Kingdom Parables: The Lost Coin

The parables of Jesus can be divided into three categories. The first teaches us about the characteristics of the Kingdom. The second teaches us about the characteristics of the King. The third teaches us about the characteristics of Kingdom citizens.

This evening’s message is a parable that describes the characteristics of the King. In this chapter, Jesus tells three parables: The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Lost Son. Each parable teaches us something about God and each teaches us something about the sinner.

The first parable—that we looked at last week—teaches us that sinners are weak and helpless and lost. The second story reminds us that we are worthless without Christ in our lives.

In the 1st parable, God is like the good shepherd who goes out looking for that one lost sheep. In the 2nd parable, God is like the faithful housewife who diligently searches in the dirt until she finds the coin that was lost.

Together, as a unit, these parables illustrate to what lengths a loving heavenly Father will go to in order to seek and to save lost people. After all, Jesus told his disciples that was the reason for his coming. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” KJV

The context of these parables found in vs. 1-2. The Jewish religious leaders are agitated about the company that Jesus has been keeping.“Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2, NIV)

In answer to their criticism, our Lord tells three stories. Let’s look at the second one: Luke 15:8-10 "Either what woman having ten 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 piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

I. WE NEED A SAVIOR LIKE JESUS BECAUSE WE ARE ALL LIKE LOST COINS

1. the second story of this parable reminds us that we are worthless without Christ

a. the Bible does not paint a flattering picture of the lost sinner

1) we are like ashes under the feet (Mal. 4:3)

2) we are like autumn trees without fruit (Jude 12)

3) we are like blind guides (Mat. 15:14)

4) we are like a brood of poisonous snakes (Mat. 3:7)

5) we are like clouds without rain (Prov. 25:16)

6) we are like a garden without water (Isa. 1:29)

7) we are like wild waves of the sea (Jude 13)

b. according to this parable, we are like lost coins

2. what are coins minted for? ... what is their purpose?

a. coins are issued as legal tender, and are made to be circulated

ILLUS. On the U.S. Mint website, here is what it says about money. “When money is used to intermediate the exchange of goods and services, it is performing a function as a medium of exchange. It thereby avoids the inefficiencies of a barter system.”

3. coins only serve their purpose when they are used for their intended purpose

a. if a coin is lost, it is out of circulation

b. if it is lost, it is not doing the thing it was minted to do—it has become worthless

ILLUS. By September of 1857, the passenger ship Central America had completed 43 round trips and had once again set sail from Panama for New York City. According to the stories reported in the newspapers of that day, there were 476 passengers and 102 crewmen aboard the ship. The ship also carried approximately fifteen tons of newly minted gold coins bound for New York banks and businesses. In addition to the gold bound for New York, there were many individual prospectors on board carrying the wealth they had found in the gold fields of California. Off the coast of North Carolina, the ship was battered by a hurricane. She ultimately sank in over 8,000 feet of ocean with all of her gold and most of her passengers. The loss shook public confidence in the economy, and contributed to the financial Panic of 1857. In the depths of the sea are those gold coins are worthless—just yellow metal sitting in the mud. In 1988 a team of treasure hunters from Columbus, Ohio, located the wreck and began bringing the gold to the surface using a remote controlled robot named `Nemo.’ For 150 years all that gold sat worthless on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Only after is was recovered was it worth anything once more.

A. MAN IS WORTHLESS UNLESS HE IS DOING WHAT HE WAS CREATED TO DO

1 just as a coin was created for a purpose so were you

a. what is that purpose you ask?

ILLUS. The Westminster Confession, the great, great grand daddy of the our Baptist Faith and Message says that: Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

2. your purpose is to bring glory and honor to God with your life

a. in your sinful and lost condition you cannot do that

3. in this parable, Jesus speaks of the worthlessness of man without Christ

a. the Bible describes the unsaved person in these words, "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Rom. 3:12, NIV)

4. but God treasures his creation

a. we are of value to him

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9, NIV)

b. that is why God sent His Son into the world

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

5. like the gold of the steamship Central America, the sinner is lost and he is worthless until Christ recovers him for the sake of the Kingdom of God

B. THE CONDITION OF THE LOST COIN

1. it was lost in darkness

v. 8 "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle ...”

a. the sinner is also lost in darkness

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19, NIV)

2. it was lost in dirtiness

v. 8 ". . . and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?”

a. the lost coin is somewhere down in the dirt on the floor

b. in Ephesians 4:22 Paul writes that our old nature is corrupt and full of deceitful lusts

