The Singing Savior

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:07.910 Luke Chapter Fifteen, as we continue to make our way through the parables and 2 00:00:08.029 --> 00:00:12.349 will be continuing and Luke. We're in Luke fourteen last week and will be 3 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:18.070 in Luke fifteen for the next few weeks. Lord Willing, Luke fifteen will 4 00:00:18.070 --> 00:00:24.699 begin in verse one. Now. The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing 5 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:30.059 near to hear him, him being Jesus, and the Pharisees and the scribes 6 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:36.289 grumbled, saying this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told 7 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:41.090 them this parable. What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he 8 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:44.689 has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the open 9 00:00:44.770 --> 00:00:49.969 country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And 10 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:53.799 when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing, and 11 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:59.640 when he comes home he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to 12 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.640 them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. 13 00:01:03.790 --> 00:01:07.349 Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over 14 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:12.750 one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 15 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:19.180 Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does 16 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:25.340 not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it. 17 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.859 And when she has found it, she calls together. They're her friends 18 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:33.890 and neighbor saying rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I 19 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:38.290 had lost. Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of 20 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:44.290 God over one sinner who repents. This is the word of the Lord. 21 00:01:44.569 --> 00:02:01.109 You may be seated. What causes you to rejoice? What causes you to 22 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:10.710 want to throw a party? What causes you to want to sing? What 23 00:02:12.069 --> 00:02:16.699 in life causes you to want to dance? Perhaps that one was too far 24 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:23.180 for Presbyterians. will go back to singing. But think about it. What 25 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:30.090 in life makes you want to celebrate? I mean we like to celebrate things, 26 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:35.050 and rightly so. Perhaps your wedding day, if you're married. Perhaps 27 00:02:35.169 --> 00:02:38.889 that's the moment in life that you thought that was the time that I wanted 28 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:44.439 to celebrate the most, a day where all cultures, it would seem, 29 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:53.919 throw parties, feast, say even dance. Perhaps a birth announcement. We've 30 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:58.669 had several of those recently among us. Those are times that we celebrate rate. 31 00:03:00.590 --> 00:03:05.669 Perhaps you think back to the day your first child was born, and 32 00:03:05.870 --> 00:03:13.340 that that moment where where you wanted to sing or cry, but rejoicing. 33 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:21.060 We like to rejoice. Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, times that we celebrate 34 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:27.810 yearly. What makes you want to rejoice? What makes you want to throw 35 00:03:27.849 --> 00:03:32.169 a party? I think thinking about this reveals something about our hearts, and 36 00:03:32.409 --> 00:03:38.449 and a good way. When we think about what we rejoice, what makes 37 00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:43.159 us want to celebrate, we get a glimpse into our hearts, don't we? 38 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.560 Again, we get a glimpse into what we love. Let me ask 39 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:57.349 you this. What makes God rejoice? What makes God want to throw a 40 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:04.909 party? What makes God want to sing? Well, I want to consider 41 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:10.979 that this evening, as we look at our text, will take a look 42 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:15.620 at these two parables, these two parallel parables that that are probably familiar to 43 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.660 many of you, and as we do, I want to keep this question 44 00:04:18.779 --> 00:04:28.689 in mind. What makes God rejoice? And as we look at these parables, 45 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:31.970 I want to want to break them up into three headings for this evening. 46 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:41.360 One, the bitterness of the righteous, to the rejoicing in heaven and 47 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.920 finally, three, the heart of God. The bitterness of the Righteous, 48 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:50.720 the rejoicing in heaven and the heart of God so over the next few weeks 49 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.750 we will be in the evenings Lord Willing in Luke fifteen taking a look at 50 00:04:56.829 --> 00:05:00.550 some parables that are familiar. But the the statement at the beginning of our 51 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:09.060 parables this evening really sets up the the context for the rest of these parables, 52 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:13.779 including the prodigal son that will be getting to next week. And this 53 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:19.139 is this first verse. