Luke 15

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**Butler’s Comments

Chapter Fifteen

(Luke 15:1-32)**

THE SON OF MAN SEEKING THE LOST

IDEAS TO INVESTIGATE:

If Jesus received sinners, should the church (Luke 15:1-2)?

How can heaven rejoice over one sinner more than over ninety-nine who need no repentance (Luke 15:7)?

Why do angels, who have never known what it is to be lost, rejoice over saved sinners (Luke 15:10)?

How could a man come to himself (Luke 15:17)?

Why did the father say his prodigal son was dead (Luke 15:24)?

Why would the elder son refuse to go in and enjoy the return of his brother (Luke 15:28)?

Had the elder son never disobeyed the father’s commands (Luke 15:29)?

LOVE IS A MANY SLENDORED THING

(Text: Heb. Luke 12:5-11)

By Paul T. ButlerOBC Chapel, Spring 1973 INTRODUCTION

NOW THE WORLD HAS A SONG BY THAT TITLE

But the popular song of a few years ago by that title failed utterly and miserably to really plumb the depths of love’s splendor.

Splendor means glory-sublimity-brilliance.

Love is the most glorious, sublime capability any person has.

Love is the most precious, the rarest jewel of all virtues.

II.

BUT WHAT IS LOVE

How many sermons I have heard over the years exhorting, What we need is simply to love one another, or chastising, If we don-’t get some love around here we-’re no better than the heathen.

But how few sermons I have heard explaining what love is or how we are to love.

Love is not self-defining. This is the supreme fallacy of situation ethics which says do the most loving thing in every situation.

No man has enough wisdom or experience to be guided only by his own instincts to do the most loving thing in every situation.

We must go to the Word of God for precept and example.

And 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is not the only definition of love in the Bible.

III.

SOME WILL INVARIABLY SAY, LOVE IS:

Concern

But how do you explain the many people who were hungry Jesus did not feed; the many lame He did not heal; the Greeks who came seeking him and He did not talk with; Herod who questioned Him about His teaching, to whom Jesus would not speak but called fox, MUST A CONCERNED LOVE ALWAYS BE MANIFESTED THE WAY WE THINK?

Giving

But how do you explain Jesus-’ rebuke of Judas and the disciples when they suggested that the precious ointment Mary had poured upon Jesus could have been sold and given to the poor. MUST A GIVING LOVE ALWAYS BE MANIFESTED IN THE WAY THE WORLD THINKS?

Speaking Pleasantly

But how do you explain the words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and sometimes to His disciples which were harsh, demanding and rebuking. How do you explain Paul’s letters to the Corinthians; how do you explain Peter’s words to Simon concerning being in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. MUST LOVE ALWAYS BE COMMUNICATED TO PLEASE THE HEARER?

IV.

LOVE IS MANY FACETED

There is more to love than often meets the spiritual eye.

I hope to present you three oft unseen facets of the brilliance of God-like love, agape love, this morning.

LOVE IS: DISCERNING. DEMANDING.. DELIBERATE

Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19).

DISCUSSION

LOVE IS DISCERNING (discriminating; critical; judgmental; penetrating). All of those are words of love if the motives are right.

In Reality

Love is truth-oriented; truth-focused; truth-centered. Love is something done but always in a TRUTH frame-of-reference. Agape love makes every attempt to see things, issues, and persons as they are in reality for a purposea good purpose.

Agape love could never reject truth in favor of falsehoodit could never be satisfied with only half-truth about issues or persons.

Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).

The Christian loves truth (Ephesians 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:10), but he never cruelly or unsympathetically uses the truth in order to hurt.. The Christian is never false to the truth, but he always remembers that love and truth must go hand in hand Wm. Barclay, More New Testament Words, pg. 22, Harper & Row (article on Agape).

Christian love does not shut its eyes to the faults of others. Love is not blind. It will use rebuke and discipline when these are needed. The love which shuts its eyes to all faults, and which evades the unpleasantness of all discipline, is not real love at all, for in the end it does nothing but harm to the loved one. ibid.

… love. does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6).

Would Jesus have loved Judas if He had concealed from Judas the truth about himself? Would God have loved the Hebrew people if He had concealed from them the truth about themselves in the days of the prophets? Would Paul have loved the churches and people he wrote the epistles to had he concealed from them the truth about themselves?

In that penetrating, piercing confrontation between Jesus and the Jews in John 8:1-59, Jesus seemed almost astounded that they would seek to kill Him because He told them the truth about themselves (John 8:39-47). He did it because He loved them.

Paul wrote the Christians in Galatia, Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth (Galatians 4:16)?

All through the Old Testament there is example after example of God’s dealing with men trying to get them to see themselves as they really are; with men dealing with other men in the same way (God? David; Nathan & David; David & Saul; Moses and Miriam; Jethro & Moses, etc.).

Now when God’s Word pierces our facade of sham and discerns us as we are and deals with us realisticallyIT IS GOD’S LOVE.

When men or women, older and wiser, more experienced and learned than we, discern us and judge us according to truth, LET US EXPECT IT TO BE SOMETHING DONE IN LOVE!

In Relationships

Love is person-oriented; it deals with persons discerning, judging estimating what they ought to be and can be with the help of God and Christian brethren.

A person who, by experience and wisdom knows something that would benefit me, and keeps it from me, does not love me.

If I tell my children the truth about themselves but do not share with them some truth that will help them I do not love them.

Jesus-’ dealing with the Syrophenician woman would have been considered harsh, even cruel, by some (Mark 7:25-30) but He dealt with her on the basis of what she could become.

Jesus-’ dealing with Peter when He said, Get thee behind me, Satan, was discerning love in order to bring Peter to what he could be.

THERE ARE SOME OF YOU HERE THIS MORNING LIVING IN THE JOY OF BEING BETTER THAN YOU WERE BECAUSE ONE OF YOUR TEACHERS OR A GROUP OF TEACHERS HAVE DEALT WITH YOU ON THE BASIS OF THEIR JUDGMENT OF WHAT YOU COULD BECOME!

It seemed distasteful to you at firstyou disliked us and accused us of putting you down at firstbut now you know we judged that you could be better than you were and we insisted on it.

Love demands that those who have the advantage of experience and leadership relate to others on the basis of building upNOT LEAVING OTHERS TO GO BACKWARD. OR EVEN TO REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE!

In Remedies

Love is always seeking that which is practicalhelpful.

That which is the most helpful in a situation, may not always be the most glorious or win the most applause. It may not even be the most soothing.

But love is interested only in that which is helpful.

Love seeks the long-range remedy. Love is never satisfied with superficialities or stop-gap measures.

Now obviously no chastening seems pleasant at the time: it is in fact most unpleasant. Yet when it is all over we can see that it has quietly produced the fruit of real goodness in the characters of those who have accepted it in the right spirit (Hebrews 12:11-12) J. B. Phillips, The New Testament In Modern English.

NOW THERE MAY BE SOME OF YOU WHO HAVE HAD REMEDIES PRESCRIBED TO YOU THAT MAY HAVE SEEMED LIKE BITTER MEDICINE. SO FAR AS I AM ABLE TO JUDGE THE MOTIVES OF THOSE DIRECTING THIS COLLEGE, I BELIEVE THEIR REMEDIAL PRESCRIPTIONS WERE MADE IN GOD-LIKE LOVE.

In their years of experience and saturating their mind with the mind of Christ as revealed in His Word, they have always sought the long-term, helpful, strengthening remedy.

Their motives are, as far as I am able to judge, pure and loving. The wisdom of their decisions, I think, will be proved over the long-haul.

I have more than 100 letters from former students proving that hind-sight is usually more perceptive than fore-sight.

In an old book given to me by Bro. Wilson, I found some ageless principles stated as well as I have ever seen them stated. One of those principles is: … if the moral powers (of man) are not employed on right objects and directed to a right end, there is not only perversion but deterioration. The more active they are the more they deteriorate. If, therefore, we would do the highest good to men we must seek, not only to perfect their powers, but to perfect the moral powers by directing them rightly. Our object must be to produce a change not merely in the condition, but in the state of men; and not merely in their intellectual state involving acquisitions and capacity, but in their moral state which involves, or rather which is, character. The Law of Love and Love as a Law, by Mark Hopkins, 1881, pg. 199.

LOVING, DOING THE HIGHEST GOOD TO MEN, MEANS DISCERNMENT!

II.

LOVE IS DEMANDING

It Restrains

Our love to God is shown in the keeping of His commandments (Exodus 20:6; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6). Love is more than a mere affection or sentiment; it is something that manifests itself, not only in obedience to known divine commands, but also in a protecting and defence of them, and a seeking to know more and more of the will of God in order to express love for God in further obedience (cf. Deuteronomy 10:12). Those who love God will hate evil and all forms of worldliness, as expressed in the avoidance of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Psalms 97:10; 1 John 2:15-17). Whatever there may be in his surroundings that would draw the soul away from God and righteousness, that the child of God will avoid. I.S.B.E. Vol. 3, pg. 1933, art. Love.

Love does not indulge. Dr. James Dobson, in his book, Dare To Discipline, says, Perhaps the most common parental error during the past twenty-five years has been related to the widespread belief that -love is enough-’ in raising children. the greatest social disaster of this century is the belief that abundant love makes discipline unnecessary.

