This dear preacher don't need
an introduction. I told Shirley this morning that I go to Todd
and Lynn's and I feel as comfortable there
as I do in my own home. That's how welcome y'all have
made me. That's how the Lord's blessed our fellowship together. I love you dearly. Todd Nodward,
pastor of Todd's Road Grace Church. They named a road after him. Todd's Road Grace Church. You
come, Brother Todd, and bring the Lord's message. Ain't nobody
believe that. Would you turn with me to Luke
chapter 15? I've entitled this message, Which
Son Are You? Luke chapter 15. Now, let's begin
reading in the last sentence of the 35th verse of Luke chapter
14. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Then drew near unto him all the publicans
and sinners for to hear him. Who had ears to hear? Same people that do this morning.
Publicans and sinners. They're the only ones who have
ears to hear. Now, if you're hearing a message
preached and you're not getting anything out of it, one of two
things are true. Either you're not hearing the
gospel or you're not hearing as a sinner. May the Lord enable each one
of us to hear the gospel as a sinner. What's a sinner? I like to say
this a lot. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. A sinner is someone who really
cannot look down their nose in moral superiority at anybody
over anything they've done. You know you're just as guilty. And a sinner is one who has absolutely,
positively, no claims on God. That's what a sinner is. And
all the sinners, all of them, I like the scope of this demographic,
every single one of them, drew near for to hear Him. And this
is one of the glorious things about the Lord Jesus Christ.
lets us know how little men know about holiness. Jesus Christ
is the Holy One of Israel, and sinners could come into His presence
and not feel threatened and not feel judged. Isn't that glorious? What a glorious Redeemer He is. Then came near, oh, I love that
word, then came near all the publicans and sinners. For to
hear him, verse two, and the Pharisees and the scribes, the
religious fellows, murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners,
and eateth with them. He not only receives them, he
eats with them. Now, they didn't know they gave
the Lord his great compliment at this time. He spake this parable unto them,
verse three. He spake this parable unto them,
these people who made this objection. This parable is one parable given
in three parts, and they really all need to go together, or you
can't understand them. For instance, when it says he
came to himself, talking about the prodigal returning, he came
to himself, you have these previous parables that let us know how
he came to himself. The Holy Spirit came and enlightened
him, like the woman seeking out the lost coin. And the shepherd
had come after him, These parables all go together. I think that
we see the plight of the sinner in the parable of the lost sheep
going astray. Stupid, dumb, dirty sheep going
astray. That's the one thing they're
good at is going astray. It just comes natural. And then
that silver coin, he's dead. It's no life. It can't do anything
to even help itself be found. Totally helpless. And then we
have this wicked son willfully seeking his father's wealth and
going away. It's all his fault. He can't
blame anybody but himself. We have all these things in this
time. We have the work of the son,
the great shepherd, and the shepherd going after that lost sheep.
We have the work of God, the Holy Spirit, and the lost coin.
And then we have the father, and he's the star of the story,
the father. And some have called this story
the perfect short story. And I wouldn't disagree with
that at all. As a matter of fact, this is
one of them. I got a lot of favorite scriptures, and this is one of
them. The parable of the prodigal. Now, when these Pharisees were
listening to him, They did not get this. Since
wind is a shepherd, leave 99 sheep in a vulnerable position
where they can get eaten by wolves to go after one sheep. Why would that ever take place?
That doesn't even make sense. And what about this son coming
up and asking for an early inheritance? What a wicked thing to do. He's
saying to his father, I wish you were dead and I could have
my inheritance. And what kind of father, what kind of idiot
father gives his son that? If your child came up to you
and said, I want my inheritance right now and I'm gonna leave,
would you give it? No. No way you'd do anything like
that. And they were thinking, what is going on? What is he
talking about? Why is he bringing up this strange
stuff? And then we read where when he came back, he was just
completely received. No consequences to his actions.
That's not the way we would do this. We don't understand this.
