And if so be that he find [the lost sheep], verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Matthew 18:13.
(LHU 210.1)
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VC
Jesus would impress upon the hearts and minds of His disciples the value of the human soul. He demands cooperation on the part of His followers in rescuing lost sinners. There is one lost sheep, the very least that could be numbered; and yet He represents the shepherd as leaving the ninety and nine, and going into the mountains to seek that one lost wanderer. Then why is it that the sons and daughters of God are so cold of heart, so indifferent to the souls that are perishing around them? Why is it that the members of the church are so willing to let the whole burden rest upon the shoulders of the minister? How great a mistake is this, since every subject of grace is to have a part to act in saving those that are lost.
(LHU 210.2)
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VC
To every man Christ has given his work, and personal efforts must be put forth to save the perishing. The worker must be much in secret prayer; for this work requires great wisdom in the science of saving souls. Christ said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He said also to His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world.” He made the church the depositary of sacred truth. He left His church a stewardship of sacred truth, and it is the work of the church to carry forward His mission of saving the world. He is the Sun of Righteousness, who is to impart bright rays to His followers; and they, in turn, are to shed His light upon others. They are to be His representatives to the world. Believing in Christ as their personal Saviour, they take up the work where He left it. “Without me ye can do nothing,” said Christ; but with Him we can do all things. There is a large, a very large number of straying and lost sheep that have perished in the wild deserts of sin, simply because no one went after them, to search for them and to bring them back to the fold. Jesus uses the illustration of a lost sheep to show the need of seeking after those who have wandered from Him; for a sheep once lost will never find its way back to the fold without help. It must be sought for, it must be carried back to the fold.
(LHU 210.3)
MC
VC
All heaven is interested in the work of saving the lost. Angels watch with intense interest to see who will leave the ninety and nine, and go out in tempest and storm and rain into the wild desert to seek the lost sheep. The lost are all around us, perishing and sadly neglected. But they are of value to God, the purchase of the blood of Christ.... We are to seek to save those that are lost. We are to search for the one lost sheep, and bring him back to the fold; and this represents personal effort (The Review and Herald, June 30, 1896).
(LHU 210.4)
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VC
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. Luke 15:7.
(LHU 212.1)
MC
VC
Jesus, the Son of the Highest, is combating the powers of Satan, who is laying every possible device whereby he may counteract the work of God. The prize for which the powers of light and darkness are contending is the soul of man. The Good Shepherd is seeking His sheep, and what self-denial, what hardships, what privations He endures! The undershepherds know something of the stern conflict, but little in comparison to what is endured by the Shepherd of the sheep. With what compassion, what sorrow, what persistence, He seeks the lost! How few realize what desperate efforts are put forth by Satan to defeat the Shepherd’s purpose. When the Shepherd at last finds His lost sheep, He gathers it in His arms with rejoicing, and bears it back to the fold on His shoulders. And the harps of heaven are touched, and an anthem of rejoicing is sung over the ransom of the wandering and lost sheep. “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.”...
(LHU 212.2)
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VC
The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. A lost sheep never finds its way back to the fold of itself. If it is not sought for and saved by the watchful shepherd, it wanders until it perishes. What a representation of the Saviour is this! Unless Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had come to seek and to save the wandering, we should have perished. The Pharisees had taught that none but the Jewish nation would be saved, and they treated all other nationalities with contempt. But Jesus attracted the attention of those that the Pharisees despised, and He treated them with consideration and courtesy....
(LHU 212.3)
MC
VC
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This love on behalf of man, expressed in the gift of His only-begotten Son, called forth from Satan the most intense hatred, both toward the Giver and toward the priceless Gift. Satan had represented the Father to the world in a false light, and by this great Gift his representations were proved untrue, for here was love without a parallel, proving that man was to be redeemed by an inconceivable cost. Satan had tried to obliterate the image of God in man in order that as God looked upon him in his wretchedness, in his perverseness, in his degradation, He might be induced to give him up as hopelessly lost. But the Lord gave His only begotten Son in order that the most sinful, the most degraded, need not perish, but, by believing on Jesus Christ, may be reclaimed, regenerated, and restored to the image of God, and thus have eternal life (The Signs of the Times, November 20, 1893).
(LHU 212.4)
MC
VC