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing 54 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:25.610 near to him. Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying this man 55 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:31.329 receives sinners, and not only that, but he eats with them. So 56 00:05:31.449 --> 00:05:35.399 right here, before we jump into the parables, we are we're found with 57 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:43.480 two very distinct groups of people. We have Pharisees and scribes on one hand, 58 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.800 we have tax collectors and sinners on the other. Men will consider both 59 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:55.589 for a moment. As we've thought through the parables this summer we've often come 60 00:05:55.829 --> 00:06:01.069 into contact with Pharisees and and scribes and if we'll recall, these are Jewish 61 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:06.459 leaders. We get a odd taste in our mouth when we hear pharisee inscribe. 62 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:13.379 But these were men to be respected, men with high social status, 63 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.540 but also men with high religious status, men who took the word of God 64 00:06:17.769 --> 00:06:25.089 very seriously, who knew the Torah, who knew the scriptures, not only 65 00:06:25.129 --> 00:06:30.569 knew them, but worked very, very hard to follow them. Men that 66 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:36.759 would be respected, men closely associated with the religious elite, and and rightly 67 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:42.879 so, it would seem from all outward appearances. Well, on the other 68 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:48.389 hand, we have the complete opposite, tax collectors and sinners. As we've 69 00:06:48.430 --> 00:06:55.910 thought about tax collectors, we know that these are individuals who make their living 70 00:06:56.110 --> 00:07:00.899 defrauding their own countrymen, most of which are Jews, that the Romans have 71 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:06.860 recruited to to collect taxes amongst their own people. These would be the worst 72 00:07:06.980 --> 00:07:13.259 of the worst, not exactly people that you would be excited to see when 73 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:17.250 you came around the corner tax collectors. And then sinners is kind of a 74 00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:23.610 catch all category for people who, to some degree or another, we're not 75 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:30.560 taking the Torah seriously. Specifically as it came to the ceremonial laws and laws 76 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.720 that kept them clean so that they might come to the Temple to worship, 77 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:41.959 these folks did seem to care a whole lot about keeping that ceremonial cleanliness. 78 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.230 So, on one side, right in the beginning. We have these religious 79 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:51.670 elite, upright folks, and we have the bottom of the barrel sinners. 80 00:07:54.189 --> 00:08:01.579 And we find here that these these pharisees, these scribes, are concerned and 81 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:07.180 fact bitter, it says, or complaining that that Jesus would hang out with 82 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:13.170 these kind of people. It says that they're they're drawing near to him. 83 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:20.689 It says that that he is eating with them, people that are unclean religiously 84 00:08:20.810 --> 00:08:26.009 speaking, you would not want to eat with and would contaminate you. And 85 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:28.879 then, if you are contaminated, you would contaminate others that you came in 86 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.279 contact with. It would render you, at least for a time, on 87 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:39.279 Holy. So to a certain extent they're justified in their concern, aren't they? 88 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:46.309 And it says that they grumble. Interestingly, we know that word when 89 00:08:46.309 --> 00:08:50.470 it's associated with with the Jews, as they were often grumbling in the old 90 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:54.669 testament because they weren't happy with how God was working. Well, we should 91 00:08:54.669 --> 00:09:03.899 keep that in mind perhaps, as these folks are grumbling. They're irritated folks 92 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:09.330 who have gone to great lengths to stay kosher, literally speaking, and now 93 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:16.009 they see Jesus hanging out with people who seem to have no interest and saying 94 00:09:16.009 --> 00:09:24.049 kosher, no interest and following the Torah. But when you think about rejoicing, 95 00:09:24.289 --> 00:09:26.720 as we started out with, what's what's kind of the opposite. You 96 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:35.120 could think of perhaps grumbling, complaining fits the bill, and I think that's 97 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:41.710 exactly what we see here. These folks, in response to Jesus receiving sinners, 98 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:50.509 act completely the opposite of how God ends up acting when he sees his 99 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:58.620 son receiving sinners. Instead of rejoicing, they grumble, instead of joining in 100 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:07.450 the celebration of Heaven, they exclude themselves from the banquet. If you recall, 101 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:11.490 this is in the context of last week's parable, where Jesus has come 102 00:10:11.730 --> 00:10:16.610 to leaders of the Pharisees and essentially said, you know, you think that 103 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:20.850 you're coming to this end times banquet, but