Thank you, Pastor. I want to thank you ladies for
all the good foods you've been preparing. Brother Charlie said
that he's going to try to cut down on the food. He's not been
very successful. I too want to recognize Brother
Mahan. I want to tell this, and Sister
Mahan will appreciate this. Just a few years ago, Brother
Mahan came to Newcastle, where I pastored and preached for us.
And he was staying in a motel there, and my wife and I went
down to pick him up. And we pulled up, and Brother
Henry was out in the parking lot walking, getting some exercise. And I told my wife, I said, Boy,
when I get in my seventies, I hope I look that good. And you know
what she said? She said, I wish you looked that
good now. I was privileged the other night
to be in the service of Brother Henry. And you know, I'm not
intimidated at all preaching to Brother Mayhill, because he
loves the gospel. And he made the statement after
Brother Donnie and I had preached, so kind and gracious. But he said, you know, I love
the gospel more now than I ever have. I love to share it now
more than I ever have. In Luke chapter 15, if you would
turn there with me this morning, Luke chapter 15, I think probably
most of us this morning are familiar With this parable, our Lord Jesus
spake in this chapter concerning the lost sheep, the
coin that was lost, and the son that was lost, the prodigal son.
And I love the way this chapter begins. It has been commented
on and quoted so many times, and this is what inspired our
Lord This is the whole reason for this problem. He was receiving
these publicans and sinners. They had gathered and was coming
there and sitting and listening to him, and were told there in
verse 2, the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this is a wonderful
statement, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Probably the one that I like
with this is found also in Luke where they accused him of the
same thing when he saved Zacchaeus. They said he's gone home to be
a guest. He not only receives sinners
and eats with them, he goes home with them. He's their guest.
He's gone home to be guest with a man that is a sinner. That's
just two wonderful statements. And what they used to reproach
him brings so much joy to our hearts. He's going to be guest
with a man. He receives us sinners. I'm so
thankful that he does. But the Lord began, because they
made this statement, he begins here and he preaches to them
this parable we're all so familiar with. It's been described as
one parable, and that's what it is, and it has three sides.
And it begins with a shepherd, all about the shepherd. The first
side of this parable is about a man. He was a shepherd that
had sheep, and he lost one sheep. And he left all the rest in the
wilderness, and he went to find that one sheep. And he never
quit searching until he found it. It wasn't ill he happens
to find it. But he searched until he found
it. All that's said about the sheep
in the first part of this parable is lost. It's a lost sheep. It's
all about the shepherd finding that sheep. And when he finds
the sheep, he lays it up on his shoulders, and he takes it home
and calls all of his neighbors together and says, Rejoice with
me. I found my sheep, which was lost.
Now, we don't establish doctrine by parables. I know that. But
the Lord leaves the parable, just for a minute, here in verse
7, and he gives us a doctrine. In the parable, he said the shepherds
called all of his neighbors together and they rejoiced. Now in verse
7, he tells us this is a reality. Look what he says, I say unto
you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, more than over nine in nine just persons which need
no repentance. The first part of this parable,
the shepherd finding his sheep that was lost. And then the second
part of this parable is found beginning in verse 8. We're told
about this woman, and some say this is the Holy Spirit, and
some say this is the Church, but I like to think of it being
the Holy Spirit working through the Church. Include both of them. But this is amazing how the Lord
tells us this year, and look at this. This woman had ten pieces
of silver, and she lost one of them, and she lit a candle. She lost one piece, does not
light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until
she finds it. She lit a candle. Now this is
amazing. If we're not careful, we'll misread
this. Your faith, you know, and the way some people preach this
to us, that the candle was lit so the coin could see where it
was. But the candle wasn't lit for
the coin, the candle was lit for the woman. The woman needed
a light to shine to find the coin. You know what that light
is. We know, don't we? God that commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, he hath shined in our hearts
We're the one that needs the light in our hearts, the light
of the glorious gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. That's the way we find God's
lost sheep. That's the way we find the coin.
See, the coin is laying right where it fell. We have a lost
sheep. Nothing was said of it even seeking.
