The Lord called home Burt Dunbar
this week, and his funeral will be Friday in Florida at 11 a.m. at the church, and we're thankful
for that. Roscoe Bowling died this week,
and funeral arrangements will not be made till tomorrow, so
I don't have any information on that dear man. And Eric Dickerson's father died,
so remember that family. We'll find out arrangements and
let everyone know. Luke 15. I've entitled this message, What
Does Repentance Look Like? I can remember a time hearing
a preacher calling upon men to repent. And I remember the thought
that came to my mind, I would if I knew what it meant. What repentance looks like. In Luke chapter 15, we have three
parables that go together. The parable of the lost sheep,
the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. And they all three go together. And I think it's interesting
that at the end of the parable of the lost sheep, the Lord concludes
it with there's joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. And he concludes the parable
of the lost coin. There's joy in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth. Now, I don't read anywhere of
that sheep repenting. The shepherd went after the sheep.
I certainly don't read of the lost coin hidden in the dirt,
repenting. The woman went after the coin
and found it. Yet the Lord concludes those
parables of the joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. I'd like to be that one sinner
this morning. And then he gives the parable of the lost son And
the word repent is not used in that parable. But here we have
what repentance looks like. If you want to understand repentance,
repentance, what it is. This is God's description of
what it is, not some preacher's description or some man's definition. This is what God says repentance
is. He uses the parable of the lost
son. Three parables that go together
in answer to the objection in verse two of Luke chapter 15. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners
and eats with them. Something's wrong with that.
This man's promoting immorality. This man is saying there's no
consequences to actions. He receives sinners and eats
with them. And this 15th chapter of Luke
is our Lord's answer to that objection. Now, the work of the
triune God is described in these parables that go together. The
work of the son in the shepherd seeking out the lost sheep. The
work of the spirit in finding the coin lost in the dirt, dead
and lifeless. And then the work of the father
is described in the father and his lost son. God is one God in three distinct
persons. That's mysterious, isn't it?
We'd never know this had not the scriptures made it known.
And all three persons of the Godhead are depicted in this
parable in our Lord's answer to this objection. Now, I think
it's also interesting at the end of all three parables, there's
a party. The man who found his sheep said,
come rejoice with me. The woman who found the lost
coin said, come rejoice with me. When the prodigal son returns,
there's a party, music and dancing, killing the fatted calf. This tells us something about
the joy of God. There's joy in the presence of
the angels. Who's in the presence of the
angels? God is. Christ is. There's joy in the
presence of God over one sinner that repenteth. I love to think
of the joy of God. We think of that far too. less
or not as much as we should. I think that our picture of him
in our idolatrous minds is some red-faced, angry God getting
ready to squash somebody. God's holy. He's other. He's
not like me and you. But our thoughts of God are wrong
thoughts. He says regarding his people,
I'll rejoice over you with singing. Think of that, the singing of
God. Now, the setting is the last verse
of chapter 14, the last sentence of the last verse. And remember
these chapter divisions are man-made. There was no chapter division.
Let's read this. The last sentence of verse 35
of Luke 14, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him." Who had ears to hear? All. Doesn't say some, it says all
the publicans and sinners. drew near. They drew near. They weren't threatened. They
weren't scared. There's something about this
man that caused them to draw near. The publicans and the sinners,
they drew near to hear him. And that's when the Pharisees
and scribes murmured saying, this man receives sinners and
eats with them. And he spake this parable unto
them. Who? The sinners and the Pharisees. These are the two representative
groups, the sinners and the Pharisees. I think it's interesting the
Lord gives the parable of two sons. These two sons represent
the Pharisees and the sinners. These are the two representative
men. You and I are described in those
two sons. I'm either the lost son, or I'm
the elder brother who was never lost. The two representative men. The Bible does that a lot. The two representative men. Now, I know this, I can only
hear the gospel as a sinner. If I don't hear as a sinner,
I'm a judge. I'm a critic. That's how I hear
the gospel. Or I hear the gospel as a sinner
needing mercy. Now rather than try to figure
out what kind of person The person beside you is, that's a temptation,
don't do it. Think about yourself. How do
I hear the gospel? Then drew near all the sinners
for to hear him. They're the only ones who hear. Now verses three through seven,
is the parable of the lost sheep. Verse 3, and he spake this parable
unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety-nine in
the wilderness? What kind of shepherd leaves
the ninety-nine in the wilderness? The good shepherd You see, the
99 are the ones who need no repentance. He leaves them. And he goes after that which
is lost until they find it. And when he hath found it, he
layeth it upon his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying unto them,
rejoice with me for I found my sheep. which was lost, I say
unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over the ninety and nine just persons
which need no repentance. Verse eight, the parable of the
lost coin. Either what woman, having ten
pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle
and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it?
