Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Luke chapter 15.
Having finished our exposition of the book of Acts, Luke's second account is account of the work of the risen Christ.
We're taking just a short little interlude to do some smaller expositions.
And we've come to his first account of Jesus's earthly ministry.
And a particular set of parables that he told in Luke chapter 15.
Now, like we did last week, I'm going to read the entirety of the chapter to you.
Because we want to set this parable that we most often know as the parable of the prodigal son in its proper context.
There's a great truth being communicated here.
And we don't want to miss that as we study it across these three weeks.
Last week, today, and the next as well.
Our focus for today, though, as we read the chapter and we'll come back to, is verses 20 through 24.
So, Luke chapter 15.
Before I begin reading, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us.
It was written for His glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 1 and following.
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 my 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.
And so, as I said, our major attention is on this parable that's most often called the parable of the prodigal son.
And there are many commentators who have a problem with that title.
Say it should rather be called the parable of the two sons.
Or the parable, as Tim Keller says, the parable of the prodigal father.
Father.
Because we can, if we only think of the younger son, we can miss the point altogether of this text.
You see, Jesus is juxtaposing the attitudes of the Pharisees and the scribes with the rejoicing of heaven over lost souls being found.
He is not in any way suggesting to the Pharisees and scribes that they themselves are righteous.
They are as desperately lost as those Gentiles and tax collectors that are gathering around Jesus.
But they don't have a perception of this.
They are the older brother.
And so, we're driving to that point, which we'll make readily and at length next week.
Last week, we focused on verses 11 through 19, the younger son, the one that we call the prodigal.
And we noted the various stages in the history of this type of sinner, this licentious sinner.
They were, as follows, number one, a desire for independence from God.
The truth of it is that we never really are independent from God, but we can seek to be independent from Him.
We can believe that we are independent from Him.
The second stage in the history of this sinner is the indulgence of self.
Investing in us.
The experience of the fleeting pleasure of sin to its end.
The third, which some people reach, and I pray you never do, is insanity of the soul.
This young man came to the place where he wanted to eat inedible food.
Food that was given to pigs.
He was brought that low in his sinfulness, in his rebellion against the Father.
And then, as the prodigal seems to, and if you have come to place believing faith in Christ,
we see on his part repentance and faith.
We see him come to himself, believing that his Father will be good to him,
and will take him back into his control and care.
This morning, we're going to focus our attention on the love of the Father for the younger son.
And today, if you're here with us, you find yourself in one of three places.
Number one, it is possible this morning that you are presently the prodigal son.
You've sought your independence from God.
You indulge yourself.
You may even be finding yourself this morning at the very end of yourself.
Maybe that's why you chose to accept an invitation to come to church.
You don't know where else to go.
You've sought out the pleasure of the world, and it has left you wanting.
My hope for you this morning, my prayer for you this week,
is that you will see with what kind of love God loves.
That you will see that God's love is offered freely and lavishly to anyone
who will come to him in repentance and faith,
and that your heart will be drawn to him.
Secondly, you may find that you are the elder brother
who we'll talk about more extensively next week.
But that's to say that you are self-righteous.
You think you've done enough good to seek God's pleasure.
You desire to obey God,
but that desire, that obedience has nothing to do with a love for him,
but is rather motivated by what you can get from him.
You think there's some promise on the other side
if you will simply obey.
You also, just like the younger son,
wish that the father was dead,
and your sin may be the worst of the two
because it is so much more deceptive.
You think you're accepted by God by your works,
and your works will come up short.
My hope for you this morning
is that you will also see your need for repentance and faith,
that you would love God in his ways to have him,
and not merely what he can give you,
that you also would fly home to your father,
that you may rejoice in his goodness to mankind.
The third position you may find yourself in this morning,
I hope that most of you, if not all,
find yourself in this place,
having been a rebel of one kind or the other,
having been the younger or been the elder son,
you have humbly returned to God,
and he has given you a place in his household.
My hope for you this morning
is that you will appreciate afresh
God's loving kindness towards you.
Beloved, it is very possible to be found in Christ,
to be justified before God
because of what Christ has done on our behalf,
and to forget it,
and to function as if.
We need to earn our way to God,
or to function as if we can live however we want,
and be accepted by him.
It's very possible to find ourself
in the proper stance with the Lord,
but not living in accordance with it.
So I hope this morning you will appreciate once again
how good the Father is to his people.
As his sons and daughters,
we would want to live in his house joyfully
and obediently.
