Christ Seeking To Save
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The story of the prodigal son is one part of a threefold parable.
1. We have the shepherd suffering as he seeks his sheep. The parable describes the ninety and nine safely corralled at home, while the one was wandering far from the fold. Out into the wilderness the faithful shepherd went, seeking the sheep that was lost.
He sought until he found that which was lost, and then, laying it upon his shoulders he brought it home with rejoicing.
2. We have the woman, lightened by the candle as she seeks the lost coin. The coin describes the sinner lost, and emphasizes the fact that the sinner is of great value.
The woman who is in the search, is the Church of Christ which bears the commission to "go into all the world," out into the "highways and hedges," on unto "the uttermost part of the earth" and to "constrain them to come in" (A. S. V).
The "lighted candle" is the Holy Spirit, who is the One who guides the Church and aids her in her quest for the lost.
3. We have the father singing as he welcomes home the lost son. The lost son had wandered far away, and had wasted his substance with riotous living. Having spent all, and remembering the plenty at home, and the love in his father's heart, he said: "I will arise and go to my father."
The father who watches for the return of the wanderer, and who runs to welcome him, falling on his neck and kissing him, is the Lord God who is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
In the parable, as a whole, we have placed before us the attitude of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, toward that which is lost. In connection with the Holy Spirit is the Church, a co-laborer together with Him, in the quest for that which is lost.
The Father is not disinterested in the return of the prodigal, for He awaits with eagerness the homecoming, and with joy welcomes back His son.
The parable in its deeper meaning has special and primary application to the outcasts of Israel. The elder son types the rulers of the people, the proud and self-righteous Pharisees; the younger son, commonly spoken of as the prodigal, types the publicans and the sinners.
I. CHRIST SAVES ZACCHAEUS (Luke 19:1-10)
Let us notice four happenings in connection with this passage.
1. Zacchaeus was a chief of the publicans. This man was like the Apostle Paul in this respect: he could say, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
If Zacchaeus was saved, surely any poor publican may find mercy.
2. Zacchaeus was a seeking sinner. He sought to see Jesus. He was energetic, he ran before and climbed into a sycamore tree; there he waited the coming of the Lord who was to pass by that way. The Lord saw him, and bade him to come down saying, "To day I must abide at thy house."
Our Lord never fails to see any sinner who is seeking the Saviour; there is never a sob of anguish or a sigh for help that escapes His ears; there is never the lifting of a hand that escapes His eyes.
When Christ sees one who really desires to know Him, and who is seeking His face, He always responds graciously. It does not take a seeking sinner and a seeking Saviour long to meet.
3. Zacchaeus became a saved sinner. We cannot say just when he was saved; we know, however, that he immediately responded to the Master's invitation and came down, receiving Him joyfully. We know, moreover, that Zacchaeus said unto the Lord: "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." We know that Jesus said unto him: "This day is salvation come to this house."
Bless God, the chief of sinners was saved!
4. The carping critics. In Luke 15:1-32, we read how the scribes and the Pharisees murmured, saying, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." In Luke 19:7, the Pharisees show the same spirit, for they all murmured, saying "That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner."
How many there are who feel nothing of the compassion of Christ!
Zacchaeus was a publican and a sinner, yet Jesus Christ ate with him, having but one purpose, the redemption of a son of Abraham,
5. Our gracious conclusion. In Luke 19:10 we read: "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." The inference is that He who saved the chief among publicans, a man that was a sinner, is quite as willing to save any poor lost sinner. Therefore let the lost turn to Him for mercy.
II. CHRIST SEEKS THE LAMBS (John 21:15)
The second opening statement is, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Feed My lambs."
If we are going forth in the service of Christ, we must not only be fed ourselves, but we must be filled with love. Those of us who do not love the Lord, will never care to feed His lambs or His sheep. It is only when the heart is bursting with love, that the spirit is ready to serve the Beloved, and to seek out and to feed the sheep of His pastures.
Christ seemed to be saying to Peter, "I love My lambs, and I love My sheep. If thou lovest Me, feed them." First of all:
"O Heavenly love, my heart subdue,
I would be led by Jesus, too.
