The Lost Son, Part 2a

Luke 15 is where we are, the parable of lost things. Luke 15, we began looking at the younger son. There are three main characters here, the younger son, the father, the older son. And help you understand what Christ is trying to help us see as he gives an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. This picture of what is commonly called the prodigal son, this wayward boy who turns from his wayward, and gives his life back to his father. Let's look at it together, Luke 15, verse number 11.

And he said, a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me. And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. And there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now, when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need, and he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

And he was longing to fill a stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his census, he said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger? I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. And he got up and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him and the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fat and calf kill it and let us eat and be married for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again he was lost and has been found and they began to be married now his older son was in the field and when he came and approached the house he heard music and dancing and he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be and he said to him your brother has come and your father has killed a fat and calf because he has received him back safe and sound but he became angry and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and began in treating him.

But he answered and said to his father, look, for so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours, and yet you have never given me a kid that I might be married with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fat and calf for him. He said to him, my child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be married and rejoice. For this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live and was lost and has been found.

We talked about his rebellion, right? How he came to his father and asked for his inheritance. And because he was a younger son, he was entitled to one-third of the inheritance.

And by law, he could obtain that before his father died. And you will note that his father divided the inheritance between him and his older son. That's important, especially when we get to the end of the story and look at the older son.

He had his money. He stayed at home, but he had his inheritance. And the young man stayed around for a while. And it says not many days after that that he takes off into a distant country. He goes and he lives the life of his dreams. The father, knowing that he's already left in his heart, he's already mentally away. Emotionally, he's away from home. All he has to do now is follow his heart. His father lets him go. Knowing what's out there, knowing what's going to happen to his life, He lets him go his wayward way and experience the full effects of his rebellion, the full effects of his sin.

And he will continue to do that until he is stopped. Because what a man needs can only be met in the context of a relationship with the living God of the universe. We are created in the image of God. Therefore, whatever we need, God has. And if we go elsewhere to find it, we will never obtain it. Although, for short times, we think we're there. Short times we think we're really living. We're really having a great time. Like this young man did. His money ran out. And so did his friends. And God brought him to the end of himself.

And the Bible says, and the man came to his senses. He finally came to his senses. He realized that what he was doing was absolutely ridiculous. This is wrong. There are servants in my father's house that have plenty. They have everything. And look at me.

I have nothing. And he resolved in his mind to get up, to go to his father, and tell him what he did wrong. And in that, we have the essence of true repentance. And I'm giving you seven principles that will tell you what true repentance is. The first one is that when a man repents of his sins, he reflects upon the destiny of his life.

He can't do a sense. He realized that where he was going was the wrong way. And realizing the man, this is not right. And number two, principle, we talked last week, knowing do you reflect upon the destiny of your life, but you realize the severity of your sin.

What's he saying? I have sinned against heaven and you, Father. That's the order. So important. The third principle is this, is that you recognize the responsibility is all your.

years. All yours. That's true repentance. It's my fault. Fourth principle, the story we left off last week. The fourth principle is this, is that a truly repentant heart responds to his authority with no agenda and no demands. A true repentant heart responds to his God-given authority with no agenda and no demands. When this man came home, he said, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. Make me a slave. I have no rights. Slaves have no rights. He realized that.

He realized that he deserved nothing. And therefore, because he deserved nothing, he expected nothing. Listen, a true repentant heart expects nothing. A true repentant heart will receive everything from God, but expects nothing. Why? because they're not worthy. They're not worthy. And this young man came and when he saw his father, his father hugged him, he kissed him, and he still began to speak. Father, I have sinned against heaven. I have sinned against him. He said it just like he rehearsed, right?

He felt the need to confess. Because listen, without confession, no cleansing. Without repentance, no reconciliation, no restoration, no renewal, no revival. it all hinges on the repentant heart. Notice what he says.

Make me one of your hired men. Make me as one of your hired men. Verse number 19. Remember we talked about it last week, verse number 12. Father, give me. Give me my inheritance. You see his self-confidence. You see his self-resilience. You see his independence. You see his desire to be autonomous. You see a man confident in his own. own self resources. Give me my money. It's my money. I deserve it. I want it. Now you say, I'm worthy of nothing. You make me whatever you want to make me. Dad, you're in charge.

See that? That's a repentant spirit. A repentant spirit realizes that he's no longer in charge. But God's in charge. So when God asks you to do something, you do it, right? Because God's in charge. I like what it says, you make me one of your slaves. Remember the Bible says, that, for by grace you say through faith that know yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, that he mentioned most.

