You'll find my text this morning
in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 15. The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15. It's
a rather lengthy reading. I want to read this chapter to
you. Luke, Chapter 15. My message this morning is a Savior. for publicans and sinners. A Savior for publicans and sinners. Luke chapter 15 beginning in
verse 1, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners
for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
And he spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you,
having than hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doeth not
leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after
that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found
it, he laith it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have 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 ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Either
what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece,
doth not light a candle, the lamp, and sweep the house, and
seek diligently till she find it, and when she find 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 shall be joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner that repented. And he said, A certain man had
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
to 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 rapturous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the
land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his field
to feed swine. And he would fain have filled
his belly, he desired to fill his belly, with a husk that the
swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to
himself, he said, How many hard servants of my father's have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I will
arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven and before thee. I am no more
worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hard servants. And he arose and came unto his
father, And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him,
and had compassion on him, and ran, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight. I am no more
worthy to be called thy son. But the father said unto his
servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and
put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither
the fatted calf, and kill and let us eat and be merry. For
this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and
is found. And they began to be merry. Now
his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near
to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one
of his servants and asked what these things meant. And he said
unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the
fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
And he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore came his father
out, and entreated him. And he answered and said unto
him, Father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress
I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make marry with my friend. And as soon as
this thy son was come, which I devoured thy living with harlots,
thou hast killed for him that fatty calf. And he said unto
him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. And it was meet, it was meet
that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother
was dead, and is alive again. He was lost and is found." I
want to look at the first 23 verses today, 24 verses, and
I want to pick up that in this afternoon service. But this morning
I want to look at a publican. and the sinner. And what a Savior
they have. There were two terms that often
go together, and they were publicans and sinners. When they identified
the publicans, they always put with it sinners. We know who
the publicans were, don't we? They were tax collectors for
the Roman government. And they were cheats. They were
absolutely cheats. They threatened people. They
got more taxes from them than the government even required
they take. And people hated them for it.
They were embezzlers. They defrauded people. These
sinners included all the open and profane, adulterers, idolaters,
fornicators, drunks, liars, swearers. And they all went together, publicans
and fornicators. publicans and sinners. I imagine these poor fellows
had gotten used to society speaking hard of them. People would not
befriend them. They feared them. But do not
you imagine they finally got used to being spoken down to
and it just hardened them? They did not like these Pharisees
and scribes because the Pharisees and scribes spoke down to them,
spoke hardly of them. So they basically just hardened
their heart. They were content to live in
an occupation where many of them got rich. But lately something
had happened to these publicans. Lately they had been concerned.
They had been brought to be concerned about their dreadful spiritual
condition before God. This is what had been happening.
John the Baptist, as Larry told us this morning, had come on
the scene. And many of these publicans heard him preach the
baptism of repentance. There's coming one to save us.
And they submitted to John's baptism and they came to John
and said, John, what shall we do? And he said, stop exacting. Stop collecting more taxes than
you're required to collect. And they said, we'll do that.
We shouldn't have been doing that anyway. We were defrauding
people. They begin to be concerned. Matthew
was one of the publicans that the Lord Jesus called to be his
apostle. He had a huge dinner. He invited
these publicans to his dinner, and the Lord Jesus there at that
dinner made this wonderful statement, They that are whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick. And that began to get into
their hearts. And they begin to think we are
sick. We are sick. Before God we are sick sinners. They begin to think about this.
They begin to draw near to hear the Savior. They begin to realize
we are nothing but perishing sinners. Did you ever wonder
when you read these charges that these Pharisees and scribes brought
against these men? these publicans that they never
defended themselves. When they classified them with
fornicators and open and profane sinners, never did they rise
up to defend themselves. They knew they were guilty sinners. There in the temple when that
Pharisee was there next to the publican and he was praying,
what did the Pharisee say? I thank you God I'm not like
this sorry man. What did he mean by that? I'm
not an extortioner. I'm not an unjust man. What did
that publican say to defend himself? Nothing. He said, I'm guilty. He's telling me the truth. And
he was telling the truth, wasn't he? That Pharisee was working
his way to heaven. Now that's wrong. He was trusting
in his fasting, he was trusting in his tithing, he was trusting
in his prayers, working his way to heaven. That was bad. But
what was the publican doing? He was working his way to hell. He was sinning, living in sin,
and he couldn't defend himself. These men began to cast contempt
upon themselves. And as they drew near to hear
the Savior, they considered themselves to be the scum of the earth.