And I think when we get to verse 25 of this chapter, 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. They think, finally, there's
somebody we can understand. I would have been just like him. Verse 11, and he said, a certain
man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Give
me the portion of goods that falleth to me. You know, people
who are unconverted always have a sense of entitlement, don't
they? They think there's certain things owed to them. And he says
to his father, give me the portion of goods that is coming to me. I got this coming. And it's amazing
that the father did this, but he did. He gave him his inheritance. and he divided unto him his living. Verse 13, 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. A far country to get away as
far from his father as he could. And he lived a life of wine,
women, and song. He spent everything in riotous
living. The guy was having a good time.
He was enjoying himself. As long as he had the funds to
keep this lifestyle up, it may have lasted months, it may have
lasted several years. But he wasted his substance with
riotous living. And there was a time when the
money ran out. Verse 14, and when he had spent
all and didn't have anything left at all, there arose a mighty
famine in that land. Who sent that famine? Oh, what a blessing this was. And he began to be in want Now this place he was at was
no longer attractive. It was attractive for a long
time. There is indeed pleasure in sin for a season. And he was
enjoying himself. But now the money has run out
and not only that, God has sent a famine into this land and there
is absolutely nothing to eat. He began to be in want. That same word is translated,
he became to be destitute. He became to be in need. He came
to fail. He came to fail. Everything had
fallen apart. Everything. And he had absolutely
nothing and no way to get anything. He had brought all this misery
upon himself and it was all his fault. So what does he do? Verse
15, he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country.
He joined a church. He joined a church, a citizen
of that country. He joined him a church. And what
they do? They put him to work. They sent
him into his fields to feed swine. He tried to make his plight better.
but it only grew worse. He joined up this church, and
that was the ultimate indignity for a Jewish boy to go and feed
swine. His plight only became worse. Verse 16, and he would fain have
filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no
man gave unto him. You see, there is absolutely
no satisfaction in human religion. You can't get any comfort from
it. You can't get any satisfaction from it. You can try to eat those
husks, but they won't do you any good. You will remain hungry
if you're one of his. He remained hungry. He actually grew worse. This beginning to be unwanted
now reached its full consummation. The wages of sin are hard, and
this young man had no one to blame but himself. You know, I believe this man
saw that bad behavior wasn't his only problem. It was a bad,
wicked, evil heart. That's where his problem lay.
A heart that's no good. You know, when David cried out,
create in me a clean heart, oh God, it's because he knew mine's
filthy. And I can't change it, I can't
clean it, create in me a clean heart, oh God. He saw his plight
was desperate and he had no one to blame but himself. Verse 17. and when he came to himself.
I love that. When he came to himself. What a blessed time this was,
like the gathering demonic after the Lord saved him. The scripture
says he was sitting at the feet of Christ, clothed and in his
right mind. You see, if I'm seeking to gain
satisfaction by the husks of human religion, I am crazy. I'm not in my right mind. You
know, I love that passage of scripture where Paul was preaching
to Festus and Agrippa, and after Paul had finished preaching,
Festus said, Paul, thou art beside thyself. You're crazy. Much learning
doth make thee mad. And he said, I'm not mad, Most
Noble Festus. You're the one that's mad. I
speak the words of truth and soberness. Now this man came
to himself, and what it is, God gave him some light. The Holy
Spirit gave him some light. And he came to himself. And when
he came to himself, what did he do? And when he came to himself,
he remembered his father. He said, how many hired servants
of my fathers have bread enough and to spare? And I perish with
hunger. You see, repentance is chiefly,
more than anything else, a change of mind concerning God. It's called repentance toward
God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He remembered his
father's house. He had a change of mind about
his father. He wanted to get away from him, like Adam and Eve. They left. They didn't want to
have anything to do with him. They're afraid of him. But now they want
to come back. He wants to come back. He remembers
his father. And he thinks about those hired servants. Do you
know this was the lowest form of servant? They weren't even
allowed to live there. They'd come in during the day. These
were the least paid servants. They were the lowest form of
servants. He said, My wealthy father gives them bread enough
to spare. How good he is to them, the hired
servants, the lowest of the low. And here I am perishing with
hunger. Now, here's what I'm going to
do. I'm going to rise. I'm going to go to my father.
Look what he says. Verse 18. I will arise and go
to my father and I'll say unto him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and
before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me
as one of thy hired servants. Now, this confession of sin. Father, I've sinned against heaven, against God,
And in thy sight, that's why my sins are evil. Now what is
the confession of sin? He's confessing sin right here.
