PUT A RING ON HIS FINGER
Scripture
text: Luke 15:22
Further
Reading: Luke 15:11-32
Introduction
Jesus was the greatest story teller
who ever lived. In the fifteenth chapter of Luke He is at His best. He tells of
a boy who left home and wandered off into the far country. Over there he got in
with the wrong crowd. He spent his days and nights in riotous living and
revelry. But his money soon gave out, he went down and down, his fair-weather
friends all forsook him. Finally he lands in a hog-pen, where it was his duty
to feed the swine.
Then one day he came to himself. He
decided to go home. He thought he could slip into the house unnoticed, and then
he would ask his father to let him be just another hired servant. Even that
would be better than feeding pigs in a foreign land. But he didn’t figure on
the great love of his father. That dear man was out in front of the house,
watching, waiting, hoping for the return of his son. And when he saw his son
coming down the road he ran to meet him. He threw his arms around the boy and
kissed him. The boy began to confess his sins, but the father stopped him. He turned
to the servants and said, “Bring the best robe and put it on my boy. Bring a
ring for his finger and shoes for his feet. Then kill the fatted calf and let’s
have a feast. My son, who was dead, is alive again. He was lost, but now he is
found.”
Now the father puts his arm around the
boy’s shoulders and they go into the house together. No more sin in the far
country, no more feeding swine, no more eating husks, no more blistered feet on
the highway. All sins have been forgiven and the son is home at last. That’s
the way God receives a sinner. The sinner comes in rags and God gives him a
robe of righteousness. He comes as a poor, lost, hell-bent sinner and God
forgives him, adopts him into the family of heaven and gives him the best of
all things in two worlds.
I.
The Ring of Adoption
When we come to Christ we are adopted
into God’s family. We were born in sin and we belong to Satan’s family. But
when we are converted God takes us over and adopts us into His family.
(a) We have different clothes when God adopts us. The
prodigal’s old clothes were thrown away and he received a new robe. When a
child is adopted by a family, they provide new clothes for him. It is the same
way with us when we are saved. Our outward apparel may not be changed, but when
a man becomes a real Christian, he sheds the old clothes of sin and
selfishness, the new clothes of a good life and a right attitude.
Businessmen keep a chart in their offices. These
charts show the changing, the ups and downs of business conditions. The chart
of a man’s life also shows his ups and downs. But his life ought to be altogether
changed when he comes to Christ. First, there is the low line, depicting his
life before he was saved. Then the line reaches a peal the moment he trusts
Jesus. From that time on the line should be climbing upward, onward, Godward.
Oh, the Christian is to take off the garments of this world and be clothed I
the beautiful garments of the Spirit.
(b) We have different parents when God adopts us. When
an earthly couple adopts a child, one who is not his father becomes his father
and one who is not his mother becomes his mother. The Bible tells us that Satan
is the sinner’s father, but when we come to Christ God becomes our Father. Then
we can say, “Our Father who art in heaven”.
Great it would be to be the son of the president or
the son of some great and prominent and wealth man. Great it would be to be the
child of royal parents. But how much more wonderful to be able to say, “God is
my Father since I’ve been adopted into His family”. A sixteen years old girl in
my church knelt to pray, and in her usual way she began with “Our Father,”. He
meant very little to her. But then one day she found Christ as her personal
savior. Her prayer was changed. She began, “My Father,” and a flood of joy
rolled over her. She came to realize that He was not merely the Father of all
men in a creative sense, but her own Father through redemption.
(c) We have different homes when God adopts us. Many
children have been taken out of homes of poverty and adopted into homes of
luxury and comfort. So when God adopts us, when we become real Christians, our
homes are remade.
Gypsy Smith was holding a meeting one time and a little
girl came up and gave him a box of candy. “Why do you give me this candy?” he
asked. She said, “My father used to drink. He would come home and mistreat
mother and us children. He never brought home the things we needed. But one
night he came to hear you preach and he found Christ as his Savior. Now we have
a wonderful home. He brings us all the nice things we need. I want to give you
this candy in appreciation of all you did for us in leading daddy to Christ.”
Yes, when you let Jesus come into your home it makes all the difference in the
world.
(d) We have different inheritances when God adopts us.
Not poverty, but riches. Not rags, but robes. What is the Christian’s
inheritance? We become heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything good awaits the child of God.
Here is a room in a fine home in the early morn. One
man comes in and dusts the furniture, so we know that he is a servant. Another
man looks around at the pictures on the wall and the books on the shelf. He
selects a book and sits down and leafs through its pages. We know he is a guest
in the home. Then a boy comes in. He looks through the mail on the table and
when another man comes into the room he rushes into his arms, calling him
“Father”. We know that he is the son. What a difference! So in God’s family we
are more than servants, more than guests, we are His children. Jesus is our
Elder Brother and we are the heirs of God.
Yes here is the ring of adoption. No matter how black
our sin, no matter how far we have gone from God, when we come in repentance
and faith to Christ. He puts the ring of adoption on our finger, and all of
heaven and earth knows we have been adopted. “As many as received him, to them
gave he the poor to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12).
II.
The Ring of Marriage
In Hosea 2:19 we read, “I will betroth thee unto me
for ever.” God is saying here that we are joined to Him forever.
(a) When we are saved we become one with Christ. In
the marriage ceremony the groom slips a ring on the bride’s finger and the
preacher says that the twain have become one flesh. So at the foot of the
cross, when we accept Jesus, we become as one.
