Let's go to Lord in prayer. Our Father and our God, we are thankful that we are able to join our voices in one accord and sing praises unto your name. We thank you, Father, that you have saved us and put a desire in our hearts to worship you. and how we do long, Father, for your churches to be full of individuals praising your holy name, for you have created us for that very purpose. Forgive us for our many sins. We know, Father, that we sin daily, but we are thankful that Christ has paid the penalty for all of our sins so that we can come into your presence and worship you in truth and spirit. We come to you asking that you would teach us this day as only you can by your Spirit. For we know that all is vain unless your Spirit comes. So we cry out to you to send your Spirit to do the work that only He can do of opening up eyes and unstopping ears so that we might see and that we might hear your truth. How we pray, Father, for the salvation of sinners, as the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world this day, that many would be brought into your kingdom. How we pray, Father, that righteousness would flood the nations. How we pray for an awakening to take place in our day, to turn the wicked from their sins to Christ, and to renew the righteous that you have saved. As we continue, Father, to think upon your word this morning and the truth found in this parable, we pray, Father, that you would speak to us in the words that are proclaimed in the gospel. We thank you, Father, that you have not left us to our own ignorance, but you have given us your very words. Give us understanding of them so that we might rightly apply them to our lives, so that we might grow in the likeness of Christ. We pray, Father, that you would be with those unable to be with us today. We know that many in our body are out with different illnesses, and we pray that your healing hand would be upon their body, that you would restore them quickly. We continue to pray, Father, that you would protect each of us from the virus. We pray for those, Father, who have it. We pray that you would be pleased to heal their bodies. We thank you, Father, that we can take trust in knowing that you are a gracious and merciful God, and that we all must one day stand before you. We know that our days are numbered, and then the judgment. Help us, Father, to prepare us for that day. Use the spread of this virus to cause many to think upon eternity, to think upon their own death, to cause them who are not Christians to flee to Christ so that they might know him and be saved from their sins. We also pray for those who would be away that you would watch over them while they travel. We know that there are some that are on vacation and that they would have a time of enjoyment, and as they worship elsewhere, that they would be blessed in their time of worship. We pray also for those that might not be here due to lack of concern of their own spiritual condition, that you would work in their hearts, bring conviction so that they might return and gather together with the saints. All of this we pray, Father, in the name of Christ and for his sake, amen. Take your Bibles and turn again with me to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, and we will read the final verses of that chapter, beginning in verse 25. Luke 15, beginning with verse 25. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandments at any time, and yet you have never gave me a young goat that I may make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad. For your brother was dead and is alive and was lost and is found." Today we will conclude this parable. Some of you may have thought we never would come to the end, but we are coming to the end of the parable today of the prodigal son and the older brother, which has much to say to us, for it reveals to us God's grace and mercy, as well as man's sinfulness and lack of grace and mercy. There are a few who want to end this parable at verse 24. I read an article recently which entitled, Please Stop with the Older Brother. And this writer says, The parable of the prodigal son is not about the older brother. It is not about our attitude focused on our inheritance. We are not to identify with the older brother. We are the younger brother, all of us. All of us were once dead in our sins. All of us were one time lost. All of us were one time made alive in Christ. Then he continues later and says, When we focus on just the older brother, we lose sight of the importance of celebrating those coming to Christ. So please stop focusing on the older brother. Instead, start focusing on the mission. Please stop preaching about the older brother. Start preaching on joining the mission of God so that those who were once dead may be alive. Those who were once lost may be found. Well, there are some things he says in there that are right, but the majority I would disagree with. He seems to ignore verses 1 through 3 of this chapter. We have to understand that Jesus is answering with this parable a direct attack on Him. That He what? Well, let's go back and look. It says there, And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. So that's the direct attack on Jesus. They're being critical