We read God's word this evening in Luke chapter 15, the well-known parable of the prodigal son. This is the third sermon I have been preaching on this parable. The first one was the folly of the prodigal son. The second was the father's joy at the prodigal's return. And now this evening, we look at the elder brother Luke 15, beginning at verse 11. And he, Jesus, said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain, or he wanted to, he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, "'How many hired servants of my father's "'have bred enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? "'I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, "'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, "'and am no more worthy to be called thy son. "'Make me as one of thy hired servants.' "'And here rose, 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. 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. 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. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found, and they began to be merry." And now begins our text, verses 25 through 32. Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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. And he was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 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. Thus far we read God's holy inspired word. Beloved, the parable of the Prodigal Son serves a twofold purpose. First and most obviously, it assures penitent sinners of God's merciful reception. The sinner who comes in the name of Jesus in true faith and repentance will not be refused by God, even if he has in the past been guilty of terrible sins. Let the prodigal return. But second, the parable is designed to rebuke the Pharisees and scribes who opposed and resented Jesus' message of salvation for lost, perishing sinners. Remember how the chapter begins, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. At the end of the parable then, Jesus warns the Pharisees and the scribes, do not despise the grace of God. Those who despise the grace of God will be left outside. " And the Pharisees and scribes are represented by the elder son, by the elder brother in the parable. And we find that elder brother in the church in every age. He is the religious person who despises God's salvation of sinners by grace alone in the cross of Jesus Christ and who instead seeks to earn the favor and salvation of God by his own works and because of his self-righteousness He despises those who are saved by grace alone and resents their place in the church. Beware, beloved, beware of being or becoming the elder brother of the prodigal son. Notice then the elder brother's anger at the prodigal's reception. the elder brother's anger at the prodigal's reception. First, how he views his brother. Second, how he views himself. And third, how the father views them both. In this section of the parable, the younger brother, the prodigal son, is mentioned three times, although never by name, and how he is described by three different parties is telling. First, in verse 26, a servant speaks, thy brother is come. The elder brother is returning from a day working in the field of his father, and as he approaches the house in verse 25, he hears a strange, unexpected sound. Music, the word means a symphony, an orchestra of different instruments blending their harmonies together. He hears an orchestra playing and he hears dancing and the word means to twirl in a circle. The idea of people twirling for joy. There is music and there is dancing. Now this is at the end of a normal work day and the elder brother does not recall anything scheduled or planned, this must be something spontaneous then, something sudden, something really significant must have occurred to occasion music and dancing. You might then expect he would want to know. You would think he would then enter the house thinking, my father must be very happy. I must go inside to see what's going on so that I too can rejoice and share in the joy of my father. There's music and there's dancing, but that's not what the elder brother does. Instead, he calls one of the servants, verse 26, and asked what these things meant. The elder brother is suspicious. He asks his servant to find out what the celebration is, but does not enter into the house to find out for himself. And the answer of the servant is in verse 27, thy brother is come and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound. And two words stand out here. One word in the original language, safe and sound. sound. And those words mean healthy. Both physically and here especially spiritually, thy brother is healthy. Imagine that, thy brother is come His little brother had left the home some time ago. His departure had broken his father's house. Now he's home. He's safe and sound. Is that not a very good reason for music and dancing? Second, in verse 32, the father speaks to his son to explain the celebration to him. This thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. The father reminds his older son of his relationship to this young man who has returned safe and sound. Yes, he was the prodigal. Yes, he wasted his father's substance. Yes, he sinned grievously and shamefully. But crucially, he is thy brother. Had they not grown up together, could he not perhaps awaken any fond memories of his younger brother, perhaps the day of his younger brother's birth? He held his younger brother in his arms and smiled upon him with delight. Perhaps they had played together as boys sat at meals together in the home. Was there no love between them? Is not the return of thy brother from the far country a reason to celebrate thy brother? And the father reassures his older son of the spiritual change in his brother. Maybe the elder