A New York psychologist, Peter Blos, is quoted in Time, Nov. 29, 1971; … parents should set limits, affirm their personal values, deny the -clamor for grown-up status,-’ and refuse to be intimidated by charges of authoritarianism.

In Reader’s Digest (Feb. 1973), an article entitled Why Some Women Respond Sexually and Others Don-’t, Seymour Fisher, a clinical psychologist, researching this over many years, states: Highly responsive women tended to recall their fathers as having a definite set of values, being demanding and holding high expectations for them.. conversely, most low-responsive women remembered their fathers as being casual, overly permissive and short on definite values.. A demanding father, gives his daughter the feeling that he is concerned enough about her to devote time and energy to trying to guide hereven if she resents this discipline. this relationship, speculates Fisher, could even be the prime determinant of female sexual potential.

Permissiveness, or indulgence, is no sign of love! Permissiveness can be the most unloving thing one person ever does to another!

CAN YOU PICTURE JESUS INDULGING PEOPLE? He would not indulge Peter and the other disciples even in some actions that appeared correct (e.g. when they would forbid Him from going to Jerusalem and be killed, etc.). He would not indulge the rich young ruler to keep the riches which Were strangling his loyalties. He would not indulge His own mother in her motherly pride (at Cana marriage feast).

THOSE OF US WHO WATCH IN BEHALF OF YOUR SOULS ARE DETERMINED NOT TO INDULGE YOU BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEMAND OF YOU PERHAPS WHAT NO ONE EVER DEMANDED OF US, BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU!

If we should indulge you to your harm, we would never be able to forgive ourselves; your parents and your churches would never forgive us; and God might not ever forgive usif our indulgence were born of deliberate cowardliness.

With as much love, we believe, as Paul the apostle manifested toward Timothy and Titus, his student-preachers, we want to demand of you as much as he did of them (read the letters he wrote to them).

It Refuses

It sometimes has to say No!

Wm. Barclay, op. cit., pg. 16: When we understand what agape means, it amply meets the objection that a society based on this love would be a paradise for criminals, and that it means simply letting the evil-doer have his own way. If we seek nothing but a man’s highest good, we may well have to resist a man; we may well have to punish him; we may well have to do the hardest things to himfor the good of his immortal soul.. In other words, agape means treating men as God treats themand that does not mean allowing them unchecked to do as they like.

Curtis Dickinson, in Christian Standard, Jan. 25, 1958, art. Love’s Constraining Power, wrote, It is easy to camouflage weakness and conformity under the guise of love.. It is just because God loves you that He cannot overlook you.. It is precisely because we love our children that we cannot let them escape punishment. How ridiculous, if we said of a child, -I love her so much that no matter what she does I will consider it all right.-'

God said No to the perfect man in Eden. BECAUSE HE LOVED ADAM!

God said No to perhaps the greatest saint of all, Paul, three times God said No to him. BECAUSE GOD LOVED PAUL.

For a good mental and moral exercise why don-’t you personally run through in your mind all the great men of the Old Testament to whom God said No!

Now list mentally all the churches and people to whom the apostles wrote letters stating many emphatic Nos! ADD THEM ALL TOGETHER!

THOSE WHOM THE HOLY SPIRIT HATH MADE OVERSEERS OF THIS ARM OF THE LORD’S CHURCH ARE BOUND BY THEIR LOVE FOR THE LORD, FOR HIS CHURCH, AND FOR YOU, TO SAY NO! WHEN IT BECOMES THE LOVING THING TO DO!

It is not something they take selfish, sadistic, prideful pleasure init is something for which they feel an obligation, and consider a privilege, because it gives them an opportunity to love for real.

The selfish thing to do would be to give everyone free reign to do as they please, go play golf, and when the situation became unbearable leave it to self-destruction and blame everyone else.

God said No to Moses (not enter promised land); God said No to Jonah; God said No to David (cannot build my temple). These listened. God said No to Saul; God said No to Baalam. These did not listen.

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU RESPOND TO GOD’S NOI IN HIS WORD. AND HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE NOI OF THE SHEPHERDS OF GOD’S FLOCK!

It Reiterates; Reinforces

Love does not give up with the first discernment or demand.

Love repeats and repeats and repeats (read The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson). Love hounds, stalks, trails.

The immature tend to classify discerning, demanding love as nagging or harping, nor nit-picking.

Does the discerning, demanding love of God give us cause to accuse Him of nagging or harping?

Were the Old Testament prophets nit-picking when they repeated and repeated and repeated God’s message?

CONTINUED REMINDERS TO KEEP YOUR DORM ROOM CLEAN AND ORDERLY, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO PAY YOUR ACCOUNTS, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO DRESS MODESTLY, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO DRIVE LIKE A CHRISTIAN, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO CONDUCT YOUR MAN-WOMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH DECORUM.. THESE ARE NOT NAGGING, NIT-PICKING.. THESE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF LIFE AND CHRISTIAN WITNESS. AND THE REMINDERS ARE REITERATIONS OF LOVE!

It never ceases to amaze me that athletes, choir members, Impact members or others can so graciously and willingly condescend to take all the repetition of practices, take all the demand that they dress alike. and then get all upset and accuse others of the college, who love them equally as much, of nagging and nit-picking when they reiterate and reinforce moral and spiritual values.

III.

LOVE IS DELIBERATE

It is Real

Agape love is sincere, genuine. J. B. Phillips translates Romans 12:9: Let us have no imitation Christian love. Let us have a genuine break with evil and a real devotion to good.

Agape love will not stand for sham, superficiality, or unstable emotionalism (note: I said emotionalism. Love is part emotion but not all emotion.).

Agape love is not the silly, selfish sentimentalism so often portrayed by the world.

Wm. Barclay, op. cit., This agape, this Christian love, is not merely an emotional experience which comes to us unbidden and unsought; it is a deliberate principle of the mind, and a deliberate conquest and achievement of the will. It is in fact the power to love the unlovable, to love people whom we do not like.

It is important to understand.. Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which sweeps over us at intervals when we are in the right mood. It is a principle by which we deliberately live, every day, no matter what mood we-’re in or how we feel. It is a conquest, a victory, an achievement. No one ever naturally loved his enemies.

Agape love demands the whole man; mind, will and heart.

There may be some of you students I know more intimately than others. This often is due to circumstances outside ourselves. BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT MY AGAPE LOVE FOR ANY OF YOU IS ANY MORE OR LESS THAN THE OTHER. THAT IS WHY AGAPE LOVE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF LOVE. IT DOES NOT DEPEND UPON CIRCUMSTANCES! IT IS A REAL LOVE!

Many is the time we have been tempted to love some of you only according to how we feel, on emotions alone, BUT THAT IS NOT REAL LOVE!

It is Reliable

Decisive, dependable, firm, stable, consistent

Dennis Vath wrote it Christian Standard, Nov. 5, 1966: Jesus loved consistently. True agape love is consistent. It does not always compliment. It is not always manifested in a pat on the back, for this is not always in our best interests. Agape love does not always agree. Scripture tells us that the one God loves is the one He chastens. Agape on the human level does not allow itself to be dominated or abused, because it is not in a person’s best interests to allow him to take advantage of one.

One mark of love often overlooked is that characteristic of being able to make a decision, a consistent decision, a stabilizing decision and stand firm in that decision.

COULD YOU HONESTLY SAY YOU BELIEVED THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COLLEGE LOVED YOU IF IT COULD NOT MAKE A DECISION, CONSISTENTLY, AND STAND FIRM!?

A LEADERSHIP WHICH IS UNABLE TO MAKE A DECISION, CANNOT MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY, AND IS UNSTABLE, IMPRESSES ME AS A SELF-SEEKING LEADERSHIP!

It is Risky

Agape love will never let a man be selfishly-safe.

Agape love insists upon self-sacrifice.

Eugene Nida writes in God’s Word in Man’s Language: The Conob Indians of northern Guatemala. describe love as -my soul dies.-’ A man who loves God according to the Conob idiom would say, -My soul dies for God.-’ This not only describes the powerful emotion felt by the one who loves, but it should imply a related truthnamely, that in true love there is no room for self.. True love is of all emotions the most unselfish, for it does not look out for self but for others. False love seeks to possess; true love seeks to be possessed. False love leads to cancerous jealousy; true love leads to a life-giving ministry.

The person who will not risk being hurt or thought badly ofthe person who is afraid to do what is best for another because he is afraid of that person’s displeasure with himthat person does not know how to love!

BELOVED, IT MAY SEEM TO YOU THAT WE DELIBERATELY SET OUT AT TIMES TO COURT YOUR DISPLEASURE WITH US! WE DO!BECAUSE WE WANT TO LOVE YOU WITH A REAL LOVE, WE ARE NOT PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH WHAT YOU FEEL TOWARD US AT FIRST BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT ALMOST ALWAYS YOU WILL SOMEDAY UNDERSTAND THE LOVE BEHIND OUR COUNSEL AND LOVE US IN RETURN!

Any parent who is afraid to risk his child’s temporary displeasure rather than enforce some genuine loving restraint, is not worthy to be a parent. AND THIS APPLIES IN THE FAMILY OF GOD!

CONCLUSION

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

Splendor means: glorious, sublime, superb, brilliance.

Love is like a many-faceted jewel; there are many sides to it and they all reflect the glory of God.

I hope I have caught your spiriutal eye with three of the more dazzling facets of love this morning.

II.

