Luke 15:11-16

This morning, I invite you to turn with me to the book of Luke once again, chapter 15 of the book of Luke, and beginning with verse 11. I’m going to read verses 11 to 16. The story that we’re going to be reading here, it has to do with the prodigal son. and we’re going to have to take several weeks to look at it so be patient with me to look at the first part here in verses 11 to 16 and then we’ll Lord willing in the future will continue going through the parable Luke 15 beginning with 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 the goods that falleth to me and he divided under them his living not many days after the younger son gathered altogether and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with right as living and when he had spent all their all there arose a mighty famine in the land and he began to be in one 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 gave unto him. God blessed to us the reading of his holy and sacred word of this morning. You know, one of the classic books is Gulliver’s Travels. And it’s a satirical romance written by Jonathan Swift in 1726. It’s sort of a fanciful and fabulous account of a trip to a trip that the author took to these four imaginary countries, which differed in every way possible for one another. For example, there were differences even regarding the size of the citizens. Some they were giants and others they were dorses and so forth. Despite all the differences of material and social conditions, what was interesting, he said, was it the inhabitants of all the countries were alike in their vices and their follies? The conviction you take from the story is that man is corrupt no matter where you find it, no matter what nation is in. It’s the same type of universal application which makes the parable of the prodigal son so useful to us. in every generation. What you find in the lost sun is true regarding every individual, no matter what period of history in which they live, it reveals the sad state of the fallen sons of men. The parable is similar to those that are in the first part of this child. The parable is similar to those that are in the first part of this. trilogy. We talked about the lost sheep, and we talked about the lost coin, and the lost sheep was one in a hundred. The lost coin was one in ten, but when we get to the lost sun, it’s one and two. This parable is part of Christ’s answer to the murmuring we recall of the Pharisees in verses one and two of this chapter. where they complained that Christ was eating with, you know, the sinners and accepting and embracing sinners. Its ultimate focus, of course, is in this passage is on welcoming the foul, which really relates to the Pharisee’s problem. When people do repent, are you willing to accept them? Are you willing to take them in? and Christ addresses that here. Now, let’s look at the events at the beginning of this parable. The younger of a wealthy man’s two sons asked his father for his inheritance. Why don’t you give it to me now? And so the father divided the property between his two sons as verse 12, seemed to indicate. The father happily gave him his portion of the inheritance, and no doubt he had a sense of foreboding perhaps as he watched his younger son head off to a faraway lane, an uncertain future. Well, the future soon became very sour, very quickly. for the young man, as we saw in verse 13. And then a famine arose, and he had no money left to support himself. He was forced to work as a servant or a citizen in a far away country. And even then, he didn’t have enough to eat. No one gave him anything. It certainly is the person he was working for did to say, well, why don’t you come back? back to the house and I’ll feed you dinner or anything of this nature. And here he is, slopping hogs. And this would certainly be humiliating, I guess, for someone who is a Jewish boy in a Gentile country. But his money was all gone. And he had to take care of these unclean animals. And the Bible tells us here he was desperate enough to eat. himself, so much for independence and freedom, he was at the end of his rope. That’s what we find here. Now let me begin by talking about some of the principles that we find here. If we talk about the meaning of the story, I think it’s perfectly plain. It is a picture of someone lost in sin. This first part. It tells us about the meaning of the meaning of the story. misery of the condition of this person. And so you see the heart of the sinner. You think God’s gifts or owed you as a debt. In verse 12, we read here, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me. Give them to me. So the younger son here demanded. that he be given his inheritance early. There’s a sense of entitlement here. He owe me this inheritance. Lord Eves, he asked just for a portion of it, but give it all to me that I should have. He doesn’t say, well, give me some of it and let me see how I do with it, and see if I can manage it well. And then accordingly, trust me with more and more. He says, it to me all up front. It’s always a bad sign when you look upon God’s good gifts as debts to be paid to you. You know, God does not owe us all the wonderful things and material possessions and so forth and the goods and things that we have in this life. He doesn’t owe us any of these things. You are, you know, never in a piece. position where you can demand these things from God. You remember what Jacob said. He said, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies in Genesis 3210. But here we have sort of an opposite view, and many people have it. As a creator, if God withholds good things from you, material things and health and family and so forth, do you have a right to complain? What does he owe you as a creature? So you think God’s gifts are owed you as a debt? Notice something else here. You are content to have your portion in this life. In this life. You see from the prodigal sons foolish conduct why he wanted the inheritance. His focus is having a good time on wine, women, and song. That’s what he’s focused on. Verse 13 