The Lost Sons, Part 3

Dear Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 15 please. Luke chapter 15 as we continue our study in that great parable called the parable of lost things. Lost sheep, lost silver coins, and two lost sons. We are right in the middle of this parable looking at the third story.

The first two stories help us understand that God declares that all men everywhere should repent for there's great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

And so the first two stories, the story of the lost sheep and the lost silver coin, declare to us the necessity for repentance.

The story of the lost sons, plural because both of them are lost as we will see as we go through the story, that it demonstrates for us the reality of repentance. And so these three stories give us both sides of the coin when it comes to salvation. The divine side and the human side. The divine side is that God reaches out and relentlessly pursues the sinner in order to rescue him, in order to redeem him. That's the divine side. The human side is our response to God's initiative and that is to repent and to return to him.

And in the story of the two lost sons we have what it means to repent of our sins and return to him. It begins the story with the three characters, a father and two boys, one an older son and one a younger son. And it begins with a request by the younger son, give me my share of the estate. That's his request. It's based on his rebellious spirit that he doesn't want to be home anymore. And when he asked that question, he asked it wishing his father was dead. I want nothing to do with you. I wish you were dead because I will get it all when you die anyway.

So it'd be best if you were dead. So give me what I want. It brought great shame to the family. You must understand the Middle Eastern culture. It's all centered around honor and shame. And the family honor is crucial in the Middle East. In America we don't know anything about that. In the Middle East even today that culture is strong. And it was severely strong in the days of Jesus. The whole honor your father and mother because that's the first commandment with the promise was so highly honored by those in Israel and in the Middle East that it was the sunim bonum of family living.

It's what everything was about, honor. And if you shame the family, you then would be dishonored. And this younger son because of his request and the rebellion in his heart led him to dishonor his family, to shame the name of his family. And yet his father would grant his request. His father in all reality should have slapped him on the back of his face, should have shamed his son, and should have had a funeral for his son because his son was dead to him. The father didn't do that. Instead the father gave him what he requested, knowing that his rebellious heart would take him the wrong way.

And so he allowed him to go that way. He divided the state among the older and the younger. People forget about that. The older son got his share as well. He stayed home, not because he was Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, but he was just as rebellious as the younger son, but he was a self-righteous rebellious as we will see in two weeks from today, Lord willing. But the bottom line is that this younger son rebelled against his father. And so he requested that he would have his share of the estate. So he gathered all those things together.

He cashed them out. He sold them low so he could have all the money he wanted. And he lived the way he wanted to live. He went and did whatever he wanted to do, only to find out that when the money ran out, there was a great famine in the land. God was the one who caused the famine. Why? Because God was going to bring this boy to repentance. And God will use all the external things he can to drive someone back to him. And so he would cause the famine at the same time he ran out of money. He didn't cause the famine when the boy still had lots of money.

When the boy came to the end of his rope financially, God then caused the famine to cause this young boy to be in severe hardship. But he wasn't at the end of his rope. There were still some independence there. There was still some self-resiliency there. There was still some self-sufficiency there. There was still the desire to live on my own without any influence from my father or anybody else. I can still do this thing. I'm going to do it my way. The whole Frank Sinatra song, he did it his way, and he ended up in a pig's pen.

He attached himself to a Gentile man, asking for a job. Didn't get the job, but he made him feed his pigs, but he got no money. And the only thing he had to eat was the pods that the pigs themselves would eat. It was at that time, the Bible says, that he came to a census.

No man ever repents until they come to their senses. That's what Second Timothy 2.26 says. Remember Second Timothy 2.26?

It says it very clearly. Verse 25 says, with Gentiles correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of truth, and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. Repentance comes to those who have come to their senses. And the only way you can come to your senses is if God's Spirit is convicting you of the direction of your life. It's at that point repentance happens in the life of this young boy.

And last week, we gave you two principles that outlined this boy's repentance. There are seven of them all together in the story. And we told you last week, they're all intertwined one with another. It's not that they go in steps. I do this, I do that, I do this, I do that, and then I finally repent.

No, they are all intertwined together. They're all part of the same package of biblical repentance. It's just that throughout the story, they are so finely illustrated for us that when we see them, we can ask the question, have I truly repented of my sin? I don't know if some of you are probably saying, you know, Pastor, how long are you going to talk about this repentance thing? Until you all repent. No. It's all about the fact that, you know what? There are some people who think they've repented and have it.