OUR LOVE FOR YOU IS AN ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE IN YOU THIS SPLENDORED THING

We are going to love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.

We are going to love you with our mind and our will as well as our emotions.

You may not be pleased with us always, but we are not going to let our love be directed by that.

C. S. Lewis writes in The Four Loves: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one.. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket of your selfishness. But in that casketsafe, dark, motionless, airlessit will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

III.

TO YOU, MY BELOVED BROTHER OR SISTER, I AM VULNERABLE

I cannot lock myself up. break my heart if you will, I will still love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.

To appropriate a phrase from Isaiah, Behold, I have graven you on palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

**Applebury’s Comments

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Outline**

Luke told about another complaint of the Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15:1-2).

The complaint was made when publicans and sinners were being attracted to Jesus in large numbers (1).

The Pharisees and scribes muttered their grumbling complaint: This one is welcoming sinners and is eating with them (2).

He told how Jesus answered their complaint with three parables about the lost (Luke 15:3-32).

The parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7).

Jesus-’ question in answer to their complaint: What man who has a hundred sheep, if one of them gets lost, would not leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost one until he finds it?

What would he do when he finds the sheep? He would call his friends to rejoice with him, saying, I have found my sheep that was lost.

The lesson applied: There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over the ninety-nine

The parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10).

Jesus-’ question: What woman who has ten pieces of silver wouldn-’t, if she loses one, search the house until she finds it?

What would she do when she finds it? She would call her neighbors and say, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece that was lost.

The lesson applied again: There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety-nine persons who need no repentance.

The parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32). In this parable Jesus gave detailed answers to all the problems involved in the complaint that He was receiving and associating with sinners.

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-20 a).

(1)

A man had two sons; the younger demanded his inheritance which the father gave to him.

(2)

Soon the young man took all he had and went into a far country and wasted it in riotous living.

(3)

After he had spent all his fortune, a famine occurred in the land; so he took a job herding swine.

(4)

He became so destitute that he actually ate what the swine ate, but no man gave him a thing!

(5)

When he came to his senses, he said, How many servants in my father’s house have food in abundance, and I am perishing in hunger!

(6)

He resolved to go back to his father and say, Father, I have sinned against heaven in your sight; I am not worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants.

(7)

The lost son followed out his resolution and went to his father.

The wonderful welcome the lost son received from his father (Luke 15:20 b - Luke 15:24).

(1)

The father saw him coming from afar; he was deeply moved and, running to meet him, embraced him and kissed him.

(2)

The son acknowledged his sin before his father; he said, Father, I have sinned against heaven in your sight; I am not worthy to be called your son.

(3)

But Jesus said that the father ordered the servants to bring a robe and put it on him and a ring and put it on his finger and put shoes on his feet. He ordered them to kill the fatted calf and prepare a feast so that all of them might eat and make merry.

(4)

He also told how the father revealed his very heart when he said, This my son was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.

(5)

They began to make merry!

The murmuring complaint of the older brother (Luke 15:25-32).

(1)

As he neared the house, he heard music and dancing and asked, What’s the meaning of this?

(2)

They told him that his lost brother had returned, and that his father had welcomed him with the feast because he had received him safe and sound.

(3)

The older brother got angry and wouldn-’t come into the house even though the father urged him to do so.

(4)

His bitter complaint:

(a)

I served you all these years and never disobeyed a command of yours.

(b)

You never gave me anything that I might make merry with my friends.

(c)

But when this son of yours who devoured your living with harlots comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him!

(5)

The father’s answer. This is Jesus-’ answer to the complaint of the Pharisees that he was receiving sinners.

(a)

Son, you have been with me always, and all that is mine is yours too.

(b)

But it is right to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found!

Summary

Perhaps there is no place in the whole Bible where the saving grace of God is more clearly presented than in this chapter devoted to the three parables of grace. Christ defended His mission against the hypocritical charge of the Pharisees with a logic and love that could not be answered by His critics. It is true that they were not converted, but sinners of all ages since then have been grateful for His clear explanation of God’s grace which He made available by His death on the cross. Sinners are lost as the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son clearly show. The story of the lost son shows what it means to repent, for he decided to get up and go to his father. The once arrogant lad came back in genuine humility; he only asked to be made as one of his father’s hired servants. A welcome awaits the lost when they return to the Heavenly Father’s house. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. The rejoicing over finding the lost sheep and the lost coin indicate it, but the feast of joy in the father’s house when his son returned shows what it means to God. It was certainly appropriate to rejoice and make merry for the brother was dead, but was alive; he was lost, but found!

Questions

What was the occasion for the Pharisees-’ complaint against Jesus?

What was their object in making the complaint?

How did Jesus answer the complaint?

In the parable of the Lost Sheep, who were represented by the ninety-nine?

Did the Pharisees need to repent?

Why didn-’t Jesus attack their sinful lives at this time?

Why did He tell about the shepherd who went to find the lost sheep?

Why did He tell about the rejoicing when the sheep was found?

Over what sinners does heaven rejoice?

What kind of sinners does Jesus receive? Where did this leave the Pharisees, in reality?

In considering the whole chapter, why can we say that the ninety and nine who need no repentance represent the Pharisees?

What does the story of the lost sheep show about people who are lost?

What is the purpose of the parable of the Lost Coin?

What do these parables suggest about the first business of the church?

What is the relation of preaching to social reform?

Should the church take over the responsibility for teaching children? What about parental responsibility?

What responsibility does the church have in regard to standards for the home?

What is a possible distinction between the fact that a sheep was lost and a coin was lost?

What should be the concern of church leaders for those who drop out of Bible school or church?

What attitudes of church people may cause others to be lost?

Why mention the rejoicing among the angels?

What makes the case of the lost son different from that of the lost sheep or lost coin?

How did Jesus picture the degradation and waste of sin?

What was the attitude of Jews toward swine? What bearing on the job the prodigal took?

What became of the prodigal’s friends when his money was gone?

What caused him to think of his father’s house?

How does his story illustrate the meaning of repentance?

What does James say about the cause of sin?

What does the father’s attitude toward the returning son teach about God’s attitude toward sinners who repent?

How far did the Heavenly Father go in order to meet the sinner?

What does the parable of the Lost Son show about the necessity of confessing sins to the Father?

What did the father do for his son upon his return to the home?

What does this teach about God’s treatment of sinners who repent?

What do the Scriptures say about the removal of our sins?

What kind of standard must the church uphold in the matter of living if it is to be effective in proclaiming the gospel to the lost?

How did the father describe the fact that the son had returned?

Who is represented by the elder brother?

What about his claim that he had never transgressed a commandment of his father’S?

Why didn-’t the father argue the point with him?

What did he call the lost brother?

How did the father correct this view?

How did he appeal to the elder son to accept his own brother?

Luke 15:1-2

Applebury’s Comments

Christ Receives Sinful Men Scripture

Luke 15:1-2 Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him to hear him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

*Comments

all the publicans and sinners.*Jesus had just been talking about the cost of discipleship and the demands which He was making on those who would be His followers. But the crowds of publicans and sinnerssocial outcasts who were looked upon with contempt by the Phariseescontinued to draw near to hear Him teach. It seems that the high standard of discipleship served to attract those who really knew what it meant to need the Savior. The challenge of the cross will draw men to Christ where a diluted gospel of ease will fail.

The Pharisees were always ready to seize upon these occasions to condemn Jesus. They were eager to make it appear that He was a friend of sinners when, as a matter of fact, He is the Friend of sinners.

Tax-collectors were generally looked upon as guilty of abusing their office and, of course, were classed as sinners.

*murmured.*Jesus had on a few occasions been invited to have dinner with Pharisees, but when He ate with publicans and sinners these same Pharisees were quick to condemn Him. They tried to make it appear that He was a sinner tooguilt by association.

This same Satanic scheme is seen in various places in the ministry of Christ and His apostles, The Pharisees had tried to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people by saying that He was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Paul and Silas faced the possibility of having their work ruined because of the demon-possessed person who followed them at Philippi (Acts 16:16-18).

*receives sinners.*Jesus had made it clear that He had come to seek and save sinnersnot any kind of sinners, but those who repented. He required His followers to renounce all and take up their cross and follow Him daily. Pharisees, of course, felt that they needed no repentance.

In answering the charge of the Pharisees, Jesus takes them at their own estimate of themselves and still shows that they were wrong in condemning Him for His attitude toward sinners. In the three parables that follow, He more than justifies His position.

Luke 15:1-7

**Butler’s Comments

SECTION 1

Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7)**

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

3 So he told them this parable: 4What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, -Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.-’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

**Luke 15:1-4 Rescue: **Jesus had left the home of the Pharisees where He had been a guest at dinner (Luke 14:1-24) and journeyed on through Perea. Great multitudes accompanied him (Luke 14:25). Many publicans and sinners joined the crowds to hear Him teach about the kingdom of God. His words were so different from those of most religious teachers of that day. He taught that God was gracious and forgiving to those who would repent and believe His word. The compassion Jesus exhibited in His deeds was electrifying in comparison with the hypocrisy and unloving attitudes of the Pharisees and rulers of the Jews.

