to Luke chapter 15, Luke chapter 15 and reading at verse number 11. Luke chapter 15 and beginning at verse number 11. And I want you to pay attention to what we're gonna read. We're gonna read down through verse 24. Luke chapter 15. And verse 11, and he said, 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, wasted his substance with riotous living, and when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be in want, and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, And before thee, I am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to the servants, bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and kill, and bring forth the best robe, put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatty calf, and kill it, and let us eat. and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. The prodigal son. In this picture of the prodigal son, we see the love of God. The love of God the Father for the lost. This is the third picture that we've seen in this short series on the coin and the others that we've looked at in this. We've seen different parts of this story. And we come here and we see that the parable of the lost sheep, of the coin, and then we come to the son, that there's a bringing together of the three. A great picture. This third picture of the lost son has been described in many ways. Many sermons have been preached on the prodigal son. Many sermons preached on it. It has been called the crown pearl parables. Charles Dickens said that the story of the lost son is the finest short story ever written and I believe that because God wrote it. W. H. Griffith Thomas says that this may be called the parable of the loving father instead of the parable of the prodigal son. William Hendrickson calls this story of the prodigal the father's yearning love for the lost. And then it is said that this story is the gospel within a gospel. the prodigal son. It's been said that saints and sinners find themselves in this story. But I believe that the primary meaning of the prodigal son story is the salvation of the lost. The salvation of the lost. There are four words that stand out. Four words. Four words. that stand out in verse 32 and then in also verse number 30, verse, in verse 24 and then verse 32. Verse 24, verse 24 as we read it, says this, We see it in this story, Luke chapter 15 and verse number 24, the words of the scripture say, for this my son was dead and is alive and was lost and is found and they began to be merry. And then we find in verse number 32 of this passage, and it was me that we should make merry, and be glad, for this my son was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. Some call this God's lost and found, God's lost and found. The certain man is a picture of God, and this father had two sons, and of course God has many sons, those who have trusted in Him. He has only one divine Son, only one perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But these two are representative of this great passage. One of the sons is called the elder son and the other the younger son. The youngest of the two sons made a demand, Father, give me Father, give me the portion of goods that have fallen to me. Give me what is mine. The younger son wanted to be free. He thought that he would have freedom. He wanted to be free. And there are young people who say, I can't wait until I get out of home. I can't wait till I get out from under authority. You'll never be out from under authority. There's always some authority that's gonna be over you. and the best authority is being under the umbrella of God's protection, and then mom and dad. So this young man, he made a mistake. He wanted to get out. The younger son wanted that freedom. And no matter what grief it caused the father, he would not have any man rule over him. The scripture says, Luke chapter 19 and verse 14, but his citizens hated him, speaking of Jesus now, his citizens hated him and sent a messenger after him saying, we will not have this man rule over us. And there are those who are saying that today. There are those in our country that are saying, we will not have the Lord rule over us. We will not let the Bible be our standard. We will not go by the scripture. We will not, will not, will not do it. The young man knew that he had some things due to him. He had some things that were due to him and he wanted them to use as he saw fit. He had some things to do, but he wanted to use them not as the Father would have him use them, but as he would see fit. Do you see the picture there? God the Father has some wonderful things for us, but he wants us to use them not as we see fit, but as he sees fit for us to use them. The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and how I love it states this. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe that God has given those rights. The writers of the Declaration of Independence understood that. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And now we want to boot God out. And God is not looking favorably upon us because of that. He is not looking favorable. We believe God has given us a portion of goods. Has he been good to you? Has he given you a portion of goods? If you were here for supper, you had a portion. And some of you had two. And somebody had three. But I'm not saying. His desire is that we use them as he planned them to be used, as he wanted us to use them. Eyes to see the creation, to see the sunlight, to admire it, ears to hear good music, hear the birds sing. I like to hear birds sing. We've got a feeder out in front of the house and the squirrels come and eat most of the feed. I mean, they come up there. We put a slinky on there to try to keep them from climbing up there. Those rascals are smart. They can hang by their toenails and eat up the food, aggravating. But those birds, I love to watch them. have the curtains open, the blinds open, and look out there and see those birds. We got a big old red belly. Red bird. Reminds me of the St. Louis Cardinals, especially their managers. And I love to watch those birds. And God has given us things that he has created for us. He's given us hands to draw with, to write with. I like drawing. Mia does some good drawing. She does. God gave her that talent, gave her hands to draw. Others have ears that they hear good music and they're able to sing it, and next time without a big peppermint in the throat, hopefully. Don't let me have one, all right? Did you give me that, Jeremy? And I got it, I'll guarantee you. I asked for it and I got it. Man, that thing is still, I'm fighting it, I am. I'm good. I do, I do. If you can get one, I got one down here. I'll get Tim to bring it to me. All right, well here's one, here's two, here's three, here's four. We'll be watered down. I think I'm a mule. Yeah, just leave it up there. That's good. Thank you, sir and sirs. But God has given us good things, good things. The father did not dispute this young man's claim. He divided unto him. Not only to him, but to both of them. He divided his living with them. And they have a right to choose. You have a right to choose. You have a right to choose to do right or to do wrong. You say, well, I can't do right while I'm at home. And when I get out, I'm going to do what I please. I hope you don't. Because what you might please may get you in bad trouble. Amen? And we're gonna see what happens in this story because of a bad choice. The church that we go to has a prison ministry. Do you know there are a lot of young people in prison? You know why? They made a bad decision. They made a bad choice. But I'm thankful God can overcome that. One of the main leaders in the prison ministry was in prison himself. He understands that. He knows that. And he can help others. And that's what we ought to be able to do. We need to choose right instead of wrong. and know the difference between righteousness and unrighteous. And then in verse 13, we see what this young man did with his goods. He wanted his portion, he gathered, and that means that the young man converted his goods into ready cash. He gathered it and he got his. And he's ready to go. He's ready to go. He took his journey, it says, into a far country. He left behind, though, his best treasure. You know what the best treasure is? What did he leave behind? He left behind the love of the Father. He left behind the love of the Father. I'm gonna be truthful with you. Knowing that Jesus loves me and knowing that God the Father loves me has kept me out of a lot of trouble. I know He loves me. I don't want to disappoint Him. I don't want to make a mistake like so many have made. The ministry is full of mistakes. And there are many churches without pastors because a pastor has made a bad mistake. You say sin, yeah, and that's a mistake. Amen? It is. With the help of God, I'm not gonna do that. But for God, I would be there. But for God. and my desire to serve him. He gathered it up. He took his journey into a foreign country. He recognized no obligation whatever to his father. There are people, young people who grew up in church and when they get out, they see no obligation. There are young people who grew up in this church and they're not here. It's not mom and dad's fault. They were taught right. They were given the message, but they left. They went their way. There are those who have left the nest, but they still come back to the roost. They still come back to hear the message of the gospel. They do. And what a blessing that is. This young man took all the blessings of God and then he forgets God. He forgets the Father. Never forget what God has done for sinners. Never, never, never forget. Augustine said that the forecountry is forgetfulness of God. Forgetfulness of God. Never, never get to a place where, and there's some stupid people today who say there is no God. I believe that creation itself testifies of God. A great and mighty creator. When the young man left the father's house, he had everything he owned with him. And he had no intention of ever coming back home. He left to stay gone from the Father's house. He wasn't coming back. This is what a man in total depravity does. He doesn't want God to rule over him. He doesn't want God to be in control of everything or anything. And I believe that men in their natural state are totally depraved. I believe in the absolute doctrine of total depravity. This young man, he leaves it all. Leaves it all. Goes into that poor country. Riotous living, the Bible says. He wasted his substance. with riotous living. Riotous means he just went wild. He spent lavishly. He gambled it away. He went to nightclubs. He had what he wanted. He got some things he didn't want, I'll guarantee you. Look at chapter 15 and verse number 30. 