So they need to understand what biblical repentance is. There are others who have heard it for the very first time and never understood what true biblical repentance is.

There are those of us who have to explain it to other people because they have no idea what repentance is. And the parable of lost things with the emphasis on the two lost sons explains to us exactly what repentance is. As we begin to partake this morning of the Lord's table, it's imperative that we understand biblical repentance because churches in America are filled with people who think they're saved, but they're not. I'm going to pound that tune until the day I die because I'm going to make sure that when you stand before the throne of God, you're never going to say, well, Pastor Lance never told me that.

No. If you're standing before the great white throne judgment, it's too late. Your judgment's coming. You need to know the truth about true biblical repentance. So we told you last week, it begins when a man reflects upon the destiny of his life. It came to his senses. There is a way it was seen with the writing to a man, Proverbs 14, 12, but the ends are over the ways of death, not life. What am I doing here? Why am I here? Where am I going? And he changes his own mind about his location, his life, his attitude, his father, everything.

And he realizes that the way he's going is nowhere. That's why nobody comes to a place of repentance until they get here, until they're completely broken. It's called, as Christ says in Matthew 5, poverty of spirit.

There's no more independence. There's no more ability within myself to do what I need to do to make it happen. I can't do anything. I have nothing left. I have to cry out to God. I must go to God. Unless you're at that point, you'll never repent. You'll never repent. Why? Because you'll never come to your senses to realize that the direction you're going is only hell bound, not heaven bound. You're going the wrong direction. He came to his senses and he recognized the destiny of his life was the wrong way, which led him, number two, to realize the severity of sin.

I will get up and I will go, not tomorrow, not next week. I will go today. You see, when a man reflects upon the destiny of his life, he gets up and he goes today, not tomorrow. He doesn't wait to repent way down the road. He does it right now.

And so he realizes the severity of a sin. And I will go to my father and I will say, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. The order is so significant because what makes sin, sin is that you sinned against God, not that you sinned against somebody else, against God. David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. And yet he sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba, Joab and the whole nation of Israel. But the emphasis was on the fact that he sinned against God. And that was the severity of a sin.

And people don't repent unless they realize that what they've done is a violation of God's standard. They truly have fallen short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death. And they've come to realize that they have sinned against God. Woe is me, Isaiah would say. I am a man of unclean lips that I dwell amongst a nation of people of unclean lips. So you reflect upon the destiny of your life. You realize the severity of your sin. And number three, we briefly covered last week, you recognize that the responsibility is all yours.

I have sinned. It's not that, you know, if the economy would have held together, I'd still have a job today. If my money wouldn't have ran out, I'd still have a job. I'd still have enough money. I'd still make it. He wasn't blaming on the economy. He wasn't blaming it on the famine. He wasn't blaming it on the fact that he had no money. He wasn't blaming on his father, his brother, his neighbors. There was no one else to blame. I've sinned. I've sinned. It's my fault. And it's no one else's fault but mine.

I told you last week, it was Adam who said, the woman you gave me, Lord, it's your fault. And it was Eve who said, it was a serpent who tempted me, deceived me. We always want to blame shift. We always want to blame somebody else for my condition, my situation, my sin, and my temptation. It's my fault. It's me who sinned. I can't blame anyone else. I can't pass it off and as a default, go to somebody else and say, well, if they weren't there, if they didn't do this to me, I wouldn't have done that.

No, it's all you and nobody else. You recognize the responsibility is all yours. It's like the public in Luke 18 who said, I've sinned against God. It's like David for Samuel 24. We're not there yet in our study. I'm sorry, second Samuel 24.

We're a long way away from that yet, but it's he who sinned. God said, don't number the people. Don't number your soldiers. Don't count them. And David counted them. Really? God says, don't do it.

What did he do? He did it. 70,000 people died because David counted his men. Say, are you kidding me? Why would God do that? Because God said, don't do it. He did it anyway. You know what David said? It's my fault. God, it's my fault. I've sinned. Nobody else. It's my fault. That's what made David a man after God's own heart. It's me. It's my, my fault. I did it. I said, see, we don't like to take blame. We don't want to take responsibility. We want to, we want to pass it off on somebody else. If I wasn't married to him, I wouldn't have done what I did.

Yes, you would have. So it does to somebody else, but we want to blame it on somebody else because he gets us off the hook. And God says, when you come to me, you couldn't be saying I have sinned.