you're but you're not. You 104 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:26.039 know who's going to be there? Well, sinners, people who are socially 105 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.399 outcast, he says, the blind, the lame, the crippled. So 106 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.029 this is coming just a few verses after that parable. And here we see, 107 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:39.470 as we often do, is Jesus teaches a parable. What he teaches 108 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:45.710 starts playing out right in front of him, and that is what is going 109 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:50.740 on here? Well, in response to this grumbling, the grumbling of these 110 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:56.620 righteous men, Jesus decides to tell a couple of stories. It seems that 111 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:01.700 he is not quite done teaching them, and that's good for us, because 112 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:07.850 we need to hear the word as well this evening. So these parable speak 113 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:11.570 of the rejoicing and heaven. So we have the grumbling of the righteous. 114 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:18.840 Now let's consider the rejoicing of heaven. Jesus gives us two parallel parables, 115 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.080 very similar as we can see, the lost sheep and the lost coin. 116 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:30.200 Let's let's consider them together. What Man of you? He begins in verse 117 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.789 four having a hundred sheep. If he lost one of them, does not 118 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:39.950 leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the one that is 119 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:46.110 lost until he finds it? Well, right off the bat, I don't 120 00:11:46.149 --> 00:11:50.220 know about you, but my first thought is, well, this doesn't exactly 121 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:56.980 seem echianomic or economically expedient. You know it, that's it's it's one percent 122 00:11:56.340 --> 00:12:01.649 of your possessions has been lost and you put the rest at risk. That 123 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:07.409 that doesn't quite seem how I would shepherd, but I'm not the Lord, 124 00:12:07.570 --> 00:12:11.289 so we'll see what he has. I think what we see here is that 125 00:12:13.250 --> 00:12:16.919 the Lord often, as we see, is not about economic expedients. Is 126 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:22.799 he act. He's rarely seems to value the same things that we value. 127 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:30.950 Instead, it would seem that the heart of this shepherd is not expedients, 128 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:37.789 but a heart set on seeking and saving that which is lost, which makes 129 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:41.149 sense as we put it in the context of the rest of the scriptures, 130 00:12:41.549 --> 00:12:48.419 especially as we know that Jesus is this shepherd. So the shepherd goes out, 131 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:54.379 he goes to look for this one that was lost and when he finds 132 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:58.970 that, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. Now I'm not sure where 133 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:01.809 the image is from, but I have a picture seared in my head. 134 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:05.529 I don't know if it was the children's Bible or there's paintings of this, 135 00:13:05.809 --> 00:13:13.320 but with this blond, blue eyed Dutch looking Jesus with this like stuffed animal, 136 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:20.519 like lamb, on his shoulders, it looks like a very peaceful scene. 137 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:24.399 But I've done a little bit of reading about shepherds and it would seem 138 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.470 like what happens is is when a sheep gets lost, they go a little 139 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:35.909 bit crazy, they become obstinate because of their fear and and they don't react 140 00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:41.860 well once they're off on their own to the kind instruction of a shepherd. 141 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:48.220 What often has to happen is that shepherd has to injure the lost sheep and 142 00:13:48.500 --> 00:13:52.259 order to get them back to the pack. So this situation of a sheep 143 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:58.129 on a shepherd shoulders is not necessarily a pleasant situation, either for the sheep 144 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:05.809 or the shepherd. But here we find this shepherd going after this sheep, 145 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:07.769 having to do whatever he had to do to get him on his shoulders, 146 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:16.120 and he does so. What rejoicing. This is a pleasant shepherd. Indeed, 147 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.120 a task that does not seem overly pleasant, but for the joy that 148 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:30.269 is set in his heart, he endures it. So we man handles this 149 00:14:30.429 --> 00:14:35.070 sheep, maybe injures them, who knows? But gets the sheep back to 150 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:41.620 the pack. And when he does he does something quite strange. Again, 151 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:46.419 we probably heard this parable over and over again, but let's think about it 152 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:50.139 for a moment. He gets the sheep back, this obstinate sheep that ran 153 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:56.570 off from the pack, and he calls his friends as neighbors and he says 154 00:14:56.570 --> 00:15:01.330 it's party time. He says. This one lost sheep who got away I 155 00:15:01.649 --> 00:15:09.000 found it. Come rejoice with me. It's time to celebrate, for I 156 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:18.080 have found my lost sheep. Interesting, he goes on to tell of this 157 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:26.309 lost coin. What woman would not light a lamp and sweep the house to 158 00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:33.710 seat diligently until she finds this lost coin? You know, we think about 159 00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:35.460 this as well. Why not sweep the house? Is a good opportunity to 160 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:39.700 clean up you've lost something, but think about we're not. We're not thinking 161 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:43.779 about hardwood floors, laminettes. We're thinking about a dirt floor. Right. 