They were poor sinners. Everybody told them that. Everybody
classified them as sinners. And the Lord Jesus speaks this
parable to encourage these publicans. He speaks it for their account. Brothers and sisters, we talk
about repentance, and we talk about coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ, but that's not an easy thing, is it? It's not an easy
thing to come out of your sins to the Savior. There's a devil
there to oppose us. There's his flesh to tempt us.
There's the world to allure us. It's against our nature to repent
and seek a Savior. And here the Master gives them
these parables to encourage them. I think the first portion of
these parables, these first three portions of this parable, the
sheep being found, the coin being found in this prodigal son, I
think this is mainly to these publicans and these sinners. The last time for the parable
I read to you about this son who stayed home, I think this
is mainly to these Pharisees and these scribes. But I think
probably it's to all of them. Maybe the shepherd coming to
find his sheep will convict these Pharisees. Maybe it will help
them to realize, I need to be saved myself. I need to be found
myself. And when these publicans hear
about this self-righteous son who stayed home, maybe they'll
be taught to avoid self-righteousness. But here was an encouragement
in verses 4 through verse 7. What do we see here? The Master
says, He says this plainly in verse 3, He spake this parable
unto them. He spake to the publicans to
encourage them. What is verse 4 and verse 7 about? The shepherd finding his sheep. What's that about? Well, it's
all about the shepherd, isn't it? It's not about the sheep
at all. All that is said of the sheep, the dumb thing, got lost. And he was a dumb sheep. Nothing
was said that he even sought the shepherd. He was up on the
mountain someplace, and he was lost. And a bear was on his trail,
or a lion was on his trail. He was ready to fall off the
cliff and crush himself to death. He was just a dumb, lost sheep. That's all that's said about
him. The first portion of this parable is about the love and
the goodness and the mercy of the shepherd that was determined
to find his sheep. What was it that determined?
where this sheep was lost for all eternity and where it was
finally found? I'll tell you what determined
that. The shepherd. The shepherd. It wasn't the sheep
that determined whether he got found or not. It was the shepherd.
Aren't you glad, brothers and sisters, before you ever took
one step towards the Savior, He had already found you? Why
is it that we call upon Him to begin with? Is it not that He's
called upon us first? Why do we come to Him? Is it
not that He's come to us first? Don't you think when these publicans
heard this, don't you think their hearts leaped in them for joy?
Oh, Lord Jesus, I've lost myself. I've been trying to find myself
and I can't even find myself. Lord Jesus, find me. Dear Shepherd, don't be discouraged
in looking. I love that old song that we
sang sometime. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Don't we pray that
song? William Dunn was a businessman
that lived in Cincinnati. And he heard about Fannie Cosby
and how good she was in writing songs. And he went to Manhattan.
And he found her on the west side of Manhattan in an old ran-down
house where she lived. And he said, Fannie, I begin
a song, but I can't complete it. All I have is the title,
Pass Me Not, Old Gentleman. And she took the title, and for
weeks she couldn't come up with a song to fit the title. And
there was a prison next to her house, and she often went there
and spoke to those prisoners. And they were such an angry group
of people. And she said when she was in
there, speaking to those prisoners, she heard one man that was almost
in despair. And she heard him cry out, Good
Lord, Don't pass me by." And she went home and wrote that
song, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. Oh, I'll tell you what determines,
brothers and sisters, if we're found or lost. I'll tell you
first and foremost, it's the Shepherd. And if He hadn't have
loved us, if He hadn't have been determined to save us and come
where we are and find us, we'd have still been lost, would we
not? Oh, how this must have encouraged these poor, poor publicans. Listen to this promise in Ezekiel
chapter 34 and verse 11. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold,
I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out, as a
shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his
sheep that are scattered. So will I seek out my sheep and
deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered
in the dark and cloudy day." Oh my, these poor publicans whose
conscience was afflicted them, they were under such deep conviction,
now they hear there's a shepherd seeking out his sheep. In verses 8 and 10, I imagine
this encouraged them. Verses 8 and 10, I don't always
know how to interpret this, but here we have this woman that
she lights a lamp because she's lost one of her ten coins. And
she takes a broom and begins to sweep and search diligently
until she finds the coin. And just like the sheep, She
never quit searching until she found her coin. What is this
light? Well, we can say it's many things,
but I think it's simply this, if we want to look at it this
way. We can look at this woman as being the church, can't we?
