The Lost Son // Luke 15:11-31

In this sermon from Luke 15:11-31, Pastor Aaron Stevens teaches through Jesus’ parable of the lost son and reveals the compassionate heart of the Father toward those who repent and return to Him. This message explores repentance, grace, stewardship, restoration, and the danger of self-righteousness through both the younger and older sons in the story.

No matter how far someone has wandered, God’s desire is to restore and bring people back into right relationship through Christ.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This morning we are going to be in our Bibles in the Gospel of Luke chapter 15. So if you have your Bibles, you can turn there, or if you have your digital, you can just click the thing real quick and get there. But we are going to be in Luke chapter 15. It's a familiar parable for many of you. We're going to look at the parable of the prodigal son. The parable of the prodigal son. You know, Jesus often spoke in parables to communicate truths to people in a way that they can understand them. And sometimes for those whose minds were darkened and their eyes were blind, it would go right over their heads. And at this time, Jesus, he was sharing with the people that they are the light of the world, a city on a hill, and the salt of the earth. And he also allowed for the tax collectors and the sinners, those who uh the religious leaders of the time looked down upon to gather around them. People felt comfortable being around Jesus who did not uh know him yet, who weren't the religious of the day. And the the religious leaders, the the scribes and the Pharisees, uh they were giving Jesus a hard time about it. Like, how are you this holy man? Uh, but you're allowing these sinners, these tax collectors, to be around you. And Jesus gives a couple of parables. He starts with uh the parable of the lost sheep, uh, about the shepherd who has one sheep that goes astray, and he goes to find that sheep, and he celebrates when he finds that sheep. He also goes and talks about the parable of the lost coin, about a woman who had silver coins and she loses one, and when she finds it, how she celebrates at the excitement that she has over finding that lost coin. All these things point to how when someone is lost, an individual is lost and does not know the Lord or is walked away from the Lord, when they return, it should be celebrated. It should be something that we rejoice at. Uh, those who are far from God, when they draw near to him, the tax collector, the sinners, when they approach God, that we should rejoice at this idea. Jesus at one time said it's not it's not uh the the those who are well who are in need of a physician, but those who are sick. In our world there are many who are hurting, there are many who are sick. And we should be reaching out to those people, not the religious people, not those who already know the Lord. We we encourage and we build those up, but we should also go after those who do not yet know the Lord or who have known the Lord at one time and have walked away. And this is what we see in the parable of the prodigal son, the lost son. The Lord gives a parable of a man with two sons, and we see the outcome with both of them. Before we dive into the text, uh, I'm just gonna ask the Lord to bless our time, um, be with us as we study and we look at this text. So would you please pray with me? Lord, we thank you for allowing us to be out here in your creation, under the sun shining, and uh amongst the brethren, the family of God. God, I pray that your spirit would fill us, that we would be able to see what you want us to see through as we look through this text, that we would uh recognize your heart for those who are away from you, that you desire that they would come back to you and be in right relationship. So I pray that you would minister to your people as only you can, Lord. And we ask your blessing on our time of Bible study. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Church, we have uh a tradition here uh where we stand for the reading of God's word. Um, and I would ask you if you're willing and able to stand, would you please stand for the reading of God's word this morning? Um I don't want this to be uh uh an empty ritual. This is something that we do uh with the right heart, recognizing that this word uh is not my word. It's not Pastor Josh. This is the word of God. Uh God loved his people so much that he gave them an instruction manual. Uh I've heard it said, B-I-B-L-E stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. Uh, this is God's instruction manual for us. And and we stand to give honor and respect to the one who has left it for us, our Lord and Savior. So we are going to read in Luke chapter 15, starting in verse 11. I'm reading from the New King James. It says, Uh, 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 fall to me. So he divided them, they he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all there, he arose, or there arose a severe famine in the land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and journ joined himself to a citizen of that country, and sent him and he sent him into the fields to feed the swine, and he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he had come to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to eat and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and I 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, 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 I 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, and 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. We'll stop there. You may be seated. As we look at this story, we see three characters. Sorry, the wind is getting the best of me here. We see three characters. We see uh the father and his two sons, the younger son and the older son. The younger son comes to the father and says, Hey, why don't you I don't want to wait for you to die. Uh why don't you just give me the portion of my inheritance that's owed to me right now, and and I'll I'll do with it as I please. And the father doesn't argue, he does