Alright, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Luke 15 again. Luke 15, we've considered the
lost sheep, the lost coin, and now in this final part of this
parable I'd like for us to consider the lost son. Now I want you
to remember to whom the Lord is speaking. He's speaking to
a mixed group mixed group made up, number one, of Pharisees
and scribes that are murmuring against him because of his having
association with publicans and sinners. And then the other part
are the publicans and sinners. So he's talking to two groups
of people, publicans and sinners, Pharisees and scribes. And he begins now this third
part of this one parable in verse 11, and he said, a certain man
had two sons. Now, here again, the consistency
of the Lord maintains its bearing here in this part. Both sons
belong to this man. Both of them are His. The man
is a picture and a type of God the Father. The first part, the
Lord Jesus Christ. The second part, the means of
the Holy Spirit calling out God's elect. And here we're looking
at the Father who receives His people, His elect. Now again,
two boys, two sons, both belong to the Lord. Both belong to this
Father. And one of the boys is going
to be shown to be a vessel of God's mercy. The other one is
going to be shown to be a vessel of God's wrath. Both boys are
the fathers. One of them's in mercy, one of
them is in wrath, spiritually speaking. One is going to be
shown to be the wheat of the Lord's pasture and field. The
other's going to be a tare, fit only to be bound and cast out
into everlasting fire. Now remember, the Lord's talking
to two different groups of people, Pharisees and scribes, and he's
got a message for them. in these parables. He's talking
to them. He's teaching them something. The other group is publicans
and sinners. He's talking to them too. He's got a message
for them. So here's as the parable goes. The scripture says in verses
12 and 13, the younger of them said to his father, Father, give
me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided
unto them his living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together, took his journey into a far country,
and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Now here's
this younger boy. Now here, this boy right here,
is the object of God's mercy. This is a picture of God's elect. And here's what he is. He's setting
forth what God's people are as being born in Adam. In Adam's rebellion. What is
it? Well, he's presumptuous now.
Believing Satan's lie that he's capable of handling his life
on his own. And he's arrogant in his demand. You know, Satan promised him
that, you know, you're going to be his god, you're not going
to die. So now he's arrogant. Comes up
to his dad and says, give me what's coming to me. Here he
is, independent-minded, hating God's rule over him, thinking
that he's his own man, he's his own guide, he can handle this
himself. Distrustful of the Lord's promise. What did God promise? In the
day you eat, you're going to die. What did Adam do? He didn't trust God, didn't believe
God. He ate, didn't realize the implication. Spiritual death? He ate. He ate. And one that
despised fellowship. This boy says, give me what's
coming to me. I want that. Well, the Father,
in this parable, gave that boy exactly what he wanted. Or what he thought he wanted. He wanted independence. He wanted
to be free from his father. Give me what's coming to me.
And the scripture says, and not many days after he gathered all
together, he took his journey and wasted his substance with
riotous living, with reckless, loose, unrestrained living. That's what he did. Man in Adam's
fall wasted everything that he had. What did he lose? Well,
he lost life. He lost his life. Lost spiritually
his life. Lost his joy. He didn't want to have anything
to do with God. He hid himself. Lost his security. Lost his peace. Lost his comfort. For what? For an air castle. An air castle. You'll have everything, Satan
told him. He was duped by Satan's lie. He took all of it. He had come
and told me. And he left. And before you know
it, it's gone. Well, verse 14, when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to
be in want. He began to be in need. He spent. all that he had. And here's what
man has done. In one act of disobedience. In Adam's disobedience. And all
of us did the same thing. Now, I've said before, we were
all in Adam's loins. And every one of us in Adam. And all you have to do to see
that we did it in Adam is just wait till we're born. And we'll do the same thing.
We'll do exactly the same thing. Stripped of everything and no
ability in ourselves to regain what we threw away. Our life,
our hope, it's all gone. And now this younger son, beloved
of the Father. Remember, I'm going to show you
this is an object of God's mercy. And the Lord said concerning
His people, He said, I've always loved you. I've loved you with
an everlasting love. This is a Jacob, right here. A supplanter, a trickster. A
liar. A thief. You say, well that was
Jacob. Yeah, that's Jacob. That's all
of us by nature. That's what we are. We're Jacobs.
