December 15, 2013
Evening Service

Jesus plainly spelled out for us what He expects from someone who wants to follow Him.

Luke 14:33 (NLT) So no one can become My disciple without giving up everything for Me.

• We are expected to be in total submission to Him.  His will becomes our will.  When we count the cost and choose to follow Christ we are to be all in, holding nothing back. 
• God did not choose to change the world by creating a new government or a new military force on the earth.  He chose to do it one changed life at a time.
• God offers to everyone the chance to become a new creature (2C or 5:17).  We are to seek to do His will and surrender our own.  Through Him we can change the world.

 

 

Luke 15:1-2  And all the tax-collectors and sinners drew near to Him in order to hear Him.  (2)  And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.

• We again see the religious leaders of the time murmuring against what Jesus is doing and who He is doing it with.
• Jesus’ message of a changed life appeals to those who are tired of the way they are living and know there has to be something more to life than what they have.  Tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Him and this message of redemption. 
• In three separate parables here in chapter 15 we see the heart of Jesus for the lost souls. 

Mar 2:16-17  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with tax-collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, How is it that He eats and drinks with tax-collectors and sinners?  (17)  When Jesus heard, He said to them, They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who have illness. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

 

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

 

Luke 15:3-7  And He spoke this parable to them, saying,  (4)  What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he finds it?  (5)  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  (6)  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.  (7)  I say to you that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

• Jesus is our shepherd and we are the lost sheep. We see the value Jesus places on each of us. 
•  What a difficult journey He had to make to find us.  He had to become one of us and suffer a terrible death in order to rescue us from our sins.
• He did not simply hope we would find our way home, but He came down here looking for us and when He found us He lifted us to His shoulders and carried us.  He and all heaven rejoice when each sinner who finds his way home.
• We were created for that purpose, to share a relationship with our Creator.  He not only saves us from our sins, but restores us to a right relationship with God, one that is very personal and intimate.

 

Luke 15:8-10  Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does she not light a lamp and sweep the house, and seek carefully until she finds it?  (9)  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.  (10)  Likewise I say to you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

• Have you ever spent a long time looking for a lost penny?  What about something you value greatly?
• It can drive you crazy looking and trying to think where it could be.  Everything else seems so trivial compared to finding that thing you value which is lost.
• This is a picture of Jesus’ heart for those who are lost.  It is first and foremost on His mind and everything else takes a back seat to it.  We as His church need to adopt the same desire for those who are outside of the faith. 
• In all the things that we need to place great value on those who are lost.  We are to reach out to a lost world and point them to Jesus who can andwill save them.

 

Luke 15:11-24 And He said, A certain man had two sons.  (12)  And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that is coming to me. And he divided his living to them.  (13)  And not many days afterward, the younger son gathered all together and went away into a far country. And there he wasted his property, living dissolutely.  (14)  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be in want.  (15)  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.  (16)  And he was longing to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, and no one gave to him.

 (17)  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I perish with hunger!  (18)  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you  (19)  and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.  (20)  And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  (21)  And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son.  (22)  But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.  (23)  And bring the fattened calf here and kill it. And let us eat and be merry,  (24)  for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.

• What a beautiful picture of redemption is painted here.  In Luke 14:11 Jesus told us that “he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Our new life after repentance is one in which we get much more than we deserve.  We desire to be simple servants, yet He calls us His sons and daughters.   He came “not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  (John 3 :17)
• Next we see an example of the 99 unlost sheep and how they need to accept their place in the plan of God.

 

Luk 15:25-32  And his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing.  (26)  And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  (27)  And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and sound.  (28)  And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  (29)  And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends.  (30)  But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots; you have killed for him the fattened calf.  (31)  And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  (32)  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

• The faithful son does not understand the heart of his father.  He loves them both equally, yet the son who was lost was always his first concern.  A parent always worries more about a sick child than a healthy one.  His child was lost and is now found; dead and is now alive again.  It should be a time of rejoicing for all.
• This is not unlike Jonah’s reaction to God showing mercy upon Nineveh.  He is God and we are not.  We need to seek to have His heart for the lost.
• The story of the father who found his saved son and his unsaved friend drowning in deep water with only one life preserver to offer.  His choice to save the unsaved friend shows the true heart of the God we serve.

 

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for.  We serve a God who seeks us when we are lost no matter the cost and all heaven rejoices with Him when He finds us.

 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.