Time to Come Home

Introduction

As I thought, prayed and considered what to preach today, I could find no peace. I read through various Scriptures and God didn’t give me liberty with any of it. Until this passage was brought to mind. This is one of the great parables of Jesus - one that is beloved by many throughout the world.

And as I preach this message, I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel, nor am I expecting to reveal some great hidden truth that you’ve never heard before. But what I know is that this message is one that is needed today… the story known as the ‘Prodigal Son’.

The reason that I say that it’s needed today, is because there’s a multitude of Christians right now that are playing the part of the prodigal. Their sin & distance may not be as obviously seen as his, but they are in a far country none-the-less.

So for any & all prodigals I want you to know that it’s Time to Come Home.

I. His Rebellion

Revealed Externally (v11-12)

If we’re to boil down the cause of the prodigals actions, we would find that the reason he did what he did is because he demonstrated a spirit of Rebellion against his Father.

By His Desire

He desired that his father give him his inheritance. Make note, that the Father isn’t dead. The younger son is just dissatisfied with living under the Father’s roof & rules. He didn’t want the Father’s authority, but he wanted what the Father would give him.

Isn’t this just like the prodigal. (Ill.) This I guarantee: There’s not one prodigal living today that doesn’t desire their next breath. They desire the blessings and goodness of the Father - but they don’t want to live under the Father’s Authority!

We see his Rebellion by His Desire

By His Determination

How long did it take the prodigal to leave? “Not many days after...”.

The younger son had his fill of his Father’s House. He desired his Father’s blessings - but not his company.

Church, let me ask you this: Do you desire your Father’s company? Are you spending time speaking to Him in prayer? Are you hearing from Him through His Word?

The younger son was Determined to get away from the Father

By His Destination

Lastly here, we see that he went to a “far country”. He was nowhere near the Father’s House.

Now I want to make a sure point: Just because this younger son went into a far country DOESN’T MEAN that if you’re not in a far country, you’re not a prodigal as well.

You don’t have to be in a far country to be playing the part of the prodigal. (Ill.) If the story of Lot tells us anything, it demonstrates that all you have to do is pitch your tent in the direction away from your family and towards the world, sooner or later, you’ll end up there.

We see the Destination that his Rebellion took him

Rooted Internally

While his rebellion revealed itself externally, we must understand that’s not where it began. His rebellion was Rooted Internally.

The problem wasn’t his hands, it was his heart

The problem wasn’t where his feet went, it’s what his heart lusted after.

This man had a heart problem - and his problem of the flesh is one that we’re all prone to succumb to.

Church, this Rebellious spirit that we see demonstrated in the prodigal, is one that’s found in the heart of man.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

This is why the Bible admonishes us in: Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.”

We must be on guard constantly - because if we’re not apart from the Father playing the part of the prodigal - we’re not immune from it! This can happen to ANY and ALL of us!

We see this mans Rebellion. Next, we’ll examine His Ruin

II. His Ruin

Notice church that his Rebellion led him here. If not for submitting unto his rebellious spirit, he’d not have experienced Ruin. But he did, so let’s see what that looked like.

Came by Egocentric Living (v13b)

Egocentric (def) concerned with self rather than others

The Bible tells us that he wasted - THAT’S THE WORD - NOT SPENT, BUT WASTED his substance on riotous living.

This younger son was concerned with himself. He certainly wasn’t concerned about his Father. He wasn’t concerned about his brother. He was concerned with pleasing himself and his flesh.

Church, this attitude is the antithesis of what God’s Children are called to be!

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, what did he say? Mark 12:29–31 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

We’re not to love self MORE than others - and this is the problem that many Christians have today - they’re looking out for ‘ol #1’. Our affections are INWARD instead of UPWARD and OUTWARD!

Whenever you are focusing on self, you’e headed down the road of ruin!

His Ruin Came by Egocentric Living

Came by an Exhausted Land (v14)

Psalm 68:6 “God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”

One thing to notice is this: Look at where the famine happened - THAT land. Guess what, the famine didn’t effect the Father’s land - but it sure did in that THAT land!

When you wander from the Father’s House, there will certainly come a time when you reach a place where you get ‘depleted’. The land that you took such pleasure in becomes drained of it’s fun. Drained of it’s joy. Drained of it’s pleasures - and what you’re left with is an exhausted land that can’t give you what you truly need!

His Ruin - Fueled by a Rebellious Spirit, Came by Egocentric Living & and Exhausted Land brought things into the younger sons life that shouldn’t have been there!

Caused Errant Relationships (v15a)

We see that the younger son “joined himself to a citizen of that country”.

That country. Where the heathen resided that knew not God.

That country. That spit in the face of God’s Laws & God’s Commands.

That’s who the younger son was yoked up with.

The Bible speaks much about the type of relationships we should have. We must be very careful about who we are yoking up with.

Proverbs 13:20 “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

Speaking of the COI: Psalm 106:34–36 “They did not destroy the nations, Concerning whom the Lord commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, And learned their works. And they served their idols: Which were a snare unto them.”

Proverbs 28:7 “Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: But he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.”

Samson yoked up w/ Delilah - and it brought him to ruin

Peter gated together by the fire with the heathen - and caused him to curse and deny the LORD

Paul said: 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

When we get away from God, it causes us to yoke up to people we have no business yoking up to.

