The Lost Son and His Loving Father

Well, what a joy it is to worship the Lord with you this morning and to be a part of what God is doing here. I, I thank the Lord for this church and for the way that God is using you to spread the gospel light of His Son, not only out to this community, but also into the world. And your church has been a blessing to us, to the ministry of your pastor Milton. He has spoken many times at our retreats.

We've even joked of putting his picture on our website as an adjunct pastor. we would love to have that. And as you mentioned, this past year, we did celebrate by God's grace our 10 year anniversary. And at the end of the service, the pastoral staff got the elders some gifts, and because of our partnership with Milton, they thought it would be great to, and I have my gift here.

They got us this gift. This t-shirt and so You've seen, the ones that say Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy. Well, Milton Vincent is my homeboy. He was gracious enough to sign it.

And yes, it's not for sale, by the way. I, I did get offers after the first service, just to let, I'm sorry. and the other gift they got us was the same picture of Milton printed on a coffee mug and The thought of having my lips so close to his head every morning just didn't feel right, so I gave that to Donna, and so she's happily using that coffee mug every day. Well, this morning as we look ahead to the holidays, especially this week, with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching us, I know that we have so much to be thankful for.

But I want to direct our hearts to thank the Lord for one of his attributes. And that would be his love. This morning, we want to talk about the love of God. And his love specifically in redeeming sinners, that by His grace, the eyes of our heart would be open to see this love, to taste of it in our soul, that this love would captivate our lives and would be the spring from which all of life flows.

Our words, our obedience, our choices. If we think about it, love is at the heart of God. Love is his essence. And the love of God is a life changing, powerful truth.

It's like atomic energy, just get near it, and you will be affected by God's love. Paul talked about this in Romans 8:38 and 39. He said, I'm convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There is no power that can keep us from God's love.

Nothing can separate us from His love, because His love is so powerful. But I find that in my walk with the Lord, there are times when I can easily forget this truth. And it oftentimes happens in the midst of failures. In fact, there have been times in my Christian life where I have sunk so low in my sin and in my selfishness that I've questioned whether I'm even saved.

And maybe some of you have had those seasons in your life where there is no desire for God, there's no desire for His word, where fellowship with other believers is avoided like the plague where sin is being compounded without any repentance. where relationships begin to unravel because we are so selfish. Where we even start to question whether God exists or whether the Christian life is truly worth it. And we begin to contemplate throwing in a towel, and walking away.

Where do you turn? When your heart is drowning in guilt. The answer the Bible gives us. is to believe once more.

In the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me. As Jude put it in Jude 20, keep yourselves in the love of God. That's how we persevere in the Christian life. Or Jesus put it in John 59, just as the Father has loved me, I also loved you.

And then he says, Abide, remain in my love. First John 3:1, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us. Literally, behold, Look at this great love. Such an important truth in all of scripture.

And God uses not only statements of fact and indicatives to remind us of this truth over and over again, but he also gives us stories. to bring these truths to life so that we would be able to identify with this love. And the parable of the prodigal son is one of the most familiar and most beloved parables in the entire Bible. That's where I want to direct our hearts focus this morning.

But before we do, let me pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it is truth. And we thank you for the Holy Spirit.

That through his divine empowerment, Lord, our hearts and our minds can be illuminated to receive this truth. And Lord, to love the Savior, as a result of this truth. God, that's our heart's desire this morning. Lord, we want to know Christ better.

And I pray, Father, that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, that you would make these things happen, because of your love for your people right here. God, may you do that. And may you bless our hearts, Lord, to see this love, to taste of it, to fellowship with the living Christ through it. Lord, that our hearts would just be captivated over and over and over again.

The remainder of our Christian lives, Lord, by your great love. We thank you in your name. Amen. If you have your Bibles open to Luke 15, Luke 15, and as you're turning there, I want to give you some background on this chapter.

Jesus gives us three parables. And the parables are all centered on this theme of the joy of God in the salvation of sinners, that God takes great joy. When he rescues the lost. And in that context, there were two groups of people, there were the religious, there were the Pharisees and scribes, and there were tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees and the scribes had a hard time believing that these unworthy tax collectors and sinners could ever inherit the kingdom of God because they weren't worthy of it.

They looked at themselves and said, we are worthy. We obey externally the law. And yet both camps were in the same position. They both were alienated from God.

And so here in this 3rd parable of the two lost sons, we see this truth of God's love and God's joy and the redemption of sinners become very personal. The first two parables involve a lost sheep and a lost coin. But here in this third parable, it gets personal because we can all identify with this. All of us know the relationship between a parent and a child, between a father and a son.

