Luke 15Now all the tax collectors and the
sinners were coming to Him to
hear Him.
2And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled,
saying, “This One receives sinners
and eats with them.”
3And He spoke this parable to them,
saying,
4“What man among you, having a hundred
sheep, and having lost one of them,
does not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness and go after the one which is
lost until he finds it?
5“And having found it, he lays it on his
shoulders, rejoicing.
6“And having come home, he calls
together his friends and neighbours, saying
to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found
my sheep which was lost!
The parable of the lost sheep is mentioned in a lot of Christian circles, all hoping they are that one lost sheep of which Yeshua is speaking. I never realized that within this parable, Yeshua is painting a picture of how few He brings close to Him. If a shepherd has 100 sheep and all of them are lost, but only one allows the shepherd to draw near to him, the shepherd will focus on the one willing and divert his eyes from the 99. Better to have gained on sheep than lose all 100.
In the parable of the lost sheep, we see an example of how excited Yeshua is when He finds one who is lost. However, to be found, one would assume that the sheep would need to know that it was lost. Maybe a weird thing to say, but recently someone posted their lost donkey of 5 years past, had merged with a herd of deer. the donkey blended in and was in sync with all the movements of the herd. The donkey in his own mind was NOT lost but at home. If the shepherd went out and tried to lead the donkey home, he would find resistance if evenin being able to approach the donkey, as the herd the donkeys was yoked and would flee off into the distance with the donkey in unison.
The point is, in order to be found, you need to acknowledge you are lost. If you have a new owner and a new people, like the donkey did, you will have no interest in an approaching man who wants to take you away from the current herd.
There is a verse in Phillipeans 3 7-11 that reads
7But what might have been a gain to me,
I have counted as loss, because of Messiah.
8What is more, I even count all to be
loss because of the excellence of the
knowledge of Messiah aSWHY my Master,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all,
and count them as refuse, in order to gain
Messiah,
9and be found in Him, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through belief in Messiah, the
righteousness which is from Elohim on the
basis of belief,
10to know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11 if somehow I might attain to the
resurrection from the dead.
Here we see that in order to gain, there is a loss. For a new one, the old must be bid farewell. Back to the donkey example, the donkey was not willing to part with his herd to be brought back home. He clung onto what we can say for us would be the world and everything in it, Family, belongings, relationships, titles, etc, the list goes on and on. But in Philippians we hear Paul mention a farewell to things that he once considered to love and instead embrace Yeshua and join Him, allow Him to take you home, which is the DEath and resurrection. From death to life. From old to new. from Lost to found…with that there is an initial “loss”, however, eventually you come to the realization that you never had and you are gaining and gaining, and it goes on as you draw closer to our Father in Heaven.
If you have not had a supernatural experience with the Living Messiah Yeshua, and you want to know Him and He you, reject the herd you conform to and acknowledge that you are lost. In the end, you are a donkey pretending to be a deer; you are no deer.
Further reading on gaining while you lose, excerpt from Christ’s Object Lessons by Ellen G White
Gain That Is Loss- CHRIST was teaching and as usual others besides His disciples had gathered about Him He had been speaking to the disciples of the scenes in which they were soon to act a part They were to publish abroad the truths He had committed to them and they would be brought in conflict with the rulers of this world For His sake they would be called into courts and before magistrates and kings He had assured them of wisdom which none could gainsay His own words that moved the hearts of the multitude and brought to confusion His wily adversaries witnessed to the power of that indwelling Spirit which He had promised to His followers But there were many who desired the grace of heaven only to serve their selfish purposes They recognized the marvelous power of Christ in setting forth the truth in a clear light They heard the promise to His followers of wisdom to speak before rulers and magistrates Would He not lend His power for their worldly benefit 252 Based on Luke 12 13 21
And one of the company said unto Him Master speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me Through Moses God had given directions concerning the transmission of property The eldest son received a double portion of the father’s estate while the younger brothers were to share alike This man thinks that his brother has defrauded him of his inheritance His own efforts have failed to secure what he regards as his due but if Christ will interpose the end will surely be gained He has heard Christ’s stirring appeals and His solemn denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees If words of such command could be spoken to this brother he would not dare to refuse the aggrieved man his portion In the midst of the solemn instruction that Christ had He given this man had revealed his selfish disposition could appreciate that ability of the Lord which might work for the advancement of his own temporal affairs but spiritual truths had taken no hold on his mind and heart The gaining of the inheritance was his absorbing theme Jesus the King of glory who was rich yet for our sake became poor was opening to him the treasures of divine love The Holy Spirit was pleading with him to become an heir of the inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away 2 He had seen evidence of the power of Christ Now the opportunity was his to speak to the great Teacher to express the desire uppermost in his heart But like the man with the muck rake in Bunyan’s allegory his eyes were fixed on the earth He saw not the crown above his head Like Simon Magus he valued the gift of God as a means of worldly gain The Saviour’s mission on earth was fast drawing to a close Only a few months remained for Him to complete what He had come to do in establishing the kingdom of
