Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.

Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Lord, just look if you would at verse eight. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. And thank you Lord that many of us that were lost are now found. Thank you Lord that your grace is big enough and extensive enough that anybody here that doesn't know you as Savior could literally walk out of this building today.

this morning knowing for sure that they will spend an eternity in heaven instead of hell. Lord, thank you for loving us enough that you would come after that one lost sheep. Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough that you would search till you found that one lost coin.

In Jesus' precious name we pray, amen. Gotta give you a little bit of background and I kinda chuckled as I was working on this message this week, had to think of my dad. When I think of my dad, I always chuckle. But anyway, my dad preached a message out of these three verses for a number of years and he entitled it The Sloppy Housewife. And he had a tape and record table and it was listed on there as the title The Sloppy Housewife and it was the largest selling message to men in history. You would not believe how many men would be back at my dad's table, they'd be trying to buy and they would see The Sloppy Housewife and they'd be like, oh, hey, give me that one. Let me take that one home.

And I'm sure they thought somehow it was gonna teach their wife how to keep the house clean but that really wasn't the point of it. But we talked last week about the lost sheep and today we're gonna talk about the lost silver. Remember, in this whole chapter, this is God's lost and found section.

Let me, if I can illustrate the difference between the three parables, let me illustrate it this way. In the lost sheep, we see the love that God provided for us. He went after, put us on his shoulders, will take us home safely. In the lost silver, we see the value that God has placed on us. You see, it was just one little coin but it was valuable. In the lost son that we'll deal with in the weeks to follow, we see the forgiveness that God has presented us. You see, as the shepherd, he shows his love. In the parable of the lost coin, he shows the value that he's given you. And in the parable of the lost son, he displays the forgiveness that he offers all who have run away from him and desire to come back home. Each thing in all of these parables, each thing that was lost had a personal value. You see, just one sheep might not mean a lot to a lot of individuals but to the shepherd, it meant everything. And one lost coin might not mean anything to most people because most people would spend more than that just for maybe something to drink at a restaurant but it meant the world to this woman. And this lost son that wandered off, most of us would say, hey, we'll help you pray for your son but it's different when it's your son.

All throughout this chapter, we see the value of one. And I found this interesting in the first parable of Luke chapter 15, this one sheep left the larger group and became lost. What is interesting about this parable today, the lost coin, is that it hadn't wandered off and was lost, it was right there in the dwelling and was still lost. You see, sometimes there are individuals that have run away from God and wandered off from the fold and they're lost but you know, sometimes you can sit right in God's house.

Right close to the individual and still be lost. You see, the sheep was away and was lost but the coin was right there but it was still lost. I found something interesting as I looked into this that as the sheep literally could represent a believer who had wandered from the flock and gotten lost in what we would call the wilderness of this world, the lost coin would be likened to a person that is within the household. It could be someone literally in church. It could be somebody that is bravely putting on the Sunday happy face.

It could be an individual that is going through all the routine and going through all the motions and would appear to everybody that would see them that they would possibly be obviously a saved individual or an individual that is right with God and yet folks, almost every day we hear of individuals that looked that way and they weren't that way and individuals that you thought were close to God and it turned out that they were a long way away from God. I want you to see number one this morning as we look into this parable. Well number one, I want you to see that there was a purpose attached to this coin. There is a purpose attached to this coin. You see, there is a reason why this coin was so valuable to this woman. You think one coin, why would you lose sleep over this and why would you turn into a frizzy over this?

And the Bible says in the first verse obviously that man, she just went crazy and she began to sweep the floor and she began to let light into the house and she began to rearrange furniture and the Bible says that she searched and searched and searched until she found it. So why was this so important? What was the purpose of this coin and why was it so valuable to her?

Well number one, it declared her status. You see, obviously in these days much like you and I wear a wedding ring if you're married, obviously you wear a wedding ring today and that symbolizes that obviously you're a married individual and that you have given your heart and love to another individual and God obviously sees the two as one and you are now part of each other. But in these days a woman would wear a headband and it didn't matter necessarily how many coins were in that headband, the wealthier you were the more coins often would be in the woman's headband. There were sometimes women that would have near 100 coins that would be sewed into her headband.

I don't know about you but that would be very uncomfortable to wear. I would rather my husband be a little bit poorer so I didn't break my neck for the next 10 years. Letting everybody, I would just wear a sign that says I'm married, okay. Well we find that this woman had 10 coins. You see, this was important to her because that coin, a set of 10 that she would often wear in a headband declared her status, it declared that I belong to my husband, that I am a married individual.

