Love Worth Finding

Carrie Vaughn: How can we measure our love for the Father? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: My dear friend, you are going to measure your love for the Father by your love for the brother. You see, you can't see God the Father, but you can see your brother. And so, in a very practical way, that which we can see is that which we can measure. And my dear friend, your love for your brother is that which can be seen, which is the absolute measurement of what is on the inside.

Carrie Vaughn: Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the dynamic teaching of Pastor and Author Adrian Rogers. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son reconciling with his loving father. However, as the passage continues, we meet his brother. Through this epilogue, Jesus reveals that the love of God that melts one sinner's heart can harden another sinner's heart.

If you have your Bible, find Luke chapter 15, as Adrian Rogers reveals what we can learn from the story of the ungrateful brother.

Adrian Rogers: Now this story is a story that Jesus Christ gave to the Pharisees, the Pharisees in whose hearts and lives the milk of human kindness had curdled. They had complained about the Lord Jesus Christ and they criticized Jesus for keeping company with sinners. And Jesus told this story. It's a story of two sons and two kinds of sinners.

One son, the story we're very familiar with, is the story of the prodigal, the prodigal son. He was a rebel, he was a renegade, he was a rioter. He ended up penniless, he ended up shameless, he ended up friendless. His were the sins of the flesh. But there was another son, a son that stayed at home.

Outwardly, he was a fine son, he worked hard, he was kept his father's commandments outwardly, did nothing wrong that anyone could obviously see. And his were not the sins of the flesh, his were the sins of the spirit. You see, there's some sins that are outward, and there's some sins that are inward. There's some sins that are sins of the flesh, but other sins that are sins of the spirit. There's some sins that are gross sins, there are other sins that are subtle sins.

People pay more attention to the prodigal son than they do the elder brother. And you know why we don't pay much attention to the elder brother? And why you don't hear many sermons about the elder brother, the brother that stayed home and complained about the younger brother who'd been away, complained when the father lavished his love upon that younger brother? I'll tell you why, because we're so much like the elder brother.

It's a love story, this 15th chapter of Luke, but you're going to find out that the love of God that melted the heart of one sinner, hardened the heart of another sinner. The elder brother was outwardly moral, but Jesus in this story made havoc of his little list of virtues. And you're going to find out that Jesus had compassion for that outward sinner, that man who was guilty of the sins of the flesh. But you're going to find out in the scriptures that Jesus had white-hot words for those who were self-righteous, those who were guilty of sins of the spirit and would not let go of those sins of the spirit.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you how our lives ought to be lived. First of all, there ought to be a pure, sincere, overflowing love for God. That love for God ought to lead to service for our Lord, and that service for our Lord ought to lead to great, wonderful, abounding joy. Love, service, and joy ought to mark our lives.

Well, I want you to measure tonight your love for God. And I want you tonight to measure your service for God, and I want you tonight to measure your joy in the Lord. And may I tell you several things? First of all, you may measure your love for the Father by your relationship with your brother. Put this verse in your margin. First John chapter 4 and verse 20. Here's what the wise apostle John said: "If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a" -- finish that word -- "liar."

Well, there's one thing about old John, he didn't beat around the bush, did he? "If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" Now, there's some who would like to assume the place of a son without assuming the responsibility of a brother.

My dear friend, you're going to measure your love for the Father by your love for the brother. You see, you can't see God the Father, but you can see your brother. And so, in a very practical way, that which we can see is that which we can measure. Downstairs in our church kitchen, in many church kitchens, we have big coffee urns. They put the coffee or the whatever the beverage is on the inside and on the outside there's a glass tube that runs up and down. And you can tell what's on the inside by looking at that glass tube that's transparent. And as the liquid goes up and down in that glass tube, do you know what I'm talking about? You know what's on the inside. You can't see what's on the inside, but you can see what's on the outside. And my dear friend, your love for your brother is that which can be seen, which is the absolute measurement of what is on the inside.

Now, you would have thought that this elder son who was out in the field when he came home and saw that they had killed the fatted calf, they were having a party, they were dancing, they were making merry. You would have thought he would have said, "Praise God, Hallelujah! Our prayers have been answered! My brother has come home! What a wonderful day! I wouldn't blame my dear old dad if he overdid the festivities just a little bit." But he wasn't that way.

As a matter of fact, he was such a poor son because he was such a poor brother. Do you know what I have in my mind? I really believe that this elder brother was a little bit jealous of the good time he thought the prodigal son had been having. He just was a little envious of those people who were doing things that he really didn't get a chance to do. He's like that woman who prayed in a prayer meeting when there were only a few in the prayer meeting, "Lord, be with us as we meet here with you while so many of our members are out there in the world having a good time." You know, this is the way he felt.

