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And so quick to hear no other place to leave your burden. No other one to hear your prayer. All your anxiety, all your care. Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there. Never a burden he cannot bear. Never a friend like Jesus. Coming at once, delay no longer. He has intrigued, he's so kind and sweet. You need not fear his disappointment. You shall find peace, mercy seat. All your anxiety, all your care. Bring to the mercy seat. Leave it there. Never a burden he cannot bear. Never a friend like Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we just want to thank you, God, for just a beautiful day to be in your house and to hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, now that you would just be honored and glorified out of everything that's said and done. We love you, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all of it. Amen. You may be seated and turn in your songbooks to song 448. Song 448 in your songbooks. We'll sing, Brethren, We Have Met to Worship. Song 448. Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the word? All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down. Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around. Brethren, see poor sinners round you. Some bring on the brink of woe. Death is coming, hell is moving. You bear to let them go. See our fathers and our mothers and our children sinking down. Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around. Sister, will you join and help us? Moses, sister, aid in him. Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin? Tell them all about the Spirit. Will be found. Sisters, pray and holy manna will be showered all around. Let us love our God supremely. Let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners till our God makes all things new. Then he'll call us home to heaven. At his table, we'll sit down. Christ will gird himself and serve us with sweet manna all around. Amen. So welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening. And I don't think I have my, yeah. Go off memory on that one. As far as announcements go, just being prayer for all those that are getting over sicknesses. Anna had a fever last week, or on this past weekend. So we're just being cautious. I preach the whole sermon about not coming to the church after a fever. So I can't, I got to practice what we preach a little bit there. Though they are pretty much feeling better. So just prayer for other families. I know that Racine's, I know that they're, he said his house is an infirmary right now. And others are dealing with it too. I know the Russell's and all that. So not to call people out by name. But just be in prayer for everybody in our church that's dealing with these sicknesses and everything. And then we have brother Milstead visiting this evening. So if you haven't got a chance, he actually came four years ago, yeah. And so you and your whole family were here, right? Because you guys were, I thought you were traveling through or something like that. Was it just you? Maybe I'm thinking of someone else. But yeah, so were you heading back tomorrow? Or how long are you in for? Friday? Cool. But as far as announcements, everything should be normal this Sunday as far as service time. So we'll have our normal service time in the morning at 1030. And then our soul winning time at 1 PM. And don't forget, though, this Saturday, brother Charles is leading up a sowing marathon in Philadelphia. So we were just talking about, I guess, all the smoke coming down from Canada from all these wildfires. So just listen, if it gets to the point where you're struggling, I mean, take your time. Don't worry about it. You have to take breaks and stuff like that. But it is what it is, crazy time. But be in prayer for this soul winning marathon in Philadelphia, praying that it's going to be fruitful. But there's going to be a lot of silent partners, meaning there's going to be a lot of people that are coming in to this event to learn how to go soul winning. And so be in prayer for that, because these are great opportunities to get people into soul winning that have never done it before. And also, when we go out to Indianapolis, there's a lot of people that are wanting to try soul winning out for the first time. And so that's exciting stuff to get people into soul winning and everything. So just be in prayer for that, that one, people get saved, but two, that we can kind of put a spark into some Christians to get out soul winning. So be in prayer for that. And then, like I said, the 24th, we're going to be going out to Indianapolis and doing a soul winning marathon out there. And so again, we're getting lodging for that. There's a whole story with that. But we will have hotel rooms for anybody that's coming out from our church to that. And then everybody's trying to figure out the carpool situation as far as how you're getting out there. But if you need a ride, we'll figure out a way for you to get out there. So and then our memory chapter for the month is Malachi chapter 1. So we're going to memorize the book of Malachi. And so we'll get Malachi chapter 1 down in June. And then our memory verse, what was our memory verse? It was 1 Corinthians, was it 2 Corinthians 5, 8? Yeah, 2 Corinthians 5, 8. Don't have my bulletin going off memory. And then as far as pregnancies, we have Tiara Alesco, Jennifer Simes, Amanda Spina, and now we have Alyssa Ford on there as well. And so just being prayer for all these ladies on the pregnancy list and pray everything goes well there. And we are continuing in the book of Luke this evening. And so we're going to be doing Luke chapter 15 tonight. The offering box is in the back there. If you want to give a tithe or an offering, the mother baby room is for the mothers and babies only. Brother Wade, are you reading tonight? So Brother Wade's going to be reading Luke chapter 15 for us after we do one more song. All right, take your song books and turn to song 255. Song 255 in your song books. We'll sing Come and Dine, song 255. Jesus has a table spread where the saints of God are fed. He invites his chosen people come and dine. With his manna he doth feed and supplies our every need. Oh, tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time. Come and dine, the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. The disciples thus obeying Christ's command. For the master called unto them, come and dine. There they found their hearts desire, bread and fish upon the fire. Thus he satisfies the hungry every time. Come and dine, the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. Soon the lamb will take his bride to be ever at his side. All the heart will assemble be. Oats will be a glorious sight. All the saints in spotless white. And with Jesus, they will feast eternally. Come and dine, the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter number 15. Luke chapter number 15 in your Bibles. And we'll have Brother Wade come and read that for us. Luke 15. Then drew near unto him all the public and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, the man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having 100 sheep, if you lose one of them, doth not leave the 90 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 is cometh home, he called together his friends and his neighbors, 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 repented more than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance. Either what woman, having 10 pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? And when she hath found it, she called her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I have lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is a joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. And he said, a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of the goods that falleth to me, and he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered altogether, took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in all that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him to the fields to feed swine, and he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare? I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he rose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and he had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto his father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put on a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they begin