And here we're able to see inside the heart of the Son, the heart of a lost sinner. And ultimately we're able to see the heart of God. a heart that is full of love, a heart that rejoices in the salvation of sinners. And it begins in verse 11, and if you're taking notes, you can follow along with point number 1, the sun's lost rebellion, the sun's lost rebellion.

And he said a man had 2 sons. We're going to be looking at the younger son. This parable really is in 2 acts. Act 1 concerns the younger son, the prodigal son.

Act 2 concerns the older son, the elder son. But here we look at Act 1, verse 12, the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the state that falls to me. So he divided his wealth between them. Now this is a shocking request.

There was nothing wrong in expecting an inheritance. But it's shameful because he's demanding it while his father is alive. In essence, what he is saying is, Father, I wish you were dead so that I could have my inheritance right now. He doesn't care about his father.

And so he selfishly demands his inheritance, while dishonoring his own father. And it says there that the father divided up his wealth. That word there in the Greek is the word bios, which means life. He divided up his life because in an agrarian society, your land was your life.

And not only that, he was dishonored. To allow a son to request this was one thing. But for him to honor this request and give it to him would have brought his family shame and dishonor. It would have been a disgrace to his name and his standing in the community.

Look what the sun does with it. Verse 13. Not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. When it says that he gathered everything together, it just means that he liquidated all of his assets into cash.

And so here is the son with his pockets full of cash, and he's leaving home and you can just imagine the sense of anticipation and freedom in the son's heart, as he's thinking, I've got enough money now to do whatever my heart desires. And he thinks he's free. And he bolts to a faraway land, and he wastes all of his money, he threw it all away on loose living. This describes a debauched life filled with immorality, and greed and drunkenness and filth.

John Piper writes, this always feels free for a season. Like sky jumping feels free until you realize you don't have a parachute. So running from God at first feels free. But notice what eventually happens, verse 14.

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and it began to be impoverished. His money has run out. And on top of that, a severe famine hits the land in which he is living. And now he has nothing.

This young son has no money, he has no food, he has no friends or family to support him. He has nowhere to turn. He is a beggar in this distant land. Verse 15, it says, so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country.

And he sent him into the field to feed swine. He literally attached himself, he stuck himself to this wealthy Gentile citizen, and he wouldn't let go because he saw this man as his only hope for survival. And this man sends him out into The pigpen to feed the swine. And for a Jewish audience to hear that, you could probably hear an audible gasp on the part of the Pharisees, as they read about this Jewish boy now feeding pigs, the most unclean of all animals.

Verse 16, and he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating and no one was giving anything to him. He sunk so low. He's now an outcast in the society. Nobody wants to help him.

This guy can't even make it as a beggar. And what Jesus is describing for his audience and what he describes for us, is really a picture of the ultimate sinner. For this Jewish audience to hear about a Jewish boy from a privileged Jewish family, only to turn into shame and disgrace his father and his family, and then to take that money and to waste it on reckless and debauched living and now he ends up as a grunt, feeding pigs in a Gentile land for a Gentile owner. This would have been the consummate, ultimate sinner.

If Jesus were giving this parable today, he probably would have described someone a mix between Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson, someone we all would have readily identified with instantly and say, that guy is the worst sinner alive. And that's essentially what Jesus has done. The prodigal son's experience gives us A picture, a vivid picture of what sin is and what sin does. Sin is not just Abandoning a moral principle.

It's not just spurning a law, but ultimately, it's spurning a person. It is turning our backs on God. This is what the sun did. He didn't just turn his back on his family values.

He didn't just turn back his back on the, the societal norms of his culture. He rejected the relationship with his father. And that's what sin is. And that's what sin does.

And the fast lane of sin does not lead to the happiness that this son thought it would lead to. No, it does the opposite. It led to despair. It led to destruction.

And the way it gets people down this path so that it ultimately ends up in misery, is it uses deception. It holds out the offer that says, what, sin is better, sin is more pleasurable. You can have this, you can have that, but all of that is a lie. The son truly believed that his freedom would lead him to greater pleasure, greater delight, that it would be far better.

But look where it led him to. It led him fighting for his life in hopeless despair. John McArthur writes, he left a loving father, he ended up with a hard, hard life. He wanted unrestrained pleasure, he wanted his lust fulfilled without interruption, without rebuke.

What he got was pain and unfulfillment, loneliness. He was actually facing death. It's true, sin is a cruel master. It holds out this false hope of delight, but then it exchanges it for despair and disappointment.

