If you would, open your Bibles
with me to Luke chapter 15. Luke 15. As you're turning, let
me express to you my thanks for the invitation, what an honor
it is for me to be here with you to worship together. and
how thankful I am for this congregation, for the Lord's blessings to this
congregation, how much I love you, how much I love your pastor,
and you're constantly in our prayers. I thank God for his
mercies to you, and I thank God for you. Now I'd like to speak
to you tonight on this subject, lost and found. In the last days, The Lord has brought this truth
to my heart and thrilled me with it as if I was seeing it for
the very first time. Almighty God has a people and
Almighty God loves those people and he will Without a doubt,
no matter the circumstances, he will save everyone that he
loves. Does that thrill your heart?
Well, now I got a message that's going to say just that, Lord
willing. I don't think there's anything more frustrating than
hearing preaching that says God loves people, but he can't save
them unless they let him. That kind of Preaching makes
the love of God meaningless. And I want to tell you that God's
love means something. It's meaningful. Not only is
the love of God eternal, the love of God is powerful. God's love always reaches the
object of his affection. God will never allow anyone who
he loves to perish. That's an impossibility. Now,
just like Brother Cody just showed us, the people God loves are
lost in sin. That's why we come into this
world, lost in sin. But in his love, God's going
to find them and he's going to save every one of them. The people
that God loves are born into this world with a rebellious
nature. Oh, what rebels we are. But God
in His power and in His providence is going to find every one of
them. And He's going to give them a new nature. He's going
to make them willing in the day of His power. And that's what
this whole chapter of Luke chapter 15 is about. Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, the whole trinity is involved in this matter
of the salvation of a sinner. And the love of all three means
something very significant. The love of God guarantees that
God himself will do everything that's necessary to save the
people that he loves. Now this is not three parables,
it's one parable in three parts. And each of these parts show
us a different facet of how God saves sinners, the work of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So let's look at them
all together, beginning in verse one. 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. Now scripture makes it so plain
that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Then we
ought not be surprised when we see the Savior surrounded by
sinners, should we? Sinners were always comfortable
in the bodily presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
you said, they were always comfortable coming to Him where sinners are.
And you know, the same thing's true today. Sinners are always
comfortable when the gospel of Christ is being preached in his
presence. Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. Sinners are always comfortable
when the gospel is being preached in the presence of Christ our
Savior. And they're comfortable there because Christ loves sinners.
How much does he love them? He loved them so much he died
for them to take their sin away. Now, self-righteous people don't
like that very much. They say, this man receives sinners.
He eats with them. How awful is that? The self-righteous
don't like that, but that's all right. Christ didn't come to
call them. He didn't come to seek them.
He didn't come to save them. He didn't come to call the righteous.
He came to call sinners to repentance. And that's what we're going to
see in the rest of this parable. Now, here's the first part of
this parable, beginning in verse 3. And he spake this parable
unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety-nine in
the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he
find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have 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 ninety-nine just persons which need no repentance."
Now this part of the parable shows us the work of Christ the
Savior, God the Son, and the redemption of God's elect. Clearly
this shepherd is a picture of Christ the Great Shepherd, Christ
the Good Shepherd. And the Great Shepherd of the
sheep came into this world to save the lost. And that's exactly
what he did. He accomplished what he came
to do. He came and he saved his people from their sin. Now these
99 that he left in the wilderness, they're the Pharisees. They're
the righteous. They don't need him. They don't
need any repentance. They don't need him. They're
in the wilderness. They're in the wilderness of
false religion. They're in the wilderness of their own self-righteousness.
They're in the wilderness where there's no spiritual life. Was
it right for the Lord to leave him there in that wilderness?
Of course it was. Number one, it's right because
he did it. But it was right for him to leave them. They didn't
want him. They didn't need him. They weren't
lost. And Christ only came to seek
and to save the lost. Christ, the good shepherd of
the sheep, how he humbled himself. I thought, well, he's preaching
my message. How he humbled himself. Oh, he humbled himself. When
he left the glories of heaven and became a man, how he humbled
himself. You know why he did that? Because
He had to come where His lost sheep were. He came to seek and
to save those lost sheep. And those sheep are His. They
belong to Him. The Father gave them to Him in
the covenant of grace. And He knows His sheep. He knows
them by name. He knows where they are. Even
when they're lost, He knows where they're at. These sheep are a
picture of God's elect. That sheep is out there lost.
and it's the sheep's fault. Not somebody else's fault, it's
the sheep's fault. Wasn't it dumb of that sheep
to wander away from the shepherd? My wife says, she uses the phrase
right, bright. That's not right, bright. Sheep,
that's the way sheep are. They're not right, bright. But
he left the shepherd. And he did it on purpose. He
did that willfully. And now that he's out there,
that sheep's ignorant. He cannot find his way back to the shepherd.
