Good morning, we're in Luke chapter number 15.
Luke chapter 15, the Bible reads.
"Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners,
"for to hear him.
"And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying,
"This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.
"And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep,
"if you lose one of them,
"doth not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness,
"and go after that which is lost until he find it?
"And when he hath found it,
"he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
"When he cometh home, he calleth together
"his friends and neighbors, saying unto them,
"Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
"I say unto you that likewise, joy shall be in heaven
"over one sinner that repenteth,
"more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance.
"Either what woman, having ten pieces of silver,
"if she lose one piece, does not light a candle
"and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it.
"When she hath found it, she calleth her friends
"and her neighbors together, saying,
"Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost.
"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence
"of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
And he said, "Certain man had two sons.
"The younger of them said to his father,
"'Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.'
"And he divided unto them his living.
"And not many days after, the younger son gathered
"all together and took his journey into a far country,
"and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
"And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine
"in that land, and he began to be in want.
"And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country.
"And he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
"And he would fain if filled his belly with the husks
"that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him.
"And when he came to himself, he said,
"'How many hired servants of my fathers
"'have bred enough and to spare?
"'And I perish with hunger.
"'I will rise and go to my father, and will say unto him,
"'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee,
"'and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
"'Make me as one of thy hired servants.'
"And he rose and came to his father.
"And when he was yet a great way off,
"his father saw him, and had compassion,
"and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
"And the son said unto him, 'Father,
"'I have sinned against heaven and in eyesight,
"'and am no more worthy to be called thy son.'
"Father said to his servants,
"'Bring forth the best robe and put it on him,
"'and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet,
"'and bring him to the fatted calf,
"'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, and it began to be merry.'
"Now his elder son was 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 has come,
"'and thy father hath killed the fatted calf,
"'because he hath received him safe and sound.'
"And he was angry, he would not go in.
"Therefore came his father out and entreated him.
"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 gaveest me a kid
"'that I might make merry with my friends.
"'But as soon as this thy son was come,
"'which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
"'that was killed for him the fatted calf.
"'And he said unto him, 'Son, thou art ever with me,
"'and all that I have is thine.
"'It was me that we should make merry and be glad.
"'For this thy brother was dead and is alive again,
"'and was lost and is found.'"
Let's pray to Lord God.
Thank you for your word.
Thank you for this opportunity to hear preach.
It's nice that you would be with us now here this morning.
Please bless the pastor here with your Holy Spirit.
And bless the preaching.
And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
This morning, and look down into the Bible, verse number one, it says, "Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners, for to hear him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man received its sinners, and eateth
with them."
And the time I'm assuming this morning is the perishing and the prodigal, the perishing
and the prodigal.
Here in Luke chapter 15, we see that the publicans and sinners, those who aren't necessarily
esteemed among society, are going to Jesus, they're listening to Him preach, they're listening
to expound the Word of God, and the religious leaders of the day, known as the Pharisees,
are being critical of that.
The Pharisees and the scribes, they're murmuring, they're complaining about it, and they are
criticizing Him because He is fellowshipping with or teaching, should I say, sinners, known
as the publicans, and He's receiving these criticisms from the Pharisees and scribes
due to the fact that these people aren't necessarily the highly esteemed in society, they aren't
necessarily the best of Christians or believers, but these are people that need the word of
God.
And when He receives His criticism, He actually expounds into them three different parables
that essentially explains two different types of groups, one being for the unsaved and those
being for those who are already saved, those who are Christian, those who are believers.
And really these parables are about the conversion of the sinner as well as the restoration of
the believer.
And what these parables really show us is the fact that God not only cares for those
who are not saved, but He also cares for those who are saved, but maybe have gone astray
in their life and as a Christian.
And so we're going to look at some of these parables.
I'm going to spend the majority of the sermon on the last parable, but let's look at the
first one in verse number three.
We're going to look at the parable of the sheep and this is a parable that most people
are familiar with.
He says in verse three and he spake this parable into them saying, what man of you having a
hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until he find it.
And when he has found it, he laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing the Bible says.
Now, what is this talking about?
Well, Jesus Christ is giving the illustration here that if a shepherd has a hundred sheep
and one of them goes astray, he will do basically everything in his power to look for that one
sheep showing us that that one sheep is very valuable to the shepherd.
OK, it's not like, well, at least I still got ninety nine sheep.
At least I still retain the ninety nine.
Obviously, he has a lot of love for that one particular sheep that is lost.
And what the parallel here is, what this is trying to explain to us is that God cares
for lost people.
And what are we talking about?
We would say lost people.
We're saying those who don't know 100 percent sure if they're going to go to heaven when
they die.
That's a lost person.
Right.
If a person, if you ask someone or someone asks you, are you 100 percent sure that if
you die today that you'd go to heaven and anything other than yes, because I believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, you say something like that.
Or if you say, well, no, I don't know for sure, because no one knows.
I don't have that assurance.
I don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I hope so.
The Bible considers you to be a lost person, right?
