The Parable of the Lost Sheep
A Sermon
(No. 1801)
Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, September 28th, 1884, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
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? And when he hath found it, he layeth
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 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. 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'Luke 15:4-7.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ while he was here below was continually in the
pursuit of lost souls. He was seeking lost men and women, and it was
for this reason that he went down among them, even among those who were
most evidently lost, that he might find them. He took pains to put
himself where he could come into communication with them, and he
exhibited such kindliness toward them that in crowds they drew near to
hear him. I dare say it was a queer-looking assembly, a disreputable
rabble, which made the Lord Jesus its centre. I am not astonished that
the Pharisee, when he looked upon the congregation, sneered and said,
He collects around him the pariahs of our community, the wretches who
collect taxes for the foreigner of God's free people; the fallen women
of the town, and such-like riffraff make up his audiences; he, instead
of repelling them, receives them, welcomes them, looks upon them as a
class to whom he has a peculiar relationship. He even eats with them.
Did he not go into the house of Zaccheus, and the house of Levi, and
partake of the feasts which these low people made for him?' We cannot
tell you all the Pharisees thought, it might not be edifying to attempt
it; but they thought as badly of the Lord as they possibly could,
because of the company which surrounded him. And so, he deigns in this
parable to defend himself;'not that he cared much about what they might
think, but that they might have no excuse for speaking so bitterly of
him. He tells them that he was seeking the lost, and where should he be
found but among those whom he is seeking? Should a physician shun the
sick? Should a shepherd avoid the lost sheep? Was he not exactly in his
right position when there drew near unto him all the publicans and
sinners for to hear him'?
Our divine Lord defended himself by what is called an argumentum ad
hominem, an argument to the men themselves; for he said, What man of
you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not go after
that which is lost, until he find it?' No argument tells more
powerfully upon men than one which comes close home to their own daily
life, and the Saviour put it so. They were silenced, if they were not
convinced. It was a peculiarly strong argument, because in their case
it was only a sheep that they would go after, but in his case it was
something infinitely more precious than all the flocks of sheep that
ever fed on Sharon or Carmel; for it was the soul of man which he
sought to save. The argument had in it not only the point of peculiar
adaptation, but a force at the back of it unusually powerful for
driving it home upon every honest mind. It may be opened out in this
fashion,'If you men would each one of you go after a lost sheep, and
follow in its track until you found it, how much more may I go after
lost souls, and follow them in all their wanderings until I can rescue
them?' The going after the sheep is a part of the parable which our
Lord meant them to observe: the shepherd pursues a route which he would
never think of pursuing if it were only for his own pleasure; his way
is not selected for his own ends, but for the sake of the stray sheep.
He takes a track up hill and down dale, far into a desert, or into some
dark wood, simply because the sheep has gone that way, and he must
follow it until he finds it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a matter of
taste and pleasure, would never have been found among the publicans and
sinners, nor among any of our guilty race: if he had consulted his own
ease and comfort he would have consorted only with pure and holy
angels, and the great Father above; but he was not thinking of himself,
his heart was set upon the lost ones, and therefore he went where the
lost sheep were; for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost.' The more steadily you look at this parable the more
clearly you will see that our Lord's answer was complete. We need not
this morning regard it exclusively as an answer to Pharisees, but we
may look at it as an instruction to ourselves; for it is quite as
complete in that direction. May the good Spirit instruct us as we muse
upon it.
I. In the first place, I call attention to this observation: THE ONE
SUBJECT OF THOUGHT to the man who had lost his sheep. This sets forth
to us the one thought of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, when
he sees a man lost to holiness and happiness by wandering into sin.
The shepherd, on looking over his little flock of one hundred, can only
count ninety-nine. He counts them again, and he notices that a certain
one has gone: it may be a white-faced sheep with a black mark on its
foot: he knows all about it, for the Lord knoweth them that are his.'
The shepherd has a photograph of the wanderer in his mind's eye, and
now he thinks but little of the ninety and nine who are feeding in the
pastures of the wilderness, but his mind is in a ferment about the one
lost sheep. This one idea possesses him: a sheep is lost!' This
agitates his mind more and more'a sheep is lost.' It masters his every
faculty. He cannot eat bread; he cannot return to his home; he cannot
rest while one sheep is lost.
To a tender heart a lost sheep is a painful subject of thought. It is a
sheep, and therefore utterly defenseless now that it has left its
defender. If the wolf should spy it out, or the lion or the bear should
come across its track, it would be torn in pieces in an instant. Thus
the shepherd asks his heart the question'What will become of my sheep?
