Bibles to Luke 15. I just want to read a little as
we go and comment a little as we go. Verse 1, he says, the Lord is
speaking. First it says, Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And
the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners
and eateth with them. We're thankful that's true, that
he receives sinners and eats with them. And he spake this
parable unto them, what man of you, having a hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine
in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find
it? We know Christ is the shepherd
of his sheep, He laid us on His shoulder on the cross. And He
laid us on His shoulder in regeneration. He continues to seek His lost
sheep and find us and keep His sheep in the fold. And He says,
verse 5, And when He hath found it, He laith it on His shoulders
rejoicing. There is a lot in this passage
concerning rejoicing. Rejoicing over our Lord's work
in sinners. And He says, And when He cometh
home, He calleth together his friends and neighbors saying
unto them, rejoice with me for I found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth more than over 99 just persons which need
no repentance. Our Lord's in glory and he rejoices
over one sinner that repents and all the saints in heaven
and earth do as well and it's because he gives the glory. He
said, rejoice with me who rejoice with him and in him. I found
my sheep which was lost. And he always does. And he says,
he rejoices over one sinner that repents. More than 99 that need
none. The Pharisees didn't think they
needed repentance. And he says, he rejoices over
the sinner that repents. Verse 8. He's going to give us
two illustrations here. And then he's going to give us
another parable. But he says, either what woman, he's given
us the illustration of the shepherd and his sheep. Now he gives us
another. He says, either what woman, having ten pieces of silver,
if she lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the
house and seek diligently till she find it. The picture here
is of the Holy Spirit working through the gospel, through the
church. The woman has a light, she has
a candle, and she has a fan, a broom. Christ is the light,
the gospel we preach, and the fan, the gospel is in his hand,
and he's sweeping the house with it. You know, a coin, it's a
lifeless thing. It's a dead thing, but it's a
thing of value. And that's the picture here of
his elect. They're precious to our Lord. We don't know where
they are. We're preaching the gospel, and through the message,
he's calling out his sheep. and he'll find each and every
one of his sheep. He's the light we preach, the
light. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians
4 and read this again. 2 Corinthians 4 and look at verse 3. If our gospel
be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. And that's who we're
in search of. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but we preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. So there's the picture of the
woman, the church with the light, Christ the light preaching the
gospel and the Lord sweeping and finding his lost coin. Verse nine, Luke 15 verse nine,
and when she's found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors
together saying rejoice with me. There's rejoicing again.
Rejoice with me, for I found the peace which I had lost. Likewise,
I say unto you, there's joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth. We think of angels in heaven,
but the scripture also describes God's saints in heaven and earth
as angels. Paul told the Galatians, you
receive me as an angel. Every saved sinner in heaven
and earth is rejoicing in Christ giving him the glory when he
finds one of his lost sheep and brings them to repentance. And
he says here in verse 11, he said, a certain man had two sons. Now here's what I want to focus
on, the father and his two sons. He said, a certain man had two
sons. Now, you know, our everlasting
father's typified here and his elect are typified. And I want
you to note, both were sons. Both were sons, and he's speaking
to the Pharisees here who rejoiced not. They didn't rejoice, they
didn't think they were sinners, didn't think they needed repentance,
but he gives a parable here of two sons. Now, God our Father
has elect sinners who are among the Pharisees as well as among
the prodigals. We're both, we're both in ourselves,
in our flesh. The son in a parable, they're
both begotten by the father, they both live in his house,
they both sit at his table, they're both under his roof and under
his care. And yet these two sons had wills
and dispositions opposite of each other and opposite of their
father. One was a profligate, as much
as the devil could make him a profligate, and the other one was as pious
as the devil could make him pious. and both were in the same boat
and both needed grace. And God our Father shows mercy
on all kinds of elect sinners. Each are in the arms of everlasting
love and each one shall be drawn by God our Father to Christ and
brought to repentance to trust Christ alone. and enjoy His grace
and His compassion and His free salvation, and we'll rejoice. He'll bring us to rejoice in
Him. Now look at verse 12. First is the prodigal, and he
says, The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me
the portion of goods that follow to me. And he divided unto them
his living. He gave each their living. He
gave each one their living. And they were both his sons.
