Back in Luke chapter 15, verse
20, look at it again, at least the first sentence of it for
now. Speaking of this rebel, this prodigal, this younger son,
it says, he arose and came to his father. The title of my message
is, A Rebel Brought Home. A rebel brought home. Someone
might ask, in light of the previous verses concerning what the prodigal
said and did, whether that would be an appropriate title. A rebel brought home. Did he
not come home? Yes, he did. He sure did. Look
at verse 17. And when he came to himself,
verse 18, He said, I will arise. I will arise. I'm getting up
out of this filth, this stench, this pigsty. I will arise and
go to my father and say unto him, I'll confess. I'll confess. I've sinned. I've sinned against
thee and against heaven. Again, verse 20, and he arose
and came to his father. He not only determined what he
would do, I will arise, and what he would say, confess, to his
father, but he put shoe leather on his desire, what he had determined
to do. He actually arose and came to
his father. Yes, all that's true, but notice
the second sentence in verse 20. It tells us why he did all
that. Yes, he did that, but God caused
him to do all that. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him and had compassion and fell on his neck
and kissed him. That's why the message is a rebel
brought home. God brought him back to the father's
house. It is a fact. Plainly said, in the utmost sincerity,
who would ever question the sincerity of the Lord Jesus Christ when
he said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. That's a fact. That's the word
of our great God and Savior who cannot lie. But here's the problem. Even though that is true, He
said on another occasion, you will not come to me. Whosoever
will. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. It's free. Come and buy without
money and without price. But the problem is this. You
will not come to me that you might have life. What's the solution
to that dilemma? Come unto me and find rest for
your souls, but you will not come to me that you might have
life. The solution is just this. Let
me read you a few verses. I'm reading from Psalm 110 now,
verse 3. Here's the solution. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. That's what happened
to this prodigal. That's what happened to this
rebel. Everything that befell him in that far country, when
he thought he had run as far away from his father's house
and authority and influence as he could possibly be, all of
that was arranged by his father to bring him back home. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. In John chapter 1 we read, he
was in the world and the world was made by him, that is Christ,
and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. But the story doesn't stop there,
does it? But, but, to many as received him, Some received him. Why? To them gave he power to
become the sons of God. They shall be willing in the
day of my power who were born, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but by the will of God. Another Psalm,
Psalm 65, we read these words. Blessed is the man. Does this
describe you? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. That's why the rebel said, I
will arise and go to my father. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes. Really? God causes? By his sweet, constraining grace,
he compels rebels to come to him, to bow to his son, absolutely. And every one of them that he
does so to, they're glad. They're eternally thankful. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, and calls us to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. The reason he came home is the
father brought him home. Verse 20, but the father explains
everything that took place previously. God calls this rebel because
he chose this rebel. Let me read you two statements.
by men you know, knew of. One's gone to glory, one's still
with us. Ralph Barnard said, anybody on
earth can make a profession of faith. Wish people believed that. Anybody
on earth can make a profession of faith. Our Lord said, it's
the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profits nothing. A
profession of faith is just flesh. Anybody on earth can make a profession
of faith, but only the Holy Spirit of God can draw you to Jesus
Christ. Salvation is not man's decision,
but God's decision. Blessed is the man whom God chooses
and calls us to approach unto him. And Barnard went on to say,
and I like this very much, he said, that's not shutting the
door, but showing you where it's at. That's not shutting the door,
but showing you where it's at. I'm the door, Christ said. And
Brother Henry wrote, there are two vital things the Holy Spirit
reveals to all whom he brings to faith in Christ Jesus. First,
he will reveal our need of Christ. He will reveal our need of Christ. I need thee, precious Jesus,
for I am full of sin. My soul is dark and gloomy. My
heart is dead within. I need the cleansing fountain
where I can always flee, the blood of Christ most precious,
the sinner's perfect plea. And secondly, he will reveal
that Christ is all we need. First, you see this in the parable,
do you not? of the prodigal son. He will
reveal our need of Christ, and then he will reveal that Christ
is all we need. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." Henry said, the more quickly we learn
that Christ is indeed all we need to make us righteous and
accepted before God the Father, the sooner we'll enjoy the rest,
peace, and assurance promised to his own. Is that not so? Again, the second sentence of
verse 20, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw
him. His father had compassion. He
never quit having compassion. He never quit loving that son. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, God said. Therefore, with bands of love
have I drawn This is what our Lord was teaching. And he kissed
him repeatedly. This is why this rebel came home. It was the father's doing. Listen
to this. Ezekiel chapter 16. This is God
speaking. And when I passed by you, you
who were polluted in your own blood. You who are like an aborted
infant cast out into the field to die, thrown in the garbage
dump. We hear of that, don't we? None
eye pitied thee. Nobody else saw thee. Oh, but
the Father, when you were yet a great way off, when I passed
by, I saw you polluted in your own blood. And I said, I said,
When you were in your own blood, I said, live. I said unto thee,
when you were in your own blood, live. I have caused thee. If you read this entire chapter,
at least the first 14 verses, of Ezekiel 16, you'll see that
repeated over and over and over again. God saying, I, I saw,
I pitied, I loved, I called, I covered, I robed you, I made
you what you are. God did it all. I caused thee
to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased
and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments.
Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, the
time was a time of love. And I spread my skirt over you
and covered thy nakedness, put on him the best robe. When I
swore unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the
Lord God, and thou becamest mine. And thou renown went out among
the heathen for thy beauty. Listen to this, child of God.
As a result of all that work that God Almighty did for this
deserted infant. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty. For it was perfect. Christ is
all I need. For it was perfect through my
comeliness. which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. Unto him who was able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the throne
of his glory. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. You know why this
rebel came back to the father's house? The father drew him back
to himself. Joseph Hart wrote, come ye thirsty,
come and welcome. God made that rebel thirsty,
didn't he? Made him hungry. Sent poverty
into his soul. Made him willing in the day of
his power. Come ye thirsty, come and welcome.
God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you now. Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost
and ruined by the fall. If you tarry, is this you? If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to fill your need of him, and he does that. That's the cause. That's the reason this rebel
said, I will arise. I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms,
in the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are 10,000 charms. Bruce Crabtree years ago, it's
still on free grace, the message he preached from this passage
of the prodigal. He preached a message called
the son who stayed home. The son who stayed home, the
elder brother. the self-righteous one, the Pharisee. Let's compare these two. The
younger was a rebel. The other was obedient. One serves
his father, the elder. The other disrespects his father,
dishonors him. One stays home with his father,
and the other leaves and goes into a far country. Give me what
I've got coming to me. Nobody's going to tell me what
to do. I'm tired of this. Give me my
inheritance. I'm leaving. I'm my own man. Oh, how proud. Can you see him
as he goes down the street? Man, he's got on his best clothes.
He's got a pocket full of cash. Oh, man, he's going out into
the world, and he's going to have a time. Yeah, he's going
to have a time, all right. God's going to see to it. One
was a vessel of mercy, but the other, the other brother, he
didn't need mercy. He didn't need God's mercy. Did
you hear him say anything that gave evidence that he felt like
he needed mercy? No, he didn't. Just like these
Pharisees standing on the outside of the circle looking down their
self-righteous nose, they didn't need the touch of the Great Physician. One repented. but the other one
didn't need to. One was as the Lord described,
when on that other occasion in the house of Matthew, whom our
Lord called another publican, on that occasion as well the
Pharisees said, this man eats with publicans and sinners, that's
disgusting. And our Lord said, those who
are whole don't need a physician, but those who are sick I come
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And he
said to those self-righteous Pharisees, go and learn what
that means. Because you don't have a clue
what that means. You have no need of me. You're
not lost, you don't need to be found. You're not sick, you don't
need to be healed. You're not Undone, you don't
need to be made whole. You don't need me. Go and learn
what that means. Oh, blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Blessed is that man
or woman. Eternity won't exhaust setting forth the blessedness
of that man whom God Almighty calls to approach unto His Son,
the only mediator between God and man. One was as the Lord
described, the younger son became sick. He needed the physician. The other didn't. He wasn't called. Neither did he need healing or
grace, just asking. One didn't need called to mercy.