His grace Yet human greed would have turned Him from His work to take up the dispute over a piece of land But Jesus was not to be diverted from His mission His answer was Man who made Me a judge or a divider over you Jesus could have told this man just what was right He knew the right in the case but the brothers were in a quarrel because both were covetous Christ virtually said It is not My work to settle controversies of this kind He came for another purpose to preach the gospel and thus to arouse men to a sense of eternal realities In Christ’s treatment of this case is a lesson for all who minister in His name When He sent forth the twelve He said As ye go preach saying The kingdom of heaven is at hand Heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils freely ye have received freely give 1 They were not to settle the temporal affairs of the people Their work was to persuade men to be reconciled to God In this work lay their power to bless humanity The only remedy for the sins and sorrows of men is Christ The gospel of His grace alone can cure the evils that curse society The injustice of the rich toward the poor the hatred of the poor toward the rich alike have their root in selfishness and this can be eradicated only through submission to Christ He alone for the selfish heart of sin gives the new heart of love Let the servants of Christ preach the gospel with the Spirit sent down from heaven and work as He did for the benefit of men Then such results will be manifest in the blessing and uplifting of mankind as are wholly impossible of accomplishment by human power Our Lord struck at the root of the affair that troubled this questioner and of all similar disputes saying Take
heed and beware of covetousness for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth And He spake a parable unto them saying The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself saying What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits And he said This will I do I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods And I will say to my soul Soul thou hast much goods laid up
for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry But God said unto him Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God The By the parable of the foolish rich man Christ showed the folly of those who make the world their all This man had received everything from God The sun had been permitted to shine upon his land for its rays fall on the just and on the unjust The showers of heaven descend on the evil and on the good The Lord had caused vegetation to flourish and the fields to bring forth abundantly rich man was in perplexity as to what he should do with his produce His barns were full to overflowing and he had no place to put the surplus of his harvest He did not think of God from whom all his mercies had come He did not realize that God had made him a steward of His goods that he might help the needy He had a blessed opportunity of being God’s almoner but he thought only of ministering to his own comfort The situation of the poor the orphan the widow the suffering the afflicted was brought to this rich man’s attention there were many places in which to bestow his goods He could easily have relieved himself of a portion of his abundance and many homes would have been freed from want many who were hungry would have been fed many naked clothed many hearts made glad many prayers for bread and clothing answered and a melody of praise would have ascended to heaven The Lord had heard the prayers of the needy and of His goodness He had prepared for the poor Abundant provision for the wants of many had been made in the blessings bestowed upon the rich man But he closed his heart to the cry of the needy and said to
his servants This will I do I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods And I will say to my soul Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry This man’s aims were no higher than those of the beasts that perish He lived as if there were no God no heaven
no future life as if everything he possessed were his own and he owed nothing to God or man The psalmist described this rich man when he wrote The fool hath said in his heart There is no God 1 This man has lived and planned for self He sees that the future is abundantly provided for there is nothing for him now but to treasure and enjoy the fruits of his labors He regards himself as favored above other men and takes credit to himself for his wise management He is honored by his fellow townsmen as a man of good judgment and a prosperous citizen For men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself 2 But the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God 3 While the rich man is looking forward to years of enjoyment the Lord is making far different plans The message comes to this unfaithful steward Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee Here is a demand that money can not supply The wealth he has treasured can purchase no reprieve In one moment that which he has toiled through his whole life to secure becomes worthless to him Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided His broad fields and well filled granaries pass from under his control He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them The only thing that would be of value to him now he has not secured In living for self he has rejected that divine love which would have flowed out in mercy to his fellow men Thus he has rejected life For God is love and love is life This man has chosen the earthly rather than the spiritual and with the earthly he must pass away Man that is in honor and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish 5 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not
rich toward God The picture is true for all time You may plan for merely selfish good you may gather together treasure you may build mansions great and high as did the builders of ancient Babylon but you can not build wall so high or gate so strong as to shut out the messengers of doom Belshazzar the king feasted in his palace and praised the gods of gold and of silver of brass of iron of wood and of stone But the hand of One invisible wrote upon his walls the words of doom and the tread of hostile armies was heard at his palace gates In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain and an alien monarch sat upon the throne To live for self is to perish Covetousness the desire of benefit for self’s sake cuts the soul off from life It is the spirit of Satan to get to draw to self It is the spirit of Christ to give to sacrifice self for the good of others And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life 2 Wherefore He says Take heed and beware of covet ousness for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
