Luke 15, or at least part of
it, is among the most familiar portions of the New Testament. The speaker is the Lord Jesus
Himself. Verses 1 and 2 set the stage
and the tone for the chapter. And there are two distinct groups
present as the Lord speaks. Watch this with me. The first
group mentioned in verse one is the publicans and sinners.
In reading the gospel accounts, these are often associated together
as one, publicans and sinners. And we could say more about that.
but the other group is named in verse 2, Pharisees and scribes. Again, as you read the four Gospels,
these are often associated together, Pharisees and scribes. And we're
told in these two verses why each group was present at the Lord's speaking. In verse
1, the publicans and sinners came for to hear Him. That's the right reason. It's
the right reason to go to church, for to hear Him. Not just hear
the preacher, but to hear Him. But the Pharisees and scribes
came for another reason. They came, verse 2 says, murmuring. to find fault with the Lord Jesus
Christ. That crowd has been around all
along and will be around till the Lord comes. He dealt with it, we dealt with
it, we deal with it. Murmuring, I'm getting a little
weary. battling with folks who don't believe the gospel, but I'm convinced they'll be
around. And I don't aim to quit believing,
quit preaching what I know God's word teaches. I can't quit believing
it. So the setting of this great
chapter is this, these two groups. And verse 3 says, and he spake
this parable unto them. Not three parables, as some say,
but this parable, the entire chapter with three parts. The lost sheep, the lost silver,
and the lost son. It's one message, and the message
is lost and found. All three, the sheep, the silver,
the sun, are lost. And all three, the sheep, the
silver, the sun, are found. Not to neglect the first two
parts, But we're dropping down to the third part this morning,
verse 11. And the Lord speaking says, a
certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his
father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
And he divided under 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. 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 yet a great way
off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and 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 thy son. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring
on his hand and shoes on his feet 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 was lost and is found and they
began to be merry. We'll stop the reading there
at verse 24. Verse 11 a certain man had two
sons. When I read in scripture about
two sons I automatically think of two things. Adam and Christ. The only two men who ever walked
this earth that were not begotten of another man. Adam was not begotten at all,
he was created. And the Lord Jesus was begotten
of God, not man. So these are the only two, Adam
and Christ. first corinthians fifteen paul
said verse forty seven the first man adam is of the earth earthy
the second man christ jesus is the lord from heaven that's the
two and only two federal heads first corinthians fifteen twenty-two
paul said for his head adam all die How many die? All that are in Adam. Even so
in Christ shall all be made alive. How many are made alive? All
that are in Christ. And all that are in Christ are
in Him from the foundation of the world. So that's the first
thought I have of two sons, Adam and Christ. And secondly, I think of God's
elect as distinct from the rest of Adam's race. And we have this all the way
through Scripture. Two sons, Cain and Abel. Abel was in Christ. Cain was
not. Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac was
in Christ. Ishmael was not. Esau and Jacob, Jacob was in
Christ, Esau was not. And for this reason, and this
reason alone, God said, Jacob have I loved. It is not I love
Jacob starting at some point in But he said, Jacob have I
loved. When? From eternity. And Esau have I hated. When?
From eternity. On and on through Scripture.
The twin sons of Judah. The two sons of Matthew 21. and the two sons here in Luke
15. And the elder son in this story is clearly in Adam, representing
all unregenerate humanity that hates Christ. And all who are not in Christ
hate Christ. You see, I know some folk that
are not saved, but I don't think they hate Christ. They don't
hate who they think He is, but they hate who He is. His sovereign authority and rule. The younger son here represents
Christ. not as an individual, but as
a representative person, who, as it were, condescended, came
into the hog pen of this world, not to stay, but to go back to
the Father and to take all His sheep with Him. So there are statements in this
story that apply to Christ only. When He came to Himself, He said, I'll go home. What good it do you to come to
yourself? You'd say, I'll go my way, I'll go where I please.
But not the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are other statements
in which He is representative all God's children. It's a beautiful
picture and that's what I want to look at this morning is a
few specifics about this young man as an individual and consider
a sinner coming home, a sinner coming home. And my purpose in
this this morning is not just to try and increase our knowledge
intellectually about the details of this story. I'm sure there's many in hell
that knows it good as you do. But my prayer is that the Lord
might be pleased to put some sinner here today on the road toward home. I cannot make that happen. If
He does not do it, it won't happen. Most people I talk to will say
something like, Oh, I'm not a bad person. Let me correct you on
that. You are a bad person. Our Creator demands sinless perfection. And you're not even close. Matter of fact, you are such
a bad person that except you be in Christ, God has to hate
you or quit being God. To love somebody like you and
I, outside of His Son, He'd have to quit being who He is, infinitely
holy. So there's none good, no, not
one. And all he loves, he loves in
Christ. Now let's look at this sinner
coming home for a few minutes. First, the father's house was
home for this young man. The father's house was never
home for the elder brother. He was there, but it wasn't home. The elder brother never had the
father's heart. He never had the father's interest
in mind. He appears faithful to his father
for one reason, that it all may be his. That was his motive. I'm sure he had a good reputation
in the community. People talked about him, that
boy stayed home, take care of his dad, and everybody said,
that's a good son. What a good boy he is. But that
other boy, he ran off. There's nothing to him. But I want to mention several
things about this younger son. One, he never ceased to be the
father's son when he left home. He wanted to get away, get out
of that house, get out from under his father's authority, and live his own life. That's
the saying people use. But the relationship remained.