And the will of God for your life, according to the Bible, first and foremost, is to be
saved, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so you can have eternal life.
And God likens you to that lost sheep that has gone astray.
But here's the thing is that according to the Bible, the good shepherd known as Jesus
Christ came from heaven 2000 years ago looking for that one sheet.
It says in verse number five, that when he had found it, he laid it on the shoulders
rejoicing.
Why?
Because he's happy that someone has come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Verse six says that when he come at home, he calls together his friends and neighbors
saying unto them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep, which was lost.
Now I know what this is like because of the fact that, you know, when I get a friend saved
or someone who I'm very close to a family member, someone who is a relative of mine,
when they come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, when they finally believe on
the Lord for salvation, I want to tell everyone about it.
I want to tell my family and friends and to a certain degree, I want to say rejoice with
me because this person has finally found their faith in Jesus Christ.
They finally found salvation and it's a time of celebration.
Let me just say this is that if this is your first time in our church today and you don't
know where you're going to go when you die, you know, your friend must have a lot of love
for you.
Think about that.
You know, obviously today is our friend day and really it's an opportunity for people
in our church to invite those who they really love and care for and think about it.
You know, if you're here, it's because your friend, family has been thinking about you.
They've been praying for you.
They've been hoping that you would come here with the possibility of you receiving Jesus
Christ as your savior.
Like, "Well, I thought they just brought me here just to kind of, you know, get some
cookies and, you know, just be a part of their church or something."
Well, the cookies is part of it for sure, but you know, more than that though is the
salvation of your soul.
And I promise you, I promise you, if you're here today and you don't know beyond a shadow
of a doubt that you're saved, your friend is sitting next to you praying to God that
you do get saved today.
They're sitting there hoping to God that you come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
They're hoping that this service actually changed something in your heart, that you
would be open to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And if and you do receive the Lord Jesus Christ today as your Savior, you believe on the Lord,
your friends will rejoice.
They'll be happy.
In fact, verse seven says, "And I say to you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over
one sinner that repenteth more than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance."
Now let me make something very clear is that according to the Bible, in order to have salvation,
you don't have to do works.
You don't have to repent of sin because none of those are sufficient for salvation.
You don't have to be baptized or keep God's commandments because no one is able to do
that perfectly.
According to the Bible, all that's necessary to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The Bible says in John 3.36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3.16, it says, "For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have
everlasting life."
Romans 4.5 says, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly."
Listen to this.
His faith is counted for righteousness.
Over and over again, the Bible specifically tells us that all we have to do in order to
be saved is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to believe?
It means you're trusting that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, listen to
this, is sufficient to save you, meaning God doesn't require your effort, your participation.
He doesn't require your obedience to God's commands because no one's able to do that
perfectly.
He doesn't require your ceasing of sin because, let's just be honest, no one can stop sinning
this side of eternity.
He doesn't require baptism because, let's just be honest, not many people get baptized.
He doesn't require moral integrity.
He doesn't require the keeping of the commandments.
He doesn't require obedience.
All he requires is for you, you to place your faith in Jesus to be saved.
And if you think, well, I think I have to do something for that salvation though.
I think it's both Jesus and maybe something on my part.
Well, in that case, what's the point of Jesus even coming to die for us then if he came
to pay for all of our sins and resurrected?
What is even the point?
Let me tell you something right now, the Bible teaches us that faith in Christ is the only
thing that can save you.
And the Bible tells us, "Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law."
The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith."
And listen to this, in that, not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works that any man should boast.
So he likened salvation to a gift and he says that you don't have to work for it.
It's not of yourself.
It doesn't require your effort.
It doesn't require anything on your part.
It just requires your faith in Christ to receive that gift of salvation.
Isn't it great that salvation is free?
Isn't it great that it's 100% free?
It's a gift that's already been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.
A lot of churches out there don't teach that.
They teach you you have to do something for salvation.
They teach you that you have to just be good for the rest of your life, to keep all of
God's commandments, to not sin, but folks, that is a fool's errand.
No one is able to do those things perfectly.
And thank God that the Bible teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is sufficient.
Are you that lost sheep?
If you are, you've come to the right place.
And I hope that what I'm telling you resonates with your spirit, that you would decide today
to no longer be a lost sheep, but that you would willingly place your faith in Jesus
Christ.
It doesn't require anything on your part.
It doesn't require, it doesn't even require for you to be a member of my church.
What do you want my tithe?
No tithe necessary.
Does it require my membership and I'm assigning a membership covenant?
No membership covenant necessary.
All it requires is your faith in Jesus Christ and in fact, let me just say this, you know,
I would love for you to come back to our church, but if you got saved today and you just never
came back, that's good enough for us because if you got saved and you believed on Jesus
Christ and you walked out of these doors, a safe person that is worth it all.
Why?
Because it's worth leaving the 99 to go for the one.
The second parable we see here, look at verse number eight, is the parable of the lost coin.
It says in verse number eight, "Either what woman, having 10 pieces of silver, if she
lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until
she find it.