And maybe this morning, some of you are feeling this way right now. Sin has a stranglehold on your heart, and it's leading you down a pathway of despair and destruction. And instead of finding the happiness that you thought, all you're finding is, is misery and brokenness and emptiness and hopelessness. And here is this prodigal son, and he's, he's trying to repair his broken life.

He's trying to fix the things that he's gotten himself into, but he just can't. He can't fix it. And maybe you've tried to fix your brokenness, you're trying to do this, you're trying to do that, to garner peace or to garner joy, or to change circumstances. And no matter how hard you try, nothing is changing.

When a person gets to this point, Where they've hit rock bottom. I think it's a good thing. Because now they're at a point of desperation, where they will finally stop looking to themselves, they will start looking outside of themselves for the help that they desperately need. And this son turns to the only one, the only one who can help him.

And he's the only one who can help us as well. Look at point number 2, the son's legitimate repentance, the son's legitimate repentance, verse 17. And when he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. Before facing the full wages for his sin and death.

The sun came to a moment of clarity. It says he came to his senses, he literally came to himself, because before he was insane. This guy was morally insane. He was sin crazed, but now he gets this point of clarity, he becomes sane again.

And with the ache of hunger in the pit of his stomach, he realizes something. what, my father's hired hands have more than enough food. And here I am day after day, and I am starving. Verse 18 and 19, I will get up and go to my father, and we'll say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your Son.

Make me as one of your hired men. In his desperation, He realizes That there is someone in his life that he can trust. And it happens to be his own father. And he makes the choice that he's gonna go back to his father.

He's gonna run to his father. And not two heart attitudes that come out in verses 18 and 19. He rehearses this speech and he says, Father, he thinks, I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. And what we find here is that his sin was not only against his father, but ultimately was against God and he's acknowledging his sin before God.

I've sinned against heaven. Genuine repentance does this. It doesn't simply go to all those that we've offended, but ultimately, it takes it all the way up to God, the one we are ultimately accountable to. And this is why King David cried out.

After he had committed adultery and murder, he says the most remarkable thing, he says, against you, you only, I have sinned. And so there's a contrition before the Lord. There's also a contrition before His Father. He's going to come to him in humble brokenness.

The son has a deep sense of unworthiness before his father. Note his words, he says, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. He knows he's forfeited all of his rights to sonship, and he would not dare ask for those rights back. All he'll do is he'll go to his dad, and he'll just plead on his mercy and say, Dad, just take me, take me back as one of your hired men.

Two words that could be used, that could be used for a household servant. One is the word do loss, which describes a person who served almost a salaried employee. This person would have been a part of the family. If he was a faithful servant, the landowner would have taken him in and cared for him.

But that's not the word he uses. He uses a word that describes a day laborer. And he's simply saying, Father, just take me back as a day laborer. I don't even have to be salaried, just take me back day after day after day.

And over time, what, I will repay you. I'll pay back what I owe. Son knows he's unworthy to come home to be shown any kindness, but he also realizes at the same time, the man his father is. that his father is a generous, kind-hearted father.

And the plan is simply to go and to cast himself on the Father's mercy, no rights, no privileges, no entitlements, no expectations to be a son again. He just wants to be the lowest slave in his father's household. And brothers and sisters, this is a picture of genuine repentance. Genuine repentance comes to God with no strings attached.

It is unconditional surrender before God. The sinner comes to God casting himself on the mercy of God, without any claims to his own worthiness. And we see this in Luke 18:13, but the tax collector standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but he was beating his breath saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Because of the sun's travails in his sin, because of the misery of sin, because of his desperation.

All of that has brought about a change of attitude towards his father. Before he's running from him. And now he's running to him before he wants his father dead. Now his hope is bound up in the fact that his father lives.

Martin Lloyd Jones writes these insightful words. He says, I do not hesitate to assert that this is perhaps the most subtle and delicate test as to whether we have repented, or where we are, our attitude towards God. That is the difference between remorse and repentance. The man who has not repented, but who is only experiencing remorse when he realizes he has done something against God, avoids God.

He goes on to say, but the extraordinary thing about the man who was convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit is the is that though he knows he has sinned against God, it is God he wants to be merciful to me, oh God, he wants to be with God. That is the peculiar paradox of repentance, wanting the one I have offended. And this wasn't some flash in the pan, half-hearted commitment. No, verse 20 he got up, and he came to his father.

This leads us to the climax of this first act, the Father's loving reception. Now what we don't get when we read The story, this parable, are all the insights of ancient Middle Eastern culture. There were certain and specific protocols that this son would have had to follow, if he were to be welcomed back, even as a hired servant of his father. Because of the shame that he brought there, there was no such thing as instant forgiveness.