And so you reflect upon the destiny of your life. You realize the severity of your sin. You recognize the responsibility is all yours. And number four, you respond to your authority with no agenda and no demand. Folks, this is crucial. How do you know someone's truly repentant? They respond to their authority with no agenda and no demand. You can't negotiate with God. You can't, you can't do that. You can't negotiate with your authority. When you truly repented, you say, as the man said, I am not worthy to be your son.

I am worthless. I have no agenda. Make me as one of your hired men. Now the hired men are lower than the slaves because the slaves were owned by the master. The hired men weren't. Just make me as one of your hired men. When he left, it was give me, give me, give me. When he came back, he said, make me whatever you want me to be. You're in charge. See, that's a repentant spirit. It isn't, you know what, I want to come back as your son. I want to have my rightful place in the family. That's, that's a demand.

That's an agenda. I'm coming back if, I'm coming back when, I'm coming back if you see it my way. No, no, no, no. When you repent, you come back with no, no agenda and no demand. Whatever you want to do, you do. You're in charge. I submit to you. If you have an agenda or demand, you're not truly repentant. You've come back to negotiate. You've come back to set the rules yourself. Can't do that. Can't set rules with God. God makes all the rules. Make me whatever you want me to be. I am no longer worthy to be your son.

I've lost everything. I have nothing. I am nothing. And whatever you want to do, you just do it. And that was this man, this young man who came back and responded to his authority with no agenda and no demand. It was J. I. Packer who said, the repentance that Christ requires consists in a settled refusal to set any limit to the claim which he may make on my life. In other words, when I come back and I repent, I will submit to any claim God makes on my life. That's why when someone comes to Christ, they take up the cross, they deny themselves and follow him.

Why? Because their life means nothing anymore. If your life means something to you, you have not repented of your sin. You have not. You might think you have. But if your life means something to you, you have yet to repent of your sin. Because you deny yourself, you take up your cross, and you follow Christ. Whatever you want me to do, Lord, I'll do. Whatever you want me to say, I'll say. Whatever you want me to be, I'll be. That's why the Bible says, when Christ says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

I'm going to make you something. I'm going to make you into something you would have never dreamed of being had it not been for me. That's why Ephesians 2.10, it says that we are his workmanship. We are his making. We are his literary masterpiece that he molds and shapes the way he wants to mold us and shape us. See? And that's why when the repentant spirit comes, it comes with no agenda and no demand. It just submits to the authority over it. It says, whatever you want to do, I'll do. Whatever you want me to be, I'll be.

Wherever you want me to go, I'll go. Just give me the word. I am not worthy. I am worthless in your eyes. I have nothing to give. So you just take my life and do whatever you want to with it. That is a repentant spirit. And this is this young man as he comes back, true repentance never, never negotiates with God. Never says, God, you know, I'll come back. I'll come back if you heal my marriage. Really? What if it didn't heal your marriage? You know, I'll submit to you, Lord, if you take care of all my financial problems.

You got to get me a job and you got to get me back on my feet and you got to help my house to sell and you got to get me back on my feet, Lord, and then I'll give my life to you. I'll follow you. I'll do whatever you want. That's not repentance. That might be remorse for your condition, but it's not repentance. That's why you have to be at the end of your rope and reflect upon the destiny of your life and realize that where you're going is nowhere because you're nothing to get there. And this is where this young man was.

I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I have no agenda. I have no demand. I will get up. I will go to my Father and say, Father, I have sinned against heaven and I've sinned in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be your son. You make me whatever you want me to be. That's repentance. And then number five, a truly repentant spirit refuses the company of their past. They refuse the company of their past. In order for him to go home, he has to leave the place and the people he was once with, right? You have to refuse the company of your past.

That's why it's called repentance. You repent and return to God. You go to him. In order for this young man to go to his Father, he has to leave everything else behind. He can't take anything with him. Those who want to take things with them have not repented. Lord, I'm coming, but let me get this or let me get this relationship or let me keep this relationship.

I'm coming. Hold on a second, Lord, but I got to keep this guy with me. That's why Christ says, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is worthy of being my disciple.