brother is wary and suspicious because of his brother's past. If so, he should remember the servant's words. Thy brother is come. He is safe and sound. And the father adds, he was dead. Thy brother was dead. He was dead in his sins. He walked in those sins without repentance for a time. And I acknowledge that. And he is alive again. He has been wonderfully transformed by the grace of God. He is regenerate. He is believing. He is penitent. He will be, therefore, a thankful, obedient son. Receive him as such. Receive him as thy brother. Moreover, he was lost. He had gone out of his proper place. He had been nigh to destruction in a perishing way, and is found. God's grace had found him. God's grace had worked repentance in his heart. God's grace had restored him. And therefore, receive him as your little brother. Restored, forgiven, reconciled. The servant says, Thy brother is come. The father says, thy brother is come. In verse 30, in the third place, the elder brother speaks, this thy son. These words are in stark contrast to the servant's words. Thy brother is come, and to the father's words, this thy brother is alive again. The elder brother will not say, this my brother, but he says to his father, this thy son. As far as he is concerned, he has no son. brother. What an awful thing for one brother to refuse even to recognize or acknowledge another brother, especially if both brothers are professing believers. And remember that this in the parable is a professing Jewish household of a man and his two sons. But one brother will not even acknowledge or recognize the other brother. The relationship here is like the relationship of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 verse 4. Quote, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. End quote. The elder brother hated his younger brother. We don't know exactly when this relationship broke down. Surely it couldn't have been a lifelong thing that this older brother had despised his younger brother as soon as he was born. Something must have happened early on to alienate them, perhaps even long before the younger brother left. And let that be a warning to us. When alienation occurs in families, the roots are often very deep, but the seeds are often planted very early and they grow unchecked for years until they bear bitter fruits. Remember Ephesians 4.26, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Before you go to bed each night, put away anger, enmity, envy, malice. If you don't, you may end up like the elder brother, consumed with hatred against a member of your own family. It's clear that the elder brother hated his younger brother and held him in utter contempt. When the younger brother left, abandoning his father, forsaking his work on the father's farm, taking away one third of the father's inheritance, he was disgusted. You can hear that, he was disgusted. Now, disapproval, even disgust, may be an appropriate reaction, but it does not appear that the elder brother was sad or grieved. His heart was not broken over his younger brother. He did not long for his younger brother's return. He did not pray for and seek his younger brother's repentance. He did not, unlike his father, look into the distance each day, hoping one day to catch a glimpse of his brother returning. It seems he was quite pleased to see the back of him. Good riddance, he thought, as his younger brother left. My father is better off without my worthless brother. He is an embarrassment to our good, respectable family. And now, to his horror, this younger brother has returned. The elder son in the parable is, as I said earlier, a picture of the Pharisees and scribes and a picture of the self-righteous person in the church. In verse 2, the Pharisees and scribes murmured against Jesus. because he received publicans and sinners and ate with them. And now Jesus tells the parable to teach these Pharisees and scribes that God does indeed graciously receive penitent sinners. But he does not believe that. The elder brother believed that what the prodigal son had done was unforgivable. There's no coming back. The elder son's reaction should have been the same as his father's. He should have rushed into the house and embraced his younger brother. My little brother, you are home. I'm so pleased to see you. I have longed for and prayed for this day. Welcome home, my little brother. Nothing should have kept him from doing that. for immediately embracing his brother. He should have been thrilled. My younger brother is safe and sound. He's alive again. How wonderful. Praise the Lord for his mercy. But that was not at all his reaction. It was quite the opposite. He was angry. angry that his younger brother had returned angry that he had returned safe and sound and especially angry because of what he hears in verse 27 thy father hath killed the fatted calf angry at his father's grace, angry at his father's joy, angry at his father's generosity, angry because there's music and dancing and the fatted calf and feasting and celebration. Because the fatted calf, of course, was for special occasions. and in his mind the younger brother did not deserve such a celebration. He thought if the prodigal returns the father ought to punish him The father ought to disinherit him. The father ought to cast him out. At the very least, the father ought to make him a hired servant, but to receive him back with such rejoicing? Well, that, the elder brother thought, was intolerable. That's exactly the attitude of the Pharisees and the scribes in Israel when Jesus walked the earth. The publicans and the sinners at the beginning of chapter 15, they were the younger brethren in Israel. These publicans and sinners, they were born into the land of Israel, the community of the Jews. They were circumcised members of the nation. And at some