Chapter 15. The name of the message is The Best
Robe. The Best Robe. I've talked about this a few
times, just touched on it a little bit. Today we're going to look
at this passage. Let's start in verse 11 of Luke
chapter 15. 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 that land. And he began to be in wants. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country, and he sent unto him into the
fields to feed his swine, or to feed swine. And he would fain
have filled his belly with the husks 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 have bred enough
in despair, and I perish with hunger. I will rise and go to
my father, And I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven and before thee. And I am no more worthy to be
called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.
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. And the son said unto 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 the 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, which 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 them, thy brother
is come home, 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 nevest givest 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. Today we'll be focusing on verses
20 and 24, but I'd like to comment on the text preceding that. Look
at verse 11, it says, And a certain man had two sons, We see here
that the father had two sons. Now, something to keep in mind
is that even in the riotous living that the prodigal partook of,
which we will look at, which we will read in our text, yet
he was still a son of the father. He was still a son of the father. The prodigal, beloved, is a picture
of one who is dead in trespasses and sins. And yet a son of the
father by election. And yet a son of the father by
election. He is a picture of one who is a son in the purpose
of God. One who will be regenerated by
the Holy Spirit of God. Now, some may ask, where does
it say in scripture that one is a child of God before regeneration? Turn, if you would, to John chapter
11. John chapter 11. We'll read verses 49 to 52. John chapter 11 verses 49 to
52. And one of them named Caiaphas,
being the high priest, that same year said unto them, Ye know
nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he not of himself, but being high priest
that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation.
for that nation, not for that nation only, but also he should gather together in
one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Now, Brother
Henry Mahan makes a comment on this. He said, Caiaphas spake
from his own wicked heart, but the Spirit of God preached the
glorious gospel of substitution and redemption through him. He
occupied the office of high priest between God and the people. Though
himself a wicked man and without becoming aware of it, the villain
became a prophet to declare the substitutionary work of our Lord. And note, he said that he should
die for a nation. That's speaking, beloved, of
the people of God. That's speaking of the elect
of God. We're a chosen generation, the Israel of God, from every
tribe, kindred, tongue and nation. And think of this. If the Lord
Jesus Christ did not die for his people, then we would all
perish. We would all perish. We would
perish in our sins. He must be lifted up. He must
die upon Calvary's cross. He must die in the room and in
place of his people. And what does he do? He does
it willingly. He does it willingly. Christ, our substitute, endured
the wrath, punishment and guilt of our sins before the law and
justice of God. Yet he was perfect, sinless,
spotless. He made full and complete atonement
and satisfaction for the sins of all believers before God,
of all the elect of God, in order that God might be just and justifier. Therefore, in the gospel, we
see two things, substitution and satisfaction. Substitution
and satisfaction. Christ is the sinner's substitute,
and God is absolutely satisfied with his sacrifice in the place
of his people. And therefore, the people of
God are justified before God. The only reason you and I who
believe are justified before God is because Christ endured
the wrath and judgment of God in our place. It's incredible. It's incredible. And he did it
alone. Let's continue in our text, and
we see in this portion clearly the salvation of a lost sinner,
the salvation of one of God's elect, those who are chosen by
God the Father in Christ before the foundation of the world.
and adopted by God according to His will and purpose. Look
at verses 12 to 14. And the younger of them said
to his father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me,
and he divided unto him 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.
When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that
land. And he began to be in want. Now
notice he sets off to a far country. And what a picture of the state
that a sinner is alienated from God, far from his presence, far
from communion with him, far from fellowship with him. What
a picture of a lost sinner's estate. The prodigal son soon
finds himself in a bankrupt situation. He's absolutely bankrupt. He's
lost all that he had. He's consumed his inheritance
upon his loss. Upon his loss. And now a famine
has come. And he has nothing. What a picture
again of a bankrupt sinner before God. A bankrupt sinner before
God. In Adam, what happened? We fell.