But Jacob have I loved. I've loved him. And here's this
younger boy. He's in a state of famine, he's
in a state of need, a state of want, and he's not able to even
know the depth of his need. Before the Lord calls his people
out of darkness, what do they know about their need before
God? They don't know. And you don't
care. Before the Lord called you out
of darkness, did you really care? He didn't care. Didn't really,
to be honest with you, didn't even think about it. Made absolutely
no difference to me whatsoever. Spiritually dead, but thinking
ourselves alive and capable. Well, again, here's an example
of God's chosen. Dead in trespasses and sins without
hope, without God in this world, alienated from God, No peace. And the scripture says, here's
what's happened. Verse 15, he's in want. He's
in want. I'm going to tell you what this
boy is. He realizes now, I've spent everything
that I got, and I'm in need, but there's still a conscience.
There's still a conscience in every one of us. And his conscience
begins to bother him. He knows he's in want. I mean,
you know, you can be dead in trespasses and sins and you know
whether or not you're hurting. You know whether or not you're
broke. You know that. This kid's broke. Well, what
does a man or a woman steal unregenerate, an object of God's mercy, before
the Lord calls them out? What are we going to do Spiritually. Well, spiritually before God,
nothing until the Lord calls us out. We're still dead in trespasses
and sins. But let me tell you what we'll
all do. And you, just like I am, you did the same thing. You'll
do the same thing until the Lord calls you out of darkness. Here's
what you're going to do. You're going to straighten up
and fly right. You know? This boy was in want. You know,
let me tell you something. You let one, an object of God's
mercy, just like anybody else, you let them get sick. You let
something happen and all your money is gone. I'm broke. You
know what we're going to do? Now we're going to get back to
church. I'm going to get back to church. We're going to turn
over a new leaf and I'm going to get right with God. That's
what I'm going to do. I'm going to start going to church.
Where are you going to go to church? Well, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter, I'm just going to go. Well, this is what this
kid did. He went, verse 15, and joined
himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into
his fields to feed swine. See, before, this guy was self-sufficient. I got plenty of money. I got
everything my dad gave me, but all of a sudden here, I've checked
my bank account. And you know what? I don't have
any money. And I'm hungry. spiritually dead,
but spiritually. That's what a man, a woman will
do. They go and they join themselves
to a citizen of, listen to this, that country. That country. Going into that country and going
into that citizen's field to feed swine. He goes to work. Just like that son did, ruined
sinners, unawakened by grace, will join themselves to those
of the world rather than return to God Almighty. Why? Because
they're dead. They're a coin. They're just
a coin. They're just a dumb sheep. ignorant
of that which is right. We will always go the wrong way. He joined himself to that which
was of the world, spiritually speaking. You know where you're
going to find, by and large, you're going to find God's people
called out of spiritual, religious darkness. That's where I was,
I guarantee you that's where you were until the Lord found
you. Revealed himself to you. Joined
himself to that citizen of that country. Satan has got his ministers everywhere. And what will happen, I told
you about my buddy Darwin Pruitt. Darwin's been here to preach
before. Years ago, Darwin and I have known each other for 40
years. And I remember years and years
and years ago, him telling me what I've told you before about
his nephew. Nephew asked him, he said, Uncle
Darwin, how do I know that what you're saying is the truth? How
do I know that? And he said, but for the grace
of God, you won't. But for the grace of God, you
won't. But what you'll do is, you'll join yourself to somebody,
religiously speaking. And you'll listen to what they'll
say, and it'll make some sense to you. It seems to make sense. But for the grace of God, you'll
stay right there and die. This is what this kid did. He
joined himself to a citizen of that country. doing just exactly
what citizens of that country tell men they've got to do. He
went out into his field to feed swine, to feed that which was
impure, outcast, trying to ease his misery, doing all he can.
He found himself Spiritually speaking now, sitting under a
false message, feeding swine, giving out swine food. And the scripture declares in
verse 16, he would fain have filled his belly or his heart
with the husk that the swine did eat and no man gave unto
him. He found himself eating. what the swine were eating, swine
food. There was no satisfaction in
it spiritually, but he didn't know it, he loved it. I'm telling you, when I tell
you that until the Lord calls you out of darkness, you will
sit there and listen to swine food. And you will believe that
that is right. You don't know. You don't know. We're ignorant. We're dead. We're dead spiritually. And we're eating that. And I'd
listen to men tell me that the Lord wants to, if you'll let
Him. And I believed it. I was convinced
of that. It sounded right. I couldn't
prove it by scriptures, but what difference does it make? That's
what the preacher was saying. It contradicted what God had
to say, but so what? You know scripture contradicts
itself anyway, anyway. No! He would fain have filled his
belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and there was
no person in that place to tell him any different. There was
no man gave unto him. Nobody told him what was going
on. But listen to this in verse 17. And when he came to himself,
he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bred enough
and to spare and I perish with hunger. Now, here is the amazing
point of God's regenerating grace and repentance. I'll tell you
this, until someone hears the gospel, this will never happen,
but here's what happens when the gospel is proclaimed. Here's
the truth of repentance. Here's the thinking differently.