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying,
'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I have lost.'
Likewise is saying to you that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth.'"
So we see here another parable given in order to illustrate the importance of saving people.
And it uses the illustration of a woman having 10 pieces of silver, something that is very
valuable.
And she loses one.
And instead of saying why, at least I still have the nine, she actually decides to seek
after the one piece of silver because she obviously values that piece.
And I want you to notice in verse eight that it says that she lights a candle.
And what this illustrates is the fact that in order to find people, in order to find
the coin, in order to find the lost person, the light of the, of the word of God is necessary
for that.
She lights a candle, sweeps the house and seeks diligently for it.
I wonder, are you here because someone just kind of just kept bugging you diligently about
coming to friend day?
They're just like, Hey, just a reminder.
Hey, remember you said, Hey, by the way, Hey, I know, you know, I know I already told you
this.
You're going to be there.
Right?
Yeah.
Chuckling because it's probably true.
And you're like, yes, I told you I was going to be there.
I'm going to be there.
Stop that.
I'm not going to be there if you keep asking.
But you know what that is?
Seeking diligently till they find it.
You say, why?
Why?
Why did my friends?
Why did my family just?
Why were they so persistent in asking me to come?
Well, obviously because they value you as that piece of silver that needs to be found.
They want you to be found.
Verse 10 tells us likewise, I say to you that there's joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner that repented for visitors today.
I like to ask you this.
Are you 100% sure that if you die today that you'd go to heaven?
Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved?
The Bible tells us these things have been written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe
on the name of the Son of God.
Don't buy into the lie that no one can know for sure.
The Bible says we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're saved.
And my prayer today is that you would not leave First Works Baptist Church without getting
that settled.
You would not leave these doors before talking to someone and saying, "You know what?
I'll be honest with you.
I thought I knew, but I don't think I know."
And there's doubt in my heart.
I don't know for sure that I'm saved.
And I know that hell exists.
The Bible talks about hell existing.
I don't want to go to hell.
I want to be saved.
But I need someone to explain to me very easily how it is that I can be saved today.
I hope that's you today, and I hope you get saved.
We see two parables dealing with lost people, those who are not saved, those who are, according
to the Bible, on their way to hell, but they can be found.
But then the third parable actually switches gears a little bit, and instead of focusing
on those who don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're saved, we see this third
parable that actually the remainder of the chapter spends a lot of time on is on the
subject of the prodigal son.
And when you actually study this chapter, you kind of come to the realization that the
prodigal son isn't someone who is not saved or, you know, this is a person who, you know,
his laws doesn't know that they're going to heaven.
This is actually paralleling a person who possibly is a believer, but maybe he's gone
astray a little bit.
They got off the path a bit.
They backslid a little bit.
And this is a beautiful story illustrated in Luke chapter 15 to encourage people like
you and people like me that when we get off the path, we could always make our way back.
Now, why does he use the illustration of a son?
Well, the reason he does is because from a spiritual perspective, when we get saved,
we actually become, listen to this, children of God.
Now, there's a false doctrine out there that teaches that we're all children of God, but
that's actually not true.
And you say, "Well, how do you know that?"
Well, because of the fact that the Bible tells us that in order to become a son of God, we
have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1-12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the
sons of God, even unto them that believe on his name."
1 John chapter 3 says, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,"
listen to this, "that we should be called the sons of God," showing us that there's
a time we weren't children of God, but once we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we become
children of God.
And that's a wonderful thing.
To be a son of God is a wonderful thing.
It's wonderful because it obviously ensures us that we're saved, that we have eternal
life.
"I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand."
But you know what, it also assures us that God the Father will spank us when we get off
track.
You know, any loving parent will discipline their children if they misbehave or they get
off track.
Well, like man or God, the Father does the same to his children as well.
Let me read to you from Galatians chapter four.
You don't have to turn there.
In verse number four, it says, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his son made of a woman made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God had sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
'Abba, father, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and of a son, than an
heir of God through Christ.'"
So obviously the parable that's being illustrated here, God wants us as believers to put ourselves
in the story, right?
And we may be this son that we're looking at here in this parable, then maybe he has
gone astray and some of the steps, some of the consequences that he faced as well as
some of the steps that he took to get back on track.
Now let's look at the story, look at verse number 11, we're going to look at the rebellious
son in verse number 11, it says, "And 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 falleth to me,'
and he divided unto them his living.'"
You say, what's a rebellious about that?
Well, the youngest son is requesting his inheritance.
So his father has a particular inheritance, resources that he's going to give unto his
sons, both of his sons, but this is obviously an inappropriate request by the younger son
because of the fact that the inheritance is typically given after the death of the father.
So the father hasn't died yet, and the younger son is like, "Hey, I know you haven't died
yet, but can I get that inheritance, please?
I'm going to get it anyways.
Can I get the inheritance?"
And that's pretty inappropriate, because obviously the will of the father is that once he dies,
he leaves something behind for his children.