that. He he divies up his inheritance and he gives to each one uh his their inheritance. And as he does so, the young man or the younger son, he takes it and he goes in a couple of days and he goes into a far-off country and wasted his possessions on prodigal living. He wasted his possessions on prodigal living. You know, it's interesting when I think of going off into a far-off country, I think of this young man going into an area where where no one knows him, where there's no accountability, there's there's no one to uh call him to repentance, no one to correct him as he's doing wrong. But he goes off and and it says that he wastes his funds on, he wastes his possession on prodigal living. Now, I didn't grow up using the word prodigal uh as a kid. I wasn't like in high school, like, hey man, let's go get prodigal this weekend. It's not like a common word that I'm familiar with, so I had to look these things up. Um but prodigal, I always assumed, you know, just from hearing it in church and hearing people reference this story, uh, like it's uh like I assumed that it meant like they were falling away or backslidden or or just wilding out. And and really the word prodigal means just to be recklessly extravagant or wasteful or lavishly abundant. So this this young man, he he wasted his possessions, living an extravagant lifestyle. He was wasteful. This guy, I I always had the picture he's this party animal, and maybe he was. But maybe he was just overspending and not being wise with his resources. Maybe he was just being wasteful. You know, back in that day, uh uh I recently read a uh personal finance book, and they were telling stories in times past, in the ancient times, and uh there was ways where people were wasting money back then. They would bet on horse races and and they would gamble, uh, similar to things that people do today. I mean, people nowadays it's it's uh online sports betting and um you know, paying for expensive clothes or that they can't afford, or uh buying the latest guru's course on how to get rich and buying crypto or real estate or something. Uh people are are spending money uh and not being good stewards of what it is that they've been entrusted to. They are being wasteful. And some of these things can be good when done right, but the prodigal son, this son, was being wasteful. There's nothing new under the sun. Just as a young man could throw away his possessions back then, so can a person do today. I like sports just like anyone, but I'm not gonna waste a bunch of money betting on people and betting on things that are just gonna come to nothing. I I try to tell, uh I see a lot of young guys do this, one a couple of guys I play basketball with, they're constantly betting on these games. I'm like, how many of the people that you know bet on these things, like become millionaires? Like, there's a reason why these uh these sports companies or these sports betting companies give away money. It's it's not because they're losing money, they're they're making money and they're causing you to waste your money. And it's unfortunate to see people get caught up in these types of schemes where they're wasting their money, being foolish and living prodigal. The Bible has a lot to say about finances and stewardship. And I don't want to turn this into like a Dave Ramsey class or anything like that. Um, but to say that we should be good stewards of the things that God entrusted us to. Um, the the resources that we have, we should be good stewards, we shouldn't be wasteful. Um, and there's a very basic principle. Just understanding your financial budget is a very practical thing. Uh again, this is not a Dave Ramsey class, but just knowing how much money is coming into you and how much money is going out, that you're not overspending, you're not spending beyond your means, you're not living prodigal, you're not wasting your resources. Because we are stewards of all that is entrusted to us. And the person who is faithful with little will be faithful with much. My point is that money, not stewarded well, runs out. And that's exactly what happened to this young man, this young son. He ran out of all of his money. And it says in verse 14 that as that happened, it just so happened that a severe famine comes upon the land. A severe famine comes upon the land. You know, when I was younger, I didn't know the Lord. I didn't grow up in church. And uh I I would say that I lived prodigal. I was just wasteful. I was earning money, just spending it, blowing it on, whatever I wanted to buy. Just it's so easy to swipe that card or to tap that thing. Uh, I just wasn't doing things right. It wasn't until a good friend of mine called me out uh and and confronted me and was just like, you're supposed to be this godly man, this Christian, but like you're you're spending money, you're in debt. Like, what is that? How does that make sense? Uh and it really convicted me, really challenged me to get my house in order, to get my finances in order, and to make sure that I was being a good steward of what the Lord had given me. But in this situation, this young man, he spent everything he had, and then a famine came. And it's interesting that the famine didn't happen when he had all the extra, when he just received his possessions. The famine happened after he had spent it all. And there's one way that you can look at this where it's like, oh man, things always happen when when at the worst time, when I don't have anything in the account. That's that could be one way to look at it. Or if you were a good steward of your resources, you wouldn't experience the effects of the famine that great because you had something stored up that you have, or you're able to endure those seasons of drought. Proverbs 6 tells us to learn from the ants that they work hard in the summertime and they store up in seasons when they're able to work, so that when they can have something when the winter comes, when they can't work. It's a wise principle and smart for us to apply to our lives that we would store up, that we would be diligent with our finances, we'd be diligent with our resources