we've seen in our recent studies
that this story of the prodigal son is
part of a three-part parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin and now the prodigal son and
we see in verse 24 The way that our Lord describes this whole thing in verse 24,
the whole story of the prodigal, here's what happened. For this
my son was dead and he's alive again. That's the coin. The coin was dead until the light
shone upon it. and he was lost and is found. You might say, well, why would
the father say he was lost and I found him? That doesn't sound
like what happened, that is what happened. Because what happened
to this prodigal son is the same thing that happened to the coin.
It's the same thing that happened to the sheep. God saved him. God saved him. And we see here
our experience of what God does for us and in us from our perspective. He said, a certain man had two
sons. And the younger of them said
to his father, and think about the intent here and the heart
from which this comes. He said to his father, Father,
give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided
unto them his living. Now normally a son would not
receive an inheritance until the father's dead. So that tells
us something about the heart of this young man. To him, his
father was dead. He wanted him dead. He couldn't
wait for that to happen. Though he didn't use those words,
he wished his father was dead so he could just get on with
his life. And that's evident in everything he said and everything
he did. Because not only did he say, I want what's coming
to me, what I would get when you die. And then he went and
moved to a far country. He got as far away from his father
as he could. He said, I'm going to get on
with my life. He left and didn't look back.
Now think about this too. This boy didn't lack anything.
Can you imagine he lacked anything while he lived with his father? We see later in the story when
the boy comes to himself, he knows. He said, even if I was
one of my father's hired servants, not even one of the live-in servants,
but just somebody that's hired for a little while, he's good
to them. He makes sure they have everything
they need and provides for them. He knew that. And so you think
he lacked anything while he lived with his father? No. He didn't
leave because he needed anything. You know why he left? He didn't
want to be under the authority of his father anymore. He wanted
what he had, he wanted to spend it his way and do what he wanted
to do. That's exactly us by nature. He wanted to do as he pleased
instead of being under the authority. Isn't that what the Lord says
about us? We've all gone our own way. We're not seeking God
in his way, we've gone our own way. That's what he did. This
is exactly how we feel about God by nature. Have you ever
thought about this? Why would we kill God? Why would
we do that? He came down here and healed
people and spoke words of mercy and kindness and free grace.
He went about everywhere doing nothing but good. You ever just
think about that? Why did we feel the need to eliminate
God's Son? Well, we just said it, didn't
we? It's about His authority. It's about who He is. It's about
His Lordship. It's about the fact that He's
God. He's God. We want God to bless us and prosper
us. We want what we think we have
coming from God. Father, I want what I have coming.
We think we have things coming from God that God owes us all
this stuff. Oh boy, how wrong we are. We want what we take for granted. You know, we think God owes us.
We want to live well. We want to have our physical
needs met. And more than that, we want our wants to be met.
He had all of his needs met and most of his wants, I imagine.
Sounds a little bit like Adam and Eve, doesn't it? What did
they lack? Did they need to eat that tree?
Why do you think they did that? You shall be as God's. It's about
who's on the throne. It's not about, oh boy, I can't
live without that. We want to be God. We still do,
by nature. Why would we kill the one that
gives us everything we have? And make no mistake, we knew
who we were killing. Well, first of all, with regard
to the things that we want, our inheritance, what we feel God
owes us, that we can, and we feel like, you know, if God will
just give us a fair shake, that we can prosper, we don't need
Him, we just need a fair shake from Him, you know, we'll go
our own way and we'll make good on what we have, we'll be our
own man, you know, we'll be a self-made man, but we need a fair shake
from God first, you know. We want what's coming to us and
we'll do fine on our own. We don't realize that what's
coming to us is hell. That's what we deserve. We actually
think that God owes us something besides hell. We need to get
over that. And the way you get over that is God reveals it to
you. And also, what He does give every
man And look at what He gives every
man. He opened up His hand and satisfied
the desire of every living thing. What He does give man, everything
we have comes from Him, doesn't it? What did you get that you
didn't receive from God? And what do you do with it? Notice first of all in verse
13 there again that he went into a far country. He got just as
far away from his father as he possibly could. And that in part
answers the question, what do we do with what God gives us?