We do not know exactly where the following parables were spoken nor exactly when, but He was somewhere in Perea and it was sometime in the winter (probably February) of A.D. 30. After these parables of chapter 15, He went on to teach more parables to the same crowds and in the same general area. His trip to Bethany and Ephraim (John 11:1-57) should be inserted immediately between Luke 17:10-11. No doubt the multitudes were dwindling as a result of the stern and severe admonitions about the cost of discipleship. But His glorious descriptions of the ideal society where everyone is humble, loving and committed to God attracted those whom the self-righteous and proud had declared outcasts. Jesus offered a kingdom where penitent publicans and sinners would be welcomed as citizens with all other penitents on an equal basis.

Jesus had long ago established Himself as a friend of publicans and sinners (cf. Luke 7:29; Luke 7:34; Luke 7:37). He had even called a publican to be one of His apostles (Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:14-17; Luke 5:27-32). These Pharisees contemptuously refused to use Jesus-’ name when they said, This fellow (Gr. hoti houtos) receives sinners and eats with publicans. The Greek word prosdechetai is translated receives but means, more emphatically, allows them access to Himselfgives them welcome. He not only welcomed them, He ate with them. He accepted formal invitations from Levi and Zacchaeus and took His meals with other sinners when He was teaching out of doors. These Pharisees were correct in their statement but they were saying this to destroy Jesus-’ reputation and His ministry. They were insinuating that because He received sinners and ate with them He was a sinner also.

To stop their slanderous and malicious cavilling Jesus told three simple stories in one parable which contained irrefutable truth and logic. Each story is an illustration of the main subject of the one parableGod sent His Son to seek and save the lost. Actually, there are four parables in one. The Elder Son is a parable in its own right. All these stories answer the accusation that Jesus receives sinners with a passionate and resounding, Yes! The theme of the entire parabolic discourse is The Grace of God. The grace of God is what the publicans and sinners were seeking. The grace of Christ is what the Pharisees criticized and rejected. Publicans and sinners know they are lost; Pharisees are too proud and self-righteous to acknowledge they are lost. The Greek word apollumi in the active voice means, to destroy, to kill, (Matthew 10:28; Mark 1:24; Mark 9:22); in the middle voice it means, to perish, (Matthew 8:25; John 3:16). Someone has said, A man is lost when he cannot define his present or plan his future. Millions of human beings are lost today in the black night of guilt, fear and anxiety or in the jungles of passion, hatred and vengeance. These gracious words of Jesus are as relevant for today’s sinners lost in the vast confusion of our age as they were for sinners of the first century.

The Lord’s first parable is of the lost sheep. The figure of lost sheep was a familiar figure to Jewish people. The Old Testament is replete with such usage (cf. Psalms 119:176; Psalms 23:1 ff.; Ezekiel 34:1 ff.; Zechariah 11:16-17; Isaiah 40:11). There is much quoted passage from Isaiah All we like sheep have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6). Sheep are rather dumb and helpless animals. They nibble themselves lost. Drawn by first one clump of grass, and then another, the animal just keeps on following the grass without looking up. Finally when he does look up, he finds himself in a canyon far away from the shepherd and with night coming on. The sheep is lost! He just kept on nibbling unaware he was becoming lost. He didn-’t even realize he was straying from the shepherd. What happens to sheep, happens to people. Few sheep or men ever start out to get lost. Becoming lost is usually something that happens almost imperceptively. Getting lost is almost always the result of nibbling farther and farther away from the shepherd and the flock. One little morsel of sin, then another, and another, until suddenly it is night and man is lost in the canyons of guilt, fear, rebellion and wastedness.

Lost is not a word most people would use to describe their condition. Many men even prefer to think of themselves as sinners rather than lost. There is a certain glamour or levity to the term sinner. But when men are told they are lost it means they are misdirected, wasted, useless and no one wants to own up to that! No man likes to confess he is lost. It is unmanly, humiliating, and a man will do almost anything to prove that he is not a poor lost child. Most men are like the Indian chief who says, Indian not lostwigwam lost! But God knows, and so do we, we are lost. The young German soldier in All’s Quiet On The Western Front turns away from the chaos and carnage of the battlefield, so symbolic of the confusion of his generation, and says, I. I think we are lost!

The logic of Jesus-’ presentation is undeniable. Everyone in His audience would admit they would leave ninety-nine and go after one lost sheep until they find it. Everyone leaves everything to look for so little a thing as a pin, or a key. Now what would you do if you were a father and one of your children was lost? What could be more expected than for God to look for lost men who look for lost pins and keys? It is tragic but true that while men will look for lost pins and keys, they often will not look for lost men. But God is not like menHe took upon Himself the servant-robe-of-flesh and descended into this dark and dangerous canyon of wickedness to find His lost men and women. God cares and will not quit as long as there is opportunity to rescue the lost.

**Luke 15:5-7 Rejoicing: **God is not satisfied with just ninety-nineHe wants every one. God is not willing that any should perish, but wants all people to come to repentance and salvation (2 Peter 3:9). Love cannot rest until that last one is at least searched for, and, hopefully safe. The great heart of God would have sent His Son to this world if there had been only one to be saved (cf. Jonah 4:11; Acts 17:30; Acts 18:10).

When the shepherd found the lost sheep he did not berate the sheep for getting lost; he did not kick or strike the sheep. He gave it a seat of honora ride of gloryhe put it on his shoulders and helped it back to the flock. Henceforth the shepherd would use his rod and staff to protect, to chasten and guide the errant sheep from straying again. The shepherd was overcome with joy at finding his lost sheep. He rejoices all the way home and upon arriving there calls all his neighbors and friends to celebrate with him. This is the way men are. They feel compelled to share joys. It is human nature that the finding of something lost gives much more joy than the possession of things that are safe. Men rejoice more in recovery from sickness than they do in daily health. How much more intense and infinite is the joy of Heaven’s King over the recovery of, the lost! The ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance probably refers to the self-righteous Pharisees or others who thought they needed no repentance. There are no human beings without the need of repentance! Barnes thinks the ninety-nine are angels: They know of how much value is an immortal soul. They see what is meant by eternal death; and they do not feel too much, or have too much anxiety about the soul (angel’S) that can never die. We believe Jesus meant the Pharisees for they were the ones who murmured against the Lord’s associations with publicans and sinners. Jesus places in sharp contrast the value Pharisees place on publicans and sinners and that of God!

Luke 15:3-7

Applebury’s Comments

Parable of the Lost Sheep Scripture

Luke 15:3-7 And he spake unto them this parable, saying, 4 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and his neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance.

*Comments

this parable.*Jesus used three parables or illustrations to answer the complaint of the Pharisees. They were three devastating blows at their false position. In them, Jesus more than justified His action in receiving sinners and eating with them, for His mission was to seek and save the lost.

The church, as the body of Christ, has the same mission. Evangelism is the first business of the church. But one wonders if the church has lost sight of its purpose in the world. Social reformand there is need for so much work in this areais not the first business of the church. Only the gospel can transform the hearts of men (Romans 12:1-2). When that happens, he can transform the society in which he lives. The leaven of the gospel must be hidden in the heart before an effective transformation of society can be expected. It is the gospel that saves from sin, and it is sin that is causing all the trouble in the world today.

It is not the task of the church to take over the responsibility of the home and relieve parents of their duty to train the child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But many parents expect some faithful Bible school teacher to give their children all the religious training they will ever get; they seldom stop to thank the teacher for this work of love. Much that is done in youth programs today merely serves to relive parents from a responsibility that is theirs. Many parents never open their homes for youth meetings or provide transportation for groups of young people or funds for the necessary expense of the work. Yet these same people are quick to complain if the church fails to meet the problems of youth. Of course, parents who are active workers in the church will find that the association with other Christian parents helps immensely in the task of guiding young people in this evil day. In many instances, the church faces the real danger of leaving its first lovelove for Christby failing to do its first work which is the work of preaching the gospel to save sinners. It is the responsibility of the church to uphold the standards of conduct that meet the approval of God. In no place is this more true than in upholding the Biblical standard for the Christian home.

*one of them lost.*This is the point of the parable. Jesus was justifying His effort to save the lost sinner. No one could argue that it was wrong to look for the sheep that was lost, and it took only little effort to apply this principle to the sinner who was certainly lost.

The sheep that got lost may have wandered off from the rest of the flock; perhaps it was still young and had not learned the dangers that beset its path. The case is different with men. Some are lost because they do not have the kind of home that God intended all children to have. Children from broken homes or from homes where Christ and His Word are not honored have little chance to escape from the alluring appeals of sin today.

*the ninety and nine.*The ninety-nine represent the Pharisees who felt that they were righteous and needed no repentance. The nine coins that were not lost and the elder brother who never disobeyed a command of his father also represent what the Pharisees thought they were. Jesus didn-’t argue this point with them. He was justifying His effort on behalf of those who knew they were sinners and needed His help.

*Rejoice with me.*If the Pharisees had really needed no repentance they would have rejoiced when the sinner was saved. Heaven did; why didn-’t they?

*need no repentance.*Repentance is the decision to forsake sin and live the kind of life that is acceptable in the sight of God. Both John and Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom that called on sinners to repent and produce the fruit of righteousness. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. Of course, the Pharisees needed repentance just as much as any other sinner, but they were unaware of it. The case of the elder brother shows this to be true.

Luke 15:8-10

**Butler’s Comments

SECTION 2

Lost Silver (Luke 15:8-10)**

8 Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, -Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.-’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

**Luke 15:8-9 a Rescue: **The coins the woman had were, in Greek, drachmas. They are, in the LXX, equivalent to the Hebrew bega-’ or half-shekel. The half-shekel was equivalent to the Roman denarius. The coin was worth about 16 cents American todaybut then worth a day’s wages.

