Luke 15, verse 11. And he said,
A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his
father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me. And
he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the
land. and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields
to feed swine. And he would fain have filled
his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man
gave unto him. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough
to spare, and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father
and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said
to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. and bring
hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry.
For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and
is found. And they began to be merry. Now
his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh
to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one
of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said
unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the
fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father
out and entreated him. And he answering said to his
father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed
I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon
as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with
harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said
unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have
is thine. It was meet that we should make
merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive
again, and was lost, and is found. The last part of this parable
you will know nothing of if the first part of this parable has
not happened for you and to you. The son must have borne you on
his shoulders on that tree, or you are still wandering in the
wilderness. He must have carried you to the
father when he was raised to life, justifying all those for
whom he died. The spirit must have worked a
work in you, enlightening your soul, bringing the light of the
glorious gospel to you and cleansing you. This the spirit does, showing
you and sealing to your God, give a new heart that Jesus Christ
is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
If these things are true for you and to you, then you will
come to this same point as this prodigal son did. I have sinned
against heaven and against thee. We read this account and many
other accounts. We might hear somebody preach
and we tend to think of examples of ourselves or maybe we think
of someone else. I certainly have wronged my wife,
my parents, my friend, and that is going on as though it continues
to go on that I do that. I sin against these all the time.
And I may even relate to others as we often do. We relate what
we hear in God's word to others. You know what I mean? That sounds
like what so-and-so did. Now maybe you don't do this,
but I do at times. Some and most of these things
may in fact be true, true of yourself and true of others.
But when we do that, we really miss the point of this passage.
Scripture teaches us, for all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God, so this is true. But as we read this passage,
this that happens to this prodigal son does not happen in a group,
if you will. I have certainly come short of
my wife's, my family's, and my friend's expectations. But my
chief problem is I have come short of the glory of God and
his perfect righteousness. I am absolutely and totally corrupt,
and I have no God righteousness. This father spoken of here gave
all of this to his son up front. He said he gave him their living.
He said, here, take it and go, so to speak. This son said, give
me all that I have earned, at least up to this point anyway.
And the father gave it to him. But that which we have earned
does not last long. It cannot sustain us. We think
we can do better than what the father has provided for us. And
I want to be clear, I mean God the father here when I'm talking
about this father. Some may have a decent mother
and father in this world, but they are still fallen, sinful
parents. But they may be decent according to this world's expectations.
And then some don't have decent parents. But only some have a
heavenly father, such that has what he has and who he is. This
world, when reading this passage, will only use it to pep talk
for how to treat your parents, is what I'm trying to get at
here. What we have and what we do with what we have does not
last long if you are one of his. Those not in Christ from before
the foundation of the world will never know this nor care. If
we are one of his, he will graciously work things out so that we see
this one day. I will eventually come to my
senses by his gracious work and providence. And I want to talk
about three things this morning. Briefly, I want to talk about
those who oppose the grace of God. And then I want to talk
about an unprofitable servant, and three, mercy and grace. So first, those who oppose the
grace of God. We read in this passage of an
elder brother, and for a long time I've pondered and wondered
who this elder brother is. as if it is possibly one entity
or one person or one group of persons. I am now beginning to
see that this is not just talking about one person or one group
of people. This elder brother represents all people and things
that oppose the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This elder son was angry in what
the father had done and he did not enter in. They were rejoicing
at this one who had been found of the Father, and they were
all rejoicing, and this one would not enter in to rejoice with
them. This represents all that would
oppose the work of the Father, Son, and the Spirit, but rely
solely on the works they have done, and in so doing, because
of pride, they will not enter into the house. He was enraged
is what the word means. He was not just mad, he was spitting
mad, if you will. Is this talking about Jews who
did not want Christ to speak with these sinners? Or is this
those Jews who would not want Gentiles to be brought in? Or
is this our old man that totally opposes God just like everyone
else? Or is it Gentiles who reject
the grace of God in Christ? Yes. This is pointing out that
if you oppose this God who does a gracious work for sinners,
if you oppose what this gracious God does for sinners, if you
oppose how he does it for these ungodly sinners, then you are
enraged with God, even if you think you are not. Your pride
will cause you to not enter in, even though the Father has entreated
you to come in and rejoice. It is the spirit of Antichrist. First John 2.22 we read, who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He
is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Now that's all I'm going to say
about that. I said I wasn't going to spend much time and that's
all I'm going to speak about. Not that it's not important because
it is important to talk about those who oppose God. But now
let's look at an unprofitable servant. So we have this son
and he's been given everything he earned and he took it and
left and went and had a good time. This just reminds me when
I was in high school, when you graduate, they generally, the
graduating class had a saying that they gave, that they had. Our saying was, if it feels good,
do it. That stupid saying goes right
along with this parable on what this son did. He did not care
what anyone else thought. He was going to do it if it felt
good, no matter what it did to anybody else or himself. He wasn't
even thinking about any of that. And he did it. Just as we have
all done the same thing, we have all gone astray. We have every
one turned to their own way and we have all done what has seemed
right in our own eyes. Isaiah 53 6 we read, all we like
sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Now that passage there is talking about God's people. That is what
our earnings, what our substance does for us. But all do this. We are the children
of wrath, just like everyone else, and everyone else have
gone astray as well. They just never know they are
lost in the wilderness. Everyone born of Adam has gone
astray. We read this in 2 Peter, chapter
two, where it talks about false teachers coming amongst God's
people and his assemblies, teaching lies on God. They teach their
truth and not God's truth. It talks about the angels who
fell that God did not spare, but threw them in hell. It talks
about God not sparing that old world, is what it says in the
days of Noah. But God destroyed it all, save
eight people, including Noah and his family. That city of
Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, save Lot, who God saved out of
there. Those who are of this world and
the people of God come from out of this world. I mean, we came
from that. That's how we are in this flesh.