The shepherd went and found it. Now we have a cold, lifeless,
dead coin that fell, and it never moved an inch. And here came
this woman with this light, and she found the coin. What do we
find the Lord's sheep with? Only one way to find the Lord's
sheep, and that's to preach the gospel to them. We have nothing
else to find them with. If they had X's and O's on them,
and you found a sheep that was lost, if you didn't have the
gospel, how would you bring him home? God has saved us and called us
with a holy covenant, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
the Lord before the world began, but is now made manifest. by the appearing of our Savior,
who hath brought life and immortality to light." Where? Through the
gospel. Through the gospel. And there,
one of the Lord's elect lays. He's one of the Lord's, but he's
just dead. He's lifeless. And here the church
is, Brother May, and here the preacher is, and he's seeking
to find that elect. And what's he searching for? And now he changes, and he goes
in the third portion of this parable, and he changes. Our Master changes. Our Master's
truly the Prince of Preachers. He knows how to handle a parable,
doesn't he? You know, here we see the sheep, and nothing said
of the sheep, but he was just a dumb, lost animal. What was
he thinking while the shepherd was seeking him? We're not told.
A sheep don't think, do they? They just act according to their
nature, instinct. And here we have this dead coin.
What was it thinking? What was it going through when
the woman found it and searched it out? We don't know. But now,
here, the Master is going to change all of that. And He's
going to tell us now. He's going to look at it from
a different perspective. You'll know what the Lord's elect
are before He finds them. Before the shepherd goes and
finds them, you'll know what they think and how they are.
Before the gospel searches them out and regenerates them and
gives them faith, do you know what they're like? Well, the
Lord tells of you. Rebellious, self-centered, greedy, hateful,
self-willed. The father had two sons, and
the youngest said, Give me that which is mine. He wasn't supposed
to get anything the way I understand it until his dad was dead. If
he had an inheritance, it was only after his dad. Give it to
me now. It's mine. And I want it right now. That's terrible, ain't it? And
I tell you, as soon as he got it, not many days, he said, I'm
out of here. You're not going to rule over
me anymore. And I tell you, he didn't go into the next town.
When he left home, he never thought about coming back. I'm out of
here and I'm going as far away from you as I can get. He went
into a far country. And as soon as he got down there,
he wasted everything he had. You will know what God's elect
are when they're dead in sin. They're just wasting away. Fit
for nothing. Feeding hogs. Stinking rebellious. wasting away. And suddenly, when
he was down there in the hog pen, the Scripture says, and
I love this, you see someone put out, you know, for surgery,
and they go into the recovery room, they said, has he come
to yet? Has he come to yet? The Scripture
said here, when he came to, he came to. He came to his cell. And he said, I perished down
here. I wonder what made him come to that understanding. Don't
forget the first part of this prayer. You know why he come
to understand that? The shepherd was seeking the
sheep. This woman had a candle out, and he came to himself,
Brother Charlie. That's why he came to himself.
The shepherd had found him. The lion had reached him. I pray,
she said, for hunger. Well, my father's servants are
better off than I am. I'll tell you what I'm going
to do, he said. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. be the
day, blessed be God, when he finds one of his own." And they
said, I'll perish down here. I'm going home. I'm going home. And you know the first thing he said,
and this is an issue. First thing I'm going to say,
I've sinned against heaven. I've sinned against heaven. If
you'll just let me sleep out in the bunkhouse with a servant,
I'll be satisfied. I'll be satisfied. And he headed
home. His father saw him a long way off. And we know who this
Father is, don't we? We know who the Lord Jesus Christ,
who knows the Father, who was with the Father from before the
world was, from all eternity, we know who He meant to represent
to us by this Father. It was His Father. And look how
He represents His Father to us. I've never heard of a king running,
have you? Martin Luther said, Nobleman don't run. Rich man
don't run. But here's a father running. And why is he running? To meet
his son. And he falls up on his neck.
