WEBVTT 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:04.391 A lot of things we could say, but I have some things 00:00:04.391 --> 00:00:06.842 that are on my heart this morning. 00:00:06.842 --> 00:00:10.232 The last time we were with Leonard Ravenhill - 00:00:10.232 --> 00:00:14.022 Leonard and Martha down in Texas - 00:00:14.022 --> 00:00:15.302 he shared a lot of things, 00:00:15.302 --> 00:00:19.622 but he shared one thing just out of the clear blue sky, 00:00:19.622 --> 00:00:21.252 and said Luke 15 00:00:21.252 --> 00:00:25.081 and the lost sheep and lost coin 00:00:25.081 --> 00:00:27.886 and lost son. 00:00:27.886 --> 00:00:34.452 He says these are not three different parables, 00:00:34.452 --> 00:00:37.981 but they're just one. 00:00:37.981 --> 00:00:41.672 And maybe you've heard this already, 00:00:41.672 --> 00:00:43.582 but then he said this, 00:00:43.582 --> 00:00:50.610 we dare not separate them. 00:00:50.610 --> 00:00:55.043 And we dare not change the order. 00:00:55.043 --> 00:00:58.621 And that's all he said. That's all he said. 00:00:58.621 --> 00:00:59.969 But through the years, 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:03.050 my heart's been drawn to that statement. 00:01:03.050 --> 00:01:06.230 If we could turn in our Bibles this morning 00:01:06.230 --> 00:01:09.682 to Luke, the 15th chapter. 00:01:09.682 --> 00:01:13.573 And we'll read this. 00:01:13.573 --> 00:01:17.171 "Then drew near unto Him 00:01:17.171 --> 00:01:20.041 all the publicans and sinners 00:01:20.041 --> 00:01:22.131 for to hear Him. 00:01:22.131 --> 00:01:25.520 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, 00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:28.959 saying, This man receiveth sinners, 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:30.391 and eateth with them." 00:01:30.391 --> 00:01:32.771 I think these two verses are very significant 00:01:32.771 --> 00:01:34.891 to the parables here. 00:01:34.891 --> 00:01:36.971 He's talking to two classes of people. 00:01:36.971 --> 00:01:38.999 Probably His disciples are there too, 00:01:38.999 --> 00:01:43.890 but He's talking to sinners 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:49.852 and He's talking to self-righteous people. 00:01:49.852 --> 00:01:51.921 "And He spake this parable unto them, 00:01:51.921 --> 00:01:54.080 saying, What man of you, 00:01:54.080 --> 00:01:56.360 having a hundred sheep, 00:01:56.360 --> 00:01:58.551 if he lose one of them, 00:01:58.551 --> 00:02:01.900 doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:05.192 and go after that which is lost, 00:02:05.192 --> 00:02:08.189 until he find it? 00:02:08.189 --> 00:02:09.852 And when he hath found it, 00:02:09.852 --> 00:02:12.331 he layeth it on his shoulders, 00:02:12.331 --> 00:02:14.183 rejoicing. 00:02:14.183 --> 00:02:15.921 And when he cometh home, 00:02:15.921 --> 00:02:20.291 he calleth together his friends and neighbors, 00:02:20.291 --> 00:02:22.611 saying unto them, 00:02:22.611 --> 00:02:25.882 Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep 00:02:25.882 --> 00:02:27.522 which was lost. 00:02:27.522 --> 00:02:32.581 I say unto you that likewise joy shall be 00:02:32.581 --> 00:02:36.801 in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 00:02:36.801 --> 00:02:39.051 more than over ninety and nine just persons, 00:02:39.051 --> 00:02:42.332 which need no repentance. 00:02:42.332 --> 00:02:48.171 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, 00:02:48.171 --> 00:02:50.522 if she lose one piece, 00:02:50.522 --> 00:02:54.950 doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, 00:02:54.950 --> 00:03:00.070 and seek diligently until she find it? 00:03:00.070 --> 00:03:01.850 And when she hath found it, 00:03:01.850 --> 00:03:04.401 she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, 00:03:04.401 --> 00:03:07.212 saying, Rejoice with me; 00:03:07.212 --> 00:03:09.479 for I have found the piece 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.029 which I had lost. 00:03:12.029 --> 00:03:13.811 Likewise, I say unto you, 00:03:13.811 --> 00:03:17.731 there is joy in the presence 00:03:17.731 --> 00:03:20.020 of the angels of God 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:27.191 over one sinner that repenteth. 