Observations about the three "lost-found" parables in Luke 15

1. Shows what it means to be lost
   1. Shows who God accepts: some lost people, but not all lost people
   2. The three parables are not three kinds of people, but three aspects of all lost people:
      1. Lost: gone astray, "all we like sheep"
      2. Lost: oblivious, useless, not in proper place or role, not functioning as created
         1. This condition goes to man's reason for existing

1. 1. 3. Lost: self-centered into hatefulness, dishonorable, unrighteous, a reasonable object of God's wrath

2. Shows what must happen to be saved
   1. Must be found, pursued.
      1. Christ came into the world to save you.  Phil 2

1. 2. Must be found: preserved, called out, separated from the world system, rescued from the strong man.
      1. Must be placed in the right situation:
      2. No longer an enemy, but a son;
      3. No longer an object of God's wrath, but an object of God's grace
      4. No longer useless, where your best work of righteousness is as a filthy rag in His sight, but living out the good works He has prepared beforehand for you to do (Eph 2.10).

3. Shows what you must do to be saved:
   1. Come to your senses (2 points):
      1. Acknowledge you have sinned, are a sinner, and deserve God's judgment and condemnation.
         1. God says you have sinned; but being convinced of that only highlights your condemnation.  God said He would punish all sin by eternal separation from Himself, from life.  "The soul that sins shall die."
         2. If you are going to come to Him in the believing way that produces a desire to repent, you must be convinced you have sinned.
         3. No other attitude you can have will matter.  You can tell yourself all your life that you're OK, you're religious, you're a church-goer, you're a christian.  Those views will get you no farther with God than those self-righteous Pharisees Jesus called sons of the devil and bound to perish in hell.

1. 1. 2. Determine you'll "go back to the father"
         1. The first point is the essential starting point.
         2. After the first point, you must decide to go to the Father, to cast yourself on His mercy and give up your life to His lordship.
         3. When you can honestly say, "make me one of your servants" you find out you've been made a son.