a joy to be with you. Now this morning, how many of you, how many of you are sports people? Okay, we got a few sports people. And you know that there are times where you end up watching the highlight reel. You know what that is? The highlight reel where they take that two hour game and they boil it down to a few minutes. Well, I'm gonna attempt this morning by way of introduction into our message to take our weekend and give you a highlight reel. I want you to kind of know where we've gone because this morning specifically our text is gonna focus Luke chapter 15 25 through 32 where we're gonna look at this older son in the story of the prodigal but to really get the context of this we need to kind of see what the students have been going through and learning this weekend about this story and about the prodigal see the story begins in a very important place in Luke chapter 15 we are told something incredible that if you miss it you will miss a lot of what has been what Jesus is trying to teach through this. Notice what it says in chapter 15 verse 1. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus and listening to him. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. The tax collectors and sinners were cursing and the scribes began to grumble. And they were saying, this man receives sinners and he eats with them. Now I want you to understand this is really important to the whole context of the parables that Jesus is about to give. Because these Pharisees and scribes had a wrong view of themselves and they had a wrong view of God. They were asking why does he receive sinners? He shouldn't do that. Why is he eating with them? He shouldn't do that. And these men, Asked that pointed question. Why is he eating? Why is he doing this see these recited clean because they were striving to obtain righteousness? Not by simply an obedience to god's moral standard. They had added to that What they call the tradition of the elders additional man-made law Get up to all of those regulations and rules And what was so bad about this is that they refused to associate with them. They didn't love them. They wouldn't even teach them the law of God. This is where the heart of the Pharisees is at at the beginning of this story and so when Jesus tells the opening two parables he is correcting their wrong view of God that not only does God receive sinners he actually seeks them out like the shepherd who goes for the one lost sheep like the woman who's lost a coin he seeks them because he has a heart of compassion, a heart of love for these people. See, the religious leaders, their whole mindset was they viewed the sinner as a person that God wished to destroy. And so their logic was, why does he eat with them? Jesus countered this by answering their question, why is it? Why is it that I do this? Because it is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinner to repentance. The heart of God is for those who are far from Him. In fact, that passage so clear in John 3, 16 and 17, that gospel message that we heard often at those old-time revivals, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. But verse 17 is so important, for God did not send the Son, Jesus, into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. This window of time, this window where God is extending grace and mercy because the atonement of Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, His burial and resurrection has made the way for a sinner to come home. Matthew says in Matthew 18, 14, He says the Lord is not slow about His promise to return. Peter said, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Paul said about God our Savior, he desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is the heart of God, these Pharisees and scribes. had a completely different view. And Jesus told these parables to correct their misunderstanding. As we get into the prodigal story, the story of the son, the younger son is seeking something other than the father. The whole heart of this is that the prodigal is going after what he desires. He's filling every selfish gratification as he runs from the father. see this parable this story captures in a story form the history of Israel it captures in this story form the generations over and over that had forsaken God and sought other things to try to satisfy their lives in this world. They filled themselves up, Isaiah 2, 6 says, with the influences of the East, the nations around them. Their self-indulgence had led them away from seeking a true relationship with the Father. And we see two key evils of all people that are brought out in this prodigal story. The first is that the younger son had forsaken the father. That seems obvious and clear. The second is that they walked after emptiness. They walked after emptiness. I want you to understand as we look into this, that part of what Jesus is doing is bringing back in a story form the reality of what the prophets had been teaching Israel these scribes and these Pharisees had heard it but they missed it in Jeremiah chapter 2 listen to what the word of the Lord says Jeremiah speaks and God is speaking through the prophet and he reminds He reminds the people of where the relationship started. He says, I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals. You were following after me in the wilderness and through the land that was not sown. Israel was holy, set apart to the Lord, the first of his harvest. All who acted against it, Israel, became guilty. But then he says this, Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. What injustice did your fathers find in me? Listen, this is the prodigal story. That they went far from me and they walked after emptiness and became empty. that they walked after things that did not profit. So he says, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And this weekend, this weekend we looked at and we talked with the students about the things that we try to fill our lives up with in this world and the things that we go after. Just like Israel, those things are empty. And what do we become, students? empty as we walk