We're ungodly men and women who are out for our own way. And
we read in 2 Peter 2 15, which have forsaken the right way and
are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosar,
who loved the wages of unrighteousness. All of mankind are this way.
We can see it here in this passage. It says he wasted it on riotous
living. He partied it up and entertained
harlots. What happened to what he had?
It was all gone. Nothing left that could sustain
him. He had nothing to eat on, to
live. But that's not all. The hard
part has not yet come. Has this happened to you? Luke
15 verse 14. And when he had spent all, there
arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want. Have you wasted everything given
to you by God and now there's a famine? And not only do you
not have any money to buy bread, but you find out that there's
no one else that has anything either that they might give you
to eat. God will dry everything up. for
those that are his. You will find no rest for your
soul because you know that you have wasted everything that has
been given you and you will be ready to eat hog's husk if you
could. But you won't even be able to
do that. What does it say? And he would fain have filled
his belly with the husk that the swine did eat and no man
gave unto him. They wouldn't even give him pig
food I'm talking about a famine. A famine where you know you're
a dead man if nothing changes. This man was hungry. I mean a
belly swelling hunger. You know that your father has
done nothing but righteousness and all you are is unrighteous. This man hungered and thirsted
after righteousness where he was not at one time. you will
come to your senses in God's good time if you are one of his.
What do we read here? And when he came to himself. He was not even a good candidate
for a servant because he wasted everything given to him. Most
servants don't waste what their master gives them. We are not
even good servants, Luke 17 10 we read, so likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you
say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our
duty to do. This prodigal knows he is nothing. And I will say it like this,
now that he has been brought to himself. He knows he is brought
to know what he is by God. Because he sees what his works
have done. His works have cost him everything
and will soon consume him in death. God causes us to think
of our heavenly father who has plenty, and even if I were but
a hired servant, I will have plenty to eat. God in his providence
and in his sovereign control works things so that we have
nowhere else to turn, causing us to turn to him from our idols.
What does this cause us to do? It causes us to arise. Luke 15, 20, and it says, and
he arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on
his neck and kissed him. He will cause us to cry out to
him. We will arise and go to him. We can't get there fast enough.
I might perish on the way. Help me, Lord. Look what I have done. I have
wasted everything my father has given me and I have nothing to
eat. Oh, that he might take me as a hired servant. And you remember
what that woman said, I think it was the Syrophoenician woman,
Matthew 15, 27. And she said, truth, Lord, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Pride melts away. We begin to start thinking of
ourselves and not everybody else. But God is not sitting idly by,
waiting on us to do something. In his great care for us, he
is waiting for us, watching for us, knowing that he has purposed
that we come to him. Because he is full of love, mercy,
and grace, so next we have free mercy and grace. Again, verse
20, and he rose and came to his father, but when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran
and fell on his neck and kissed him. The father, he had compassion
and ran. But you get the sense here that
the father is watching for him, knowing what the son would do,
where he would end up. What do we read in scripture,
Isaiah 65, 24? And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. He is looking for us. He has
put us where we are by his sovereign love and grace. Isaiah 38, 20
says, the Lord was ready to save me. Therefore, we will sing my
songs to the string instruments all the days of our life in the
house of the Lord, Joe. It is He with His love toward
us in His Son, Jesus Christ, that He draws us to Himself.
It will not necessarily be a pleasant time, but He will cause it to
happen. We will experience famine, and
famine, real famine, is not a pleasant experience. Jeremiah 31.3 we
read, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, yea, I
have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
have I grown thee. Oh, that this might be true of
me. That he draw me and continue
to draw me to himself. But that isn't all. He is abundant
in mercy, so there's still more. What did he do? He, the father,
fell on his neck. This prodigal son who had the
smell of filth on him, and the father falls on his neck and
kisses him. Surely he won't touch me as filthy
as I am. I think he might could have thought.
