A Pursuing God: lost to found Luke 15:3-7 Until he finds it
God is, by nature, a Savior, which sets Him apart from all the gods of men and demons that the world has ever manufactured. He is, by nature, compassionate, tenderhearted, kind, patient, forbearing, merciful, gracious, loving, forgiving. He is, by nature, a Savior Our God, the one true, living God, the God who is not only the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Scripture, the true God, He, along with all of Heaven, rejoice at one great occasion that takes place on this otherwise sin-dominated earth. And that is the salvation of one lost sinner .. . . God is a relentless Savior. He weeps over the lost. He weeps through the eyes of the Old Testament prophets. He weeps through the eyes of His own Son. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He does rejoice in the salvation of sinners. This is Heaven's joy (McArthur)
.
The Thought for the Sheep if he has lost one of them . . . l Is 55:8-9, Jer 29:11-14 redemptive thoughts, not rejecting thoughts. "a sheep is lost." It masters the shepherd’s every thought. He cannot eat bread; he cannot return to his home; he cannot rest while one sheep is lost. He is thinking of nothing but his own lost sheep. The ninety-and-nine are left in safety; but they are left. He leaves them well provided for, leaves them because he can leave them. For the time being he is carried away with the one thought that he must seek and save the lost one, and therefore he leaves the ninety-and-nine in their pasture. "Shepherd, the way is very rocky!" He does not seem to know what the way is, his heart is with his lost sheep. "Shepherd, it is a heavy climb up yon mountainside." He does not note his toll; his excitement lends him the feet of the wild goat; he stands securely where at other times his foot would slip. "Shepherd, it is a terrible path by which you must descend into yonder gloomy valley." It is not terrible to him: his only terror is lest his sheep should perish; he is taken up with that one fear, and nothing else. He leaps into danger, and escapes it by the one strong impulse which bears him on. It is grand to think of the Lord Jesus Christ with his heart set immovably upon the rescue of a soul which at this moment is lost to him The wandering of a soul causes Jesus deep sorrow; he cannot bear the thought of its perishing. Such is the love and tenderness of his heart that he cannot bear that one of his own should be in jeopardy. He can take no rest as long as a soul for whom he shed his blood still abides under the dominion of Satan and under the power of sin; therefore the Great Shepherd neither night nor day forgets his sheep: he must save his flock, and he is straitened till it be accomplished. He has a deep sympathy with each stray heart. He knows the sorrow that sin brings, the deep pollution and the terrible wounding that comes of transgression, even at the time; and the sore heart and the broken spirit that will come of it before long; so the sympathetic Savior grieves over each lost sheep, for he knows the misery which lies in the fact of being lost (Spurgeon)
The Task of the Shepherd leave the ninety-nine . . . go after the one that is lost Luke 19:10, Amos 4:6-13, Zech 3:1-7 If he missed one, he would immediately begin to make inquiries about it: he would not expect it ever to trace back its steps unto the fold again. If he gained intelligence respecting it, he would go in quest of it:
leaving the rest in the pasture, he would seek diligently till he found it: and the more it was in danger of being devoured by wolves, the more assiduously would he exert himself for its recovery. Such is the conduct of our Lord towards our ruined race. We all are fitly compared to sheep wandering from the fold Isa 53:6. Never do we think of “returning to the great Shepherd of our souls,” though every moment exposed to the assaults of a devouring lion 1Pe 5:8. Our compassionate Shepherd came from heaven itself to seek us. He moreover sends his servants into every part of the world. By his word and Spirit he endeavors to apprehend us: nor does he account any labor too great, if he may but succeed at last. Though he has myriads in his fold above, he cannot endure to lose one; nor, while so much as one of his sheep is wandering from him, will he relax his endeavors to bring it back. (Simion)
The Tenacity of the Shepherd until he finds it . . . when he finds it Ezek 34:11-16 Jude 24 He does not stop till he has done the deed. You and I ought to seek after a soul, how long? Why, until we find it; for such is the model set before us by the Master. The parable says nothing about his not finding it; no hint of failure is given; there will never be a sheep belonging to him which he will never find. Oh, brethren, there are a great many whom you and I would never find; but when Jesus is after his own lost sheep so clearly does he see, and so effectually does he intervene, that he will surely bring them in. "If the shepherd would go after a lost sheep, and follow in its track until he found it, how much more may I go after lost souls, and follow them in all their wanderings until I can rescue them?" (Spurgeon)
The Tenderness toward the sheep he lays it on his shoulders
He holds fast the sheep by all four of its legs, so that it cannot stir, and then he lays it on his own shoulders, for it is all his own now. He seems to say, "I am a long way from home, and I am in a weary desert; but I have found my sheep, and these hands shall hold it." John 10:28 "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Hands of such might as those of Jesus will hold fast the found one. Shoulders of such power as those of Jesus will safely bear the found one home.. . . the shepherd finds the sheep, and he lays it on his shoulders. It is an uplifting action, raising the fallen one from the earth whereon he has strayed. It is as though he took the sheep just as it was, without a word of rebuke, without delay or hesitancy, and lifted it out of the slough or the briers into a place of safety. Do you not remember when the Lord lifted you up from the horrible pit? When he sent from above, and delivered you, and became your strength? Christ bears us to-day: we have no need of strength: our weakness is no impediment, for he bears us. We shall not even stumble, much less fall to ruin: the shepherd's feet shall traverse all the road in safety. No portion of the way back should cause us fear, for he is able to bear us even to his home above
The shepherd is consecrated to his burden: he bears nothing on his shoulders but his sheep; and the Lord Jesus seems to bear no burden but that of his people. Having redeemed them first with price of blood, he redeems them still with all his power. Oh the glorious grace of our unfailing Savior, who consecrates himself to our salvation, and concentrates upon that object all that he has and is!
