Evening, everybody. I'm going
to turn to your text, Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55. I've got an announcement before
we begin. We're going to have a Halloween
get-together over at our place this coming Saturday around 2.
We're going to have trick-or-treating for the kids, try to do hayrides
and stuff like that. Obviously, everybody's invited.
If you need directions or just the address, it's on the sign-up
sheet in the back there. And also, it's kind of a potluck
deal. So if you'd like to bring a chili or something like that,
we'd love to have it. So we look forward to seeing
everybody there. Everybody's invited. So Isaiah chapter 55, before
we read our text, I want to pose a hypothetical situation to you.
I hope it's hypothetical. Maybe some of you have lived
through this, but I hope this is hypothetical. I want you to imagine for a second
that you have a very deadly disease. If you don't get treatment right
now, immediately cured, you're definitely going to die. And
so you go to a doctor, right? You tell the doctor, I've got
this disease, and here's how he responds. He says, OK, I think
I understand the disease. I think I understand the treatment.
I think it might be a surgery. But here's the thing. I'm not
going to know whether it works or not until I do it. So I do
this surgery on you, and one or two things are going to happen.
Either you're going to die there on the operating table, or you're
going to live. But I can make you absolutely no guarantees.
How would you feel walking out of that doctor's office? I would
feel hopeless. I would feel despondent. I would
have absolutely no confidence, because that doctor didn't speak
to me in any terms of certainty. Certainty, that's a word I want
you to key in on. So let's say you go to another
doctor. You want a second opinion, right? And you go to him, you
tell him the same thing. I've got this disease. I want
to die. And he says, yeah, I'm completely familiar with the
disease. In fact, I've been spending my entire career treating that
one disease. I know exactly what to do. It's
a surgery. I guarantee you if I perform the surgery on you,
you will definitely live. No doubt about it. Now, how do
you feel after that? You're related, right? This is
the best news you ever heard. I'm going to live, because this
man spoke to me in terms of certainty, right? Now, I heard a very smart
person say this once. They said this, that there is
nuance to all things in this world. That's absolutely true.
There's nuance to all things, except one. That's the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It remains completely and utterly
without nuance, without subtlety. It is completely and utterly
black and white. And every promise God makes to His people, it is
absolutely certain. Let me read you the scripture.
It says 2 Corinthians 1.20, for all the promises of God in Him,
in Christ, are yea and in Him amen unto the glory of God by
us. All the promises He makes are yea and amen. They are absolutely
certain. more certain than verse 7 in
our text here. One verse, that's all we're going
to look at tonight. Look at verse 7, chapter 55. It says, "'Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him
return unto the Lord,' and don't miss the certainty here, "'and
he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, he will abundantly
pardon." Notice the certainty, notice the guarantee there. Let
the wicked forsake his way, let the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and he will have mercy. It's a guarantee. The question
is what does that mean? What is this talking about? Is
it saying this, is it saying that if a man ceases from outward
sin, the wicked way, and he ceases from inward sin, the unrighteous
thoughts, then the Lord will respond to that man with mercy.
Is that what it means? Is the prerequisite for mercy
stopping sin? Is that what it means? If that's
what it means, there's absolutely no hope for me, and there's no
hope for anyone else in this room as well. Now I want to show
you a scripture. Turn to 2 Samuel 23. You'll be
familiar with this. These are David's last words.
2 Samuel 23, it's verse 5. You
all know this, David's last words. We're going to talk about the
whole verse. I want you to key in on the last seven words. Verse 5, 2 Samuel
23. David says this from his deathbed,
he has no reason to lie. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered
in all things ensure for this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although, listen to these last seven words, although he
make it not to grow. Now those last seven words puzzled
me for a long time. Now I get the first part, David's
grown. He says, although my house be not so with God. And you know
what he's talking about. He's talking about his flesh. He's
talking about his natural man. He's talking about his heart.