For we are his, what, workmanship? We are as poetic masterpiece. Same word used over in March after 1, verse number 15, when Christ says, follow me, and I will what, make you fishers of men.

I'm going to make you into something. And what the disciples do, they follow. They wanted to be made into something. They had no agenda. They had no demands. That's what the repentance spirit is, right? They come and say, you know what? Whatever you say. I am submitting to your authority to follow you and do whatever you say. See, this is important because as Christians, we are to be repentant when we sin. But a lot of times when we repent, we want to set the agenda. We want to make the demands. If you're truly repentant, you have no agenda and you make no demands.

That's so important. You see, a repentant spirit realizes they're not worthy of anything. But by the grace and mercy of God, in the plan of God, the son of God receives everything like this young man did, right? And we'll talk about that next week. What his father gives to him is unbelievable. When he deserved nothing, when he had defamed the name of the family and the community. But his father would give him everything. because of his heart's condition, a truly repentant spirit. You see, repentance doesn't try to negotiate with God.

You know, we'll have to negotiate with God. Okay, God, I'll do this if you do that. And I'll be this, if you'll be that. That's not repentance. You don't tell God what to do. God tells you what to do, right? He's in charge. But in our own sinful life, we want to be in charge. But that's not the way God, God has assigned it. And God is always in charge, and he lets us think we are, but we're not. And so a truly repentant spirit responds to their authority with no agenda or no demand. It was J.I. Packard who said in this book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, the repentance that Christ requires of his people consists in a settled refusal.

to set any limit to the claims which he may make on their lives. That's good. A truly repentant spirit refuses, refuses to require God to do anything, but follows the claims of God unquestionably. It says, yes, Lord, whatever you say, that I will do. Principle number five is this. A man who is truly repentant refuses the company of his past. Refuses the company of his past. For this man to go back to his father, he had to leave the place he was. He had to leave the people he associated with. to go to where his father was.

That is so important. He got up, verse 20, and he came to his father. That's repentance. To turn from where you are to follow God. To refuse the company of your past. We know the verse 2nd Chronicle 714, if my people who are called by my name, home with themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land. But they've got to turn from their wicked ways. Listen to what the Bible says over in the book of Jonah.

With Jonah, the prophet, went to preach the gospel in Nineveh. You know the story. He was swallowed by a whale. They didn't want to go there. And finally, after getting right with God, God spit him back up on shore.

And he went to where God told him to go. And he got there and began to preach the gospel. And it says in verse number five, the people of Nineveh believed in God. And they called a fast and put on sackloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid his sight his robe from him, covered himself with sackloth and sat on the ashes, and he issued a proclamation and it said, In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing.

Do not let them eat or drink water, but both man and, and beasts must be covered with sackcloth, and let each man call on God earnestly, that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger so that we shall not perish. And when God saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented, concerning the calamity which he had declared, he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. When did God relent of his calamity that he would bring upon them?

When he saw what they did. Now, he knew their hearts had already turned, right? But when he saw that fruit in action, that's when God said, okay, I will not destroy the city of Nineveh. The Bible says these words, Book of Isaiah, wash yourselves.

make yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from my sight cease to do evil the jews understood repentance they understood what god required of them cease to do evil refuse the company of your past refuse those things that kept you from me refuse those things that will draw you further from me refuse them they are no help to you at all. It was J.C. Ryle who said these words about Isaiah 116, cease, cease to do evil. He says, whatever be your sin, resolved by God's help that tomorrow morning you will rise and alter man and break off from that sin, whether it be drinking or swearing or Sabbath breaking or passion or lying or cheating or covetousness.

Whatever your sin and fault, determined by God's grace, that you will break off sharp from it. Give it up without delay and turn from it by God's help for the rest of your days. Cast it from you. It is a serpent that will bite you to death. Throw it from you. It is useless lumber. It will sink the ship down to perdition. Cast away your besteading sin. Give it up. Turn from it. Break it off. By God's help, resolve that in that respect you will sin no more. refuse the company of your past. Listen to the prophet Ezekiel when he said these words in Ezekiel chapter 33, verse number 18.

