Now, there's not anybody here who has not heard more than one
time at least the reading of these
verses that Bob read tonight. You're familiar with them, quite
familiar with them, what we call the parable of the Good Samaritan.
or rather the parable of the good shepherd, and the parable
of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. But now what
I want to show you tonight is something that ought to be pointed
out. We don't have here three parables. There are not three parables
here at all. There's one parable here. Now I'm just as certain
of this as I am of anything that God has shown me in His Word.
This is not three parables, and when I get through with the message,
you'll see that clearly. This is one parable in three
parts, and it's just full of precious truth. Someone said
this. I believe it was Spurgeon. I
jotted down the quote, but I didn't identify the author. Someone
said this. This is a great pyramid with
three sides. a great pyramid with three sides. There's a distinct inscription
on each side, and each side is needful to the other. And when
they are combined, this pyramid with three sides, and the inscription
on each side, when they're combined as the Savior combined them,
Christ combined them, They present the gospel message more clearly
than any one of them could present it alone. Now, that's what I'm
saying. This story, this parable in three
parts, when you take all three parts, it presents the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ much more clearly than you can present
it with one part of the parable. In fact, actually, If we only
preach one part of it, we really leave something out. We violate
the meaning. Now, let's go to verse one, and
we'll see the occasion for the parable. I've said this so often,
I know you get tired of hearing me say it. But if it weren't
so important, I wouldn't keep saying it. When you're trying to interpret
Scripture, find out who's talking. Find out to whom he's talking.
find out to whom he's speaking, and find out from the context
the subject. And here you have it in verse
one, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners
part of here. Here's the Savior, and here comes
these publicans. And a publican was just a trashy
people. The publicans, these publicans
were folks that the religious people looked down their noses
at. They didn't have any respect for them, any regard for them. They were just, they were just
people without principle. People, so the religious people
said. Publicans and centrists, harlots
and, and, uh, people who were very careless in their lives.
They gathered around Christ to hear Him, to listen to Him. That
was the kind of people that were just surrounding Him. And verse
2 said, and the Pharisees, these religious fellows and the scribes,
these were the teachers of the Scripture, the scribes, the fellows
that translated the Scriptures or wrote them from one page to
another. They murmured, saying, this man,
they're talking about Christ here, now this man. They didn't
believe him to be the Christ. They didn't believe him to be
the Son of God. They didn't believe him to be the Messiah. They didn't
believe him to be the Savior. They called him this fellow,
this fellow, this man. They said, this man receives
sinners. He talks with sinners. He communicates
with sinners. He invites them in his presence.
He sits and has conversation with sinners. And he even eats
with them socially. He has some communion with these
lowlife people, these sinners. We wouldn't have anything to
do with him. Now, I'll say this. It's not surprising to find our
Lord where sinners are. That's not surprising. It's not
surprising to find sinners where the Lord is, any more than it's
surprising to find sick people in the doctor's office. If you
went down to the doctor's office and saw a bunch of sick people
sitting around, you wouldn't say, well, what are they doing
here? And if you saw the doctor sitting there talking to a group
of people that were sick, you wouldn't say, what's he doing
there? For you understand that the well don't need a doctor,
it's sick people who need a doctor, and a doctor was sent to minister
to sick people. And that's what our Lord said.