That despite how difficult your week may have been,
that you will revel today in the fact
that you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ,
given the authority to be a herald of God,
and you have been called a son.
So we're going to consider the love of the Father
toward the younger son.
On the front of your bulletin
is a quote by A.W. Tozer
from a book he wrote called Knowledge of the Holy,
which I commend to you.
He was a 20th century American pastor,
and he said this,
speaking of God's attributes
as they relate to his love.
Because God is self-existent,
his love had no beginning.
Because he is eternal,
his love can have no end.
Because he is infinite,
it has no limit.
Because he is holy,
it is the quintessence
of all spotless purity.
Because he is immense,
his love is an incomprehensibly vast,
bottomless, shoreless sea.
So let's get to it.
Let's consider the Father's love
toward the younger son.
The outline for this morning's text
is as follows.
Number one,
the compassion of the Father.
Number two,
the son interrupted and restored.
And number three,
the celebration of the Father
and his servants.
Number one,
the compassion of the Father.
We see this throughout
our text for today,
but predominantly,
mostly I want to look at it
in verse 20 this morning.
We see,
coming off the rest of our text
from verse 19,
the prodigal son arose
and came to his father.
Now,
it's really important
that we understand
what this young man
would have been going back to
in this particular culture.
Remember that this story
is being told
predominantly to these scribes
and Pharisees, right?
Jesus is driving this point
and he is using
shock and awe
to accomplish it, right?
Already,
these Pharisees
and scribes
would have just been
astounded
by the flagrant
disobedience
of this young man, right?
This young man
in asking for his inheritance
from his father
has said to his father,
I wish you were dead, right?
He's gone to him
and said,
just go ahead and die
so that I can have
what's coming to me, right?
He has gone off
to unclean people,
to Gentile lands.
He has spent this money
in a licentious way.
The older brother tells us
he must have heard reports
that he sent it on prostitutes.
He finds himself now destitute,
caring for unclean animals.
These scribes and Pharisees
are astounded
at the rebellion
of this young man.
So remember in this culture,
God's given instruction
in Deuteronomy chapter 21
that if a son is rebellious,
he will not listen.
There's no bringing this son
to correction.
That the people of the town
were supposed to take the son
outside the gate
and stone him to death.
So this is the kind
of serious culture
that is looking at the story
and thinking about obedience.
Now, the instruction
of Deuteronomy 21
was very rarely,
if ever, followed
in this day,
but there would have been
a great deal of scorn
for this young man
as he comes back.
The cultural expectation.
These scribes and Pharisees
are thinking to themselves,
oh boy, here it comes.
The son's about to get it
from his father.
The cultural expectation
is that the father
would have had nothing
to do with him
until the son had sat
outside of his gate
for an extended period of time.
Weeks, even months.
Sat outside the gate.
And the job of the town folk
would have been
to ridicule him.
Would have been
to tell him
what a horrible,
disobedient son
he was.
To spit on him.
To throw rotten food at him.
And if the son would
persevere outside the gate.
If he would stay
in that spot
receiving all of this scorn.
All of this ridicule
that was due him
for his disobedience.
The father may
take him back in.
The father might
deal with him
as a hired servant.
And this is the hope
of the son, right?
He's just saying,
my father will at least
let me live on the land
and work for him.
I'll at least
have food
for my belly.
And this is what
he goes back to.
This is what he's
headed back for.
Remember
that he had a plan, right?
He had thought up
this plan.
He was going to
say this thing.
He had come to himself
and I'm going to say,
verse 18,
Father, I have sinned
against heaven
and before you.
I'm no longer worthy
to be called your son.
Treat me as one
of your hired servants.
And beyond Jesus
telling the story,
I just imagine him
rehearsing that
over and over again
in his head, right?
Waiting.
I'm going to sit
outside the gate.
I'm going to sit
outside the gate.
I'm going to sit
outside the gate.
And when I get an
audience before my father,
I'm going to say
this thing.
And we see in our text
today that he launches
into it, right?
He's got it ready
to go.
But look at what
happens instead.
And he arose
and he came
to his father.
But while he was
still a long
way off.
Now in this day,
landowners
would have had
homes in the city.
For me as a person
who currently lives
in the city of Gainesville
and really loves
being out,
I think, why?
I'd rather have a house
out on the land
someplace.
But it wasn't safe
to have a house
out on the land.
So they all had homes
in the town.
So the young man
is approaching the town
and while he's still
a long way off,
his father sees him
expectantly watching
for him.
This isn't a walk
by a window
when he happens
to see a dirty
young man
coming into town.