Don't be looking back. There's nothing back there that will save you. There was nothing back there that will help you. There's no relationship back there that's going to do anything for you. The only relationship that will do something for you is the one you have with me. Leave it all behind. You refuse the company of your past. And this is illustrated all throughout the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. In fact, the Bible says, back in the book of 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, you know the verse, it's really a verse for Israel and Israel alone.

It's not for America, although we use it all the time in America. It has nothing to do with America. It's all about Israel, 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. It says, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and land. They must turn from their wicked ways. They got to turn. They got to pray. They got to humble themselves. They got to seek my face and they got to turn from their wicked ways. They got to leave them behind.

When they turn, I'll hear. They don't turn. They can pray. They can humble themselves. They can seek my face. If they don't turn, I'm not hearing. They got to turn from their wicked ways. They got to move away from those things. And then it says over in the book of Jonah, Remember Jonah? When he preached the judgment of God upon the people of Nineveh? He didn't want to go to Nineveh, but God ended up getting him there anyway, because those people needed to hear the truth. And the king said very clearly, do not let man, beast, herd or flock taste the thing, do not let them eat or drink water, but both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and let men call on God earnestly, and each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands, and who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger, so that we shall not perish.

The bottom line was the king made a decree, we got to turn from the direction we're going. We're going the wrong way. There is a way was seen with writing to a man, but the answer of are the ways of death, not life. We're going the wrong way, that way is death. Turn and go this way, this way is life. And that was biblical repentance. Then the Bible says, over in the book of Isaiah, wash yourselves, verse number 16, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from my sight, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the widow, the orphan, excuse me, plead for the widow, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.

Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken. It's about returning. It's about repenting. It's about refusing the company of your past. See, that's so crucial when it comes to repentance. It was J.C. Riley who said this, whatever be your sin, resolve by God's help that tomorrow morning you will rise an altered 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 or fault, determine 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 besetting sin. Give it up. Turn from it. Break it off by God's help.

Resolve that in that respect you will sin no more. Wow. The Bible goes on to say this in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel 33 verse, verse number 18, verse number 19. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he will die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. There is a turning from the wickedness. Earlier in Ezekiel chapter 14 verse number 6, 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.

Refuse the company of your past. Turn away from those things. And then in Ezekiel chapter 18, Ezekiel 18 verse number 30, 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 death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God.

Therefore repent and live. You want to live? You've got to repent and return to God. You must refuse the company of your past. Eddie A. B. Tozer in his book The Root of the Righteous says this, 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 contemplate a church full of persons who have been pardoned but who still love 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.

He's right. A truly repentant person has changed their way of thinking. That's why Isaiah 55 says this, 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. God never pardons the unrepentant. Never does. He only pardons the repentant. And that is what the scriptures teach. That's why repentance is the essential element for any man to do business with God.

You must be willing to turn from your wicked ways. Say God whatever you want me to do, I will do. That's why in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse number 9 it says that those that doesn't like it turn to God from idols in order to serve the true and living God. If you don't turn from God or turn to God away from your idols, whatever they may be, you will never serve the living God. There's a three pronged element to repentance. It's turning to God. It's turning from idols that you might serve the true and living God.

And that three pronged element is what makes up true biblical repentance. It's a turning to God from idols to serve the one true living God. So repentance based on Luke 15 reflects upon the destiny of one's life, realizes the severity of one's sin, recognizes the responsibility is all mine, responds to my authority with no agenda, no demand. It refuses the company of my past. And number six, it repudiates all iniquity both seen and unseen. It repudiates all iniquity both seen and unseen. You can't repent of your sin still loving to sin.

You must hate sin. And all throughout Psalm 119, the Psalm speaks of the fact that he hates sin. Psalm 119.104, the Psalm said, from thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Verse 128 says, therefore I esteem right all thy precepts concerning everything I hate every false way. Verse 163 says, I hate and despise falsehood, but I love thy law. Psalm 120 verse number two, deliver my soul Lord from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.

Psalm 97 verse number 10 says, hate evil all you who love the Lord. And somebody who's repentant repudiates all iniquity, both seen and unseen. This young man in Luke 15 recognized the fact that what he was doing was wrong. Everything he did was wrong. It would cause him to come to a census and go back to his father. For his father to give whatever demand he wanted to give. Listen to the words of Charles Spurgeon, quoting once again from his book, Turn or Burn. All 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 dropped 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 into righteousness in a real act indeed 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 head and say, Lord, I repent, and in a little while commit the same deeds again?