00:03:27.191 --> 00:03:30.405 And He said, A certain man had two sons: 00:03:30.405 --> 00:03:33.106 And the younger of them said to his father, 00:03:33.106 --> 00:03:35.738 Father, give me the portion of goods 00:03:35.738 --> 00:03:37.997 that falleth to me. 00:03:37.997 --> 00:03:43.117 And he divided unto them his living. 00:03:43.117 --> 00:03:45.638 And not many days after 00:03:45.638 --> 00:03:49.487 the younger son gathered all together, 00:03:49.487 --> 00:03:52.359 and took his journey into a far country, 00:03:52.359 --> 00:03:55.158 and there wasted his substance 00:03:55.158 --> 00:03:58.407 with riotous living. 00:03:58.407 --> 00:04:01.447 And when he had spent all, 00:04:01.447 --> 00:04:04.996 there arose a mighty famine in that land; 00:04:04.996 --> 00:04:09.099 and he began to be in want. 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:10.578 And he went and joined himself 00:04:10.578 --> 00:04:13.130 to a citizen of that country; 00:04:13.130 --> 00:04:15.608 and he sent him into his fields 00:04:15.608 --> 00:04:18.758 to feed swine. 00:04:18.758 --> 00:04:22.009 And he would fain have filled his belly 00:04:22.009 --> 00:04:25.749 with the husks that the swine did eat; 00:04:25.749 --> 00:04:30.539 and no man gave unto him. 00:04:30.539 --> 00:04:32.977 And when he came to himself, he said, 00:04:32.977 --> 00:04:36.640 How many hired servants of my father's 00:04:36.640 --> 00:04:39.828 have bread enough and to spare, 00:04:39.828 --> 00:04:44.889 and I perish with hunger! 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:47.939 I will arise 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:51.067 and go to my father, 00:04:51.067 --> 00:04:53.707 and will say unto him, 00:04:53.707 --> 00:04:58.378 Father, I have sinned against heaven 00:04:58.378 --> 00:05:00.809 and before thee, 00:05:00.809 --> 00:05:02.528 and am no more worthy 00:05:02.528 --> 00:05:05.490 to be called thy son: 00:05:05.490 --> 00:05:10.317 make me as one of thy hired servants. 00:05:10.317 --> 00:05:13.830 And he arose, and came to his father. 00:05:13.830 --> 00:05:16.849 But when he was yet a great way off, 00:05:16.849 --> 00:05:18.679 his father saw him, 00:05:18.679 --> 00:05:21.620 and had compassion, 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:24.059 and ran, 00:05:24.059 --> 00:05:28.638 and fell on his neck, 00:05:28.638 --> 00:05:32.289 and kissed him. 00:05:32.289 --> 00:05:34.357 And the son said unto him, 00:05:34.357 --> 00:05:38.190 Father, I have sinned against heaven 00:05:38.190 --> 00:05:39.699 and in thy sight, 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:44.300 and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 00:05:44.300 --> 00:05:46.720 But the father said to his servants, 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.109 Bring forth the best robe, 00:05:51.109 --> 00:05:53.808 and put it on him; 00:05:53.808 --> 00:05:56.258 and put a ring on his hand, 00:05:56.258 --> 00:05:59.491 and shoes on his feet: 00:05:59.491 --> 00:06:02.618 And bring hither the fatted calf, 00:06:02.618 --> 00:06:03.966 and kill it; 00:06:03.966 --> 00:06:07.038 and let us eat, and be merry: 00:06:07.038 --> 00:06:09.329 For this my son was dead, 00:06:09.329 --> 00:06:11.138 and is alive again; 00:06:11.138 --> 00:06:15.219 he was lost, and is found. 00:06:15.219 --> 00:06:17.428 And they began to be merry. 00:06:17.428 --> 00:06:21.518 (V. 32) It was meet that we should make merry, 00:06:21.518 --> 00:06:22.828 and be glad: 00:06:22.828 --> 00:06:25.419 for this thy brother was dead, 00:06:25.419 --> 00:06:26.980 and is alive again; 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:32.758 and was lost, and is found." NOTE Paragraph 00:06:32.758 --> 00:06:34.799 Father, by Thy Spirit I pray, that You 00:06:34.799 --> 00:06:40.848 would quicken Your Word to our hearts this morning. 