Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers.
Now, would you take God's word, please, and turn to Luke chapter 15. And as we tune our hearts, For this Fellowship supper at the Lord's table. I want us to do some self-examination. And I want us to examine our faith. And I'm going to give you three measurements.
So you can find out about your relationship with God. and your readiness to come to our Lord's table.
Now this is a time of celebration, but some of us are not ready to to celebrate. I want us to read here in Luke chapter 12. 15 and I begin reading in verse 11. I suppose. One of the most familiar stories in all of the Bible.
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 falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 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.
And when he 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 fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat.
And no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, And I like that phrase because it implies that a person away from God is really not in his right mind. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's had bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will rise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy 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 bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat. And be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they began to be married.
Now his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come. And thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
And he was angry. That is, the elder brother was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and entreated him And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid.
That I might make merry with my friends, but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, Thou hast killed for him. the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Sun? Thou art ever with me. And all that I have is thine.
And it was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead. and is alive again. and was lost. and is found.
Now this story is a story that Jesus Christ gave to the Pharisees. The Pharisees in whose hearts and lives the milk of human kindness had curdled. They had complained about the Lord Jesus Christ. And they criticize Jesus for keeping company. with centers.
And Jesus told this story. It's a story of two sons. And two kinds of centers. One son, the story we're very familiar with, is the story of the prodigal, the prodigal son. He was a rebel.
He was a renegade. He was a rioter. He ended up penniless. He ended up shameless. He ended up Friendless.
Someone preached a message on this prodigal son and And gave three points. First of all, sick of home. Then homesick. and then home. It's a beautiful story, and I think everybody knows it.
His were the sins of the flesh. But there was another son. A son that stayed at home. Outwardly, he was a fine son. He worked hard.
He kept his father's commandments outwardly, did nothing wrong that anyone could obviously see. And his were not the sins of the flesh. His were more the sins of the crowd that's here tonight. His were the sins of the spirit. You see, there's some sins that are outward.
And there's some sins that are inward. There's some sins that are sins of the flesh. But other sins That ascends of the Spirit. There are some sins that are gross sins. There are other sins that are subtle sins.
People pay more attention to the prodigal son than they do the elder brother. And do you know why we don't pay much attention to the elder brother? And why you don't hear many sermons about the elder brother, the brother that stayed home and complained about the younger brother who'd been away, complained when the father lavished his love upon that younger brother? I'll tell you why, because we're so much. Like the elder brother.
It's a love story, this 15th chapter of Luke. But you're going to find out that the love of God that melted the heart of one sinner. harden the heart of another sinner. The elder brother. was outwardly moral.
But Jesus in this story made havoc. of his little list of virtues. And you're going to find out that Jesus had compassion. For that outward center. That man who was guilty of the sins of the flesh.
But you're going to find out in the scriptures that Jesus had white hot words. For those who were self-righteous, Those who were guilty of sins of the spirit. and would not let go of those sins of the Spirit.
Now ladies and gentlemen. As we prepare our hearts tonight for the Lord's Supper, let me tell you. How our lives ought. to be lived. First of all, there ought to be a pure, sincere, overflowing love for God.
That love for God. ought to lead to service. For our Lord, And that service for our Lord. ought to lead to great, wonderful, abounding joy. Love, service, and joy ought to mark our lives.
Well, I want you to measure tonight your love for God. And I want you tonight to measure your service for God. And I want you tonight to measure your joy in the Lord. And may I tell you several things. First of all, you may measure your love.
For the Father, By your relationship with your brother.
Okay? You may measure your love for the Father. by your relationship with your brother. Put this verse in your margin. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 20.
Here's what the wise Apostle John said: If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a Finish that word. Liar.
Well, there's one thing about old John. He didn't beat around the bush, did he? If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, How can he love God whom he hath not seen?
Now there's some who would like to assume the place of a son. without assuming the responsibility of a brother. But I'm going to tell you that you're not ready tonight to take the Lord's Supper. If your heart is headquarters for hate. For some brother, some sister, some child of God.
