God's Work

Would you turn in your Bibles please to the Gospel of Luke and chapter 15, the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. We're going to read at verse 1 of Luke 15. I was very much impressed by a number of things that our brethren said this morning and for some reason my mind kept going to Luke 15, a number of reasons actually.

Ordinarily Luke 15 wouldn't be taken up in a ministry meeting but in any event here we are. It's a touching thing to hear of young men and particularly of a country like Mexico and I'm thankful for all the thrilling things that we heard but we also heard some discouraging things and that's a good thing to get a good balance of things. My mind is upon Luke 15 because it's really a great message given by the Lord Jesus and presents something to us of the whole panorama of God's plan of salvation.

So shall we look at Luke 15 and we'll read portions of it. Verse 1 please. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And you'll notice it says he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it? When he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance. Verse 8 gives us the second picture of this same parable. Either what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently, and notice again, till she find it.

There's no sense of giving up here. When she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I have lost. Verse 11 he said, A certain man had two sons.

And now we're introduced to the story of what we call the prodigal son. 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.

We go down the chapter a little bit, please, to verse 25. You all know the story of the prodigal son. Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.

He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. He was angry and would not go in.

Therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answering, 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 kid that I might make merry with my friends.

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

For this thy brother was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found. May the Lord bless to us then the reading of his word. Luke 15, as I've said to you, gives us a beautiful panorama of God's wonderful plan of salvation.

All of us can readily notice that the chapter begins with four groups of individuals mentioned that are in attendance as the Lord Jesus is speaking. We read of the publicans and we read of the sinners, we read of the Pharisees, we read of the scribes. I suggest to you that these are social titles, religious titles, whatever.

When all is said and done, will we appreciate this? There are not four groups at the beginning of Luke 15. There's only two. There are those who will come and those who will not come.

And it makes no difference about their social titles. And I'm thinking, of course, there are those who are saved and those who are not saved. And it makes no difference about social titles.

The Lord Jesus begins to give to them this beautiful parable, not parables, plural, but parables, singular, with three different aspects to it. Now, will I suggest to you at the very beginning that the three aspects of the parable will introduce to us the work of the Trinity in salvation. There can be no question as we look at the first part of it, the work of the shepherd, we are introduced to the picture of the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

In this case, it's into the wilderness. In his case, it was to the cross. I'll suggest to you just quickly that you cannot rearrange the portions of Luke 15.

There must, first of all, be the work of the shepherd, or there is no basis for anything else that follows in this chapter. So we have the work of the shepherd, the cross, work of the Lord Jesus brought before us. When you think of the second little section, the lost silver, there are certain aspects about this that would remind us that based upon the work of the cross, the work of the Lord Jesus, there is the working of the Spirit of God in the life of an individual to bring them to repentance.

When you come to the story of the prodigal son, of course, now we see something of repentance in the life of a boy that went astray, and we see the reception of the father as the repentant son comes back. In the three panorama part of three parts of Luke 15, please notice then if we have the sheep, the silver, and the sons, you can obviously notice that the numbers diminish from 100 to 10 to 2. Why does it do that? You're keeping in mind, won't you, that the Lord Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience. 100, 10, 2. Because ultimately, this story has got to get away from the crowd, the 100, and it's got to get down to the choice, and it's going to be one of two things.

It's either trust Christ, come to Christ, or on the other hand, reject Christ. It's one of the two. Would I just say to you just quickly at the beginning, if we have the three parts and the three numbers and the three pictures, have you noticed that in Luke 15 there are three places? Well, quite evidently, there is the far country where the prodigal went.

I don't need to tell you anything about the far country today. In this chapter, you know that the far country represents that distant land of sin and squandering and filth, wasting his money, wasting his life. Pictures of the far country all around us.

But not only is there the far country in Luke 15, there's the father's field in Luke 15. At the end of the story, you notice there the elder brother is in the father's field. What's the father's field? Well, the far country is where the prodigal was.