If you'll turn with me to Matthew 9, I'll show you that. Matthew
chapter 9. In the ninth chapter of Matthew,
it says here, listen to this. Verse 10, And it came to pass,
as Jesus sat at me in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners. people of weak character, people
of questionable backgrounds, people who've been married more
than one time, people who've been known to drink too much,
people who've been known to curse and swear too much, people who've
been known to be dishonest in their deeds, people who were
sinners. They gathered around him. And
it came to pass, when the Pharisees saw it, Verse 11, they said to
His disciples, Why? Why? Why does your Master eat
with people like that? Why does He associate with people
like that? Why does He spend His time with
people like that? Why does He allow people like
that in His presence? They didn't understand. I understand. And Christ explains it in the
next verse, but when Jesus heard it, He said, People that are
whole don't need a doctor. People that are well do not need
a position as people that are sick. Now, you go learn what
that means. Go learn what that means. I will
have mercy. That's what I came to give mercy
to the miserable, grace to the guilty, cleansing to the corrupt. I will have mercy, not sacrifice. I didn't come to watch a bunch
of religious people go through their sacraments. I didn't come
down here to give you more ordinances to observe and days to keep and
traditions to follow. I came to show mercy. That's
what I came for. I didn't come to feed into your
religious pattern and conform to your religious rules and regulation. I came to give mercy to the miserable,
grace to the guilty. That's what I came for. not sacrifice. I didn't come to call righteous
people good people, moral people, legalistic people, holier-than-thou
people. To me, I came to call sinners
to myself. That's what I came for. I understand
that. You understand that? The Pharisees had turned back
to Luke 15. We'll see what this parable is
all about. You can't know what it's about until you find out
what's going on. Our Lord, you see, when He told
somebody something, it was a reason for it. He just didn't go around
popping off parables. It was better to give than to
receive. More blessed to give than to receive. Do unto others
as you have them do unto you. The shepherd went and hunted
a sheep. He had a reason for what he said.
And he was hearing all these sinners, needy people, weak people,
fallen people, sinful people gathered around him. And the
religious folks standing over there in their piety, you know,
with their great big Good Samaritan Bibles under their arms and their
Sunday School pens, you know, and their crosses around their
necks and their doves and their lapels and their bumper stickers. And they were looking at him
and they said, What's he eating with those folks for? What's
he messing around with those folks for? Why does your master
eat with publicans and sinners? Why does he do that? Well, it's
not surprising to me that he would do that, and it's not surprising
to me that they would do this. It's not surprising to me to
find the Lord where sinners are. It's not surprising to me to
find sinners where the Lord is, and the Lord where they are.
And it's not surprising to me when religious pharisees and
moralists are critical of his association with that kind of
people. Well, they wouldn't associate
with him, I know that. One of them said one time when
this harlot came in and bathed our Lord's feet with tears and
dried them with the hair of her head and poured the alabaster
box of ointment on his feet and kissed his feet in repentance
and shame guilt over sin, seeking his mercy. One of them said,
well, if he was a prophet, he wouldn't let her touch him, knowing
what kind of woman she is. She wouldn't touch me. That's
what he would say. Look at him. He's gone to be
the... When he went home with Zacchaeus, you remember Zacchaeus
was up the tree, and the Lord came by, and Zacchaeus was a
publican. And our Lord looked up all these religious folks
around. He looked up to one fellow, Zacchaeus,
and said, Zacchaeus, come on down. I'm going to your house
for dinner today. And they said, what's he gone home with him
for? He could have gone with me. You didn't need him. Zacchaeus
did. Look at him. In all these words,
this man is the friend of sinners. This man received the sinners
and eateth with them. All these words were spoken in
scorn and sarcasm and ridicule, but let me tell you this. The
very thing that they felt was a shame and disgrace to our Savior
is a clear definition and description of His very mission. He is the
friend of sinners. Mike, aren't you glad? Aren't
you glad, Ronnie? Jerry, I'm glad he's a friend
of sinners, aren't you? And Jerry, I know you're glad. Oh, my, my, I'm glad he's the
friend of sinners. He's the friend of sinners. For
