There Is More Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner Who Repents (Luke 15:7)

Jesus said, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7). Because we are one of many people who have been saved, we could wonder if our salvation is meaningful to God. But there is joy in heaven, not just over hundreds or thousands of people's salvation, but over one sinner who repents. https://youtu.be/dOZ7extp6CE Jesus said, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15). There’s joy not just over the salvation of many, but over one! Table of ContentsThere Is Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner's SalvationWhat Brings God the Greatest Joy in Heaven?God's Joy in Heaven Over Just One Lost Sinner Being FoundGod's Joy Is Our RewardGod Rejoices Over UsThe Lord Seeks and the Sinner RepentsWho Are the Righteous Persons Who Need no Repentance?We Need a New Nature Versus More EffortThree Characteristics of True Repentance Luke 15:7 “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” repents.” The silver coin is a drachma, which was a Greek coin roughly equivalent to the Roman denarius, which was equal to the pay for one day’s labor. When Jewish girls were married they received ten silver coins as wedding gifts. They would wear the coins in a headband to show that they were married. Losing one of the coins meant more than just the loss of financial value, because the coins also held sentimental value. It might be like losing one of the stones in your wedding ring. Ancient houses were dark because they didn’t have lights in them like we do. If this woman was going to find her lost coin, she was going to have to "light a lamp" to do so. Just as a woman would rejoice over a stone missing from her wedding ring, so too would a woman rejoice over finding one of her ten lost coins. But this parable this isn’t primarily about a woman searching for and finding a lost coin. It is primarily about how hard Jesus works to find lost sinners. He lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks diligently until finding them. We only need to think about Him hanging on that cross to see the full length He would go to seek and save the lost. There Is Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner's Salvation Just to make it abundantly clear that the parable is not primarily about a woman searching for a coin, Jesus spelled it out: "There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Rejoicing over lost sinners is not something that is only important to people on earth. All of Heaven wants to see people saved. I want to draw your attention to something that I don’t think would be initially obvious. Look back at verse 5… Luke 15:5 And when he has found it (the lost sheep), he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Luke 15:6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ It makes sense that the shepherd rejoices when he finds the lost sheep, but doesn't it seem excessive? He calls together his friends and neighbors and tells them to rejoice with him. This is what we would expect for something major like a wedding or graduation. It’s the same in verse 9: "She calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'" Imagine a woman finds her lost wedding ring. Can you imagine her calling her friends and neighbors and telling them to rejoice with her? This is what we might expect for a child that was missing and then returned, but not for a lost coin. Jesus often spoke with hyperbole, or exaggeration to make a point: “Cut off your hand, pluck out your eye, a camel goes through the eye of a needle, hate your parents and children.” This is another example. Nobody would act this way over a lost sheep or lost coin being found. Why present such an absurd situation? For the same reason Jesus always used hyperbole: to make a point. He wanted to show the Lord’s joy over lost sinners being saved. Verse 10 says, "There is joy BEFORE THE ANGELS." This isn’t simply saying there’s joy in heaven. This is about God's joy, because He’s the One before the angels! We should also rejoice over lost sinners being saved. To do so is to be like God. What Brings God the Greatest Joy in Heaven? There are two themes in these parables. The first is joy. The word joy or rejoice occurs five times in verses five through 10. Have you ever wondered what brings God joy? I’m sure: When we have marriages that reflect Christ and the church it brings God joy. When we raise our kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord it brings Him joy. When children obey and honor their parents it brings Him joy. But it seems clear that one thing in Scripture brings God more joy than anything else, and that is lost sinners being saved. Sadly, William Barclay said many of the religious people in Jesus’s day had a saying, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God.” The thinking of the day was that the Lord rejoiced over people’s condemnation. This is not hard to believe considering the religious leaders’ criticism of Jesus in verse 2: "The Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'” Jesus preached the parables in Luke 115 to show the opposite is true. The religious leaders' grumbling is contrasted with the Lord’s joy: Luke 15:2 The Pharisees and the scribes GRUMBLED, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, REJOICING. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘REJOICE with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more JOY in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘REJOICE with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is JOY before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” There is complaining on earth but rejoicing in heaven over the same event. This shows how far the religious leaders' hearts were from God's heart. More than likely these parables served as subtle criticisms of the religious leaders. The shepherd and the woman call together their friends and neighbors to tell them to rejoice over the lost sheep and lost coin that are found. Likewise, the religious leaders should be rejoicing over lost sinners being found. Instead, they grumbled. God's Joy in Heaven Over Just One Lost Sinner Being Found The parable could be about the shepherd finding lots of lost sheep, or the woman finding multiple lost coins. But instead, the emphasis is on one: Luke 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost ONE OF THEM, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the ONE THAT IS LOST, until he finds it?...7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over ONE SINNER who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance...8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses ONE coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?...10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over ONE SINNER who repents.” With so many people throughout history, it is easy to feel like we are not special to God. We are one of so many who have been saved, it is easy to wonder, "Could my salvation really be that meaningful to God?" These parables answer that question. There’s joy in heaven, not just over the salvation of hundreds or thousands, but over one sinner who repents! Jesus wants us to see the joy the Father experiences, not when hundreds of sheep are found, or an entire coin collection is found, or every rebellious son repents? This is the joy when just one sinner repents. Each and every person matters this much to God the Father. The repentance of one person gives the Lord this much joy! If you ever start to feel like you’re one of millions of Christians, and therefore not important to the Lord, turn to Luke 15 and see the joy He experienced when one sinner was saved. Consider that’s how He felt when you were saved! God's Joy Is Our Reward We might not often think of God rejoicing, or experiencing joy, but we should, because this is far from the only place in Scripture that presents God this way. The parable of the talents is about a man who represents the Lord. He goes on a journey and leaves people with talents, which represent the different gifts and abilities God gives us. He expects us to use the talents for His glory. When He returns, we will give an account of our faithfulness. The first two servants were faithful and if you weren’t familiar with the account, what would you expect the master to say when rewarding them? I would expect him to say, “Enter into heaven,” or even “Enter into THE JOY of heaven.” Instead, it says, "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into THE JOY OF YOUR MASTER’" (Matthew 25:21, 23). Although I am sure we will experience joy when we enter heaven, interestingly, their reward isn’t the joy they themselves will experience. Their reward is experiencing the master’s joy with him. They are offered the master’s joy. It is possessive. The joy belongs to the master.