Not according to himself. Almighty God did something for
him that this kid could not do for himself. He began to think
differently. He came to himself and every
regenerated sinner, beloved by the Lord, In the process of time,
this will happen. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. How are they gonna come? Almighty
God says, I'm gonna give you a new heart, and I'm gonna give
you a new spirit, and I'm gonna reveal to you what you are and
who I am. And thy people, thy people, thy
people, shall be willing in the day of His power." How does anybody
know that Almighty God has done something for them? How does
anybody know that a person, a sinner, A rebel against God has seen
something of his condition and separation from his Father. How
does anybody know that God has shown compassion to me? How do you know when somebody
begins to think, truly think differently? Verse 18, I will
arise and go to my Father. I will say unto him, Father,
I've sinned against heaven and before thee. I am no more worthy
to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose. and he left where
he was. How do you know when God Almighty
does something for somebody, they recognize that they are
in themselves, I'm a sinner. That's all I've ever done. I
disrespected my Father. That's what a regenerated sinner
says, I've disrespected God. I have wrought that which was
evil, and I am not deserving, I am not worthy. Which regenerate
in this building this morning would say, I'm worthy. I'm worthy
to be called a son of God. I'm worthy in myself. You'll
never say that. If there's any worthiness in
me, It's the worthiness of Christ's righteousness imputed to me.
It's the worthiness of His blood that has washed me from my sins
and has separated me from that desire to want to rebel against
God. The presence of sins with me. I know that in me, that is my
flesh and to us no good thing. I know that. But how to perform
that which I would? What does he do? He said, I'm
leaving. I ain't staying here no more. I'm not going to feed
these swine anymore, and I'm not going to eat this stuff anymore.
I'm leaving. I'm going to go back to my dad,
and I'm going to be honest with him. I've sinned against God. I've done it against you, and
I've sinned against heaven. I've done it in your sight, and
I'm just not worthy. Verse 20, he rose and he came
to his father. Oh, but when he was yet a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion, ran, fell on
his neck and kissed him. Here's the evidence, the evidence
of God's work of grace in the day of that power. That there's
a son willing to admit, I've been wrong. I've been wrong. I can't stay here. I got to go
home. If I can be a doorkeeper in the
house of the Lord. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. Make me a servant. And now that regenerated object
of God's mercy, now here's the only thing he's going to hear.
He's not going to listen to swine food anymore. You tell me one
more time how God has mercy on sinners. Tell me one more time
how God could put away my guilt and not look to me to do it.
Tell me how God saves sinners totally by grace. That's all
I want to hear. Because if you tell me, if you
give me something to do, if you give me something that I have
to be faithful to, I can tell you this, I ain't gonna do it.
I don't have the ability, I don't have, just tell me how God saves
His people sovereignly without any part on them. Tell me that. I've sinned against
heaven. I've done it before you. Not
worthy. Oh, but while he was a great
way off. Let me ask you this. How far did the father see his
beloved children in Christ? How far did he see them? I can
tell you how far. He saw them before the foundation
of the world. How far is that? That's a long
way. A long way. He saw Him in His everlasting
love. How long is that love? It's everlasting. That's a long way off. Everlasting
love. He saw us in that covenant of
grace. It's what David said. This is
all my hope. This is all my salvation. You
made with me a covenant in Christ. That's all I got. That's all
I got. This is all I got right here. I will have mercy. I will have
compassion. This is all I got. You mean to
tell me that you're going to rest your eternal soul on just
God's word? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Surely there's
something that you think you should do. No, sir. I've got
just enough sense to know if the Lord's given me a heart to
come to myself, and to think differently. I love the message
of grace. Sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. How far did He see us? He saw
us in the fall. He saw us in our personal rebellion. He saw us when Christ died. Paul said, I was crucified with
Him. He saw us in being buried with Him and rose with Him and
ascended with Him. The Father saw Him a long way
off. And here's what the Scripture
says concerning the father's attitude. Here's this boy, he's
rehearsing this over and over and over. I'm going to say it
like this. It's the way I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it
just like this. And the Scripture says the father had compassion
on him. And ran. And ran. And fell on his neck. That neck that was stiff and
hard and rebellious. Give me what I want. I want right
now, I'm out of here. I'm leaving. I ain't never coming
back here. And there he comes back broken.