to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field and he came and drew nigh to the house and he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto them, thy brothers come and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and treated him. And he answering said unto his father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress thy at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, son, thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine. I 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 pray, dear Lord, please let me get something from your word tonight, be with pastors, we hear your message, Jesus and I pray, amen. Amen, so you're in Luke chapter 15, and a lot of these passages, or these chapters in Luke, I couldn't really just put one title on it because there's a lot of different things that are being taught throughout those chapters, but this chapter definitely has one theme, and that is the lost and found. So lost and found is really the theme here, and this has that famous story of the prodigal son that we just read at the end of the chapter here, but there's two other stories that are mentioned before that, one dealing with lost sheep, and one dealing with a lost coin, and I'm gonna preach on this, but I just wanted to know where I stand on this, is that I believe we're talking about save people through this whole thing, okay? When we're dealing with the prodigal son, he's a saved person, okay? And so the lost sheep, saved. The lost coin, saved. And obviously, the lost coin's not a person, and the sheep is not really a person, but obviously what it represents, okay? So I'm gonna preach on this, I'm gonna show you a lot of scripture on this, that this passage is talking about saved people, and what it's dealing with is talking about basically saved people coming back to the fold, and where saved people can, we use that term backslide, but honestly, in a lot of cases, what we're dealing with is that we're kind of lost out of the flock, if you will, we need to be found and brought back in, and so I think after this sermon, hopefully you agree with me on this, if not, it doesn't matter, because I believe this is right, in the fact that we're dealing with saved people in this passage. Now, in Luke chapter 15 and verse one, let's look at this first passage here, we're dealing with the lost sheep, and I'm sure my children are watching on the livestream since getting over these sicknesses and everything, but my children really like, well, there's obviously a lot of Bible stories that they like to hear, but for some reason they really like the lost sheep and the lost coin story, and obviously sometimes we'll read the books that have illustrations of an actual sheep and all this stuff, but very familiar passages when it comes to this, and verse one here says, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them, and he spake this parable unto them, saying, 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 the shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, 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. Now, when we're talking about a sinner repenting, and you could definitely see where the repentance of sins crowd would come in and say, well, you gotta turn from our sins to be saved. You don't wanna be lost and you need to turn from your sins. Or you could look at someone that says, well, we're just talking about, obviously, for all of sinning, I'm sure of the glory of God, and he wants all to come to repentance. He wants all to repent and believe the gospel, and obviously, sinners need to repent, meaning someone that is a sinner needs to believe the gospel and all that. And you can see how people can use it that way. But let me give you some scriptures on this. Now, one thing I want you to realize here is that they are this person's sheep, right? So all of the 100 are the shepherd's sheep, right? And then the one is lost. Now, someone can say, well, you can lose your salvation. Well, we know that's wrong, so let's just throw that one out, okay? You can't lose your salvation because if you come unto him, he will no wise cast you out, and he will lose nothing, the Bible says. This is the will of the Father, that everything which the Father hath given him, and he shall lose nothing, okay? Unless you want to say that Jesus can lose something, then he's not gonna lose us when it comes to salvation. But go to John chapter 10, John chapter 10, verse 27. John chapter 10 and verse 27. Now, you say, well, we use this term lost, like that person's lost, or that person, they need to get saved, they're lost, we need to go out and save the lost. I'm gonna show you that that terminology is used in the Bible as well, okay? So I'm not saying that's wrong terminology, because there are cases where the term lost is referring to unbelievers. But what you won't find is lost sheep referring to unbelievers, okay? So every word is important, but what I want you to see here is in John 10 and verse 26, notice what it says. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. So if you're an unbeliever, are you Jesus' sheep? No, right? But it says in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So how do you get eternal life? He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And so, in many verses in John, you know, obviously saying the same thing. So we see here that an unbeliever is not of Jesus' sheep. But you have to be a believer to be of the sheep. It's kind of like being a child of God, right? I mean, not everybody's a child of God. That means not everybody's of God's sheep, right? They're not all of the fold, okay? Let me show you a very clear example of somebody that calls himself a lost sheep that we all know is saved. Okay, go to Psalm 119, Psalm 119. Sweet psalmist of Israel, David, a man after God's own heart. And at the end of the longest chapter in the whole Bible, Psalm 119, all about the word of God. So I've heard people say some crazy things about David in Psalms. They're like, well, he was in the flesh there. Well, he wasn't saved when he wrote that. It's like, people are, it's like, people say things and I'm just like, I can't, I don't even wanna respond to that. Like, I feel dumb saying something to that, you know? They're like, I always give credence to your argument by even replying to you, right? But in Psalm 119, it'd be hard pressed for anybody to say, like, David's not saved when he's writing this. But notice what it says in verse 174, 174. So at the very end of Psalm 119, it says, I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live and it shall praise thee and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. So notice that, that's imperative, right? He's basically saying, I've gone astray, seek thy servant. He doesn't say, like, you sought me in the past. He's saying, like, seek me. Seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. So David is saying that he has gone astray like a lost sheep. Okay? Now obviously, that can be used in the manner of, go to 2 Corinthians chapter two, or I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter four. Because lost can be talking about unsaved people. And in the Bible, it does say, all we like sheep have gone astray. But there's a difference between being like sheep, being likened unto something, and literally saying, you are my sheep. I am your sheep, right? But I'll show you where it does use the term lost to talk about unbelievers, okay? So, but again, you need context when you're talking about this stuff, okay? You can't just take a word like lost, or saved, and then just insert, you know, we're talking about unbelievers, or we're talking about eternal salvation. Like, there has to be context. The context in Luke chapter 15 is clearly talking about sinners basically getting right with God, okay? And the prodigal son is a great example of it, right? No doubt, he was someone that went out, and wasn't sinned, came back, but he never ceased to be a son. He didn't have to be made a son. He even said that he, not worthy to be called a son, but it doesn't change the fact that he's a son, okay? And, but in 2 Corinthians chapter four and verse three here, 2 Corinthians chapter four and verse three, it says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Now, it's gonna qualify this, because this is what makes sense that it's hid to believers, right? Because obviously, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That wouldn't make any sense to be