The Father Who Ran

We're going to be in Luke 15, 11 through 24. And let me just ask you, have you ever made a decision you thought would make life better, but only to discover it made everything worse? Tonight I want to look at the story of a young man that happened to.

He chose sin. He chose a life of wild partying. He walked away from the love of his father. And we're going to watch what happens to him, the cost of sin. I think we can see in here the discipline of the Father, the heavenly Father. Then, also, the breathtaking grace of God when he welcomes this wayward child back home.

I love this parable, and you know what? The more I walk with the Lord, the more I love it, because the more I see that I have inconsistencies still, I have failures still, and when I have to go back to the Father, I use this parable a lot.

Lord, this is who I go back to. You know, when we see the grace of the breathtaking grace of the Father, the way this young man is received back in, you know what that does to us? It makes it safe to go back. No matter what you've done, no matter what the sin is, we see there's a safety in going back, that he will receive us and that he will restore us.

So, that's what we're going to look at. And we need to see some of the context here first. I mean, you've got Luke 14. Remember, there's no chapter breaks. So, Luke 14 goes right into Luke 15. And so, Luke 14, Jesus is teaching on the cost of discipleship.

He concludes by saying, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now, then something very interesting, I think, happens. You have this group of people who you wouldn't think would have ears to hear. The tax collectors and the sinners, the social outcasts, and they draw near to Jesus, eager to hear what he was saying.

Saying, what he had to say. Then you have those you would expect to have ears to hear, who would want to hear what he's saying, and they don't draw near. They don't have ears to hear. Look at Luke 15:1 and 2. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

So the Pharisees stand back and grumble. Why? Because this guy, this Jesus, he's hanging around the wrong kind of people. He's hanging around those kind of people that we don't hang around because we're good, religious folk. But he seems to like them. He seems to like being with them more than he likes being with us.

And so they stand back and grumble. If he was really a godly man, he'd be more like we are. See, they didn't care about sinners and outcasts. The Pharisees were an interesting group of people. You know, dead religion, self-righteousness. And as they walk through the crowds, you know what they do?

They would grab their cloaks and they would bring them in real close so that their cloaks, their robes, wouldn't even brush up against these moral outcasts. So they had no heart for them at all. So Jesus teaches three parables meant to show what God is like. And how unlike God they are, to show how God views those they couldn't stand.

He speaks of lost sheep. These are ones that Matt had, lost coin, and the story we're looking at, a lost son. And each time he shows God's joy when people like that are recovered. It's a powerful rebuke that says, don't be shocked when you see me reaching out to people like this.

What should shock you is that you have no heart at all to reach out to them, that you don't care about them at all. So here's the main cast of characters, at least what I think it is. We have the father, represents God the Father. We have the prodigal, which I believe is a backslidden believer, backslidden believer who wanders off and comes back.

Now, you can't teach this also as somebody who's meeting God for the first time in salvation, but I'm going to teach it as a backslidden believer, and I think that's legitimate. Then at the end, you have the elder son. We're not going to get there, but he represents the Pharisees and dead religion.

So let's look at the prodigal's departure. And the main lesson is not what he did in the far-off country, it's what he did to the father. Jesus paints this story in the bleakest colors imaginable to magnify the greatness of the father's compassion and forgiveness against the greatness of the sin that was committed against him.

The father. So let's look at the depravity of his desire. There's two things I see here. First, he's asking for his inheritance early. And you would think, you know, he just wants his stuff early. What's the big deal? Well, in this society, that was a huge deal. Look at verse 11 and 12.

And he said, There was a man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Any Jew hearing that would be absolutely shocked. You just didn't do that.

That would be like saying, I wish you were dead, old man, so I could have my stuff. Now, I find it interesting, though, that the Father grants his request and gives him the inheritance. If we insist, I think the lesson from that is, if we insist, sometimes God will let us have our way.

Sometimes he'll let us go our way. Why? So that we learn the cost of sin. So we learn the cost of rebellion. See, he will graciously let us experience the consequences of our actions. That is grace, that is love. David said in Psalm 119:67, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word.

It says, Before I was afflicted, before I chose sin and I was afflicted, divine discipline, he goes, You know what? Learn from that, it's not worth it. I don't want to go down that path anymore. Second, first one is asking for his inheritance early. Second, selling the family land.