But his son, because he is rebellious, because he wants to sow his wild oats, because he
wants to go and experience the world or do whatever, he wants it now.
He wants the inheritance.
He wants the resources.
He wants those riches now.
And in spite of this, the father fulfills the younger son's request.
So obviously the tradition is after the father dies, the son receives the inheritance, but
the father allows the son to have his inheritance at that moment.
And the spiritual application here is that in like manner, God, the father, listen to
this, will allow his children to exercise their free will sometimes, even if it's not
his will.
And even if he knows that their decisions are potentially harmful to themselves and
to others.
So sometimes Christians like, well, I rather just do this instead of serving God or doing
God's will.
And you know, sometimes God says, okay, that's what you want.
Not because it's his will for you to do that, but because God is a God who allows us to
exercise our free will, because God didn't create robots, right?
He didn't program you in a certain way to love him and to serve him.
We have to willingly do those things.
And that's a good thing.
You know, if your children were just automatically programmed to love you even into their old
age, that'd be kind of weird.
You want them to choose to love you.
Hey, you want your wife to choose to love you.
You want your husband to choose to love you.
The relationships are much richer when the people around us choose to like us and love
us, not forced to, right?
And so God, the father created us with the free will.
And that free will, hopefully we use it to serve him, to love him, to obey him.
But let's just be honest, sometimes we just don't do that.
Sometimes we want the inheritance now.
Sometimes we want what we think is best for us now.
Sometimes we make the decisions that we think will benefit us now.
Sometimes we do things that are contrary to the will of God only because we want it for
us now, because we think it'll benefit us now.
And you know what?
Sometimes God says, okay, fine, take it.
The father gives us a choice.
Let me read to you from Deuteronomy 30 verse 19, it says, "I call heaven and earth to record
this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing."
I want you to notice these three words, "Therefore choose life, he says, that both thou and thy
seed may live."
He says, I'm giving you a choice.
I'm giving you a free will, but I hope you make the right choice though.
And I hope you choose life.
Hey, when it comes to the subject of salvation, I hope you choose life because you have a
choice.
No one can force you to get saved.
No one can force you to believe on Jesus Christ.
No one can force you to be a part of a religion.
According to God, you have to choose eternal life.
But once you're saved, you still have a choice to choose life.
He says in verse 20 that thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey
his voice and that thou mayest cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy
days that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear into thy fathers to Abraham
to Isaac to Jacob to give to them.
So the son he says I want the inheritance now I want the riches now I want these resources
now and the father gives it to him look at verse 13 what is the result of that riotous
living verse 13 says in not many days after the younger son gathered all together and
took his journey into a far country and I want you to notice this and there wasted his
substance with riotous living so he gets all his money he gets all the riches and the resources
of the inheritance that his father gave him and instead of investing it instead of doing
something uh you know productive with that inheritance what does he do he just parties
it up riotous living what is riotous it means uncontrolled behavior disorderly conduct and
unrestrained revelry so he just goes and he just parties drinks it all away spends it
on people lives lavishly and in fact when we think about the story as the prodigal son
we often relate prodigal to what just someone who's astray right a prodigal son someone
who just goes astray and you know backslides but prodigal actually means to be wasteful
or reckless recklessly extravagant living lavishly that's actually what prodigal means
so when the bible talks about the prodigal son it's actually referring to a person who
is just wasteful they're wasting their inheritance in order to do what they want to do just living
lavishly recklessly destroying their lives the younger son begins to do so and this
is often the attitude the believers can have when they become rebellious they want liberty
right but often become enslaved by what they thought could bring them freedom the bible
tells us that in a second timothy chapter 2 it warns us you don't have to turn there
it says thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ no man that
warth entangled with themselves with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier so what is this what is this uh younger son doing he's allowing
himself to be entangled with the affairs of this life he's allowing lust he's allowing
wine and whoredom to destroy him to replete him uh to to to deplete him of his resources
and his finances and this is often what happens to christians when they get off the path they
live listen to this a wasteful life a life that doesn't matter anymore and in fact the
bible tells us that when a seed is sown the seed of god's word sown among thorns the cares
of this world the bible says the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things entering
in choke the word and he becomes unfruitful the bible also says in proverbs 21 verse 17
he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich
josea chapter 4 verse 11 listen to this says whoredom and wine and new wine take away the
heart take away the heart from what from god it's important for us as Christians to realize
that sometimes believers get off track they become a prodigal why because they think that
the world has something to offer them that god cannot offer they begin to waste away
their life whether with resources money women drugs vain entertainment but the bible tells
us that godliness with contentment is great gain having food and raiment let us therewith
be content for we brought nothing into this world and it's certain we can carry nothing
out but they that will be rich the bible says fall into temptation and a snare and to many
foolish and hurtful lusts that drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of
money the bible says is the root of all evil which while some coveted after have pierced
themselves through with many sorrows but thou oh man of god listen to this thou man of god
flee these things i mean how many stories have you heard of someone who wins the lottery
and is just like a horror story and everyone's mind is just like man if i could just won
the lottery though if i could just win a million dollars i would be so happy and then you know
