If you would, look in your Bibles
at Luke chapter 15. I'm only going to read about four
verses. I've got one thing in particular I want to preach today.
It might give it away when you get there. Luke chapter 15, and I want to
begin reading in verse 17. This is the part of the parable
known as the prodigal son. Verse 17 says, 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. 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 thy son, Make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell
on his neck and kissed him. I'm just going to stop right
there. We're going to do some more, but I just wanted to read
a little bit for time's sake. What I want to preach today is
the prodigal son when he came to himself. Now, as I said, Walter is correct. When you said that, Walter, it
hit on me some while back. This is one parable. This is
one parable. There's a lost sheep, there's
a lost coin, and a lost son. But it says, Christ spoke to
them this parable. not plural, singular. It is one parable. Luke tells
us that this is one parable. And before the lost son, we have
the lost sheep and the lost coin, which I like those two. I do,
dearly. Both of those illustrations,
the lost sheep and the lost coin, show us clearly the work of finding
and bringing is not the work of the thing that is lost. Okay? A sheep is a dumb animal. Now,
I know we're all sheep, but the way we're sheep is we've gone
astray. You know, everyone's turned to his own way. And a
coin is an inanimate object. It can't find itself. It's impossible. And that's what those first two
parts show. The finding and the bringing are up to the ones to
whom that object belongs. But we come to the sun and we
get a little bit more involved because we're actually, he's
using an illustration of a human being. Someone is lost. And here, in this last part,
we have man. And we see there is something
that happens in the lost man, the lost son, which brings about a change in
the lost son. There's a buildup, a progression
to this last part of the parable. The work and the finding and
the work of the bringing results in a change of that which was
lost. And that change in that which
was lost comes from the finding and the bringing, which is still
up to the person to whom that son belongs. You can't forget
the first two parts of the parable when you get to the third part.
It's still not up to us. Because that changing, that finding,
that bringing does make a change. And it results in coming to the
Father. That statement, when he came
to himself, or if you want to put the and in front of it, and
when he came to himself, six words. And those are six of my
favorite words in this scripture. I have read this, and I have
read it and loved it for as long as I can remember. And I've heard
people preach the prodigal son for 30 years and liked it. But this is the part that arrests
me, that catches me Walter, right here. This one little statement,
this is for me is the key to this whole prodigal son part
of the parable. It's the cornerstone from which
everything else comes right down the way it's supposed to. And the reason this means so
much to me is because it is personal and I can verify it's real. This is what happens inside every
child of God. I know exactly what happened
here to the lost son because it actually happened to me. I came to myself. I know this by experience and
this is an illustration of a real experience. This part of a parable
sets forth a real truth in the life I believe in every single
believer. Now, what I usually compare this with
It's found in Luke 8.35. I'm going to just look back here,
just a couple of, a few chapters. This is the story, story, this
is the account of the reality of what they call the Gadarene
demoniac. Okay? This is a fellow that had legions. Christ asked him, what's your
name? And the demons, the unclean spirit said, we are legion, for
we are many. And they were cast out. They
were cast out by Christ. They went into a herd of swine,
and then the swine went and killed themselves. I'm not going to comment on how
pigs are smarter than people, but somehow you kind of get that
impression. Verse 35, this is after it's
all over, okay? They've been cast out. Then they
went out to see what was done and came to Jesus and found the
man out of whom the devils were departed sitting at the feet
of Jesus. Clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. That's
just an astonishing thing to me. true power, the true power of
God, the true power of Christ frightens unbelievers. It really
does. It really does. But the point
here, he's in his right mind. He wasn't before. He was not
before. This guy was given lip to the
Lord of glory. And Christ had come out, and
they came out, And there he is, where? Sitting. Sitting with
Jesus. How do you know you're in your
right mind? You sit at the feet of Christ. You sit at the feet
of Christ. You listen to the Lord of glory,
the Son, only begotten, well beloved Son. Hear ye Him. And when this Back in Luke 15,
this prodigal son, it says, when he came to himself. All of a sudden, the prodigal
son is in his right mind. He wasn't before. This little
phrase so often passed over in the parable of prodigal son is
my favorite because it states so clearly and utterly that now
this son, this lost son, is now in his right mind. when he came
to himself. And when you come to yourself,
things have changed. And you have changed. Now, there
is no mention here of what brought on this change, other than what
we have of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Okay? That the
owner of the sheep and the owner of the coin, they were the ones
that were finding and bringing in this object. But it doesn't
say anything about how. But I can tell you this, with
full confidence of the scripture to back me up, that just like
that gathering demoniac, it took a miracle of grace for that prodigal
son, that lost son, to come to himself. Because coming to oneself,
coming to yourself, coming to your right mind, is not a natural
act. It's not. Wasting your substance
on riotous living, that's a natural act. Taking your father's money
and running away from home, that's a natural act. That's the act
of a natural man. Spending all is something we
have to fight against. Why? Because it's a natural act. Joining yourself to a citizen
of a far country, that's a natural act. Working away for another
for no gain to yourself is a natural act. It shouldn't be, but it
is. But when he came to himself,
that ain't natural. It ain't. It's not natural. Why
can I say that? Well, it is few that be that
come to themselves. Not many are called. But this
is a thing that happens to everyone who is being brought in to the
adoption of sons. It's a narrow way. It's a straight
gate and few there be that find it. It's a broad way and many,
many, many are on that way to their destruction. Few there be that find that narrow
way. I believe I am one of them. I believe this happened to me. My manner, mode, my thoughts
changed one day. And I didn't cause it, Walter.
