Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm speaking from Luke chapter
15 this morning, and I'm asking this question, what does repentance
look like? You've no doubt heard from the
preacher, repent. and perhaps you've wondered what
it means to repent. I believe God answers that question
in this parable he gives. Now Luke chapter 15 has three
parables and they all go together. The parable of the lost son,
the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost Now,
in the first two parables, the parable of the lost sheep and
the lost coin, the Lord ends with this statement, there's
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Now, when we
read the parable of the sheep, we don't read anywhere of the
sheep repenting, but the shepherd going after the sheep. This is
the work of the Son in salvation. And in the parable of the lost
coin, the lost coin certainly couldn't repent. He was lost,
dead, lifeless in the dirt. And the woman came and found
him. This was the work of God the
Holy Spirit in giving a dead sinner life. But in both of these
parables, the Lord ends with this statement with regarding
joy in heaven over the one sinner that repented. And then in the
parable of the lost son, we don't read of the word repentance,
but we find what repentance truly is with regard to this lost son. Now, in verse 20, 35 of Luke chapter 14, we read these
words, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Would to God that
you and I would have ears to hear this message. We then read, then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. Who had ears to hear? the publicans
and the sinners. You know, you can only hear the
gospel, and I can only hear the gospel as a sinner. I either
hear the gospel as a judge and a critic, or I hear the gospel
as a sinner. And I love the way then drew
near all the publicans and sinners to hear him. They were the ones
who were given hearing ears. And they felt a level of comfort
coming into the presence of Christ without being threatened and
judged. They drew near to hear what he
had to say. And we read in verse two, and
the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners. and eateth with them." Now, they
were upset with the Lord for receiving sinners and eating
with them. They were saying, he's promoting
immorality. He's saying sin is okay. He's
putting his stamp of approval on these people. This is wrong. Verse three, and he spake this
parable unto them. He spake this parable unto the
Pharisees and he spoke this parable to the publicans and sinners. Now these are the two representative
groups. You and I are in one of these
two groups. We're in the group of the Pharisees,
the separated ones, the religious ones who believe that there was
something they did that separated from them them from other men,
like the Pharisee in the temple, God, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are. Or we are a sinner, a publican,
someone who has nothing to bring to the table to recommend me
to God. Now he spake this parable unto
them. And he gives three parables,
the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin,
and the parable of the lost son. And they all go together depicting
the work of the father in salvation in the lost son, the spirit in
salvation and the lost coin and the son in salvation in the lost
sheep and the shepherd going after the sheep. Verse four,
he says, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if you lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until he found it. And when he
hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors saying unto them, rejoice with
me for I have found my sheep, which was lost. You know, it's
interesting, after each of these three parables, there's a party.
There's a time of rejoicing and celebration. And then the Lord
concludes this parable with these words, I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. More than over 99 just persons. which need no repentance. And then he goes to the next
parable. Verse eight, either what woman
having 10 pieces of silver, this was her wedding dowry. If she
lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house
and seek diligently till she find it. This is what the Holy
Spirit does when he goes after the lost, God's elect in deadness
and inability. And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with
me, for I have found the peace which I had lost. Likewise, I
say unto you, there's joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth. Now, it's my prayer that I might
be that one sinner that repenteth, and that you might be that one
sinner that repenteth. Now, somebody says, well, what
is repentance? What does it mean to be the sinner
that repenteth? Well, the lost son demonstrates
to us what true repentance is. And let me say at the outset
of giving the parable our Lord gives, the father's the story,
the star of this story, not the son. Now look in verse 11. And he said a certain man had
two sons. And as you go on reading, you
find there was the elder son that was the good boy. the one
that was out working, the one who got upset at the father's
reception of the wayward son, and there was the younger son. And these two men in this parable,
as the scripture so often does, are the two representative men. You and I are either the younger
son or the elder son. Now let's read this description
of this younger son. And the younger of them said
to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth
to me. This young man had a strong sense
of entitlement. He sounds like a spoiled brat
to me. Give me my inheritance right
now. I want you to die, but I can't
wait for that. So I want my inheritance now
and I'm out the door. This man had such a sense of
entitlement, and he had such low views of his father. He wanted
away from his father. Give me my inheritance, and I'm
out the door. No doubt, he was critical of
his father. There were things about his father
that he didn't like, and he wanted away from his father. You've probably heard that story.