Luke 15 through 13, Luke 15:13. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. So he gathers his inheritance and he cashes out his assets so he could go and live the party life.

Wine, woman, and song. And part of those assets he would turn into cash would be the family land. But you just didn't sell the family land. Never. This would have shocked those listening to Jesus. What? Land was viewed as a sacred trust given by God himself to their fathers.

And we see this in 1 Kings 21. King Ahab wants a garden. And so there's some land right there by the palace, and Naboth owns it. And so he goes and he offers Naboth some money. He says, I'll buy your land, whatever you ask. But here's Naboth's response.

But Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. So he viewed the land as an inheritance given to his father. And he said, There is no way. I am selling this. And he was willing to die over that decision, and he did die.

So, what do we have so far? We have the son heartlessly ask for his inheritance in advance. He cashes out his assets and leaves to live a life of debauchery in a distant land. You know what? He would have to go to a distant land. After doing that, the village would hate him.

So, he would have to leave. Now, let's see what happens to the prodigal to change the way he thinks about his choices. Here we have the downward spiral of sin. And we're going to see that the pleasure sin promises doesn't really pan out for this boy. And you know what?

It never does, does it? You never win when you choose sin. Look at Luke 15, verses 14 through 16. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. You know what? It doesn't get any worse for a Jewish boy than that. Right? The Jewish law banned them from having anything to do with pigs. But here he is, he's living with the pigs, and he's longing to eat their food.

It doesn't get any worse than that. Now, please get this picture. Fastened in your mind. This is what sin will do to you. It may be fun for a season. I get that. But that season ends, and then you reap its wages, which is ruin and destruction. His money ran out, and those who liked him while the money was flowing, they left.

He's got no friends. He's got no money. He's living with pigs. That's what sin wants to do to you. When we cling to sin, we force God to get involved. And I believe that's what we're seeing here. I think that's one of the lessons here. We see God's gracious but painful discipline to bring this boy back.

See, the father represents God, so I think it's legitimate to picture this as the way God disciplines somebody to bring them back from their sin. God moves in a way that causes his wayward children to wake up when they have chosen sin. He has isolated this boy. He has removed every blessing, and he is hungry and destitute, and nobody is willing to help him.

I've seen this happen so much. I've been a pastor for a long time and counseling people and trying to get people back with the Lord. I've seen this happen a lot, where God will just put them into a situation where they have nothing. Their life falls apart, and nobody is helping them.

God has removed everything. Would help them? Why? Because he loves us. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that God won't let you go in sin and ruin your life? That he will get involved? See? He will do whatever is necessary. He will go as far as we force him to go.

A.W. Tozer said this: The Lord will not allow us to find lasting satisfaction in the husk of this world because his great heart is set upon our eternal purity and joy. I love that. His great heart is set upon our eternal purity and joy. So he will go as far as we force him to go until we will finally look back up again.

So he causes the far country of sin for this boy to become a famine, it says. So his wandering child becomes hungry for home. In the next verse, we see the pain start to wake this young man up. Here's the awakened sinner. And notice what the intensity of the pain does.

Look at verse 17. But when he came to himself, NIV says, when he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? Sin has a way of blinding us to the damage it's doing.

It says, when he came to his senses, there's kind of an insanity that sin causes. It creates kind of a spiritual self-deception. Because we can convince ourselves, you know what? We can keep going in this. We're going to be okay. We're going to avoid the consequences. That won't happen to me.

It's like someone ignoring the warning lights on the dashboard of their car. The lights are flashing. It's like a light show. The engine's overheating. It says there's no oil. And yet they keep driving because the car is still moving. That's what sin does. As long as life's not completely fallen apart yet, we tell ourselves, I'm fine.

I'm fine. I can handle this. So we will come to our senses and think correctly when God graciously sends the right amount of pain. That's what's happening here. And notice, this young man thought that this sin would enhance his life. But look what God has done. He's used that same sin to destroy his life.

That's what God will do. The result is his eyes are open. He comes to his senses, and it begins to drive him back to his father. I mean, it took so much suffering for this boy, young man. Why are we like that? I mean, our life can be just absolutely destroyed, and we're still thinking, I got this.

I'm okay. I can handle it. Why does God have to take us so many times down to the bottom before we'll finally? Open our eyes and go, you know what? I don't think this is worth it. I don't think this sin is worth it. Lord, help me, help me to get back.