Even if he wanted to, he can't do it. That sheep is rebellious. He's stubborn. He won't go back
to the shepherd. He can't find his way back, and
he won't go back to the shepherd. He's going to insist on going
his own way, which is always the wrong way, further and further
and further away from the shepherd. And when that sheep is out there
away from the shepherd, he's completely defenseless against
every predator. Now that sheep is lost. He's wandered out there in a
place he ought not be. He's hurting, he's cut, he's bleeding, he's
dehydrated, he's malnourished. And Christ, the great shepherd
of the sheep, went after that sheep himself. He didn't send an angel after
him. He didn't even send an under-shepherd after him. He went after that
sheep himself. And if the lost sheep's gonna
be saved, that's the way it has to be. Christ the Good Shepherd's
got to be the one to go seek that sheep and find him and save
him. And that's what Christ did. That's
why the Son of God became a man. That's why he came to this earth.
If he's going to save that sheep, he's got to be made what that
sheep is. And that's what he did. How many times in scripture
do we read of the Savior being called the Lamb of God? He's
the Lamb. He identified with his lost sheep.
And only the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, can save those sheep. Only the good shepherd can lay
down his life for the sheep. He's the only one that's got
a life that matters. He's the only one that has a life to lay
down that can save anybody. Nobody else is capable of saving
the lost. Only Christ, who has the nature
of God and the nature of man. He got the nature of God to satisfy
God's holy demands. And he's got the nature of a
man so he can be the substitute, so he can be the sacrifice for
sinful men. Christ the shepherd himself searches
for his sheep until he finds it. He never says, well, I can't
find it. No, he always searches until
he finds it. Well, after he's gone so far,
he may have gone, say he's gone five miles. That's a long way. I got to walk five miles back
too. Maybe I've gone too far. No. After he's crawled over many
difficult paths, man, that sheep's gone up mountains or whatever,
he's gotta crawl over rocks and fallen trees. Haven't I put enough
effort into finding this sheep? That one little sheep can't be
worth it, can it? It is to Christ the Savior. That
sheep's worth it to him because he loves that sheep and because
he loves him. He will do everything that's
necessary to save him. And when that sheep is found,
when he's brought home, the Lord of glory, the great shepherd
rejoices with all of heaven because of that one sheep. Now this part
of the parable teaches us this. The son is gonna have every sheep
he died for. His death is effectual. He'll
have every sheep he died for. His blood purchased their salvation,
and His love guarantees He'll bring them home. All right, here's
the second part of the parable, verse eight. Either what woman,
having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not
light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till
she find it? And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with
me, for I found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth." Now, this part of the parable shows
us the work of the Holy Spirit and the saving of God's elect.
Now, the sheep, that sheep was alive. It had physical life,
didn't it? But it was going the wrong way. And that's us. That's
a picture of us by nature. We're all physically alive. But
left to our own devices, we will always go the wrong way. There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death." Well, that's this coin. The coin's dead. And
that's another picture of us. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. And just like that coin, we're
lying dead in the dust. We're lying dead in the dust
of this world, the ways of this world, the thoughts of this world.