Maybe you've experienced it yourself. And he divided unto them his
living. It's amazing that the father
did this, but he did it. He gave this young man his inheritance. Verse 13, and not many days after,
the younger son gathered all together and took his journey
into a far country. I could be describing you. You've
taken your journey into a far country. And there wasted his
substance with riotous living. Now how long did it take for
that to take place? I don't know, maybe a few weeks,
maybe a few months, maybe several years. But all of his inheritance
he wasted with riotous living. Now that word riotous comes from
the word which means unsavedness. This man was living in a state
of unsavedness. Now that can take so many different
forms. It might be religious. It might
be the Pharisee. It might be someone given over
to wine, women, and song, but whatever it is, he was living
in a state of unsavedness. Verse 14, and when he had spent
all. The fool and his money soon go
separate ways. And this man spent all. And there arose a mighty famine
in the land. And I know who sent that famine.
God sent that famine. And this young man, the scripture
says, began to be in want. Oh, what a blessed place to be. He began to be in need. Now let me remind you of the
Savior's words, the whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And remember, we're trying to
find out what is meant by repentance. What does it mean for a sinner
to repent? Well, this man came into a state
of want, a state of lack, a state of need. He had everything before
this, had a good time, but now all of a sudden he's run out
of everything. And what did he do in this state
of want? He went and joined himself to
a citizen of that country. And he, the citizen of that country,
sent him into his fields to feed swine." Now, this is analogous
to a man joining a church. He joined a citizen of that country
and that citizen put him to work. Put him to work to provide for
himself, put him to work to improve himself. He put him to work. And this was the ultimate indignity
for a Jewish man. He put him to work in a field
of swine. Verse 16, and he fain would have
filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no
man gave unto him. Human religion, a citizen of
that country, a citizen of a far country, can never bring true
satisfaction. All it can provide is husks,
and you cannot live off husks. You see, the only true satisfaction
there is, is knowing that everything God requires of me, He looks
to His Son, Jesus Christ, for, and Christ performed everything
for me. I'm satisfied with that. If you
tell me that salvation is in some way dependent upon me, some
work I need to perform, I find no satisfaction, only stress
and worry. But oh, tell me that it's finished. Christ did it all and I'm satisfied. But this man found no satisfaction
in the husks of human religion. Verse 17, here's where repentance
begins. And when he came to himself. Oh, he had been crazy. And the Lord brought him to this
position of him coming to himself. But when he came to himself. What he had been doing was insane,
but now he comes to himself. And what took place in him coming
to self was this. Let me read the words. When he
came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's? had bread enough to spare, that
one I wanted to get away from, the one I had no love for. All
of a sudden, he sees him in a completely different light. He's good. Oh, even the hired servants have
bread enough to spare. And I'm sitting here perishing
with hunger. All of a sudden, he saw the goodness
of his father. How many hired servants of my
Father's house have bread enough to spare? And I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my Father
and say unto Him, Father, I have sinned. Oh, what a blessed place
to be brought to. I have sinned. And that sin was
against heaven and in thy sight. Not only is he brought to a totally
different view of his father, he's brought to a totally different
view of himself. He no longer has that sense of
entitlement. He sees he sinned and he's not
even worthy to be called a son. A completely different view. Now this is what repentance is.
It's repentance toward God. He had a different attitude toward
his father. and his repentance with regard
to yourself, a change of mind with regard to yourself. All
sense of entitlement is gone and you now know that you sinned
against God and that if he sent you to hell, he'd be giving you
exactly what you deserve. I have sinned. You know, everybody
has a lot of understanding of everybody else's sins. Oh, this
is a terrible culture we live in and a terrible society we
live in with all the sin and the ungodliness and there's so
much sin in the church. What about your sin? I have sinned. Oh, when I'm brought to there,
I don't have the capability of looking at anybody else's sin.
I'm the problem. I have sinned against heaven.
As David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done
this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when
you speak and clear when you judge. 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. servants. I don't belong as a
son. I forfeited all my rights. Whatever you do is right, just,
holy, and true." You know, when I see people angry with the gospel,
angry with God's way of salvation, It's not fair that God would
elect some and pass by others. It's not fair that Christ die
only for the elect. It's not fair that we can't come
to Christ and yet God will hold us responsible to come to Christ.
That person knows nothing of repentance. He's God's judge. He's God's critic. He's never
bowed the knee to who God is and he's never seen who he is
in his own sinfulness. But now this man has been brought
to repentance. Verse 20, and he arose and came
to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father
saw him. You see, his father was looking
for him, and his father expected him to return, and he saw him
from a great way off. His father saw him, and look
at his father's reaction. His father saw him and had compassion
on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed. He didn't say, look at that worthless
boy coming home that's cost me so much money. He didn't say,
well, let's examine his life and let's put him on a probationary
period and see how well he does and see if there's anything to
this. No, there was complete, immediate acceptance, complete
receiving of him. He ran and fell on his neck and
he kissed him. And literally he kissed him with
many kisses, so happy that his son had returned. And the son said unto him, verse
21, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am
no more worthy to be called thy son. And look at the father's reply.