15 in verse number 30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which had devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatty calf. Says he was with harlots. But God, the Father, the picture here, The Father received him back. He receives sinners. He forgives sinners. I like the song, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. I believe saved people can sin. And they need to come for a cleansing. They need to come for a cleansing because we can. sin there's none righteous no not one for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God there's a crazy doctrine that says once you're saved you can't sin yes you can and they're lying so they're sinning because you can you can sin this fella he violated the laws of his mine in order to indulge in carnal pleasures. He wasted his substance. You know what that means? He wasted his substance. He got no return on the investment the father had made in him. He got no return for it. God invests in his children. And this fellow, he lost it all. We have homeless people down on the coast. We got a bunch of them. Y'all got some in St. Louis. You got them in every major city. But a lot of them are there and they're homeless because they've lost it all in gambling. They've gambled it away. It's gone. It's gone. Some of them had an inheritance and they took that inheritance money and they spent it. They wasted it. They didn't invest it in good things. And then in verses 14 through 16, we see his life as it was away from home. A song comes to mind about Detroit City, about a boy who went there and he longed for the cotton fields of home. He wanted home. And the soul says, I want to go home. I want to go home. Oh Lord, I want to go home. He lost it all. He wasted it. But he saw, he saw that he needed to go home. Oh friend, if you're away from the Lord tonight, even in your thinking, but not in your actions, go home. Go home. Go home. He thought the grass was greener on the other side. The cow that sticks his head through the fence thinks that too. And sometimes the cow gets his head stuck in the fence. The grass is not greener on the other side. And there in verses 14 through 16, we see this life that that brought about. In verse 14, this man is in a bad way. He's bankrupt, and the country he is in, it's in a bad shape. I mean, their economy went down. He had money, but he doesn't have any, and now he has no way to make any. So he does what? He goes to work at a pig farm. And he would fain eat the husk. I think that means they shucked corn. And he wanted to eat that. And I've seen people get that low. I've seen them go that far down. Where they lost any sense of responsibility until they come to themselves. He had nothing, and he could expect nothing from anyone there. Nothing, nothing, nothing. The world, dear friends, is cradled in the arms of the devil. I'm talking about this physical world that we live in, not the world that God created, but the devil He's got his time here. He knows it's short. He knows that whatever he does, he'd better do it now. I was preaching in New Mexico, and I was preaching on the coming of Christ, and someone said, no, the devil's been chained, he's chained. There's a doctrine that says that, that the devil is chained. And I told him, I said, he's got a long chain, because he ran by my house last night. He drugged that thing my way. No, he's not chained. One day he will be, but he's not chained. I'll tell you what he'll do, because he's not chained, he'll chain you. He'll shackle you. Some of you have heard the program, Unshackled. from Pacific Garden Mission, and there are people who were shackled in the chains of the devil, and God has broken those chains. But the devil's not chained. He is not chained. He's walking to and fro, it says, seeking whom? What would that mean? People. Seeking whom he might devour. Friends, we know that we are of God, the Bible says, in 1 John 5, 19 and 20. We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. But we know that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, is come and has given us an understanding that we may know the truth. Isn't that wonderful? Now listen, I pray that if you're not saved, you'll get an understanding here, that you'll understand that Christ died for sinners. He was buried, he rose again, that you could be free, that you could have freedom in salvation, trusting in the only hope that we have. He's feeding pigs, he's hungry, he's having stomach aches, He's hurting. And he yearned to do what? Eat the food that was fed to the hogs. When I was in Korea, it was only 19 or 20 years after the Korean War. They're a really going country now. And there are a lot of Christians in South Korea, lots of Christians, and they love the Lord. And they will get up at four and five in the morning and meet at the church and pray. And they've been doing that