What a blessing, aren't you glad? That we have such a gracious, heavenly Father. Take your Bibles, turn with us to Luke chapter 15 this morning. Luke chapter 15, the 15th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. Luke chapter 15, and beginning our reading, at verse number eight. Luke chapter 15, beginning our reading at verse number eight. And here we have the lost coin, the story of the lost coin. Luke chapter 15, verse number eight says, either what woman having 10 pieces of silver If she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it. And when she hath found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the peace that I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. Oh, what a blessed, blessed group of verses this is. And the story of the lost coin. In these verses, we find that God cares even about your losses, cares about the lost coin. In verses one through seven, we have the story of the lost sheep, the lost sheep. And a lot of sermons have been preached on the lost sheep and a lot of sermons preached on the lost son, but not as many on the lost coin. The lost coin is the shortest of the three parables. I think it's really one parable all rolled up into one, but this is the shortest of them all. And as we remember the parable of the lost sheep, we see that men would certainly understand that, that We're talking about shepherds, and we're talking about the great shepherd, and we're talking about lost sheep and shepherding. And when we come to this story of the lost coin, the women would understand. There were women listening, but now this is a story that they would understand. In that culture, They would take the coins and put them on a string. And many times they'd wear them around their head. They'd keep their coins there. I have a coin at home. I was driving through the mountains, preaching up in the mountains of West Virginia, and I stopped in a little country store, a little country store. And the fellow there had several coins and had them for sale, and they were very inexpensive. And he showed me a coin that had a hole in it, little hole. And I said, tell me about that coin. He said, well, back many years ago, Folks would put their coins. Have you ever seen any pocket on Davy Crockett's clothes? No. But they would put their coins on a good string and tie the string and keep it there. And he said, that's one of those coins. That really interested me. that that's the way they did it. And I believe this is how this woman had lost one of her coins. She had lost one of her coins. That may not be the case, but at least we know that she lost a coin. And when Jesus began to talk about this, the women were drinking it in because he was talking to them. He was talking to them. And you know, the Lord loves men, women, boys, and girls. He does. Loves us all. Loves us all. Loves us as His people when we know Him. And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Now, in this parable, we want to notice some things. In the first parable of the lost sheep, we saw that he shows his love. He shows his love. But in this second parable, the lost coin, it is a symbol of loss. And it shows concern for loss. Concern for loss. A loss that needs to be recovered. It needs to be brought back. It needs to be found. And I want us to notice that loss. It's a loss to the woman. She has lost a coin, one out of 10, but so important to her, very valuable to her. I remember, oh, and I never have forgotten, and I can't forget, and it just stays with me. Two silver dollars that I had. Two that I had. Two silver dollars. They were precious to me. Precious. My papa taught me to work. He taught me to get to work no matter what it takes to get there. You get to work. You go to work. Well, When Denise and I moved to New Mexico, we didn't have a lot of money. I had two stripes. That didn't give you a lot of money. And we needed gas in the car. I needed to get to the base. I didn't want to call in sick. I wanted to get there. I wanted to do my job. I wanted to be there. And the only money that I had until payday, were two silver dollars that my papa gave me. Two silver dollars. He gave them to me, one at my birth and one later. And of course, he gave it to me, but I didn't know he gave it. I was just a little baby. And years ago, that's what folks would give. They'd give a silver dollar. And I wanted those and I didn't want to lose them. I didn't. And they're lost to me forever. But I knew he'd rather me go to work than not go to work. So what did I do? I got four gallons of gas with $2. You say four gallons, 45 cents a gallon at the gas amount, four gallons in a tad. How many of you young people know what a tad is? I didn't say a tadpole. Do some of you adults know what a tad is? Uh huh, a tad is just a little bit. So I got four gallons in a tad, okay? So you're being educated this morning on tads, okay? And even as I talk about that, there's a little bit of pain in my heart. I mean really, I feel it because I've lost those forever. I can't get them back. It was worth it to know that I would satisfy my grandfather by getting to work. And let me say, you young people, don't make excuses. Do right, do right, do right till the stars fall, then do right. You've heard me say that. And when you have a job to do, do it. Mama gives you a job, do it. Daddy gives you a job, do it. Grandma gives you a job, do it. Grandpa gives you a job, he may take you to get an ice cream if you do it. But that's what we need to do. We