He said, I'm no good. It's a cold, it's a stony heart,
it's an unfeeling heart, it's an apathetic heart, it's a heart
that's full of unbelief, it's full of lacking love for God,
lacking love for God's people, saying, my house presently on
my deathbed, it's not so with God. That's me. I understand
David's hope. He says, but he hath made with
me an everlasting covenant. Isn't that our hope? That God
the Father entered into a covenant with his son, and this is how
the covenant went. You get these. You get My people. I'm giving
them to you. And you know what? I'm holding you 100% responsible.
Everything I require of them I'm going to look to you for,
and I'm not going to look to them for a thing. And our union
with the Lord Jesus Christ is so real that when the Father
entered into a covenant with His Son, and the Son said, I
will, without hesitation, He entered into a covenant with
us. And here's how that covenant works. This is it. Christ does
all the work. Christ gets all the glory. and
we reap all the benefit. I understand David's confidence.
He says it's ordered in all things and sure. He's talking about
the totality of his salvation. He's saying God ordered it. He
sovereignly purposed my salvation. Because he ordered it and he
purposed it, he provided all things necessary to accomplish
it. Because he ordered it, because he purposed it, because he provided
for all things necessary to accomplish it, it's sure. It must be. It's all based on him. I understand
David's peace and his joy. He says, this is all my salvation
and all my desire. David's saying this, this is
all I want. I want to win Christ and I want to be found in him.
This is all I desire to simply have Christ, to be found in him.
I don't want anything else. I don't want any glory. I want
Christ to get it all. This is where I want to stay. This is
all I want. But those last seven words, although he make it not
to grow, what does he mean? He means this. He means I was
born bad. A sinner. I was born prone to
sinful passions and sinful lusts. I acted out on a whole bunch
of them, and the ones I didn't act out on, simply by the grace
of God. That's it. And you know what? I ain't gotten
any better. Those same sinful passions and
lusts I was born with, I keep on falling into them, and I still
struggle with them. From my deathbed, I still struggle
with them. Same thing. Absolutely nothing has changed.
Although, I have the very love of God. Although Jesus Christ
is my surety. Although I'm a partaker of the
divine nature. David believed the Gospel. Although all that's
true, you know what? Me, right here, David, in and
of himself, nothing's changed. Same sinful man, always was.
I tell you what, Isaiah 55.7, if it means a man has to stop
sinning, and that's the only way he gets mercy from God, there's
no hope for David, no hope for any of us. So the question is
this, what does it mean? What does it mean, what is this
wicked way that's to be forsaken and these thoughts of an unrighteous
man that's to be forsaken? What does that mean? I'm gonna
give you two scriptures, I want you to turn to Proverbs 28. What is this wicked way, the
way of the wicked? Proverbs 28 and once you get
there I'm going to read you Psalm 9, verse 16. We're asking this
question, what is this wicked way? I'm going to read you Psalm
9, verse 16. It says, "'The Lord is known
by the judgment which He executeth. The wicked is snared in the work
of His own hands.'" Now this wicked way it has something to
do with His works. It has something to do with His works. Now keep
that in mind. Look down at verse 13 of Proverbs 28. says, He that covereth his sins
shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall
have mercy. Now did you notice what word
I left out there? Them. It's in italics because it's
not in the original. It actually does damage to the verse here.
It is not saying, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins, then
the Lord responds to him with mercy. That's not what he's saying.
It's whoso confesseth and forsaketh his works, the Lord shall have
mercy. The wicked way, folks, is salvation
by works. That's the way that's to be forsaken.
The thoughts of the unrighteous are these thoughts, that there's
something I can do to please God, that I have some ability
to please God, that I have some ability in this thing of salvation.
