The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, & the lost Son pt2

find now what kind of picture does this story paint about our heavenly father and third what is god trying to tell me through and you through these stories and before even start i want to say something that is very important probably most of you are aware that the original bible that was written by the prophets or apostles in this case actually in this case dr luke did not have titles of the book neither subtitles neither chapters or verses and if you they go to various museums or libraries or universities that have those biblical manuscripts you will see and they usually scroll if you open the scroll usually they are open a little bit you will see they do not have titles subtitles chapters or verses they were added later on so as a reference so we can quickly find it when someone is preaching from the holy scriptures so we don't spend much time searching in our bibles where is it but they'll tell us that book that chapter and in this case uh the title for this story is the parable of the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son and i want to share with you something that is very important since this is the revelation of our heavenly father the titles cannot be the parable of the lost sheep the parable of the lost going and the parable of the lord's son because in these stories the main characters are not the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son the main character of the story is the seeking shepherd the seeking woman and the loving father do you get it secondly the most of the text talks about seeking shepherd seeking woman and loving father not the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son the majority of the texts talk about them and the loss the coin and the sh they do not represent our heavenly father is the loss is the seeking shepherd the seeking woman and the loving father that paint the picture of our heavenly father do you understand so the title of this story should be the parable of the seeking shepherd the seeking woman and the loving father okay now let's try to answer the first question in this story what was the reason that jesus told these three parables back to back to back what was the reason and it's very important to read the bible in its context and at the very beginning of the chapter you will see the reason why did jesus tell these parables because it's very important to understand the reason the background of the story in order to understand the message okay so the reason was at the very beginning and it says then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him and the pharisees and the scribes complained saying this man received sinners and eats with them wow so the reason that jesus told these three parables is because he was accused of spending and fellowshipping with reef rafts with social outcome outcasts of that time of spending time with undesirables and this is not the first time that jesus was accused of that we have an example also in the gospel of mark chapter 8 16 17 and they reasoned among themselves saying oh sorry this is the wrong he should be talking about jesus when he was in a uh at the feast with matthew remember and they accuse him that he's eating with the riffraff and then jesus says i did not come to called the sinners to repentance but the right the righteous repentance but sinners he said the doctor those one who need a doctor are not the ones who are well but the ones who are sick so throughout his ministry we see that jesus was accused of spending time with lost people of fellowshipping and befriending the social outcasts in that society and now jesus is responding to that accusation and his main message throughout these stories and throughout his ministry actually it was that the lost people matter to god and they should matter to you and me so the main message of these three parables and of all his ministry is that the lost people matter to god and they should matter to you and me those social outcasts that we see on the streets those riff rafts of 21st century that we call them they really matter to our heavenly father and they should matter to you and me so that's the main theme if you forget anything i say remember that then when we looked at these three parables they are very very similar and there are common themes that we find in these three parables so the first common theme in each of these three parables is that something of a great value winds up missing sheep winds up missing the coin winds up missing and the sun winds up missing something of a great value winds up missing then second common theme is that which is missing really matters to somebody that is which is missing the sheep really matters to the shepherd the coin really matters to the woman and of course the lost son really matters to his father third common theme in these parables is an all-out search is launched all our search is launched and maybe father is not going to search his son where he is but every day he is searching him with his eyes on the horizon looking from the direction that he left another common theme is they search until they find that which is missing they don't give up easily regardless of the circumstances they search until they find that which is missing and another common theme that we have in these parables the last one is that at the end of each story we see that retrievals bring rejoicing have you noticed that when the sheep was found he's taking the sheep putting on his shoulders coming back into the community and he's throwing out the party because he found the lawship the woman when she finds the coin invites her friends and they have a party and rejoice and also the father when the son comes back he throws the party and they are rejoicing because that which was lost has been found so the main theme of these three parables and all jesus ministry was that the lost people matter to our heavenly father and they should matter to you and me and then we