Gospel

Now I'm going to ask you to turn to a very, very familiar section to at least the believers here of the Word of God. It is Luke chapter 15. And if you're a visitor tonight and this is not familiar to you, it's my joy to introduce it to you.

It is in a chapter with three short stories that the Lord Jesus told to illustrate gospel truth. If I want to read the last of those stories, it is a story that many know as the story of the prodigal son. Luke chapter 15 and verse number 11.

And he, that is the Lord Jesus said, a certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall up to me. And he divided unto them his living.

And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. And there wasted his substance with 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 husks that the swine did eat.

And no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, when he came to his senses, 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, My father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose. This is great.

He arose, and he 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 my sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

The father said to his son, Bring forth the vestal. And put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be buried. For this my son was dead, and is alive again.

He was lost and is found. And they began to be married. Now that's not the end of the story.

Verse number 24, 25, Now his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

And he was angry. Amazing response, isn't it? He was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out, and entreated him.

And he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a king, that I might make merry with my friends.

But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with hearts, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. He said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was me, it was suitable, it was right, that we should make merry and be glad.

For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. I hope that if you have never heard this story before, you enjoyed listening to it as much as I've enjoyed just reading it to you now. And if you have heard this story read many, many times, well, one more time is just good for the soul.

What a great gospel story. Maybe as you sit here tonight, you are asking yourself one rather simple question. It's the one I'm actually asking myself right now.

This section of the Bible, this story of the prodigal son has been preached from so much. What could we ever possibly draw from it tonight? Let me tell you that there are some familiar themes that are preached from over and over again in chapter 15. I want to remind you first of all that this is a story that highlights the sin of the prodigal.

I hope that there is no one here tonight that has fallen prey to the modern idea that the preaching of the gospel is merely an invitation to come to Christ. The preaching of the gospel must always be against this backdrop. You and I are lost in our sins.

We are separated from God by our sins. And our sins are a tremendous burden that, if all forgiven, will lead us to eternal ruin, to hell, and the lake of fire for all eternity. I want to tell you that preaching without the message of sin may be preaching, but it's not preaching the gospel.

And men and women need to learn this, that you and I are not naturally ready to be in heaven. We were born with a sinful nature. The history of our lives has been that we have committed sins against God.

And whether we were conscious of them or not, all have sinned. There is no difference in this room tonight. There is no difference, Paul declares, for that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

You know, there is, I think, likely within most of us, a certain sense of self-righteousness that rises up when we read the story of the prodigal son. I was talking to a brother just between the meetings, and he was telling me about his own prodigality before he was saved. And I don't think he would feel what I'm going to describe next.

But there were a good many of us that grew up under very lovely circumstances. I often reflect on my own history before I was saved. I tell folks I was a cookie thief, not a car thief.

But I'm going to tell you something, that sin will carry you farther than you ever expected to go. There will be a young person in this meeting, and you are congratulating yourself tonight on the fact that you have not sinned like the prodigal. I just would say this, don't think of it.

Sometimes I tell the story of a little boy that grew up in England. I didn't intend to mention this tonight, but I'm going to just now. There was a little boy who grew up in England about a hundred years ago, his name was Alastair.

His mommy and daddy brought him to a Sunday school, just like the Mount Sterling Sunday School. In fact, his dad often preached the gospel in that little gospel hall. But Alastair grew up going to Sunday school, learning the scriptures, hearing the message of salvation.

Preach this clearly as you're going to hear it tonight, and make it clearer. But Alastair didn't get saved. And from a little boy who conformed in a Christian home to his parents' wishes and desires, Alastair Crowley, as a teenager, left his parents' home and went out into a world of sin.

I'm going to jump ahead in my story to the end of Alastair Crowley's life. I'm going to tell you that Alastair Crowley sunk into a life of sin so dark that I can't even tell you from this pulpit what he was guilty of. And there's a lot of things I can and will say.

I won't even tell you how great was his sin. When Alastair Crowley died, the little boy that grew up in a gospel hall Sunday school the headline of the newspaper said this, are you listening? Alastair Crowley, the wickedest man in Britain. I want to just sound a little word of warning to young sinners in the meeting tonight.