00:06:40.848 --> 00:06:44.589 We ask Thee Father, by Thy Spirit, 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:47.669 to speak to each one of us. 00:06:47.669 --> 00:06:53.549 We'll praise You and thank You in Jesus' name. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:53.549 --> 00:06:57.669 As I meditated on these things, 00:06:57.669 --> 00:07:02.649 I'd like to share first of all from the middle one. 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:05.669 The lost coin. 00:07:05.669 --> 00:07:09.448 First of all, I think we need to see this 00:07:09.448 --> 00:07:12.629 from not the standpoint of the son, 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:15.479 the sheep, and the coin, 00:07:15.479 --> 00:07:19.920 but from heaven's standpoint. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:24.118 Look what it says here in verse 6. 00:07:24.118 --> 00:07:29.868 "Joy in heaven." 00:07:29.868 --> 00:07:31.968 And then in verse 10, 00:07:31.968 --> 00:07:36.641 "joy in the presence of the angels of God." 00:07:36.641 --> 00:07:40.458 And then joy in the Father's house. 00:07:40.458 --> 00:07:42.599 We look at so many of these things 00:07:42.599 --> 00:07:44.840 just from the human standpoint, 00:07:44.840 --> 00:07:46.547 from our standpoint, 00:07:46.547 --> 00:07:48.519 but I want us to think of this 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:57.836 from heaven's standpoint. 00:07:57.836 --> 00:08:06.358 Beloved, we don't know how much we mean to God. 00:08:06.358 --> 00:08:07.877 If you're out here this morning 00:08:07.877 --> 00:08:09.208 and you don't know Jesus, 00:08:09.208 --> 00:08:14.910 you don't have any idea how much joy 00:08:14.910 --> 00:08:26.399 you're robbing the Father of. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:31.187 The reason I would like to look at this here 00:08:31.187 --> 00:08:34.138 lost coin first of all is because 00:08:34.138 --> 00:08:36.868 if I understand it rightly, 00:08:36.868 --> 00:08:46.387 this is where grace finds us. 00:08:46.387 --> 00:08:51.269 Paul said to the Ephesians, 00:08:51.269 --> 00:08:53.139 "and you hath He quickened 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:57.868 who were dead 00:08:57.868 --> 00:09:00.198 in trespasses and sins." 00:09:00.198 --> 00:09:02.929 How dead? 00:09:02.929 --> 00:09:08.809 As dead as a lost coin. 00:09:08.809 --> 00:09:11.120 How helpless? How hopeless? 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.868 Of ever finding your way back to God? 00:09:13.868 --> 00:09:16.398 You're as dead as a coin. 00:09:16.398 --> 00:09:20.650 Every one of us. 00:09:20.650 --> 00:09:22.068 That's where grace finds us. 00:09:22.068 --> 00:09:25.770 "And you hath He quickened 00:09:25.770 --> 00:09:28.778 who were dead 00:09:28.778 --> 00:09:34.697 in trespasses and sins." 00:09:34.697 --> 00:09:36.869 In John, Jesus said, 00:09:36.869 --> 00:09:43.908 "No man can come to Me 00:09:43.908 --> 00:09:52.598 except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." 00:09:52.598 --> 00:09:59.498 Do you believe that? NOTE Paragraph 00:09:59.498 --> 00:10:02.250 What I want to share this morning 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:04.809 is to do two things: 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:07.921 I want, and if I know my heart, 00:10:07.921 --> 00:10:12.499 I am longing to go home and be with the Lord. 00:10:12.499 --> 00:10:14.518 I would love for the Lord to come. 00:10:14.518 --> 00:10:17.469 I wish it would be first. 00:10:17.469 --> 00:10:19.498 But I tell you, I want to stay down here 00:10:19.498 --> 00:10:23.969 just as long as I can for two reasons. 00:10:23.969 --> 00:10:37.779 I want to stay down here to talk to God about men. 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:43.268 And I want to stay down here to talk to men about God. 00:10:43.268 --> 00:10:53.357 I don't want to come to the ground... 00:10:53.357 --> 00:10:55.849 There's a wonderful promise, 00:10:55.849 --> 00:10:57.648 and I ask you to pray with me: 00:10:57.648 --> 00:11:04.508 "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age." 00:11:04.508 --> 00:11:06.228 And another time David said, 00:11:06.228 --> 00:11:12.457 "Let me not go hence till I've shown Thy power 00:11:12.457 --> 00:11:16.288 to this generation." 