He is outside.
He is expectant.
And he is watching
for his son's return.
And the text says
he felt compassion.
He felt compassion.
The Greek word
used in the original text
is a lot stronger
than the thought
that comes to my mind
when I read the word
compassion.
I think of kind of
a momentary feeling
of affection.
But the Greek word
speaks of a guttural,
a visceral love
for this young man.
This is a father
who would have done
anything for his son.
Fathers in the room,
I know there's not
a lot of us,
but I think we can
in some measure
understand this,
that we would do
anything for our sons.
When Cade,
who is my oldest,
who is now seven,
was five,
I took him
and his younger brother,
Judah,
to a playground.
And there was
a family reunion
that looked like
happening nearby
and this group
of probably cousins,
they just seemed
like a family unit
playing a game together.
They were playing tag
and Cade wanted
to get in
on this game.
So he just invited
himself into it
and was just bouncing around
and playing
in this game with them.
There was the oldest
of this crew
who was probably
eight or nine
who kept saying to him,
no,
you can't play with us.
But Cade didn't hear that.
He just kept playing anyway.
Like, hey, guys, guys.
And he's running around,
running around.
And finally,
this older boy
got his attention
from on top
of the play set
and Cade's standing down
and I'm sitting over
on the little wall
as parents do,
observing.
And the young boy
got his attention
and said,
hey, kid,
you can't play with us.
And Cade looked over
at me.
I'm going to cry
thinking about it.
Cade looked over at me
and his little arms
fell like this
and his big tears
welled up in his eyes
and I just went like this.
And he came running
across the playground
and just fell into my arms.
And I wanted,
I wanted to go pinch
that kid's head off.
Right?
Which would have been
highly inappropriate
for me to do.
But gosh,
you just want to do
anything for your kids.
And that's,
that's small.
Right?
In comparison.
Right?
So,
so small
of an example.
And then just
for your sake,
um,
maybe for mine
to tell you that
not too many moments later
the kid was running
full on
and was looking
over his shoulder
and just slammed
into a pole.
And,
and to,
to my,
to my shame,
I went,
yes!
So,
right,
um,
Psalm 103,
13 says this,
as a father
shows compassion
to his children,
so the Lord
shows compassion
to those
who fear him.
Right?
So the father has,
he sees the son
from a long way off
and has this guttural
love
for him.
And what does it do?
Like,
what does it compel him
to do?
He runs
to his son.
Now,
I think,
I think for us,
21st century readers
of this,
we just,
we see a movie
play out in our mind,
the music queues up
as he sprints
to his son.
To Jesus' listeners,
they would have been
horrified
by such an action.
Now,
remember,
this father
should have scorned him
to begin with.
This father should have,
should have had nothing
to do with him.
Right?
Even seeing him
a long way off,
gone back inside
the house.
But instead,
he runs.
Okay?
So not only does it
go out to him,
but he goes out to him
with haste.
And the thing for you
to know is that
men of wealth
in this day
did not run.
They didn't run.
They never ran.
Boys and servants
ran.
Right?
So if you needed something,
you sent somebody
to run for you.
You didn't run.
It was shameful
to run
for men
in this day.
Not only
the very act
of running,
but he would have
taken his long robe,
his well-dressed robe,
and he would have had
to hike it up
to his knees
to run.
Right?
And he showed
the bottom
of his legs.
This was a thing
that slaves
had exposed,
not men
of wealth
and of honor.
So he
humbles himself
out of this
visceral love
for his son.
He humbles himself
and he runs
out
to him.
God
humbled himself.
He became
a man
and he suffered
and he died
in our stead.
Hebrews 12,
2 states
that Jesus
endured
the cross
despising
the shame.
Paul writes
in Philippians 2,
6-8
of Jesus
who though
he was in the form
of God
did not count
equality with God
a thing to be grasped
but emptied himself
by taking the form
of a servant
being born
in the likeness
of men
and being found
in human form
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death
even death
on a cross.
So this young
smelly
rebellious
kid
is coming home
and the father
shames himself
to go out
and to meet him
before he makes
his way
into the town.
We'll see why
in a moment.
But he makes himself
a fool.
You have to imagine.
It's daytime
he sees him a long way off
but people are out
about in the town
they're in the marketplace
and they see him
run out
to his boy.
From our daily
Bible reading
for this past week
Mr. Doug read it to us
this morning
Genesis 22
we read of Abraham's
willingness
to sacrifice Isaac
and that sacrifice
of Isaac
being replaced
with a ram
who is a type
for Christ.
