We're coming this morning to our second part of our message that we started last Sunday concerning the prodigal son. It's a wonderful illustration. I'm going to say a comprehensive illustration of the saving grace of our heavenly father. And that's what Jesus is teaching in this story. No one is saved by their own personal works or achievements. We're saved by the grace of God. No one is saved by being good. No one is saved by being moral. But we're saved by God's mercy. Because every person is born with a sinful nature, except for Christ. And apart from the Lord's saving grace, we're lost in our sins. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We pointed to a verse last Sunday in Luke 19 verse 10 where it says, for the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. He said that Zacchaeus, you remember Zacchaeus? He climbed up a sycamore tree. He was a small guy. He needed to get up higher to see Jesus coming. And Jesus invited him to come down from the tree, come down for today, I will abide in your house, he said to Zacchaeus. And Jesus says, today salvation has come to your house. Now, something else that was said there about some people that were standing by that were a little bit upset what Jesus was doing here. They saw it, the Jews, they all grumbled. What were they grumbling about? Well, it said, he's gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And we saw that here in Luke chapter 15, verses one and two, that the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to Jesus. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled about that because they said, this man receives sinners. and eats with them. And tax collectors had the reputation. They were backed by the Roman authorities to extract taxes from the people. And they would say that you owe so much to the Roman government. And they would exaggerate that amount. And they were known to be cheaters. And they would pocket extra money. And they were protected by the Roman authorities for doing that. So they had a bad reputation. And so when Jesus was around these tax collectors, they were the worst of kind to be around. And Jesus, he sees that because they were grumbling about that. And so what Jesus does, he tells three parables. He begins in Luke 15, he talks about the parable of the lost sheep. A man had a hundred sheep and lost one. He went and found that lost sheep and comes back, carrying that, and he rejoices, calls his friends and his neighbors, says, rejoice with me, the lost sheep is found. And there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. And then he tells us the parable about the lost coin. A woman has 10 silver coins and she loses one. And so what she does, she sweeps her house very diligently. She lights a lamp so she can see clearly. And then she finds the lost coin. She calls up her friends and neighbors and says, listen, I have found that lost coin. And likewise, there is more joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then he tells the story of the parable of the lost son. And that's what we looked at last Sunday. And the lost son, he goes into a far country. His father begins to look for him, looking down the road every day, looking to anticipate him to come, praying they would come back. He does come back. He receives him back and has a celebration. Now the celebration we're gonna look at here in the story of the prodigal, it's not so much the celebration for returning a prodigal, but the celebration is in honor of the father who receives him back. The father actually is the hero in this story. And so a quick review here as we look through here, and I want you to keep in mind though, as Jesus tells the story, this father who receives his son, his prodigal son back, it is a outrageous kind of reception according to the Pharisees and the scribes who are listening to this story. In verse 11, he begins, and there was a man who had two sons. There was the older, younger, and the father. There are the characters here in this story. And it begins with a dishonoring demand, because the younger son says to his father, give me the portion of goods that are coming to me. And it was a dishonoring, disrespectful thing for him to say that to his father. You don't do that while he's still alive. You have to wait till he dies. For him to do that, for that young son to make that dishonoring demand is the same thing as saying, I wish you were dead. Let's just pretend that you're dead, and let me have all that's coming to me. And so the father divides the property between his sons, and this puts the son on a dangerous direction, because in verse 13, he gathers everything that he has, and that literally means he liquidated, he cashed out everything in a matter of days, and he went into a far country. He left to a far country, living recklessly, foolishly in righteous living, squandered his property in reckless living. Well, that put him in a desperate dilemma in verses 14, because he spent everything that he had. And there was a severe famine that came on top of all of that. And the Bible says there, he began to be in need. Well, you think he would come to a census and go back home, but yet he has another plan. He has another thing to do. He hired himself out to a certain citizen of that country, and this man sent him into the fields to feed his swine, his pigs. But here's the thing about it. He goes out there and feeds these pigs, but he's not paid for feeding the pigs. He's not even given food for feeding the pigs. The Bible says there, no one gave him anything. His only way to be fed, if he was going to be fed, was to eat the pods that the pigs were eating. And it says there, in the verses there, he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate. But no one gave him anything, not even the pigs. It kind of seems like the pigs even pushed him away. Well, in verse 17, it comes to a decisive decision. He came to himself. He came to his senses, you might say. And he began to think in terms of going back home because he thinks, my father has some hired out servants. And these hired servants were daytime workers. You go to the marketplace, and you see those who are available to work for the day. They work for one day, and they would get a day's wage. And so these hired servants would work for a day, then they go, they would leave. He wasn't thinking about being a slave because his father had some slaves. They lived