But I'm telling you, dear friend, you may measure your love for your father by your love for your brother. "If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he's a liar. He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"

Now, there's a second thing. You may measure your service to the Father by your fellowship with the Father. Look if you will in verse 25. "Now his elder son was in the field." That is, he hadn't been wasting his substance with riotous living, he was out in the field. He's he's working the ranch, he's working the farm, he's taking care of the flock, whatever it is. He's in the field. And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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."

Now watch this. "And he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and entreated him." Now watch verse 29. "And he answering said to his father, 'Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid,' that is, a young goat, 'that I might make merry with my friends.'" Now, he's interested here in his service. And it's very obvious that he was a hard worker. He was in the field. And he says to his father and he reminds his father in verse 29, "I have served you for many years."

But my dear friend, you may measure your service for the Father by your fellowship with the Father. This elder brother was what we would have considered a model worker. And yet he did not know the father's heart. He did not understand what motivated his father. I can I can just almost hear his mind working. He's saying, "You know, I don't understand what's wrong with my dad. We've never had finer crops. Look at the cattle, how sleek and fat they are. Look at the barns, how freshly painted, how large, how wonderful they are. Look at all of the workers we have coming and going. Everything looks just so fine. I don't know what's wrong with my father. My father just seems to sit there. He never seems to be completely satisfied, no matter how wonderful the farm is, no matter how beautiful everything is. My father seems to have a far-away look in his eyes. I don't know what's wrong with my father."

I'll tell you what was wrong with the father. He had a broken heart over a son that was away from home. I want to ask you a question. Do you think God is primarily concerned about several hundred in a choir and deacons and sermons and fellowship and church suppers and ordinations and Sunday school attendance? There's some people who think, "Well, you know, God ought to really be pleased with what we're doing for him. Look at the way we're running his farm." But I wonder, have we really entered into the great heart of God?

You see, dear friend, here was a man who was serving God without ever really knowing the heart of God. It was simply legalistic service. Do you know what he was thinking? He was saying, "God," actually to his father, but the father here takes the place of God. He was saying, "Father, I have served you and you haven't rewarded me correspondingly."

It's very obvious here that here was a man who was serving for reward. His service was legalistic service and he missed his father's heart. You see, the Bible says for example, about giving, Second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7: "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, nor of necessity: for the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." What is not cheerfully, willingly given, God neither needs nor wants.

We're to give out of our heart, motivated with love. You may measure your service to the Father by your fellowship with the Father. If, my dear friend, you serve for reward, it's not going to be long before you're going to be complaining that you're not being blessed sufficiently. And if somebody else is blessed more than you're blessed, you're really going to be complaining. But if you serve the Lord out of a love for God, not out of reward, you're going to be blessed indeed.

Listen, this young man did not know what made his father's heart beat. He could have known, he should have known, but he didn't. I'm going to mention one other thing, dear friend. Not only are you going to measure your love for the Father by your relationship to your brother, not only are you going to measure your service for the Father by, dear friend, your fellowship with the Father, but you're going to measure also that third thing that I mentioned, your joy with the Father, by your sharing of the Father's burden.

Notice again in verse 29. "And he answering said to his father, 'Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid.'" Do you see his finger in the face of his father? "Yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends." That is, "I'm not merry, I'm not happy." "But as soon as this thy son was come." Do you hear that? Not this my brother, but "this thy son." "But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed him for the fatted calf."

"And he said unto him, 'Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.'" But the elder brother didn't make merry. The elder brother was not glad, he had no joy, because, dear friend, he's wrapped up in himself. He doesn't have the father's burden. Look in verse 29. He's not concerned about his father. In verse 29 he says, "I, me," five times. He is full of self-righteousness. He is full of self-centeredness. He is full of self-pity, and he is perfectly miserable. And so will you be if you don't know the Father's burden.

If you do not share the Father's burden, you'll never know the Father's joy. If you do not love your brother, you don't love the Father. If you don't have fellowship with the Father, your service amounts to nothing. And if you don't have the Father's burden, you'll never know the Father's joy.

Now he had it all but he had nothing. Look if you will as the father reasons with him. Look in verse 31. The father said unto him, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." Now, look at it. He has everything, and yet the one thing he wants the most he doesn't have, and that's joy. He had position because he was a son. Look at it, he calls him a son. He has privilege because he's with the father. He has possessions because the father says, "All that I have is yours."

Now, in Bible times, the elder son got two-thirds of the inheritance, the birthright. The younger son got only a third. Everything that was left really belonged to the elder son. The father says, "Son, listen. You have position, you're my son. You have privilege, you're with me. You have possessions, all that I have is yours." And yet he had no joy.