Hebrew women usually wore coin frontlets, called semedi, as part of their dowry and thus a sign they were married. These coins were a daughter’s inheritance from her father to take and share with her husband as they formed a new family unit. These coins had sentimental, financial and status-symbol value.

This parable pictures the intensity of God’s interest in finding the lost. The woman is totally absorbed in finding the lost coin. All other pursuits become secondary to finding it. Searching for it cannot wait until morningshe lights a lamp and makes the dust fly until she finds it. A casual, superficial one-time search will not do. No distraction is strong enough to divert her. Diligently, doggedly, passionately she searches everywhere! Will God give up any one of His children for lost with any less determination and feeling? Shall we?

All three of the parables in this chapter cry outONE! We decide ourselves into thinking that size, more and bigger is always better. We are constantly bombarded with the propaganda that God will be impressed with masswith sheer numbers. We cannot get a god-of-quantity out of our heads. Of course, God loves all men and wants all men to be saved. We tend to think of God more as the Creator of the millions of constellations and universe and generations upon generations of men and forget that He cares as intensely for little ol-’ me as the woman did for her one coin. Our God is infinitely careful for each snowflakemaking each one different. God is personally, passionately and emotionally searching for one lost person at a timeno matter how unknown or how long they have been lost. The church must turn the world upside down searching for each lost person.

Luke 15:9b-10 Rejoice: These parables show us a God quite different from that of the philosophers and theologians. The God of these parables is a God who hurts when one of His is lost and knows how to be happy when one of His is recovered. Men are thrilled when they find a lost coin, but imagine how ecstatically happy God is when one of His, for whom He made this whole creation, for whom His Son died, is found and returned to His society of precious ones. When we see God we shall see Him as He isthese parables state unequivocally that we shall see Him expressing His joy. When one lost sinner is recovered the news flashes across Heaven and anthems of praise and joy are shouted. This is the only news Heaven is interested in. When men and women are baptized into Christ, Heaven does not say, Ho hum but Hallelujah! Heaven is soul-centered. Evangelism is the business which occupies and satisfies all who love God.

Applebury’s Comments

Parable of the Lost Coin Scripture

Luke 15:8-10 Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Even so, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

*Comments

ten pieces of silver.*Much has been said about what these represent, The tendency to treat the illustration as an allegory may cause one to lose sight of the real lesson. The parable simply says that the woman had ten pieces and lost one. What woman would not search diligently until she found the lost coin? So Jesus again justified His effort to find the lost sinner.

There is nothing to suggest that this parable teaches anything different from that which is taught by the parable of the Lost Sheep, for the lost sheep and the lost coin represent the lost sinner. Without reading too much into the stories, it is possible to see that the sheep got itself lost while the woman lost the coin. Was it through carelessness, or neglect, or irresponsibility? These parables are not about sheep and coins, but people! People are lost sometimes by neglect or indifference or carelessness on the part of others who should show some concern for their fellowmen. Who cares about the drop-out? In some Bible classes, one has to attend three times to become a member. But he can be absent indefinitely without having anyone bother to find out why. Who speaks to the lonely stranger at church? Are some lost because no one has time to show them that the Savior cares?

*joy in the presence of the angels of God.*If angels rejoice over the sinners who repent, why condemn Jesus for His effort to save them? The contrast is so great that we wonder if the Pharisees were beginning to regret the unfortunate position they had taken?

Luke 15:11-24

**Butler’s Comments

SECTION 3

Lost Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24)**

11 And he said, There was a man who had two sons; 12and the younger of them said to his father, -Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.-’ And he divided his living between them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. 14And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. 15So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, -How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.-’ 20And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, -Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.-’ 22But 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; 23and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; 24for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.-’ And they began to make merry.

**Luke 15:11-16 Roaming: **This parable has never lost its grandeur or poignancy in two thousand years of reading and telling. It is still as relevant as the day it was told. It is still provoking, puzzling and its ending as shocking and unbelievably wonderful as it was to those who heard it in the beginning. One commentator said, It is the most divinely tender and most humanly touching story ever told on earth. Charles Dickens said: It is the finest short story ever written. In 21 action packed verses the reader learns the profound secret of the kingdom of Godgracel Of all the things Jesus said, this parable alone gives the clearest insight into the very heart of God. Most often it is called, The Parable of the Prodigal Son; sometimes it is called The Parable of the Perfect Father. As a matter of fact, the Father (God) is the hero of the story. A certain man (God) and his response to his two sons is what the parable is all about. The primary lesson of the parable is to show the difference between God’s attitude toward sinners and that of the Pharisees (the elder brother).

It is undoubtedly intentional that Jesus said this certain man had only two sons. Two sonsprodigal (sinner) and petulant (Pharisee)that is all the sons God has (except His Perfect Son). All mankind falls into one category or the otherthose who openly rebel and admit they are sinners, and those who try to pretend they are not. You and I were either prodigal or Phariseethere is no other breed of man outside the grace of God. The younger son had been daydreaming, probably, of all the excitement and happiness he could have if only he could take what his father would pass on to him and spend it in some far off, exotic land. So he went to his father and demanded, Give me. The Greek word dos is (2 pers. sing. aor. 2) imperative for didomi, which means literally, an order or a command, Give me. Impertinent, impatient and impudent he orders his father, Gimme. According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the eldest son was to get two-thirds of a man’s estate and the younger son one-third when the man decided it was time to divide his property among his heirs. This son did not ask, did not suggest, did not beghe did not seek his father’s wishes at all. The prodigal-minded son was so obsessed with his own independence and craving for excitement he did not even think to ask what he might give his father. He was not concerned at all about his father’s feelings and desires. Give me. to do with as I please are the impertinent theme words of every prodigal, fallen son of man.

It is important to note in Luke 15:12 the father divided his livelihood (Gr. bios) between themthe elder son got his share too (later he will complain he was discriminated against). God feeds and clothes all His sons; He makes His rain to fall on the just and unjust alike; He gives rain and fruitful seasons from heaven on believer and pagan alike. It is what each does with his Father’s benevolence that matters.

The father graciously and wisely let the son have his freedom. He undoubtedly knew what the lad intended to do. The father knew he could not force the boy to be a son. A son in rebellion, forced against his will, is a son in rebellion still! God knew from the very start, in Eden, He could not force Adam to be a son. He knew He must take the risk of giving man his free will if He was to have a son at all. The father could have made him stay home, say Yes to everything and the father could have smothered the sonpossessed him body and soulbut that would have robbed the boy of his personhood. The Father gave the boy his freedom to be wrong in order that the boy might be able to be right some day, independently and lovinglynot slavishly. The younger son gathered (Gr. sunagagon) or collected all his father gave him. If he had been given flocks or grain he sold them and converted them into money. He then departed and traveled to a far country. There is a certain pseudo sense of power in breaking loose from parental supervision and provision. Boys become intoxicated with the idea of independence. Many of them lose all sense of propriety and reality when they first taste it. This lad, going far, went too far. He scattered (Gr. dieskorpisen, see the same word translated scatters in Matthew 12:30) his property in riotous living. The Greek word asotos is translated riotous but literally means, without saving. He literally squandered all he had. He spent everything he had. He had left nothing behind at home because he had no plans to return there. He believed he was sufficient unto himself, Without guidance, and undisciplined himself, he fell in with a crowd of profligate parasites. His life became a whirl of self-indulgence, careless wastefulness, and perversion of every good thing passed on to him by his father.

A great famine arose in that far off country, In a society so decadent as one where few take thought for saving anything and where harlotry is rampant (cf. v, 30), famine may naturally be the consequence of such luxury, indolence and dissipation. The lad had frittered away every coin he had. He apparently had many friends so long as he had money to spend. But then one day he was destituteand alone. His parasitic fellow-sinners left him in want. Going, he glued himself to one of the citizens. That is the way the Greek reads. He did not, could not, wait around for a job-offer. He went out to find some way to live. He latched on (Gr. ekollethe, glued) to one of the locals. The citizen gave him a job of feeding swinebut he was given hardly anything at all fit to eat. To tend hogs was an abomination to a Jew and Jesus paints the most degraded condition possible here. To be compelled to do so was even more humiliating to a young man who had just recently been feeling so powerful and self-sufficient in his freedom from home. The good times were gone, but he probably kept telling himself at first how much better it was than being under a father’s thumb. Very soon, however, he began to realize how bad things really were. He would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate, but he was not allowed to do so. The Greek word keration is mistranslated husks in some versions. Actually the word means, little horn and is describing carob-pods, the fruit of a tree called carob or kharub, common in Asia Minor and Syria. These pods are somewhat like the common garden-variety green-beannot nearly as wholesome or tasty. They are still used in the Middle East as food for swine. What this boy had to eat was so scarce and so unpleasant, he wanted to eat what he was feeding the hogs but he was not at liberty to do so.

In his bull-headed attempt to get away from what he thought was a prison at home, he took himself prisoner. His friends turned out to be his enemies. Starving, degraded and depraved, he was still crying out, Gimme. but he could no longer have what he wanted. Now he must take what others wish to give himwhich is really nothing at all.

**Luke 15:17-20 a Repentance: **The need for repentance and its definitiona change of mindwas discussed in chapter 13. The parable of the prodigal son is a classic illustration of repentance in action.

