WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.879 Okay, today's sermon is the second of four sermons in a series called Gospel Training. 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:09.919 ! We're going to be in Luke chapter 15. The whole time I'm going to go verse by verse through 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:16.080 ! Section of Luke 15. So if you want to pull out your Bibles and follow along with me, you certainly can. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.640 And we're going to primarily be in Luke 15, 11 to 32, but we're going to start with verse 1 so we see 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:29.920 the context here. The title of my sermon today is Gospel Identity or Prodigal God. Gospel Identity 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:36.079 or Prodigal God. All right, in Luke chapter 15 verse 1, we see the audience that he's speaking to. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:40.920 He's going to tell three different parables in Luke 15, and we want to first see who he's talking to 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:47.160 because it'll give us a clue as to what he's saying and why he's saying it. So Luke 15, 1 to 2 says, 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:52.859 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:58.620 grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Okay, so that's the, this is the 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:04.259 backdrop of Luke 15. We got two groups of people. We got the tax collectors and the sinners, 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:10.140 so the unrighteous, and then we got the Pharisees and the scribes. You might describe them as the 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:15.900 self-righteous. Okay, we got the unrighteous, the self-righteous, and the self-righteous Pharisees 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:23.219 and scribes, they're grumbling. What are they saying? They're saying, This man receives sinners and 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:28.179 eats with them, with the kind of, you can almost hear the disgust in their voice as they're saying it. 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:35.319 All right? So you got three different parables with one theme. The theme you have in all three 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:39.900 parables, you got the parables of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and then the parable 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:46.379 of the lost son. And thematically, you see joy in heaven over repentant sinners in all three of these. 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:52.560 All right? So we're gonna, so let's look, so Luke 15, 7, the first one, it says, So I tell you, 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:59.399 there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need 00:01:59.399 --> 00:02:05.919 no repentance. And then Luke 15, 10, in the second parable, he says, So I tell you, there is joy before 00:02:05.919 --> 00:02:13.139 the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then it brings us to the third parable. This is 00:02:13.139 --> 00:02:16.899 where we're going to be having our focus this morning, or we're going to go through. So we'll 00:02:16.899 --> 00:02:23.699 start in verse 11 of Luke 15. Parable of the, what most people would call the parable, parable of the 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:30.019 prodigal son. I think it might, in some ways, might be better titled the parable of the prodigal God. 00:02:30.459 --> 00:02:36.619 The word prodigal means waste. Okay? And so it's looking at the son and say, Oh, look at how he was 00:02:36.619 --> 00:02:41.219 wasteful. And I think in the same way, they would probably look at God, and we'll see this in a 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:48.719 second and say, Oh, he's, he's wasting his efforts. He's wasting his lavish grace. So we'll start with 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:56.259 Luke verse 15, 11 says, remember, it says there was a man who had two sons. There was a man who 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:02.020 had two sons. So this story is about two sons. And let's remember the audience. There's the self 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:07.039 righteous who are listening and the unrighteous. And then the parable is about two sons. So he's 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:11.679 speaking to two different groups of people. And then also the parable is about two sons. That's 00:03:11.679 --> 00:03:20.079 significant. Okay. So verse 12, the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share 00:03:20.079 --> 00:03:25.959 of the property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Okay. So verse 12, 00:03:26.519 --> 00:03:33.139 we just said, uh, so middle Eastern culture is a shame and honor culture. All right. Uh, John MacArthur 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:37.639 tells a story when he was preaching on the same text, he tells the story of a woman in the middle 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:43.259 East who was a Muslim who was converted to Christianity. And when the family found out 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:49.939 about it, they were so upset that their daughter would dishonor the family by becoming a Christian, 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:55.979 that they couldn't see her. They couldn't talk to her. They wouldn't even go home to her. When they 00:03:55.979 --> 00:04:00.500 found out that she had become a Christian, they wouldn't even enter the house with her in it 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:08.979 because they could not face such dishonor to that level. Okay. In fact, they ended up sending one 00:04:08.979 --> 00:04:17.680 of the relatives to the house to beat her. And they think to actually kill her. And you might say, 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:23.519 why would they do such a thing? Why would their own daughter, why would they send a family member to 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:28.100 go to her and beat her, even kill her? Now you have to understand this is middle Eastern culture. This is 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:33.320 shame and honor culture. The shame that was brought on this Muslim family to be able, because someone 00:04:33.320 --> 00:04:39.200 became a Christian, it can't be tolerated. And so they sent this relative to kill this, this daughter. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.379 Someone walked in, in the middle of the beating and was able to rescue her. And she was able to come 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:49.760 to the States and she was okay. But this kind of tells the story of that kind of shame and honor 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:56.060 culture. Uh, dishonor and honor were very, very big in middle Eastern cultures, uh, still are. 00:04:56.579 --> 00:05:01.560 Okay. And so you have this story that he tells and says, the younger said to his father, father, 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:06.319 give me the share of the property that is coming to me. And he divided this property among them. 00:05:06.539 --> 00:05:12.399 Now, let me ask you the question. When do you get an inheritance? Is it when your, your parents are 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:19.099 alive or is it typically when they die? It's typically when they die. Okay. You don't get your 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:26.780 inheritance before the father is dead. And so essentially what he was saying by saying, while 00:05:26.780 --> 00:05:32.400 the father's alive, him saying, give me my inheritance. He's basically saying, I wish you were 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:39.439 dead. I wish you were dead. Now, just him asking this is, this is dishonoring that, that a son would 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:45.680 ask a father for his inheritance while he's still alive. This is dishonoring. Okay. Those listening would 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:52.240 say, Oh my goodness. What, what kind of son is this? And then on top of that, the father rewards the 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:57.519 dishonor. The father actually gives him his share. So the oldest son would have got a double portion. 