The far country represents the position of the scribes, or rather of the publicans and sinners of verse 1. Whereas the father's field represents the position of the scribes and Pharisees who never had been out in that distant land, who know nothing of the gutters of sin. And in their self-righteousness, they are so thankful that they're not like the boy that came from out there. But in their stubborn religious pride, they will not come to the third place, which is the father's house.

A far country, a father's field, and the father's house. You notice it says, he would not go in. Had we time to get into pictures of offerings in this one, I would draw your attention to another statement that is made.

Neither at any time have I transgressed thy commandment. And the irony is this. The elder brother is conscious that he's never done, done anything wrong.

And all the time, he's filled with pride and anger. His sin is not external, it's internal. And all of us had to come to grips with this fact.

But the real issue is internal, before ever there's anything external. We have three places pictured through here. A far country, a father's field.

Far country, the place of publicans and sinners. Father's field, the place of the self-righteous. And the father's house, where the father wants them to be.

Could I ask you to notice that there are three places even indicated in the very first part of the parable. There's a shepherd with 100 sheep out in the wilderness, and one is lost. You can all follow the little picture of a single lost sheep in the wilderness.

You know what that represents. And again, it's the position of one that is astray and in danger and facing the reality of death. When the shepherd went to look for that sheep, there is somewhere where he left the ninety and nine.

Did you notice where it was? You see, a shepherd that took a flock of sheep to the wilderness would have what is called a fold, a stone enclosure, where he would put the sheep in the night and let them out in the daytime. So he's let them out in the daytime and one doesn't come back. Now here's a peculiar thing in this story of Luke 15.

He goes to find the sheep that is lost. And when he has found it, please look at your Bible and tell me where did he take it? He took it home. He took it home.

Now why would he not take it back where the ninety and nine were? But it says he put it on his shoulders and took it home. Three places at the beginning. There's the wilderness where the lost sheep is.

There's the stone enclosure where the ninety and nine is. Where's that? That's out in the same wilderness, but it's a protected spot. But it's not home.

It's not home. And would you tell me why the shepherd brings the sheep home instead of to the fold? Because the spiritual picture is this. I don't know about the practical, but the spiritual picture is this.

When the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus, finds the lost sheep, it's not taken to where the ninety and nine are. In reality, spiritually, it's taken into the blessings of God's salvation. In other words, the Christian's position is linked with Christ in the glory.

It's only a matter of time, but we're not put with the ninety and nine, if you please. When you look at this little story now then, I'm suggesting to you that the first part is the work of the shepherd. That's the Lord Jesus.

The second little part is going to bring before us pictures of the work of the Spirit of God. And I'll suggest to you that thirdly, there is the welcome of heaven itself as the father receives the repentant son. Could I ask you to notice that the sheep brings before us the idea of the danger that a sinner is in.

The silver brings before us the idea of the darkness that a sinner is in. The prodigal reminds us of a distance that a son has gotten from the father. When I think of the danger again, go in your minds of the wilderness and see what it represents.

And nothing out there to meet the need of a sheep. And of course, the little thought as you well know is this. A sheep would be an utterly helpless thing left in the wilderness all to itself.

Too many dangers. Lack of water, lack of food, enemies, poison and so on. All kinds of, but that's the picture of this world.

When you think of the woman and the piece of silver, please notice two things that she does. She gets a light and she gets a broom. And you can imagine a woman with a candle and a broom as she begins to search for what's lost.

I said to you, if the sheep was in danger, the silver is in darkness. If the sheep situation is hopeless in the wilderness, the silver is lifeless. No good calling for the piece of silver is not going to come.

A lifeless piece of silver lost somewhere. I wonder if I could just quickly ask you, what's the silver worth? Well, you expect some fancy answer from me on that one, won't you? If I were to go to the bank manager tomorrow and I need some money for a car and he says, do you have some collateral? Yes, sir, I do. I've got a beautiful gold piece that's 300 years old.

Oh, says the manager, that'll do for collateral. Could you bring it in? No, sir, I lost it 10 years ago. I lost it 10 years ago.

What's it worth? Don't tell me what it's worth. It's worth nothing if I can't find it. If it's lost, it's lost.