that Jesus would receive sinners and eat with them and therefore he gives us the three parables. I'm not the only one that would disagree with him. Ralph Davis, I've mentioned to you before that he was one of my teachers at RTS. I always used to tell Ralph Davis, you're really a Baptist. Come on over. Because he preaches so much like a Baptist. Listen to what he says in his sermon on this. It is very important that you let verse 1 and 2 of chapter 15 govern the way you look at the whole chapter. Verse 1 and 2 controls all three parables that Jesus is telling us. Of course, some of you think the third parable... Now, think about this. He's preaching to Presbyterians. Some of you think the third parable You don't think you identify with the prodigal son. Some of you say, that's not where I am or was. Well, I got good news for you. The parable isn't really about the so-called prodigal son. It's about the Presbyterian son. I'm not kidding. Verse 25, where it says the older son, the word older, the Greek adjective, Presbyterios. Hello, Presbyterian! And He manifests an attitude that can be very calm, the Presbyterian type as well. So in these parables, Jesus is offering His defense against the charges that were brought against Him in verses 1 and 2. Then He goes on later and He says in that sermon, From verses 3 through 32, Jesus is defending Himself against this charge. He speaks these three parables. There is a little celebration after each parable. Then after the third section of the parable, there is the appendix in verses 25 through 32. And what you have to be careful not to do is to not cut off the story after verse 24. For then you screw up what Jesus is trying to say. He's just getting to the punchline. That's where He is holding up a mirror for His critics to see themselves. To see their attitude expressed in the older brother's words. So you don't cut it off there. For that is what Jesus really wants you to see. He wants you to see the Presbyterian Son for He designed for that to show His critics their own attitude. Maybe He wants us to see our attitude. I told you he's more like a Baptist. He recently retired, matter of fact. Now, it's easy for us to miss the main point in the parable. Remember, these three parables are connected. You don't separate them. That's why we have looked at all three of the parables in chapter 15. They begin with verses 1 through 3. And Jesus is definitely defending His action to the religious leaders. They've made this charge against Him. We know that they do not like Jesus. They hate Jesus. They want to destroy Jesus. And He's teaching both groups. He's teaching the sinners and the tax collectors as well as the religious leaders. And He's teaching them what? He's teaching them about God's grace. The acrostic. God's riches at Christ's expenses. So that's what He is teaching them. But also He's teaching them about the sinfulness of men and the lack of grace that sinful men have. And it's said that even in the church today, church members don't understand grace. They'll talk about God's love, but they don't truly understand God's love and all that God's love encompasses. Like these religious leaders who Jesus is confronting, most think that God's love is only for those people who are good people, who are kind people, people who are moral citizens, upright individuals. That's who they thought God's love was for. Not the outcasts, not the sinners, not the tax collectors. They have no comprehension of what Paul meant when he said, but God demonstrated His own love for us in why what? We were yet sinners, Christ died for us. First John 4.10, in His love, not that we love God, but that God loved us and sent His Son to be what? Our propitiation for our sins. Children, ask your parents when you get home what that word propitiation means and they'll explain it to you. I'm not gonna take the time to explain it. I'm giving your parents some homework for you. First John 4.10. in Romans 5. Now hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured out in our heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 1 John 3.16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. John 15.12 and 13, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friend. And I could go on and on and on, speaking of the many verses in the Scripture that speaks of God's love. But I hope you're understanding my point that I'm trying to make. God has demonstrated His love in many ways. He's demonstrated His benevolent love as well as His peculiar, particular love. But yet men don't get it. They don't grasp it. They don't understand it. They don't comprehend it. I could preach a sermon on each one of these verses that I just read which speaks of God's love. People love to hear sermons on God's love. I love to hear sermons on God's love. But the problem is most still don't get it. And this is one of the reasons why Jesus gives us the parable to these two groups. Both of them needed to hear it. The sinners, the tax collectors, they needed to hear it. The religious leaders, they needed to hear it. They needed to understand God's grace, God's love. And we see that God demonstrates His benevolent love to both groups. I mean, if God had not demonstrated His