have these common themes those similarities in each of these stories so those three stories are having the same point just from different angle okay so when we look at these stories i remember the first time i was that time still secular uh reading the bible and reading this story about the lost sheep and then i asked myself man how in the world can a shepherd leave 99 and go and search for the one which is lost is he out of his mind i mean he's going for one and who is going to protect 99. so he is leaving them vulnerable over there so i couldn't understand this story until i went to study theology and until the professor said seminary taught us about the culture the customs of that time and that background helped me understand better and actually probably you some of you know it but in the middle east culture you never ever have only one shepherd it's minimum of two or three depending on the size of the community and actually the sheep that are in the wilderness they can do not belong just to one family unless they are nomads they belong to the community so all these sheep 99 belong to the community some communities are bigger some communities are smaller but each community hires at least two shepherds if not three or four depending on the size of the community and the size of the ship so actually what if this story happens at least one or two shepherds would take 99 back to the community and one would go and search for the lost one until he finds it oh that made sense once i learned that another thing that i learned also regarding the culture if you were poor in middle east culture you would have a few ship a few ship one till four maximum if you were a middle class you will have from five till fourteen if you were rich you will have 15 and over and now the question that we can ask ourselves what if the sheep that was lost belong to the poor one poor family especially if they had only one ship that's all they have nothing else and i remember the story of david when he committed adultery and then he covered tried to cover that adultery remember by killing the husband of that wife oh boy he went south big time when you try to cover your sins it's better to confess them than to cover them and then god sends the prophet and prophet approaches david with a story remember and it says but the poor man had nothing except one little eve lamb which he had bought and nourished and it grew up together with him and with his children he ate of his own food and drunk from his own cup and lay in his bosom and it was like a daughter to him if you're a poor in the middle east and you have only one ship or one lamp that lamp is more than a favorite path to you it's all you got and it's like a daughter to you or a son a great value and you know in middle eastern culture if you are a shepherd your responsibility is to take sheep to the pasture and clean waters but also to protect the ship and in case something happens like the bear comes or a lion and steals the ship you are supposed to fight with them and remember king david when he came to the soul before he saw the goliath mocking israel and mocking their god he submitted his resume that's why he wasn't the king he was a boy shepherd and he submitted his resume and in his resume it was this but david said to saul your servant used to keep his father sheep and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamp out of the flock i went out after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it arose against me i caught it by ears by its beard and struck and killed it that's what is expected from the true shepherd that's why the community hires the shepherd not just to take sheep to the green pastures and steal waters and take care of them during the day but also protect and if they are in a danger or attack to rescue them but you know you cannot always rescue the ship from the lion or the bear and that's why in amos book of amos chapter 3 verse 12 he says as a sheep takes from the as a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lie on two legs or a piece of an ear here we have an example in case that happens you cannot go back to your community without a ship and say sorry the lion came the bear came it was stupid could not fight it took a lamb i couldn't do anything i apologize no you have to fight for that ship alarm and if possible bring at least piece of that sheep or of that lamp an ear or a leg or something at least something physical evidence to support your story because otherwise community might think that you have sold a lamb or a sheep to someone else and got the money so you need as a shepherd to have a proof to support your story of what happened so when you come home and say i'm sorry this happened but i was able at least to get a leg or an ear or whatever part of this lamp that belongs to you so that is a proof that he did his duty as a shepherd he cannot come back to the village and tell the poor man sorry your sheep has been killed but he needs to bring a proof so when we looked at these three story each one of us is telling us about something that is lost whether it is a lost sheep lost coin or lost son and the bible is also teaching us that we are all lost in romans chapter 3 verse 23 says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god in the same book later on also repeats itself but also isaiah 53 verse 6 says all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way so these three stories describe us humans who have gone astray who are lost and i'd like to share with you one of my favorite author ellen g white in her book christ object lessons on page 189 she says something very interesting but in the parable of the lost sheep christ teaches that salvation does not come through our seeking after god but through god seeking after us we do not repent in order that god may love us but he reveals to us his life in order that we may repent wow what a deep insight huh and there is something else that she says in the same book few pages later but the lost sheep