I want us to now take our Bibles
and open them again to Luke 15. And let's take a real good look
at this best-known parable of our Lord. Luke, chapter 15, verse
11. And 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
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with raucous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that
land, and he began to be in want. Now everybody knows the story
of the prodigal son. Everybody's heard probably a
sermon on the prodigal son. But there are not many people
who see anything in this story except the reformation of a wayward
son. About all that people see in
this story is the reformation of a wayward son and the deliverance
of a man from a wasted life. But this parable, like the other
two in this chapter, and Charles Spurgeon once said, if you're
going to preach on the prodigal son, you ought to preach also
on the lost sheep and the lost coin, because these three parables
are really one. This parable of the lost son,
like the other two in this chapter, is written to lost sinners, and
it's written about lost sinners. The lost sheep pictures the compassion
and mercy of Christ in redeeming his lost people. In verse 7,
after giving the story of the lost sheep, our Lord said, Likewise
I say unto you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner that
repented. That's what this story is all
about, Christ said, a sinner repenting. That's what the story
of the lost sheep is about, Christ finding his own, Christ redeeming
his own, Christ delivering his own, and there's joy in heaven
over the repentance of a lost sinner. The lost coin shows the
illuminating work of the Holy Spirit As the parable of the
lost sheep shows the compassion and mercy of Christ in leaving
the 99 and going out in the wilderness and finding that which was lost
and bringing it home, the story of the lost coin reveals the
illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. As the woman took the
candle and penetrated the darkness and found the lost coin, even
so the Holy Spirit penetrates the blackness of human depravity
and the darkness of human ignorance and reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the lost son, the parable
of the lost son. Well, look at verse 10. When
our Lord had completed the parable of the lost Cohen, He said, Likewise
I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner that repented. over one sinner that repented. These parables are to sinners.
They're about sinners. They're to sinners. They're talking
about the deliverance of sinners. And then the lost son. The lost
son reveals the grace and mercy of the Father. The Father in
welcoming back that which was lost. And if you'll look hard
at these parables, you'll note where the emphasis is placed.
And you'll note who the real hero is in each one of the parables. Where is the emphasis in the
lost sheep, and who is the hero? Certainly not the sheep. That
in its dumbness and blindness it wandered away from the foal,
the emphasis is placed upon the shepherd. And the real hero of
the lost sheep, the story of the lost sheep, is the shepherd.
The shepherd who in love, the shepherd who in mercy, left the
comforts of home and went out in the darkness and out in the
rain and the cold, and found that sheep, he searched till
he found it, and put it on his shoulders and brought it home
and said, Rejoice with me, for this my sheep was lost, and now
it's found. The hero is the shepherd. The
emphasis is upon the shepherd. The shepherd went out to search
for his sheep, and all through the night on the rocky steep
he searched till he found it, and with love bands he bound
it, and I was that one lost sheep." In the story of the lost coin,
where is the emphasis? Who is the hero? It's the woman,
not the coin. The coin was dead. The coin was
lifeless. The coin was content to remain
where it was. The coin was content to remain
lost. And the emphasis is not upon
the coin, and the hero of the story is not the coin, but the
woman who was unwilling for that coin to remain lost, and who
got a candle and lit that candle and began to search and searched
and searched until she found that coin. And even so, the Holy
Spirit of God is unwilling for one of God's own to remain lost. And the Holy Spirit of God seeks
out the sinner, and awakens the sinner, and enlightens the mind
of the sinner, and illuminates the darkened understanding of
the sinner, and convicts the sinner, and reveals Christ to
him with the light of the Word of God, and brings him home.
He finds him. He finds him. In the story of
the lost son, who's the hero? Where is the emphasis placed?
