Well, it's a real joy for me to be with you at this conference. A number of you, as I've had at least lunch here and met one or two this evening, have become dear friends over the years. and I'm looking forward to meaningful fellowship, renewed fellowship with you on this occasion. I've come over to the U.S. now for at least 15 to 20 years, and out of that period come to know a number of you. And it's also been a joy to receive some of you across the ocean coming to minister. Brother Kerry preached in my own pulpit not too long ago, and we trust that as he has already made that passionate plea that we will have a number of you continuing to do that, because as he has already said, there is a movement of God that's taking place in our part of the world, and we need all the human resource that we can garner to do that. capture the wind in ourselves at such a time as this. And clearly the African Pastors Conferences is but one such vehicle and a number of others, but let's seek to at least emphasize that. We have between 40 and 45 conferences covering the bottom half of Africa from Uganda going right down to South Africa. And because of so much error that's taking place on the continent, we often find that, as the saying goes, reaches halfway around the world, while truth is still tying its shoelaces. We're really behind and need to do something to ensure that the truth is known among the pastors. So during the conference, as we have opportunity To talk around the break times, I look forward to saying a little bit more about that with you. I'm also bringing greetings from your brethren across the ocean. A number of them are praying for us. I would have loved to say they are doing so now, but I very much doubt it. Back home this is well past midnight, going into the wee hours of the morning, so I'm pretty sure they must be asleep. But their hearts are with us over here. This evening I want to preach from Luke and chapter 15. It's a famous passage of scripture. But I'll be specifically preaching from verse 29 and verse 30, which is not quite where we tend to spend most of our time. In order to put everything within context, I will read the first two verses and then we will cross over to what has come to be called the parable of the prodigal son. So if you are there, look chapter 15. I commence reading with the first verse. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. As a result of that, the Lord Jesus Christ gave three parables. The first, The parable of the lost ship, the second, the parable of the lost coin, and I'm quickly going into reading the parable of the prodigal son. Verse 11. It's a wonderful story, you've heard it many times, and I trust that even as you hear it again, you will be glued to its details. Jesus was a master storyteller, and yet it wasn't just telling stories. He was conveying eternal truth in this very simple way. And he said, in verse 11, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread? But I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and I'll say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate. Verse 25. Now his oldest son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the frightened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and intruded him. But he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you. And I never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young God that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes. You killed the fattened calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. A number of years ago, a friend of mine who is a pastor back home in Zambia undertook a trip to South Africa for a conference. And as he was passing the border of Zambia going into Zimbabwe, he did what normally you are advised not to do, and that was to exchange the Zambian Kwacha for South African runs on the streets. He was obviously hoping he would have a better exchange rate because he wouldn't be glued to the exchange rates that banks give. Well, he got his money, crossed Zimbabwe, and as he was about to enter South Africa, he had to pay some money at the border, and only to find the funds rejected by the South African government. They were fake. He was carrying counterfeit money. In the process now, he was actually broke. He could not continue the journey. He made a U-turn and came back home. Of course, very depressed. First of all, by the fact that he could not attend that conference. But secondly, I'm sure if you've ever gone through this, it's painful to realize that someone took you for a ride. that someone saw you as a fool and got away with it. As terrible as that might be, it continues to happen again and again and again. And often it's because money, at least when it is the higher denominations, is in itself very enticing and consequently individuals will make that which is counterfeit in order to make themselves money the wrong way. That also takes place in the realm of religion because salvation is priceless. Once you are saved, you do not lose that salvation. And so if there is anything the evil one can do, is to make sure that while you are thinking you are going to heaven, that you have the genuine article, salvation in actual fact, you are not going to heaven. You are still on your way to hell. What you think is the genuine article is in fact false. And that happens so often that it's amazing that we do not take the time and trouble to ask ourselves the question, am I really saved? And that's often a question we have to ask ourselves in places where the Christian faith is commonplace, it is accepted. A place where churchgoing is still very much part of the culture. A place where you have second, third, fourth generation Christians within the context of families. that many of us begin to assume that because I am not that bad and I have been going to church, surely I ought to be a