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors
together saying, rejoice with me, for I 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. And he said, verse 11, as I said,
there's no defining of what repentance is in these first two parables. And I believe the Lord put that
there so we're going to know that that is what the parable
of the lost son is all about. Repentance. Would to God that
you and I will be that one sinner that repenteth. that brings joy
in heaven. Verse 11. And he said, a certain
man had two sons. Now we know that this is the
lost son and the elder brother. This was the bad boy. This was the good boy. And they
are representative men. I'm going to be describing myself
and you in this parable regarding these 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 unto 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. Now, two things I want to point
out about this younger son. Number one, what a sense of entitlement. Give me the portion coming to
me. What a sense of entitlement. and what utter lack of respect
he had toward his father. Give me the living coming to
me and I'm out the door. And that's exactly what he did.
You know, it's amazing the father gave it to him. Would you have
given it to him? I wouldn't have. But this is
part of this parable that the Lord gives. This man wants what's
coming to him. Do you want what's coming to
you? This man did. And he wanted to get out of the
presence of his father. Verse 13. 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. This may describe some of us
we've left. And we've gone into a far country
and wasted our substance with riotous living. The word riotous
comes from the word which means, listen, unsafetiness. Unsafetiness. That could take
so many forms, but here it means this man went out and he lived
a life of wine, women, and song, partying, call it what you want,
but that's what this man did. Verse 14, and when he had spent all, how
long did that take? I don't know. Weeks, months,
years. I don't know. We're not told, but there was
a time when he had spent all and he had wasted all of his
inheritance and there was nothing left. When he had spent all,
there arose a mighty famine in that land, that far country. Where'd that famine come from?
God sent that famine. According to his purpose and
his will, God sent that famine. And he began to be in want, lack,
need. Oh, what a blessed time it is
to be in a time of need. You see, if you don't need, you're
not gonna seek the shepherd. You're fine the way you are.
But oh, when you need. I love the words of the Lord.
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Oh, would to God that you and
I would learn what that means. He began to be in want. He began to be in need. Destitute. Sick. Verse 15, he did what people usually do
when they find themselves in that condition. He went and joined
himself to a citizen of that country. He went and joined a
church. He went and joined a church. I'm going to get this thing straightened
up. I'm going to fix this. He went to join a church. And
what happened? They put him to work. They put
him to work. Working to provide for himself,
working to improve himself. That citizen of that country
put him to work and it was the ultimate indignity for a Jewish
person. Working with swine. Working with pigs. He put him
to work. Verse 16 says, and he would fain
have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat,
and no man gave unto him. You see, husks is all that that
citizen of that country could produce, and you can't get any
nutrition from husks. That's all religion has, is husks. And he didn't have any sense.
He was a foolish young man, a fool and his money soon go separate
ways. That had happened to him. And he joins the church and finds
out there's nothing to satisfy him. Not really. The husks don't
do. Now, in human religion, in the
church of that far country, let me assure you of this. You'll
not really find satisfaction. Oh, you might tell yourself I'm
satisfied, but you can't really be satisfied that God is pleased
with you. You can't really be satisfied
that God really has accepted you. There's always something
you need to do, a little bit more, a little bit more, a little
improvement, a little more. He could find no satisfaction
from those husks. Now here we have this young man. He's a wicked man. He's a man
with a sense of entitlement. He's a man who has a poor view
of his father. And he tries to fix it in that
far country, joining up a church and finding no satisfaction. There he is. Here's where repentance begins,
and when he came to himself. You see, a lost man is crazy. To look at salvation by works,
that's plum crazy. When he came to himself. Who
brought him here? The Lord did. And you know that. When he came to himself, the
Lord brought him to this position. When he came to himself, look
what happened. When he came to himself, he said, remember the man he wanted to
get away from, his dad, his father? I want out of here. I remember
when I was 12 years old, I knew I'm getting out of here as soon
as I can. That was my thought. This young man felt the same
way, but all of a sudden, he has a completely different view
of his father. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants of my father's? Now the hired
servants were lower than the servants that lived at the house.
They were the hired servants that would come in and they had
the look. They weren't like a full-time slave. They were just hired whenever
they, what does he say about the hired servants of his father?
