The God Who Pursues Us (Part 2)

Back in 1985 when Joshua was seven years old. We were traveling in London where I used to go every summer in lecture and that particular day. The family were with me and our host dropped us off in a very very crowded part of East London and due to my own negligence running.

That's the key here. Joshua got lost in the crowd and I guess you'll never understand how that feels. Those moments of that time there was over 20 minutes you will never understand how that feels allusive. Experienced with yourself and you really feel that your mouth is stuffed with cotton in your knees wobbling like Jell-O and then you basically almost losing your mind running around calling his name out in the middle of a crowd. I consider to be probably one of the most devastating and memorable experience in my life specially when I realize that, at least from my point of view that I was responsible and I began to condemn myself and thinking. Had I just held his hand off, but I just grabbed onto him, or had I just not got distracted like I did go ahead. I just kept an eye on Hillman. Probably this would not have happened. In the meanwhile we kept on searching and kept on searching. Go into every public place and then every public in the every alley that we can find and asking whomever we can see. Have you seen a seven-year-old boy, have you seen a seven-year-old boy and from that time on I have never been able to read Luke chapter 15 and the illustrations of the Lord Jesus gives them the true story that will be looking at down the road without at least feeling part of that experience of the day. We have begun looking into the God who pursues us from Luke chapter 15 and we saw how the good Shepherd went after the one lost sheep and we saw his commitment in not only searching but finding that one lost sheep that he would not rest until he found that sheep and once he found that sheep he put on his shoulders and carried him all the way home. Beloved, every single one of us have been lost at some point, every single one of us be born lost every single one of us have deliberately been lost every single one of us have been foolishly lost.

You might be lost today and the good Shepherd is looking for you. The good Shepherd loves Kelly up on his shoulders all the way home. Now let me remind you again that Luke 15, Jesus gave those to illustration the lost sheep in the second one going to look today, the lost coin, and then the true story of the prodigal sons were all designed to let them know that God is a compassionate God that God is the one who pursues us that God does not give up on his sheep see the Pharisees and the scribes. There were Jesus critics. There were not the only ones but that would dog him everywhere he went.

The Pharisees are the people who see God do so exclusively there's they are the people like the people in our day who preach all over the city the following gospel that Christianity is for us, but Buddhism is for the Buddhist Hinduism is for the Hindu Islam for the Muslims and they make God to be an exclusive God. They are the people whose biggest concern not the lost people who need to come and receive forgiveness from the hand of God. But the biggest concern was tradition. The biggest concern was rituals.

The biggest concern was pomp and circumstance to biggest concerns with the color of the vestments they wear.

The biggest concern was the ceremony they did not have love in their heart for the lost people.

They did not have the love of God in their hearts they had no compassion or desire to see the lost come and experience of forgiveness and the renewal of life and intimacy with God.

They saw God and faith to be theirs alone and not to be shared with others.

They saw God as an exclusive property not to be shared with others in the scribes on the other hand, there were the people who would argue about all kinds of silly things that are absolutely not necessary for salvation. They spent our lives debating the finer points of the law. The finer points of the Old Testament things that are really not important at all and so by using these two parables in the two-story in Luke chapter 15 Jesus was telling them that God is not like them that God is not like that that God longs for sinners to come and repent and turn to him that God is searching for his lost sheep everywhere until he finds up that God is persistent and compassionate toward the lost that God's salvation is not for certain groups of people that God offer of salvation is to whomsoever might come that God will not rest until his sheep have come home and today I want to look closely at the second parable of the lost coin, so please turn with me to Luke chapter 15 verses eight and nine and 10 on the three verses continuing on from the previous message. Luke 15 verse eight he said also pose a woman who has 10 silver coins and loses one. Does she not like the candle sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it, and when she finds it she calls her friends and neighbors together and sister them, rejoice with me.

I have found my lost coin in the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents in the previous illustration of the lost sheep that she was lost in the wilderness. But then the search comes closer to home.

In this particular parable. The calling was not lost in the wilderness but was lost where in the house. The client was not lost in the far country, but was lost in the home. Now I need to give your background, particularly all of you the younger generations because I'm sure you read the story and you would say okay. She has 10 coins and lost one Ellis a big deal if you got 10 bucks and you lost one dollar is not a big deal.

The only reason he just can't find it. Well that's a move on without understanding that historical background. That story would not make sense during the time of Jesus. A woman who is engaged to be married would wear a frontal on her brow and is made up of 10 silver coins and is called the Cindy when a woman wore that Cindy was actually is an indication to the whole world that she is engaged to be married. It was very important and so imagine her sense of panic when just before her fiancé's about to come home for dinner and she loses one of those.