He divided unto them his living. What has God given to His people? What's He given to His elect?
Well, He gave Himself in covenant to save His people, in Christ,
in the everlasting covenant. He gave His Son, He sent His
Son into the world. His Son gave His life, laid down
His life for His people, made flesh for us and laid down His
life. He gives His spirit in regeneration to His people. And He gives each one of His
elect spiritual life, and righteousness, and holiness, and free justification,
and salvation in Christ. And He said, and He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him freely give us all things? He had given to each
of His elect His living. He did this before the world
was made, and He is going to do it in time as well. All kinds
of sinners. All kinds of sinners. Now the
prodigal, it says, Verse 13, ìNot many days after, the youngest
son gathered all together, took his journey into a far country,
and there wasted his substance with righteous living. And when
he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that 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.î And he would fain have filled his belly with
a husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. This
son took what the father gave to him, and he ran headlong into
sin. He was opposite the other son.
He ran headlong into sin. And the Lord, here is a picture
of the Lord by his sovereign hand, he sent a mighty famine
into the land. And the Lord and His sovereign
purpose and His sovereign grace is able to send a famine to His
people. And He made him to be in want.
Here's a picture of Him start working in His child. Well, what
did He do? He went and joined Himself to
a citizen of that country. Scripture speaks of God's elect
being citizens of the heavenly country, of Mount Zion, of heavenly
Israel. But here He joins citizens of
that country. And when he joined them two,
sent him into the field to feed swine, to feed swine. Remember our Lord said, don't
cast your pearls before swine. This is a picture of a reformation
in religion and false religion. And he's feeding swine and he's
not full. He's still hungry. He's eating
the same husk that the swine did eat and there's no man to
give to him. There's nothing to eat where
there is not Christ the bread being preached. Wherever Christ
is not preached, there's no bread. And he's hungry. And so what's
he doing? He's eating the same husk that
the swine eat. It's a picture of a man in false
religion and he's eating the same pig food that everybody
else is eating. And it's just husks. It's no
true bread. It's not the nourishment from
heaven. It's not Christ. and no man to give to Him. There's
no man that can give us this bread but Christ the God-man.
And we have to have Him to do it, but that's what we see Him
working here. He says in verse 17, and when He came to Himself,
now whether we're a sinner dead in sins or we're a believing
sinner in need of repentance, the Lord's going to bring us
to Himself, to ourself. He's going to do it in regeneration
the first hour, He does it continually in renewing of the Holy Spirit.
You know, our Lord spoke of a brother sinning and repenting seven times
in a day. How many times in a day does
the Lord grant us repentance? Now, I'm not talking about this
business of rededicating and walking an aisle again and all
that kind of, I'm talking about every day. You know, you'll be
thinking on something and what makes you come to yourself and
turn from that and look to the Lord and ask the Lord to forgive
you and keep you looking to Him. He's continually doing this work
in us. And when he did this, what did
he see? He saw his emptiness. He saw he had nothing to eat.
He had no bread. He had nothing. That's where
we have to be brought from first to last is to see there's nothing
in us to feed us, nothing in the world to feed us, nothing
in falsehood to feed us, only in Christ through the preaching
of His Word, where we're going to find the true spiritual bread.
So this is one that's experienced the witness of the Spirit in
his heart, so he knows here, he knows he's a child of God.
How do you know that? Because he spoke of his father
and his father's house. And that's where the Lord brings
us to cry, I have a father. Now verse 18, he says, I will
arise and go to my father. And I'll say unto him, father,
I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Our Lord brings us when he finds
his lost sheep and regenerates us and he brings us to see just
what this man saw. I have sinned against heaven.
I've sinned against God. And he keeps doing this to us.
I've sinned against you and I've sinned before you. Our sins are
against him and all our sins are before him. Our father knows
our hearts. He knows everything. Nothing's
hidden from him. He knows the thoughts and intents
of the heart. I've sinned against him. I've sinned before him.