00:11:16.288 --> 00:11:23.618 (unintelligible) 00:11:23.618 --> 00:11:25.217 There's some wonderful promises 00:11:25.217 --> 00:11:27.506 and I don't want to get sidetracked here, 00:11:27.506 --> 00:11:30.549 but it says the Lord whom ye seek 00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:34.299 shall suddenly come to His temple. 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:37.589 I'm looking for that, beloved. 00:11:37.589 --> 00:11:40.358 Again and again and again. 00:11:40.358 --> 00:11:44.298 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven 00:11:44.298 --> 00:11:47.068 as of a rushing, mighty wind. 00:11:47.068 --> 00:11:52.520 Oh! To see that every time we gather together - 00:11:52.520 --> 00:11:54.118 suddenly! 00:11:54.118 --> 00:11:57.867 And when He is come, 00:11:57.867 --> 00:12:00.498 He'll reprove the world of sin, 00:12:00.498 --> 00:12:04.930 of righteousness, and of judgment. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:04.930 --> 00:12:09.287 But here we are as where grace finds us. 00:12:09.287 --> 00:12:11.177 Dead. 00:12:11.177 --> 00:12:15.618 Now how did we get that way? 00:12:15.618 --> 00:12:20.017 How did we get this way: dead? 00:12:20.017 --> 00:12:24.388 How did we ever get dead 00:12:24.388 --> 00:12:27.168 in trespasses and sins? 00:12:27.168 --> 00:12:31.938 We have to go back to the first one, don't we. 00:12:31.938 --> 00:12:39.031 All we like sheep have gone astray, 00:12:39.031 --> 00:12:42.718 every one turned to his own way. 00:12:42.718 --> 00:12:46.527 And the Lord hath laid on Him 00:12:46.527 --> 00:12:52.269 the iniquity of us all. 00:12:52.269 --> 00:12:56.090 Brother Conrad made a statement one time. 00:12:56.090 --> 00:13:01.909 He said that all the great truths of Scripture 00:13:01.909 --> 00:13:07.770 are in latent form of the first few chapters of Genesis. 00:13:07.770 --> 00:13:11.488 That's a tremendous statement. 00:13:11.488 --> 00:13:14.676 But remember what our first parents - 00:13:14.676 --> 00:13:17.880 I wish we could take time to do this. 00:13:17.880 --> 00:13:21.249 Well, let's go back to Genesis, can we? 00:13:21.249 --> 00:13:30.187 To Genesis the second chapter. 00:13:30.187 --> 00:13:31.718 One of the burdens of my heart 00:13:31.718 --> 00:13:33.441 here this morning 00:13:33.441 --> 00:13:37.338 is that we would understand this word: 00:13:37.338 --> 00:13:39.958 repentance. 00:13:39.958 --> 00:13:42.969 And we'll never understand 00:13:42.969 --> 00:13:45.200 the real meaning of repentance 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:49.617 unless we understand the word sin. 00:13:49.617 --> 00:13:53.821 Because that's what we'll repent of. 00:13:53.821 --> 00:13:55.678 So there's joy in heaven, 00:13:55.678 --> 00:13:57.430 there's joy in the presence of God 00:13:57.430 --> 00:14:00.109 over one sinner (that repents). NOTE Paragraph 00:14:00.109 --> 00:14:06.649 Now in Genesis the second chapter. 00:14:06.649 --> 00:14:09.350 We'll just break in chapter 2:16. 00:14:09.350 --> 00:14:13.451 "And the Lord God commanded the man, 00:14:13.451 --> 00:14:15.568 saying, Of every tree of the garden 00:14:15.568 --> 00:14:17.408 thou mayest freely eat: 00:14:17.408 --> 00:14:19.089 But of the tree of the knowledge 00:14:19.089 --> 00:14:20.389 of good and evil, 00:14:20.389 --> 00:14:22.018 thou shalt not eat of it: 00:14:22.018 --> 00:14:31.846 for in the day that thou eatest thereof 00:14:31.846 --> 00:14:39.487 thou shalt surely die." 00:14:39.487 --> 00:14:44.448 And when the Lord met them in the garden 00:14:44.448 --> 00:14:50.378 after they had sinned, it says - 00:14:50.378 --> 00:14:53.088 in chapter 3 now and verse 8, 00:14:53.088 --> 00:14:54.509 "And they heard the voice 00:14:54.509 --> 00:14:56.278 of the Lord God walking in the garden 00:14:56.278 --> 00:14:58.837 in the cool of the day: 00:14:58.837 --> 00:15:00.819 and Adam and his wife hid themselves..." 