We're lying dead, laying in the dust and the filth, the disgusting
filth of our sin and our rebellion. We're laying dead in the dust
and the filth of our own self-righteousness. And the sad thing is, is the
coin doesn't even know it. The coin doesn't know anything
because it's dead. But here's some good news that
that coin doesn't know. That coin has always belonged
to the woman. Even when it's laying there lost
in the dust, it still belongs to the woman. The woman here
is a picture of the Holy Spirit who comes searching for all of
God's elect. The Holy Spirit comes searching
with the light of the word of God, the light of the gospel,
the word of God that's preached. And he brings that light to that
sinner. Because that sinner has always belonged to God. God chose
him. God made him his in eternity
past. He belongs to God. God's going
to find him. So the Holy Spirit comes and
he sweeps away all that dust, all that filth. The Holy Spirit
comes and he knocks down that refuge of lies. He comes and
he removes every obstacle that's standing between that sinner
and Christ. And he comes with the light of
the gospel. He gives light to that dead sinner. Now he sees. He couldn't see before, he was
in darkness. Now he sees. What does he see? He sees Christ. Oh, now he sees himself as he
is. And he sees Christ for who he
is. So all he can do is run to Christ for forgiveness. All he
can do is run to Christ for shelter and refuge. Now that sinner sees. He sees how God can be just and
still justify a sinner, a dead, vile, rebellious sinner like
me. And when that lost, dead sinner
is brought to Christ, the Holy Spirit rejoices with all of heaven. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit rejoice over just one sinner that repents. Why
all that rejoicing over just one? Because God loves sinners. Oh, he loves them and his love
guarantees their salvation. God loves that sinner. So their
salvation brings him joy. How can it be? Only God can love that way. Now, verse 11, here's the next
part of the parable, shows us the work of the father in the
salvation of his elect. And he said a certain man had
two sons. The younger of them said to his
father, father, give me the portion of goods that follows 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 want. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields
to feed swine. And he would fain have filled
his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. And no man
gave unto him. Now this younger son is a picture
of God's elect. Remember the sheep? That sheep
was dumb. He was defenseless. The coin
was dead. This younger son is an open rebel. That's us too, isn't it? We're
the wandering dumb sheep, we're the dead coin, and we are the
rebellious, openly rebellious son. We are rebellious sinners
who have sinned and rebelled against God on purpose, with
malice against God in our heart. And this younger son Boy, he
was going to inherit a great deal, but he couldn't wait, could
he? He wanted everything he had coming to him. He wanted it now.
And his father gave it to him. But in open rebellion, after
his father gave him half of his goods, he left and went as far
away from his father as he could possibly get. Does that remind
you of anybody? Well, that's us by nature, isn't
it? God gives us life. He gives us air to breathe and
food to eat and water to drink. And what do we do? We go as far
away from him as we could. And when he got there, he wasted
everything his father gave him on riotous living. He took everything
his father gave him and spent it on everything his father stood
against in open sin. This is as much open sin as he
could find. Isn't that us by nature? Now
reveling in sin, just choosing the pleasures of sin for a season.
Just choosing to enjoy everything God hates. Well, he's a fool, isn't he?
But here's the thing about a fool. Soon enough, a fool's gonna lose
everything. And that's what happened to this
boy. He lost everything. And when he lost everything,
It just so happened at that time, the bottom fell out of the economy.
That was no accident either. There is a great famine in the
land. And that famine is a picture of the spiritual famine. The
famine of the word of God that's not just in our land, but in
our hearts by nature. A famine where there's nothing
living. There's nothing that can sustain
life. So the son, he did the only thing he could do. He joined
himself to a citizen of that country, just trying to get something
to eat. I know it won't be much, I know
it won't taste good, but just give me just barely enough so
I can stay alive. Now this citizen of this country,
maybe he represents a worldly man of the flesh. If you find
yourself in trouble, you can go join yourself to a worldly
man of the flesh. You can go join yourself to somebody
who will tell you all the wise, smart things. This is the way
it's done. This is the way we think it ought
to be done. You can do that if you want to. You can follow man's
way, but you'll find out there's no spiritual life there. This
citizen couldn't represent this. This is why I think he does represent.
I think he represents a false preacher. He went to that false
preacher. As soon as that false preacher
got his claws into him, you know what he did? He put him to work. Give him a job to do. Give him
something to make him feel important so he'll stay. He started giving
him rules and regulations and laws to keep. Works he had to
keep up. You can do that if you want to.
But if you do, this is what you're going to find out. There's no
life there. There's no life in our works.
What do our works produce? The wages of sin is death. There's no life there. But he
put that boy to work. You know what he put him to work
doing? Feeding hogs. Now that's the lowest, the worst,
most disgusting job you could give a Jew. Feeding hogs. But that's what he did. And brethren,
that is our own works of righteousness. It's something that's disgusting.
It's something we ought to be ashamed of. This boy didn't write
home and tell his dad he got a job feeding pigs. No, he's
ashamed of that. Instead of being proud of our
works and proud of our self-righteousness, we ought to be ashamed of them.
