Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers
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“Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers”
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In this chapter Jesus tells three parables about things that are lost and then found.
Jesus tells three stories in this chapter, but they are called, V:3-“this parable”.
There is one great truth taught in these three stories. Man is lost and needs to be found. Man is not in his rightful place, which is in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Man is lost, and needs to be found!
Someone called these three parables, the pyramid of Gospel doctrine. Like a pyramid has three sides, the gospel has three sides. The gospel involves the work of God the father, God the son, and God the Spirit.
We see in these three stories the love, concern and work of all three persons in the Trinity.
The parable of the good Shepherd-pictures Jesus, the good Shepherd, who lays his life down for the sheep.
The parable of the prodigal son, pictures God the father, our heavenly father, a loving father, welcoming his returning son.
The parable of the lost coin-is going to teach us about the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation.
These are three of the greatest stories ever told, they teach us about how God works to welcome and redeem sinners! Jesus tells these stories in response to the Pharisees and scribes murmuring and saying,
V:2-“this man receives sinners and eats with them”.
Jesus Christ is a friend of sinners! Praise God that is true! Jesus receives sinners…come to him! Whoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast out.
Rather than getting grumpy about Jesus receiving sinners, the Pharisees should have been rejoicing that Jesus receives sinners. But the Pharisees were grumbling, and therefore Jesus taught them a three-part parable about sharing God’s joy in finding what is lost. Each time the lost is found, there is joy. Jesus is seeking to teach the Pharisees and scribes that his greatest joy is seeing the lost found, saved. -“The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”.
In the parable of the lost coin we learn about:
1. The Value of a Soul.
V:8-“What woman having 10 piece of silver, if she loses one piece…. See searches until she finds it.
The first thing we learn in this story is how valuable this coin was to this woman. This is meant to teach us how precious souls are to God; God wants us to know how precious and valuable souls are to him!
The woman loses her silver coin, the coin was a Drachma. You might think, what’s the big deal, she still has 9 coins left; she only lost one. If you dropped some change out of your pocket, and you couldn’t find it, you’d say no big deal. But not this woman, in those days one of those silver coins represented a full day’s work. You would work from sunup to sundown for one silver coin. That still may not mean much to you; you may have enough money that you can blow a day’s pay on a trip to Silver Dollar city, or on a round of golf, or on a shopping trip. But if you were like this lady, living below the poverty line, this silver coin had great financial value to her. This coin had great value to this woman, it was a full day’s pay that she could not afford to lose!
It is hard to work out an exact equivalent in today’s currency, but it would amount to around $100 in today’s economy.
Needless to say, if you dropped $100 bill you would take the time, and go through the trouble of turning everything upside down to find it. Especially if you are living below the poverty line.
Her coin was too precious to lose, it had to be found
This silver coin had great financial value to her.
This silver coin at great emotional value to her.
According to the customs of those days married women would wear silver coins around there neck as a necklace, are as a headband. Much like women do today in India and Turkey. They put the silver coins on a chain, evenly spread apart and wear them. It was an emblem of marriage, and it had great emotional value, it was very special and dear to that woman. It was like a wedding ring today, a wedding ring is important, an engagement ring is important. Have you seen the girls when they get engaged? Man they walk around, left-hand first; holding that thing out, it will blind you! It means a lot to them, it cost a lot, is valuable, it says I’m loved, I’m committed; I’m married.
This coin was something of great financial value, and emotional value to this woman.
Jesus is telling us this story to show us how valuable loss people are to him! Of course he eats with sinners, a course he welcomes sinners they are of tremendous value to him!
-For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus says that your eternal soul is worth more than this world and everything in it! One soul is of infinite value to God.
The world we live in doesn’t put much value on human life are lost souls; human life is cheap in our world.
· Terrorist, all over the world, blow up and kill thousands of people, life is cheap to them.
· Gangs, roam the streets of our cities, stealing and killing, life is cheap to them.
· Abortionist, kill unborn babies, life is cheap to them.
· People sell their babies, and children, a life is cheap to them.
Jesus said, that Satan is the thief that is come to steal, kill and destroy. He is a destroyer of peace, joy, purpose and life!