And you know, as far as I know, he hasn't stopped on the way
to take a bath. He's just as filthy when he got
home as he was when he left the hog pen. I imagine he was tempted
to, knowing what we are. I better clean up before I go
to my dad's house. There's a nice suit hanging on
the clothesline. Boy, I could steal it and put
it on and look pretty good. There's a good set of boots laying
on the porch over there. I could slip them on. There's
a nice white stag in over there. Boy, I could get him out of the
pasture. I could go home looking pretty good. You may have thought
of that, but that's not what he did. He is in need of mercy. Grace, pity, forgiveness. What would he have looked like?
What would his father have said to him if he had come home washed
up with a big suit riding on a big five horse? Son, you don't
need anything. You're glad you're doing well.
Adios! Adios! Hope everything's well down at
the hog pen when you get back. You don't need anything from
me. No, he came and the father fell on his neck. and kissed
him, and kissed him, and kissed him. Bring here the ring and
put on his hand. Bring the best robe and put on
him. Bring shoes and put on his feet. And kill the calf and besiege
it. And oh, they began to rejoice.
So here we have the shepherd rejoicing because he found his
sheep. We have the woman rejoicing because she found the coin. And now we have the one found
rejoicing. Everybody's rejoicing. Everybody's
so happy. Heaven's rejoicing, and the church
is rejoicing. The one that's found rejoicing.
And that's where I want to pick up my text. Right there. Luke
chapter 15, and look here in verse 25. This is what I want
to preach to you this morning. The son who stayed home. That's
what I want to look at. Verse 25 of Luke chapter 15. Now his elder son was in the
field, and he came and drew nigh to the house, and 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 a fatted calf, because
he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry. and would not go in, and therefore
came his father out and entreated him, and he answered and said
to his father, Lo, these many years have I served thee, neither
transgressed I at any time thy commandments, and yet thou never
gavest me a kid that I might make married with my friend.
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatty calf.
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that
I have is thine. It was me that we should make
merry, and be glad. For this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again. He was lost, and is found." My
subject this morning will be self-righteousness, exposing
self-righteousness. Most of it will be found here
in verse 29. Here's my first point concerning
self-righteousness. Look at this. It always keeps
an account. Self-righteousness always keeps
an account. See what he said? These many
years have I served thee. And he probably could have told
him exactly how many years. how many fields he had worked,
how many cattle he had fed out, how much money he had brought
into the family. These many years have I served
thee. Self-righteousness always has
to keep an account of what it's done. That's where it gets its
assurance from. That's where its confidence is
at. We've done many wonderful works
in your name. I bet you if you'd have had some
time to spend with them, they could have told you just how
many. They could have told you just how much money they'd give
to the church, how many times they'd visit the hospital, how
many times they'd read the Bible through. Many wonderful works. I fast twice in a week. Twice
in a week. You keep in count? Yes. I pay
tithes of all that I possess. I'm keeping a count. I'm keeping
a count. Is that the way self-righteousness
is? And I'll tell you something about this self-righteous attitude
within people that depend upon their own righteousness. If at
any time they think about eternity or their sins or the holiness
of God, one of the first things they have to do is get out this
little account book and say, Would you look at this? I remember
doing this. I remember doing that. And there's
where their confidence is restored. Self-righteousness has to keep
that account. And I tell you, it isn't just
the self-righteous that's afflicted with this. You and I are afflicted
with it, too. You ever go to the Lord in prayer, and you have this idea, did I
pray this morning? Did I have a good prayer this
morning? Or when you've sinned, instead of going to the Lord
and confessing it like He tells us to do because we have an advocate
between us and the Father, you're going to wait for your conscience
to soothe just a little bit. Don't we suffer from this self-righteousness? The only difference, dear brothers
and sisters, in a true believer, he sees it in himself. He abhors
himself because of it. And he sees that, oh, if I'm
not saved by righteousness that's higher than I am, I'm going to
perish. I'm going to perish. But, oh,
the self-righteous. The self-righteous. He trusts him. He takes confidence
in him. He keeps account. I told my dad, not too long before
he died, I talked to him for thirty years, probably. thirty
years, about having, we must have, the righteousness of someone
else. And it seemed like one day, probably
two years before he died, it seemed like a light just went
on in his head. I talked to him for years about this. Suddenly
he said, he said, who is this righteousness that you're talking
about? I said, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to have
his righteousness to stand before God in. He said, how do I get
that righteousness? I said, you've got to believe
in Christ for it. Abraham believed God. It's the righteousness of
faith. He said, I believe in Christ.