I didn't cause it. I noticed it. I wondered what
was wrong with me. I didn't know I was in my right
mind. But if your thoughts haven't changed toward Christ, something
is missing. If you haven't had a time when
you came to yourself and you said, I will arise and go to
my father, something's wrong because everything else comes
from that. The lost son does come to Christ. The lost son does come to the
father by the spirit of God himself. And if you haven't come to the
realization that there is no hope outside of God, you don't
know the Father, the Son, or the Spirit. This is a reality. I know it's a parable or a piece
of a parable, but what Christ spoke here was exactly the truth. And that lost son knew exactly
to whom to go. He knows to whom he is coming.
Like I said, it doesn't say how, but I know how. I'll tell you
here in a minute. Because here's the question.
Do you recognize yourself in this statement when he came to
himself? I recognize myself. That's why
this scripture means so much to me. That's why I love this
parable. Because when he came to himself
is where There was a change in this son. He was a son before
it happened. And he was a son after it happened. That's the reality. That's the
reality. That's the parable. He was a
son when he was lost. He didn't know he was lost. He
thought he was having a good time and fine and pleased with
and punched with himself. But there comes a day. And hopefully
it won't take losing all you had. Hopefully it won't take
having to work slopping hogs for someone when you'd rather
eat what the hogs are eating. You're that hungry. And for most
of us, it didn't. I can imagine the shock though.
Jesus Christ here was speaking to Jews. And he told them this
boy was out there slopping hogs. Hogs are unclean animals. You
don't even hang around them, much less feed them so other
people can eat them. But when he came to himself,
everything changed for this son. Everything had changed. And after
this, after you come to yourself, I'll tell you this, all kinds
of good things follow. We come, we are met, we are received
with joy. Why? Because after you come to
your right mind, you say, I will arise and go to my father. You will come. You will come
to him. You will come, and why? Because
He will see to it. If you're in your right mind,
you'll go to Christ. If you're in your right mind,
you will come to the Father. It is all because of Christ Jesus. We are the sons and daughters
of God. Our sonship, our adoption as
sons, is because of the person and work of His only begotten
Son. In Him, by Him, and through Him,
the Son, we are not only in the family, we are brought into sonship
by His life, His death, His resurrection, His regeneration, His faith. It's all the work of Christ. Hence, therefore, sonship being
founded on resurrection stands connected with perfect justification,
perfect righteousness, perfect freedom from everything which
could in any wise be against us. God could not have us in
his presence with sin upon us. He could not suffer a single
speck or stain of sin upon his sons and daughters. It's not
going to happen. Now, when that son approached, the
father saw him afar off. And the father went to him and
fell on him. He recognized him, even though
he was still in the rags he was wearing from a far country. Coming
straight from the pigsty, I'm sure he was a very pretty pitcher.
But the father knew that son at a distance. And he met him. and he fell upon his neck and
he hugged me, kissed him while he was still in the rack.
You know what that is? That's grace. That's mercy. What is that? Compassion. That's
what it says here. The father, though, would not
have this son at his table still in those racks. The father could not have the
prodigal at his table with the rags of a far country upon him.
He could go forth to meet him in those rags, and he did. He
could fall upon his neck and kiss him in those rags. It was
worthy and beautifully characteristic of his grace to do so. That's
the way C.H. Macintosh put it. I like that. Then he said, but to seat him
at his table with rags would never do. Never do. The grace that brought the father
out to the prodigal reigns through the righteousness which brought
the prodigal into the father. The son's righteousness, Christ's
righteousness. It would not have been grace
had the father waited for the son to deck himself. Make a little
money, buy you some clothes. deck himself in robes of his
own providing, and it would not have been righteous to bring
him in his rags. But both grace and righteousness
shone forth in all their respective brightness and beauty when the
father went out, fell upon the prodigal's neck, but yet did
not give him a seat at the table until he was clad and decked
in an appropriate robe, an appropriate manner to which suited that elevated
and happy position. You're going to eat at his table
as a son, and you're going to eat at a table, his table, as
a son, clothed in the best robe, with a ring on your finger and
shoes on your feet. All this comes from when he came
to himself. That's where it comes from. The
prodigal didn't have a robe, much less a good one. He didn't
bring one with him. He didn't have one to bring.