and be good stewards. But the reality is we live in a fallen world and things aren't as they should be. Things happen, famines happen, and if you've lived progal or wasteful and lived lavishly, then poverty will come upon you. Proverbs 6.11 says, poverty will pounce on you like a bandit, and scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. This is where the young son finds himself. When you are in need, you might do things that are not in line with who you are. This is what happens to the young man. He's in need, he's in a place of want, and he begins to do things that are outside of his character. When you are not healthy spiritually, you also might do things that are outside of your character. I don't want to make this so much about the stewardship aspect, but I believe Jesus is drawing a picture to his spiritual life as well. He leaves his father's house, he walks away from what he knows, uh what he's been taught, and he goes and does what he wants to do with no accountability, with no one to answer to. And he loses all of his possessions. But I would see he was also at a point where he was spiritually broke or spiritually broken and spiritually lacking. And he starts to engage in activities that he would not have had he otherwise not been in that situation. We'll continue to see that in verse 15 and 16. In verse 15, it says, Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of the country, and that citizen sent him into the fields to feed pigs, and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. You know, you got to remember that Jesus, when he's telling this parable, he's speaking to a group of people that were Jewish. They would know that what he's trying to communicate here is that this young man went and joined himself to uh a pig farmer, and pigs were unclean. Every Jew knew that it was unclean. So it was at a very, very low point in his life where he's able, he's willing to go work in an environment that is not for him. He was tending to pigs, and it says that he would have gladly filled his stomach with the food that the pigs eat. He was at a place where he had hit rock bottom. Uh, the scripture says that, and no one gave him anything. It paints the picture of my mind that he was alone, he was at that lowest place. But sometimes this is the place that we must must get to for us to realize and to remember who we are. But I also see uh the beauty of the love of God, that it's in these seasons when when we're at the the bottom, when everything is fallen out, when things have been taken away, where God comes in and he ministers. I love the scripture in Romans, it says that Romans 5.8, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we were in the mud, in the pig pen, in the depth of our worst sins, Christ still loved us. God loved us so much that he sent his son for us to die. He knew who we were, he knew who we are, he knew who he would be, and yet he still loved us enough to make a way for us to have the right relationship with him. This is a powerful truth for us to remember that regardless of where you're at today, God loves you. Whether you're in the pig pen or you have a high inheritance, God is with you, and he wants to see you do well in life and all that he's called you to. But let's continue and see what happens in verse 17. Here, he says that uh when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have enough bread to spare? And I perish with hunger. He remembered his father. This is an important point that when we get to that that bottom, when the bottom falls out, or we're at that low point, to remember the father, remember the character of our God, remember who he is and and what he is about. This son, he thinks about his father and how generous he is, that even the servants in his father's house have enough bread to eat. They're taken care of. And so he knows that he can go back to this position, this house, and that he then makes a decision to address his situation. He says, I will go to my father's house and I will say to him, Father, I've sinned against you. What we see here is a great picture of repentance. Number one, he acknowledges his sin. He says, I have sinned against heaven and against his father. And then he confesses. He confesses, that's his confession. Uh the Bible says in 1 John 1 9, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is a part of repentance. First, to acknowledge our sin, but to confess it. Go to the Lord directly. Let him know what you have done, that you recognize that it's wrong and that you are turning away from it. But then he humbles himself. He's willing to take the position of a servant. He doesn't assume that he's going to come back and enter into his household with the same authority that he left with. He humbles himself and is willing to take the position of a servant. But lastly, he took action. He took action. It's one thing to know that you're doing wrong, that you're not where you should be. You've not uh obeyed the commandments of the Father. You've not obeyed the things that you know to be true in Scripture. It's one thing to know that, uh, even to recognize it, to confess it, but we must take action. This is what repentance means to have a change of direction. You were going in one direction to make a complete 180 and go in the opposite direction towards God. We are called to be a people who are constantly repenting. You know, none of us are perfect, none of us is without sin. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Every single one of us. And we all need to repent. We need to remember the gospel every single day. The gospel today is just as true as it was the first time you heard it. And we need to remind ourselves of these truths because we make mistakes. We are in this fallen world, we're in this fallen body, but God has a plan to restore all things to himself. And by his grace, as we believe in the gospel, as we repent, the scripture says, repent therefore, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. As we repent, that refreshing comes from God's presence. And we continue to remember the gospel, to preach that to ourselves, that Christ is perfect. He lived the life that we could never live, and he paid the penalty for our sin that was separating us from having right relationship with the Father. He went to the cross, he was brutally beaten and hung up there. Three days later, he after he died, he rose from the grave, proving that he was who he said he was, that he had the power over sin and over death. And all who believe in him by faith will be saved. This is the message of the gospel. We see that this young son, he was in a state of prodigal living. He turned away from his father's home to go his own way. But once he came to him his senses, once he remembered who the father was, he repented, he took action and headed home. We see the the father, the character of the father, as the next character in the story. Let's look at verses 20. He says, uh, 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. I love this picture of the father. That the father, it says, While the son was still off in the distance, the father saw him. What this paints in my mind is that the father was looking for him. He was he was anxiously awaiting this son that had gone away. And I believe that's the heart of our father. That when there is someone who walks away and goes their own way, that he desires for them to come back. That he desires, he's waiting for them to draw near. While he was a great way off, the scripture says that he saw him. But it says that he had compassion. This is the character of our God, that he has compassion. He's not a God of condemnation. Some of you may have not had an earthly father like this, where the situation wouldn't have worked out like that, where you've done something wrong. It's condemnation. Oh, you messed up, you made a mistake, you must do this and that. That's not the heart of our father in heaven. He has compassion. He does not condemn. He's ready and willing to receive us to himself. Notice the heart of the Father. He doesn't point out his wrongs. He doesn't even wait for him to get all the way up to the property and to get down on his knees to grovel and beg. He's not expecting that of his son. He was anticipating his son's return. Which reminds me of James 4 8 that says Draw near to the Lord, and he will draw near to you. As you take that step towards the Lord, he's already ready and willing to meet you right where you are. But we must first draw near to him. And he will draw near to us. You know, every time you look at that word for compassion, and when we see that word in the Greek used in the New Testament, every time it's used of a real person, not just like one of these stories, like a parable, it's used of God. God, the Father in this story was moved with the compassion of God, the heart of God, towards his son. And this is the same compassion that he has towards each one of us. His children that would come to him, that would repent and draw near to him. Know this that the Lord does not condemn you. Again, we are not perfect. We make mistakes. But the Lord does not condemn you, but is compassionate towards you. Psalm 103 says, He knows our frame and he remembers that we're dust. He knows who you are, he knows what's going on in your heart, in your mind, the things that you're wrestling with, the things that you're battling with, the things that no one else knows. He knows and he still loves you. And he still has compassion towards you. He still wants to see you in right relationship with him. If you ever feel condemned, you must know that it is not from God. Condemnation is not from God. Romans 8:1 says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So if you feel condemned, know that that is not from the Lord, that is from the enemy. He wants to trip you up. He wants to. Ah, did you really think you're a Christian? How could if you're really a Christian, you wouldn't have done that. You try to go to church on Sunday? And you're still doing, nah, nah. Just just just wait till the next Sunday after you're like have a holy period. Just cleanse yourself for a little bit and then come back to church. These lies are the enemy. We've never been good enough. It's the point of the gospel. That Christ is the only one who is good enough. And so we approach the Father by the Son, knowing that we are forgiven. Just as the Lord said to the woman caught in adultery, go and sin no more. You're forgiven. Go and sin no more. Continue to repent that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. We see back in the text that the son he begins his confession. He confesses to the Father. Once he sees him, once the father falls on his neck and hugs him, he starts to confess. And what's the father's response? He ignores him. He almost doesn't even pay attention to his confession. Know that the Lord is not surprised by your confession. The scripture says that he remembers our sin no more. It's as far as the east is from the west. He's not hanging it over your head, waiting for you to make the same mistake. No, that's not the heart of our father. The father here in the store, he ignores the son and he starts talking to the servants. He says, Hey, go get a robe. No, get the best robe we got and bring it out for my son. You know, put a ring on his finger, put sandals on his feet. Find the best animal that we have. We're about to have a barbecue. We're going to celebrate because my son has returned. This is the heart of our Father. He gives us so much more than we deserve. We deserve death. The wages of sin is death and separation from God for eternity. But the gift of God in Christ Jesus is eternal life. We have so much to be grateful for. Sandals were also in that time to be worn by family members. The slaves and the servants, they didn't, they walked around barefoot. But those who were of the family, the sons, wore shoes, wore sandals. The father restored his son. And this is what the Lord does to us. He restores us into right relationship. He makes sure that we know that we're a part of the family, that we have an inheritance with him. He has the fatted calf killed. He has a party for his son. And when I think of this fatted calf, you know, I was taught to always look at the text and look for Christ, look for Jesus. When I see the fatted calf being killed, well, what happens when you butcher an animal? There's a ton of blood. And that blood, I believe, I think of the blood of Christ. The scripture teaches, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. There is a cost for our sin. It's not that we should take sin lightly, knowing that, oh, we have a gracious and compassionate God. Yes, we do, but shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not, Paul says. But we should respond rightly to this grace that we've been given, that we would live lives that would honor and glorify our Lord. But what a picture of grace this young son receives. And every time I speak of grace, I like to use or also speak of mercy because it helps paint the picture accurately. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Not getting what you deserve. This son comes back what he deserves, probably a whooping, and maybe he had to pay back his debt, you know, give his dad back his money. That's what he deserves. But he gets mercy. He doesn't get what he deserves. He gets mercy. But on top of that, he gets grace. He gets what he doesn't deserve. He gets the finest robe. He gets the signet ring. He gets the shoes. Probably some fresh Jordans. That's what I pictured in my mind. But he gets restored back to his sonship, his position in the family. And he throws a party for the son so that everyone would celebrate. That is a picture of grace. Getting what you don't deserve. We all know that we don't deserve what we have. Every day we experience the grace of our God. The fact that we got a little cloud cover, this is the grace of our God. We continue to walk in the grace and never take it for granted the things that we endure. Yes, times are tough. Things will happen. We live in a fallen world. We will suffer famines and difficulties. But look for the grace of God. Look at what He's doing and how much more we've been given than what we actually deserve. Ultimately, we get the grace in that we receive righteousness through Christ and eternal life. We are co-heirers in the kingdom of God. The Father says that this son of mine is alive. This is the desire of our Father, that we would be restored to right living, no longer living wastefully, no longer living prodigally, but to live a life that would honor and glorify him. It says that they begin to make merry. They begin to have a party and celebrate, but not everyone. This is the the leads us to the third character in the story, the older son. Let's continue and read verses 25 to 30. It says, 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 the servant said to him, Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But the brother was angry and would not go inside. Therefore the father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, Father, I've these many years I have been serving you. I have 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 him. We'll stop there. This older son. He doesn't know why everyone's partying or celebrating. So he goes and asks the servant. The servant tells him the response that the father is excited that the son is returned. Everyone's celebrating that this son, who was effectively dead, has is alive and returned. And what's his response? He gets angry. He doesn't go celebrate with the rest of them. So the father, again, we see the loving heart of the father. He goes out to the son, draws near to him. But it seems that the son, he has an eye problem. Not like, oh, or eye that you see with. Like he has an eye problem. Like he's he's worried about himself. Look at verse 29. He says, I three times. He says to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I have never transgressed your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. He can't celebrate the beauty of repentance because he's focused on himself. He's thinking about I, me, my. If you find yourself in times where you're bitter, you're just not in a healthy place, examine yourself. How much am I focusing on me, and how much am I focusing on the beauty of what God is doing and the lives of those around me? The work that He's completing in the lives of those around me. Sometimes we're thinking about ourselves instead of thinking about each other. Philippians 2.4 says, let each of you look out not for your own interests, but also for the interest of others. It's okay to be concerned for yourself. We should, we should take care of ourselves, but also be concerned about those around us. If you see a brother or sister who's gone away or gone astray, when they return, you should celebrate. It shouldn't be a time where, oh man, I can't believe they got into that again. We should celebrate, rejoice. Not dangling their sin over their head, waiting for them to stumble and fall. We see the heart of the Father, how he responds. We're called to be like the Father. We should be seeking to restore people to right relationship. You know, the uh older brother in this, I've always thought the uh the prodigal son was just out wilding out, like the prodigal son was doing the most. He's probably in casinos on the strip of Vegas, just wilding out. But we don't really know, right? Like the text never really says that. It's not until the older brother makes this declaration. Oh, you're this son of yours, he he wasted all your money on harlots. Like, how does he know? He was he there? He makes this assumption, it seems, to what the younger brother had done. And we should be careful to assume what's going on in the life of those around us. You don't know. You don't know where someone's at with the Lord. The Lord may have them in a place where he's getting a hold of their hearts, where he's trying to convict and draw them near. Are we building them up? Are we trying to be those that have the heart of the Father, seeking to see them repent and celebrate and cheer them on? Are we looking at all the things that they've done wrong, how many steps they they didn't get right? Be careful to not be like the older brother. You know, Revelation 12.10, we read of an accuser of