Heaven’s Joy
Luke 15:1-10
December 8, 2019
Isaac Watts penned for us what is
One of the most popular Christmas hymns ever sung.
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receiver her King. Let every heart prepare Him room and Heaven and nature sing! And Heaven and nature sing! And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing!”
It’s a song that’s been adopted for Christmas, But it really isn’t a Christmas song. It is actually a Salvation song. It is a Second Coming song.
But in that song we are reminded that
The chief emotion produced in salvation is that of joy!
Certainly a forgiven sinner should rejoice in salvation.
• When one who was dead in sin is made alive and called out of the grave…
• When one who was clothed in sin is forgiven and clothed in the righteousness of Christ…
• When one who was estranged from God and has no hope is reconciled through Christ and adopted into God’s family…
Certainly the appropriate response (among others) is that of joy.
But even Isaac Watts understood that
THE SINNER IS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO REJOICE AT SALVATION.
He also noted that when sinners receive her King
That also singing a joyful song will be both “Heaven and nature” as well.
REGARDING THE JOY OF NATURE?
• Romans 8 teaches us that fallen nature waits eagerly for the revealing of the
sons of God and the day when this world is liberated from the curse.
Romans 8:19-21 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
AND REGARDING THE JOY OF HEAVEN?
Well, Luke 15 shows us that.
Truths like we read in verse 7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Or again in verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And this truth is one that we not only REJOICE IN,
But also PATTERN OUR LIVES AFTER.
God has made it very clear what should cause us to rejoice.
NOT ONLY THAT, but we also see here the very heart of God.
• We are reminded again that God is by nature a Savior.
• He delights in salvation.
God has revealed through His word that
There is no joy for Him in the judgment of the wicked.
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”
That of course DOES NOT MEAN that God won’t judge the wicked.
He is just. He is holy. He will certainly do it.
It also DOES NOT MEAN that God finds no satisfaction judgment.
He does.
We have often times read that famous 53rd chapter of Isaiah and seen the satisfaction God received in punishing Christ for the sins of His people.
Isaiah 53:10 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”
GOD IS HOLY AND JUST.
He will satisfy His holy wrath in judging those who refuse to repent.
But while God is certainly willing and capable of judging sinners,
It does not bring Him joy.
God’s joy is always found in salvation.
When God saved His people from the land of Egypt we read:
Psalms 105:43 “And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout.”
• You see there the very heart of God as His people began to walk out of Egypt.
• He shouted, He cheered, He rejoiced in the salvation that was occurring.
We move from there to the WILDERNESS WANDERINGS
And the disobedience of Israel there has been well documented.
• At the end of that time Moses delivered one final sermon, (the book of Deuteronomy) where God outlined for His people about the blessing and the curse.
• Namely that if the people did not obey the whole Law then God would curse them.
But even in that, God looked beyond the day of their curse
To the day when God would forgive them and save them.
Deuteronomy 30:1-9 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. “The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. “The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. “And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. “Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;”
God was willing to punish Israel and even scatter them for their sin,
But He would rejoice over them on the day
When He would save them and bring them home.
Jeremiah spoke of this same reality;
Namely that after a period of exile God would rejoice in salvation.
Jeremiah 32:37-41 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. “I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.”
You see it again, God rejoices in salvation.
And this extends even BEYOND the Exodus or even the return from Exile.
This joy extends all the way to the end of this age.
• The prophets also often spoke of a coming Millennial kingdom where God’s Messiah would reign over the whole earth and Israel would no longer rebel against God, but the marriage of the Lamb will finally be consummated with His church.
That day of full salvation is also said to be a day of great joy for God.
Isaiah 62:5 “For as a young man marries a virgin, So your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.”
Zephaniah 3:14-17 “Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
And so hopefully you get the point.
God rejoices in salvation.
Saving sinners is the very heart of God.
It is this joy, mixed certainly with His great love
That prompted the very coming of Jesus
And the saving work He performed.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
1 Timothy 2:1-4 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Now this is NOT to get too deep into truths like God’s sovereign election
Or the love He has for the world verses the love He has for the redeemed.
Certainly we could spend some time on those distinctions.
THIS MORNING we simply want to make sure that everyone understands that the heart of God rejoices in the salvation of sinners.
I might also FURTHER CLARIFY that by saying that
GOD REJOICES IN THE TRUE SALVATION OF SINNERS.
