The Lost Son Number Two — Anton Bosch

Let's turn to the Word, and we're in Luke chapter 15, Luke chapter 15, and we are looking at the two lost sons, the two lost sons, and I'm going to read the whole passage again so that we get the context, because we dealt with the first son last week, and we're dealing with the second son this week.

The Two Lost Sons in Luke 15

Remember that this parable is called the parable of the prodigal son, as if it's just about one boy, but in fact the parable is very specifically about two boys and about two sons. So let's read from verse 11 of Luke 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, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal or wasteful living.

But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed the swine.

And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and 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 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. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

And so he called one of the servants and asked him 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 and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. And 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 him. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.

It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. Now while you have your Bible open, I want you to take note of verse 19. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants. That idea is going to come out with the older son. So he recognizes that he has forfeited his right to be a son. And he says, Father, I just want to be a servant.

I just want to work for a wage. Because he recognized that in his father's house, the servants were in a better condition and were in a better state than he had been out there in the far country. Now we come to the second son, the older son.

The Older Son's Life Revolved Around Work

And he was in the field. And it's interesting, and remember that from the very beginning, and I don't know how long it's been, we've been in Luke now probably two years. From the very beginning, we've emphasized the attention to detail in Luke's writing.

And you remember that when we started the parable, it begins by saying he had two sons. A very, very specific statement, which we ignore because most preachers will preach about the one son, about the youngest son, and forget about the second one.

But the parable begins, he has two sons. Now in turning to the older son, he says he was in the field. You say, well, what has that got to do with it? He could have been out with his friends. He could have been on a journey.

Why does it say he was in the field? Because his whole world, his whole life revolved around work. Around work. Now, work is a good thing. We're not encouraging laziness. Laziness is a terrible thing, according to the book of Proverbs.

And in the New Testament, if a man does not work, he is not entitled to eat. And in fact, in the New Testament, if a man doesn't work, he is worse than an unbeliever and must be put out of the church.

It's that serious. But the problem is that he was working as a servant and not as a son. There's the key to my whole message this morning, and we're going to see that. So he's out in the field. He is working.

And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So obviously this had all happened while he was out there working. The younger brother had come back. The father had seen him afar off, welcomed him back home, and gave instructions for him to be closed, and for sandals, and for the ring, and for the fatted calf, and for a celebration to begin.

And the older son comes, and he hears the sound. And so he calls one of the servants, and he said to him, you know, what's this all about? What's going on? And he said to him, your brother has come. Your brother has come.

And because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. That seems to be quite a legitimate statement. There's nothing wrong with that. Remember, in fact, what this displays is the father's great grace and love for his son, and that the heavenly father is still looking for those who will return to him.

And that the whole point of these three parables, the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son, is that there is rejoicing over that which is lost when it is returned, when it is found. And so this is a good thing that's going on.

And you would think that the brother's response would be, wow, my brother has come back. And even if he felt a little bit of, well, I don't know, anger, frustration, because his brother had gone and wasted a third of the family's fortune, he could have had those feelings.

But here's the problem. Even if he didn't like what his brother did, you would think he would be rejoicing with his father. You see, sometimes there are things that our loved ones rejoice in that may not excite us.

But we should be happy that they're happy. We should rejoice when anyone else in the body of Christ is blessed. Doesn't Paul say that? He says if one member suffers, we all suffer. If one member rejoices, we all rejoice.

Now, the problem is that sometimes we don't, because we're envious and we're jealous of other people's blessings sometimes. And so when somebody else gets blessed, whether it's materially or spiritually or whatever it is, sometimes we're not that excited about that.

We ought to be excited, because we should be blessed when others are blessed. And this young man should have been happy for his father's sake, if not for his brother's sake. Even if he cared nothing for his brother, he must have seen and witnessed over the, I assume, years, how the father kept looking at the horizon, kept looking at the road where the boy was going to come.

Will he come back today? Will he come back ever, in fact, was part of the question. There's no doubt that the father's heart was broken over his son that had gone astray. And the older boy must have seen the heartache of his father, and yet he cares nothing for his father.

He is part of the problem. You see, and in fact, the key to this passage, to this last section, is that the son does not have a relationship with his father. He does not have a relationship with his father.

If he had a relationship with his father, he would have rejoiced when his father rejoiced. And so your brother has come and your father has killed the fatted calf, but he was angry and he would not go in.

Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. Now again, remember we said that this speaks about the grace of God, and the parable speaks about God's grace in receiving the lost son that had come back.

But the grace of God is also revealed in the fact that the father goes out and pleads with the older son. He doesn't just say, well, you know, tough, you know, we're having a good time, you want to be out there in the cold, well, that's your problem.

No, the heart of the father is that he wants all his sons together. He wants the family to be restored. He wants everyone to be happy. And so he goes out and he pleads with him. In fact, here's the reality, is that there are Christians who are, while they are in the father's house, in the sense that they're in church, they have no relationship with God.

They are outside when in fact they should be inside. And it means, what I'm simply saying is there may be people present here this morning who may be inside the building, but you're not inside the body of Christ in the sense that you have separated yourself because you don't like what's going on, or because you have a grudge or because of whatever reason.

But the father is pleading with you this morning and saying, come in, not just come into the house, but come into a relationship with me. You say, but this boy has been there all these years, and that's the point that he's going to make.

I've been here all this time. But clearly the point is even though he's been there, he wasn't there. Even though he was living in the father's house, even though he was doing the father's business, his heart wasn't there.

He was afar off. And that's the sad thing is to see Christians, even though they go through the motions and they come to these meetings and they do whatever they do. But as a spiritual father, I can often see, but they're not here.

Sometimes even in the meetings, I can just see the glazed look, so you better perk up. Thinking about the Olympic games or Japan beating America in baseball or whatever. Folks, it's so easy to be present, but not present.

It's so easy to go through the motions and be part, but not to be part. And he wouldn't go in, but the father was pleading with him. And again, this is why I believe we've come to this passage this morning, is that whether you're here in this meeting or whether you're watching online, God is pleading with you.

The father is pleading with you and he's saying, come in. Not just come into the celebration, but come into a relationship with me. The point was not whether he was physically in the house or out of the house.

The point was he was not in a relationship with his father. He said, but how can he live there and not be in a relationship? I'm sure we all know marriages that are not marriages. People who live together 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years and they have no relationship.

It's sad, but it's true. It happens. And it's very possible and it's very real that we can be part of the church and be faithful in attendance and be faithful in giving and supporting and doing whatever.

But in fact, we're not part. We're not in. Because our hearts are not in. And so he, the father, answered and said to his father, so he answered, sorry, and said to his father, though these many years I have been serving you, number one.

Number two, I never transgressed your commandment at any time. Number three, you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. See there's the problem. Remember what the young, the son said, he says, I'm not worthy to be your son.

Make me a servant. What is the older son saying? He's saying, I never was a son. I have been a servant. These many years I have served you. He was working like a servant. He was working for wages, not because of a relationship.

Serving as a Son Rather Than as a Servant

Folks, it doesn't change what he was doing. I believe he was doing the right stuff. He was diligent. He was hardworking. The father doesn't say to him, well, you know, you've been slacking off all these years anyhow.

Clearly, he was working hard. He was in the field and, you know, and this must have been in the evening because it would have taken time to kill the fattest calf and to set up the celebration. And so he comes in from the field in the evening.

He's been out there all day. He's worked hard. That's not the point. The point is not what he was doing. The point is why he was doing what he was doing. And he was doing it as a servant. Now, remember, now I need to take a sidebar here.

Remember that in the background of all of this, there is the issue of Israel and the Gentiles. And Jesus is saying or inferring that I will receive those who return to me. Even if they are like the younger son, even if they are Gentiles, I will receive them.

But he is saying that as Jews, you will not receive them. Were the Jews happy that Christians were being saved or the Gentiles were being saved in Paul's time? No, they were not happy at all. They were acting out exactly what this parable said.

They were saying, no, they Gentiles, they can't get saved. They need to become Jews first. And if they once they become Jews and are circumcised and all of those things, then they can become Christians.

Now here's the problem. Israel was serving God. They were keeping the commandments. They were keeping the rules. They were working hard. But they didn't have a relationship with God. That's the whole point.

And it is possible and it is real that there are Christians who are working hard at the things of God. There are pastors who are working hard at the things of God, but have no relationship with the Father.

And you say, well, look, I came here this morning, I'm here. That's not the question. The question is, how is your relationship with him? Are you here because you're scared of me? Or are you here because you're scared of God?

