THE FORGIVING FATHER
A. As much as we like to believe that our Heavenly Father is a God of COMPASSION, MERCY, and
GRACE, there are still some Christians who have difficulty accepting God’s complete FORGIVENESS.
1. There are those who look at their lives as being so STAINED with SIN that they cannot believe that God can possibly FORGIVE them.
2. Then there are those who LOOK at the people whose lives are so STAINED with SIN, and they can’t believe that God can possibly FORGIVE them, either.
COMMENT:
This PARABLE addresses both GROUPS.
B. The Bible teaches that God is a FORGIVING FATHER regardless of how MANY or how GREAT our sins might be.
1. Isaiah 1:18- “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
2. Micah 7:18-19- “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
3. Hebrews 8:12- “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
C. This is the LESSON that the Prodigal Son learned.
1. Although he had been in the DISTANT COUNTRY wallowing in the PIG PEN of SIN, when finally “came to his senses” and RETURNED HOME, he found his Father WAITING and WATCHING for his RETURN.
COMMENT:
The Father was their to FORGIVE. Actually, the Father was FORGIVING all along, but the SON didn’t know that. He was out in the WORLD having a GOOD TIME living to PLEASE himself, until he wound up in the PIG PEN. But it wasn’t until he RETURNED HOME that he received the BENEFIT of God’s FORGIVENESS.
2. God is a FORGIVING FATHER, but while we are out in the DISTANT COUNTRY we’re not receiving the BENEFIT of God’s FORGIVENESS.
COMMENT:
It’s not until we COME HOME to God that He EMBRACES us and RESTORES us to the PLACE of SONS and DAUGHTERS.
D. Today is the story of the FORGIVING FATHER- Luke 15:17-24 (READ)
I WANT YOU TO SEE WHAT KIND OF HEAVENLY FATHER WE HAVE:
MESSAGE:
I. A FATHER WHO FORGIVES – v. 20
A. Imagine the PRODIGAL SON’S trip back HOME!
ILLUSTRATION:
Here he is in the PIG PEN—FRIENDLESS, HOMELESS, STARVING. He finally realizes the MISERY that his SELFISHNESS, ARROGANCE, and UNGODLY LIFE have gotten him into. He REMEMBERS his Father back HOME—how LOVING and KIND he was to him. And even though his Father had certain DEMANDS and had set down certain RULES that he expected his SONS to ABIDE by, the PRODIGAL now UNDERSTANDS that what his Father COMMANDED was for his best WELFARE and GROWTH, and was not being UNREASONABLE at all. Now he decides to RETURN HOME and CONFESS to his Father how he had SINNED against God and against him.
As he begins his long JOURNEY, he is PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY, and SPIRITUALLY exhausted. He left HOME in REBELLION and returns home REPENTANT. He is in RAGS, he is DIRTY and FILTHY and the STENCH of the PIG PEN is upon him. Shoeless, he begins that LONG WALK HOME—that LONG, TORTUROUS road to face his FATHER, to face his BROTHER, and to face FRIENDS. He left on TOP of the WORLD, but now he comes back as a former HOG SLOPPER.
Each STEP is AGONIZING, but he knows he wants to go HOME regardless of how difficult the TRIP might be. He now wants his Father. I can picture the young son STUMBLING, perhaps CRAWLING—RESTING for a while, and then FORCING himself to get up and take a few more FEEBLE STEPS towards HOME.
Underlying this TRIP HOME, is the ANXIETY of what will HAPPEN. What will his FATHER do? How will his BROTHER react? What’s going to happen when he finally reaches HOME?
B. What truly HAPPENED is UNBELIEVABLE!
1. “While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him…” – v. 20
ILLUSTRATION:
I don’t think that was an ACCIDENT. I believe there was a PATH worn to the HIGHEST
HILL! I am sure the Father anxiously LOOKED for his son everyday.
Undoubtedly when his son LEFT he felt this GNAWING PAIN in his CHEST. He knew deep down that his son was HEADING for RUIN. Had he TRIED to stop his son, he would have REBELLED even more and LEFT anyway, and probably never RETURN. The Father had to STAND BY and WATCH his son FALL. That was the HARDEST things for him to do, but it had to be done.
I can picture the Father going out everyday to the HIGHEST HILL looking for his son to RETURN. Every night he goes back into the house DISAPPOINTED because his son is still GONE far from HOME.