We fell. We fell. dead in our trespasses
and sins, we live a riotous life. And this young man finds himself
in that position, a position of want and need, and yet he
still does not return to the father. He still does not return
to his father. And think upon this in our natural
state, in our natural state, from the hour of our birth, We
have never cherished a single feeling or exercised a single
thought or performed a single deed that is acceptable to God
as far as things of God are concerned. Therefore, we can conclude that
the natural man is spiritually barren, bankrupt before God. So nothing that we can do and
nothing we've done will merit us favor with God. no matter what the intentions
of it are. Before we're saved, nothing, nothing, nothing at
all. And we are, scripture says, unprofitable servants. My. And the natural man ignores
the claims of God and neglects the things of God and has squandered
his time, misused his talents and lived entirely for himself.
What a picture we have. before us of that very occurrence.
And I can say that was me. Can you say it was you? Can you
see yourself in the prodigal son before the Lord saved you? I see myself right there. And then we see the man trying
to fix the situation. And man always tries to fix the
situation they're in by their own strength. or by their own
doing. Sometimes they get religion. That's what happened to me too.
Get religion. And you become the biggest Pharisee around. But you always try to fix your
situation. Reform. Oh, I'm not going to do that
anymore. I'm reforming. I'm not going to do that anymore
at all. Now it's good to stop some things,
isn't it? It's a good thing. But we beg God to give us the
strength to do it, don't we? We do. Look at this. He tries to fix the situation.
And man always tries to fix the situation they're in in their
own strength. And look at verses 15 and 16. 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 husks that the swine did eat. And no man
gave unto him. The husks here, beloved, represent
false religion. And the swine here represent
professing Christians who ultimately apostatize, those who are spoken
of over in 2 Peter, where the scripture declares this. If you
want to turn there, you can, 2 Peter 2, verses 21 and 22,
the scriptures declare this. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness than after they
have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. But it happened unto them, according to the true proverb,
the dog is returned to his own vomit again, and the sow that
was washed to her wallowing in the mine. The husks of false
religion always are trying to get you to engage in what's so-called
Christian service, or work for the Lord. Now for the true born-again blood-bought
believer, no one has to encourage them to serve the Lord. We do
it willingly, don't we? We do it willingly. But there
are some who try to keep people so busy around the church. They
try to have unsaved men and women do something for the Lord all
the time. While they're dead in trespasses
and sins, they're thinking they're gaining merit and favor with
God, but they're gaining nothing. They're just heaping condemnation
upon themselves. They think they're gaining merit
for God by their doings, but they're not. Again, they're just
heaping condemnation upon themselves. Now, take note of what occurs
in verse 17. Look at this. And when he came
to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's
house have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger. And note in the note in the verse
before this, in verse 16, It says that no man gave unto him. He had no man to help him. No
man gave him any bread to eat. And think of this in light of
false religion, the bread of life is not there. They do not
teach Christ. They promote what man does. But
in the preaching of the free grace of God in Christ, what's
presented before you? The bread of life. the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the gospel preachers promote
what he's done, what Christ has done. The work's already finished. We just simply look to him by
faith, don't we? And then we walk in faith for
the rest of our lives upon this earth. And it's a battle, isn't
it? Because we battle against our
own sin. We battle against our own sin, but we desire to walk
a life pleasing to the Lord, don't we? We didn't before. But the believer in Christ desires
to walk a life pleasing to the Lord. And the husks of religion
will not feed the seeking sinner or the wandering sheep of God.
It won't feed them. And the need of an awakened sinner
lies deeper than any man can provide. No man can provide for
you what you truly need and what I truly need. And that is salvation
in Christ and Christ alone. And this is the lesson that the
sinner must be taught. He must learn to turn away from
man, learn to turn away from himself. And look unto Christ
and Christ alone, and that can only be taught to us by God.