Or are you here because you love him and you want to be in a relationship with him? You see, it's not what we do that's the issue, it's why we do it that's the issue. Remember, Jesus speaks about the Pharisees who give alms to the poor and he says they blow the trumpet.

He says what they did was fine, but the reason they did it was wrong. They did it for the praises of men. They have their reward. Those who fast, he says, they put on a long face and sackcloth and ashes and they show everybody, look, I'm fasting.

He says what they're doing is fine, but the reason they're doing it is wrong. They're not doing it for the Father, for God, they're doing it for men. So many times the things that we do, we do to be seen by people.

We're not doing it because we love the Lord. And so these many years I have been serving you and folk, I'm deeply concerned that there are many Christians who are serving God, but they're not in a relationship with him.

They're doing all the right stuff. The next thing he says, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, they're keeping the rules. In fact, some of these people are better rule keepers than most because their whole salvation depends on them keeping the rules, doing these things.

Their salvation is not based on a relationship with a father, their salvation is based on works. That was Israel. Israel had no relationship with God, but they were saying, look, I'm keeping the rules.

Remember the rich young ruler comes to Jesus, Jesus says to him, keep the commandment. He says, I've done it. Paul says, as far as the law is concerned, I was blameless. But he says, I counted that as rubbish.

For what? That I may know him. You see, Paul came to a point where he understood that in spite of his incredible faithfulness to the law and to God and to the things of God, to the point that he became a murderer of anyone who he believed opposes God.

And yet he comes to a point where he says that was all done. It's rubbish. It's worthless. There's only one thing that matters, that I may know him, that I may know him. And this young man did not know his father.

He did not understand his father's heart in terms of the, the lostness or the, or the sense of loss because of the younger brother and the sense of rejoicing because the brother had returned. Look, we need to know the father's heart.

The only way you'll know the father's heart is by a relationship with him. When you begin to feel what he feels, when you begin to love what he loves, when you begin to hate what he hates. And so he's been working and he says, you never gave me anything.

You never gave me anything. Now I want you to see the father's response to that. Oh, sorry. Before we do that, let's go to Galatians chapter four. I want to just look at two other scriptures. Galatians four verse four, and I'm just taking a few, I think four verses out of the middle of a context.

From Slavery Under the Law to Adoption as Sons

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. Now, in the context of Galatians, Paul says the law was a schoolmaster.

And as long as we were under the law, or Jews were under the law, and Christians can also be, as long as we're under the law, we are servants, slaves to the law. Paul and the other Jews were enslaved by the law.

The law was their taskmaster. And so Christianity can become a taskmaster that rules and ruins your life. You say, well, that sounds a little strange. How can Christianity ruin my life? If it's not a relationship and you're simply keeping the rules, it becomes hard because you're simply trying to serve God.

But there's no spirit. There's no life. There's no joy. There's nothing in it. It's just a mechanical doing the job of praying, of reading, of going to church, of trying to live a good life. And it's a hard taskmaster.

But he says those who are under the law, those who are slaves to the law, he says that he might receive the adoption as sons. The adoption as sons. And obviously the point is that we are not naturally sons of God, although God made us and in a sense then we are.

But spiritually, we are not sons of God. And particularly because we are generally Gentiles, we are not sons of God in that sense either, in the sense that Israel were his children. But God adopts us.

And when he adopts us, he gives to us the full rights of sonship. There's another aspect to this, of course, because what he also does is he causes us to be born again. So we are born into his family.

So not only are we legally adopted into his family, but we are now born into his family when we are born again. And so he says that we might receive the adoption as sons. No longer slaves, but sons. That's what he's done.

Verse six, because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, father, daddy, father. What a joy, what a privilege that we who were not his sons. And obviously we're talking about daughters as well, children.

We who were not his children, he has adopted us, caused us to be born again. And he has given to us not a letter of adoption to say, you see there, proves I'm adopted, but he gives us his spirit. And his spirit cries out within us.

I'm a son of God. I'm able to call him my father. We've spoken so many times about millions of people all over the world praying, even this morning, our father, which art in heaven. But God is not their father.

But those that have received him, to them he has given the right to become the children of God. And we are able to call him father. Now, of course, the question we need to ask is, what is God to you? Is he just a God?

And remember that he is God. He is the almighty. He is the judge. But he is also our father. And folks, here's the problem, that there are some Christians, not many these days, because we've become so liberal in our theology and in our living these days, that most Christians, very few Christians make this mistake.

