Everybody in this room has known someone that you love or care about. It's gone off the deep end. into this kind of lifestyle. And you see them. in misery.
In shame. And often in jail. And you still see them with hardened hearts. And you wonder what's it gonna take? To get them to the end of themselves, till they hit bottom.
and realize The enormity. of this waste. Is there anything more tragic, beloved? Then a wasted Life. The biblical account of mankind is that every one of us has gone off the deep end into sin and rebellion against our Creator.
But thanks be to God that in Christ our Heavenly Father is seeking that which has been lost. Thank you for joining us for Renewing Your Mind. the Daily Bible Teaching Program from Ligonier Ministries. Today, we begin a four-week study in the Gospel of Luke with R. C.
Sproll. And our first message is on Jesus' parable about the prodigal son. We'll only be in this series for a short time. But you can continue your study by receiving the hardcover edition of Dr. Sproll's Commentary on Luke when you donate.
Just go to renewingyourmind.org to make your gift. And thank you in advance for supporting this program. Here's Dr. Sproll with today's message from Luke chapter 15. Then 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 falls to me. and so he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together. Journey to a far country and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, There arose a severe famine in that land.
And he began to be in want. and then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, And he sent him into his fields to feed swine. and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father.
and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father but when he was still 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 to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
and am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him. put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here 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 merry. And now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
And he said to him, Your brother has come And because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry. It would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him, so he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.
but as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, You killed the fatted calf. For a mm. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should be merry and be glad. for your brother was dead.
and is alive again. He was lost. And is found. What a magnificent story this is. No wonder it is.
One of the two more popular of the parables of Jesus, along with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Because in this story We read our story. and of the blessed grace of God. At the beginning of chapter fifteen, we read that all the tax collectors and sinners. Drew near to Jesus.
In order to hear him. But the Pharisees and the scribes complained about this. And they said, This man receives sinners, and he eats with them. And that's the reason Jesus gives these three parables. In chapter 15.
Because he had just heard this criticism. that he had associated With tax collectors. And with sinners. not only associating with them, But actually sharing meals with them. This made the scribes and the Pharisees aghast.
because it violated every principle that they held precious. where they practiced a kind of spiritual apartheid. In which they actually believed that salvation came through segregation. By keeping oneself a perfect distance from anyone who was Tainted. with evil of any kind.
And they saw Jesus. spending time. With the sinners and with the tax collectors. He hung out with them, as it were, not because he wanted to be like them. But Jesus went.
to these sinners. Because he was driven By compassion. This was his mission. He said on another occasion, I came. To seek And to save The Lost Those who are healthy have no need.
of a physician. But these people Lead me. And so that's where He spent his time.
Now, in responding to this vigorous criticism that came to him. From the scribes and the Pharisees, he told two. Brief parables before the larger one that we've just read. The first was the parable of the lost sheep. Listen to it briefly.
He said this parable to them, saying, What man of you having a hundred sheep? If he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness. and go after the one wi which is lost. Until he finds it. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders.
Rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls his neighbors together and says to them, Rejoice with me. for I have found My sheep Which was lost. And I say to you likewise, there'll be more joy in heaven. over one sinner who repents and over ninety-nine just persons.
Who need no repentance. It's a simple story taken from the common activity of the land that was filled with sheep and with shepherds. How many times do the scriptures liken God and ultimately Christ To the Shepherd. of our souls.
So Jesus said this is a simple thing. Which one of you, if you owned a hundred sheep and one of your sheep wandered away and was lost? Wouldn't leave the 99 that were safe in the sheepfold and go out and pursue. Through the darkness or through the heat of the day, searching everywhere for that one sheep that was lost. You would keep looking.
It wouldn't be a casual search. You wouldn't just spend five minutes Looking about the landscape to see if you see this little sheep scurrying. Here and there. No Yet keep looking. And looking.
And looking. Until you found it. Unless you're a harling. Unless you were simply being paid. to take care of somebody else's sheep.