And the only time we do turn away from ourselves and turn
away from man is when we're born again to the Holy Spirit of God. And there will be no relief for
the sinner until they're born again, until they turn to Christ. And the husks of religion will
not satisfy the seeking sinner, nor will it sustain the wandering
sheep of God. There's no sustenance in it.
There's no sustenance in the husks of religion. And notice
the proclamation. Notice the proclamation that
there's bread in the Father's house, and there's an abundance
of it. And when He came to Himself, He said, How many hired servants
of my Father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with
hunger? Well, none but Christ is the true bread. None but Christ
is the true bread of life. Only Christ can satisfy those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness because he's the bread of life
and the water of life. And he proclaims here that in
his father's house is an abundance of this bread. And he alone is the bread spoken
of here. He is the all-sufficient, Christ is the super bound in
supply, bread enough to spare. Bread enough to spare for the
believer. And note again, he came to himself, it says. And
when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger.
John Gill comments that an unregenerate man, a self-righteous man is
not himself. Natural man pursues the things
of the world, the pleasures of the world, and the things of
the world. All the time, they claim to be
free, and yet, they are slaves to sin. You ever heard people
say that to you? Well, I don't, I want, I'm not
gonna believe in Christ, because I'm not free to do what I want.
No, you're just enslaved to sin. You think you're free, but you're
not. The believer's truly free. We are the ones who are truly
free, beloved, and what liberty we have in Christ. Oh my. But the natural man claims to
be free, but all the time they're slaves to sin, and then they
glory in their sin. They glory and they promote their
sin. And the entire time that they're doing this, they're bound
up by their sin. And the self-righteous person
trusts in his own heart. They comfort themselves in their
own sin and take pride in their own self-righteousness. They
dress themselves in the filthy rags of their own self-righteousness.
And I was there. Every blood-blot believer could
say, we were there. We were there. When a man or
woman is born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we come to our
right mind, beloved. We come to our right mind. When
a man or woman is converted by the Spirit of God, when the Holy
Spirit of God does a work on a sinner's heart, we have a true
sense of our sin then, don't we? We really do. We see it for the first time,
what our sin is. And then repentance is wrought
in us, isn't it? Because we're given faith and repentance, beloved.
They're both a gift of God. And our faith has one object,
and that's Christ. And we repent before the Father,
don't we? We turn from our own self-righteousness. And we trust in the one who is
our righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ, we desire
then to be found in Christ, to lay hold upon him, to receive
him by faith when we're born again. And again, that faith
is a gift from God, just as repentance is to trust him, to rejoice in
him, to rejoice in the salvation that we found in him that's being
revealed to us, that's being given to us. So the prodigal
son coming to his right mind is a picture of a man or woman
who's been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And is brought
to the feet of Jesus. Thereby submitting to His righteousness. Submitting to His righteousness,
desiring to serve Him. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. This is why it's so vital for
us, for gospel preachers to get up and preach and proclaim Christ
and Christ alone. He's the only one who can save
a sinner. And what happens when a lost
sinner is regenerated, when they're born again? Well, they flee to
Christ, don't they? They flee to Christ. And through
Christ alone is access to the Father, right? Note in verses
18 and 19 here, I will rise and go to my Father. And we'll say
unto Him, look what's happened. And we'll say unto Him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven and before thee. And I am no more worthy to be
called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. It is not until the sinner has
been made to feel the mighty famine that exists in this world.
