A Story of Two Sinners

Luke chapter 15. It may appear that we are just going straight through Luke and we have ever since chapter 10 just been moving straight through Luke and there's a reason for that. We are in a period of our Lord's ministry called the withdrawal to Peria the last three months of his life and it is Luke's gospel that covers that. All the information just about all the information there a couple little jogs into John's gospel will get to along the way but most of the information comes from Luke. It's kind of like in the very beginning of our Lord's ministry most of the information comes from the gospel of John. Nobody else covers that and in this section of the Lord's ministry Luke is the one that has all the information so we are kind of moving straight through Luke but that's the reason why we will jump back and forth a little bit to John's gospel as well. Now tonight we are in one of the most familiar stories that Jesus ever told. Remember that Jesus has been eating dinner at the house of a Pharisee. He is being hounded by the Pharisees to the point that they're wanting to put him to death and one of the things they are doing is criticizing him about the kind of people that are attracted to his ministry in verses one and two of the chapter you remember that tax collectors and sinners are gathering around hearing but the Pharisees and teachers of the law are muttering about that. This man welcomes sinners and eats with them they're muttering implying that he's probably more like them than us good respectable righteous people and so Jesus launches into this threefold story the story of the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son really it's three parts to one story and it's kind of like waves hitting you it's kind of like a tsunami hitting your heart you know the first wave hits you and then the second one hits you harder and the third one overwhelms you and that's exactly what Jesus is doing with this is the cumulative effect of these three stories that really packs the punch for our Lord and what he's trying to get across now let's kind of dissect what Jesus is getting across here what we've already looked at the lost sheep and the lost coin what are some of the main elements that Jesus is getting across to his heroes here with these stories what are some of the key elements he's addressing okay something is lost yes that's the first thing something is lost and what does that mean remember you look for it yes but what does it mean for something to be lost means it is out of place separated from its owner right remember we've we talked about in a sense Jesus is making the point that people who are created in the image of God are separated from him and so there's someone is lost something is lost and and that as someone said leads to you got to look for it so that leads to a search why why is there a search we've left that one important element here why would someone search for something that's lost it's important it cares yes and we've we saw that with the sheep the sheep is very valuable to the shepherd even though he's got a hundred every one is valuable and so he'll leave the ninety nine we're safe to go get the one because that one sheep is valuable remember the lost coin was part of a ten coin headband that would be given to a one our wedding day and so that was a very important coin to her and so the search is very diligent because she loves that I mean that's very special closer hard and so she loves it and she'll she'll move furniture and light candles and in the dark corners and and sweet you know every part of the house looking every pocket of all over close she'll she'll search diligently so something's lost person who's lost it loves what's lost and thus will conduct a diligent search and what's another key element that Jesus gets across in these stories what happens after the element or whatever's found rejoicing there there's great joy I mean call call the neighbors let's let's rejoice let's have it let's throw a party this is something to rejoice about okay so those are the main elements that Jesus is getting across in these stories and he saves the most touching one the most gripping one till last obviously the story of the prodigal son is one of the maybe the most familiar story that Jesus told a couple that would come close the good Samaritan is one that would come close probably but this one this one just really wraps itself around your heart and really tugs at your heart and I think Jesus was was telling it much for that same purpose to to really impact the heart of his hearers and to drive home a point to the sinners that were listening to him and following but also to the Pharisees okay so this is called the the parable the prodigal son but really it's the story of two sons and both are important to the point that Jesus is making in fact there's a sense in which the second son the older son is more important in the story than the prodigal and so quite often the only person that gets talked about in the stories of prodigal son but the point is not made until you hear about the other brother and that's when the point of the story really comes home to Jesus hearers so we'll we'll hope to tie all that together it really is a story of two sons not just one and both of them have a very critical part in the in the story now one other thing but we have introduction that I think we need to talk about a little bit and that is that through the years there's been a lot of debate as to what kind of person does the prodigal son represent and you'll hear both sides of this in in the popular preaching of the story does it represent a lost person or does he represent does he represent a lost person or does he