I'll tell you why. The same reason that some in this building tonight say, "I just don't understand why it is that I'm not getting joy in my faith." Well, I'll tell you why, you don't share the Father's burden. You don't see things from God's point of view. You feel that somehow that somebody else's blessing is your demise.

Now, what this young man needed to understand was that in the father's house, there's always a surplus. The prodigal son knew that. He said, "Even my servants have bread enough and to spare." My dear friend, there's enough of God's grace for all 5 billion people on planet Earth. You can have all you want and they can have all they want. What brings the father joy? What makes joy in heaven? Again, what burdens the father's heart? A son away from him. What gladdens the father's heart? Listen, Jesus said, "There is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance."

I used to think that meant that the angels rejoice, and I suppose they do, but that's not what that verse means. It doesn't say there's joy among the angels, it says there's joy in the presence of the angels. It's the Lord who rejoices when a sinner comes home. There's joy in the presence of the angels, just as there was joy when this prodigal son came home. What gives the Father joy? For sinners to come home.

What will give you joy? "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again" -- what? -- "with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." My friend, do you want joy? If you want the Father's joy, you've got to share the Father's concern. You've got to share the Father's burden. This elder brother could have been concerned with a surplus in the house and an empty place at the table. And yet there was no twinge in his heart.

Have you ever thought about why he didn't share his father's concern? Why didn't he know how the father felt? I'll tell you why. He spent no time with his father. Do you know what he should have done? He should have said, "Dad, I want to talk with you. Dad, even though the crops are doing well, and even though the servants are obedient, and even though the barns are well built, and even though the cattle are sleek and healthy, and everything looks good, Father, I can tell you're burdened. Level with me, Dad. Why do you look so burdened?" The dad would say, "Son, it's your brother. You know, son, he wanted his inheritance early, and I gave it to him. And your brother's left home. I hear there's a depression in that land where he went. I'm concerned about your brother. Let's pray for him. Perhaps, son, you could go and see where he is. Perhaps, son, you could go to your brother and my son and tell him that mother and I love him and that you love him, and that you want him to come home and that we want him to come home. Welcome him home."

He never spent any time with his father. He didn't know his father's heart. Do you know why people don't have a love for the lost? Because they don't have a quiet time with God. Did you know it's not primarily a love for lost souls that we need, it's primarily a love for God that we need? Jesus didn't say, "Do you love sheep or do you love to feed sheep?" He said to Peter, "Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep." But here was a son who spent no real time, no quality time. What he did, he shut out the concern of his father while pretending to serve his father. He was self-centered and he was miserable. He came home and he said, "What's all this noise about?"

Did you know in churches across America today, there are people who don't want to be a member of an evangelistic church? Do you know why? It bothers them. They wish the preacher would just preach and say amen and let him go home. They don't like a man to stand in the pulpit and say, "Come to Jesus. Sing another stanza. Sing another stanza. Sing another stanza." They get antsy. They look at their watch. They say, "It's time to go. What's all this noise about? It disturbs me. Everything is fine just like it is. We don't need a new church. There's plenty of room for me, I always get a seat."

"What's all this noise about? What's all this concern about? What's all this pleading and praying about?" I want you to learn three things and learn them good. The Christian life is summed up in love for the Father, service to the Father, and joy with the Father. Your love for the Father is going to be measured by your love for your brother. Your service to the Father is going to be measured by your fellowship with the Father. And your joy with the Father is measured by the degree that you share the Father's burden.

Friend, when we learn to weep with him, we'll learn to rejoice with him.

Carrie Vaughn: What a profound message for us today. And maybe as you've listened, a prayer request has risen to the surface of your life. At Love Worth Finding, one of our great honors is to come alongside you and pray with you. If you can, go to our website lwf.org/radio and scroll down to find our Prayer Wall. You'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. Let us hear from you today. Again, find our Prayer Wall at lwf.org/radio.

Adrian Rogers: Hi, this is Carrie Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters, just like you. So, to give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE GOD. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There, we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Rogers. Or even write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for listening today, and be sure to join us next time for more profound truth, simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

Carrie Vaughn: I want to share a comment we noticed on a recent Facebook post that said this: "Dr. Rogers was a truly great preacher. We need more like him to stand in the churches of America and preach, not pacify the ears of a lost soul." Well, at Love Worth Finding, we love inspiring and equipping you with messages and resources for your daily Christian walk. And to thank you for your gift of support right now, we want to send you a copy of *The Real Battle for the Soul of America*. There is indeed a battle to be fought for our nation's soul, but it doesn't belong to a political party of policy. It resides in you and me. In this book, Adrian Rogers shares how we can stand on God's truth, regardless of politicians, personalities, or parties. Request a copy when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE GOD. Or give online at lwf.org/radio. And thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.