And this world is a far country. It is not until he has discovered
that no man can give unto him what he has the greatest need
for. It is not until he has come to himself, which means to be
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, that we begin to see ourselves. And we begin to see that in our
Father's house is bread enough and to spare. Only when the lost
sinner, the prodigal, who the prodigal pictures, only when
he sees his lost estate before the Father, only when he sees
that it's against the Father whom he has sinned, is that not
what happens to us when we're born again to the Holy Spirit
of God? Do we not see who we've sinned against? We do, don't
we? Oh, we do. And when the sinners
made will in the day of God's power, what does he do? He flees
to Christ. And he has access to the Father
through Christ and Christ alone. But note the prodigal here. Note
that the prodigal sees his unworthiness to even be called the son of
his father. Look at verse 19, and I'm no
more worthy to be called by son. The prodigal sees his unworthiness
to be called the son of his father. Oh, what a picture of how every
born-again blood-bought believer feels, isn't it? Do we not say to ourselves, just
as the prodigal says, do we not say to our God, I am no more
worthy to be called thy son? We see that. We see our utter
unworthiness, don't we, of the mercy and grace that we've received
in Christ. We see that. Even after we're saved, we see
our utter unworthiness of the mercy and grace of God, which
we have received from our Heavenly Father in and through Christ.
So what a picture we have here before us, beloved, of what real repentance is. The
prodigal acknowledges and is willing to take his place, take
the place of a lost sinner before God. before his father, which
pictures, we take our, do we not take our rightful place before
God after we're born again, saying we're just a sinner. We're not
worthy of this mercy and grace. And we keep saying that, don't
we? Because we know we're not worthy and deserving of this
at all. And this only comes about for
the believer as a result of the work of the grace of God, the
work of the Holy Spirit, which has been worked in our hearts. Note that the prodigal didn't
speak with others. From what we see, he didn't speak with
others. No, he arose and he took off. What does God say about his people? Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of his power. We don't need to talk to another
preacher, and we just flee right to Christ, don't we? That's why
we grace preachers say when someone's being dealt with by God, just
leave them alone. Just leave them alone. Let God
deal with them. Because God's the one who does
the saving, isn't he? He does the saving. And thy people shall
be made willing. And when they're made willing,
they arise and flee. Christ and flee to the Father,
don't we? So he, this prodigal, he arose. He arose. He was made willing. He arose. What a picture. Look at verse
20. And he arose and came to his
father, but when he was a great way off, his father saw him and
had compassion on him and fell on his neck and kissed him. Take note here of the prodigal
son. He's penitent. He's repented. He's repenting before the Father.
But He's readily received by the Father, isn't He? All's been forgiven. He's pardoned
freely. He's completely accepted by the
Father. And think of this. Our Father saw us in our lost
estate. He saw us in our sinfulness,
and yet He had compassion on us, didn't He? He had compassion
on us. His eyes are ever upon His people. Always remember that God accepts
us in Christ. We are the prodigal. We are the
prodigal. We are the one who has sinned
against Him. And God the Father accepts us and restores us and
forgives us all in and through Christ Jesus our Lord who has
redeemed us with the shedding of His precious blood. And note the Father had compassion
on Him. He didn't say, no, you're not
coming in here. Some fathers do that, don't they? He didn't say, well, you're gone,
you stay gone. I know a preacher, he was five
years old. And his parents sent him to walk
to the end of the driveway to be picked up by his grandma and
grandpa, didn't want him around anymore. Him and his little brother. Oh, but look at this. When He rose and came to His
Father, but when He was yet a great way off, His Father saw Him and
had compassion on Him and ran and fell on His neck and kissed
Him. Oh, the Father has compassion,
doesn't He? The sons come back. And how compassionate is our
wonderful Heavenly Father, the one who we've sinned against.
And yet, we obtain mercy and grace. from him in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, how his great love towards
us is manifested. He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, and he's quickened us together with Christ. A father oversees all who are
in Christ. All who are in Christ. And note
the father embraced him, he flung around him the welcoming arms
of love and he kissed him. Nothing is said of the son kissing
the father. It's the father who takes the
lead. He kissed him. He did not bid
him depart. He didn't say you're not welcome
here. He didn't chide him. for his
wanderings or his riotous living, did he? Now he kisses him and he puts
his arms around him. What marvelous grace we see here
before us. And how these actions reveal
the father's heart. The kiss speaks of love, beloved.