Christian. especially when you even throw in the fact that I have been baptized, I participate in one or two church activities, I give financially in the church, what else do you want? Add to it the issues of morality. When you point to the fact that you are not sexually immoral, you are not a drunkard, you have not fought anybody, at least not to the point of knocking in their teeth, come on, surely you've passed the test. You must be a fit candidate for heaven. If there's one lesson we can really learn from this chapter in the Bible reading that we have just had, it is precisely that. That it is possible in the eyes of the world and even in your own eyes to think that you are in a right relationship with God, when in actual fact you are not. And that was the tragic reality concerning the Pharisees in Israel. Outwardly speaking, they were righteousness walking on two feet. They were admired by those that were around them. But in the eyes of God, they were far from the kingdom. And one of the ways in which this was evidenced was the way in which they were in constant clashes with God when he came and walked here on earth in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have it here in this parable. Jesus was fraternizing with tax collectors and sinners and the Pharisees and scribes looked at that and they grumbled. They murmured, they were opposed to what Jesus Christ was doing here, clearly betraying the fact that Jesus and the Pharisees were not seeing eye to eye with what was presenting itself to them. Now, it must be obvious now, so many thousands of years later, looking back and reading this account, it must be obvious that they were wrong. But at that point, they were as convinced that they were right as we may be thinking they were in error. So the right thing for us to do is to go to a passage such as this, put our hearts under the torchlight of scripture and ask the question, am I in the shoes of the Lord Jesus Christ or am I in the shoes of these Pharisees today? Because if the Pharisees and their attitude represents your attitude, then it doesn't matter whether you've been in church all your life. It doesn't matter what credentials you have for yourself religiously, you are still lost, you are still on your way to hell, and you desperately need to be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ gives three parables as we've noted here and in each one of them he is clearly showing that the right attitude that these men ought to have shown if they were truly godly would have been one of celebrating concerning the tax collectors and sinners drawing to the Lord Jesus Christ. You notice in the parable of the lost ship, this shepherd leaves 99 to go and look for the one. In the parable of the lost coin, again this woman who loses one of her silver coins turns the house upside down in order to find this one coin that was missing. And in each case he speaks about the angels in heaven rejoicing over one sinner who repents. However, the Lord's storytelling abilities seem to reach their acme, their height, when it comes to the parable of the prodigal son. And often, we end with the son coming home and the celebrations that take place in the father's home. We almost lose sight of the last paragraph from verse 25 to the end of this chapter. It's almost as though it was the kind of music that you listen to when a movie has already come to an end. People begin to rise and go out. They're not really interested in all those names that are quickly scrolling down or up on the screen. And yet, Jesus' aim, like a sharp arrow, is finally unleashed in that last paragraph. It's at that point that he's really saying to the Pharisees, search yourselves. Look into your own heart. and see how the error that was true in the heart of this older brother is also true in your heart. And consequently, you too are lost. The attitude of the elder brother is shown in the two verses, verse 29 and verse 30. In verse 29, we see his attitude towards himself, his erroneous attitude about himself. In verse 30, we see his attitude to his brother. Again, the erroneous attitude that he has towards his brother. And I want us to look at these two verses, and as we do so, to examine ourselves. Because herein we see the way in which self-righteousness is not only exhibited, but we also see how damning it is. The reason why ultimately anybody who has this kind of attitude should not find himself in heaven with God, but instead ought to be cast out into the flames of hell. Let's quickly look at these two verses and examine our hearts about it. First of all, we see here the absence of joy in a self-righteous individual who is unconverted, the absence of joy while he is involved in Christian service. It is betrayed by the words of this man when he says in verse 29, look, these many years I have served you. A closer look at these words suggests two things. First of all, it is the sense in which he has felt the length of the period while he has been serving the father on the farm. Time has not been flying. The second that we notice here is the phrase that has been rightly captured in other translations, and it is when he says, I have served you. The actual phrase is, I have slaved for you. The word there is dulos rather than diakonos. It is not so much serving as slaving for you. I've been your slave for these many years. Now let's face it, that's the language of an individual that's not been enjoying what he has been doing. I have found within the context back home in Zambia that there is a lot of religion, a lot of outward religion, and I grew up in that same context. My parents were churchgoing, and we are in a kind of communal context, and therefore, uncles and aunties and so on would be around us, and they would also be churchgoers, very religious. But what I noticed growing up is this same misery, the constant complaining that