Two sons, two rebellions, two confrontations. One father, one response: My door is always open. In this message, Dr. Stanley explores the love of God the Father through the parable of the prodigal son. All of us have sinned and fallen away from God in our own ways, but no matter where sin takes us, the path back home is always the same. And at the end is a Father, longing to embrace us. Discover just how tender God’s heart is toward you. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch
[Music]
you’ve walked away from god way back
yonder
god
still
waits for you
he still wants you to come home to him
he wants you to be wise enough to
recognize that sin ultimately is going
to destroy you
sin ultimately is going to deprive you
of everything in life you want
it may be late in life it could be soon
in life but god will patiently waits
[Music]
four decades ago
we started in touch ministries to lead
people worldwide into a growing
relationship with jesus christ
throughout the years we’ve seen god’s
greatness his love and his blessings in
such awesome ways that we just want
everyone to know him
so let’s open god’s word and seek him
together
next on in touch the forgiving father
[Music]
jesus was a master storyteller
and the parable of the prodigal son is
one of those masterful stories
and
this is the setting for this passage of
scripture
that i want to read and it is a setting
for the message i want to bring
and if you’ll turn to the 15th chapter
of luke
and i want us to read
beginning in
the 25th 21st verse
and you remember that the prodigal sons
left home made a mess of his life
and then the prodigal something happens
to him and the scripture says
in verse 20 of the 15th chapter so he
got up and came to his father but while
it was still a way off
the father saw him and felt compassion
for him and ran and embraced him and
kissed him
and the son said to him father i have
sinned against heaven and in your sight
and no longer worthy to be called your
son
but the father said to his slaves
quickly bring out the best robe and put
it on him
put a ring on his hand sandals on his
feet
and bring the fatted calf
kill it and let us eat and celebrate
for this my son was dead
and has come to life again
he was lost he’s been found and they
began to celebrate
what was jesus saying
jesus was saying simply this
the door is wide open
for sinners to come home
and he wanted to make a point to these
pharisees and sadducees who were
criticizing jesus audience
the bible says a large crowd were going
out along with him and he turned and
said to them
and then of course it talks about the
pharisees and he’s being critical
of what jesus was doing
and this is the message that jesus had
for his audience that no matter what
goes on in a person’s life and how far
down they get
how empty
how wicked how vile how sinful how
futile their life may be
there is an open door
to salvation to forgiveness and a new
beginning
if that were not true you and i would
not be sitting here all of us have
sinned against god
all of us had had to confess and repent
of sin not once but many times but our
names got written in the lamb’s work of
life one time
it only gets there one time
there were no erasures in the lamb’s
book of life
and all of us who have trusted christ as
our savior have our names there and so
it’s not a matter of looking up anything
when you die and to see if your name is
in the lamb’s book of life it’s there
all right and god knows when we’re
coming they claim our inheritance amen
so i want us to look at this particular
parable in this light
first of all to
look at the simple steps
that this young man took to get where he
was because people are still taking
those steps
and so jesus describes the life of the
prodigal son
and so the first word is dissatisfaction
he was at home he had everything in the
world he could imagine his father took
good care of him he had a great future
but he was dissatisfied
probably because his brother had passed
on some news that he’d received from
people traveling about the far country
wherever that was and how exciting it
was and how beautiful the women were and
how great the situation was and on and
on they went and so he became
dissatisfied
he looked around him and became
dissatisfied not because he didn’t have
what he needed but because of what he
heard watch this be careful what you
listen to
and secondly that dissatisfaction
created a desire within him
and that desire was to be able to enjoy
some things other people had mentioned
to him and so he’s sort of tired of
living out there had everything he
wanted but something deep down inside of
him had a stronger desire i can tell you
what that is the old sin nature
is there to expose its cravings
then came the deception in his thinking
because he thought well this is not the
way i want to live i don’t have to live
this way i’m missing something in life
and so i think i just need to make some
decisions here and change things a
little bit
so he made a decision
step by step he made a decision he made
a decision to leave made a decision to
leave his parents his brother his home
his family and he made a decision to
enjoy life that was his decision i’m
going to leave all this old stuff i’m
sick and tired of all this i’m going to
i’m going to enjoy life for a change
that’s what every poor sinner says at
some point in their life i want to enjoy
life which means i want to leave what i
have and i’m going to involve myself in
some things that probably wouldn’t be
acceptable some but
but i’ve got to enjoy life
that’s always a decision that’s
dangerous and so what follows that
decision departure he left
he packed up his goods for the goods he
wanted he didn’t pack up many of them