Sin is a terrible tyrant that will carry you farther than you have ever imagined. And whether you end your life outwardly self-righteous yet without Christ or openly wicked, the results are the same. To live in your sins is bad enough, friend, but to die in your sins, that is the ultimate tragedy.

And so when I think about this prodigal, I'm reminded of where sin takes souls. I'm reminded of the fact that one of the root things that we must declare in the gospel is that apart from the forgiveness of sins, there is no salvation. The thing I thought about is that this story is not only about the sin of the prodigal, but I want to talk about the stubbornness of the elder son.

You know, here was a man that had known a great deal of blessing. And yet we come to this point in the story where he says, I will not go in. I want to tell you, if you're not saved tonight, you have a stubborn, willful heart.

There are those in this world that have never heard the gospel. They may not have made the sort of choices you made. But I'm afraid that there are some perhaps in this meeting who have heard the gospel all your life.

And the reason you're not saved tonight is because in your stubborn will you've said, I will not go in. Can I tell you something? If you persist in that, there are others that God will bring in. But I'm going to tell you tonight that God is as polite as he is passionate.

God longs for the salvation of sinners, but he will never force one soul into his kingdom. Did you get that? God will not force you to be saved. And so, if the sin of the prodigal in its distance and in its guilt and in its excesses is one thing, I hope that there will be no one who will be stubborn like the older son and say, I will not go in.

May God break our stubborn wills tonight in this meeting. May God show us that apart from a spirit of submission and brokenness and helplessness, there will be no salvation. God preserve you tonight if your attitude is like this stubborn older son.

The sin of the prodigal and the stubbornness of the older son is balanced by the third thing that is often preached from this story. Do you know what that is? It is the sweetness of the father's love. I'll tell you, you know, if I could just get a little bit of this down into my soul, I likely could not preach without weeping.

To understand that when it came to the prodigal who had gone far away, there was a father who in loving grace stood looking for the prodigal to return. That's not all the father was doing. Because at the end of the story, even in the face of the stubborn refusal of the older son, there was the tenderness of his heart imploring him to come.

Can I just very simply tell you tonight, there is a God in heaven that loves you with a love that is greater than any earthly love. A love that is eternal, a love that is passionate, a love that does not seek to harm you, a love that longs for your highest possible blessing. You know, I think in our broken world, would you forgive me for saying it this way, sometimes I think that what we see all around us makes it hard for us to grasp the immensity of God's love.

We see people declaring their love and then their marriages break up and their families disintegrate and human love is such a poor model for divine love. How sweet the father's matchless love. The father for whom every beat of his heart was tenderly singing the return of the lost ones.

Friend, tonight you are the object of God's love. And the great proof of that love is found in Calvary. God demonstrated his love for us.

He gave his only begotten son that we might live through him. Here in his love, not that we love God, but he loved us. Gave his son to be the satisfaction for our sins.

What a wonderful God. What an almighty lover. What an immense and unfathomable gift.

The love of the father that gave the son to be the savior of the world. Well, you say to me, Mr. Shutt, in 15 minutes you've exhausted everything to be preached from this story. And what's left? Well, I remember a story of a man who was teaching Sunday school.

Maybe you've heard this, haven't you? And he preached about the prodigal and he preached about the stubborn older son. You've heard this, haven't you? And at the end of his message, he thought he would test the children. And so he said, boys and girls, he said, who is it that wanted the prodigal to stay in the far country and never come home? And a little fellow put up his hand.

And the man said, yes, son, who is it? The boy said, I think, sir, it's the fat cat. Now, it's okay to smile just for a minute. But I'm going to tell you tonight that there is another figure in this story that is very important.

I'm going to tell you about the fat cat. Did you ever hear preaching like that? And I'm going to tell you that the fat cat in this story is actually a picture of the Lord Jesus. And I'm going to prove it to you.

Because I want you to just look back at the scriptures just for a minute. And I want you to look at verse number 23. And, you know, if you've read this story a hundred times, maybe 101 will be a blessing to your soul, saved or unsaved tonight.

This is Luke chapter 15 and verse 23. There are four action words in this verse. I'm going to highlight them with my voice.