What is it to confess your sin? Is it to confess every single
one of them? Not enough time in the day, and
most of them, you don't know what they are anyway. That's
so. To confess your sin, is to take
sides with God against yourself. That's what it is to confess
your sin is to come before God and you take sides with him against
yourself. Father, I've sinned against heaven,
my sins against God. That's why it's so bad. And in
your sight, and I'm no more worthy to be called your son. Now, whenever
you confess your sin, all sense of entitlement vanishes. It's
gone. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. You realize that. You see, whenever
I hear someone complain with what we call the doctrine of
God's sovereign grace, how can it be fair for God to save one
and pass by another? How could it be fair for God
to elect one and not elect another? How could it be fair for Christ
to die for one and not die for another? How could this be fair?
That person's never repented. Never have. That person never
has confessed their sin. Because if you ever confess your
sin before God, all sense of entitlement is gone. And the
only thing that's fair for you is hell. You really believe that? You don't have any question about
that? I'm not worthy to be called thy son. Oh, if you just make
me as one of your hired servants, like that Syro-Venetian woman. When she heard the Lord say,
it is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs,
she said, that's a truth, Lord. If I ever heard the truth, that's
it. But the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's
table. I'm not looking for a place setting, but I'd be so grateful
for any crumbs of mercy that fall my way. Oh my, let me die. Let me be a hired servant of
your graciousness, of your kindness to me. I don't expect to be a
son. I don't expect a place setting. Oh, let me be a hired servant. Now, that's what happened when
he came to himself. That's what happened when he was in his right
mind. When he was in his wrong mind, none of this stuff came
up. I mean, he thought everything's good, but not now. He's in his
right mind. Verse 20. And he arose and came to his
father. Now, how long this journey was,
I do not know, but you can imagine his reeking and emaciated appearance
as he appears over the horizon to come to his father. But you know what? His father
was looking for him. And you know what? His father
had already forgiven him. Now, I want you to understand
this about forgiveness. Salvation begins. with the full, free, complete
forgiveness of sins. Now, religion gets that backwards.
If you do this, this, this, this, and this, and if you stop doing
this and start doing that, you'll be forgiven. Oh, there's no gospel
in that message. The only gospel there is is that
salvation begins with thy sins, which are many, are forgiven
thee. The Lord hath put away thy sins. The Lord hath redeemed thee. Now, I don't have any doubt that
the father knew the exact day he was coming. He wasn't going
up every day and looking and hoping. No, he knew when he's
coming. He was up there that day to watch him come. And as soon as his father saw
him, He said, that's my boy. That's that one I love. He's
returning to me. Let's go on reading. And he arose and came to his
father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and
had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And
he tries to get his speech out, but before he could do it, we
read in verse 21. And his father said unto him,
Father, I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I'm no
more worthy to be called by son. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe. The best robe. Not one of the
good ones. The best. And put it on him. Don't hand it to him. You put
it on him. And you bring forth a ring and put it on his hands
and put shoes on his feet. Now you know what this represents.
That best robe is nothing less than the righteousness and merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that fine, that robe that's
fine, white linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the
saints, Revelation 22 says. I've been amazed where I've read
versions where it says the righteous deeds of the saints. Really? What deed you talking
about? The only righteousness there
is, is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a
fine, that's the righteousness of the saints, isn't it? That
glorious robe. And what's that ring about? Well,
when you married your wife and when you married your husband
and you gave him that ring, it was a token of an eternal covenant,
wasn't it? That ring is the token of the
eternal covenant. The same thing David was talking
about in 2 Samuel 23, 5, when he said, although my house be
not so with God. And he was honest about his house.