I said, there's one more thing. You've got to count your own
righteousness as done. You know what he told me? This
is what my dad told me. And this is where he died. He
said, oh, I'd be scared to death. to stand before God without something
of my own. You think self-righteousness
is not dangerous? He died that way. He looked at
me just a few hours before he died, scared to death, and he
said, Oh Bruce, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? See, we can boast when we're
healthy. We can put confidence in what
we're doing when we're healthy. But let us come down to face
death. Let us come down to face eternity and the judgment to
come. I tell you, he'll be different
then. He'll be different then. There's men like my poor dad
that cannot come wholly, wholly lost to be saved. Wholly dependent on the merits
and worth of someone else. Filthy to be washed. Naked to be clothed. Depraved
to be pitied. I don't want nobody's pity. I
tell you, I want God's pity. Oh, God, pity me. Pity me. Pity Bruce Crabtree. I tell you,
sometimes when I ask the Lord to pity me, I go into all kinds
of details. Lord, pity Bruce Crabtree. Well,
what if there's another Bruce Crabtree? And I give him my address,
and I tell him why he shouldn't pity me. Lord, look at me, I'm
dust. And look at you, your tender
father. Pity me, oh, pity me. Self-righteousness can't be done.
No, self-righteousness keeps an account all these years. All these years. Served you many
years. Something else here in verse
29, secondly, about self-righteousness. Look at this. It denies its sin. It denies its sin. Lord, these
many years do I serve Thee, neither transgressed I at any time. At any time? Never transgressed? I've done everything You told
me to do continually, perfectly, never transgressed at any time? Something like that rich young
ruler doesn't. All these things have I kept from my youth. I've read this verse over to
you in verse 7. The Lord talked about 99 just people who need no repentance.
Is there anyone like that here this morning? Every day goes by, don't you
find yourself confessing your sins? Don't you find sin mixed
with everything that you do? Don't you go cry, no wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? If a man says he has not sinned,
he makes God a liar. If a man says he has not sinned
against God, if a man says he has not sinned against the law
of God and the Son of God and against light, He makes God a
liar. You know, this whole world is
involved in this business of self-righteousness. That's the
problem with the whole world. If a man knows in his heart of
hearts he believes that he sinned against a holy God, he really
believes that, I tell you, he's going to find some blood to wash
him. He's going to find a Savior to save him from his sin. The
whole problem with this world is they do not believe that they
sinned against God. It ain't just the Pharisees and
these fundamental churches. It's this heartless world, this
self-righteous world that's fell into this lie. Well, I ain't
perfect. Our problem's worse than that,
my dear friends. If we sinned against a holy God
that deserves an infinite punishment immediately, and when a man comes
to see that, he's going to seek a Savior. That is what we are
laboring to tell our friends, our loved ones, our co-workers. You sinned against God. God's
holy, and He's going to punish sin. That's what Calvary teaches
us. But no, I ain't sinned. I ain't sinned. You know those
churches build upon this whole idea that you bring in the good,
you bring in the moral and the respectable. They attract people
like that. These mega-churches and their
family centers. You talk about sin and the need
of repentance and the holiness of God, they don't know anything
about that. You talk about depravity, we
don't have any of that around here. I read Robert Shuler. made a quote, he said, one of
the greatest harms done to evangelism in our time are these preachers
going around the country trying to convince men that they're
sinners. A man ought to tell what he knows.
We always say that, don't we? He's just telling what he knows.
He's preaching what he knows himself. But that's our problem,
you see. They attract people like that.