indicates. He wanted to enjoy the pleasures of this life. And this seems to be all his focus, all his mind at this time. He was living for the earthly life alone. God and eternity were not something that were on his mind. The here and now was on his mind. And it was entirely consumed with his in. Now the great folly of sinners, that’s what ruins them, is being content to have their portion in this life alone. To love the good things of this life alone. You become like a pig, you know, racing to the feeding trough to squeeze in and get your portion and get your portion and quickly gobbled down as a pig, you know, racing to the feeding trough to the feeding trough to squeeze in and squeeze in and squeeze in and squeeze in, as much as you can. There’s not a thought of thankfulness to God for a provision. Not once lifting your eyes to your master who has provided the abundance that you have. There’s not a thought here about the slaughterhouse that lies ahead that await you in the future. You have your head buried in the feeding truiting trial. and satisfied with your own fleshly appetite. See you are content to have your portion in this life. Notice this also. You desire to be free from God’s restraints. He chafed at the order, the discipline of his father’s house. So he goes to a faraway land where he’s not under the eye of his father’s father. He wanted to escape to escape. hate, they have the liberty to do as he pleased. Young people need to be aware of this danger. It is a dangerous thing. In other words, he wanted the liberty to sin. And he knew his father would not approve of it. Would not approve of him spending his time in idleness in the company of wicked persons. You see, young people that are brought up in a godly family under the teaching of the word of God and they’re impatient to leave home. Like a horse, chafing at the bit, which holds him from running free. Man wishes to cast off the restraints of God’s holy law. As Psalm 2 tells us, Let us break there the Lord and his anointed bands asunder and cast them their cords away from us. You don’t want any moral regulations on your life and your health and your heart and so forth. You want to be free, free to do what you want to do. And this is the sad fact about man. He loved the. darkness rather than life. You know, when I was growing up, across the street from me, there was a neighborhood friend. His name was Charlie. I think I told you this before. He had a dog named Korky. Now, Korky was confined to the backyard by a stake and a chain. And he would spend much of his time trying to get out of his confinement. He would actually run as fast as he could. would leap into the air and try to break the chain so that he could escape. You think he would almost broke his neck? I don’t even know how he didn’t watching him do this. But somewhere along the line, the chain would break or his tugging would pull the steak out of the ground and off cork he would go throughout the neighborhood, running all around the place. And Charlie would have to go. after them. That whole process would start all over again. As soon as Korky got, you know, staked back in and the chain fixed, he was doing the same thing all over again. How much, like the sinner? Try to break free from the confinement of God’s law, so you desire to be free from God’s restraints. You foolishly think you can manage your life independent of God. Notice verse 13 here. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. You know, the prodigal didn’t like, as I said, his father’s management of the family money, and he thought he would be much happier if he had management of his own money. This way, he wouldn’t have to rely upon his father’s decisions about what was best for him. And so he wants to live independent of his father. And this is the way man is with regard to God, the father. The heart of man is, with regard to God, the father. The heart of man is such, that he wishes that God would leave him alone. Let me live my life, my own way. I’d be happier than being under God’s management. Aaron Berg, the third vice president of the United States, was reared in a godly home. He was admonished by his grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, about his need to trust. in the Lord, trust in Christ. But he refused to listen to the Word of God. Instead, he declared that he wanted nothing to do with God. And he wished God would just leave him alone. He did achieve a major political success in spite of many disappointments, but he was also involved in continuous strife. When he was 48 years old, he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He lived for 32 more years. And through all that time, he was unhappy and he was unproductive. It was during this sad chapter of his life that he declared to a group of friends. Sixty years ago, I told God that if he would let me alone, I would let him alone. God hasn’t bothered with me since. Aaron Burr got what he wanted. such as the sad thinking of many people. Don’t be like that. You may get your wish, and it could be very fatal. So you see the heart of the sinner here. Secondly, you see the heartache of the sinner in verses 13 through 16. Let me begin with verse 14, so I just read verse 13. And when he had spent all, there arose a famine in the land. and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and sent him into, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And it would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. No man. No man gave unto him. Your sinful state is one. of a distance from God. The prodigal took his journey into a far country away from his father’s house, and there was a gray distance between the man and his father. Now in this parable, the father represents God the father, and we see that coming through in this parable in the way Jesus lays it out for us. Being naturally proud and self-willed, you and I have no pleasure in fellowship with God. We depart from it. We would get far off from him. Like sheep, we all naturally go astray. Everyone to his own way, according to Isaiah 536. You