they have this battle then they're like man it's probably not right to like play the lottery
but i would give to a church though or i'd give to a charity but if you study all these
stories of people who win the lottery they end up destroying their lives they end up
living in destruction and perdition why because the love of money is the root of all evil
and it destroys them and it seems as though the younger son did exactly that he destroyed
his inheritance he destroyed his life because of his rebellion look at verse 14 if you would
verse 14 so he demands his inheritance he receives his inheritance he goes into a far
country he lives lavishly riots his living he becomes prodigal in his conduct and what
is the result of that the result of that he became a millionaire he married a model and
lived happily ever after in his mansion and nothing bad ever happened to him thereafter
no he hit rock bottom actually look at verse 14 and when he had spent all there arose a mighty
famine in that land and he began to be in want so aside from the fact that now he's just broke
he has no inheritance he's broke on top of that there's a mighty famine in the land what is a
famine when there's no food so he has no money no food and now he's in want meaning he's lacking
sustenance now i want you to notice in verse 13 that it says that he went into a far country and
then these things took place you know it's often said that sin will take you farther than you want
to go keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you way more than you want to pay and that's
absolutely true with the younger son once the parting was over once he sobered up once he
realized the bank account was gone once he once the the happiness wore off once all these things
were done now he's realizing i'm broke i'm in a far country i'm away from my dad's house now
there's a famine and i'm in want the bible tells us let no man say when he is tempted that i am
tempted of god for god tempted no man with evil neither god is not tempted with evil neither
tempted he any man and the bible says that every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own
lust and enticed then when lust hath conceived to bring forth sin and sin when it is finished
bring forth death do not err my beloved brethren the bible also says in proverbs chapter 20 verse
17 bread of deceit is sweet to a man but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel what does it
say it's saying you know sin tastes good rebellion tastes good doing wrong actually tastes good
initially sinfulness tastes good rebelling against your parents tastes good rebelling against your
husband tastes good rebelling against your boss tastes good rebelling against god tastes good
initially but afterwards the bible says thy mouth shall be filled with gravel in other words the
aftertaste is horrible you guys ever had keto whatever snacks or whatever like the initial
taste is like i think i could do this but then you swallow it you wait a couple seconds like
my head is gross there's some diet sodas that are like that too not coke zero of course there's
some there's some sodas just like it tastes good initially but afterwards it's like thy mouth is
filled with gravel it's just like you guys just missed like a chemical something you know you
just didn't do it right or something and then your stomach feels all cold and you know just
it's like sin sin initially tastes great but no one really takes into account the after effects
no one takes it into account the result of your actions the younger son didn't think about it
what would happen once he wasted all his substance and had all that fun what is the result of that
now obviously i'm speaking to believers here but obviously you know this could also apply to people
who are not saved you know a lot of people who are not saved who are on the way to hell according
to the bible they may be living life now but they're not taking into account the result of that
is hell they're not taking into account that the wages of sin is death he goes on to say verse 15
and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country so now he's unequally yoked and he
sent him into the fields to feed swine so now he's lowering himself to feeding pigs and you say well
what's wrong with that well obviously during this particular time in the old testament because this
is still old testament even though it's a parable being cited in the gospels we have a major
violation of god's laws in the old testament because those of israel were not to have any
dealings with swine that were considered unclean animals so he is disobeying god's word by feeding
the swine he says in verse 16 and he would have and he would feign feign meaning gladly willing
under the circumstances he would have feign have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did
eat and no man gave to him what does that mean he would have been happy just to eat what the pigs
were eating i mean talk about rock bottom at a time when he was living with his father he had
servants he had the care of his parents he's eating good food he's clothed he doesn't have a
worry or a care in the world now he finds himself in a far country feeding swine and eating the same
meals as the swine so after he's done feeding the swine he's just kind of taking some of himself
that's not his father's will for his life but you know that's how a lot of christians will find
themselves gladly eating under the circumstances that which is fed to the pigs the younger son
now finds himself hitting rock bottom he wasted his substance he left his father's home he's
feeding swine he's eating what the swines are eating he doesn't have anyone to show him any
compassion i mean this is a bad no by the way notice that you know like before this he's
spending his substance i'm sure everyone was his friend when he when he was a friend to everyone
else with money right as long as he had money everyone was happy with him and in fact the bible
tells us this in proverbs 19 verse 6 it says many will entreat the favor of a prince and every man
is a friend to him that giveth gifts you know you better you better be careful who your friends are
and why they're your friends if it's because you got money is it because you're doing well is it
because you're a giver of gifts because everyone's a friend to those who give gifts but apparently
right now he doesn't have any money and you know what no money no friends no one that he can find
to give unto him so at this point the son got his inheritance goes into a far country
has a season of sinful living he's feeding swine he's hitting rock bottom there's a famine he's
eating what the swine are eating but now he has an epiphany now he's just like what am i doing
look at verse 17 he remembers how good he had it and when he came to himself now that's a good
phrase there what does that mean he comes to his senses he's like what am i doing it's always good
to come to your senses every once in a while every once in a while just stop scrolling and come to