But I want you to know this morning, that your soul is valuable to God! You are important to God, you matter to God!
The value this woman places on her lost coin shows the great value that God places on lost sinners!
The emotional value of this coin caused this lady to be deeply bothered by the fact the coin was lost.
She didn’t just say, forget it, I have 9 other coins, no! She is looking for the lost coin because it is important to her, it has emotional value, she feels pain and agony because is lost.
Have you ever lost something that was very special to you? Did it affect you emotionally? Of course, it bothered you deeply because it was special to you! Have you ever lost your child temporarily in Walmart, are at the fair, you turn around and they’re gone. And panic, fear, terror and anxiety grip your heart. Who hurts the most the lost child of the parent? It’s the parent who hurts the most! This morning God’s heart hurts for you, he longs for you to be saved, found, and in right relationship with him! God longs for our lost loved ones, family and friends to be found, and in right relationship with him.
When this coin was lost it was out of circulation.
This lost coin was not doing what it was made to do. A coin is intended to be in circulation, to be spent, saved, or given; that is the purpose of a coin. It doesn’t matter how valuable that coin was, it was lost and out of circulation, it was useless, it was not fulfilling his purpose.
-“they are all together become unprofitable”. What is true of this coin, is true of a lost person. The Bible tells us we are created in the image of God, we are stamped with God’s image.
God made you, stamped his image on you, that you might be in circulation. That you might be used for God’s honor and your joy.
Your life may be tarnished, and black with sin; yet you’re still valuable to God; just like silver, even if it is tarnished. Do you identify with that lost coin? Are you lost, separated from God this morning?
Even though you are a lost in your sin, God values you, loves you and wants to save you. How do I know? Jesus paid the price to redeem you by his blood on the cross! Do you ever wonder if your life is worth living? Do you feel forgotten? Do you doubt that God loves you? The story of this lost coin shows that God loves each one of us as if we were the only person/coin on this earth!
This parable teaches us about:
1. The Value of a Soul.
This parable teaches us about:
2. The Work of the Spirit.
V:8-“She lights a candle, and sweeps the house, and seeks diligently until she finds it.
The coin is lost, and the search is on, can you see her in your mind as she is searching, searching to find her coin? Her greatest concern, her consuming desire was to find this lost coin. No doubt she had other things to do, cook, wash clothes; go shopping. But finding the lost coin was her number one concern! This lost coin would never find itself, it was not going to jump off the floor and back on her necklace. The coin must be searched for.
When the woman realized that she had lost her coin she began to search for it. This woman searching for this coin is a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit, and the work of the church.
The church’s number one concern should be to seek to bring lost souls to Jesus. This is our primary assignment! Sure we have other things that we do; teach, train, encourage, equip, and take a stand on moral issues.
But the great business of the church is to seek the lost, we must keep the main thing, the main thing!
Though this coin was lost, it was not forgotten, she knew it was missing. If you’re here today and you’re lost, you’re not forgotten! The Holy Spirit is seeking you, the Lord Jesus is praying for you, God has sent me to preach to you the gospel of Jesus Christ, so you can be saved/found!
Ladies, if you lost your diamond out of your wedding ring, would you look for it? Yes you would!
I’ve had the experience of undoing the plumbing looking for a lost ring, tearing open the vacuum cleaner bag looking for a lost ring, taking the cushions off the couch looking for a lost ring.
What Great times of fellowship!
Tess lost her wedding ring one time, she laid it on her lap on the way to church, to put lotion on her hands. When she got to church she got out of the car and so did her ring. And we couldn’t find it, until a few days later we were looking around where we had parked, and there was the ring, it had been ran over, it was smashed and bent, but it was found and we rejoiced.
This woman looking, seeking for the lost silver pictures the role of the Holy Spirit, he is seeking you that you might be saved.
The coin was lost in:
· The Dark.
V:8-“she lights a candle…
The coin was lost in the dark, houses in that day didn’t have Windows. The house was dark! The Bible tells us that every person without Jesus Christ is lost in spiritual darkness, and cannot see, or understand spiritual things. Sin has blinded them!
-“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Paul testified and said in, , that God had saved him to send him to preach to turn people from darkness to light through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in -“Men loved darkness rather than light, and will not come to the light because their deeds are evil”.