He's still the father's son. And this morning, How low you've
fallen, what all you've done, however much you've failed is
not really the issue if you're in Christ, you're the
Father's Son. This Bible teaches that before
God ever created the earth, or created man, or man fell, God
Himself chose specific number of Adam's fallen race to be his
children. Ephesians 1, 4, According as
he, God the Father, hath chosen us who are brought to believe,
chose us in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world. And I want to say this now, The father's house is not a boarding
house. It's a private family dwelling.
The father's house is not a prison house. The father's house is
not an orphanage. It is the private dwelling of
him and all his children. His family. When Adam fell, God's children fell in him. But though fallen in Adam, God's
children chosen from eternity did not cease to be God's children. Oh, no. In this whole story, I want to show you this. In this whole story, somebody
says, why don't you become a child of God? You can't become a child
of God. It's not a timely transaction. Why don't you have your name
written in the Lamb's Book of Life too late? Those names were written from
the foundation of the world. People say, well, I just couldn't
love a God that don't love everybody. Well, I'm going to tell you,
I couldn't love one that don't hate some folks. I couldn't love
one that don't hate me outside of his son. And that's who he
is. That's who he is. So we all fell in Adam, the same
nature, ignored God's Word, rebelled against God, disobeyed His Word. And that nature in Adam is passed
on to us, every one of us. When Adam fell, all the human
race went to the hog pen that day. And all Adam's race die at the
hog pen if they be only Adam's children. But God's children went to the
hog pen when Adam fell, but they won't die there. They can't die
there. They get awful close. They hit
rock bottom as this boy did and this boy did. It was unthinkable
for a Jew to eat pork. Most of you know that. They wouldn't
do it. Let alone work on a hog farm. That's what this boy did. He
was so desperate. We read that he considered eating
what the hogs eat. He's low, so very low. but he's still his father's son. Verse 17 says, "...and when he
came to himself..." That is, it began to register
who he was. And he said, I don't belong here. He didn't say, I'm better than
this. That's what religion does. He just said, I don't belong
here. Puffs you up, makes you good
enough to look down on other folks. No, no. He said, I'm not better than,
my father is better than this. There's nothing to me, but he's
better than this. Father's love so worked in this
boy's heart till he said, I want to be with my father. I want to be in my father's house. Now the elder brother was there,
but in body only. He wasn't really there, but this
boy said in his heart, I want to really be there. I want my very being to be at
one with my Father. This is what happens to all God's
elect children at regeneration when He comes and quickens. We
want to be with the Lord and like the Lord. Somewhere along the way it will
happen. Now, in this whole story, this son only makes two petitions. The first was in verse 12, give
me. And the father did. Give me the
portion of goods that you're going to give me. And that's
the natural man. Give me, give me, give me. He gave him what he wanted. But
in time, after bitter experience, his petition changes. It's no
longer give me, but it's make me. Verse 19. Make me. I can't be trusted with what
you give me. Father, do something greater
than give. Make me. hired servant put me under a
law make me earn my bread so I can
feel good about myself for doing it that's religion I'd still be my own man but I'd
be making my own way the father doesn't answer that
petition a son can't be a hired servant The father's heart is not moved
with what you can do as a hired servant. The father's heart is
moved with who you are. You're his son. You're his son. That's the difference. That's
the difference. There's a whole lot of elder
brothers in church today. all over this land, but they're
there in body only, protecting their interest. But I want to say to you, God's
children don't want the farm. They want the father. That's
the difference. What is it you want today? Next, he began to feel the shame
after he had made such a mess of his life. He couldn't bring
himself to go home and say, Father, it's me, I'm your son. No, he
said it would be easier and it would be more appropriate to
say, Father, I'm no more worthy to be called your son. If you
could just let me be one of the hired servants. The father don't permit sons
to earn their way. And I repeat, sons enter the
house for who they are, not what they do. Then we note the waiting
father in this story. Verse 20. When he was yet a great way off,
his father saw him. The father wasn't sitting on
the porch looking down the road for just anybody. He wasn't waiting for some stranger
to come up and say, sir, I'd like to be part of your family. My preacher said I could make
a decision to be part of your family. No, He didn't do that. The Father
is waiting for one that's already His Son. But before you'll know if you're
that Son, He'll have to reach into that hog pin of your heart and pull you out of there. Bring you to the end of you and put it in your heart. start
home. We're talking about a sinner
coming home. The way home is faith and obedience. God-given faith that moves you and has the effect that you obey
what thus saith the Lord. We've got way too much do as
you please salvation in this day and And there's no such thing. There's no such thing. Everybody
wants to run to God on their deathbed, or when they're broke, or played the fool and lost everybody
that cares about them. But he brings his children to
the deathbed spiritually to see themselves perishing without
God. and without hope. So we read,
when he was a great way off. Verse 20 says, the father saw
him. The father saw him before he
saw the father. The father sees you this morning.