I'll tell you this, it's not honor him with it. It is not
that. We get as far away from him as
we can. We don't thank him for it. There's no thank you, there's
no gratitude. And if you do not use everything
that you have, whether gifts or money or any other resource
that you have, anything you have, if you don't use it to honor
God, the God that made you, then you've wasted it. That's what it's good for. So what do we do by nature? We
take what God gives and we use it to run as far away from him
as we can. And by the way, the farthest
way that I know of to run from God, the farthest country that
I can think of where a man could be as far away from God as he
possibly could, is what's usually called a church by this world. There ain't nowhere farther than
that. A godless, Christless, false gospel, anti-Christ church. Verse 13, it says, 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. Now, riotous living. This man's
brother, and we'll talk about Lord Willen next time, about
the brother, the son who stayed. But here's the way he described
what his brother did. In verse 30, As soon as this
thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. He's complaining
to the father, why would you throw a party for him? He took
your inheritance, he took what you earned, and squandered it
on harlots. devoured thy living with harlots."
How does God describe false religion, idolatrous, free will, man-centered
religion? He told the Israelites, you've
gone a-whoring after other gods. That's what it is. The word riotous is interesting
and instructive. If you look up the root word
there for the Greek word for riotous, it's the character of
an abandoned man. One that cannot be saved. If you're abandoned by God, and
by nature now, we're the children of wrath even as others. We may
not be eternally abandoned by God, but before you know Him,
that's where you're at. You're as far from Him as you
can get, and you have none of His blessing or favor or light.
And that's where this son is. If God abandons us, if he leaves
us to ourselves, we will worship every idol that we feel it's
in our interest to worship, that benefits us to worship. But one
thing we will never do if abandoned, if left to ourselves, is live
under the authority of the God who made us. We will not have
this man to reign over us. We will not. And clearly we're self-destructive
in that. The only safe, prosperous, fulfilling,
right place to be is at the foot of the throne of God's Son. Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry. We should be at his feet saying,
Lord, what would you have me do? That's the place of blessing
and prospering and favor and happiness and joy and peace with
God. Every good thing. And that's
the last place we'll ever be if left to ourselves. This son wants to be a servant
later. He wants to be. He wants to be a servant. But
not now. Not now, not while he's left
to himself. He wants to do as he pleases,
when he pleases, with everything that he has. And it's all utterly
self-destructive. And that's self-destructive.
We see what happened to him in the story in a physical sense,
but that's a spiritual lesson there. The only place of safety and
blessing, you know where God's love is? Religion likes to say
God loves everybody. God's love is in Christ. And
Christ just happens to be God's authority. He's made Him Lord
over heaven and earth. That He might give eternal life
to as many as He's given Him. He's the Lord. And we come to
His feet and bow to Him as such. Or we destroy ourselves. We forsake
our own mercy. But that's the problem. By nature,
there's none that seeketh after God. We've gone every one our
own way, and the result every time is poverty and ruin. You might hear this and say,
well, you know, Chris, I've done pretty good for myself. You know,
I don't believe what you believe. I don't believe the God that
you preach. I don't believe the gospel you preach, but I'm not
any beggar. I'm not in any hog pen. I've done pretty good. I
make good money. I've got a nice house, a nice
car, nice things. I don't believe what you say,
and I'm not poor. You don't know a hogpen from
a palace. You don't know the slop of the
mire in which you grovel. You don't know a beggar from
a prince. That's what the Lord said in Revelation 3.17, because
you say I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,
and you don't know that you're wretched. and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. You don't know. Until he turns
the light on, until the light shines on the coin, until the
shepherd goes after that sheep and gets it and brings it home.
