The Lost Coin: A Tale of Value and Redemption audio video notes In my life there was a day I was this lost coin. I was valuable but lost. I was fallen. Yes, I was down in the cracks in the floor. I was among the dust and dirt of life. I was unfulfilled. Though I had everything I wanted, I continued missing something. I was valuable, but as long as I was lost, I was worthless.
PARABLES OF JESUS
By Pastor Delbert Young
The Lost Coin
This message was divided into two parts for a television program.
Audio Part 1
Audio part 2
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Video Part 1
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WATCH SERMON VIDEO Part 1
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WATCH SERMON VIDEO Part 2
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Lost Coin audio video notes
Scriptures: Luke 15:1-2, Romans 1:16, Luke 15:6-10, 2 Corinthians 4:4
We saw last time how Jesus was condemned by the Pharisees and scribes because he received sinners and ate with them.
Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
Luke 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth [NIV welcomes] sinners, and eateth with them.
We saw a better word for receiveth was welcomes (NIV). We must be reminded once again these sinners were not simply people who had not “prayed the sinner’s prayer.” These were the harlots and whoremongers. These were the thieves and the homosexuals. We can add the homeless and the rejects of society. Jesus welcomed them and would eat with them (Mat 9:10; Mar 2:15; Luk 5:20-30; 7:34). To Jesus, these were not burdens to put up with. He welcomed them and he was their friend (Luk 7:34). This is the heart of the evangelist.
Jesus responded to the accusation of the Pharisees by telling three parables. Remember (1) a parable is taking common items people are familiar with and teaching the kingdom of God. (2) The items Jesus used were relevant and at hand showing his kingdom was relevant and at hand. (3) No one can argue with a parable. It is truth. (4) If a person could develop ears to hear the true meaning of the parable, they were guaranteed to have abundance (Mat 13:12).
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
Last time we looked at the first parable called The Lost Sheep. In the parable we began to see the heart of the evangelist as we evaluated ourselves. We noted five points about a person who has a true evangelistic gift.
1. They feel a special drawing (welcome/receiving) and compassion for people distant from God.
(A) The evangelist can discern the spiritual condition immediately (radar).
(B) The evangelist is not repulsed by their spiritual condition.
(C) The evangelist even looks forward to spending time with the lost person.
Jesus received and welcomed sinners. The parable told of the shepherd who saw one sheep was lost out of a flock of one hundred (Luk 15:4).
2. They create and maintain a bridge into the lost sheep’s life.
(A) The evangelist does not make people feel uncomfortable about spiritual things.
The shepherd went looking for the lost sheep. Nothing was too difficult. He would not return until he found the sheep (Luk 15:4).
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
3. They enjoy the entire salvation process (adventure).
(A) Evangelists are fulfilled because they know the Lord is using them in their gift.
The Shepherd laid the sheep on his shoulders and rejoiced (Luk 15:5). It was an adventure to him.
4. They have extreme confidence in the gospel message.
(A) The evangelist has an extraordinary confidence the lost will respond to the gospel.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
(B) The evangelist can remember in vivid detail the power the gospel had upon them.
(C) Those high in this evangelistic gift believe the opportunity to share the gospel is a huge victory. If they can gain one inch then it is one inch gained.
5. They celebrate a conversion (tremendous joy).
(A) No one rejoices when someone comes to the Lord as does the evangelist.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
Luke 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Jesus went right into the second parable. There was no explanation. None was necessary.
Luke 15:8-10
8 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?
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
0 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
A woman had ten pieces of silver, but lost one. Though she had nine other pieces, she began a search for the tenth.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
one piece of silver
According to some commentaries, the value of the coins is actually little. I disagree. Perhaps little in today’s standards, but not to their day’s standards. Wycliffe Commentary says, “Coins were scarcer in Palestine than they are in modern civilization, for much commerce was carried on by barter. These coins were drachmas, each worth about fifteen to seventeen cents of American money. They represented the savings of many years.” (2) The coin was valuable, very valuable. It is on this point the parable is built.
The coin obviously represents the sinner(s). Again, these are not only people who have not prayed the sinner’s prayer. These are people who have become distant from God. They have no relationship with God and they are lost. The point here is they are very valuable. We matter very much to God. He gave his only son to die for us. Also, we need to understand how extremely important and valuable we are to God. We are each a piece of silver. We are either redeemed or lost.
In my life, there was a day I was this lost piece of silver – a lost coin. I was valuable but lost. I was fallen, and I was down. Yes, I was down in the cracks in the floor. I was among the dust and dirt of life. I was unfulfilled. Though I had everything I wanted, I continued missing something. There was a huge hole in my life nothing filled. I was lost. I was valuable, but as long as I was lost, I was worthless to my potential. Yes, I was the lost coin.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
light a candle . . .