The prodigal came to himself. The Greek literally reads, But to himself coming.. The emphasis is on himself. He had not only been away from his father, he had been away from himself. He had not been his right self. In sin, no man is in his right mind. All sin is a form of insanity (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:34, RSV, Come to your right mind and sin no more.). God did not make man for sin. Man is not for himself when he is sinningman is choosing against himself and some personality other than his right one when he rebels against God. The prodigal’s realization did not come like a bolt out of the blue. Note, … coming to himself. indicates it took a while for him to wake up. It takes a while for most men to repentsome never do.

He remembered what he knew of fellowship with the father and compared that with what he was then experiencing in rebellion and decided the father’s house was to be desired no matter what sacrifices he might have to make. Coming to the end of his rope was his salvation. Suffering the consequences of his rebellion was the necessary prelude to his repentance. If God did not allow us to suffer in our persons the due penalty of our errors (Romans 1:27), many more of us would go to hell. One writer has said: Heaven, builds its hopes on the defeat of man’s ego. No man can be saved until he admits he is lost. No man can be saved until he admits no one else can help him but God.

The prodigal decided to get up and go to his father and confess his sin. He did not say, It was my father’s faulthe should not have been so strictif he will come to me I will go back with him. The lad did not blame his downfall on his father, on his elder brother or on evil companions. He honestly accepted the responsibility himself. Many people regret the consequences of their sin and are sorry they have to suffer them, but they are not honest enough to admit they are responsible. Most people have a tendency to blame the consequences of their sin on someone else. Most people feel they must retain their own pride and dignity even at the cost of self-honesty. But this rebellious child knew what he was, admitted what he was and decided he could honestly blame no one else or claim any goodness of his own at all. He knew he could make no claim of relationship as son to the father at all. He will beg only for a hired servant’s lot. He knew his father well enough to know that even a servant’s lot with him was paradise compared to the hog-pen of the far country. So we see the subjective-’ elements of repentance: (a) deep inner struggle with oneself; (b) rational evaluation of the consequences of one’s sins compared with what one knows about God; (c) honest, humble admission of responsibility for sinful choices and actions; (d) confidence that the father will forgive and accept repentance; (e) poverty of spirit that will claim no merit or goodness of his own.

One last thing remainsto get up and go! And he arose and came to his father. Driven by his need and drawn by his hope that the father will receive him, he exercises his will and his body to perform the overt action of returning to the father’s house. Repentance is a change of mind and attitude which must result in action. The penitent son took with him words of confession and a heart of obedience (cf. Hosea 14:1-9). He returned, willing to obey the father even as a servant would obey. There may be tears of regret and remorse but without obedience to the Father’s (God’S) will, there is no repentance.

Repentance is voluntary. The father did not force the son to return against his will. The father did not send servants to hypnotize, emotionalize or pressure the son into returning. If the son had returned under any other circumstances than a completely rational and voluntary surrender of his will, he would have been a son still in rebellion. The mission of the church is to speak the truth in love and with rational persuasiveness and then let the prodigal son voluntarily come to himself and to the Father. The church is not commissioned to seduce anyone into coming to the Father against his will. The church will do well to constantly review her purpose and methodology.

**Luke 15:20 b - Luke 15:24 Regeneration: **When he was a great way off. The father had been mourning his lost son; he had been lovingly and longingly looking down the road each day hoping the prodigal would return. God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). When the father saw the son returning, he ran to meet the prodigal. The father did not wait to see if the son had cleaned himself up, or if the son had any means of reimbursement for all the heartache he had caused. The son had not run homehe had probably returned in a half-halting, hesitant manner, anticipating the humiliation he would have to endure and the scolding he would get. But the father saw the son first and ran to meet him and fell on the son’s neck (embraced him) and wrapped him in love’s arms. Eager to receive his son back no matter how destitute, the father kissed him before he could even finish his confession. The son was looking for, I told you so. but he received an excited embrace and profuse kisses (Gr. katephilesen). Instead of a lecture and punishment (which the son was anticipating), the father was moved with emotional feeling (Gr. esplagchnisthe, compassion) and ordered his servants, Bring quickly. (Gr. tachu exenegkate) robe, ring and sandals to put upon his son.

The robe was (Gr. proten, lit. first) the best and signified honor; the ring signified authority; the sandals signified sonship since slaves went barefoot and only children of the house wore shoes. They were also ordered to bring the calf, the fattened one (Gr. ton moschon ton siteuton); there is only one such calf, reserved for some special occasion (cf. 1 Samuel 28:24). The father also invited the household to join the feast and merrymaking. The word merry does not precisely express the meaning of the Greek word euphranthomen for it is a combination of two words, eu and phren, which mean literally, think well, or be of a good mind. Merriment might infer frivolity whereas the Greek word allows for no superficiality but means deep, mental joy and happiness.

Why such a celebration? Because this father’s son who was dead is alive again; the son, having been lost, was found. Because through the son’s repentance and the father’s forgiveness, the son has been born again. Notice that the rebirth came as a result of action on both the part of the son and the father. The lost and dead son could not be found and reborn until he came to himself, got up and returned home. Only then could the father constitute him reborn. The son was not passive, but active in the event. This scene is the supreme moment in all literature! It is the greatest love story ever told. Jesus did not make up this story. It is true. Jesus Himself wrote this story indelibly in the blood of His cross. Our God is like that father! And the boy? He is you and me. This is our life’s story, if we have been found.

Luke 15:11-32

Applebury’s Comments

The Parable of the Lost Son Scripture

Luke 15:11-32 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country; and there he wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: 19 I am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry, 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called to him one of the servants, and inquired what these things might be. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 But he was angry, and would not go in: and his father came out, and entreated him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, and I never transgressed a commandment of thine; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but when this thy son came, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou killedst for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine. 32 But it was meet to make merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

*Comments

A certain man had two sons.*Note the progress of thought in the three parables: a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son. The sheep got lost; someone lost the coin; but the son was an intelligent human being created in the image of God with the ability to think and decide his course of action. He deliberately left his father’s house and wasted his life in riotous living.

*to feed swine.*The wastefulness of sin led to degradation in sin. Jews were proud shepherds of sheep. They loved David, their shepherd king. Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. But for a Jew to become a swineherd was to sink to the lowest possible state of disgrace. Swine, according to the Law of Moses, were unclean. But this destitute son who was really lost actually ate with the swine.

*no man gave to him.*He had friends while his money lasted, but none when it was gone. Those who lead others to sin usually abandon them when they are of no further use to them. This should be a strong warning to those who run with the crowd that cares nothing for God or Christ or the Bible.

*But when he came to himself.*When he realized that he was needlessly wasting his life, he resolved to do something about it. Repentance is mentioned in each of the parables, but in this one Jesus shows what it means to repent. It arose out of the awareness of the sinful, lost, and utterly hopeless state of the son who had wasted his life. It is the resolution to do something about the situation. It is inspired by the memory of home and all that it meant to be a son. It is accompanied by a sense of genuine humility that recognized that the right to be called son had been forfeited. It was a sense of appreciation of the privilege of becoming a servant in the father’s household. It is the decision of the lost son who said, I will arise and go to my father.

Sinners do have a responsibility for their condition and can do something about it; they can follow the instruction of the Word of God and go back to the Heavenly Father through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ who died that their sins might be blotted out. Repentance is accompanied by confession to the father of the sin committed against heaven in the father’s sight. Few people have the courage to make such an acknowledgement before God. Too many are like the Pharisee who needed no repentance. Such are not saved from their sins; they merely join the church! They are not really hungry for the bread in the father’s house. They act as if they were doing God a favor by casting their influence with His church. Phariseeism is present in so many places today!

*And he arose and came to his father.*The prodigal had left his father’s house by his own free choice; he was returning as a result of the decision he had made to go to his father and home. Those who teach that we are born with a tendency to sin fail to see that it was absolutely unnecessary for him to have left in the first place. Neither was it necessary to waste his inheritance. James plainly says that each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). His own lust is his desire for that which is evil. God did make man with the ability to choose between the heavenly home and the alluring thing that Satan offers, but He did not make man incapable of resisting the devil. James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Being made in the image of God, man is capable of deciding whether he will please God or Satanit is just that simple. The prodigal went into sin by his own deliberate act; he returned to the father by his own deliberate choice, because he wanted to escape the intolerable state of sin.

But while he was yet afar off.The father didn-’t wait until he came knocking at the door; he saw him afar off and ran to meet him.

God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). He came from heaven to Calvary to meet the sinner who had the courage to start toward heaven. The starting point was the decision to get up and go to the father.

*moved with compassion.*God’s love and pity for a lost son is shown in the father’s attitude toward his son who had the courage to want to get out of his sad state. This is Jesus-’ answer to those who were criticizing Him for receiving sinners.

*And the son said unto him, Father.*Only part of the words of Luk 15:18-19 are restated here. According to the footnote, the son repeated the confession as he planned it. Some may ask, Did the father interrupt the son’s confession? It is impossible to tell from the text. The son planned the confession. For the son’s sake, the father probably heard him out. After all, it was brief, but very necessary. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). One of the hardest things we may be called on to do is to admit that we have sinned, but the prodigal said to his father, I have sinned. The Pharisee, of course, according to his own opinion of himself, didn-’t need to make such a confession. He was one of the ninety-nine that didn-’t need to repent. But John says that if we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar and His word is not in us (1 John 1:10).