They're disgusting, just disgusting. And that, there's no life there.
And the boy found that out. There's no life there. The situation,
instead of getting better, it kept getting worse and worse
and worse. He'd sunk so low. He was so hungry. He was going
to eat the pig food. The pig food. Now pigs can survive
on pig food. Humans can't. Again, that's the
picture of false religion. All false religion has to offer
is pig food. It's just husks with no grain
on it, no meat on it. And the self-righteous man thinks
he can survive on his self-righteousness. He thinks he can survive on those
husks. But a child of God can't. Not for long he can't. Because
God won't let him. Remember our theme, the love
of God. It means something. God will
not allow his child to eat pig food forever. He won't do it.
David, you got any intention of feeding that son pig food
someday? I know you don't because you
love him. You know what you're going to spend a lot of time doing? Get that out of
your mouth. Don't eat that. Why are you telling
that? Because you love him. How much
more? our perfect, holy, heavenly father. He's not going to allow his children
to eat pig food for long. No, he's not going to do it.
Now, this father in the parable our Lord tells, he is a picture
of God the father, but don't confuse this father's love for
the love of our heavenly father. Oh, that man, that father, he
loved that boy. You've got children, you understand,
he loved that boy. And more than anything, he wanted
to get that boy out of the pigpen. But the power of his love alone
could not do it. Couldn't make it happen. But
God's love can, and God's love does bring his children out of
the pigpen. And there could be lots of different
pigpens that we may find ourselves in. I'm going to give you four
of them. We may find ourselves in the pigpen of open sin. And
if you love someone in that pigpen of open sin, you long, how you
long to get them out of it. But no matter how hard you try,
sooner or later you're going to find this out. The power of
your love alone cannot make it happen. but God in his love does. Oh,
we were the servants of sin, weren't we? But now, we're sons
and daughters of the king. We were on the dunghill, but
God lifted the beggar from the dunghill and set him among princes,
made him a son and a daughter and set him at the table of God.
He's not eating pig food there. Second, we may find ourselves
in the pig pen of It'll be all right in the end. It'll just
be all right in the end. You all know somebody like that.
It'll just be all right in the end somehow. I don't know how,
but somehow it'll be all right. And people in that pigpen, there's
no awareness there. There's no awareness of God.
There's no awareness of eternity. There's no awareness of sin.
There's no awareness of grace and mercy and forgiveness. They're
just like that coin. They're dead. And if you love
someone like that, You long to get them out of that pig pen.
Why don't you wake up? And you'll find out your love
alone can't shake them, can't wake them up, can't make them
see the light. But God in his love can and does. He does that
for his people. That Philippian jailer, he thought
everything just fine. He had a good job. retirement
package, you had a benefit package. He'd seen the apostles. He'd
seen those, you know, fellows preaching that gospel, you know,
and he didn't really pay attention to them. He just locking them
up in the stocks and locking the door, you know. He thought
everything's gonna be all right. Everything's just fine. Until
God woke him up in an earthquake. He said, oh, it's not gonna be
all right in the end. Men and brethren, what must I
do to be saved? God woke him up, didn't he? Took
him out of the pigpen. Third, it may be the pigpen of
false religion. That pigpen that says man's works
will be enough to please God, it'll be enough. It might be
just barely, it might be just a little bit, it'll be enough.
It'll be enough to keep you saved. And if you love someone in that
vile pigpen, your heart is broken. And you long, how you long to
get them out of the muck and the mire of their self-righteousness. And no matter what you do, by
the power of your love alone, you can't make them see. You
can't make them see the muck and the mire. You can't make
them see the wretchedness of their own works. Oh, but God's
love can, and he does for his people. Do you know anybody who's
more entrenched in this pigpen of false religion, self-righteousness,
than Saul of Tarsus? What did the Apostle Paul have
to say about him? He said, well, I was alive without the law once.