need to work and we need to be diligent in what we do. But the loss to the woman, that one coin out of 10 was very valuable to her. That one coin was valuable. Valuable, valuable. Losing the coin was like losing a stone from a ring. That's how valuable it was. Like losing the stone, a diamond from a ring is valuable. Valuable to that woman. It hurt. Do you know what real love is? Sometimes real love will bring hurt. They'll be hurt. For God so loved that he gave. He sweat as it were drops of blood. He did that, the Lord Jesus did that in love. Lost means that that coin is unprofitable. It's unprofitable to the work. It's unprofitable to anything. I mean, it's not doing anything. It's lost. It's lost. Lost. Though it's very valuable, it's lost. To the Lord, those who are lost are valuable. They're valuable to him. And he cares for the lost. The Son of Man came to what? Seek and to save that which was what? Lost. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Why? Because it's valuable to him. Valuable to him. Like this coin is valuable to this woman. Valuable. Where was it lost? Well, it was in the dirt. Back then, in those houses, the floors were not carpeted. They weren't tiled. They didn't have the flooring that we've got, fancy flooring like we have today. They were dirt and maybe a little straw. And so it was lost in the dirt and possibly the straw. It was lost there, lost. to the woman, she couldn't find it. Houses weren't lit up like we have today. They had little lamps, they didn't have glass windows, and if they had any windows at all. The roofs were thatched. So we get a picture of where this coin was lost. It was lost in the dirt, but it was lost in the dark. it was in the wrong place. Let me tell you, if you're running with the wrong crowd, you're in the wrong place. If you go to places that are not pleasing to God, you're in the wrong place. And do you know, many of those places are dark? They're dark. When I was A young teen, I had just become a teenager. I got a job at a place called Dale's. The cottages are still there and the place where I worked is still there, now it's a funeral home. But it was Dale's Bar and Grill, but it was more bar than grill. Now I didn't work as a bartender, I was too young and I didn't want to anyway. But on Saturday morning after Friday night, I cleaned up. I cleaned up. And I would go in there and sweep the floor, dirt and trash. I mean, people are trashy. And all that stuff there. And it's interesting what people lose in the dark. False eyebrows. An upper denture. All kinds of things in the dark. And people are drunk and they don't know it. And they get home, oh no, where's my tea? But it was lost in the dark. Stay out of the darkness. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Are evil. We need to stay out of the dark. But it was lost in the dark. And you're in the dark until you know the light. Jesus is a light of the world. The Bible says in Luke 1 in verse 79, Luke 1 verse number 79, it tells us about why Jesus came. Why the Lord Jesus left heaven's glory and came down to this sin-cursed earth. Why did he come? Well, Luke 1 in verse 79 says this. He came to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of peace. That's why he came. He came to give light in darkness. Light in darkness. What dispels the dark? Light does. Light dispels the darkness. On the tugboats, towboats, they have big lights and those lights dispel the darkness so they can know where they're going to guide and push the ship to the dark. The light dispels the darkness and yet men love darkness because of the wickedness of the heart You can go to church and have a dark heart. You can sing the songs we've sung and have a dark heart. And the Lord is seeking those which are in the dark. That's what we see. That's what we notice here. John 3.19 says, and this is the condemnation that men that's a light, this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light. Why do men love darkness rather than light? It's because their deeds are evil. Their deeds are evil. It's in their being to do evil. You don't have to teach. Evil, it's natural. A little baby in the crib. Mama has just gone to get her a cup of coffee, or as they say on the ship, a cuppa. The English, they say, I need a cuppa. And so that means they're going to get a cup of tea, usually, or a cup of coffee. She's getting her cuppa. And that little baby is. And as soon as she goes into the kitchen, wah! Weh, weh, weh, weh. And the mama goes back to the crib. Oh, and the baby goes goo, goo, goo, goo, goo, goo, goo, goo. Lying. Lying. And the mama gets it all settled down and looks like it's asleep and goes back. Yells again. Yells again. Men are that way. Mankind, when we talk about men, we're talking about men and women, and there is a distinction between a man and a woman, but mankind is all, is all. And where's it lost? Well, it's lost in the house. It's lost in the house. Do you know that you can attend church and be in the church house and yet be lost? in the house. There are those who go to church all their life and it never affects them spiritually, deep within. This coin was lost in her house. You may be lost in the Lord's house, in his house. Lost in the house. I believe there are Pharisees and Sadducees in the house Many times. They're in the church. There are. But what about the search? What about the search? How do you make the search? Well, it's better just to not light anything and just grapple around. No, that's