Allured to live for Christ alone,
And dwell for ever near His throne."
Let us examine for a few moments the distinctions between the little lambs, and the stalwart sheep, which alike must be fed. The sheep are mentioned twice, but the lambs are mentioned first. We may have more to do in the feeding of the sheep, but the preference must be given to the lambs. The lambs He carries in His bosom. A lamb is the sheep in embryo. It is the sheep before it is full grown. Our boys and girls must not be neglected. Jesus loved the little children and He took them in His arms and blessed them. He said that in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of His Father. Let us feed the lambs.
But what about the sheep? Can they not feed themselves? No, they need the shepherd, and the shepherd's care. Sheep are, too, quick to wander astray, they know not whither they go.
Our Lord is the Good Shepherd who died for His sheep; He is the Great Shepherd, who, day by day, directs His sheep; He is the Chief Shepherd who shall one day come back to dwell with His sheep.
Let the sheep remember the endearing words of their great Shepherd, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
III. CHRIST SEEKING THE SHEEP THAT WAS LOST (Luke 15:4 with John 10:11)
What a beautiful picture, the Shepherd seeking the sheep that was lost!
Surely our Lord Jesus was not an idle shepherd, He was not a shepherd who forgot His sheep.
"There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd's care.
"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine,
Are they not enough for Thee?
But the Shepherd made answer, This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me.
And although the path be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.
"Lord, whence are the blood marks all the way,
That mark out the mountain track?
They were shed for one who had gone astray,
E'er the Shepherd could bring him back;
Lord, whence is Thy brow so rent and torn?
It is pierced tonight with many a thorn."
We not only have a shepherd who seeks the sheep, but we also have a shepherd with strong shoulders, who bears the sheep back to shelter, and to home.
The Lord does not save us and leave us stranded in the world, He takes us to the Church (of Christ), where we can find refuge.
We have also in this verse a shepherd who can sing as well as seek. He shouts with joy over the returning of the sheep which was lost.
Bless God, that He who suffers as He seeks the sheep, will sing over the finding of the sheep. He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.
These words bring joy to the heart. After the wandering sheep has been returned to the sheepfold, the shepherd calleth his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost."
How the heavens must reverberate with glory and with joy when one lost sinner repents and returns to God.
"Nor Heaven can its joy contain,
But kindle with new fire,
A soul on earth is born, they sing,
And touch their golden lyre."
We cannot refrain from adding the glory verse of "The Ninety and Nine": "But all through the mountains, thunder riven,
And up through the rocky steep;
There arose the glad cry to the gates of Heaven,
'Rejoice, I have found My sheep.'
And the angels echoed around the throne, 'Rejoice for the Lord brings back His own.'"
IV. WHAT CHRIST IS TO THE SINNER (Isaiah 32:2; 1 John 2:1-2)
1. He is a covert from the storms. Isaiah 32:2
"A man shall be * * a covert from the tempest; * * as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
The sinner is outside the shelter; the winds and the rain of temptation and of travail are falling fast upon him. How blessed it is that such a man can find a covert where he can hide!
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee,
Let the water and the Blood
From Thy riven side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure,
Save me from its guilt and power."
2. He is a mercy-seat to approach. 1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:2
The word "propitiation" has to do with our word "mercy-seat." It was from the cherubim, where God dwelt, that He looked down on the broken Law that lay within the Ark; but He looked through the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. This mercy-seat is the only place where God and the sinner can meet.
"There is a spot where spirits blend,
Where friend shows fellowship with friend,
No spot in Heaven or earth more sweet;
It is the Blood-bought mercy-seat."
This mercy-seat is open to every poor lost sinner. We can come to God through the sacrifice of the Crucified.
V. CHRIST THE FRIEND OF FRIENDS (Proverbs 17:17)
"A friend loveth at all times."
Christ is not only a friend at all times, but under all circumstances. No matter what may happen, He is faithful, the same yesterday, today and for ever. There are friends who love us as long as fortune smiles upon us; there are friends who favor us as long as we live in the limelight; but they forsake us in the time of our calamity. The Lord Jesus Christ will never forsake; will never forget us. Yea, they may cast out our name as evil, but He will hold us for ever in His heart. He "loveth at all times."
