Sermon Tone Analysis
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This morning’s message teaches us about God’s great love for lost sinners.
It comes from the last of three stories that Jesus told about things that get lost—a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy.
They are parables that illustrate to what lengths God will go to in order to seek and to save lost people.
After all, Jesus declared to his followers that was the reason for his coming.
In Luke 19:10 Jesus told his disciples: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
If you remember, the Jewish religious leaders are agitated about the company that Jesus has been keeping.
Luke 15:1-2 /"Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.
2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”/
In answer to their criticism, Jesus tells three stories.
They are parables that reveal just how great a friend to sinners Jesus is.
Sinners need a friend like Jesus because they are weak like sheep.
In the first parable, God is like the good shepherd who goes out looking for that one lost animal.
Sinners also need a friend like Jesus because they are as worthless like a coin that is lost in the dirt.
In the second parable, God is like the faithful housewife who diligently searches in the dirt until she finds the coin that has been lost.
There is one more story . . .
! I. WE NEED A FRIEND LIKE JESUS BECAUSE WE ARE ALL LIKE LOST SONS
#. we also need a friend like Jesus because we are as wretched and, selfish, and unappreciative just like the young man we've come to call the prodigal son
#. what does this story teach us about ourselves?
!! A. THE FOOLISHNESS HE EXHIBITS
* /"The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’
So he divided his wealth between them.
"“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, ... "/ (Luke 15:12-13,NASB95)
#. the younger of the two sons has become tired of staying at home
#. he wants freedom from the control of his father
#. he has convinced himself that by being away from the eyes of his parents he would be able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, with whomever he wanted
#. he would have his freedom
#. of course to carry out his plan he needs one thing—money!
#. so he comes to his father and says, "Dad, there is an inheritance coming to me one of these days, but I don't want to wait for it.
I want my inheritance now."
#. it’s a shocking request
#. it was tantamount to saying, /"I wish you were dead so that I could have what is coming to me."/
#. he didn't care about his father – only about the things his father owned
#. this young man’s declaration is a radical rejection of his father
#. this young man is the proverbial “spoiled brat”
#. his behavior is /heartless, cruel,/ and /ungrateful/
#. he wants what he wants and he wants it now!
#. the verb give me in verse 12 is in the imperative mood
#. what that means is that this young man is actually /commanding/ and /demanding/ his father to give him his share of the inheritance
#. reluctantly, I’m sure, this loving father gives His son exactly what he wants—his money and his freedom
#. the prodigal’s behavior describes the character, and attitudes of the typical lost man
#.
God the Father is a divine being to be used and demanded of, but never obeyed
#.
He is present in the universe for one reason: To give us what we think we’re entitled to, and to give it to us the moment we demand it
* /"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
"Professing to be wise, they became fools,"/ (Romans 1:20-22,NASB95)
#. like the father in the story, God still gives the lost man all the freedom he desires
#. the farther away this young man could get from his father the better
#. sin is more than breaking religious rules and laws
#. sin is breaking our Heavenly Father’s heart
!! B. THE FAMINE HE ENDURES
#. the prodigal son’s freedom from his father came at a high personal cost
* Luke 15:13-16 /“and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”/
NIV
#.
Jesus weaves for his hearers a spellbinding story
#. the young man goes to a /far off country/ were he lives a /corrupt/ and /immoral/ life
#. the young man casts off all restraint and self-control, and intentionally chooses to disregard all that he had been taught about how to live
#. he dove deeply into the septic tank of self-indulgence
#. he spends money hand-over-fist like it was going out of style
#. when you do that you have a lot of “so-called” friends
#. but in time the money ran out and so did his friends
#. his last resort was to hire himself out as a day-laborer feeding pigs
#. serving sin and Satan has a high price
#.
Satan will deceive you about what money can buy
#.
Satan will deceive you about the pleasure of sin
#.
Satan will deceive you about who your real friends are
#.
Satan will deceive you about who he really is
#. it costs every step of the way
#. it will cost you your character, your reputation, your health and your self-respect
* ILLUS.
One of Aesop’s fables tells the story of a scorpion who wanted to cross a river.
Now scorpions are very poor swimmers, and so the scorpion asked a turtle to carry him on its back across the river.
"Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle.
"You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown."
"My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "If I were to sting you, you would drown and I'd go down with you.
Now where is the logic in that?" "You're right," cried the turtle.
"Hop on."
The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting.
As they both began to sank, the turtle said, "Do you mind if I ask you something?
You said there is no logic in your stinging me.
Why did you do it?"
"It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied.
"It's just my nature."
#. sin is destructive and has a sting unto death even though the world, the flesh, and the devil deny it
#. the prodigal son has been stung by his sin
#. he is humiliated, hungry, and homesick
#. his excitement at being off on his own have been dulled, diminished, and diluted
#.
his life in the fast lane came to an abrupt finish and he reached the end of his rope
#. in the minds of his listeners, Jesus paints a picture of a man who is as low as he can get
#.
Jesus is saying, "I keep company with sinners and outcasts because they're wretched like this lost son."
!
II.
GOD IS THE PATIENT FATHER WHO REJOICES WHEN HIS CHILDREN WILL COME HOME
#. what does this story teach us about God?
#. in this parable, God is like the affectionate Father who lovingly and patiently waits for his son to come home
#. if ever there was a Scripture passage that painted a picture of the character of God as a loving Father, surely it is this parable
#. like the prodigal son, the wise sinner – when he or she comes to the end of themselves – remembers they have a loving Father who stands ready to receive them with open arms
* Luke 15:17-19 /“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
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