Luke 15
4.
THERE is, however, another beautiful thing in this second parable. The blessed Lord Jesus who knew the thoughts of every heart has answered every form of doubt perfectly by the grace that is in Himself.
In the first parable the Lord closes by pointing out the difference between heaven’s joy and earth’s. On earth the ninety-nine just persons may attract much attention, but in heaven where the thoughts of Jesus fill every heart, there is joy over the fruit of the Saviour’s work, “over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance.”
And just notice in passing, that if your trouble is that you cannot apply that lovely parable to yourself, if you are saying, “How am I to know that I am that sheep,” the Lord has answered Himself by applying the parable to you. It is not “if He lose two of them;” if so, He might have left one and found the other, and you might be the one left. No! it is “if He lose one of them.” There was only one lost sheep, and if you have found out that you are lost, then the Saviour Himself has applied the parable to you, for He says, “I have found My sheep which was lost,” and you have already seen what became of that sheep.
But in the second parable, the Lord closes by simply saying, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth,” there is no comparison added.
This brings out the second answer that He has made to your doubts.
In the first parable the Lord brings out His perfect love in such a way as to win your confidence. In the second, He brings out your value to Him in such a simple way as to assure you that He does not intend to lose what is of infinite value to Him.
Now you cannot give any value you may please to a piece of money. It has the royal stamp, and has its value fixed by royal authority. So in taking up a piece of money as the second picture of what is lost, the Lord brings out a wonderful result of the work already told out in the first parable, the work of redemption accomplished on Calvary’s cross. Silver is a type of redemption constantly used in Scripture. Here the Lord Jesus shows by it that your value to Him is the infinite value of redemption. He paid His precious blood for you because He loved you, and such was your need that no less a price could have redeemed you. But now that is your value to Him. So we find the woman has ten pieces of silver. The Holy Ghost has come down as the witness of full redemption; His very presence here is the proof that the work is finished. He is not here to do the work again, but because it has been done.
Moreover, the Lord does not show us the woman loving the piece of silver, as He shows us the Shepherd’s love to the lost sheep. But He shows us the woman with ten pieces of silver, knowing their full value, and determined that none shall be lost. If she loses one she does not say, “I have nine left, and I shall not miss the other.” No! she must have all the pieces, and she does the quiet silent work within the house — lighting, sweeping, seeking diligently, until she find it. Then she rejoices, but not more over the lost piece; there is no comparison, for each piece has its value fixed, and each goes to make up the full sum, without which she cannot rejoice. Now notice, she does not say “my piece,” as the Shepherd could say “My sheep.” For those ten silver pieces tell of the full result of redemption, when the One who paid the infinite price shall receive the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. They are His, and the Holy Ghost is here to see that He shall have all that is His in that day. Do you think He could be satisfied with one missing? and do you think He so lightly values what has cost Him such an infinite price, that He will let you slip out of His hands after all?
No! that is why the Holy Ghost is here with divine knowledge, working in divine energy, not for Himself, but for Christ, to secure by divine power and grace the full results of redemption work for Christ. That is why every believer is sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:3030And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)). That sealing brings wonderful results as well for your heart, as we shall see in the third parable; but here the Lord is showing you in His own perfect way, that if you doubt, you are wronging, first, His infinite love, next, His infinite work, and lastly, the infinite value, He has set upon you in paying such a price for you. He shows you first, that the work on the cross is finished, so that He is in the glory, and has made your place in the glory as secure as though you were already there. He is there for you (Heb. 9:2424For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)). Then He shows you that the Holy Ghost is here as the result of this perfect work, and here to secure that He shall have the full result in glory at the day of redemption.
Thus the work of Christ on the cross, and the present work of the Holy Ghost down here, are both brought out in order that you may be perfectly assured that the whole work of salvation, from the cross to the glory, is entirely independent of you, and anything you may think or feel about it. After all this has been brought out, then the Lord, who does not despise your feelings and fears, in His gracious way brings out; in the third parable, the blessed result of His work on the cross, and of the work of the Holy Ghost in you. S. H. H.