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Luke 15:25-32 THE PRODIGAL BROTHER Intro: Today, we again turn our attention to the most famous of our
Lord’s parables. This extended parable in Luke 15 Is intended to
teach the truth that God loves sinners. He loves the lost enough to go after
them in their lost condition, as evidenced by all three illustrations in this
chapter. He loves the self-righteous sinner enough to tell them about their
condition, which is why He told this parable to begin with. Very often, when this chapter is preached, you hear about the lost
sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son, but it is a rare day when you hear
anything about the elder brother. Why is that? I think we avoid this story because our focus is on
the emotional reunion between the father and the prodigal. I also think we
avoid this section because it hits a little too close to home! There is at
least a little, and maybe a lot, of the elder brother in nearly each of us. Ill. Some preachers were discussing the Bible one day when the
subject of the elder brother and his identity came up. They were trying to
figure out who he was. One older preacher spoke up and said, “I know who he is. In fact, I saw him just today.” The other ministers, eager to hear his response asked, “Who is he?” The wise old preacher said simply, “He is me!” As the Lord Jesus reaches the end of this parable, He is still
talking about lost things. He is still dealing with the attitude of the Scribes
and Pharisees toward lost sinners, v. 1-2. The elder brother in this
text pictures a person who is involved in the things of God, but who has no
real relationship with God. He is in the father’s house, but he is lost. He is
in the “far country” in his heart! Verse 11 reminds us that this father had “two sons,” and both were lost. • The younger son was lost in “the far
country.” • The elder brother was lost in the father’s house. • The younger son was a lost hedonist; he lived for pleasure. • The elder brother was a lost moralist; he lived to maintain
appearances. There are two ways you can be lost. • One way is to break the rules and do as you please. This is how
the younger brother lived, and he was lost. • The other way, is to keep all the rules and to be good. This is
how the elder brother lived, and he was lost too. We don’t get this because we equate being good with being saved.
But, if you are only being good to earn favor with God, you are lost. If you
keep the rules so that God will have to hear your prayers and bless you, you
have missed the point. The Gospel is not be good and you will be saved; the
Gospel is be saved, and you will be good. This message is designed to speak to two classes of people. • The primary message is to those who are lost in sin and need to be
saved. You might be religious, you might be a church member, you might be a
good, moral person, but you have never been saved. God has a word for you today.
• This message also has a word for people who are saved, but who
have the same spirit an attitude as the elder brother. - It speaks to people who are upset when God blesses His people. - It speaks to people who do not like it when the prodigal sons come
home. - It speaks to people who refuse to rejoice over what God is doing
because it isn’t being done their way. - It speaks to people who are like the elder brother. We are going to talk about The
Prodigal Brother today. It may just be that the Lord
will pinpoint a problem area in your life. If He does, please obey His voice
and deal with whatever issues He exposes. For the next while, let’s listen to what the Lord has to say in
these verses about The Prodigal Brother. There are some lessons here that we do not need to miss. I. V. 25a HIS RESPECTABILITY A. He Was A Leader - He is the elder brother. As such, he is entitled to two-thirds
of His father’s possessions, Deut. 21:17. Since his
younger brother has already received his part of the inheritance, v. 12, everything belongs to this brother. When his father dies, not
only will he receive his father’s possessions, he will also become the legal
and religious head of the family. Much has been given to this young man already
and more is on the way. He has been blessed indeed! B. He Was A Laborer - When we first meet this man, he is “in the fields”. He is busy
doing his father’s business. While his younger brother has been off in the far
country living it up, this young man has stayed home and worked. He has been
working hard. It seems that all is well in this family, and that there is good
fellowship between the father and this older boy. The elder brother is a picture of the religious elite. They were
also in a place of privilege. They had God’s Law and it appeared, outwardly at
least, that they were walking in the Law! They looked good to others, but there
was a real problem in their hearts! The problem was hidden from human view, but
God could see it. They were religious, but they were lost! The same thing could be true of some here! You are a moral person.
You come to church. You don’t cuss, drink, steal or cheat. You don’t smoke,
chew, or kiss girls who do. You have been baptized and belong to the church. By
all appearances, you are as good, or better, than anyone around you. The Lord
knows your true condition. You can fool others, but you can’t fool Him, 1 Sam. 16:7. • You can be good, moral and active in church and still be lost.