talking about a believer here, but it says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world had blinded the minds of them which believe not. So in this passage, it's very clear that you're dealing with the fact that when we're talking about the lost here, we're talking about unbelievers, okay? But notice that it doesn't say lost sheep, does it? It just says the lost, okay? So I think that's an important distinction to understand there. And notice what it says in, well, we'll just keep reading there just to get the whole passage. It says, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So when we're talking about it's hid to them that are lost and that the God of this world, obviously we're talking about Satan, is blinding the minds of them that believe not, lest they should basically, it should be shining unto them and they should see it and believe it, obviously, because it says, verse five, for we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So I don't believe that lost is always talking about believers being out of the fold because in this case, clearly it says, we're talking about unbelievers that are considered to be lost, okay? Go to John 17, John 17, Judas is called lost, okay? But what does that mean in this context, okay? It doesn't call a sheep. Jesus called him friend and he was called a disciple, but he was never one of his sheep, he was never a believer. I'm gonna prove that unequivocally that Judas was never a believer, but obviously that was to fulfill the fact that a man that was his own friend lifted up a heel against Jesus, right? He was betrayed by someone that was supposed to be his friend, okay? The idea is that he's an imposter, right? He's someone that is a false apostle, false brethren, right? And these people exist, that on the surface, they look like they believe, they look like all this, they look like a disciple, they look like all that, but they're a pretender, okay? But in John 17 and verse 12, Jesus is praying to the Father, in verse 12 it says, 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. Now in this case, I do believe we're talking about saved and unsaved, right? Kind of like if our gospel we hid is hid to them that are lost, right? But we're not talking about a sheep going astray, right? Judas wasn't just a sheep going astray, he was a devil, and he was an unbeliever from the very beginning, and he never did believe, okay? Go to John chapter six and verse 64. And you say, well, you know, maybe he was a sheep at one time, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. But yet, Jesus is gonna say to those, like Judas, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Those that are in hell, he never knew them. Now in John 6, 64, notice what it says here. It says, but there are some of you that believe not. So he's speaking to a crowd, right? He's speaking to disciples, and specifically here when he's at the end where they're talking about hard sayings, this is a hard saying, who can hear it, right? But in John 6, 64, it says, but there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. Now we all know who should betray him, but he goes on further in verse 70, it says, Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the 12. He knew from the very beginning that Judas was gonna betray him. He knew from the very beginning that he didn't believe on him. Nowhere in the Bible do you see where Judas believed on Christ. Now, it doesn't say that he was a devil from the beginning. Although that's a phrase that I still remember to this day, I'm like, I thought that was in the Bible where it says Judas is a devil from the beginning. I do believe he was an unbeliever from the beginning and he never became an unbeliever. But I'll say this, at this point in John 6, he's a devil. Have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil? I don't necessarily believe that he chose the devil. I believe that he chose Judas, though he was an unbeliever, knowing that he was gonna betray him, knowing that he was gonna become a devil, that that's what ended up happening. But that's just my take on that. Now, but the idea here is that Judas was never saved. Jesus is saying from the beginning he knew that he didn't believe and that he was a devil or that he would betray him. And then in this passage, he's saying that he's a devil. So in John 6, he's literally looking at Judas like you're a devil, right? So when it comes to lost, you can be talking about unbelievers, you can be talking about being unsaved, but in a lot of cases, loss is being qualified with sheep. And I believe when you're dealing with that, because those that are gonna go to hell into everlasting punishment are called goats. So if you think of Matthew 25, when you have what I believe is the final judgment, the resurrection of the just and the unjust, and you have the sheep and the goats, and he's separating those two, he judges the sheep, then he judges the goats, and the goats are gonna go into eternal hellfire. So, you know, that to me would be an unbeliever if you're gonna put an animal on it, if you will, not a sheep, okay? Now, in Jeremiah 50, go to Jeremiah 50 and verse six, because this is throughout the Bible dealing with this idea of lost sheep, or my sheep, or the idea of God being a shepherd of the flock. So Jeremiah 50 and verse six, it says, "'My people have been lost sheep, "'their shepherds have caused them to go astray, "'they have turned them away on the mountains, "'they have gone from mountain to hill, "'they have forgotten their resting place.'" And I'm gonna get into application as far as, like, how does this apply to us? And, you know, with the prodigal son and all that, but I just wanna show you here that it says, my people hath been lost sheep. Now, obviously, you can say, well, Israel is referred to as people, and we know that not all Israel is saved, but what you have to understand is that Israel represented the saved, right? I mean, as far as if you're gonna look at it as an allegory, my people would represent the saved, and then, obviously, everybody else would represent the lost, right? We all know that not everybody in Israel was saved, only a remnant was saved, but when he says my people, it's kinda like the idea of that the Lord shall judge his people, right? In Hebrew chapter 10, for example, when it says, if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, and it talks about this fiery, this looking for judgment and fiery indignation, we're talking about this is on believers, because then he says, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, the Lord shall judge his people, as a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so, when it says that here in Jeremiah 5, I believe he's talking, obviously, he's talking about the nation, but you can equate that spiritually to my people hath been lost sheep, kinda like David, and the fact that David's saying, I went astray as a lost sheep, and seek me, you know? Now, go to Matthew chapter 10, so let me show you a place where there's a phrase that's used in the Bible, where it talks about the Son of Man coming to save that which was lost. And once you have to understand what that term saved, it's just like lost, lost can be talking about saved people, but it can also be talking about unsaved people. It takes context to know what you're talking about. Same thing with saved, because saved in the New Testament sometimes can be talking about being saved physically from something. You know, one of the big examples that people try to use to say, well, you need to hold out unto the end, is he that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. And they'll say, well, see, you need to endure unto the end so you can be saved and go to heaven. Except for the fact that in the same chapter, in Matthew 24, it says, those days are shortened, and except those days should be shortened, no flesh should be saved. So we know we're talking about physical salvation, okay? So, and I'm gonna show you some other verses too, but what I want you to see here is in Matthew chapter 18 and verse six, I want you to see some, just some context here first before we get into where it's gonna state this phrase here. But in verse six it says, but whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. So you're like, where does the Bible teach about being against pedophiles? Well, that would definitely fit. So, you know, we're in June, and all these homos and fags and pedophiles, you know what, that's what