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Luke Chapter 15
- Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto
him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
- 2 And the Pharisees and
scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth
with them.
They still didn't get it. Jesus came to such
as this. Not to excuse their sin and agree with their sin but to
take their sin away. He came to offer them something much better
than bondage to sin. How can one save a sinner from eternal death if
we never has anything to do with sinners?
True we are not to pal around with someone
who continually sins to give them the impression that we are
agreeing with their sin. The reason we may want to show them
friendship is to get them out of their sin. That is love. Love is to
save a soul from eternal death and see them inherit eternal life in
the process. Love is telling the truth, not enabling them in their
sin.
So many of us want to warn against being
Pharisees or being judgmental and we should be warned against that.
Religion with no compassion for the lost is just as deadly as being
what we think is a sinner. But in warning against legalistic
Pharisees, we have forgotten to warn against sin which people still
need to be saved from.
That is why Jesus came to save all that will
repent and turn to Him for salvation. Whether we commit the sin of
self-righteousness or commit the open sin of breaking the laws of
God, both are still sin that needs to be forsaken and cleansed by
coming to Jesus for salvation.
- Luke 15:3 And he spake this
parable unto them, saying,
- 4 What man of you,
having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave
the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which
is lost, until he find it?
- 5 And when he hath found
it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
- 6 And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was
lost.
- 7 I say unto you, that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,
more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance.
- 8 Either what woman
having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not
light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till
she find it?
- 9 And when she hath
found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together,
saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had
lost.
- 10 Likewise, I say unto
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth.
God wants to save. Let us not miss the
important message Jesus was trying to say here. God wants to save,
the angels want to see us saved. Jesus wanted to see us saved or
else He wouldn't have gone all the way to the cross to save us. We
may weep over a lost loved one but our sorrow is never as great as
God's sorrow when a sinner dies without finding Jesus Christ and
repenting of sin.
When we repent that means we change. That
means that we turn around, stop sinning and turn to God. We become
"born again" by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit stays with us to
help us not to return to the sin we were saved from. God wants this
more than we do. The angels rejoice to see us find eternal life. God
is not sitting in Heaven just waiting for us to sin so that He can
have an excuse to send us to hell. He is doing all He can to save us
from hell. He doesn't desire to kill and destroy but to save.
- John 10:10 The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have more
abundantly.
Jesus is all about life, salvation, good,
love, joy, peace. It is not His will that any should perish without
God.
- Luke 15:11 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 falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
- 13 And not many days
after the younger son gathered all together, and took his
journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with
riotous living.
- 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 swine.
- 16 And he would fain
have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and
no man gave unto him.
- 17 And when he came to
himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
- 18 I will arise and go
to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and before thee,
- 19 And am no more worthy
to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
- 20 And he arose, and
came to his father. But when he was yet 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 unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son.
- 22 But the father said
to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
- 23 And bring hither the
fatted calf, 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.
- 25 Now his elder son was
in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he
heard musick and dancing.
- 26 And he called one of
the servants, and asked what these things meant.
- 27 And he said unto him,
Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf,
because he hath received him safe and sound.
- 28 And he was angry, and
would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated
him.
- 29 And he answering said
to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither
transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
- 30 But as soon as this
thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
- 31 And he said unto him,
Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
- 32 It was meet that we
should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Let us also rejoice with the angels when one
sinner finds His way to God. Let us not be as the brother who was
jealous. He felt like all his faithfulness was for nothing. Not so.
Had this son had a right relationship to God, he would have been
rejoicing along with the father for his brother who was lost but now
found.
God sees our faithfulness but true
faithfulness is rejoicing along with God when just one sinner
repents. A soul saved from death unto life is the greatest miracle
we may ever see. When a church loses sight of this desire to save
the lost, all they become is a social club. The greatest
mission is the mission Jesus instructed us to fulfill.
DC
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