Number two, it declared her independence. You say well preacher what do you mean? Well oftentimes in Bible dates that a husband would obviously over time gradually add coins to his wife's headband and that was a sign that if anything happened and that husband divorced that woman that she kept those coins. And those coins would remind him that she has the opportunity to start over if he ever did her wrong.

And he can't just take advantage of her. And so that coin not only declared her status but those coins were important to her because it reminded her husband that you know what, if I do her wrong that she can still go on without me and I need to make sure that I treat my wife right. But number three, it declared her faithfulness. This is why I believe this was so important to this lady. In biblical days as they wore that headband with those coins in it, if a wife was ever unfaithful to her husband then he would remove a coin. There would obviously be other coins there probably. As few as three, as many as they would want to but obviously that coin missing would let others know that she had been unfaithful to her husband. And this woman obviously did not want people to think that she'd been unfaithful to her husband. It was of utmost importance that she found this coin because she didn't want people to think that she didn't love her husband or that she'd been unfaithful to her husband or that she had treated her husband bad because she loved her husband and she didn't want this coin missing and she didn't want folks to think that she had been unfaithful.

It declared her faithfulness. You see this coin was precious to this woman and that is why she got so worked up over it. You know an average person would look at a coin and they might think it's really not that valuable but it meant the world to her but that coin as valuable as it was to her, it could be no value to her while it was lost. And dear friend, you are valuable to God but you can't be valuable to God while you're lost. You've gotta be saved.

You gotta be part of his family. It was good for nothing. It could not adorn her head. It could not grace her life. It could not be used to provide the essentials of her life.

It was useless as long as it was lost and that is why it was imperative that it had been found. Look at me, it was just one piece of silver but it was worth everything to this woman. It wasn't as valuable to anybody else as it was to her.

Look at me, dear friend. You might have a lot of people in your life that have let you down and you might not think you are that valuable to others but let me tell you something. You mean more to God than you ever will to anybody else. You are more valuable to the Savior than you are to anybody else. In fact, he valued you so much that he laid down his life for you. You are so important to him that he literally gave everything he could possibly give to provide the means for you to be found.

There was a purpose attached to this coin. Of course, the object of this parable is to teach the value of one sinner to the Lord. Dear friend, I don't think you and I will ever be able, because we're human and we're flesh, I don't think you and I will ever be able to understand why God did what he did. Do you know a life lived for the Lord is a beautiful and powerful thing but a lost life is of no value at all? You see, I can do a lot of things for a lot of people.

Dear friend, that's great and you should but that will not matter in eternity. The only thing, look at me, the only thing that has real value is something that will last forever. Have you ever thought about that? I mean, anything that's going to decay or going to go away, it might be valuable now, but there will come a time where it will have no value. But anything that will last forever will always keep its value. And dear friend, as much as you might could do in your life without the Lord that might help others and might get the praise of others, I'm here to tell you, it's of no value at all.

But when you give your heart to Christ, whatever you do for God, he rewards you forever in eternity for those things. There's a plan attached to this coin. Number two, excuse me, there's a purpose, number two, there's a plan attached to this coin. So the purpose was this, that she needed it. I mean, she didn't want people to think she'd been unfaithful and she didn't want there to be that missing coin, and so now she had a task. This is why it was so important, so what was she going to do to make sure she found it?

I want you to see the plan, look at verse eight. The Bible says, either what woman, having 10 pieces of silver, so there were 10, and she's missing one. Notice this, if she lose one piece, notice what she does. Doth not light a candle, sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it. So this gives us, obviously, a great hint of what was going on in this house.

Number one, I want you to see that this coin was lost in the dark. It was lost in the dark. The Bible said that she had to light a candle to find it. You see, obviously, back in these days, houses were built differently than we were. This might have been taking a place during the evening time, it might have even been taking place during a time in the day, but obviously, with animals and mosquitoes and different things, they didn't have glass like we do, and they had different things, and they would come up with screens and different things that would do that. But houses were normally dark.

They had dirt floors, and they were kind of dark, and they were somewhat primitive, and they didn't have indoor plumbing, and they didn't have all these things. So the Bible says, as soon as this woman realized that this coin was missing out of her headdress, and she had 10, that's why we believe it was a headdress, and now she has one missing, the Bible says the first thing that she had to do is she had to light a candle, because it was lost in the dark. Dear friends, do you know how folks nowadays are lost in the dark? What's interesting, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, listen to this, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. We are told that those that are lost are in the dark, but the glorious gospel of God can shine a light into their life. It was lost in the dark. You know what John 1, 9 says about Jesus?

