Sermon Tone Analysis

TWO KINDS OF PRODIGAL (2): REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

(Luke 15:11-24)

February 28, 2016

Intro – A wayward Catholic went to confession.

He admitted for years he had been stealing supplies from his lumberyard.

When the priest asked how much he took, the man replied, “Enough to build my home, my son’s home.

And houses for two daughters and our cottage at the lake.”

The priest paused, “This will require serious penance.

Have you ever done a retreat?”

The man replied, “No, Father, I haven’t.

But if you can get the plans, I can get the lumber!”

I think we’d agree his repentance was suspect.

God wants real.

We noted last week that this parable really has two prodigal sons.

They are very different, but both are sinners – one actively, one passively.

One sins by breaking the law – the other sins by keeping the law.

The first one repents; the other – we don’t know.

Last week we began to study the younger son – the obvious prodigal.

We see 4 critical lessons from him.

I.

The Repulsiveness of Rebellion – This boy wanted his inheritance in cash, now with no thought of the shame that entailed.

His actions were tantamount to saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.”

And he treated his father as tho he were dead.

He ran to a far country to escape any vestige of accountability and pursued his own pleasure with a vengeance.

Life was one big spring break – wine, women and song – and everyone was his buddy.

He threw off all the restraints of home and thought he had freedom.

What he found was the wages of sin which is death.

Sin promises freedom, but delivers slavery.

It promises happiness, but delivers disappointment.

Its pleasures are intense but also intensely short.

When the money ran out, so did his friends.

“No one gave him anything” (v.

16).

His money was gone, but his life went on.

The repulsiveness and waste of his rebellion is obvious.

But the same is true for anyone who makes no investment in eternity.

The rich man in Luke 12 saved it all.

But he looked equally foolish when God required his life that very night.

He entered eternity with money gone, but his existence going on.

Rebellion is a no win game no matter how much a success or failure one has in this life.

It is the next life that really counts and rebels have made no provision – whether they are active or passive sinners.

II.

The Ravishment of Regret -- Payday eventually comes, and with it, devastating regret.

It came for this Jewish boy when he found himself living a beastly existence with the pigs and wishing he had their food.

His father’s house of plenty was a distant memory, and he had only himself to blame.

That was a bad scene.

BUT that is nothing compared to those who reject or neglect Christ in this life only to enter an eternity of separation from him – and only themselves to blame.

Imagine spending eternity wishing you could have a do-over for one moment – the moment you rejected Christ.

The greatest news ever given to man is this – it doesn’t have to be that way.

III.

The Reversal of Repentance

Two things happened that stopped this young man’s free-fall into destruction.

He came to himself and he came to the Father.

And he did it in time.

A. He Came to Himself

17): “But when he came to himself.”

He returned to reality.

He began to see things as they really are.

It takes faith to do that.

Our physical perceptions will tell us that this world is all there is.

“Eat, drink and be merry,” seems like good advice.

This boy had followed where his senses led.

But he found himself in a pigpen where he had plenty of time to think.

There he came to himself and saw things as they really are.

It reversed his outlook; it reversed his actions and it reversed his direction.

Rather than run from the Father, he now runs to the Father.

How’d that happen?

When he came to his right mind, here is what he saw that he didn’t see before.

1. Saw that he was perishing

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” Things look different when he comes to himself – when he sees things as they really are.

The far country looked way better than Dad’s house before.

He was sure he could carve out a better existence by himself.

But now he sees that he is perishing.

There are a million ways to perish; only one way to life.

There is a fascinating dialogue in John 6. Jesus feeds 5,000 one day so next day they are back looking for more.

But He sees right thru them.

John 6:26, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”

Jesus is asking them to believe in Him.

But they challenge Him.

“Why should we believe in you just because you fed 5,000 of us?

Shoot, Moses fed 2,000,000 of us with manna for 40 years.

You’re no big deal!”

Imagine saying that to Jesus!? Well, Jesus answers, “Two things, folks.

First, it wasn’t Moses who fed those people; it was my Father.

Second, He is now offering you the true bread of heaven.”

But they still don’t get it: v. 34, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus point is, “Anything you get in this life – even if it is manna from heaven for 40 years – will never ultimately satisfy.

It will run out.

If that is all you seek, you will perish.

Your only hope – is Me!”

Those people, just like the prodigal and just like us must realize that nothing this world can offer will save us.

Only Jesus can save us.

As he sits in the pigpen, the prodigal is no longer thinking about the next party.

That only led to destruction.

And so will anything that we pursue in this world.

Augustine had it right when he said, “God wants to give us something, but He cannot because our hands are full – there’s nowhere for Him to put it.”

Worldly idols can only lead to ultimate destruction.

2. Saw he was a sinner

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