benevolent love to both groups, they wouldn't be sitting there listening to Him at this moment. That's the only reason why they are alive. God has demonstrated His benevolent love on them. And this is seen in how the younger son took his inheritance, his many blessings that his father had given him, and what did he do with them? Well, we saw what he did with them. He wasted them. He wasted the benevolent love, all of the blessings his father had given him in the inheritance on his sinful life. He took those blessings for granted, and they were gone. When they were gone, that's when it sunk in that he had received many blessings. And that's how a lot of people are. God blesses them in His benevolent love. They have so many things from God and they take it for granted. And they waste them on their lustful desires. But we also see this attitude in the older son. He was just as guilty for he had the mindset that his father owed him. That his father owed him all of these benevolent blessings that he himself had earned them by his quote righteous living and therefore he prided himself and he boasted about his goodness to his father. Now last week we saw that the older son became very angry with the father for showing compassion to the younger son and having this celebration for him. He was so outraged that he proclaimed that he would not go in. He was unwilling to go in and rejoice and participate in the celebration. Now we must see that he did not understand grace. He was so angry because he believed that his father should have done what? Punished the son. Taken him out to the woodshed. That's what he thought he needed. He needed to be dealt with SEVERELY is what the older son thought about the younger son. because he did not understand forgiveness. He did not understand grace. This was the attitude of the religious leaders. And just like the older son, they could not stand the thought of Jesus welcoming in sinners and telling these sinners that they could have peace with the living God. That they could be reconciled with God. How dare Jesus tell sinners sinners who had broken the covenant, sinners who were living sinful life, that they could be in the covenant of grace and be reconciled with the Father if they repented of their sins and looked to Christ. But we know That this is the very reason Jesus came. This is the reason Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. We saw that in the first two parables as well as in this third parable. And of course this is what Jesus eventually went to the cross for. And we know that it was the religious leaders that put him on the cross. And last week I mentioned John MacArthur in his sermon in the Tale of Two Sons by stating how he would like for the parable to end. in a different way. And he gives a couple of ways. He says, but you know what? I don't get to write the ending. Who wrote the ending? The Pharisees wrote the ending. Here's the way they wrote. The younger son, being outraged at the father, picked up a piece of wood, beat him to death in front of everyone. That's the ending they wrote. That's the cross. That's what they did just a few months after this, by the way, congratulated themselves on their righteous act. that preserve the honor of Israel and Judaism and true religion and God. And I pointed out that I disagreed with him on this. But let me say, in no way am I attacking John MacArthur saying, don't listen to John MacArthur. No, I'm not doing that. I simply disagree with him in saying this is the ending. Of course, I don't have to worry about him disagreeing with me. Because he's never going to listen to any of my sermons, but I listen to his sermons a lot. Now, as I conclude this parable, I want us to examine ourselves to see if we have any of the older brother's attitude in us. It's easy for us to fall into the mindset when we forget God's grace in our own life. And it's easy for us to do that. It's easy for us to begin to look down our nose at others and think less of them than we ought to. Now, as we concluded, I want us to examine ourselves in that way to see if we might have his attitude. First, we see that the older brother could not stand the thought of his brother being at peace with the father. and the Father extending this peace, being reconciled. Why? Because He had wasted the inheritance. He had disgraced His family and totally disregarded His Jewish upbringing. Now let me mention that many don't understand that the Jewish religion had been perverted by this time. It had been perverted by the church leaders, the religious leaders, during that 400-year period when Malachi was written all the way up to Matthew. Children, there was a 400-year period when God did not speak. And during that time, the Jewish religion was perverted. Now, these religious leaders invented what we call WORKS RELIGION. And there still was a few that truly held on to grace, held on to the gospel, but not the majority. I mean, we know of two, right? We find them at the very beginning of the New Testament, Simeon and Anna. when Jesus was born and brought to the temple. So we know those two were saved and they were godly Jews, but the majority were not. The majority had no concept of who the Messiah was and what the Messiah