For our scripture reading tonight, we will be looking at the parable of the prodigal son, which is found in Luke 15. We'll be reading, our main text is Luke 15, one to 32. However, we'll also be reading verses one and two and verse seven, just by way of context. And so with that, I would invite you to rise as we read God's word, starting in verse one. This is the holy and infallible word of God. starting in verse one and two. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. And then jumping down to verse seven, Jesus says, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. And now our text tonight, starting in verse 11. And he said, There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into the far country. And there he squandered his property and reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who set him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger. I will rise and go to my father, and I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he rose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And his son said to him, and the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us celebrate and eat. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when his son, when this son of yours came And when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him? And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It is fitting to celebrate and be glad. For this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, as we approach your word, we see that it is at times a mirror into our own soul as you show us who we are and how we have reacted to sin and the salvation of others. We ask, Lord, that during this time you would enlighten our hearts and that you would deepen our relationship with you. Heavenly Father, all these things we ask in your son's name, amen. Please be seated. Well, we come tonight to another one of Christ's famous parables. Now, stereotypically, when we come to this parable, it's often the first two acts that people tend to really focus on. And rightfully so, a good amount of this parable is dedicated towards the younger son and the father's response to the younger son in his return from his journey in a far off land. But we must not forget that the older son has just as much of a role in this story as well. And so tonight, we will be looking at this parable of Christ's and contrasting these two sons and their relationship with the Father. In so doing, it's my hope that we come to understand our relationship with God the Father, and that we come to understand this to a deeper level as well. So but before we dive into our text by way of context as we read in verses one and two, we find Jesus attracting to himself tax collectors and sinners. And this frustrates the scribes and the Pharisees. This frustrates them because in their mind, if this man is truly the son of God, he would not want to waste his time with tax collectors and sinners. No, he'd want to spend his time with us law keepers, us Pharisees and us scribes, because we have kept the law perfectly. So why wouldn't he want to spend his time with us? But Christ, knowing their hearts and perceiving their souls, moves to address them still in parables. And so he gives two parables before he comes to the parable of the prodigal son. And in these two parables, he is focusing on God's seeking out the lost. And the focus of all three of these parables, the theme of all three of these parables is found in verse seven, which we read, and which says, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. But the focus of this parable of the prodigal son is different than the other two, just slightly. This parable is not only focusing on the joy of God and the receiving and seeking out, or on the focus of the joy of God and seeking out and saving the lost, but it also focuses on how we are to respond to sin and how we are to respond to other sinners coming to Christ. And so the main lesson that Christ is teaching us here is that we're to rejoice and be glad with the angels in heaven when a sinner comes and repents and comes to salvation. And so Christ uses this particular parable to communicate not only our personal rebellion, but the warmth and the heart that the Father has in heaven when we approach him in repentance. And Christ also uses the older son. to teach us that we are to join with the angels in heaven and rejoice when sinners find their way to the fold of God. And so we'll be looking at this text in three sections. We have first the prodigal in verses 11 to 19. We have the father and his response in verses 20 to 24. And then we have the older son in verses 25 to 32. And so the parable opens up with a very simple setting, a very simple prologue. There was a man who had two sons. And the story continues and progresses from there. The younger of the two sons approaches his father and says, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. Now we're not told the reason why this younger son has decided to make such a demand on the father. And it isn't just a mere question, but it is a command. This younger son is coming to his father. He's demanding that the father give to him what is coming to him. And so to make this commanding request, the younger son, which the younger son makes, whether it be today or in ancient times, what he's saying is, I wish you were dead. I wish that you were dead and that the riches which you have promised to me in my will, I wish I could have them now, I want them now. And so here we see the arrogance of the younger son to the father. We see that he would wish death on his father just because he wants to be rich and to rule his own life. Now interestingly enough, look at the father's response to the son's command. The father allows it to be so. And the English here, I think, loses a little bit of the intensity of the father's response. The Greek word here used is bios. Now, if anybody here has studied biology, I think you understand what bios means. Bios means life. And here it's properly translated as property, but it could also, and is more commonly used as life. So what the father actually does is he divides up his very life for his sons. Now, I think this comes as a bit of a surprise to us. I mean, how many of our fathers, upon making such a request, would so willingly give over that portion? No, actually, I'm sure even in the ancient world, a father, upon hearing this bold command, would punish their son and swiftly send them off to their room. Yet this is how far the grace of this father extends, that he willingly divides his portion, which is allotted to each son. And that meant selling