He was talking about this house, his kids. He was talking about
this house. Although my house be not so with God yet. hath
he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
and sure, and this is all my salvation. Is this all your salvation? The everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and sure, this is all my salvation, and all
my desire, though he maketh it not to grow. And what are those
shoes? Grace to walk in the gospel. All he requires, all you need
for your walk, he gives. He gives freely. You bring the
best robe. Put it on him. Put that ring
on his hand, shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf,
verse 23, and kill it, and let us eat, and be merry. It's time
for a party. That's what's going on. I mean
a party of celebration, of joy. Everybody's happy. Verse 24,
he said, For this my son was dead, and he's alive again. Isn't that what happens when
God saves somebody? He was lost, and he's found, and they began
to be merry. Now, his elder son was in the
field, working, working. And as he came and drew nigh
to the house, he heard music and dancing. There was joy going
on. Everybody's happy. Verse 26,
and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
You see, the celebration of grace actually kind of grated on his
ears. He didn't understand it. He wanted to find out, what's
this all about? Verse 27, and they said unto
him, thy brother is come, you remember him? And thy father
hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him
safe and sound. And I can't imagine all the things
that went through that older brother's mind at this He remembered
what a miserable jerk his little brother had been, and the shame
that he brought on the family, and the waste that he brought
on the family, and he couldn't think of one good thing about
him, and he was angry. You mean he's received like this? No consequences to his actions
at all. Why, this doesn't seem right.
This extravagant, unexpected grace, this complete and immediate
reconciliation. He doesn't have to go through
any probationary period at all and prove himself. Full acceptance,
full love, complete and immediate forgiveness after what he's been.
Something's wrong with this. Something's wrong with this. He was angry. You know what scares me about
this fella? I see so much of me in him. I believe that one could argue
that these two men represent the two natures. It could certainly
be argued. Because I see me in both of these
boys. He was angry and he would not
go in, therefore came his father out and entreated him. He wanted
him to come in and enjoy this party. Your brother's back. And
he answering said to his father, notice the disrespect here. He
doesn't even call him father at this time. He says, lo, these
many years do I serve thee. Keeps a record of everything,
doesn't he? These many years do I serve thee,
neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. Does anybody
believe that? Really? Do you believe that even
for a second? Why that's the, it's, you know. I've come up with a new term.
I've come up with a new term. This is what you call a legalistic
antinomian. You can figure that out if you
want. This man was lying. Pharisees never take any joy
in the message of grace. He said, lo, these many years
do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment,
and yet thou never gavest me a kid. You didn't even give me
a goat that I might make merry with my friends. He was upset,
and you give him the fatted calf. But as soon as this son, this,
he doesn't say my brother, he says, as soon as this thy son
was come, which has devoured thy living with harlots. Now
we're not really sure that he really did that. I mean, it wasn't
told at the first of the story. Maybe this guy was juicing it
up or I don't know what was going on, but he was, he was trying
to accuse his father or his brother in these horrible things. And
that's what Pharisees do. They like to point out the sin of
others. They like to expose the sin of others, make them look
worse so I look better. That's what's going on. He said,
as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living
with harlots throughout, 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 meek that we should make
merry and be glad. That's the only appropriate response
to this. For this thy brother was dead
and is alive again and was lost and is found. You know what?
I've always kind of scratched my head at that ending. It seems
incomplete. It seems like maybe something
else could have been said. Maybe we could find out if the
Older brother repented and said, forgive me for treating him like
that and going in with him. Or maybe he just got so mad,
he said, well, I'm leaving too. You know, we don't know what
happened. The Lord left this story open-ended. I believe I know why. And I want to say this reverently.
I want to say this the right way because you know from what
I preached, that salvation is of the Lord. God saved somebody
because He saved them. He did it all. Doesn't have anything
to do with man's works, free will, nothing like that. But
here's the reason the Lord left this story open-ended. The Lord's
gonna let me and you write our own ending. Now, what do I mean by that? What do I mean by that? If you come like the prodigal, you're going to be received like
the prodigal. God's going to meet you on the terms you come. You come looking for pure, free, sheer
grace, a righteousness that is given to you. You come that way. God will meet you on that ground.
You'll be received. You come on the footing of your
works in any way, to any degree. And God will meet you on that
ground too. And beloved, that's a ground you want to stay off
of. Which son are you? Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we ask that we might be like this younger son that
you bring us to our right mind and that we might come confessing
our sins, confessing our sin, looking for mercy, sheer grace,
your compassion, complete reconciliation and forgiveness. Lord, deliver
us from being this elder brother because we confess he's there. Lord, deliver us from ourselves.
Lord, save us from ourselves. Teach us what it means to repent. To take sides with thee against
ourselves. Bless us for Christ's sake. In
his name we pray. Amen. Pastor.