represent a believer who has straight away and comes back which do you think it is the lost the lost we got two votes for lost lost son okay fits with the other two what do you think anybody else having a opinion of you all three things were there originally okay okay all right okay prodigal son wasn't really lost in the sense he left his own choice okay left of his own self he is a son okay okay his other his brother okay all right you're you're raising all the issues that make this make people take different positions on it and that certainly this this young man is a son he leaves the father of his own will and comes back so in that sense yes it can certainly represent a believer who is a son of the father and leaves home and comes back certainly it can represent that but let's go back to the reason Jesus told the story what was the reason Jesus told the story who are the people were criticizing them because of what feasting with centers associating with centers and so the parable is to show the fathers love for centers okay remember that a parable is a story that is designed and intended to get across one major point you don't press all the details of a parable although in this case it's very tempting because there's so many wonderful parallels but remember the main reason for this story was to show something is lost separated from its owner and in the sense that God created us in his image all of us belong to him in that sense but mankind comes into this world separated from God and so the the point of the story is that God loves lost people and he loves lost people so much that he will diligently search for them and bring them back now there are some parallels in the in the lost son that don't really apply to the lost sheep and the lost coin but remember the main point of the story that's really what a parable is about to get across one major point and Jesus is doing it here with the story of a lost son so you can't you can't press all the details when you look at all the details it looks more like he's a believer he's a son who went away of his own accord he was in the family okay so when you press all those details yeah that's why often the passage is preached as he was a believer or represents a believer but the real purpose of the story is to show why God loves lost people okay so with with that said there are four parts to the story four things that are portrayed for us and the first one is what I'm going to call a rebellious center a rebellious center versus 11 through 16 Jesus introduces the story verse 11 Jesus continued there was a man who had two sons so from the very beginning we realized that the story's not just about one son it's about both of them and that's going to become critical as we get toward the end but the majority of the stories about the younger son and so in verses 12 and 13 what we see here represented is man's condition in sin that's the this rebellious center represents and shows very vividly man's condition in sin look at verse 12 the younger one said to his father father give me my share of this state 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 they're squandered his wealth in wild living what a what a blunt statement this son makes usually in a state was not divided until the father is dead it would be possible and sometimes happened where the estate would be divided ahead of that but typically it's not divided until the father's dead so basically this blunt challenge on the part of this younger son is tantamount to saying to his father I wish you were dead just go ahead and give me my estate let me get out of here that's basically what he's saying I mean can't you imagine how the father's heart must have been broken how he would look at his son and say where's the little boy that used to sit on my lap where's the little boy I used to take fishing and here's this angry young man I wish you were dead just go ahead and give me my money and let me get out of here that's the sense that you get here of this young man's heart and spirit and anger toward his father so he gets everything together once he gets his inheritance and sets off for a distant country obviously he's gonna get as far away as he can he's gonna go wherever there are no restraints right wherever he nobody's gonna be watching him nobody's gonna be telling him when he needs to come home nothing like that he's gonna get a as far away as he can where he can do whatever he wants he's gonna sew his wild oaths he's gonna live out the the desire of the flesh of the dream of every center to do whatever I want and nobody knows and nobody is there to hold me accountable he's gonna he's gonna do it and he thinks get by with it he's got money he's gonna have fun and he's gonna make some friends in the process quote unquote friends okay so man's condition in sin is really demonstrated by this this younger son now we saw earlier when we were talking about the three parts of this story remember we saw that the lost sheep represents a center in the sense of a center by nature by nature a sheep wonders away the lost coin represents someone who is far from God because of the influence of others the coin is maybe dropped by someone kicked under the table or whatever you know and so a lot of people act out their sinfulness and they go far from God and turn their back on God don't want any more to do with God because of abuse or you know any number of other things that may have happened to them on the part of other people and so the lost coin seems to represent that the lost son we saw however represents rebellious a rebellious in your face fist in your face turning against the father turning against God that kind of rebellious thing and in that sense I believe