should be done to them. I don't really care how they deal with it, but you know what, I'd prefer the millstone, right? But in the end here, what I want you to see is that it says one of these little ones which believe in me. So specifically in context, when we're talking about the children here, we're talking about believers. Of course, I believe that if you offend any child, right, that any child molester should be taking a millstone around his neck and throwing it into the sea. But specifically in this passage, we're dealing with those little ones that believe in him. Go down to verse 10. Verse 10 says, take heed that you despise not one of these little ones. Now, I don't believe that we've changed into a different group of little ones. I think we're talking about the same ones, right? And in context, we're talking about these children that came to Jesus, okay? But it says, despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven, for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have an hundred sheep and one of them go astray, doth he not leave the 99 goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray? So you can see that, for the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost is definitely linked in with the sheep going astray, which is the story in Luke chapter 15, right? It says in verse 13, and if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 99 which went not astray. I mean, same story, right? But in context, who are we specifically talking about? These little ones, right? Not despising them and not offending them. Because notice what it says in verse 14. Even so, now, just some English grammar here, even so is like kinda likened unto, just like this, right? Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Now, they're believers, right? So he's not talking about hell. But he's talking about people despising them, people trying to offend them, trying to hurt them, right? Or it could be the fact of you're basically offending this young believer, this unstable soul, right? Meaning this is that they're believers but they're not rooted and grounded, obviously, in the faith and you offend these little ones that they end up going by the wayside, if you will, as far as the idea of going astray. And you can see how, in context here, when we're talking about sheep going astray, he's specifically talking about these little children. But before, middle, after, we're talking about these little ones that believe in him. And he doesn't want them to perish. Perish doesn't always mean eternal hellfire, okay? Perish can mean like to die. It means that basically, you know, it basically just means something like that as far, and it doesn't always necessarily mean like to die physically, necessarily. But you can perish into the things of this life, into the sin, into the debauchery, and just different things, right? But go to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, there's really another place where that term, the save that which is lost is used, is in Luke 19, which is very interesting because in chapter 15, who's coming to Jesus that the Pharisees are murmuring against him? The publicans, right, the publicans and sinners. Now we know specifically, in Matthew 21, that Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees saying that the publicans and the harlots believed him, right, believed John's preaching, right? John came in the way of righteousness and the publicans and the harlots, they believed him. But he's rebuking them saying, but you after that didn't repent that you should believe on him, right? I mean, the idea there is that he's stating like the publicans and the harlots, like he's saying they're believers, right? I mean, obviously not every single one of them, but he's kind of giving a, if you're looking at the Pharisees as a group and the publicans and the harlots as a group, these guys over here are the ones believing, not the Pharisees, okay? And so it's no marvel that you would think that he'd be talking about believers in Luke 15 or Luke 19 when you're dealing with a publican because Matthew was a publican, and in this story we have Zacchaeus, who is not only a publican, but a chief publican, or chief among the publicans, if you will. So in verse one here it says Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was and could not for the press because he was little of stature, and he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. So I can understand this, I'm not exactly a tall person, so I can feel it was Zacchaeus, you know? Like you can't see, there's too many people in front of you, and everybody's taller and all that stuff. So basically he gets up into a tree, and in verse five it says and when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Now the thing that I want you to notice there is that he knew him by name. There's another person that Jesus knew by name, which was Nathanael, right? And Nathanael's like, whence knowest thou me? But what Jesus said about Nathanael, he says, behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Nathanael was already saved. I mean, he already had a spirit that had no guile because his sins have been forgiven, he's a believer, and it just took Jesus saying, I saw thee under the fig tree, that he's like, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel, right? And he's like, just because I saw you under the fig tree, you believe is thou? Thou shall see greater things than these. And I believe, I personally believe that Zacchaeus is already a believer here and that Jesus knows, listen, it talks about him knowing his sheep by name. Now, you say, you're reading into that, pastor, you know? Well, let me keep reading, and I'm gonna give you another reason why I believe he's already saved. But he's a publican, and he's gonna, this is where people are gonna kind of murmur against Jesus for going to this guy's house. But it says in verse, verse six there, it says, and he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guests with a man that is a sinner. Sound familiar to Luke 15, right? Kind of the same thing, you're dealing with publicans and sinners and all that. And it says in Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Which is kind of an admission, like obviously you can kind of say, oh, that's good, but he's admitting that he's made false accusation, right? He's kind of admitting that his faults in the fact that he's reconciled it. But it says, and Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation, come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Now what's interesting about that, and again, you could argue with me and say, well, he's just saying he's a physical son of Abraham. But I believe there's a little more on that, there's a little more meat on that than just the fact that he's stating he's a Jew, like he's of Abraham, right? And that he's of that nation. Because what you have to understand is that when Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees in John chapter eight, they're like, we be children of Abraham. And he says, if you were children of Abraham, you would love me. And there is a meaning that they're children of Abraham maybe physically, but not spiritually speaking. And you're all the children of Abraham by faith. It talks about those that are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And I believe that that's what we're dealing with here, is that he's stating that, hey, Zacchaeus is a believer, but at the same time, you're dealing with someone that's a sinner, right? Meaning this is that, listen, we're all sinners, okay? But when it talks about this person was a sinner, it's more than just we've all sinned and come to the glory of God, right? We're dealing with people that are extortioners. I mean, you can think about 1 Corinthians chapter five, right, if you were gonna put like, okay, what's it mean when it says he's eating with someone that's a sinner? Well, it's kind of like that realm where he's trying to reconcile a brother that is in maybe some deeper type of sin. And he's kind of already admitting to extortion, right? Falsely accusing to make money. And that's just my take on it is that Zacchaeus, it's not that he got saved here, but the fact that he's getting right with God, right? He's reconciling things, he's coming back to the fold, and this is an example of that. And the publicans and the harlots and all those that were getting saved, they were not only getting saved, spiritually speaking, but they