Perhaps at this very moment a lion may be ready to spring upon it, and,
if so, it cannot help itself!' A sheep is not prepared for fight, and
even for flight it has not the swiftness of its enemy. That makes its
compassionate owner the more sad as he thinks again'A sheep is lost, it
is in great danger of a cruel death.' A sheep is of all creatures the
most senseless. If we have lost a dog, it may find its way home again;
possibly a horse might return to its master's stable; but a sheep will
wander on and on, in endless mazes lost. It is too foolish a thing to
think of returning to the place of safety. A lost sheep is lost indeed
in countries where lands lie unenclosed and the plains are boundless.
That fact still seems to ring in the man's soul'A sheep is lost, and it
will not return, for it is a foolish thing. Where may it not have gone
by this time? Weary and worn, it may be fainting; it may be far away
from green pastures, and be ready to perish with hunger among the bare
rocks or upon the arid sand.' A sheep is shiftless; it knows nothing
about providing for itself. The camel can scent water from afar, and a
vulture can espy its food from an enormous distance; but the sheep can
find nothing for itself. Of all wretched creatures a lost sheep is one
of the worst. If anybody had stepped up to the shepherd just then, and
said, Good sir, what aileth you? you seem in great concern;' he would
have replied, And well I may be, for a sheep is lost.' It is only one,
sir; and I see you have ninety-nine left.' Do you call it nothing to
lose one? You are no shepherd yourself, or you would not trifle so.
Why, I seem to forget these ninety-nine that are all safe, and my mind
only remembers that one which is lost.'
What is it which makes the Great Shepherd lay so much to his heart the
loss of one of his flock? What is it that makes him agitated as he
reflects upon that supposition'if he lose one of them'?
I think it is, first, because of his property in it. The parable does
not so much speak of a hired shepherd, but of a shepherd proprietor.
What man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them.'
Jesus, in another place, speaks of the hireling, whose own the sheep
are not, and therefore he flees when the wolf comes. It is the shepherd
proprietor who lays down his life for the sheep. It is not a sheep
alone, and a lost sheep, but it is one of his own lost sheep that this
man cares for. This parable is not written about lost humanity in the
bulk'it may be so used if you please'but in its first sense it is
written about Christ's own sheep; as also is the second parable
concerning the woman's own money; and the third, not concerning any
prodigal youth, but the father's own son. Jesus has his own sheep, and
some of them are lost; yea, they were all once in the same condition;
for all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way.' The parable refers to the unconverted, whom Jesus has
redeemed with his most precious blood, and whom he has undertaken to
seek and to save: these are those other sheep whom also he must bring
in. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold I, even I, will both search my
sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the
day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out
my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day.' The sheep of Christ are his long
before they know it'his even when they wander; when they are brought
into the fold by the effectual working of his grace they become
manifestly what they were in covenant from of old. The sheep are
Christ's, first, because he chose them from before the foundations of
the world'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.' His, next,
because the Father gave them to him. How he dwells upon that fact in
his great prayer in John 17: Thine they were, and thou gavest them me;'
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am.' We are the Lord's own flock, furthermore, by his purchase
of us; he says: I lay down my life for the sheep.' It is nearly
nineteen centuries ago since he paid the ransom price, and bought us to
be his own; and we shall be his, for that purchase-money was not paid
in vain. And so the Saviour looks upon his hands, and sees the marks of
his purchase; he looks upon his side, and sees the token of the
effectual redemption of his own elect unto himself by the pouring out
of his own heart's blood before the living God. This thought,
therefore, presses upon him, One of my sheep is lost.' It is a
wonderful supposition, that is contained in this parable'if he lose one
of them.' What! lose one whom he loved before ever the earth was? It
may wander for a time, but he will not have it lost for ever, that he
cannot bear. What! lose one whom his Father gave him to be his own?
Lose one whom he has bought with his own life? He will not endure the
thought. That word'if he lose one of them' sets his soul on fire. It
shall not be. You know how much the Lord has valued each one of his
chosen, laying down his life for his redemption. You know how dearly he
loves every one of his people: it is no new passion with him, neither
can it grow old. He has loved his own and must love them to the end.
From eternity that love has endured already, and it must continue
throughout the ages, for he changeth not. Will he lose one of those so
dearly loved? Never; never. He has eternal possession of them by a
covenant of salt, wherein the Father has given them to him: this it is
that in great measure stirs his soul so that he thinks of nothing but
this fact,'One of my sheep is lost.