If you do, your repentance is worse than nothing, but make your destruction yet more sure. For he that vowed to his Maker and doth pay hath committed another sin, in 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. Sir, I will renounce the sin and the other, some will say, but there are certain darling lusts 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 thy 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, says he, 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 sinner, he says, hates all sin. Makes you rethink whether or not you truly repented, doesn't it? Is that you? Do you repudiate all sin, both seen and unseen? Because it's that sin that keeps you from the living God. You say, well, well, pastor, we sin. You do. But the repentant sinner doesn't want to sin. See that? He doesn't want to sin. There's a difference. See, pastor, I sinned. Yeah, I know you do. So do I. But the repentant, the repentant saint doesn't want to sin. See? And as soon as he sins, his conscience is pricked and the Spirit of God convicts him of a sin.

He falls to his knee and begs God once again for his pardoning grace, knowing that God is willing to forgive all of our sins because that's who he is. And that's the repentant person. One more principle. Let me give it to you.

Luke 15. The repentant person rejoices in the liberty and the sufficiency he finds in his Father. The repentant person rejoices in the liberty and the sufficiency he finds in his Father. It says in verse number 24, these words, and they began to be merry. There's joy. And when the repentant person has reflected upon the destiny of his life, repudiates all sin, both seen and unseen, who recognizes that the severity of sin is against God and God alone, refuses the company of his past, what happens is that he rejoices in that liberty and in that sufficiency that God alone can give him.

You see, he recognizes that finally everything I've longed for is at home with God, my Father. Everything I need, He has. And everything this young boy needed, his Father had. Liberty, freedom, security, identity, mercy, pity, joy. His Father had it all. It was all there. That's why Christ said, you should know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You'll finally be liberated from the enslavement of sin.

This young boy was liberated from the enslavement and the shackles that hung around him that made him want to sin. He was free from that because he knew now the truth. Christ also said these words, if anyone comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. This young man found security in his Father. Everybody wants security. It's only found in Christ. You should know the truth. It will set you free. He found liberty. If you come to me, I will in no wise cast you out. He found identity or security. He said, my son was lost but now is found.

My son was dead but is alive. He now has a new identity. Sonship is his. You see, it's all his. Everybody searches for identity. It's only found in Christ. Everybody searches for security. It's only found in Christ. Everybody searches for liberty. It's only found in Christ. Everybody searches for mercy. It's only found in Christ. Only found in Christ. The Bible says, he who confesses and forsakes his sin shall find mercy.

Confessing is not enough. You've got to confess it and forsake it. I never want to do it again. By this boy refusing the company of his past, he got up, he went home, he found mercy. He found identity. He found security. He found liberty. He was able to rejoice in the liberty and in the sufficiency that only his Father could give him. So he found. And the beautiful thing about this whole story is that when this boy goes home, he gets everything because of the grace of his Father. Everything because of the grace of his Father.

He doesn't have to earn anything back. See, the Pharisees listening to this story would come along and say, he's got to go back. He's got to earn the right. And the Father takes all the burden of the shame and braces his son and kisses him before the son says anything. The son never had to say anything in order to demonstrate his repentance because his son coming home demonstrated a true repentance. And you will note in the story as we look at it next week and look at the identity of the Father and understand his affection, his attitude, and his acceptance that when the Father saw him, he ran to him and embraced him and kissed him and accepted him before he said anything.

Because what you say doesn't get you to heaven. It's what you do that gets you to heaven. That sounds like heresy to some of you. It's not a workspace salvation. But what he did was he demonstrated a heart attitude that was completely changed, right? His Father looking for him, his Father longing for him, saw him coming. His Father was constantly looking for the lost son. He didn't go out looking for him. He was at home looking, waiting and longing for him to come. And when he comes, he sees him a far way off.

He runs outside the city gate. He embraces his son. He accepts his son. He kisses his son. He loves his son. And he celebrates his son. The son that was lost has been found. The son that was dead is now alive. And the celebration continues throughout all eternity over one lost sinner who repents. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for today and the great opportunity you give us to study your word. And we're grateful, Lord, for the parable of the lost sons. It explains to us what real repentance is. Our prayer is that everyone in this room would have known and come to grips with true biblical repentance. This would be their life. And they would voice, voice a hearty amen to this boy and what he did based on the spirit's conviction of his life. Father, we pray that, Lord, you would bless our time as we celebrate your table.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.