And he kissed him, that neck now that is soft to his kisses. And the boy begins to talk and
he said in verse 21, he said, Father, I've sinned against heaven
and in thy sight. No more worthy to be called thy
son. Let me ask you this, which father,
which mother in this congregation have one of your kids? You know,
which one of them would be found to be rebellious? I'm going to
tell you something. I've told you just, I've mentioned this
before. I ain't going into any details. I can tell you right
now. But I can tell you this. I know something about being
rebellious to your parents. I know something about having
an attitude. I'm out of here. I know something
about being broken and seeing my need And something about having
to go home and just say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But to see
something of compassion, where my mom and my dad didn't start
immediately and said, I told you. I tell you what, you didn't
get half of what you deserve. I know that. I know that. I know
that. But to see compassion. This boy
deserved to be kicked out again. He done took what his dad gave
him, he wasted it. Any of y'all ever done that?
Is there any sinners in here? Has anybody ever shown you compassion
and mercy? And say, I didn't deserve any
of that. He started talking, and boy,
while he started talking, The father in verse 22 said to his
servants, he said, you bring forth the best robe. He put it
on him. He put a ring on his hand, shoes
on his feet, bring hither the fatty calf, kill it, let's see,
and be merry. While this boy is talking, the
father says, I want you to bring the ring, bring the robe. You
know what, this is what God's preachers are told to do. We
don't have any ability to bring and place the robe of righteousness,
but I can tell you what I can do. I can tell you about Him
who does. I don't have the ability to place
that ring on the regenerate sinner's finger, that symbol of being
found in the family of God, in the household of faith, that
emblem of the marriage between Christ and his brother. I don't
have the ability to do it, but I can tell you who does. That's
what I'm doing. Those that have been broken,
made willing in the day of God's power, you put the best shoes,
put shoes on this boy's feet. I don't have the ability to do
that, but I can tell you who does cover your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace that you walk now as a
son. As a son. One beloved of God
that adorns the gospel of peace walking before God as a believer.
I can tell you who does. That's what I'm doing. as a servant,
that's what he told me. He said, you do this, that's
what we do. And then the scripture says, you bring forth that fatty
calf and kill it, let's eat and be married. This, my son was
dead, he's alive, he's lost, he's found. They began to be
married. Tell me of him who has borne
the guilt of me. I know something of what I am.
I know I'm a rebel against God, but tell me who loved me and
gave himself for me. Tell me again of him whose blood
was shed, and the father said, when I see the blood, not when
I see Marvin or his so-called repentance or his so-called acts
of kindness or something, there ain't nothing to look at in that
concerning God's satisfaction, but when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. When I see
the blood shed on His behalf, I'll pass over. You tell me again
about that fatty calf that was killed, and let me eat of that
spiritually again. Let me eat of that flesh by faith. That flesh that was broken for
me, that body, that blood that was shed. This is my boy. This boy was dead, trespassed
and sinned, lost. Now he's alive and regenerating
grace. He's found, gone, back. Let's be merry. Well, that'd
be a wonderful place to stop. And boy, I'm telling you, those
Republicans and sinners, They heard that parable and oh, what
rejoicing. You mean to tell me that God
has mercy on souls such as us? Yeah. Christ Jesus came to the
world to save sinners. Sinners. Paul said of whom I'm
chief. Oh, but in closing, the scripture
continues. It said there was one other boy
out there. The Lord was talking to two different
kinds of people. Republicans and sinners, Pharisees
and scribes. Those Pharisees that looked at
the Lord having anything to do with these sinners. Now his elder son was in the
field. He came, he drew nigh to the house, he heard the music
and dancing. He called one of the servants
and asked him what these things meant. He said unto him, by brother
is kind. Our father had killed the fatty
calf because he hath received him safe and sound. Told him of mercy. Your dad had mercy and compassion. Received your brother back to
him. Verse 28 said, and he was angry.
Wouldn't go in. Therefore came his father out.
entreated him. There was a type, a picture of
those who are sons in profession only. Sons in nature only, but
not in adoption, not in grace. Here was a picture of the Pharisees
and the scribes. They heard the rejoicing, they
heard the music, they hear the truth. They hear the truth of
God's sovereign grace. What does all that mean? Oh,
but when they heard the message of forgiveness, God that has
mercy and compassion, slain Savior for sinners, That which magnified
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption of God's elect. The gospel of life in Christ. When he heard about mercy and
forgiveness, was his brother guilty? Yes, he is guilty. He's
guilty. But when he heard that there
was forgiveness and kindness and mercy, What did he do? He just bowed up, got mad and
angry. And the Scripture says he was
mad and he wouldn't go in. I ain't going to have nothing
to do with you. I ain't going in there. And the Father comes
out and He says in verse 29, Lord these many years. That's
what the boy says. He says, for these many years
do I serve Thee. Boy, I'm telling you, the first
thing you're going to notice about a Pharisee, he's going to talk
about how faithful he is. I'm so faithful. Lo, these many
years do I serve thee. I preached in your name. I cast
out devils in your name. Keeps a good record. It keeps
records. Ask them how many years. Ask
them how many years they've been faithful. They'll tell you. They'll
tell you. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment.