They themselves said on another occasion, we're not blind. Who
do you think you're talking to, Louie? How dare you? Do you know
who we are? Do you have any idea? We're Abraham's
children. We can trace our roots back to
Abraham. Who do you mean we're slaves
to sin? You don't know what you're talking
about. We were never blind. The light of the world? Nonsense. You're casting out devils by
the prince of the devils. We know who our father is. And
they could never identify. They were clueless as to those
people described in this way. But, this describes the younger
son. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. that you should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. I once was lost, but now am found. I once was blind. You remember
how blind you used to be, Lester? You remember how blind you were?
You were blind to who God was. You were blind to who you were.
You were blind to your condition. You were blind to sin. You were
blind to Christ. You were blind to your need of
grace. But God Almighty called you out of that darkness that
engulfed your soul and turned the light on and revealed Christ
to you and in you. Blessed is that people whom God
chooses and called out of darkness into his marvelous light. Our Lord said to that religious
group, go and learn what that means. I'll have mercy and not
sacrifice. Go and learn. And not many people
do, do they? Not many people ever learn that
it's not the labors of my hands that can fulfill the law's demands. Not many people learn that. None
will learn it except those whom God teaches it to. Otherwise,
they'll be like Paul described, His kinsmen, according to the
flesh, these Pharisees, they'll go about trying to establish
their own righteousness because they're ignorant, they're blind,
they don't have a clue as to what the righteousness of God
requires. Therefore, they go about trying
to establish their own, and in doing so, they'll never bow,
they'll never submit to the righteousness of God which is in Jesus Christ. They'll never do it. I think
I probably told you the story many years ago. There was a lady
who lived in the neighborhood that I did, and we all called
her Granny, Granny Arthur. She wasn't my granny, but everyone
called her that. She had been sent home from the
hospital to die. I knew this lady well. I knew
her very well. And I knew she was trusting in
her own righteousness. I heard it out of her mouth time
and time again. So I went in, I called ahead,
asked if it would be okay if I come to see her. And I took
my Bible, and I went in and sat down. I said, Granny, I want
to read you something. She said, well, sure, go ahead.
And I turned to Luke 18. And I read here, and he spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous. That's exactly what she was doing,
and despised others. The parable of the Pharisee and
the publican. And I went verse by verse, almost
word by word. Because that dear deceived lady,
was in a matter of days going to go out and stand before God
Almighty. And all she had was the filthy,
stinking fig leaves of self-righteousness. Just broke my heart. And I read
this to her, the Pharisee and the Publican. And when I got done, she looked
at me and said, That Pharisee was a good man, wasn't he? That's all she heard. She identified
with the Pharisee. She stood in the shoes of the
Pharisee and said, Lord, I thank you. I'm not like other men.
I do, do, do, do, do. She didn't have a clue. She could
not identify with that poor publican standing afar off, pounding on
his breast, saying, God be merciful to me. I'm the sinner. And he went home justified. The
prodigal, the rebel, but the elder son, the Pharisee, I'm
not like other men. And she went out to face God
just that way. Just like these in Luke 15, the
Pharisees and scribes murmured, verse 2, this man receiveth sinners
and eateth with them. Thank God that's so. Thank God
that's so. He saves not the son who stayed
home, not the self-righteous, but the rebel, the prodigal.
Behold, behold, God's mercy and grace. Isn't this worth beholding? Isn't this a sight? Isn't this
contrary to all human logic and understanding? I mean, God even
told the prophet Samuel. That man had some discernment.
When he was in the house of Jesse and Jesse allowed each son to
pass before Samuel because he was there to anoint Israel's
future king. And Samuel looked at each one
and said, surely this is God's chosen. This is God's anointed.
And God said, no, it's not. No, it's wrong, Samuel. Wrong. Samuel, you look upon the outward
appearance, but God Almighty, God doesn't look that way. God
looks at the heart. The heart that's been renewed
by His mighty grace. Behold this picture. the recipient
of God's mercy and grace. God's strange choice. What a
strange choice. It was the rebel. It was the
rebel. The one who said, give me what
I deserve. I know my rights. Doesn't that sound familiar?