But no, what does the father do? He falls on the son's neck
and kisses him. His compassion for us results
in a manifestation of his love for us. But we are not done yet. The son begins to confess his
sins against the father. You think about all the things
that this son did. He had nothing to offer the father
to cause him to take him back. He wasted everything he was given
and then came back filthy. The son did exactly what he wanted
to do. How often do we do what feels
good to us? Yet our father still falls on
our neck and kisses us. But then what does he do? We
have read throughout this parable in the other sections, there
is some rejoicing that is about to happen. The father does not
even acknowledge the son in saying he has sinned against him. He
never responds to that. It is certainly true and the
father knows that he has lost everything that was given to
him. But what does the father do? Does he tell the servants
to go get him a waiter's dress so he can feed me a good dinner
looking nice tonight? No. He told them to go get the
best clothing, family clothing. Not servant's clothing, the best
robe. God the Father clothes us in
his robe of his righteousness. And notice here it says, put
it on him. not give it to him for him to
put it on, but put it on him. That robe which Jesus Christ
has wrought, his righteousness being the best robe, the righteousness
of God is put about our bodies, if you will. We are so clothed
with his righteousness that you cannot see the filth that is
still underneath this best robe. He did not tell the son, go get
cleaned up before we put this robe on you, no. There's no way
he could get himself clean enough to earn or deserve this kind
of treatment. What would clean him up is having
this best robe thrown around him. This would hide so much
so that it has been done away with, as far as anyone else who
sees him, but he is also given a ring, that which signifies
and shows that he is in fact a son. Haggai 2.23, we read,
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel,
my servant, the son of Sheltiel, saith the Lord, and will make
thee as a signet. For I have chosen thee, saith
the Lord of hosts. That word there for signet means
a ring, a seal, and I only give that for the word that's used
there as signet. Second Timothy 219 we read, nevertheless
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, this
signet, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The people of
God are known of God, else they will not be known at all as a
son. But I do believe that this signifies
us being given the Holy Spirit of God and everlasting life.
What do we read in 2 Corinthians 1.22? Who hath also sealed us
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. That which is given us, that
is His Spirit, that tells us that we are the children of God.
His Spirit teaches us what He has done, confirming to us the
work He has done to bring us to Himself. Then we have shoes. This man had nothing. I'm not
so sure that he wasn't completely naked, but he had at least had
no shoes, is what my assumption is here. What can be made of
these shoes? I can only refer to Scripture
when I see this. Ephesians 6 verses 14 and 15
we read, Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. God has
given us his gospel and he puts these shoes on us. These shoes
are the preparation. to all those who come unto God
by His Son. He says, before us the fatted
calf killed for our nourishment. Before we had no food, and now
we can feast on the fatted calf. May it be that we can feast on
Jesus Christ if you are pleased to allow this for us. We will
never hunger and never thirst. This is something we need nothing
to obtain. Isaiah 55 1, we read, ho, everyone
that thirsteth cometh ye to the waters. He that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. This is something that has been
given us by the Father and his dear son and brought to us by
his spirit. what rejoicing there is, so much
so that noise can be heard outside, so that those outside wonder
what's going on. I wished I had the words that
I could really convey what His grace and mercy and love is,
to convey that to God's people, but I'm just a clay pot. His
love, His mercy, His grace is so high and it has so much grandeur
that I don't even have the words to rightly tell you how amazing
it is. This flesh still being with me,
I do not always even see how amazing He is. Let alone how
loving, merciful, and gracious He is to me alone. Folks, I have
wronged a lot of people throughout my life. I'm not happy about
that, but there's something more here than just offending others
in this world, and we should not be trying to offend others.
My problem is I have sinned against God, and Him only have I sinned
against, as David says. I've come short of the glory
of God. Unless He clothes me with His righteousness, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, and unless He gives me the earnest of the Spirit,
and unless He gives me His gospel so that I might believe Him,
I will continue in famine all the days of my life. I need Him
always and forever. It is Christ who has created
me and bought me and paid for my soul which has sinned against
Him. This he did, and it is where
we see his love for us. It is manifested in that he came
and died on that tree, having been made sin for us and dying
the death that I should have died, but then raised again to
life. And in doing so, he procured
my justification before God. He obtained the robe of righteousness,
and it is his robe he places on us. It is the Spirit of God
which has enlightened my soul so that I may be enabled to see
him. It is God the Father that is
rich in mercy and grace and with loving kindness in his providence
which has drawn me to himself. Let us rejoice in what he has
done. What do we read here twice? We
read it here of the Father rejoicing. And I'm amazed at that. The Father
is rejoicing over us. It says in verses 23 and 24,
and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and
be merry. For this my son was dead and
is live again. He was lost and is found and
they began to be merry. Then again in verse 32, it was
me that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother
was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. Oh, the compassion, love, mercy,
and grace that he has shown sinners who have wasted all that the
Father has given them, clothing them on his works, having died
for them. What gracious words cannot fully
explain. Amen. Dear Lord God, please apply
these words to our heart. Cause us to see you, dear Lord.
Give us your Holy Spirit, dear Lord. Lead, guide, and direct
us in all things that we do. In Christ's name, amen.