Now I know. You look at yourself and your
nice clothes and you don't see them for the filthy rags that
they are. And my prayer is that God will come right to your hog
pen and take you up in his arms as he did the sheep in the first
part of the parable. And shine his divine light on
you as he did the coin in the second part of this parable.
And give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of his
son. That's what you need. And then
when he does that, you're going to come to yourself and say,
what am I doing? Where am I? Adam, where are you? That he would bring forth the
best rose the very righteousness of God in Christ, the Lord our
righteousness himself, and put him on you. Of God are you in
Christ Jesus. I'm in a pretty nice suit this
morning. And of God, I'm in Christ this
morning, who has made unto me wisdom. Wisdom. This boy needed that,
didn't he? He was an idiot. He needed some
wisdom. Righteousness. He needed something
to put on. That's why the Father put it
on him. Sanctification. All the filth and filthy rags
of my own, what I call righteousness and my works before God. And
put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and wash our robes in the precious
blood. and redemption. We're redeemed by His grace,
by that blood. Everything that you spend on
yourself without a thought for God is wasted. And I'm talking
about physically and spiritually. Everything you spend on yourself
without a thought for the glory of God and without any gratitude
to Him for it is wasted. And that's spiritual things,
and that's earthly things. We've consumed it upon our own
lusts. I'm not just talking about money. Every thought that we
have of any goodness in ourselves is a wasted thought. Every ounce
of energy that we spend pursuing a godless life, even if it's
a life of religious zeal, going about to establish our own righteousness
before God, it's a wasted effort. It's futile. The more you do
for God, the more you sin. and the more you need Christ. Can I just state it plainly and
think about this prodigal and where he came to? You are a failure
and I am too. A failure. You had every advantage. The father gave you an inheritance. You had every advantage. Growing
up in a household where you were loved and appreciated and taught And you're a failure in everything
you've done. And the sooner you know it, the
better. And me too. Now look at verse 14. 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 husks that the swine did eat and no man
gave unto him." Boy, there's a lot in that passage there. But let me say this, oh, blessed,
wonderful famine. What grace that God would take
away everything from us that we think we need so that we could
see what we truly need, that one thing is needful. Everything that God Uses to bring
your sorry wretched self home is a great blessing It's not
bad luck it's gracious providence God brings the storm and then
he calms it and Why would he do that? Why would God bring
a storm? Why would the Lord Jesus Christ, the one without whom
anything was made that was made, and who commands everything in
this world, he sits on the throne of this universe and everything,
you can't roll a pair of dice without him deciding what comes
up. Why would he bring a storm to that little ship and make
him think, we're going to die, and then say, peace, be still,
and calm that storm? Why would he do that? Well, look
at the result. And that's why he did it. Because
when he does something for a reason, the reason he did it, that's
what happens. You know what it came to? What
that came to? They said, what manner of man is this that the
winds and the seas obey his will? Oh, who is this we're dealing
with? Who is this that's floating around with us out in this little
boat? Who is this? So this famine,
what a wonderful thing. Here's the storm. And what's
the result of this famine, ultimately? Well, let's look at it. Because
of the famine, he began to be in want. He began to be in need. The word want is lack. He began
to feel what he lacked. To be devoid of something, to
need. And I'll tell you this, you're
never going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ until you need Him.
And most people will never need Him. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. If you need Him, if you're in
want of something to eat spiritually, and you know there's just one
spiritual food. All of His people are partakers
of one food. If you're hungry and thirsty after Him, that means
you're blessed of God. And you know what He said? I'll
feed you. Blessed are they, for they shall
be filled. I'll feed you if you're hungry. Oh my. And what did He want? What is
the spiritual significance of it? What did He lack? What did
He want? He began to be in want. What did He lack? What did He
need? He needed something to eat, didn't He? What's the solution? The father said, you know what
the solution to that was? The father said this, kill. Kill. If he's going to eat, there's
got to be a killing. He said, bring hither the fatted
calf and kill it. And let us eat. And let's be
happy about it. Let's be merry. There's only one food that gives
life. Man can't live by just bread.