And what does he do
when he gets to him?
he doesn't run out
to him
in order to bring
to him
the condemnation
that's due to him
but he embraces him
and he kisses him.
He fell on his neck
some translations
will say
he
collapsed
onto his son
and wrapped his arms
around him
and the tense
of kissed him
means to
kiss him
repeatedly.
this compassion
is overflowing
into a great
joy
to see
his son
return.
John MacArthur
said
of this little
moment
in the story
the prodigal
came home
prepared
to kiss
his father's
feet
instead
the father
was kissing
the prodigal's
pig stinking
head.
And the father's
compassion
does not
stop there.
Secondly
let's look at
the son
interrupted
and restored
verses
21
and 22.
So what happens?
The son
launches into
his speech
just up in
verse 18
and 19
but he doesn't
get all the way
through it
and I love this
in Jesus'
telling here
he says
father I'm sitting
against heaven
and before you
I am no longer
worthy to be
called your son
and what is it
that he was going
to go on to say
treat me as one
of your hired
servants
but he gets
interrupted
I think that's
the right way
to read this
right
the conjunction
verse 22
but is in the
original text
but the father
he's in the middle
of the speech
but rather than
him getting to
finish the speech
he said
I'm not worthy
to be called
your son
what does the
father do?
He does all
of these things
to show
the son
that he
is restored
to him
as a son
he says
to his servants
bring quickly
here's the running
that's going on
right
I'm presuming
they're still
outside the town
they've yet to
walk through
the crowd
back to the house
and he sends
the servants
running
you gotta imagine
they ran after him
why is our master
running
let's run after him
to see what's going on
they send him
he sends some
of them back
to bring what?
the best robe
a ring
and shoes
these are significant
things
that this loving
father
brought to put on
his youngest
son
first the
best robe
is brought
and it's
put on him
the best robe
was an extremely
significant
article of clothing
every wealthy man
would own
an ornate robe
made of the finest
fabrics
that was reserved
for the very
most special
of events
this was a robe
that the owner
wouldn't wear
to a wedding
he was invited to
this is how special
it was
but would rather
only wear it
to the weddings
of their own
children
we don't have
anything like this
in our culture
I don't even think
most people own
like a nice tux
anymore
right
this would have been
better than that
this was in
high reserve
for very
very special
events
this robe
and it was
his robe
giving this robe
to the son
is not even
a normal honor
that a son
would receive
right
this isn't
extra special
it's a very
high honor
and what he
is doing
is he is saying
this
boy
that rebelled
against me
is restored
to the honor
of my
house
right
this is my
best
robe
and I am
putting it
on him
he belongs
to me
so as he gets
taken back
through that town
everyone can see
the son
has been
restored
psalm 5
4
also from
our reading
this week
says
for you are not
a god who
delights in
wickedness
evil
may not
dwell
with you
so
god our
father
cannot
exist with
us
in wickedness
god can
associate
with us
in our
unrighteousness
right
in our
evil deeds
in our
rebellion
so how is it
that we come
into right
relationship
with him
it's that
our sin
is imputed
to christ
as christ
died on the
cross
he took
our sin
and we're
given
his righteousness
his perfect
life is
imputed
to us
it's called
the double
imputation
right
it's this
great trade
martin luther
called it
the great
exchange
right
our sin
given to
christ
his righteousness
given
to us
and we
often speak
in terms
of being
clothed
in the
righteousness
of christ
you see
the picture
here
god comes
to us
in repentance
of faith
he comes
to us
and he
wraps us
in christ
righteousness
he says
this is
my
son
and when
he sees
us
he sees
christ
and escorts
us back
to the
house
paul writes
in 2
corinthians
5
21
for our
sake
he made
him to
be
sin
who knew
no
sin
so that
in him
we might
become
the righteousness
of god
i think this
is the best
verse that
speaks of
double
imputation
christ
and
charles
hodge
who
was a
19th
century
theologian
he was
the president