Secondly, he has yet another reason for this all-absorbing thought,
namely, his great compassion for his lost sheep. 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 til 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 Saviour
grieves over each lost sheep, for he knows the misery which lies in the
fact of being lost. If you have ever been in a house with a mother and
father, and daughters and sons, when a little child has been lost, you
will never forget the agitation of each member of the household. See
the father as he goes to the police-station, and calls at every likely
house; for he must find his child or break his heart. See the deep
oppression and bitter anguish of the mother; she is like one distracted
until she has news of her darling. You now begin to understand what
Jesus feels for one whom he loves, who is graven on the palms of his
hands, whom he looked upon in the glass of his foreknowledge, when he
was bleeding his life away upon the tree; he hath no rest in his spirit
til his beloved is found. He has compassion like a God, and that doth
transcend all the compassion of parents or of brothers,'the compassion
of an infinite heart brimming over with an ocean of love. This one
thought moves the pity of the Lord'if he lose one of them.'
Moreover, the man in the parable had a third relation to the sheep,
which made him possessed with the one thought of its being lost,'he was
a shepherd to it. It was his own sheep, and he had therefore for that
very reason become its shepherd; and he says to himself, If I lose one
of them my shepherd-work will be ill-done.' What dishonour it would be
to a shepherd to lose one of his sheep! Either it must be for want of
power to keep it, or want of will, or want of watchfulness; but none of
these can appertain to the Chief Shepherd. Our Lord Jesus Christ will
never have it said of him that he has lost one of his people, for he
glories in having preserved them all. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept,
and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture
might be fulfilled.' The devil shall never say that Jesus suffered one
whom his Father gave him to perish. His work of love cannot in any
degree become a failure. His death in vain! No, not in jot or tittle. I
can imagine, if it were possible, that the Son of God should live in
vain; but to die in vain! It shall never be. The purpose that he meant
to achieve by his passion and death he shall achieve, for he is the
Eternal, the Infinite, the Omnipotent; and who shall stay his hand, or
baffle his design? He will not have it. If he lose one of them,' says
the passage; imagine the consequence. What scorn would come from Satan!
What derision would he pour upon the Shepherd! How hell would ring with
the news, He hath lost one of them.' Suppose it to be the feeblest;
then would they cry, He could keep the strong, who could keep
themselves.' Suppose it to be the strongest; then would they cry, He
could not even keep one of the mightiest of them, but must needs let
him perish.' This is good argument, for Moses pleaded with God, What
will the Egyptians say?' It is not the will of your Father which is in
heaven that one of these little ones shall perish, neither is it for
the glory of Christ that one of his own sheep should be eternally lost.
You see the reason for the Lord's heart being filled with one burning
thought; for first, the sheep is his own; next, he is full of
compassion; and then again, it is his office to shepherd the flock.
All this while the sheep is not thinking about the shepherd, or caring
for him in the least degree. Some of you are not thinking at all about
the Lord Jesus. You have no wish nor will to seek after him! What
folly! Oh, the pity of it, that the great heart above should be
yearning over you to-day, and should fall to rest because you are in
peril, and you, who will be the greater loser, for you will lose your
own soul, are sporting with sin, and making yourself merry with
destruction. Ah, me! how far you have wandered! How hopeless would your
case be if there were not an Almighty Shepherd to think upon you.
II. Now we come to the second point, and observe THE ONE OBJECT OF
SEARCH. This sheep lies on the shepherd's heart, and he must at once
set out to look for it. He leaves the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness
and goes after that which is lost until he find it.
Observe here that it is a definite search. The shepherd goes after the
sheep, and after nothing else; and he has the one particular sheep in
his mind's eye. I should have imagined, from the way in which I have
seen this text handled, that Christ, the Shepherd, went down into the
wilderness to catch anybody's sheep he could find. Many were running
about, and he did not own any one of them more than another, but was
content to pick up the one that he could first lay hold upon; or
rather, that which first came running after him. Not so is the case
depicted in the parable. It is his own sheep that he is seeking, and he
goes distinctly after that one. It is his sheep which was lost,'a
well-known sheep; well known not only to himself, but even to his
friends and neighbours,'for he speaks to them as if it was perfectly
understood which sheep it was that he went to save. Jesus knows all
about his redeemed, and he goes definitely after such and such a soul.