point, these publicans and sinners departed into a life of open sin. and became publicans and sinners and harlots besides. And the Pharisees and the publicans were disgusted. And then Jesus came. And what did Jesus do with respect to these publicans and sinners and harlots and all the rest? He preached to them the good news of salvation. And then these sinners, they repented in true sorrow over their sin. They believed in Jesus and received mercy and salvation from Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were offended. How dare he? How dare this Jesus show mercy to such unworthy people? And so they murmured, this man, sneering they're sneering this man receiveth sinners well says jesus my father receives the prodigal son and this man he eateth with them well says jesus my father kills the fatted calf and makes merry when the prodigal son returns and when the pharisees saw this and when the scribes saw this they sulked and they would not rejoice. Instead, they acted just like the elder brother in the parable. We must be very careful to avoid the spirit of the elder brother. First, we must be careful in our attitude towards the penitent. There's always that temptation, of course. When God shows mercy to an undeserving sinner who comes in the way of repentance, we're always tempted, like the Pharisees and scribes, like this elder brother, to despise that person. Let's say a member of the church commits a terrible sin. And let's say he's put under discipline. And let's say even he leaves while under discipline, leaves the church, departs into the world for a time. And then sometime later he returns truly sorry over his sins. He confesses his sin before the consistory. The consistory receives his confession as a genuine confession. How do we respond? Well, I can't receive him back into my fellowship. And I suppose, well, he's a member again, but I will personally hold him at arm's length. I'll be aloof and distant from him. I'll not accept him back really as a brother or a sister. He's not really a brother or a sister of mine. Now obviously, if you have evidence that he is not actually repentant, you inform the elders. But I'm assuming here, for the sake of argument like this prodigal son, that he is truly repentant. Remember what that looks like. A full and frank confession of wrongdoing. That's what the prodigal gave. A willingness to submit to consequences, that's what the prodigal shows. A heartfelt sorrow over his sin, that he has offended God in heaven, and a resolution to put away that sin and lead a new and godly life. Assume that's all there. Repentance. But if I then refuse to receive him, then I am acting like the elder brother. Maybe the father has forgiven him. And I think the father ought not to have forgiven him, but I will not receive him. That's the spirit of the elder brother. Listen to the form of readmitting excommunicated persons. It's striking that the parable is referenced in that form. And you, quote, and you, beloved Christians, receive this, your brother, with hearty affection. Be glad that he was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. Rejoice with the angels of heaven over this sinner who repents. Count him no longer as a stranger, but as a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God, end quote. If the elder brother were at a church where that form was read, he would stay at home that Sunday and refuse to fellowship with that penitent sinner. Do not then respond with resentment, envy, discontentment, but rather with joy at the restoration of sinners. Remember God's mercy to you in Jesus Christ and show mercy as you have received mercy. And second, we must be careful in our attitude towards the outsider. Sometimes an outsider comes into the church, walks off the street, let's say. He's not dressed as we are. He's unfamiliar with the church and the order of worship and how things are supposed to go in the church, and we sneer at him. We look at him with suspicion and we show by our attitude, he's not really welcome in our midst. And by that attitude, we are saying something like this, God's grace and mercy are only for me and for people like me. Or God's grace is for sinners, but not for sinners like him or her. And God's grace is only for good, respectable, Protestant-reformed sinners like me. Or we look at Christians and other churches with proud contempt. A member of another denomination confesses salvation by the grace of God, and we question the validity of his salvation. He says he was dead and is alive again, but can that really be? After all, he's not Protestant Reformed. doesn't hold to the right doctrines, doesn't have the right practices. He says he was lost and was found, but can that really be? Is his confession of faith even valid? And he disagrees with us on certain theological points. Can I really rejoice in his salvation? That was the elder brother. I cannot fellowship with the prodigal son. I will not fellowship with the prodigal son. I am better than the prodigal son. That was the Pharisee. I cannot fellowship with publicans and sinners. I will not fellowship with publicans and sinners. And I am better than publicans and sinners. That was the attitude of self-righteousness exposed in this parable. The elder brother's response to his father and especially his response to his father's reception of the prodigal son reveals the elder brother's heart. It tells us something about what he thinks about himself. In verse 29, he complains And while he complains, he shows what's really in his heart. He shows his motivation. Lo, these many years do I serve thee. The elder brother had worked diligently for many years, but he did so with the wrong motives. And there are really two motivations for serving God. On the one hand, there's thankfulness and love. On the other