would accomplish. They had come up with their own ideas during that period. We can't pinpoint exactly when this happened, but we know that during that period it evolved. And we know that Jesus. in this parable is teaching about Himself who is the Messiah and why He came. And what Jesus taught was totally opposite from what the religious leaders taught. So therefore what? They were clashing head-on with one another. They could not stand to hear Him speak of grace and this is why they hated Him so much. And He was teaching the people about God's grace And they were teaching about what? How you could earn pleasure with God, how you could please God by your works. And of course, we know what eventually came from that was the Roman Catholic Church. Now, grace has always been mentioned in the scripture from the very beginning. Where is the first time it's spoken of, children? I've mentioned it before. Can you remember? If you had Dr. Kurt for your teacher at RTS, you better remember Genesis 3.15. Remember Adam and Eve had fallen and God comes to them and then God begins to teach them that he's going to show them grace and that he's going to send one that is going to crush the serpent's head. So there in Genesis 3.15 it speaks of that. But that's not the only place that it talks about the grace. I mean, there in Genesis chapter 15, it picks up and it talks about Abraham in verses 6 and 7, just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So there it is. It wasn't WORKS, it was what? It was he BELIEVED in God. and they're accounted for righteousness. Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham." So again, we see grace spoken of, the gospel given to us, that those who are sons of faith, not works, but sons of faith. And the religious leaders were no longer teaching the religion of Abraham. Even though they boasted that Abraham was their father, they did not teach what Abraham taught. We see Paul continues this truth in Romans 4, 1-4. What then shall we say? That Abraham our father found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Did you hear what he said? If he was saved by works, what does that indicate? He was not saved by works. If he was saved by works, then he'd have something to boast about, but not before God. In other words, he can't come before God with his works. And he goes on and he says, Therefore, what does the scripture say and what does it do? It refers back to the passage we read earlier. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, not to him who works. The wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. And then we have the passage in Hebrews 11, 8-10, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. Now what was the place he was called out of? It was a pagan country in the land of Ur. He was a sinner. His father was worshiping pagan gods and he was called out of that into the faith. And he went out. So he went out from that land not knowing where he was going. He simply trusted God. And what? By faith he dwelt in the land of the promise in a foreign country, dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob and heirs with him, of the same promise, same promise, what is that promise? The gospel see, of the same promise that Christ is the Messiah. for he waited for the city which was founded, whose builder and maker is God." So the gospel was right there before them, but they did not grasp it, they did not see it, they did not understand the gospel. But Jesus did, and Jesus continued to teach it. So the Jews did not look to God as their Heavenly Father, but Jesus taught them that He was a Heavenly Father, our Father which art in heaven. See, they could not see Yahweh as being a compassionate, loving Father. In the garden, we saw that Jesus prayed and He said, Abba, Father, all these things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but what You will. And Paul writes in Romans 5, 8, 15, for you did not receive a spirit of bondage against fear, but you received a spirit of adoption by whom you cry what? Abba, Father. And in Galatians 4, Paul writes, And because you were sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying, Abba, Father. So time and time again, we are told that He is our Father. We are His sons and we can cry out to Him. There's that compassionate cry that we give, Daddy, Father. Even though the older brother could not accept that the father would restore the younger brother, we see that is exactly why the father sent his only begotten Son into the world to restore that which was lost. And the father gave the Son a people. He knew in that eternal counsel, he gave the Son a covenant people. whom He would save, that's why it says in John 6, 37-39, all that the Father has given me shall come to me and Him that comes to me I will no wise cast out for I came down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me and this is the will of the Father which sent me that all which He has given me I shall lose. None, but shall raise them up again in the last day. And then in John 10, 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. So therefore there's the security of the believer. There's the perseverance of the saint. No one will ever snatch them out of the father's