Those are the thoughts of an unrighteous man, and this wicked
way is salvation by works. This is the way that's to be
forsaken. I'm going to give you six things about this wicked
way, this way of salvation by works. I'm going to give you
a scripture to support each one of these. Here's the first statement. It
is a way that comes naturally to a man. Proverbs 14.12 says
this, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death. Now, how is this reality as we
know it, this world, how is it set up? It's set up to where
if you want something, you've got to work for it. If you're
a man, you got a family, you want to provide for your family,
how do you do it? You work and you work hard. And generally
speaking in this life, the harder and more intelligently you work,
the more you have. And if you fall down, you find
yourself in hard times, no one's coming to pick you up. You got
to pick yourself up by the bootstraps. You have to work harder than
everybody else to get yourself back up, right? It's how this
world works for the most part. And here's the problem. The natural
man carries those thoughts over to salvation. He says, I've got
to work for it. And the harder I work, I've got
to start keeping the Law, and I've got to stop sinning. I'm
all for keeping the Law and stopping sinning. Don't misunderstand
me there. But those don't mean anything to God. It's all iniquity.
It's all sin. In fact, the only way you remove
yourself from mercy, that you exclude yourself from mercy,
is to come this way, is to try to earn it. And the only man
who gets it, gets mercy, is this man, the man who's not trying
to earn it. man who is doing nothing he is simply resting
and trusting Christ alone. Now it's Romans 4, 5 says this,
"'But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him who justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.' Or rather
his faith is the evidence that God has made that man righteous.
"'To him that worketh not, but believeth.'" Second thing, it's
a way that's highly appealing to the flesh. Psalm 140 verse
8 says, Now why does the natural man love this way, this way of
salvation by works? Why does he find it so appealing?
Because it opens the door for a man to exalt himself. because
salvation is by works. That means if I'm saved and another
man is not, there's something I did to make my salvation happen,
which means I get to look my nose down at that guy. That means
there's some glory for me in all this. And this is why the
natural man hates the gospel and rejects the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, because that means salvation is completely
dependent on what the Lord Jesus Christ sovereignly did for a
man. And that means it excludes glory for a man. It gives all
the glory to Christ. Third thing, it's a way that's
really easy to follow. Matthew 7 verse 13 says, enter
ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in
there at. This way, this wicked way, this
way of salvation by works, it's a broad way and it's a real wide
gate. A whole bunch of different ways
you can follow that road. All you have to have is some sort
of confidence outside of Christ alone. That's it. Your confidence
may be in your will. You have a false god who's weak
and he needs your approval, your acceptance before he can do something
for you. So your confidence is you've made the right decision,
right? You can hop on the broad way, you can stroll right through
the wide gate, straight to hell, no problem. Maybe it's in your
works. You think, okay, listen, I'm
not the best, but I'm better than that drunk over there, right?
God grades on the curve, and I'm gonna be just fine. My confidence
is in my works, right? How about this? I'm not great,
but I intend to get better, right? You can hop on the Broadway.
Works for you, right? How about this? Maybe your confidence
lies here. Maybe it's there is no God, and since there is no
God, there is no system of accountability, right? That's a confidence. Hop
on the broad way, waltz right through the wide gate, it'll
work just fine for you, right? Many ways to follow this way,
this way of destruction, this way of salvation by works. But
the way of salvation is a straight gate. It's a narrow way. There's
only one way, Christ the way. This is John 14, 16. You all
can all probably recite this. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father
but by me." Now, I've known you all a long time, right? Most
of you can probably recite that, right? We hear that all the time.
What does that mean? That He is the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. What does
that mean? I'm going to take a crack at it, right? Here's
the first thing it means. It means that outside of Christ,
God the Father is completely and utterly unapproachable. He's
a God of holiness. He's a God with a perfect sense
of justice. And we cannot come into His presence as we are outside
of Christ and find any forgiveness whatsoever, and any acceptance
whatsoever. You remember King Uzziah. What did Uzziah do? He bypassed the priest. He was
lifted up with pride. He waltzed into the temple and
he offered up incense unto the Lord. He bypassed the mediator.