The father gave him not just a robe. He gave him the best
robe. The best robe. And then the father
said, bring hither, and don't just kill any calf. Kill the
fatted calf. This is a calf that was preparing
for a feast. That's what it's there for. It
was a fatted calf. It was already fat. This specially prepared calf
for a special feast and special food for his son that was lost,
that was dead and is now alive. When you eat at the father's
table, the father will make sure everything is exactly right. No matter whether it's the food
or what you're wearing. Father provides for his son This is the father's table There's
rejoicing and communion at the father's table They feed together
they feast together they rejoice together The prodigal didn't
bring anything to this feast Except his appetites That's it! The Father provided all of it. Now, when you take that verse
about lifting that dagger off the dunghill, to sit, to sit
with kings and princes, guess what? You ain't going to look
like no beggar. You're going to be wearing the
best robe. You're going to have shoes on your feet and a ring
on your finger. You're going to be cleaned, washed
as white as snow. And you're going to sit down
with princes and kings. Just as this prodigal sat down,
this son who was lost but now is found, that was dead is now
alive. He's sitting at his father's
table clothed in his right mind still. Because you know once
you come to yourself, you ain't never going to leave yourself.
Once you're in your right mind, you're never going to be in your
wrong mind again. Derangement is over. Well, that's
one of the things he used in this, and it's true. One of the
commentaries I look at, this is when it says, you know, when
he talked about when he came to himself, that's what we say
about deranged people, or drunks that are crazy, people in a rage
full of anger management issues, as we call it nowadays. And they
come to themselves, and they say, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't
mean to do that. Well, yeah, you kind of did.
I understand the meaning, because I've done things that I really
shouldn't have done that, but you don't want to say that. But when you come to yourself,
you will never not be yourself. And when you're seated at the
father's table, you are going to be fed the fatted calf. wearing
the best robe and a ring on your finger. The father provides all
the sustenance for his household. The elevation of the found son
is shown here. This was not a feast that the
found son had ever had before. That's the complaint of the elder
son. Mason, I'm going to get to that. The father provides
all the sustenance. He never had this before. What
we're told here, the fatted calf had never been slain for this
son before, or the elder son. Either one, because that's one
of the complaints of the elder son. You're doing that for him,
you never let me or my friends have any fun. Never mind, I'll
give it to that. But he does it now. The father
had the fatted calf slain and cooked and prepared for this
feast. And why was it done? Why was
the prodigal son given this feast, this best robe, and this ring
on his finger? There's only one reason given. The father said so. That's all
it takes. That's all it takes. If the father
says it's so, it's so. If the father says do it, it's
done. That's all the reason we have
here, and that's all the reason we need. Because that's all the
reason there ever really is. The reunifying, this reunifying
of the lost son and the father gives the son more than he ever
had before. I like that statement. In Ephesians,
God is reuniting all things together in Christ. This was my son that was lost,
now he's found. This is my son who was dead,
now he's alive. The father will have the prodigal
feeding upon the fatted calf in fellowship with himself. He will not assign him lower
place than to set at his own table, nor any other portion
than that on which he feeds himself. It's his table. believers sit and eat at the
table of the Lord rejoicing there's dancing and
there's music there's rejoicing at one center that comes in there's
rejoicing there's a feast the fatty calf is slain the best
robe is put on the rings on the finger and shoes on his feet all of this happened because
of when he came to himself. But there's something else that
happened because he came to himself. There's
another son. Mason, you were right. That was
always one of the things that bothered me was about this other
son. But I got to looking at this,
and there's some things I can tell you about this elder son.
I can't swear I'm going to be right on everything, but there's
some things just plain written in the scripture that we just
need to pay attention to. And this is all because when
he came to himself, he came home. And this happened. The father
was rejoicing. The father had a feast. The father
put the best robe on him. Where's the elder brother? Where's
the elder son? The elder son's in the field.
He wasn't at the party. He wasn't at the feast. The elder son was in the field
when the father received his lost son. The elder son was in
the field when the best robe, the ring, the shoes were given
to that found son. And the elder son was in the
field when the fatty calf was slain and the returned living
son was sitting at the table with the father. That elder son
was in the field when the rejoicing was going on. He heard the music and dancing.
When he found out about it, the elder son would not go in. The elder son would not go in.
The father came to the elder son. Guess what? He listened to the
elder son. Now this is a parable, okay?
