Lost & Found - The Prodigal Son Part 1 – The Father

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Tall Paul's Preaching. This is sermon number two. This message originated on Sunday, March 11th of 2018. This is the first live recorded message. The main scripture for this episode will be Luke 15 with the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Focusing on the prodigal son's Father, this episode is titled Lost and Found. The Prodigal Son, Part 1. The Father. [00:00:39] Speaker B: All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are the God of wonders, the God of love, the living Lord, and you have the power. And we just ask that our leaders turn to you instead of anything else, Lord, that they would have their eyes opened and that they would turn this country in your direction, Lord, that your will would be done through them. And Lord, we all could use some healing, some physical healing, and we could all love to feel better. But Lord, we also need spiritual healing and we need spiritual growth. And so, Lord, will you send your Holy Spirit to teach us, to grow us and to strengthen us in your love and your wisdom. Lord, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right, well, I'm going to be studying the prodigal son today, so if you would like, please turn to Luke 15 with me and you can read along now in Luke 15, I'm going to start at the top. Jesus is addressing two groups of people. There's the sinners and tax collectors group, and then there's the Pharisees and the scribes. And Jesus is going to use three parables. The prodigal son parable is the last parable in the group to teach them and to teach us about the Father and two sons. And when Jesus. Jesus is going to reveal the Father to us, God. And if anybody knows God, it was Jesus. When you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. Jesus told his disciples. And so this is a wonderful illustration that Jesus gives us of our father, God. And the third parable, it's been named the prodigal son parable. And the word prodigal doesn't appear in the Bible. It's just what they named it long, long ago. And the word prodigal means a waster, someone who wastes and just throws away. And that's what the younger son in that story did. And that's kind of the. That's the peak, that's the capstone. That's the finale. Yeah. Of the three parables. And prodigal meaning waster. But that wasn't his problem. His problem was his heart. His wasting came from his actions. It just came out of his heart. That's what in his heart was no good. And he wasted his father's inheritance through his actions. So in that parable, there's the Father who is going to represent God. He's going to show us God's character. Then there's the elder son, who represents the Pharisees who are there, and then the prodigal son, the younger, who's going to represent the sinners that are there to hear Jesus. And even though there's those three characters, I'm going to focus on the Father this week and when I return, and next time, if Lord willing, we'll cover the sons. So Luke 15, starting in verse one, then drew near unto him all the publicans and the sinners to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. And so that's the situation. That's what's going on. And that's why Jesus is going to present these three parables to us. The sinners drew near to Jesus and the religious complained, we don't need to tell people they're sinners. Most of them know they're sinners, but they're looking for a way out. They're either stuck in an addiction, an abusive relationship, even a job that takes them away from Jesus. Sometimes that's all they know. They're just stuck in this way of life. They grew up not knowing Jesus. They grew up in this environment of sin and destruction. And we don't need to kick them when they're down. They know, but we need to show them. We need to take them to Jesus. That's what the sinners were there for, to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees were like, what are you doing, Jesus? They didn't know the Father God alone can save. God has solutions for these people's lives. These people stuck in addiction and they're just looking for a way out. And God's got that. And so we take our burdens and lay them at Jesus feet. And so we should encourage others and show them the way to do the same. Now, the publican in that day was a tax collector. And so the Pharisees and the religious and the publicans was a tax collector. And Rome in their wisdom said, well, we don't know how much people are making, so I'm going to set your neighbor as a spy. And he's going to watch you come home with your shopping bags or watch what you build in your backyard. And then he's going to know that you've Got money to pay. And so they would, you know, basically extend and whatever money they got over what Rome required of them, it was their profit. And so they were obviously despised in that day. Well, we have an aversion to the sinners. Often we see them as below us or filthy or whatever, but we should see them as Jesus does. And Jesus was with those sinners not to get something from them, not to draw from their experience. He wasn't trying to experience sin or anything, but he was with them to give them something. And so we should be about giving Christ to those sinners and not about trying to fellowship with them in their place of sin. So has anybody ever seen a ventriloquist use his dummy to insult someone? And when they do that, and you've got this puppet and the puppet says something funny or mean, they don't get mad at the puppet because the puppet's not real. And so Jesus used parables in the same way. He wouldn't come right out and say, you know, you