There was no possibility of full reconciliation with the Father. The father would refuse to meet with the son face to face, at least not initially. First, the son would have been made a public spectacle in front of the entire village in front of the father. Why?

To regain the lost honor on the part of the father and his family. And it was typical for the son to sit in the gate in the village square where the gate was and to wait there for several days, so that the entire community could see, oh, this sun has come back. But what would happen is they would walk by him and he scorn on him, and he shame on him, and oftentimes spit on him. Why?

Because he had disgraced his father. And now he needed in a sense to earn that honor back. And after this period of disgrace, as the Father granted the son an audience, which he was not required to do, there would be no hug, there would be no standing or shaking of hands. It would be one picture fixed, the son bowing on his face at the Father's feet, and the Father standing over him.

And if the father were to take him back as a hired hand, he would deal with the son only on business terms, strictly on business terms. The son then would live in the outskirts of the father's estate, and he would never be viewed as a family member. He would only be viewed as a hired slave. And all the people hearing this parable being spoken by the words of Christ would have understood those protocols, those cultural protocols that this son would have had to walk through in order to be even brought back into the household of the Father.

And you can just imagine the Pharisees are probably waiting for the beating that's about to take place. And here in this parable comes the most shocking scene, verse 20. So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Father probably had a place upon his estate. That could look out onto the road and see travelers and strangers entering into this little Middle Eastern village. And you can just imagine as people came, there's probably a sense of is that my son? Is, is that my son?

Is my son coming home? And here on this day as he's looking, he sees a figure in the distance and he realizes, that's my son. His heart is not filled with, with anger, his heart is not filled with justice, his heart is filled with compassion. It says he felt compassion for him.

And he ran Why does the father do this? Why doesn't the father just wait for the son to come to him? After all the protocols have been met, and finally, it's time for this business transaction take place. Why does he initiate this?

There's two reasons because number 1, God seeks the lost. No one seeks God. God seeks the lost. And just as in the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin, God is the one who goes after the lost sinner.

And here the Father initiates forgiveness, and he initiates reconciliation with the Son. The son has no idea what's going to happen. But secondly, the Father shields the son. God shields the lost.

It's clear that the father wanted to reach the sun before the sun reached the village, he sees him far away. It's probably daylight, the village is bustling with activity and people. And if the sun reaches the village before he gets to the sun, There would have been an outpouring of scorn upon the sun. And so before he gets there, the father runs to him.

And when you read that, and he ran, that's not just some incidental detail, some side note to spice up the narrative. That's significant. The picture of a nobleman running in Middle Eastern culture is so undignified. That Arabic translators of the Bible have trouble translating the word run.

So, for 1000 years, Arabic Bibles did not have the Arabic word, he ran. It went something like, he hurried. It was only until 1860 that they finally use the actual word for run. He ran.

Why? Doctor Kenneth Bailey, a scholar on Middle Eastern New Testament studies, writes this, one of the main reasons why Middle Easterners of rank do not run is that traditionally, they all have worn long robes. This is true, both men and women. No one can run in a long robe without taking it up into his or her hands.

And when this occurs, when you pick up your robe, as a Middle Eastern nobleman, The legs are exposed, which is considered humiliating. Why does this father run? John MacArthur. tells us, he says, why does he bring shame and scorn on himself for exposing himself?

The reason? The father runs, taking the shame to protect the son from taking the shame. He takes the scorn and the mockery, and the slander so that his son does not have to bear it. The father took off in a sprint, in order to be the first person to reach him so that he could deflect the abuse, he knew the boy would suffer.

His father He loves this boy so much. His heart is just kindled aflame with tender compassion. That despite all that the Son has done, he would rather take the abuse. Than for his son to receive it.

And brothers and sisters, Isn't this what Christ Jesus did on our behalf? And you can reach 122. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus took it all.

But you and I rightfully deserve is the Father's wrath. We deserve scorn. We deserve everlasting misery. Because of God's great mercy.

His love could not remain unmoved. So he sent his only begotten Son. Jesus Christ. And he took the scorn, and he took the shame, and he took the wrath that you and I deserved.

When Jesus cried out, Matthew 27, My God, my God. First time in the Gospels where Jesus does not address his Father as Father, but he calls him my God. Why have you forsaken me? We know the answer.

You took the abuse, you took the suffering, you took the death so that we would not be forsaken. When the Father reaches the son, he embraced him and kissed him. He literally falls on the neck of the son and he's kissing him repeatedly over and over and over again. It's not just the kiss, that's just a greeting kiss.

