Spent all

Our Father, we're thankful again for being here together and we're thankful for the liberty we enjoy in Canada to be able to open the Bible and to read from it and to speak about the person of whom it speaks, about the Lord Jesus. We give thanks that he alone can save and Father we realize that apart from him there would be no hope for any of us, that we only deserve what our sins would pay in their consequence and that is death and judgment, but Father we give thanks that there is a message of salvation, a message of hope, of good news tonight, that there is one who has come and paid the price, there's one who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him and so we pray for real help tonight. We know that the speakers were just men and that we don't have power in ourselves to accomplish anything here spiritually and so we need the Spirit of God to speak and thy word to be applied to hearts.

We pray for those that are listening, especially any that don't enjoy this forgiveness of sins, that other thoughts would leave their minds even as we focus in on thy word and what it says and that through the preaching of the gospel tonight souls would come to repentance and to faith in Christ and so we look for this blessing, we look expectantly and with need and with dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ we ask in his name. I'd like to read with you from three places in the Bible tonight to begin this meeting and the first is in the gospel according to Luke and chapter 15. Luke chapter 15 and I haven't started reading yet I was just explaining what was happening in Spanish and we're going to start reading at verse 11.

Luke 15 verse 11 we're going to look tonight in the first part of this meeting at three individuals who spent everything that they had and so we want to ask ourselves what the lesson is or what the reason is that these individuals are mentioned in the Bible and Scripture. Obviously there's an importance to them, these aren't just put there as interesting stories, there's a lesson in each of these different passages that we're going to read and it has to do with you and it has to do with me and the message that we're preaching tonight, the gospel message and so in this first case we're going to notice part of a parable of a story that the Lord Jesus told that had a spiritual lesson behind it and in this story we're going to see or in the part of the story that we're going to read we're going to read about a man who had two sons so without saying too much more about it let's just start the reading in Luke chapter 15 and I'm going to read at verse 11 and he that's 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 falleth to me and he divided unto them his two sons his living and not many days after the younger son gathered altogether and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living and when he had spent all, spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land and he began to be in want. Now just drop down to verse 17 and when he came to himself he said how many hired servants of my father's have bred enough and to spare and I perish with hunger I'll arise and go to my father and will say unto him father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy be called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants.

Now we won't take time to read the whole story because I want to focus just on the part that we've read but you can read it at home and you'll see that the father doesn't make him one of his hired servants the father's waiting for the son with open arms and with grace and with compassion and with mercy he forgives his son and receives him back as a son with privilege in the family but we want to think about this young man because here's here's someone who spent all. Someone who was looking for satisfaction in life someone who as a young man sensed that there's something missing in my life there's something out there that that that I haven't found and in his mind that the pathway to it the way that he would somehow fill the void was to go to his father and basically tell his father father as far as I'm concerned you've died that's really what he said I mean you don't get the inheritance until your father dies and so he's gone to his father and he says as far as I'm concerned you're dead give me the inheritance that comes to me and I'm on my way I'm out of here I'm leaving home I'm going on my way and so he begins his journey and we read that he goes to a to a far country as far as way away from home it seems as he could get and there he begins to look what he didn't think he would find at home and that he would find out there he starts to spend he starts to try to find it now I don't I don't know your experience here but maybe there's someone and that's just been the kind of life you've been living maybe maybe you're not all that older or maybe you maybe you've maybe you've put a few years under your belt and you've tried a few things in life and you still get the sense that there's something missing there's something that's not there's something that's not right something that needs to be satisfied and you're looking for it and you're willing to spend for it spend your time spend your money at the expense of maybe relationships at the expense of family at the expense of what you grew up thinking was right and now you've turned from it and you're looking for something you know it's interesting in the Old Testament we find a man who had more money than anyone does in the world today or really has ever had since he lived King Solomon the richest and the Bible says the wisest man that ever lived apart from the Lord Jesus he wrote a little book in the Old Testament and it's called the book of Ecclesiastes in that book he chronicles he describes his experience looking trying spending and he had no limit to what he could spend to try to find something under the Sun something in this world that would bring satisfaction talks about