under the same roof. They lived and were cared for and clothed and fed by his father. But he was thinking about being a hired servant. And here's what he's thinking. He says, what am I doing out here? Even the higher servants have bread enough, more bread, bread enough to feed, to be fed on. And I'm here with hunger and I'm here, I'm homeless, I'm penniless, I don't have anything, nothing to eat. And so verse 18, he says in verse 18, I will arise. and go to my father, and here's what I'm going to say to my father. He has a speech all planned. Number one, he says, Father, I have sinned before you. I have sinned against heaven. I have sinned to the high heavens. I mean, I have assaulted the throne of God, and I've sinned before you, and I'm not worthy to be called your son. But just treat me as one of your hired servants. Treat me as one of your hired servants. Now, let me remind you now, the Pharisees are listening to this story. And they would probably be nodding their head thinking, yeah, that's what he needs to do. If he wants to earn repentance, if he wants to get his place back in the family, he needs to be a hired servant and he needs to work his way back in. He needs to work and pay restitution. He needs to work and work and work and work and earn his place back. So yeah, that's what you need to do. What we do see here, him coming to this decision, two things. And when we see the evidence of repentance, he has a change of mind, he has a change of attitude, and he has a change of direction. That's all involved with repentance. But also we see faith. He has faith in his father. He has confidence in his father. He knows that his father has love in his heart, even for his hired servants. He does them well. They're paid more than enough. They are taken care of. And so he has faith in his father and he knows that his father is a loving father. And so he knows that. And so his destiny now is going back home. He has a speech all prepared. He said, I've sinned. I've sinned before you. I've sinned against heaven. I'm not worthy to be your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. So now, by demonstrating repentance and faith, he makes his way back. Look at verse 20. And he arose and came to his father. He rose and came to his father. So that's what he did. His journey has been going back toward home. His destiny turns out really to be a great homecoming. Well, he doesn't know that at first because his destiny is, it doesn't become a dreaded destiny, but it turns out to be a delightful destiny. when he gets there. And so in verse 20, it says, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion, ran and embraced him and kissed him. First of all, a long way off, long way from the house. It may even been a long way from the village. We don't know. Well, the village would be a place where there would be people there in the village. They would see him coming back and they would know him and they would know his reputation. They'd know how despicable he had acted, how he was that rebellious son, that prodigal. So they would probably add scorn upon him. They would say, oh boy, now you're coming back. You can imagine the jeering, the taunting, the scorn that he would receive from all the passerbys. The father sees him a long way off. And it seems like the father's been looking for a long time. And there must have been, no doubt, a special spot where the father stood and looked every day. It had to be in the daytime so he could see a long way off, he could see in the distance, he could see, you know, how he walked and he just knew that was his son. So his father saw him. So what happens? Well, the Pharisees who are listening, the scribes who are listening to this story, You know, they would think, well, I tell you, they would think, no doubt, this father would do what any father would do and should do with a son that acted so shamefully and has disgraced him and treated him so bad. They would probably think, well, he needs to make his son crawl back. I mean, don't give him a ride back. And maybe they would think that maybe the son, he should just sit on the edge of the property, not even step foot on the property that he had squandered, and just sit out there and just think for a long time what he has done. He needs to really think hard about how he has treated his father. That's probably the way the Pharisees thought. But no, that's not what we see here. How does the father feel? The Bible says there he felt compassion. Compassion? That's not even the vocabulary of Pharisees. They don't even know Pharisees are legalistic kind of people. They don't even know what compassion is. But he felt compassion. Because they believe, the Pharisees believe, no, you need to earn your favor back to the Father. You need to pay restitution. You need to work and pay off what you've wasted. But the Bible says here, the Father's having compassion. And those, he runs. He runs to him, he embraces him, and he kisses him. And I believe the Greek text is the image of he repeatedly is kissing him all over. Unheard of. Now based on what I've read about a man like this here, he had a high standing in society. He was a nobleman. He was highly respected. He wore a long robe because of that position he had. There's one thing they didn't do, they didn't run in public. Because if he did run, he had to pull up his long robes and expose his legs. And that was a shameful thing to do in public in that particular time. And so by him running, exposed legs, running, you could see people pointing their fingers, probably laughing, jeering, mocking. What's he think he's doing? Oh, that's so funny. And so he was taking all the shame upon himself, this father was. Why was he doing that? He was rushing to his son to rescue his son from the shame that he would get from the villagers. The villagers would be throwing insults at this prodigal as he'd come back. Now you're coming back. Man, if I was your father, I would not let you come back. And he would get all this treatment. So his father rescues him from the shame and the mistreatment and all the barrage of words that he would be getting. Well, the father takes upon himself all this ridicule and scorn. And then verse 21, the son said to the father, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. What's left out? Well, the next part of his speech was, treat me as one of your hired servants. He didn't get the chance