By Grace Alone – Two Lost Sons
Pastor Tan Thai · Jun 12, 2021
This sermon based on Luke 15 analyzes Jesus' three parables to show that both sons in the prodigal son story are lost and need the father to find them. The central message is that God Himself actively seeks and saves humanity by grace, not that humans find their own way to Him.
The sermon opens by distinguishing Christianity from other world religions. Most religions teach that through personal discipline and effort, people can find God or attain nirvana. The Gospel, however, teaches the opposite: it is not humanity that finds God, but God who actively seeks and saves humanity. All three parables in Luke 15 — the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son — highlight this central truth.
The next section presents the condition of sin and lostness that defines humanity. Since Adam and Eve sinned and were driven from the Garden of Eden, humanity has lived in separation from God. Scripture confirms this through Isaiah 59:1-4, Psalm 14:2-3, and Romans 3:11, showing that no one in their natural state desires to seek God. The devil, as ruler of this world, works to prevent people from thinking about God or desiring to return to Him.
The core message of the sermon focuses on God's grace as the only solution to humanity's lostness. Grace is defined as a gift we do not deserve to receive, illustrated through a salary analogy and through John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, and Ephesians 2:3-5. God actively sought His people throughout Old Testament history — calling Adam in the garden, promising the seed of the woman, using prophets to call Israel back — and finally sent the Second Person of the Trinity into the world as a man to seek and save the lost.
The sermon identifies three elements necessary for any search: the desire to seek, information about what is being sought, and guidance on how to find it. The Bible teaches that humanity lacks all three: no natural desire to seek God, no knowledge of who God is unless He reveals Himself, and no knowledge of the way unless He provides it. The Holy Spirit works to stir in human hearts a desire to know God, and Jesus declares that He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
The sermon concludes by comparing Jesus' parable with a similar story from Mahayana Buddhist scripture (the Lotus Sutra). The most striking difference between the two stories is captured in one word: grace. In the Buddhist story, the father conceals his identity and requires the son to prove himself through years of humble labor. In Jesus' parable, the father sees the son from far off, runs to meet him, embraces him, and throws a celebration — a vivid picture of the amazing grace that God extends to every sinner who returns to Him.