I'll just mention some of the things I have them written down in Spanish but I'll try to do them in English for you science philosophy comedy entertainment alcohol buildings gardens music business religion you go through that little book of Ecclesiastes and you find a man who had indispensable resources there was no limit to what he could do there was no laws that went against his final say he was king he could do anything and spend anything and he did and you know what he says at the end of that he says vanity of vanities all is vanity and vexation of spirit you know what he says he says it's empty I can't find what I'm looking for in this world and I've tried everything and it's not there it's not there I don't know how much this young man was able to spend before he came to the same conclusion I don't know when you might come to the same conclusion or maybe you already have maybe you've already come face to face with this you know I've tried alcohol I've I've tried living the way I thought somehow would would would give me pleasure would I tried to I tried business I tried education I tried maybe religion I I've tried all kinds of different things and I still find that there's something missing you know this young man I read the part where he comes to himself and this is really where we have to come first the message of the gospel yes it's a message of good news and it's the answer to what's missing but this young man had to face some facts before he could enjoy what God was offering what are the facts that this young man had to face we read that he comes to himself he realizes finally and he's honest finally with himself about his true condition he faces the facts that he's lost here I am in Spanish the the verse is he's living viviendo perdida mente it says in Spanish and for those of you that understand Spanish he's living a lost life that's what the Bible says that's why we can't find satisfaction in anything in this world because the Bible says that we have sin and that sin has robbed us of a relationship with the one who made us and the only person or persons that were ever truly satisfied in this world were Adam and Eve before they sinned apart from the grace of God and salvation that he offers now but they enjoyed what God made them for a relationship with him but they sinned sin came in and sin has affected you and I and we see it in our lives and we realize that sin has destroyed what was once intended for us a relationship with God and enjoyment of this person and enjoyment of all the blessings that he has and so this young man he comes first of all he's honest he says here I am I'm a sinner that's what he says he says I'm gonna go back to my father and I'm gonna say to him father I have sinned against heaven the life that I'm living that I thought was my way I now realize that it's a way that's taken me far from God that's what the Bible says in the Old Testament says all we like sheep have gone astray we've turned everyone to his own way in Proverbs it says there's a way that seems right unto a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death that fits this man perfectly doesn't it it seems so right when he started on it but he's realized now this is a way that's just taking me to death Oh friend tonight I hope I hope you could come to the same understanding that this young man did that I had to come to as a young man as well my sin is not taking me towards satisfaction my sin is taking me away from God and it's leading towards destruction it's leading towards yes physical death but the Bible makes it clear it's leading towards judgment this this man he had to finally be honest about his condition he says I I'm here I'm I'm dying of hunger I'm lost and I'm going to repent you said what we didn't I don't think we read the word repent no we didn't read the word repent but really what happened here was repentance you see the man realized I'm lost I'm perishing with hunger without Christ every sinner is perishing spiritually and he says I'm going to turn around he's not turning over a new leaf he's not saying you know I'm gonna pull myself up by my bootstraps and I'm gonna do the best I can and I'm gonna turn my own life around and I'm gonna fix everything that's wrong no he realizes my only hope is to go to my father and confess to him that I've been wrong that I'm a sinner that I need his mercy that his grace it's not going to depend on me it's going to depend on whether he will accept me whether he'll show that grace and love towards me that's repentance that's that's what God is waiting for when a sinner will be honest and say I've sins and this sin has taken me towards judgment my only hope is to turn around and instead of pursuing my own my own way my own route I'm going to turn around and I'm going to to depend on his mercy and on the possibility of him forgiving me of my sins and of him providing for my need it's not going to be me anymore it's not going to be what I want anymore it's going to be him and what he offers and what he can do have you have you got to this point this young man spent all trying to find satisfaction let's read about another individual we're going to go to Mark's gospel chapter 5 now Marcos capítulo cinco acabamos de leer algo acerca de alguien que gasto todo buscando la satisfacción verdad este hombre que que tuvo que llegar a la conclusión estoy viviendo perdida mente tuvo que arrepentirse de dar la vuelta para volver a su padre confesando su pecaminosidad su gran necesidad de la misericordia de dios y de su padre en este caso este para ahora marcos cinco vamos a ver aquí una mujer que gasto todo nuevamente pensando en el motivo y el porque ella gasto todo mark chapter 5 verse 25 and here we're going to read about a woman and again she's been put into the pages of scripture because there's a lesson for you and I a lesson just like this young man the lesson in him was some are spending all to try to find satisfaction but at the at the at the end