The Lost Sons (Part 1)
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
John 14:23-24
“Jesus said, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.
“He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
John 15:5-8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
“If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”
Please open your Bibles to: Luke 15:11-31
Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the return of Jesus that is found in two parables and a prophecy in Matthew 25. The two parables indicate that the time of Jesus’ return in unknown and that a time of judgment will take place when He does return. They also indicate that we must be prepared for His return because when it does happen, and it WILL happen, the time of choosing will be gone and our eternal destiny will be set.
And, then last week we started taking a look at the first two of the three parables found in Luke 15.
In the first two verses of Luke 15 we see the Pharisees and Scribes criticizing Jesus for allowing tax collectors and sinner to come close to Him and then actually teaching them!
In the first two parables that we looked at we saw Jesus giving examples of something that was lost, the search for the lost “item”, the rejoicing in the finding of the “item” and the fact that there is rejoicing in Heaven when a sinner repents!
And today we will be taking a look at the third parable found in Luke 15 that is normally referred to as parable of the Prodigal Son. This is probably one of the most famous parables found in the New Testament and today we will only be looking at the portion that pertains to the younger son.
With that in mind let’s read from God’s Word: Luke 15:11-31
May God bless the reading of His Word! (Prayer for help)
Luke 15:11-12
“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.’”
It is hard for us to even imagine the emotions that must have been going through both the father and the son when this exchange took place.
We have no idea how large the estate was but according to the custom of Jesus’ day the elder son would get twice as much as the younger son.
And, according to the custom of that day, that was what was due to him.
What was NOT according to the custom of that day was the inheritance being settled while the father was still alive.
It is almost as if the younger son is saying, “Hey, Dad, I know you’re still alive but since it is taking so long for you to die, I’d like my share of the estate now!” He didn’t even say, “please”!
When our children were still at home, Pastor Karenlee and her friend had a house cleaning business. One of their clients was a widow who had actually started two trailer parks on her own after the death of her husband.
The trailer parks were very successful, so successful in fact that one time she lamented to Karenlee that she had only been able to put $70,000 into savings that year.
But, in spite of being a wealthy person, this lady was a generous, faithful Christian. Great story so far, right?
Well, the story took a dark turn when her children hauled her into court and sued her for their portions of her estate!
I do not know whether they won the lawsuit or not but that is beside the point; dragging your own Mother into court for your inheritance while she is still very much alive is just beyond the comprehension of most people!
So, back to the Prodigal son …
What did the father do when the youngest son demanded his share of the estate? He divided the estate between his two sons.
Often we think that the father just gave the youngest son his portion of the estate but the Scripture says, “There was a man who had two sons … and … he divided his property between them.’”
The father no longer had any property; two thirds now belonged to his eldest son and one third now belonged to his youngest son.
So … what did the younger son do?
Luke 15:13-14
“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.”
He probably thought that he was set for life with the wealth he had inherited.
How much did he inherit? We don’t know.
Why did he go to a distant country? We don’t know.
What was actually involved in the wild living in which he squandered his inheritance? We don’t know and we don’t need to know!
What we do know is this …
Money gone, honey gone.
Honey gone, money gone.
Ach, du lieber, Augustine! All is kaput!
Money will buy you “friends” until your money is gone …
And then … what happened?
What is one of our shortest memory verses?
1 Timothy 6:6
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
What is the inverse or the opposite of this 1 Timothy 6:6?
Ungodliness with discontentment is great loss!
Ungodliness with discontentment is great loss and the younger son was about to find that out in great detail!
Luke 15:15-16
“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.”
What is wrong with this picture???
- The Jews looked down upon gentiles and that is what is being referred to as “a citizen of that country”.
- The Jews considered pigs to be unclean animals, even below the level of a gentile
- He is serving the pigs
- He is considered to be of less value, or, lower than the pigs by the owner!
o “He LONGED to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but NO ONE GAVE HIM ANYTHING.” (emphasis mine)
Sin will take you places and make you do things you never imagined you would do.
The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.
But, it ain’t!
So … here he is … younger son of a family wealthy enough to employ servants and to have a fattened calf ready for a special occasion.
(Not everyone had one of those …)
He has abandoned his family.
His inheritance is gone.
His life of “wild living” is gone.
He is in the pig pen looking longingly at the slop they are eating.
He is all alone.
He is lacking resources or the means of subsistence.
He is completely impoverished.
He is in a place of lostness, a place of meaningless existence …
We know why he is there! He is there because of his own actions!
He is to blame!
Do you know that a born again, filled with the Spirit Christian, who is totally obedient to God can find himself in the same place?
What if you found yourself there and you knew that you were following Jesus with all of your heart? What would you do? Why might you think you were there?
What if God sent you there to reach the lost son?
Would that be OK with you?
If your life is totally given over to Jesus it is within the realm of possibility that that could happen if it were the Lord’s will for you.