such he came, and for such he died. But what I want to show
you is this, and I'm going to read you something that's as
brand new as this morning's newspaper. In fact, I cut it out of this
morning's newspaper. This Phariseeism is not something
that was prevalent 2,000 years ago. This Phariseeism is something
that lives with us today. And I'll tell you, if you and
I don't watch it, it's a flower that'll bloom in your little
garden. It says here in this morning's
Lexington Herald paper, the University of Kentucky, two
University of Kentucky coaches and four athletes are candidates
for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Award to be handed out
April the 8th. Tommy Bell will be honored as
Christian Man of the Year. I wonder how you pick the Christian
of the Year. One thing in his favor, he's
dead. He died a few weeks ago. You're always better after you're
dead. Candidate for Christian Coach of the Year is baseball
coach Keith Madison. and Christian coach of the year,
basketball coach Donna Murphy. Among those eligible for Christian
athlete, they're going to pick a football player or a basketball
player or a woman basketball player or a high jumper to be
Christian of the year. They tell me down here in Ashland
they had a parade and had a float, one of the churches here in town
had a float with a little girl on it, most Christ-like girl
of the year. That's Phariseeism. This is parasitism. Candidates for Christian Athlete
of the Year are football player Steve Mazza, baseball player
Alan Yankee, basketball player Roger Hardin, woman's high jumper,
triple jumper Valerie Coffey. How do you determine who the
Christian of the Year is? Suppose we had a contest here
at 13th Street. Who are we going to pick? I bet
none of you would take it. You talk about an award that
would be refused. God looks on the heart. This is the very thing I'm talking
about. This is the very thing that's
rotten about religion today, is judging men by outward appearance. You are they which justify yourselves
before men. God looks on your heart. And
these things that are highly esteemed among men, this is an
abomination to God Almighty. Now, let me tell you something.
This stuff is an abomination to God. This is Phariseeism. This is holier-than-thou-ism. Human recognition of human works. These very people that they're
picking may not even know God in their hearts. But they're
putting on some kind of show. Salvation is not in merit, it's
in mercy. Salvation is not in our good
works, it's in God's grace. And those who think themselves
to be the most holy are the farthest away from God. And those who
think themselves to be the most righteous are the least righteous
of all. I'll guarantee you that's so.
That's these Pharisees standing over here watching the Lord talk
with poor sinners that needed His mercy, and needed His grace,
and needed His words of comfort. They needed Him. And as he talked
to them, these proud religious legalists were criticizing him
for having anything to do with them. And that's when he said,
verse 3, So he spake this parable, Charlie, unto them. See what I'm talking about? That's
the reason it's so important. And a man called me on the telephone
a few days ago, and he said, I listened to your television
program a few weeks ago, or a couple of weeks ago, and he said, you
talked about Bursitis. He said, are you talking about
Bursitis with a B? I said, no, not a pain in the
shoulder. It's Bursitis. He said, how do
you spell it? I said, well, it's kind of a
word I've coined. I don't know whether it's a real word or not.
But I said, it's people taking verses out of the Bible and building
a doctrine on one verse. instead of taking the context
and seeing what the Lord said. He said, that's what my wife
said it was. We got in kind of a discussion. I bet they did.
He said, I told her, honey, it's bursitis he's talking about.
She said, no, it ain't bursitis. It's bursitis. He said, I'm going
to let you settle it. I said, well, has it settled?
He said, it's settled. You're right, honey. It's fun being on TV, some of
the letters you get and the calls you get. So they said, this man received
sinners, and so he spake this parable unto them. And he said,
now watch verse 4, What man of you having a hundred sheep, if
he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in
the wilderness, and go after the one that's lost, until he
finds it? And when he finds it, he lays
it on his shoulders rejoicing, And when he comes home, he calls
his friends together and neighbors saying, Rejoice with me, I found
my sheep which was lost. And I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repented, more than
over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. Now,
who's the main character in this story right here? The shepherd. The shepherd. Bob, not even the
sheep's the main character, the shepherd's the main character.
