God's Word, which I pray is well read and treasured in your hearts, and turn to Luke's first account, chapter 15.
! This is the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15.
In case you've not been with us for the past two weeks, we've been considering together what is most often referred to as the parable of the prodigal son.
However, many people will miss the driving point of the story if we think that it is all about the younger of these two brothers.
In Luke, chapter 15, Jesus masterfully tells a story in order to expose the sinfulness of those who would grumble that this man receives sinners and eats with them.
So, the story is driving to a point which is made in the response of the older brother.
All the same, that does not mean that we shouldn't appreciate the other characters of the story and what we can learn of the folly of reckless living or of the licentious love of God.
Two weeks ago, we considered the younger son and his desire to be independent from his father and to have the possessions that his father would give to him so that he could spend it on himself.
We observed the younger son being brought to such a desperate state that he comes to his senses and decides to return to his father to live as a servant.
Last week, we considered the great compassion of the father as he shames himself in order to receive his son back and restore him fully to his status as a son with all of the honor and authority that accompanies it.
And then we saw the celebration of his restoration that follows.
Now, as Jesus is about to drive home his point, recall for us that this story is very endearing.
We can play the images out in our minds.
We love to consider a wayward son returning home and being embraced by his father.
But the Pharisees and the scribes would have been astonished that the father would have treated such a disrespectful son in this manner.
The younger son, in asking for his inheritance, was wishing the father dead.
And the Pharisees and the scribes could not fathom a father that would love his son in this way.
At this point, they would have been furious.
You see, the Pharisees and the scribes are represented by the older brother in the story.
They see Jesus with tax collectors and sinners drawing near to him.
And they say, as self-righteous religious elites, that they want to preserve their status as such.
They would never want the reputations of those drawing near to Jesus to solely their reputations.
And they, as we will see, want nothing to do with a God that would love the younger brothers of this world.
So let's read Luke chapter 15 in its entirety.
Our focus for this morning is going to be on verses 25 through 32.
Before I read, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
And as such, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
So beginning in verse 1.
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.
So he told them this parable.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,
does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,
Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.
Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin,
does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.
Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
And he said, There was a man who had two sons.
And 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 he had and took a journey into a far country.
And there he squandered his property in 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 sent 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 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 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 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 and 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 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 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 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 was fitting to celebrate and be glad.
For this your brother was dead and is alive.
He was lost and is found.
Now the outline for our study this morning will juxtapose the failing love of the oldest son
with the unfailing love of the father in the following outline.
Number one, the failing love of the oldest son for his father.
Number two, the failing love of the oldest son for his younger brother.
And number three, the unfailing love of the father for his oldest son.
Number one, the failing love of the oldest son for his father.
I hope you're not getting those mixed up.
The failing love of the oldest son for his father.
And we see this mostly in verses 28 and 29.
You see that he was angry at this report that his younger brother had returned
and there was great rejoicing and the fattened calf had been killed
and he refused to go inside to the party.
The oldest son was so furious.
And he is furious with the father.
He stands outside of the celebration fuming.
Why?
Because his perceived rights have been trampled upon.
Because he didn't run about seeking his pleasure like his younger brother,
but stayed and shouldered more than his fair share of the work on his father's estate.
He's mad.
He wants justice, not mercy.
He wants his younger brother to get what is coming to him.
He wants him punished, not celebrated.
And so he begins grumbling, just as the Pharisees and scribes.
He says, look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command.
Now, is it true that the oldest son was never disobedient?
Of course not.
This is a parable, to be clear.
But there's no one who ever is perfectly obedient.
This is an impossibility, right?
But his perception is that he has been perfectly obedient.
He thinks so.
He is self-righteous.
He believes that he has been perfectly good, or at least good enough to earn his father's favor.
And this was the state of the Pharisees and the scribes.
In Luke chapter 5, verses 30 through 32, Luke records this.
It should sound familiar.
And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying,
Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
And Jesus answered them,
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Is Jesus suggesting in Luke chapter 15 and in Luke chapter 5,
that the Pharisees and scribes are well?
Absolutely not.
He is addressing their perception of themselves.
He is saying,
You do not see that you are sick,
so therefore you do not see your need of a physician.
Elsewhere, Matthew chapter 23.
This is verses 27 and 28.
Jesus says,
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs,
which outwardly appear beautiful,
but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanliness.
So you also outwardly appear righteous to others,
but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
You put on a very good show.
