Parable of the Lost Sheep

One of them is about a man who had 100 sheep and lost one. Another is about a lady who lost a valuable coin. Another one is about a father who lost a son, whom we now know as the prodigal son. In each case, the story represents salvation. The lost sheep is found, the lost coin is found, the lost son is found. Each of them pictures a lost soul brought back to God, forgiven and blessed. And in each story, there is a common response. At the end of the story about the lost sheep, it says, 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 which was lost.

And then our Lord says, I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need not repentance. In the case of the lost coin, when she found it, she called together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost. And then our Lord says, in the same way I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. In the story of the lost son who was found, the father said to his slaves quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry.

For this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again, he was lost, and has been found. And they began to be merry. Now when his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. In each case there was tremendous joy, tremendous joy. The thing that I want you to note in your mind is that salvation and celebration go together. Salvation and joy belong together. Being made right with God is cause for joy. Joy on the part of God, joy on the part of Christ, joy on the part of the angels, joy on the part of the church, and joy on the part of the one who is redeemed.

Now this salvation joy is Peter’s theme. Will you look with me now at 1 Peter chapter 1? He mentions salvation in verse 5, a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In verse 9, the salvation of your souls. In verse 10, as to this salvation, the prophets have made careful search. Three times from verse 5 to 10 he uses the word salvation. Salvation then is an element in Peter’s theme. You will notice also in verse 6 that he talks about joy. In this you greatly rejoice. In verse 8 at the end he says, you greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory.

Now what I would conclude just very simply from that is that Peter has in mind here that we would not only understand salvation but its implication, namely joy. Salvation joy is on Peter’s heart in this passage. It’s fitting because it’s reflective of what Peter knows about the revelation of God. The psalmist, for example, in Psalm 4.7 says, God put gladness in his heart. Isaiah, writing in 35.10, said that the ransomed of the Lord will come with joyful shouting, with everlasting joy. He also said in chapter 61 that Christ was coming to give the oil of gladness.

And he spoke for all the redeemed in verse 10 of that same chapter, when he said, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. You also remember that when the angels announced the birth of Christ, they said that there was a Savior coming, and that His coming was bringing good news of great joy. Luke 2.10. Joy and salvation were linked by the Apostle Paul. He wrote that the Thessalonians had received the gospel message with joy. 1 Thessalonians 1.6. Now the sum of all of that is simply to remind us that joy is a result of God’s gift of salvation, and all of us who are saved should experience that joy.

That’s why Paul exhorted the Christians in 1 Thessalonians 5.16 with these familiar words, rejoice always. To the Philippians he said, rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. Why? Because joy and rejoicing is an element within the saving work of God. And when, however, sin comes into a believer’s life, joy will depart. And David expressed that, didn’t he, in Psalm 51.12, when coming out of the terrible sin of adultery and murder, he cried out to God and said, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Joy is an element of salvation. It can be forfeited by sin, at which point we are to be exhorted to experience again the joy that God has provided for us.

Salvation then has built in joy that every believer should experience constantly. Now the question that comes to our minds is how do we experience that joy? How do we capture that joy? Let’s face it, most of us are not all the time filled with joy. We’re not all the time experiencing rejoicing. What then is it that restores that joy? What is it that motivates that joy? What is it that captures that joy? What is it that discovers that joy? Well that’s exactly what we’re going to find out from Peter in verses 6 to 9.

Before we look at those verses specifically, be reminded that it’s important for Peter to bring up the subject of joy because his readers need so much to be reminded of it. They are at a very difficult situation. We have studied enough about this epistle in our brief time here to know that the ones to whom he writes are under persecution. They have been among those Christians of that ancient world blamed for the burning of Rome. They were despised and hated and rejected by many people even without that added slur and so they were under some very severe persecution.

Thank you for joining us in this exploration of Parable of Lost Sheep. Until next time remember to keep the faith, stay strong and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].