*Bring forth the robe.*There is nothing in the father’s action that indicates that anything less than full restoration of the lost son had ever entered his mind. It reveals the true story of the grace and mercy of the Heavenly Father. The sinner who repents and gets himself baptized into Christ, washing away his sins in the blood of the Lamb, becomes a member of the family of God with all the rights and privileges of a child of God.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalms 103:12). He has said through the inspired apostle, Repent and turn again that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19). He has promised in the Word, Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more forever (Hebrews 8:12). How wonderful is the grace of our Heavenly Father!

To be effective in the proclamation of the gospel, the church must return to the high standard of Christian living that meets God’s approval (Romans 12:1-2). Too many try to live half in Egypt and half in the Promised Land. The Father has not required the impossible, for He has provided the armor with which to withstand the devil. With the shield of faith, the Christian can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).

*let us eat and make merry.*The feasting and joy in the father’s house is contrasted with the famine and sorrow of the life of sin.

*for this my son was dead and is alive again.*Sin brings death (Romans 6:23). Did the critical Pharisee now see why Jesus was receiving sinners? He had reached the climax of His argument; with the finding of the lost son there was cause for real rejoicing by all.

*Now his elder son.*The elder son presents a clear picture of the Pharisee’s estimate of himself; he was like one of the ninety-nine that didn-’t need to repent. But he was angry that the father had received his lost son back into the family.

*I never transgressed a commandment of thine.*If there had been any doubt that Jesus had the Pharisees in mind when He spoke of the ninety-nine, the nine, and the elder brother, this should remove it. The elder brother reacted exactly as the Pharisees had done.

The claim of the elder brother is remarkable to say the least. But the father didn-’t stop to argue the point with him; he accepted it at face value, but argued that it was appropriate to welcome his lost son who had returned.

*this thy brother was dead.*The elder son in his anger had disowned his younger brother, just as the Pharisees had disowned the publican and sinner. With contempt, he said to his father, This son of yours devoured your living. He spoke as if he were in no way related to him. But the father, correcting this attitude, said, This brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

A more devastating answer to the position of the Pharisee could hardly be imagined. Only hearts that were completely hardened could fail to respond to the logic and love of Jesus-’ defense of His mission of seeking and saving the lost.

Sinners are dead through their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Christ shed His blood that their sins might be blotted out and that they might be made alive together with Him and sit with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-10).

Summary

Questions

What was the occasion for the Pharisees-’ complaint against Jesus?

What was their object in making the complaint?

How did Jesus answer the complaint?

In the parable of the Lost Sheep, who were represented by the ninety-nine?

Did the Pharisees need to repent?

Why didn-’t Jesus attack their sinful lives at this time?

Why did He tell about the shepherd who went to find the lost sheep?

Why did He tell about the rejoicing when the sheep was found?

Over what sinners does heaven rejoice?

What kind of sinners does Jesus receive? Where did this leave the Pharisees, in reality?

In considering the whole chapter, why can we say that the ninety and nine who need no repentance represent the Pharisees?

What does the story of the lost sheep show about people who are lost?

What is the purpose of the parable of the Lost Coin?

What do these parables suggest about the first business of the church?

What is the relation of preaching to social reform?

Should the church take over the responsibility for teaching children? What about parental responsibility?

What responsibility does the church have in regard to standards for the home?

What is a possible distinction between the fact that a sheep was lost and a coin was lost?

What should be the concern of church leaders for those who drop out of Bible school or church?

What attitudes of church people may cause others to be lost?

Why mention the rejoicing among the angels?

What makes the case of the lost son different from that of the lost sheep or lost coin?

How did Jesus picture the degradation and waste of sin?

What was the attitude of Jews toward swine? What bearing on the job the prodigal took?

What became of the prodigal’s friends when his money was gone?

What caused him to think of his father’s house?

How does his story illustrate the meaning of repentance?

What does James say about the cause of sin?

What does the father’s attitude toward the returning son teach about God’s attitude toward sinners who repent?

How far did the Heavenly Father go in order to meet the sinner?

What does the parable of the Lost Son show about the necessity of confessing sins to the Father?

What did the father do for his son upon his return to the home?

What does this teach about God’s treatment of sinners who repent?

What do the Scriptures say about the removal of our sins?

What kind of standard must the church uphold in the matter of living if it is to be effective in proclaiming the gospel to the lost?

How did the father describe the fact that the son had returned?

Who is represented by the elder brother?

What about his claim that he had never transgressed a commandment of his father’S?

Why didn-’t the father argue the point with him?

What did he call the lost brother?

How did the father correct this view?

How did he appeal to the elder son to accept his own brother?

Luke 15:25-32

**Butler’s Comments

SECTION 4

The Lost Pharisaical Son (Luke 15:25-32)**

25 Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. 27And he said to him, -Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.-’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, -Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!-’ 31And he said to him, -Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.-'

**Luke 15:25-30 Resentment: **The primary thrust of this parable is to illustrate in a real-life situation the attitude of the Pharisees toward publicans and sinners. All that has gone before in the prodigal’s story illustrates how publicans and sinners repent and how mercifully God receives them. But the prodigal’s story is primarily background for the story of the elder brother which now follows. This story will cast the attitude of the Pharisees in black contrast to that of Jesus-’ (and God’S).

Enter the villainthe elder brother. Outwardly this elder brother had presented the picture of correct conduct. He was industrious (out working in the field), respectable (he had never caroused like the prodigal), outwardly respectful to his father but his heart was that of a resentful, petulant hireling. He was only working in anticipation of getting more than his prodigal brother. One day he was out working in the field and upon returning to the house he heard music and dancing as he drew near. He called one of the hired servants and asked what the meaning of the rejoicing was. The servant told him Your brother has come. Note, your brotherbut the elder brother later calls him, This son of yours. to his father. He will not acknowledge the prodigal as his brother. How like the Phariseesboth ancient and modern! The servant told the elder brother that his father had killed the one calf they had been fattening and was using it to celebrate the return of that boy who had long ago left the household and squandered his inheritance in profligacy. The elder son had probably been anticipating the day when that fatted calf would be used to celebrate his taking over the father’s estate. The prodigal had not only come back (which the elder son resented), but the father received him as a son again!

Upon hearing this the elder son flew into a rage (Gr. orgisthe, from which we get the English words, orgasm, orgy, etc.). He was invited to enter the house and join the celebration, but he expressed that he had no desire to enter into the celebration. So the father came out of the house and begged (Gr. parekalei, literally, call upon call; call after call) him to come in.

Now the elder son’s true feeling toward the father manifests itself. He had stayed home and behavedbut for the wrong reason. The elder son was respectable, but only on the surface. Beneath the veneer of propriety is the self-righteous, jealous, hateful heart. His mask of hypocrisy has slipped off and he is exposed for what he really is. He is an ingrate. He should have been thankful his brother was home safeeven if only for his father’s sake! He should have been grateful that a celebration was being made and have enjoyed himself participating. He should have been thankful that he was going to get any inheritance at all. After all, it was all to be inheritedit was not his, or his brother’S, but given to both.

All this petulant, pouting, pretender can do is verbally attack his own father because his father was forgiving and gracious to the prodigal. The elder son rebukes his father, saying, Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. He rebukes his father for not being aware of his obedient service; he rebukes his father for never rewarding him; he rebukes his father as being wrong for receiving the prodigal who had devoured his inheritance on harlots. He even rebukes his father for thinking he should accept the prodigal as his brotherhe will not recognize the prodigal as brother, only as the father’s son.

One very perceptive writer asks, Who is the prodigal after all? One came backbut one got lost at home. He locked himself out of the banquetthe key he lost was love. The elder son: (a) wanted to be a son, but not a brother; (b) did not share his father’s concern for the lost brother; (c) was envious of his brother and suspicious of his father; (d) was unable to enjoy what the father gave him because of his envy of the prodigal; (e) boasted of an obedience which he really did not have and revealed it by his attitude. The elder son was a classic Phariseeunmerciful toward the prodigal whose sins were those of the flesh, but he refused to admit the sins of pride, jealousy, hypocrisy and self-righteousness were worse sins. Jesus was hardest on hypocrisy. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason was not Jesus-’ idea of goodness (cf. the Sermon on the Mount). Pride, not prodigality, is the chief sin!

**Luke 15:31-32 Rebuke: There is pathos in the father’s Son,. The father was made happy when the prodigal returned. Now he is saddened at the elder son’s loveless resentment. God wants to save Pharisees as well as publicans. So, firmly but gently the father rebukes the petulant son, reminding him, … you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. The elder son could always have what the father wanted to give him if only he was of the right spirit to receive it as a gift. So long as he remained self-righteous and hateful and uncooperative, he could never have it. What the father has to give, he gives to his family. It was fitting to receive back the lad who came in humble penitence, wishing now to be an obedient son and sharing brother. It is also fitting that the elder brother join in the reception and sharingif not, he can no longer claim family status. Yes, our salvation depends as much on brotherhood as it does sonship (cf. 1 John 3:14-18; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7-12; 1 John 4:20-21; 1 John 5:1-2, etc.). If the father forgives a prodigal son, brethren must also forgive or they lose their own sonship.