I thought I was until God slayed me with it. God showed me I was
dead. God showed me my sin and made
me run to Christ for life. God and his love will bring his
children out of that pigpen of false religion. And then the fourth pigpen is
this. It could be someone you love is in the pigpen of right
doctrinal knowledge without Christ. And I tell you where you find
that pigpen. You find it in the pew. The pew is a deceptive pigpen
because you think you're clean, but you're not. is not in where you attend a
worship service. Now don't get me wrong, if God's
going to save you, you've got to hear his gospel. You've got
to hear the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ
Jesus. You've got to hear how God can
be just and justify a sinner like you. But you're not saved
just because you're inside a building that preaches that gospel. We're
saved by being in Christ. So you seek Christ. You seek
him with everything you've got. You call on him and you don't
stop crying until he answers. You seek to be in Christ. Life's
in Christ. Salvation's in Christ. And write
doctrinal knowledge. Boy, that's a deceptive pig pen,
isn't it? You think you know everything you're supposed to
know. You think you know everything. Boy, that's our problem, and
we think we know everything. You think you know all the right
things, but you don't. You don't have life. Salvation
is not in knowing the right spiritual truths. Salvation is knowing
Christ, who is the truth. Salvation is a vital, living
union with Christ. So you seek Him. You seek Him. If you find him, your doctrine
will be just fine. You seek him. And if you love
someone, and that pigpen of right doctrinal knowledge, that's what
we're, Tony, what we were talking about on the drive over here,
wasn't it? That pigpen of right doctrinal knowledge, there's
a straight and strict and ugh, and you long to get them out
of it. But you'll find the force of your love alone can't do it.
But God's love can, and God's love to us. I thought of young
Timothy. Timothy's like a lot of our young
people, grown up under the sound of the gospel. Timothy's mother
and grandmother taught him the gospel from the time he could
understand language. And I bet Timothy, Janet said
that, she called him, that's a good boy, he's a good boy.
He believed everything his mother and grandmother told him. He
believed that so. but he wasn't saved. And one
day, I don't know when, one day Timothy thought, I believe this gospel. I believe
Christ is the only hope I have of forgiveness of sins. What
happened? I promise you it wasn't the love
of his mother and grandmother that made him see. It was the
love of God, giving faith to one of his elect. God was faithful
to bless his word, just like he promised he would. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God blessed his
word and gave life to one of his sheep. And if us, or any
of our loved ones, any sinner's gonna be saved, God's gonna have
to do the same thing for us. Now, verse 17. 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. Now
how'd this boy come to himself? How'd he come to his right mind?
The Holy Spirit gave him life. Just like he gave light to that
dead coin, the Holy Spirit gave him life. And suddenly, for the
first time, I don't know how long he'd been there, been there
a while, suddenly he looked around and he said, what am I doing
in this pig pen? My father's servants eat better
than this. I believe I'm gonna go back to my father's house.
Now you know the father in our story. He loved that boy. And he longed for that son to
come home. But no matter how much he loved
him, the power of his love alone could not bring that boy home.
Now that's why I said earlier, that's not God's love. God and
his love will irresistibly draw all of his people to Christ.
And that's what happens here, look at verse 18. He says, I'll
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.
And he arose and came to his father. But he was yet a great
way off his father's sowing and had compassion. And he ran, he
fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called by son. And the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him. 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 is lost and is found. And
they began to be merry. Now I'm pretty sure of this,
the father in our story, from the day that boy left home, he
watched him walk down the road till he's out of sight. Every
day the father went back and watched down that road to see
if he could see that boy coming back. And oh, he was just willing
to come home, but he wasn't coming. But you know, God the Father
never took his eye off that rebellious son, off that wandering sheep.
He never took his eye off of him. He always saw him. Well, then why? This is the question
that comes up. Why does God, if he always has
his eye on him, he always sees him, why does God let his children
suffer so much in the pigpen? Why all the suffering? Why all
the pain? Why all the heartache because
of our sin? Why all the despair? Why do we
suffer all? I don't know. I don't know. That's God's business. And I tell you what, I'm content
to leave it there. Because I don't know why God
does what he does, but I do know this. God only does what's right. And he does what's best. I don't
know why God allows all the suffering that we would endure in the pigpen,
but it could be this. Maybe. It could be. So that the end of the story
of grace is so much sweeter. When the boy comes home, he slept
that night on some white, crisp, good smelling sheets. And they
were sweeter to him than ever before because he'd been sleeping
in the pigpen. It was sweet. And I bet as he
was walking home, I bet he was practicing his speech to his
father. If he had a mirror, he'd be practicing
his speech in the mirror, you know, because he felt like His
opportunity to eat, his opportunity to stay in that house is gonna
depend upon his power of persuasion. Now, he was getting something
to eat, and him staying in that house got nothing to do with
his power of persuasion. It's got everything to do with
the love of his father. And when he got to his father,
did you notice the father let him confess his sin? The father
let him say what he was, but the father wouldn't even let
him talk about being a hired serf. You know why? Because God's
children are children. They're never hired servants,
never. God's children serve God out
of the love of a child, not out of the desire to get a raise
like a hired servant does. And the father saw him, he said,
this is my son, but he's not going to stay looking like this.