If you notice again verses 7 & 10,
• We DO NOT read that “there will be more joy in heaven when a sinner
walks the aisle”
• NOR DO we read that “there will be more joy in heaven when a sinner
makes a profession of faith”
• NOR DO we read that “there will be more joy in heaven when a sinner
gets baptized”
The rejoicing of heaven comes “over one sinner who repents”
GOD HAS NEVER REJOICED AT
The empty words or empty professions of people
Who want to keep their sin and still go to heaven.
GOD HAS NEVER REJOICED OVER
False belief or over shallow commitment.
The REJOICING OF GOD is over true repentance and true salvation.
Perhaps to help you understand the apostle John put it like this:
3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”
• Heaven can rejoice at the initial repentance of a sinner because heaven sees
the true condition of the sinner’s heart.
• When a sinner confesses Christ as Savior, heaven instantly knows if it is
genuine or not and so heaven can instantly rejoice.
The fulfillment our joy has to wait UNTIL we see the fruit of that salvation.
But when we see the fruit of salvation (obedience) we rejoice as well.
We always like to see sinners cry out for salvation
But the truest joy comes when we see the fruit of that repentance,
Which is obedience, and then we rejoice as well.
BUT NONE THE LESS YOU GET THE IDEA HERE.
God’s heart is one that rejoices over the true salvation of sinners.
• God rejoices when sinners leave their sin.
• God rejoices when sinners humble themselves and cry out for mercy.
• God rejoices when sinners believe in Christ and are clothed in His
righteousness.
AND GOD REJOICES FAR MORE IN THAT
Than He does in any religious demonstration that might otherwise occur.
That is the point of Luke 15.
And to gain the best understanding of the chapter,
The SETTING for the parables is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.
In fact, if you don’t read the first 2 verses then it is impossible to gain an understanding of why Jesus spoke these 3 parables.
(1-2) “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
YOU HAVE TO GET THIS.
If you don’t, you’re going to distort the meaning of the 3 parables that follow.
The setting is a familiar one.
Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners.
This is hardly the first time.
• In Luke 5 after Matthew was saved, Matthew threw a banquet for Jesus and invited all his friends.
Luke 5:29-32 “And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Instances like that actually earned Jesus a REPUTATION in Israel.
Luke 7:34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
It was one of the derogatory titles the religious elite assigned to Jesus.
The called Him a “Friend of Sinners”
Well here Jesus is at it again.
“all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.”
By now you are aware why this was such a scandal.
• “tax collectors” were branded as traitors because they extorted money from their brethren to pay the Roman government.
• They were also hated for their dishonesty since it was a common practice to charge more than Rome required and to keep the difference.
• “sinners” is just a common term for those who were “godless” or “irreligious” or unapologetically unfaithful to the strenuous requirements of the religious elite.
• They were people who defiantly ignored the religious mandates of their day.
“the Pharisees and the scribes” Hated Them Both.
They hated “tax collectors” because “Pharisees” were PATRIOTS.
• They got their start during the war to win liberation from Greece.
• It was the Pharisees who rejected Greek influence and liberalism and who
were devout loyalists to Israel and her traditional religious ways.
• Someone who would sell out Israel for money to a pagan government
was about as low as it got.
They hated “sinners” because they totally ignored God’s Law and God’s moral requirements for living.
But now all of them are coming to Jesus
And Jesus was receiving them and eating with them.
ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTICE is THE REASON these tax collectors and sinners were coming was “to listen to Him.”
And by now we should all have a good understanding
Of the sort of things they were hearing.
They were hearing the same messages we’ve been hearing.
Things like:
• (12:8) “everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God”
• (12:15) “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions”
• (12:22) “do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.”
• (12:40) “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
• (13:3) “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”
• (13:24) “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
• (14:11) “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
• (14:27) “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
• (14:33) “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
Has that not been the preaching of Jesus?
When Luke says that “all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near to Him to listen to Him.” You can be certain of what He told them.
This was not some sort of Monday Night Football party
Where Jesus was enjoying chips and dip with sinners
While laughing at crude workplace humor.
PEOPLE WHO THINK Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners
• Was akin to bellying up to the bar with a lost man,
• Having a beer,
• And asking him questions about his wife and family are gravely mistaken.
These men approached Jesus and I promise you
They got the same message everyone else had been getting.
There is not a single doubt that
• Tax collectors were confronted for their greed and love of money.
• Sinners were confronted for being unfaithful servants of God and not ready for the second coming.
• All were told of the necessity of repentance in order that they might be saved.