were getting saved physically by getting back into the fold, or getting into the fold. Now, go to Matthew chapter, actually, go to Psalm 23, Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is a famous psalm on the Lord is my shepherd. And I just want you to see that when it's talking about the Lord being our shepherd, obviously you can think about the spiritual aspect of like spiritually speaking, he saves our soul and all this stuff. But what you have to understand is that when we get saved, Jesus talks about this idea of having rest to your souls by taking his yoke upon you, right? And working and basically abiding in him and being his disciple. And this idea of having rest and being fed and having the, think about all the blessed is the man. Blessed is the pure in heart for they shall see God, right? And just different things like that to where it's not, that's not talking about getting saved, that's talking about being blessed after you've been saved by being righteous, by seeking after righteousness, being thirsty and hungry for righteousness, doing the work of God and all that. And in Psalm 23 in verse one, it says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. Notice this, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. So when we're talking about salvation, we're not talking about being led into the paths of righteousness, right? We're talking about we're made righteous, right? When we believe on him, his righteousness is imputed unto us. But when we're talking about being a part of the fold and we're being fed, think about a church and the idea of being in church and you have a pastor, obviously Jesus is the chief shepherd, right? But you're being fed and you're being led in the paths of righteousness and this idea of growing in the fold, but if you get out of that, right? And you think about church discipline, if someone were to be in sin, then they're cast out of the church, right? But the idea is that ultimately, what do you want? You want reconciliation, right? You want that idea of coming back to the fold, okay? And so when it comes down to this, it says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And obviously you can apply that to the spiritual salvation but I believe you can also apply that to the Christian life as far as physically being in this world but not fearing the things in this world, right? Not fearing what man's gonna do unto you and the Lord. Listen, if you're in sin and you're not keeping his commandments, you're not abiding in him and you can't claim those promises of protection and being fed and all those different things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. But the opposite would also be true, right? You can't expect all these things to be added unto you if you're not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And so if you're out of the fold and you're not doing what you should be doing, then that would apply, I believe. Go to Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. Like Ezekiel. This whole chapter is dealing with this idea of shepherds seeking that which is lost, okay? And it gets actually into God doing it, which obviously we see with Jesus coming and doing it. But this is something that obviously even now, being a pastor, this is something that we should be doing. And I'll get into some other verses besides this as well. But in Ezekiel chapter 34 in verse one, it says, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, thus said the Lord God unto the shepherds, woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves should not the shepherds feed the flocks. So he's talking to the shepherds, basically you're feeding yourself but you're not feeding anybody else. You know what this makes me think of? This makes me think of pastors that are getting an income but they're not feeding the flock, right? They're getting paid, but they're not actually preaching anything of any substance, right? Yeah, and so this happens a lot. In verse three, it says ye eat the fat and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. So it's not just like seeking those that basically have been driven away or different things like that. Like the idea is like strengthening the diseased or the healed the sick, bind up the broken. The idea of what a job of a pastor would be is not, and obviously a job of a pastor also is to preach to the unsaved and get people saved, right? But when we're talking about pastoring a flock, are we talking about unsaved people though? I mean the church is for saved people, right? Shepherding the flock and the fold, that's talking about believers. So when you're going out and winning the lost as far as those that aren't believers, that makes sense, but there can be believers, I believe, that can be lost outside the fold that need to be sought for and brought back in, okay? And the whole idea is that they were in the fold to begin with. So to me, it's either they lost their salvation and they need to be brought back into the fold by getting saved again, or they're saved and they got out of the fold, they just need to be brought back in. They're still saved though, okay? To me, that's the only way to really kind of look at this. Unless you want to say like, well, when they were in the fold, kind of like Adam was innocent and then he fell, but I think that's a stretch. And we're gonna be talking about the fact of like, you need to get saved or whatever, but that just doesn't seem to fit, okay? But in verse five there, it says, and they were scattered because there is no shepherd and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill, yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord as I live, saith the Lord, surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became meat to every beast of the field because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and fed not my flock. Therefore, all ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth that they may not be meat for them. 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. Now you can definitely see how this applies when Jesus comes, right? I mean, this is the Lord saying that he's gonna come and seek his sheep, right? And Jesus says, I am come, you know, basically in his ministry, he's come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel specifically, right? But then he talks about there's sheep that are of other fold that need to become this fold as well, right, in John chapter 10. But in verse, did I read verse 11 and verse 12 there? So it says, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he's among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloud and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good fold and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will cause them to lie down, said the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away and I will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick but I will destroy the fat and the strong and I will feed them with judgment. So this is basically obviously a rebuke against the shepherds of Israel. Basically God is saying I'm gonna come and clean house essentially. Like I'm gonna come and set this all straight and you can think about the fact that when he's coming he's preaching to a lot of saved people. I mean if you think about the Sermon on the Mount, it's not like when Jesus came on the scene everybody's lost. You know everybody's an unbeliever, right? There were believers in that day. I mean Nathaniel's definitely one of them but I mean think about Elizabeth and Zacharias, they were believers. Mary was a believer, Joseph was a believer, right? It's not like it was just like everybody was unsaved. No one was saved until Jesus like started his ministry. No, there was obviously unsaved people and people that did get saved but there were a lot of people that were saved that were scattered and needed a shepherd, needed leading, right? And we're kind of like that in America right now and the fact that there's a lot of Christians out there that just they need good leadership, right? They need a good fold to get into. A good church with a good pastor, okay? And you know what, the Bible talks about how God will send pastors that will feed the flock of God and how he'll take away those pastors that are basically eating up the flock and scattering the flock. And so go to 1 Timothy chapter four, 1 Timothy chapter four, let me give you an example of this. When saved, specifically dealing with pastoring is dealing