hand, there's fear and a desire to merit. And the second was the elder brother's motivation. And that comes out in the word he uses in verse 29. Lo, these many years do I serve thee, literally serve there means to work as a slave. Lo, these many years I have been in bondage to thee, as a slave is in bondage to his taskmaster. Is that how sons and daughters ought to see their relationship to their father? Your father asks you to do something in the home. Let's say he asks you to put out the trash, or he asks you to shovel the driveway, or he asks you to mow the lawn. Is your response, I am a slave in this home, I am in bondage to thee, my father. Of course not. That's not how a son views service to his father. He views service to his father as a labor of love. There's the difference then between the work of a slave and the work of a son. Outwardly, the work looks the same. The crops are sown and harvested. The animals are fed and watered. But the heart is very different. A slave works because he has to. He has no choice. A slave works because he is afraid not to work. A slave works because he has a mere sense of duty. A son works because he loves his father. He is thankful for his place in the father's home and heart because he desires to please his father. Paul explains this in Romans 8. Romans 8 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. That was the elder brother's spirit. The spirit of bondage to fear. But ye have received the spirit of adoption. That was the prodigal son's spirit, the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Belgian confession article 24 says this quote it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life that on the contrary without it they would never do anything out of love to God but only out of self-love or fear of damnation." There was the elder brother. Never did anything out of love for his father, but out of self-love and fear of damnation. And thus, he reveals his proud, self-righteous heart. Verse 29, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. I have been, he says, a good, loyal, faithful, obedient son. Never have I broken thy commandments, The prodigal son, he demanded his inheritance. I did not. The prodigal son, he ran away from home. I did not. The prodigal son wasted his substance on riotous living. I did not. You can hear the Pharisee in the elder son, Luke 18, 11. I thank thee that I am not as other men are. extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican, or even as this other son. You can hear the rich young ruler as well. All these things have I observed from my youth, Mark 10 20. I'm not like the other son, but worthless son of yours. The elder son then views his service to his father as virtually flawless and therefore as meritorious. He's puffed up with pride as he comes back from the field thinking, how great I am, how great my service is. Father owes me a reward for my exceptional, even flawless service. But he hasn't given me the reward that I deserve. Doesn't say either. My place in this family is undeserved and unmerited. Never can I earn my father's favor. Never says to his father, I have sinned. My works are and have been imperfect in my service. I have sinned, defiled my best works with pride and selfishness. I am so thankful for thy grace. I'm not worthy of thy mercies. That is not part of his vocabulary. And then the younger brother returns. And the father welcomes him with open arms, kills the fatted calf for him. He couldn't understand it. He was offended by it because he was offended by grace. Couldn't understand grace, was offended by grace. And therefore, as one who has a high opinion of himself, he despises others. That's always true of the self-righteous. They love themselves, and they despise everyone else, those who they believe to be beneath them. That's why it's anger when his brother returns. Not joy, not gladness, not relief, but anger. And stubborn anger as well. Verse 28 says, he would not go in. And the gospel here uses the imperfect tense, which in Greek describes repeated, continuous action in the past. he was not willing to enter. And the idea is that the servant attempted repeatedly to persuade this elder brother to join the festivities. And the elder brother repeatedly and stubbornly and persistently refused to go in so that the servant who is surprised and grieved by this stubbornness finally goes to get the master and says to him, Master, I have told your elder son about his brother's safe return, but he refuses to come in. He would not go in. And then there's the complaint about the unfairness of it all. The prodigal son gets a fatted calf. He gets music and orchestra playing. He gets dancing and twirling and merrymaking. And what do I get, the older brother? What do I get? I get nothing. I was never even given leave to have a little party with my friends. Perhaps a kid, a young goat, slaughtered for a nice party with my friends. A petty complaint, because if he'd asked his father, undoubtedly, his father would have given him such a kid. But he had harbored a grudge in his heart against his father for years. And finally, it all comes out. And the father responds to his elder son's petulance with graciousness. He does not angrily dismiss his son, as we might do in such a circumstance. If that's how you feel, then just stay outside and sulk. He doesn't either command his servants to shut the door against my elder son. He's no longer welcome here. Instead, the father comes out himself. Verse 28, therefore came his father out and entreated him. He leaves the party, he leaves the celebration to come out and deal with his son. He entreats him, he urges him, he encourages him. Again, the imperfect tense. Continuous activity in the past, the father again and again, and at length seeks to persuade him to join the festivities