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:02.340 They had made themselves aprons. 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:03.738 They knew they were naked. 00:15:03.738 --> 00:15:05.201 They'd made themselves aprons. 00:15:05.201 --> 00:15:06.627 But they "hid themselves 00:15:06.627 --> 00:15:09.158 from the presence of the Lord God 00:15:09.158 --> 00:15:11.049 among the trees of the garden. 00:15:11.049 --> 00:15:14.257 And the Lord God called unto Adam and to his wife 00:15:14.257 --> 00:15:15.718 Where art thou? 00:15:15.718 --> 00:15:17.653 And he said, I heard thy voice 00:15:17.653 --> 00:15:19.042 in the garden, 00:15:19.042 --> 00:15:21.044 and I was afraid, 00:15:21.044 --> 00:15:22.207 because I was naked, 00:15:22.207 --> 00:15:23.810 and I hid myself. 00:15:23.810 --> 00:15:25.654 And then I want us to get verse 11. 00:15:25.654 --> 00:15:26.831 "And he said, 00:15:26.831 --> 00:15:31.353 Who told thee that thou wast naked? 00:15:31.353 --> 00:15:33.297 Hast thou eaten of the tree, 00:15:33.297 --> 00:15:34.628 whereof I commanded thee 00:15:34.628 --> 00:15:39.190 that thou shouldest not eat?" 00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:40.329 What was their sin? 00:15:40.329 --> 00:15:43.518 We could say unbelief. 00:15:43.518 --> 00:15:45.089 I want to put it this way: 00:15:45.089 --> 00:15:47.909 They took themselves out from under 00:15:47.909 --> 00:16:03.708 the authority of their Creator. 00:16:03.708 --> 00:16:08.058 What's repentance? 00:16:08.058 --> 00:16:10.268 Repentance is putting ourselves 00:16:10.268 --> 00:16:23.269 back under the authority of our Creator. 00:16:23.269 --> 00:16:28.078 But that alone won't do it. 00:16:28.078 --> 00:16:29.697 They took themselves out 00:16:29.697 --> 00:16:39.699 and now they're dead. 00:16:39.699 --> 00:16:48.638 Beloved, if the Lord God wouldn't have come down, 00:16:48.638 --> 00:16:59.309 in that state, they'd still be dead forever. 00:16:59.309 --> 00:17:02.659 But the Lord came down and He did something. 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:04.581 Now I know some of you, 00:17:04.581 --> 00:17:07.000 you've thought of this a long time ago, 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:12.471 but I confess, it says in the end of this chapter, 00:17:12.471 --> 00:17:14.809 well, verse 21, 00:17:14.809 --> 00:17:17.921 "Unto Adam and also unto his wife 00:17:17.921 --> 00:17:20.941 did the Lord God make coats of skins 00:17:20.941 --> 00:17:24.011 and did clothe them." NOTE Paragraph 00:17:24.011 --> 00:17:27.520 I'd like to ask you this question this morning here. 00:17:27.520 --> 00:17:34.330 Do you think that the Lord said, 00:17:34.330 --> 00:17:36.446 after He'd encountered them 00:17:36.446 --> 00:17:44.249 and talked to them about their disobedience, 00:17:44.249 --> 00:17:46.010 do you think He said, 00:17:46.010 --> 00:17:50.489 now I want you to wait here for a little bit? 00:17:50.489 --> 00:17:52.938 I'll be back. 00:17:52.938 --> 00:17:54.639 And you think He went out 00:17:54.639 --> 00:17:57.230 and behind their backs 00:17:57.230 --> 00:18:03.768 took a lamb and killed it? 00:18:03.768 --> 00:18:06.429 Shed its blood and then brought it back? 00:18:06.429 --> 00:18:17.378 Or do you think He did it right before their eyes? 00:18:17.378 --> 00:18:28.199 What do you think would have made the greatest impression on them? 00:18:28.199 --> 00:18:31.572 (unintelligible) 00:18:31.572 --> 00:18:33.768 In Galatians, it says this: 00:18:33.768 --> 00:18:40.939 Before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been 00:18:40.939 --> 00:18:45.958 eminently set forth 00:18:45.958 --> 00:18:55.488 crucified among you. 00:18:55.488 --> 00:18:58.089 It's my belief, dear beloved, 00:18:58.089 --> 00:19:03.599 that probably the Lord took a lamb - 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:10.198 an innocent lamb - 00:19:10.198 --> 00:19:19.570 shed its blood right in front of their eyes. 00:19:19.570 --> 00:19:23.139 Oh, there was a great truth to be taught, 00:19:23.139 --> 00:19:26.086 that without the shedding of blood 00:19:26.086 --> 00:19:36.440 there's no forgiveness. 