The Lord Jesus left the church as the light of this world. And
we have this gospel, don't we? And this gospel is light. Paul
said, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has
shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we have
this treasure, this gospel, in earthen vessels. And as we preach
this gospel, it sends light into the minds. It sends light into
the hearts. But I don't know if we should
look at it that way or not. I think the best way to look
at it is this way. This coin was just an old dead
coin. If you took a lamp and held it
right over that coin, the coin couldn't see it. The coin was
just a dead, cold, inanimate object. It had no life in it
and could have no life in it. I think this lamp was lit. that
the woman might see where the coin was. I think that's what
it's all about. She was looking for the coin.
And if the woman is the church, if she represents the church
to us, then here the church is in this world and all her members,
and what are we doing here? We're seeking for God's sheep.
We're seeking for that coin that was lost. We're seeking for sinners,
are we not? And He sends them out into the
world to find His elect sinners. That's what the church is doing.
That's what the church is doing. And boy, notice how this poor
woman labored. My goodness, she lit her lamp. She got her broom and she began
to sweep the floor of all the trash and the cobwebs and the
dirt. She sweeps up a big pile, and
she scatters it out, and she cries, and she's burdened, and she's
praying, and her heart is full of sorrow because of the loss
of this coin. And she just don't quit seeking
until she finds it. Now, you know why just about
every time your pastor comes in this poor pit, he's preaching
He uses passages like this while we don't get off on social issues. We don't have time, do we? Why
do we come here and preach there's a Savior for publicans? Because
we're looking for those who are lost to tell them about the dear
and blessed Savior. Look here in verses 11 now through
verse 24. Here's another side of this parable. This portion of the parable is
different, isn't it? We come to something different.
Now, the first portion of this parable, we looked at a dumb
lost sheep. And nothing said of it that it
was lost. The shepherd was seeking it out. The second portion, we
saw this woman lighting this candle and seeking for this coin,
just a lost coin that had no idea that it was even lost. But
here, beginning in verse 11, through the remainder of the
passage there, we see something else. Now we're looking at this
parable from the sinner's perspective. We're not looking at it now from
a dumb sheep's perspective or a lost coin's perspective, but
we're looking at it from the sinner's perspective. And he
says here in verse 11 through verse 13, look at this, A certain
man had 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
young son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with righteous living. Now what do we see here? Well,
we see here what happens in every young heart. This is what happens
in every single individual as they come into this world and
they begin to grow up. Their little proud hearts, their
little self-willed hearts begin to go in its own way. And you know there are no exceptions
to this. Isn't it strange that If men were born good, if little
children were born good, we never find one who grows up to be good.
Isn't it strange that when they come to the place that they begin
to understand anything about God and their responsibility
to God and the worship of God and believe in the gospel, every
last one of them without exception go astray? They may have a dad that's a
gospel preacher. They may have a godly mother
that prays with them and instructs them. But yet, every last one
of them goes astray. Somebody say, Bruce, I was saved
at such an early age, I don't know anything about going astray
from God. Well, you know there is such
a thing as being saved too early. And if a man's been saved before
he knows his loss, He's been saved too early, isn't He? That's
too quick. A man said, I was saved when
I was a baby. I don't know about that now.
I don't know about that. I never went astray. Listen,
every last one of us have gone astray. Every man has turned
to his own way. You're turning to your way. A
man ought to be in my way. Everybody turns to his own way.
Some children, if God doesn't subdue them and save them at
an early age, they turn to open and profane sin. That's a heartbreaking
thing. But not everybody does that.
Some people turn to the way of ambition, don't they? Education,
working to get a job, working to make more money, working for
a promotion, tearing down my barns and building greater barns.