represents all of us now let me ask you are all of us rebels you're a rebel Tommy okay all right who else is a rebel in here all right yeah I am too don't be afraid to put your hand up all of us are rebels against God right when does a rebel become a rebel okay now you're you're getting theological on me here where I'll get to that in a moment when when when do centers become centers but when does a rebel become when someone rebels against their parents when do they when do they become a rebel when they peel out of the driveway leaving black streaks with their car is that when they become a rebel okay when they from their heart right John okay a person becomes a rebel in their heart long before they show it right I mean this this young man obviously had been thinking for some time about what he was planning to do nobody just walks up to their dad on a whim and says I wish you were dead give me my money let me get out of here no nobody does that I mean this guy had been thinking this through maybe he'd already had a place picked out where he was gonna go maybe he had a list of things he wanted to do in life fun he wanted to have things he wanted to try you know he's been thinking about this he has already become a rebel in his heart long before he goes and asks for the inheritance from his dad when do we become a rebel against God when we stop doing his will did you hear that little boy who said I may be sitting down but I'm standing up in my mind okay all right does is that when we become a rebel against God when we stop doing his will obviously that's certainly a sign of being a rebel does it go back before that when you're born okay when you start thinking about it John quote that verse again brother okay yeah David David says in Psalm 51 and verse five and I want to read it in the NIV because I like the way it says it surely I was sinful at birth sinful from the time my mother conceived me okay to be a rebel against God is to be a center right to be sinful that means we are far from God and David makes this astounding statement I was separated from God at birth no no no no wait a second I'll go back nine months earlier I was separated from God when I was conceived wow did you know that we became rebels against God before we ever had the capacity to do anything when we were conceived now there's a lot of theology in that about how the sin nature gets passed down to us and I'm not going to get into that tonight that's not the point of Jesus' fervor but but I believe what David is indicating is that we inherit a sin nature at the moment of conception we are separated from God at the moment we're conceived so here's a rebel a rebellious young man and he pictures all of us in this room he pictures all of us because all of us are rebels against God and it's not because at age 16 we finally decided I've had enough of this church stuff I'm getting out of here and doing my own thing no no it's because of what happened in our heart and our heart has been affected since birth oh wait a second even from the moment we were conceived we have been rebels against God okay wow so this young man represents man's condition in sin and we are that way from the moment we are conceived we are separated from God we may not act out for a number of years yet and not everybody acts out in the same way but we all have the same heart it's a sinful heart and we were born with it okay but he also demonstrates not only man's condition in sin he also demonstrates the costs of sin we're going to look at three things that sin will eventually cost you okay we're all rebels in our hearts against God when we start acting on that when we say when we take the first step to say okay I'm gonna I'm gonna go this direction when God is that direction when we start acting on that and start rebelling against him you keep taking those steps away from God and this is exactly where it will lead you the cost of sin let's try to pick it out there three of them first of all in verse 13 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 notice the word squandered okay verse 14 after he had spent everything there was a severe famine in the whole country and he began to be in need what kind of picture does that paint for you those words where where does sin take you down down down okay okay where you don't want to go he squanders everything he has nothing left he is in need there's famine sin will empty you it will empty you it will drain you of everything you have and everything you are some of you have dealt very closely with people with addictions and and people who start down that road never never realize where they're going to end up I mean it's fun for a while and this guy had fun for a while lots of money do anything with it he wants and that kind of stuff attracts friends so-called so he had people to do it with he had no idea where it would take him he had no idea that one day he would be he would be emptied sin will empty you of everything you have and it will empty you of everything you are on the inside it will literally eat away your character your soul so he's empty that's where sin will take you that's one of the costs of sin second cost of sin look at verse 15 so he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs so what does that communicate to you what what's the next thing sin will do to you make sure you save exactly it enslaves you okay he's at the point now where he's desperate and people who follow the path of sin Satan will never show you this up front he shows you the nice glossy color brochure of all the fun you can have he didn't show you where you're going to end up you're going to end up first of all empty and then to the point that you become enslaved bondage and and this