since the end of the Korean War. They go every day. Those Korean Christians will go and pray. They know from whence they came. Some of the younger ones now are getting worldly. And they don't see that as important. And one day they'll end up where we're at. You say, we're a godly nation, but we're just hanging on by a shoestring. Amen. We can't go on like we're going. We can't exist as a Christian nation as we're going. We must see that we need the Lord. We need revival. I was only a one striper when I first got over there, and that means I had to ride on the truck that picked up the garbage all over the base. And when we'd go to the chow hall, all I had to do was ride and watch, and those South Korean laborers would dump the garbage from the chow hall, and they would eat their breakfast. They were hungry. And they would save what they could to take home to their families. We were told that you can't let them do that. I could, because they were hungry. And the same thing in Vietnam. We've been blessed. If you're hungry in America, it's because you want to be hungry. Amen. I mean, you can go to a soup kitchen and eat, or you can work a job and buy your groceries. But over there, there was nothing. It was after the war. So this young man, he was hungry. And the Bible says, no man gave unto him. They fed up with him. I don't know what he had done to make them all angry. But no man, well, they didn't have anything anyway. No man gave unto him. When the money was gone, I'll tell you who else was gone. Who do you think was gone when he spent all his money? We call them fair weather friends. When he had spent it all, they said bye. They said bye. There are those who will take advantage. They'll take advantage of good Christians. They'll use you. When I was at Elliott, we'd have folks come and say, listen, we're hungry. I said, come on, get in the car. No, no, no, we just need some money for food. I said, I'm gonna take you and get you something to eat. Well, we really, uh, uh, uh-huh. And I'd take them and say, look, eat, eat. They didn't want to eat, they wanted money. I had one fellow one time who said, I got to get a tire fixed and I don't have any money to get it fixed. I said, well, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll call the station and I'll tell them that you'll be there and I'll give a certain amount for you to get the tire fixed. He knew what that amount was. He got there. They got the tire fixed. He said, give me the change. They said, no brother, if they ought to skin our heads, if we do that, There are people that live that way. They go up and down these highways doing that all their life. And I stopped on an off-ramp where a fella had a sign said, I'll work for food. So I said, get in. He said, what? I said, get in. He said, I said, get in. And I took his sign and threw it in my man. I did. And I took him and got him in there and I took him to McDonald's and I said, let's go inside. And he said, no, no, they know me in there. He was a mooch. And he wouldn't let me give him anything. He's afraid of what they say. And when I took him back, I let him out, but he forgot his sign. And I didn't know he'd forgot it until I was way down the road. And he never got it back. But there are people that, isn't that a sad way to live? It's not a happy way to live. God will give you what you need. He will take care of his people. He'll take care of you. He will. God will take care of you. No man helped him. And then something happens to him. I'm kind of homesick for a country. He got homesick. He got homesick. In verses 17 through 19, we see here true repentance. And it's clearly defined. In verse 17, we see that repentance is intellectual. You said it is, it's intellectual? He came to himself. What does that mean? Oh my, what have I done? Amen? Use your brain. He did. He came to himself and he understood something. He had a change of mind. He came to himself. He came to a place where he saw his true condition. Listen, lost person, your condition is a bad condition. You need to come to the Father's table. There is a real place called hell. Oh, that you would miss it. So he had a change of mind. He was a hired servant now. When he was the son of a great man. And the day laborers were making better than him. And then in verse 18, not only is repentance intellectual, but it's emotional. It's emotional. Listen, the night I was saved, came to know the Lord, I didn't get emotional. But I became emotional. It changed my life in such a way that I just couldn't help but tell other people about it. It's emotional. He had a change of heart and he made a resolution because there was some emotion involved. He said, I will arise. And he said, I will go. And he said, I will say. I think he said that with emotion, don't you? I do. What is conversion? Conversion is turning to the Father. I want you to understand that. Conversion is not turning away from sin. Too many people have tried that and it doesn't work. You've got to understand, and you must forsake sin. You'll never fully forsake sin until you turn to the Father. That's what repentance is. Repentance is looking to the God of the universe. Looking to Him. How that you turn to God from idols. 