inside the home. These sins of the elder brother Pride, self-righteousness, hatred, contempt, a mercenary spirit, all of these sins characterized the Pharisees and the scribes of that day. They meticulously and carefully followed the laws of God. They denied themselves the sinful pleasures of this world and they expected a reward. expected to earn for themselves a place in the kingdom of God and therefore they were offended when those who had not obeyed God as they had were graciously received by Jesus into the kingdom of heaven. And that can be a temptation also for us. Church members who grew up in the church are sometimes offended when outsiders are converted. Those who lived their lives in sin for many years, who heard the gospel when they were much older, they repent and are converted. And the response of the church member is to be offended. Why should he be allowed into the kingdom of heaven? We might ask ourselves sometimes. But we must not do that. We must rejoice when a sinner repents. And ultimately, the offense here, of course, is the cross of Christ. The cross tells us that nobody is better than anyone else. We're all sinners. We all must be saved the same way by the grace of God. Our sins must be covered in Christ's blood or we perish forever. There is no other way of salvation. And that offends the self-righteous in the church. The father responds to his two sons in two different ways. The one, the prodigal son, he receives with joy, and the other, the elder son, he gently rebukes. And the father explains three things to his elder son in an effort to reason with him. First, He reassures the elder son of his place in the family. Verse 31. Son, thou art ever with me. And that word son is literally child. A tender address of love. My child. Why complain about a lack of merriment with your friends? Why complain about having no kid given to you to have a party with your friends? You're my son. Second, he reassures him of his inheritance. Verse 31, and all that I have is thine. Remember verse 12, he divided onto them notice the word them he divided onto them his living and the prodigal he had squandered one third of his father's estate But the rest, the two thirds, the rest was reserved for the elder son, and the younger son's return does not spoil the elder son's inheritance. The father's generosity for the one son does not diminish his love for his elder son. The father has love enough for both. And third, he reminds him of the appropriateness of celebration. Verse 32, it was meet. It was appropriate that we should make merry and be glad. It was even necessary that we should make merry and be glad. Verse 32, this thy brother was dead and is alive again. And he was lost and is found. Is that not a reason for us to be glad? But be careful in interpreting the parable, beloved. Because remember, it's a parable. In the parable, in the story, the father has two sons, but in reality, the two sons are very different. There is the difficulty for us in interpreting the parable. They are both sons outwardly, but the elder son represents the hypocrite in the church. Many of the parables have a hypocrite in them. He seems to be a faithful member of the church. He seems to be a true son of his father, but his heart is proud and self-righteous. He seems to serve God faithfully, but his motivation is not thankfulness and love for God, but a self-serving desire to merit. In his heart, he harbors resentment against God and his grace, which comes out in his words against God. And secretly in his heart, he hates and despises the gospel of free, gracious salvation in the cross of Jesus Christ. And in his heart, He abhors justification by faith alone without works. In his heart, he despises God, the God who graciously receives sinners and forgives the sins of sinners in the blood of Jesus Christ. Such was the Pharisee, such was the scribe in Christ's day, and such is the self-righteous church member in our day. And therefore, Jesus does not finish the parable. You'll notice it's left open-ended. We don't know what the elder son did. We know what he should have done, but at the end of the parable, he is outside. And the warning is, of course, If you despise the grace of God as this man did, you will be left outside. Did he perhaps come in? We don't know. But there is at the end of the parable an appeal, as it were, to the Pharisees who are listening to Jesus. Will you enter into the joy of the Lord or will you stay outside murmuring? Because salvation is for the believing, penitent, humble sinner at the foot of the cross. Not for the self-righteous Pharisee who will not confess his sin, who will not admit his sin, and who despises the grace of God. And we know, of course, from the rest of the New Testament, that some of the Pharisees were actually converted. Perhaps they remembered this parable, thought upon it, and were moved by it. But this we do know, when a sinner receives mercy, he rejoices when other sinners receive the same mercy. As Christ says in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 verse 7, blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Or as James puts it in James 2 verse 13, he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Beloved, we have received mercy in the cross of Jesus Christ. We will then rejoice when the Lord shows mercy to others. And we will gladly receive such repentant sinners. As our brother or our sister who was dead and is alive again, who was lost, but now is found as we are. Amen. Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy mercy, Thy mercy which is rich and free and wonderful, and we pray, O Father, keep us from pride and haughtiness, keep us from self-righteousness, and fill us with mercy that we might show that mercy to others and forgive our sins for Christ's sake, amen.