And he says here, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy
son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. David was brought to cry out
in repentance. And he said against thee and
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. That's
what he said here. I've sinned against you and before
you. against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil
in your sight, that you might be justified when thou speakest
and be clear when thou judgest. And he saw he had no merit in
himself, absolutely none. He said, verse 19, I'm no more
worthy to be called thy son. We never were worthy to be called
sons in ourselves. And he brings us to see this.
He was made willing to ask mercy. He says, I'm going to ask you
to make me as one of his hired servants. And all this was done
in his heart before he ever moved a muscle. You see here, it says,
verse 20, after he thought these things in his heart, verse 20
says, and he arose and came to his father. Think of faith and
repentance as a heart work, where we come to God in our heart,
come to ourself in our new man, and he brings you to repent and
believe on him, and then you arise and go to him. Now verse 20, and when he was
yet a great way off, now here's the father. This is a blessing. He was a great way off and his
father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him. God always sees his children
even a great way off. The picture here is of the father
The Lord sends His angels administering spirits. And the picture here
is of a father who the whole time this was going on, he knew
where his son was. And the moment his son began
coming to him, he saw him a great wealth. That's our father. That's
our heavenly father. And when he saw him, he had compassion. His love never changes toward
his people, ever. And he ran to him. And he fell
on his neck and he kissed him. It's not that we love God, but
that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sin-atoning, justifying
sacrifice for the sins of His people. He sent His Son to us,
and in doing so, the Father ran to us. He sent His Gospel to
us, and He ran to us in doing so. He sent His Spirit, and He
was running to us, drawing us to Himself, and He never ceases
having compassion on His children. When we sin and we draw near
to Him, He has compassion. He has compassion. He said, return
unto Me. I won't upbraid you. I won't
throw it back in your teeth. I have compassion. Blessed is
the man, happy is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach
unto thee because of the way our Father receives us. His kisses
here speak of complete redemption accomplished. Reconciliation
accomplished. Restoration by the blood of His
Son. The Lord said in Christ, He said as far as the East is
from the West, so far as He removed our sin. The sin of His people.
He said, I, even I am He that blotteth out thy transgression
for my own sake and will not remember thy sin. And He runs
to His repentant child with kisses of mercy, kisses of rejoicing,
kisses of acceptance, Verse 21, ìAnd the son said to him, ìFather,
I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son.îî And heís just about to ask him,
ìWould you just make me a hired servant in your house?î But what
does Scripture say of his children? Youíre no longer a servant but
a son. And if a son and heir of God through Christ, this boy
wasnít a servant, he was a son. So when the father interrupted
him, he stopped him, and the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Bring the best
robe and put it on him. When the Lord brings us to believe
on Christ, He puts the very best robe on us. That seamless robe
of Christ's righteousness that we couldn't work out for ourselves.
We try to work out a righteousness, but it had a lot of seams in
it. just ripped, tattered, no good at all. But when He brings
you to Christ, He brings the best robe and puts on us. I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for He hath clothed me with garments of salvation. He hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness. And He said there in verse 22,
He put a ring on His hand and shoes on His feet. That ring
on his hand is a symbol of the everlasting covenant that knows
no end, knows no beginning. That everlasting covenant that
didn't change when we fell in Adam, didn't change when we came
forth from Moses when we were speaking lies, never changes
though we sin after he's called us, that everlasting covenant
of grace. unchangeable, immutable God,
sealed in our hearts by the Spirit of God. And he said, verse 22,
in shoes on his feet, preparation of the gospel of peace. Shoes
that never grow old and never wear out, that he continually
keeps new to his people. Verse 23, and bring hither the
fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. He said,
there's rejoicing in heaven. Bring this fatted calf and let's
eat and let's be merry. For this son was dead and he's
alive again. He was lost and he's found. And
they began to be merry. God's provided us this gospel.
for us to rejoice in. He provided it for us to be merry,
for us to be rejoicing over what the Lord's done for us. And when
He brings a sinner to repentance, and brings one of His lost sheep
into the fold, and finds one of His lost coins, and brings
home one of His prodigal sons, there's rejoicing over what He's
done. Do you find yourself, when you hear the Gospel and you hear
what He's done, do you find yourself continually to be that lost sheep
and that lost coin and that prodigal son. And he makes you rejoice
continually all the time over what he's done. That's what our
Lord declared at the beginning. I say unto you, there's joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented.