your senses you know put the bottle down put the alcohol down and come to your senses put the drugs
down and come to your senses put the sinful put the the the video game controller down and come
to your senses come to yourself he says when he had came to himself he said how many hired servants
of my father's have bread enough and to spare and i perish with hunger he's like from what i
remember like my father's employees ate better than what i'm eating right now they had enough
bread and even to spare and i'm over here eating swine food that's a good you know that's a good
thing to remember so he's coming to himself he's realizing how good he had it and let me just say
this you know the bible tells us that the goodness of god leadeth us to repentance and sometimes
when a christian goes astray they get off the path they get back slidden and by the way i'm
not just talking about christians who are out there who are not in church you know sometimes
christians can become backslidden in here just in their heart but once we realize the goodness of
god it kind of leads us to repentance it helps us to realize how good we have it as believers
bible says in psalm 77 verse 6 i call to remembrance my song in the night i commune with
my own heart and my spirit made diligent search what does that mean it means he comes to himself
he's coming to his senses so he's thinking you know i had it really good with my dad
you know what christian if you've gone astray you have it really good or you had it really good
with your heavenly father yeah maybe you weren't having as much fun on friday nights or saturday
nights but you know why don't you think about the hangovers though why don't you think about the
consequences of your actions why don't you think about the good times with the lord the things that
you actually enjoyed when you were serving god so he comes to himself he comes to his senses look
at verse 18 we see a repentant son he says i will arise and go to my father and will say unto him
father i have sin against heaven and before thee he's showing remorse and no more worthy to be
called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants so what is he showing he's showing
repentance here and you know it takes a lot of humility to come to this point right here
and i'll tell you this you know as a christian christians can be prideful i mean people in
general can be prideful but christians can be prideful for sure and sometimes it's hard
for christians to just get right with god because they don't want to admit that they're wrong they
don't want to admit like oh man i was on the wrong path going down the wrong direction just
not serving god or not having god in my thoughts just kind of living selfishly riotous living
being a prodigal but this guy is actually saying you know what i'm going to humble myself before
my father i'm going to tell him that i'm no more worthy to be called my son make me a servant just
hire me as a servant i'll take the position as a servant and obviously his father is not going to
do that but he's willing to humble himself and this is showing a sense of repentance the bible
tells us in second corinthian 7 verse 7 verse 10 for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation
not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world worketh death for behold the self same thing that
ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you yea what clearing of yourselves
yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge
and all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter now let me just make
something very clear that when it comes to salvation repentance of sin is not necessary
repentance is just not of sin you say well i thought repentance in the bible is always
about turning from sin no because if that were the case then we got a problem since the bible
records god repenting so if repentance always means turning from sin then there's a major
issue since god is the one who actually repented more than anyone else in the bible the truth of
the matter is repentance varies in its definition based upon the context of the scripture when it
comes to salvation repentance means to turn from what you're trusting in for salvation
and place in your faith in jesus christ so do we need repentance to be saved yeah you need to
stop trusting in whatever it is that you're trusting in for salvation whether that be
yourself your works your church commandments of god whatever it is baptism and place your faith
in jesus christ now for the christian if you're already saved god commands for you to repent of
sin just to remain right with god not for salvation but just to maintain a right relationship with the
lord he requires that godly sorrow he wants us to be sorry for our sin when we wrong him by by
breaking his commandments and restoration with god the father with other believers requires that
requires the confession of sin repentance the bible tells us in the first john chapter one verse
six if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth
now that's powerful there it's saying that if you have if you claim to have fellowship with god but
you're involved in sin god calls you a liar he says in verse seven but if we walk in the light as
he is in the light we have fellowship one with another in the blood of jesus christ his son
cleanseth us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness and i want you to notice this if we say we have not sinned we make him a liar
and his word is not in us that's one of the reasons why we believe you can't repent of sins to be saved
because if you claim well you have to repent and turn from all your sins to be saved well then
you're making him a liar because if you say you have not sinned because you've repented of your
sin you make him a liar and the truth is not in you you see in order to be saved you need the
forgiveness of sins not the repentance of sins the forgiveness of sins that is only obtained and
possessed through your faith in jesus christ next i want you to notice the compassion of the father
so he finally comes to his senses he comes to the sense of remorse he has his godly sorrow look at
verse 20 we see the reception of the father says in verse 20 and he arose and came to his father
and here's a beautiful phrase right here but when he was yet a great way off his father saw him
that's wonderful what's he saying it doesn't matter how far you've gotten in the christian
life how backslidden you've gotten it says there while you're a great way off the father sees you
and it's implying that he's kind of like waiting for you to get right now that's important why is
that because sometimes christians can think man i'm so far gone why even try to make my way back
i'm in a far country i've disobeyed god i'm just not living a life that's pleasing unto him
i'm just doing that which is wrong but when he was a great way off the bible says his father saw him