Oh, God, I'm sorry. So that's what's happening with this boy. His eyes are being opened. He's coming to his senses, and it's beginning to drive him back to his father. Maybe you're there tonight. I don't know where you're at, you know, this many people here. It's probably somebody.

You've walked away from the Lord. You're just going, my life is a mess. Nothing's working. Well, amen. And praise God. That's because God loves you enough to work in your life, to turn you. That's grace. That's mercy. That's kindness. I'm so glad God's like that with us. I don't know where I would be today if He wasn't, if He wouldn't do whatever's necessary to turn me back to Him.

So look at verse 17 and 18. In the next verses, we start to see His heart being turned back to His Father. 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? I will arise and go to my Father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

So this is the beginning of repentance. He's now starting to think, Christian. About his sin. That's starting to create a remorse in his heart. His eyes are being opened to what that sin is doing, that it's not worth it. All he wanted before was freedom, right? Get me out of this house.

My father's here, and you know, I can't do everything I want to do. Give me my money. I'm going to go live it up. All he wanted was freedom. You know what? Now all he wants is to get back. I miss what I had before. He's looking at his father and the home he lived in much differently.

And notice the confession here. He says, I have sinned. He is now willing to admit it was his sin that's causing his misery. He's no longer playing the victim. He's no longer blaming anyone else or circumstances. True confession always has a ruthless honesty about it. It abandons all self-defense and drops every plea of victimhood.

It is agreeing with God about our actions. That's what confession is. I agree, God, that what I did was wrong. It was sin against you. Listen, we've got to deal with our sin. God is gracious. God is safe to return to, but that doesn't mean that we take sin lightly.

We've got to deal with our sin. Don't coddle it. You know, we can call sin lesser names to make it sound like it's not so bad. You know, and I didn't lie, I just told a fib. I wasn't gossiping, I was just sharing a concern so that we can pray for them.

I wasn't lusting, I was just appreciating beauty. Listen, sin is an ugly thing that we want nothing to do with. Romans 12:9 says, abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good. Abhor is an extremely strong word in the Greek, and it carries the idea of utterly detesting what is evil.

Can I say this if you're indifferent to sin? And I see people that are. I mean, I think the church has a lot of people. I'm not saying this church, I don't know enough of you, but the church as a whole just seems to have such an indifference about sin.

If that's true of you, I'll cry out daily for God to change that. You're not going to be able to change your own emotions towards it, but you can cry out, God, give me grace so that I hate what you hate and love what you love. Help me to abhor evil and cling to what is good, God.

Help me. John Bunyan, if you think sin's not a big deal, listen to John Bunyan's definition of sin. He said, sin is the dare of God. God's justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of his love.

You don't want that in your life, do you? I've watched it destroy too many people. I've watched it pull people away from Christ that I used to serve with in the ministry. I've watched it pull them away from church and pull them back into the world and just devastate them and destroy them.

Sin never tells you where it's taking you, but it's never good. It promises pleasure, freedom, satisfaction, but it leaves destruction in its wake. That is why I don't want to soften it. That's why sin scares me. I want to deal with it. I don't want to soften it.

I want to take it to God. I pray all the time, God, go into my heart and do a search and destroy mission. Find any sin that's in there, anything that's displeasing to you, and expose it, Lord, so we can deal with it. Don't let sin survive in my life, Lord.

Sin scares me. I want to see my sin the same way God sees it. So the pain here is starting to do its work in this young man. It's causing him to want something better. The old life he used to have. But I want you to see in verse 17 through 19 an interesting dynamic we can be.

Prone to when we've sinned, and especially if we've where the sin is deep-seated and extended. I have sat with so many people in counseling and watched this kind of depression when they think about going back to the Father. I want to show you that. Look at verse 17 through 19.

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? I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I mean, so far, so good.

That's great. Then he adds, though, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. He's come to his senses. He is leaving his sin, and he's returning back to the Father. But I think he feels the Father, who is a type of God here, could never love him as he did before.

I see depression here, and I've seen it in so many people I've counseled. They think that they have outsinned the grace of God, that it will never be like it was before. It'll never be good again, that I've ruined everything. I've destroyed everything. Even if I return it, I'm going to just be a second-class citizen with God.

