"But he was angry and 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

1
THE OLDER BROTHER OF
HOME
THE LOST BOY
LUKE 1525-32
"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 and 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 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.' "
2
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
Many people fail to realize that the third
parable of Jesus recorded in Luke chapter 15 is
nowhere, in the inspired text, called the
Parable of the Prodigal Son.
3
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
In fact, the parable is given no name either by
Jesus or by Luke. A more accurate designation
would be the Parable of the Two Sons, since
there are two sons in the parable.
4
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
Notice, also, the background for the three
parables in Luke chapter 15.
5
Luke 151-2

• Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew
  near to Him to hear Him.
• And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying,
  "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

6
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
The parables pictured the joy in heaven over
each sinner who repents. Notice what Jesus
said after the parable of the lost sheep.
7
Luke 157

• "I say to you that likewise there will be more
  joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than
  over ninety-nine just persons who need no
  repentance."

8
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
The parables pictured the joy in heaven over
each sinner who repents. Notice what Jesus
said after the parable of the lost sheep. He made
a similar statement after the parable of the lost
coin.
9
Luke 1510

• "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the
  presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
  repents."

10
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
Jesus spoke these parables in order to illustrate
the difference in attitude between the sinners
who had repented and the Pharisees and scribes
who refused to accept the sinners who had
repented.
11
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
The prodigal, or wasteful, son represents the
sinners who were repenting at the preaching of
Jesus. The father represents God. And the elder
son represents the Pharisees and scribes.
12
HOME
LUKE 1525-32
The younger son had left home and had wasted his
inheritance. But he had returned home with a
humble and contrite heart. The father forgave
him and treated him as though he had never left.
13
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• But the elder son was self-willed.
• He would not go in to celebrate his younger
  brother's return.

14
Luke 1528

• "But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore
  his father came out and pleaded with him."

15
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• But the elder son was self-willed.
• He would not go in to celebrate his younger
  brother's return.
• The Bible clearly condemns this attitude.

16
2 Peter 29-10

• Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out
  of temptations and to reserve the unjust under
  punishment for the day of judgment, and
  especially those who walk according to the flesh
  in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.
  They are presumptuous, self-willed.

17
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was self-righteous, in that he claimed never
  to have transgressed his fathers commandment at
  any time.

18
Luke 1529

• "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

19
Romans 323

• for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
  of God,

20
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was self-righteous, in that he claimed never
  to have transgressed his fathers commandment at
  any time.
• Such an attitude is the result of pride and
  arrogance, and is also condemned in the Bible.

21
Luke 1810-12

• "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a
  Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The
  Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
  'God, I thank You that I am not like other
  men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
  this tax collector. I fast twice a week I give
  tithes of all that I possess.'

22
Luke 1813-14

• "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would
  not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat
  his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a
  sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his
  house justified rather than the other for
  everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and
  he who humbles himself will be exalted."

23
Romans 101-3

• Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
  Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them
  witness that they have a zeal for God, but not
  according to knowledge. For they being ignorant
  of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish
  their own righteousness, have not submitted to
  the righteousness of God.

24
1 John 18-10

• Brethren, If we say that we have no sin, we
  deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
  we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
  forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
  unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
  sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not
  in us.

25
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was self-centered.
• He complained about his father not having killed
  a young goat for him.

26
Luke 1529

• "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

27
Luke 1529

• "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.' "

28
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was self-centered.
• He complained about his father not having killed
  a young goat for him.
• The Bible teaches that we should not be centered
  on self but on others.

29
Philippians 21-2

• Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ,
  if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
  Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my
  joy by being like-minded, having the same love,
  being of one accord, of one mind.

30
Philippians 23-4

• Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
  conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
  others better than himself. Let each of you look
  out not only for his own interests, but also for
  the interests of others.

31
Romans 123

• Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ,
  if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
  Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my
  joy by being like-minded, having the same love,
  being of one accord, of one mind.

32
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was just plain selfish.
• He did not want to share his material possessions
  with his brother.

33
Luke 1531

• "And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with
  me, and all that I have is yours."

34
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was just plain selfish.
• He did not want to share his material possessions
  with his brother.
• Those who are centered on others will share their
  possessions with them.

35
Luke 311

• He answered and said to them, "He who has two
  tunics, let him give to him who has none and he
  who has food, let him do likewise."

36
Acts 244-45

• Now all who believed were together, and had all
  things in common, and sold their possessions and
  goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had
  need.

37
1 John 317

• But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his
  brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him,
  how does the love of God abide in him?

38
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was was self-willed, self-righteous,
  self-centered and just plain selfish.

39
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• He was was self-willed, self-righteous,
  self-centered and just plain selfish.
• In short, he had all the wrong attitudes toward
  self, which resulted in the wrong attitudes
  toward his brother and material possessions.

40
HOME
LUKE 1525-32

• If you have sinned, wont you be like the younger
  brother who came to himself and repented, rather
  than the older brother who was basically in
  denial?