Subject Eighty-nine

THE SHEPHERD FINDING THE LOST SHEEP

Scripture: Luke 15:3-7

1. Man is God’s sheep
   1. Man was made by God, so man belongs to God.
   2. Man is not only made by God, but also fed by God and cared for by Him, like a sheep under the care of a shepherd.
   3. God is man’s shepherd; therefore, God is man’s master.
2. Man is lost
   1. Man is born lost. On this point you need to prove that it seems that man knows everything; yet he does not know where he came from, where he is going, or to whom he belongs. Who is your master? Everything has an owner. You may be a big man, yet you do not know to whom you belong. If a wife says that her husband is her master, she still would not be able to say to whom she would belong if her husband should die. If you say that your parents are your masters, to whom would you belong if your parents were dead?
   2. Man is lost because of sin. Man is born in sins, grows up in sins, and lives in sins; therefore, man is lost.
   3. Man is lost because man has lost God. Man is created by God, and he is fed by God. Now because man has lost God, man himself is lost.
3. God comes to seek man
   1. Man does not know that he is lost; neither does he have any desire to seek God. But God comes to seek man.
   2. The way God seeks man is by coming Himself as man’s savior. This is the One incarnated in the flesh, Jesus of Nazareth. So Jesus is not only man’s Savior, but also man’s shepherd.
   3. God seeks man through the Lord Jesus. On the cross the Lord Jesus found man and recovered man. Through death and resurrection the Lord Jesus imparts life to man. This is to recover man, because through the resurrection life man is brought back to God.
4. How to receive God’s seeking
   1. Confess that you are lost, and that you have lost God.
   2. Repent and turn to God.
   3. Receive Christ and His redemption.
   4. Leave the place where you are lost.
   5. Receive life and come back to God.