Think about that. It will be in modern language today would be like a guy who goes out and spend a small fortune on a diamond ring and he gives it to his beloved and just before his coming to dinner, she loses the document just think about it this way and that's exactly how it was in you will get the sense you get the urgency you get to understand the importance of what Jesus is talking about what would she say to him imagine her anguish in trying to find the diamond before her fiancé comes to dinner. Imagine her anguish trying to explain to him how she lost that diamond that cost a fortune. Imagine her sense of panic and frantically searching in every corner of the house trying to find the document because to have those perfect 10 silver coins on the brow on the four head represents her love for him. It represents her fellowship with her beloved pitcher presented her body with her beloved pitcher presented her affection and affection to one another and that is why the loss is so traumatic is not just losing a buck out of 10 there's a feeling of panic. There's a feeling of urgency, then maybe sometimes even the feeling of guilt.

Perhaps in the feeling of remorse, a feeling of shame.

Not only that but the average home.

Back then, in the time of Jesus was very small and dark that no windows to speak of the floor was a dirt floor in the lots of cracks in which the coin could've fallen into lots of dirt lots of cracks and therefore a lamp had to be lit even at noontime needed some light and sweeping the whole house was a must and sifting with the sieve the dirt that you just gather from the house was a must. Removing the straw was necessary and going over the same area over and over and over again was normal. Understand that urgency of Jesus telling them the story wasn't just a simple thing but the one thing that keeps her motivated in looking and searching the one thing that keeps her going, but she cannot stop is because she knows that she lost that coin in the house that you lost it in the river she would've given up hatching listed in the streets, she would not have persisted had she lost it in the fields. She would have easily lost hope. But the reason she persists in her search is because she knows she lost the coin in the house and in that particular culture of the day.

No doubt she searched diligently in his probably as she was searching, she was blaming herself ascending, probably because of your house to put of me to lose this and of all times. I'm losing it now. Had I been more careful. Probably I wouldn't of lost it and what will I say to him what happened. I explained that only have nine and the tenant is not there. I think it's affected in our culture and the culture probably women tend to feel a lot more guilt than men, but as I see sometimes both men and women put themselves under a lot of false guilt. The problem is that most of that false guilt is absolutely not only not necessary, but is not of God is a problem. So many believers do not understand the difference between false guilt and conviction.

When God brings on the conviction because of sin or because of a deliberate disobedience or because something in your life that is not pleasing unto the Lord. There is only one way to deal with that conviction and that is to come into repentance and turn away and ask the forgiveness of God and move on onward and forward with Christ, but false guilt that comes with people put on us and others put out that is not of God is a world of difference between the two, and so to her.

There was no effort that was too much.

No search is too difficult. No obstacle that is too great. There is no difficulty that is due to insurmountable until she finds the coin in the house, my beloved, I wanted tell you something most of you will understand what I'm talking about, that we live in a culture and we live in a day in which are so many so-called preachers and pastors and priests and not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ that so many of our preaching a false gospel.

There are so many who are denying the gospel, fearing that it will offend people and they were for the crowd was more important, the numbers are more important and therefore they suffer the message of the gospel and because of their negligence and because of their effort.

The failure to preach the truth.

Therefore today, we have found so many millions of people who are lost.

But they are in the pews of the churches they lost, but in the house and the house of God, because there are so many Christians today who are living for herself and all of their need and all of their ambitions and all of their designers.

There are people lost in the homes and in the churches because there are so many ministers who have neglected to teach the whole counsel of God. Therefore, we have so many lost people in the house and the church and that is why you and I must not spare any effect. Do whatever it cost to diligently search, no matter how long it takes until we find the lost in the church pews. But there's another application here that I don't think of restraining the text to share it with you as I started this message in this parable over and over. This woman lost her coin in the house. Let me ask you this, what have you lost in you house have you lost your love for your spouse, your house, have you lost your peace of mind in your house. Have you lost your joy. Have you lost the respect of your family have you lost your intimacy with God that once burned with fire. Have you lost your first love for Jesus Christ, what have you lost in your house.

Whatever it is that you have lost in your home ghetto light the candle of the word of God, like the light of the word of God, get up, sweep your heart clean, get up, examine your heart, get up, find out what cause you to lose your first love for Christ.

Find out what cause you to lose your love for your spouse, what caused you to lose your love for your family. What cause you to lose your love for God's family get up by the candle light a candle and begin the search search diligently, your attitude and your motives search diligently your priorities in life that have gone high wire search diligently your misplaced focus on life searched diligently for the root cause for feeling of being victimized all the time.

Search get up quite a candle and search diligently. Let the word of God in the light of the word of God. Shine on your inner being. Sweep clean all of the cobwebs of self-centeredness sweep clean all of the dust of self-pity sweep clean all of the straw of bitterness and unforgiveness in your life. Sweep clean all of the dirt of diminished loyalties in your life. Sweep clean all of the junk of your unfaithfulness in life.