But the father said to his servant, bring forth the best robe and
put it on him, not hand it to him, you 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. Now,
Put the best robe on him, the robe of Christ's righteousness,
that fine linen, clean and white, the perfect righteousness of
Christ. Put a ring on his hand that signifies
a covenant, an eternal covenant that has no end. This is the
work of the Father in salvation. and put shoes on his feet, shoes
to walk by faith, the work of God, the Holy Spirit. You can't
walk by faith unless God gives you the grace in his spirit to
do it. He gives him the work of all
three persons of the Trinity in salvation. And let's have a party. For this
my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost. And he's found. And they began
to be merry. Isn't that beautiful? The way
the father receives the repenting sinner. He gave him that repentance
in the first place. We see that in the first two
parables, the shepherd going after the sheep and the woman
going after the lost coin. The father gave him this repentance.
He worked it in him, but how the father receives the returning
sinner. Would to God that you and I might
be that one sinner that repented, that brings joy in heaven. But the story is not over. Let's
go on reading. Now his elder son was in the
field. And as he came and drew night
at the house, he heard music and dancing. What's going on?
There's a party going on here. Wasn't I invited? And he called
one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And
he said unto him, thy brother is come, that worthless little
brother of yours, that brother who wasted your father's money
and lived in such a immoral, wicked lifestyle, that foolish
young brother of yours that brought shame on the family name. He's
returned, he's come, and thy father hath killed the fatted
calf because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was
angry. He didn't like this. This is
not right. This is not fair. That man has
been a wicked man. He's been a criminal. He's been
an immoral man. My father receiving him, my father's
putting a stamp of approval upon his immorality. He's putting
his stamp of approval on his lifestyle. He's saying there's
no consequences for action. My father's wrong, he's angry.
You know, Pharisees are always angered by the gospel. It may
come in the disguise of righteous indignation or moral outrage,
but what it is, it's an anger with God. It's an anger with
God's character. He was angry. He didn't like grace. Pharisees
never do. He didn't like mercy. Pharisees
never do. He was angry and he would not
go in. Therefore came his father out
and treated him. And he answered and said to his
father, lo these many years do I serve thee. He's showing his
actual dislike of the service. Neither transgressed I at any
time thy commandment." Now, that's a lie. That's a lie. When people
make statements with regard to all the good they've done, it's
a lie. They can say it, but it's not true. That's what this man
was doing. I never transgressed your commandment. Yes, you did,
but this is what he was saying. And yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make merry with my friends. I'd not only
died, you wouldn't even give me a goat, not even a fatted
calf, but a goat. You didn't give me anything,
and this is not right. I've served you much better than
him, and you're putting him on the same level, even better than
me. This is not right. He was displeased with this. But as soon as this thy son was
come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast
killed for him the fatted calf. There's something wrong with
this. You are making immorality okay. You are normalizing wickedness
by receiving this man to yourself. And hear the father's reply.
And he said unto him, son, thou art ever with me, and all that
I have is thine. It was meet that we should make
merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive
again, was lost and is found. Now some take from the father's
response that this younger brother represents a believer. No, the
father is dead. a merciful man, and it would
have messed up this parable for the father to say, well, you're
not my son anymore. You're out the door. That's the wrong way
to look at it. This father was a good father.
But I think it's interesting the way the parable is left open-ended. We don't know whether the older
son forgave his brother or continued in anger. And the Lord doesn't
let us know. Now, why is that? Why is this
left so open-ended? I can answer that question. Because
you and I are going to give the ending with our own ending. God
is going to meet me and you on the ground that we come. If we
come for sheer free grace, He'll meet us on that ground. If we
come saying, Lord, simply let me be found in Christ. Don't
look at my works. Look at Christ. I have no other
hope. He'll meet you there. If you
come wanting fairness, wanting what's coming to you, wanting
justice, you'll get it. And here's what's going to happen.
God will send you to hell. God will meet you on the ground. God will meet me on the ground.
We come to him. If you come for pure, free grace,
you'll be received. If you come on the footing of
your works, you'll be paid accordingly, and God always pays his debts. This is what repentance looks
like, and this is what lack of repentance looks like. Now, we
have this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church or
look at our website, we'll get you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg
praying that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you.
That's our prayer. Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. Mm-hmm