meaning he's waiting for him to get right with god with his father he says had compassion and ran
and fell on his neck and kissed him you know and like man or god the father is often waiting for
wayward christians wayward children to make their way back and you know it's not really hard at all
it's not hard at all to get right with god if you're a christian who's just not right with god
you're not right with the lord you're involved in some crazy sin you've been out of church for
months possibly maybe even years you're doing things that are not pleasing in the eyes of god
guess what it's still very easy to get right with god the word is nigh the even in thy mouth believe
it or not you can literally get right with god right here right now nothing necessary other than
you just getting right with him and saying lord i'm coming back i want to get right with you i want
to make you like the centerpiece of my life once again i want to start reading the bible i want to
start praying again making church important i want to make church important so that my kids grow up
in church you know what a great motivation to get right with god or stay right with god is for your
children's sake i think everyone here to a certain degree would love for their children to grow up in
church to be churchgoers of this society to be the moral backbone of this society by being
faithful church members and you know what sometimes it's hard for parents to get into
church and to stay in church but one of the greatest motivations to do so is doing it for
your children's sake you're like i don't feel like going to church but i gotta go to church
because i need to provide a good example for my kiddos now me i have no choice i'm the pastor
i'm always gonna be here you know even if i don't feel like going to church i'm gonna be here no
matter what but you know for a lot of people it's not necessarily like that you have to make the
choice to come to church and let me say this even if you don't feel like it start coming and be
faithful for your kid's sake because your kids will follow your example and lord willing they
will exceed your example in a good way they'll become far more committed than you go further
than you do greater works than you love the lord maybe even more than you and that's not a bad
thing that would be a good i would love for my children to love the lord and serve god more than
me i would consider that a major success the point here in verse 28 the point that i'm trying to make
here is that sometimes christians will often think well god is mad at me you know how can i come back
if he's mad i've disappointed him how can i get right like this if i just feel like he's going to
judge me or something and i can't come back but that's not what the text is showing the text is
showing that he is like waiting for them to come back you know what the bible tells us i'm gonna
read to you from psalm 103 and verse 8 it says the lord listen to this i love this the lord is
merciful and gracious slow to anger what does that mean it means he that you know he he's very
patient takes a lot for him to get mad he's slow to anger plenteous in mercy he will not always
chide neither will he keep his anger forever he have not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded
us according to our iniquities what does that mean it means you know you might be suffering the
consequences of your actions but let me just be real honest with you you haven't suffered the full
extent of your actions why because he hasn't dealt with us after our sins if you're to bring the
hammer down completely on your life for your sins i mean we'd just be toast we'd be cooked
but here it says that he hasn't rewarded us according to our iniquities verse 11 says for
us i want you to notice this phrase the heaven is high above the earth so great is his mercy towards
them that fear him as far as the east from west so far hath he removed our transgressions from us
like as a father you know like the father in luke 15 pitieth his children so the lord pitieth them
that fear him for you knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are dust we see here that
god the father is compassionate he's patient and he's waiting for you to come back look at verse 21
it says and the son said unto him father i have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no
more worthy to be called thy son i want you to notice that the son takes responsibility and he
realizes that he sinned not only against his own earthly father but even against god the father
because he says i sin against heaven and against you look at verse 22 but the father said to his
servants bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his
feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry for this my son was
dead and is alive again he was lost in his found and they began to be merry what do we see here we
see the god we see that the father actually celebrates the restoration of his son he's not
like well well well look who's come crawling back i told you didn't i tell you i knew this was going
to happen to you now some people are chuckling because maybe that's what you do to some of your
kids and how did that turn out for you you know we like to gloat a little bit in our judgments
right you wasted your substance how's that swine food feeding the swine far country you uh riotous
prodigal you know god's not like that actually he doesn't just like rub your face in your sins he
doesn't just like hang it over your head and rub your face in it and just kind of gloat about it
satan does that and sometimes people need to differentiate the two sometimes we think that
it's god who's doing it but it's actually satan who rubs your face in your failures why because
the bible according to the bible he's called the accuser of the brethren he's the tempter meaning
he tempts you to do those things and after you're done doing those things he comes and he accuses
you like wow well you're a christian huh and you're doing those things wow look at that god the
father does not like that in fact god the father what does he do he rejoices i mean what is this
chapter about it's rejoicing over one sinner that repenteth so even when a a christian gets right
with god and they come back on the path of righteousness according to the bible god rejoices
over them he celebrates for that why because his son has come home i mean he brings him the best
robe a picture of the righteousness of jesus christ putting on the lord jesus christ he puts
a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet ready to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
he kills the fatted calf they're celebrating with food they kill it they eat it they're married
and he and he exclaims my son was dead and is alive again he was lost in his found
and began to be married the bible tells us in ephesians chapter 5 verse 14 wherefore he
saith awake thou that sleepest in his rise and arise from the dead and christ shall give thee
light i mean what an exciting story what a great reminder to us all that we can always get right