You've got to live by everything that God said. And here's everything
that God said. Paul summed it up this way. We
preach Christ and Him crucified. Our Lord Jesus. Listen to this.
1 Corinthians 10. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that you should be ignorant how that our fathers were under the
cloud and all passed through the sea and were baptized unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same
spiritual meat. He didn't say they ate the same
manna that fell from heaven. That's just a picture. They did
all eat that same spiritual. meat. And did all drink the same
spiritual drink. Not just that physical water
that flowed out of the rock. They drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them. And that rock was, you know what
the next word is? What was that manna? What was
that rock? Christ. That rock was Christ. That same spiritual food that
all of his people, we just have one thing to eat. And I've never heard one of his
sheep complain about it, have you? That was Christ. John 6, 53,
then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. The table, the flesh and the
blood, the person and the work, Christ and him crucified. Unless
you partake of him by faith, you have no life in you. Whoso
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and
I'll raise him up again at the last day. For my flesh is meat
indeed. It's real meat. There is no other. And my blood is drink indeed.
This is the body and blood of Christ. This is who He is and
what He did. He had to live for us. He had
to come where we were. He had to be God. All of the
fullness of the Godhead in a body. Man sinned. Man had to pay for
sin. He became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Our last Adam. Our representative. He lived for me. He lived as
me. And he had to shed his precious
blood to wash my sins away. He had to suffer the wrath of
God in my place for my sin. And this story is beautiful in
that this boy, he went from misery to Mary. But in order for that to happen
spiritually, somebody got to die. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. What happened to that prodigal
son? He was brought to the Father. Wait a minute, he came of his
own free will. Remember the sheep? No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me. Draw him." And you know how he
does that? That word means he takes you from where you are
and brings you to his son. Because remember he's saying,
no man cometh to me except the Father does that. If the Father
takes you from where you are and brings you somewhere, it's
going to be to his son. And the way that he does that
is he sends the shepherd down here. to seek and find the lost
sheep. And he said, all that the Father
give me, all my sheep, I will lose nothing. The just for the unjust that
he might bring us to God. How did he do that? Being put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He did not die
the just for the unjust that he might give us an opportunity
to come to God. He did not. He didn't die the
just for the unjust so that we might have a fair chance. He
died the just for the unjust. When Christ was crucified for
the sins of His people according to the Scriptures, He brought
them to God. That's what happened. There's
no coming home without that word kill. There's nothing to eat. Home is something to eat. What
if He had come home and His Father said, well, you can stay here,
but you ain't getting nothing to eat. That's not home, is it? And we have something to eat
because Christ suffered for our sins and died that we might have
life. What else was he in want of?
And notice, first of all, who provided everything he needed?
He had joined himself to a citizen of that country in verse 15.
What did he do for him? Remember, that was a country
that's far off from God. That's a country that's a long
way from the Father. They're not going to help you.
They're out there away from God, far from God, running from God,
refusing to submit. Paul said in Romans chapter 1,
when they knew God, they refused to glorify Him as God. That's
where He's living. You think anybody's going to
help you there? And notice these key words there
in verse 16, no man gave unto him. Oh my. Now you got to consider
us as we are by nature. God's people love one another
and we have all things common, don't we? If you need something,
you got it. If you need something and I got it, you got it. That's
the way we got to be. But think about us by nature
now. Nobody cares anything about you except God. Do they? If God left us to ourselves,
I don't have a glass of water here, I used to use that as an
illustration. But if there was a glass of water out there and
God left us to ourselves and just dried up the heavens, how
long do you think it would take? A couple of weeks? I don't know,
we've got reserves and stuff. Let's say a couple, a few months.
Maybe it doesn't rain anywhere in the world for a few months,
six months, however long it would take. And God left us to ourselves,
we'd be killing each other for that glass of water right there.