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:03.680 The younger son would have got the other portion. So that would have been one third of his assets. 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:08.360 Okay. He would be giving to his son. So on top of first of all, they're saying, Oh my goodness, 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:12.199 I can't believe the son would be so dishonoring to the father by doing this. And then secondly, 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:17.959 they'd say, Oh, and the father actually answered his request and gave it to him. What is he doing? 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:24.439 How would he, why would he reward this dishonor? This is, this is a disgrace. He rewards the dishonor. 00:06:25.599 --> 00:06:30.800 Verse 13 starts off with not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey. 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:35.959 So you got to remember, it's not like the inheritance was just all in cash. It's not like 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:42.439 the father, the father's still alive. So most of what he owns is probably not in cash. It's in 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:47.579 assets. It's in property, especially back then it would have been in property or maybe even animals. 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:53.919 Okay. And so when it says not many days later, he goes with his inheritance, that would tell you that 00:06:53.919 --> 00:06:59.979 he probably liquidated this stuff pretty fast. And to liquidate these things fast, what would you have 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:07.080 to do? You would have to sell it for less than it's worth. Again, what is that like? Dishonor. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:12.740 The father worked so hard to build this inheritance to give to his son. The son asks for it early and 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:20.439 then liquidates it quickly. Dishonor. Dishonor. Not many days later speaks of a possible liquidation. 00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:25.740 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far country. 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:30.920 And there he squandered his property and reckless living. He journeys into a far country. Remember, 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.379 these are Jews. Jews must marry among themselves. The Jews are very much have this allegiance and this 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:44.819 pride in their Jewish culture. The Bible has strict rules about them, how they interact with the 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:51.240 Gentiles. And especially when it comes to marriage and such and sexual relations. And what does this son 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:56.500 do? Okay. Not only does he ask for the inheritance, not only does he liquidate it quickly, but he goes 00:07:56.500 --> 00:08:01.160 to a foreign country. He goes to the Gentiles and he spends it there. He spends it on that. And what 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:08.860 does he spend it on? He spends it on reckless living and prostitutes. Verse 30 speaks of the specifics 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:18.379 of prostitutes. Okay. So now he's spending this on prostitutes and reckless living. Again, height of 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:22.339 dishonor. Like if you're going to, you're going to pick a story and depict someone who would be 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:26.579 dishonorable, this son, it just keeps ratcheting it up. Oh, now he's going to the Gentiles. Oh, 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:32.500 now he's spending all this on reckless living. Now he's spending it on prostitutes. This son is over 00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:38.700 the top. He squandered his property and reckless living. Squandered means waste. This is where we get 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:46.800 the term, the prodigal son. Verse 14 says, and then when he had spent everything, so it's not that he 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:53.340 was just spending some of it. He spent it all. He's wasted his father's entire inheritance. When he had 00:08:53.340 --> 00:09:00.740 spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need. Okay. Now remember, 00:09:01.180 --> 00:09:07.680 he's speaking to the self-righteous and unrighteous. So the self-righteous, I got to be thinking, 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:14.319 this guy is the worst. This is shame off the charts. This is a level of dishonor. They got to 00:09:14.319 --> 00:09:19.439 be like elbowing each other and saying, this is ridiculous. Who is this kid? This kid doesn't 00:09:19.439 --> 00:09:27.319 even deserve to live at this height of dishonor. This is a travesty. And the unrighteous are probably 00:09:27.319 --> 00:09:35.419 thinking, I can relate to this guy. I can relate to this guy. I've wasted my life. I've given myself 00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:40.879 to sexual morality. I've squandered the things that have been given to me. Jesus is speaking to these 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:52.179 two groups. Verse 15, it gets worse. Verse 15, it gets worse. So this famine comes. He began to be in 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:59.599 need. Verse 15 says, so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:10.340 him into his field to feed what? Pigs. Pigs. Sent him in the field to feed pigs. And he was longing 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:16.560 to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything. At this point, I got to believe 00:10:16.560 --> 00:10:24.600 that the listeners are just like, oh, okay. I mean, come on. Really? Pigs? For a Jew? He's feeding pigs? 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:29.940 Like, if you know, they know the law. Deuteronomy 14.8 says, you're not even supposed to touch a pig. 00:10:30.680 --> 00:10:37.340 Okay? This isn't an unclean animal. You're not even supposed to touch a pig. And now this guy, 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:49.120 that's his job? He's feeding pigs. And not only that, he longs to be fed with the pods that the 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:57.000 pigs eat. This is next level. Jesus is painting. This is really important. Jesus is painting the 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:05.080 picture of the worst possible sinner. Okay? He's painting the picture because not only is he 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:10.480 feeding the pigs, but he wants to eat what the pigs are eating. Essentially, he's becoming a pig. 