Well, it's the father. It's not the son, it's the father
who's the real hero of this story. The love and compassion of the
father, who though the son had rebelled against him and the
son had rejected him, yet he loved the son. and he welcomed
him back even though he had rebelled and left and demanded all of
these things. The Father welcomed him back
as though he had never been gone and restored him to his place. For God so loved the world. The emphasis there is not upon
the world but upon God and God's love. For God so loved that he
gave that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have eternal life. I think we miss the spiritual
application and meaning of these parables of our Lord by putting
the emphasis where it doesn't belong, by glorifying the creature
instead of the creator, by calling attention to the creature instead
of the creator. The hero in the lost sheep is
the shepherd. The hero in the story of the
lost coin is the woman who found it. And the hero in the story
of the lost son is the father. And the emphasis is upon the
father. Now I want us to look at four
things. First of all, the departure. The departure. And secondly,
I want us to look at the far country. And then I want us to
look thirdly in this message at the awakening. There was an
awakening. And then I want us to look at
the return. Now first of all, the departure. This is a sad time. Verse 12
of Luke 15, And the younger son said, Father, Father, give me. When I read the Word of God and
try to prepare a message for you, I try to find those words
that convey the meaning of that verse. I try to find the words
that I think the Holy Spirit is using to reveal the application
of that verse, and these are the three words. Father, give
me! Give me. Father, give me. As most children, look upon their
parents only as a source of supply to meet their needs and their
demands, and nothing more. So I think most men look upon
God only as a materialistic God who meets their physical and
material needs and demands, and He must not fail. Father, give me. I think it'd
be good for us sometime to examine our prayers and just see how
selfish they are. Here was a young man who rejected
his father's authority, who rejected his father's direction, who rejected
his father's wisdom, who rejected his father's protection, and
wanted his own way, so he came to the father, and he said, Father,
give me. Give me. Now this is the reason
so many so-called divine healers are successful. These divine
healers and these people who promise to their followers material
success, they're very popular because this is the characteristic
of most sinners today. Give me. Give me. Our Lord gives us an example
of that in John chapter six. I want you to look at this. John,
the sixth chapter, verse twenty-five. And here a whole host of people
were following the Lord Jesus Christ. They were following hard
on his heels. John, six, twenty-five. They
were following hard upon his heels. And when they found him,
John, six, twenty-five, when they found him on the other side
of the sea, they said, Rabbi, Rabbi, when did you come hither? And Jesus answered and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me. That's a commendable
virtue, isn't it? They were seeking the Lord. It
all depends on why they were seeking Him. Oh, it's so commendable
everybody's in church this morning. Why? It's so commendable everybody's
singing the hymn. Why? It's so commendable everybody's
praying. Why? Everybody's going about
these religious duties. Why? Christ said, you seek me,
not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the
loaves and were filled. I'll tell you why you're seeking
me, the Lord said. You want some more bread. You
want some more fish. That's what you want. That's
why you're seeking me. You've got a selfish motive. You're
seeking me because I fed you. That's the only reason you're
seeking me. He said in verse 27, labor not for the meat that
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God
the Father sealed. Don't seek me for materialistic
gain, physical blessing, to fill your bellies with the things
of this world. Labor not for the meat that perisheth.
Father, give me! And if you go out here as a divine
healer, or a preacher of prosperity, and preach to people that their
bodies will be healed, and their stomachs will be filled, and
their bodies will be clothed with fine clothing, their businesses
will be successful, you can get a whole host of people to run
after you, just like these people ran after the Lord. Father, give
me! Give me! Give me! That's all
I want you to give me, your source of supply. That's what God's
for. Well, verse 12, And here's the
sad thing, but this is true, we've got to face it, the father's
permission, so the father gave him. The father divided unto
them his living. The father let the prodigal have
his way. You know, the very thing, the
very thing that men want, that I want, that you want, what is
it? It's the very thing we ought
not to want. And that is our own way. That's what we want. We want
our way. This young man came to his father.
He shouldn't have left. He shouldn't have gone. He shouldn't
have asked for his inheritance. But he wanted his way. And the
father let him have his way. God let Adam have his way in
the garden. and man fell. God let Israel
have their way in the wilderness. They wanted a king, so God let
them have their way. And they crowned Saul, King Saul,
and he brought nothing but grief to them. God let man have his
way when Christ came down here to the earth, and God put Christ
in the hands of wicked men, and they crucified him on the cross.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone, where? To his own way. That's what you
want. God will let you have it. I'm
going to have my way. I live where I want to live.
I'm going to work where I want to work. I'm going to do what
I want to do. I'm going to run with who I want to run with.
I'm going to have my way. And the unfortunate thing about
all this is that if you demand it strongly enough, God will
let you have it. He lets you have your way. That's
all right. You want your way, you can have your way. But you
know the songwriter put it this way, and Ronnie Lewis sings it
quite often, leads a congregation, because I think he likes it about
like I do. My times are in thy hands, my
God, I want them there. My life, my friends, my soul,
I leave entirely to thy care. My times are in thy hands, whatever
they may be, pleasing or painful, dark or bright, O God, as best
may seem to thee. Father, give me what I want."