162 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:50.049 She is causing a huge mess to find this lost coin that may be lost 163 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:56.289 in the dirt. She is lighting a lamp, she is looking for this 164 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:03.490 coin diligently. This coin represents about a day's wages, not a small thing 165 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:07.519 to lose. But it's interesting that when she finds it, she says it's 166 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:12.120 time to rejoice. Let's rejoice over this lost coin. She calls her neighbors, 167 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:18.399 she calls her friends. It would seem like any decent party would cost 168 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:25.309 more than this one lost coin that she found, and yet she calls everyone 169 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:32.110 to rejoice. So we have one percent of the possessions, this this lost 170 00:16:32.230 --> 00:16:37.740 sheep. We have the one out of ten coins that was lost. Not 171 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:44.139 Small things, but doesn't seem like the kind of possessions you throw a party 172 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:49.889 over. And I don't think the storyteller in this case is trying to say 173 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:53.289 that in and of themselves, these things are of great worth. I mean, 174 00:16:53.570 --> 00:16:59.330 Jesus has told stories about things of great worth. Has any pearls of 175 00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:04.640 great price, treasures and a field? But here we have a sheep and 176 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:11.880 we have a lost coin and a shepherd and a woman willing to go to 177 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:21.430 great links to find things that don't seem all that important. Kind of like 178 00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:25.670 the guest list from last week's parable right, if we think of this in 179 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:33.819 context, sending out the servants to find who? Not to the rich neighbors, 180 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:41.099 but the poor, the lame, the blind, the crippled. So 181 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:45.730 why does Jesus Tell Us these parables? What? What are we supposed to 182 00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:51.289 Glean from them? Well, again, I think we need to consider them 183 00:17:51.329 --> 00:17:53.809 in light of the context, don't we that we need to consider them and 184 00:17:55.170 --> 00:17:57.839 in the light of the attitude of the scribes and the Pharisees, who were 185 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.440 grumbling because Jesus was hanging out with the wrong type of people again. But 186 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:10.680 we should also look clearly at the reasoning that Jesus himself gives us, and 187 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:14.390 I think if we hold these two things, we can kind of see what 188 00:18:14.869 --> 00:18:18.309 Jesus is getting at. What does he what does he tell us? The 189 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:22.950 end of the first parable he says just so, I tell you there will 190 00:18:22.990 --> 00:18:30.299 be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents then over ninety nine righteous 191 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:34.660 persons who need no repentance. Or, in the case of the coin, 192 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:41.650 just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over 193 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:47.130 one sinner who repents. Well, there's a lot of theology to think about 194 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:52.089 here, isn't there? I mean, one how does this affect our definition 195 00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:59.039 of repentance? And the case of these two parables? A lost sheep that 196 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:06.079 had to be shouldered was repentant. A lost coin found in the dirt was 197 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:11.190 repentant. In this certainly must play into our doctrine of repentance. Right that 198 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:18.309 God comes and finds us and causes us to repent by His grace. That's 199 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:23.619 certainly a great, true ruth that we should consider here. But I think 200 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:30.380 the main thing that Jesus wants to explain. Again, considering the context of 201 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:36.619 what Jesus says is that Jesus wants us to see this opposition between the grumbling 202 00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:41.170 of the righteous and the rejoicing of Heaven. It would seem like he has 203 00:19:41.250 --> 00:19:48.569 set these in contrast. In contrast to the Pharisees and the scribes who are 204 00:19:49.009 --> 00:19:53.960 grumbling, when Jesus receives tax collectors and sinners, people who seem like they 205 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.880 wouldn't be a whole lot of worth, and the Kingdom of Heaven, God 206 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:06.240 throws a party. It's interesting. Here Jesus does another thing that would probably 207 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:11.910 irritate the Pharisees. He peels back the curtain of Heaven, claiming that he 208 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:17.509 knows what goes on and the divine counsel. He says, you want to 209 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:22.220 know what happens in heaven when one of these sinners repents, he says God 210 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:29.460 calls the angels and says it's time to go. It's time to celebrate. 