And there's rejoicing with God. He said in Zephaniah 3.17, the
Lord thy God in the midst of these mighty, he will say, and
he will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love
and he will joy over thee with singing. He's not going to lose
one. He's not going to lose one. We
get despondent, we get cast down, we get troubled, but we got this
assurance, brethren. Wait on the Lord, he's gonna
save each of his people, and he's gonna keep saving you and
me who he's already called, and he's not gonna lose one. And
he gonna keep us rejoicing and being merry in his gospel. But
when he started this, he said the Pharisees weren't rejoicing.
They were seeing these sinners come and Christ receiving them
and eating with them, picture of ruined sinner, but they weren't
rejoicing. They weren't rejoicing, they
were murmuring. He's receiving sinners. Well, verse 25, we have
a picture of this. He says, now his elder son was
in the field. He's out there working. And as
he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
And he called one of the servants, and he asked what these things
meant. And he said to him, thy brother's come, and thy father
hath killed the fatted calf, because he's received him safe
and sound. And he was angry. He was angry
and he would not go in. Therefore came his father out
and entreated him. And what made the son angry?
He answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve
thee. Neither transgressed I at any
time thy commandment. And yet thou never gave me a
kid that I might make merry with my friends. The repentant son
came confessing his sin to his father. I'm unworthy father. I don't deserve the least of
your mercies. But here's the son who was there
the whole time serving the father. But this son's boasting of what
he had done for his father. And he wasn't happy with it.
He said, all these many years do I serve thee. These years
were many to him. Why? because it was bondage. He wasn't serving willingly.
He was there because he had to be and he wasn't wanting to be. He was angry because he thought
he needed no repentance. That's what the Lord started
talking about. These just persons that think they need no repentance.
He didn't think he needed it. He thought he had never transgressed. I've kept your commandment, he
said. I've never transgressed. I've not transgressed at any
time thy commandment." That's pride, isn't it? And he thought his father owed
him. He said, you never gave me a kid. And notice, he didn't want to
rejoice with the family. He didn't want to rejoice with
the father and with the brothers and sisters and the son that
come home. He said, I want to rejoice with
my friends. He wasn't part of the family.
Everything he was doing, he was doing to serve for a reward with
a mercenary spirit, thinking the Father owed him something.
Well, when God gives a heart to know we're sinners, you delight
in His mercy. And He makes you willing. He
really makes you willing. He makes you willing to serve
Him. He makes you willing to... And it's not service. It's not
being a hired servant. being a willing bond servant.
He's bored you here, he's opened your ears so you hear the gospel,
you hear the good news, and you're willing to be in his house, to
be in his family, to rejoice with his people, to do whatever
you can do to help in the cause of Christ to further this good
news. So you see other lost sheep brought
in, see the other valuable coins found, and see the other prodigals
brought. But here's good news, brethren. Well, let me say this first.
Look a little more at the spirit of this son. Verse 30, he said,
As soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living
with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted cat. He didn't
say, as soon as this my brother has come. He said, he's your
son. This is your son. And he pointed
out his brother's sin. He hadn't loved you father, he
devoured your living with harlots. He's saying here, I might as
well have just lived like this boy lived. I might as well have
lived like he lived. Someone said this, I thought
this was a good statement. He said, those who pride themselves
in the consistency of their walk are very often inconsistent in
their talk. Look at verse 31. This is the
blessing right here though. This is a blessing. And the father
went out to him too. The father went out to him too. And he said to him, son, thou
art ever with me. And all that I have is thine.
Remember, he divided unto them his living. Now the Lord was
certainly speaking to the Pharisees who had every advantage in every
way but rejected Christ. He was certainly speaking to
them and showing them their pride and their sin in this. But God
has elect among the Pharisees as well. And aren't we Pharisees
too? Just like we're prodigals, we're
Pharisees too? You think of Saul of Tarsus.