This elder brother here in verse 25 and verse 26, he had no idea
what was going on, did he? He had no idea what was going
on. He said that. He heard music and dancing and
he called for the sermon. He said, what does these things
mean? Well, no wonder you can't relate
to what this music and dancing is about. If you have no sin,
no wonder you have no idea what's going on. A sinner has come to
the Savior. Sins have been forgiven. He's
been received safe and sound. He that was dead is alive again. Oh, but he had no idea what was
going on, did he? Self-righteous people don't understand
the sweet music of sins forgiven. No wonder he didn't. My soul
doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Savior. He that is mighty has done for
me great things. I understand that language. But
the self-righteous don't. Oh, they say, let's get on to
something bigger and better. I never found it. If I find something
bigger and better, I'll get on to it. I ain't never found anything
bigger and better than this, have you? Let's talk about the
gifts. I can't get over the giver. Let's
talk about the gifts of the Spirit. I can't get over the gift of
the Spirit. Then he's been sent forth into
my heart crying, Father, Father, I have never transgressed at
any time. Well, no wonder you don't understand.
No wonder. No wonder. Thirdly, also here
in verse 29, look at this, self-righteousness always makes God a debtor and
a cheapskate at the boot. Look what he says here in verse
29, Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandments, and
yet thou never gavest me a kid. You never even gave me a kid.
You should have. Because I earned it. I deserved
it, too. I've worked for you all these
years, and I've got the blisters on my hands to prove it. I've
come in from the field, and my back has ached so bad, I had
to drag into the house to take my bath. You ain't given me what you should
have given me. And everything you've given me,
I deserve and more. That's what self-righteousness
does. It makes God a debtor, and makes Him a cheapskate at
that. You know, everybody thinks this.
Everybody thinks this. And you'll think it too, dear
soul, until the Lord scripts you, and you cast contempt upon
your pride. Everybody thinks this. Here's
what the average church member this morning is trusting in,
and the judgment's going to tell us. Open this door to us. Why should I open this door?
This is my Father's house. This is my Kingdom. What makes
you think I should let you in here? Because we prophesied in
Your Name. You owe us. We've done many wonderful
works in Your Name. You owe us. You owe us. I just wonder if you and I really
realize the self-righteous attitude that's behind this statement
that we hear so much today. God owes you one chance. Don't you see that here in this?
God owes you one chance. Well then, if you take advantage
of that first chance, He's just paying you what He owes you. That was an old dying preacher,
and Brother Mann may be able to tell us who he was. Somewhere
over in England. Preached the gospel for many,
many years. One of his friends came to him, and the old preacher
looked up at him. His friend said, Dear Brother,
you're going to receive your reward. The old man said, I'm going to
receive mercy. God don't owe me nothing. I'm
looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll cast
contempt upon everything that stands in opposition to Him. Won't you? And fourthly is this, and quickly. Something else here about self-righteousness,
and it's this. It's nothing but mere hypocrisy
clothed in rags of human morality. Self-righteousness is nothing
but hypocrisy, and it clothes itself in the rags of human morality. Listen, self-righteousness is
a grave full of dead men's bones. It's just hid beneath a painted
headstone. Self-righteousness is a reservoir
of sewer hid behind a whited wall. That's all it is. Here's what we find here. Look
here in verse 29. Look at this. This young man
finally reveals himself. He reveals what was in his heart.
Look in verse 29. The last portion of it. Yet thou
never gavest me a kid that I might party and make merry with my
friends. Uh-oh, just told on himself,
didn't he? He wanted to do and was doing
in his heart all along what the younger brother was doing. He
was just hiding it. I wanted to go party, and I was
doing it in my heart. I wanted to have a good time,
and I was doing it in my heart. Tell what the Master told these
Pharisees and scribes. You draw nigh to me with your
mouth. You honor me with your lips,
but your heart is as far from me as those hearts and those
open and profane centers. That's all self-righteousness
is. It's hypocrisy clothed in these rags of morality. You see
these freewheelers backslide sometimes. And I tell you, when
you see one of them backslide, you better get out of his way. They've kept this lust And this
greed and this burning desire to live as the flesh wants to
live all these years, and they've got it bottled up inside like
a volcano ready to explode. And boys, when they leave the
church, they go after their sins like a hog after a slob now.