there's there's nothing that will satisfy what you need is something that alone God can offer that God can give it only comes through repentance and recognizing your need and depending upon his grace to give it to you here in mark chapter 5 we're gonna read from verse 25 and a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years and it suffered many things of many physicians of many doctors and here's the expression and had spent all that she had another sad story isn't it spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse and when she heard of Jesus came in the press or in the crowd behind and touched his garments now come down to verse 32 and he looked around the Lord Jesus looked around about to see her that had done this thing but the woman fearing and trembling knowing what was done in her came and fell down before him and told him all the truth and he said unto her daughter by faith hath made thee whole go in peace and behold of thy plague so here we have a woman she's quite a bit different than the young man isn't she but the man just like stubborn young men he didn't even realize he had a need he just he just felt this void and he was out there to have a good time and somehow fill it here's a woman and she realizes right from the start there's something wrong with me there's some there's something wrong and my goal in life her goal in life was to to find the cure for what was wrong that she knew was wrong with her you know this woman she speaks she speaks to me about what we what we read in the Old Testament about about sinners in Isaiah in an Old Testament book it talks about sinners and it says about us that our sin is like a disease like a like an infirmity this woman here is sick physically sick but Isaiah says that the whole heart the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot even under the head there's no soundness in but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores and so God takes the picture of a patient of someone that's filled with disease from from the sole of their foot to their head and says this is what a sinner is in my sight this is the the gravity the seriousness of the condition of sin this is how it looks to God you know we look at sin and we say well you know my sin doesn't seem so bad compared to his sin I I've never I've never robbed a bank I've never I've never killed anyone but God says no one little lie by one of these boys or girls up at the front is something so horrible and offensive to God that he can barely look on it he looks at it as a disease that's that's completely corrupted their bodies because God is holy God is holy and every sin as small as we might think it is and how quickly we write them off God says it's it's despicable it's horrible it's repugnant it's everything that's in contrast to who I am and that's why the Bible says that nothing that defiles will ever enter into the place where God is that's why we need our sins taken care of that's the big problem our sin because our sin cannot go into heaven if our sins aren't taken care of if they've never been forgiven the Bible says there's no hope there's no hope so here's a woman she realizes I'm sick like we need to realize if our sins aren't forgiven I'm sick and so she she goes and she goes to one doctor and she spends and another doctor she spends and another doctor and she spends and what's happening she's only getting worse and she's suffering at the hands of these doctors and finally it says she had spent all if I could draw a comparison here I think I think this woman would remind me of someone who's trying maybe church to church religion to religion someone who knows there's there's something wrong between me and God there's sin in my life and I want to be right I want to find the answer to this I want to know and have peace that that my sins are taken care of and so they go and they they try one church and they they listen to another man and they they read another book and from one to the other and every place of course there's there's an expense to pay but but there's also an emptiness at the end and the problem still there still there finally this woman she gets to the place with nothing in her hand nothing to pay when she gets to that point at the same time she finds out there's a man the Lord Jesus is passing through and finally she realizes my hope my only hope is him notice she doesn't she doesn't she doesn't head up to the Lord Jesus and reach into her pocket and and try to pull out five dollars and say now here maybe you can help me well maybe she's heard about this man already and she realizes he's he's not going to take my money he's not interested in what I can give him he's a man that's able to give me what I need and he's going to do it graciously kindly because of who he is she just goes up and she just she doesn't even bother him she just goes behind him and touches the edge of his garment and the Bible says at that instant she's healed what a beautiful picture because that's exactly what God says you need tonight you see forgiveness of sins it's not something that I could give it's not something that some pastor or priest or or any other religious man in this world could give it's not found in men or doctors or it's not found in churches it's not found in something you could pay or purchase tonight it's found in the very man that this woman came and met it's found in the Lord Jesus we're going to see that in just a minute very clearly but the point is this woman spent all to try to find a cure and so tonight can I take you to the third person we have a man who spent all to find satisfaction we have a woman who spent all to try to find a cure to a problem the man he had to come to the point where you he he repented we was honest about his condition is needed he made a turn and headed for headed for his father the woman she had to get to the point where she had nothing more to spend and she realized that the answer is not in another doctor another