We would kill each other and never give it a second thought. No man gave unto him. You remember
when Judas went to the Lord's enemies and said, what will you
give me? What did they give him? He left the Lord of Glory. He
left the one who said all the silver is mine and the gold is
mine and he gives it to whoever he wants to. The cattle on a
thousand hills, it's mine. Everything is his and he gives
it to whoever. He left him and went to his enemies
and said, what do you give me? That's what this son did. He
left a father who wouldn't, there's nothing that father, we find
out something about the character of that father, I guarantee you
that there's nothing he wouldn't have given his son that was good
for him. You reckon? But he goes to this world and
no man gave unto him everything that we need. Everything that
we need comes from God. Everything. Everything and really
the only thing you need is Christ Christ One thing is needful that
calf now that calf is Christ And what else did he need something
to wear? He needed something to wear when
he came home look at what the father said there in verse 24
22 in verse 22 bring the best robe and Put it on him Now these
words are not in the text, but clearly this is not what the
father said in so many words, but the effect of it is this,
you're not coming in here like that, right? You're not coming
in here like that. Can you imagine what he looked
like? And what he smelt like? And notice that he didn't just
say bring him something that doesn't stink. You know, bring
him something that doesn't have pig number two on it. He didn't
just say that. He didn't say, you know, grab
some jeans and a t-shirt. Bring the best robe. Is there anything that can be
but Christ? The best robe. You know, the best is better
than everything and everybody, the best now. Not a good robe,
the best one. Believers have gone from where
we were in the garden, naked, no covering for our shame. And
we went from that to filthy rags because that's what we put on
when we try to hide our shame and guilt from God. We went from
nakedness to filthy rags and the result of us trying to clothe
ourselves before God. But then we come to this. If
He's gracious to us, bring forth the best robe and put it on Him. Now here's a little something
just in case you want to, you know, you might want to make
a decision to not wear what you're wearing, but put it on Him. put
it on him. The only way we're coming into
God's house is in God's righteousness. Isn't that what Paul called it
now in Romans 3 20? Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is
the knowledge of sin but not the covering of sin not the putting
away of sin not the remedy for sin but now the righteousness
of God without you keeping the law is manifested. Even the righteousness of God
which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. You look up
that word faithfulness there, that word faith, it says faith
in the King James. The faith of Jesus Christ, you
know what that word faith means? The character of one that can
be relied upon. And that ain't talking about
you anymore. That's His faithfulness. The righteousness of God which
is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe. It's not going to save you apart
from faith. For there is no difference. And how did we come to wear the
righteousness of God? Well, it's a robe provided for
us. He didn't buy that when He was out wasting. He didn't buy
that robe. It was provided by the Father
and put on Him. by the Father, and that robe
is Christ. What else did he need? Think about this now. He needed
something to eat. Boy, that's important, isn't it? In physical
things. In spiritual things, it's vital. Something to wear
to protect him from the elements and to have some personal dignity.
He's coming in the Father's house
now. And of course the spiritual sustenance and standing before
God that these represent are vital. But to continue the picture,
what else did he need in a purely earthly sense? You know what
he needed that might not be evident on the surface of it? He needed
somebody to give a hoot about him. Didn't he? Would you call that a necessity
in this world even? How would you like to live in
this world without anybody? that cared anything about you.
That's where he was. And so you know what he needed? Clearly he couldn't take care
of himself. The result of him running his own life, you know,
he said, oh, I'm gonna run my own life. Teenagers like to say
that. You don't have a life if you don't know Christ. He was an abject failure. And
the ones that he joined himself unto in this far country, they
didn't care or do anything for him. He needed somebody that
loved him. What is this life without that?
And in a spiritual sense, this is the origin of every blessing. Someone said election is the
source, God's choosing. The electing grace of God is
the source and cause of every blessing. And I can see that.