was there behind the scenes, concerning spiritual themes and Christian service. To the point where they would be doing Christian work and yet speaking spitefully concerning the very people they are serving and even their church leaders. Reminds me of the story of a family in the church that was invited, rather encouraged to invite the visiting preacher for lunch. And while they were busy preparing the food, their little daughter was playing with the visiting preacher. Finally, the preacher asked the daughter what she thought they would have for lunch. And the daughter in the home said, we will be having pork. How do you know? The preacher asked. The girl without hesitation said, well, I heard mom saying to dad, don't forget, we will have that old pig for lunch today. Some of you have got the point. The preacher must have gotten the point. That's the way they were describing me coming to their home for lunch. But it's that kind of attitude that clearly shows something is amiss. There isn't a joy, a fervency in spirit. with respect to Christian service. Rather, it is that we are slaving away here, slaving away. We can't help it, we have to slave away. Otherwise, we will not be accepted in heaven. We see it here. But we also see something else, and it is the self-righteousness itself. We see this man saying, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command. Obviously, he had a very selective memory. Anyone who is a parent here will know that we all wish our children were like this, didn't we? Children that would obey all the commands without any hesitation. But that's what dreams are made of. But no, that's exactly the problem with self-righteousness. It has selective memory. It is, I am an individual, like we read in Luke chapter 18, who is not a drunkard, not a womanizer, not that, not the other, indeed not even like this tax collector here. I fast so many times a week, I give so much money to the poor. And in the process we overlook the fact that sin is primarily in the heart. It is in here that things are wrong. And consequently, when you begin with respect to your own thoughts and you begin with your own attitudes, you soon begin to realize you are a sinner. Think, for instance, of pride. Do you know that pride is sin? Do you know that pride is a damnable sin? Already you begin to squirm, don't you? Because you soon begin to realize that yes, you are not altogether innocent of that sin. What about when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks about Having a grudge against your brother. Hating your brother in the heart. You haven't killed him, you haven't knocked in his teeth. But clearly, you do not love that person. Well, what about the sins of omission? Jesus, quoting from the Old Testament, speaks about the fact that God expects us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Well, I do want you to tick that box quickly. Well, I can see there's a bit of hesitation there, because we all fail at that point. So strictly speaking, if we were to stand before God on the basis of our achievements and our righteousness, we would fail miserably. The reason why we keep patting ourselves on the back is because we've got selective memory. And may God help each one of us to realize that this statement, I never disobeyed your command, partly false. All of us have failed at that point. But you see that self-righteousness, very blind to its own faults. But thirdly, and quickly, it is this self-centered ostentation wanting to receive human praise. This gentleman went on to say, yet you never gave me a young God that I might celebrate with my friends. In other words, this business of waiting and waiting and waiting, I've waited for years. My friends have not sung to me that song, he's a jolly good fellow, he's a jolly good fellow compared to his brother. He was longing for that, it just wasn't happening. And no doubt about it, with every succeeding month and year, he was feeling short-changed. Dad, come on! Open your eyes! Can't you see? I'm the good boy! But my friends don't realize it. Because you haven't killed some animal for me saying, come on, invite your friends, let's celebrate. I've prepared a wonderful speech where I will spoil you with descriptions you've never heard before. Bring your friends here. That wasn't to be. And often, That's exactly where the problem is with this self-righteousness. It is thinking that if I go to church, I give money, I avoid this sin and that sin, you know what? My friends, my family, the community ought to see from my current prosperity that I'm on the winning side. And yet God, you don't do that. I still struggle with health, physical health. I still struggle financially. I struggle with this and that. My friends can't see. that my religion really, really pays. Well, I want to ask, does that describe you this evening? Your attitude to your own self? In the church, quite right. but totally lacking in joy, spiritual joy. Yet at the same time, blind to your own sinful ways. And developing a grudge against God because of what you perceive you deserve, and he is keeping it away from you. Search your heart. But let's quickly move on to the second part. And that is the attitude towards others. Attitude towards others. The first is a detachment. from especially those who are still lost in sin. A detachment from them. Look at the description that he gives to his own brother. Verse 30, but when this son of yours, now that's deliberate. He's so angry about this guy's life that he has literally disowned him, at least in his heart, he's disowned him. It's as though he's saying, he may be your son, but he's not my brother. And there's no doubt about it that false religion, false Christianity, has no real sympathy, empathy, attachment with those who are lost in sin. This world would be a better place without them. Our family is better without them. Our