with kind of like a physical salvation in this life when it comes to serving the Lord and not being destroyed, if you will, in this life. You can either be destroyed by Satan, you think about people that are cast out from the church, talks about that it'd be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, or you could be getting the chastisement of God himself where it talks about how you have this fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, right? And those are all talking about believers that happening to, okay? But in 1 Timothy chapter five verse 15, it says, meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them, notice this, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Now, Timothy is a pastor, and Paul's writing to him as a pastor, and he's basically saying, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, right? But then he's basically saying, you need to meditate upon these things and upon this doctrine, because you'll not only save yourself, but also those that hear you. What are you being saved from? The destruction of the flesh. I mean, think about the destruction that can happen if you don't hold to good doctrine and the commandments of God, and if you don't hold to purity, and you get into sin, listen, there's destruction that waits at the end of that. Listen, lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. And you know what? We may not be talking about like hell, and in some cases, you're maybe not dealing with physical death, but there are consequences for your sin. You will reap what you, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. So you can see how this would apply in the fact of saving that which was lost, and what are you saving them from? From hell, no, but you are saving them from destruction. Think about if a sheep gets out of the fold, right? Because what's the job of a pastor? Well, the job of the pastor is to feed the flock, right? But another job of the pastor, specifically in John chapter 10, the job of a shepherd is to protect the flock from wolves. And you know what happens if the sheep go astray outside that fold, where the shepherd's at, and all the other sheep are at, you know what happens? They get picked off. They get destroyed. And so that's something to think about as far as like, we need to seek them before they're destroyed, right? Before they get destroyed out in the world, they need to get into a good church, a good fold, and be led in the right direction, be led in the paths of righteousness, okay? Now go to Luke chapter 15. So I'm gonna give, obviously we're gonna get to the prodigal son. Luke 15, eight, dealing with the coin that was lost. I believe, honestly, no pun intended, but the same side of the same coin, right? So the idea here is that you have three different examples that explain the same concept, right? You have the sheep that are lost, right? The hundred sheep, one's lost. You leave the 99 where they're at, and you go out to find that one, and you're gonna rejoice when you find it, right? And then the same thing with these 10 pieces of silver. It says in verse eight, it says, either what woman having 10 pieces of silver, and again, either is kind of just like, here's another example, right? In the same manner, we're talking about the same thing. Either what woman having 10 pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. And what you have to understand is the compassion that's here, right? That when someone goes astray, instead of just being like, nuts to them, let them go. Now honestly, if they don't want to repent, if they don't want to come back to the fold, I mean, you can't force people, right? But ultimately, even if we have to cast someone out for some sin, ultimately, you know what I want to happen? I want them to realize the error of their way and repent and come back and get back into the fold and let's get back to work, right? We care about that person, right? We don't want to see them get destroyed. And even in 1 Corinthians five, in 2 Corinthians, he's stating like, you need to restore such a one, right? So restoration, now obviously if someone's a reprobate or someone's preaching false doctrine, then yes, don't let the door hit you on the way out and you're not welcome back, right? We're talking about believers, right? We're talking about people that are saved. We should never hate a believer. We should love them and want them to come back. It doesn't mean that we're gonna be best buddies with that person and we're gonna be just hanging out with that person all the time, but the idea is that we need to try to bring them back into the fold, okay? And some people leave and it's not because of sin. It could just be because they're choked with the cares of this life or whatever the case may be and we need to pull them back in. We need to try to seek them and bring them back, okay? So go to Luke chapter 15 in verse 11 and we get into the prodigal son here and this really is where the, kind of the rubber meets the road, if you will. Like if you think about like the lost sheep, you can be like, I can understand that, right? And the surface meaning of all these, you can understand it, right? The idea of like, okay, you have 100 sheep, one's lost. You go find it and you're like, yes, I found it, right? You can think about rejoicing that you found that lost sheep. Same thing with a coin is that money. You lose a piece of money and you're like, oh, I found it and you're just rejoicing over that. You can see that surface meaning there. But now we're getting into real people, right? And I'm not saying like these are real people. This could just very well be a parable. But either way, you're dealing with a real case scenario of a father and his two sons, okay? But the thing, like I said, are the sheep his or not, right? The 100 sheep are his. He loses one, he finds it, it's still his sheep. It was just not in the fold at that time, okay? Same thing with a coin. Was that coin ever not that woman's? Actually, it was in the same house. It's just the fact that it was just misplaced within that house, okay? And the same thing here is that these two sons, these sons don't ever cease to be sons. The father never ceases to be the father. But there is a difference in the fellowship between them. And notice what it says here in verse 11. It says, and he said, a certain man had two sons. 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. And not many days after the young son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riots his living. So you get the picture here. It's basically, he has two sons and the younger one's like, just give me my inheritance now. And he basically just uses it up on riots his living, okay? And it's all gone, okay? And you can imagine how this would picture a Christian, right, the idea of like instant gratification or waiting to enjoy that inheritance later, okay? And this is the case of most Christians, right? Most Christians want that, even though they're saved, they just want instant gratification. That's why they're either, they're choked by the cares of this life or they're offended and they get out of things or whatever, right? And so there's a lot of cases of where Christians, they don't actually just keep working and living for the Lord or even ever get into it. But notice what it says in verse 14, it says, and when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in one. So he doesn't have any more money, there's a big famine in the land. In verse 15 it says, and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and sent him into his fields to feed swine and he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him. Notice, by the way, that when you don't have money, you don't have all these cool friends that are around you to help you out, right? But in verse 17 there it says, and when he came to himself, so notice this, right? At all this point, right, he spends all his living, all this stuff is happening and it's just like he finally comes to himself, like what am I doing, right? So there's a turning point and here's the turning point. And sometimes Christians have to reach rock bottom before they come to this realization. I mean, would the God that most Christians would not have to be to the point where they're eating what the swine are eating and they're eating the slop, you know, they're about ready to eat slop and like the husks that the swine are eating before they come to themselves, right? It says, and when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my fathers have bred enough and to spare and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son and make me as one of thy hired servants. So what I want you to see here is that this story is obviously linked to the lost coins. This story is obviously linked to the lost sheep, right? These are all in line with each other. He sinned, okay, and he's basically saying, I'm no worthy more to be called his son and I'll just be like a hired servant, okay? I want you to keep that in mind because that's not what ends up happening, right? It's not like he's demoted from being a son or no longer a son anymore. Verse 20 says, 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. 