Jesus said so in Matt. 7:21-23. • You might think you are right with God, but you can’t trust what
you “feel in your heart”. The
heart is wicked and deceitful, only God truly knows our hearts, Jer. 17:9-10! I am not trying to make anyone doubt their salvation. • I am simply saying that religion does not equal salvation. • Church membership does not equal conversion. • Being close to the things of God does not equal being saved by the
grace of God. Being in a church does not make you a Christian anymore than
sleeping in a garage makes you a car, neither does climbing a tree make you a
squirrel. You must not depend on who you are or what you have done for your
salvation. You must be born again, John 3:3, 7. Salvation is by
grace through faith, Eph. 2:8-9. Are you saved? I. His
Respectability II. V. 25b-30 HIS RESENTMENT Heading home after a hard day in the fields, this brother hears
the sounds of celebrating as he nears the house. He is confused, as far as he
knows, there is no reason for celebration at the father’s house. He’s lived
there all his life and he has never seen a reason for celebration. He calls a servant, the text suggests it was a young boy, and asks
the meaning of all the noise. The servant tells him of his lost brother’s
return and about the father killing the fatted calf and throwing a party. When
he hears this, he becomes “angry.” The word means “to become
red-faced.” It speaks of a person clenching
their fists, and becoming red with anger. In his actions here, his resentment
toward the father and His brother can be clearly seen. As I consider this young man, I see some characteristics that
trouble me. • He did not love his younger brother. - As the older brother, it was his responsibility to go after his
missing sibling. He didn’t go. The text suggests that he didn’t even show up to
say goodbye. His actions indicate that he didn’t care what happened to his
younger boy. - He didn’t care that his younger brother had come home. This man
had already written off his younger brother and didn’t care what happened to
him. • He did not love the father either. - He was disrespectful to the father. - He was resentful of the father’s open love for the younger son. - He was self-serving, hateful and condescending. - He might have been living at home and laboring for the father, but
he did not love the old man. A. His Resentment Is Seen In His Motives - When this brother hears why there
is a celebration, he is angry and refuses to go in. His father comes out and
gently pleads with him to come in. His reply to his father is very telling of
this boy’s heart. In verse 29, he reminds the father of
his faithful service and complains that he has never been given a feast for
what he has done. The bottom line here is this: 1. He did not care that his lost brother
had come home. 2. He did not care about that which pleased
the father. The elder brother would have known that the day of the prodigal’s
return was the greatest day in his father’s life. - The father has “killed the
fatted calf”, an enormously expensive
extravagance in a culture where even having meat at meals was considered a
delicacy. - The older son realized his father was ecstatic with joy. Yet he
refused to go into the biggest feast his father has ever put on. This was a
remarkable, deliberate act of disrespect. It was his way of saying, “I won’t be part of this family nor respect your headship of it.” - And the father had to “go out” to plead with him. Just as he went out to bring his alienated
younger son into the family, now he had to do the same for the older brother. _ 3. He did not even care about the father.
Evidently, he did what he did for what he could get out of it. 4. He saw his service to the father as “slavery,” v. 29. The word “serve” translates the word “doulos”, it always refers to a “slave.” He is saying, “All these years I
have been in bondage to you!” He didn’t serve
his father out of love for the father, but out of a desire to help himself. This same attitude can be seen in the church. • Some won’t rejoice when sinners are saved, because they feel
threatened. Ill. Jonah - Jonah 4. • They cannot get excited when a church grows, because they see
their hold on power slipping away. • They do not care about God’s will being done in the church; if it
runs counter to their personal agenda. • They want the all accolades, all the pats on the backs and all the
glory. • Their service in the church is not about God, it is about them! • Some people go through the motions of serving the Lord for what
they think they will gain from it. When you see this kind of attitude on display, either you have a
lost person masquerading as a saved person, or you have someone who is out of
God’s will! B. His Resentment Is Seen In His Mentality - When you listen to this boy talk to
the father, you quickly realize that he is proud, disrespectful, arrogant, and
angry. There is obviously something wrong with his attitude about this
situation. He should be overjoyed! His brother has returned safely from the far
country. He should be rejoicing that the father has received a lost son home
again. All he can do is whine, pout and complain. Do you want to know what his real problem is? He tells us in verse 30. Look at what he says, who told him this boy had spent his money
on prostitutes? He hasn’t talked to the father or to his brother. Do you know what’s wrong with him? He’s jealous! He may be at home
in body, but he is in the far country in his heart! He is as far away from the
father as was the other son when he went away. All he really wants to do is
live it up like his brother! He won’t go and do it, because his pride won’t let
him. So he gets mad that one who did the very things he wants to do in his
heart has been received by the father. Ill. This is what was wrong with the Pharisees. They kept the
letter of the Law outwardly, but in their hearts, they lusted, they hated, and
they longed for sin! • You don’t have to be a drunk to be out of God’s will! • You don’t have to be an adulterer to be in the far country
spiritually. • You can serve your church, sing in the choir, preach the Word, or
anything else you want to name and still be out of God’s will! • You may look as good as anyone today, but you can have a heart
that is filled with lust, evil thoughts, desires for sin, etc. Do you see it? You can pretend to be anything you wish outwardly,
but it is the condition of the heart that matters, Matt. 15:18-19. When you get saved, the Lord gives you a new heart, Eze. 36:26. That gives you the ability to live a new life. It is even possible
for people with new hearts to full of sin and evil. What is the solution? 1 John 1:9! Another problem this man had was due to the father’s use of his
wealth. In verse 12 we are told that the father, “divided to them his living.” Everything the father has already belongs to the elder brother, v. 31. It will all fall into his hands when the father dies. He is mad
because the father dared use wealth that was to come to him to throw a feast
for this despised brother. This older brother has real problems! C. His Resentment Is Seen In His Methods - The elder brother did two things
here that indicate that he as resentful toward the father, as much as toward
his younger brother. • First, it was a sign of disrespect to fail to greet ones father
with a proper title. Even the younger brother did this, v. 12. • Second, it was also disrespectful for a young man to argue with
his father. This boy did just that in front of the servants and the guests. He
brought as much, or maybe more, disgrace upon the father as the other son,
because he did what he did in public. Notice how this young man handled his anger. He attacked, he
criticized and he blamed! This lets you know that his heart is not right! Why?