I'm going to tell you again. If you have resentment, Or envy, or jealousy, or hatred, or malice, or contempt. For your brother, your sister. I warn you. Do not Partake.
of the Lord's Supper. Until you confess that sin, for you're not right. with God. How are you going to measure your love for God? My dear friend, you're going to measure your love for the father by your love for the brother.
You see, you can't see God the Father. But you can see your brother. And so, in a very practical way, that which we can see is that which we can measure. Downstairs in our church kitchen, in many church kitchens, we have big coffee urns. They put the coffee or the whatever the beverage is on the inside, and on the outside, there's a glass tube that runs up and down.
And you can tell what's on the inside by looking at that glass tube that's transparent. And as the liquid goes up and down in that glass tube, do you know what I'm talking about? You know what's on the inside. You can't see what's on the inside, but you can see what's on the outside. And my dear friend, your love for your brother is that which can be seen, which is the absolute measurement of what is on the inside.
Now, you would have thought that this elder son who was out in the field when he came home and saw that they had killed the fatted calf, they were having a party, they were dancing, they were making merry, you would have thought he would have said, Praise God, hallelujah. Our prayers have been answered. My brother has come home. What a wonderful day. I wouldn't blame my dear old dad if he overdid the festivities just a little bit.
But he wasn't that way. As a matter of fact, he was such a poor son. because he was such a poor brother. Do you know what I have in my mind? I really believe that this elder brother was a little bit jealous of the good time he thought the prodigal son had been having.
He just was a little envious of those people who were doing things that he really didn't get a chance. to do. He's like that woman who prayed in a prayer meeting when there were only a few in the prayer meeting: Lord, be with us as we meet here with you, while so many of our members are out there in the world having a good time. You know, this is the way he felt. But I am telling you, dear friend, you may measure your love for your father.
By your love for your brother. If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
Now, there's a second thing. You may measure Your service to the Father. by your fellowship with the Father. Look, if you will, in verse 25.
Now his elder son was in the field. That is, he hadn't been wasting his substance with riotous living. He was out in the field. He's working the ranch. He's working the farm.
He's taking care of the flock, whatever it is. He's in the field. And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music. And dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf. Because he hath received him safe and sound.
Now, watch this. And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and entreated him.
Now, watch verse 29. And he answering said to his father, Low. These many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid, that is a young goat.
That I might make merry with my friends.
Now, he's interested here in his service. And it's very obvious that he was a hard worker. He was in the field. And he says to his father, and he reminds his father in verse 29, I have served you for many years. But, my dear friend, you may measure your service.
For the Father, By your fellowship, with the file. There are people who have worked in this church for many, many years. But they don't have fellowship with God. This elder brother was what we would have considered a model worker. And yet he did not know the Father's heart.
He did not understand what motivated his father. I can just almost hear his mind working. He's saying, you know, I don't understand what's wrong with my dad. We've never had Finer crops. Look at the cattle, how sleek and fat they are.
Look at the barns, how freshly painted. How large, how wonderful they are. Look at all of the workers we have coming and going. Everything looks just so fine. I don't know what's wrong with my father.
My father just seems to sit there. He never seems to be completely satisfied. No matter how wonderful the farm is, no matter how beautiful everything is, my father seems to have a faraway look in his eyes. I don't know what's wrong. with my father.
I'll tell you what was wrong with the father. He had a broken heart. Over a son. that was away from home. I want to ask you a question.
What do you think God is concerned about primarily tonight? Do you think God is primarily concerned about several hundred in a choir? Great orchestras. And bammers. Love offerings.
And beacons. And sermons. and fellowship. and church suppers. and ordinations And Sunday school attendance.
There's some people who think, well, you know God ought to really be pleased with what we're doing for Him. Look at the way. We're running his farm. But I wonder. Have we really entered into the great heart?
of God You see, dear friend, Here was a man who was serving God. without ever really knowing The heart of God. It was simply legalistic service. Do you know what he was thinking? He was saying, God, Actually, to his father, but the father here takes the place of God.