know, God is the fountain of all good. But you prefer to be far, far away from you. So it could be said of you that you’re alienated from the life of God. But you are without God in the world as an unsaved person. That’s the way you like it from God. Your sinful state is one of spending, as verses 13 and 14, indicate. The prodigal wasted his substance in riotous living. he divided it with heartlets, as verse 30 indicates. In a short while, he spent it all. He spent it all. With money to burn from his father’s inheritance, the prodigal, he can imagine him bought fine clothes and a great deal of living on the high end of things like enjoying all the benefits of life, the wine, the women, the song, and so forth. And you can imagine him buying every new trinket and indulging in every pleasure under the sun until the money ran out. I once read a story about a spoiled child who was a dreadful fit of temper because his man he would not let him have a valuable vase that was in the cabinet. and hearing him crying aloud his mother went into the room and asked what do you want darling the little boy said pointing to the vase i want that his mother said well you shall have it wishing to appease him but when she said it before him the child simply lifted up his voice and began yelling all over again and she said to him what do you want now? And the little boy spat out these words, I want to have something that I mustn’t. The child would never be satisfied regardless of what he was given. Like the spoiled child, the product was never satisfied even when he obtained that which was forbidden. He kept spending and spending until he wasted the entire inheritance. Let it be clearly understood that when you go away from the Lord God, that indeed they cost you everything. You’re venturing your all. God asks the sinner, wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfies God? Isaiah 55 and verse 2. you willfully waste the good gifts of providence that God gives you and provides for you in this life. They’re all misspent in your pursuit of that which will never satisfy your soul. And sadly, that’s what a lot of people don’t seem to understand. Your sinful state is one of spending. Your sinful state is one of spending. Your sinful. state is one of lack, according to verse 14. After you had spent all, great famine arose in the land. Everything became scarce and valuable, and the prodigal began, we read, to be in want. This represents the misery of the sinner, having placed all your hopes in the things of this life. They are taken away from you. You’re empty and you’re there. You see people committing suicide in such circumstances. Everything is lost. Your soul is deeply depressed. You find yourself in a spiritual family. What do you have to sustain your soul? Being alienated from God? What promise? can you claim from scripture? There’s no hope to lift your spirit. No assurance that all things are working for your good. They are not. And so your sinful state is one of lack. Notice also, your sinful state is one of slavery. Verse 15. The prodigal went from being among the elite of society to being a poor servant or slave. Now he had a master. He had someone telling him how he was to live his life, what he was to do. His freedom was short-lived, but a servitude might last the rest of his life. When you commit sin, Jesus said you are a servant of sin in John 834. The devil is like the citizen of that person. country. You know, sinners join themselves to him, hire themselves out to do his service, and they are at his beck and call. Satan’s service is not a pleasant one, for he is a cruel taskmaster aiming really ultimately at the destruction of your soul. The prodigal is sent into the fields to feed not cheap but swine. The devil’s work is often, you know, greedy and dirty and dirty. The business of the devil’s servants is to make provision to the flesh and fulfill the lust thereof, and that is all unclean work. So your sinful state is one of slavery. Your sinful state is one of dissatisfaction. Verse 16. When the prodigal began to be in need, he thought he would help himself by becoming a servant. But it becomes obvious that his hard-hearted master would let him perish with hunger. No one gave him anything. His master didn’t care whether he had enough to eat. is verse 17 that tells us here, and when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger. So that was his case, and we’ll look at that one next week. That’s a sad situation to be in. He wasn’t invited, as I said, to the home to eat with the family. He had to make do with what he could find outdoors, whether he could find any wild berries or not. I don’t know. But there’s a famine in the land. Usually a drought comes with it, and a lot of things don’t grow. And so he got to the point he would have filled his belly to satisfy his hunger with the garbage that was fed to the pigs. Imagine that. The sinner labors for that way. which satisfies not. Isaiah 452. He thinks that, you know, that he could be satisfied with the husks that the swine would. But we know that that’s not very satisfying for a man. So you end up feeding on wind, as Josea 121 indicates. Feeding on ashes is Isaiah 44, 20 and indicates. It leaves you empty with a bitter taste in your mouth. The way of transgressors is hard for the Bible. It’s hard. The pleasures of sin last only for a season. But the sad dissatisfaction and misery then set in. So we see the heartache of the sinner of the sinner. Well, let me close the stress. So we see the heartache of the sinner. morning by saying this. In Gulliver travels, we see what the four different lands, but his conclusion was, all the people were really the same with their vices and false. And that’s the way man is, no matter what age he lives in. The people of every country and every generation have always lived like this. And this is why the parable of the prodigal son is timeless. It’s application is as fresh today as when Jesus told it long ago, because the application is still good. Well, may God bless to us this study this morning.