of
princeton
theological
seminary
back when
that meant
something
said this
of
2 corinthians
5
21
there
is probably
no
passage
in the
scriptures
in which
the
doctrine
of
justification
is more
concisely
or clearly
stated
than this
our
sins
were
here's
that word
imputed
to christ
and his
righteousness
is imputed
to us
he bore
our sins
we are
clothed
in his
righteousness
christ
bearing our
sins
did not
make him
morally
a sinner
nor does
christ's
righteousness
become
subjectively
ours
it is not
the moral
quality
of our
souls
our
sins
were the
judicial
ground
of the
sufferings
of christ
so that
they were
a satisfaction
of justice
and his
righteousness
is the
judicial
ground
of our
acceptance
with god
right
so the
prodigal
was still
the prodigal
he was
still the
son
and he
had still
done the
things he
had done
but he's
now clothed
in the
father's
robe
right
he is now
no longer
to be
scorned
right
abused
spit upon
by the
town folks
right
because he
has been
restored
as a son
but not only
that
not only
is the
best
robe
brought
to him
and put
on him
but also
a ring
now this
ring
would have
been a
signet
ring
which would
have carried
the family
crest
or seal
so that it
could be
pressed
into wax
on formal
letters
or documents
as verification
of legal
authority
probably seen
a movie
in which this
happened
right
they often
wore that
as a
ring
right
so that
they can
make that
stamp
on letters
or documents
right
so in
placing a
ring on
the finger
of his
son
the father
is not
only showing
that the
son had
restored
honor
but also
restored
authority
he's saying
once again
this young
man
is my
son
and he
speaks
on my
behalf
second
corinthians
5
20
just a
verse
before
where we
just
were
paul
says
therefore
we are
ambassadors
for christ
god
making his
appeal
through us
we implore
you on
behalf of
christ
be
reconciled
to god
so just
as we've
been clothed
in christ's
righteousness
right god
says this
is my
son
ladies you
want to
be a
son
you want
the
inheritance
that is
due you
this is
the
language
of
the
time
i am
god's
son
and i
speak
on his
behalf
we are
ambassadors
for christ
inconsistency
with his
revealed
word
as a
side
note
but not
only
the best
robe
and a
ring
but also
shoes
hired
servants
and
household
slaves
customarily
went
barefoot
masters
and their
sons
wore
shoes
right
so it's
another
status
thing
so to
have
shoes
placed
on the
son's
feet
was yet
another
gesture
another
showing
that this
young man
has been
restored
i recall
last week
that we
defined
the word
prodigal
as
licentious
or lavish
or as
the
esv
translation
of the
text
which
i use
on sunday
mornings
puts it
in verse
13
reckless
right
reckless
living
licentious
sinning
that's what
we mean
when we
talk of
the
young
son
the
prodigal
son
right
the
story's
most
often
deemed
that
this
prodigal
son
story
because
of this
excessive
rebellion
against
the
father
but
let's
not
miss
the
prodigal
nature
of the
father's
love
for his
son
his
love
is
absolutely
reckless
the
first part
of first
john
chapter
three
verse
one
john
writes
this
see
what
kind
of
love
the
father
has
given
to
us
and
some
translations
will
say
that
the
father
has
lavished
on
us
that
we
should
be
called
children
of
God
and
so
we
are
but
Jesus
tells
us
more
about
the
father's
compassion
his
great
lavish
love
for
his
son
thirdly
the
celebration
of the
father
and his
servants
the
last
two
verses
verse
23
and
24
he
says
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
to
slaughter
the
fattened
calf
was a
big
deal
for
time
I'm
going to
save
you the
details
of
the
preparation
of
the
fattened
calf
but
this
calf
was
likely
being
prepared
as
would
have
been
the
custom
for
the
wedding
of
the
oldest
son
it's
likely
why
this
calf
is
in
reserve
being
prepared
but
this
event
happens
this
great
event
verse
24
my
son
was
dead
and is
alive
again
he was
lost
and he
is
found
and that
is the
thematically
what's
happening
in chapter
15
right
back in
verse
4
what
man
of
you
having
a
hundred
sheep
if
he's
lost
one
does
not
leave
the
ninety-nine
in the
open
country
and go
after
the
one
that
is
lost
until
he
finds
it
verse
8
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
right
so
lost
things
now
found
!
