Jesus Seeks His Lost Sheep

          Tax collectors, sinners, and Pharisees had gathered around to listen to Jesus as He
     spoke.
          He was telling them a parable.

          "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave
     the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And
     when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home."
          "Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me;  I have
     found my lost sheep.  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in
     heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not
     need to repent."   Luke 15:4-7

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          If you had lost one of your children, wouldn't you search everywhere for him until
     you found him and brought him home with you?

          Jesus is the good shepherd and He protects and lays down His life for His sheep
     (John 10:11).

          Certainly, Jesus, does the same for His children.

          Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him - John 10:14.
          If one of His sheep is lost, He will seek and find him and bring him home with Him.

          "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."  Luke 19:10

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          When Jesus' sheep (children) are lost, they are unwilling and unable to seek Him
     for salvation.

          "There is no one righteous, not even one;  there is no one who understands, no one
     who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless;  there is
     no one who does good, not even one."  Romans 3:10-12

          "...the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
     Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."  Romans 8:7-8

          "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise
      him up at the last day."  John 6:44

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           Since His lost sheep are unable and unwilling to come to Him, God must take the
     initiative and seek them for their salvation.

          All whom God seeks, He will find.

          The Father draws His lost children to Jesus from their hiding place of sin and shame,
          and they will come to Him.

          "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never
     drive away."  John 6:37

          The phrase "the ones God gives to Jesus" refers to the elect.

          "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in
     his sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in
     accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has
     freely given us in the One he loves."  Ephesians 1:4-6

          Jesus will never drive them away, but will raise them up on the last day.

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          Jesus will never stop looking for His lost sheep until every last one is found and
     reunited with Him.

          "(Jesus said), 'At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great
     power and glory.  And He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds,
     from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens."  Mark 13:26-27

          "(Jesus said) ... there shall be one flock and one shepherd."  John 10:16b

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          There will be rejoicing in heaven over every lost sheep who is found, and Jesus will
     be leading the celebration!