That's the truth. Had God not chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Every spiritual blessing
is in Christ. And he blessed us with them in
Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose some sinners
to eternal salvation and not others. But what is God's election? Does he just say eeny meeny miny
moe? Romans 9, 11 through 13, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand. God
said, I love Jacob. I love him. And I hate Esau. And we have a picture in an earthly
illustration of that love in our text now. But first, let's
look at verse 17 first, and then we'll see that, and I'll have
to hurry. 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, 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 my son. Make me as one of thy hired
servants. You know, that reminded me of
that woman of Canaan when the Lord said, It wouldn't be right
for me to take the children's bread and give it to a dog."
And she said, that's the truth Lord. But the dogs get the crumbs
that fall from the Master's table. This is what this son is asking
for. Just a crumb. Just make me as one of your hired
servants. Not even a live-in servant. I just want to, whatever
you make me, I want to be yours. You notice that word, you're
there, it says thy, and you know what that is in our land, the
way we talk, yours. I want to be yours. And remember
verses seven and 10 in this same chapter now? Again, he said,
when he told those stories of the sheep and the coin, he said,
likewise, there's joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.
And you're thinking about that coin and you're saying, how does
that teach a sinner repenting and returning to God? And in verse 10, the same thing,
the sheep and the coin. In verse 7, regarding the sheep,
one sinner that repented. That sheep, it didn't look like
he repented, but that's what happens when you repent. That's
God coming for you and granting you repentance and bringing you
home by those means. He shines the light on that coin.
And when he shines his light, when he shined his light on Saul
of Tarsus, God's greatest enemy probably at the time in the world. He said, Lord, what would you
have me do? And that's what's happening here.
Repentance is a change of mind. This son, he changed his mind
about living under his father's authority. It didn't seem that
bad anymore. It didn't seem like a problem. He changed his mind
about his own ability to make it on his own. He changed his
mind. He wasn't so bold and proud.
Now he says, I'm a failure. Look at me. He said, I perish. You might think, oh, this is
a feel-good story. He had it a lot better off with his father. That's so good. He said, I'm
dying. Salvation's a question of life
and death. Religion talks about how your
life will be so much better with Jesus. You don't have any life
without Christ. What do you mean better? What's
going to be better? You don't have life without him. But look where he comes to. I
perish and I'm not worthy. That's how he described himself.
I'm not worthy. And notice the word he said.
I have sinned against heaven. What did heaven have to do with
it? Everything. All sin is against God. He said,
I sinned before you, Father. You saw me. You witnessed it, and I wronged
you. I treated you poorly. I treated you with disrespect
and dishonor. But I sinned against God. I have sinned. Not, well, you know, if it wasn't
for that famine, you know, I was doing good. And then a famine
comes, of all things. And look at, I'm going to need
some more money. No, I've sinned. against heaven I Will arise he said and go to
a Mansion on a hilltop I Will arise and go get something
to eat no I want to rise and go to my father I'll cast myself upon his mercy
I I can never be a son again. I forfeited that. But maybe he'll
let me be a servant. And now here's the turning point
of the story now. You could say, well, when he
came to himself, that's the turning point of the story. Well, yeah,
but he can come to himself all he wants to. But unless the father
receives him, what good is that going to do? But we know in spiritual
terms the reason I came to myself is because the Father has already
received me. He already loves me in Christ. When that woman lights that candle
and shines it on that coin, that coin is found. And in our experience,
when the light comes on, we see, we see the Father's goodness
and we see our sin and unworthiness. And we see that there's just
one thing to do. It's not a decision. There ain't
but one thing to do. I'm going home. And home is Him. And you know, he, I tell you this,
he needed to belong somewhere, didn't he? He needed to be loved
and he needed to belong somewhere. Did he belong in the hog pen?