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:41.858 Maybe this will put significance in that verse: 00:19:41.858 --> 00:19:47.028 "By faith, Abel offered unto God 00:19:47.028 --> 00:19:53.418 a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." 00:19:53.418 --> 00:19:57.711 By faith - which very clearly indicates 00:19:57.711 --> 00:20:02.348 there was some previous instruction 00:20:02.348 --> 00:20:07.669 of what to do. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:07.669 --> 00:20:09.178 Let me break in right here 00:20:09.178 --> 00:20:12.359 and bring another verse into light. Can I? 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.538 Turn to Matthew's Gospel, 00:20:15.538 --> 00:20:41.398 chapter 11. 00:20:41.398 --> 00:20:46.061 In verse 20, Jesus said, (this is Matthew 11), 00:20:46.061 --> 00:20:49.028 it says then began the Lord 00:20:49.028 --> 00:20:50.538 to upbraid the cities 00:20:50.538 --> 00:20:54.208 where most of His mighty works were done, 00:20:54.208 --> 00:20:56.908 even saying that if the works 00:20:56.908 --> 00:20:58.179 that had been done in you 00:20:58.179 --> 00:21:02.269 had been done in Sodom, 00:21:02.269 --> 00:21:04.258 it would have remained. 00:21:04.258 --> 00:21:07.939 V. 24, "It will be more tolerable 00:21:07.939 --> 00:21:10.821 for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment 00:21:10.821 --> 00:21:12.059 than for thee." 00:21:12.059 --> 00:21:13.639 What does that mean? 00:21:13.639 --> 00:21:15.379 I don't know what that means. 00:21:15.379 --> 00:21:17.268 I don't know what that means. 00:21:17.268 --> 00:21:21.320 But I believe what it says. 00:21:21.320 --> 00:21:24.791 But here's the verse I want us to get. 00:21:24.791 --> 00:21:30.128 V. 25, "At that time..." 00:21:30.128 --> 00:21:33.636 At that time, when He had told them, 00:21:33.636 --> 00:21:35.308 it was going to be more tolerable - 00:21:35.308 --> 00:21:37.620 at that time, when He said 00:21:37.620 --> 00:21:39.141 woe to you, cities - 00:21:39.141 --> 00:21:41.067 "At that time..." 00:21:41.067 --> 00:21:42.889 I want us to get this carefully now. 00:21:42.889 --> 00:21:44.699 Mark this in your Bible. 00:21:44.699 --> 00:21:47.950 "At that time, Jesus answered and said, 00:21:47.950 --> 00:21:54.700 'I thank Thee, O Father...'" 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:59.481 Put it in the Zupke translation: 00:21:59.481 --> 00:22:05.779 Father, there's something on My heart 00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:11.520 that I want to thank You for. 00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:14.449 Oh, I want us to get this, beloved. 00:22:14.449 --> 00:22:17.359 "At that time, Jesus answered and said, 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:23.640 'I thank Thee, O Father, 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:25.309 Lord of Heaven and earth, 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:32.034 because Thou hast hid these things 00:22:32.034 --> 00:22:35.584 from the wise and prudent, 00:22:35.584 --> 00:22:40.234 and hath revealed them unto babes.'" 00:22:40.234 --> 00:22:45.103 Oh, beloved, let's get a hold of that! 00:22:45.103 --> 00:22:47.014 Do we realize this? 00:22:47.014 --> 00:22:48.905 "I thank You, Father, 00:22:48.905 --> 00:22:51.545 that You hide these things from some, 00:22:51.545 --> 00:23:01.134 and You reveal them to others." 00:23:01.134 --> 00:23:03.053 I want that to affect my life. 00:23:03.053 --> 00:23:08.415 I want that to affect my prayer life. 00:23:08.415 --> 00:23:10.294 I want that to affect the way 00:23:10.294 --> 00:23:11.935 I'm talking to men. 00:23:11.935 --> 00:23:18.045 Oh, Father, I thank You 00:23:18.045 --> 00:23:23.968 that You hide these things 00:23:23.968 --> 00:23:26.814 from the wise and prudent 00:23:26.814 --> 00:23:39.814 and reveal them unto babes. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:39.814 --> 00:23:44.254 Can I give you a picture of a babe? 00:23:44.254 --> 00:23:46.617 Have you got your Redemption Hymnal there? 