All right, all right. You can have what you want. You
can have what you want. If that's what you want, You're
welcome to it. So he took it and he left. Verse
13. And not many days after that,
the younger son gathered all together and took his journey,
and he took his journey into a far country. Now this was not
God's way, this was his way. This was not the father's wisdom,
this was the son's wisdom. This was not the father's direction,
this was the son's direction. He went his own way And it took
him into the far country. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man. And I'll guarantee you this,
that way seems perfectly right to that man. He is sincere in
that way. That's the way he feels like
he ought to go. That's the way he feels like
he ought to walk. That's the way his finite, limited
wisdom turns him. It's his way. It's not the right
way. It's his way. We'll not have
this man reign over us. We'll not have this man reign
over us. And each step we take going our
way, each step we take is a step farther away from God, farther
away from home, farther away from the Father. We're traveling
our own way, and it's a dangerous journey. It's a perilous journey
because we don't have but one life. And we don't have but one
soul. And what shall a man profit if
he gain the world and lose his soul? This young man went to
a far country, and there he wasted his substance. Sin's always a
waste. It says he took his journey into
a far country, and there he wasted his substance. Well, his substance
happened to be money, gold and silver. Our substance is our
health, our character, our years, our time. And after a while,
get the picture, this young man spent everything he had. Now brethren, every journey always
has an end. I don't care what journey it
is, there's got to be an end of the journey. And every life
has an end. It's appointed unto men once
to die. One of these days, my strength
is going to come to an end. This young man had wealth. This
young man had riches. This young man had great possessions.
But there's nobody with unlimited wealth and unlimited riches and
unlimited possessions. And after a while, it was all
gone. All. He had spent all. And I start out with a pretty
good mind. in life, but after a while the years are going to
take their toll on that faculty. I started out with a pretty strong
body, but after a while the years are going to take their toll.
I have not unlimited resources. I started out with pretty good
health, but one of these days that source of supply has got
to come to an end. I've got to, after a while, And here the young man is sitting
down in the far country and everything's gone now, it's gone! And I'm
saying to you, your beauty in which you trusted is going to
one of these days fade into ugliness. And your strength in which you
trusted, one of these days you're going to find yourself unable
to raise your hand. and your health and your years,
you're going to be old. God said, their foot shall slide
in due time. Now then, here's a man at the
end of life's journey, lying on the bed, dying, or a woman.
No beauty, ugliness. No fairness, nothing but old
age and wrinkles. No health, that's gone. The journey
has ended. We're at the end of the road
now. What do you say to that person? What's that hope? What's the hope of that person?
What do you say to a dying man? Job said, if a man dies, shall
he live again? Shall he live again? What profit has there been in
all the pleasures of life? What gain has there been in all
the things to which you've given your time and your efforts and
your strength? This young man spent everything,
and he began to be in want. And he even went, verse 15, and
joined himself to a citizen of that country, and the man sent
him out to the hog pen. And he would fain have filled
his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man
gave to him, chiefly because no man in the far country had
anything to give him. They were all in the same boat.
There was nothing there. They were all in the same famine.
They were all in the same hunger. None of them had anything to
give. In your dying hour, you turn to the patient in the bed
next to you. They don't have anything to give
you. They spent all You turn to the doctor who's
waited upon your physical body and tried to keep that old heart
beating, and he can't do it because he doesn't have power over life,
and who's tried to keep your lungs pumping air. He has power
over those—does not have power over those lungs. You turn to
him, and he has nothing to give you either. There's just one place to turn,
and that's to the Father, but you left him. You wouldn't have
his way, you wanted your way. It's just one direction to turn,
and that's to him who gave you life, but you turned away from
him. You said, I want my way. Well, you've got your way. And
where's your way brought you? It's brought you down, down,
down, down to the hogpen, down to poverty, down to death. Well, thank God, verse 17, this
young man, it says here he came to himself. Here's the awakening.
He came to himself. He came to himself. My friends,
up to this time, the young man had not been thinking. Oh, he
had been thinking, but he had been thinking foolishly. He had
not been thinking wisely. Sinners don't think right. God
says, your thoughts, you think, but you do not think right. Your
thoughts are not my thoughts. There was a young man lying upon
his bed one night. Our Lord said, and he was contemplating
his riches, his success, and he said, I'm going to have to
tear down my barns and build bigger barns. All of my fields
are producing plenty, and I'm going to have to tear down my
barns and build bigger barns, finer barns, in which to store
my goods. And the Lord said to him, This
night thy soul shall be required of thee." Sin is insanity. The
Word of God said in Isaiah 1, 5, the whole head is sick. Sin
is insanity. Men do not think right when they're
in sin, when they're in rebellion, when they're in the far country,
when they've departed from God. Well, this young man got his
senses back. He came to himself. And this is the way he began
to think. He didn't think like this before, but now he's thinking
straight. He says, I'm broke, and my father
is rich. I'm completely broke. I'm bankrupt,
but my father is rich. I'm hungry. Even the servants
in my father's house have enough to eat. I'm perishing. I'm dying! In my Father's house,
there's life. I will arise and go to my Father."
