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“When Good is Bad”Luke 15:25-32

Luke 19:10for the Son of Man has come to seek and to

save that which was lost

I. Jesus’ main target

A. Sinners

B. Legalists

C. Jesus criticized

Luke 15:2And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats

with them.”

II. Jesus’ main message

Luke 15:11Then He said: A certain man had two sons.

A. Act 2

Luke 15:25-32 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the

servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come,

and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo,

these many years I have been serving you;

I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young

goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has

devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to

him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should

make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is

found.’”

B. Who is the older brother?

Jesus Condemned the Pharisees

1)They loved the place of honor at banquets2)They loved to restrict the “saved” to a

select few, the elite.3)They loved to focus on technicalities.4)They sought to protect and promote their

own hypocrisy by concentrating on external “sins” rather then inner attitudes and motivations.

Matthew 23:13But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are

entering to go in.

Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier

matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving

the others undone.

Matthew 23:25-26 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the

inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Matthew 23:27-28 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside

are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly

appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

C. No feast

D. Self righteous

III. Jesus’ message to us

A. To seek and to save

B. Sins of the heart

1 Peter 5:5-7 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under

the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for

He cares for you.

James 4:8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and

He will lift you up.

James 4:11-12Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He

who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the

law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one

Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Psalm 138:6 (NKJV)Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the

lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.

Psalm 138:6 (NKJV)Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the

lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.

Psalm 138:6 (NLT)Though the LORD is great, he cares for the

humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.

C. The danger