When I am preaching in the name of the Lord, I delight to think that I
am sent to individuals with the message of mercy. I am not going to
draw the bow at a venture at all; but when the Divine hands are put on
mine to draw the bow, the Lord takes such aim that no arrow misses its
mark; into the very centre of the heart the word finds its way; for
Jesus goes not forth at a peradventure in his dealings with men. He
subdues the will and conquers the heart, making his people willing in
the day of his power. He calls individuals and they come. He says,
Mary,' and the response is, Rabboni.' I say, the man in the parable
sought out a distinct individual, and rested not til he found it; so
does the Lord Jesus in the movements of his love go forth at no
uncertainty; he does not grope about to catch whom he may, as if he
played at Blindman's-buff with salvation, but he seeks and saves the
one out of his own sheep which he has his eye upon in its wanderings.
Jesus knows what he means to do, and he will perform it to the glory of
the Father.
Note that this is an all-absorbing search. He is thinking of nothing
but his own lost sheep. The ninety-and-nine are left in safety; but
they are left. When we read that he leaves them in the wilderness we
are apt to think of some barren place; but that is not intended: it
simply means the open pasturage, the steppe, the prairie: 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. He looks around for his sheep
and seems to see neither crag nor chasm. 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.
It is an active search too; for observe, he goes after that which is
lost, until he finds it; and he does this with a personal search. He
does not say to one of his underlings, Here, hasten after that sheep
which was lost, and bring it home.' No, he follows it himself. And if
ever there is a soul brought from sin to grace, it is not by us poor
ministers working alone, but it is by the Master himself, who goes
after his own sheep. It is glorious to think of him still personally
tracking sinners, who, though they fly from him with a desperateness of
folly, yet are still pursued by him'pursued by the Son of God, by the
Eternal Lover of men'pursued by him until he finds them.
For notice the perseverance of the search: until he find it.' He does
not stop til 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; we dream not that there may 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, depend upon it such is his skill, so clearly does he
see, and so effectually does he intervene, that he will surely bring
them in. A defeated Christ I cannot conceive of. It is a personal
search, and a persevering search, and a successful search, until he
finds it. Let us praise and bless his name for this.
Observe that when the shepherd does find it, there is a little touch in
the parable not often noticed,'he does not appear to put it back into
the fold again: I mean, we do not find it so written, as a fact to be
noted. I suppose he did so place it ultimately; but for the time being
he keeps it with himself rather than with its fellows. The next scene
is the shepherd at home, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found my
sheep which was lost.' It looks as if Jesus did not save a soul so much
to the church as to himself, and though the saved are in the flock, the
greatest joy of all is that the sheep is with the shepherd. This shows
you how thoroughly Christ lays himself out that he may save his people.
There is nothing in Christ that does not tend toward the salvation of
his redeemed. There are no pullbacks with him, no half-consecrated
influences which make him linger. In the pursuit of certain objects we
lay out a portion of our faculties; but Jesus lays out all his powers
upon the seeking and saving of souls.
The whole Christ seeks after each sinner; and when the Lord finds it,
he gives himself to that one soul as if he had but that one soul to
bless. How my heart admires the concentration of all the Godhead and
manhood of Christ in his search after each sheep of his flock.
III. Now, we must pass on very briefly to notice a third point. We have
had one subject of thought and one object of search; now we have ONE
BURDEN OF LOVE. When the seeking is ended, then the saving
appears,'When he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.' Splendid action this! How beautifully the parable sets
forth the whole of salvation. Some of the old writers delight to put it
thus: in his incarnation he came after the lost sheep; in his life he
continued to seek it; in his death he laid it upon his shoulders; in
his resurrection he bore it on its way, and in his ascension he brought
it home rejoicing. Our Lord's career is a course of soul-winning, a
life laid out for his people; and in it you may trace the whole process
of salvation.
But now, see, 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? I
shall never forget that day. What a wonderful lift it was for me when
the Great Shepherd lifted me into newness of life. The Lord said of
Israel, I bare you on eagles' wings;' but it is a dearer emblem still
to be born upon the shoulders of the incarnate Lord.
This laying on the shoulders was an appropriating act. He seemed to
say, You are my sheep, and therefore I lay you on my shoulders.' He did
not make his claim in so many words, but by a rapid action he declared
it: for a man does not bear away a sheep to which he has no right: this
was not a sheep-stealer, but a shepherd-proprietor. 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.' Here are our Lord's own
words, 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. It is all well with
that sheep, for it is positively and experimentally the Good Shepherd's
own, just as it always had been his in the eternal purpose of the
Father. Do you remember when Jesus said unto you, Thou art mine'? Then
I know you also appropriated him, and began to sing'
So I my best Beloved's am,
And he is mine.'