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:16.220 He's becoming unclean in the worst sense of it. I mean, I would imagine that some of these listeners 00:11:16.220 --> 00:11:21.860 are just like, I don't even know I can listen to this anymore. This is so over the top, the picture 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:27.519 of the worst possible sinner in that culture. This is the picture Jesus is painting. Okay? This is, 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:33.040 you know, Romans 7.13 talks about our sin being sinful beyond measure. Jesus is trying to paint a 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:38.620 picture of the wickedness and the disgusting nature of our sin. And he's doing it for a Jewish audience. 00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:43.660 He's doing it for a self-righteous group of people, these tax collectors and scribes. 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:50.699 And he's painting a very vivid picture. This is helpful to us because he can answer the question, 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:55.860 which is a very important question. What does God do with the worst sinner? 00:11:56.939 --> 00:12:01.939 What does God do with the worst sinner? Why is that relevant? Because that's us. That's us. 00:12:02.459 --> 00:12:05.959 I want to know what God does with the worst sinner because that's what he does with me. 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:10.959 And I'd say, well, I'm not the worst sinner. You got something coming to you then if you don't 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:16.460 understand that. Like you're missing the point. You're missing the point. If you're the one saying, 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:23.980 oh, this guy, and you're not saying, oh, this guy, me, then you're missing something here. 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:29.519 This is answering the question, what does God do with the worst sinner? We need to know that because 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:36.980 that's us. That's us. Verse 16 says, no one gave him anything. Okay? So he's destitute now. 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:44.220 He's starving. It's so bad. He wants to eat pig food and no one's given him anything. In verse 16, 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:48.159 he was allowing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything. Verse 17, 00:12:49.300 --> 00:12:56.159 but when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:01.980 bread, but I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, father, 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:07.220 I've sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as 00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:15.200 one of your hired servants. Okay? So what's, what's going on here? What does he say in verse 17? 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:20.920 When he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired hands? Who does he begin thinking 00:13:20.920 --> 00:13:26.940 about? He begins thinking about his father. He begins thinking about his father. He begins thinking 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:32.100 of the kindness of his father. Why is this significant? Romans two, verse four, what leads 00:13:32.100 --> 00:13:39.160 a person to repentance? God's kindness leads us to repentance. And he begins thinking of the kindness 00:13:39.160 --> 00:13:46.160 of his father. And he begins to turn. He begins to turn. But before we're going to commend this guy, 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:53.060 let's take a look at his motives. Let's look at what he's saying here. He says, how many of my father's 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:59.019 hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger. Okay? So what's this, 00:13:59.139 --> 00:14:04.159 what's the first, uh, what's the first motive here? It seems like they're, they're mixed. The first 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:11.299 motive here is hunger. His first motive isn't, oh my goodness, I have sinned against God. I'm such a 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:18.539 wicked sinner. His first motive is, I am so hungry. Surely my father was a good man. He will at least 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:24.000 treat me like one of his servants or slaves and I can get food there. His motive is hunger. His first 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:29.419 motive is hunger. For all those who think, oh, there's, there's only hope for me unless I have 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:34.939 all my decks in a row and all my motives right. The prodigal comes back with mixed motives. It's 00:14:34.939 --> 00:14:39.919 second after that, that he says, father, I've sinned against heaven and before you. His first motive 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:44.919 though is a selfish motive. His first motive is thinking about him, not thinking about God. 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:50.419 This first motive is I'm hungry. Okay? 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.319 The worst sinner on top of the fact of being painted as the worst sinner, the worst sinner 00:14:58.319 --> 00:15:05.259 also has bad motives. He has bad motives. And I want you to remember this rehearsed speech. He's, 00:15:05.299 --> 00:15:09.659 he's telling his rehearsed speech here. This is going to be significant later when he gives the speech to 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:14.219 his dad. Look at what he says there and take note of it and remember this when we get to the part when he, 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:19.220 when he sees his father. Okay? But there's a really another important thing in this little 00:15:19.220 --> 00:15:27.200 speech he gives. Verse 19, he says, I am not, I'm, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:32.620 Treat me as one of your hired servants. This points to one of the central points of this whole parable. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:39.279 Okay? Let me ask you the question, where does our worth come from? Where does your worth come from? 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:45.220 Does it come by what you do? Does it, does it, is it taken from you by what you've done? 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:50.779 Do you get it because you did good things? Do you lose it because you've got done bad things? 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:56.360 Does your worth come from what you do or what you have, what you have done or what you haven't done? 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:05.639 Are you defined? Is there identity in what you do? Well, this younger son says, I am no longer worthy. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:10.799 Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like when you come before the Lord, you come on a Sunday, 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:15.439 even to sing worship songs, you ever felt like I'm not worthy to sing this song? I haven't spent enough 00:16:15.439 --> 00:16:20.980 time with Jesus. I haven't been nice enough to the people in my life. I haven't done a good job in my 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:27.360 family with my spouse or with my kids. I lost my temper. I did this. I did that. I, I haven't prayed enough, 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:32.379 read enough, repented enough. I haven't done enough. I am not worthy. Have you ever felt under 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:37.220 condemnation? Have you ever come into a time of worship or a time where you were going to seek 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:43.100 the Lord and you are under condemnation? You're feeling less than you're feeling unworthy. And 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:50.419 you can relate to this son. He says, because of what I've done, I'm no longer worthy. He defined his 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:57.159 worth by the bad things that he had done. Can you relate? Have you ever done this? Have you ever defined 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:02.679 yourself by the bad things that you've done? Are any of you even right now defining yourself today 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.960 by the bad things you've done? Are you walking in a little sheepish? Are you walking in a little 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:10.879 less confident because you are defined by the bad things that you've done? 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:17.460 This is what the younger son was doing. And so he says, I am no longer worthy to be called 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:20.159 your son. Where does your sense of worth come from? 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:29.019 Verse 19 is setting up the, what I would say is the best verse of this whole story. Verse 20. 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:33.080 So he says, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. He's 00:17:33.080 --> 00:17:42.080 rehearsing his speech. Verse 20. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way 00:17:42.080 --> 00:17:50.040 off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Wow. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:56.160 This verse is arguably one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. There's so much here. It says, 00:17:56.259 --> 00:18:01.720 he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, the fact that he was a long 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:07.580 way off says something about the father. Okay. The only way you can see someone a long way off is if 00:18:07.580 --> 00:18:13.519 you're looking for him. You don't see someone a long way off unless you're waiting and looking and 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:20.960 longing for your son to come home. You hear this. This is Micah 7, 18 in the NIV that God delights 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:26.559 to show mercy. This is Isaiah 30, 18 in the NIV that he longs to be gracious to you. Do you know 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:31.319 your father as someone who delights to be merciful to you and longs to be gracious to you? Do you see 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:37.819 a father in your life, your heavenly father, who when you're sinning, he is waiting there longing for 00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:43.559 you to return, looking for you while he was a long way off, it says. While he was a long way off, 00:18:44.059 --> 00:18:52.139 his father saw him and felt compassion. Compassion comes from two root words. Passion means to suffer. 00:18:52.639 --> 00:18:59.259 Come means with. Okay. This is, this is, this is a word that the Greek word in here refers to a level 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:04.439 of compassion that's at the gut level that it, it, it, it upsets your innards. This is the kind of 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:10.380 compassion he was feeling. He sees him from a long way off and he's moved in his bowels. He's moved 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:16.640 in his inner being and sees him and he has compassion over his son. His first inclination is compassion. 00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:24.059 It's not condemnation. It's not rejection. It's not pushing away. It's not running away. It's not 00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:30.640 standing there stoic. His first inclination when he sees him from a long way off is compassion. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:40.180 His compassion. And what does he do? It says he ran and embraced him and kissed him. He ran and embraced 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:46.980 him and kissed him. He's eager. He's running. He runs to him. He embraced him and he kissed him. 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:51.100 What's significant about the father running? Now remember, this is Middle Eastern culture. 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:57.800 Middle Eastern older men do not show any skin. Like they're not showing their legs. That would be 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:03.399 totally dishonoring. But remember, they're wearing like a tunic. Maybe a woman would be able to relate 00:20:03.399 --> 00:20:08.139 to this a little better. If you try to run in a dress, what do you need to do first? You have to 00:20:08.139 --> 00:20:14.299 pull it up or you're going to trip. You pull up your dress and you run. A man with a tunic on, if he's 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:18.899 going to run, there's only one way to do it or he will trip over that tunic. He has to pull it up. 00:20:18.899 --> 00:20:25.180 He has to show his legs. Why is that significant? Because remember, in Middle Eastern culture, 00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:31.700 anybody in that city knows what this son has done. And as soon as they would see him, 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:38.660 all they would do is shame. This man dishonored you. This son dishonored you. He deserves to be 00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:43.519 punished. He may even deserve to be beaten. In that culture, he may have even been beaten for his sin 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:49.779 in front of everyone and the father would watch. In order to restore the father's honor, the shame 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:54.299 would have been glaring on the son. Him coming back, he knows this because he's already recited the 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:59.079 speech. The shame is already on him and it would be put on him in greater measure by the city, 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:05.700 the village that he was coming back to. But before that can happen, the father takes the shame that 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:11.079 should have been on him. And by lifting his legs and running to him, the shame gets put on the father. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:18.019 Do you see this? Is this not just like God? Is this not just like the father revealed through the 00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:22.759 son on the cross when he took our shame and took it on himself? This is your heavenly father. 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:27.819 Rather than let the shame fall on the son, he reverses it and takes the shame on himself 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:35.220 and runs to him as a Middle Eastern older man. He takes the shame upon himself and he runs to the son. 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:45.180 That's a big deal. The dishonor of leg exposure is a shame exchange. He's preempting the ridicule. 