This morning I invite you to turn with me once again to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15 as we consider what we might call the second part of the parable of the prodigal son. The text being verses 25 to 31. We'll begin our reading at verse 11. For those of you who are visiting with us today, our college children who are at home, Just to bring you a little bit up to speed, in Luke chapter 15 we find three parables. The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and of course the parable of the lost son. They all work together. They all go together. The parable of the lost sheep reminding us, teaching us that it is God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who goes out to seek and save the lost and to restore them by way of repentance. And the parable of the lost coin then going further with the idea of repentance showing us that the place of the church, the agency of the church in being the guardian of the word of God and in calling sinners to repentance. And in the parable of the lost son, indeed, to remind us that when one is brought by the Holy Spirit on that path of repentance to the Father's house, that God the Father receives. He accepts His lost, repentant sinners with open arms back into the Father's house. Before we read together the Word of God, shall we bow together in prayer. Father, we do thank You again in this morning hour for Your Word, Your most precious Word of truth. We pray, Father, that You would open our hearts and minds in this morning hour by the power of Your Holy Spirit that indeed we might hear, that we might understand, that we might believe Your Word, what You have to teach to us this morning. We pray that you would bless us through your servant, that your word would flow through him, and that through him you would bless us, Father. Strengthen us in that most holy faith and give to us as well a greater assurance of such a great salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Father, hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in his name alone. Amen. Let's begin at verse 11. Again, Jesus, in the beginning of chapter 15, the Pharisees and the scribes, the teachers of the law, are grumbling and complaining that Jesus is hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. And then he goes into these three parables. Verse 11, Jesus continued, There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together. all he had set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired men have food to spare? and here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For the son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. Now, beloved, before we go further, again, a celebration had begun. This son who was lost was now home, safe and sound. This truly was a reason to rejoice. But would everyone rejoice? Remember, again, the prodigal son was the younger son. In the parable, there were two sons. Would the older son receive his lost brother as willingly as the father had received the lost son? Would the older son understand the grace of his father, that grace beautifully poured out upon the younger son? Well, of course, even without reading it, most of us know the answer to these questions, don't we? And this morning, as we consider the older son we have before us, really the rest of the story. You see, Jesus could have easily left this part off of the parable and He could have ended with a beautiful description of the heart of God willing and ready to receive repentant sinners. But as we have kept in mind throughout these three parables, His audience included the grumbling Pharisees and the teachers of the law, the scribes. And therefore now, in closing this trio of parables, Jesus necessarily turns the spotlight on them and holds, as it were, a mirror right in front of them with the likes of this older son. You see, this portion now that we consider this morning is really the climax of these three parables. And what Jesus does here, we might do to someone by taking them by the shoulders, looking them straight in the eye, shaking them a little bit and saying, Don't you see? Don't you see? Open your eyes to the truth about yourself. Once again, with this lifelike illustration, our Lord challenges these grumblers with the fact that they, they, not the text collectors and the sinners, but they were the ones out of harmony with heaven. These religious leaders. You see, beloved, things aren't always as they appear to be. they, these religious leaders, were really grumbling against God. And in doing so, they must consider which was really the lost son. The younger son or the older son? These religious leaders had a mistaken view of kingdom restoration. We want to consider this morning the picture of self-righteousness, the loveless accusation of unfairness and the lesson of true rejoicing. Verse 25, Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, Look, all these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. Now what a surprise it must have been for this older son after a hard day's work in a field to come home, his home too, you see, a home that he had not abandoned. to come home and find a party going on. You see, beloved, this was no small celebration. It wasn't just one of those, well, a few friends and close relatives types of parties or get-togethers. The Greek word for music in the text is the word from which we get our word symphony. This was a grand celebration with many instruments. What's going on? Why didn't I know about this? After all, I live here. Wasn't I invited? Who in the world could be so important to justify a celebration like this? But you see, it was a bigger surprise and not at all a pleasant surprise to find out who the guest of honor was. The guest of honor was the very one who dishonored his father and the family by taking off. How could this be? you see the very thought of his brother made this older son's anger burn this guy was unworthy of all this has everyone lost their minds has everyone forgotten what he did he tore the family apart he squandered a third of the family farm there's no forgiveness for that to the older brother not only did the younger son not deserve to be called a son if it were up to the older brother the younger son wouldn't even be fit to be one of the hired men. Well, why did this son's anger burn so fiercely? Because of his pride in his own self-righteousness. He was the picture of self-righteousness. In his pride, he refused to go in and join the celebration. And when his father came out to persuade him, which indeed, beloved, was an act