hand. As I've mentioned before, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God came to restore them. God came to reconcile them. God came to give them peace so that they could live with Him. And these religious leaders did not see that. They did not understand that. And they hated Christ because He said that sinners could be at peace with God. I hope that point has been drilled into your head. This is exactly what the gospel is. It calls sinners to come to Christ. It's called what? The gospel of peace. Paul says that in Ephesians chapter 6. Having shrouded your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. So therefore, God came to make peace with man. The parallel between the religious leaders and the older brother is obvious. I hope you see that it's obvious. We've talked about it already. Neither understood the Father. Which, remember in this parable, who is the Father representing? The Father is representing Christ. Neither understood Christ. And we see evidence of that there in verses 29 and 30. I mean, he tries to convey to his father just how righteous he is and all that he has done. But notice how disrespectful he is to his father. But as soon as this son of yours, I mean, I'm sorry, verse 29, so he answered and said to him, These many years, now that word low can be translated look or see. I have been serving you. So we see that he begins to boast. It's more or less as if he's saying, let me tell you a thing or two, Father. Let me set you straight. You see how disrespectful he's being to his father? Or he could be saying, evidently you haven't been observing me very well. You haven't been observing all the good deeds. You haven't been observing that I've been here all of these years. I've obeyed you. I've done everything you've asked me to do. You've missed it, father. All these years I have been serving you, he says. I mean, these are words of a legalist. I mean, when you go to prayer each day, do you say, now, God, all these years I've been serving you, take note. Notice how good I've been. I'm in worship every Sunday. I'm at prayer meeting. And I go any other time you need me to go. I even came to work day yesterday. We had a Gideon army yesterday. mighty men as mark chansky with a head by name and we got a lot done and i appreciate you mean doing that but but you see what i'm saying we don't go to god and say that in our prayers if we go to god and say anything what do we say i am such a sorry individual you you saved me by your grace and how do i respond i sin i'm short In doing that which pleases you, I mean, that's how we go to God, isn't it? We don't boast like this older brother is doing. We don't say, all these years I've served you, you owe me God. No, if we've understood grace, we don't act like a legalist. We come to God humbly and cry out to Him for more grace. But we see this, that He was simply bitter He was even bitter in his service. I mean, he served not from a heart that had been changed. He served as a legalist so that he could boast about it. I mean, he would deceive about his spiritual condition, thinking that he was owed much for all that he had done. I mean, a legalist doesn't understand the grace of God. He's simply boastful and proud about his life. I can remember as a child in the church that I was in, early on, they had a fuss. I mean, if you've been in a Baptist church, you've been involved in some kind of fuss or another over the year. and the man who was involved with the treasury was complaining and he more or less was saying, y'all don't appreciate all that I do for this church. That's more or less what he was saying. And it ended up where the pastor eventually left because of this problem that arose in the church. I mean, his mindset should have been, I thank God that y'all allow me to be the treasurer. And you know, if I'm not doing the job like somebody else did, I'm willing to step down. I just want God to use me in the church in whatever way God would have me to use my talents that He's given me. But there's so many that are involved in church work that think everybody ought to recognize them for what they do. That is not the attitude that we should have. The attitude that we should have is, God, I thank you that you let me do something. If it's cleaning toilet, to God be the glory. You know, whatever you would have me to do, Lord, I will do it in your church. to be able to serve you in this manner it's such a joy just just let me do something lord if you don't mind whatever it is i'll do it to please you but yet a legalist takes pride in his accomplishments he says what i have never transgressed your commandments at any time huh? i have never transgressed your commandments at any time? Man, this guy thinks high of himself and he's a liar! He had! And he's doing it right now and dishonoring his father. I mean, this is one reason why Jesus called the Pharisees and the Scribes blind gals and fools. Matthew 23, 16 and 17. Woe to you blind gals who say, whoever swears by the temple is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, it is obliged to perform. Fools and blind, for which greater the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? I mean, this guy's also like the rich young