He's talking about the shepherd. You see, they're criticizing
the Lord Jesus for having anything to do with sinners. The Lord
Jesus said, which of you, which of you having a hundred sheep
and lose one? Lost sheep will not go out in
the wilderness and hunt till you find it. And the leading
character's the shepherd. It's his sheep. And he goes after
it. And he seeks it till he finds
it. And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders, and
he brings it home, and he calls his friends, and he says to his
friends, Rejoice with me, I have found my sheeh. See who the leading
character is? It's the shepherd. We're talking
here about the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the good shepherd, who
is the chief shepherd, who is the great shepherd. He owns the
sheep. They're His sheep. Whether they're
His sheep in glory or whether they're His sheep on earth, whether
they're His sheep in the fold or whether they're His sheep
out in the wilderness, they're His sheep. He owns them. He says, I know them by name.
I love them. I lay down my life for them.
Watch this about His search. His search for the sheep is personal. He didn't send somebody else. He seeks them. I'm telling you,
that just makes my heart beat faster to know that Christ is
my shepherd, that I'm His sheep, and that He personally is going
to see to it that I'm brought to the fold. He said, other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them my servants will bring,
most of them I must bring. This search is personal. This
search is costly. It costs him his blood. It costs
him suffering. It costs him agony. This search
is not only costly, but it is successful. He finds it. He searched till he found it. I just say this. There's not
one sheep of Christ that'll ever stray so far away that he won't
bring them home. I just promise you. You say,
well, that's a hard case. It's only hard for human beings.
It's not hard for Christ. Well, that fellow, he's just
gone so far, not too far for Christ. He's able to save to
the uttermost. Then they come to Carthage. He
searched till he found it. And then his search was not only
personal, not only costly, not only persevering, not only successful,
but he brought it home. Who brought whom? He brought
the sheep. He laid it on his shoulders and
brought it home. Now that's what that first part
of this story, this is the story in three parts. The first part
turns the spotlight on the shepherd. The shepherd who loved his sheep.
The shepherd who owns the sheep. The shepherd whose sheep was
lost, who went out into the wilderness and brought it home. and said
to his friends, rejoice with me, my sheep was lost. And I found it. I found it. Well, Brother Mahan, who of the
99? I knew you was going to ask that. I really don't know. And believe
me, I've studied, and I've inquired, and I've read John Gill, and
I've read Matthew Poole, and I've read Arthur Pink, and they
don't know either, because they disagree. Matthew Poole said
the ninety-nine are the glorified people in heaven who've already
been found. He said these are the redeemed
in heaven, and Christ left them and came to earth and redeemed
His lost sheep. These are the ones already redeemed.
But it says he left them in the wilderness. I don't know. You always find something to
block you. And then John Gill says it's
not the redeemed in heaven. It's not the glorified in heaven.
It's not infants who come through the blood of
Christ but who need no repentance. Follow what he's saying? He says
it's not them. Somebody else says it is. But
he says it's not them. He said, the ninety-nine here are these
Pharisees. Maybe he's right. He said, they
are these Pharisees. You say, but there's not a righteous
person. There's no person who doesn't
need repentance. There's no person who hasn't
gone astray. But he says, they think they
have. He said it, John Gill says, these
ninety-nine are the Pharisees. who don't believe they're sinners,
who don't believe they're lost, who don't believe they need repentance,
who don't believe they need mercy, who don't believe they need grace,
but now wait a minute, Christ calls them here His sheep, and
folks like that are not His sheep. So you see, you know what's a
good idea? It's when you're studying, your
parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. A parable
is a story of commonplace, ordinary things that helps us understand
the supernatural. And there is no common, ordinary
thing here that does not have its shortcomings when you start
comparing it with the heavenly. So the best thing to do is don't
try to make a parable walk on four legs. Take it for what it
teaches. And our Lord Jesus is teaching
here the care of the shepherd, the love of the shepherd for
his sheep. The suffering of the shepherd,
the determination of the shepherd to bring every one of his sheep
home, no matter how lost he is. You say, but oh, oh, I'm just
so lost, so lost. Lost is lost. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Let me tell you something. You can take the most moral person
in this building right here. the most outwardly moral person,
and you could take the most outwardly, the most immoral person in this
room. You take the person with the
best background and the person with the worst background, and
in the sight of God, they're both equally sinners. I'm telling
you the truth. Both equally lost. Now, you better
remember that, because that's so, whether you like it or not.