The outward attitudes and actions are a mirror into the heart. Listen to what
Paul says about this is Gal. 5:19-23; Matt. 12:35. What does your heart say about you? You watch people who can only
attack others, criticize and place blame on everyone but themselves. That kind
of person has real spiritual issues! I told you, this hits close to home! I. His
Respectability II. His Resentment III. V. 28, 31-32 HIS REACTION A. He Refused The Father’s Plea - The father went out and “entreated” this boy to come in to the feast. The word “entreat” means “to come alongside of another to offer aid and comfort, to beg,
to console, to comfort, to encourage.” It is
the same word that is translated “Comforter” in John 16:13 and is one of the names of the Holy Spirit. This father loved him,
and came outside to encourage this man to come to the feast, to celebrate the
return of his lost brother. Notice that this son won’t even call him “father”, but the father calls him “son”. This father went to this
boy in the right spirit, but he was rejected! There are times when the Lord speaks to us as well. If we are
saved, He will speak to us to encourage us, or to confront the sin that is in
our lives. If we are saved, He speaks to us and calls us to repent of our sins,
to come to Jesus, and to be saved. Is He speaking to you today? If He is,
please do not refuse His voice. Do what He is pleading with you to do. B. He Refused The Father’s Promises - The father praised him for his efforts, and reminded him that
everything was already his! In effect, this father was saying, “I value you and our relationship far more than I value your works.” This boy could have enjoyed
fellowship with the father anytime he wanted, but apparently, he was too
wrapped up in his own legalism and narrow-mindedness to realize it. This boy
wanted what the father had, but he did not want the father, just like his
younger brother, v. 12. Even
though he didn’t want the father, he did not want anyone else to have the
father either. What a tragedy! The same thing is true in many lives today! People want the
church. They want to feel better about themselves. They want a fire insurance
policy. They want the get out of hell free card. But, they don’t really want an
intimate relationship with the Father. Often, they resent those who do want
that closeness. I just want to remind you that you are as close to the Lord as
you want to be! You have as much fellowship with Him as you want to have. You
can have more, if you want it. Do you? C. He Refused The Father’s Passion - The father tells this boy that is
was “meet” that they
should have this celebration. The word “meet” means “necessary”. To the father, the return of the lost son was a cause for
celebration. The Father was passionate about the younger son’s return. A lost
one had been found. One considered dead was now alive again. And, perhaps most
importantly, a father’s love and faith had been vindicated and the family name
restored. There
was much cause for rejoicing. The father wants this boy to learn the truth that
everything isn’t about him and about him getting his own way. There are bigger
issues at stake and they should take priority! This is how things are in the work of God as well. Nothing is more
important than the glory of God. That is why God does all He does. He seeks to
glorify His name in the universe, and those who love HIm have that as their
goal as well. Instead of getting upset when God doesn’t do things our way, we
should learn to thank Him for what He is doing! Instead of pouting, this boy
could have been partying! And, so could we! Look at this chapter. Everyone is happy
but the elder brother. The shepherd is happy. His
friends are happy. The woman is happy. Her friends are happy. The father is
happy. The lost son is happy. The servants are happy. The residents of Heaven
are happy. The only person who is miserable here is the elder brother. He is miserable because he refuses to be happy. The feast is
there, all he has to do is go in and enjoy himself! Instead, he is standing out
there pouting, because he is not the center of attention, and because he didn’t
get his way! What a shame! Conc: Have you ever noticed that this is an open-ended story? Did the
elder brother ever come into the feast? We don’t know! I think Jesus left it
this way for a reason. And here is that reason: Every individual must write his or her own ending to this story! For Israel, the story ended badly. The Lord Jesus Christ presented
HImself to the nation as their long awaited Messiah. He came to them as the
fulfillment of all the ancient prophecies. They knew Who He claimed to be, but
they refused to receive Him as their Messiah, as their Lord, or as their
Savior. In this story, the elder brother represents the religious leaders
of Israel. They refused to come to the feast, and in the end, they killed the
father. They murdered HIm because they would not have Him rule over them. When
Israel crucified their King, they murdered the father and wrote their own
ending to the story. How will this
story end for you? • If you are lost today, you need to come to Jesus Christ for
salvation today. • If you are saved, but not where you need to be, you should get
things right today. There is a party going on, and you are invited. Don’t stay
outside listening to be celebration. Come in and be a part of it. If the Lord has
spoken to your heart about salvation or about your personal walk with Him,
please come today while He is calling. The whole point of this extended parable
has been to show the importance of the human soul to God and to point lost
people to a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves you.
Won’t you come? 1 Adapted from:
http://timothykeller.com/images/uploads/pdf/Sermon_Outline_4_The_Elder_Brother.pdf |
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