You know, it is a blessing and an opportunity for us to see Christians anytime and especially on the first day of the week when Christians assemble because that was the day
upon which the Lord was raised from the dead.
That was the day that the early church assembled together.
And so we look forward every week to the first day of the week where we can come and encourage each other, but also where we have the opportunity to express our gratitude.
to God.
And our worship is an expression of joy.
Our worship is also an expression of gratitude and thankfulness to God for all the tremendous things that He has done for us.
I want us to consider this idea from the prodigal son.
He expresses it twice.
I am no longer worthy.
Sometimes people begin to grow very self-focused, become selfish, become arrogant.
They begin to realize they have intelligence and talents.
Some maybe even have good looks.
Maybe some are athletic and strong.
Or maybe people have none of those things, but they still uh
come to be very, very arrogant about the things they are able to do and the positions they hold.
And sometimes that happens in the church.
Sometimes you have gospel preachers who think too highly of themselves.
And they forget that in essence, Paul said, God gives the increase.
We may do a little sowing and a little watering, but God gives the increase.
And sometimes I think that preachers forget that anything they do have was given to them by God and all the opportunities they have was given to them by God and the message
they're preaching should be.
the message that comes from God, and really they are nothing.
God is everything.
And sometimes there are gospel preachers who forget that they are slaves of God.
Slaves and servants to their brothers and sisters in Christ.
I was astonished when I was a teenager, visiting the services of a congregation of the Lord's Church when I had a gospel meeting preacher come in.
And he stayed in the foyer during the worship service and waited until it was the time for him to preach and he would be announced.
He came walking that aisle in the middle.
He came walking down the aisle with a robe on that dragged the floor, or would have, except that he had a deacon on each corner, lifting up the corners as he came down the
aisle.
This is a congregation of the Church of Christ.
When he got to the front, one deacon took one shoulder, the other deacon took the other shoulder, and they lifted his robe up off of him and laid it down on a chair.
And then that preacher proceeded to scream into the microphone for 45 minutes.
The speakers were literally rattling on the walls.
I was shocked.
I had never seen anything like that.
I hope that man came to understand who he really was in the eyes of God and as compared to God before it was too late.
You may have some gospel preachers that are not wearing the robes, but they sure think highly of themselves and they think somehow they're better than everybody else.
And that is so dangerous.
But it isn't just gospel preachers, is it?
Pride is a problem.
Arrogance is something that will cause us to have difficulty understanding the people around us because we think it's all about us.
and so everything that happens and everything everybody says, well that's about me, know, so you don't understand what's happening.
Jesus' disciples were so caught up and concerned about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom that they didn't even realize, John chapter 13, that Jesus Christ was suffering
deeply inside as He anticipated the crucifixion.
They couldn't see it because they're too worried about themselves and their own arrogance and pride.
And so Jesus washed their feet, didn't He?
teaching them they need to serve and be humble servants.
chapter 15 has as the main idea to address some challenges and accusations made by the scribes and Pharisees against Jesus.
Jesus Christ had been eating with sinners, not engaging in their sin with them, not encouraging their sin in any way whatsoever, but eating with them.
How can you help them?
if you're not around them some but they didn't understand that they saw that the scribes and Pharisees as an opportunity to accuse Jesus this man receives sinners
And so Jesus Christ gives four parables there in Luke chapter 15 that teach this.
God does in receive sinners.
who repent and come to him.
But aren't we happy for that?
And isn't that a great message?
And you know, there's the parable of the lost sheep and the man goes out, the shepherd does, and he finds the sheep and there's rejoicing because he's found the sheep and
there's rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents and there's the woman that had lost the coin.
And when that's found, there is great rejoicing over that.
And then of course you have the prodigal son, the lost son, and there is great rejoicing when the son returns.
Then in that parable, the Lord talks about the older brother and shows his attitude.
He didn't want to receive the son, his brother, when he came back.
And he protested over the celebration.
And that really was a picture of those scribes and Pharisees, wasn't it?
So that may be the main idea there is to show the scribes and Pharisees just how wrong they are.
But I want us to think about some of the other things we see in the text here.
concerning the prodigal son himself, and the word prodigal just means wasteful.
It's just an old word and people like it so much.
They write songs about the prodigal son and even some modern translations continue to use the word prodigal, but it just means wasteful, the wasteful son.
We see this progression with him.
At first he is very arrogant.
then life humbles him.
and it is only when he is humbled.
and it comes to this conclusion, am no longer worthy.
Then it comes back to the Father.
And I want you to think about it this way as well.
