who were disqualified to testify in court were women. Now we will return to this, I think, in the second parable, right? So Jesus starts with, imagine you're a shepherd. They would have been offended. The second parable, he says, imagine you're a woman. I mean, that just, that would have set them off.
• 18:24
  Imagine you're a woman. I love that. Great stuff. And the Bible we notice is always, always the agenda of God himself is to elevate the outcast, elevate those who were thought lowly of. Shepherds, women, he uses for his parable, right? At the beginning of his life, when Jesus is born, who does he appear to? But to shepherds.
• 18:45
  right shepherds were the testimonies shepherds were the witnesses at the end of his life after he's died who does he appear to first but women i mean this is he's always trying to elevate those who were low the outcasts of society now some of the nature of this dislike of shepherds was the fact that sheep had to be watched seven days a week there was never a day you could take off which means that shepherds were unable to comply with the pharisees man-made sabbath regulations
• 19:15
  because they were constantly in violation of their Sabbath law. The Pharisees had deemed shepherds as constantly ceremonially unclean, which means that they were unwelcome in other people's homes. They were unwelcome in the synagogues. They were unwelcome in the temple. So they were cut off from Jewish life. They couldn't even worship. You can imagine the stir it caused when Christ, in John chapter 10, called himself, of all things, the good shepherd. The good shepherd.
• 19:45
  He not only associated with the lowly, but he actually even called himself one. Recall, church, that Christ did not come for those who had a high opinion of themselves. He came for the lowly. He came for the outcast. He came for the shepherd. He came for the sinners. As you're sharing the gospel, as you're evangelizing, like I said, that sphere of influence, right?
• 20:10
  And not necessarily going door to door and just standing in the Walmart parking lot and sharing. If that's your gift, go use it. But just sharing the gospel with those the Lord has already put in our lives. If you come across somebody who says, no, I'm not a sinner. I've never done anything wrong. I've never made a mistake and I have no regrets. Okay, just go to the next person, right? They're saying they don't need a savior. That's not who Christ came to save. Rather, he came for those who knew that they had messed up.
• 20:38
  That Christ didn't come for the Sunday morning saint, the one who never sins, the one who pretends to be righteous. He came instead for the Saturday evening sinner. And here in our parable, Christ does the very thing he had done before. He calls himself our shepherd. He is a shepherd. We notice with a vast flock. Continue in verse 4. What man of you having a hundred sheep? A hundred sheep would have been a very large flock at the time.
• 21:06
  more probably than any one single shepherd would have owned. Standard practice would have been for shepherds to combine their flocks into one large flock and then to hire multiple, what were called under-shepherds, whose job it would be to tend the sheep while the shepherd was away. You know what's interesting, and if I can just give this as an aside, this is the exact terminology used of Christ and his church. Christ is depicted as the chief shepherd, the great shepherd.
• 21:34
  Right? The people of God are his flock. And then he calls pastors, elders, overseers, actually calls them under shepherds. They are the under shepherds. They are the ones, the pastors, I myself in the under shepherd. I'm not the shepherd of Highland Baptist Church. I am the under shepherd. I have been entrusted with this flock.
• 21:54
  right? To prepare them, to equip them, to pastor them, to lead them, to oversee them well, so that one day I can hand them to the chief shepherd. The flock belongs to him, not to me. It's not my church. People ask me sometimes, you know, what's the name of your church? I don't have a church, right? I don't have a church. It's not my church. I pastor the Lord's church at Highland Baptist. I mean, it's his church. It's his flock. Listen to 1 Peter 5, same wording here.
• 22:25
  Verses 1 to 4, I exhort the elders among you, elders, overseers, same word as pastor, shepherd, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as partaker in the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And now notice verse 4, and when the chief shepherd appears.
• 22:54
  you will receive the unfading crown of glory. There will be a day, church, when Jesus appears. And on that day, all of these churches around the world, all of the flocks of God will come together and will be handed back to him. He is the chief shepherd. Elders, overseers, pastors, under shepherds, right? Are under him. They've just been entrusted. And so that's what we find here, I believe, in verse four. This man is probably...