I've seen them do it, and you have too. You take an old hog
out of the hog pen, and you take her and you tie her up and wash
her, put a nice pink ribbon around her fat neck, spray her with
white shoulders, and she looks good, she smells good, but if
she can break that rope, you know where she's going? She'll
run over you to get back to that mud hole. Because it's in her
heart! It's in her heart! And people
said in the church, among God's people, and they honor the Lord
Jesus with their lips, and they look like the saints of God,
but in their hearts. in their hearts, they cannot
cease from sin. And fifthly, and lastly, is this. Self-righteousness is a hateful,
vindictive, unforgiving, judgmental attitude. Everybody was so happy here.
Everybody was rejoicing. Everybody was. Even the servants
were rejoicing. There's only one guy that was
angry. Only one guy that was mad. Are you mad this morning? You're
angry in your heart. Angry at the church. Angry at
the preacher. Angry at God. It could be your self-righteousness.
Everybody was happy but just one man. And look at him here
again. Look at him here in verse 27.
In verse 28, here's what he did. When they said, your father has
received him safe and sound. Look how he dealt with his father.
He was angry. And he would not go in. His father
came out and treated him and said, son, come in. He said,
I am not going in there. I won't be a party to this. I
want nothing to do with this. He was angry with his father.
Never addressed him as father. Never addressed his brother as
his brother. This thy son. I wonder if he
ever heard that commandment, thou shalt honor thy father. And his brother? Look here in
verse 30, look at this again. We see something here that we
didn't know before. As soon as this thy son was come, which
hath devoured thy living with harlots. I didn't know that before, did
you? The Father may well know that, the servants may know it,
but nobody will say anything about it. All we're told is that
he wasted his substance to provide his living. But here, this older
son, boy, he exposed that already. With hearts. With hearts. He's been laying with hearts.
Ain't that the way self-righteousness is? Love covers a multitude of
sins. The self-righteousness will keep
on digging and digging and digging until it's exposed every moat
and every splinter there is. A fellow called me one day. He
said, did you hear about that old preacher years ago? He's
dead now. Did you hear about him? He fell
into sin. Did you know that? Not until you told me. And I
wondered why he did. Self-righteousness disexposes
everything. It can't hide anything. Angry,
angry. Self-righteousness is a sick,
sad heart. Just don't know it. Just don't
know it. Two or three things in closing
right there. Self-righteousness will damn a man as well as open
and propane sink. Self-righteousness is just as
sinful and just as damnable as fornication, as drunkenness,
as defrauding and every other open and profane sin. Open and profane sin, Brother
Spurgeon said, has slain its thousands. Self-righteousness
its tens of thousands. Brother Mahan quoted Spurgeon
one time. The man said, Brother Spurgeon,
is it not our badness that keeps us from Christ? He said, no,
sir. It's our goodness. The publicans and the harlots,
they came to Christ. The Pharisees and the scribes
wouldn't. Self-righteousness will keep
you from Christ, just like drunkenness will. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked and deceives a man, and this
is the chief area that it deceives a man in. Self-righteousness. Every man will declare his own
goodness. Brothers and sisters, you and
I must judge ourselves in the light of God's Word. We must reach the same opinion
and conclusion of ourselves that God does. Honest men don't go
to hell. Self-righteousness is not honest.
God cannot abide to see us standing before Him with any confidence
in our flesh. The sweetest incense that flesh
can produce is a stench in His holy nostrils. Every time you and I come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, we should come as though we're coming for
the first time. We're just as sinful now in and
of ourselves as we were the first time we came. Bring nothing with
you. Don't bring your prayers. Don't
bring your preaching. Don't bring your Bible reading.
Don't bring your visiting. Don't bring your frames of mind.
Come filthy. Come vile. Take a rope in your
hand and put it around your neck and say, Lord Jesus, I come to
you this morning worthy to be damned. And if I had my way,
I would be. And I come to you filthy, empty. wretched, but I come to you with
this understanding that there is more merit in you, more worth
in you, more love in you, more goodness in you to save me than
there is sin in me to damn me. And I cast myself upon you again,
and tomorrow I'm going to do the same thing. And I'm going
to live the rest of my days killing all I am and all I ever done,
as dung, dung, scraps, filthy rags, and said, Christ alone,
give me Christ alone, Christ alone.