of mercy all by itself. The father did not have to do that. But it was an act of mercy on the father's part. But when he came out to plead with him, the son's self-righteous attitude became clear. In verse 29, But he answered his father, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. You see, his view of things was that he had been slaving for his father these many years. He stayed home working hard for his father and apparently remain faithful to him. And he makes sure he lets his father know this because obviously his faithfulness had been overlooked. He was proud of his diligent labor. He figured that it earned him the right of the father's approval and at very least, it should have earned the father's disapproval toward the younger son. Instead of confessing his sin, the younger son, beautifully, beautifully, sincerely confessed his sin. But the older son, instead of confessing his sin, the older son says that he never once disobeyed. He never once neglected a command. In him, we hear the voice of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked, well, what must I do to be saved? And when Jesus listed the commandments, the young ruler said, well, all these I have kept from my youth. As he boasted of his own faithfulness and accomplishments within the family. The older son demonstrated that he was unfaithful to the greatest of God's commandments. Love for God above all and his neighbor as himself. He was completely selfish and he had no clue what the love of selflessness was all about. He proves here that he never worked for his father out of love, but it was all for his own benefit. In his mind, he had earned the right of his father's favor. As Jesus spoke this portion of this parable, he was again holding a mirror before the Pharisees and the scribes. Their grumbling and their disapproval of the Lord's association with these tax gatherers and sinners was a reflection of the anger of this older son. Like the older son, the Pharisees and scribes had always lived, visibly speaking, with decency and uprightness and they had always visibly submitted to God. Again, in their minds, they had a reason to boast because of their good works, because of their faithful observance to the law. However, these religious leaders had made the law what they thought it should be. And at different times throughout His ministry, Jesus had made it clear that they were requiring people to do what God never required. Their obedience was on their own terms. Their obedience was nothing more than lip service obedience. Yet to them, you see, it was enough to deceive them into thinking that they were God's special people. That His favor was upon them because they deserved it. Because they earned it. We must confess, beloved, that we all struggle with a little Pharisaism once in a while, don't we? You see, when we actually do count the cost, that is, count what we believe the faith has cost us financially, our tithes, the tuition we pay for Christian school education, the business we give up by not being open on Sunday. Beyond that, the persecution that we endure, We're laughed at once in a while. Or people make jokes, dirty jokes in our presence knowing that it's going to offend us. You know, when we actually sit down and count what we believe the faith has cost us, pride can easily fill our hearts as we notice all the good things that we might do. And surely what we do, it must count for something. It has to. God can't help but to be pleased with what we do for Him. Right? What does the Bible say? Paul says, By the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified. And in another place, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. But then he goes on to say, yet we were created, weren't we? To do good works. That's what God expects of us. Pride in one's own righteousness, beloved, leads to contempt of others who fall into sin. You see, they don't deserve God's favor like me. And this contempt then translates as hate. And therefore, it's no surprise that the older son speaks the loveless accusation of unfairness. Again, verse 29 and verse 30, But he answered his father, Look, all these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. Boys and girls, do you hear what he's saying? Do you really hear what he's saying there? You say it. I say it. Unfair. It's not fair. And notice what he's doing, congregation. The older son goes from boasting about himself, I have kept all of your commandments. He goes from that to blaming his father. He is so loveless towards his brother that he refuses to refer to him as my brother. But instead he says, this son of yours. Parents, sometimes we do that, don't we? We get a little bit angry at a child of ours and we say to our spouse, well, that child of yours did this. We don't want to claim responsibility at that moment. That's what the older son does. He doesn't even want to be associated with his brother, this son of yours. In the older brother's mind, there was unfairness toward himself because he did not get what he thought he deserved. And there was unfairness toward the younger son because he received what he clearly did not deserve. And for all of his obedience and labor, the older son never even received a young goat, which wasn't even worth that much. But this son of yours, he squanders a third of the family business in unrighteous living, and he gets royal treatment? With a feast? With a symphony? With a house full of company? Go figure. In the older son's mind, by being unfair in these ways, the father himself had taken away from. He had stolen from the older son's honor. Instead, you see, what the father should have done, he should have held the older before the eyes of the younger and said, why can't you be more like him? You see, this was nothing less than insulting to the older son. Not only was his father ungrateful to him, he was also partial. He was unjust. Come on, the record was clear. the older son was the perfect son the younger son was the wretched squanderer of dad's living the older son he hung around with good friends good wholesome friends good influence but the younger son was prostitutes beloved because he saw the whole situation as unfair and didn't understand the father's love the older son was not in harmony with the merrymaking of the house. He was not in harmony with the joy of His Father. Again, this was the point of contention with the Pharisees and the scribes. If anyone deserved God's favor and the only position in God's kingdom, surely it was them. They earned it. God owed it to them. Yet, this Jesus, this