00:23:46.617 --> 00:24:05.653 Turn to page 341, would you with me? 00:24:05.653 --> 00:24:08.944 Oh, the song reader gives some words 00:24:08.944 --> 00:24:11.864 that depicts some of this dead, 00:24:11.864 --> 00:24:22.356 or in this sense, someone that's a babe. 00:24:22.356 --> 00:24:23.934 Begin in verse 2. 00:24:23.934 --> 00:24:27.993 "Not the labor of my hands." 00:24:27.993 --> 00:24:33.565 Verse 3: "Nothing in my hands I bring." 00:24:33.565 --> 00:24:38.144 How does a babe come into this world? 00:24:38.144 --> 00:24:44.606 Nothing! 00:24:44.606 --> 00:24:49.934 Nothing in his hands. 00:24:49.934 --> 00:24:55.504 Naked. 00:24:55.504 --> 00:24:58.485 "Come to Thee for dress..." 00:24:58.485 --> 00:25:02.785 Helpless. 00:25:02.785 --> 00:25:04.596 Now, that's a picture, beloved, 00:25:04.596 --> 00:25:06.665 if I understand the Bible rightly, 00:25:06.665 --> 00:25:09.064 when He's talking this lost coin 00:25:09.064 --> 00:25:15.904 is the same thing as the babe. 00:25:15.904 --> 00:25:18.374 Just as helpless. 00:25:18.374 --> 00:25:21.875 Just as hopeless. 00:25:21.875 --> 00:25:23.519 But God hides these things 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:25.095 from the wise and prudent 00:25:25.095 --> 00:25:31.883 and reveals them unto babes. 00:25:31.883 --> 00:25:37.415 I don't know how to say this, 00:25:37.415 --> 00:25:44.164 but if you're here this morning without Jesus, 00:25:44.164 --> 00:25:48.005 could you ask Him to make you a babe? 00:25:48.005 --> 00:25:56.946 To give you the heart of a babe. 00:25:56.946 --> 00:25:59.785 I shouldn't say this here... 00:25:59.785 --> 00:26:10.734 (unintelligible) foul. 00:26:10.734 --> 00:26:16.483 If a baby needs a diaper change, 00:26:16.483 --> 00:26:22.465 well, it smells that way at least, doesn't it? 00:26:22.465 --> 00:26:25.863 What can they do about it? 00:26:25.863 --> 00:26:27.665 What can a babe do about it? 00:26:27.665 --> 00:26:29.584 Nothing! 00:26:29.584 --> 00:26:35.236 Nothing! 00:26:35.236 --> 00:26:37.444 It's as good as dead. 00:26:37.444 --> 00:26:54.874 Can't do anything unless God does something. NOTE Paragraph 00:26:54.874 --> 00:27:04.203 Let's go back to Luke, the 15th chapter, shall we. 00:27:04.203 --> 00:27:09.803 The lost son. 00:27:09.803 --> 00:27:14.024 He says, "Father, give me the portion of goods..." 00:27:14.024 --> 00:27:17.803 V. 13, "He wasted his substance with riotous living." 00:27:17.803 --> 00:27:19.474 I want to submit to you, brethren, 00:27:19.474 --> 00:27:22.484 that's a sin to waste your substance 00:27:22.484 --> 00:27:25.254 in riotous living. 00:27:25.254 --> 00:27:27.304 It's a terrible thing. 00:27:27.304 --> 00:27:28.941 But I want to tell you, beloved, 00:27:28.941 --> 00:27:32.114 where it began. 00:27:32.114 --> 00:27:33.695 This son took himself out 00:27:33.695 --> 00:27:36.775 from under his father's authority. 00:27:36.775 --> 00:27:45.094 That's where it began. 00:27:45.094 --> 00:27:51.695 He took himself out from under his father's authority. 00:27:51.695 --> 00:28:01.744 And that's sin. 00:28:01.744 --> 00:28:05.023 And that has to be repented of. 00:28:05.023 --> 00:28:07.374 Repentance is putting ourselves 00:28:07.374 --> 00:28:09.094 (unintelligible) 00:28:09.094 --> 00:28:11.916 Repentance is putting ourselves 00:28:11.916 --> 00:28:20.455 back under His authority. 00:28:20.455 --> 00:28:23.494 If you're marking down quotes 00:28:23.494 --> 00:28:24.484 in your Bibles, 00:28:24.484 --> 00:28:26.783 I'd like you to write down this quote 00:28:26.783 --> 00:28:32.463 by John Calvin. 00:28:32.463 --> 00:28:41.273 John Calvin says, "We're saved by faith alone, 00:28:41.273 --> 00:28:48.395 but faith that saves is not alone." 00:28:48.395 --> 00:28:54.374 Oh, beloved, you're never find more truer words than that. 00:28:54.374 --> 00:29:01.913 We're saved by faith alone, 00:29:01.913 --> 00:29:11.984 but faith that saves is not alone. 00:29:11.984 --> 00:29:20.742 Verse 17, it says he came to himself. 00:29:20.742 --> 00:29:27.553 Verse 18 - faith that saves says, 00:29:27.553 --> 00:29:34.083 "I will arise." 