When there is arrogance, it takes us away from the Father.
When there is humility, it brings us back to the Father.
And when we come back to the Father, there is forgiveness.
Look at Luke chapter 15 with me, if you would.
Look at verse 11.
there.
he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me.
So he divided to them his livelihood.
And not many days after, the younger son gathered altogether, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
And so the father has set aside some for his sons and some translations indicate an inheritance.
And so he's not waiting for his dad to die.
He wants to go ahead and take whatever it is that his dad is planning on giving him and his dad gives it to him.
He's just sure he can go out and live the way he wants to live and get away from the father, go into a far country, as far away as he can, and he wastes all that money.
That's arrogance and foolishness.
Wastefulness to be sure.
How arrogant do you have to be to go up to a living parent and say, hey, I'm not waiting for you to die.
You just go ahead and give it to me.
What do you got in the will for me?
I'll take it now.
Well, that's what he did.
And we know this is a parable, we understand that, but were this a situation that were more than a parable, were an actual situation, can you picture how hurt the father would
have been?
You know, if you've got children, you know how much you love them and how important they are to you and how much you would really love to have them involved in your life.
And when they go away and they want to get as far away as possible, if that happens, then that hurts.
That's what's happened to this man, the Father, because of the arrogance of his son.
Anytime you and I want to give in to arrogance, we're going to find that the more arrogant we become, the more self-centered and self-focused we become, the further away from God
the Father we are going to be.
In fact, is arrogance that is often the cause for individuals who once understood the truth, practiced the truth, lived the truth, or even preached the truth to go astray,
trying to find those things that make themselves look good, trying to find things that will build them up and make them more important than anybody else.
That kind of foolishness causes people to be lost.
It's wrapped up in arrogance.
This young man was arrogant.
But off he went, wasted it all, and then famine came and things changed.
Humility causes us to draw closer to the Father.
Verse but when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land and he began to be in want.
Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the
swine ate and no one gave him anything.
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, I will arise and go to my father and I will
say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired servants.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
You know, here's the reality.
From the day we first sinned, we put ourselves in a situation where we were not worthy to be called the children of God.
And yet it is the case, if we will humble ourselves before God, that He, 1 John chapter 3 verses 1 through 3, is more than happy to call us His children, and what a great blessing
that is.
But this young man has gone off in his arrogance, and he's been humbled by the circumstances.
Famine has come, he's wasted everything, he wants a job, there's a job given to him.
You go take care of the pigs, you feed the swine, and of course you know for the Jews, that was a very serious insult.
And he gets so hungry, he says, I just eat the food the pigs are eating.
and then comes to himself and he realizes, even the servants in my father's house have it better than this.
I need to go home.
I need to go back to the father.
But I need to go back to the father as a servant.
And I need to go back to the father with the understanding I'm not worthy to be called a son anymore.
He was humbled.
Brothers and sisters, it is so important for us to do the best that we can
to view ourselves in a humble fashion.
It's so important for us to realize that everything good in our lives has come from God.
All the blessings in our lives are His.
It is important for us to understand that even talents and abilities we may have are all gifts from God.
God gave those to us.
It's important for gospel preachers to realize when they're preaching the message here that the message came from God and when we live according to the message and things go
well in our lives because we're living according to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to realize, well that's because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We need to recognize that it's all God.
Everything good comes from God.
And we need to remember how much God loves us and wants to take care of us.
But we've got to have this idea in mind.
Well, I'm no longer worthy.
Now, some people are going to push back against that.
Say, well, yeah, I mean, God loves you.
You know, that's true.
God loves you dearly.
And there's no way of showing the love of God better than to talk about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which we'll talk about in the afternoon sermon.
There's no question you're very, very important to God.
You are individually and uniquely important to God.
I think I preached a sermon on that last time I was here, but I don't remember.
I should start writing it down.
But you're very, important to God.
And God loves you so very much.
But even though God loves you so very much, you're very, important to Him, and He wants you to live with Him forever in heaven.
That's certainly the case.
You and I must understand this.
We have sinned against the perfection in purity.
holiness and justice we've rebelled against him and we deserve nothing good from him but he's willing to give it to us in his grace and kindness and love and mercy when we humble
ourselves and come to him on his terms this young man has chosen to humble himself this prodigal son life has humbled him his circumstances brought him down and sometimes that's
exactly what we need and sometimes a little suffering will do us good won't
In Hebrews chapter 12, you see that discussion there of God being like a father who would chasten his son, and sometimes God the Father chastens us, and sometimes we need a little
suffering in our lives.
And I'm not trying to blame God for the suffering.