He was saying, Father, I have served you and you haven't rewarded me. Correspondingly. It's very obvious here. That here was a man who was serving for reward. His service was legalistic service.
And he missed his father's heart. You see, the Bible says, for example, about giving. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly. Nor of necessity.
For the Lord loveth. A cheerful giver. What is not cheerfully, willingly given God neither needs nor wants. We're to give out of a heart motivated with love. You may measure.
Your service to the Father. By your fellowship with the Father. If, my dear friend, you serve for reward. It's not going to be long before you're going to be complaining that you're not being blessed sufficiently. And if somebody else is blessed more than you're blessed, You're really going to be complaining.
But if you serve the Lord. out of a love for God. Not out of reward. You're going to be blessed indeed. Listen.
This Young man did not know what made his father's heart beat. He could have known. He should have known. But he didn't. I'm going to mention one other thing, dear friend.
Not only are you going to measure your love for the Father by your relationship to your brother. Not only are you going to measure your service for the Father by, dear friend, your fellowship with the Father. But you're going to measure also that third thing that I mentioned: your joy with the Father. By your sharing of the Father's burden. Notice again in verse 29.
And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid. Do you see his finger in the face of his father? Yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.
That is, I am not merry. I am not happy. But as soon as this thy son was come. Do you hear that? Not this, my brother, but this thy son.
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed him for the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, Thou art ever with me. And all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. But the elder brother didn't make merry.
The elder brother was not glad. He had no joy. Because, dear friend, he's wrapped up in himself. He doesn't have the father's burden. Look in verse 29.
He's not concerned about his father. In verse 29, he says, I, me, five times. He is full of self-righteousness. He is full of self-centeredness. He is full of self-pity.
And he is perfectly miserable. And so will you be. If you don't know the Father's burden. If you do not share the Father's burden, You'll never know the Father's joy. If you do not love your brother, You don't love the Father.
If you don't have fellowship with the Father, your service amounts to nothing. And if you don't have the Father's burden, You'll never know the Father's joy.
Now he had it all, but he had nothing. Look, if you will, as the Father reasons with him. Look in verse 31. The father said unto him, Son, Thou art ever with me. And all that I have is thine.
Now look at it. He has everything, and yet the one thing he wants the most he doesn't have, and that's joy. He had position because he was a son. Look at him. He calls him a son.
He has privilege. Because he's with the Father. He has possessions. Because the Father says, all that I have is yours.
Now, in Bible times, the elder son got two-thirds of the inheritance, the birthright. The younger son, Got only a third. Everything that was left. really belonged to the elder son. The father says, son, listen.
You're at position, you're my son. You have privilege. You're with me. You have possession. All that I have is yours.
And yet He had no Joy. I'll tell you why. The same reason that some in this building tonight say, I just don't understand why it is. that I'm not getting joy in my faith.
Well, I'll tell you why. You don't share. The father's burden. You don't see things from God's point of view. You feel that somehow that somebody else's blessing is your demise.
Now, what this young man needed to understand was that in the father's house, There's always a surplus. The prodigal son knew that. He said, Even my servants have bread enough and despair. My dear friend, there's enough of God's grace for all five billion people on planet Earth. You can have all you want.
and they can have all they want. What brings the Father? Joy? What makes joy in heaven? Again.
What burdens the Father's heart? Our son away from him. What gladdens the Father's heart? Listen, Jesus said, there is joy in the presence of the angels. Over one sinner that repenteth.
More than over 90 and 9 just persons that need no repentance. I used to think that meant that the angels rejoice, and I suppose they do, but that's not what that verse means. It doesn't say there's joy among the angels. It says there's joy in the presence of the angels. It's the Lord who rejoices when a sinner comes home.
