Luke 2:46 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Losing and Finding Jesus

Introduction:

There are hundreds and thousands of people who start to follow Him and then, for some reason, they are turned aside.

Like Demas, the pleasures of the world entrance them.

At any rate, they lose Jesus.

There are some in this audience now to whom the subject applies.

We may lose Him, but He does not lose us.

He is not far away, and if we are willing to seek after Him, He will surely be found of us.

After three days they found Him!

This text brings first of all an Old Testament picture before us.

Turn to the Book of Exodus, the twelfth chapter.

It is night.

The night of doom.

Homes are in danger.

The Passover lamb has been slain.

The blood has been collected in a basin. A bunch of hyssop has been dipped in the blood and the blood sprinkled on the posts of the door, for the word of God was this.....

"When I see the blood, I will pass your door."

Now turn from the Old Testament to the New, to the words in

1 Corinthians 5:7 KJV 1900

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

"Christ our passover!"

I know, as you do, that the Old Testament loses its power over us unless we put Christ into it, or unless we find the Christ who has always been there.

Losing And Finding Jesus

So the Old Testament passover links us to the New Testament passover, our Lord Himself.

Then turn to Matthew 26:18, and read the latest mention of the passover in the Gospel.

Matthew 26:18 KJV 1900

And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

The disciples have come to the Master, saying: Where shall we eat the feast? And the Master said: "Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, the Master saith, my time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples."

Oh! this was a memorable keeping of the feast, Judas was present, and the Master said, "One of you shall betray me."

They began to say: "Lord, is it I?" and Jesus answered, "It is he who dippeth in the dish with me."

Then Judas turned to go out, and Jesus said: "What thou doest, do quickly."

Just here a suggestive sentence is found. "It was night."

John 13:30 KJV 1900

He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

I stop long enough to say that when a man turns his back upon Jesus, it is always night. You cannot drive back the darkness and the gloom.

Turn your back on Jesus, and just so surely as you do the darkness will begin to settle about you.

It was a memorable feast, too, for this reason.

It says that when they had sung an hymn, they went out.

Here is a new picture of Jesus.

We have seen Him under many different circumstances and conditions.

We have seen Him at the marriage feast in Galilee, when the conscious water saw its God and blushed into wine.

"We have seen Him stop the funeral procession near Nain and take the boy by the hand and give him back to his mother.

We have seen Him with His disciples about Him, teaching them to pray.

We have seen Him sleeping in a boat.

But this is the only time in His earthly ministry when we find Him singing.

Roads were made level and easy to travel. Bridges over streams were strengthened. As the time of the feast drew near, there was great excitement. The night before the passover, every Jewish house was cleaned thoroughly, and when the last bit of cleaning was done, the head of the house said something like this: "And now, if there is any leaven in this house (leaven in Jewish thought meant the principle of evil) it is here against my will."

Would not that be a fine thing for a Christian to say when he is asking God to search his heart?

There was his body, and the hooks had caught in his belt." I have learned that while you can get along without Christ when the sun is shining you cannot get along without Him when your heart is broken.

It is a sad thing to walk without Him.

They sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance and could not find Him.

Is not, this a pathetic thing? Oh, it is sad indeed for a boy to search for Christ in his mother and not find Him.

For a boy to come to the Tabernacle and hear the songs and sermons, and then say: "I know where I will go, I will go home and ask my mother about Jesus." And then, not to find Him!

What a tragedy that is! For a child to say: "I will go out of this building and go back to my father and speak to him and find Jesus." Then not to find Him!

The other day, in the Art Institute in Chicago, a mother was walking carelessly among the pictures. She stopped with her little child before a great painting, and somebody said: "That is Jesus." The little child, looking up to her mother, said: "Who is Jesus?" And the mother, catching the child's hand, said: "Jesus was a man. Come along!"

There is another story, and it is this: A plain little home had undecorated walls, except for a very poor print of Christ before Pilate. The picture showed Him standing there with head bowed, and hands bound. A little child, playing about the room, said: "Who is that?" "Why, my dear," answered the mother, "that is Jesus." "And what did Jesus say?" asked the child, simply. The mother took her in her arms and held her close.

This is what He said: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."

Happy is the mother who can help her child to find Jesus!

Oh, it is a sad thing to try to find Jesus anyone whom we trust and not to find Him.

It is sad to seek for Jesus in a minister and not find Him.

All the time without Him is lost time.

One day to lose Him!

Three days to find Him!

You might as well make up your mind to this now—that your time is not worth anything to you or to God if you are without Jesus.

Come back and keep step with Him.

They found Him where they lost Him.

"Where did you lose Him?

Somebody will say in a whisper: "I know where I lost Him.

I lost Him when I was impatient in my home and did not ask for forgiveness.

I was indignant and unfair to the children, and did not confess it.

I was harsh with my servants, or unfair in my business dealings.

In that way I lost Him." Others will say: "I lost Him at the dance, or at the card table.

I lost Him when I lifted drink to my lips.

I lost Him when I stopped studying this Book.

I lost Him when I was too busy to pray."

Oh, well, it does not make any difference where you lost Him.

Come back and find Him, and you will find Him with the same great-hearted love.

You will find Him with arms outstretched.

You will find Him saying:

Joel 2:25 KJV 1900

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you.