Pharisees, you're. Well, he sometimes did. He called them snakes and vipers. But he often used these parables as illustrations to show the Pharisees, you know, this is how you're acting. You're acting like a little child. You're not of the Father. And so the parables are a great way that Jesus taught us because you don't get mad at the character in the story because they weren't real. And so those that had the eyes open and were willing to learn would learn from that. The Holy Spirit would teach them. And what Jesus was trying to say, they would receive. But the people that didn't want to receive it, they would just walk away with a good story. And so Jesus uses three parables to illustrate the Father. So three, three. And Jesus spoke this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he loses, one of them would not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he finds it. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulder, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. Now, first off, the Pharisees were just that. They were those who were interested in self serving and serving themselves. They didn't take joy in others, only in themselves. In fact, they rebuked Jesus for healing people just because it was a Sabbath. And so Jesus is kind of saying everybody else would leave the 99 and find the 1, why don't you? And that's the Father's love. The Father did everything, sent his Son. What more would he do for us to be found? He sent his Son. He's willing to forsake all. Jesus left heaven to come down to earth to save us. And we're all equal. If you noticed, it wasn't the. The one lame sheep that was lost. It wasn't the fattest or the choice or the healthiest. It was just one. One of the 99 were all equal to God. We're all the same. So verse seven continued on. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents more than over. 99 just persons which need no repentance. 99 who don't need repentance. We all need repentance. We all can't. We all have to be found to have life in Christ. Which means we were all lost at one point. Now in Christ, now we're justified. Just as if I never sinned through Christ. But back then when he was speaking to that group, you know, he hadn't died yet, he hadn't gone to the cross. And so he was trying to tell them that their standards were to justify themselves. They compared others to themselves and thought themselves better when they should have been comparing themselves to God. Continuing on, verse eight. And this is the parable of the lost coin. Either what woman Having 10 pieces of silver, if she loses one piece does not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I had lost. And in this parable, the coin illustrates us. We are the coin. We are precious in God's sight. God is eager for us to turn to him to be found. Our souls are more precious than silver. We had a couple hymns this morning that illustrated silver and gold. And God is more precious than silver and gold, and our souls are worth more than silver and gold. Now, in both these parables, there's lost. There's a one lost sheep and one lost coin. And it gets harder and harder for something to be found, the longer and longer it takes to find it. And so my mom taught me this process. When I lose something is to retrace my steps. So I would sit and I'd think and I'd go, okay, you know, I'm trying to find my keys. I was in the kitchen. So I go in the kitchen and I look and there's the milk on the counter, and my keys are in the fridge, you know, so. So that's the process. You kind of retrace your steps. My wife, back in November, we had our grandchild's first birthday. So, like Minnie, she packed up her best jewelry and put it in a little case, and we went over to Seattle and we celebrated. And she packed up her jewelry and put it in this little case and came back. And when we got home, we. We couldn't find it. We could not find her jewelry. And, you know, when you go on trip and you want to look good, you take some of your best stuff. And just this last week, she was reaching into a bag that was made for her, and because she'd lost something else, she lost a key. And. And I know that key is in this bag. And she reaches in and she finds that the pocket goes all the way around. And she found her jewelry. And it had been months, and she rejoiced that she had found what once was lost. And we need to diligently seek God. We need to put the effort, like finding a sheep, and know that he is precious like the coin. And we ourselves need to seek him just as diligently as God seeks us. Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be open to you. Matthew 7:7. And he that finds his life shall lose it. And he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. This is Matthew 10:39. So continuing on, verse 10. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner that repents who is in the presence of the angels. It's God. God had exceedingly great joy for those who turn to Him. Joy in heaven and joy by the angels. See, the angels are amazed when we choose God. They're happy. They desire. First, Peter says to look into us, to see us, because we have the freedom, the agency of choice, and God could create cherubim. We sang about this morning to say, holy, holy, holy, 24 7. But God wants the 1, the 1 of the 99, to just say from our heart, I love you, Lord. Now we get into the final parable, the one we call the Prodigal Son. And it's very rich in meaning. And that's why it's going to take me two sermons to get it all through. And so next time we're going to go through it a little more thoroughly. But this time I still want to focus on the character of our God, more so than the sons. So if you feel like