A great sorrow was on Christ when our load was laid on him; but a greater joy flashed into his mind when he thought that we were recovered from our lost estate. He said to himself, "I have taken them up upon my shoulders, and none can hurt them now, neither can they wander to destruction. I am bearing their sin, and they shall never come into condemnation. The penalty of their guilt has been laid on me that it may never be laid on them. I am an effectual and sufficient substitute for them. I am bearing, that they may never bear, my Father's righteous wrath." His love to them made it a joy to feel every lash of the scourge of justice; his love to them made it a delight that the nails should pierce his hands and feet, and that his heart should be broken with the absence of his Father, when he cried, "My God My God why have you forsaken me” when the deeps of its woe was sounded, it was found to be like pearls of joy. No shout of triumph can equal that cry of grief, because our Lord joyed to bear even the forsaking by his Father for the sin of his sheep whom he had loved from before the foundation of the world.
The Thrill of the Shepherd v 5 . . . 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 that was lost Zep 3:17 Now he goes home with it, and this joy of his was then so great that it filled his soul to overflowing. The parable speaks nothing as to his joy in getting home again, nor a word concerning the joy of being saluted by his friends and neighbors. No, the joy of having found his sheep eclipsed all other gladness of heart, and dimmed the light of home and friendship. He turns around to friends and neighbors and entreats them to help him to bear the weight of his happiness. He cries, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost." One sinner had repented, and all heaven must make holiday concerning it. Oh, brethren, there is enough joy in the heart of Christ over his saved ones to flood all heaven with delight. The streets of Paradise run knee-deep with the heavenly waters of the Saviour's joy. They flow out of the very soul of Christ, and angels and glorified spirits bathe in the mighty stream. Spurgeon Some people who look at the record of Scripture and even look at human history, wonder if God is, in fact, a Savior. I was asked just this week by an un-believer the question, if God is a God of love and He stop the disasters in the world and the death of children and the horrible things, why doesn't He? Why doesn't He? What kind of God, people ask, calls for the complete extermination of the Canaanites? What kind of God brings death, opens up the ground, swallows people? What kind of God allows disasters, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, wars, crime, disease? But that's not really the question. Death is inevitable in a fallen world. The question is what kind of a God lets sinners live. What kind of a God allows the sinner to sin and sin and sin and sin knowing that the wages of sin is death and the soul that sinneth, it shall die? God has the right at any moment to step in and take the life of every sinner the first moment they are born, the first breath they take, for they bring into this world their fallenness inherited from Adam. The question is, what kind of God lets sinners live. What kind of God lets the rain fall on the just and unjust? What kind of God lets them enjoy the beauty and the wonder of His creation? What kind of God is so patient and forbearing as to demonstrate that He is, by nature, a Savior of all men on a broad sense in that He lets sinners live, that is, He shows His saving nature by saving them physically and temporally from what they deserve when they deserve it. The only answer to that is a God who is, by nature, a Savior. What kind of God says to Adam, "in the day you eat, you die," and Adam lives over 900 years?...a God of patience and compassion. That is God who is our Savior. He is the Savior of all men in a broad sense, temporally and physically, but especially is He a Savior of those who believe spiritually and eternally. And why does He save? Why does He want to lead sinners to repentance and salvation?...for this is His joy.. . . Where do we find our joy? What is our highest joy? What brings us the deepest satisfaction and the greatest fulfillment? Someday, when we all gather around the throne in Heaven, it will be very clear. We're gonna sing a new song, says Revelation 5. "Worthy are You to take the book and break its seals, for You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." And "You...made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth." And then all the angels begin to chime in and all of Heaven says, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And then, "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And that's what Heaven is gonna sound like as it's an eternal celebration of the recovery of the lost. We need to be understanding Heaven's joy. It should be our joy. The whole joy of Heaven is predicated on the fact that God is filled with joy. Sure, it all fits together, but our joy should come from God's joy. Why do I evangelize?...satisfy the work of Christ, yes, to bring joy to the sinner. But even beyond that, the transcendent motivation for our evangelism is that we can be instruments in the joy of God. You know, that is just such an overwhelming thought to me because, as a Christian, you're the same way that I am, I know. You spend most of your time grieving because you disappoint God. Right? I mean, it gets old. And the older you get, the longer is your track record of disappointments. Something to be said for being young. You don't have as many failures to deal with. You think God must be unhappy with me. I must make God sad every day. But here, I can participate in the joy of God and I can not only make God rejoice, but all of Heaven rejoice if I allow myself to be an instrument through which the Great Shepherd recovers the lost. What a glorious way to view your life. This is the Great Commission. (McArthur)
. . . point is, how is it that God can be so eager, that God can be so desirous, that God can be so concerned to seek and save the lost, and you, who claim to be God's representatives on earth only despise the lost? How can that be? Another way to say that was, you couldn't be further from the heart of God. You despise the lost and God rejoices over them. You don't want to go near the lost and God pursues and finds and carries them back. How warped are you? You are far from the heart of God and you are caught up in superficiality and triviality while souls all around you are perishing. (Mc Arthur)
Comments