Now he's beginning to think. Now he's beginning to use his
wisdom. There are two things that a man
has to know in order to think wisely, spiritually speaking. Number one, he has to be brought
to know his own poverty. he has to know his poverty, he
has to know the truth about himself, his own poverty. And secondly,
he has to be taught where the riches of life really are. Where is food? In the Father's
house. Where is peace? In the Father's
house. Where is joy? Not in the far
country, not in having my own way. Back here before he left
home, where's joy? Getting out from under the power
of the old man. Where is riches? It's getting
out of this house and getting down to where I can have my own
way. That's where riches are. That's where joy is. That's where
delight is. That's where pleasure is. It's
down here where I want to be. Did you find it? Young man, did
you find what you're looking for? No, I didn't find. What did you find? I found poverty. And he enjoyed the pleasures
of seeing for a season. I found poverty. I found hunger. I found sickness. I found selfishness. I found greed. I found war. I found unhappiness. Young man,
where is happiness? It's back home. It's in the Father's
house. Young man, where is joy?" And
the father said, don't you have any joy? Uh-uh. I'm broke, and
I'm hungry, and I'm homesick. Now if a fellow ever gets brought
by the Holy Spirit to that place, he's beginning to think. He's
beginning to think. And then notice his determination. I'm a fool to stay where I am.
I'm a fool to stay where I am. Nobody but a fool would stay
down here where I am in poverty. Nobody but a fool would stay
down here in unhappiness. Nobody but a fool would stay
down here in this far country when there's plenty to eat at
home, when there's wealth at home, and even the servants,
even the angels of God have plenty. And here I am wallowing down
here in the hog pen. unhappy, my soul like the troubled
sea, poor, broke, hungry, homesick. I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. I'm going home. I'm going home. And verse 20,
and he arose, and he arose. Now why sit you there? Awake
thou that sleepest, Arise from the tomb of the dead. Get out
of the graveyard. Throw off your shackles and chains. Arise! Make a move! Don't just sit there! Arise. I'm going to arise. I'm getting
out of here. And I'm going to go to my father. I can but perish
if I go. I'm resolved to try. For if I
stay where I am, I know I shall forever die. I'm getting out
of here. I'm going to the Father, and
I'm not going up there with a cocky attitude like I had when I left.
Father, you don't owe me anything. Oh, a different boy here now.
Here he is in verse 12. Father, give me what's mine.
The sinner doesn't come home that way. He leaves that way,
but he doesn't come back that way. He comes back saying, Father,
I have sinned. I sinned against heaven, and
in your sight you don't owe me nothing. I'm not even worthy
to be called your son. I'm not asking to be made a son. I'm not asking to be restored
to the place of sonship. I'm just asking you to make me
a servant. Lord, remember me when thou comest
in thy kingdom. The Syrophoenician woman at the
feet of Christ The Syrophoenician woman, whose daughter was at
the point of death, who had begged the master to heal her daughter,
and the master said, I am sent to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. She said, Lord, help me. It's
not me to give the children's bread to dogs. That's right,
Lord. I'm not asking you to consider
me as a child, but I'll tell you this. The dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. and I'm willing to be a dog,
just let me eat the crumbs from your table." And this son came
home and he said, Father, I'm not asking to be made a son,
I'm just tired of the far country. I'm not asking for a position
of power, I just want to get out of that far country. Father,
I'm not asking you to make me an heir, I just want to leave
that place and I want to come home. And if you'll just make
me a hired servant, but let me stay at home. Let me be under
your dominion. Let me be under your power. Let
me be under your authority. Let my life be directed by your
wisdom. I want to be with you. That make
sense? Old Barnard used to say, seek
the Lord. I don't know whether he'll save
you or not. I can't guarantee it. Did this boy deserve to be
taken back? Uh-uh. Did this boy deserve the
position of sonship? He left it. He forfeited it.