• 23:21
  has these under shepherds all of them kind of watching over the flock and we notice not only is jesus our shepherd our chief shepherd but we find that he is a caring shepherd a lost sheep posed a serious problem to itself and you guys if a sheep got lost i mean much easier the lazy shepherd would just say man just let him go but a lost sheep was a serious problem to itself sheep
• 23:48
  which had strayed from the shepherd and from the flock were easy pickings for predators. You know, the same is true of sheep today. And by this, I'm talking about allegorically here, metaphorically, sheep today, the people in the church. If sheep stray from the under shepherds, if sheep stray from the church, they're easy pickings, right? Predators are going to come eat them. First Peter chapter five and verse seven calls the devil a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Can I just encourage you, stay in the flock.
• 24:16
  Stay in the flock. Make sure you've got an under-shepherd always watching over you, always watching over your family. Sheep which had strayed from the shepherd were often stolen by nefarious evildoers. You find the sheep, man, you just steal it. That's what people do. Colossians 2 and verse 8 says to see to it that no one takes you captive. No one takes you captive, steals you, kidnaps you by hollow and deceptive philosophy. Sheep which had strayed from the shepherd.
• 24:44
  we're even in danger of just falling over and not being able to get get back up this actually happens actual sheep this happens they can have so much wool their wool grows
• 24:57
  so thick is so fluffy and is so heavy that if a sheep ever lays down in the grass to rest and ends up tipping onto its side, you can see videos of this on YouTube. It's the craziest thing. If it tips onto its side, its feet, there's so much wool, its legs actually can't touch the ground. It's just got these little sticks hanging out and they can be kicking like crazy. It can't get back up. Eventually, if it lays that way, or even as it's struggling, gets further and further onto its back, it's like a turtle that's been flipped over.
• 25:26
  It can't right itself and it will die either from hunger, thirst, or exposure. Like a life alert commercial for sheep, right? I've fallen and I can't get back up. It's continued struggle will often cause it to just die of exposure. And a good shepherd's job was to track down a wandering sheep. Verse four, if he's lost one of these sheep.
• 25:50
  Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? That is not to say that he's just going to leave all the 99 by themselves, right? We're talking about he's got all these under shepherds. He's not just going to leave all of the 99, just let them all die so that the one can be found. That's not what he's going to do. He's going to entrust them to the care of others. Verse 5, and when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders.
• 26:12
  rejoicing you can imagine its legs over his neck on both sides right its belly up against his head on the back side of his neck over his shoulders and would begin to make the often arduous journey back a full-grown sheep would weighed upward of a hundred pounds and yet the shepherd we find would carry the animal to safety
• 26:34
  rejoicing along the way, verse 5. He's not begrudging the sheep. He doesn't hate the sheep. He's not threatening the sheep. Instead, we find he is rejoicing. And notice verse 6, when he comes home. When he comes home, it doesn't say he goes back to the field. When he comes home, he's probably come back after the sun has gone down. All of the other sheep have been brought into the pen. He comes home. He calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep.
• 27:02
  that was lost. What a celebration to seek and then to save a treasured sheep which had been lost. And I love this. And he says, 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.
• 27:24
  That Jesus draws the Pharisees and the scribes into the story only to nail them with the application. You can almost hear them as they're thinking, right? You can almost hear their thoughts. I would never leave. I would never stray. I'm not, you know, how dare that dumb sheep leave the flock. Who would ever do that? And then he says, no, you weren't the one that strayed. You were the one that stayed pretending like you were righteous.
• 27:52
  These Pharisees were angry over sinners finding Jesus. They were angry about it. And how often we've read of their indifference toward those who were suffering. They did not care about the sufferings of others. Those who claimed to officially represent God on earth knew nothing of his compassion and kindness. They knew nothing of his mission. They knew nothing of the joy that he feels when one lost sheep is found. And in the same way, Christ's second parable,
• 28:22
  presents a poor villager of low social standing facing a major crisis. Continue in verse 8. Or what woman? And so now you can imagine these guys were already offended that he's using an illustration about shepherds, right? They would never associate with someone so low. And now he says, imagine you're an impoverished woman. I want to make sure that you hear this morning, church. It's important. If you've zoned out, zone back in.