The Pharisees and scribes should have seen themselves in the older brother
and had been broken by their self-righteous indignation toward the younger sons who were gathering around Jesus.
They needed to lay aside their self-righteousness and see that they also hate the Father.
They should have humbled themselves and turned to the one who was telling them this story.
Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those who recognize they have nothing by which to buy their place in the kingdom of God,
that they cannot earn their salvation.
Mankind's issue before God has never been one of outward activity,
but rather one of inward affection.
God wants our affections to be set on Him,
which to be clear yields obedience,
but that obedience is ultimately for God.
It is aimed at Him to please Him and to glorify Him because we love Him.
The oldest son is not obedient in order to please his father,
but he's rather obedient to get what he can from Him.
Look what he goes on to say, right?
He says essentially,
I have been so perfectly obedient,
and then,
yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.
He is angry at the father's celebration over the return of his younger brother,
not because,
so much because of the younger brother being celebrated,
but because he has not been celebrated.
Because he's not been given something material,
and look who he wants to celebrate with.
A young goat so that he might celebrate with his friends.
He wants nothing to do with the father,
just like the younger son wanted nothing to do with the father.
They both want, in the case of the younger brother at this point in our story,
wanted,
they both want or wanted the father dead.
The older brother failed to love the father.
Earlier in Luke 15,
the younger brother says to the father,
Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me.
What he's saying is,
would you just go ahead and die?
I want what is mine.
And then very curiously,
verse 12, the last part of it,
Luke records for us that Jesus says,
and the father,
he divided his property between them.
So he grants the wish.
But does he grant it just to the younger son?
He grants it to both of them.
Both to the younger and to the older.
And Jesus at this point,
again, this is a parable.
He's telling the story.
We don't have the full detail of a real event here.
He's just telling a story.
But because he's driving at the heart of the scribes and the Pharisees,
note that he doesn't say here,
and the older brother wished the father not dead.
It seems that he takes his inheritance.
That he himself receives the property that is coming to him.
In verse 31, in our text today,
the father even says,
Son, you are always with me,
and all that is mine is yours.
It has already been granted to you.
So this morning,
you may have never placed believing faith in Jesus Christ.
You may identify with the older brother.
You may look really good on the outside.
But your obedience,
your imperfect obedience, I must add,
is not aimed at the pleasure and glory of God,
but at yourself.
You think that if you live just so,
you will earn God's favor.
And this type of thinking is damning.
Do not be like the younger brother,
turn to God in Christ.
Do not be like the older brother,
turn to God in Christ.
Recognize that no amount of your working
will ever earn you a place in his kingdom.
James wrote in James 2, verse 10,
For whoever keeps the whole law,
but fails in one point,
has become guilty of all of it.
Apart from the righteousness
that is given to us by Christ,
that is found in Him,
His perfect life,
all of us are utterly doomed.
We cannot fill the void
that our sin created.
It is impossible.
And that's what this older brother
thinks that he's accomplishing.
The offer of the gospel
is that by faith in the perfect life,
the perfect death,
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
you can have your record of guilt expunged,
and you can have the righteousness of Jesus.
You can be saved from God's wrath,
by God's mercy,
to God's presence.
What a glorious truth.
Now, some of you,
I think most of you,
have placed believing faith in Jesus Christ.
That's the status you hold this morning, right?
Beloved of God,
you are in Christ.
But we are so quick
to forget the great love of the Father for us,
and so quick to either presume upon His grace
with licentious living,
or believe we can earn His grace
with legalism.
Those who are in Christ
err in both ways all the time.
By thinking we can live however we want
because we're in Christ,
or thinking still
that somehow we're not pleasing to God
because we're just not good enough.
And both are errors.
Beloved, you are saved by grace alone
through faith alone.
Your faith will produce obedience in you.
It will produce obedience in you.
But let it be from a grateful heart
that loves to please and glorify God the Father.
It's a response to the work He's accomplished
on your behalf.
On the front of your bulletin
is your,
it seems like almost weekly Spurgeon quote.
Although,
this is a Spurgeon quote
where Spurgeon
is quoting Martin Luther.
So,
extra quote this morning.
Listen to this.
He says,
The whole Bible tells us
from beginning to end
that salvation is not by the works of the law
but by the deeds of grace.
Martin Luther declared
that he constantly preached
justification by faith alone
because,
said he,
the people would forget it
so that I was obliged
almost to knock my Bible
against their heads,
to send it into their hearts.