There's a good example. And the Lord regenerated him
and called him. And we continually fall into
these sins of Phariseeism. And there's definitely one in
me. And the Lord has to keep showing
us this grace over and over. He went out to him and He addressed
him. He entreated him. He was good to this son. The
son wasn't joyful over his brother's repentance, but he still went
out to him. He still went out to it. And
I'm thankful God, our father, never changes in his love toward
his true elect. He never does. He never does. He going to bring us all down. Down where we need to be constantly
because we, you know, it doesn't take much and. And. And I'll speak the wrong thing.
and in judgment. And it's wrong. And the Lord just keeps coming
out to us and treating us like He did this son right here. But
He's going to bring us to say with Paul. Go back over there
to Philippians chapter 3. This is where He brought Paul,
when he worked his grace in him, he was rejoicing in all those
other things, all his religion, just like this son that stayed
home. And he brought here in verse 7, he said, But what things
were gained to me? Those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. But watch,
they weren't any loss to me at all. I just count them dumb.
I hadn't really lost anything. It was all vain, false works,
trying to make myself accepted with God. He said, I count it
all done that I might win Christ and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. the power of His salvation, the
fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable to His
death, willing to die, if by any means I might attain to the
resurrection of the dead. God saves sinners, brethren.
All His elect sinners He will save. The prodigal and the pious. And we are both of those. And He is going to save us, but
He is going to do it by grace. He is going to do it apart from
our works. which we think we need to do for acceptance. You're
going to give us repentance and faith to rest in Christ and the
full completion of what Christ has accomplished. And you're
going to keep us delighting, not to serve and be envious and
be drudgery to us and turn into, what have you done for me? It's
going to be, Father, thank you that you let me, that you let
me be a servant in your house. And it's a joy. And he's going
to have mercy and not sacrifice. It's going to be mercy and not
sacrifice. He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repent. And he's the shepherd who finds
his lost sheep and by his spirit to the gospel brings us to the
father. And he's the only one that makes
a difference. The only one. We have nothing but what we receive
from him. And he's the only one It puts
a difference between His people and this world. And keeps that
difference. Keeps us there. And when He does
this, and over and over as He works it in us, and as He works
it in our brethren, He keeps us rejoicing in our great Shepherd,
our great Lord who's worked this for us. He's all our rejoicing. Alright, brethren, let's go to
the Lord. Father, we thank You that You speak simply and clearly
and give us these parables and make us to understand. We understand
how we love our children and how we long for our children
to be saved and we can enter into these things that you do
for us and having compassion on us and rejoicing over your
people. We thank you for your spirit
to teach us, to guide us, Lord, we need your mercy. We need this grace worked in
us right now. And we pray, Lord, for our mothers
and our fathers and our husbands and wives and children, our neighbors,
even those that consider us their enemy. Lord, we just pray you'd
be pleased to call out your lost sheep. Send the gospel forth, send it
forth in power, make them hear. Lord, we thank you for our brethren
that aren't with us today. Pray you be with them. There's
many suffering from infirmities and be with them. And we know
they'd be here if they could. And we thank you, Lord, that
you've given us this ability to send them the message over
the broadcast. We pray you'd bless it to them,
bring them back with us safely and Help us, Lord, to see ourselves
as just a sinner saved by grace. Don't let us become like the
son that stayed home. Keep us humble. Keep us rejoicing
in your mercy. We thank you, Lord. Thank you
for Christ. Thank you for this free forgiveness
and everlasting righteousness we have in Him. Forgive us, Lord,
our sins. We are definitely unworthy of
the least of your mercies. We thank you, Lord, that you
freely, freely, freely save your people. What a price Christ paid
to do it. We thank you. In Christ's name,
amen. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On thee when sorrows rise, On thee when waves of trouble roll, To thee I tell each rising grief,
for thou alone canst heal. Thy word can bring a sweet relief
for every grief. But all when gloomy doubts prevail
I fear to call Thee mine The springs of comfort seem to fail
And all my hopes decline Yet gracious God, where shall I flee? Thou art my only trust, and still
my soul would cleave to Thee, though prostrate in ♪ Thy mercy seat is open still
♪ ♪ Here let my soul retreat ♪ ♪ With humble hope attend thy
will ♪ ♪ And wait beneath thy feet ♪ ♪ Thy mercy seat is open
still ♪ Let my soul retreat with humble hope attend thy will and
will.