That's so God looks on the heart. And let me tell you something,
to offend in one point of the law is to be guilty of how much?
All of it. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. So just don't be too pious and
too holier than thou and too almighty, proud and self-righteous.
God may pass you by, because He saved sinners. Believe me
that now. I'm telling you the truth. He
saved sinners. And there's no merit, I've heard
Two or three preachers say this, well I'm just thankful I never
did drink, I'm thankful I never did smoke, I'm thankful I never
did dance, I'm thankful I never did curse. Maybe you ought not
be so thankful. See what I'm talking about? Sin is sin, and these outward
descriptions You're doing nothing but talking about the fruit of
sin. Sin is the principle, the nature within that produces these
things. And in that sense, we're all
the same. And what he is saying is that
joy in heaven over one sinner, true lost sinner, needy sinner
that comes to repentance, that comes to God, that comes to see
himself lost and lays hold on Christ and loves Christ and seeks
to walk with Christ. in Christ, for Christ, for the
glory of Christ, and live in holiness and truth is joy. When God saves a man, He doesn't
leave him like he is. He changes him. Gives him a new
spirit, a new attitude, a new motive, and a new character,
a new conduct. It's Christ that lives within
him. All right? Now, notice the second part of
this parable, verses 8 through 10. Likewise, what woman? having either, either, what woman? Now you don't start a sentence
with either. You don't start a new story with either. He's
talking about the same thing. Either, what woman, having ten
pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doesn't light a candle,
sweep the house, seek diligently till she finds it. And when she
finds that lost coin, she calls her friends and neighbors and
says, rejoice with me. I found the coin which I lost. Likewise, I say unto you," same
thing he said before, this joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner. Now, this part of the parable
is where it's supposed to be. The illuminating, this represents
the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord's been talking about
the shepherd, the Son of God. Now he talks about the Holy Spirit.
And the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit follows the work
of Christ. That's right. In the first story
of the lost sheep, you have the element of sin, suffering, and
sacrifice. The sheep went astray. The sheep,
stupid and senseless, couldn't find its way home. It's out there
lost in the wilderness. The shepherd has to toil and
sacrifice and search and suffer to find that sheep. You have
all of those elements there. You have sin. You have wandering.
You have lostness, you have inability, you have the shepherd loving,
the shepherd leaving, the shepherd going, the shepherd finding,
the shepherd bringing. But the second story, the coen's
dead, lifeless. See what I'm talking about? The
coen didn't run away. The coen belonged to the owner. The
coin was now useless to the owner because it was lost. And the
coin lay in the dust and was content to lay there. And there
was no suffering. The woman lighted a candle. And
she took that candle and began to look around in the dust. She
had put some light on it. Around it on the floor there,
and there she found it. And she picked it up, she went
and told her friend, said, boy, I'm so thankful I found my coin.
How'd you find it? Well, I took a light, and I put
it down there where I thought I'd lost it, and I found it.
What's that say? This light is the Word of God. This light also is Christ, the
Gospel. And this woman is the Holy Spirit. And we who were dead in trespasses
and sin, lying in the dust, useless to God, unprofitable, not knowing
where we were, senseless. But God knew, and He took the
Word of God and took the light of the gospel, the mean, and
came where we were and found us. And that's the work of the
Holy Spirit. Psalm 110, verse 3, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power, the power of illumination,
the power of enlightenment. You see that? That's the Holy
Spirit. All right, what's the last part of that? I'll move
on quickly. And then he said a certain man
had two sons. Now, this is so important. An
older son and a younger son. And the younger son came to his
father and he said, now, you're going to give me some money someday,
an inheritance, yes. He said, well, how about giving
it to me now and just let me go out and make my own way? And his dad
said, all right. And so he gave him what he would have given
him later on an inheritance, and the boy left. And being young
and foolish, he went out to a foreign country, and he just wasted.