They have bread and enough to spare because my father's good.
He's good. A completely different view of
his father. Now when there's repentance,
There is a completely different view of God. When you're unrepentant,
you find fault with God. You're angry with God. You're
angry at his providence. You're angry at what he does.
You're angry at his attributes. You say they're not fair. It's
not fair for God to elect some and pass by others. Why, that's
not fair. It's not right for Christ to
die for the elect and not for everybody else. God is wrong. You're God's judge. You're God's
critic. Oh, but when you're brought to
repentance, you see God is good. Everything he does is good because
he is good. God, my father, he's a good man. Why even the hired servants had
bread enough to spare. They're in so much better shape
than me. And here I am perishing in hunger and it's all my fault.
I can't blame anybody. I'm the one who went away and
I put myself into this position and here I am perishing with
hunger. Repentance means a change of
mind. You have a change of mind about God. As a matter of fact, Paul says
repentance is toward God. You know, preachers present repentance.
You need to repent. You need to repent. You need
to be really sorry. You never, you better not commit
that sin again. If you do, you haven't truly
repented. They have no idea what repentance is. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. It's a complete
change of mind with regard to God. Look what he says in verse 18. 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."
Now, not only did he have a complete change of mind about God, his
sense of entitlement was gone. I'm not worthy. I'm not even
worthy to be called your son. I'm not worthy of the least of
thy mercies. If you cast me off and sent me
to hell, I'd be getting exactly what I deserve. I've sinned against heaven. I've
sinned. Oh, what a blessed thing when
someone says, I have sinned. Oh, we can see the sins around
us. We can see the sins in our culture. We can see the sins
in the church. What shameful actions in the
people in the church. I've sinned. I've sinned. Don't worry about
somebody else's sin. I've sinned and I've sinned against
heaven. 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 whatever you do is right. You know, when I hear
people complaining about God, murmuring against God, His fairness,
there's no repentance there. No, there's not. No change of
mind concerning God. That person's God's judge. That
person's God's critic. But oh, if I ever see my sin, I've sinned against heaven in
thy sight. And I am no longer worthy to
be called thy son. I have sinned. Oh, what did God
mean? You'll be brought just there.
We're not looking at everybody else's sin, but we're looking
at our sin. I love that scripture in Romans
chapter two, verse one. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art, the judges for you, the judges doest
the same things. It's what our Lord calls hypocrisy. He said to the one judging the
other, trying to help him get his splinter out when he had
the log in his own eye. Thou hypocrite. That's what the
Lord said. Thou hypocrite. First cast the
log that's out of your eye, then maybe you'll have sight to help
out your brother. Got the logs out? If you don't, Then you are unqualified
to judge anybody. Verse 20, and he arose and came
to his father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father Saw him. You know why? He was looking
for him. And he expected his return. That's our father. He's looking
for his returning son. He's determined that they'll
do it. He wasn't wondering about this. He was looking for him. When he saw him, Far off, when he was yet a great
way off, his father saw him and folded his hands and arms and
said, look who's coming. Look who's coming. Boy, what
a mess he's made of things. Look what he's done to himself.
What a shape, this worthless. No. It doesn't say he waited
to see if he'd become better. He didn't put him on a probationary
period. Let's wait and see. I don't know
about this guy. I see what he's doing. No, the
scripture says he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him with
many kisses in full, immediate, complete acceptance. That's the
father. He's so glorious. Now remember,
the star of this story isn't the son. No, the star of this
story is the father and his mercy and his grace. And look what
he said to this young man. The son tries to make his confession. And the son said unto him, Father,
I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son. He didn't get the part out about
making him one of your hired servants. The father wouldn't
let him. Here's what the father did. But the father said to his
servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Don't hand it to him and let
him put it on himself. You put it on him. And bring
a Ring and put it on his hand and shoes on his feet. Now here
we have the work of the Trinity in salvation. The best robe,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord. You bring forth the
best robe and put it on him so he is the righteousness of God
in Christ. And you bring forth the ring
signifying the eternal love of the Father, the ring of the covenant. When a ring in a marriage, what's
it mean? I'm with you forever. This had
the Father's seal that would be stamped. You give him the
ring of my eternal love, the eternal covenant of grace. There's the work of the Father.