after the things of this world filling our lives with the desires to gratify our flesh we end up in the very place that the prodigal story takes us where the prodigal far from God has squandered everything far from his father has squandered everything and he's with the pigs and he is empty there is a key truth that we need to understand in all of this And it's this truth. The truth is this, that when we walk after emptiness, we become empty. When we walk after emptiness, we become empty. And listen, the heart of the younger son is, is that he desired the blessing of the father's inheritance while running away from the one who blesses. And this, my friends, is where many of us sometimes end up. We want the blessing of God without the relationship with God. We want the blessing that Israel had exchanged their glory. What was their glory? This high status as the Lord's bride, as His special person. Church, look right here. If you're in this place this morning and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a follower of Christ, hear me this morning. May the church today in the 21st century not exchange its glory as a position. And in the midst of that pigpen, some things begin to happen. One of the amazing things that the prophet Jeremiah said to the nation of Israel, because God had been trying to woo his people back to him and they wouldn't listen. And so God turned them over to their sin. Here's why. Listen to what Jeremiah prophesied. Your own wickedness will correct you. Your own apostasies, the abandonment of the loyalty to God, to me, your God, will reprove you. He gave them over to their sinful desires, knowing that it would lead to ruin, destruction, and emptiness, and because they had closed their ears and their eyes time and time and time again, He gave them over and He told them, the consequences, what you sow in the flesh will reap corruption, and that very corruption will be you. The road of repentance has a few stops on the way that we shared last night with the students. The first stop is you come to your senses. You realize, you realize for the first, you begin to know and see that it is evil and bitter to forsake the Lord what you do next. will determine whether or not your heart is further hardened against God or will actually move to freedom. There are some, your emptiness has brought you to a place where you recognize and see and you know there is no one else to blame. I am here because of my own sin, my own rebellion and you are seeing and you are knowing and you are understanding and listen to me, hear me. You have further hardening or you can be free. The first stop was the awareness, the second stop was godly sorrow, godly sorrow. This is a resolve and decisiveness. to go away from sin, to abandon sin for Christ. That's godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is when you're really sad about the consequences. You don't like the inconvenience of the consequences. You don't like how miserable you feel in the consequences. And as soon as the tears quit flowing over the consequences, you're right back to your sin. That's worldly sorrow. This prodigal gets to a place of godly sorrow. How do we know he got there? Because he says, I have sinned against God. I've sinned against God. You may be asking, wait a minute, how did he sin against God? He asked for his father's inheritance. He wished his father was dead. He took all of that, squandered it, and went away. How is it that he sinned against God? Pay attention, because for some of you, this is the moment, this is the truth that will finally get you out of the pigpen and to the place of freedom. Listen to it carefully. How had he sinned against God? Because God commands in his moral standard, do not dishonor your mother and your father. Listen carefully to me. God commands us and he instructs us in proper action toward others. Therefore, every violation of a command of God against another person is always a violation against God. Let me say that again in case you missed it. God. See, the religious leaders had the wrong view of sin. They had the wrong view about God. They also had a wrong view about sin. And listen, there are some of you who've been a part of church maybe your whole life. But part of the problem is, sorry, will you forgive me? And we feel like that's enough. And yet we have failed to see that every sin against man is a sin against God, which means when you sin against man, not only are you seeking forgiveness, saying God forgive me for sinning against them, it is God forgive me that I have sinned against you, you of sin. It's too small. They don't see the magnitude of their sin. They've gotten comfortable with being able to sin against people, say I'm sorry, ask for forgiveness, and they never deal with the conviction and the guilt. If you're a parent in this room, let me give you a parenting tip. If you're a grandparent in this room, let me give you a grandparenting tip. When your children are in a fight with each other, they do not only say that, I am sorry for what I did to you. Will you forgive me? You instruct them and teach them. You have not only sinned against your brother and sister, you have sinned against God. This is missing in the proclamation of the gospel in the church in the West. We've sinned against God. He confesses that sin, and he says, I've sinned against my father, and I'm no longer worthy. That's the road of repentance, that second stop, that awareness of godly sorrow. I've sinned against God. I've sinned against you. I am unworthy. Godly sorrow is met by the compassion and forgiveness of God. The third step, though, on the road to repentance that the students looked at last night is the follow through. It's not enough to intellectually assent to what we've just talked about. It's not enough to go, okay, I get it, I've sinned against God, I've sinned against people, I'm unworthy, it's not enough. The son got up, abandoned sin and rebellion, and went back to the Father. We need to get up, abandon sin, and turn and believe in Christ. It brings us to this final character in the story, this older