But on this particular day as he is WAITING and WATCHING, he sees this LONELY figure slowly TRUDGING up the ROAD. He feels this GNAWING PAIN in his CHEST again as his HEART beings to BEAT rapidly. The anxiety begins to BUILD as he thinks, “Is this him? Could it really be…?” And as his SON approaches more closely the Father shouts, “Yes! Yes, it’s him! My boy has COME home!”
2. “When the Father saw him, he was filled with compassion and RAN…”- v. 20
COMMENT:
According to Charles Hodge, the author of When God Ran, OLD MEN in those times did not RUN. But the Father swallowed any PRIDE that a Father perhaps could have, and VIOLATING all of the TABOOS of that day and any day—the Father RUNS and EMBRACES the PRODIGAL!
ILLUSTRATION:
It took a Father to RECOGNIZE that son! Metaphorically speaking, the son LEFT home in a NEW CAR and a NEW SUIT. He left home with a DIAMOND RING. He left home TALL and STRAIGHT and SMUG. He had the WHOLE WORLD for his TAKING.
He returns WALKING, not RIDING. His feet are BLEEDING and SORE. He returns in RAGS, not a new SUIT. He returns with a head MATTED with FILTH and UNSHAVEN and UNKEMPT. And is FACE is that of an OLD MAN—a man DISSIPATED in SIN. He is STOOPED and STINKS like the HOGS that he LEFT.
Yes, it took a Father to RECOGNIZE this young man. And he RUNS to meet him!
3. “When he ran to his son, he threw his arms around him and kissed him.”- v. 20
a. I want you to understand that the Father RAN to his son, EMBRACED and KISSED him before the SON had a chance to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.”
COMMENT:
The SON didn’t have to BEG his Father to FORGIVE him. He didn’t have to say a word.
All that mattered to the Father is that his SON has come HOME!
b. Nor does the Father give him the “THIRD DEGREE.”
COMMENT:
I don’t read where the Father said, “Son, where have you been? What have you been up
to? I bet you’ve been up to NO GOOD, haven’t you?”
All I see the Father doing is RUNNING to his son with OPEN ARMS, and then once there puts his ARMS around him and HUGS him tightly to his CHEST and KISSES him.
It doesn’t matter to the Father what his son LOOKS like or SMELLS like, or even what he had been DOING. All that matters to him is that his son “was DEAD, and is now ALIVE. He was LOST, and is now FOUND” – v. 24.
C. Jesus presents this story to help us UNDERSTAND how FORGIVING our Father is.
1. God is not a TYRANT. He doesn’t delight in PUNISHING—he delights in showing MERCY.
2. But please don’t MISUNDERSTAND this critical point.
COMMENT:
The REBELLIOUS will be PUNISHED if they remain in REBELLION. If the PRODIGAL would have remained in the DISTANT COUNTRY, he would have remained DEAD and LOST. It was only when he RETURNED HOME to the Father that he became “ALIVE and FOUND” once again.
But this PARABLE does teach that regardless of how REBELLIOUS, how UNGODLY, how UNCLEAN a person may be, he or she can always COME HOME to a Father who is WAITING and WATCHING for His CHILDREN to RETURN.
II. A FATHER WHO RESTORES- vv. 21-24
A. As the son had DETERMINED to do, he begins to CONFESS to his Father- v. 21
1. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
a. If you have ever made the TREK down the church isle to CONFESS wrong in your life, you know somewhat how extremely DIFFICULT it was for this son to say this to his Father.
ILLUSTRATION:
Any PRIDE the son might have had at this POINT, is all gone. He didn’t know for certain how his Father might REACT when he RETURNED HOME. Here he is in his Father’s ARMS being EMBRACED and KISSED. He was probably thinking that it would be a lot EASIER if his Father would just SLAP him across the FACE as hard as he could. Maybe his Father doesn’t REALIZE what all he had been DOING, that’s the reason he’s so OVERJOYED to see his son back HOME!
I can picture the son pushing his Father back so he could LOOK at him squarely in the eye. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, and no longer worthy to be your son.”
COMMENT:
He was right! He wasn’t WORTHY to be his son. His Father was good to him. He gave his son a HOME—he gave him LOVE. And all the son did was to DEFY his Father and LEAVE.
We give up our RIGHTS to SON-SHIP when we LEAVE God!
b. As difficult as this was for the son to CONFESS to his Father, he knew he had to do it.
2. The son, in making this CONFESSION, is not expecting COMPLETE FORGIVENESS and RESTORATION, but only a CHANCE to PROVE his WORTHINESS once again.
COMMENT:
He wanted his Father to put him on as a “HIRED HAND”- v. 19. A HIRED HAND did not
know from one day to the next if he had a JOB and PLACE to stay.