The kiss speaks of reconciliation. The kiss speaks of an intimate
relationship. Even though they were estranged
for a while. And the kiss speaks that all
is forgiven. Oh, what a picture. What a picture. Of how the Father receives us.
And he receives us only in Christ, but he receives us like this,
doesn't he? Those who flee to Christ. And look at verse 21, we see
the son is still penitent. He's still repentant before the
father. Look at this. And the son said
unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in my sight,
and am no more worthy to be called thy son. We see the prodigal is very conscious
of his sinful condition. And he does not hesitate to confess
it. One commensator said, the nearer
we are bought to approach the thrice holy God, the clearer
we shall perceive our sinfulness. That's what happens. Second, we see that the prodigal
son was thoroughly convinced of his unworthiness. Of his unworthiness. He did not delay in owning his
sin. Did he? He didn't make excuses. No. He said, Father, I've sinned
against heaven and in thy sight, and I'm no more worthy to be
called thy son. He owned it. Just like every blood bought
believer does, don't we? He had no delay in confessing
his sin, and only the grace of God, only the Holy Spirit can
reveal this to a sinner. giving us an understanding of
what our sin is, of who we've sinned against, and granting
us faith and repentance to cry out to God for mercy, and then
to rest in Christ alone for all our salvation. So we see how totally undeserving
we are of this great salvation, this great redemption that the
believer has in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. And it all comes
from the Father. Pure, unmerited, free and sovereign
grace which we have in Christ. Mercy which we have received.
Now look at verse 22 and note the Son asked for none of the
things which the Father is going to have put on Him. He doesn't
ask for them. And they have put on the Son
at the command of the Father. They are put on the Son at the
command of the Father. Look at this in verse 22. It's
the Father's will that the Son has these. Remember that. But
the Father said to His servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on Him and put a ring on His hands and
shoes on His feet. Here we find the title of today's
message. Note the words, the best robe. The best robe. And note, the
father tells the servants to put it on, or to bring it forth
and to put it on him. Bring forth the best robe. Not any robe. Not one of the
many robes that are in the closet. But bring forth the best one
that's been sitting there prepared and waiting. Bring it forth. The best robe. We've seen the prodigal's return.
We've seen the father's acceptance of his wayward son, his lost
son. And now this marvelous portion
comes to us telling us that the father commands that the best
robe be put on his son. And note it again, it's not any
robe, it's the best robe. The best robe. They're not to give him many
robes to wear, saying, well, you're going to need all these
robes here. No, they're to give him the best robe. Singular. Because it pictures
the sinner being clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ. Bring forth the best role. The father could not have the
prodigal at his table in filthy rags, could he? Beloved, our heavenly father
cannot have us in his presence in our filthy rags of self-righteousness. His holiness requires us to be
made holy, to be in his presence, because he is the holy and the
righteous one. We know grace reigns through righteousness,
but never at the expense of it. And how beautiful it is then
to behold the fetching grace of God in our lives. And now
the prodigal has his filthy rags taken off, and is clothed in
the best robe. The best robe. What a picture
of how the righteousness of God The righteousness of Christ allows
us to be in the presence of God the Father. And note the robe is provided
for him. It's provided for him. It's furnished
for him by the Father. It was there ready for him. And take note again of the quality
of the robe the Father has provided. Bring forth the best robe. The
best robe. What grace abounds here. A.W. Pink again brings forth that
the best robe was reserved for the prodigal. It was reserved for him. So let
this just sink in, beloved. Let this just sink in. What grace
abounds here before us. The sinner saved by the grace
of God in Christ is robed in a garment more glorious than
that which the angels are clothed in, because the redeemed of the
Lord are clothed in the perfect, imputed righteousness of Christ. This is why our text calls it
the best robe, because it pictures the righteousness of Christ.