It was the prodigal who wasted his substance with riotous living. My soul, Larry, are you serious?
Are you serious? That's God's chosen? That's God's
chosen? Surely not him. I could believe
anyone. Look at that elder son. Look
how respectable. Look how upright. I mean, he's
not like other men. He's not like his rebel little
brother. Surely that's God's chosen. No,
no it wasn't. You see your calling, brethren.
how that not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God, but the Father, had
chosen the weak things of the world, and to despise things,
and the things that are not, to bring to naught the things
that are. Why? So that no flesh can glory
in His presence. That's exactly why. Oh, isn't
that amazing? God chose that rebel. That prodigal son had come home. Come home by God's mighty, sovereign
grace. What a blessing that is. Against
the God that ruled the sky, I fought with hand up left at high. That
sounds like that prodigal, doesn't it? I despised the mention of
his grace, too proud to seek a hiding place. Enwrapped in
thick Egyptian night and fond of darkness more than light,
madly I ran the simple race, secure without a hiding place."
That describes you. That describes me. That's exactly
what we were by nature. And that's exactly where we would
still be. We would still be in darkness. Except for God's mercy
and grace, we would still be engulfed in darkness. perhaps
clinging to a decision, something I did, except for this, but the
Father. But when the Father saw him get
a great way off, but thus the eternal counsel ran, O mighty
love, arrest that man. Glory to God's mighty reigning
sovereign grace. You know what? He won't take
no for an answer. He won't take no for an answer.
But thus the eternal counsel ran, O mighty love, arrest that
man. I felt the arrows of distress
and found I had no hiding place. That's why, that's why this prodigal
came home. But God, you remember what Paul
wrote In 2 Thessalonians, let me just read it, read just a
portion of it to you. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
Paul speaks of a time, and man, this must be describing our day,
when men would believe a lie, would deliberately turn their
back on the truth and embrace a lie. Don't tell us the truth,
tell us a lie. We'll pay you to tell it. We'll
pay you well. Don't tell us we're undone. Don't
tell us we're lost. Don't tell us we're a sinner.
Tell us we're all good men. Believe a lie and be damned.
And Paul said for this cause, this deliberate, deliberate refusal
to believe God, not unjustly but justly, for this cause God
shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie,
let them go their way. that they all might be damned
who believe not the truth, who had pleasure in unrighteousness.
And such were some of you. I declare, when we see that being
fulfilled every day all around us, any sinner who's been called
by God's sovereign grace or left his heart and voice to God in
praise, when he comes to this verse and reads, but we are bound, we are bound to give thanks to
God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God didn't leave you in that mess. He didn't allow you to
do that. Because God had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my
soul, really? Oh gifts of gifts, oh grace of
faith, my God, how can it be that thou who has discerning
love should give that gift to me? Oh grace, in two unlikeliest
hearts, it is thy boast to come. the glory of thy light to find
in darkest spots of home. Such is God's strange choice. Brother Scott Richardson said,
you know why this prodigal son came back to the father's house?
You know why this rebel came back to the father's house? Because
he was the father's son. He was the father's son. And
that's exactly what our Lord said. He said to the Pharisees,
the religious folk, on another occasion, you believe not because
you're not my sheep. My sheep will hear my voice.
And they'll follow me. And I'll give them eternal life.
And they'll never perish. And nobody will pluck them out
of my hand. Again, he said, when they said, tell us, tell us,
and we'll believe. He said, I've told you, and you
believe not. But I say unto you that ye also have seen me and
believed not. But he said, All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast
out. Yes, that's why he came back
to the Father's house. Sovereign grace did just exactly
what David told his servant to do. When he asked after the death
of Saul, are there any left of the house of Saul? that I might
show mercy to them for Jonathan's sake, Saul's son, David's beloved
friend. And they said, yeah, there's
that Mephibosheth, that cripple. You remember what David said,
don't you? Aren't you glad God Almighty issued a proclamation
from the throne that said the same thing concerning you? Go
fetch him. Go fetch him. Bring him to my
house. And Mephibosheth, we're told,
ate at the king's table all the rest of his life. What mighty,
mighty sovereign grace that fetches sinners to God the Father, that
causes us to approach unto him. Our Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father who has sent me draw him. Draw him, bring him. Behold how
he draws them. He brings them back to the father's
house. You remember what our Lord said
in John 14? He said, in my father's house,
he told the disciples that night before going to the garden, he
said, in my father's house are many mansions. You know why? Because the father has many children.