ruler. Remember the rich young ruler when Jesus confronted him about the Ten Commandments? What did he say? ALL THESE THINGS I HAVE KEPT FROM MY YOUTH UP. I LACK NOTHING! Another person that thought so highly of himself. I mean, the Scripture tells us we've broken ALL of the commandments, and this guy's saying he's kept them all. I mean, this son didn't see how FAR he was from God, and he also didn't see how far-reaching God's commandments are. And sad to say, most people don't. But look at what else he says. You never gave me a goat that I might make merry with my friends. I mean, he didn't grasp how gracious his father had been to him. Now he's going to accuse his father and question his father about his goodness, charging his father with injustice. I mean, what the guy's doing, he's putting all that he's done on one side, see all that I've done, and he's putting all that the Father has done for him on the other side, and he's doing this, see. He's thinking, I've done so much more, Father, and you haven't rewarded me for all that I've done. You haven't given me a goat. I mean, he had the same mindset as these religious leaders who were prideful, arrogant, snobbish, know-it-alls. I mean, hypocrites like that hang out together, and they try to outdo one another, boasting to each other how much they've done. Now, we further see disrespect there in verse 30. He says, This son of yours came, I mean, he's arrogantly seeking to tell his father how foolish he is in welcoming this son home. He doesn't even call him his brother. See, he says, this son of yours, you know, do you ever do that as husband and wife? Your son, your daughter, no, y'all have never done that, have you? I mean, it's not our fault, it's your fault. It's your son, it's your daughter. Now this is what this guy is doing here. This brother, he doesn't say that, he says this son. And he informed the father about the son's wickedness and how he's made a fool of himself as well as the religion and the family by welcoming home and he knows that he, being the older son, must set the record straight. Now, you can make application of this to some who's been raised in the church. I think that's what Ralph Davis is doing in his sermon, talking about the Presbyterian son. I mean, they never leave the church outwardly. They never really go against what the church teaches, but yet they're never really a part of the church. because they've never been brought into the church by grace. They even receive the ordinances and the blessings, but they don't have a new heart. The phrase, he says, all that I have is yours, the Father says that, must be understood with limitations. I mean, it can't be speaking of sonship. in the sense of being adopted into the family of God. So it's speaking of the outward privileges of being in the Jewish covenant and there were outward privileges that he had received. We see that the writer of Hebrews speaks of this in a very difficult passage a lot of people say but I think it can be explained and understood. In Hebrews 6, beginning in verse 4, it says, For it is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gifts, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the ages to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again themselves to the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. Now there are groups that use this particular passage to try to say, well, see, someone can lose their salvation, but that's not what this is dealing with. We're not talking about a saved person here. We're talking about a person that was in the church that gave evidence because being in the church and the things he experienced, for instance, could he be talking about even Judas here? I'm not going to be dogmatic on that, but could he be talking about Judas? Remember, Judas was one of the Twelve. Judas was respected. Judas tasted heavenly things. He partook of the Spirit to a certain limit. He was not filled with the Spirit, but he partook of it. In other words, he went out with the Seventy-Two and did great and wonderful things, and he had POWER. But yet, what happened to Judas? And also it says, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance. If they fall away. In other words, the reason why they don't repent is because they think they're okay. They're like these religious leaders. They don't think they need any repentance. Now don't misunderstand me. Blessings of being in a Jewish home were real. Being in the Outward Covenant, being taught God's Word, being taught the Ten Commandments, being taught the Old Testament, all of that was a blessing. Likewise, children, it's a blessing that you are in a Christian home. You could have been born in a Muslim home and being taught Allah. You could have been born in a Buddhist home and being taught about Buddha. But no, God has blessed you being taught are raised in a Christian home and taught Christianity, being taught the Word of God, where the Word of God is exalted in your home. Having parents who love you and desire for you to come to Christ, parents who discipline you and parents who catechize you, that is a blessing from God. But none of those things will save you as a child. Though God may use those things to bring you to