What's the value of a lost sinner? No value in ourselves is what I'm saying. A light and a broom, what does that remind us? What does the spirit of God do in relation to a lost sinner and a lifeless sinner, dead in trespasses and sins? The spirit of God brings the light of the word of God. And I suggest to you that the spirit of God brings the broom of conviction.

And I'm thinking now of the woman begins to sweep and stir in the house. Every sinner needs a wee bit of light and a good bit of sweeping. A little bit of reminding, stirring up the dust, if you want.

Just a little bit of reminder of what's in your life. So there's the work of the shepherd, the work of the spirit. What do I say in relation to the two sons? And don't forget now, the prodigal, that's your first pair, publicans and sinners.

Elder brother, that's the other pair, scribes and Pharisees. What do we say of the prodigal? Notice this, please. Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.

You know what that means? When he goes off, self will, not the father's will. His way, not the father's way. When he heads out to the far country, it's all rosy looking at the beginning, isn't it? And what's the irony of this little story? You will appreciate that there couldn't be anything lower for a Jewish boy than to have to work with pigs, than be brought to the point where he's willing to eat the pig's food.

The pig is the swine, the unclean, you know, and the Jews are the clean. So he's brought to such a position that he's willing to eat the food of the pigs. Someone has said he was so low down that he could look up and see bottom.

In any event, here is a young man. And thank God the Bible says he came to himself. The well said he came to himself before he came to the father.

Will you think of these three little aspects in this way? We see in the prodigal son, the repentance of one who has come to realize the sinfulness of his life and of his ways. Well, I ask you to notice, and we haven't time to develop it, but you think about it. He intends to say, Father, I am not worthy.

But he also will admit I've sinned. Two things, if you please. He's acknowledging what he's done, but he's also acknowledging what he is not worthy.

Now, the elder son, remember, is that not done anything wrong? He says nothing about worthy or unworthy. The prodigal comes to himself, and from there he'll come to the father. I would like to suggest to you in light of Luke 15, there could be no reception by the father if there were no repentance of the son.

There'd be no repentance of the son if there were no conviction by the Spirit. There'd be no conviction of the Spirit were there no work of the shepherd. And in the panorama, put it together, on the basis of what the Lord Jesus did at Calvary, the death of Christ, the blood of Christ, there is a basis whereby the Spirit of God could take up a dealing with individuals like you and me.

Bring us some light and do a bit of sweeping in our lives. Tell us what we are. Bring us to repentance.

And then, as you know in this story, there's a father that's watching, waiting, and he's going to welcome the son that comes back. It perhaps is good in light of Luke 15 that we all sing just as I am without one plea. Any mention in this chapter of a boy getting a new suit? Not a chance, says you.

He's broke. Does he do anything at all in preparation for meeting the Father? There's nothing he can do. He can only come just as he is.

When you look at the lovely story, then a father watching and a father waiting. Then you think about the father went and smothered him with kisses and put his arms around him. And then the little things that follow, and you know the symbolism of them.

The robe, reminding us in our New Testament of a robe of righteousness and fitted for the presence of the Lord. He didn't bring it with him. It's provided by the Father.

And our standing in relation to eternity in God's heaven is all provided by the Father on the basis of what's gone before. That ring will speak of a union or a fellowship, a relationship that he now has with the Father. And again, it's provided to the one that comes in repentance.

Shoes on his feet would tell us there's going to be a new walk now. He's come from the dirty old far distant pig pen, but there's going to be a new walk now. And the calf reminds us there's satisfaction now that he never had before.

It can be said that he came from rags to riches, from poverty to plenty, from starvation to salvation. This is a boy that comes in repentance. But we've got the elder brother who would not go in.

Dan Harvey this morning mentioned about his grandmother. There's something I want to share with you, and just for a minute. I was touched in a number of ways.

Dan, you gonna let me get away with this? I remember a young teenage boy on the steps of a gospel hall. And what is it you call this? Spikes of pink, colors of the rainbow? It's pretty hard to see what I see in my mind with a father and a missionary in Mexico. Why did I tell you that? Younger people here today, God has a purpose for your life.