Jesus, He was socializing with and even claiming to forgive the sins of these tax collectors and sinners. They had never even lifted a finger for the cause of God. In fact, they had done more to hurt the kingdom. You see, if this Jesus truly was the Messiah, if He was really the Son of God, then He would know all of this and He wouldn't be wasting His time with them, but instead He would be kissing up to the Pharisees and the scribes. He would be showing His appreciation for everything they stood for, for everything they had done. But as it was, Jesus, in their mind, was taking away from their honor, stealing from their honor, especially in the sight of men, embarrassing them. That honor, you see, which they had a right to, should not be shared with these sinners. And beloved, again, when we consider the Pharisaism in ourselves, we must confess that there are times we look down upon those who don't live up to our standards. Standards we have set, maybe even apart from Scripture. Standards that we have set in the church, in the school, in the workplace. And when they don't live up to our standards, we might even consider them to be lesser Christians. But how wrong this is. God's people are all at different stages in their spiritual walk. Some are stronger in the faith. Some are weaker in the faith. Some are further along in their understanding of the Word of God. Some are not as far along and are still living in ignorance somewhat. But all who have stood before God and His people with uprightness of heart and professed the Lord, He is God, all are brothers and sisters in Christ. but since we can't truly read another's heart, if there are those who have visibly changed from God to God, and now visibly have the joy of the Lord, we may be skeptical about their faith, and we may even at times wonder how God can receive such a sinner as they, or as they have been. Sometimes, don't we question conversions, especially if someone was just a terrible person, living a life of sin, openly living a life of sin, and then claimed to be a born-again Christian? Or maybe a convicted prisoner who is on death row, and if they all of a sudden claim to be a born-again Christian, don't we tend to question that a little bit? Could it really be true? You see, we might even think that God is unfair to receive those converted on their deathbed. After all, we have tried to live righteously our whole life long. How true it is, as Jesus says, that the beam in our own eye distorts our vision. And although we would never mean to minimize another's obedience, we just think sometimes that ours counts for so much more. Beloved, only when we recognize the truth that we ourselves are sinners of the worst sort and that only by the grace of God we have been restored to Him and His kingdom and that we live only, only, only by the mercy and grace of God, only then can we understand His love for all of those the Holy Spirit brings to repentance and faith along the path that the younger son had walked. You see, Jesus makes it clear that God is not unfair. In verse 31, My son, the father said, You are always with Me and everything I have is yours. There was no unfairness toward the older son. The father had not taken anything away from him. The Pharisees and scribes had always been in the church outwardly. They had always had the outward privileges of God's people. The law, the prophets, circumcision, the feasts, and they would receive exactly what they had earned. Nothing. They were giving proof that they had not lived from the Father's love, but from their own merit. By showing mercy to the tax collectors and sinners, Jesus was not taking away anything from the Pharisees and the scribes. On the one hand, they never had, in the first place, what they thought they had they had a mistaken view of kingdom restoration they didn't understand the grace of god they were blinded to the cross they needed no suffering savior to atone for their sins because in their minds they had no sin that needed atonement and therefore they could not understand the love of god in christ for these tax collectors and sinners for whom christ would also shed his own blood because they rejected the love of God through Christ. You have to ask, were they really looking and waiting for the Messiah? I mean, really? These guys were religious leaders. Did they really believe a Messiah was to come? As well, beloved, the lesson for us is that those who truly have the Father have everything He has to give. Beloved, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have salvation full and free, which shall never be taken away. And those whom the Lord brings to Himself in repentance and faith by regenerating them, they also have all of the Father. All of God's people enjoy a full measure of the mercy and grace of God. Not one of His children is slighted or cheated when another receives His grace. Whenever another one comes to faith in Christ Jesus, you're not ripped off. I'm not ripped off. God is not cheating us. His grace is sufficient for all. For you. For you. For you. For me. For all of us. And all of His people. And as we consider God's goodness to us as believers, we must understand that what was truly unfair was that Jesus left His home in glory. That He humbled Himself as a man to be born as an infant. That's the depths of humility. And He had to die for you and me. He took our place. He was paid the wages we deserve and in turn gave to us a most precious gift. And that gift, beloved, is worth celebrating. Because that gift brings rejoicing in heaven. The same rejoicing that came to earth to the shepherds on the hillsides when the angels came singing of the coming of salvation. And therefore, our Lord teaches here the lesson of true rejoicing. Verse 32, the Father says, But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. You see, the wages of sin is death and being lost forever, but the gift of God is life, eternal life, and being found forever. The Father makes it clear to the older son that the celebrating was not an option. They could not refrain from rejoicing. How could they? And if the Pharisees and scribes truly understood the love and the heart of God with His forgiveness for repentance, then they too could not keep from rejoicing as these tax collectors and sinners were brought to faith in Jesus Christ. But they didn't understand. And therefore, they grumbled to complain that Jesus committed an injustice by receiving these sinners. Beloved, when one is dead in sin and lost to God, we know this, but we need to be reminded of this to understand the