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Parable of the Prodigal Son (12)

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Parable of the Prodigal Son (12)

7 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him” (Luke 15:28).

“Oh, servant, what a father we have. He is a father whom one would not find anywhere else. This loving father took my brother into the house, and I’m the same as my brother, such a waster of his goods. I’m going to bow at the door and ask my father if there is also a place for me in the house.”

Was that what the elder son said after he received the glad tidings, “Thy brother is come”? Did he want to praise the name of the Lord for the merciful goodness shown towards his brother? He who was lost was now “safe and sound.” Did he receive the news with joy? No, for we read in verse 28, “And he was angry, and would not go in.”

That is something, isn’t it? When God is good and merciful to sinners through the blood of Christ, do we do well to be angry? This elder son became angry because of his father’s goodness. This reveals what we have become in Paradise. We have become enemies of God and Jesus Christ. Through our deep fall in Adam we have become haters of God and our neighbor.

If we are unconverted today, then we are standing next to the scribes and Pharisees in this parable. Jesus Christ was speaking to them, saying, “You are angry because My blood opened the door to My Father’s house. You become angry when you see a lost, creeping sinner coming to the door of My Father’s house, crying, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee.’ You are angry when you hear the joy that is coming from the Father’s house because a lost wretch has been saved.”

The elder son was angry with God. He was angry with the way of his father. He was casting stones. He would have killed that poor sinner if he could have done so. But he was not able to, because that poor sinner was under his father’s hand. The hands of the father would shield him from those stones so they would not harm him. Are you that poor sinner? Then you will also have stones thrown at you. However, there will also be a hiding place for you under the shadow of His wings.

“And would not go in.” How many today no longer want to go in at the door. It says here in Scripture, “And He would not go in.” It does not say that he could not go in, but it says that he was angry and would not go in. Does that mean that a man can go in by himself? No, indeed not; but have you tried to go in today? Have you cried throughout the entire night, saying, “Lord, help me now that I may find the door”? If not, then you have no right to say that you are unable to go in.

This elder son, in his self-righteousness, would not go in. Do you know why? It was because he didn’t like the door and didn’t like the way to the door. Was the door too narrow? That door into his father’s house was so wide that a prodigal son could come through it, a prodigal son who had wasted his father’s money with harlots. That door was so wide that such a person could get through.

I wish we could all be prodigal sons and daughters lying at the Father’s door, crying unto the Lord and saying, “Dear Lord, wilt Thou come to save my soul? Wilt Thou bring me in the dust, by Thy free and sovereign grace, so that the door will become precious unto me? Clothe me with that righteousness that is not of myself, but is of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Are you one who has come to himself in that far country? Are you on your way back to your Father’s house with the burden of sin on your back? Do you have that one desire to come to your Father, saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee”?

At the same time that the elder son was angry outside, his younger brother was singing inside the father’s house. Why? Was it because he was such a good man? No, he was singing of the mercy of his father. He was singing of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that had been applied to his heart. Jesus Christ was his Savior. Do you remember how he came there? It was because of the free and sovereign grace of God. It was God who lifted him out of the mire of sin and iniquity, took him from the swine, and brought him home. The elder son was angry with this way and wanted an easier way to get in. It is no different today. The religion of our forefathers does not have a place in our country anymore. It has become outdated. More and more it has been replaced by the religion of man. An easier religion and an easier way into heaven is what we all want by nature. We want to have an ability to acquire heaven.

He “would not go in.” He did not want to stoop down, uncovered, to be able to fit through the door. This door to the Father’s house is so narrow that it is just wide enough for a naked sinner, clothed by that robe of righteousness, to enter in. This door is so narrow that all our selfrighteousness, all our works, all our doings, must stay outside. The door is so wide, and yet so narrow, which leads into the glory that God has prepared for His people.

“Therefore came his father out, and entreated him.” This shows the love of the Father. What did his father do? He came outside; He brought His Word outside. He brought His calling outside. For whom? He came to this young man who was standing there angry and unwilling to go in. He was a man who had never yet become a prodigal son. He had never been brought in the dust before God. He was standing there in his self-righteousness, like the scribes and Pharisees. He was not willing to sit at the table with those wasters. He was not willing to accept his father’s way.

His father came unto him and entreated him. He brought his message, his love, and his callings unto him. The Lord still does that today. He still entreats us, morning, noon, and evening. He still calls unto us, “Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, that ye may be saved.” God entreats elder sons, the scribes and Pharisees. He comes and entreats that our hearts may be broken. It is a well-meant message of God. You should never see it as any different from that. He entreats day after day for sinners to come upon their knees with a broken and a contrite spirit.

The Lord Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees; He had not shut them out. They were shutting themselves out. If we die unconverted, we will then have to appear before God, but we will have shut ourselves out of everlasting life.

— to be continued —

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van woensdag 1 april 1998

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

Parable of the Prodigal Son (12)

Bekijk de hele uitgave van woensdag 1 april 1998

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's