Did he belong with that man? You know what? It says this,
that ring in verse 22. It says, bring the ring and put
it on his hand. You know what that means? He
belongs here. He belongs here. The Father loves
me and has had compassion on me. And because of that, I belong
in his presence. Isn't that amazing? That's where
I belong. And there's a ring to signify
that. By nature, we're wretched, we're
idiots, we're failures, but we're something else that supersedes
all of that. We're his. That's the ring. But listen, now this boy, now
he come to himself all he wants to, but what if the father won't
have him? Would anybody blame him? Do you
imagine that that thought crossed that boy's mind? What if he won't
have me? Look at what I said to him. Look
at what I did. He knew he was unworthy and he
had dishonored his father. He had shown disdain for all
of his father's goodness. We're not making Mary just yet. But look at verse 20. And he
arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him. It almost sounds like he was
looking for him, doesn't it? The father's running a great
household, but somehow or another, when that boy Started heading
home. His father saw him way out there.
And he had compassion on him. I thought about that product,
the Good Samaritan. He had compassion on him. Others,
even in his own house, didn't have compassion on him. His brother
didn't. But the father did. And ran. And fell on his neck. and kissed him. He didn't rebuke
him, he ran. He didn't refuse him, he fell
on his neck. He didn't reject him, he kissed
him. And here is the one thing needful.
Why was that robe brought forth? Why was the ring put on his finger?
Why was the fatted calf slain for him? For God so loved. And that's what we see right
there. He loved that boy. He loved. He loved him. And this is the way love is defined
by God now. You know what the dictionary
says about love? Here's the dictionary definition of love. A profoundly
tender, passionate affection for another person. Boy, I'll
never get over that, will you? That was profound. But you know
how God, aren't you grateful for the pictures in scripture?
The pictures. We see the love of God in this
father seeing this son a great way off and he's got, he must
have been a miserable sight. And he had left on bad terms,
but there's no, there's no, well, we'll try this for a while, you
know, but if you're gonna, you know, I don't know if I can trust
you now. There's none about that. Salvation is not about us being
trustworthy. It's about him being trustworthy.
I don't see anywhere in this passage where the son promises
to be a better son. Do you? He's just groveling. He's just saying, I'm not worthy.
Bring that robe. That's what the robe is for.
It's for unworthy. It's for those who have sinned
against heaven. Bring the robe. I'll show more respect. I'll
never do anything to hurt you again. God's not that naive. Do you think he receives us thinking
we're ever going to be worthy of his goodness? God commended
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Do we even know what a sinner
is? If you want to know what a sinner is, look to Calvary.
See what our will is concerning God. Right there. See what we
think of Christ. What think ye of Christ? Look
at Calvary. And if you want to know what
love is, look at Calvary. If you want to know what grace
is, look at Calvary. Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but that
he loved us. If you want to know what love
is, you're going to have to look at his love, not mine. And, everywhere in scripture
it talks about the love of God, there's always that and. His
love is not good wishes and I hope he sure does want you. No, he
loved you and he did something about it. And sent his son to be Not to
offer perpetuation, to be the perpetuation for our sins. Verse
22, 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. Our walk before God is even something
that's supplied by him. He said, I've ordained you to
good works. You can't even walk, you can't
even do anything before God without him. He supplies it at all. 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."
Well, life with Christ is so much better. There is no life
without Him. Christ is our life. He was lost
and is found. A little reminder of the sheep
and the coin there. I found my son. Is that what
happened? That's what happened. In the first two parts, we're
told that this is a sinner repenting because we might not see that
there. In a dead coin being found, you know, we might not see a
sinner repenting in that unless he just tells us. That's what
it was. And in this part, we're told this is me finding my lost
son because we might not see that in this. And they began to be merry. Our meat and our drink is Christ. Our robe in which we stand before
God is Christ. The ring, my belonging, if I
belong with the Father, it's Christ. My shoes, I can't walk
before God without Him. Everything that I have, everything
that I need is provided by God, given, put on me. And it's all Christ. Does that
make you merry? They began to be merry. Our God
delights to show mercy. Do we delight to have it? I suspect
if we have it, we do. We are the circumcision, the
covenant people of God which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Let's pray together.