1 Thessalonians 1.9. That's true repentance. True repentance. made a turn in the right direction. He turned from sin, but that doesn't save you. But he did turn. He turned to God. For they themselves, I Thessalonians 1.9, and we've quoted a little bit of it. For they themselves show to us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how that ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. And there are those that preach, you've got to turn from sin, you've got to turn from sin. You're not going to truly turn from sin until you turn to God, amen? Have to turn to God. Turning to God. And then verse 19, we see that repentance is an understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The exceeding sinfulness of sin. This is part of having a changed mind. You see sin for what it is, wicked and ungodliness. At first he was selfish, he wanted his own way, I want my way, I want my way. He wanted to gratify self. Now he's willing to serve the Father. Psalm 110 and verse 3 says, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. God's working in his heart. Then in verse 20, he's heading home, he's heading home, he arose. And note the destination, the father's house, the father's land. But most of all, he was headed to the person of the father. He was headed to the father. He came to his father, and he didn't wait until he got new clothes. He didn't wait until he got new shoes. He went to the father. He wasn't thinking about being presentable, he was thinking about presenting himself. And that's how we must come, to present ourselves unto the Lord, amen? Just as I am without one plea. That's the only way. Trusting in the Lord and Him alone. So many things could be said about this. But we are all an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. All we do, dear friends, fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the wind, listen to this, have taken us away. It is sin that blows us from God, takes us away from God. Your sin will do you no good, it will do you harm. It will. While he was yet a far away off, his father saw him. His father, look, his father was looking for him. He was looking. He was looking for him. If you've never read after Dr. T.T. Shields of Canada, Just read some things that he wrote. He was the Spurgeon of Canada, Jarvis Street Baptist Church, great, great man. Preached in Marion, Kentucky back in the 40s. Dr. Shields said this, you cannot take God by surprise. You will never find that he is not looking out from the window. you will never find him unready to receive you. Do you hear me? Never find him unready to receive you. He will see you no matter how dark the night. And I believe Dr. Shields was talking about no matter how dark the night of your sin has become. And he will run to meet you no matter how far away you are. I've wandered far away from God, now I'm coming home. And that's the picture of the prodigal. He had gone away from God and now he has come home. And then, oh, how merciful God is. How wonderful God is. The father saw him. The father saw him. The moment that he said, I will arise and go to my father, I believe, in this parable, in this sense of this story, that's the thing, I will arise. With God, whenever we say I will arise, that's it. That's it, trusting in him, amen? Verse 21, He never got to say all He intended to say. And you can just look at that. That's found in verses 18 and 19. He said those things, I will do this, I will say this. No, He never got to say anything. You know what happened? In verse 22, I want us to just think about the things that the Father does for the Son. He gave Him the best robe. The best robe. And that's symbolic of a vesture, a garment of righteousness. He gave him the best robe. Best robe. That's what the repentant sinner receives. The best robe. Isaiah 61, 10 says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has clothed me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. He got a ring, a signet ring, symbol of union. That's why we have rings in a wedding ceremony. It is a symbol of union. And he got that ring. And he got shoes. Slaves went barefooted, but the free had shoes. He was no longer a slave to sin. Do you see it? Then the fatted calf that had been saved for special occasions is killed. Verse 23. Verse 24, we have the why of the celebration. There's a why of the celebration for he was thought to be dead. But our Lord knows us, and a scripture there in Ephesians says, and you hath he quickened, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. And again, that's a picture that we have here in the prodigal. The lost was found. The Son of Man is come to do what? Seek and to save that which was lost. That which was lost. Here's my question. Will you arise and come to Jesus? Will you arise and come to Jesus? Let's stand together. Our song leader will come. Brother Wayne will be coming. I encourage you to look to Jesus. I encourage us who are saved to not wander too far from home. Amen? Don't wander too far from home. What a precious Savior we have. The only robe I ever had before salvation was a bathrobe. But now I've got a robe of righteousness. A royal robe. And you can have one too, Brother Wayne.