Sermon #119 Luke
Sermons
Title: “It Was Meet”
Text: Luke 15:32
Subject: A Reason for Joy
Date: Sunday Morning—
Tape # Y-6a
Introduction:
(Luke
15:32) “It was meet that we should make
merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and
is alive again, and was lost and is found.”
This threefold
parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, unlike other
parables, gives us many instructive lessons. Our Lord’s parables, as you know,
are illustrations, of divine truth. As such, they usually are intended to
convey one thing, and only one thing. You will find, as are taught by God the
Holy Spirit, that each parable has one special lesson, one point of divine instruction
which, when opened and sealed to your heart by the power and grace of God,
magnificently illustrates one distinct aspect of the gospel, one particular
perfection of God, or one specific work of our great God.
Much confusion
has arisen in the minds of men by trying to make the parables say many things
and trying to make every part of the parable fit a predetermined doctrinal
mold. That is a mistake. The parables are intended to convey one thing, only
one thing. That is the general rule.
Yet, as we have
seen in the parable before us, this trilogy of parables conveys many delightful
lessons about the mercy, love and grace of our God toward poor, needy sinners
in Christ. Still, even in this parable, the rule of interpretation stands. It
really conveys just one message. All the other things revealed here are parts
of that one message. The one thing illustrated, over and over again, in this
parable is just this…
Proposition: The God of
Glory, our heavenly Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is full
of grace and mercy, ever ready to save poor sinners, anxious to be merciful,
rejoicing in the exercise of his tender-mercies and loving-kindness toward the
helpless, the fallen and the needy. He “delighteth in mercy!”
When the lost sheep is brought home on the shoulders
of the omnipotent Shepherd, our Lord tells us in verse 7 ― “I say unto you,
that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance.”
We read, in verse 9, that when the lost coin is
found by the effectual work of God the Holy Spirit, that he calls for a time of
rejoicing. And our Savior tells us in verse 10 ― “Likewise, I
say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth.”
When the
lost son returns to the Father’s house, our Lord tells us that God the
Father throws a party in heaven (vv. 20-24). Everyone in the Father’s house
started playing joyful music and dancing in celebration because of the
prodigal’s return (v. 25).
(Luke 15:20-27) “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.
(21) 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. (22) But the
father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: (23) And
bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
(24) For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found. And they began to be merry. (25) Now his elder son was in the
field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
(26) And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
(27) 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.”
The Elder Brother
When he heard
the music and dancing, the elder brother could not understand what was going on
in the Father’s house. He was a stranger to it all. But when he heard what had
happened, he was filled with anger toward his Father and toward the prodigal.
This elder brother, as set before us in this parable, portrays the
self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees to whom our Lord addressed the parable
(vv. 1-3).
· He resents the
Father’s love toward his worthless son.
· He rebels
against the heavenly music of joy over the restored son.
· He dares to say
to his Father that he has never broken one of his commandments.
· He is angry and
bitter at the kind, gracious, loving reception of the wicked younger son, who
went out rich and came back poor; who went out clean and came back polluted;
who went out well clothed and came back in rags; who went out well-nourished
and came back starving; who went out in proud rebellion and came back broken,
in repentance. May God save us from being like the elder brother.
The Prodigal
The younger son
asked for and got what he thought was his portion of the Father’s goods. In
just a few days gathered everything together and left home. He took his journey
into a far country. There he had no restraints to his lusts. And he wasted his
substance in riotous living. Soon, everything was gone and “he began to be
in want.” That is our nature and our practice, and becomes our condition,
and very solemn it is.
Providential Famine
There came unto
that land a mighty famine. “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to
perform.” He has his ways; and they are never our ways. He is determined to
fetch his chosen home, and all his creation is used,
as he sees fit, to accomplish his purpose of grace (Rom.
The means he
used in this case was a famine, a mighty famine. People were dying all around
him. The poor, haggard prodigal, in utter poverty and shame, hired himself out
to a citizen of that country (Dr. Gill suggests he was a Pharisaic, legal
preacher.), who sent him into his field to feed his hogs, to work his way back
into his Father’s good graces. There he would have filled his belly with the
husks of the hogs free-will, works religion, but no
one gave him anything to satisfy his deep need.
Awakened Conscience
Then he appears
to have had a stirring of his conscience, an awakening of sorts. ― “He
came to himself” (v. 17).