His Ruin Caused Errant Relationships

Caused Egregious Compromise (v15b)

He went to work - feeding the swine. For a Jew, this was illustrative of just how low sin can bring you.

Leviticus 11:7–8 “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”

So not only has he left the house of his Father.

Not only has he wasted his substance

Not only is he yoked up with Heathen

Now, he’s going directly living contrary to his religion!

The old saying is true: Sin will TAKE you farther than you want to go, KEEP you longer than you want to stay & COST you more than you want to pay.

His Ruin Caused Egregious Compromise

Caused an Emptiness (v16)

Ultimately, his life was in ruins. He was just empty. He had nothing.

No Food

Jesus is speaking of course food in the physical. But let me tell you something - there’s other food that is far more important.

Jesus said: Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

The Bible tells us in John 4:30–34 “Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

When we get away from the Father, we not only lose that which we need to sustain us Spiritually, but we lose purpose as well!

No Food

No Friends

He had that moment ‘You find out who your friends are’ right here. NO MAN gave unto him.

No Friends

No Family

No family in the sense that he’d abandoned them. He HAD family, but chose to leave them.

When this man left the Father, he left the ones who truly cared for him.

I don’t care where you go in this life - you’ll never find a better friend than Jesus! No one will ever do for you what Jesus did for you! There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother!

His Ruin was great.

His Rebellion led to his Ruin

III. His Repentance

Church, this is where it gets good! You see, there’s still hope for this prodigal!

And if you’re the one who’s strayed from the Father’s house, I want you to know that there’s hope for you too!

We see his Repentance. THIS IS WHAT IT TOOK! WHEN I SAY THAT THERE’S HOPE FOR YOU, THERE’S HOPE - AND THIS IS THE WAY!

He Saw His Situation (v17)

“He came to himself” - this is akin to ‘he came to his senses’. I think we’ve all been there...

He was blinded by the flesh & blinded by Satan - but thank God he came to himself!

He realized where he was, what he was experiencing - and best of all, HOW MUCH BETTER IT IS IN THE FATHER’S HOUSE!

This is the inevitable end to every backslidden Christian. At some point after slopping with the pigs, you come to that moment of realization that says ‘What am I doing??? Why am I here??? Man, it was SO MUCH BETTER at my Father’s House!

Here’s the key church - you never get back to the Father until you have that moment of clarity. And the further from the Father’s House you are, the easier it is for Satan to keep those blinders on you!

He saw his Situation

He Saw His Sin (v18)

The younger son didn’t try to sugarcoat the situation - he called it what it was: Sin!

Church, when we rebel against our God - the one who saved us by His Grace, leave the goodness that He provides at his house, it is sin - there’s no two-ways about it!

He saw his Situation, He saw his Sin

He Saw His Self (v19)

What I mean by that is that he saw who he was… in truth.

Not who he fancied himself to be.

Not what he wanted everyone else to believe

Not what he wanted to be

He saw himself in truth. That he’s unworthy.

Oh church, let me tell you something - I’m unworthy! When I see who He is, and I honestly look in the mirror, I realize that I’m unworthy!

Oh, but I love the Scripture found in Romans 5:6–8 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

To think that the God of Heaven knows me - in truth, yet still sent His only begotten Son to die for me is a fact that I’ll never get over! I KNOW WHO I AM - HE KNOWS WHO I AM, YET STILL LOVES ME! I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, BUT I’M SO THANKFUL THAT HE DOES!

He saw His Self - so he Stood and Sought His Father

He Stood & Sought His Father (v20a)

It’s one thing to realize your situation - it’s another thing to do something about it. This is Repentance. He was headed one direction, but he turned around and went back to the Father.

Listen to me prodigal. It’s Time to Come Home! All of this understanding is nothing if you remain in a far country. It’s Time to come home to the Father’s House!

We see That he Stood & Sought the Father

We’ve seen His Rebellion, His Ruin, His Repentance

IV. His Restoration

He was Received (v20)

One of the most beautiful word pictures in the Scripture. He must have been a sight! But his Father yet while he’s a great way off didn’t shake His head and mumble ‘I told him so’ - the Bible tells us that He HAD COMPASSION, and RAN, and FELL ON HIS NECK, and KISSED HIM!

<Try to illustrate - Looking for, then seeing his son, then running to him>

The Father didn’t disown him

The Father didn’t give him down the road for wasting his substance

The Father was OVERJOYED that his son was home!

Listen, Jesus is telling us this because this is our Heavenly Father’s reaction when His prodigals come home!

If you’ve strayed from the Father’s house, IT’S TIME TO COME HOME! THE FATHER IS WAITING TO RECEIVE YOU!

He was Received

He was Restored (v21-22)

The son begins to tell him ‘I’m unworthy to be called thy son’ - but what does the Father do? He ignores him! Because it’s not about his worth, it’s about his relationship he has with his Father! That’s his son - and he’s restored as such!

His Father gets a Robe for his back, Shoes for his feet, a Ring for his hand & Food for his belly!

Church, if you come back unto the Father’s house, He doesn’t treat you like a second-class citizen. He restores you to a place of honor! He’s your Father, you’re His child!

He was Received & Restored

They all Rejoiced (v23-24)

They all rejoiced.

Listen prodigal. No matter how far you are from the Father’s House, it’s time to come home!

There’s Restoration to be had

There’s Rejoicing that Awaits

The Father is looking for you. Will you come home today?

Conclusion