They make the other mistake of trying to be like the youngest son and yet still live at home and come in and go out and do their stuff and live in sin and all of that kind of stuff and still enjoy the privileges of being part of the family.

Of course, that's not possible either. But there are those who've never seen God as their father. And maybe because they've had cruel and harsh fathers, unjust fathers. They see God in the same way, as with a big stick, just waiting to see when he can trip me up, when I make a mistake, he'll beat me up.

That's not who we serve. We have a father who pities these children, the scripture says, who loves us with an everlasting love, who cares for us, who helps us, who receives us when we go astray. Do you know him as your father or is he just God?

Galatians 4, 7, therefore you're no longer a slave, but a son. And here's the benefit. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ Jesus. If we are sons, we are beneficiaries of God's inheritance.

The Son's Inheritance and the Believer's Spiritual Riches

Now, in the book of, let's go back to Luke 15, 29. And so he answered and said to his father, lo, these many years I've been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.

He was a slave, not a son. He had no inheritance. Now I have to ask you, sorry, let me hold that thought, I'll come back there. But as soon as this son of yours, you see the language? Not my brother, your son.

I think we've all seen that happen in families when the kids do bad. It's not my kid, it's your kid. No, he's your brother. This son of yours who has devoured your livelihood with harlots. Now I don't know where he got that from.

This may be true. It may not be true. Maybe it's just an assumption. Maybe it's what he really wanted to do, I don't know. He says you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said, son, notice how he addresses him, son.

In fact it's interesting because the Greek word here is technos, which means child. So this is not gender specific, child. You are always with me. And all that I have is yours. Now remember the accusation, you never gave me anything.

But think about it. How many sons did the father have? He had two. The first son took his inheritance and ran. So whose was the stuff that was left behind? It was the oldest son's. It was all his. Because the younger boy got his share, he's gone.

So everything that was there was his. And he says, but you never gave me anything. But it was all his. Folks, here's the problem is that there are Christians who have wonderful blessings and inheritance in the things of God.

And yet we live as paupers. And we say, well, God never gives me anything. But he gives us everything. Luke 8, 32, he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Now I know that people abuse these verses and apply them to material things and say, well, I don't have a Rolls Royce. This has got nothing to do with material things. This has to do with spiritual riches.

But we're so short-sighted that all we're concerned about is Bentleys and Rolls Royces and we forget about heavenly riches. But if he gave Jesus, who is everything, the darling of heaven, the most precious son of God, if he gave him for us, how and why should he withhold anything else from us?

Paul says he'll give us all things. 2 Peter 1, verse 3, 2 Peter 1, verse 3, as his divine power is given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue.

He has given us all things. And yet we live as spiritual paupers, as spiritual sons eating the husks or the pods that the pigs eat. When in fact he's given us everything that we need that pertains to life and to godliness.

Verse 4 of 2 Peter 1, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. Not hopeful, but be partakers of God's nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

In Ephesians, and much of the first half of Ephesians is about Paul praying, and Paul has a number of prayers that are recorded in Ephesians, and this is one of his prayers. And he says, I'm praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, so notice who he says he is, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, the one who is the magnificent, almighty, all powerful one and has all glory, that he may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

So he's saying I'm praying that you may see, that you may understand, in simple English. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians may as well have been his prayer for their older son.

If Paul was there, maybe he would have said, boy, can't you see? Can't you see that all that's around you is yours? But you see, he never entered into that relationship. He was living as an outsider, looking at all the stuff and saying, well, it's my father's stuff.

For God has given to us so many blessings, he's given us his word, he's given us his church, he's given us his spirit. But here's the problem, is that we never, and here's a big word, appropriate them.

We never make them ours. I am deeply concerned that there are many believers in this church who look at the church as the pastor's church, as somebody else's church, and not your church. That the truths that I preach are my truths, and they're not your truths.

That the word is God's word, but it's not your word. That the spirit is God's spirit, but it's not yours. Folks, these things need to become personal, they need to become real, and they need to become ours.

When we spoke on the book of Ephesians, I told you about the story about this man who went from a Native American area to the big city, and he did well. And he would send his mother money, every month, faithfully he would send her $100 bills.

And then one day he heard that his mother was sick, in fact she was starving. I don't know if the story is real, but it does illustrate the point. So he went to where she lived, and as he stepped in the door, he saw that she had taken the $100 bills that he had sent her, and she'd used it to wallpaper the room.