Then, if you lost one, you may think, well, what's one out of 100? It's only 1%. The sheep owner will probably never even notice. That this one was gone. But if you're a good shepherd.
You can count. And you know your sheep. and your sheep know your voice.
So that if one strays And gets lost. In the wilderness. You're on a holy pursuit. Until you find them. And when you find him You don't take your shepherd's crook and Beat him over the head with it.
You don't scold the sheep. The sheep's probably... Bleating. frightened to death being separated from the flock and the shepherd. And when you find that sheep trembling, You stoop over and you reach down and you pick up that lamb and you put him around your neck and hold his feet.
And you bring him out. And when you bring him home. You can't wait to tell your friends. You say I found him Do you know the sheep that wandered away? I lost him.
But I went out and I looked and I looked and I searched and I searched until finally I found him. And here he is. Come, rejoice with me. And Jesus says, That not only do His neighbours rejoice with him. But he says in like manner there is more Joy in heaven O for one sinner who repents.
Then over 99 just persons who don't need repentance now. There's a dispute about who the 99 just persons represent. Do they represent righteous people? In the world. who have no need of the gospel.
who have no need of the tender mercies and compassion of the good shepherd I don't think so because in that case you couldn't find 99 of those in the whole world.
So this could only refer To those who have been justified. Those who have come safely. Home to the Savior. and now reside in his Church, as it were. But every congregation Has those who stray Some stray because they never were converted in the first place, as John said.
Those who went out from us. were never really among us. But even when we believe, as we do, And the perseverance of the saints, because the Lord preserves those who are His. We acknowledge that even the truly converted person may fall into serious And deep sin. And stray.
From the kingdom of God and from Christ. as some of us have done. But when that happens, the hound of heaven Will not stay home. The song and the hymn of the church is not Leave them alone and they'll come home. Wagging their tails behind them, no.
The church sings there were ninety and nine who safely lay. in the shelter of the fold. But there was one lost sheep on that hill far away. Far off. From the streets of Gaul.
And that one who strays. From the fellowship of the church. From the means of grace and from the Community of Jesus. Is sought by the Lord. Until he is found.
And brought on, this is about compassion. This is above the love of Christ. for his people. Jesus said likewise. I say to you There's joy.
in the presence of the angels of God. Over one sinner Who repents? What's the point? Jesus is saying to these religious leaders, what's wrong with you? You complain.
When I seek the lost. While every angel in heaven is rejoicing. No wonder he called them the children. of the devil. Because every time Christ finds one who is lost and brings it to himself.
The angels rejoice. And the devil Compliance.
So now Jesus comes to the larger story. And he said, A certain man had two sons.
Now it's not one out of a hundred or one out of ten. But it's one out of two. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods. that falls to me. And so he divided to them his livelihood.
Now, you hear what's happening here in the ancient world, just as is the case today. inheritances were passed down to children and grandchildren on following the deaths of the owner of the estate. On rare occasions, though, of course, the Wealthy owner could Give a trust fund to His children Or give them certain gifts in advance, but it was exceedingly rare that. Anybody would uh Give the entire inheritance to a child. Before he died, that would mean liquidating all of his assets in order to.
distribute them among his heirs. It would usually, in such cases, involve a potential long-term loss of the real value of the estate, but that didn't bother the son. He said, Father, I want my inheritance, and I want it now. I don't want to have to wait until you die. I may be too old to enjoy it.
I want to enjoy my portion of your legacy.
Now Let me pause for a second. What we have here, folks. is a case of a young man who did not believe in delayed gratification. He wanted it and he wanted it now.
So he could spend it now. When we read this story, we want to identify with the father. Or with the good brother until he gets mean. And we certainly don't want to identify ourselves with this profligate young man. who is flagrant in wasting his father's inheritance.
We don't want to identify with this young boy who doesn't want to Defer or delay. Gratification. We're not at all like him. When we have interest payments on our credit cards. When we spend money that we don't have When we live beyond our means, and actually steal from our creditors by delaying our payment.
