Welcome to the Further Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and it is week two of the Summer Sermon Series. Every single summer for five weeks, I give you some of the best must-hear sermons that have impacted my life over the years. Some from preachers who have gone into glory, like today, and some from pastors and preachers that are still around. But overall, wisdom from the aged and wisdom from the faithful. Today, I've got Vodibacum with the parable of the older son. And if you're a Bible-thinking Christian or you've been around church for any length of time in your life, the parable of the older son, which one is that? Well, it's the parable of the prodigal son, but in a way that I don't think we fully understand or think about enough. We often focus on the prodigal son. He got his inheritance, he peaced out. He, you know, the idea people say, oh, you know, he went to Vegas and blew it all. He ends up sleeping in the pig pen, and he's happy to just be his father's servant. He does not expect anything else. He really blew it, what a sinner. And oh, the grace of God, he runs home, his father runs to him, grabs him, throws a party. Wow, that's a picture of the gospel. Yes and amen to all of that. However, how many times do you and I miss the way the older brother, the older son, responds? Vode, and by the way, many others have done this. Pastor John MacArthur uh wrote a book, preached a sermon series, The Tale of Two Sons, on this exact insight. What if you and I are way less inclined to be the prodigal son who blows it all and just needs the grace of God? What if we're way more like the older brother? Hey God, I've been obedient. Why don't you treat me like that? Hey God, I I never did all that they did. Why are you blessing them and not me? I've been good. Where's my reward? This sermon is gonna help you think about the parable of the prodigal son in a whole new way. It's the parable of the older son. From our brother Vodhi Bakum, who we got the joy of doing a conference with here for the gospel, the same year that he passed away and went into glory. I'm thankful, I know you are too, for technology that allows us to still hear the preaching voice and see him if you're watching the video of our dear beloved brother who ran his race faithfully. This is Vodhi Bakum, the parable of the older son. Luke 15.
SPEAKER_01And we are going to look at one of the most beloved and uh well-known parables in the Bible. Um commonly, and I would argue incorrectly referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. Um, and you'll see why I say incorrectly referred to as the parable of the prodigal son in just a few moments, because this parable is not about, it's not about the prodigal son. Um and we'll see that. Throughout the chapters preceding this, we've seen Jesus. Um, for example, in chapter 14, um, he's there reclining uh verse 1, uh, one Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. Um, you know, later on, 1425. Now great crowds accompanied him. Um so Jesus is preaching and teaching, and the Pharisees are seeing what's happening. Um he is oftentimes eating at the homes of prominent Pharisees, and um, a lot of the you know challenges and questions that he gets comes in that context, but they're also seeing these other people who were coming to him. And so in chapter 15, verses 1 and 2, we get the key to understanding this beloved parable. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. That's the key. That's the key to all of this. The Pharisees are looking at the type of people who are coming to Jesus, and they're saying, This is a problem. They're hearing his teaching, and and it's it's mind-blowing. They know that there's something about him, but the problem is the types of people with whom he is associating. This is the issue that they have, this is the problem that they have. He's associating with the wrong kind of people. So what Jesus does is he tells them three parables in succession, and all three of these parables have to be taken together in order to understand the point. And one of the reasons we miss the point in the parable so-called of the prodigal son, um, even to the point of naming it wrongly, is that we don't take the three parables together. When you do, it changes everything. So let's look at these three parables together, because he's telling three parables to make one point. Okay? And that's the other thing. Oftentimes when we look at the parables, what we try to do is we try to allegorize the parables. Like every element of the parable has to have some special hidden meaning. Folks, we don't allegorize parables unless Jesus tells us to. The sower sows the seed. Some of the seed fell on this ground, some of the seed fell on that ground, and then he explains, right? Well, the sower, he's sowing the word. You know, this ground is this, this ground is this. Then we can allegorize. If Jesus doesn't do that, you don't do that. Amen, somebody. So what we end up doing is Jesus does that in one place, so we're like, okay, well, every parable must be an allegory. And everything has to be, you know, this and that and the other. No, no. No. Okay? The parables usually make one point and one point only. They're not designed for every little piece of it to have some type of individual meaning, usually, unless we were told that. So we see here the crux of the matter. They're grumbling because of the type of people he's eating with. So, parable number one. So he told them this parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he find it. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. It's number one. A man loses one percent of his sheep. And that's a lot. That's a big deal. He's only got a hundred, he loses one. What do you do? You leave those guys, you go get this wanderer, all right? And you put the wanderer on your shoulders, you're probably hobbling, you know. That's why he's on your shoulders, you know. You break his little leg so he can't run away. And he has to stay on your shoulders till his legs heal. Then when his legs heal, he starts walking again, and he used to being on your shoulders, he doesn't wander anymore. And it's important because this is your livelihood, right? And you leave, you lose 1% of your sheep, you're you're in trouble. And when you find them, what do you do? You you you rejoice, and you go tell your friends and your neighbors, rejoice with me, because I I found my sheep, right? All right. Now you guys are doing, that's what I want. I want to see y'all doing this. Because this is what the Pharisees would have been doing. The ones who are mad at him because it's kind of the people he's associating with. He's like, okay, let me tell you a story about this sheep. There we go. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. That's right, man. You know, you ready, yep. Amen. That's right. Okay, cool. So, so we're together, right? Let me tell you another one. What woman having 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, so now it's 10%. We've gone from losing 1% of your wealth to losing 10% of your wealth. If she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it. And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. Notice the pattern here? Same thing as before. Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. So the angels in heaven rejoice like a woman finding 10% of her wealth that she lost. When a sinner repents. You guys have all kind of coins, right? You don't think about that. No, uh-uh. This is 10% of her wealth. It's gone. You move everything to find it, right? And then when you find it, it's like, whoo! You put, you know, maybe what's going on. I don't know. I'm making some gumbo. Yum, come on. I lost 10% of my coins till I found them, right? It just makes sense. And it's nothing compared to the angels who rejoice over one sinner who repents. You still tracking with me, Pharisees? Good. And he said, there was a man who had two sons. Hundred sheep, ten coins, two sons. Man had two sons. The younger of them, and Jesus, this is gonna get good here, because he tells a story with the elements that paint the picture of the younger son. And he's awful. The younger of them said, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. Now, you only get the share of property that's coming to you when daddy dies. So the younger son goes to his father and says, Oh man, I can't wait around any longer for you to die. Just go ahead and give me my inheritance now. You ungrateful. No. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. We don't even know what country it is. It doesn't matter. It's a far country. Throughout the history of Israel, everything was about the land of promise. Amen. Bad stuff happens when you're in a far country. You've you're in a far country, you've gone down to Egypt, right? You're in a far country, you're in Assyria in exile. You're in a far country, you're in Babylon in exile. Okay? In the history of Israel, that's bad news. And it usually means you've sinned against God and he sent you away because you were sinful. So this son is greedy and ungrateful and impatient. And then he voluntarily leaves the land of promise and goes to a far country, the kind of place that God would send you to if you were in sin and being punished. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. Not only are you in a far country, but you're living recklessly. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country. Here's another sign of God's judgment, of famine. And he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the field to feed pigs. Do I need to explain that one? And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. I mean, Jesus just took a survey of Israel's history and said, one of the sons was everything that Israel has ever been on their worst day. Just awful. You don't get worse. Now here's what's interesting. This son is Jewish. This son is male. They got a problem with Jesus because you got tax collectors who work for the Romans, sinners, women of questionable reputation. These are the kind of people that he's associating with. This young man is worse than anybody. He's everything that could possibly be wrong. But he's 50% of the man's sons. 1% of your sheep, you find it, what do you do? You rejoice. 10% of your coins, you find it, what do you do? You rejoice. Now, 50% of your sons. When he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here 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. That looks like repentance. Amen. By the way, by this point, if you're a Pharisee, you've been listening and you're like, yeah, man. One of your sheep, you go, yeah, mm-hmm. This is how your head is doing, right? Yep. Oh yeah. You just, you, you go, you know, 50% of your sons. Hmm. By this point in the parable, they know what's coming. They absolutely know what's coming. And here's an important point. This is why. Here's an important point. The important point is this. We read the Bible like you read a yearbook. When you get your yearbook, what do you do? You go to the back of it, you look for your name, find the pages that you're on. Can't say amen, y'all say ouch, right? That's how you read the yearbook, man. I'm looking for me, right? Where am I? That's how we read the Bible, too. You know, where am I? And usually when we read the Bible, we we're the hero, right? Or the most sympathetic character. And so when we read this parable, usually we think about ourselves as the prodigal. That's what this is all about, right? This is about the prodigal. Yeah, that's me right there. I'm the prodigal. I was all, I was, I was with the pigs, y'all. It's my story. Yes, it is your story, but you're not the prodigal. Because that's not the point of the story. Remember, he's talking to the Pharisees. The prodigal is not them. The prodigal is the ones that they're mad with Jesus about. He's the wrong kind of people to be associating with. The sinners and tax collectors. So if the Pharisees are not the prodigal in this story, if you and I are not the prodigal in this story, this is a warning, then then who are