That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Dear friend, those that are lost are lost, number one this morning, in the dark. I'm here to say that oftentimes if you find an individual that's never been saved, they don't even see their need of salvation. They don't even realize the danger that they're in, because they can't see it. They haven't seen the light of the gospel. They don't even see that it's important. They got other things on their mind, and they got other things that they want to give their time to, but dear friend, when the day comes and you take your last breath, you will either spend an eternity in a Christless eternity called hell, burning forever and ever and ever, or you will dwell in the presence of God.

And it will be important to you then. Luke 8, 16 says, no man, when he hath lighted a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed. Listen, but setteth it on a candlestick that they which enter may see the light. Preacher, what did you just read that verse for?

Are you looking at me? Lost men are dark. This church is supposed to provide light. And this verse says, which of you lighting a candle, why would you put a vessel over it and cover it?

And why would you hold it underneath the bed? Look at me, dear friend, that means this, that this church, our greatest responsibility is to make sure that the light of the gospel of God is shining here at this place and shining to the congregation and shining to this community and shining to anybody that'll notice. Because if we do all good things and yet we cover up the light, we have failed. The gospel should be the first and foremost priority of this church. Not what an individual wears. Not where an individual goes. Not all the things that we can prioritize and make so important. The gospel is the most important thing in this church.

It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the only thing that will light up a life. This coin was lost in the dark. Number two, we see it was lost in the dirt. Can I tell you, dear friend, that lost men are lost in the dark, but let me tell you, they are lost in the dirt. This world is a dirty world.

Our culture is a dirty culture. Preacher, you shouldn't be negative. Let me tell you something, I'm not being negative. I'm just being honest.

I'm being positive the way I'm saying it, to be honest with you. Because if we described how messed up this world is, it would discourage all of us. We find that this woman not only had to light a candle but the Bible says that she had to sweep the floor. That's why my dad called it the sloppy housewife. What a dirty house, that if you dropped a coin, you couldn't even see it. But dear friend, back in those days, that's what they had, is a dirt floor. And that lady obviously, and we kind of joke about it, but listen to me, most of the time, it would have been a dirt floor. And you know how hard it is to sweep, literally dirt, and find things in the dirt all over the house, and somehow she couldn't find this coin because it was shiny, and it was valuable, and it was worth something to her, but she couldn't see it because of all the dirt. Houses back then could get dusty. And God says you and I are lost in the dirt.

You know what's interesting? God says that we came out of the dust. God formed the dust and made man. The Bible teaches in the Old Testament that when man dies, it says we go from dust to dust. And yet dust is the very thing often that'll keep man from finding the Savior because of the dirt in their life. Let me read you a couple verses.

I thought this was good. Psalm 113. Who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high, who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dung hill.

Did you hear that? I don't care how much dirt's been in your life, and I don't care how dirty you are here this morning, and I don't care how much stuff there is that people don't know that you know, and you feel like God won't save you, and I don't care how many times you've messed up and you found yourself literally in a dirt pit when you knew better and you knew you shouldn't but you messed up. Dear friend, I'm here to tell you that the light of the glorious gospel of God is powerful enough and strong enough that I don't care how much dirt is over you, how many layers there are, the word of God will pierce even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. God can cut right through all that dirt on top of you, and he can clean you up this morning. He can find you in the dirt. He will sweep and sweep and sweep until he finds you. That's the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You might be sitting here this morning and you know what, you got so much dirt on you that you don't even think you need to be found. Oh, dear friend, listen to me. That Holy Spirit's sweeping this morning.

He's sweeping away that dirt. That little thing you feel inside of here right now, that little bit uncomfortable period that makes you think, you know, I need to go use the restroom right about now. Now, if you get up and go to the bathroom, I'm not saying you're unsaved. Maybe I should just do that at the first.

Everybody will stay put, you know. I don't wanna go in the bathroom, though, I think. Let me tell you something. The Holy Spirit can work through whatever, and you can get in your car and you can leave this morning and you can say, thank God, I'm away from that, but that Holy Spirit will just keep convicting and keep convicting and keep convicting, and finally, one day, hopefully, you're gonna get to the point to realize I got dirt all over me and I'm in the darkness and I can't save myself, but I know that God will save me and I wanna give my heart to Christ. Yeah, you're right. Lost in the dirt.

Now, listen to this. The coin in coming in contact with the broom in this story is swept clean of the dust. The dust is removed from it.

That means there had to be something to come in contact with the dirt to sweep it off to get the coin. The broom here is a picture of the gospel. When you come in contact with the gospel, it can't help but sweep away the dirt. Oftentimes, you know what you and I are trying to do, we're trying to do everything we can do to make people clean, but the only thing that can make people clean is the gospel.