the brethren. That title is for Satan, the enemy. That's not a title that you want synonymous with your name, an accuser of the brethren. I'm not saying that we don't call out sin when we see a brother in sin or a sister in sin, seeking to build them up, seeking to push them towards repentance. But it's not the character of us should not be the accuser of the brethren, always pointing out people's flaws. We used to call them sin sniffers. Always, what you got? Oh, you got some sin over there? That's not the heart of our father. We should be looking to build each other up. We should be a body of Christ that's looking to see people come to repentance, continually repenting, getting better, overcoming sin, having victory over sin. This is what is appropriate for the family of God. Be careful not to condemn others because of what they are doing. We just need to focus on what God has called us to do. And the only person that we can truly be responsible for is for ourselves. We should consider others, we should help the others, but we should be responsible for ourselves. You know, Jesus calls out the religious leaders at the time and says, You guys are crazy. You're straining at a little splinter in your brother's eye, and you have a telephone pole in your own eye. Like we would do well to first examine ourselves before calling out sin and everyone else. Continually examine ourselves. Again, we're not perfect, but we can continue to push towards perfection. We can look at our Savior and see his perfection and try to emulate that. We just need to focus on what God has called us to do. I love this passage of scripture at the end of uh the Gospel of John, where um Peter asks, or Jesus says something to John about his death, and Peter turns around and says, Well, what about me, Lord? Or asks him a question about that, and Jesus says, What is it to you? If I will that he should remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. I love that. It rings in my ears continually. It reminds me of the fact that I don't need to be worried about what everyone else is doing. I just need to worry about me. That's enough in and of itself. I just need to worry about me and what God has called me to do. That I'm continuing to repent, that I'm continuing to draw near to the Lord, that I'm continuing to take action to avoid areas that I know are pitfalls. And that's what I believe the Lord would require of each of us. Let's look at the the last two verses here. The last two verses, verse 31. It says, And he said to him, Son, are you always with me? Or you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It is right that we should make merry and be glad. For your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. I love this. The the father reminds the son, you're always with you have right standing. You're in my house. Everything that I have is yours. Don't be so quick to look at what's going on with your brother that you can't celebrate what's going on in your life. You have right standing. Don't dismiss all that you already enjoy. If you are a son or a daughter of the Most High, if you are a child of God, there's much that you have already. But it's easy to get distracted and see what's going on in someone else's life or what the Lord's doing over there, and forget what you already enjoy. You're in right relationship. Enjoy that. Celebrate that. Christ said that he came that we may have life in that abundantly. We should enjoy life. That's one of the things I love that Joshua always shares is like we should just be having a blast, loving God, serving him to the best of our abilities, and have fun. You know, he's out with his family this weekend, uh enjoying them, having fun, enjoying the life that he's called to. And I I respect that. I love that he sets a great example for us to just enjoy life. Love God, love his word, and enjoy life. You know, there may be some here today that that believe that they had some prodigal in them, some prodigal living. It may not be that you've wasted your entire inheritance, but you know you're just you're not in your father's house. Maybe you've gone away off into a far country, you have no accountability, you're hiding some things you don't want people to see. Whatever it is, you just know that you're not living the way that you should be. The call is simple. Repent. Repent. Recognize your sin. Call it out for what it is. Confess to the Lord, talk to Him about it. Repent that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. It's a simple call, but something that we need to remember continually. The gospel is just as effective today as it was the first day we believed it. We need to remind ourselves of that continually. It's only because of what Christ has done. The Father loves us, he has compassion for us, he's not condemning you. He wants to receive you and celebrate and rejoice with you and with all those who come to repentance. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this simple story of what it means to repent. Someone who is far gone is rejoined to the family. Lord, if there's anyone here who feels they were in that spot, I pray that you would remind them that as they draw near, you're right there to meet them. You don't condemn, you don't cast them out, you're not hanging their sin above their heads. They can't work to find your forgiveness. The forgiveness is given freely through Christ Jesus. I pray today that they would accept that gift. They would remember all that it costs. And that they would choose to make right decisions. They would not live prodigal anymore. They would be good stewards of their resources, good stewards of their time, good stewards of their talents. That you would be glorified, that we would be a people who represent you rightly, truly, a city on a hill. Salt that would season the earth. We would never lose our flavor, and that we would represent you in all things. We would bring you glory. We thank you for this time of study. We take this serious Lord. Continue to convict us, continue to draw us nearer to you. We love you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.