211 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:33.819 When a sinner is repented by the grace of God, there is a Party 212 00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:41.170 and heaven the music kicks in, people start dancing and singing. The party 213 00:20:41.369 --> 00:20:47.049 of the year breaks out over one sinner, one tax collector, who repents. 214 00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:52.839 Perhaps you think I'm going too far with the party, but if we 215 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:57.440 look a little bit further to the prodigal son, it's exactly what we see, 216 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:02.960 don't way? If you'll recall the older brothers in the field, and 217 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.950 what catches his attention? Oh, he hears noise back home. Here's The 218 00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:12.630 music, and the servants come out and tell him what your dad's your dads 219 00:21:12.630 --> 00:21:17.910 thrown a party, the grill is going, the fatted calf has been killed 220 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:22.740 so that we can party. And then the father comes out, probably sweating 221 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:26.660 from dancing the Y M see and says, come on in, this party's 222 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:33.809 for you too. Your brother, who was dead as now alive. It 223 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:48.079 is fitting that we celebrate to these righteous grumbling that Jesus would invite the wrong 224 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:59.079 kind of people, God is rejoicing over one sinner that repents. I think 225 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:03.910 this shows us something really important, doesn't it? It gives us a glimpse 226 00:22:03.789 --> 00:22:07.869 at the heart of God, and that's what I want to consider for the 227 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:14.150 last few moments this evening. As we have seen time and time again in 228 00:22:14.269 --> 00:22:21.299 these parables, God goes after the wrong types of people. He invites people 229 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:26.579 to dinner that would make us really uncomfortable. The poor, the lane, 230 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:36.369 the blind, the crippled, tax collectors, sinners. He moves towards us 231 00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:42.529 with hospitality and kindness before we ever turn toward him. And that's what he 232 00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:47.000 shows us in going after these people, isn't it? That's what he shows 233 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.599 us in going after people like us, people who would never run to God, 234 00:22:52.799 --> 00:23:00.309 but he runs to us. We read from Romans five this morning, 235 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:06.430 during the reading of the law and the confession of sins and assurance of pardon, 236 00:23:06.710 --> 00:23:11.990 that while we were still far from God, while we were still unrighteous, 237 00:23:11.029 --> 00:23:18.539 at the right time, Christ died for us. God and His grace 238 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:26.859 leaves the ninety nine and while we are yet lost sheep and lost coins, 239 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:33.450 he comes after us. He finds us by sending his son to take on 240 00:23:33.769 --> 00:23:42.960 our humanity, to find us where we are and by his spirit gives us 241 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:51.960 the grace to repent. We are the lost sheep, we are the lost 242 00:23:52.200 --> 00:24:00.509 coin, but not only does God go after us and find us, he 243 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:07.789 does so rejoicing. I think that's where we see this, this heart of 244 00:24:07.950 --> 00:24:11.700 God. Let's look at it again. There will be more joy and heaven. 245 00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:18.700 There will be more joy and heaven over one sinner who repents then over 246 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:26.250 ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance. That is God's heart for you, 247 00:24:29.849 --> 00:24:37.849 joy over our salvation, over our repentance. You know, I think 248 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:42.519 oftentimes we get in our heads that God was so gracious to save us but 249 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:47.559 now he just kind of puts up with us, that you know, for 250 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:53.750 the most part we're just massive failures and that he's just holding on until finally 251 00:24:53.789 --> 00:25:00.390 Jesus comes and and most of the time we're thinking, or we're thinking he's 252 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:03.509 thinking, Oh, they're at it again, they're doing it again. I 253 00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:07.859 mean, I know, I maybe I'm the only one, but I think 254 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:17.380 that's often how I feel. God looks at me as a failure. But 255 00:25:17.619 --> 00:25:26.769 is that what we see here? A God who comes to says but would 256 00:25:26.809 --> 00:25:29.809 just put up with us for the rest of our lives? I don't think 257 00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:34.920 that's what we see. and to back up