And if he is your father, he'll bring you to respond as his son. Otherwise, you'll ignore this
and everything else you hear until you die in your sins and
plunge into hell. That's how it is. Now this father had compassion. He never sat on the porch with
his arms crossed until the boy got there and said, I told you
so. I tried to tell you. No. He had compassion. And he ran. The father can run. Did you know
that? He's old, but he can run. And fell on his neck. The boy
was already down. He fell on his neck. The boy couldn't go any further.
The father ran to him, fell on his neck, and kissed him. And by the way, when the father
kissed him, he never got a whiff of some expensive cologne. He got a whiff of the hog pen. Did he say anything about the
hog pen? No. The father knew where he'd been. He knows where you've been this
morning. There were others at the hog
pen. This boy never asked anybody's permission to leave. The father's love took hold in
his heart. And he started home. You don't
have to ask anybody. If you can start home. This boy was talking to his daddy
a long time before he got there. Did you notice that? He was saying
I'm sorry I've sinned against heaven and before the I made
the biggest mess I I'm no more worthy to be called your son.
He was making him up a speech. To tell the father it didn't
work. It didn't work. Our Father can hear you where
you are. He will hear you if you're interested in getting
home. But only He can do that for you. He's not interested in financing
your rebellion any further. And I want to say that one more
time. I don't know to who, but I'm telling you, God is not interested
in financing your rebellion any further. You've said unto the
truth, many of you, most of your life. That's all most folk want. The
Lord to finance my rebellion, bail me out this time and I'll
go again. But if you're interested in getting
home, He's really into that. He's really into that. I read about a man who ministered
to wounded soldiers overseas in one of the wars long ago. And he said he was so weary,
he felt so unproductive trying to talk to people about the Lord,
felt like he wasn't doing any good. But he just couldn't quit. He felt like he wasn't saying
the right thing or just... But he said he came up in a certain
place on two Russian soldiers, wounded. And they were the place being
cared for physically. But he felt he must speak a word
about the Lord. And he was so beat, He didn't
know what to say. He felt there was nothing he
could say that would do any good. So he said the Lord put it in
his mind and heart immediately to say nothing but just to turn
to Luke 15 and read this story. And he said when he got through
reading it, he looked up and both the men were in tears. And one of them said, I've never
heard that story in all my life. I wonder this morning if you've
ever heard it. I mean, really heard it. I was reading some time ago in
a book about runaways, mostly teenagers, some of the awful
stuff that happens, some unbelievable stories. And I think the saddest
one I read was about a boy who had run away and was gone several
years. He just came to the end of the
road and he went home. It was after dark, way after
dark. When he got there, he knocked on the front door. The porch
light came on. And an old man opened the door. And the boy said, it's me. I'm
your son. The man said, I don't have a
son, and closed the door. That's sad. I promise you, if
the Father has put in your heart to come home, He will not slam
the door. He will not say, I told you so. He knows all about how beat up
you are, how messed up you are. Dear old John Newton, the slave
trader, When the Lord arrested him, he wrote, the father was
willing to claim a wretch like me. He found me, he drew me,
he changed me. The father was willing to claim
a wretch like me. Verse 22, the father said to
his servants, bring forth the best robe. The best robe was
the priestly robe. This boy is going to represent
the family. Christ, our great high priest,
represents all the family. After having conquered on the
cross, conquered in this hog pen of sin, and risen from the dead, He said
this before He ascended, all power is given Me in heaven and
in earth. I'm in charge of everything. He earned it. The best robe. Put a ring on His finger. The signet ring. Like the Father's
seal and authority. Put shoes on his feet. Servants
didn't wear shoes. Sons did. See if there's any leftovers
in the kitchen. No, no. Kill the fatted calf. That one
we've been saving for a special occasion. It's
party time. Why? Verse 24, For this my son was dead, and is
alive again. He was lost, and is found, and
they began to be merry. That's what the party's about.
Christ our Lord lived this. He went to the hog pen. He was
made sin for us. That's where he finds all his
sheep too. How deep the Father's love for
us. How vast beyond all measure. We got so much going on nowadays.
You ain't even got two minutes in the day to think about how
deep the Father's love. how vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only
Son to make a wretch like me His treasure. If it's ever in
your heart to leave the hog pen, it'll be because the Father's
love has reached in drawing power from where He is to where you
are. and you'll start home. Thank God. That's the message,
a sinner coming home. I trust you're on the way.