What did the Lord do? He struck him with leprosy right
there and he killed him shortly thereafter. Because you cannot approach unto
God as you are, outside of Christ. That's the first thing it means.
Here's the second thing, right? I want to say this right. It
means it's not good enough to simply plead Christ coming into
the Father's presence, although we do. It is not simply good
enough that we are represented by Christ, although we are. The
only way you can come to the Father's presence and live is
in Christ. What does that mean? That means
this. If you are in Christ, that means
you've always been there. The Father put you there. And
I don't understand that. You've been put there by the Father,
but you've always been there. And you know what? Since He put
you there, you're there eternally. You're never going to leave.
You cannot escape. There's a wall around you that
keeps you in. You're there, and you've always been there, and
you always will be there. Second thing it means is this,
that man that is in Christ, he is justified by the shed blood
of Jesus Christ. That man has no sins because
the Lord Jesus Christ bore that man and his sin in his body and
He put that man's sin away and he is justified before God. That
is not a legal standing, that is a reality. It means this,
that man has the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. That the law
keeping of Jesus Christ Himself is that man's because He was
in Christ when Christ kept the law. It really is His. Christ
did all the work, we reap all the benefit. His righteousness
really is yours. It also means this, and this
is the point I'm coming to, when Jesus Christ comes into the presence
of His Father, and the Father looks at Him with that scrutinizing
eye, He says, I couldn't want anything else. I find absolutely
no fault in this man. I completely accept this man.
This man has all the love I could possibly muster. I love him. He is absolutely perfect. I couldn't
want anything else. He is also looking at everyone
in Christ. And those same words, those same
words that he uses when he looks at Christ, he uses when he looks
at every believer in Christ. He's perfect. I couldn't want
anything else. There's absolutely nothing else
I desire. I love Him. He's fully accepted. That's what
it means to be in Christ. Now, somebody says, that sounds
great, awesome. How do I get in Christ? Wrong
question. You had to have always been there,
right? The Father has to have put you there. But what's the
marker? How can you know if you're there? I'll give you two things.
Number one, if you're in Christ, this wicked way, way of salvation
by works coming to God on the basis of what you've done. You
completely reject that way. That way terrifies you because
you know there is no salvation that way, there is only condemnation.
Also this, your only hope is you are in Christ. Your only
hope is that He did everything. That when He goes before His
Father He brings you to in Him and you find that acceptance
only in Christ. Is that how you feel? Is that
what you're all about? Is that where your confidence
lies? You're in Christ. You've always been there, and
you always will be there. Number four, about this wicked
way. It's a way that's dangerous to follow. It's even more dangerous
to condone. Now, I want you to look at this.
Turn to Ezekiel chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter 3 and look at
verse 16. It says, And it came to pass at
the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came unto me,
saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house
of Israel. Therefore hear the word in my mouth and give them
warning from me. if a man is called to speak for
God he's going to give a warning, he's going to warn about something.
And I don't think it's going to surprise anybody at this point
what it is. Look at verse 18, "'When I say unto the wicked,
Thou shalt surely die, and Thou givest him not warning, nor speakest
to warn the wicked from his wicked way.'" What is that way? Salvation
by works. "'To save his life, the same
wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require
at Thine hand.'" Now, I want you to consider the magnitude
of that. Just saying, if a man comes this way, he's going to
die. He comes spouting off about his works and what he's done.
He wants to be judged by God based on what he is and what
he's done. He's going to die. But here's the thing. If you
condone that, if you're a man who said he recalled of God to
speak, and yet you didn't give warning against this way, you
didn't warn him that there's no salvation found in your works,
his blood is going to be on your hands. There's a condemnation
for that. Think about this though. That's
just for condoning. That's for just not giving the
warning. What about a man who endorses it? What about a man who says that
wide gate right there, that broad way, that's the way of salvation
right there. If there's condemnation for a man just not giving the
warning, how much greater it is for a man that endorses that
way. Fifth thing about it. It's a
way that the Lord will let you go if that's what you really
want. Psalm 146.9 says, The Lord preserveth
the strangers. He relieveth the fatherless and
the widow, but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. You know what that means? It
means to lead astray. If this is what you want, if you want
to come into the presence of God based on what you've done,
you want to be judged accordingly, he'll let you go that way. He'll
let you lead yourself astray. Go ahead. He just won't intervene.