00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:54.880 Sometimes they would even publicly flog the son when he would come back. And people might beat him and spit on him. 00:21:55.539 --> 00:22:00.759 There would need to be restitution to restore the father's honor. But instead, he runs to him and he's embraced him 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:05.740 and he kisses him. Other versions say he threw his arms around him and he's kissing him. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:15.880 Okay. That word kiss in the Greek is not, because of the prefix on it, is not just one kiss. It's that he keeps kissing him. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:25.859 He keeps kissing him. He jumped, lunges at him, hugs him, and keeps kissing him. Okay. Now, the kiss in Middle Eastern culture 00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:32.000 is also significant. What does it mean? It means full restoration. It means full restoration. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.039 Again, the preempting of the shame and the punishment that would be on the son. 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:40.599 At that moment, when he embraces him and he kisses him, it's over. 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:48.960 He is now restoring him in front of whoever might be watching. Okay. The kiss means full reconciliation. 00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:54.200 He's receiving him back into the family and he's kissing him again and again. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:01.099 How does God treat sinners? What do you believe about God in your sin? Do you believe the gospel? 00:23:01.099 --> 00:23:06.859 This is so important here. When you come to God in your sin, how do you see the father? 00:23:07.859 --> 00:23:12.879 How do you see the father? What do you believe that he does when you come to him in your sin? 00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:18.240 Do you see him as the father of the story? Do you see him running to you? Do you see him seeing you 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:24.339 from a long way off? Do you see him embracing you and continually kissing you, receiving you back? 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:30.579 Is that the father that you know? That is your father. That is the father of the Bible. That is God the father. 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:36.939 That is real. That is true. It doesn't matter what your earthly father does. It doesn't matter the amount of times 00:23:36.939 --> 00:23:41.740 you've been missed, that the father has been misrepresented through the ones who share the same name. 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:48.459 God the father is not like your father. He's different. He's different. And in your sin, he runs to you. 00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:54.840 He runs to you. And he embraces you. And he kisses you. And he kisses you again and again. 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:59.059 This is how God treats sinners. Verse 21. 00:23:59.059 --> 00:24:13.700 Verse 22. 00:24:14.159 --> 00:24:19.759 Hold on. Is that the full speech? Do you remember from the other verses? Did he get through the full speech? 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:26.319 He didn't. He didn't get through the whole speech. The father cut him off. The father didn't let him. 00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:31.619 The father didn't let him say, I want to be like your servant. Uh-uh. It's not happening. 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:38.319 God the father is not having any of that. He cuts him off. He cuts him off. He doesn't get to finish 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:44.759 the rehearsed speech. And he says, the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:52.339 on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. The best robe was typically reserved for the 00:24:52.339 --> 00:25:00.299 firstborn son's wedding, representing the father's honor. Essentially, he's saying, put the honor on 00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:09.980 my son. Cover his shame with my honor. Cover his shame with my honor. Do you see this? Again, this is 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:14.940 the wayward son. This is the wasteful prodigal son who just wasted a third of his inheritance 00:25:14.940 --> 00:25:21.860 on prostitutes and wild living and pig feeding. I mean, he probably still smells like pigs. I don't 00:25:21.860 --> 00:25:26.740 know if you've ever driven by a pig farm. When I lived in Wisconsin, I drove by them often. They smell 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:35.559 really bad. Really bad. This guy probably smells bad. And he's throwing his best. It's often the best 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:41.059 robe is this is the father's robe. And he's putting the father's honor over this son. 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:48.200 Puts on the robe and he puts on the ring. What does the ring represent? The ring was probably the 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:53.299 signet ring. This is representing the father's authority. It's not like he's a second class son. 00:25:53.639 --> 00:25:59.259 It's like, all right, son, you can come back. You're tolerable now. Some people, when they think of God 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:04.460 and they think of God in Christ Jesus, they say, oh, the reconciliation that happened means I'm now 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:10.860 tolerable. I'm now let in. The arms are crossed. God's arms are crossed. He's like, okay, you can 00:26:10.860 --> 00:26:16.660 come in, but just by the skin of your teeth, barely. This is not the story. This is not the picture we see 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:21.920 in the Bible. He's not just seeing him as tolerable. He puts the robe on him. He gives the ring. He 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:29.200 restores his authority and he puts shoes on his feet. Why is that significant? Well, who's barefoot in 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:37.559 that culture? Servants and slaves. Slaves were, slaves were barefoot, not a son. A son is not barefoot. 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:43.140 Significant that he puts shoes on him because again, no son of mine is not going to be wearing shoes. 00:26:43.580 --> 00:26:48.640 He's not a slave. He's not a servant. Not only did I not even let him finish his speech, I will not 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:52.960 even let him think that way because I'm putting shoes on his feet. I'm putting shoes on his feet. 00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:06.460 Verse 23 says, bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. Now, know that the 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:12.240 fattened calf, this isn't like your typical lunch, okay? The fattened calf would feed the village. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:18.500 They had to be like, kill the fattened calf. What's going on? Who's coming over? Like, we can't eat 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:24.920 all this. I mean, if you feed, if you kill the fattened calf, we're feeding a lot of people. This, this is 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.859 now, again, remember the, the people that they're going to be feeding, these would be the people who 00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:36.259 would typically shame the son. No, no, no, no, no. It's a total reversal. Kill the fattened calf. We're 00:27:36.259 --> 00:27:42.079 having a party. We're having a party. Invite everybody, right? That's, that's, that's basically what 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:48.039 this is saying. That's, let's eat and celebrate. That's what, that's when you kill the fattened 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:51.480 calf. You do that when you're going to eat and celebrate and not just a small celebration. You 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:56.099 want to do a small celebration? You're killing the goat. The older son brings this up later. He says, 00:27:56.139 --> 00:28:01.279 I never even got a goat. You're killing the fattened calf. This is not just a little party. This is a big 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:07.720 party. Okay? So he's saying, we're having a big party. We're having a big party. How do you view God 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:13.839 when you've sinned? God ran toward the unworthy and clothed them in what he didn't earn. He ran toward 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:21.360 the unworthy, clothed them what he didn't earn. Verse 24, for this, my son was dead and is alive 00:28:21.360 --> 00:28:28.460 again. He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate. Not only was he, when they, this isn't 00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:33.660 just figurative language. In that culture, the love, again, remember the love of dishonor. If a son would 00:28:33.660 --> 00:28:39.100 dishonor the father in that way, sometimes in that culture, they would literally have a funeral for 00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:45.880 him as if the son was dead, as if the son was lost. If this, the son has nothing more to do with me. 00:28:46.040 --> 00:28:50.100 They would literally have a funeral and they would mourn the loss of the son while he was alive. 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:56.100 So when he's saying my son was dead and is alive again, to them in this culture, it's literally like 00:28:56.100 --> 00:29:01.220 a resurrection as if my son was gone and he's back from the dead. This is what they're saying. 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:09.220 He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate. They began to celebrate. Amazing. Amazing. 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:18.400 Do you have more faith in your sin to condemn you or your Savior to forgive you? Let me ask you again. 00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:25.900 Do you have more faith in your sin to condemn you or more faith in your Savior to forgive you? 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:33.540 This parable is about two sons defining themselves by what they do. You are not what you do. Listen to me 00:29:33.540 --> 00:29:38.660 this morning. Some of you really need to hear this. You are not what you do. You are what you never could 00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:45.560 do in Christ Jesus. You're justified. You're justified. You're not what you do. You're what you could never do. 00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:55.440 Verse 21. Remember, he said, I am no longer worthy. Worth determined by what he did or didn't do. 00:29:55.679 --> 00:30:01.639 This is the story of this parable, which brings us to the next part. Now he goes to the oldest. Now we go to 00:30:01.639 --> 00:30:06.099 the elder son, right? The elder son. Verse 25. 00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:12.619 Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 00:30:13.199 --> 00:30:18.199 Okay? So he's describing the older son. The first thing he says is the older son is where? He's in 00:30:18.199 --> 00:30:22.279 the field. Doing what? He's working. What do you do in the field? He's working. He's responsible. 00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:27.899 The older son isn't wasting. The older son is diligent. He's working. Everybody else is celebrating. 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:33.119 Where's the older son? Doing what older sons do, right? Working, being responsible. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:40.099 The stereotypical older son, responsible son. The older son was in the field. As he came and 00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:46.079 drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. Now remember, I love that it says he heard music 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:53.119 and dancing. Hearing music is obvious, right? Music is always heard. You can't always hear dancing, 00:30:53.239 --> 00:31:00.559 though. If you can hear dancing, they're dancing, right? If they hear dancing, I'm thinking these guys 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:05.960 are getting down. Like, this is a celebration. So I kind of like that little detail in there that 00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:11.259 he heard music and dancing. He heard these guys are really going after it. These guys are celebrating 00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:18.980 what is going on here. Okay? Verse 26, 27. He called one of the servants and asked what these things 00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:23.480 meant. And he said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf 00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:30.259 because he has received him back safe and sound. Okay? So his brother finds out. Prodigal son has 00:31:30.259 --> 00:31:40.160 returned. Verse 28, but he was angry and refused to go in. Again, the picture, remember the beginning 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:45.799 of the story in Luke 15? It says that they were grumbling because Jesus eats with tax collectors and 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:51.779 sinners. You can just hear the disdain in their voice. You can hear the same disdain in the older son's 00:31:51.779 --> 00:31:58.579 voice, right? He was angry and refused to go in. So older son's having a little pity party. Older son 00:31:58.579 --> 00:32:06.759 is having an adult tantrum here. He refuses to go in. And I love this verse. This is probably 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:12.039 the second best, my favorite in this whole story. His father came out and entreated him. 00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:25.220 The father came to both sons. Do you see this? The sinning son, the one who's off the charts, 00:32:25.339 --> 00:32:30.759 shamed son, the father runs to him. He doesn't wait for the son to get to him. He runs to him. 00:32:31.399 --> 00:32:36.180 What about the other son? Also sinful, the self-righteous son, the son who doesn't see his 00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:42.299 sin. The self-righteous son, the father also goes to him. He doesn't just push him off. Oh, 00:32:42.360 --> 00:32:49.560 you arrogant, self-righteous son. No, he entreats him. He entreats him. The father comes to both sons. 00:32:49.560 --> 00:32:56.900 He doesn't react to his sons. Your earthly father probably reacted to you. We as earthly fathers tend 00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:03.820 to react. Your heavenly father does not react. He doesn't, he's not reacting to things outside of 00:33:03.819 --> 00:33:10.799 himself. He's God and not man. All right. He initiates out of his loving character. He doesn't 00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:19.299 react to our unloving, sinful character. He is totally other. He is holy. He initiates out of 00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:24.059 his loving character. It's Romans 5, 8. God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners, 00:33:24.460 --> 00:33:30.240 Christ died for us. The product, the story of the prodigal in Luke 15 shows God loving the 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:35.000 unrighteous sinner and the self-righteous sinner. So whatever camp you find yourself, whether you 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:41.359 are the unrighteous or the self-righteous, or you realize what's probably true, that I am both sons. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:49.380 Know that the father comes to you both. Father comes to you both. He runs to the unrighteous son. 00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:52.960 He entreats the older son. And let's listen to what he has to say. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:34:02.579 Okay. So what's the older son's speech? Verse 29. So after it says, his father came out and treated him, 00:34:02.860 --> 00:34:10.179 but he answered his father, look. Now, hold on a second. When you're talking to dad and you say, 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:19.460 look, what is this? Disrespect, shame. This is dishonor. The older son now is taking his turn 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:27.940 to dishonor the father. He says, look. He didn't say father. He says, look. Look. It's just 00:34:27.940 --> 00:34:36.380 bleeding with disrespect, right? Dishonor. Look, these many years I have served you and I never 00:34:36.380 --> 00:34:40.960 disobeyed your command. You never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 00:34:42.740 --> 00:34:44.760 Do you hear the self-righteousness in this? 00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:53.980 This word served here that he uses in the Greek is specifically about serving as a slave, not as a son. 00:34:54.920 --> 00:35:00.000 It's revealing. He's been serving. He's been serving diligently. But what was he serving for? 00:35:00.200 --> 00:35:05.120 He was serving to get. It was transactional. Listen, if your Christianity is transactional, 00:35:05.380 --> 00:35:10.620 you are missing the whole deal. You do not serve to get. You serve because you've gotten. 00:35:10.619 --> 00:35:17.279 You don't serve to get. Nothing you could do is good enough. It's never good enough. And maybe that's 00:35:17.279 --> 00:35:21.579 why sometimes you're so angry because you know it deep down in your soul that it's true. 00:35:22.099 --> 00:35:26.639 That no matter how hard I try, no matter how hard I try to be right, no matter how hard I try to do 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:31.880 what's right and be the one who's not like the wasteful son, who's not like all these people who 00:35:31.880 --> 00:35:37.420 have wasted so much of what God's given, I'm the one doing what's right. Don't you see, God? Look. 00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:43.340 Look at me. Again, he's saying, look at me. His focus is totally off. It's on himself. 00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:48.300 Father, the self-righteous person doesn't say, look at Jesus. Look at God. Look what he's done. 00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:55.000 The self-righteous person says, look at me. Look at me. Look what I've done. I've done this and you 00:35:55.000 --> 00:36:01.079 haven't seen it. I deserve more than this. I deserve to be healed. I deserve that job. I deserve people to 00:36:01.079 --> 00:36:05.599 treat me better. I deserve a better spouse. I deserve this. I deserve to have a spouse. I deserve all these 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:12.000 things. Can't you see what I've done for you? This is what the older son says. Look. 00:36:13.860 --> 00:36:18.199 The gospel doesn't define us by what we do, but rather by what Jesus has done. 00:36:19.619 --> 00:36:27.500 Rather by what Jesus has done. Do you hear the language here? Verse 30 says, but when this son of 00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:33.400 yours came, this son of yours, what does that mean? This is his brother. What do you mean this son of 00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:41.639 yours? Disassociation. Do you hear that? Condescension. This son of yours, who I still want to have nothing 00:36:41.639 --> 00:36:47.019 to do with it. I can't believe that you would have, that you would dishonor the family by doing this with 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:50.880 this son. Who do you think you are? That's essentially what you can just hear in the older son. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:56.579 Just disrespecting them. This son of yours came. He has devoured your property with prostitutes. 00:36:56.579 --> 00:37:05.079 You killed a fattened calf for him. So he's obviously upset. He sees this as an unjust transaction. 00:37:05.980 --> 00:37:14.819 The older son is transactional. Religion traffics in transactions. Religion says, I do the right things. 00:37:14.980 --> 00:37:21.579 I get the right rewards. Grace says, you've never done enough. You never will do enough. And all that 00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:27.619 you do fall short day in and day out. There's only one good. There's only one who's done enough. 00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:33.840 There's only one sinless sacrifice. There's only one. His name is Jesus. And he paid your price. 00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:40.539 He took your punishment. He died your death. And he rose from the grave to say, death has been swallowed 00:37:40.539 --> 00:37:46.420 in victory. And that's who we trust. We don't trust in our self-righteousness. But the older son was 00:37:46.420 --> 00:37:51.680 trusting in his own self-righteousness. And he rebuked the father. He said, he's devoured your 00:37:51.680 --> 00:37:57.180 property with prostitutes. He thought this was an unjust tract action. That he was getting the 00:37:57.180 --> 00:38:01.820 raw end of the deal, so to speak. One of the reasons we're so mortified and shocked by other 00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:06.380 people's sins is because we're not mortified and shocked enough by our own. 00:38:08.460 --> 00:38:13.559 You find yourself condescending someone and looking down on someone just like this older son is. 00:38:13.559 --> 00:38:18.159 I got news for you. I know why it is. It's because you are not shocked enough by your own sin. 00:38:18.940 --> 00:38:25.360 You think somehow, some way, you're better. And you're not. You're wrong. You're wrong. Not true. 00:38:26.840 --> 00:38:32.699 Is unrighteousness worse than self-righteousness? They're both sins. They're both infinitely wicked 00:38:32.699 --> 00:38:38.460 before an infinitely holy God. And we should be broken over our self-righteousness as much, if not 00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:42.659 more so, than our unrighteousness. Because self-righteousness is a slap in the face. It says, 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:51.259 God, I don't need you. I'm fine on my own. I don't need you. I've got this. Verse 31. 00:38:53.379 --> 00:39:03.460 And he said to him, what does he call him? Son. Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine 00:39:03.460 --> 00:39:12.380 is yours. Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. Why are you trying to pay for 00:39:12.380 --> 00:39:19.039 something you could never pay for? Why are you fighting and working for something that's already 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:27.599 yours? Why are you fighting for something that's already yours? Don't you know that all that I have 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:35.719 is yours? Why are you striving? Why are you feeling ripped off? Yeah, I'm not having a party for you 00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:40.819 because you already have all, you have everything. And you've always been with me. This son was lost. 00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:48.539 You've been with me the whole time. Don't you understand, son? Son, you're acting like a slave 00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:54.420 in the house. You're acting like an orphan. You're not an orphan. You're not a slave. You're my son. 00:39:54.420 --> 00:40:02.840 Not an orphan. Not a slave. You're my son. Verse 32. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad. 00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:12.820 For this, your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. One of the reasons we 00:40:12.820 --> 00:40:18.639 can't celebrate sinners coming to Christ is because we've never truly celebrated Christ saving us. 00:40:19.539 --> 00:40:24.159 If you have a hard time celebrating someone coming to Christ, you probably have an experience 00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:30.940 what you need to experience in the power and the joy of God saving you. And you're still working 00:40:30.940 --> 00:40:36.599 for your salvation. You're treating God like a boss, like a transactional boss that needs to give you 00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:42.559 stuff because you did things for him. This story is a prophetic story. The father in this story 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:51.460 is God. The younger son is the tax collector and sinners. The older son is the Pharisees and the scribes. 00:40:51.460 --> 00:40:58.119 They were so upset about the dishonor. They thought that Jesus was dishonoring God. 00:40:59.240 --> 00:41:05.400 They thought this picture of God was dishonoring God. They were so zealous for God that they needed 00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:10.539 to kill Jesus to honor God. Just like that story I told in the beginning that MacArthur told. 00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:16.440 Do you see why they crucified him? See why they yelled blasphemy? You see why they yelled crucify him? 00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:23.139 If this person is claiming to be God, the picture of God he is depicting, eating with tax collector sinners, 00:41:23.220 --> 00:41:28.240 this is so dishonoring the God we've served all these years. There's only one right thing to do to 00:41:28.240 --> 00:41:36.619 this man. Crucify him. Crucify him. That's why they crucified him. It says in John 16 verse 2, 00:41:36.619 --> 00:41:41.380 Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 00:41:42.259 --> 00:41:47.400 They thought they were doing a service to God by killing Jesus. And that's what the self-righteous 00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:55.480 does. So here you have what I would say is the greatest story ever told. I don't know of a greater 00:41:55.480 --> 00:42:01.059 story ever written in this story. Two sons approaching their father based on their works. 00:42:01.059 --> 00:42:07.960 Two sons defining themselves by what they do. What about you? What are you defining yourself by? 00:42:08.699 --> 00:42:14.799 You profess Christ. You say, I'm a Christian. What are you defining yourself by? Are you defining yourself 00:42:14.799 --> 00:42:20.360 by what you do or what you haven't done? The good you've done or the bad you've done? Are you defining 00:42:20.360 --> 00:42:24.659 yourself by what you do? If there's anything you can see in this story, we are not supposed to define 00:42:24.659 --> 00:42:30.779 ourselves by what we do or what we haven't done for the bad that we've done. Do you have more faith in 00:42:30.780 --> 00:42:39.540 your sin to disqualify you than God's grace to qualify you? Do you have more faith when you come 00:42:39.540 --> 00:42:44.380 in? It's like, oh, I don't have enough faith. Some of us have way too much faith in the wrong thing. 00:42:45.420 --> 00:42:51.100 We have way too much faith sometimes in our life for our sin to disqualify us than faith in God's 00:42:51.100 --> 00:42:59.260 grace to qualify us. And for that, we need to repent with joy, not with your head held down, 00:42:59.260 --> 00:43:05.020 but it's like, oh God, forgive me for having more faith in my sin to disqualify me than your loving 00:43:05.020 --> 00:43:12.980 kindness to qualify me. That's what we need to do. Is your security in not doing what other sinners do 00:43:12.980 --> 00:43:15.600 or in Jesus doing what no one could ever do? 00:43:18.100 --> 00:43:25.500 What do you most identify with? Unrighteousness, self-righteousness, or Christ-righteousness? 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:32.980 This is why the phrase boasting in Christ is so important. You're literally identifying primarily 00:43:32.980 --> 00:43:39.039 in the person and the work of Jesus. I dare not, you know, on Christ the solid rock I stand, like the 00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:46.260 hymn, right? All other ground is sinking sand. All other grounds of self-righteousness is sinking sand. 00:43:46.260 --> 00:43:53.660 My unrighteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, my own self-righteousness, but wholly lean 00:43:53.660 --> 00:44:01.160 on Jesus' name. I boast in the cross. A Christian boasts in, rejoices in, exalts in. Jesus is my 00:44:01.160 --> 00:44:06.140 righteousness. It's not what I do. It's not what I've done. It is all what Jesus has done, 00:44:06.139 --> 00:44:09.500 and his work is finished. It's complete. 00:44:11.779 --> 00:44:17.960 This is why Brennan Manning says, define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true 00:44:17.960 --> 00:44:24.279 self. All other identity is illusion. God's love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. 00:44:24.879 --> 00:44:27.539 Accept that and let it become the most important thing in your life. 00:44:27.539 --> 00:44:36.139 Run to a celebrating Father. Run to the throne of grace. Let me ask you the question. Maybe before 00:44:36.139 --> 00:44:42.079 this you'd say emphatic yes, but I'm asking in the context of what we just heard. Do you believe 00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:48.139 the gospel? Are you believing the good news of the love of the Father shed abroad into our hearts by 00:44:48.139 --> 00:44:53.480 the Holy Spirit, magnified and put on display in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? 00:44:53.480 --> 00:45:02.840 Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Is it your all? Is it all you're holding on to? Is Jesus? Is Jesus? 00:45:04.179 --> 00:45:08.900 What's the sin that you commit that you hate when you commit it? What's the sin that really makes you 00:45:08.900 --> 00:45:15.260 condemn yourself? What you believe about God in that moment is maybe the most important thing that you 00:45:15.260 --> 00:45:21.940 believe. When you believe the gospel, it changes everything. It changes everything. 00:45:21.940 --> 00:45:32.220 You might say this kind of love, you could call him a prodigal God. A God that would, it almost looks 00:45:32.220 --> 00:45:36.980 like he's wasteful. It almost looks like he's over the top. That God could love sinners and self-righteous 00:45:36.980 --> 00:45:41.380 people like this younger son and this older son. Some would look at it from the outside and say, 00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:49.200 what a waste to love those two unworthy people. Yes, you're right. Totally unworthy. Seems very wasteful. 00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:58.000 Who would love someone who's so unlovable? Only one. Only one. God in Christ Jesus, the prodigal God. 00:45:58.799 --> 00:46:01.019 Amen? Amen. Let's stand.