christ represents not only the individual sinner but the one world that has apostatized and has been ruined by sin this world is but an adam in the vast dominion over which god presides yet this little fallen world the one lost sheep is more precious in his sight than are the 90 and 9 that went not astray from the fall christ the loved commander in the heavenly courts stooped from his high state laid aside the glory that he had with the father in order to save the one lost world for this he left the sinless worlds on high the 99 that loved him and came to this earth to be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities god gave himself in his son that he might have the joy of receiving back the sheep that was lost wow so these stories also represent this world humanity that is lost but it also represents the individual and i would like to share with you three greats regarding these three parables in gospel of luke chapter 15. the first parable the lost sheep or the seeking shepherd we have ratio one out of hundred okay and the sheep was lost in the wilderness in other words the sheep was lost in the world the sheep was lost outside of the church and sheep knows it is lost but does not know how to come back and there are many people today in this world that are lost and they know that they are lost something is missing in their life there must be something more than this they say but they don't know know how to come back and what is true so the lost sheep in this story represents lost people in this world it represents lost people who are outside of the church okay then we have the second story that also represents lost people and we have ratio here one out of ten and the coin was lost in the house and the house usually represents the church so the lost coin represents people who are lost inside the church the lost sheep represents people who are lost outside of the church the lost coin represents people who are inside the church and condition of these people and coin is that doesn't know it is lost and doesn't feel the need to come back and this is the worst possible uh case of being lost because you're not even aware that you have a problem everything allows you is telling you houston we have a problem with houston you have a problem but you're not aware we have a problem you're fine you think you're good you think you're okay and you don't feel a need to come back at all you're here every sabbath you worship you give your tights your offering you start your sabbath school quarterly you're okay you're not selling drugs you're not raping you're not killing so you're okay well it depends who is your benchmarks you know what i mean if your benchmarks are like for the pharisee the the tax collector and sinners then you are probably okay but if your benchmark is jesus or someone who is better than yourself probably that will bring you to conclusion that maybe maybe i'm just lost maybe i'm just going through some motions of religion and then the third story the parable of the lost son and actually this is wrong too first it should be called the parable of the loving father but if you want to call it the parable of the lost son it should be called the parable of the lost sons because both of them were lost when you read the story am i right or am i right the parable of the lost sounds and it's not just one out the two losses two out of two lost and this all happened in the family so the parable of the lost son represents those who are lost in your own family it's maybe your spouse is maybe your child is maybe your father maybe your cousin maybe your grandpa grandma grandchild or maybe you maybe i is someone who is lost in your family okay so the parable of the lordship represents those who are lost in the world outside of the church the parable of the lost coin represents those who are lost in the church and the parable of the lost son or sons represents those who are lost in our families and the question that we need to ask ourselves we ask the question why did jesus tell this story because he was accused of spending time with sinners and trying to befriend them and say them second question what does this seven what does this stories tell us about our heavenly father that the lost people matter to him and the third story what is god trying to tell me through these stories is that the lost people matter to him and they should matter to me but also is asking us a question one of my mentor told me very important thing each time you read some story ask yourself who am i in the story who am i in the story and the question that i'm asking you this morning and myself is who am i who are you in this story are you represented by the lost sheep are you represented by the lost coin or are you represented by a lost son who are you very important question to ask ourselves you see when you ask those kind of questions the studying the bible is not boring anymore it becomes communication between you and god it's like a spiritual mirror that is showing who you are and showing who god is and showing what matters to god so the question is who are you in this story who are you in this story and i'm so glad that the shepherd represents god that the woman seeking represents god and that the loving father represents our heavenly father this is his attitude when you are lost whether in this world whether in the church or whether in the family he's not saying they're lost forget about them no he's a seeking god he loves you and you know starting from the very beginning of the book of the bible first book genesis god has been painting as a seeking god who is seeking after adam and eve when they are in their lost state so god is seeking and god is seeking you because you are unique you are special you are one of the kind there is no one else in this universe like you no one else if there was another person in this universe that was like you your worth will go at least 50 down but there is no one else in this world like you you are one of the kind you are