• 28:52
  that although the first century religious elite resented being called women, the Lord did not. In fact, in Psalm 23, right, which David actually says, the Lord is my shepherd. He does the same thing. It's the most famous Psalm ever written. In fact, it's probably one of the most famous other than John 3, 16. It's probably the most famous passage of scripture. Even your non-Christian friends know Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. And in that Psalm and verse five,
• 29:22
  King David said that the Lord prepared a table before him. Do you remember this? In the presence of my enemies, the Lord prepares a table before me. In other words, the Lord cooks. He says, the Lord waits on me. The Lord serves me as I sit and eat. Now, all of those, all of those services were jobs of women, not jobs of men.
• 29:45
  The Lord assumed the jobs that were normally associated with women in that culture, and he did not lament about it. He willingly assumed those jobs that were considered lowly. He did not mind being associated that way. In fact, while lamenting over Jerusalem, Christ calls himself, of all things,
• 30:08
  A mother hen. He doesn't call himself a rooster. He doesn't call himself an alpha male. That's what he does. He doesn't say that. He says instead, I am a mother hen. How I would have gathered you together, but you would not have it. This low view of women in first century Israel did not come from the Lord. Do not mistake that church. It was forced upon women.
• 30:30
  By the very men, these very men who had also rejected our Lord. The ones who had rejected Jesus were the ones who had rejected women and thought lowly of them. Notice it says a woman having 10 silver coins. The Greek word there is drachma. In fact, you may even see that in a footnote in your scriptures. 10 silver coins, a Greek drachma was the same as a Roman denarius. A Roman denarius was one day's wage.
• 30:58
  The 10 drachmas probably represented everything this woman had ever saved. It was everything she owned. And so the loss of one of those coins would have been devastating. Now, one commentator actually suggested, speculated that the 10 drachmas could have been the woman's dowry. It's what her family had saved in order for her to be married. And so if she had lost one of these coins, you can imagine.
• 31:21
  it would have meant that she would have remained unmarried and so imagine her response she's lost one notice in verse 8 if she loses one coin what woman wouldn't light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it of course that's what her response would be i mean she's going to move furniture she's going to go turn on all the lights she's going to light all the lights she's going to open all the windows she is going to sweep and sweep and sweep
• 31:49
  until she finds it and when she does verse 9 when she's found it she calls together her friends and neighbors saying rejoice with me for i found the coin that was lost you know i think probably initially after kind of a cursory search of her own home she couldn't find it she probably panicked she probably went to her friends and neighbors and said would you please check your houses see if i somehow have lost it in your house would you start searching your house as well it's what we would do
• 32:18
  She probably called her neighbors and friends, not only because she was so joyful, but also just to say, you don't have to search anymore. It's been found. You can imagine her joy. Imagine her jumping up and down. Imagine her screaming. Imagine her singing. Imagine her thanking the Lord. And just so, Jesus says, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. This is exactly how Christ describes the response.
• 32:48
  of heaven over sinners being forgiven it's not just a mild clap it's not just oh that's great news i mean it is rejoicing church like a shepherd who has found his lost sheep alive like a woman who has found the lost coin right and now her future is secure there is jumping and singing and celebrating and that is what it is like in heaven it is a barbaric yelp and i've got great news church not just good news i've got great news
• 33:18
  Christ receives sinners and eats with them. What the Pharisees hated about him is the very thing that we love about him. And if you are one of the lost, then you are not too lost to be found. And if you were one of the lost and have been found, then rejoice, rejoice in the forgiveness of sins, in your forgiveness of sins. I'm going to close our time with this statement. It's one I'm actually going to repeat again.
• 33:47
  when next we meet to study the prodigal son but listen to this statement you're never too lost to be found so come to jesus and live and lord i pray that those who don't know you and so are still fumbling around in the dark those who don't know you and so are still dead in their trespasses and sins would come to you and find forgiveness and find life come to jesus and live lord thank you
• 34:16
  for the good news of salvation thank you lord for a message of joy and celebration god we rejoice the people of god rejoice that we have a shepherd who actively seeks us that like the woman who has lost that lost coin lord you would tip over furniture that you do anything anything to find that which was lost and lord i pray that as your gospel rings out from your people
• 34:42
  as your message rings out from your people that more and more and more would come to knowledge of your son and find forgiveness of sin. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.