Thousands and thousands of dollars, but she was starving and dying of hunger, because she never grabbed hold of the things that had been given to her. And folks, there are Christians in good churches, there are other Christians maybe not in good churches but who have the access to the word of God and the spirit of God, but they're living as paupers and they're dying spiritually because they won't take the word and they don't eat it.

It's simply something they stick on the wall, it's simply an adornment, it's simply something that's interesting. Folks, we need to make these things ours. They need to become real. There are people who live broken and dysfunctional lives because they didn't have a father, earthly father, or their earthly father was cruel or absent or whatever, longing for that kind of relationship.

And yet our heavenly father is saying, I want to be your father, but we're looking for a nursery father instead of just understanding the privilege that is ours of crying, Abba, Father. And so Paul says, I'm praying that you'd understand.

And folks, this morning I'm praying that each one who's listening will understand the privilege that is ours, the blessings that are ours, and that we would come in to that relationship with the father.

The Parable's Unfinished Question

Back in Luke 15 32, it was right that we should make Mary and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. But at the same time, the father realized and understood that his other boy was just as lost as his first one was.

The interesting thing about the parable is that it doesn't constrain a conclusion. We don't know what the older boy did, what happened from here on. And I think that Jesus leaves it hanging like that because it leaves a question.

And the question is not, what is the older boy going to do? The question is, what are you going to do? That is the conclusion that he's looking for. Are you going to come in or are you going to just keep being a servant, trying to earn your salvation, trying to work for blessings?

And when things don't go well in your life, you say, well, maybe I didn't work hard enough. Maybe I didn't pray hard enough. Maybe I didn't believe hard enough. Maybe I didn't. Maybe I sinned. Maybe I did this.

Maybe that. Because your whole, the whole basis of your walk with God is based on works and reward. And folk, it's not based on that. It's based on relationship. The Father loves us and pours his goodness and his kindness and his grace and his mercy and his spirit and his word upon us.

All we have to do is to grab hold of it. I remember another story of guys who were shipwrecked and they were on a raft out at sea and, of course, there's no water. They were about to die when one of them decided, he said, well, I'm going to die anyhow, so let me just drink of this salt water.

And he scooped water up and it was fresh water. See, because they were in fact out at sea, but they were in the mouth of the Mississippi, which pushes fresh water out for miles and miles. And there they were in the middle of thousands, millions of gallons of fresh water, but dying of thirst.

Folk, there may be Christians, there are Christians, maybe here this morning, certainly listening online who are spiritually dying and starving in the midst of abundance, because you won't get in to that relationship with the Father.

Prayer for Sonship, Grace, and Spiritual Riches

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you above all for your abundant grace, Lord, that you draw us to yourself and, Lord, that you don't want slaves and servants who just do what you tell us to do, but, Lord, you want sons, daughters, Lord, who love you and do the things that we do because we love you, vented into that relationship of sons rather than of servants.

Lord, these may be slightly nuanced and difficult concepts, but I pray that you, by your spirit, explain them to us, Lord, that we may examine our own lives and, Lord, it is so easy for us to get into this works and rewards treadmill, never getting anywhere because we're just trying to prove a point, trying to prove that we are worthy of your love and of your blessings.

Father, help us understand that we're not worthy of anything, Lord, that we're just like the youngest son. I'm not worthy, Lord, but because of your grace, you receive him as your son, as his son, and you restore him.

Lord, we pray that you'd help us to understand that we can never earn our salvation, we can never earn your blessing, we can never earn anything from your hand, but, Lord, that you abundantly throw these things at us, over us abundantly because of your grace and your mercy.

And so, Lord, I pray that you'd help us to examine everything that we do and the reasons why we do them, Lord, that we would examine our relationship with you, Lord, that we would examine our spiritual poverty, as you wrote to one of the churches in the book of Revelation, the seven churches, you're poor but you're rich, Lord, that we may understand that the riches that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, help us to not be like those who are constantly looking at everyone else and wondering why we don't have what they have, but, Lord, that we may see what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, forgive us for lusting after other people's motor cars and houses and things, Lord, that we may understand that you've given to us so much more eternal blessings.

Help us to understand, Lord, we pray. We pray, Lord, for Carmen who's not well this morning, Lord, and for the rest of the family. We pray for your grace, Lord, that you would help them strengthen her, heal her, bring her back, Lord.