unique you are special and when the genes and chromosomes came together to form the unique biological structure of your personality god throw away the pattern and there is a place in god's heart only for you like there is a place in mother's heart who has 10 or 12 children only for that child and if by any chance she loses one of them the other 9 or 11 cannot take place of the one that has passed away and the same thing is with our heavenly father there is a place in god's heart only for you and if you don't feel it if you don't accept him as your creator as your lord as your savior and as your best friend that place in his heart will stay empty forever and there may be billions of people saved and billions of other intelligent being in this world but each one of them have their own place in god's heart but nobody can take your place so if you don't come back to him if you don't allow him to found you if you don't respond to his grace and love and salvation that place in giza your place in god's heart will stay empty forever and our salvation is not the result of us seeking god but the result of god seeking after us like this all three stories represent in the whole bible we do not repent in order that god may love us but he reveals his love to us in order that we may repent and you know he reveals his love to us when we are the worst listen to this romans chapter 5 verse 8 but god demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners christ died for us he didn't die decide to die for you when you repented and turned your back and became good boys and girls hey now i'm gonna go and die for them no while we were still sinners he died for us and his love towards us while we were sinners is bringing us to repentance his goodness and mercy brings us and that's a true repentance we should never repent in order to get heaven or avoid hell true genuine repentance is because you have heard him and you have hurt people around you and you have hurt yourself by sinning and you are not sorry because of the consequences of your sin you are sorry because of the sin itself so our true repentance comes after we experience god's love and we are at worst and one pastor put it beautifully he summarized this verse romans chapter 5 verse 8 listen to this when i was the worst he loved me the most when i was the worst he loved me the most remember that when i let's say together when i was the worst he loved me the worst and i want you to remember that when you are down when you fail when you stumble spiritually or morally or ethically or any other way may holy spirit bring these facts to you that when you are the worst he loves you the most this doesn't give us a license to sin don't get me wrong but you know what not even your mother loves you the most when you were the worst am i right not even your mother loved you when you were the worst and there are some things that not even your mother knows thank god that they didn't find out you would have been a big trouble but when you were the worst he loved you the most and if that doesn't bring you to repentance if that love and grace does not make you in your desire to follow that god to renounce the sins nothing will nothing will when i was the worst he loved me the most and that's why in romans chapter 2 he's talking about that or do you despise the riches of his goodness forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that what the goodness of god leads you to what repentance i failed him again i hurt him again and i can't bear thought of keep hurting him again again and he's still loving me and accepting me when i confess so i finally decide gonna renounce that sin by his grace and in the power of the holy spirit and be free from that sin his goodness mercy and love brings us to repentance and that's why this morning jesus is talking to those of us who are lost in this world for those of us who are lost in the church and for those of us who are lost in our family he's telling you this morning finally he has caught up with us you know what i mean he's been searching and and and running after us for all this year but finally this morning he caught up with us to get our attention and he's telling you and me today come to me come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest i will give you rest i will save you i will forgive you i will put bound on your bomb and oil on your wounds i will heal you i will save you come to me and the question is what will be your answer this morning if we choose to reject that invitation is god going to be mad at you you know someone says god is not mad at you god is mad about you god is not mad at you god is mad about you he is not someone to run from he's someone to run too he is not someone to be afraid of he's someone to be a friend of that's the picture of heavenly father that this story is painting there's a picture so what if we say even to that kind of god no is he going to be upset and angry i want to share with you bible text that is found in the old testament there are some beautiful bible verses in the old testament read the old testament they are the same revelation of loving god as the new testament jeremiah 13 17 this is how god reacts when we reject his grace his love his forgiveness his forever friendship to us but if you will not hear it my soul will weep in secret for your pride my eyes will weep bitterly and round down with tears because the lord's flock has been taken captive wow he's not angry or disgusted with you he's not mad but he's deeply sad to the point that he cries if anything reject makes god cry and deep pain is not our sins even though they make him hurt him and as we know when we look scenes at calvary cross it wasn't without pain but something that even more brings him pain is when we reject the grace when we reject forgiveness when we reject his invitation to be his forever friend when we reject his salvation because he knows that once we reject him there is someone who will then take over them and destroy them for all