to say that. His father just injected and said, he stopped, wait, but the father said to his servant, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. He didn't give him a chance to even make that statement. Why is that? Well, here it is. He's already been reconciled. There's no need for you to be treated as a hired servant and go out and pay for institutions. You've already been accepted. You've already been reconciled. So he says bring quickly the best robe. He tells the servants to do that. What's the best robe? The best robe is that special robe that was owned by the father. And he would get it out of his wardrobe area and wear it on special occasions. Well, maybe some of you have got one of those special garments. Maybe for a wedding or maybe some special event you just got or maybe you had to go buy one or rent one, you know, a tux or whatever. The best robe was the father's robe that he wore on special occasion. They got it out and put it on the son. They didn't even clean him up. He still got the smell of the pig pen all over him. They put the best robe on him. You know, it reminds us of a verse in Isaiah 61 and verse 10, and I'll read that to you. It says this, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He's covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels. The robe of righteousness. That's the symbolism right here. And then the ring. The ring was a special ring. It was a signet ring. That is, in those days when you wanted to conduct transactions and business transactions, there would be an emblem on that ring. It would be the family seal. And on a wax, a melted wax, on an official document, that That imprint would be put on that document. That represented authority. He gave him the authority to conduct business on behalf of the family. Here, here's the ring. You got it now. You have the authority now. And then shoes? Well, the slaves didn't wear the shoes. And I don't think even the small kids wore the shoes. And the hired servants didn't wear shoes. But the masters and the son wore shoes. And that tells us that he's accepted as a son. And it denotes sonship. So here's what we have. We have the father accepting him, bringing him back. So with his best robe, he got this ring, he got the shoes. And what it is, the father is doing this. To the son, he has been given all rights and privileges of sonship. And the father's saying is simply this, all that is mine is yours. You know what? The Pharisees and the scribes are shaking their goofy head. No way. This can't be. Well, he's not through yet. Verse 23, and bring the fattened calf, he says, to the service. and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this my son was dead he's alive again he was lost and he was found and they began to celebrate a fattened calf you know they didn't eat meat they ate fish but they didn't eat meat like this all the time it was very rare but the fattened calf was always there for a special occasion and some says that A fattened calf would feed about 200 people. And so you can imagine, you invite all these people, your neighbors, your friends, all for this celebration, this banquet, because you kill the fattened calf and you prepare it and you cook it and all that. Well, they didn't have refrigeration, all that. You got to take care of it and eat it now. It won't last. So you get all these people, so you get all these people coming for this celebration. Why? My son was dead. Remember? They had a funeral when he left the first time. That was a customary thing. When your son act that way and left your family and were abased like that, you had a funeral. He was as if he was dead. He's dead, but he's alive again. He was lost and now he's found. And so they began to celebrate. Well, now let's look at verse 25. The older son, the disbelieving disposition of the older son, And he comes, and notice this, now his older son, he was in the field, it says, and he came and he drew near to the house and he heard music and dancing. And he called on the servants and asked what these things meant. He said, oh, oh, it's your brother, he's come. Your father's killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry. And what? He refused to go in. He was angry. Now some people think that the older son who did not go into the far country was the good son. He was the moral son. This older son represents the Pharisees. That's them. Outwardly, they show like they're obedient. Outwardly, they give all signs of being that faithful son. But inside, Just like the prodigal went into a far country, their heart was far from God. It's like Jesus said in Matthew 15 verse 8, the people draw near to me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The older son, he's the Pharisee in the story. Now he didn't travel to the far country. He didn't do that, but his heart was far from God. And you know, you don't have to travel to the far country to be out of the will of God. You don't have to travel to the far country to be in rebellion. I mean, you can do that right at home. You can even be a regular church attender and still be in rebellion and be far from God. So he was a religious kind of guy, moral. Everybody thought he was okay. But here's the thing about this older son. Listen carefully. He did not have a relationship with his father. Now how do you know that? Where was he when the younger son made a dishonoring demand to have his own money and property? Because the older son, his responsibility was to guard and to defend the honor of the father. He's nowhere to be seen. He has no clue what's going on. He's out in the field with his friends. That's where he's at. The older brother had that responsibility to stand up for the father, but we don't see that in this story. He shows no respect for his father. He has no relationship with him. And so when he hears the music and the dancing going on, all the celebration, And he hears about what's going on with his little brother. The Bible says there he was angry and he refused to go in. He was angry. Why is that? He's a legalist. He believed you had to work your way back into the family. He refused to go in because he refused grace. He don't like grace. He refused. He believed his brother could never be trusted. And far as he's concerned, his brother, he would never receive his forgiveness. He'll never forget it, what he's done with our family and our family's inheritance. Really, how dare him