portions of the land, the mass wealth that he has. It means selling portions of the land, giving up his estate and all that he once held so proudly. And so next we see the younger son take his wealth and leave. He quickly gathers everything that he has and journeys far away. He journeys to another country. And all this so he can escape the far reaches of his father's influence. And so with this so-called freedom, or independence, the younger son, he lives it up. He's driving around the nicest chariots. He's showing up to all the parties. He's got girls on each arm. He's buying drinks for all his friends. He's living it up. He's never thinking about the future. He's only living in the present, living by the passions and the desires of his heart until. until a famine enters the land. And not just any famine, not just a mediocre famine, but the strongest and most intense famine that this land has suffered in years. And as a result, this wipes out the wealth of the younger son. He's left with nothing. His chariots are all broken down. Whatever girls were on his arms are now gone. Whatever friends he was buying drinks for have abandoned him. The future has caught up with him. He's left alone, desperate, and with no connections. So what does he do? Well, what can he do? Well, he decides that the best option that he has is to get a job. Not a bad start. But so he decides to get a job, but with no connections, the only job he can find is feeding pigs with a pig farmer. And so this young son has gone from what he thought was the height of life down now as low as he could possibly go, sitting in the mud with no one around him but pigs. So low, in fact, that no one would have pity on him. The text specifically says that no one would give him food. And so too it is with us, is it not? that when we allow the devil to gain a foothold in our lives, when we fall under the temptation and the lies of the world, as we indulge in our total depravity, we may think that we're living it up, we may think that we're living our best lives, but like this younger son, in actuality, we're deceiving ourselves. And the road of sin is not one that leads to glory or happiness. The road of sin leads us only to the mud and the mire. It leads us down, down, down. Just as Jonah in his sin was brought all the way down to be in the belly of the fish, so too it is with us that sin only leads to being surrounded by pigs and no one having pity on us. However, it's through these means that God brings us to the same realization that this younger son is brought to. And what is that realization? Well, let's read again in verse 17 and 19 what the younger son comes to. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And this is to be our response as well. As we find ourselves in the belly of the fish, as we find ourselves in the mud surrounded by pigs because of our sin, we are to return and run to our father because even his servants, even the servants of our father, eat better than we do when we are among the pigs. So the younger son does just that. He devises a plan and he will return to his father. He will openly acknowledge that he has sinned against heaven and before him. He takes, and take note as well, that he understands what he has lost. He understands that in his original request, in his departure, in his waste of that which the father has given to him, he understands that he is no longer worthy to be called his son. And so he's willing now to, willing and ready to repay the father for the damage that he has caused to both his wealth and relationship. He understands that he needs to regain his father's trust and love. And so he goes home, just as we too should run to our father when we look around ourselves and see the mud and the pigs that sin has brought us to. And this brings us to the second point of the text, the father's response in verses 20 to 24. Let's give that a brief read. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And he said, and the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe, put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. Christ understands our father in heaven better than better than any of us. And so he paints us a perfect picture of the father's response to our return to Him and the return of the sinful son. And so here we have the picture of the Father's response to us is when we approach Him in repentance. The younger son's return trip, he wasn't even close to home and the Father sees him. And how does the father respond? Well, I'm sure in our minds, or maybe the world's mind, we would paint a picture of a father whose arms are crossed, and he's not going to speak until his son is done groveling or apologizing, and then maybe, maybe, The father in our story would say, oh, I see you have experience with pigs. You're going to work with my pigs until you regain everything that you wasted and everything that you lost. And then you will have my love and trust. But no, Christ paints us a picture that echoes back to Isaiah, which says before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear. So before the son is even close to the father, this highly esteemed and great man drops everything. And he drops everything, and he runs to the son whom he loves. And before the son even speaks, this father's mind is made up. He's overjoyed. He embraces his son. He kisses his son. who I imagine at this point still is covered in mud, and we'll call it mud-like products from the pigs, but none of this matters to him. His son is home, and the son expresses his repentance to his father, and I can only imagine that during this time, the father just has the biggest smile on his face. And so the father, no doubt hearing the genuine state of this repentance, does something really important during the repentance that the son gives. Did you notice? He does it just after the son states his unworthiness, just before verse 22. The father cuts him off. He cuts off his repentance. The father cuts off the son right before he's about to say, treat me as one of your hired servants. And so the picture that Christ paints for us here is one that's true in our lives as well. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, the Father looks on us in our repentance with nothing but joy. As Christ intercedes on our behalf, the Father longs to bring us, longs for us to come to him. For it is in Christ that we have our relationship with the Father restored. As Christ says in John 6, 37, all that the Father gives to me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. So what does the Father do for us? He welcomes us with open arms and adopts us as his sons and daughters. He brings forth a robe to cover us with in the same fashion that Zechariah discusses in chapter 3, verses 3 to 7, which says, now Joshua was standing before the angel clothed in filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, remove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk, in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts. And I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here." So the father covers us with a robe. He brings forth a signet ring, a ring only intended for those who are properly a part of the family. The father also brings forth shoes, that we may wear them and have peace in our journeys. So let this reality reign true in our hearts tonight, that the Father has covered us with the robe of His Son, Jesus Christ, and before Him, because of that robe, we stand blameless. And as we stand robed with Christ, we stand adopted as the sons and daughters of God, bringing the signet ring, which may only be worn by those who are proper members of the family of God. And finally, we are given new shoes that we may stand firm and ready, a readiness which is only given by the gospel of peace. And because of this reality, there is to be celebration. So the father brings out the finest meat, a meal which is so expensive it's usually only reserved for public parties or weddings. The father spares no expense to celebrate the return of his son who was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. It's at this point that many, upon approaching the text that we're looking at tonight, would walk away and they would feel some sense of comfort that the Father has brought to the prodigal son. He's brought him in. Yet Christ continues. He continues with one more very important event. And let's reread verses 25 to 32. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near before the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. It is fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. And so the lesson that Christ is teaching here tonight is a difficult one. It's not difficult necessarily to interpret, but it's difficult because as we sit here tonight with the mirror of scripture open before us, we realize that while we are just as fallen and sinful as this younger son, we also have a tendency to act and behave as this older son. For the older son is just as sinful as the younger son. Look at the language which is used here. After the older son approaches the house and sees the celebration and the servant explains to him what's going on and that his brother has returned home, how does the older son react? Is he excited? Has he fallen on his brother's neck and kissed him like his father did? Has he even joined in the celebration? No. He stands out in the field, furious that the father would throw such a party for this lost, filthy, degenerate son. After all, this younger son disrespected the father. He wished that he was dead, and now upon his return, the father throws a party and brings the whole town in to celebrate? The older son wants nothing to do with the younger son. The father, however, noticing that his oldest son is not at the party, he goes out and meets with his oldest son. And before the father even opens his mouth, we see the sin of the older son. Look at how he addresses the father. Look, these many years I have served you, I have never disobeyed your command. With no ounce of respect, the older son addresses the father. Even when the younger son addressed the father in the first request, he at least addresses him as his father. But here the older son does not address him as his father. You have never given me a young goat. when this son of yours, notice there's no familial language, he doesn't say notice when my brother comes home, he says no, when this son of yours, he wants nothing to do with this younger son who has devoured your property. What is the sin of this older son? This older son stands before the father in a state of self-righteousness. He is even bold enough to make this self-righteousness known to the father when he says, I have never disobeyed your command. The elder son's sin is that he thinks he has the right to be the son of his father. And so when we hear of the salvation of sinners, we are not to act like this older son, boasting in our own deeds, boasting in our own self-righteousness. No, we're to boast in Christ who has saved us and brought us out of the mud. We are also to join in the celebration when our brothers and sisters come to realize their sins and the salvation that they have in Christ. And so here is the contrast that Christ is driving home. He takes these two brothers, sons of the same father, and he connects them to his original audience. This is why we reread verses one and two. He connects them to the tax collectors and sinners, and then to the Pharisees and the scribes. So to us, the tax collectors and sinners, the ones who have squandered our wealth of the Father in a far off land, Christ is showing us that the Father is overjoyed to hear of our repentance. And we need not make ourselves right before God before we approach the throne of grace because that is impossible. But in Christ, we approach the throne of grace and the father welcomes us. He covers us with his son. He adopts us into his family and he gives us peace and readiness, which is only found in the gospel. And then also to us, the Pharisees and the scribes, who think of ourselves as perfect followers of the law. Christ is showing that when we hear God's grace and salvation in our brothers and sisters, we're not to react like this older son. We should not look down on them and think, how could this person ever be accepted in the eyes of my Father in heaven? But instead, we should celebrate with the Father, For it is fitting to celebrate and be glad. For this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. And so tonight let us celebrate because of the deep, deep love which the Father has for us. Let us pray. Almighty Heavenly Father, we stand in awe. of the love that you have for us, that you would send your son to die on a cross so that we sinners could be made right before you. We ask, Lord, that you would constantly bring to remembrance this truth and this fact. We also ask that you would help us to remember that it is not because of our self-righteousness that we are worthy to be called your sons, but it is because of the robe that you have covered us with, your son. Heavenly Father, we ask that you'd be with us throughout this week, that you would cause us to remember this in our comings and our goings and in your son's name, amen.