Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning, it is good to see yall this morning.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been studying with an emphasis on seeing the truth that lost people matter to God.

I want to continue with a second look at the prodigal son parable in

Let’s read the parable and then we can get to it.

(Read)

(Pray)

This morning were going to be learning lessons from the prodigal son.

The great novelist Charles Dickens was asked what he thought was the best short story written in the english language, Dickens replied… “The prodigal son”

The story of the prodigal son is the most well known and best loved parable of Jesus.

But the parable of the prodigal son is not really about the prodigal son, it is not about the elder brother.

We pay the most attention to the prodigal son because he is the character we most easily relate to… but the parable is not about him or the older brother, the message contained within this story is primarily about the Fathers love for BOTH of his sons..

The Backdrop

Jesus replies by telling 3 stories:

4-7: Lost Sheep

8-10: Lost Coin

11-32: Lost SOn

These three parables make one point “LOST PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD.”

This third parable is 3 dimensional there is a lesson in the loving father, the prodigal son, and the elder brother.

The Father in the parable is a picture of the love of God, but the prodigal in this story is a picture of the life of sin.

BIG IDEA: Lost People Matter to God

But by studying the downfall and restoration of the prodigal son we also see why GOD SHOULD MATTER TO LOST PEOPLE.

Every sinner needs to hear this message, every human needs to hear this message it can be summed up in 3 words:

YOU NEED GOD!, YOU NEED GOD!

EVERY PERSON INCLUDING YOU AND ME NEEDS GOD!

The Desire that motivates a life of sin

Luke 15:

This request by the younger son is a declaration of independence from his father.

This is where ALL sin starts.

it don’t matter what sin you find yourself struggling with today and we all struggle with sin, and sin is a matter of the heart.

There is a streak of rebellion within each one of us, that strives for independence from God’s control over our lives and God’s credit for our lives.

This is the battle for the Christian here on this Earth.

You are a rebel, you rebel against God by default.

What is the main underlying cause for backslidden Christians and those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord?

CONTROL

On one hand

This is an unparralell no son in the ancient world have dared bring up the subject of his inheritence with his father.

The fathers blessing was only given at the father’s initiative, nearing his death.

But this kid had the audacity to come to his Dad and demanded his share of the fathers estate in advance.

Basically the son said dad let’s pretend that you are dead to me and i am dead to you, i dont care about relationship with you, but whatever you were going to bless me with financially go ahead and give it to me and we will part ways.

This was a slap in the face of the father, but amazingly he gave his son what he asked for.

When this boy recieved his inheritence he didnt just move out of his fathers house, he moved outta his fathers country...

Its one thing if he had moved across the city, he moved to the other side of the world.

“Far Country”

This Jewish young man relocated to a pagan country.it

was a complete rebellion against what his father believed in.

He no longer had to submit to his fathers authority, he no longer had to recieve his fathers permission, he no longer had to abide by his fathers curfew.

He was now his own man, not his fathers son.

Church this is the story of every prodigal who is seperated from God.

We wanna control our own lives independent of God’s authority.

The serpent explained to eve why she should eat of the tree instead of listening to what god had commanded.

God commanded dont eat but Satan explained to Eve why she should eat...

The first sin was the result of human ambition that sought to be like God. so it is with every other sin, the truth is Christian our prodigal hearts dont really want a relationship with God.

Not the God of the Bible at least, we wanna be our own gods and we wanna use the true God to help us better serve ourselves.

Like the prodigal son we dont want the father to be in control, but we want God to give us what we want.

If he really was his own man, he would have just left, not asked for money to leave.

The fact that he asked for moeny was evidence that he could not make it on his own but he was determined to start his own life independent of the father..

so it is with every sinner, spiritual independence desires credit for ones own life!

The son didnt wanna live under his fathers authority but that wasnt his only motivation.

he asked his father to finance his independence but this request would not fufill his motivation if he lived in the same city as his daddy.

As he wore his fancy clothes, drove his big car, enjoyed his plush condiminium nobody in his hometown would have been impressed...

Everybody would have known that the only reason he had it going on was because he was spending his daddys money.

so he took a trip to the far coutnry where nobody knew him and when this hot shot moved to the big city he could then play the role of a self made man.,

This is the desire that motivates a life of sin, sin desires control over life so that we can take credit for life.

We want credit for our own lives,

in Paul explains why the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of man.

The reason is “althought they knew God they refused to honor God as God or give thanks to God”

the prodigal heart does not honor God because the prodigal heart wants to be honored AS GOD!

In our unrighteousness is not revealed in the far country, but unrighteousness is revealed when we refuse to give God the credit for what he has obviously done for us!

Were stingy with praise because we wanna take credit for our own lives.

The little child shows up with a gift or piec of candy or a dollar… the good parent has two questions:

Where did you get that from?

What did you say?

Thats to ensure that the child said thank you

but the prodigal heart has a problem answering those simple questions:

“Ok you got a nice house in a gated community, where did you get that from.”

“You have a degree and a succesful career thats cool where did you get that from”

“You got a blessed family, your marriage is doing ok, you children are decently behaved thats good where did you get tha from?

IF YOU KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THAT FROM WHAT DID YOU SAY?

The Bible says

1 Corinthians 10:

So first we see the desire that leads to sin

The Dilemma that confronts the life of sin

The prodigal son abandoned his family left his fathers house and headed out for the far country, and the prodigals experience in the far country gives us two things about the life of sin.

The pleasures of sin are real

In verse 30 we hear what this wreckless living involved.

The older brother states that he wasted his inheritence on prostitutes...

We dont know how he would know that.

The story doesn’t tell us what was involved in the prodgial’s spending spree in the far country, but we can assume that while he suqandered his money in wreckless living, the prodigal had a good time...

He wasted his daddys money but he had a bal doin it, thats an important lesson.

THE PLEASURES OF SIN ARE REAL!

People don’t want to have anything to do with the heavenly father because the people want everything to do with the pleasures that come from sin!

(FSU GAME)

As you walk up to the stadium there are young women dressed provocatively, seeking to seduce other young men who are with them.

Being extremely flirtatious soaking up all the attention they can get by dressing that way and acting the way they act.

There are young men who are treating young women with great disrespect and the girls just laugh it off.

The booze is flowing the music is good and with all the laughter and excitement surrounding what is about to happen next all inhibitions are gone and if you didnt know any better it would look like pure freedom.

But its not they are in bondage, bondage to popularity, bondage to sexual sin, bondage to alcahol.....

Yesterday......

As he stood with his megaphone in hand proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom he spoke the words of Jesus “REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!”

“GOD LOVES US, HE SENT HIS ONE AND ONLY SON TO DIE FOR US SO THAT WE COULD HAVE RELATIONSHIP TO HIM! “