because he intended to buy new clothes
he intended to look like somebody new
he’s leaving the old behind him and so
he was leaving and so
he left against his father’s will of
course but he left
and then comes the delight and that is
everything was new he had plenty of
money he dressed well he had any kind of
transportation that they would have had
in those days but he had everything he
wanted his dreams were coming true
he was sick and tired of living out
yonder up yonder in some distant place
when all these folks down here having
such a big time i want to go to a big
city i want to live life i want to i
want to experience life i’m tired of
living in this little old town this is
not a place i want to live and so
instead of asking is this wise or unwise
i want what it has to offer
so naturally he began to enjoy it
but like every person who tastes sin
and every person who chooses to walk
away from god
after the money began to run out after
his friends began to run out after his
clothes got into the ward
when all of that ran out
the scripture says he became very
disillusioned
watch this carefully
sin
will always leave you
very disillusioned
you may think it’s going to satisfy you
but it cannot
and because sin cannot satisfy or you
say well i’m satisfied for a season
only for a season but even then when you
get by yourself and you close your eyes
at night you think about reality you’re
not happy you’re living out of the will
of god you’re not happy he became
disillusioned
so what happens the further down you go
in wrong thinking
wrong use of your money wrong use of
relationships taking advantage of people
and all the rest that goes on in a
sinful lifestyle what happens
he began to feel hopeless
because he knew when he left home it was
going to be an awesome wonderful life
for him because that’s what the devil
always says well if you had a taste of
this if you had him if you had her if
you could try this and live there and
wear this then you know life would
change for you listen i would never
question the fact that sin doesn’t have
some pleasure in it
but beneath the pleasure is the penalty
the penalty for sin is always the same
the wages of sin is death
that doesn’t mean it’s always physical
death the wages of sin is death death to
happiness death to peace death to
security sin always has a final chapter
and that final chapter is physical death
and eternal separation from god
it’s not a matter of doing this sin of
that sin it’s a matter of rejecting
jesus christ as the savior and lord of
your life
that’s the sin that takes a person
down the road away from god and to miss
heaven
to be eternally separated from god
because you knowingly willfully reject
jesus christ as your personal savior
and so that’s where he found himself and
finally he had to give up
he was in total despair
in other words he ends up in a hulk pen
and the truth is that people today it’s
it’s the same story
you start out with everything and
everything looks like it’s going to be
just right and you’re going to make it
and what happens you can’t tell exactly
when it’s going to happen how it’s going
to happen but i’m telling you
one of these days you’re going to trip
up
one of these days you’re going to
discover that things are not like you
were told that they would be and look
around you at the mistakes you’ve made
it looks like you’ve gotten by with it
but you haven’t because the soul that’s
in it shall die the wages of sin is
death be sure your sin will find you out
you don’t get away with it and so he
finds himself now everything’s gone how
he thought about his father and at the
household and now how he thinks about
them he lost it all
and he’s trying to
feed hogs
just to exist
and then by the grace of god he comes to
himself
and
he begins to think about what he used to
have
and he heads home
and the real story of this parable is
the father’s attitude about him and so
what happens is
god is portrayed here as the particle’s
father
and so
here’s the difference here’s what
happens
it’s what happens to the father we know
what happens to the son
he’s messed up badly he’s lost
totally disappointed disillusioned in
total despair
but what about the father
so look at the steps of the father
what he’s been going through while his
son’s been absolutely living in sin
disobedience to god
remember first of all there was a
wounded heart
when he told his father what he was
about to do he wound in his father’s
heart you’ve got to be a dead to know
that i’m i want my part of my share of
the inheritance i want to live a little
bit i’m i thank you father for being
good to me but
i got to live some i’m sick and tired of
being around you and being told what to
do and have limitations on my life and i
hear these threats of people who are
coming up and down the road telling me
where they’ve been what they’ve done and
so forth and so it wounded his father’s
heart
so god has a wounded heart and so
the father’s thinking
why do you want to leave everything
for what’s going to prove to be a
disappointment but you see people who
are living in sin and who want to sin
against god they don’t they don’t see
that
and so
the next thing you notice about his
father
is he wondered about him continuously
just like you would as a parent your son
or your daughter’s left
they’re living in another country maybe
some other state they don’t hear from
you anymore much
and so you wonder what’s happening to
them
you wonder how they’re doing financially
you wonder about their friends what kind
of friends they have
what do they do on sunday did they go to
church and not go to church
what kind of places do they inhabit and
uh
do they ever think about their father
and mother
and so all the questions that were