This is the type of affectionate kiss, picture that soldier returning after his deployment, and his wife and kids just can't wait to see him. And he comes off the plane and the kids and the wife run to him, and he envelopes them in his bear hug. That's the intensity that's being pictured here. This prodigal son should have been on his face, kissing the feet of his father.

But here's the father kissing the head of his prodigal son. And by embracing him and kissing him, He's simply communicating to this once lost boy. I accept you. I love you.

I forgive you. The son comes up with a speech in verse 21, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your Son. He dives right into his rehearsed speech, a confession.

And before he can get out the part of paying back the debt and being a hired man, the Father lets him know, I've received you back. You're not going to be a hired slave. You're going to be my son. No, no need to pay off your debt.

Verse 22 and 23, the father said, quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fat and calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. The best robe would have been his robe. The ring signified authority. It belonged to those who were members, actual members of the family.

This boy probably didn't have sandals and so he brings sandals and sandals are worn not by slaves, but by family members. Basically, the father's taking him back as a son. The Father is letting this son know everything I have, the best of it is yours, because you are my son. You are not a slave.

You are a son. And to celebrate the joy. He calls for the fatted calf. Let us eat it And celebrate it.

Why this great celebration, verse 24, for the son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found, and they began to celebrate. Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's almost too good to be true.

And that's why it's called the good news. And here in this first act of the Lost Son. We see a beautiful portrait of the heart of God. His love.

And his joy. In receiving sinners to himself. We see the sinner's genuine repentance. We see God's joyful reception.

And the reality for us sitting here today, some 2000 years removed from this actual scene. Is that all of us are prodigal sons. All of us are prodigal daughters. Isaiah 53:6, all of us like sheep have gone astray.

Each of us has turned his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. And some of you, by God's grace, Many of you, by God's grace, you've returned home. And you've placed your faith in the finished work, and the perfect person of Jesus Christ. And now you are a true son, and you are a true daughter.

And if you ever doubt your sonship, That you rightfully belong in the family of the King of Kings. Remember this parable. And remember what Christ did. When he finished the work.

At Calvary There is never a sin that will cast any child of God out of his family. And the response of love and joy the Father had when you first got saved, that celebration. That joy, that heart of love has not changed one bit. He still holds in his heart kindled compassions for you and for me, even in the midst of our worst failures today.

Some of you this morning, you're here because maybe a friend brought you. Maybe for some reason, God has moved you in your heart to say, hey, maybe I'll just go to that church over there. And you've been running. And you're experiencing what it's like to know of the misery of sin, that sin lies, it's a cruel master.

And what, if you, if you don't turn to Christ, It will end eventually, not just in earthly temporal misery, but everlasting misery forever separated from God and His love forever. And so my plea to you this morning is before it ends up being permanent. You have an opportunity this morning to come home. You have an opportunity to place your faith squarely and solely on the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, his death, his resurrection, which is the only means of ever being forgiven, of ever being made right with God, our Creator.

And you can come home today. But don't come half-hearted. Come with surrender. wave the white flag, and acknowledge Christ's kingship and his lordship in your life, that he is worthy.

He is worthy to be followed. Know that when you return, God is not waiting on the outskirts of the village with a club. Now, He wades through with outstretched open arms. Welcoming you with joyful delight into his family.

Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We don't need any more proof. We need no wild experience to prove that God loves us. No, he's already proven it.

And all we need to do is be reminded of the cross, His death, and Sunday, his resurrection. And we have all the proof that we could ever want or need, that our God is a God of unchanging, eternal, unconditional love and delight for every single one of his sons and daughters. Would you receive that truth this morning by faith? Would you trust it?

Regardless of your feelings of guilt, shame, disgrace. Would you place your faith squarely on the love of God for you? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much, God.

Lord, we don't understand why you chose. Lord, I'm sure there have been billions and billions and billions of people who've walked this planet who are walking on it right now. And yet God to know that. We are loved and cherished and delighted by you, not because of anything worthy in us, but simply because of Christ, because of his merit and his worth.

And for that, Lord, our hearts just stand in awe of you. And Lord, we reciprocate. Your love back to you. We love you and thank you so much for your son.

We love and thank you, God, for being so faithful in your enduring love, in your compassions for us, even in the midst of our great failures, Lord, we thank you. And Father, I pray, Lord, that we would just learn to rest in this love. that we would remain in this love, that we would keep ourselves in the love of God and out of this love, Lord, our lives would be transformed. That we would have greater holiness, greater love for people, a greater vision for the lost, all stemming from your great love for us.

And so, Father, we thank you, and we love you. And we praise you and give you the honor that is due your name for your great love. We pray all of these things, name of your Son.