The son is saying, “Father, as long as I PROVE myself, keep me on. If not, send me away just like you would any HIRED HAND.”
3. What the Father in fact does is not what the son EXPECTS at all.
B. The Father completely RESTORES the PRODIGAL to the POSITION of SON- vv. 22-24.
1. This is where I am going to LOSE some of you.
COMMENT:
Some of you are probably thinking: “We can accept the FACT that God is a MERCIFUL God and that He can even FORGIVE people who REBELLIOUSLY sin against Him and come back, but we don’t think they should be RESTORED to the POSITION they had
prior to LEAVING without PROVING themselves!”
That’s where we and God are vastly different. And that’s why I am glad that you are not my God, and you should be glad I’m not yours!
The way we view GOD is the way we view PEOPLE. And if we picture our heavenly Father as a VINDICTIVE God who can’t WAIT to DESTROY people who SIN against him, that’s how you are going to DEAL with people around you.
Many Christians just have not come to KNOW the God that Jesus is DESCRIBING. That’s why the story of the PRODIGAL is so beautiful, because it lets us see God as he REALLY is—UNADULTERATED by our preconceived CONCEPT of Him.
2. As soon as the PRODIGAL confesses his SIN and tells his Father that “he’s UNWORTHY to be his son,” the Father shows him in the best way possible that not only is he FORGIVEN but he still
MAINTAINS his POSITION as SON!
a. “The father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a fest and celebrate’”- vv. 22-23.
b. These ITEMS—the ROBE, the RING, and SANDALS were symbolic of RESTORED wealth, power, authority, and position.
COMMENT:
But notice that the first thing that the Father to put on his boy was the “ROBE.” Can you imagine putting your BEST ROBE on a HOG SLOPPER? He still SMELLS like the PIG PEN from whence he came. He is FILTHY and SWEATY from his long walk. Yet, the Father says to his servant, “Bring out the BEST ROBE and put it on him.”
But shouldn’t you CLEAN HIM UP first? You see, the Father wanted his SON to know that regardless of how FILTHY and DIRTY he is or whatever he has DONE, he is still his SON! And the Father wanted everybody to KNOW that.
ILLUSTRATION:
Sad to say, this is the REASON many people will never be SAVED! Man wishes to CLEAN UP! Man wishes to COME HOME successful! People say, “Once I straighten up my LIFE, then I’ll be BAPTIZED into Christ.” Or you hear, “Once I know I can overcome this WEAKNESS, then I’ll come back to God.”
If you have to WAIT until you are PERFECT before coming to God, then why do you NEED God? I don’t believe that anybody can “STRAIGHTEN UP his LIFE” or “OVERCOME the WEAKNESS of the FLESH” without God’s SPIRIT working in their LIVES, and even then you’ll still STRUGGLE with SIN. God is the one who does the CLEANING UP, not you or me. We turn our LIVES over to God, and He does the rest.
C. As the story continues, we find that not everyone is as HAPPY as the Father when the PRODIGAL comes HOME. We’ll study about the OLDER BROTHER next Sunday.
CONCLUSION:
A. This is a story of God’s AMAZING GRACE and FORGIVENESS extended to someone that would otherwise would be JUDGED, CONDEMNED, and OSTRACIZED by many Christians.
ILLUSTRATION:
Listen to what Max Lacado writes in his book: No Wonder They Call Him The Savior.
“Not many second chances exist in the world today. Just ask the kid who didn’t make the little league team or the fellow who got the pink slip or the mother of three who got dumped for a ‘pretty little thing.’ Not many second chances. Nowadays it’s more like, ‘It’s now or never.’ ‘Around here we don’t tolerate incompetence.’ ‘Gotta get tough to get along.’ ‘Not much room at the top.” ‘Three strikes and your out.’”
B. Wouldn’t it be great if there were DO OVERS in life?
ILLUSTRATION:
A policeman stops you for speeding, you just tear up the ticket and say – “Thanks officer but I’ll be taking a DO OVER.” The bank says you bounced a check. “I like to have a DO OVER PLEASE.” You call your wife by the NAME of the last GIRL you dated before you got MARRIED. “DO OVER!” FAIL a test, BLOW a presentation at work, INVEST in the wrong company, FORGET to send in your taxes – JUST take a DO OVER!
COMMENT:
There aren’t many DO OVERS in this world, but when it comes to our RELATIONSHIP with God our Heavenly Father, DO OVERS are a reality as long as we come to Him with a SINCERE, PENITENT heart seeking His FORGIVENESS.