Whether you've got spiked pink rainbow colored hair or not, God has a purpose. Mind you, I'd have a hard time seeing it. But anyway, we don't see how God is going to work things out, do we? Brother Dave has told us something of discouragement this morning.

And I want to share this with you for a minute. God's work is God's work, not ours. We're instruments in the hand of God.

Keep that in mind. I've been talking to you about Calvary and the work of the Spirit, which produces repentance. And there's a father that's waiting to welcome.

Over the years, there have been times in gospel meetings when I have spent five nights on Luke 15 in the gospel. Night number one, I take up the two groups at the beginning. Night number two, I'll go to the Good Shepherd.

Night number three, I'll go to the lost piece of silver. Night number four, I'll go to the prodigal son. Night number five, I'm into the elder brother.

These many years ago in St. John's, Newfoundland, I was into Luke 15 one week, and it just so happened. One night, we went to the gospel meeting, and I am prepared to speak on the prodigal son. But the Christians that night at the door, whoever the men were, I've forgotten, said, Mrs. Harvey is here tonight.

I didn't really know Mrs. Harvey. It's Danny's grandmother. I knew his father and mother, but I didn't know their grandmother.

Did you catch what he said this morning, that when his father was baptized, there was a suitcase put outside the house? This is a woman who had professedly made the statement, she'd never be caught dead in the gospel. Mrs. Harvey is here tonight, and I am speaking on the prodigal son. And suddenly, my stomach sort of fell apart, and I thought, oh Lord, why not tomorrow night when I take up the elder brother? Oh, I prayed, Christians, before the meeting.

Maybe, maybe I should do the elder brother tonight and the prodigal tomorrow night, and I just wasn't happy about that. You can understand why, but I'm in turmoil. All I know is that this woman, and from what I know, upright religious woman in a sense, and I am speaking on the prodigal son.

It was probably one of the worst times that I ever preached the gospel. It was from my perspective. The Christians might tell you otherwise, but I struggled through it.

I struggled through it right to the end, and then as the meeting is over, I walk back on the left-hand side of the hall, and three-quarters the way back, I see a lady, tears coming down her cheeks. I stopped, and I said, Mrs. Harvey, is there something wrong? No, she said, there's nothing wrong. I'm just like the old prodigal, but I've come to the Lord.

Christians, what am I telling you? Why am I telling you that? There's a woman saved, and she went on to prove it, spent the rest of her life in the assembly. Do you all want to pat me on the back? The worst time I ever preached, it has to be. I struggled through the whole thing.

What am I saying to you? I'm saying to you, Christians, it's God's work. It's the sovereign working of the Spirit of God. Left to me, I would have switched around the prodigal and the elder brother and got at the self-righteousness and everything else, but it wasn't left to me.

The Lord knows what he's doing. So could I say in relation to the work of the Lord, oh, thank God for the times of blessing, but there's the times of discouragement, and the times when we wonder what's going on, what's happening. It'd be very easy to say, I'd better make a few changes here, and all the time, the Lord knows exactly what he's doing.

Luke 15, we've got a panorama then, taking us from the cross by way of the work of the shepherd, to repentance wrought in the life of an individual, and the repentance is wrought, and the Son returns, and what a beautiful picture of the joy of God's salvation. Then you think of this other fellow. He would not go in because, he's upset with the Father, and you notice the little language he uses about thy son, and all the time, the problem is his own self-righteousness, in contrast to the obvious badness of the other, is so much better than the boy from out there.

I said to you, there are the three places. As I close, will you just think of this. When it comes to these three places, the question is not one of the distance, the Father's field, or the far country.

In reality, if he's not in the Father's house, he's not in the enjoyment of what's happening in the Father's house, and the picture is this. It matters not how far away from heaven you are, if you're not inside. Oftentimes, the illustration is used, when the door of Noah's Ark closed, where would you rather be, two feet away or two miles away? Now think about it for a minute.

When God has shut the door of the Ark, does it matter whether you're two feet away or two miles away? There's only inside and outside, and outside matters little, as far as the distance is concerned. So could I ask, are we all saved that are here today? Don't bother telling me about goodness or closeness. Are you saved? May God bless His Word.