Some work for that. Some go the way of politics.
Some go the way of fame and authority and power. But listen, brothers
and sisters, everybody leaves the Father's house. Everybody
leaves God and will not submit to Him. Cures nothing of communion
with Him. And unless God subdues them at
an early age and saves them, they do just exactly what this
young man did. They go astray. Some go astray
in religion, don't they? These Pharisees say, well, boy,
don't accuse us of going astray. We haven't gone astray. You've
gone astray as bad as anybody. You curse these poor publicans.
But you're in as bad a shape as they are. You went astray
too. You just not went astray in open and profane sin. You
went away in your religion. You went away in your self-righteousness. But everybody has gone astray. Well, that's what this man here,
what he had done. He had gone astray. And our Lord
uses the example of this young man going off into open and profane
sins because he's preaching to publicans. He said, I know right
where you are, and let me tell you a story. about a young man
who left his father's house and went and wasted his substance
with righteous living, just like you fellas did. And yet, at last,
he came back to the father's house. This is why he used this
example, because he was preaching to these publicans and sinners. Let's appear now in verse 14. And when he had spent all There
arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be in want."
Now, wouldn't you have thought that this man would have said
to himself, I'm going home to my father's house? Wouldn't this
have been a perfect time? He began to be in want. Wouldn't
this have been a perfect time for him to say, I'm going home
to my father's house? But he didn't say that at all,
did he? You know this shows us the absolute need of the first
two portions of this parable. If man will not come home to
God, even when he begins to have trouble, how necessary is it,
therefore, that the shepherd go until he finds him? How important
is it that the church does not quit seeking until they find
him? Because they're not going to come on their own. They're not even going to come
when they have a little bit of trouble. You know something about sinners
coming to Christ to be saved by Him? They're not going to
come to Him unless He's the only place they have to go. Now, ain't
that so? That's so. Look here in verse 15. Look here
what he does. And he went and joined himself
to the citizens of that country, and sent him unto his fields
to feed swine, and he desired to have filled his belly with
the husk that the swine did eat. And no man gave unto him. This word joined means he glued
himself to this citizen. This is one of the saddest things.
And what this prodigal started thinking here, this is the best
I can do. I can't do any better than this.
So he adapts himself to this lifestyle, and he despairs when
he thinks of coming out of it. He says, I can't get out of this.
I've got to flee to this man to survive. And that's what he
does. And he's miserable. He's miserable
in this lifestyle. I love it when the Holy Ghost
gets on the trail of the sinner. Don't you? When he starts feeling
bad in his conscience. And the life that he took so
much pleasure in, the sin, the lust, now it don't do him too
good. Everything's fine. Everything's
fine outwardly. But something's wrong inside,
isn't it? He's not satisfied anymore. He's not satisfied with
self and the world and what he sought for. He's beginning to
be in the womb. And he tries to make things better.
He tries to adapt to another lifestyle. But he's miserable. He's absolutely miserable. He
has no rest. He's a miserable creature. Don't
we love to see that? And it says here that he joined
himself and He spent all, had nothing, joined
himself to this citizen. He was starving to death. And
finally, he says, I'm perishing. I'm going to perish. You know,
you and I have burdens, don't we? As Christians, we have burdens,
sometimes trials and heaviness. But you know, lost people don't
have it too good either. They may not always show it,
but I tell you, the way of the transgressor is hard, brothers
and sisters. There is no peace to the wicked.
Have you ever been to the ocean and watched the waves coming
in, churning up all the debris off the bottom, the old seaweed? It is just a mess, ain't it? That is what is going on in the
sinner's heart. He does not have any peace. He's wearied. When he thinks of death, he's
tormented. He thinks of eternity. He thinks of death. He's not
willing to die. He can't die. He's miserable. That's where this man got here.