It is God’s Holy Spirit that is searching you out; it is the light of the glorious gospel that is shining into your heart that you might be saved.
-“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
The Holy Spirit is God’s light shining in your heart, to make known to you your sin, Jesus righteousness, and coming judgment. Respond to the light and repent of your sins and trust in Jesus.
The coin was lost in:
· The Dirt.
V:8-“and swept the house, and seek diligently until she find it”.
Houses in those days were about the size of a one car garage. The floors in the typical house were dirt, covered with straw. So, it would be easy for the woman’s coin to get covered with the dirt and straw. Or if the floor was made of flagstone like many homes in Galilee, the coin could fall into a crack between two stones. In order to find it, she would have to light a lamp, and get out her broom, and sweep the floor looking for it.
I heard about this man who was going to run for political office he had been so busy he neglected to help his wife, or spend time with his family. He said to his wife one day; “were going to sweep the state; she replied, Oh yeah; why don’t you start in the kitchen, and sweep it”
This coin was lost in the dark, and in the dirt; which is a picture of a lost soul; our soul is lost in the dark and in the dirt before the light shines, and the Holy Spirit sweeps, uncovering, exposing our lost condition.
The truth is we are spiritually dirty, unclean before a holy God! You say but I’m a morally clean person, I treat people right, I love my family, I don’t do anything that is dirty, filthy or sinful.
But the Bible tells us, that our righteousness apart from Christ righteousness is filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. That’s what God says about your goodness, not your badness. We’re all lost in the dirt, in sin.
-“filthy is man…
That is God’s statement about man in his spiritually lost condition. We are filthy before a holy, perfect God! All have sinned and come short of the glory of God! We are sinners by birth, nature and practice. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked who can know it.
The worst form of badness is human goodness and it keeps you from Jesus!
You may live a clean, moral life; but it is the heart that is in sin, in darkness and dirt. God doesn’t characterize people as dirty, more dirty, and the most dirty. No there are only two categories of people in the sight of God, dirty or clean; lost or found. The Titanic started out with three classes,
Upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class. But when the ship went down, there were only two classes.
At the shipping company, there was a board outside the front door with only two columns on it.
Known to be saved…. Known to be lost.
There are only two columns on God’s board;
Saved or lost, which column are you in? If you will say yes to Jesus today, he will write your name in the lamb’s book of life in heaven; known to be saved! The coin was lost in the dark, dirt.
The coin was lost in:
· The House.
V:8-“and swept the house…
The sheep was lost in the wilderness, the prodigal was lost in the far country. The coin was lost in the house. I see the woman with her candle, and her broom, sweeping the entire house. Her coin is missing, and she will not stop until she finds it.
We can imagine her getting down on her hands and knees searching every inch of her house. This is how Jesus searches for you, Jesus has been searching in every circumstance of your life to save you.
Jesus knows where you live, knows your family, your friends, job and Jesus is diligently seeking you. There’s nothing random, accidental about the circumstances of your life; the Holy Spirit is using those things to search you out. Jesus came to this earth in the first place to seek and to save the lost. Even this morning he is on a search and rescue mission for you! And Jesus is searching in every corner of the world for sinners that he died for. Jesus died on the cross for your sins, rose from the grave, and ascended back to heaven. He has sent his spirit into the world to seek, convict and save the lost who trust in Jesus. He put his church in this world to proclaim the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit to all unsaved. He will keep searching and searching until he finds every last one of the precious coins that belongs to him!
The coin was in the house but it was still lost.
You can be in this house and still be lost. I’m glad you’re in this church house this morning! But just being in this house doesn’t mean you’re saved.
You may have said a prayer, been baptized, join the church; but if you truly been born again?
Have you ever had a life-changing experience where you met Jesus, he saved you and changed you; now you know that you’re a child of God!
You can be in the house and still be lost and need Jesus as your personal savior. Please asked yourself this question right now, are you truly saved?
Have you been found by the Lord Jesus? I’m burdened, that there are people like this coin; in the house… But lost!
And the Holy Spirit is seeking your lost soul, just like the woman was seeking the lost silver.