He's never going to really treat me like a son again. He's never going to treat me like a son. Child again. I blew it. I blew it. Well, if you feel that, if you've ever been there, many have. Ever thought you outsended the mercy and grace of God?

Listen, you need verse 20. You need verse 20. Let's read that. Luke 15:20. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. The father, so hurt, so humiliated, he's not holding a grudge at all.

This is amazing. And notice it says he saw him a long way off, which tells me that the father was watching for him to come. I can imagine him sitting on the porch and he's looking out at the horizon, same way his son left, waiting for him to return.

And he sees somebody out there, this little dot on the horizon. He goes, it's walking a lot like my son walked. Could it be? Could it be? Is he coming home? And as soon as he knows it's his son, what does this dignified old man do? He takes off running towards him.

That's the title of this sermon, The Father Who Ran. This is amazing. And the Pharisees, when Jesus got to this point, they're probably thinking, Yeah, you bet he ran towards him to tell him off, maybe beat him up. To get to him and say, How dare you come back here after what you did?

See, this is what they do to somebody who did what this young man did to his father. But to the amazement of everybody listening, the father's not angry at all. He's filled with compassion. He runs to him, throws his arms around him, and starts showering him with kissing, with kisses.

Remember, this represents God. This is the God we return to after failure. Jesus is teaching about the breathtaking mercy, grace, and love of God. This gives us courage. I don't know where you're at tonight, but this should give you courage to go back, to return to God the Father.

This is what he's like when you do return. This teaches us the wonderful balance of God. He is willing to be severe, to turn a person from their sin. That's grace. That's mercy. That's love. But as soon as the chastisement works and that person returns, this is who we go back to.

He's not holding any grudges. He's excited. He's excited. So he's quick to forgive and completely and totally. And we'll see this in verse 22 through 24. What time is it, dude? Oh, I'm okay. The boy begins to give his speech. Now, he's probably been rehearsing this speech all the way home, don't you think?

Probably a hundred times. This is what I'm going to say. You know, I'm not even worthy to be your son. I'm so sorry I sinned against you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So he gets home and he gives the speech he's been rehearsing. That's verse 21. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Notice what's missing there. He doesn't say, treat me as one of your hired servants. What happened? What made him drop that line he'd probably rehearsed a hundred times? I think he's just been stunned by the Father's grace, humbled by his compassion, broken by his love. He has been a recipient of overwhelming kindness.

Yet, I see something there. His heart responds like ours does after failure. If that failure has been deep, he's still having a hard time accepting the forgiveness. I'm not worthy to be called your son. He's still. Says, I mean, how many times have you felt that? How many times have you gone back to God after you've done something and you get forgiven?

And you just go, it's hard, isn't it, to receive forgiveness sometimes? Our emotions are involved, and we can't get past what we've done. And I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to be your son. I'm not worthy to be blessed. I'm not worthy to enjoy your love anymore. I think that's what he's going through.

I know what I've done. I know who I am. Man. You know what? We need truth to receive forgiveness, don't we? Because our emotions get involved, and our emotions get involved, and they drag us down to where we don't feel like we can be forgiven. And the only thing that's going to overcome that is not self-will.

What's going to overcome that is truth. The truth will set you free. Truth understood and truth applied will set you free. That's why we need verse 22 through 24. But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.

And bring the fattened calf and kill it. And let us eat and celebrate. For this, my son was dead and is alive again. Again, he was lost and is found, and they began to celebrate. How good is that? Not where were you? How dare you do that to me?

How dare you come back here? Not all right, you know, I'm gonna let you back into the household, but I'm looking at you, little mister. One mistake, and you're gone. Hear me? There was none of that. The father's not holding any grudge. I mean, it's just so amazing.

All there is is breathtaking grace and mercy and kindness and love. The boy starts his speech, but while he's repenting, I love this. He's got his speech going. He's still, I've sinned against you. While he's repenting, the father's already going, hey, go get the calf. The father's already blessing.

Put yourself in this boy's place. How his father's actions were wiping away his shame. Do you see it here? He's coming back. I'm not even worthy to be your son. The father's going, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go get the fatty calf, get a ring, get shoes. He's already taking care of all of that.

He's taking care of all that shame. This is our God. This is who he is. Have you gone back to the world, chose sin? This shows it's safe to return, like I said before. We return to love, grace, mercy, kindness, blessing, restoration. So here's the father's response: Quick, bring the best robe to replace those tattered clothes, sin is stained.