His conscience
seems to have said to him, ― “You fool. Look at yourself. Look at your
filthy rags.” He looked them over, and blushed with shame. ― “Look where
you are. Look at what you are doing. Look at yourself, in this hog pen,
wallowing around in the slime of your free-will and in the muck of your own
imaginary righteousness! Do you really think you can please your Father by
this? Why, you can’t even eat this stuff. There’s nothing here to satisfy even
you. And you think it is fit for God!”
Oh, blessed is
that man or woman whose conscience is not yet seared with a hot iron! “When
he came to himself,” the poor wretch began to reason ― “How many hired
servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with
hunger!” ― What a contrast!
Here is a man who was once the King’s son, possessor of all wealth and honor,
with angels as his servants, in a hog pen, poor, filthy and starving!
With his
Father’s house in his mind’s eye, his heart breaks, his eyes swell with tears,
he hangs his head in shame, and he cries, “What have I done!” His heart goes
back to the house he had forsaken and the Father he had despised, and he says,…
(Luke 15:18-19) “I will
arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, (19) And am no more
worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”
Going Home
Broken, poor,
helpless, utterly unworthy, with his head hanging low, he headed home, he headed to the Father’s throne of grace, the only
place where there was any hope for such a wretch.
(Luke 15:20-21) “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.
(21) 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.”
The Father
choked down all he could. He would hear no more. All was fully forgiven.
(Luke 15:22-24) “But the
father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: (23) And
bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
(24) For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found. And they began to be merry.”
How?
How did this
happen? How did the prodigal get back home to the Father’s house? What was it
that brought about such a change in this poor soul? God almighty brings sinners
home by pouring upon them the Spirit of grace and of supplication (Zech.
How does a man
guide a horse? With a bit and bridle you lead a horse wherever you wish. That
is how God almighty brings sinners to himself. Though, in the experience of it,
it appears that God’s grace is his response to the sinner’s repentance,
that is never in fact the case. God never waits for the sinner to take
the initiative. The Father, in this parable, saw his son when he was yet a
great way off. In fact, he never took the eyes of his care off him, because he
never took the eyes of his heart off him.
· Love saw him.
· Love drew him.
· Love pulled him.
· Love moved his
conscience.
· Love guided his
steps.
· Love ran out to
meet him.
· Love received
him.
· Love fell on his
neck and kissed him.
· Love forgave
him.
· Love restored
him.
· Love threw a
party for him
· Love rejoiced
over him.
O needy soul,
come now to God our Father by faith in his dear Son, and you will find it so in
your own experience of the Father’s infinite mercy, grace, and love!
Now, let’s look
at our text.
(Luke 15:32) “It was meet
that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
This is part of
the Father’s answer to the ungrateful and ungracious elder son. This is the
reason he gives for his gracious reception of sinners for Christ’s sake. ―
“It was meet that we should make merry and be glad.” — I want us to
focus our attention on these three words ― “It was meet.”
What is this
meetness? Why is it only right and reasonable for the God of glory to receive
sinners, embrace them, and rejoice in their salvation? Let me give you six
answers to that question from the Word of God.
Eternal Love
I.
It was meet because the sinner
coming to God by faith in Christ is the object of God’s eternal love.
Our great God
rejoices in grace and delights in mercy because he loves to love, and loves to
show his love. “God is love;” and he loves freely. He says, regarding
his own elect, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). Every sinner who comes to
God, trusting Christ, joyfully discovers what Paul declares in Romans 5:5. ― “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
· It is as natural
for God to communicate his love to chosen sinners as it is for the sun to give
forth light.
· It is as natural
for the
· It is just as
reasonable to expect fire not to give off heat as it is to expect God not to
receive returning sinners in the arms of his everlasting love.
God is good. God
is love. He cannot, I say he cannot turn his back upon a sinner seeking mercy
in Christ. I say, he cannot, because he has said he will not, and he cannot
lie.
If angels
rejoice over repenting sinners, how much more will a God of love, who has made
them repenting sinners, rejoice over them! This is exactly the character of our
great God ― He receives sinners, and eats with them. An earthly father,
we might expect to refuse a son who had despised his love, wasted all that love
had given to him, and then came back home only because he had to, disgraced,
degraded, and ragged. If any earthly father were so magnanimous and kind that
he received such a son only with guarded suspicion, as a hired servant, we
would praise such a man’s goodness. Would we not?