The story ends here with no indication whether the elder brother changed his mind or not. The Pharisees kept on despising publicans and sinners. God, in His Son, kept on receiving them and saving those who repented. This, perhaps the greatest of all the parables, stands as a judgment on the Pharisaical self-righteousness which will not forgive a prodigal brother even when the Father has forgiven him. It also stands as a beacon of hope to those thousands of prodigals who have squandered their Father’s inheritance in riotous living but come to themselves and want to be received back home.

STUDY STIMULATORS:

When you eat with publicans and sinners do you ever mention the will of God for their lives as Jesus did?

Have you ever been lost? Do you think all men not in covenant relationship with Christ today are lost?

Why are men like sheep in getting lost?

Do you think the church is as intense in finding the lost as the woman was in finding her lost coin?

How does your church react to baptismal services? Ho-hum or Hallelujah!

Did you find, while you were a prodigal, that you were starving?

How would you tell another prodigal to come to himself. ?

Do you recognize in the elder brother any of yourself?

Are you willing, and have you, forgiven every person God has forgiven? Who are those whom God has forgiven?

Is brotherhood with the forgiven as necessary to salvation as sonship?

LOVE IS A MANY SLENDORED THING

(Text: Heb. Luke 12:5-11)

By Paul T. ButlerOBC Chapel, Spring 1973 INTRODUCTION

NOW THE WORLD HAS A SONG BY THAT TITLE

But the popular song of a few years ago by that title failed utterly and miserably to really plumb the depths of love’s splendor.

Splendor means glory-sublimity-brilliance.

Love is the most glorious, sublime capability any person has.

Love is the most precious, the rarest jewel of all virtues.

II.

BUT WHAT IS LOVE

How many sermons I have heard over the years exhorting, What we need is simply to love one another, or chastising, If we don-’t get some love around here we-’re no better than the heathen.

But how few sermons I have heard explaining what love is or how we are to love.

Love is not self-defining. This is the supreme fallacy of situation ethics which says do the most loving thing in every situation.

No man has enough wisdom or experience to be guided only by his own instincts to do the most loving thing in every situation.

We must go to the Word of God for precept and example.

And 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is not the only definition of love in the Bible.

III.

SOME WILL INVARIABLY SAY, LOVE IS:

Concern

Giving

Speaking Pleasantly

IV.

LOVE IS MANY FACETED

There is more to love than often meets the spiritual eye.

I hope to present you three oft unseen facets of the brilliance of God-like love, agape love, this morning.

LOVE IS: DISCERNING. DEMANDING.. DELIBERATE

Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19).

DISCUSSION

LOVE IS DISCERNING (discriminating; critical; judgmental; penetrating). All of those are words of love if the motives are right.

In Reality

Agape love could never reject truth in favor of falsehoodit could never be satisfied with only half-truth about issues or persons.

Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).

… love. does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6).

Paul wrote the Christians in Galatia, Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth (Galatians 4:16)?

Now when God’s Word pierces our facade of sham and discerns us as we are and deals with us realisticallyIT IS GOD’S LOVE.

When men or women, older and wiser, more experienced and learned than we, discern us and judge us according to truth, LET US EXPECT IT TO BE SOMETHING DONE IN LOVE!

In Relationships

Love is person-oriented; it deals with persons discerning, judging estimating what they ought to be and can be with the help of God and Christian brethren.

A person who, by experience and wisdom knows something that would benefit me, and keeps it from me, does not love me.

If I tell my children the truth about themselves but do not share with them some truth that will help them I do not love them.

Jesus-’ dealing with the Syrophenician woman would have been considered harsh, even cruel, by some (Mark 7:25-30) but He dealt with her on the basis of what she could become.

Jesus-’ dealing with Peter when He said, Get thee behind me, Satan, was discerning love in order to bring Peter to what he could be.

It seemed distasteful to you at firstyou disliked us and accused us of putting you down at firstbut now you know we judged that you could be better than you were and we insisted on it.

Love demands that those who have the advantage of experience and leadership relate to others on the basis of building upNOT LEAVING OTHERS TO GO BACKWARD. OR EVEN TO REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE!

In Remedies

Love is always seeking that which is practicalhelpful.

That which is the most helpful in a situation, may not always be the most glorious or win the most applause. It may not even be the most soothing.

But love is interested only in that which is helpful.

Love seeks the long-range remedy. Love is never satisfied with superficialities or stop-gap measures.

In their years of experience and saturating their mind with the mind of Christ as revealed in His Word, they have always sought the long-term, helpful, strengthening remedy.

Their motives are, as far as I am able to judge, pure and loving. The wisdom of their decisions, I think, will be proved over the long-haul.

I have more than 100 letters from former students proving that hind-sight is usually more perceptive than fore-sight.

LOVING, DOING THE HIGHEST GOOD TO MEN, MEANS DISCERNMENT!

II.

LOVE IS DEMANDING

It Restrains

Permissiveness, or indulgence, is no sign of love! Permissiveness can be the most unloving thing one person ever does to another!

THOSE OF US WHO WATCH IN BEHALF OF YOUR SOULS ARE DETERMINED NOT TO INDULGE YOU BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEMAND OF YOU PERHAPS WHAT NO ONE EVER DEMANDED OF US, BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU!

With as much love, we believe, as Paul the apostle manifested toward Timothy and Titus, his student-preachers, we want to demand of you as much as he did of them (read the letters he wrote to them).

It Refuses

It sometimes has to say No!

God said No to the perfect man in Eden. BECAUSE HE LOVED ADAM!

God said No to perhaps the greatest saint of all, Paul, three times God said No to him. BECAUSE GOD LOVED PAUL.

For a good mental and moral exercise why don-’t you personally run through in your mind all the great men of the Old Testament to whom God said No!

Now list mentally all the churches and people to whom the apostles wrote letters stating many emphatic Nos! ADD THEM ALL TOGETHER!

The selfish thing to do would be to give everyone free reign to do as they please, go play golf, and when the situation became unbearable leave it to self-destruction and blame everyone else.

God said No to Moses (not enter promised land); God said No to Jonah; God said No to David (cannot build my temple). These listened. God said No to Saul; God said No to Baalam. These did not listen.

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU RESPOND TO GOD’S NOI IN HIS WORD. AND HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE NO! OF THE SHEPHERDS OF GOD’S FLOCK!

It Reiterates; Reinforces

Love does not give up with the first discernment or demand.

Love repeats and repeats and repeats (read The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson). Love hounds, stalks, trails.

The immature tend to classify discerning, demanding love as nagging or harping, nor nit-picking.

Does the discerning, demanding love of God give us cause to accuse Him of nagging or harping?

Were the Old Testament prophets nit-picking when they repeated and repeated and repeated God’s message?

III.

LOVE IS DELIBERATE

It is Real

Agape love is sincere, genuine. J. B. Phillips translates Romans 12:9: Let us have no imitation Christian love. Let us have a genuine break with evil and a real devotion to good.

Agape love will not stand for sham, superficiality, or unstable emotionalism (note: I said emotionalism. Love is part emotion but not all emotion.).

Agape love is not the silly, selfish sentimentalism so often portrayed by the world.

Agape love demands the whole man; mind, will and heart.

Many is the time we have been tempted to love some of you only according to how we feel, on emotions alone, BUT THAT IS NOT REAL LOVE!

It is Reliable

Decisive, dependable, firm, stable, consistent

One mark of love often overlooked is that characteristic of being able to make a decision, a consistent decision, a stabilizing decision and stand firm in that decision.

COULD YOU HONESTLY SAY YOU BELIEVED THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COLLEGE LOVED YOU IF IT COULD NOT MAKE A DECISION, CONSISTENTLY, AND STAND FIRM!?

A LEADERSHIP WHICH IS UNABLE TO MAKE A DECISION, CANNOT MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY, AND IS UNSTABLE, IMPRESSES ME AS A SELF-SEEKING LEADERSHIP!

It is Risky

Agape love will never let a man be selfishly-safe.

Agape love insists upon self-sacrifice.

Any parent who is afraid to risk his child’s temporary displeasure rather than enforce some genuine loving restraint, is not worthy to be a parent. AND THIS APPLIES IN THE FAMILY OF GOD!

CONCLUSION

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

Splendor means: glorious, sublime, superb, brilliance.

Love is like a many-faceted jewel; there are many sides to it and they all reflect the glory of God.

I hope I have caught your spiritual eye with three of the more dazzling facets of love this morning.

II.

OUR LOVE FOR YOU IS AN ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE IN YOU THIS SPLENDORED THING

We are going to love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.

We are going to love you with our mind and our will as well as our emotions.

You may not be pleased with us always, but we are not going to let our love be directed by that.

III.

TO YOU, MY BELOVED BROTHER OR SISTER, I AM VULNERABLE

I cannot lock myself up. break my heart if you will, I will still love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.

To appropriate a phrase from Isaiah, Behold, I have graven you on palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Old Green Commentaries

The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series — 59 volumes by 25 authors, published between 1961 and 1992 and affectionately known as the 'old green' commentaries for their green hardback bindings. Each volume is a commentary, workbook and teaching manual in one, written by Restoration Movement …

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Old Testament

GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUT 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZR NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SOS ISA JER LAM EZK DAN HOS JOL AMO OBA JON MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL

New Testament

MAT MRK LUK JHN ACT ROM 1CO 2CO GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TI 2TI TIT PHM HEB JAS 1PE 2PE 1JN 2JN 3JN JUD REV

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