So it is true,
we constantly forget
that salvation
is by grace alone.
So even those of us
who aren't
off trying to earn salvation
in an absolute sense
or off living licentiously,
rejecting God at every turn,
those of us who are,
in fact,
restored to God
in Christ
can still err
in one of these two ways.
Let it not be so
amongst us.
So that's the failing love
of the oldest son
for his father.
Secondly,
the failing love
of the oldest son
for his younger brother.
In verse 30,
the oldest brother says
of his younger brother,
but when this son of yours
came,
he does not say
when my younger brother came,
he says,
when this son of yours
came,
he just altogether
disowns his brother.
Parents,
do you ever do that
to your spouse?
I do sometimes.
So you'll never believe
what your son just said.
That's in effect
what he is doing,
although I do it
with laughter.
He's doing it
with anger, right?
He is not concerned
at all
about his younger brother.
But this type of disowning
had happened long before
in Jesus' story.
The oldest brother
made no attempt
to reason
with his younger brother.
He did not try
to stop him
from sitting against
the father
so egregiously.
And he did not
seek his return
and restoration.
Right?
That would have been
the appropriate thing
to happen
in this day.
Right?
The father to stay
at home,
master of his domain.
It's the oldest brother
that should have gone out
and sought the younger brother
and brought the younger brother home.
In fact,
we can see from the text
that the oldest brother
knew where his younger brother was.
This distant land,
he was aware of it
and he knew
what he was up to.
But it did not go to him.
He says to the father,
this young son of yours
who has devoured
your property
with prostitutes.
He knows
what he has been up to.
He could have gone
and sought him out.
The oldest brother failed
to love
the younger brother.
At this point,
if you're in Christ,
I want you
to long
for the younger brother
to have a better
oldest brother.
A brother that would
humble himself
by going on a long journey
for his younger brother's
return
and restoration.
A brother who would
gladly share his inheritance
with his younger brother.
A brother who leads
his younger brother
in grateful obedience.
A brother who would
rejoice to see
his father rejoice
in his return.
Praise God
that if you are in Christ,
we have a perfect
older brother,
Christ himself.
But that is not this brother.
That is not who
this brother is.
He goes on to say,
you killed
the fattened calf
for him.
And it needs to
resonate around
in your head
the accusation
that the scribes
and the Pharisees
railed against Jesus.
Right?
The oldest brother
is saying to the father,
you have received
a sinner
and are eating
with him.
If the oldest brother
loved the father,
he would have also
loved what the father
loves.
the younger brother.
He would have also
loved the younger
brother.
You may find yourself
this morning
in Christ,
but loving
what the world
loves.
You just want to
celebrate with some
of your friends.
But what does
the father love?
The father loves
the restoration
of his sons.
The parable
of the lost sheep
and the parable
of the lost coin
are about the rejoicing
in heaven over sinners
who repent.
Jesus says in Luke 19.10,
For the Son of Man
came to seek
and to save
the lost.
This is why
Jesus came
to earth.
Jesus,
the perfect
oldest brother,
came to find
the lost
and he has given
us the same
charge.
Paul writes
to the Corinthian church
in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5,
verse 18
and following,
All this is from God,
and he's talking
about the new
creations that we are
in the preceding
verses.
All this is from God
who through Christ
reconciled us
to himself
and gave us
the ministry
of reconciliation.
So,
sons restored,
now given
the ministry
of reconciliation.
That is,
this is verse 19,
in Christ,
God was reconciling
the world to himself,
not counting their
trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us
the message
of reconciliation.
Therefore,
we are ambassadors
for Christ,
God making his appeal
through us.
We implore you
on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled
to God.
And so you see,
as Christ is the
perfect oldest
brother,
right,
as he has come
and sought
and saved,
we have been given
the same charge
to go and to seek
and to save,
and we ought not,
as God's sons,
disregard anybody
for that mission.
We're to go,
and we're to go far
to the very ends
of the earth.
It means your neighbor,
and it means the person
that doesn't speak
the language
that anybody knows
yet,
all the way
to the ends
of the earth
to bring
God's sons
home.
And so that's the
failing love,
boy, I screwed it up there,
the failing love
of the son
for his
younger brother.
May it not be so
amongst us.
And then thirdly,
let's look at the
unfailing love
of the father
for his
oldest
son.
The father
extends the
same love
he has for the
younger brother
to the oldest
brother.