You know what? That boy coming back after living with pigs must have stunked. I'm sure his clothes were just messed up. Man, you know, sometimes when the prodigals return, they return dirty. And we just have to love them. They return dirty, and we just have to love them because they've been out in the world.

What they need is for somebody just to take hold of them and say, it's okay. I got you. I got you. You're my child. You're still my child. So he says, quick, bring the best robe to replace those tattered clothes, sin is stained. So he would be covered in a long, stately robe, the kind kings wore.

Put a ring on his finger. You know what that was? That was for authority. That showed his sonship. I love this. So he's saying, if you don't feel like my son, all you got to do is look at your finger. I say you are. I say you are my son.

And if anybody wants to judge you for what you've done in the household, Show him the ring. You're fully restored as my son. And get him sandals. Only the father's slaves were barefoot, not his sons. This boy is brought back into a place of complete restoration. How glorious.

How like God. There's a huge celebration that shows not only the restoration of the wayward child, but the joy of the father when he comes home. That's what this is about. The joy of the father when his son is restored. So let's conclude this one. What a lesson to the backslidden believer who has walked away from God.

This story shows how severe it can get if you refuse to repent. See, God loves you far too much to let you be destroyed by sin. You parents know what that's like, right? And we would do anything to protect our children from stuff that would destroy them, from things that would destroy them.

God loves you far too much to leave you where you're at if you've chosen sin. So are you experiencing that tonight? Are you experiencing what we could call the famine? Second lesson, what a lesson this teaches about the mercy and love of God when you do go back.

Perhaps he's been severe in his discipline. That was necessary. You forced that. You chose that. God doesn't enjoy just disciplining us and bringing pain into our life. He's not that way. We choose that. We force him to do that. And in love, he will do that. So perhaps he's been severe in his discipline.

But when you do turn and go back, when it works, you return to a gracious, kind, loving Father, a Father who is waiting to stun you with his breathtaking love. You say that again: a God who is waiting, eager, anxious to stun you with his breathtaking love. And it doesn't matter how far you've wandered off.

Let me say this. You know, we go, I think I've wandered too far away from God. I'm telling you, whatever you've done, it wasn't as bad as what this boy did. Not even close. Jesus picked the worst thing that somebody could do to show us that we can't outsend the grace of God.

You can come back. You're safe coming back. What a lesson this teaches to the Pharisees who attend our churches, right? Christ emphasizes the Father's joy to rebuke the Pharisees' lack of passion for the lost and wandering, the social outcast. Jesus says to these religious leaders who should be representing God, you're not like God at all.

You know, yeah, there's Pharisees. In the church that are like this, and may God show us, reveal it to us if we're like this, so that we can have His heart for the lost and for the social outcast. Maybe today you've realized you're the prodigal in the sense you've never met the Lord.

You've been busy chasing the things that aren't satisfying. Now, after this parable, you see what you really need: you need grace, forgiveness, and mercy. You need to know this Father. The good news is that Jesus came to save sinners, right? To bring them into a relationship with the Father, to change their eternal destiny from what their sin earned, which is hell, to what He earned for you, which is heaven.

He died for sinners like you and promises, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. So, I would just say, if you've never met God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ, oh, I pray tonight would be the night that God changes from your judge to your father, and your eternal destiny changes from hell to heaven.

It can happen tonight. That's what you want. Find somebody. Find somebody who is in this church, who, you know, is maybe an elder or whatever. Find somebody. Somebody. We would all love to introduce you to our King. All right, that's all I got. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much that we serve a God who doesn't hold grudges.

God, each one of us could say we're not worthy to be your son or daughter. But the amazing thing is, we are. We are your son and daughter. And we will be that for all of eternity. God, help us to be thrilled by that. Help us to see your heart towards us, that you're thrilled by us.

And when we return, God, fill us with fire for you, with a passion for you. Lord, we're so grateful, so thankful that you've drawn us to you, that you gave us faith to believe, and now you're going to keep us and hold us all the way into heaven.

And I thank you, Lord, that you get involved when we choose sin. I thank you that part of you holding us until we're in heaven is you bringing whatever is necessary to turn us from the sin that would keep us out. Thank you that you will complete the work that you began.

In Jesus' name, amen.