silly. What did she do? She lit a candle. Lit a candle. The Waldenses, the symbol of the Waldenses is a candle. on a little candle stand, light. And so she lights a candle, that's what the scripture says. She lights a candle. The Bible tells us that men love darkness rather than light, so we need to always be lighting the light, to light the light. Psalm 139, verse 130, a very short verse says this, the entrance of thy word giveth understanding unto the simple. The entrance of thy word giveth light unto the simple. The word of God is like a searchlight that beams and it looks at our heart to see what we really are and who we really are. That's what the word of God does. The light also indicates the gospel, indicates the gospel. Send the light. The blessed gospel light, let it shine from shore to shore. I sing it different. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine from ship to shore. I like to sing it that way. That's on my heart. I tell you, no matter where I go, it's in my heart. This is the truth. It's in my heart. My heart's there. When I'm here, my heart's there. Wherever I'm at, my heart's there. Why? Because the Lord gives you a heart for that. Brother Wayne, I never thought I'd be doing the work I'm doing. Never, never. Just didn't dawn on me. But the Lord opened the door. He showed me this is the door that's open. You better go. I didn't want to, but God said go. And I'm glad that he's given me this work to do, given me a work to do. The devil doesn't like it, does he? The devil doesn't like the light being shown because he blinds the eyes of them which are lost, blinds them, blinds them. The God of this world blinds the mind of those that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The devil blinds the mind. Some of you are sitting here and your mind's somewhere else. Your body's here and you're thinking about something else. Your mind runs somewhere else. I know, I sit in church and sometimes, woof, there's, I say, look, I gotta focus. That ever happen? Sure it does. The devil does not want the message of Jesus Christ preached. He does not. He does not. And that's why we're not to hide it under a bushel. We're not to hide the life that the Lord has given us. which is himself, put it under a bushel? No. That's a scriptural song. It's out of Matthew chapter five and verse 15, where the Bible says, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it give us light unto all that are in the house. You don't put it under a bushel. That's why I don't understand why churches, so-called, will take and darken the walls and turn down the lights. We're not children of darkness, we're children of light. I like the light. I do. I'm glad that the Lord shined his light into my life. I'm thankful for that, very thankful. H. Bosch Taylor said that the Holy Spirit seeks the elect until they are found. He convicts all who hears the word, but he keeps after his own until he wins them. He stays after us. Could it be that he's working on your heart today, drawing you unto himself? Now, what is The result of all of this that we've been talking about, the light and the searching and the sweeping and all of that. Well, there's a discovery. Discovery. The Bible says, she sweeps until she hath found it. There are many pictures in this and we don't have time to go into them. But I know this, the Holy Spirit is sweeping. He's working. He's looking. I love that song. When he was on the cross, I was on his mind. There was a search going on. There was a work going on, even there. And then another result of the search is joy, joy. Because the woman says, rejoice with me, for I found the peace. which I had lost. Rejoice with me. There's joy in the presence of the angels when the lost are saved, amen. Let's review. Let's review. First of all, we see the importance of the individual. The individual, one coin. I don't believe in household salvation. I believe it's individual. Amen? We want our household to be saved, but salvation is an individual thing. It's you. It's you. It is. It's you. The importance of each one. And then the result is a permanent change that comes about. A change in the character of the individual. The word repentance indicates an about face. There's a change, something's different. There are those who say, I'm sorry, but there's no difference. No, he makes a difference. He makes a difference. Salvation changes the lost to being found and brings about a change where they recognize the value of their very being. Being valuable unto the Lord. Realizing that they're a new creature. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. And hath given to us, listen, hath given to us, who know him, the ministry of reconciliation. To tell others. To tell others. And then there's another result, and that result is heavenly joy and satisfaction. Heavenly joy. The loss was so great that God gave his Son the highest price to seek and to save that which was lost. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. But there's joy when One lost coin, one lost sheep is found, amen? Oh, that the Lord would touch your heart today. Oh, dear friend, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus and trust in him. Let's stand together. Our musicians will come. We'll have a time of invitation. Oh, trust him today. Look to Jesus today. You're valuable. You're valuable to the Lord. And you need to publicly profess faith in Him if He's drawn you unto Himself. Brother Wayne is here. We encourage you. What is our number?