they
began
to
celebrate
the
father
and
his
son
and
those
in
his
household
begin
to
celebrate
again
in the
previous
parables
verse
5
when he
has
found
it
the
sheep
he
lays
it
on
his
shoulders
rejoicing
he
comes
home
he
calls
together
his
friends
and
his
neighbors
saying
to
them
rejoice
with
me
for
I
found
my
sheep
that
was
lost
just
so
I
tell
you
there
be
more
joy
in
heaven
over
one
sinner
who
repents
and
over
ninety-nine
righteous
persons
who
need
no
repentance
and
then
verse
nine
the
woman
who
finds
the
coin
when
she
finds
it
she
calls
together
her
friends
and
neighbors
saying
rejoice
with
me
for
I
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
we'll
transition
next
week
into
the
response
of
the
older
son
who
if
he
loved
the
father
the
way
he
should
have
if
he
was
obedient
if
he
stuck
around
with
the
father
for
the
reason
that
he
should
have
it
would
have
been
for
the
father
himself
so
he
would
have
been
drawn
into
the
rejoicing
of
the
father
the
father
says
look
I
have
found
something
was
my
son
he's
been
restored
to
me
and
the
older
brother
would
have
gladly
joined
in
about
rejoicing
the
rejoicing
in
heaven
is
and
will
be
great
over
the
salvation
of
souls
because
it
displays
the
goodness
of
God
our
father
it
is
this
goodness
that
Jesus
speaks
as
he
tells
his
parable
that
his
hearers
will
see
this
compassion
of
the
father
the
son
interrupted
and
restored
and
the
celebration
of
the
father
and
his
servants
and
we
would
see
this
and
be
given
much
reason
to
join
in
the
rejoicing
of
heaven
in
lost
souls
coming
to
faith
in
Jesus
Christ
right
because
we
love
our
father
we
rejoice
in
what
he
rejoices
in
I
want
you
to
turn
with
me
away
from
Luke
chapter
15
in
your
copy
of
God's
word
to
revelation
chapter
five
is the
apostle
john's
heavenly
vision
I don't
want you to get too
caught up in
the
potential symbolism
of the
chapter
that's not
the
driving
point
that
we're
looking
at
here
but
I
just
want
you
to
consider
the
rejoicing
in
heaven
over
the
accomplished
work
of
Jesus
Christ
beloved
you want
to have
joy
here
be
saved
by
God
because
of
this
lamb
that
we're
going
to
read
about
sacrificed
on
our
behalf
and
then
join
in
his
work
in
the
world
right
what
he
is
doing
to
continue
to
save
this
is
the
work
of
Christians
joining
in
the
joy
of
God
as
he
calls
together
his
church
for
the
praise
of
his
name
pick
that
up
in
revelation
five
yes
the
whole
chapter
it's
too
good
not
to
read
the
whole
thing
and
then
we'll
close
so
in
verse
one
and
following
then
I
saw
on
the
right
hand
of
him
who
was
seated
on
the
throne
a
skull
written
within
and
on
the
back
sealed
with
seven
seals
and
I
saw
a
mighty
angel
proclaiming
with a
loud
voice
who
is
worthy
to
open
the
scroll
and
break
its
seals
and
no
one
in
heaven
on
earth
or
under
the
earth
was
able
to
open
the
scroll
or
to
look
into
it
and
I
began
to
weep
loudly
because
no
one
was
found
worthy
to
open
the
scroll
or
to
look
into
it
and
one
conquered
so
that
he
can
open
the
scroll
and
its
seven
seals
and
between
the
throne
and
the
four
living
creatures
and
among
the
elders
I
saw
a
lamb
standing
as
though
it
had
been
slain
with
seven
horns
and
with
seven
eyes
which
are
the
seven
spirits
of
God
sent
out
into
all
the
earth
and
he
went
and
he
took
the
scroll
from
the
right
hand
of
him
who
was
seated
on
the
throne
and
when
he
had
taken
the
scroll
the
four
living
creatures
and
the
twenty-four
elders
fell
down
before
the
lamb
each
holding
a
harp
and
golden
bowls
full
of
incense
which
are
the
prayers
of
the
saints
and
they
sang
a
new
song
saying
worthy
are
you
to
take
the
scroll
and
open
its
seals
for
you
were
slain
and
by
your
blood
you
ransomed
people
for
God
from
every
tribe
and
language
and
people
and
nation
and
you
had
made
them
a
kingdom
and
priests
to
our
God
and
they
shall
reign
on
the
earth
then
I
looked
and
I
heard
around
the
throne
and
the
living
creatures
and
the
elders
the
voice
of
many
angels
numbering
myriads
of
myriads
and
thousands
of
thousands
saying
with a
loud
voice
worthy
is
the
lamb
who
was
slain
to
receive
power
and
wealth
and
wisdom
and
might
and
honor
and
glory
and
blessing
and
I
heard
every
creature
in
heaven
and
on
earth
and
under
the
earth
and
in
the
sea
and
all
that
is
in
them
saying
to
him
who
sits
on
the
throne
the
lamb
be
blessing
and
honor
and
glory
and
might
forever
and
ever
and
the
four
living
creatures
said
amen
and
the
elders
fell
down
and
worshiped
let's
pray
!