The best robe. And it's God who clothes us in
that robe, isn't it? We who are believers. We don't seek it,
but he clothes us in it. Oh, one may ask, what is the
imputed righteousness of Christ? What is this wonderful robe?
Well, the imputed righteousness of Christ is that which he wrought
out in the place of his people by the perfect obedience of his
life in the substitutionary death of our great Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, on Calvary's cross in the place of His people. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
61. Isaiah 61, verse 10. And keep in mind the best row
as we read this verse here in Isaiah chapter 61. Oh my. Keep in mind the righteousness
of Christ imputed to the believer. You remember I had Brother John
read about the wedding garment? That's what the wedding garment
is. There was one who wasn't clothed in it. He was bound hand
and feet and cast into outer darkness. But all the ones who
were at the wedding, who were supposed to be there, they were
all clothed in that wedding garment, beloved. That's the righteousness
of Christ. Look at Isaiah 61, verse 10.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful
in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bride
groom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. Look at that. God hath clothed
us, clothed his people with the garments of salvation, with the
robe of righteousness. That which is called in our text
The best robe. Because it's the righteousness
of Christ. It's the righteousness of Christ. Again, for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered
me with the robes of righteousness. He does this. Salvation's of
the Lord. It's his doing. It's his doing. And that robe is put on us at
the command of the Father. It's wondrous. And we notice in our text that
the best robe was placed upon him. Placed upon him. Bring forth the blessed robe
and put it on him. We see here that everything was
done for him. Not only was the best robe provided for him, but
it was also placed on him. And we know it's only God who
places that robe upon us. It's only God who does that.
But it's provided for us. and it's put upon us by God. And think of how this reminds
us of in Genesis 3.21, unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord
make coats of skins and clothe them. Again, that pictures the
righteousness of Christ. The Lord God supplied the coats
of skins and he clothed our first parents. Turn, if you would, to Zechariah
3. We will see the same truth as proclaimed in Zechariah 3,
when the angel of the Lord stood before Joshua. Zechariah 3, verses
3 and 4. Zechariah 3, verses 3 and 4.
Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before
the angel. answered and spake unto those that stood before
him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him
he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee,
and I will clothe thee with the chains of Ramnah. There it is. There it is, beloved. Has he
not taken the filthy rags of our own self-righteousness for
each believer and clothed us in the perfect spotless righteousness
of Christ? Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And only God can do this. Only
God can do this. And in seeing this wonderful
truth, the believer can cry out with Paul saying, I have obtained
mercy. I don't deserve this. I've obtained mercy. What we've
looked at today, the prodigal is obtaining mercy and grace
in the eyes of his father. And that's what we have obtained
in the eyes of our Heavenly Father in and through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Note also in verse 22, the father
tells the servants to put a ring on the prodigal's hand and shoes
on his feet. 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. The ring was again, note again,
the ring was not supplied by the prodigal, but it was supplied
by the father and put on him at the father's command. The
prodigal again did nothing to deserve this. Nothing to deserve
this. Nothing deserved this grace and
mercy that's being poured out upon him. The ring is a seal of love. It's
a symbol of a wedded union. The returning sinner not only
is clothed in the best robe of Christ's imputed righteousness,
but also the seal of God's, which seal is the Holy Spirit himself. Scripture says in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 1 verses 21 and 22. Now he would establish us with
you in Christ and hath anointed us is God who has also sealed
us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1 verses 13 and 14. The Holy Spirit in us tells us
that we belong to Christ. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his, Romans 8 and 9. Look at this
in Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. In whom ye also trusted after
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise
of his glory. And then turn over three chapters to Ephesians 4,
30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 41. One more scripture we'll look at with a ring is
given as a mark of high honor and esteem. We see this in Genesis
chapter 41. Verses 39 to 44. Pharaoh said unto Joseph for
as much as God hath showed thee all this there is none so discreet
and wise as thou art Genesis 41 40 thou shalt be over my house
and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled and Only
in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And
Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's
hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold
chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Bow
the knee. And he made him ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in the land of Egypt. But note he, Pharaoh gave him
his ring. Marvel at this, beloved, at the
mercy and grace of God. Marvel at the grace and mercy
which was shown the prodigal by the father. The best robe
was also a sign of position in the family. The ring was a sign
of his restored family position and authority. And the sandals
was a sign of the son of the father, not a hired servant. And then they were commanded
to put shoes on his feet again, all provided by the father. And several commentators bring
forth that the sandals represent our feet being shot with the
preparation of the gospel of peace. These three items all
bring forth the mercies of redemption and the grace of the Father given
to poor sinners who come to Him in and through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Let's go back to our text and look at verses 23 to 24.