preacher another church the answer is in the man the Lord Jesus Christ but let's go to the third because this is the center of the message first Timothy chapter 2 primera timoteo capítulo dos por favor otro que gasto todo first timothy chapter 2 and we're going to read at verse 4 where there del versículo 4 a 6 y aquí claramente el que gasto todo es el señor y su cristo para proveer la salvación first timothy chapter 2 we're going to start reading at verse 4 now in the context paul has written this young man timothy who's in a local church and he's giving him some teaching about praying about praying as a as a local church as a group of of believers and he tells them through timothy that they are to pray for everyone and now he tells us why because God I'm gonna start in a verse for the end of verse 3 says God our Savior verse 4 says who God who will have all men this isn't males this is men and women boys and girls every single person who will have all people this is God's desire this is this is what he wants that all would be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man here he is the man Christ Jesus now what did that man Christ Jesus do in order to be the mediator in order to be the one who could go between between a God who is absolutely holy and sinners who are desperately lost in their sin what did the mediator do how could he ever resolve this problem how could he ever bridge this gap how could he ever provide so that a sinner could be in that's what God desires is to have you and I with him what was lost because of sin he wants that to be restored he wants all to be saved that's his desire and so there's one mediator there's one who was able to accomplish what God wanted verse 6 tells us what the Lord Jesus did God's eternal Son became a man and verse 6 tells us that Jesus Christ who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time you see the Lord Jesus he told a story about a man who spent all and he met with a woman who spent all but you see he was one who was here himself to spend all what did the Lord Jesus do to create this world the Bible tells us in in John chapter 1 that he is the Creator he's the word he's the one who spoke the word and brought this world into existence by the power of his mouth but when it came to providing that salvation that pardon of sins to be able to be a mediator between us and God in order to deal with our big problem our great disease of sin he didn't speak a word that wasn't how he was going to do it that wouldn't have been enough I say that carefully but but that's what the Bible teaches me you see for us to be right with God someone had to step in like a mediator someone had to take our place someone had to become our substitute and someone had to pay the price that our sins demanded someone had to be judged and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus did the Bible says in Isaiah 53 that he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement the judgment that we deserve it fell on him so that we could have peace with God he is the mediator and with his stripes that verse says we are healed that's that's what the woman was looking for that's what the young man needed to be healed to have his sins forgiven to be right with God and here we find that in order for that to happen there was one who spent all we read it who gave himself he gave himself everything when the Lord Jesus was on the cross it it wasn't that somehow he detached himself from the experience that somehow God left the man that was there or any such blasphemy that you could suggest any such idea no the Bible makes it clear that the Lord Jesus he gave himself he suffered the full weight the penalty the suffering that you and I deserve eternally it all fell on him that's what he had to do to be the mediator that's how we could be right with God that's how our sins can be forgiven and God desires we read it that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and so tonight as I sit down and and the meeting continues in Spanish and maybe a little bit of English I'm not sure if you don't speak Spanish I want you just to keep mulling over in your minds what did he do for me what does that work that suffering on the cross have to do with me you see because here's one who spent all so that he could be the mediator I discovered as a boy nine years old maybe there's someone nine years old here tonight I discovered he did all of that for me he suffered for me he gave himself for me he died for me he was buried he rose again God satisfied with what he's done and now the mediator is right there at God's right hand and all I had to do I can't go up and I can't go up and see him I can't see him with my eyes but I know about him because I have God's words and God says that he's the mediator between God and man the Bible says there's more he's the way the truth in the life no one comes to the father but by him and so just like that young man I said I'm a sinner I need I need what God offers by his grace not because I can earn it not because I'm somehow good I'm the lost sinner I need God's mercy and like that woman I had to face the fact I'm sick with sin and there's no hope for me Bible says that we're without strength absolutely helpless but in due time Christ died for the ungodly and just like that woman by faith I reached out no I wasn't imagining my hand or imagining touching in any way but that's what happened in that moment listening to the message being preached and hearing about the Lord Jesus and his death on the cross the one who gave himself the one who said at the end it's finished the work is done I just said well well if God says it I'm gonna take him at his words and that's the moment when he became my Savior oh I trust tonight that if you're not saved if you don't have forgiveness of sins that tonight you'll think about what he's done and you as well will be willing to trust him and you'll leave tonight a person who's forgiven a person who's right with God