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. 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 and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found and they began to be merry. So did he say, no, you're not my son anymore? Did he ever cease to be his son? No, the idea here is that he's rejoicing because his son was dead and now alive again, he was lost and now he's found. And you know what? All these people that believe that James chapter two is talking about this weird dead faith as far as the fact of unsaving faith or something like that, no, it's talking about being a dead Christian. If you don't have works, then you're a dead Christian, you're not the friend of God. And the idea here is that it's just like those that are in Sardis. You have a name that thou liveth, but thou art dead. And Christians that don't do the works that aren't keeping the commandments, they're dead Christians. But that doesn't mean that they're not saved. It doesn't mean they don't have faith. It's just the fact that their faith is unprofitable. Their faith is dead because it's not profiting anybody. But the same would be said about basically going astray. Going astray and going out into the world, you're like a lost sheep that's going out into the world. And you need to come back to the fold. The thing that's interesting here is the fact that, notice that when he sees his father, it says in verse 20 there, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. So notice that his son is coming to him first, right? He comes to himself and realizes I need to go to my father. So the father didn't go out necessarily and just like go find him in the swine pen or whatever. The son had to come to himself because the sinner has to repent, right? They have to come to theirself. They have to make that choice. But notice how the son is way out there and as soon as he sees them coming towards him, he ran to them. And go to James chapter four, James chapter four, because this rings true, that I believe as soon as you're with God, basically saying, I wanna come back, he's there. And he'll meet you way before you'd ever get there, okay? But notice what it says here in verse eight, it says, draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you, okay? Now if that doesn't fit the prodigal son story, I don't know what does, right? The idea of the father seeing him before off, the son's trying to draw an eye to him and what does the father do? He draws an eye to the son, right? And then notice what it says here though, draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep and let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. What are we talking about? We're talking about getting right with God, aren't we? We're talking about purification, we're talking about getting sin out of your life and getting right with God and abiding in Christ and drawing an eye to God and you know what? The prodigal son is getting right with God, right? And he even says like I've sinned against you and against God, right? He's even including God in this conversation as far as the fact that it wasn't just his father that he wronged, but against God. Now go back to Luke chapter 15, Luke chapter 15 and verse 25. Now I want to just kind of mention the elder son here because a lot of people are, one, the elder son kind of gets a bad rap, but you can understand on a human level why the younger son is like what's going on here, right? Like why all this ado over this? And in verse 25 it says, and notice that they were married. I kind of skimmed over that, but in the other two examples, it talks about rejoicing, right? Rejoicing over a sinner that repentseth. So obviously the father's rejoicing rightfully and he's in the right, obviously the father's in the right for what's going on here. In verse 25 it says, Now his elder son was in the field and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. So I want you to understand the picture here is that the son never stopped working, right? He's working for his father. He's literally working out in the field when his younger brother comes back. And so he's out there working and then he hears all this music and dancing. Verse 26, And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother has come and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound. So notice that safe and sound, right? This idea of saving, right? We're talking about seeking and saving that which is lost. And the idea of he was lost but now he's found, but the idea is that he's safe and sound, right? He didn't die out there. He didn't get destroyed, right? But then it goes on to say in verse 28, And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and entreated him. So on a human level, you can understand where the elder son's coming from here. It's like, what in the world, you know? And he's gonna explain why he's angry, but then the father's gonna explain why we should be rejoicing, right? And it really does give us a mindset of how we should have compassion on those that would go outside of the fold, even if they were gonna go out there just to live in sin and do things that they shouldn't be doing, that we should welcome them back with open arms if they wanna get right, and that we should have that compassion. And so you can understand where the elder son's coming from, but we need to learn from that mistake of not having this type of anger towards rejoicing over someone coming back. But it says in verse 29, it says, and he answered, answering said to his father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress I at any time thy commandment, yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. So he's given his case. As far as why this seems out of place. Verse 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. So imagine what he's seeing here, right? It's kinda like, I've been working, I've been doing all this stuff, and it's not like you've been celebrating me being here. But as soon as this son over here that comes back, after he just spent all his living on harlots, and he's in sin, and then he comes back, and now we've got the fatted calf. So he's like, what's going on here, why? But notice what the father says here in verse 31. And I've heard people be like, yeah, this doesn't make sense, why? It seems like the younger son is getting, it seems unfair, I guess, is the way someone would look at it. It doesn't seem fair, okay? Notice what it says in verse 31. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and I want this to, if you don't mind underlining in your Bible, it says, and all that I have is thine. So there is the key to understanding that, yes, we're rejoicing that the sinner came back in, and that the sinner wasn't destroyed, he's safe and sound, and he's back in the fold, but guess what? He still lost everything that he was given. He lost all that inheritance, and that's not coming back. That inheritance that was given to him when he left, and he wasted on harlots, and he wasted on everything else, it's gone. Because you know what the father doesn't say? Listen, I gotta split everything that we have now and give him a half portion of this now. No, he's saying all that I have is thine. There's the difference between the Christian that goes out into the world and lives that sinful life, and even though he comes back, which is great, and we should rejoice, but know this, is that there is a consequence, and the consequence is that inheritance that he'll never get back. You would rather be that elder son, okay? Because obviously it's great to rejoice that someone is saved from harm, right? And we can rejoice over that, but at the same time, in the end, for all eternity, the son, the child of God that is there from the beginning, working hard, is gonna be rewarded for all