And the point to that is that
THIS IS A GOOD THING THAT IS GOING ON HERE!
If you were a saved person in that day
And you saw obvious sinners going in to speak to Jesus
Then you would have been delighted
Because you knew they were going to hear the gospel.
• You knew they were going to have their sin confronted.
• You knew they were going to be called to repentance.
• You knew they were going to be shown the way of salvation.
THIS IS A GREAT THING THAT IS HAPPENING.
ANY SAVED PERSON SHOULD HAVE REJOICED IN THIS.
And yet that is the problem with the Pharisees and Scribes.
They weren’t saved, and they didn’t rejoice.
So THEIR RESPONSE is just the opposite of what it should have been.
(2) “Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
They saw Jesus receiving and eating with sinners
As an indicator that Jesus approved of their lifestyle.
THAT IS NOT AT ALL WHAT IT MEANS.
If you think Jesus eating with sinners is an indication that Jesus accepted their lifestyle then you are misreading the Bible narrative.
For I would also remind you that 3 times in Luke’s gospel Jesus has eaten with Pharisees too.
• In Luke 7 was the story about the woman who was weeping at His feet. That was while Jesus was eating with a Pharisee and Jesus confronted that Pharisee for his lack of love.
• In Luke 11 Jesus was invited to eat but purposely didn’t wash His hands before He sat down. At that same dinner Jesus confronted that Pharisee (and the lawyers with him) for only cleaning the outside of the dish while having dirty hearts.
• In Luke 14 Jesus was invited on the Sabbath to a Pharisees house to eat bread. Jesus went, but if you will remember confronted them for their self-righteousness, for picking out the best seats at the table, for only inviting their friends and relatives, and for failing to enter the kingdom of heaven.
THE POINT is Jesus at with Pharisees too but no one would accuse Him
Of agreeing with their life choices by doing so.
Jesus ate with tax collectors but when He did
(just like when He ate with Pharisees),
He also confronted their sin.
But the Pharisees took His eating with them as a sign of accepting them.
And Luke says they “began to grumble”
They didn’t think it was appropriate for a man to eat with sinners
Even if He did so for the purpose of leading them to salvation.
AND THEY VOICED THAT DISPLEASURE THROUGH GRUMBLING.
NOW THAT IS THE SETTING.
That is the event that inspires these 3 parables.
Often times these parables are preached almost as evangelistic parables of salvation to sinners asking them to be saved.
And certainly we never have a problem
With any text being used to lead sinners to repentance.
But what you need to know is that
• The primary purpose of this text was NOT to confront the tax collectors who were eating with Jesus.
• The primary purpose of this text was to confront the Pharisees who grumbled about it.
verse 3, “So He told them this parable…”
• The “them” there is the Pharisees and scribes.
• These 3 parables are for them.
They are parables meant to show the Pharisees and the scribes
Just how far their heart was from God’s heart.
They are 3 parables primarily meant to show the self-righteous
That they were nothing like God at all.
God rejoices when sinners repent.
These men did not.
These 3 parables are meant to expose them for that corruption.
This morning we are going to look at the first 2
Because they’re easy to understand, and don’t require much explanation.
But as we read them, I simply want you to read them as Jesus intended and ask yourself if your heart lines up with God’s heart?
So let’s look at them.
#1 THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP
Luke 15:3-7
You notice the confrontational nature of this parable by the way Jesus begins it: “What man among you…”
Jesus is forcing these religious men to insert themselves into the story.
He is forcing them to answer a simple question.
And here it is:
(4) “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”
Now, I know that often times this story is used to speak of the commitment of Jesus as the good shepherd to leave the 99 and search for the 1 lost sheep.
People like the imagery of Jesus caring enough to save that 1 sheep.
• And we certainly don’t disagree with the fact that Jesus is certainly that type of Savior. He is indeed the good shepherd.
But before you jump into that application
You first need to see the application that Jesus intended.
The point of this parable IS NOT
To reveal some remarkable commitment of a rare shepherd.
The point of this parable IS
To reveal the normal commitment of every shepherd.
Hence the “What man among you..?”
That is what Jesus is talking about.
• If you were a shepherd and you lost a sheep, would you not go look for it until it was found?
And the answer is, “Yes”.
• Every shepherd would do that.
• Every cattle person today would do that.
And honestly,
• Even if you didn’t own the sheep, you’d still go and find that wayward sheep.
• Shepherds were held responsible for lost sheep.