He was miserable. He had gathered all. He had spent
all. And he had wasted all. And now
he had nothing. What does he do? Well, I'll tell
you something he don't do that's very, very important. And he
doesn't say this. You know I'm going to put my
nose to the grindstone. I'm going to work hard. I'm going
to talk to this farmer and see if he'll start giving me one
pig a week. Then after a year or two, I'll have all these pigs
I can trade, I can buy and sell. And after a while, I can own
my own house and I'll look back on this misery I was in and everything
will be all right. How destructive would that have
been for him to do that? You know what this parable is
about. It's about poor sinners who have
gone astray from God. And the message goes out about
reconciliation that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. That sinners
are so needy that they have spent everything that they have. Everything
they own. They've wasted it all. And now
they're ready to perish. Throw down your weapons. Give up on your life. And come
back to God in Jesus Christ. And be reconciled to Him. That's
what this parable is about. And you can't remedy that situation.
I don't care how you try to do it. You can't remedy it with
a job. You can't remedy it with promotion.
You can't remedy it with anything in this world. You can't remedy
it with a family. There's one way to remedy the
situation that you and I are in in a spiritual sense, and
that's to come home. That's to come home. And look here what he says in
verse 17. In verse 17, And when he came
to himself, He said, How many hard servants of my father's
have breaded up in despair, and I perish with hunger. I will
arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father,
I stand against heaven and in your sight, and I am no more
worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hard servants. What in the world just happened?
I think the shepherd just found his sheep. Don't you? I think the woman just found
her coin. That was lost. There he lays. Oh, the shepherd hasn't got him
up and put him on his shoulders yet, but I think he's found him,
don't you? The woman hasn't picked him up and washed it off and
put it in his purse, but she swept the dust back. She spied
him and said, there it is. I found my coin. How do we know
that? Because here this poor broken
sinner says, I'm going home. to my father's house. He expresses his faith in the
father's riches, doesn't he? Look how rich he said his father
was. My father has enough to spare. None of his servants,
even his servants, don't go hungry at my father's house. My father's
rich. Brothers and sisters, there's
nothing wrong with a poor sinner expressing confidence that if
he comes to God by Christ, there is mercy and grace to save him. He that comes to God must believe
that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. There is no reason to come full
of doubts and fears. Come believing that there is
grace enough in Christ to save you. Though you have been a rebel
against Him all your life. Is He rich enough? Is there grace
in Christ the Savior? The Bible says He is full of
it. Have you ever known Him to turn one away that came to Him?
I never have. And this man expressed the confidence
in his Father that upon my coming, He will receive me. And not only
did that, but he confessed his sins. There in verse 18, he said,
I will arise and go to my Father's house, and I will say, I have
sinned. I tell you, in conversion, there's
repentance, isn't there? There's a confession of sin,
what we are and what we've done. J.C. Ryle commented on this verse
of repentance, and here's what he said. The man in whose heart
a true work of the Holy Spirit has begun, will never be content
with thinking and resolving. He will break off from his sin. He will come out from his fellowship. He will cease to do evil. He
will learn to do good. He will turn to God in humble
prayer. He will confess his iniquities.
He will not attempt to excuse his sin. He will say to David,
I acknowledge my transgression. He will say with the publican,
God be merciful to me a sinner. And then he gives this warning.
Let us beware of any repentance falsely so called which is not
of this character. Actions is the very life of repentance
unto salvation. Feelings and tears and remorse
and wishes and resolutions are all useless until they are accompanied
by action and a change of life. In fact, they are worse than
useless. They are extremely deceitful,
and they may even harden the heart." He said, I'm going home. And I tell you, when he thought
that and said that, then he did it. Then he did it. Look what he did in verse 20,
and he arose. He said in verse 18, I will arise. And in verse 20, He arose and
came to His Father. Don't just think about it. Come. Don't just set urine of Christ. Believe Him. Don't just think
about leaving your sins. Do it. Turn from your sin. Turn from yourself and turn to
the Lord Jesus. Christ. Saying it ain't enough. Thinking it ain't enough. It's
not enough until we do it. And this man says, I'm coming. I'm coming. And this is a wonderful
verse in verse 20. When his father saw him a great
way off, he ran and fell on his neck. Luther had something to