guy this guy hires himself out as a slave to someone who sends him out in his field to feed pigs now there is nothing lower for a Jewish young man than to do that to feed pigs unclean animals that we're not even qualified for sacrifices nothing lower than that and that's where sin will take you it will put you in bondage and it doesn't matter what kind of sin it is it doesn't have to be drugs and alcohol any kind of sin will take you to bondage that's where it will end end up that's where you you will end up in bondage you can be in bondage to envy you can be in bondage to anger you can be in bondage to lying you can be in bondage to distorting the truth or stealing taking things that are not yours any sin will take you into bondage that's the nature of sin okay so so he's empty he's in bondage look at the third thing that happens to him verse 16 he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating but no one gave him anything what's third thing sin leaves you with where does it take you empty alone yeah he's alone no one gave him anything he looks around as he's feeding the pigs so hungry that he's willing to eat what they're eating where is friends now what where are the people he had such good times with there's no one around now sin will leave you empty enslaved and alone alone it'll take you to the very bottom and it will drain everything out of you and again it doesn't matter what kind of sin it is I think we see it most vividly in addictions but any sin will do the same thing to your character any sin will like you say it wrong things for you yeah yeah right true in that case true and so many others that could be mentioned right where sin will take you and the thing is you know it it looks so attractive and so fulfilling and then once it gets its clutches in you it drags you down this road literally drags you down this road and I think it was John Wesley said the chains of a habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken and that's how sin works you don't feel the chains until they're so strong you can't break them and all of a sudden you realize wait a second this is where I am yeah John yeah yeah oh it's it's it's coming to me the I'm searching for the right word the most remarkable man on earth what's what's he called the most what is it yeah but what's he what's he called the most most interesting man in the world yeah and you see him doing all these amazing things you know that's that's the picture that you get presented to you right or group of friends party and have a great time this is this is the highlight you know this is the way to go and you're you're exactly right John the the rest of it is never never shown that's part of the attraction to get you there yeah yeah what kind of fun is this and that's exactly where this young man ends up okay so this this is the cost of sin now the next picture is that of a repentant center okay we've seen the rebellious center where sin will take you far from God but notice the picture of a repentant center in verses 17 to 20 two things he did first of all he recognized his sinful condition and let's let's break this up let's break this apart a little bit and unpack it a little bit verse 17 when he came to his senses boy now there's a lot packed in those words what we've just been talking about is that you don't realize where sins taken you until you're too far gone you don't realize where you're going to end up till you're almost there and so here he is empty in bondage and alone fully paying the cost of sin no more good times and then he wakes up and realizes where he is and you know one of the most tragic things in the world is to watch people going this direction and they don't know it and they don't want to listen to correction for some people it takes waking up in a hog pin someday to realize where you are what you've done to your life and and that's what it took for this young man he came to his senses but notice when he came to his senses he said how many of my father's hired servants had food to spare and here I am starving to death okay so the first step in repentance the first step in in recognizing his simple condition was he came to himself he was faced with where he was and he began thinking through what the mess he had made out of his life which just indicates once again that Satan is so deceptive when it comes to sin he will pull you along with his bait and hook and deceive you and make you think man this is going to be fun this is going to be great I'm finally old enough to do what I want to do and then all of a sudden he's got the hook in your mouth dragging you along and finally you get to a point where you come to your senses you wake up the deception you've swallowed he came to himself and then look at verse 18 what did he do next I will set out and go back to my father and say to him father I have sinned against heaven and against you what's what's he doing here repenting what's he admitting that he's a sinner he did it all his own yeah notice those very hard words to say but you recognize him when you're in the hog pin I have sinned he admits his sinfulness it's not well you know a series of unfortunate circumstances no it's not that it's not bad luck it's not that it's not well I kind of got in with the wrong people no it's not that it's not my fault yeah right father I've sinned and we're going to see in a moment that's where he goes back to it goes to the father but he admits that he has sinned you cannot get saved unless you admit that you're a sinner that's part and parcel of repentance is coming to your senses and realizing I've sinned I'm a sinner okay I'm in trouble here and it's my fault okay that's a very important part of of repentance and then