city is better without them. They may be God's creatures, yes, but I want to have nothing to do with them. And therefore, the way life itself is carried out is as much as possible in detachment from the non-Christian world, as much as possible. They are your sons. They are your creatures. But please, I need some space away from them. And the reason is obvious. It is this emphasis on the fact that they are in rebellion against God, which is true. but there's something else that is now being overlooked. They are enslaved to sin. That's being overlooked. And you see it here. Look at the way this man describes his brother. But when this son of yours came, who has defiled your property with prostitutes. Ah! can read the anger in those words. He's devoured your property of prostitutes. Look at the extent of his rebellion. That which you've worked for is what he has just thrown away to the wind. That's not the way the father was looking at it. The father was saying this, Your brother was dead. Your brother was lost. That's a different emphasis. And you can't miss it from a religion that is not a saving religion. A religion that is made up of good works. It is a failure to see sinners as individuals that are dead in sin, enslaved to sin, and consequently we should, as it were, stretch ourselves out for their rescue, seeking their salvation actively. No. They're prostitutes, they're drunkards, they're violent thieves. We don't want them here. That's a very dangerous religion. It's the exact opposite of what God is doing in the world. He sends his son into a sin-soaked world to save, to seek and to save sinners. Very quickly, the third, and it is a failure to appreciate the church's evangelistic efforts. A failure to appreciate the church's evangelistic efforts. That's exactly where the standoff finally was. It was when this young man said to the father, and you killed the fattened calf for him? On earth, do you spend so much money in the church budget on evangelistic work? How? Look at how much money is being spent in missions. Shouldn't it rather be spent on making our buildings more comfortable, warmer, increasing the budget with respect to those programs where we spoil ourselves so that this church can be even more attractive. And consequently you have this inner grudge, this argument, this quarrel with the generosity that's being expressed to the very people that are kicking God in the face. That's what's here. How do you kill the Fatima? Again, let me ask, what is your attitude towards those individuals who are not living on the border between righteousness and unrighteousness, but they've gone all the way. They drink in sin as if it was water. What's your attitude towards them? Because that betrays where you are spiritually. Do you have an arm's length attitude keeping away from them? Are you overwhelmed with their immorality, their wickedness, the evil filth on their lives that you really shun them. You really want to have nothing to do with them. Do you feel irritated when the subject in members' meetings prolongs over how to reach the neighborhood, the sinners, with the gospel? And as I already said, when you see the cut in the budget that's going that way, well, then clearly we know who is representing you. It is the elder brother. And if we come out of the parable, it's the Pharisee. It is the individuals who outwardly appeared fine, but on the inside were full of dead men's bones, as Jesus described them. It is individuals who do not only refuse to get into the kingdom, but block the way for others who want to go in. Sadly, the story before us ends in a deadlock. With respect to the younger son, he came home. When the father said, come in, he came in. And they celebrated together. With respect to the elder brother, they're outside. And Jesus, as a master storyteller, leaves it hanging, hanging. In chess, it's called stalemate. Could that be your condition tonight? Stalemate. The pleas that continue to come to you, pleas of repentance, pleas that say, give up your self-righteousness. It's going to send you to hell. Come as a sinner for that's what you are and plead with the Father that he may save you. Come in, come in to the kingdom as a sinner, a hell deserving sinner. For with all your curriculum vitae, your religious achievements, you still deserve to go to hell. as a sinner. You sit there and you go, no, no, no, I'm not doing it. Surely God ought to recognize how I have kept myself away from the vices of my neighbors and friends and family. of this generation, he ought to recognize how I have labored and worked here. He ought to. Now, is that what God is seeing in your heart tonight? The stubbornness? The inner rebellion? May God have mercy on you. May God open your eyes that you may see that you are as lost as the brother who was away in the far country. You are lost at home, but lost in death. There's only one way into heaven, and it is repentance and faith. Repentance first, and it includes repenting of self-righteousness. Saying to God, God, I am sorry that I've been so full of myself. I am sorry that I've reached the point of even blaming you. I am sorry. Today I recognize that there's only one thing I deserve from you, hell. Thank you that even my self-righteousness was placed on the shoulders of Jesus Christ on the cross. Today I come, receive me as a sinner and save me by grace and by grace alone. May God prevail on you to come to Jesus Christ that way. and experience such a transformation that where there has been this miserable service, there will be true joy in saving the Lord. Where there is self-righteousness, you will be resting on the finished work of Jesus Christ and of Him alone. And where there is this self-centered love for human praise, you will only look forward to God's own praise on the final day. May that be your experience of true salvation in Jesus Christ. Amen.