And the elder son complained and disapproved and disagreed
with the actions of the father. I don't. I'll tell you that right
now. Everything I spoke of earlier,
meeting and kissing the son in grace, beating him there before
he ever got there, in the rags and the filth of the world was
still on him, but hugging him and kissing him. The elder son
disagreed with that. Clothing him, rejoicing, feasting,
eating at the father's table. The elder son disagreed with
that. Showing forth mercy and grace
and righteousness. This elder son disagreed with
all that. vehemently and fervently. I had to use a
couple adjectives. Then the elder son started speaking
about his works and his lack of transgression. And the father
explained. You can read it. The father explained
what he did was the right thing to do. And this elder son wouldn't
have none He had none of it, wouldn't have a lick of it. And the father entreated, but
I'll tell you this, we never see that elder son come into
that feast. He doesn't. Not in this parable. And I believe Christ telling
it kind of knew what he was doing. And I'll tell you exactly why.
Because that elder son was not in his right mind. He was not. I'm sorry. I mean, you know,
maybe you don't want to come to the party. That's OK. But
don't disapprove of the work of the father. Ever. Never disapprove of the work
of the father. Not in a parable Christ is telling. You don't disagree with the father's
work. Because the father's work is
the father's work. It ain't yours. And I don't care
if you're a younger son, an elder son, or no son. It doesn't matter. The father's work is the father's
work. My word has gone out. And it
ain't coming back until it accomplishes exactly what I told it to do. Earl used to That song this is
my father's world. You know Mahalia Jackson. He's
got the whole world in his hands He does and he does exactly with
it as he seeks fit and the problem with his elder son is the elder
son That's exactly what this problem is he was not in his
right mind And what can I tell you about this other son? What's it supposed to mean in
this parable? Boy, that's a bone of contention with some people.
There's some say this is the church and the Jews, or it's
the Jews and the Gentiles. As far as I can tell, the only
people Christ was speaking to here was Jews. They're all Jews. So I don't think that's it. Although
there is something to be said there, but that's not the place,
not what it's referring to. All I can direct your attention
to is the introduction of this parable. Why was Christ telling
this parable? To whom was he telling this parable? Well, verse one says, there drew
near unto him all the publicans and sinners. Why? For to hear. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured murmured Say This man receiveth sinners and eateth
with them Okay, and I can tell you how this is written It's
kind of funny, but where that word murmuring is okay They weren't
saying that this man receiveth sinners and eats with them. I
think what they were saying They said this man receives sinners
They were murmuring My dad hated murmuring. I told you about that. He called it mumbling. If you
said something under your breath, he made you say it out loud. I'll tell you something, Christ
knew exactly what was in their hearts, much less what they were
saying. They were saying, this man receives sinners and eats
with unclean publicans, sinners. What were they doing? They were
murmuring, they were complaining, and they were disagreeing with
the work of the Christ. That's what they were doing. That sort of sounds like that
elder son. They didn't like the way Christ
worked. The world doesn't like the way that Christ works. And
I'll tell you this, the religious world really hates the way that
Christ works and what the Father does. That apprehending, Walter. Religious
people hate that apprehending. Now, I said these were all Jews
that Christ was speaking to here. These Pharisees, these scribes,
the publicans and the sinners, they're all Jews. This was the
difference Christ was showing with this parable, all three
parts. He came unto his own and his own received him not. John 1.11, he came unto his own
and his own received him not, but as many as received him.
as many as came to himself. To them gave he power to become,
what? The sons of God. Even to them
that believe on his name, but he doesn't stop there, which
were born. Not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, doesn't matter whether
you're a Pharisee or a scribe, or a publican or a sinner, but
of God. The sheep, the coin, and the
son already belong to someone. And when that lost son came to
himself, it is because he was born of God. Born from above. And he saw, and he entered in. He came to the Father. That's
the parable. You do come. Don't forget the
finding and the bringing are all the work of the one who owns
that son, that coin, and that sheep. But you do come. It's there. It's all there. He was born of God, born from
above, He saw and He entered in, He came to the Father, and
He came specifically to His Father. Now have you come to yourself
is the question. Have you ever seen your lack,
your need, and your desire to come to Him? Do you know where
to go? The prodigal knew exactly where
to go when he came to himself. He knew exactly where to go. And here's another question.
Do you rejoice and join the feast when others come? That was that sign of that elder
son. Are you hanging out in the field? Poor, poor penny. I'm going to
eat a worm sitting in a garden, whatever it was Earl used to
always talk about. I'm going to sit in a little garden and
eat worms. You can do that if you want to. I ain't going to
stop you because I'm going to be eating. That's right. I'm going where the food is,
where the fatty calves have been killed. And I will rejoice when
I see a brother or sister join. That's what you need to do. That's
the question. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
again for this time and this place. Thank you for all you've
done for us, and you're finding us and bringing us in, and you're
giving to us of our right minds that we would see you and your
son, our Lord, be with Walter as he comes and preaches the
gospel to us. Thank you, Lord, for everything
you have done and are doing. In Christ's name we pray, amen.