I have a few words on this and
then we'll close. Luke 15 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 alive again. He was lost and is found. And
they began to be merry. Look at this. And bring hither
the fatted calf. And let us eat and be merry. The fatted calf
here pictures Christ offered in sacrifice. The fatted calf
was offered for sin offerings, for peace offerings, for burnt
offerings, and was one of the sacrifices on the day of atonement. Beloved of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ offered Himself freely and voluntarily in the
room and place of His people on Calvary's cross. He offered
Himself up to God as a sacrifice for His people, to be a sweet-smelling savor,
a sacrifice which is well-pleasing to God, effectual, and one that
is never, never, never to be repeated again. It is finished. Finished. By His sacrifice, by
the sacrifice of Christ, He has satisfied God's law and justice
for His people. He has secured peace and reconciliation. If you're a believer in Christ,
by His sacrifice on Calvary's cross, He has secured peace and
reconciliation with God for you. by the shedding of his precious
blood. And he has made full atonement for you. This is wonderful news,
isn't it? It's no wonder they were married.
It's no wonder they were married. Oh, my. The believer in Christ
can say, full atonement has been made for all my sins. And not
just mine, but for all the elect of all the ages. When Christ
offered himself up, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, to die
in the room and place of his people before God. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. What a Redeemer. Christ is the best provision
that can be set before a believer. He's the only provision that
can bring great joy to the believer. Great joy to us. Note in the
last verse we see here the picture. of one who was dead in trespasses
and sins is being made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. The lost sheep is found, and there is great rejoicing."
Great rejoicing. It should make us merry. Shouldn't
it make us merry when we ponder what Christ has done for us?
Shouldn't it make us merry? It should, eh? It should fill
our hearts with joy. Oh my, to know that Christ has
redeemed me. To know that Christ has saved
me. Praise God, because I couldn't save myself. Oh my, and look
at this, for my son was dead. That was our state when we came
into this world. Dead, dead. Graveyard dead. And he is alive again, born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, and is found. We were lost
sheep, wandering off. And now we're found by the great
shepherd and bishop of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. and they
began to be married. It fills the believer's heart
with joy. Joy. Joy unspeakable. Joy unspeakable. So may the wonderful truth that
we've looked at today be a blessing to God's people this week, and
may we marvel at how God has done the same for us, and even
more abundantly for us, for His people, in Christ Jesus. He's put the best robe on us,
hasn't He? He's given, the Holy Spirit's in us, we've been given
the ring, we're sealed. Oh my, and our feet are shod
with the preparation of the gospel. We're redeemed, beloved, we're
forgiven. Oh my, oh my. What does the believer say? Well,
to God be the glory, to God be the glory. Great things he hath
done. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for this wonderful text. Thank Thee for the best robe
that we see in our text, knowing that That we're like that prodigal,
we just come before Thee in our filthy rags. O Lord, and when
we're born again of the Holy Spirit of God and we are clothed
in Thy perfect and sinless, spotless righteousness of Christ, it's
marvelous. O Lord, we pray that it be one,
here, one of Your lost sheeps, one of the prodigal sons, O Lord,
that You would draw them to Thee, O Lord, that You would draw them
to Thee. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.