This woman lit a candle. As the shepherd was a type of God looking for the lost sheep in the previous parable, the woman is a type of God looking for the lost coin. She lit a light.
special light
This may have been a wax candle, but most likely it was an oil lamp. We can best relate to it today as a flashlight. She not only used the available lighting. She turned on extra lighting to find the lost coin. Perhaps we should at this point note she touched an unlit light to a flame to ignite the extra light.
It was this way in my life. I had been to churches. I had watched the television evangelists, and I had been witnessed to and cornered in offices and cars as people tried to “make” me a Christian. The normal light could not find me. It took a special light.
I am convinced we live in a day when the normal light will not always get the job done. Sometimes it will require a special light to find the valuable lost coin.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
Jesus Christ is the light
The light, of course, is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true light (Joh 1:9). Jesus is the light coming into the world (Joh 3:19), and Jesus said he is the light of the world (Joh 8:12; 9:5; 12:46). God lit a light, a fire lamp. The purpose of the light was not only to find the lost but to also show the way to God. The light would shine into all the cracks and crevices. The light would shine into the dark places, and the light would shine under the bed and under the table. It would shine under the chair and into the corners. Jesus did this. He was friends with publicans and sinners. He would even eat with them, and he shined into their darkness and found them where they were. It was then he was able to light and show the way back to God.
The light of Jesus did not end there. The people his light touched long enough became lights. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Mat 5:14). The twelve became lights touching the seventy who became lights who touched the three thousand who touched the eight thousand who touched the world.
There is a principle I am seeing. I said previously, “The people his light touched long enough became lights.” A quick touch of one candle to another candle does not ignite the unlit candle. It takes a few moments, a little time, to ignite the unlit candle. If we touch a life long enough the life we touch should ignite. It cannot resist the flame (Rom 1:16). There is a power in the flame.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
sweep the house
As she began searching, she found she needed to do some sweeping. She found some dirt and some dust and some trash needing attention. It is this way with us. As the Lord comes into our lives with his light, he will always find things needing cleaning. It is true with all of us (Rom 3:23). It does not matter how good a person we have been. We all need some cleaning in our souls.
It is also this way as we individually go searching for the precious lost coin. We can and do run into some very nasty places. As people open their lives to us, we are exposed to some things to which we say, “O my!”
I am thinking about my chair I sit in at home. Occasionally my chair needs moving so it can be cleaned under. It seems anything a person can imagine can be found under a chair is there under my chair. I can find peanuts, I find pencils, I find papers, I find candy, I find keys, and I find some green stuff growing under there (kidding – it’s not this bad). But you know what? I also find precious coins I’d lost.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
seek diligently
I am so happy the Lord sought me until he found me. I am so grateful he did not stop searching. How about you? I can see this woman turning over pillows and pulling sheets off the bed. I can see her kneeling down looking under chairs attempting to find her precious lost coin. She searched diligently. She put her mind to it, and she attempted to imagine where the coin could have rolled or bounced and then she would look there. Imagine how she opened drawers and cabinets. She searched her purse. She looked into the obvious places and into the places not obvious.
This is the way the Lord does with us. He will look here to see if he can find us and then look there. He will seek diligently, and he will try this and try that. Of course, he will open this and look over there. This also tells us how we should be as we seek after a precious piece of silver for the Lord. We must seek diligently. We must try this and try something else, and we must open this and open that.
till she find it
Finally, there it was. Obviously, it was not an easy task. It took time. I took labor. But she found it. We see a picture of the Lord searching for each of us. It took time. It took labor. Nonetheless, we were so important to him and so valuable he would not stop searching till he found us.
This is what the Lord is showing the Pharisees who murmured. Father God so loves people and people are so precious to him and he so desires to have a relationship with them he refuses to stop searching till he find them. We also see the diligence we should express as we too find the lost. It will take time. It will take effort, but if we keep looking we will find the precious piece of silver.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
Luke 15:9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me
In the previous parable, the shepherd rejoiced when he found the lost sheep and called all his friends to rejoice with him. Here the woman does the same. She called her friends and neighbors together. She gave a party to celebrate the finding of the lost coin. No one can rejoice as can the person with the gift of evangelism. They rejoice and want everyone they know to rejoice with them. Would it not be great if we had a party every time a person came into the kingdom? This is what heaven does.
Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
At the end of the previous parable and this parable, the Lord expressed what happens in heaven when one sinner comes to repentance. The one person is the center of heaven as heaven pitches a party and everyone is invited.
Lost Coin part 1 & 2
It is here I want to minister. One day I was the center of a party in heaven. One day all of heaven stopped to rejoice the fact I had been found. I was a precious piece of silver that had become lost. I was simply laying there unfulfilled and empty. But one day the light finally hit me and showed me the way to the Father. I crossed over. One sinner had repented. I was the lost sinner.
2 Corinthians 4:4 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.
Lost Coin audio video notes
Lost Coin audio video notes
Other Related Sermons:
Lost Coin and Amazing Father Luke 15:8-24
Parables of Jesus sermon series
The Lost Sheep Adventure notes
Also see:
1. Wycliffe Commentary, Bible Research Systems