son. Beginning in verse 25, now this older son was in the field and when he came, and approached the house, he heard the music and the dancing, and he summoned one of the slaves, the servants, and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, your brother has come, your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he became angry and he was not willing to go in. And his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, look, for so many years I have been a servant to you and I've never neglected a command of yours. And yet you've never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours, when he came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him? And the father said to him, son, you've always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. but we had to celebrate and rejoice for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live. He was lost and he has been found. See, not only did these religious leaders have the wrong view of God, but they had a wrong view about themselves. The religious leaders were like this older son. They thought they were the model son, and yet the parable reveals that they wanted the blessing of the Father without a relationship with the Father also. In this passage, we get introduced to the older son and it becomes very evident that he's bitter. It becomes very evident that he's angry. He has a broken relationship with both his father and his brother. Remember, A sin against man is a sin against God. The older son's resentment is like that of the Pharisees. Like the grumbling that Jesus had heard that prompted him to tell the story. This man receives sinners and he eats with them. And this is the most pointed part of the story as Jesus reveals the heart of these Pharisees and the scribes. Notice that what he addresses first is you start to see what's going on in the heart of this older brother. He's angry with the younger brother, verse 28. When he heard all this news about the celebration, he says, but he became angry and he was unwilling to go in. And his father came out and began pleading with him. See, the older brother was not willing to go in and celebrate. And perhaps his perspective, maybe it was like this, maybe his perspective is what the younger brother did was wrong. And you can see where he's just like the mindset of the Pharisees and the scribes. What he did was wrong, Dad. And you go in and you eat with this sinner? In Luke 6, we read these words. A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher, but everything after he has been fully trained, he will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye but you do not notice the log that is in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye when you yourselves do not see the log that is in your own? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck that is in your brother's eye. That's the older brother. That's where he is. And he's looking and he's saying, he's the sinner. It's undoubtedly gotta be in the thoughts of this older brother. When he left, he created more work and more responsibility for me. All the work and responsibility he was supposed to take care of, now it's left behind because of his loose living. He's out playing and I'm having to do all the work. He devoured your wealth with the prostitutes. His sin affected my life. No, no, I will not go in and celebrate. There is an unwillingness in this older brother's heart to forgive. There's bitterness, there's resentment, there's animosity, there's unforgiveness, he's uncaring, uncompassionate. He has held a grudge for years. Look at more of the evidence, verse 30. But when the son, when this son, this is the older son's words. But when this son of yours came, He's devoured your wealth with prostitutes and killed the fatted calf you kill the fatted calf for him Notice his words this son of yours. The oldest son seems to have disowned his brother He made no relational claim to the younger brother. He was dead to him and he liked it that way and the father Gently corrects this disownment in verse 32. The father says this brother of yours He was dead and he's begun to live he was lost and he's been found I want to ask you something this morning church If you're in this place this morning the question that I want to ask you is Is there unforgiveness bitterness? resentment that you've held in your heart for someone for You say but you don't know the story if you knew the story man, maybe preacher you back up a little bit. You just don't know the story When jesus taught about love and forgiveness he taught it in the context of loving an enemy Because forgiveness is rooted in grace It's never deserved, it's never earned. Simply unwilling to accept. In his heart, the older brother said, there's nothing for me to celebrate. He wouldn't even acknowledge his younger brother as his brother. Again, in Luke chapter six, Jesus had preached a message about this But I say to you who hear love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those Who mistreat you if anyone hits you on the right cheek insults you? Offered to him the other also and whoever takes away your coat. Do not withhold your shirt from him either. I He goes on and later he says, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners, even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And then he says this in verse 35. He says, for he himself, Jesus, is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful Just as your father is merciful See, this is where the older son was at he had this anger this bitterness toward his brother But the older brother the older son was also angry with his father Verse 28 it says and his father came out and began pleading with him, but he answered and said to his father look so many years I've been serving you and I've never neglected a command of yours and yet you have never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. Can you hear the brokenness in the relationship? It appears that there's been a broken relationship between this son and his father. for some time. In fact, if you go back to the