To them. There's an old adage that fasts pay Makes for good friends. I've been working over the past couple of months with a contractor. on a job and each portion of the job he finishes, he wants paid that day, even though ten times at least he fails to show up on the days that he says he's going to be there. Nevertheless, I paid him.
that they asked for until the last time. I said, you keep saying you're going to do something, you don't do it. You keep saying you're going to be here, you don't come. But when you do come, you want paid right now. And he said, well, I'm sorry.
He says. It's been raining. And we're delayed. I should really. I got news for you.
He said, well, I say, it's been raining on my bank account and on my checkbook. And you're not getting another dime until you get over here and do what you said you're going to do. But we do this, don't we? But in this case, the young man says Give me the portion of good that falls to me. The incredible part of this story is that the father agrees to it.
The father allows his son to go. with his inheritance.
So a few days later the younger son gathered everything together. And there wasted his possessions. With prodigal living. Let me just stop there for a second. The first thing this young man does after he receives his early inheritance and gathers it together.
is that he leaves the house. He leaves the confines of his family. He leaves the restraints. of his parents. And he doesn't just go to the next town.
Where somebody might know him. He goes to a far country. Where he's anonymous. He goes into the darkness. Where no one can see him.
So he can do the things. that he always wanted to do Without restraint. Every year I see the news accounts of spring break at Fort Lauderdale and here in Daytona. And you see the news. Showing the unbridled debauchery of these college kids.
Far from school. Far from home. And you know that the T V cameras can only show so much. and get away with it. on their broadcasts and so they leave to your imagination All the rest that is going on.
In this endless partying Syndrome And you see these kids having a great time. And every time I see it, I think. I wonder if their parents are watching this. On television. I wonder if their parents know.
what they're financing. On spring break.
Well, I'm sure there are some parents that do know and say, go ahead, have a great time, do whatever you want. But you wonder how many parents who care about their kids. Have any idea? What they're doing. When they go into a far country.
This young man went to a far country where nobody knew him.
So he could have the mother of all. Parties. And he was like a sailor on shore leave with a pocket full of money. No restraints. And certainly Finances were not a restraint.
But there we are told, in this far country, He wasted his possessions. With prodigal Living. A prodigal is somebody who is involved in radical. Waste. Lavish waste.
He's wasting his money. His father's money. He's wasting his time. But far worse, beloved, he's wasting His life. We learn later on in the parable.
That he consumed his wealth in riotous Living And in harlotry. And lost it all. Until he became penniless. And had to live with the pigs. Everybody in this room has known someone that you love or care about.
It's gone off the deep end. into this kind of lifestyle. And you see them. In misery In shame. And often in jail.
And you still see them with hardened hearts. And you wonder what's it gonna take? To get them to the end of themselves, till they hit bottom. and realize The enormity of this waste. Is there anything more tragic, beloved?
Then I wasted Life. It's one thing to waste a paycheck. But the waste of life? is the tragedy Of all tragedy. But Jesus is telling this story.
Because he cares about people like that. The Pharisees could care less about a young man wasting his fortune. and living with the pigs. The Lord of Glory. Cared.
about this young man. Jesus does care for people. And the passage that we've been studying today helps us to see the character, the heart of our Savior. I'll be honest with you, I love the parable of the prodigal son because it's my story. And if you're in Christ, it's your story too.
Thank you for studying God's Word with us today on Renewing Your Mind. I hope you'll join us next week as we continue our study of The Prodigal Son. But in the meantime, if you want to go deeper into your study, you can get the hardcover edition of R. C.'s Commentary on Luke. This resource compiles more than 100 sermons from Dr.
Sproll's Preaching Ministry, and we'll send it to you today when you donate to Renewing Your Mind. Simply use the link in the podcast show notes, or you can make your gift online at renewingyourmind.org. If you lost something that you cared about, wouldn't you look for it? Of course you would, and so would God. Join us next Sunday as we conclude our study of the prodigal son.
And don't forget to join my co-host, Dave Terrio, all this week. to hear messages from Dr. Sproll's series, The Life of David. here. on Renewing Your Mind.