He needs many mansions. He needs a big house. because
it pleased God in bringing many sons to glory, many sons to glory,
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. And oh, the wonder of His grace,
the majesty of His grace, oh, how He gathers them, how He gathers
them, the most unlikely, the most fallen, the biggest prodigals. Oh, how God's mighty arm of omnipotent
grace gathers them. No man can come except my Father
draw them, gather them. And so he does. Look at verse
14 here in Luke 15. We read concerning this prodigal,
when he'd spent all that he had there arose a great famine in
the land and he began to be in want. He'd spent all that he had When he was broke, then God sent
the famine. If God had sent the famine before
that, he would have been alright. But after he was broke, then
God sent that famine. Then he began to be in want.
You see, God was gathering him. God arranged all that. God sent
the famine. God got this prodigal's attention. And he began to be in want. Now
he began to feel in the deep recesses of his heart, in his
soul, he began to feel his need. Can you picture him now? Oh,
what a different picture this is than when he left his father's
house and he starts back down the road home again. He's not
proud anymore. My, so what's he got to be proud
of? He just crawled out of a pigsty. He stinks. He's not self-sufficient
anymore. He's been brought down. Now he's
a beggar with nothing to pay. What a different picture. Coming
down that road, when he came to himself, we read in verse
17, I remember hearing Brother Moose Parks preach concerning
His son, he used D parks, his son as an illustration. He said,
all my life I've prayed for my children, my son, my daughter.
It seemed to no avail. One night I was sleeping and
my phone rang. And I picked it up and it was
my son, that rebel, that prodigal, and he said, Daddy, just crying,
Daddy, I'm lost. I'm lost. And Moose said, oh,
I rejoiced. He said, I've been waiting to
hear them words out of his mouth all my life, all the wonder of
God's mighty arm of grace, how he gathers them. Will we not
look back from the portals of heaven, even in glory, with ever
increasing wonder at how he gathered them? Go home, our Lord said
to the demoniac. Go home to thy friends and tell
them what great things the Lord has done for thee. He's had compassion
on thee. There's no story so wonderful,
no conversion so wonderful as your own. This rebel said, my
father has bread enough. His servants even has bread enough
and to spare. The Lord said, I'm the bread
of life. The bread of life. Why don't
you, the religious folk again said in John 6, Moses gave us
bread to eat and to witness our people, our forefathers. Why
don't you do that? You perform a miracle like that, we'll believe
you. Do what Moses did. And Christ said, that was a picture of me. That
manna, I'm the bread of life that came down from heaven. If
a man eats of this bread, He'll never die. He'll never hunger. I'm that bread. And he's enough
in despair. He's full of grace and truth.
I think that's enough for me. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. I think that's enough for me.
God has deposited all the riches of his grace in his son. And
I think that's enough for me. I think he's got bread enough
and to spare. Several years ago, I had preached
for some folks near Cincinnati, Ohio. And they met in the basement
of a bank. They had a door just independent
from the bank that took you to the basement, but it was in the
same building. And one time I was there and I said, the bank's
just right above us. They said, yeah. Right where
all the money is, they said, yeah. I said, I reckon there
could be millions up there. They said, yeah. But you know
what? Not one penny of it was mine.