naturally gone in
the father’s mind
and then of course in the midst of all
that he’s waiting for him patiently
and how many fathers and mothers
grandmothers grandfathers have waited
patiently for the renegade
sons and daughters and grandchildren
who’ve deliberately willfully walked
away from their home because they want
to live life on their bases they want to
live life on their time schedule they
want to enjoy some things in life that
were forbidden in their home
because their parents were spiritually
minded and uh
you know they talk about the bible we’ve
had all of that so here they are
and here he is
and
the father’s
thinking about all the things he must be
into but he’s patiently waiting for him
watch this watch this carefully jesus
is describing our heavenly father’s
attitude toward you and me
not only is he waiting patiently for him
but the next level of his relationship
he was watching for him
and
he oftentimes probably would stand on
his porch
and look down the road he can see a
pretty good ways and he saw these
travelers coming and going and
with hope that one day he would but he’d
been watching for years and he hadn’t
come but he didn’t give up
what’s god saying i’m not giving up on
you either and so
he watched and he waited and he watched
many travelers
and um
he sometimes was thinking maybe he’s not
coming back but maybe he will come back
and
he watched and watched and watched
and
hoped and prayed and yet nothing ever
happened
but then there came another level
he wanted
him to return soon
he couldn’t be he couldn’t come soon
enough
he wanted his son to no matter what kind
of shape he was in whatever he did
whatever happened to him he wanted him
back
and so the scripture says couldn’t be
soon enough naturally
i’m sure his brother probably had some
words to say about all that
but he wanted him back watch this
carefully i don’t know who you are
where you’re living in life and what’s
going on
you’ve walked away from god way back
yonder
god
still
waits for you
he still wants you to come home to him
he wants you to be wise enough to
recognize that sin ultimately is going
to destroy you sin ultimately is going
to deprive you of everything in life you
want it may be late in life it could be
soon in life but god patiently waits
as as the father is pictured here
and he wanted him to return no matter
what
and then that last stage is the one he’s
looking for he welcomed him home
and if you could imagine what was
looking
at all that road all that empty time he
was looking and waiting and
and then one day he was looking he’s
standing out there looking and watching
waiting
and there’s something about that guy
walking up the road that looked a little
familiar not too much he he the way he
carried himself
and he looked and he suddenly didn’t
look like the guy that left all dressed
up and he kept looking and finally he
realized yes that’s him and so he took
off running after him
he didn’t stop to say well what kind of
shape he’s in anything else he just took
off running and when he got to him what
did he do he didn’t stand off and say
you look like a
what happened to you look how you wasted
everything you you’ve lost years what
did he do when he saw him he grabbed him
and hugged him and the scripture uses a
term in the and the greek verb tense
there he kissed him and kissed him and
kissed him and kissed him hugged him and
hugged him and kissed him and kissed him
and said we’re going to have a party
he’s trying to confess sin and what a
mess he made of his life he wasn’t
listening to any of that they were going
to celebrate that night get ready no
matter what
now what was god saying
god was picturing for us
humanly speaking how god feels when you
get right with him
and you may be one of those persons
who’s messed up your life badly in fact
you’re ashamed to tell anybody where you
came from and you wouldn’t doubt tell
anybody where you’re going you’ve just
blown it badly i want to tell you
the same father
who waited for his son
is the same loving jehovah yahweh elohim
god of the heavens who’s waiting for you
and who will forgive you just as his f
he father forgave him
this is all about a heavenly father who
loves us
and who forgives us
the bible says the wages of sin is death
but you don’t have to die in sin the
soul that sinneth it shall die yes but
you don’t have to
and there’s a world of people living in
sin because they have chosen to disobey
god
and probably some of you sitting here
how many of you who are watching or
listening that’s what you’ve done
you came from a home where your mother
and dad read the bible well they went to
church and you decided you outgrew that
that’s old-fashioned you don’t do that
today and now why are you
if you face yourself you know deep in
your heart you are far away from god
what you thought was going to make you
happy has not made you happy and so you
try this and you try that and you try
the other and when you’ve tried
everything the world has tried do you
realize what you’ve done to yourself
realize what you’ve done to your own
character to your own sense of
self-esteem
and yet god will forgive you
he will take all of your sin away he’ll
forgive all of your sin he will change
your life he’ll restore you he will do
for you what you cannot do for yourself
and so for this father he was so
grateful to have his son back
he didn’t have to hear a bunch of
confession he just want to celebrate and
what it says is this
the heart of god
is so tender he rejoices when a sinner
comes home
so what happens he forgives his
restores him to his household
and so when we think about that and
think about how god is restoring today
there are four other words i want to
give you