Don't sit back don't sit back don't rest don't rest until you find that which is lost in your house, make that phone call asked for forgiveness make that phone call and confess that anger, whatever it is, however long it takes whatever it takes to find the lost joy in serving Christ whatever it takes to find that lost passion for serving Christ for ministering to others forgiving yourself wholly to him do whatever it takes to find that first lost love. That used to have for Jesus to do whatever it takes to find up lost desire to witness for Christ. Do whatever it takes to find that lost person in your home or in the church. Whatever may be, you know I have to tell you, Luke 15 is just one of the richest parts of the Scripture because it really reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ God of very God is revealing to us the very heart of his father. It tells us that he is the God who perceives us.

The God who perceives us in the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus is telling us how individual lives. The love of Christ. In this parable of the lost client.

He shows us how personalized the love of Christ is this, to me you not just a face in the crowd you not just the name on the roster for God, no, no, no, no, no, that might be the case of an earthly church but not with God. He carries you individually on his shoulders as if you're the only person that ever lived. He focuses on you as if you're the only person around. What a God now beloved God's love is not just words.

People always use words and often they don't really mean them. You see God's love is not the theory is this is just an experiment. God's love.

This is not just an emotional feeling toward you that he feels kind of warm and fuzzy toward you. I'm sure he does that their birth test that test it to see God's love is God's love is costly. It caused him. God's love is sacrificial love and I was thinking about those incredible illustrations of Jesus gift to reveal the heart of the father and how he loves us individual and how he personalizes left us in my mind went back to the story that Matt was headline news back in 1991. Some of you will remember the story was of a lecturer Greek cruise liner that went down off the coast of Africa. The 492 foot cruise liner at the time it had 217 passengers and 184 crew members as evening activities began the ship and counted a gale force wind and began to take water, and then immediately after that lost power and began to drift in the dark and the sound of the screaming passengers was mixed with the sound of the howling wind and in the creaking of the doomed vessel was most incredible about this incident is that in the midst of this danger in the midst of these people perishing.

The crew members, including they secretly secretly boarded the lifeboats and left the sinking ship. One crew members refused to leave and he stayed on board in the cold and the hero and it was his remaining on board and sounding the alarm and SOS but cost the rescue of all the passengers without him there would certainly have met their end her beloved. Let me tell you something that so many people horsing lifeboats in the outs escaping for the lives and they don't care about those who are perishing, and those who are dying and those who have never heard that Jesus loves them and that Jesus wants to forgive them and you and I cannot live for ourselves. You and I cannot just turn a blind eye toward those who are lost on the perishing. You and I cannot try to use some soothing words to describe the lost, out of fear that we may offend them listen to me. I would rather initially offend the person and then have him or her blush made throughout eternity and then make them like me now and then Christmas throughout eternity and say you never told me you never told the truth. What we need to do is light the candle and lovingly diligently but persistently go after the lost whether they are in the far country, whether the out in the wilderness where they are under our noses, wherever they may be, but I don't want you to miss as I conclude the one common thing that happened in both illustrations and both parables. The one thing that you see consistently in both places.

When the sheep was found there was celebration of rejoicing when the corn was found was celebration of rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ is saying to us that there is more rejoicing in heaven. Then you will even understand on this side of heaven. When one person come to Jesus Christ and jewels will rejoice. Heaven will rejoice that so many of you have known the Lord for long time in your Christian life. I just become routine go to church. You do your bit your Christian life just coasting along in a routine fashion. In fact, some of you probably have lost your joy that used to have when you came to Christ and I wanted to ask yourself that question. I'm not saying it is but I'm I wanted to ask yourself the question, could you loss of joy possibly be is because you began to seek your own fulfillment your own success your own ambitions your own desires. Not understanding that when you do that you lose everything that's a lie from the pit of hell that it is only when you seek first the kingdom of God with only when you seek his righteousness. First, and these things will come to you is what Jesus said I'd make up the stuff that's what he said could be the reason you lost your joy, because you've lost your passion for the kingdom of God and for the lost people of the world today, you can renew the lost passion today you can renew your first love for Jesus Christ. That is become so lukewarm today.

Whatever you've lost in the house.

You can find.

Father God. Only you are the searcher of every single heart. Only you know our motives. Only you know all misplaced focus in life. Only you know the secret to a loss of joy but father, we noted and so we come to you in the name of Jesus, individually and corporately ask you for your power for your strength. Father we come to you in the name of Jesus and every single person here whatever lost her life experience in the life that they will find the joy of knowing you the joy of knowing that they will be spending not only 50 or 60 or 70 years or 80 years with you. But eternity father whatever lost passion restorative us in Jesus name, amen. Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael use that recently featured on leading the way. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit LTW.org@LTW.Ward