Christ, and you should be thankful for that and not neglected as this older son did. Now, the father points out there in verse 32, why they had to celebrate. When he says there, It was right that we should be married, make merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. So he clearly points out that it was right, it was good, but yet he doesn't get it. He doesn't get it because he doesn't understand grace. He doesn't understand salvation. He has never seen himself as lost. He has never seen himself as dead in his sins. He continues to think that he is better than his brother. A person cannot be saved until what takes place. His eyes are open to his lost condition. Until he sees himself as undone, as a sinner, as damned for hell, until he comes to that point to where he sees himself in that condition, he will not cry out to God. And it's the gospel that we share so that a person will come to see himself. But also we have to pray that the Holy Spirit would do that work that only the Holy Spirit can do of opening up his eyes and showing himself his unfit condition. Spurgeon said, it was the fitting thing, the proper thing, the right thing, that there should be extraordinary joy over the returning sinner. There ought to be, there must be, there shall be special music and dancing over sinners saved by the grace of God and how true that is. And it should grieve us when anyone who calls herself a Christian looks down on a sinner who has been changed by the grace of God. I mean, he's acting like the older brother if he looks down on a sinner who has been saved by the grace of God. The attitude of the older brother will destroy the church. And God will write Ichabod on the doors for such a church that is so unlike God, so ungracious and so uncaring for anyone who has experienced Grace. In closing, I remind you the main point of the parable. It's about God. It's about grace. How we don't deserve it. He is speaking to two kinds of sinners. One came to see their self as a sinner, the other didn't. One repented of his sins, the other didn't. it's interesting that this story seems to stop just simply stop we may want an ending to the story but Jesus doesn't give us an ending my friend Richard Smith wrote this I think it ends as it does And that's the ending. We don't add to it in any way because it ends where God wants it to end. And we are not to add to it. The purpose of the parable is over. And when we want to add to it, we show that perhaps we don't get the divine meaning. Here's a similar thought by another writer. The ending of the parable He ends with the father speaking to the older son, but we don't know how the older son responds. We just don't know what the older son said or did. Jesus doesn't tell us. Why not? It's the same reason that the book of Jonah has no ending. The similarities between Jonah and the older brother are striking. Why doesn't the third parable in this sequence have an ending? Why do we not hear the older brother or older son say what he says? Why does Jesus leave us hanging as to what happened? Well, the parable of the prodigal son has no ending because we are invited to the end. If we identify with the older brother in Luke 15, we are invited into the story to provide its ending. Now at the end of the first parable, what takes place? It is REJOICE WITH ME, and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who NEED NO REPENTANCE. Second parable. Again, it is rejoice with me. There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then the third, when the prodigal son returns, the father rejoices and throws a big banquet. All of this fits with Jesus' words there in verses 1 through 3. Why He received sinners and ate with them. So Jesus is showing them God's view of things as they really are. Therefore, there's no need to go further. That's the main message Jesus is giving us. One day there's going to be a great celebration in heaven. All of God's elects will be there. And we will rejoice with God, with our Savior, and we will give Him all the glory and honor for this great work of salvation, this great work of grace which we have experienced in our life, and we will be praising Him forever and ever and ever. So in closing, I ask, Who do you identify with in this parable? The younger brother as he was still in his sins? The older brother who shows no grace but looks down his nose at his brother? Or the younger brother who experienced God's grace and repentance? I can't answer that question for you. I can only answer it for me. You have to answer it for yourself. Let us pray. Father, we bow before you. for this parable. Thankful for grace. Thankful for the teaching of who you are, that you are a gracious, merciful God, seeking and finding lost sinners and bringing them to yourself. and rejoicing. I pray that we would have the same mindset and attitude, that we might not only rejoice in the salvation that you have given us, but that we would rejoice in the salvation of others. Do not Allow any of us to have the attitude of this younger brother. Father, if it creeps into our hearts, bring conviction by your spirit so that we might repent and be right with you. And this we pray in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.