four of the words that describe what god
has for us
and the first one is forgiveness it
doesn’t make any difference what you’ve
done watch this carefully you may have
said but i’ve just been so mean and
rotten and ungodly and disrespectful and
i’ve been on drugs i’ve been a
prostitute only on you go let me tell
you something you can’t name anything
god won’t forgive you for
that doesn’t mean there’s not a penalty
for sin but listen god’s forgiveness if
we confess our sins that is we agree
with god that we’ve lived in sin and
disobeyed him if we confess our sins
he’s faithful and just always
trustworthy faithful and just the
forgiveness of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness that’s the
promise of god that’s the first step
secondly acceptance he not only forgives
us of our sin he accepts us as the way
we are
except you’re one of his children watch
this carefully you don’t have to get all
straightened out to get god’s acceptance
you come to him
pleading as a sinner asking for
forgiveness and his acceptance is on the
basis of what he did at the cross when
jesus died on the cross
he paid your sin debt in full no matter
what you’ve done or how long you’ve done
it
forgiveness of our sins acceptance by
him and restoration
that is he restores us what does he
restore
he restores our sense of self-worth
he restores our sense of dignity
he restores
our attitude
about other people he restores
everything about us restoration it’s not
enough just the forgiveness of our sins
but he has to straighten out some other
things in that life that got twisted by
sin and wrong thinking and then
following all of that of course is
rejoicing when a person comes to christ
all of these simple words describe
what happens in their life forgiveness
acceptance restoration and rejoicing and
in the parable they had a big party a
big celebration
this is a simple but awesome story
because it’s god’s message
that no matter how wicked and sinful and
violent you’ve been
god is willing to forgive you
not because you deserve it not because
you’ve done this or will do that but
because when jesus went to the cross he
took the sin-debt of the world upon him
and anyone who comes to him asking for
forgiveness
surrendering their life to him will be
forgiven their name written in the
lamb’s book of life and you will forever
be a child of god doesn’t mean you’re
not going to sin anymore and you may be
saying well i know that i’ll sin again
then what it doesn’t mean that you’ll
never sin again but it means this you
have a relationship to god that’s not
separated you have relationship to him
that is like this he will forgive you of
your sin when you confess and repent of
it if you sin against god as a believer
is there a penalty yes there is
but you’re a child of god
and so the grace of god
wraps around us we’re always a child of
god and there are peoples who say that
once you’re saved you sin against god
you’ve got to be saved again that’s not
salvation there’s no assurance in that
because sometimes we sin against god
little things we call them little we
don’t maybe intend to do or we hurt all
kind of things we do in life and we ask
god to forgive us because we don’t want
anything in life it doesn’t suit who he
is and who he and who we are
does god forgive us yes he does
watch this this is the awesome power of
the death of jesus every person
from adam to the last person who will
ever live
their salvation their acceptance before
god all goes back to one thing and
that’s the cross of jesus christ
that’s the payment for our sin
and that payment is sufficient for all
eternity
god wants us to listen to him to hear
him to surrender to him send our life to
him
god wants to bless us with the best
and that blessing is available to all of
us who are willing to follow him
so i’d ask you this
are you saved
that is are you a child of god
has ever been a time in your life when
you can say at that time in my life
here’s what i did
i asked the lord jesus christ to forgive
me of my sins and i surrendered my life
to him knowing
that it wasn’t because of any good thing
i’ve done
knowing that i’d probably sin again but
i want him to have my life i yielded my
life to him in fact i got baptized
and i want to live a godly life and one
of these days when he calls me home i
want to be sitting already amen
not having to fix up anything
sitting already there’s only one way to
be ready
and that is a personal relationship to
jesus christ whereby you have confessed
your sins so i’m going to pray a simple
prayer
if you have never trusted jesus christ
as your savior you need to do it right
now
because you see you don’t have any
assurance of tomorrow you may live
tomorrow you may not live tomorrow
you can live eternity
with the lord jesus christ if you’re
willing to ask him to save you and if
you’ll pray this prayer
honestly sincerely with all your heart
god will change your eternal destiny in
a matter of moments
so let’s pray right now
father we thank you
for this simple story
but awesome story of your forgiveness of
your grace and love and mercy
lord i
pray that every person here
who is unsaved would pray this prayer
sincerely with all their heart
heavenly father
i am a sinner
i have sinned against you
broken the commandments
had it my way
i’m asking you to forgive me of my sin
and give me that new beginning
i believe that you will accept me
not on the basis of how good
i will be
but on the basis of what you said the
shed blood of jesus christ at calvary
he paid my sin that in full
i pray father
that each person who’s prayed that
simple prayer
would accept
your forgiveness right now
and praise you for it
and i thank you for in jesus name
amen
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