The father's
love is
unfailing.
When
the oldest
son was angry
and refused
to go in,
what does the
father do?
He comes out
and he
entreats him,
which means
he urged
or implored
or encouraged
him to come
in and join
the celebration.
The father
could have
justly been
angry with
the oldest
son for
being outside
fuming,
not joining
the celebration.
He could have
sent a message
to him
via a servant,
get in here
or else.
But instead,
he comes
to him
and he
entreats
him,
don't be
this way.
You are
my son.
Love
what I
love.
Love
what I
love because
I love
you.
And I
hope to
help you
see the
connection.
He
entreats
him,
join in
the rejoicing
of heaven
for,
verse 32,
it was
fitting to
celebrate
and be
glad for
this your
brother was
dead and
is alive.
He was
lost and
is found.
Jesus
is making
a plea
to the
Pharisees
and the
scribes
to come
to him
by faith.
exactly
what's
going
on in
this
story.
So,
you see,
God's
sons love
what he
loves and
he loves
to see
sinners
come to
repentance.
He loves
to restore
those who
are poor
in spirit,
to lavishly
love those
who return
to him
in humility.
The Pharisees
and the
scribes
were showing
themselves
to not
be God's
sons
as they
grumbled,
saying,
this man
receives
sinners
and eats
with them.
And so,
Jesus tells
them three
parables
as a
mercy
to them.
Did they
heed that
warning?
Sadly,
no.
At least
not most
of those
self-righteous
religious
elite of
the day
turned to
God by
faith
in Christ.
The story
ends there
and it
ends rather
abruptly
and that's
because Jesus
has made
his point.
He has
said the
very thing
that he
was driving
to say
in these
three
parables.
But there
is a
real life
epilogue
to the
parable.
The oldest
son,
in his
rage
against the
father,
beats him
to death.
In John
chapter 11,
beginning in
verse 45,
this is
after Jesus
raises
Lazarus
from the
dead.
And if my
understanding
is correct,
it would
have been
about the
same time.
The
parable
of the
two sons
is only
recorded in
Luke's
account.
This
particular
record is
only in
John's
account,
but I
think they
were happening
at about
the same
time.
Verse 45
and following,
many of
the Jews
therefore,
who had
come with
Mary and
had seen
what he
did,
raising
Lazarus
from the
dead,
believed in
him.
But some
of them
went to
the Pharisees
and told
them what
Jesus had
done.
So the
chief
priests and
the Pharisees
gathered the
council and
said,
what are we
to do?
For this
man performs
many signs.
If we let
him go on
like this,
everyone will
believe in
him.
And the
Romans will
come and
take away
both our
place and
our nation.
Hear what
they're concerned
about.
This man is
performing
these miracles,
right?
Raised a
man from
the dead.
They're not
so concerned
about whether
or not it
actually even
happened.
They seem
to believe
that it
did.
But if
he keeps
doing this
kind of
thing,
if he
rises up
as a
ruler,
people are
going to be
following him
and Rome
is not
going to
like it.
And what
will happen?
We will
lose our
place and
our nation,
our status.
We will
not have
the power
that we
presently
enjoy.
Verse 49,
But one
of them,
Caiaphas,
who was
high priest
that year,
said to
them,
You know
nothing at
all,
nor do
you
understand
that it
is better
for you
that one
man should
die for
the people,
not that
the whole
nation should
perish.
This is
fascinating.
He did
not say
this of
his own
accord,
but being
high priest
that year,
he prophesied
that Jesus
would die
for the
nation.
But their
understanding
of it was
rather perverted,
wasn't it?
They were
saying,
if we can
kill this
guy and
get him
out of
the way,
we can
keep on
going the
way we
are.
Rather than
seeing that
the words
that God
was speaking
through him,
would be
to say
that Christ
came to
die for
them on
their behalf,
that they
might come
to God
by faith
in him.
It's a very
interesting turn
there.
And then
verse 52
says,
the older brother
beats the
father to
death.
Praise be to
God that
he purposed
that Jesus
should die.
that by
the hands
of wicked
men
our
savior
was
murdered,
but that
three days
later he
declared
victory over
sin and
death when
he was
raised from
the dead,
and that
now we
by faith
may have
life in
him.
What they
meant for
evil,
God
meant for
good.
This morning
let us
rejoice in
the unfailing
love of
the father.
Join me
in prayer.