with god now obviously there are times when people can't get right with god and that's when they die
they're saved and they go so far into their sin that it kills them and i'm not going to stay here
and tell you that that doesn't happen because it does happen where people get saved and they live
a riotous life a prodigal life and they don't come back to the father they remain in that situation
and there is a sin unto death the bible says and they can get to a point where god destroys their
life and god takes them home early and that does happen and let me say this i hope that's not i
hope you are a prodigal that does come back to i hope that you're a prodigal that does get right
with god i hope you come to your senses i hope that you have that epiphany i hope you realize
you had it better with the father i hope you realize that spiritually you might have hit rock
bottom but now that you want to get right with god and i hope you realize that it's actually
very simple and very easy to do lastly look at verse 25 kind of uh i don't like the fact that
we have to end on a negative note but the chapter kind of does though so that was a beautiful story
but now you have the resentful son verse 25 says now the elder son was in the field and as he came
and drew nigh to the house he heard music and dancing and everyone's celebrating everyone's
happy and he called one of his servants and asked what these things meant and he said it's him thy
brother's come and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received them safe
and sound so it's just like hey your brother's back you know he was gone for so long but guess
what nothing you know he physically he's fine he's safe and sound he's restored look at verse
28 look at his reaction and he was angry would not go in therefore came his father out and treated
him so the son is mad it's like why are you mad your your brother's like healthy he's here your
your father's restored him look at his response in verse 29 and he answering said to his father lo
these many years do i serve thee neither transgressed i had any time that commandment
and yet thou never gave us me a kid that i may make merry with my friends but as soon as this thy
son was come which hath devoured thy living with harlots thou has killed for him the fatted calf
so instead of rejoicing over the fact that his brother's restored now he's like envious he's
like jealous he's envious he's angry why because he's like i've never left you i stayed working
here and i was good to you all this time and all of a sudden my younger brother comes and you throw
a big party for him but you know the older brother's not thinking about something and that's this you
know you have your inheritance your brother already lost his think about that the brother i mean hey
great that the party's being thrown new robe rings shoes on the feet restoration but the reality is
this the older brother still has his inheritance the younger brother has wasted his substance
and so we thank god for the person who's restored but let's just be honest anytime someone comes
back they might bring a little bit of baggage with them there might be some issues that they
have to work through and they might have lost some things while they're out there it's still
worth coming back though but reality says the truth says something was lost when they're out
there but let's not be like the elder son where it's just like well i never left church and i was
always here and i was in my spot and i sang and i did everything i was supposed to do look at the
response look at verse 31 and he said in him son thou are ever with me and all that i have is dying
it was meat that we should make merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead and is alive again
and was lost and is found trying to reason with him saying you should be happy about this
i'm gonna say this christians we should be happy when people are restored amen and rejoice over
that and you know if someone throws a party for someone who's been restored and no one threw a
party for you boohoo okay there's a lot of things that a lot of consequences you haven't faced
because you made right decisions and they made bad decisions in either case the point that the
chapter is making is that number one if you're not saved if you're not saved you are that coin
you are that sheep that the lord has been looking for this whole time and obviously this is a friend
day and someone invited you to come but there's no coincidence there's no coincidence or accidents
with god this is god's way of like looking for you this is god's way of searching for you this
is god's way of hoping that you come to the saving knowledge of jesus christ i hope to god that you
do but if you're already saved maybe you went astray maybe you didn't go as far as the prodigal
maybe you didn't go into that far country but you went far enough that you're out of your father's
house so to speak the house of god well here's a good reminder to just come back it's really easy
you just ask the lord to forgive you restore you just get back get back in it yeah but i don't
have a church though you do now yeah but i just you know i don't have you know the right kind of
clothing i mean what you got on now seems pretty good yeah but i don't have a bible we'll get you
one what other excuse do you got i don't know the songs take a hymn book home free not hard to come
back not hard to come back so two two messages today in one is simply this one if you're not
saved i hope you get saved today i hope you allow someone and someone will come talk to you after
the service they will approach you i hope you give them a couple minutes of your time to talk to you
just be open to it just let them let them read to you the verses it's it's a life-changing thing
though i hope you don't pass it out and then secondly if you're already saved and you're
not right with the lord and you haven't been right with the lord for quite some time i hope and pray
that you take today to get right with them and even if someone comes to talk and you say i'm
already saved i've already believed on jesus christ but i like to get right with god let someone
pray with you get right with the lord right then and there why not thank you for coming to our
friend here let's pray father we thank you so much for your word lord and the beauty of luke 15
and showing us lord that you care for the one you care for that one sheep that one coin
and there's many sheep and there's a lot of coins here lord i prayed that you would work in their
hearts that they wouldn't leave here today without getting that nailed down to be saved and i pray
for that prodigal as well lord that they would come back lord may you work in their hearts
and in their lives help us to be a blessing to them and bless the remainder of our day thank
you so much for all that you do for us and for welcoming welcoming us back when we go astray
we love you we thank you pray this things in jesus name amen