And bring hither the fat cat. And kill the fat cat. And eat the fatted cat.

And enjoy the fatted cat. Now, I see some brains out there that are whirling already. But I'm going to tell you that in the very center of this story is a lovely picture of what God did when He sent His beloved Son into our world.

I want to speak to you just for a minute about this glorious statement. Bring hither the fatted cat. Because I want to tell you tonight that God sent His only begotten Son into the world.

I don't know how your imagination runs. But I have often thought about this story as I have read it. And here on the one hand is the Son, emaciated and skinny, bearing in His body and in His bearing the marks of His sin and His departure from His Father.

And it's written all over Him, This is a man that sin has ruined and sin has scarred. Now, just put on your thinking cap. I want you to think about the fatted cat on the other hand.

Isn't that nice? There in all the fullness of the Father's blessing is the calf that's going to give His life because of the return of the sinful son. There's a verse that I like to preach from a great deal. It's found in 1 John chapter 4. And this is what it says.

It might be one of the most extraordinary verses in all the Bible. It just says this. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

When I look at this word, wasted and scarred, ruined by sin in all its darkness, in all its deceit, in all its depravity. Can you wrap your mind around this? That the Father sent the Son to be the Savior for a world like this. To me, the contrast between the fatted cat and the prodigal son could not be more striking.

And I want you to think that God brought this lovely Son, the Son that brought him to life. He brought him into the world to die for skinning ruined sinners like you and I. I want to tell you that the calf was not only brought, but the calf was killed. You know, that's what started my thinking along this line.

I just thought of it like this. The return and blessing of the Son required the death of the calf. Isn't that kind of a nice insight? I think it is.

I want to tell you tonight that if you and I are ever going to enter into blessing, if you and I are ever to be forgiven our sins, if you and I are ever to have a relationship with God restored and made right, if you and I are ever going to have peace with Him and a home with Him eternally, I want to tell you that the calf must be slain. And this One that so delighted God would now be so awfully slain on Calvary for folks just like you and I. I don't know what the thoughts of the prodigal were as he saw that calf slain, but I'm going to tell you that tonight there is a man standing in front of you, who when he thinks about it at least has a heart that is filled with wonder, great wonder, and gratitude at the grace of God that He would ever give His Son for a person like me. I'll tell you there are times when that thought pops into my head.

I can't do anything but close my eyes and bow my head to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And thank Him that He ever gave His Son to die for me. What a great realization.

I want to tell you it's made all the difference in my life. It can make all the difference in yours. The Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Let me tell you that the calf was to be eaten. Kill the calf, that's Calvary. I want to tell you that eat the calf is a beautiful picture of conversion.

You know, this is what the Father said, let us eat it and let us enjoy it. May I tell you that there must be a moment of personally receiving Christ if you are ever going to enter into the good of God's salvage. I have no time whatever nor does the Bible for the sort of idea that folks can just somehow slip into heaven through some gradual process of becoming a Christian over some extended period of time.

There's nothing like it in the Bible. To be saved is to have a moment when I receive Him. And I love the figure of eating the calf.

How wonderful. They didn't admire the roast beef sitting on the table. No, no.

The expense had all been borne by a loving Father. The blood had been shed by the calf that was given. All that remained, all that remained was to enter into the good.

And what a lovely result there was. Because I just love the way this verse ends. Can you just get a little of the joy of this into your soul? And bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry? Friend, let me tell you tonight there is joy in receiving Christ.

My kids, my kids, they don't like to hear me sing because I don't sing very good. So what I do is I sing in my car. And that dashboard in my car, you know, it gets a real beating because I sing.

And I sing pretty loud too. And you know what I sing? I like to sing just, you know, the little choruses that I remember when I was a little boy. It's a grand thing to sing.

It's a grand thing to be saved and to know Him too and to show Him too. It's a grand thing to be saved. And I love to see the Father and the Son.

You see it? Arm in arm. The Father's arms around His Son. As they look at the slain calf.

And they rejoice at Him. It's a great thing to be saved. May God help you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't be like the prodigal and stay in the far country. Don't be like the elder son in stubborn pride and miss out on the blessing. Come to the Father's love.

Come to the Savior who died. Eat the calf. And rejoice.