"A man that hath friends, must shew himself friendly; and there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
Thank God, for such a Friend. He will never leave us nor forsake us. His faithfulness is renewed every morning; it is fresh every evening. The mother may forget her sucking child, but He will never forget us. The wife or husband may prove false to their vows, but He will never be false to us. The citizen may commit treason against his country, but He will never leave nor forsake us. He is a friend that shows Himself friendly, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
VI. WILLING TO LOVE AND HELP HIS ENEMIES (Romans 5:8)
Our Lord was not only kind and generous to His friends, but He was tender and forgiving to His enemies. We know very well that the Word of God describes the Lord as sitting at the Father's right hand until His enemies are made His footstool. We know how the Lord will judge His enemies who would not have Him to reign over them. He says: "Bring hither, and slay them before Me." All such passages, however, show the final judgment which a just God must bring against those who reject His mercy.
The Lord Jesus Christ admonishes us as to how we should treat our enemies. We are to pray for them, to do good unto them, to forgive them, and to heap coals of fire upon their heads through our kindness in their behalf. He, who taught us to love our enemies, loved His enemies.
One of the tenderest passages in the Bible is where David said, "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him"? The house of Saul were the sworn enemies of the shepherd king; yet David sought to do them good. In all of this David was a type of the Lord Jesus, who is seeking to bring His enemies back from the far country that they may be sheltered in the folds of His loving care.
On Calvary's Cross the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for His enemies, saying, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Those who sought to torture Him the most; those who wagged their heads and cried out against Him, were the objects of His tender pleas and prayer.
We could not close this application until we demonstrate the fact that Christ's true friendliness reached its highest altitude in His attitude toward a false friend. A false friend is far worse than an enemy. Judas was his own familiar friend. He was a man to whom Christ revealed His secrets and in whom He placed His trust. This Judas sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver; he betrayed Him with a kiss. When the Lord met him in the garden, however, He said, "Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" Even in such an hour the genuineness of the Lord's love never flickered. He proved Himself a friend to the most despicable of deserters.
AN ILLUSTRATION
In the book entitled "The Dry-Dock of a Thousand Wrecks," which gives an account of the "Jerry McAuley Mission" in New York City, a man gives his experience. "When I was a student in college," he says, "I was prevailed upon to take a drink of whisky. I disliked it; it was nauseous to me; but the other fellows said I was a weakling, and I could not have a good time in the college socially unless I drank to some extent; and in order not to appear a baby, I drank with them. I learned by and by to enjoy the effect of it, and would go on a spree with the boys. But when I left college, knowing that business men would not employ those addicted to drink, just on that account I decided to quit my drinking habits and become a sober man. I took the pledge. I married. But the pledge did not amount to much. Under the stress of social life I took another drink, and then another. My wife pleaded with me, for she saw where I was drifting. My dear old father came and said, 'My boy, you had better be careful. You are going in the wrong direction!' But I did not believe either. I thought I could drink, and be a 'hail-fellow-well-met' in business circles cultured, educated, college graduate as I was and not go to the dogs. One day my employer told me that he would not need me after a certain time. I could hardly take it in. But the time came, and I was out of employment. I went to New York City, where my old friends and college chums that drank with me in business were, but I found that they did not like me lounging about their offices, and one of them almost ordered me out. My wife went home to her father. Things went from bad to worse, until I pawned my watch and my overcoat, for drink. I found myself a vagabond on the streets. It was in the town of Trenton, New Jersey. I was without money enough to put up at a cheap lodging-house, and I spent two nights sleeping on the benches in front of the courthouse. A man came along one morning and paid my expenses to New York City. There I fell in with a man who told me to go to the McAuley Mission. Hardly knowing what it meant, I went to 316 Water Street, and I heard men get up and say, 'Jesus Christ can save a poor drunkard; He saved me!' and that was the first time anybody ever told me that Jesus could save me. Wife did not tell me; father did not tell me. They gave me good advice and good philosophy, and a great many good things, but they did not give me Jesus. And there, kneeling in the old McAuley Mission, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour." That man is now at the head of a movement among the students of colleges in America.