You put the best robe on him. You know what that robe is. It's
the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. He said, put a
ring on his hand. What's that ring? The ring is
the king's ring. It's the sign of sonship. The
king gave the ring to his son. Sonship. Put shoes on his feet. Now his feet are shod of the
preparation of the gospel. He's got feet that are gonna
follow Christ. And the father said, now, let's kill the fatted
calf. And you know what he was saying
when he said that, let's kill the fatted calf? He's saying, let's
do what we're doing, I pray, right now. He's saying, let's
rejoice around the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God. The
sacrifice of Christ gave life to that dead sinner. He lives
because Christ died in his place. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I once was dead, but now I'm
alive, because Christ died for me. Now let's look at the rest
of this. I kind of like to end on that,
but we've got to deal with these Pharisees and this elder son.
Let's look at this quickly. Verse 25. Now his elder son was
in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he
heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants
and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, thy brother
is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because
he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would
not go in. Therefore came his father out,
and entreated him. And answering, said to his father,
Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I
at any time thy commandment. Yet thou never gavest me a kid,
that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this
thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto
him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
It was meet, it's right that we should make merry and be glad.
For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost,
and is found. Now the elder son is a picture
of these Pharisees whose attitude started this whole parable in
the first place. The Pharisee will never rejoice in free grace,
ever. The Pharisee says, I do want
to be blessed. But I want to be blessed because
I always worked for you. I want to be blessed because
I never broke the law. I kept all the law. These have
I kept from my youth up. You never sacrificed a lamb for
me. You never sacrificed your son for me. Well, you're absolutely
right. Because you wanted your own merit,
not free grace in Christ. You wanted your own merit, not
the sacrifice of Christ. So the Pharisee's always gonna
hate this story of free grace and the love of God for his people.
But the ignorant sheep and the dead coin and the rebellious
son are always going to love it. Now I'm gonna end where I
started. The love of God means something. The love of God guarantees the
salvation of his people. That lost sheep, he can't wander
forever. because Christ died for that
sheep so he wouldn't be alone. Christ died for that sheep so
that sheep would be with him forever. Then he's gonna be with
him. He's gonna have him. The Savior
loves that lost sheep too much to let him keep wandering in
his mystery. He's gonna find him. He's gonna
bring him home. He's gonna put him in Christ.
He's gonna go and fetch him just like David fetched Mephibosheth.
That lost coin. cannot stay lost in the dust
forever. He belongs to Christ. The Holy
Spirit loves him too much to leave him down there in the dust.
He's gonna seek him until he finds him and give him light
so he sees Christ. That rebellious son, he's gonna
leave home, but he can't stay gone forever. He's got to come
home. Because the Father, who always
does his will, loves that rebel too much to leave him in the
pigpen. He's going to bring him home.
God's going to bring all of his rebellious sons and daughters
home. He's going to give them a new nature. He's going to give
them a new heart. They're going to have a new attitude,
and they're going to come home willingly and lovingly. And that's
our confidence in doing what we're doing this weekend, what
you do here every Sunday and Wednesday, preaching the gospel.
This is our confidence to continue to pray for our lost loved ones.
This is our confidence to continue giving CDs with messages on them
to our lost loved ones. Because if they belong to God,
this is our confidence, they can never perish. And if they
belong to God, he's going to call them to himself through
the preaching of our gospel. Gabe, I believe we'll keep preaching
to him, won't we? I think we ought to keep giving out CDs.
I think we ought to keep telling people, because if they belong
to God, he's going to bring them to him. Does that thrill your heart?
It thrills my heart. I hope it is. I tell you, I know
this. It'll be a comfort to your soul. If you're a lost sheep,
if you're a dead coin, or you're a valued son, that'll comfort
your heart. Grace, mercy, and peace in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Lord bless you.