Restoration of the Prodigal

Luke 15:11–19 NKJV

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 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. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’

Let’s Go through some basics:

The People:

A certain man ( the father).

Two sons:

the older faithful to the rules son. who lacks the heart of the father.

the younger son who may have the heart of the father but lacks character of the father to walk in his inheritance.

then there was the citizen who cared nothing for the son. (without the citizen he may never had known the blessings of having a father or being a son.

The Places

The Fathers house.. home.

The far country where the younger son wasted his possessions with prodigal living. What is prodigal living.

what did he do in the far country ? He wasted what he had. when he spent all that he had there arose a famine in the Land.

finally there are the fields of swine.

The Problem

The Problem was the son was in a hurry to party. he had no idea who he was or what his possessions took to get or what that wealth was for.

when I was writing this sermon I decided to look up the word “Prodigal” I was a little surprised by what i found.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Prodigal

1prod•i•gal \ˈprä-di-gəl\ adjective

[Latin prodigus, from prodigere to drive away, squander, from pro-, prod- forth + agere to drive—more at PRO-, AGENT] 15th century

1: characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure: LAVISH 〈a prodigal feast〉 〈prodigal outlays for her clothes〉

2: recklessly spendthrift 〈the prodigal prince〉

That is right the word means wasteful.

when we talk about repentance from the passages (Luke 15) we are talking to the faithful, not the lost. the lost need to be saved. the Church needs to repent.

Repent for what? Being wasteful with our knowledge of God. Every wife/wants to see love rather than hear the words i love you alone.

you might ask, what have we wasted? when I started thinking about this i thought to myself at some time or another I've wasted every part of my relationship with God.

I have wasted energy in worry when I could have been praying through to the power of God to change.

I have wasted the knowledge of God that I have by not applying it to my life.

I have wasted my energy in the wrong areas.

The Christian Cannot afford to waste of time. the Christian is called to be fruitful in Christ.

Conviction is what happens in verse Luke 15:17

Luke 15:17 NKJV

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!

he came to himself… the Holy Spirit reminded him he had a home he was not stranded in the far country by anything other than his choice.

Luke 15:18 NKJV

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

The action required for repentance is what happens in verse 18.

This kind of repentance is for the Church! not coming to Christ.

Verse 20 tells us what we need to know, then- he- arose- he got up and went home.

Restoration is what the Lord does after repentance. if you are waiting to be restored, check to make sure that you have truly let the Holy Spirit change your heart and let the Word of God renew your mind.

Luke 15:20–24 NKJV

20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “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. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

Of course the father saw him a long way off because he was looking for him to come home.

Luke 15:21 NKJV

21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The son repents to the father, the sons plans to ask him to to make him like one of the fathers hired servants. This is the sons error in thinking he can never be merely a servant because he is a son.

While sons do serve, they serve from a completely different motivation than servants.

Sons also get don’t get compensated the same way servants do. in modern terms, We call them employees today. employees get wages or salary packages.

Son’s may get paid for the time they work, they inherent.

He puts the robe on him and covered the evidence of his trip to the fields with a robe from the house. fruit of salvation brings people to the Lord.

He puts a ring on his finger. giving him access to the finances.

He puts sandals on his feet giving him freedom and the power to move.

He Kills the fatted calf. Celebrating him.