notice what else he does verse 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired servants what's he what's he saying here he's he's come to himself he's admitted his sinfulness now what's he saying I'm not worthy what you stand down as beggin for forgiveness yeah he basically is saying I have nothing to offer you father I I have nothing to offer okay he's on the verge of discovering at least admitting his need of grace okay I'm not worthy I don't have any I can't give you anything I don't have good works to give you I have no gifts to give you I can't reform myself I am not worthy and that's an important part of repentance too is to come to the place where you recognize I can't buy my way into heaven work my way into heaven do anything that will pay off my debt I'm not worthy I don't have anything to offer I'm a sinner if I'm going to get saved it's going to be totally by grace in other words it's just a free gift of God I can't earn it in any way that's what he's coming to realize you see that's a very important place to be so he realizes simple condition then notice quickly verse 20 he turned to the father and I'm going to piggyback on what Tommy emphasized a moment ago so he got up and went to his father let's stop right there in the middle of the verse okay here's here's a beautiful picture of a repentant sinner repentance the word literally means to turn around it means an about face and and repentance means you turn away from your sin which we've seen he he does he comes to himself admits his sin and says I'm not worthy I'm a sinner so he turns from his sin but notice repentance also means you turn towards something and he turned to the father okay it's the father that was in his mind not the beautiful home that he had given up he wasn't comparing that to the pig pen not his friends back home or his brother or the nice meals back home what was it he wanted to return to relationship his father his father you see that's what he wanted to return to and when people get saved they realize that it is a relationship with Jesus Christ with the father through his son Jesus Christ that's what is needed salvation is not in well I got to get back to church now salvation hopefully will result and you getting back to church but salvation is not a long angle I got to get back to church or I got to get to doing this again I got to you know get back to the people that were good for me salvation is I need Christ I need Christ I am a sinner and I need Christ that's what salvation is salvation is not any of the other stuff and if all you got the other stuff well I'm going to start going to church it's not going to get you to heaven that's not going to save you what you need is not church or baptism or better life you don't need your best life now what you need is Christ that's what you need Christ and so that's what this young man goes back to he goes to his father he returns to his father okay so that's a picture of a repentance center quickly we need to look at a receiving father we're not even going to get to the main part of the store I tell that right now somebody feeds up that clock back there I think but the main part of the story is at the end but anyway we'll take a look at least at the receiving father and this is a beautiful picture again this is this is designed in the parable to be a picture of God remember the whole purpose is to show that God loves lost people and it's designed to show the Pharisees you people don't understand anything about why I'm here and who the father is okay so the receiving father is a beautiful picture of God first of all of of God's love so we got up with the was father verse 20 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 through his arms around him and kissed him artists have tried to picture this and you probably can't see that very well but this is an old depiction of what it would have been like for the son to fall into the arms of the father and the father to welcome him back and however you want to picture it with the scene like it would have looked in that day or a scene like it would look like today just imagine a father running to his son throwing his arms around him and kissing him now what does the son look like he smells he doesn't look very good he probably stinks but that doesn't matter to the father you see what what Jesus is getting across here and he's I think the point is probably starting to come clear to the Pharisees the Pharisees who were so self-righteous so clean so good looking smelled good Jesus is saying God throws his arms around dirty smelly lost sinners that's who he loves you see God's love is not earned or deserved God's love is not merited by who we are or what we've done or how we clean ourselves up there is nothing there is nothing in the gospel about reforming yourself before God will then accept you no the whole point of the gospel is that you come to him in your rotten smelly rags and he throws his arms around you and receives you because he loves you love is is that kind of love you don't clean up your life first you come back admitting you're a sinner and he throws his arms around you because he loves you and here the point is starting to become clear to the Pharisees God loves smelly people God loves dirty people God loves people who've been in the hog pin the kind of people they're listening to Jesus preach right the tax collectors the prostitutes those are the kind of people that are listening to Jesus preach according to verse one and and Jesus is getting across the point those are the people that the father throws his arms around because they recognize their sinfulness and they turn to the father in faith okay so representation of a picture of God's love picture also