More condescending still is another view of this act: it was a deed of
service to the sheep. The sheep is uppermost, the weight of the sheep
is upon the shepherd. The sheep rides, the shepherd is the
burden-bearer. The sheep rests, the shepherd labours. I am among you as
he that serveth,' said our Lord long ago. Being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross.' On that cross he bore the burden of our sin, and what is
more, the burden of our very selves. Blessed be his name, The Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all,' and he hath laid us on him, too,
and he beareth us. Remember that choice Scripture: In his love and in
his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the
days of old.' Soul-melting thought, the Son of God became subservient
to the sons of man! The Maker of heaven and earth bowed his shoulders
to bear the weight of sinners.
It was a rest-giving act, very likely needful to the sheep which could
go no further, and was faint and weary. It was a full rest to the poor
creature if it could have understood it, to feel itself upon its
shepherd's shoulders, irresistibly carried back to safety. What a rest
it is to you and to me to know that we are born along by the eternal
power and Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ! The beloved of the Lord
shall dwell in safety by him, and he shall dwell between his
shoulders.' The Christ upbears us to-day: we have no need of strength:
our weakness is no impediment, for he bears us. Hath not the Lord said,
I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry and will deliver you'?
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.
What a sweet word is that in Deuteronomy: The Lord thy God bare thee,
as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came
into this place.' Blessed rest of faith, to give yourself up entirely
to those hands and shoulders to keep and carry you even to the end! Let
us bless and praise the Lord. The shepherd is consecrated to his
burden: he bears nothing on his shoulders but his sheep; and the Lord
Jesus seemeth to bear no burden but that of his people. He lays out his
omnipotence to save his chosen; having redeemed them first with price
of blood, he redeems them still with all his power. And they shall be
mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up my jewels.' Oh the
glorious grace of our unfailing Saviour, who consecrates himself to our
salvation, and concentrates upon that object all that he has and is!
IV. We close by noticing one more matter, which is'THE ONE SOURCE OF
JOY. This man who had lost his sheep is filled with joy, but his sheep
is the sole source of it. His sheep has so taken up all his thought,
and so commanded all his faculties, that as he found all his care
centred upon it, so he now finds all his joy flowing from it.
I invite you to notice the first mention of joy we get here: When he
hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.' That is a
great load for you, shepherd!' Joyfully he answers, I am glad to have
it on my shoulders.' The mother does not say when she has found her
lost child, This is a heavy load.' No; she presses it to her bosom. She
does not mind how heavy it is; it is a dear burden to her. She is
rejoiced to bear it once again. He layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.' Remember that text: Who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame.' 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 thus 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 efficient Substitute for them. I am bearing, that they
may never bear, my Father's righteous ire.' 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, God. Even
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,' when the deeps of its woe have been
sounded, will be found to have pearls of joy in its caverns. 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 chosen whom he had
loved from before the foundation of the world. Oh, you cannot
understand it except in a very feeble measure! Let us try to find an
earthly miniature likeness. A son is taken ill far away from home. He
is laid sick with a fever, and a telegram is sent home. His mother says
she must go and nurse him; she is wretched til she can set out upon the
journey. It is a dreary place where her boy lies, but for the moment it
is the dearest spot on earth to her. She joys to leave the comforts of
her home to tarry among strangers for the love of her boy. She feels an
intense joy in sacrificing herself; she refuses to retire from the
bedside, she will not leave her charge; she watches day and night, and
only from utter exhaustion does she fall asleep. You could not have
kept her in England, she would have been too wretched. It was a great,
deep, solemn pleasure for her to be where she could minister to her own
beloved. Soul, remember you have given Jesus great joy in his saving
you. He was for ever with the Father, eternally happy, infinitely
glorious, as God over all; yet he must needs come hither out of
boundless love, take upon himself our nature, and suffer in our stead
to bring us back to holiness and God. He layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.' That day the shepherd knew but one joy. He had found his
sheep, and the very pressure of it upon his shoulders made his heart
light, for he knew by that sign that the object of his care was safe
beyond all question.
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 neighbours. 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 neighbours 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. Let us do the same. We are friends if we are not
neighbours. He calls us to-day to come and bring our hearts, like empty
vessels, that he may fill them with his own joy, that our joy may be
full. Those of us who are saved must enter into the joy of our Lord.