He blew it on drinking and gambling, righteous living. And he was
broke. He didn't have nothing. And so
he hunted a job, and finally he found a place to work, of
all places, for a Jew to work feeding swine. And so he didn't
have any friends. His money was gone. When his
money was gone, his so-called friends were gone. And so he's
feeding pigs for an old farmer. And he's sitting one day on the
pig pen fence, so hungry he would have eaten the pig food, the
slop. And he sat there and he thought
to himself, he said, back at my house, where my father's servants
don't live like I'm living, Even the servants, even the lowest
slave in my father's house has plenty to eat, and here I am
hungry. I'm going home. I'm going home. And I'm going
to say to my father, Father, I've seen it. I've seen it. Against heaven and in your sight.
And I'm not worthy to be called your son. Just make me a hired
servant, because they're better off than I was. And it says when
he was a great way off. He was coming back home, and
his father saw him. And his father ran and grabbed
him around the neck and kissed him. Didn't pay any attention
to his dirt and filth and rags, but because he was his boy, he
loved him. And he grabbed him and kissed
him. And he said, Hey, bring a good robe. And he put that
best robe on him. And he put a ring on his finger,
put shoes, his feet were He was barefoot. He just put some shoes
on. Hey, go kill that padded calf.
We've been saving that calf to celebrate. Kill that padded calf
and call in the neighbors. My son was dead and he's alive. He was lost in his family. Now
this, that won't stand alone. Because there's no mention of
the father making any effort to find that boy. Not any effort at all to find
that boy. The shepherd was out looking
for the sheep. Searched till he found him. Father didn't go
after that son. He didn't search till he found
him at all. There's no mention of any sacrifice. There's no
mention of any suffering. None at all to save the lost.
And it appears that the boy just did all this reasoning himself.
And see, this is where a lot of this Arminian free will preaching
comes from. They see that boy sitting on
the side of the fence there, and he comes to himself, and
he reasons and figures, now, there's no use me living like
this when I can live like that, so I'm going to live like that,
I'm going home. But now the sheep wasn't looking for the shepherd,
the shepherd was looking for the sheep. And the coin wasn't
looking for the woman, the woman was looking for the coin. And
the coin wasn't putting out this little light of mine so the woman
could find him either. He's laying there in the dust
dead, and she had the light. And she brought it and found
him, picked him up. So you see, this part of the
story is strictly and solely and completely for one purpose,
to spotlight the Father. in His compassion and love and
tenderness to receive that boy back home. You say, will God
receive me? There it is right there. You
mean God will put His arms around me in my crust and dirt and filth
and all? Oh, He did this boy. He saw it. He was looking for it. He spotted
him way down the road. And he didn't wait at home and
say, well, you finally got back, didn't you? Learned your lesson
yet? Now you're going to stay home and mind your business and
do like y'all? No. He didn't mention those things. He just ran and kissed him. Put
the best robe on him. That's the robe of Christ's righteousness.
Put the ring of sonship. You belong to this family, son.
You always have. Whether you were lost or home
or out yonder or where you are, you're my son. And you're going
to wear the ring. And you're going to be shod with
the best shoe. You're going to sit down at the table and going
to eat the fatted cat. I went through this one time.
God let me live this story. Some of you remember it. Our
son Danny, 16 years old, ran away from home. He might not
appreciate me telling this again. We hadn't mentioned it for years.
Never did to him. But we got up one morning, he's
gone. 16 years old. Bed hadn't been slept in. clothes
were gone. We didn't know where he was.
Didn't have any idea. Not the slightest idea. We hunted. We
called the police. We looked around Huntington,
Grayson, Darst and I would drive. We'd drive. Every time somebody
would say they saw a blonde-headed boy wandering around, we'd go
hunt, you know, go drive up and down the street. But we didn't
hear from him for a moment. And I was out in Texas in a meeting.
