TITLE: Jesus, the Friend of Sinners
TEXT: Luke 15:1-10
INTRO: Do you remember the nursery rhyme, Little Bo Peep? The rhyme says:
"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn’t know where to find them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
Wagging their tails behind them"
But, lost things do not find themselves. Someone has to care enough to go and search for them.
I. THE GRUMBLING PHARISEES & SCRIBES (v.1-2)
A. They Accused Jesus of Being a Friend of Sinners
1. They meant it as an insult
2. But, He spent time with sinners, not to condone their
sinful ways but to save them
3. The Pharisees thought they were better than anyone
else
4. They were mistaken
(Rom.3:23) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"
5. Thank God, Jesus is a Friend to Sinners
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
B. Jesus Answered Them with Three Parables
1. All three about lost things
2. Tonight we are going to look at the first two & the other
one next week
II. THE SHEEP LOST BY ITS OWN CHOICE (v.3-7)
1. Sheep do get confused and wander from the fold
2. They need a shepherd
3. Human beings are like sheep in many ways
(Isa. 53:6a) "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.. "
4. The shepherd searched for the lost sheep, found it and
carried it home
5. There was rejoicing over the sheep that was found
It was saved from Wandering, Danger, and Death
# When the Model T first hit the street,
It didn’t bring all heaven to its feet.
And when the first computer was born,
They didn’t blow Old Gabriel’s horn.
There’s only one thing that we’re sure about
That can make those angels jump and shout:
It’s when a sinner makes the Lord his choice;
That’s when the angels rejoice.
Now heaven doesn’t strike up a band
For any old occasion at hand;
It’s got to be a special thing,
To make those angels smile and sing.
Now when the United States became a nation,
There was no angelic celebration.
But when one lost sinner comes back home,
They jump for joy around the throne!
III. THE COIN LOST THROUGH CARELESSNESS (v.8-10)
1. The coin was worth about one day’s wage, a big loss for
a poor person
2. The coin was lost because it was mishandled or
misplaced.
3. It had no ability to find its way back where it belonged
4. It was like lost people who are unaware of their condition
5. They don't know how to find God
6. The woman searched for the coin. God seeks us
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell.....
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
- (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
8. If we know His forgiveness, we should seek the lost and
the straying
9. When the lost are found, there is rejoicing [v.9 & 10]
CONCL:
1. Which should we more concerned about, the 99 in the fold
or the 1 which is lost?
2. Do we pray for the lost as much as we pray for the sick?
3. They won’t come on their own, we need to seek them
4. Saved people can stray from God's will, and may need
help finding their way back
Amen