eternity and have that inheritance that will never be taken away and never be wasted. Moth and rust is not gonna corrupt, and no thief is gonna break forth through and steal. But notice what it says in verse 32. It says, it was meat. Notice meat means like worthy, or basically it's fitting, right? It was meat that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. So I mean, can't both be true that you could be like, hey, listen, he wasted everything, and he has those consequences he's gonna have to bear, but we should rejoice that he's safe and sound, like that he didn't get destroyed completely, right? That he's back with us, and we can reconcile. And listen, that son can get back to work, and he can earn it back an inheritance, but he's never gonna get back what he had. And at that moment, when he comes back, when the father says, all that is mine is thine, that statement's true. It's not like that inheritance is split again to the younger at that point. That son's gotta go work to get that inheritance back. And so there is a reward for that elder son. And listen, that instant gratification is what we need to kinda stay away from as far as that mindset of like, I want that recognition now. I want the fattened calf now, right? Instead, you should be thinking about the fact that, hey, I want it in eternity, because it'll never end. The same thing is why you would want the reward of, let's say, giving alms, or helping someone out, or praying, or fasting. You could get that recognition now by announcing it to everybody, and everybody would be like, oh, yeah, that's great. Well, now you have your reward, but wouldn't you rather have God rewarding you? If you do it in secret, God will reward you openly, and that idea. Now, the last thing I wanna point out is some application here of, as far as the idea of seeking and saving that which is lost, dealing with believers. Obviously, we should seek and save that which is lost when it comes to the unbelievers, those that are unbelieving, and the gospel being hid through those that are lost, and all that. But in James chapter four and verse eight, I'm sorry, not James chapter four, I'm sorry, Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six, how does this apply to us? Well, one, if you get out of church and you get into sin, come back to the fold. Come back to the fold. And listen, if someone comes back to the fold after they decide to go out and live in sin, then we need to embrace them with open arms, forgive and forget, and move on, and let's go forward, not hold it over their head or anything like that. They're bearing their own judgment, right? I mean, they've lost rewards for being out there. They have consequences for their sins that they'll have to deal with, and we should be glad that they're back in the fold. As it says in Galatians chapter six and verse one, it says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So we're not talking about getting people saved here, we're just talking about someone has a fault, they falter, and we try to restore that person. But notice that it's saying, basically, be careful. It's kinda like this idea of, lest you also be tempted. Imagine someone gets tempted with some sin, and then you're like, hey, I need to restore this person, and then you get pulled back, and then you get pulled into it, because the Bible says, wherefore let him and thinketh he stand, and take heed lest he fall. There is no sin which is taking you, but such is his calm and demand, you know? So when it comes to sin that people would be enticed by, don't think that you're above it. You should always take heed, like, hey, I can be tempted by that too, and try to pull them out, but don't get pulled in yourself, okay? In James chapter five, last thing I'll show you here, James chapter five and verse 19. James chapter five and verse 19. James chapter five and verse 19, it says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. This is talking about believers. It says, brethren, it says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, right? So, and will save a soul from death because there is a sin unto death, right? There's things that we can do to where you could potentially die, you know? I mean, think about murder and all these different other things, but I mean, even if the government's not doing it, there's things that you could do to where the end game is you're gonna die. You get into sin. The way of transgressors is hard, and you could end up getting some disease or something like that to where you die because of the sins that you committed. And you know what? We as believers should always be trying to pull believers out, you know, like trying to get them into the fold and having compassion on them, obviously not getting sucked into the stuff ourselves, but this idea of seeking saving that was lost and the idea of sinners repenting and coming back to the fold. And the Bible has other passages on this than the fact of like if a brother trespassed against you and he comes and repents, then 70 times seven, you should be restoring that brother, right? But I believe it's very clear. The prodigal son to me is like case in point. Like we're dealing with believers here. He's still a son. He never ceased to be a son. And the other passages fall lock and step. So when we're dealing with lost sheep in these passages, I believe we're dealing with believers that have gone astray. They're still believers, but they've gone astray. There are passages where loss does talk about unbelievers. But I would challenge you to show me where we're talking about sheep when we're talking about like that. Now, David is an example of someone that's called himself a lost sheep. And we can be likened, I believe, unto sheep when it comes to salvation. And what you have to understand though is when you're dealing with things in the Bible, a lot of times there's a spiritual, like an eternal spiritual type of application, and then there's the physical. Think about calling upon the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, that's obviously talking about eternal salvation when you're in Romans chapter 10, verse 13. Because how shall they believe in him? How shall they call on him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And it goes down to preaching the gospel, right? But then there are cases where it talks about calling upon the name of the Lord for physical salvation. Both can be true, but context is gonna tell you which one we're talking about, okay? And so when it comes to this, I believe that in Luke chapter 15, we're dealing with believers that are getting right with God. And that we should rejoice when believers get right with God, and we shouldn't be angry that they're getting some kind of rejoicing because they come back to the fold. You should always be thinking about the eternal value of what you're doing and not instant gratification. And so let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this passage in Luke 15, and just pray that you'd help us to always stay in the fold and to stay in the things of God. But Lord, if we were to ever go to stray, Lord, I pray that you'd help us to get back into the fold. And Lord, just pray that you'd help us to draw an eye to you at all times and to abide in you. And Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest of this week. Pray that you'd give us safety in our travels. Be with those that aren't feeling well. And Lord, we just pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. But they will come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books. Take your song books and turn to song 412. Song 412. If you would stand, we'll sing Onward Christian Soldier, song 412. If you would stand, we'll sing Onward Christian Soldier, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before, Christ the royal master, Leads against the foe, Forward into battle, See his banner go. Onward Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before, At the sign of triumph, Satan's host doth flee, On then Christian soldiers, On to victory, Hell's foundations quiver, At the shout of praise, Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise, Onward Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before, Like a mighty army, Moves the church of God, Brothers, we are treading, Where the saints have trod, We are not divided, All one body weep, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity, Onward Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before,