But here
is the love of God, our heavenly Father — It is the very glory of his
great love that he receives every needy sinner who comes to him by Christ
Jesus, and esteems the sinner so highly that he esteems it his honor to forgive
all his sin, justify him fully, sanctify him completely, and restore him
totally for Christ’s sake!
“Sinners are
high in His esteem,
And sinners
highly value Him.”
――――――――――――――――
Come then, O
needy sinner, come;
To Christ in
humble faith;
Owe what you
may, the total sum
Is cancelled by
His death!
How we ought to
adore, how we ought to ever stand in absolute amazement before the infinite,
matchless, immutable, indestructible love of God in Christ! It is my prayer
that we may all be rooted and grounded in his love. May God give is grace to “be
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph.
“I stand amazed
in the presence
Of Jesus the
Nazarene,
And wonder how
He could love me,
A sinner,
condemned, unclean!
How marvelous!
How wonderful!
And my song
shall ever be ―
O how marvelous!
O how wonderful
Is my Savior’s
love for me!”
(Rom 5:6-8) “For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die. (8) But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Gal 2:20) “I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me.”
(1 John 3:16) “Hereby
perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
(1 John 4:10) “Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.”
(1 John 4:19) “We love him,
because he first loved us.”
“Could we with
ink the oceans fill,
And were the
skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on
earth a quill,
And every man a
scribe by trade ―
To write the
love of God above
Would drain the
oceans dry!
Nor could the
scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched
from sky to sky!”
Wonder of
wonders this is. ― It is meet for our God to
rejoice over and with poor sinners who come to him for grace!
A Rebuke
What a rebuke
this is to the legal pride and self-righteousness that refuses to forgive and
refuses to rejoice in God’s forgiveness of sinners, accepting them as the sons
of God, perfect, whole and holy, in Christ Jesus!
It was meet to make merry because this poor soul was the object of
God’s everlasting love.
Christ’s Satisfaction
II. Second, it was meet
for The Father to make merry, meet for the angels to make merry, meet for the
restored son to make merry, meet for all the other restored sons to make merry,
meet for the Holy Spirit to make merry, and meet for the Lord Jesus to make
merry, because upon the return of the chosen sinner, redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ, the Son of God sees of the travail of his soul and is
satisfied.
This was the joy
set before him, for which the Son of God endured the cross, despising the
shame.
(Isa 53:8-11) “He was taken
from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of my people was he stricken. (9) And he made his grave
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;
because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
(10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to
grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in
his hand. (11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall
be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities.”
Christ’s blood
atonement makes the gracious reception of ransomed sinners both necessary and
certain. Our Savior’s satisfaction makes it meet for
the God of Glory to receive and rejoice in the salvation of every redeemed
sinner. Look at our text again.
(Luke 15:32) “It was meet
that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
Our Savior could
not have used a stronger, more expressive word than the word “meet” to
express the message of this text. The word means, “necessary,
binding upon, must needs be, a matter of necessity.” When the Father says, “It was meet
that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found,” the meaning is this ― “It
was right, reasonable, absolutely necessary, and binding upon us to make merry
and be glad.”
How can that be
possible? How can it be said that something is absolutely necessary and binding
upon God almighty? It can be said that such a thing is so only if God himself
has made it binding upon him.
· The purpose of
God is as binding upon him as his character.
· And the
justice of God is as binding upon him as his purpose.
· Both God’s
purpose and his justice make it binding upon our great God to receive, justify and
forgive every sinner for whom Christ died at
Shall a blood
bought sinner be rejected and repelled and turned back while, by the
irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit, he is coming in prayer and
supplication to the throne of grace to obtain mercy in time of need? Never! As
surely as the redeemed sinner is called, so surely shall he come.
And as surely as he comes, so surely shall he be accepted.
(Psa 65:4) “Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he
may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even
of thy holy temple.”
(Psa 110:3) “Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the
womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.”
This is the will
of God and the promise of our Redeemer (John
(John 6:37-40) “All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. (38) For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but
the will of him that sent me. (39) And this is the Father's will which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day. (40) And this is the will of
him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
· The justice of
God, being satisfied by Christ’s precious blood, demands the
salvation of every sinner for whom Christ died (Rom.
(Rom 3:24-26) “Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
(25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at
this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus.”
· The satisfaction
of Christ’s soul’s travail demands the salvation of all for whom
he endured the travail of his soul. ― No believer can be denied grace,
salvation, and eternal life in Christ.
