The Lost Sheep

05-22-2022

Seeking the lost

Ever lost something so important that you stayed awake trying to remember where it was and then actually got up in the middle of the night to search for it?

Ever lost something so important that you stopped everything to go and find it?

That is exactly what Jesus did. Well He didn’t stop everything but He stepped out of heaven to come find you

John 6:38 NAS

38“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Jesus stepped down out of heaven some 2000 years ago to make it possible for you and I spend eternity with Him

Jesus did this to deal with the sin problem

Jesus did this for those who are in need of a savior

Church Jesus stepped out of heaven to find the lost

This morning as we continue with our Parables of Jesus

We come to the lost sheep parable

The lost one

As we look at the parable, it is in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke

This morning we will actually look at both not to see the differences but to ensure we are getting the big picture

Matthew 18:12–14 NAS

12“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13“If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

This is Jesus teaching about why He came

But like His parables He shares in ways the people will understand

He is using a shepherd and sheep to show that fact that the lost do need someone to go after them and that the good shepherd does in fact go after them

It just makes sense that a shepherd who cares for his flock would go after that lost one

When finds that lost sheep he calls people and rejoices that it has been found

In part he tells others because they may have been helping him look but he is excited because it has been found

Remember the feeling you have when you finally found that super duper important lost item

Then Jesus gives us the info

God rejoices when a lost sinner has been found

That is amazing

God rejoices when lost people are found

Praise the Lord for that

The lost are people who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus

Maybe that’s you this morning

You are lost please know that when you are found

When you walk out of darkness and into life and that only happens through a personal relationship with Jesus that God the Father rejoices

There is a party in Heaven

Now to Luke

Luke 15:4–7 NAS

4“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5“When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6“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 which was lost!’ 7“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

This is the same parable and Luke expounds on it

Not that Luke changes anything but you are able to get a fuller picture when you read both

Same thing

Shepherds go after the sheep

But I also want us to understand

You and I are the sheep and Jesus is the Shepherd

Do we understand that Jesus pursues us

I don’t want us to think that Jesus needs us or that Jesus begs you to come to a right relationship with Him because I don’t think that is the case

But that Jesus does pursue you and I and does in fact desire for you to repent and trust Him and begin that personal relationship

Praise the Lord that Jesus does pursue us

There is a reason those he pursues us because we were lost

Notice the shepherd doesn’t go find the 99 who are not lost but it’s the one who is lost that needs found

Matthew 9:11–13 NAS

11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus did not come for the righteous but for those who needed a savior and let me tell you the last time I checked you and I are in need of a savior

You and I are sinners that are in desperate need of a savior and church Jesus is that savior

You and I were lost in need of some to find us

Jesus stepped out of Heaven to come and look for us

It is through Jesus that we are found

Luke 19:9–10 NAS

9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Salvation has come in the form of Jesus on the cross and an empty tomb

Salvation is Jesus pursuing you and I

He made it possible to have a personal relationship with a Perfect God

It is the grace to you and I

Something we do not deserve but

See you and I do not deserve an opportunity to spend an eternity in heaven with God

But that changes the outcome

The but church is what Jesus did on the cross and the empty grave that makes it all possible for you and I to spend eternity with Him in heaven if only we repent and trust in Him

Church this is a picture of the Good Shepherd coming down from Heaven to seek those who are lost

Remember the found don’t need to be found, it is the lost that need to be found

It is not the righteous that need a savior but rather it is the sinner who needs a savior

In case you forgot that includes each and everyone of us this morning

We are in need a savior

As the Band comes up

Maybe you are here this morning and have never repented of the sin in your life and trusted in Jesus, you are lost and a sinner in need of a savior

I would invite you to the front to speak with someone who can show you in scripture how you can walk out of darkness this morning and into life by repenting of your sin and how you can trust Jesus to be Lord of your life

Or maybe you already have a personal relationship but have drifted because of sin in your life

I would encourage you to come to the altar and run back to Jesus this morning

Jesus never left and is waiting for your

The altar is open