Luke 15:7

7. Joy shall be in heaven A sweet and literal assurance that the inhabitants of heaven take a deep interest in the souls of our race, candidates as we are for a fellowship with them on high. Heaven is not in sight of earth, but earth is in sight of heaven. The Church above forever watches the Church below. When the children of God rejoice over a new convert saved by repentance and forgiveness from death, there is no vain joy. It is the only joy on earth with which we have proof that angels sympathize. Hence angels watched with interest while these Pharisees condemned our Saviour’s sympathy with these publicans and sinners.

One sinner How much the joy of heaven then when whole scores and hundreds are converted. Truly he that winneth souls is wise.

Repenteth The repentance here spoken of, it is important to note, is the repentance of a sinner, taking the first step in that course by which from a child of hell he becomes an heir of heaven. It is the repentance of a publican and of a (Gentile) sinner classified with him. It implies previous unregeneracy, impenitence, and a course of persistent sin; from which having turned, the man is justified, regenerate, and enrolled in the Lamb’s book of life. This has nothing to do with the repentance of a justified Christian, which is a constant abhorence of sin, and sorrow for his shortcomings, which produce indeed condemnation, but not entire loss of justification.

Just persons Under the Jewish dispensation, those who were justified, like Zachariah and Elizabeth, as walking in all the ordinances of the law blameless. Many of these had never by apostacy lost the first grace sealed upon them at circumcision, and hence were never heirs of hell. And so, under the new dispensation, if the child before arriving at years of accountability is accepted of God, there is no reason why he should lose that grace and become a child of the devil. God has never made it necessary that any one should be at any time of life an heir of death.

Need no repentance Who have never been unregenerate sinners. For the word repentance signifies here the same thing as in the former part of the verse. That the just persons, here, are the unfallen inhabitants of other worlds, would be a beautiful interpretation, but a far-fetched one. That Jesus did go forth to redeem our race alone is very probable; but is hardly asserted in this text.

God may have a vast flock, and our race may be the only wandering sheep. But what our Lord is here doing is, to show that he is performing the work over which angels rejoice with a joy in which these scribes and Pharisees should join rather than murmur. They should, with angels, rejoice when he goes after the wandering Jewish publican and Gentile sinner in order to bring them home through repentance to the fold of the Church. To this the fallen and unfallen worlds may be analogous; but they do not come within the actual purpose of the parable.

It is by no means meant that the soul of the sinner converted from his abandonment is any more precious in the sight of God than is that of the faithful walker in the paths of righteousness, who has never fallen from the justification of his childhood. God more truly loves a life of faithful obedience than of late repentance. The man who spends half his life in sin, is little likely to receive that rich reward in glory which he might have attained had all his days been days of service. His powers, indeed, of efficient service, during the remainder of his years, are likely to be much diminished; and he will have through life just reason to lament the loss of his best days in sin; a loss which eternity cannot repair. What our Lord does mean here is, that such is the danger which the repentant sinner has escaped, such is the immediate interest of his rescue, and such the new rapture of having gained a companion in glory, that a sudden burst of joy arises in heaven.

It is sometimes said that if the angels believed that a repentant sinner might apostatise and be lost, we can hardly suppose their joy would be great. We might as well say, that if the angels knew who were the eternally elected, we can hardly suppose they would be much interested in their conversion; as it would make their salvation no more certain. We do not find that Christians who believe in the possibility of apostacy, as a general thing, take less interest in the conversion of souls than those who deny it.