There is the ring on the bride’s finger. Trouble and
hard times come to the home. The young couple may have to sell the picture or
the piano, but never the ring. It has a meaning nothing else can have. The one
sad day the husband passes away. As the wife looks at the ring, tears fill her
eyes and sweet memories flood her heart. She recalls that day when he put the
ring on her finger and they become one.
Oh, when Christ puts that ring on you, you and He
become one in love and hope and affection. Let’s never forget that day when
Jesus washed our sins away and we became His very own.
(b) When we are saved we become one with Christ forever.
It’s a permanent transaction. A union is formed which nothing on earth or in
heaven or hell can break. Today many marriages end in divorce. A union which
begins in so much love and happiness goes stale and soon another divorce is
ground out in the court, another marriage has gone on the rocks. But not so
with our marriage to Christ, our union with Him. We are joined to Him forever.
The life He gives us is everlasting.
He never turns His back upon us and we should never
turn our backs upon Him. Many years ago, a Scottish girl was called on to
denounce Christ. When she refused to do so, they took her out into the ocean
some distance and tied her to a stake. They expected that when the tide came
in, she would renounce her faith. The water soon came up to her waist, then to
her breast, then to her neck. Finally the water closed over her head and she
drowned shouting the praises of her Savior.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for salvation can
never be lost; can never be separated from Christ. “I give unto them eternal
life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28, 29). Roman 8:38, 39 says, “For
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor heights, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The seas may dry up, the mountains may crumble, the
sun may melt away, but Christ will never desert us. Thank God, when He saves
forever. We are bound to Him with a chain that can never be broken. We are His
and He is our, forever and forever.
III.
The Ring of Festivity
The most glorious moment of life is that moment when
we become joined to Christ. Then the ring of festivity is placed upon us and we
rejoice in Christ our Savior. Some people think that the religion of Christ
robs one of all pleasure, but just the opposite is true. Our joy is multiplied
a thousand fold. The finest freedoms, the largest liberty, the greatest
happiness, all are found in Christ. Let us look at some of the good things that
are ours in Him.
(a) Our sins are forgiven. It is good to remember that
God bundles up all of our sins and throws them into the sea of His
forgetfulness, where they can never rise again. If our sins are not forgiven,
if they stand between us and God, we have no right to smile or sing. Our
condition is a miserable one.
A Hindu native came to a missionary and said, “Give me
some of that medicine which makes the face shine” The missionary asked, “What
do you means?” The native replied, “I notice that your Christian have shining
faces and I want some of that medicine”. Yes, we do have that medicine—the
medicine of sins forgiven. This is enough to make anyone shout for joy.
(b) Our burdens are lighter. I do not mean that our
burdens are fewer, but we have help in our Elder Brother, Jesus. A boy became
involved in a scrap with a boy who was much bigger than he was. Someone asked
him, “Aren’t you afraid?” And he replied, “No, you see my older brother is just
around the corner.” I say to you, that in the battles of life, Jesus is not
around the corner, He is right by your side.
(c) Our fellowship is sweeter. Two Christians were
talking and one of them said, “It’s a good thing to be saved”. The other said,
“There is something grander than that”. “What can be grander than that?” asked
the first man. And the other replied, “The companionship of the Man who saved
you”. Yes, on every road we travel, He is there.
(d) Our future is brighter. Oh, the Christian’s future
is indeed brighter than the sun. One day all of our uncertainties will change
to glorious assurance. On the way hove you may be in an accident and your live
may be snuffed out. But that will be all right. If you are a Christian you’ll
walk the golden streets of the celestial city. Where congregations never break
up and when Sabbaths never end.
A lingering disease may lay you low. You may waste
away slowly until the end. But if you are a Christian you need have no fear.
You real self will rise up from that bed and you’ll stand by the side of your
Savior, in a land where weeping and toiling shall be no more.
On a bitter, cold morning a man said to a newsboy,
“Certainly is a cold morning, isn’t it?” But the boy said, “Yes, but by and by,
think of that!” We are in a cold world. Sorrow and trouble surround us. But
think of the sweet by and by; think of how wonderful it’s going to be.
When the labors of the week are over, we say,
“Tomorrow is my day of rest”. But let me tell you something more pleasant than
that. At the end of the life it will be sweet to say, “My work is over and I am
going home to enjoy an everlasting rest.”
Some of you are not far from heaven. Just a few more
sermons, a few more songs, a few more tears and toils, and your time will come.
Oh, glorious day! Say friend, are you on the way? Or are you out in the far
country of sin? Come and let Jesus put a
ring on your finger. This world has nothing to satisfy you. Come to Him.
Let me draw you a picture of a scene at the gates of
heaven. A group comes up from the earth and the door-keeper asks for the
password. “Password” they say, “We know no password. But we were great upon the
earth and we expect to be great in heaven.” Then they hear the voice of the
Savior just beyond the gate as He says, “I never knew you”. And they are turned
away.
Another group comes up and they are asked for the
password. “We have no password” they say. But on the earth we did noble things.
We endowed colleges, we built hospitals, and we helped the poor. And again the
voice of the Lord is heard as He says, “Depart from me. No man enters heaven
through the works of the flesh. And they are turned away.
Then a third group comes and they are asked for the
password. They say, “We wandered far away from God. We deserved to die. But we
heard the voice of Jesus calling us, so we put all our trust in Him. We come in
His Name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then the gatekeeper cries out, “That’s the password.
Jesus is the password to heaven. Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates and
let the redeemed of the Lord enter in” And all the hosts of heaven sing and all
the bells of heaven ring as the children of the King walk into heaven and into
the presence of their.
Dear friend, the only way to get into heaven and all
of its joy is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you made Him your personal
Savior?
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