You've never, you've never caught me one time. You've never caught me one time
ever being a transgressor. Not one time, not one time. And yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make merry with my friends. You've never
really given me what I deserve. I've been so faithful, and you've
never looked at me like you looked at him. But as soon as this thy
son, not my brother, your son come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots." You know, I wonder where he found that
out. Never mentioned that nobody ever told him, but all of a sudden,
you know, we're going to start naming sins. I've never done
this, but he did. Devoured by living with harlots
and has killed for him the fatty calf. All these years, I've worked
so hard. I'm not like other men are. I
deserve everything. Because of my faithfulness, I
don't get anything that I deserve. You never gave a sacrifice for
me. How true. How true. But as soon as your
son, that sinner, devoured your living with harlots. Worldliness. You showed mercy
to Him. You showed compassion to Him. And the Father said in verse
31, Son, thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine. Now let me tell you exactly what
He said. That verse right there was a scathing rebuke to that
boy. He's talking to Pharisees and
scribes. He's talking to these self-righteous
Pharisees that hates the message of mercy. That hates mercy. They
want it to be works. Everything's going to be down
to works. That's what it is. He hates mercy. He hates his
father has shown compassion. to a sinner. And that father
told him, he said, everything that I have for you is yours. You remember when Jacob and Esau
was going to be blessed by their father Isaac? And Jacob came
in and he was dressed, he had skins on his arms and he had
his brother's coat on And Isaac asked him, he said, because Isaac
loved Esau. But God was going to give the
birthright. You know what that meant? That through his loins
was going to come the Savior. Esau didn't want it. He said,
give me something to eat. Jacob said, give me your birthright.
He said, okay, I don't care. What difference does it make?
I'm going to die. Jacob was going to get it. Esau gave it away
to him. God purposed that. And when Isaac
came in and Jacob, here was Jacob. Jacob was dressed up like Esau. And he came in, and Isaac said,
Esau? He said, Jacob said, yes, sir.
He said, are you truly Esau? He said, yes, I am. You know
what he was doing? He was a liar. He was a liar.
He was a trickster, a supplanter. But there is a picture of what
Christ was made for us. And you know who got the blessing?
Jacob. Jacob got the blessing. And later, Esau came in. And
he said, Dad, I'm back. I've got the venison, got the
stew. And he said, who are you? He
said, I'm Esau. He said, well, who just came
in here? He said, Jacob, he tricked me again. Don't you have a blessing
for me? And he said, yes, I do. Go back
and read the blessing. You know what Esau got? Jacob
got all the spiritual blessing, and Esau got all the blessing
of this world. He said, you're going to prosper
in this world. You're going to do great. Everything your hand touches
is going to prosper in this world. That's what you're going to get.
That's what he wanted. He didn't want the birthright.
And this boy right here, his dad tells him, his son Doward
ever with me, he's telling these Pharisees and these scribes,
he said, you're ever in the presence of the preaching of the law?
The hearing of the scriptures? You've seen the pictures of the
sacrifices and all that can make one wise? You're ever in my presence? And all that I have for you? The blessing of this world. That's
what he wanted. Here's what this boy wanted.
I want to be rewarded on my works. I want to be given credit for
everything that I've done because of my faithfulness. I want to
be standing before you and judged totally on what I'm able to do. And this father says, all that
I have for you is yours. That's what you're going to get.
That's what you're going to get. Then he tells him in verse 32,
it was meet, it was fit that we should be to make merry and
be glad for this thy brother was dead and is alive again and
was lost and is found. All that I have that you desire,
oh that God would give us a heart to think differently. and not
desire that we stand before our Father, our Heavenly Father,
based on and claiming our faithfulness. Because we have none. One boy
came to his dad and he said this, Dad, I've sinned against you. Have mercy on me. I deserve anything
you give me. But I'm asking you to have compassion. And he got it. The other one
came and demanded that his father recognize him for his worth,
his self-worth. And he was going to have just
exactly what he wanted. That's what every man, apart
from Christ, will have. A lost sheep, a lost coin, and
a lost son. All that which was lost was found,
brought back. May the Lord bless His word to
our understanding for Christ's sake. Amen.