· The joy of
Christ demands the salvation of all for whom he endured the cross,
despising the shame. ― No believer can be denied grace, salvation, and
eternal life in Christ.
· The fulness of
Christ as our Mediator and Surety demands the salvation of all for whom
he is a Mediator and Surety (Eph.
(Eph 1:22-23) “And hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
to the church, (23) Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
Come, then,
needy souls, come to Christ, assured of this fact. Him that cometh to the Son
of God he will in no wise cast out! As surely as you come to God by faith in
Christ, there shall be a party in heaven because of you! It is meet! It is meet that all for whom
that blood was shed should be cleansed by it. No arguments against it will ever
prevail in the court of heaven. Let none prevail in the court of your own soul.
Come in, thou
blessed of the Lord! Come in, maimed and lame and blind and halt! ― Come
in, poor and miserable! ― Come in, fraudulent bankrupt sinner! ― What a gospel God has given us! ― It
is meet on the ground of the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the
prodigal to be received with joy into the Father’s house!
Christ’s Intercession
III. Not only is it
meet for God to receive and forgive, justify and save poor sinners because of
his everlasting love and Christ’s sin-atoning death, ― It is meet
because of the intercession of Christ (John 17:9-10, 17, 20-26).
The Father must
receive the sinner who comes to him because of Christ’s intercession. He bears
our names upon his holy heart as our great High Priest in heaven. Hear his
intercession at the Father’s throne and rejoice!
(John 17:9-10) “I
pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine. (10) And all mine are thine,
and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”
(John 17:17) “Sanctify
them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
(John 17:20-26) “Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word; (21) That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me. (22) And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me. (24) Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before
the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father, the world hath not
known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
(26) And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
“The Father
hears Him pray,
His dear
Anointed One!
He cannot turn
away
The presence of
His Son!”
His Son
IV.
Fourth, it was meet for the Father to receive and rejoice
in receiving the poor prodigal, because he was his son.
Perhaps you are
thinking, “But, Bro. Don, I fear I am not.” I cannot answer that question for
you; but the Word of God does.
The Lord God
himself declares, every sinner who is born again is a
son. ― “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life”
(John
The reason why
God our Father must receive and rejoice in receiving every sinner who comes to
him in Christ’s name ― He
sees Christ himself, the Object of his love, that One in whom
his soul delights, coming home to heaven by the merit of his perfect obedience
and blood atonement, without sin, holy, without blame, and unreproveable in his
sight!
His House Filling
V. Fifth, it is meet for God our Father to receive sinners and rejoice in
them, because in the salvation of sinners he sees his house being filled and
his blessed invitations and promises in the gospel being fulfilled.
(Luke 14:23) “And the lord
said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to
come in, that my house may be filled.”
When the Lord
God our Savior says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest” he means it. He really means it. And it is meet, when the ever-gracious Savior sees at his heavenly
footstool a believing sinner, for him to rejoice. What man is not filled with
joy when he sees his house full of his children?
His Grace
VI.
And sixth, it is meet
because in the return of the prodigal the triune God sees the blessed result of
all his marvelous works of grace.
(Luke 15:32) “It was meet
that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
He sees his son
returning home, and cries, “Rejoice for ever in that which I create. For
behold, I create
It is hard to
believe that God can ever take any pleasure in such wretched, sinful creatures
as we are; but, blessed be his name, he does! He “taketh in them that fear
him.”
The prodigal
would call his Father’s attention to his sinfulness. When he said to himself, “I
will say, Make me as one of thy hired servants,” it was as if he were
saying, “I will show my Father my rags, and declare that I am not fit for his
house, that I am not fit to be in his presence. I will demonstrate how much I
loathe myself by my rags.” But the Father, said, as he choked those words down,
“Oh, this is my son! Bring forth the best robe ― I will justify him.
Bring forth the family ring and seal to him all my grace and goodness. Make him
know that I am his and he is mine forever. Make him
know that I will never leave him and will never let him leave me. Put the shoes
of steadfastness on his weak feet. Bring out the fatted calf and cause him to
feed upon it, ever knowing that all is well forever because Christ died! By
these things, make my son to know that there is forgiveness with me, and with me is plenteous redemption!”
· This, my son was
dead. Now he is alive, alive forever!
· He was lost. Now
he is found, and can never be lost again!
Come now to
Christ. Come home to God by the blood and righteousness of God’s dear Son, and
God will receive you, declare you righteous, forgive you of all sin forever,
and rejoice over you, because it is meet!
Amen.