unless he loves you. Unless he's always loved you,
you have that everlasting love, unless you're one of his elect,
then he intervenes. Because the truth of the matter
is, we're born in this world all walking down that broad path,
all toward that wide gate. And if he loves you, if he gave
himself for you, you know what happens? He intervenes. He reaches,
he grabs you off that broad path, going towards that wide gate,
and he moves you over and he puts you in the straight gate
in Christ, just like that. That's called the sovereignty
of God in salvation. The Lord is the first cause behind everything.
He is sovereign in absolutely everything. But this is His sovereignty
in salvation, folks. It's an intervention, stopping
us from doing what we would do with the way that seemeth right,
to walk through that wide gate. Nope, you don't get to walk through
that gate. Not you. I've loved you with that everlasting
love. Come here. You're going through the straight gate, right
here. Sixth thing, finally, it's a
way that leads to you getting exactly what you deserve. Isaiah
311 says, woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him for
the reward of his hands shall be given him. So if you wanna
come to the presence of God, you wanna claim you need to have
mercy, you need to save me because I, fill in that blank whatever
it is, you'll get exactly what you deserve. You're gonna go
to hell. Be put in that place that's called
outer darkness, that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You get exactly what you deserve coming this way. That's a very
sobering thought, but I'm giving the warning right now. Don't
come this way. This way leads to destruction.
But if I'm supposed to forsake this way, this way of salvation
by works, where do I turn? Look back at your text. It says, "'Let the wicked forsake
his way,' Isaiah 55, 7, "'and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
"'and let him return unto the Lord.'" Now what does that mean,
to return unto the Lord? It's very simple, it means to
come to Christ. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When you
come to someone, you've heard this before, Todd said it, when
you come, you are leaving somewhere and you're arriving at somewhere
else. You leave all this foolishness of salvation by works. You leave
any hope that there's anything about you that's going to earn
you any favor with God, you leave all that behind and you come
and you cling to Christ and you trust Him and you trust Him alone.
That's what it means to return unto the Lord. Now, of all the
prophets, Hosea actually has a fair amount to say about this.
And so I want you to see some of the things he said about it.
Turn to Hosea chapter 6. If you have a hard time finding it,
it's Ezekiel, Daniel, and then Hosea. I had to write it down
because it took me a long time to find it when I looked for
it. Hosea chapter 6. Hosea chapter 6 verse 1, Come and let us return unto the
Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He hath smitten,
will bind us up. Now, I listened to a message
by Henry Mahan a couple of years ago and this is what he said,
and I'm going to paraphrase as best I can saying this, he said,
he really didn't have any interest in talking to a man until he
had a need. Until a man had a need of Christ, until a man had a
need of salvation he just really wasn't interested in talking
to that man because he was just shopping for religion at that point. The
question is how does a man come about a need? It says right here
in Hosea, the Lord hath torn, You see a man has to be torn.
All his false refuges have to be torn out. Whatever they are,
whatever he is resting in other than Christ alone it has to be
completely and utterly destroyed. Well how does God go about doing
that? Well He starts here with revealing Himself, God, to that
man. I use the word God because this
is a collective God. In all His holiness, in all His
justice. That's the first thing He sees.
I can't stand before this God. and is standing in the light
of His holiness and His justice, you get a glimpse, and I say
just a glimpse, of who you are. Nothing but a sinner. Nothing
but a condemned man before a holy and a sovereign God. And somewhere
along the way, He reveals Christ to that man. Christ the way. And there's no options here.
This man is not making a decision. There's no decisions to be made.