When I was trying to think over this text I rejoiced with my Lord in
the bringing in of each of his sheep, for each one makes a heaven full
of joy. But, oh to see all the redeemed brought in! Jesus would have no
joy if he should lose one: it would seem to spoil it all. If the
purpose of mercy were frustrated in any one instance it were a dreary
defeat of the great Saviour. But his purpose shall be carried out in
every instance. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied.' He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He shall carry out
the will of the Father. He shall have the full reward of his passion.
Let us joy and rejoice with him this morning!
But the text tells us there was more joy over that one lost sheep than
over the ninety-and-nine that went not astray. Who are these just
persons that need no repentance? Well, you should never explain a
parable so as to make it run on four legs if it was only meant to go on
two. There may not be such persons at all, and yet the parable may be
strictly accurate. If all of us had been such persons, and had never
needed repentance, we should not have given as much joy to the heart of
Christ as one sinner does when he repents. But suppose it to mean you
and me who have long ago repented'who have, in a certain sense, now no
need of repentance, because we are justified men and women'we do not
give so much joy to the heart of God, for the time being, as a sinner
does when he first returns to God. It is not that it is a good thing to
go astray, or a bad thing to be kept from it. You understand how that
is: there are seven children in a family, and six of them are all well;
but one dear child is taken seriously ill, and is brought near to the
gates of death. It has recovered, its life is spared, and do you wonder
that for the time being it gives more joy to the household than all the
healthy ones? There is more expressed delight about it a great deal
than over all those that have not been ill at all. This does not show
it is a good thing to be ill. No, nothing of the kind; we are only
speaking of the joy which comes of recovery from sickness. Take another
case: you have a son who has been long away in a far country, and
another son at home. You love them both equally, but when the absent
son comes home he is for a season most upon your thoughts. Is it not
natural that it should be so? Those at home give us joy constantly from
day to day, but when the stream of joy has been dammed back by his
absence, it pours down in a flood upon his return. Then we have high
days and holy days' and bonfire nights.'
There are special circumstances about repentance and conversion which
produce joy over a restored wanderer. There was a preceding sorrow, and
this sets off the joy by contrast. The shepherd was so touched with
compassion for the lost sheep, that now his sorrow is inevitably turned
into joy. He suffered a dreadful suspense, and that is a killing thing;
it is like an acid eating into the soul. That suspense which makes one
ask, Where is the sheep? Where can it be? is a piercing of the heart.
All those weary hours of searching, and seeking, and following are
painfully wearing to the heart. You feel as if you would almost sooner
know that you never would find it than be in that doubtful state of
mind. That suspense when it is ended naturally brings with it a sweet
liberty of joy. Moreover, you know that the joy over penitents is so
unselfish that you who have been kept by the grace of God for many
years do not grieve that there should be more joy over a repenting
sinner than over you. No, you say to yourself, There is good cause. I
am myself among those who are glad.' You remember that good men made
great rejoicing over you when you first came to Jesus; and you heartily
unite with them in welcoming newcomers. You will not act the elder
brother, and say, I will not share the joy of my Father. Not a bit of
it; but you will enter heartily into the music and dancing, and count
it your heaven to see souls saved from hell. I feel a sudden flush and
flood of delight when I meet with a poor creature who once lay at
hell's dark door, but is now brought to the gate of heaven. Do not you?
The one thing I want to leave with you is how our gracious Lord seems
to give himself up to his own redeemed. How entirely and perfectly
every thought of his heart, every action of his power, goes toward the
needy, guilty, lost soul. He spends his all to bring back his banished.
Poor souls who believe in him have his whole strength engaged on their
behalf. Blessed be his name! Now let all our hearts go forth in love
toward him, who gave all his heart to work our redemption. Let us love
him. We cannot love him as he loved us as to measure; but let us do so
in like manner. Let us love him with all our heart and soul. Let us
feel as if we saw nothing, knew nothing, loved nothing save Jesus
crucified. As we filled all his heart let him fill all our hearts!
Oh, poor sinner, here to-day, will you not yield to the Good Shepherd?
will you not stand still as he draws near? Will you not submit to his
mighty grace? Know that your rescue from sin and death must be of him,
and of him alone. Breathe a prayer to him,'Come, Lord, I wait for thy
salvation! Save me, for I trust in thee.' If thou dost thus pray, thou
hast the mark upon thee of Christ's sheep, for he saith, My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.' Come to him, for he
comes to you. Look to him for he looks to you.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON'John 15:1-24.
HYMNS FROM OUR OWN HYMN BOOK'387, 403, 388.