It was right over my head, but I couldn't lay hands on none
of it. It wasn't mine. Oh, but with Jesus Christ, but with Jesus Christ, I'm an
heir of God. I'm a joint heir. with my big
brother. All that he has is mine. All that he's earned is mine. Everything that he's merited
by his obedience even unto death is mine. He himself is mine. Oh yes, I think that's bread
enough and despair. Mr. Spurgeon used to use an illustration
showing the need of faith in Christ, showing that we're saved
by faith, by grace, and that's not around. He told the story
about a poor huckster named Jack who would go through the villages
selling his goods. And one day while he was doing
that, he heard some women singing this little chorus. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all." And Jack thought
to himself, hmm, that just suits me. And that little course just
worked its way down into his heart. And God Almighty called
him out of darkness into his marvelous light. And after some
time he went to speak to a pastor of a church. He wanted to publicly
confess his faith in Christ. And the pastor said, well, what
can you say for yourself? And Jack said, not much, not
much, just this. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. And the pastor said,
well, you've got to tell me more than that. And Jack said, well, I can't,
for that's all I know. That's my confession of faith.
Well, the pastor said, I can't refuse your church fellowship,
but you'll have to come before the elders and the deacons. You're
going to have to be examined by them. And at the point of
time, poor Jack the Huckster met with the elders and the deacons,
the state his experience, and he said, I'm a poor sinner, nothing
at all. And Jesus Christ is my all in all. And one of the men
said, is that all you have to say? And Jack said, yeah, that's
all. The pastor said, you may ask
him some questions if you wish. So another man spoke up and said,
Brother Jack, do you have many doubts and fears? And Jack said,
no. I can never doubt that I'm a
poor sinner and nothing at all, for I know that I am. And I can
never doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all, for I know
that he is. How can I doubt that? And another man said, but sometimes
I lose my evidence and my graces, and then I get very sad. And
Jack said, I can never lose anything, for in the first place, I'm a
poor sinner and don't have anything. And no one can rob me if I am
nothing. And in the second place, Jesus
Christ is all in all, and who can rob him? He's in heaven. I never get richer or poorer,
for I am always nothing, but I always have everything. But,
my dear brother Jack, another man said, don't you sometimes
doubt whether you're a child of God? Well, he said, I don't
quite understand your question. But I can tell you that I never
doubt that I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, and that
Jesus Christ is my all in all. They were all astonished at Jack's
simple, constant composure. They couldn't get him to swerve
from that. And when they asked him if he ever doubted, he just
said, I cannot doubt that I'm a poor sinner and nothing at
all, for I know and feel it every day. And why should I doubt that
Jesus Christ is my all in all, for he says that he is. That was all his experience,
and you couldn't shake him out of it. And all the rest of his
days, he was known as Happy Jack. Happy Jack. When this prodigal
came home, we'll wrap this up. Verse 21, the son said to the
father, I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son, but the father, but the father.
But the father went up on that roof day after day looking down
that road for his son to come home. But the father said, enough
of that. Enough of that. Bring forth the
best road. Put that ring of reconciliation
back on his finger. Bring forth the best road. and
put it on him. Put on the shoes, his feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel. Can you picture him now? Can
you just see that prodigal son now? No more stink from the pigsty. He's dressed in the sweet perfume
of heaven's own glory. He's dressed in that robe that
God Almighty says, oh, what a sweet Savior. He's dressed in the sweet,
perfect robe of Christ's own righteousness. And now he can
say, I'm a child of the King. No, I can say that too. I'm a child
of the King. A child of the King with Jesus
my Savior, John. I'm a child of the King. If there's joy in heaven among
the angels over one sinner that repented, that's what our Lord
said. It's meat. It's the right thing
to do that we make merry. What will be the hour of their
glorification? If God the Father, even on earth,
has joy in seeing his returning prodigal, what will it be when
he welcomes him home, his heavenly home forever? Zephaniah tells
us what it will be. God says he will rejoice over
him with joy. He will rest in his love. He
will rejoice over him with singing. Mr. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
But glorious it was to see how the open region was filled with
horses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers, with singers and
players on strained instruments to welcome the pilgrims as they
went up and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of the
city. Soon I shall pass this veil of
death and in his arms shall lose my breath, yet then my happy
soul shall tell My Jesus has done all things well. And when
to that bright world I rise, to join the anthems in the skies,
among the rest this note shall swell. My Jesus has done all
things well. Everything for this prodigal. Glory to his name. God bless
you.