It's the exact same as a man who is drowning in the ocean
and someone throws him a life preserver. There's no options.
You cling on to what you have, and all you have is Christ. That's
it. Now here's my point in saying
that. When we say salvation is by grace, folks, the whole thing
is by grace. Even the return, even the tearing. Man will never have any consciousness
of his sins until the Lord tears him. So we say it's all of grace. It is completely and utterly
all of grace. But you see that too. He tore
him, but he will heal him. There has never been a man that
the Lord has torn. He's revealed to that man that he's nothing
but a wicked sinner. They didn't heal him. They didn't
show him Christ the way. Now turn over here to Hosea 14. Hosea 14, when I come to Christ,
how do I plead my case? How do I plead my case? Hosea
14, look at verse 1. return unto the Lord thy God,
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." Take with you words. So you've got to say something,
you've got to plead your case. Take with you words. And turn to the
Lord and say unto Him, first thing, take away all iniquity. Second thing, receive us graciously. And here's the end state, so
will we render the calves or the sacrifices of our lips. Take with you words, how should
I plead my case when I come to Christ? Well, you start here
with this statement. Take away all iniquity. What separates
us from our God? What kindled the anger of God
towards us? Folks, it's our sin. It's our
iniquity. And here's where we come pleading
our case. Lord, do something about my sin. There's absolutely
nothing I can do about it. I can't stop. Something has to
be done about my sin and there's nothing I can do about it. Do
something about my sin. That's how you start pleading
your case. Here's the second thing. And receive us graciously. Don't
look for a reason in me to do it. If you look for a reason
in me to do this, to take away my iniquity, to do something
about my sin, you're not going to find it. Look in yourself.
Because you're a gracious God. Because you say you delight in
mercy. Because you say you're the friend of sinners. Because
you say, come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Because you say this, it's a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ
came into this world to save sinners. In fact, the chiefest
of them. You said all that. Don't look for a reason in me
to do it. Look for the reason in you to do it. receive us graciously. And here's the end state of all
that. Here's what happens. So we render the calves or the sacrifices
of our lips. You're a God that demands to
be worshiped. This whole thing is about really one thing. It's
about your glory. You demand that there be a trophy there
that you can stand up and say, this guy's a trophy of my power
and my grace. You know what, Lord? If you do that, if you
do this for me and in me, you know what I'll be? I'll be that
really loud trophy. I won't have a choice. You say
you want somebody to worship you? I won't have a choice. I'll
be that loud trophy saying, I'm here because of this man. That's
it. Now, coming to Christ, how will I
be received? That's a legitimate question
because I think many times we have concerns about that, don't
we? Will He receive me? Is He willing to receive me?
What would that look like? Luke chapter 15. This is very familiar to all
of you. This is the parable of the prodigal son. We're just going to look at a
small portion of it because I want you to see just one thing. But
you all remember this story. This is a story about a young
man, a man whose father was very wealthy. And his son is kind
of an entitled brat. And he goes to his father and
he says, I want my inheritance early. He didn't deserve it. He hadn't
earned any of it. But his father was a gracious man, so he gave
it to him. That man went, and he spent it on a riotous living.
And after the money wore out, he found out that he was in need.
He was in want. And so he was feeding pigs, and he was having
to survive off the same things that the pigs survived off of.
That man was in a place to where he couldn't provide for himself,
and he was completely dissatisfied with himself. And what a blessing
that is to be found in that place. Where we're going to pick up
is where it says, this man came to himself. This is what happens
when the Lord intervenes. Look at verse 17, And when he
came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's
have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will
rise 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.