00:29:34.083 --> 00:29:37.393 Faith that saves says, 00:29:37.393 --> 00:29:48.585 "I'll go to my Father." 00:29:48.585 --> 00:30:00.333 Faith that saves says, "I have sinned!" 00:30:00.333 --> 00:30:01.494 Faith that saves says, 00:30:01.494 --> 00:30:10.325 "I am no more worthy to be called Thy son." 00:30:10.325 --> 00:30:11.766 Faith that saves says, 00:30:11.766 --> 00:30:16.254 "Make me as one of the hired servants." 00:30:16.254 --> 00:30:17.395 What's he doing? 00:30:17.395 --> 00:30:19.805 He's putting himself back under 00:30:19.805 --> 00:30:24.234 the authority of his father. 00:30:24.234 --> 00:30:26.603 Oh, beloved, the Word of God is clear: 00:30:26.603 --> 00:30:37.732 "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 00:30:37.732 --> 00:30:40.823 And I want us to know, beloved, 00:30:40.823 --> 00:30:44.814 that repentance is not a one time act. 00:30:44.814 --> 00:31:02.614 Repentance is entering into a way of life. 00:31:02.614 --> 00:31:10.845 I think I want to share this with you. 00:31:10.845 --> 00:31:15.994 In this matter of being a babe, 00:31:15.994 --> 00:31:20.134 it wasn't just that one time I saw myself as a babe. 00:31:20.134 --> 00:31:26.573 I see myself that way all the time. 00:31:26.573 --> 00:31:30.675 I see myself helpless. 00:31:30.675 --> 00:31:34.353 I see myself naked. 00:31:34.353 --> 00:31:36.873 I see myself foul. 00:31:36.873 --> 00:31:39.423 What do I do? 00:31:39.423 --> 00:31:46.684 What do I do? 00:31:46.684 --> 00:31:50.491 By faith I come to Him. 00:31:50.491 --> 00:31:53.573 Let us come boldly 00:31:53.573 --> 00:31:55.173 unto the throne of grace 00:31:55.173 --> 00:31:57.884 that we may obtain mercy, 00:31:57.884 --> 00:32:03.654 find grace to help in time of need. NOTE Paragraph 00:32:03.654 --> 00:32:05.286 Here we are, beloved. 00:32:05.286 --> 00:32:10.964 We're all eternity bound this morning. 00:32:10.964 --> 00:32:13.323 Where does this find you? 00:32:13.323 --> 00:32:15.844 Where does this lost sheep, 00:32:15.844 --> 00:32:17.544 this lost coin, this lost son - 00:32:17.544 --> 00:32:30.044 where does it find you this morning? 00:32:30.044 --> 00:32:31.894 We need two things: 00:32:31.894 --> 00:32:35.175 We need forgiveness 00:32:35.175 --> 00:32:38.864 and we need repentance. 00:32:38.864 --> 00:32:42.434 Repentance towards God. 00:32:42.434 --> 00:32:47.584 Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:47.584 --> 00:32:49.574 A life of faith. 00:32:49.574 --> 00:33:02.094 A life of repentance. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:02.094 --> 00:33:04.485 I think I'll close. 00:33:04.485 --> 00:33:07.204 Let's bow our heads. 00:33:07.204 --> 00:33:11.574 Father, thank You for Your Word. 00:33:11.574 --> 00:33:14.606 You said the entrance of Your Word giveth light, 00:33:14.606 --> 00:33:19.744 giveth understanding to the simple. 00:33:19.744 --> 00:33:22.454 Father, Father, I pray that Your Word 00:33:22.454 --> 00:33:24.985 will find each one here this morning. 00:33:24.985 --> 00:33:28.275 Oh God... 00:33:28.275 --> 00:33:35.344 Let everyone of us here see ourselves as a babe. 00:33:35.344 --> 00:33:39.483 Not initially, but daily. 00:33:39.483 --> 00:33:43.653 Daily in need of You. 00:33:43.653 --> 00:33:45.604 Daily in need of You. 00:33:45.604 --> 00:33:49.712 Oh, we pray for our sons and our daughters. 00:33:49.712 --> 00:33:53.492 Oh, Father, open our eyes. 00:33:53.492 --> 00:33:57.984 Open eyes that we might see. 00:33:57.984 --> 00:34:04.844 We're totally and utterly at the mercy of God. 00:34:04.844 --> 00:34:06.255 So we cry to Thee for mercy, 00:34:06.255 --> 00:34:08.094 for ourselves, for our families, 00:34:08.094 --> 00:34:11.362 for the church, for our neighbors. 00:34:11.362 --> 00:34:14.002 Just breathe upon us today, Breath of God. 00:34:14.002 --> 00:34:15.605 We'll praise You. 00:34:15.605 --> 00:34:17.934 Make Thy Word quick and powerful today. 00:34:17.934 --> 00:34:20.173 Sanctify us through Thy truth. 00:34:20.173 --> 00:34:21.244 Thy Word is truth. 00:34:21.244 --> 00:34:23.562 We'll praise You, Father, for Your faithfulness, 00:34:23.562 --> 00:34:25.726 in Jesus' name, Amen.