I'm skipping something, we'll cover it next time. Verse 11. And he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me. And he divided unto them. His living God isn't going to stop us from sinning. He gave us a choice. We will always have a choice. And so they asked the Father for inheritance and he gave it to them. And God blesses us with sunshine on the just and on the unjust. God is giving us all the time and it's our choice to use that for him. Even Pharaoh had a choice and suffered the consequences for not following God. See, we have an inheritance. It's our gifts and our abilities. How are we spending them? The younger son, the prodigal son, he's going to waste it on the world. And the older son, we're going to find, he wastes his by not using them, by not acting. And if we want fame and fortune here on earth, we can achieve that. However, God, who is eternal, wants more for us than that. God has given each of us a unique talent and ability and different friends and family that we can influence and take to Jesus. We can choose to waste it, or we can choose to do God's will. We say it in the prayer Our Father your will be done. So continuing on, verse 13. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. And there wasted his substance with riotous living. He partied it away, basically. Notice he went to a far country. He distanced himself from his Father or or from God to do his own will. See, sometimes we don't want to live under the laws of our Father, the rules of our God. And he should have stayed simply for the love of his Father, but he left for the love of the self. Now, not having God first creates this. Well, as close as you are to God, you're further from the world. And the closer you are to the world, the further you are from God. And so if God is the last thing in your life, you've got the world and all its dead customs and everything before you. So we need to keep God in front of us. Now ultimately, if we distance ourselves from God, the ultimate separation from God is hell. And we don't want any of our friends heading there. So 14 and when he, the younger son had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his belly with the husks or the pods that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him. This is not a coincidence. When we have famine in our life, when we find ourselves in the wilderness, it's often from God. God often sends us there. We get there because he's the only way out. When we're flat on our back looking up, that's sometimes when we finally cry out to God. And so this famine that occurred right after the Son coincidentally lost all of his money, sometimes that's from God. God wants us to be full of him. He wants to fill us. And so sometimes when we're empty, it's because we need to realize we need God. And we can't get that from the world can't satisfy, nothing's new and improved. The world can't feed us. We need Jesus, the bread of life. We need the living water. That's what's going to satisfy us. The world just offers fake freedom and no joy and emptiness. 17. The best verse in this story. And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my Father's have bread enough to spare? And I perish, I die with hunger. We represent the Father. Are we joyful? See those sinners that were there listening to Jesus to hear what he had to say. We're to go to all the world and to teach, to show them Jesus. It's not our job to correct their sin. It's. It's just our job to show them Jesus. They need to know that we who are servants of God are well cared for, that we're full of joy. Verse 18. He continues on. He says, I will arise and go to my Father, and I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven. And before you now notice again this sinner, this younger son, he says, I sinned against heaven. The sinners know deep down. I mean, Romans says they know what's right and what's wrong. What they need to be shown is Jesus. He knew it was morally and socially wrong, but he just pretended or ignored it before that. So when we distance ourselves from God and godly people, sometimes we're just not ready at that point. That's why we need to show them Jesus, so that when they are ready, when they are at that point, when they're at their lowest, they can turn, look to us and see that person has the joy of Christ. I want that. I want to know about Christ. I want to know about God and they can turn. He continues on. He says, I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants. This is his planned speech that he's going to return to the Father with. And it's notable that God, our God, doesn't have slaves, doesn't have human sacrifice like many other religions, because we're all equal. God has given us everything. Who's to exalt one over the other? It's all from God. And verse 20 and he arose, the Prodigal Son, and came to his Father. But when he was a great way off, his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. See, the Father's love is so great in our merit, whether we leave and go off sinning or whether we stayed home and worked the whole time, God loves us. Either way, his love is so great. His opinion of us is through his son, Jesus. He loves us because he is love, and his compassion is great. This Father saw the Son and had compassion. He ran. And you can imagine his son was just feeding pigs, living with the pigs. He couldn't have smelled great, couldn't have looked great, and yet the Father ran. Before the Father even knew anything, he saw his son and he just took off running. That's our God. He's so willing to meet us whenever we turn to him, no matter where we've been or how bad we smell. The Father, if you note, was more excited than the Son at