Where is that sense of entitlement now? It's gone, isn't it? This man knows one thing, he's
going to go home to his father. And if his father says, Listen,
you punk, I gave you everything you asked me to give you, and
you've squandered every bit of it. Get off my property. I never
want to see you again. Is his father wrong? He sure didn't think so. But
look at how his father receives him. This is the point. Look
at verse 20. And he arose and came to his father, but when
he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. and had compassion
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Now, here's what
I want you to notice there. His father made absolutely no
mention of his past transgressions. That could have been a whole
lot different, couldn't have? His father could have came up and
been like, oh, look who's back. I thought you had it all figured
out. You said, give me my inheritance. I thought you had it all figured
out. You were going to be big shot, right? Look who's crawling back.
Absolutely no mention of this man's transgressions whatsoever.
And he didn't hold him off at arm's length and say, listen,
I'm gonna put you on a, I'm gonna give you a trial run, right?
You come back for a little while, you do some work for me, we'll
see how things go. If you're obedient, maybe you
can stick around some more. Absolutely nothing like that.
He ran, he fell on his son and he kissed him and kissed him
and kissed him and he received him gladly because he was his
son. Look at this, look at verse 21. And the son said unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him. and put a ring
on his hand and shoes on his feet. Now I want you to notice
something there. He's had this speech planned out, right, for
however long he's been walking, right? Father, I've sinned against
heaven. I've sinned against you. He's got this whole thing mapped
out. This is his confession. And then as he's trying to get this
out, he can't even get the whole speech out because his father
is just sitting there hugging him and kissing him and roughing
him up and stuff like that. And he has to just stop because his
father's like, just shut up. Just be quiet. We are never going
to mention the fact that you left ever again. I have no memory
of it. Here's my point in all this.
If anybody has any reservations about coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ and begging him for mercy and clinging to him, do I have
that right to believe on Christ? Folks, this is exactly how you'll
be received. No mention of past transgressions whatsoever. holding
you off at arm's length, saying we'll put you on a trial period
and see how you do. Absolutely nothing like that. You're my
son, come home. You're my daughter, come home.
Put the best rub on him, the very righteousness of Jesus Christ.
That's what you'll have. Put a ring on his finger. It's
a perfect circle. It signifies eternity, part of
the covenant, the eternal covenant that David talked about. You
see he's part of this covenant. Before time ever began, my father
gave him to me. And you know what? Come on back.
I knew you were gonna come back. That's why I was looking for
you. That's why I ran towards you. You were coming back. That's what
this is all about. I'm gonna put that ring on your finger. You're
one of mine. Part of that eternal covenant. Put shoes on his feet.
New walk, new history. Everything Jesus Christ has done,
that's what you've done. Whatever he has not done, you
haven't done that thing. That's how you'll be received.
free for nothing, graciously, with all love and kindness, why
wouldn't you come? In conclusion, I'm going to give
you four statements. I'm not going to make any comment about these.
I just want to leave you to stew on them. When we were looking
at our text, what I told you is what drew that to me was the
certainty of it. He will have mercy, and He will abundantly
pardon. So here's four certain statements.
Here's the first one. If you approach unto God by the
wicked way, salvation by works, based on what you've done, you
will certainly die. It will end in destruction. I
want you to understand that. That's the first certainty. Here's
the second one. If you return unto Christ, He
will certainly receive you, free for nothing. He won't hold you
off in any way, shape, or form. You'll be received as His Son.
Third thing, if you return, you will certainly be shown mercy. See, this is not one of those
things where it's up in the air, right? Well, God's sovereign, I guess
we'll just have to figure it out on Judgment Day. Absolutely not.
This is a God that deals in certainty. If you come, forsake this way,
you'll be given mercy, you'll be shown mercy, and you will
be abundantly pardoned. You know what that word abundantly
means? Completely. Complete and utter pardon. You won't be guilty
of anything. And here's the fourth statement.
If you do return, it's certainly by his grace and through his
sovereign intervention. You see, if you return, it's
because he always knew you were going to return, because he purposed
your return and caused your return. This is all His work. So I'm
going to leave you with this thought. Folks, return unto the
Lord. Forsake that wicked way. Forsake
those unrighteous thoughts and return. Come to Christ. We'll
stop there.