The Holy Spirit is shining the light of the gospel into your heart, to make known to you, your lost condition. The Holy Spirit is making real to you that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and if you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus he will save you. The nature of the Holy Spirit is to reveal, he is the candle that shining into your heart into that dark and dirty place where you can see your need for Jesus and be saved.
No one can be saved until they are convicted by, and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Don’t turn from the light of the Holy Spirit, welcome his conviction, accept what he shows you and let it lead you to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is shining in your heart.
The Holy Spirit is sweeping in your life.
This woman sweeps the dirt and the straw, moving in around trying to find the lost coin. She is stirring things up, moving things around, looking for the lost coin. The Holy Spirit does that same thing today, the Holy Spirit sweeps, discomforts, stirs things up, and turns things upside down to bring lost souls to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is sweeping, working, stirring things up in your life to bring you to Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is working in and through a church to reach lost people, things get stirred up! Sometimes things get uncomfortable, dust is flying, getting in your eyes and in your throat. When a church gets a real heart to search for lost souls, and gets on their knees in prayer, and is searching and sweeping, everything gets turned upside down, and the dust gets all over everybody.
Crossway Baptist Church let’s sweep on for lost souls to be saved! Let’s be like this woman and seek diligently until the lost are found! Let’s not give up, let down, step back let’s keep seeking persistently and continually!
In the parable of the lost coin we learn about:
1. The Value of a Soul.
2. The Work of the Spirit.
In the parable of the lost coin we learn about:
3. The Joy of the Saints.
V:9-“And when she found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me; for I found the piece which I lost”
This is a very simple story Jesus tells us; the coin was lost, Sought, and Found.
In the parable of the lost sheep, when the Shepherd found it, it is the men who rejoiced. Now in this parable when the coin is found, it is the women who rejoice. The words friends and neighbors, are in the feminine. She calls her girlfriends to celebrate with her, when she found her lost coin.
Men, kind of know how to celebrate, high-fives and fist bumps. But when women celebrate, they know how to get with it! They are laughing, giggling, screaming, hugging, and jumping up and down, it is crazy.
God is telling us that when a soul is saved, it’s time to really celebrate!
It is always a joy to find something that you’ve lost.
Hey! What I found!
The simple joy of finding something lost cannot compare with the joy of being found by Jesus Christ. What a joy it is when Jesus finds you and saves you!!
What a joy it is when someone else is saved!
Were told, V:10- there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God when one sinner repents”.
There is joy in the house, because the coin is found. There is joy in the church when sinners are saved. There is joy in the presence of Angels, the Saints in heaven, rejoice when someone gets saved!
Do you see what value is set up on you? You think that nobody cares for you? All of heaven will rejoice over you if you get saved today! Jesus is a friend of sinners, the Holy Spirit is searching, shining, sweeping to find you.
Why such joy when the coin is found?
· It would be useful again.
That coin will be back in circulation, can fulfill its purpose again. So it is when a person is saved, they can now fulfill their real purpose in life.
Your life is like a coin; there are only two things you can do with it.
1. You can wasted
You can blow your life, you can spend your life on things that are cheap, temporary and unimportant.
You can spend your life on things that will rust, rot and disappear.
2. You can invest your life
Give your life to Jesus, invest your life in the service of the Lord Jesus.
There’s nothing that you can your life on that is better than spending it on loving God, serving God and others in the local church. It pays to serve Jesus, don’t waste your life, investor life; make your life count for eternity!
The coin was found, place back where it belonged, back in the necklace. It was cleaned up, polished and it enhanced the beauty of the woman.
When a lost soul is found, it glorifies the Lord Jesus! Every lost soul that is saved is a trophy of God’s grace and power!
We ought to rejoice when a person is saved!
But before we can rejoice, someone has got to search, witness, pray, go on Grow visitation to seek and save the lost. When we get filled with the Holy Spirit, we will seek lost souls. When a church is controlled by the Holy Spirit, that church will make seeking lost souls its main business!
Is the Holy Spirit shining in your heart?
Is the Holy Spirit sweeping in your heart?
If the Holy Spirit is drawing you to Jesus, would you leave your seat and come and be saved today!