the return. The Son had rehearsed his speech and was, you know, worried that his Father would even take him back as a servant. But the Father, he was just so excited. That's our God. Like the sheep and the coin, the person who found it was so excited, it was overflowing. They had to tell their friends and their neighbors it couldn't contain it. That's our God. The angels rejoice in his presence when someone turns to him. And Jesus was the same way. Jesus never turned away any blind, lame, sick, the disease, the leprous, the gentiles, women, or even a Roman soldier. So continuing on. 21 and the son said unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the Father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And the Father was just so glad of his son's return. He immediately identified his son to not be a servant with the ring and the robe. We are clothed with God's righteousness. You know, we are adopted sons. That's what the ring represents. Slaves didn't wear shoes, so he put shoes on his son's feet to identify as sons immediately when we repent and we go back to the Father immediately, we are no longer identified with the world, but we're identified as children of God. Verse 23 the Father goes even further and bring forth the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead. He wasn't on a long journey or off. He was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry. Now the fatted calf, that wasn't just any old cow, they hand fed this thing the choice grains to fatten it up. For if someone important like a king or someone came around and he's like, we're going to party, we're going to have barbecue tonight. And notice that the Father considered his son dead. We are dead in our sins. James 1:14 15 says, Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed and when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. We're dead until we turn to Christ. That's where our life is in God now. Verse 25 now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And the servant said unto him, your brother is come and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound, and he was angry and would not go in, therefore came out his father and pleaded with him. Notice that the Father is not changed by either son's actions. The Father was always loving. Whether it was one son who wouldn't go in to celebrate with his brother, or another son who leaves everything and goes off into far country and wastes his life. The Father isn't changed by our actions. He's always loving the father. Many of us, we would have refused to come out or lock the door on him. You're not worthy. But that's not our God. Our God is loving always. 29 and he an said to his father, this is the elder son. Lo, these many years I have served you, neither transgressed I at any time your commandment. And yet you never gave me a kid, a goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this your son was come, which has Devoured your living with harlots. You killed for him. The fatted calf. Notice the older son wouldn't even identify his brother as his brother. It's your son. Wow. And he said to him, the father son, you are ever with me and all that I have is yours. It was proper that we should make Mary and be glad for this. Your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. The elder son's actions are pitiful, really sad. And since we're going to rip into him next time, I think it's good to I'm going to tell you a joke. And this illustrates the Pharisees. A woman was on a good sized boat out on a pleasure cruise in the tropics when they passed by a small island. As she watched, a man in tattered clothing and a scruffy beard ran down to the shore of the island and began waving frantically and jumping up and down. The woman who was standing near to the captain pointed to the man and asked the captain, what's up with the man on the island over there? The captain replied, I don't know, but he does that every time we pass by. That is the Pharisees. They were too busy doing what they thought was God's work to have compassion on others. We need to be more like Jesus and show the sinners the Father, the loving Father. What pleases our God is finding lost things. God throws a party with each soul found. So let's die to ourselves and tell people about our great God, our loving God, our Father. And pray that when they are ready that they will accept Christ and kick off their own party. Heaven. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are so good. Lord, we just you are so worthy. We want to live up to you. We want to represent you and we need your spirit to do that. We need your love flowing through us so that we can show our family, our sinners, the lost you the way home, that they will recognize how good you are by our actions. Lord, we just pray for the upcoming Easter. Lord, it's a time when many are found that are lost. And so we just want to start praying now for those that they would start seeking you and start realizing where they are in this world and where it leads. It leads to death. Thank you Lord for all that you've given us. And may we go about joyful, letting our friends and neighbors know you. And this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. [00:35:53] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to this message. We hope you enjoyed it. Our prayer is that the message in some way or another helped in your walk with God and that your relationship with God was strengthened and grew more intimate. [00:36:11] Speaker B: If you would like to contact us. [00:36:13] Speaker A: With questions or comments, you can email us at the following address. That's meedletters.com or me-l e t t e r s.com Thank.