that claim I want to consider 258 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:41.519 a text as we close that we actually opened our time with, and Zephaniah, 259 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.599 and I want to go ahead and turn there. The table of contents 260 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:48.039 was made for the minor prophet, so it's okay to look at it. 261 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.630 That's at the tail end of the Old Testament. I want to look at 262 00:25:52.630 --> 00:25:56.589 Zeph and I have three and just consider it for a moment and how it 263 00:25:56.670 --> 00:26:03.109 might help us understand the heart of God. This evening, Zeph and IAH 264 00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:11.940 contains this prophetic poetry, most of it speaking of the coming judgment over Jerusalem 265 00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:18.970 and the nation surrounding speaking of exile because of the disobedience of the people. 266 00:26:18.970 --> 00:26:25.730 It's a pretty heavy prophetic word. But in the ends we see this this 267 00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:33.240 prophetic poetry, speaking about a future restoration. Interestingly enough, it talks about 268 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:40.440 how God will restore the humble, he will restore those who are outcast, 269 00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:45.640 and these specifically talks about the lame and and the crippled and and we see 270 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:51.309 this heart of God and this future restoration that after this judgment comes, God 271 00:26:51.509 --> 00:26:55.630 will himself save a remnant. And we get to Zeph and I a three 272 00:26:55.750 --> 00:27:00.470 verse seventeen, and it says the Lord Yahwah, your God is in your 273 00:27:00.549 --> 00:27:07.740 midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with 274 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:15.099 gladness, he will quiet you by his love, he will exalt over you 275 00:27:15.369 --> 00:27:21.490 with loud singing. The Lord, your God is in your midst, the 276 00:27:21.490 --> 00:27:26.369 mighty one who will save. The Hebrew word for save is as Yeshua, 277 00:27:26.529 --> 00:27:30.880 from where we get Joshua or rendered in the New Testament, Jesus. We 278 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:36.720 could read this. A mighty one who will Jesus you. And that's what 279 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:38.720 we find in the New Testament, in the fulfillment. Isn't it that he 280 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:45.109 saves us in his son, and in that salvation, what do we find? 281 00:27:45.150 --> 00:27:52.789 That he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by 282 00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:59.180 his love. He Will Exalt over you with loud singing. There are some 283 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:07.339 commentators who suggest that this word exalt should actually be translated dance. I don't 284 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:11.220 know if we presbyterians want to go that far, but but think about that. 285 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:15.009 He will exalt, he may dance over you with loud singing. Is 286 00:28:15.089 --> 00:28:22.329 this a God who thinks you're a disappointment? Doesn't look that way, does 287 00:28:22.410 --> 00:28:30.599 it? Because in his son we are not. When he sees us who 288 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.200 have faith, he sees his son and it makes him want to sing. 289 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:44.789 The beginning of our time we asked the question what causes God to rejoice? 290 00:28:45.869 --> 00:28:57.259 What Causes God to sing? What Causes God perhaps to dance? You do. 291 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:06.980 What Causes God to rejoice? You Cause God to rejoice. What Causes 292 00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:12.769 God to want to throw a party? You Do, saving you, when 293 00:29:12.849 --> 00:29:17.329 God got Ahold of Your Life. He called the angels and he said, 294 00:29:17.369 --> 00:29:22.289 Jackie repented, it's time to party. He said, Christopher repented. I 295 00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:23.680 guess what, I'm going to make him a pastor. You won't believe it. 296 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.440 Every time one of US repented, he called the angels said, Ronald 297 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:34.200 Repent it it's time to party, it's time to sing, it's time to 298 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:41.309 dance, and he continues to sing over us, to rejoice in our salvation. 299 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:51.750 That is God's heart towards us. What Causes God to rejoice? We 300 00:29:51.910 --> 00:30:00.099 do. What an amazing thought that we are not disappointments to God, far 301 00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:03.859 from it, but we are a great treasure, a great inheritance, and 302 00:30:07.890 --> 00:30:17.289 that reminds us that neither are those sinners who have repented. Rejoices over them 303 00:30:17.329 --> 00:30:26.400 as well. All repentance, their repentance is an opportunity for God to throw 304 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:33.160 a party, to call all the company of Heaven. We read from the 305 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.750 Psalm Ninety three this evening of how the oceans roar. That he causes that, 306 00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:42.710 I mean he can throw a party, he can call all creation to 307 00:30:42.910 --> 00:30:51.420 sing because of your salvation, because of our salvation in Jesus Christ, and 308 00:30:51.579 --> 00:30:56.339 may we feel the warmth of his rejoicing this day, in this week, 309 00:30:56.740 --> 00:31:03.619 and may we share in the heart of God and the rejoicing is other sinners 310 00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:07.130 like us, come to repentance, come to faith in Jesus Christ. May 311 00:31:07.210 --> 00:31:11.170 We share his love with others as we go this week. Let's pray