1) the word corrupt means worthless

c. society never wants to face the reality of man’s wickedness and moral failures

1) some will blame Dysfunctional homes

2) others will blame Disenfranchisement of the have-nots by the have-alls

3) still others will blame the Desensitization of man’s social consciousness by violence-filled TV shows, movies, music and video games, hate-filled websites and a toxic culture

d. but man’s problem runs deeper

1) the real problem is that man is Depraved—spiritually and morally, and physically—from the day he is born

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:1-3, 5 NIV)

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psa. 51:3, NIV)

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Isa. 64:6, NIV)

2) depravity is a doctrine we don’t like to talk about much these days

3) it’s a doctrine that teaches that, outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ, man has no moral compass or spiritual guidance

4) man, by nature, is a fallen creature and spiritually speaking—he is like a valuable coin lost in the dirt

c. the sinner is lost in dirtiness

3. it was lost in disgrace

a. this woman lost a coin—big deal—why would she turn the house upside down looking for it and why would Jesus tell such a story?

1) in our culture the story make little sense

b. in that culture in that day, this was a very big deal because this was no ordinary coin

ILLUS. This coin was part of a set of ten coins. This single coin had more than just Monetary value. It had sentimental value and social significance. When a husband took a bride, he would give her a ribbon on which would be strung ten coins. The bride would wear this token of love on her forehead as we wear rings on our fingers today. These coins represented a love gift and reminded the woman that her faith and fidelity belonged to her husband. Often on each piece of silver, the name of the husband would be engraved. But if the woman was ever caught in adultery, if she were unfaithful to him, one of the coins would be taken out, leaving a gap to show that she had disgraced her marriage vows. You can imagine why a wife who lost such a coin would frantically search for that coin and why she would call in her neighbors and good friends to help her search. It wasn't as if she lost a few dollars; her reputation was at stake. If the coin remained missing, she would likely be disgraced.

4. Jesus is the friend of those who are lost in darkness and dirtiness and disgrace

II. WE NEED A SAVIOR LIKE JESUS BECAUSE HE SEARCHES DILIGENTLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE LOST

1. if a woman searches carefully for one lost coin and exults over finding it, then it stands to reason that God will search diligently for those who are lost, rejoicing greatly over their repentance

2. what does the parable teach us about God?

a. let me offer three suggestions . . .

A. JESUS—LIKE THE WOMAN—SEARCHES CAREFULLY

1. the woman in this story most likely represents the Holy Spirit, seeking the lost with the lamp of the Word of God

a. in giving sound spiritual instruction to his son, King David tells his son Solomon . . .

“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a Perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever,” (1 Chron. 28:9)

b. why do men search for God?

1) because God initiates the search!

B. JESUS—LIKE THE WOMAN—SEARCHES UNTIL HE FINDS WHAT HE IS LOOKING FOR

1. it is easy for us today to read this parable and take its message for granted, but the people who first heard them must have been shocked

a. Jesus was saying that God actually searches for lost sinners!

b. no wonder the scribes and Pharisees were offended, for there was no place in their legalistic theology for a God like that

1) they had forgotten that God had sought out Adam and Eve when they had sinned and hidden from God

2. this same God still looks for His elect

a. and He doesn’t stop searching until He finds them and redeems them

C. JESUS—LIKE THE WOMAN—REJOICES WHEN HE FINDS WHAT HE IS LOOKING FOR

1. the lost coin which the woman had found brought her more true pleasure than the nine which had never been lost

2. so it is with God

a. the sinner who humbles himself and confesses his lost condition brings joy to the heart of God

b. He obtains no such joy from those who never feel their need for repentance

3. there are few joys that match the joy of finding the lost and bringing them to the Savior

ILLUS. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said “The church has nothing to do but to save souls, therefore, spend and be spent in this work.”

4. the parable of the lost coin should serve to remind us that God not only welcomes sinners, He goes out of His way to save them

a. He rejoices when sinners repent

When Henry Thoreau, the naturalist, was close to death, he was visited by a very pious aunt who asked, “Henry, have you made your peace with God?” “I didn’t know,” was Thoreau’s answer, “that we had ever quarreled.”

And in his answer he revealed his profound spiritual ignorance. Too many people are like him. They are utterly unconscious of the fact that they have sinned against God and so have “quarreled” with Him, and are really lost and separated from God. The first step in coming to Christ is to realize one is a sinner, a lost sinner.

Thoreau’s answer revealed that he still was a lost man: he didn’t know he was lost and so he had never come to Christ to get saved. Here is the truth about man’s sin and lost condition by nature.

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