of God's grace here in verse 21 look look at what happens the sun said to him father I have sinned against heaven and against you I am no longer worthy to be called your son verse 22 but the father said to us servants quick bring the best robe etc etc um compare verse 21 with verse 18 verse 18 and 19 look at the look at the speech the sun had rehearsed in verses 18 and 19 now look at verse 21 is there something missing there who is doing good on his rehearsed speech he's memorized it pretty well what's missing in verse 21 make me one of your hired servants I think that is a glorious absence I think there's a sense in which that highlights the grace of God in salvation and Jesus is wanting to make sure nobody thinks that you can work your way back into the favor of the father just let me be a servant I'll do everything I can to to earn your trust again to earn your favor I'll do I'll do whatever I'll start at the very bottom I'll be a slave again I don't want to press the details of the story obviously the father didn't know he was going to say that but as as the story represents our heavenly father our heavenly father doesn't let us offer that because that's not what salvation is about it's not about working your way back into the favor and the good graces of God grace if grace means anything is that you are received freely you don't offer God anything you don't work your way back into his favor it's grace but it goes even further than that the father didn't say well you know son we'll put you on probation I'll let you come back but if things don't work out if you if you don't do everything you're supposed to do then yeah I'm gonna make you slave it doesn't do that which and I don't think I'm pressing this too far which I I think is representative of our father's insistence upon the fact that not only are we saved by grace we are kept by grace there's no probation for a true believer there's no well let's try this out of while if you hang on you know if you persevere if you pray through if you do this or that or the other then I'll keep you if not you're out there's none of that there's none of that works stuff in either our salvation or security it's all of grace and this father represents the grace of God and then quickly represents God's joy and we'll stop with this represents God's joy well wait a second we man there's a lot of stuff here quick he says bring the best robe okay he came home in rags maybe with very little a robe signified honor in the family his father is graciously giving him back a position of honor notice what he says next put a ring on his finger a ring represents an air in that time a son would wear a ring to be an air well this is the very hand that's wasted his inheritance no he's an air this is grace you see this is how God's grace works you're I'm graciously putting you back in the position of an air and then put sandals on his feet in that in that day slaves went barefoot it was only sons that wore sandals in a household so what he's saying to this boy is no you're not coming back as a slave by giving you a robe I'm elevating you to the place of honor again by giving you a ring I'm saying you're still my air by giving you sandals I'm saying you're my son man that's grace that is grace this son didn't do anything to deserve that he had done everything to never be received in the graces of the father but if you if you think you got to work your way back in you don't understand anything about grace grace gives us a position of honor in God's family makes us an air of God and a joint air with Jesus Christ and makes us a son of God when we didn't deserve any of it but that's grace that's grace and then of course there's the feast too here's a guy that's been longing to to eat the husks and the corn cobs that the pigs have been eaten and he's offered a feast man that's grace well the father's joy is found also in verses 23 and 24 bring the fat and calf kill it let's have a feast and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and his alive again is lost and is found so they began to celebrate and I think the whole time Jesus is telling this he's looking at the publicans and centers the tax collectors and centers who are listening to him for each and in verse 25 I think he squares around and looks straight at Pharisees meanwhile the older son and I think he was looking straight at the Pharisees when he said that we'll see why next time okay we'll come back and get the real point of the story in the last part of the story with the the respectable center okay remember there are two sons in this story and there are two centers in this story and Jesus is going to point out the rebellious centers are the ones you all criticize you were coming and listening to me there's another center in the crowd see older son and he's looking straight at the Pharisees when he says it I'm convinced that was the case because that's the point of the story okay we'll get back to that let's pray father thank you for our savior for his love and your love for lost people and even though we might not have all ended up in the hog pin we were all separated from you at birth at conception and we needed to say grace as anyone else who's ever been saved so father thank you that you made it possible through the death of your son to show us your love your grace and then to laugh at a celebration because we're in your family that just amazes us Lord and we thank you for it thank you that you give us the position of being your sons even when we don't deserve that your children may we rejoice in all that you've done for us and never lose the wonder of being in your family thank you that you love lost people thank you that you loved us still do in Jesus name amen