You can give all the rules you wanna give and you can try to guilt them into it as much as you want, but ain't nothing gonna take care of the dirt except the broom of the Holy Spirit. I want you to notice this. Listen to me very closely this morning. Though this coin was covered with dirt, it was still silver and its value had not changed.

Look at me. I don't care how much dirt was on this coin, it was still a coin. It was still the same coin and it was still valuable. And dear friend, I don't care how much junk has gone on in your life, I'm here to tell you that doesn't change the fact that you're still valuable to God and you are still you and you're still his creation and God is still valuable and thinks you're valuable and has something valuable to do with your life.

Amen. Another thing and I just say this for sake of trying to cover the story pretty good that in those days that coins had a different value based on the image that was stamped on it. It would be stamped with different political leaders at that point or different things. And you know with that dirt on it, you couldn't see the image on the coin. And dear friend, oftentimes you and I, although we're saved, we get enough dirt on us, you can't see who we represent. I want you to notice number three, not only was it lost in the dark, not only was it lost in the dirt, but number three, we see that it was lost in the dwelling. Look if you would at verse eight, it says that she lit a candle, she swept the house, notice this, and seek diligently until she find it. This coin was lost in the dark and it was lost in the dirt. Let me tell you what was even more surprising is it was lost right there where she was.

It was close, it was so close, but she couldn't find it. You know oftentimes you and I, we will search outside of the church trying to reach people and so many times we overlook those that are the closest that might not be saved. Why do you think we have programs like we've tried to do like Upwards and Awanas and different things of that nature?

Because dear friend, I don't want kids going through the cracks here without hearing the gospel. We have a bus ministry and we have a junior churches and we have all these things, we try to do Awanas, we try to do Upwards, and we're gonna try to do other things in the future. Man, I've got drawings I've done, I've got plans for our children's ministry and I wanna have a whole children's wing and I wanna have everything designed for it. I've got all these plans and all these things that I thank God.

Wouldn't it be great if you'd just do that? But let me tell you something in the middle of all that. If the gospel is not first and foremost, it is a waste of planning and time. Dear friend, I don't care how you might be impressed with a ministry, a church, or a facility, whatever the case might be, what you need to ask yourself, is the gospel the top priority?

Do they preach the gospel and do they preach the word of God in its entirety? It was lost in the dwelling. Bible says that she lights a light, she moves the furniture, she sweeps the floor, and looks everywhere for this lost coin.

You know what that means? That means lost in the dark, it means it needs light. When obviously when you're lost in the dark, it means that you can't see and you need somebody to light the way. We notice secondly, when you're lost in the dirt, that means you need cleaning. And that means you need the word of God to clean your life. But when you are lost in the dwelling, it means it needs rearranged. You see, this coin was lost in the dwelling and she probably swept everywhere that there wasn't something and she still didn't find it, so she began to move the furniture. You know what some of us need in our lives? We need to move the furniture. We have been cold too long.

We have been apathetic too long. We need something to be important enough to us in our life that we're willing to get out of our comfort zone and move our furniture to find that lost coin. You know what I find here, I believe in this story literally that I believe that the woman here is a picture of the church. Because her husband's not mentioned and we know that we are the bride of Christ. Look at me, dear friend, it is our job to do everything we can do to rearrange furniture, to sweep, to do everything we can do to find the lost coin on behalf of our husband. We're the bride of Christ. We don't want people to think we've been unfaithful to God. We want to get every lost person we can get because we don't want people to think we don't love God enough to do it. This woman didn't want people to think that this coin wasn't valuable to her and she wanted to give everything she could do to find it, so she swept it, she lit a candle, she worked hard, she moved the furniture, and I love the fact that the Bible says till she found it.

That means she did it as long as she needed and she did everything she could possibly do until she found that coin. Listen to me, dear friend. When Adam and Eve sinned, you and I became lost. So many other things I want to say and our time is gone this morning.

Let me mention this lastly. There is not only a purpose attached to this coin and a plan attached to this coin, but number three, there is praise attached to this coin. Now this is where Jesus literally draws the object lesson and makes it about heaven. Notice if you would, verse nine. And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the peace, singular, which I had lost. Notice verse 10. Likewise I say unto you, this is the first time God has brought heaven into it. Likewise, just like this story I told you, that there was rejoicing because that thing that was lost was so valuable that when she found it, she called in her friends and her neighbors and she had kind of a party and a get together and she celebrated and because she was so excited that she had found that coin that was so valuable to her. And this is what God says, likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Do you know heaven gets excited when just one person that was lost is found? Listen to me, God doesn't care what you may think about your own worth and God doesn't care what people think about your worth. Let me put it this way, God doesn't care whether you think you're worth much and God doesn't care whether people think you're worth much.

You are worth everything to God. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.