to show his face around here? And so his feeling is to consider him dead as far as he's concerned. But here's the thing about Pharisees, they don't celebrate. Pharisees don't celebrate grace. They don't celebrate forgiveness. They don't celebrate reconciliation. None of that. But look at verse 28 again. It says, his father came out to him and entreated him. Literally means he pleaded with him, begged him, pleaded with him. Please come on in. It's your brother. He's going to be glad to see you. Come on in. But look what he says in verse 29. It says, But he answered his father, look. Now that's a sign of disrespect right there. Look. Didn't even address his father in a very right way. Look. These many years I have served you. And that word means I've been slaving for you. I've been your slave. That tells you right there he didn't have a relationship with his father. He considered it being a slave relationship here. I've been slaving for you all these years. And I 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, he didn't even call him his brother, He disowned his brother. That's your son of yours. He's devoured your property with prostitutes. And look, you killed a fattened calf for him. So here, he's very disrespectful toward his father. And this older son, all he's thinking about is himself. Notice how many times you see the personal pronoun. I have served you. I have never disobeyed you. And you never gave me. what I wanted for my friends. It's all about him. He disowned his brother there in verse 30. He said, I've got my friends. That's not, he's not my brother. It's just, that's a son of yours, not mine. He devoured your property with prostitutes. He's wasted your money. You, and listen to what, you have killed the fattened calf. You're wasting money on a celebration for someone who don't even deserve it. and look how the father responds to him in verse 31. He said to him, son, you're always with me and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and now he's found. In other words, what he's saying to him here, All that is mine is yours. I mean, if you're worried about the money, is that what you're worried about? Are you worried about the property? Are you worried about the inheritance? Listen, if that's the case, all I have is yours. You can have it all. It's all yours. But in verse 32, he says, it was fitting for us to celebrate and be glad. I mean, your brother here, he was dead. Now he's alive. He was lost. He's found. You know what we're looking at here? Here's what he's saying to his older son. We are looking at something that is more important than money. That's all you got to think about. You're thinking about that. Something is more important than money. Something more important than land, property, possessions, and what all he did with the money. Because it's not about the loss of money. It's not about the loss of property. It's not about any of that. But it's about the recovery of a person. You know, it's always heartbreaking to hear about a loss of someone who lost their life because of a flood or a fire or some tragic event and they lost. But sometimes when those things happen too, you hear people talk about, you know what, we lost our home, we lost our car, we lost all our possessions, but you know what, we're all still safe. We are still here. And we thank God that we're still alive. And thank God for that. But see, This older son, actually he needed to be saved just like the prodigal. And what the father is saying is, it's not about making restitution. And I just want to inject this here. I know it's going off a little bit here. That's what this, I don't know if you heard about this thing called critical race or whatever is going on. People talking about social justice. We've got to make restitution. But listen here. It's not about restitution. It's not about that at all. It's not about that. It's about the relationship. And it's always been about the relationship, the restoring of the relationship. And so the application is real clear here. Because of sin, our relationship with God is broken. But Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. And you might say Jesus is the father in the story. He's the father in the story. What he does, he runs to us. He runs to rescue us from the shame and the accusations from the devil who's the accuser of the brethren. And he embraces us, he loves us, he kisses and he rescues us is what he does. He puts a robe upon us, his own robe. Second Corinthians 521, God who made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. We are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus. And then the ring, he has given us the responsibilities and the privileges of sonship. We are adopted into the family of God. And the shoes, that's the, I think of the gospel shoes. We are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And so there is the celebration that we are part of the banquet the banquet and think about the marriage feast of the lamb that's yet to come. We're a part of that. But the sad thing is this. You know some people, I know some people who refuse to go in. They're angry. They rather be angry. They rather be left alone. They rather be unmerciful. They rather be unforgiving. They rather have their own circle of friends. Their friendship is with the world. And they stay clear away from a relationship with the Father. They refuse to go in. But I pray that's not anyone here today. But if it is, you're invited to come to Christ. Jesus said this, everyone the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. I think of that great invitation verse in Revelation 22 where it says, And so the gospel is so clear in this story of the prodigal, and it's a wonderful thing to think about. that God sent Jesus, took our shame, took our sin, and we come to Christ in faith and repentance and trust Him, and He makes us a part of the family. He adopts us into the family of God. And I pray that if you're not saved, that you'll trust Christ even before we leave today. Let's pray. Hello, this is Pastor Chris Gown. Thank you for listening to the broadcast. We hope the message was helpful and edifying. If you're not a follower of Christ and you want to learn more about the Christian life, please contact us through this website. We would love to respond to your questions. For now, may our Lord bless you and yours with his amazing love and abounding grace. Goodbye.