In Houston, and Doris called me one night and said, Danny
came in tonight. I said, let me speak to him. So she put him
on the phone, and I tell you, I was thrilled to death. I said,
son, glad you're home. Let's just forget the whole thing.
He said, that suits me. I'm just glad he's home. I've
been glad he's taken on six years and come back. And that's what
I'm saying. This is, if you love somebody,
you love them. You love them wherever they are,
and whoever they are, and whatever they do, and so forth. You just
love them. They belong to you. And I'm saying
this, that my Lord has a sheep out of every kindred, nation,
and tongue under heaven. He has sons, and they're His.
The Father gave them to Him. The Father loves them, the Son
loves them, and the Holy Spirit loves them. And the shepherd
came down here, and he's going to find them. He's going to shed
His blood and suffer and bear the thorns in the wilderness
and die that they might live and find them. And the Holy Spirit
is going to take the light of the Word. Thy Word is a light
unto my feet and a lamp unto my path. And He's going to take
the Word and illuminate the whole surrounding so the sheep and
the coin can be seen and conceived. And when He brings them home,
the Father is going to receive them without stretched arms.
But Father, I'm not worthy. That's what all of you are going
to say. You're not going to be Christian man of the year. You're
going to be servant, bond slave. You're not going to be the Mr.
Somebody. We're a bunch of nobodies. You're
not going to ride around on floats. We're going to let Christ ride
on the float and bow at His feet. We're going to say, I'm a nobody.
I don't deserve to be here. I'm not worthy to be a son. Just
make me a servant. I'd rather be a servant in the
house of God than a son in the home of the wicked. Make me a
servant. The father said, kill a fatted
cat. Kill a fatted cat. He's back
home. Well, aren't we going to sit down and discuss what I did
wrong? I'll never bring it up, he said. I'll never bring it
up, he said. He remembers our sins. No more. No more. Now, your friends may
bring it up, but they ain't your friends. The religious folks may bring
it up, but don't pay attention to them. That's tears in the
field. The wheat won't bring it up.
The other sons won't bring it up. And he won't bring it up. All right. Our Father, thank
you for your word. We're just so overwhelmed with
your mercy. The love of the shepherd, the
shepherd who loves his sheep, The blessed Holy Spirit who brought
the light of the Word, not the darkness and dungeon of religion,
but the light of the Word to reveal Christ to our hearts.
And oh, the love and mercy of our blessed Heavenly Father who
always loves His own. He, having loved His own, He
loved them to the end. With an everlasting, infinite
love, the love of a father for a son. a mother for her daughter. We embrace them. They are ours
and we belong to thee. Lord, we are thankful for your
mercy and for your grace to receive such as we are. Now take this
story and use it for your glory. Use it to edify your people,
to open the hearts of sinners and to strengthen us all in the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, subdue all the self-righteousness
that rises up in our hearts and our minds. We're nothing. Keep
us at Thy feet. And Lord, we're thankful for
Carter being back with us. Bless him, and bless his influence
and testimony there where he's worshiping, where he works. And
thank you for Rusty, and pray you'd protect him and watch over
him when he sails on the ship and out there away from home,
bring him safely back according to your will. Bless our friends
who are sick, minister to them, heal their bodies, Lord. Our
friend Annalee, remember her tonight. And these in the congregation
who have so many difficulties and trials and heartaches, Lord,
you know us, all about us, what we need. You are our shepherd
and we shall not want. But we do come to thee and we
Bring these matters before thee, because we believe that you hear
us. You said, Ask, and you'll receive.
Seek, and you'll find. Knock, and it shall be opened.
Give us yearning mercies and good service tomorrow night.
Bless Charlie and Bob as they preach Sunday and David next
Wednesday. Thank you for our faithful congregation. Thank you for every one of them.
Thank you, Lord, in Christ's name. Amen.