There's joy in the presence of the angels, just as there was joy when this prodigal son came home. What gives the father joy? For sinners to come home. What will give you joy? He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again what?
with rejoicing. bringing his sheaves with him. My friend, do you want joy? If you want the Father's joy, you've got to share the Father's concern. You've got to share the Father's burden.
This elder brother. could have been concerned with a surplus in the House. and an empty place at the table. And yet there was no twinge in his heart. Have you ever thought about why he didn't share his father's concern?
Why why was he so stubborn?
So recalcitrant.
So mule. Why didn't he know? How the father felt. I'll tell you why. He spent no time with his father.
Do you know what he should have done? He should have said, Dad. I want to talk with you. Dad, you've got a faraway look. In your eye.
Dad, I can tell you're burden. Dad, even though the crops are doing well, and even though the servants are obedient, and even though the barns are well built, and even though the cattle is sleek and healthy, and everything looks good, Father, I can tell. Your burden. Level with me, Dad. Why?
Do you look so burdened? And the dad would say, son, It's your brother. You know, son, He wanted his inheritance early. And I gave it to him. And your brothers left home.
I believe is in a faraway country. I believe he may be in trouble. I hear there's A depression in that land where he went. I'm concerned about your brother. Let's pray for him.
Perhaps, son, you could go and see where he is. See if he has any needs. Perhaps, son, you could go to your brother and my son and tell him that mother and I love him and that you love him. And that You want him to come home and that we want him to come home. Welcome him home.
He never spent any time with his father. He didn't know his father's heart. Do you know why people Don't have a love for the lost. Because they don't have a quiet time with God. Did you know it's not primarily love for lost souls that we need?
It's primarily love for God that we need. Jesus didn't say, Do you love sheep or do you love to feed sheep? He said to Peter, Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep. But here was a son.
Who spent no real time, no quality time? What he did, he shut out the concern of his father. While pretending to serve his father, he He was self-centered and he was miserable. He came home. And he said, what's all this noise about?
Did you know? In churches across America today. There are people who don't want to be a member of an evangelistic church. Do you know why? It bothers them.
They wish the preacher would just preach. And say amen. And let him go home. They don't like a man to stand in the pulpit and say, come to Jesus. Sing another stanza.
Sing another stanza. Sing another stanza. They get antsy. Hey, look at the watch. They say it's time to go.
What's all this noise about? Yeah. Everything is fine just like it is. We don't need a new church. There's plenty of room for me.
I always get a seat. What's all this noise about? What's all this concern about? What's all this pleading and praying about? Frankly, I'm glad.
That the elder brother didn't meet the prodigal coming home. I'm glad it was the father. Who met him?
Sometimes I wonder about some of the unsaved come and sit in our church. by some of our people. I have gotten letters from unsafe people who came to our church. and were not able to sit down because somebody said, that is my seat. My dear friend, there's plenty of room in our Father's house.
May God give you a concern for these poor people. You say, well, I don't want to sit near that person, they don't smell right. Or they don't look right. I'm so glad the elder brother, that self-righteous little prig. Didn't meet the prodigal on his way home.
My dear friend, you want joy? Real joy? You spend some time with the Father. You find out what burdens the father. And let that burden you.
There was joy, there was singing, there was gladness. That self-righteous Pharisee was on the outside. and wouldn't come in. I want you to learn three things and learn them good. The Christian life is summed up in love for the Father.
Service to the Father. and joy with the Father. Your love for the Father is going to be measured by your love for your brother. Your service to the Father is going to be measured by your fellowship with the Father. And your joy with the Father.
Is measured by the degree. that you share the Father's burden. He that goeth forth and weepeth. bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing. bringing his sheaves with him.
I want you tonight. to tune your heart. And ask the Lord, Lord, have I been serving you legalistically? Lord, has my so-called service for you been a substitute for my fellowship with you? Have I been pretending to love you?
When I haven't loved those that you love. Is the lack of joy in my life, Lord? The fact that I've not entered into your burden. Friend, when we learn to weep with Him. We'll learn to rejoice with Him.
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