Would you accept the mission?
Sometimes we just don’t know why we are facing the situation we are in. When that happens let’s always take the time to look around and ask the Lord to show us why He as placed us there?
Anyway, back to the parable …
The Lord did NOT send someone else who was a righteous person to witness to the lost son. So, what did He do?
The Lord woke him up to his situation by causing him to remember where he came from and what it was like to be at home with his father.
Luke 15:17-20
“When (the lost son) came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants 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 servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.”
That is exactly the attitude of a lost person coming to Jesus in repentance!
You cannot come to Jesus for salvation with a prideful heart!
God doesn’t need you; you need God!
It doesn’t matter how wealthy or successful or beautiful or intelligent or athletic or wise we think we are. Until we are in Christ, until we are saved we are just wallowing in the pig pen of an empty, sinful life.
Until Jesus is the Lord of your life you are in a place of lostness, a place of meaningless existence.
If that is where you are today, what should you do?
You should, get up and go to the God the Father just as the lost son “got up and went to his father.”
What should you do when you get there?
You should say something along the line of, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You. I am (not worthy) to be called Your son; (please) make me like one of Your hired servants.”
Come to the Father in humility.
Come to the Father for forgiveness.
Come to the Father for reconciliation.
What will His response be?
Luke 15:20-24
“While (the lost son) 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 this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Just as the father in the parable was looking for his lost son to return, the Lord is looking for you to come to Him.
John 1:11-13
“(Jesus) came to that which was His own (the Pharisees, the Scribes and all descendents of Abraham), but (they) did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him (the tax collectors and sinners), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become sons and daughters of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
So, how does this apply to us who live here today?
There are many who are bound in sin.
Our society is in bondage to sin.
Pornography is rampant and readily available to all who have a computer or smart phone. There is an entire cult of pornography devoted to graphic violence being used to obtain sex.
Personal sexual sin is not only tolerated but applauded in many areas of culture no matter how bizarre it may be.
Drug use is epic in our culture. We see on the news police capturing huge quantities of illegal drugs worth millions of dollars and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The estimate is that Americans spend over $1 billion on illegal drugs each year.
Many are addicted to technology. How many people do you think missed church this morning because they were up until 3, 4, or 5 o’clock this morning playing games online where they gleefully slaughtered people so that they could move to a “higher level” in the game. And then … they were too tired to get up for church.
Many are addicted to gambling. Americans lost $119 Billion in gambling each year, many of them wrecking their finances and often their families because of this addiction.
I was listening to Focus on the Family this week and heard the testimony of the son of a hard preaching, legalistic pastor. Yet, when the pastor was home he was often drunk and would beat his family to keep them from telling anyone.
The pig pen is all around us.
And who is reaching out to those in the pig pen of porn and violence?
The producers of porn saying, “stay in the pig pen, feed my pigs”.
Who is reaching out to those in the pig pen of drug use?
The producers of alcohol and illegal drugs saying, “stay in the pig pen, feed my pigs”.
Who is reaching out to those in the pig pen gaming addictions?
The producers of addictive internet games saying, “stay in the pig pen, feed my pigs”.
Who is reaching out to those in the pig pen of gambling?
The owners of casinos and the government with their lotteries saying, “stay in the pig pen, feed my pigs”.
Who is reaching out to those in the pig pen of attractiveness and perpetual youth?
The plastic surgeons and fitness gurus saying, “stay in the pig pen, feed my pigs. One more surgery and you will be perfect. One more hour in the gym and you will cease to age”.
There are literally thousands of books and blogs and websites on how to overcome all of these addictions; how to climb out of a particular pigpen.
But, they are all like putting a band aid on a cadaver. The will never have true life.
We have the answer and His name is Jesus!
Are we willing to take Jesus to those who are in the pigpen or will we turn a blind eye? Will we take Jesus to those who are lost and wandering around in the darkness?
Most of them will look like you and me but they are not a new creation, made new by faith in Jesus.
It’s Jesus That They Need by Walt Mills
I gazed into the empty eyes of people walking down busy streets
Their minds confused, their lives abused trying to find reality
But it's Jesus that they need - Yes it's Jesus that they need
Some live on greed some turn to speed - But it does not satisfy
All but too soon though, then they're story's told
Then they lay right down and die
But it's Jesus that they need - Yes it's Jesus that they need
Some get a gun and just for fun - They kill a man walkin' by
A crime is done and in the name of fun - An innocent man has to die
But it's Jesus that they need - Yes it's Jesus that they need
In the gutter there, with the golden hair - A young girl lifeless lies
Lookin' for a thrill now she lies so still - A final time she got too high
But it's Jesus that they need - but it’s Jesus that they need
Yes it’s Jesus that they need - Yes it's Jesus that they need
Will you tell them?
Final thoughts and closing prayer
