Sermon for Sunday September 6th, 2009

Homecoming by Gerald Flury

Luke 15:11-15:24

HOMECOMING
LUKE 15:11-24A

Introduction: Luke 15 tells us the story of a wonderful homecoming. The steps leading up to that homecoming are steps that were anything but easy; but necessary. A young man played the fool and learned the hard way what it meant to be away from the love, joy and safety of home. His story has been repeated in our lives again and again as we like him rebel against God’s path for us until we come to the realization of our actions and being filled with regret, repent and return to find restoration.

I. Rebellion
A. Luke 15:11-13 “Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
B. The younger son chose to walk away from his rightful place to travel down paths of his own choosing which appeared to be more in keeping with his way of thinking. His leaving home was an act of rebellion against his father’s ways and ultimately his father.
C. Rebellion is reserving for myself the right to make all final decisions. It’s my life and I will choose what I feel is best for me. It’s what I want.
D. Concerning this inclination of “me-ism” among Christians, someone once said, “Everyone wants to do his own thing. If you put four Baptists in a room you will have six opinions about an issue and ten different fights will break out.” People want to do what THEY want to do.
E. Isaiah 65:2 “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts”
F. I believe that if we are honest all of us would admit that, at one time or another, we have experienced disastrous results when we have sought to do our own thing. We have sat in the driver’s seat of our lives and refused to follow God’s roadmap for our lives.
G. Jeremiah 10:23 “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
H. 1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

II. Realization
A. Luke15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”
B. It is not until we become aware of exactly where we are and what we have done that we can begin the journey to restoration of blessing and fellowship with God.
C. Being general director of the New York opera took a toll on Beverly Sills; she ballooned into obesity. She said, “It made me sick to look at myself. I’d reached the point where I didn’t want to have my clothes made anymore. It was too embarrassing. So I ordered everything from catalogues.” Eventually Sills was forced to face the problem. She said, “I woke up one day and realized I was really ill.” She went to see a specialist. “He put me on the scales. They read 215 pounds. ‘I cannot possibly weigh that much!’ I gasped. And the doctor said, ‘Please look down. Are those two fat feet on the scale yours or mine?’” Beverly smiles. “Once I accepted the problem, I was on my way.” - Phyllis Battelle in Ladies Home Journal, quoted in Reader’s Digest, June 1986
D. Revelation 2:4-5a “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen…”
E. I challenge you to evaluate your own life and see where you are at with Jesus.
F. Prussian king Frederick the Great was once touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence—except for one man, who remained silent. Frederick called to him, “Why are you here?” “Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply. “And are you guilty?” “Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment.” Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.” – Today in the Word, December 4, 1992
G. If we choose to ignore our awareness of sin, we will continue to follow sin down the path to death. - copied
H. Psalm 32:5 - "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity I have not hid"
I. The realization of our sinfulness should lead to brokenness of spirit and contrition of heart.

III. Regret
A. Luke15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”
B. The prodigal son had great remorse for what had sin was doing to his life.
C. Remorse for sin is introductory to genuine repentance. Remorse is that most horrible condition of mind that can never be expelled permanently, excepted by faith in the Lord Jesus. With this faith there comes into the soul a blessed sense of peace and pardon. This expels remorse; nothing else can. Under this remorse, we are so displeased with ourselves that we cannot help feeling that God is angry with us, not with a malicious anger, but yet with such anger as crushes the spirit down. It is a sense of God’s infinite displeasure against sin. – Charles Finney
D. 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10 “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
E. There are two types of sorrow we experience as a result of our sin. One is ‘the sorrow of the world,” a feeling induced by the fear of getting caught or of regret for our actions. Many people recognize the unpleasant consequences of their sin and are persuaded that they are guilty. This results in a superficial sorrow that may lead to a temporary reformation but not to a genuine turning to Christ for forgiveness. Godly sorrow, on the other hand, is accompanied by conviction of that sin, the work of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:37). This stems from the realization of offending a holy God. It leads to genuine repentance.
F. Psalm 51:2-4 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.”
G. An unknown author wrote, “There is a radical distinction between natural regret and God-given repentance. The flesh can feel remorse, acknowledge its evil deeds, and be ashamed of itself. However, this sort of disgust with past actions can be quickly shrugged off, and the individual can soon go back to his old wicked ways. – copied

IV. Repentance
A. Luke 15:18-19 “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”
B. It is not enough to be sorry for your sin – you must be sorry enough to quit your sin.
C. Repentance, metanoia, means to change one’s mind. Repentance is a change of mind and heart with an abhorrence of one’s sin.
D. Repentance is a decision to want freedom more than bondage. Remorsefulness is sorry for the past, but doesn’t want to change the future. Repentance is also sorry for the past, but makes a change in heart so the future will be different. (Kent Crockett, kentcrockett.com)
E. Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent...”
F. "The first step in any spiritual awakening is DEMOLITION. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulated junk in our souls. Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeing the sinful debris we hadn’t noticed before, which is what holds back the blessing of God. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His power among us." - Jim Cymbala, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”
G. Proverbs 28:13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
H. Repentance is saying I’m going in the wrong direction, and turning around.
I. Isaiah 55:6-8 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.”
J. Perhaps the best illustration of true biblical repentance was Saul of Tarsus who went from a religiously proud, legalistic persecutor’s heart to that a supple, christo-centric servant’s heart, giving his life that others might hear of Christ’s love and be given the opportunity of repentance.

V. Return
A. True repentance compels us to action. Repentance without action is nothing more than reformation.
B. Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father.”
C. There is no one who wants to come back to God who cannot for God waits with open arms ready to receive any of his children who want to come home.
D. Isaiah 44:22 “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
E. Repenting means revising one’s judgment and changing one’s plan of action.
F. When Saul repented of his sin on the Damascus Road, his very first question was “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
G. The cleansed life will manifest itself in conscious repentance which leads to unconscious holiness.
H. Hosea 6:1 “Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”

VI. Restoration
A. Luke 15:22-24 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’.”
B. Zech 1:3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus’, says the Lord of hosts: ‘Return to Me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
C. In the story of Camelot when King Arthur was away Guinevere his wife was unfaithful with Sir Lancelot. When King Arthur returned he found out about the affair and had his wife placed in a convent for life. Towards the end of the story in a beautiful scene he goes down to the convent and visits her trying to make everything alright. In the closing lines of that scene he says, "Lo, I forgive thee even as the eternal God forgives." Then he turns and walks away. But that’s not how the eternal God forgives! He doesn’t leave you in the convent! He doesn’t leave you in your circumstance. Had he forgiven his wife the way God forgives he would have said, "Honey I forgive you, get your bags, the kids and I want you back. You’re coming home with us! You’re still my queen and you’re going to ascend the throne again. God forgives without conditions. – Unknown
D. Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to Me’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
E. If there are a thousand steps between us and God, he will take all but one. He will leave the final one for us. The choice is ours. - Max Lucado