You put shoes on his feet to walk in the gospel. That's the
work of God the Holy Spirit. The reason you're able to walk
in the gospel as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in him. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the
triune God is given to this poor, pathetic prodigal. He returns and what a welcome. What a welcome. No probation. No, let's see how he does. Complete
acceptance, complete embrace. God so glorious. And bring hither the fatted calf
and kill it and let us eat and be merry for this my son was
dead. and alive again. He was lost
and is found. And they began to be married. They were having a party, barbecue,
music and dancing. Oh, what a time this was. Now, what does repentance look
like? Well, number one, You have a
new view of God. You've got a new view of God.
Totally different. And you lose that sense of entitlement. You are the sinner. Verse 25. Remember, this story
is not over. Verse 25. Now his elder son was in the
field, he was out working, good boy. And he came and drew nigh to
the house and he heard music and dancing, something unusual. And he called one of the servants
and he asked what these things meant and he said unto him, thy
brother is come. That no good little brother you
have that went out and spent His living wasted with harlots,
is what he told his father. That no good, no count little
brother of yours, he's come home. And that father killed the fatted
calf. They're having a party for him
because he has received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in. I'm not going to have a part
of this. This is wrong. Why? My father's saying there's no
consequences to actions. He receives him after all the
wickedness he's done. Why this, this will promote sin. This will promote disobedience. This, everything about this is
wrong. He was angry. He didn't like
this. He was mad. Pharisees are always angered
by the gospel. And he would not go in, therefore
came his father out and entreated him. And he answering, said unto
his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee. We see what
he thought about his service. Long, arduous, and hard. These
many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy
commandments. Does anybody believe that? You
believe that for a second? This guy was a liar. He was a
liar. And yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make merry with. My friends not only die,
I didn't even get a kid. You killed the fatted calf for
him. You won't even give me a goat. He was angry. He was angry. Verse 30, But as soon as this
thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
thou has killed for him the fatted calf." This is not right. When he has conduct like this,
when he acts like this, when he sins like this, and you receive
him the way you do, this is the promotion of immorality. That's
exactly what this is. This is wrong and I'm mad. Well, who he's mad at was God.
Matter of fact, anytime I'm mad, you know who I'm mad at? I'm
mad at God. It might come under the cloak
of righteous indignation and so on, but it's mad at the Lord. He was angry. And his father, verse 31, and
his father said in 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, and was lost, and is found." Now some people
tried to maintain, well that means this guy was a believer.
You know, the father said, you're ever with me, and so on. Now, what would it do to the
parable if the father would have said, because of your wicked,
unforgiving attitude, you're no longer my son? Wouldn't mess
up the whole side of the father, wouldn't it? This is not to tell
us that, oh, this guy's a believer. This is the father's gracious
nature that's being brought out in this passage of scripture.
But what I think is so amazing about this passage of scripture
It's left open-ended. What did he do? Did he forgive his brother? Or
did he remain angry at his brother? What did he do? We're not told.
We're not told. You know why? Because in the
wisdom of God, you write the ending of this story. That's why he didn't give an
ending. What's your ending? What do you mean by that? Are you the one who forgives
this young man? Or are you the one who remains
angry with this young man? Now listen to these words very
carefully. God will meet you on the ground that you come to
him. Every time. If you come to him
for mercy. You'll have it. If you come wanting fairness.
You'll get it. You'll get it. God will meet you on the ground
that you come. If you come to the Lord seeking
his mercy, that he would not give you what you deserve, but
that you would be seen in Christ and you don't want anything else.
All you want is to be found in Christ. You wouldn't dare come
into God's presence any other way. And that's all you want. You'll have it. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out." If you come wanting what
you deserve, you've been mistreated and mishandled and miss everything
else, you want justice, you'll get it. And you know what it'll
be? You'll go to hell. If that's
what you want. If you want God to give you in
any way what you deserve, if you would have any work of yours
stand before a holy God in judgment, if that's what you want, you'll
have it. You'll have it. God always meets men on the ground
they come. Now, you and I, are either the young
son or the elder brother. The prodigal tells us what repentance
looks like. The elder brother tells us what
repentance does not look like. Which son are you? Let's pray. Lord, we ask that everybody in this room might be granted repentance. Forgive us of our low, sinful
views of you and our high, arrogant, proud views of ourselves. And Lord, give us the grace to
be just like this lost son coming to his father. Lord, we would be the elder brother. if you don't prevent it. And
we ask that you would prevent that for Christ's sake. Lord,
we thank you for the best robe, the righteousness of your son.
We thank you for the eternal ring of your grace. We thank
you for the shoes the Holy Spirit gives us to walk in your gospel.
Bless this message for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.