seriousness of it. When one is dead in sin and lost to God, that one is headed for eternal destruction in hell. And that one, apart from repentance and faith, will suffer the wrath and punishment of God and the torment of hell forever. This is unequaled misery. But to be found or rescued from that and to be given life in Jesus Christ in the blessed company of the Heavenly Father is unspeakable joy. All men deserve eternal death, but God's children are rescued and brought to repentance and faith through the forgiving grace of God and they are given life. Paul says of believers, and you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. One can only be in the house of God by the love and grace of God. That's the truth of kingdom restoration. And those who are in his house then are obedient as evidence of the love of God. You see, the older son didn't understand the heart and love of his father because he had turned their relationship into a master-slave relationship and he was simply working for wages. The younger son, he truly understood the mercy and grace of his father. He had been outwardly alienated from his father's love. But the older son had been inwardly alienated from that love. Beloved, the house was overflowing with joy because those in the house understood the beauty and the eternal result of the Father's love. Why is repentance and forgiveness a reason to rejoice? Because this is the work of God for the sake of Christ's saving sacrifice. Beloved, God rejoices in the work of His own hand as He fulfills His eternal purpose. Jesus Christ rejoices as He sees the fruit of His own terrible suffering and death and the fruit of His mighty resurrection in the new life and repentance of God's children. The angels rejoice as our Lord has taught us in these parables. the angels rejoice as Almighty God is glorified as His children experience His saving grace and are restored to His kingdom. And the church, you and me, the church made up of those who were dead and now live, who were lost and are now found, cannot help but rejoice when God seeks, finds, and restores another lost child through repentance and faith. You see, you can only rejoice with and for another when you know that this is true for you. Then you can't help but to rejoice. Beloved, we are to be a rejoicing church. We are to care about the souls of mankind. As God's people, we are to see in the repentance of lost sinners that which God Himself has accomplished and we are called to rejoice as the Lord restores those just like us. Each and every one of us, along with all of God's people, fit the description of Peter when he says, For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Those who have been found and restored by God for the sake of Jesus cannot help but to sincerely rejoice from the heart with a joy rooted in genuine happiness at the restoration of the lost. This was a joy that the Pharisees and the scribes they could not express because this was a joy they did not know. You see, as they looked into the mirror of this older son, Jesus' point to them was exactly that. You cannot rejoice because you have not been restored. There has been no repentance in your heart. Beloved, to not rejoice when one is brought to the faith is to say that Christ's coming and that Christ's work is really no big deal. Notice Jesus doesn't tell us in the parable whether or not the older brother actually ever went in to the celebration. He doesn't tell us that. And we are to learn, along with the Pharisees and the scribes, that as long as the Word of God reaches your ears, as long as you have ears to hear upon death, it will be too late. But as long as you have ears to hear, as long as the Word of God reaches your ears, there is still hope. And for those who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will have the forgiveness of God for the sake of Christ, and their soul will be saved from death, as James says. they will have the comfort of the open arms of the Heavenly Father. This is the victory of the cross of Christ. And this is the precious possession of those restored to God's kingdom by His grace. Yes, beloved, as Paul says, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. As you examine your place in God's kingdom, are you working for wages? Or do you live from the gift? Together may we, along with the saints of all ages, live in the welcoming arms of our Heavenly Father for the sake of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Remember, this grumbling and complaining is the groan of the lost, apart from the love of God. But rejoicing is the music of the found in harmony with heaven, in response to the restoring grace of God. Beloved, do you truly desire the salvation of the lost? I mean, really desire that? If so, how much? Are you praying for someone? Maybe even now. A person at work. A family member. Are you praying earnestly for one? That God would show them the light of His saving grace and bring them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus came. That's why we celebrate Christmas, isn't it? Because salvation has come for lost sinners. Praise God, beloved, that He seeks and He saves. That He chooses those whom He will save. That He does not leave that up to men because if He left it up to men, do you know what that would mean? That means that not one of us would be chosen. Who would choose us? beloved may we rejoice when the Holy Spirit brings one to the faith and may we treat it as a big deal because it is and together may we rejoice in the love of God that saved such lost as you and me Amen shall we pray Father, we thank You again in this morning hour for Your Word. We pray, O Lord, that You would give to us a desire for those who do not know You. That we might truly understand what it is that we have. Father, so often we make this life and the things of this life somewhat more important than our eternal life. If we tend to confuse things, Father, and we fail to think about what it is we have in Christ Jesus, give to us a greater understanding, more day by day, of what we have been given. What we have been spared from. The hope that we have in Christ Jesus. And may we desire that for others, Lord. May we love the souls of others and desire salvation of all those we come in contact with. Father, we don't know those whom You have chosen to save. And we pray that each and every time You give to us the sight to see those come to the faith, that indeed we would celebrate, even as the angels in heaven celebrate. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake, and in His name alone, Amen.