say about this. Now, this may not be very good
theology. If you're a theologian, you may
say, I don't know about that. But when Luther looked at some
of these parables, he threw out his theology. He said these parables
were to fill. He was to bring out the fillings
of a man's heart. And he commented on this man
running to meet this prodigal. And here's what he says. Why
does the father run? Rich men don't run. Noble men
don't run. And yet this father runs. Why? Because he was afraid. Now, here's
where I don't know about his theology. But listen. He says the father was afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid that his
son would be discouraged. Afraid that his son would be
overwhelmed with despair and go back to the pig pen. That
the devil would tempt him to think that he would not be accepted
in the Father's house. So the father is afraid, so he
runs and embraces him and he kisses him with the kisses of
his mouth. Can you imagine? How these deeply
convicted publicans were affected by this verse of Scripture. They
felt they were the most miserable men in this world. If anybody
should go to hell today, they said, it's me. God is so high and He's so holy. Would He receive me? Is there
mercy left for me? Can my God His wrath forbear? And me, the chief of sinners,
bear? And now hear the Lord Jesus,
who knows the Father's heart well, says this poor man, upon
returning, his father ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." Is our Heavenly Father that way? Oh, they said, this man receiveth
sinners. Yes, he does. And bless God,
he doesn't only receive them, he rejoices to see them. He rejoices
to see them coming, doesn't he? You'll notice in verse 21, right
in the middle of his confession, the father cuts him short, doesn't
he? He's going to say, Father, I'm no more worthy to be called
your son. And he cuts him short. And notice this, he doesn't say
a thing about his shameful past. He doesn't say, I know where
you've been. I know what you've been doing. You're a scoundrel.
I'm going to let you come back home, but I shouldn't. He says
nothing. He looks at his filthy rags,
his stinking body, and says nothing about how he looked. He doesn't
give him any irritating instructions about the future either, does
he? How are you going to behave in the future if you come back
here? Why doesn't he? The fathers are full of joy upon
his return. He can't do anything but rejoice. Isn't this what this parable
is about? There's rejoicing in heaven over one sinner. Who's
rejoicing? The father is rejoicing. Who's
rejoicing? The shepherd is rejoicing. The
church is rejoicing. She's found her coin. Everybody
is happy. Heaven is happy. The church is
happy. that a poor sinner has been found. Oh, brothers and sisters, we
think we're happy when the Lord saves us. We're nothing compared
to Him. You think we have joy unspeakable
and full of glory? He's rejoicing. His heart is
singing. He's skipping. He's whistling
when a sinner comes to repentance. Here in verses 22 through verse
24, we could go into all this as what it means, but I think
sometimes when we start talking about the robe and we start talking
about the ring and the fatty tag, if we're not careful, we'll
forget this is just a parable. What does these things teach
us? There he stands in his rags and he's filthy, he's stinking. And then suddenly the father
brings out the robe and puts it on him, puts a ring on his
finger, kills that fatty cat that had been in the stall for
a while. What does all of this tell us?
It tells us this, brothers and sisters, that when the Lord saves
a poor sinner, it's one million times greater and more glorious
and more unimaginable and immeasurable than the poor sinner could have
thought it would be. I never dreamed when I come to
the Lord how glorious it would be. I don't know what I thought.
They just forgive me and stick me over in the corner somewhere
and I just sat content. Oh, this young man had to be
overwhelmed. What is this? What is this? Father,
just make me as one of the servants. No, you're my son. Father, I'll just eat the scraps
that the servant throws in the trash. No, we're going to kill
that fatty cat. Father, I'm just going to wash
these old rags and I'll be content to wear them. No, bring here
that special robe, that best robe and put on it. Father, I'm
going to sleep in the bunkhouse or behind the bunkhouse. No,
you're coming into my house. You're sleeping in my bed. You're
eating at my table. You're sitting in my recliner.
Oh, how glorious it is. Oh, the poor sinner has no idea
the joy of being saved. What a surprise it is when the
Lord saves us by His grace. What is it for a sinner to be
saved? It is going from the lowest depths to the highest heights.
What is it to be saved? It is for the dead to be made
alive. It is for the lost to be found, the guilty to be forgiven,
the filthy to be washed, the naked to be clothed, the captive
to be delivered, the burdened to be relieved, and for the lonely
to find a faithful friend. and for the orphans to find an
everlasting Father. Oh, who can explain what it is
for the Lord to save a man? Are you a poor publican? I tell
you, there's a Savior for publicans and sinners. May the Lord bless His message.