eternity and he cannot bear a thought of us losing for all eternity that's why he came from heavenly places here so that we can have opportunity to be with him forever he cannot bear a thought or not spend not spending eternity with you so it will make him very sad and i hope no one of us here or the ones who are watching us on livestream will say no to his love to his grace to his forgiveness to his salvation and to his forever friendship that we will accept it embrace it and follow him but what if we say yes what if we say yes there's another bible text that tells us how does god feel when we say yes zephaniah 3 17 the lord your god in your midst the mighty one will save he will rejoice over you with gladness he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with what singing whoa boy god is so overwhelmed with joy he is so happy when we say yes to him when we accept his forgiveness his grace his love his salvation and his forever friendship it touches him so deeply that he out of that joy and love sings and we all have some favorite singers or favorite band or favorite choir and we admire them and we are touched impressed when they sing oh that tabernacle choir oh those pavarottis and domingos and whatever i don't know whether elder is singing or not but uh there is another domino who does sing well and we are so impressed with those people who are gifted by god with wonderful gift of music they touch our heart they shake us but can you imagine what was it like when angels were singing when jesus was born to those shepherds wow what kind of choir was that that's totally different level than tabernacle choir or pavarottis but what about when the creator of music and everything that we see and don't see sings wow if you read the story in the bible you will see when this planet earth was created bible tells us that all other intelligent beings were singing but not god he didn't think when he created us he said it was very good but he didn't sing why because he knew that humanity will turn his back on him he knew that we gonna reject him and he is singing only when we embrace his plan of salvation and jesus christ as our savior and lord his forgiveness his grace his love and one day when jesus comes to take to take us home there will be a great party in heaven bible says remember in the book of revelation what is it called the lambs the supper of the lamb or the banquet of the lamb god will prepare a great table over there we'll make a great party in heaven he will prepare himself food for us wow that's way better than ratatouille and out of love and joy he will have a special music to welcome us back into his arms after seeing us since we've been separated from him for so long and now we are back reunited with him never to be separated again spending and enjoying his forever friendship forever he will be so overjoyed that bible says that he will sing wow and i hope and pray that each one of us here will be in that great crowd when jesus comes whether we are lost in this world whether we are lost in a church or in our own family that we will accept jesus now today today if you hear your voice and when jesus comes very soon that we will be in that great crowd but not only that because lost people matter to god before he comes that we will have at least one that we'll take with us in this community neighborhood work school wherever you are and god will use at least one of have experience to help at least one of people in our community to be safe too and then enjoy that great banquet that great food that great special music and hear god sing for us may god bless each one of you and keep you close to him and now since we are saved that we may join him because lost people matter to him and they should matter to us they're our brothers and sisters and that you will experience joy of allowing jesus to use you to bring someone back into fold amen our praise team will lead us in our closing song which is 289 the savior is waiting he says [Music] the same you're waiting to enter your heart why don't you let him come [Music] what is your answer to [Music] and now he is waiting again to see if you're willing to open the door oh how he wants to come in if you'll take one step toward the savior my friend you'll find his arms open wide receive him and all of your darkness will end within your heart he'll abide time after time he has waited again to see if you're willing to open the door oh how he wants to come in let's pray together heavenly father thank you for revealing yourself to us one more time as god who is not rejecting sinners not condemning sinners but befriending sinners and trying to save the sinners and every one of us here is a sinner just in different way some of us are also lost in different places some of us are lost here in this world still some of us are lost in the church and some of us are lost in our own family and thank you for seeking us and chasing after us and finally you caught up with us this morning and had an opportunity to tell us that you love us in spite of our sins that we are the worst you love us the most and may your goodness love and grace bring us to repentance that we turn our back on sin renounce them and make decision to follow you for the rest of our lives but also father most of us have been found by you for quite some time and we are following you use us as your channels to reach towards those around us who are lost so we can experience that great joy of having partnership with you in saving the others who are lost bless each one of us with the blessings that we need i pray that you may bless the pastor and leadership of this church and you may bless every single member and every single visitor that they may be close to you that they may reach to their community and try to save as many as possible in jesus name we pray amen

Channel: Church in Victoria

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Id: rD_XLeNk6G0

Length: 44min 16sec (2656 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021