He gave it up. Do you deserve to be a child
of God? Huh? Don't tell me you do now.
I know better. You gave that up. You forfeited
that. You left your inheritance. You ran from God. You wanted
your way, and God gave it to you. He doesn't owe you anything. But I'll tell you what you better
do, you better seek His mercy. Because you're going to die where
you are. And you're going to hell where you are. And you continue
in rebellion against God, you're going to feel the whip of His
wrath where you are. And I tell you what I'd do, I'd
come like this boy, I'd come home. And I'd come home with
my hands out in front of me, empty. And I'd come home on my
knees, and I'd come home asking for mercy! I'd come home at the
feet of the Father, and I'd say, Don't hold me, nurse me. But
it sure would be much obliged if you'd take me in somewhere,
because even the servants in your house have enough." This
father saw the Son coming. Verse 20, he arose, but when
he was a great way off, the father saw him and had compassion and
still loved him. He ran and fell on his neck and
kissed him. And the son said, Father, I sinned
against heaven and in your sight, and I'm not worthy to be called
your son. Thank God. Here's the love of God. Here's
the love that passes understanding. Here's the love, the depths of
which no man can reach and the height of which no man can understand. Here's that love that reaches
a lost son in a far country and loves him. God commended his
love for us in that while we were yet sinners, he loved us
in Christ our God. And the father ran to meet him
and put his arms around him and said, Welcome home. Welcome home. I heard a story some years ago.
There was a young man who left home, ran away from home, and
he was gone for a long, long time. This was back years ago.
And his fortunes were not too good, and he became mighty poor. mighty hungry, his body and health
broken and diseased. But he used to ride the freight
train through his hometown. Every once in a while he'd catch
a freight train. He'd go through the hometown. His mama and daddy
lived down near the railroad tracks, and every time he'd go
through that town sitting in the boxcar, he'd look out there
and see his mama's house and his daddy's house, and he'd ride
right on through the town. And one time he came through
the town, and And he threw a note off the boxcar onto the platform,
station platform addressed to his mother and daddy. And somebody
found it and took it to him. And he told how homesick he was
and how tired he was of roaming. And he told them he realized
that they didn't owe him anything, that he left on his own. And
that he had sinned against them and he'd done them wrong. But
he said, I'll be coming back through here next Thursday. And
if you want me to come home," he said, you hang a white towel
out on the clothesline in the backyard. When I pass through
town, I'll see that white towel and I'll get off the train. And
so the Thursday came around and he was on this freight train
and it was coming through his hometown. It was coming to the
outskirts of the town. He's standing there in the boxcar
door looking out and the wind blowing in his face. And after
a while he rounded the bend and he saw his daddy's house. And
then he looked and he saw the backyard, and on the clothesline
was a white towel, and next to it a white sheet, and next to
that a white bread spread, and next to that a white shirt, and
hanging all over the lines was white underwear. And she'd gone
to the neighbors and borrowed everything they had white. She'd
put it all over the clothesline and all over the fence and out
on the tree. That whole backyard was nothing
but white clothes just hanging everywhere. Welcome home. Well,
my lost friend, Almighty God is the hero in this story. He
so loved his son, this world, that he gave his son to die for
our sins. Now, you're tired of the far
country. You realize your poverty and your hunger Do you realize
that you're bankrupt? Are you tired? I invite you to
come home, and I've got reason to believe that the Father will
welcome you, and he'll forgive all your sins, and he'll take
you in, not as a servant, but as a son, and you'll feast at
his table all the days of your life. But you've got to come
home. You've got to arise and come home. When you get tired,
I believe you will. I believe you will. Our Father
in Heaven, we pray that it may please Thee
to take Thy Word and make it like a piercing, convicting arrow,
sharp, two-edged sword, and go past these natural ears that
like to be tickled, and plunge deep into our hearts, and break
them, and crush them, and reveal unto us our poverty and our hunger,
and the depths of our despair, and the evil of our sins, and
make us tired of it, O God, make us tired of it. Show us where
real joy is. Show us where real peace is. Show us where the bread of life
really is, where that crystal fountain of living water flows
at the throne of God, at home. Bring sinners home. We can't
do it, our Father. We can only preach to them, but
You have to show them their poverty. I can't do it. You have to show
them the emptiness of the far country. You have to show them
the folly of sin. I can't do it. You're going to
have to make them tired of it. And You'll have to reveal to
them Thy grace and the beauty of Christ and the welcome home
that's prepared for all who come. Granted, our Father, we pray
in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.