He said, when the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. When the man turns from his wickedness is the evidence of a truly repentant spirit over in Ezekiel chapter 14. Ezekiel chapter 14, verse number six, it says this. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

nations. Again, Ezekiel chapter 18, verse number 30, reads as follows, therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel. Each according to his conduct, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the day. death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God.

Therefore, repent and live. Repent and live was what God said. Refuse the company of your past. This boy left it all behind to go back to his father's house. A. W. Tozer in his book, The Root of the Righteous says, the idea that God will pardon a rebel who has not given up his rebellion is contrary both to the scriptures and to common sense. How horrible to contemplated church full of persons who have been pardoned but who still loves sin and hate the ways of righteousness. And how much more horrible to think of heaven as filled with sinners who had not repented nor changed their way of thinking?

That's true. That's why Paul would say of those characterized in Thessalonica these words. Verse number nine at first Thessalonian chapter one.

He said this, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. They turned from where they were to follow God. Isaiah 55, verse number six, says, seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Refuse the company of your past.

Principle number six, when a man, when a woman is truly repentant, that man repudiates all iniquity both seen and unseen. A repentant spirit repudiates all iniquity, both seen and unseen. You see, when you refuse your past, what you're saying is that what I did before is wrong, I don't want to do it again. And so it's repugnant to you. You want to disown it. You not only want to walk away from, it, you want to hate it on the inside as well. That's why the psalmist says these words in Psalm 119, verse number 104, from thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.

Verse number 128, therefore I esteem, write all thy precepts concerning everything. I hate every false way. Psalm 97, verse number 10 says, hate evil, you who love the Lord. You got to ask yourself, is there truly a hatred of sin in my life? Do I want to turn away from everything? Do I want to make sure that the thing that harms me the most, sin, is kept free from my life, from my thought life, from my eye gate, from my words? He repudiates all iniquity, both seen and unseen. Thomas Watson, in his book, The Doctrine of Repent, says this.

First, there is a hatred or loathing of all abominations. A true penitent is a sin loather. If a man loathe that which makes his stomach sick, much more will he loat that which makes his conscience sick. It is more to loathe sin than to leave sin. One may leave sin for fear, as in a storm the plate and jewels are cast overboard, but the nauseating and loathing of sin argues a detestation of it. Christ is never loved till sin be loathed. Heaven has never longed for till sin be loathed. When the soul sees an issue of blood running, he cries out, Lord, when shall I be freed from this body of death?

When shall I put off these filthy garments of sin and have the fair mitre of glory set upon my head? Let all my self-love be turned into self-loathing. We are never more precious in God's eyes than we and we are lepers in our own eyes. That's good. You can't love God unless you loathe sin. See, we like to hang on to our sin, don't we? We like to dabble in our sin. Play around in our sin. But listen, repentance is loathing all sin and hates it. Because it's an abomination to God. Spurgeon said, Oh, my hearer, it is not thy promise of repentance that can save thee.

It is not thy vow. It is not thy solemn declaration. It is not the tear that is dried more easily than the dew drop by the sun. It is not the transient emotion of the heart, which constitutes a real turning to God. There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin and a turning under righteousness in real act and deed in everyday life. Do you say you are sorry and repent and yet go on from. day to day just as you always went? Will you now bow your heads and say, Lord, I repent, and in a little while commit the same deeds again?

If you do, your repentance is worse than nothing, and shall but make your destruction yet more sure. For he that vows to his maker, and doth not pay, hath committed another sin, and that he hath attempted to deceive the Almighty, and lie against the God that made him. Repentance, to be true. To be evangelical must be a repentance which really affects our outward conduct. Repentance must be entire. How many will say, sir, I will renounce the sin and the other, but there are certain darling lust which I must keep and hold.

Oh, sirs, in God's name, let me tell you, it is not the giving up of one sin nor 50 sins, which is true repentance.

it is a solemn renunciation of every sin. If thou dost harbor one of these accursed vipers in thy heart, thy repentance is but a sham. If thou dost indulge in but one lust, and dost give up every other, that one lust, like one leak in a ship, will sink thy soul. Think it not sufficient to give up the outward vices. Fancy it not enough to cut off the more corrupt sins of thy life, It is all or none which God demands repent, he says. And when he bids you repent, he means repent for all thy sins. Otherwise, he never can accept thy repentance as being real and genuine.

The true penitent hates sin. You know, you don't hear preaching like that much anymore, do you? New guys just don't say it very good. The old guys said it real well, because they understood. We'll have to cover the rest next week. Let's pray together. there.