The Faithful Father Series

Series: Stories from the Kingdom

Text: Luke 15:11-24

Title: “The Faithful Father”

I. Separation (12-13a)

Vs. 12

• The one son comes to his father and says give me my inheritance.

o First of all this would have been the greatest insult he could give to his father.

o Essentially he was saying “I wish you were dead, I don’t need you anymore and I can make it on my own.”

o The younger son is rebelling against the authority of his father.

Truth

• We have all rebelled against God in the same way, its called sin.

o And if you have ever told even one lie, no matter how great or small, you have chosen your own way over God’s and it separates us from Him.

Vs. 13a

• We see the son gathers up his belongings and heads out to a far off country.

o What I really want to focus on here is the reaction of the father  he lets him go.

o God does the same thing with us.

Romans 1:21-22, 24 -- 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

o God lets us go because in our heart we have already left Him.

II. Destruction (13b-16)

• Out on his own away from the guidance of his father the son’s situation quickly deteriorates.

o 13b prodigal or loose living, he partied for a while.

o 14 The money and even all his possessions were quickly gone and he began to be in want, maybe for the first time in his life.

o 15-16 He finds himself no just feeding pigs; but living and eating with them.

Proverbs 16:18 -- 18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

• However we don’t have to go to such extremes to be separated from God and living a life of self destruction.

o Even as believers we can find ourselves removed from that closeness with God as a result of our own bad choices; relying on our own power instead of God’s.

o All stems from a prideful heart, ‘I can do it on my own, I don’t need any help.’

III. Composure (17-18a)

• The son seems to break out of the mental and emotional fog he was in and comes to his senses.

• Let us not focus on how low he sank before he got to this point, but let’s just be thankful that God brought him to this point.

o The first step in returning to God is realizing that we have a need for Him at all.

o That is one of Satan’s greatest weapons, its not that he convinces people there is no God, but that they have no need for God.

• However just recognizing you are in trouble and in need of God is not enough.

o Many in times of trouble cry out “Lord help me” but never come to Him.

IV. Confession (18b-19)

• “Father I have sinned against heaven and before you.”

o It was not enough for him to just be sorry about what he did; he had to come to that place of humility with a heart of repentance.

James 4:6b -- 6 “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

2 Corinthians 7:10 -- 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

V. Reconciliation (20)

• “When he was still a great way off, his father saw him.”

o The father had been looking toward this day since the day the son had left home.

o God also, from the time of the first sin, has looked forward to the promise He made in Genesis 3:15 when His son Jesus Christ would come and once and for all make it possible for us to come back to God.

o How God yearns for His children to come back home.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 -- 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

VI. Grace (21-24)

Vs. 21

• The son knew he deserved punishment but was hoping for mercy  to be one of his father’s servants.

Vv. 22-24

• Instead of mercy the son received grace, the fathers accepts him fully as a son.

o God also chooses to accept us in the same way, if we would only come back to Him.