beginning of the parable, when the younger son asked for the inheritance, it says that the father divided the inheritance between them. In some way, and we don't get all the details in the parable, we're left to just kind of wonder, the older son also wanted what was his and was ready to be done with the father. A good father. Not a bad father. Not an abusive father. Not a father of abandonment. A good father. That's who God is. A fountain of living water, of life. And yet, like Israel, we have forsaken Him and run after empty cisterns. He says, look, in the Greek, it's written as an exclamation. You see the pent-up feelings of years of anger that are coming out in a rage of words, and it indicates a disrespectful attitude toward the Father. He says, I've been serving you. I served as a slave. I have slaved for you all these years. See, the older son sees himself as a hired hand, not as a son. He was trying to earn the Father's love through his work. He did not understand what being a son was all about. That's exactly what Paul said about Israel. Listen to the words in Romans 9, verse 30 and 32. What shall I say then? The Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, least anyone should boast. And Paul goes on and he says, but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at the law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith. But as though it were by works, they stumbled over the stumbling stone. They did not repent of their sin of forsaking God and walking after emptiness, and they did not believe in Jesus the Messiah, the only way back to God. There was a sin of arrogance, a sin of self-righteousness in this older son. He said, I've never neglected a command. Now, that's a great contrast to the younger son. I've sinned against God. I've sinned against my father. I'm unworthy. No, this older son says, I've never neglected a command. Now, even if you give him the benefit of the doubt, which it's highly unlikely that he followed every command, his attitude reveals that he never obeyed out of love for the father. but rather out of resentment, he compared his outward actions to his brother's without ever considering his heart. We do that. We look at outward things. I'm better than this person, I'm better than that, I do this, they do that. But the older brother has a heart problem. He's hard-hearted, just like the Pharisees and scribes. This older son has disrespect that he's shown his father. He believes that his father has not been good to him. Do you realize that every complaint against God is a challenge to the goodness of God? Every complaint against God is a challenge to the goodness of God. This son in his pride, doesn't think that he's been given what he deserves. You never gave me even a young goat. It indicates the brokenness with the father. A young goat is worth far less than a fattened calf. That animal would have been carefully raised for a special occasion, and this father used the fattened family celebrating joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. At the end of the parable of the coin, he says, in the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Look right here. What is it that the Father is celebrating? He's celebrating the repentance of a son. and the fact that there is now reconciliation with the Father. He wasn't celebrating to gratify the desires of the younger son, for his own self-gratification. He was celebrating repentance. There was joy over this sinner's repentance. And now this reconciliation with his son again. The older brother has been running from the father without ever leaving home. I wonder how many that sit in churches and are part of youth groups, they've been in the presence of it all for so long, but they're still running from the Father without ever leaving home. The oldest son wants all of the promises, all of the benefits, all of the blessings from his father without real inheritance, while running away from the one who blesses. To desire the blessing of God without relationship with God. But in closing look at the father's response. The father has not celebrated with the son because there's not been any repentance just like the father. had been seeking and longing for the younger son, and he pleads with him. He's inviting him, he's imploring him earnestly, exhorting him and urging him. The love and the patience of the father with this older son is seen when he says, you have always been with me, all that is mine is yours. The settlement of the inheritance, it still stands. And this is powerful because of the son's disrespect for his father and his anger and all that he had shown his father. His father had every right under Jewish instruction to disown that son, that that son could even be killed for his rebellion against his father. But the son had spent all of this time being angry with the father, separated. The Jews and the Pharisees and the scribes, listen to this carefully, they too believed in Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they did not repent and believe in God's Messiah, Jesus, the Christ. Listen to these closing words of Jesus. Matthew 21 31 and 32 truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom before you For John came in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him But the tax collectors and the prostitutes they did believe him and you seeing this did not even feel remorse afterwards so as to believe He clarifies this a little bit further in Luke's recording of it. He says, when all of the people in the tax collectors heard John's message of repentance, they acknowledged God's lawyers. Listen to this. They rejected God's purposes for themselves, not having been baptized by John. See, these tax collectors and sinners, when they heard of their own deserving of judgment, and they repented and believed in Jesus. They abandoned their sin and began to follow Christ. But these Pharisees refused to repent. They simply refused. The people Jesus said honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching the doctrines and the precepts of man those oral traditions and yet never fully