In fact, a shepherd in Bible times would even go and steal back a portion of a dead sheep from a predator just to prove what happened to the sheep.
Amos 3:12 “Thus says the LORD, “Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, So will the sons of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away — With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!”
Yes, Jesus is a remarkable shepherd, we’re not questioning that.
But the point He is making here is that any shepherd would do that.
And so He asks the Pharisees, “If you lost a sheep would you go after it?”
And their answer would have been “Yes”.
And then, when they found that sheep,
Jesus also questions what their response would be.
(5-6) “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”
And this again is just common practice.
• If you lose a sheep you go look for the sheep.
• And when you find it, you don’t leave it there, you bring it home.
• And when you get it home, you rejoice that it was found (you certainly aren’t unhappy about finding it)
THAT IS THE POINT.
• Every shepherd would do that.
• These Pharisees would do that.
• These scribes would do that.
But what they didn’t realize is that Jesus just set them up.
They answered “yes” to that entire story.
And then Jesus says:
(7) “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
That’s what you call a mic drop.
Jesus just exposed these self-righteous religious people
For begrudging God the same joy that they would have.
They find it acceptable to seek and rescue and rejoice over a sheep,
But they grumble that God would do the same thing for a man.
And all of a sudden their hearts are exposed.
• They love sheep more than they love people.
• They have no compass for the heart of God.
• They have no understanding of who God is at all.
And so we take this opportunity to point out the genuine heart of God.
GOD REJOICES when sinners repent.
GOD DOES NOT REJOICE over the self-righteous
Who don’t think they need repentance.
Now take that revelation and apply it to what we do here every Sunday.
This is a worship service.
• We are here to glorify God.
• We are here to please God.
• We are here to honor God.
And now we have insight into what makes God happy.
If we come to a worship service and sing songs and listen to preaching but it does not lead us to humility or repentance or gratitude for forgiveness can we say that our gathering has brought joy to God?
If we come to a worship service and it only consists of us doing what we want and seeking our own gratification as though we are already righteous and have no need of repentance can we say that our gather as brought joy to God?
That’s a fitting question to ask.
Jesus just nailed these religious elite
• Because they had no barometer for the heart of God.
• They were grumbling about the very thing God was delighting in.
Here were tax collectors and sinners being given the truth and being led to repentance and the Pharisees were angry about it.
There is nothing God-like about that.
Do you see that?
That’s the parable of the lost sheep.
#2 THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN
Luke 15:8-10
It’s a different analogy, but the exact same point.
Here is a woman who “has ten silver coins and loses one coin,”
And Jesus wants to know, “what woman…does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?”
And again the answer was obvious.
EVERY WOMEN WOULD.
If you want to better relate let’s just call it your PAYCHECK.
• What person who loses their paycheck would not clean out every stack and mess in their house until they found it?
• You would, everyone would.
• That’s the point.
And, when you found it, would you be happy about that or sad?
• Obviously happy.
• Obviously relieved.
(9) “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’”
Of course she does.
It’s just a common natural response.
• When you find your lost sheep…
• When you find your lost paycheck…
• YOU REJOICE
(10) “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And again the application is obvious.
These Pharisees would rejoice over finding money
But begrudge God rejoicing over finding sinners.
And here it’s not just God who is rejoicing
But Jesus says “the angels of God”
Even angels who see the face of God and delight in His presence
Rejoice over sinners repenting.
They rejoice because God is rejoicing!
They rejoice because they love God!
But these religious elite do not love God.
• They don’t care what makes God happy.
• They don’t care what delights God.
It’s a simple point that Jesus is making, but it is so potent.
• God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
• God delights in the repentance of sinners.
• God rejoices in salvation.
DO YOU?
• Does it fill your heart with joy when sinners hear the gospel?
• Does it fill your heart with joy when sinners are called to repent?
• Does it fill your heart with joy when sinners do repent?
• Does it fill your heart with joy when you see them walking in truth?
That is the joy of heaven.
That is why Christ came.
Hebrews 12:2b “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Jesus rejoiced in the fact that His atoning work
Would purchase salvation for sinners.
This is where the church must dwell.
• Our joy CANNOT BE in the production of the worship service…
• Our joy CANNOT BE in the size of the offering…
• Our joy CANNOT BE in the beauty of the sanctuary…
Our joy must be God’s joy.
Our joy must be found in the salvation of sinners.
That is when our heart is most in line with God’s heart.
If our joy resides in any other thing more than that,
Then it is safe to say our heart is out of tune with heaven.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