we? Maybe we're the father. Maybe we're the father figure in this story. Maybe. Let's look at that. I'm no longer your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he rose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. No, that's not you. Son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be your son. He's a repentant sinner. The father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it. And let us eat and celebrate. For my son was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. You find it, you celebrate, and your friends celebrate with you. Ten percent of your coins, you find it, and you celebrate, and your friends celebrate with you because they're good, godly people. And the angels rejoice more than that over one sinner who repents. This story is about one sinner who repents. Now there's a man throwing a party. We already know heaven is throwing a bigger party. But if Jesus is telling this story to his hearers, and he's not saying to them, you're the prodigal, and he's not saying to them, you're the father, and he's not saying to them, you're the servants. Now his older son. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. That's this is not the prodigal son. This is not the parable of the prodigal son. This is the prodigal of the elder brother. That's the point. That is the point of this parable. The point of this parable is the response of the older brother. Period. And you get that immediately when you recognize that it is part of these three parables in succession. There's no doubt about it. Was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. So he rejoiced with his father like the angels in heaven, because a sinner had. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father. Look, these many years I have served you. I have never disobeyed your commandment, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. Notice, not with you, but with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, killed the fattened calf for him. It's really easy for us to see the sin in other people. And it's hard for us to see it in ourselves. And at this point, heads are not nodding anymore. They're probably just bowed down. Because at this point, people see what's going on. Yes, it's true. It's true. Because remember, verses one and two, these sinners are coming to Jesus, and they're like, you're associating with the wrong kind of people. Oh, they're the wrong kind of people. Let me show you what kind of people you are. Yes, the younger brother was a sinner. He was everything that is wrong with sinners. He is greedy. He is selfish. He is impatient. He doesn't honor his father. He squanders his wealth. He leaves the covenant community. He violates the law of God. He is all of that. But he repents and he comes home. His heart is changed. The elder brother doesn't even realize that his heart is ruined. I kept the rules and you owe me because I kept the rules. He didn't keep the rules. How dare you celebrate him and not celebrate me because it's all about the one who keeps the rules. Listen to me, parents. We raise our kids right. We catechize them. We educate them. We mentor them. We disciple them. We bathe them in the word of God. And many of our children will come to faith early and we praise God for that. We pray that our children will never know, never, never know this life of the prodigal. But here's the deal: you pray that they don't ever know the life of the prodigal, but do you pray that they don't become an elder brother? The prodigal got saved. But the elder brother looked at everyone else out there whose life was not as pristine as his was. And he said, You owe me because I keep the rules. You owe me because I haven't done the things that are on the list of things that you don't do. You owe me because I've earned it. And if we're not careful, that's who we raise with all of our effective Christian parenting. You see, so many times, that kid who gives us the trouble, we're on our knees begging God, Lord, please, first Lord, just help me to not just kill him. Just if you could just do that, just do that. And then, Lord, please, just do something. Save him, fix him. Just please, please, please, please, Jesus. And we pray and we pray and we pray, and we even look at him and say, Why can't you be like your brother who keeps the rules? All the while, brewing in the compliant one is elder brother syndrome. You never pray for him unless it's to thank God for how easy this one is to raise. All the while, this brother is as lost as the other. He does not love the father. Not at all. And he thinks he is owed something. He's the one who missed the gospel. Do you hear me? He's the one who missed the gospel. And I say he does not love the father. Listen to what the father says. And he said to him, This is the father, son, you, number one, are always with me. And number two, all that is mine is yours. Remember, he divided up his property, and he gave the other son his portion of the property. So now the elder son, everything else is his. So his father said, Wait, wait, hold on. You worried about the you worried about the cat? Number one, you had me. He's been away from me, and you had me. But I see now that that wasn't enough because you don't want me. You're just like him. You just want stuff. And you want recognition. You think you're owed something. You have me. And the other thing is all this stuff is yours. All this stuff is yours. But you don't care about that. You don't care about me. He does not love the father. He loves himself. This is the elder brother's syndrome. The Pharisees, they thought they were everything. We keep the rules. We are the right kind of people. Why, Jesus? Because you're our kind of people. So why would you be with those kind of people? This is Elder Brother Syndrome. You miss out. Because your heart is not turned toward God. You thought that your works, your rule keeping, and your law keeping was earning you something, and that you were owed something because of it. And you missed the father just like the younger brother missed the father. You thought one of you missed it and the other one didn't because you saw the outward sin of that brother. And so you look at these people who are sinning outwardly, and you're like, thank God that I'm not like one of them. All the while, on the inside of you, you are every bit as rotten. And works righteousness has you completely blind. Completely blind. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. See his need for the Father's grace. For the Father's mercy. And it's right there. It's right there. It's awful. It's awful when people are out there in the far country. It's awful when people don't hear the gospel and they live these horrible lives, and sometimes they pay a price that they'll be paying for the rest of their life because of sin that they committed in their youth. And that's awful. It's terrible. It's terrible. And there are people in this church who could probably stand up here and testify. Oh, how I wish that I knew the Lord in my younger days. Oh, how I wish that I had not done things that left the spiritual scars that I still walk with every day. And if they stood up here and testified, there'd be some elder brothers out in the audience sitting there going, hmm, glad I'm not like you. And you're hovering over hell. Because you think they need the gospel, but you don't. Because you're good enough. Because you didn't give mom and dad the trouble. But the other kids did. Because you were a rule keeper. You were the compliant one. The good one. And God owes you. And you may say, no, that's not me. That's not me. Okay, fine. There's some tests that we can do. There's some tests that we can do. Because a lot of times we can't see this in ourselves. But but it but it shows up, and you're like, that's not that's not me. You know, somebody can, my brother. No, that's not me. I wouldn't do that. Okay. How about this? How about this? I want a baby. God hasn't given me a baby. God, I serve you. I I pray to you, I serve you, and you haven't given me a baby. And this young teenage relative of mine who doesn't even want a baby gets knocked up. Why? That's not fair. Why? Because I've been good, so you should give me stuff. I serve you. I love you. I work hard every day. And Natya who cheats on his wife. He's vile. And he makes twice as much money as I do. That's not fair. I've been good. You owe me. Are you kidding me? That person got into fill in the blank? And I can't even get into my third choice. I've been good. That's not fair. Are you smelling what I'm stepping in, or do I need to give you a few more? This is what the elder brother syndrome looks like in real life. You get a bad report from the doctor. You're sick. And there are other people in good health. That's not fair. I've been good. Why do I have to suffer with pain? Why do I have to face a shortened lifespan? Why do I have to have limitations? And these people who've been nowhere near as obedient as I have. This is what it looks like. This is what it looks like. Really, God? I homeschool my kids, I protect and shelter my kids, I catechize my kids, read the Bible to them, we have family devotions in our house. And one of my kids goes astray. That's not fair. I've been good. I deserve better. Welcome to the parrot. Welcome to the parrot. And here's why. This is so poisonous. Verse thirty-two, it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. You can't even rejoice in the goodness of the gospel. You can't even rejoice in the goodness of the gospel. And here's the problem with the elder brother syndrome. The younger brother, he comes back and he says, Listen, I'll come back as a servant. I don't deserve to be your son. I just want you. I just want home. I just want here. That's it. That's all. See, he can rejoice in the gospel, and he can rejoice in the goodness of the father. But the other brother can't even rejoice in the goodness of the gospel. So instead of looking at his brother and saying, not only am I rejoicing in you coming home, but he should be coming to his father saying, Daddy, Daddy, I'm just reminded right now. I didn't have to go through all of that. I've been here with you the whole time, experiencing your grace and your mercy and having you to shower upon me everything. But you can't do that when you're the elder brother. You can't rejoice in the gospel. And forget having any kind of assurance of your salvation. Because here's what elder brother syndrome does: your relationship with God is broken. And so every time something like that happens, you go, Well, I must not, I must not have been good enough. That shouldn't have happened. I've been good. Well, I must not have been good enough. So instead of running to the cross, you end up running deeper and further into your works, righteousness, and your legalism and further away from the Father. And you're miserable. You're miserable. Because the law kills. It can never give you life. It will never satisfy you. You will never be good enough. And you will always know it deep down inside. And you'll be right there, right there in the church, listening to the gospel, right there before the ordinary means of grace, partaking of the Lord's Supper, right there, worshiping with God's people, right there, with everything, everything, everything. Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. And you're empty and dead on the inside. Because that's what the law does. And that's what works righteousness does. You can't even rejoice in the gospel. You have no relationship with the Father. And worst of all, worst of all, not only have you not experienced the work that Christ has accomplished, but you didn't have sense enough to recognize that it is his work and it ought to be celebrated. So instead of spending your life in worship and adoration of the one who purchased righteousness for you, of the one who is righteousness for you, instead of rejoicing in the goodness of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ, you have actually turned that inward on yourself and you have robbed the Son of God from his praise so that you might praise your pitiful, pathetic, insufficient works. The Pharisees, they sit there and they listen and they're like, Yeah, man, you're one of your sheep, you go get it. And then you party. Yep. One of your ten coins, you get it, and then you party. You bring everybody. Yep, absolutely. Heaven rejoices more. Okay, fine, yeah. One of your two sons. Yes, he goes. It doesn't matter how far. It doesn't matter how far he went from home. He's back. Amen. He's back. It's like it doesn't matter how far the sheep went, he's back. Doesn't matter how hard he had to find the work to find the corn, it's back. Your son's back. Your son's back. Your son's back. He was dead and now he's alive. He's back. And so you rejoice. Because he's back. But now all of a sudden the elder brother can't rejoice. And the Pharisees hear this and they went from, yep, yep, to oh, oh no. No. Possibility number one. That's me. Oh God. That's me. And you fall on your face, broken over your sin, and repentant, rejoicing. In the Father, because his children have come home and begging him to number you among them. Amen? This is one possibility for the Pharisees. But there's another possibility. You sit there nodding as Jesus tells the parable. He tells the second one, he tells the third one. And as he tells the third one. You go from this to this. And it's not I'm broken over my sin. It's how dare he. He has to die. And that's exactly what most of them did. He tells this story. He points out their sin. And they kill him. Which means that when you look at the parable here, and this is not an allegory or even a reach, if the parable, if in the parable here the Pharisees are the elder brother, the elder brother not only doesn't come to the party, he kills the father. This is what the Pharisees did. Granted, some repented. Some heard this and were cut to the quick. And they repented. But many did not. Many did not. The Lord says to his people, today you hear my voice, do not harden your heart. If you are the elder brother here today, do not harden your heart. Do not harden your heart. If you have heard the voice of the Lord today, and he has opened your eyes to see your self-righteousness, your works righteousness, your self-reliance, do not walk out those doors, continuing in that same vein. But you plead with God to break your heart and save you. This is not an invitation to redouble your efforts and work even harder. Because man looks on the outward appearance, and people love you. They pass by the property and they see you out working the fields, and they go, There's that faithful son. I heard his brother squandered all his wealth. Really? Yep. I heard he's feeding pigs. Must be breaking his daddy's heart. All the while, that kid has repented and is on the long journey home. And the one who stayed has murder in his heart toward his father. If that's you, flee to Christ. Flee from your self-reliance. Flee from your legalism. Flee from your man pleasing. Take off your mask. End your self-reliance. And rejoice in the gospel of God and the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has accomplished what you never can and who is your only hope. Finally, mom and dad, do not miss that quiet, compliant kid. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't watch the elder brother be the elder brother and thank God for him because he's not hard to raise. You plead with God as much for that quiet, compliant one to be saved as you do for that other one. Because they both need the same thing. This is the parable of the elder brother. He who has ears to hear.
SPEAKER_00Let him hear. Man, sermons like that make me not only love the truth of God's word and the insights that we can still gain after all these years and be struck with the thought, like I've never thought of it that way. It also makes me miss Vody a lot. And I miss his preaching, I miss his friendship, I miss his boldness, and I miss his leadership. But I'm grateful that we can still tap into resources like that message and grow and learn because the word of God through his servants is timeless. And the Lord will speak through many of us, and then we will go on because we are but dust. And as one great man said in the history books of Christianity, our goal is to preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten. And while we do remember the faithful who have gone before us, isn't it true that every single one of us are simply conduits for the word of Christ? It's all about the gospel and God's word. And I hope today, if you've been convicted, because you find way more in common with the older son, that the grace of God finds you where you are, that your heart is softened. And you remember the warning of the kind of spiritual pride and demands that we make of God. I've been good. Where's my blessing? And we never forget to relish in his grace upon sinners who are in need of the same grace we've been afforded, and that we too, although we might look very proper and put together, we're pretty obedient on the outside. Sin is sin, and all of us need the grace of God. Well, week two is in the books of this series. I hope your road trips are going well, your vacations, whether you're on the beach in the gym, cleaning the house, or it's summer, but you're working. And I know so many of you are. I am too. There's a couple of vacations here and there, but hey, we got work to do, right? We got a gospel to advance in. You've got a vocation to be faithful in as well. I hope these are providing a spark for your spiritual life. If you're newer to our ministry, you can learn more about for the gospel at forthegospel.org. If you're one of our regular listeners, thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. If you're one of our gospel patrons, thank you for giving. Your faithfulness is enabling all that we do all year long, and especially in these summer months when so many people are consuming content. I'll be back next Monday with another episode, another sermon. Let's keep on living for the gospel.