Sometimes we need a little bit of suffering to make us realize just how small we really are, how weak we really are, how fragile life really is, and how much.
We really need God.
And this prodigal son comes to that point.
I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me like one of your hired servants.
So arrogance takes us away from the father.
Humility brings us back to the father.
And forgiveness comes when we go back to the father.
It comes after the humility does.
If an individual says, I'm going to live the way I want to live and God will just accept it, it's not gonna work.
If an individual's living life all full of pride and arrogance in the way that he views God and in a way that he treats other people, it's not gonna work.
Here's what we need to do.
We absolutely need to crush ourselves or be crushed in our hearts so that we can approach God in the right way.
And that's what this young man is doing.
Verse 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 on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
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.
But the Father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, sandals on his feet, and bring the fattened calf here and kill it, and
let us eat and be merry.
For this my son was dead and is alive again.
He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry." Isn't that a beautiful picture?
So the young man's and then as humility comes back, I'm not worried about your son.
I just want come back as a servant.
What's the father doing?
Well, he's running to him.
He sees him coming, doesn't he?
A great way off.
And he's going to him.
He embraces him.
He kisses him.
The father is thrilled that his son has returned and he celebrates and there is great rejoicing.
Who's it a picture of?
Well, it's our Heavenly Father, isn't it?
If you and I will humble ourselves and come to our Father on His terms, willing to be His slaves, His servants, willing to submit to His will, He's ready to take us back.
It's what He wants.
He's looking for it.
And in the sense of the illustration here, God...
The Father will run to you and embrace you.
That's hard for me to fathom.
because here you have the one that's created this vast universe.
He has the power, the knowledge and wisdom to do as much.
And yet he sees you individually and loves you individually, loves me individually, and He wants us to be saved.
And so when there is someone that has gone away from the Father, but then later returns to the Father, the Father is thrilled.
There is great rejoicing over that situation, but it's going to come only after the humility.
But when we humble ourselves and come to the Father, you are guaranteed.
He will forgive you.
It is a promise, isn't it?
In passages such as Hebrews chapter four, verses 14 through 16.
So arrogance pushes us away from the Father.
Humility draws us to the Father.
Forgiveness comes after the humility.
Look at James chapter four for just a moment.
James chapter four, verses six through 10.
And this context here is of Christians who are fighting and causing
problems and they need to humble themselves if they are going to be forgiven by God.
James chapter 4 and verse 6, but he gives more grace therefore he says, resists the proud.
When you and I become arrogant we take ourselves away from the Father, but as long as you and I are arrogant the Father is pushing us away.
Don't come back like that.
God resists the crown.
but gives grace to the humble.
He looks upon the humble with favor.
You and I have got to humble ourselves.
Therefore submit to God.
That's how we do it, or one part of it.
When we humble ourselves before God, we are submitting to His will.
We're going on His terms.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
There's repentance.
Lament and mourn and weep.
There's the sorrow.
Your spirit is crushed.
over your own arrogance and sin and wickedness.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.
And he will lift you up, won't he?
He will.
Our attitude toward one another should be an attitude of humility.
The way we look at one another should be based on passages such as 1 John chapter 4 beginning of verse 7, Christ died for my brother and my sister, then I know they are
important to Christ and they therefore should be important to me and just as he loves them so I must love them and I must view myself in a humble fashion in relationship to my
brothers and sisters in Christ and I must view myself in humble fashion in relationship to God and if I go astray this
like the prodigal son.
And as James 4 has shown us, there has to be a change in heart and a change in spirit.
Psalm 51 is such a powerful Psalm.
It is that Psalm that was written by David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
And then in the course of trying to hide what he had done from people, he had her husband killed.
And in the process of having her husband killed, some of his other mighty men were killed right along with Uriah.
So David is an adulterer and a murderer.
And he's just trying to hide it, run from it.
Nathan says, you're the man, God knows you did it.
And the weight of it comes crashing in on David, doesn't it?
And when he comes to full terms with what he has done, he's crushed, he's hurt, he's devastated.
And he writes Psalm 51.
It's so beautiful, we don't have time to look at it all, but look at this verse.
Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.
Some translations say shattered.
These, oh God, you will not despise.
Oh, I come back to God and say, well, you know, I know you love me and I'm worthy of salvation.
And, you know, it was really no big deal what I did and just take me back.
That's not it.
Instead, it is sorrow.
change.
totally different way of looking at ourselves.
And we've come to realize, you know what, we really are nothing.
And we've been crushed inside and shattered inside in a good way.
You don't want to do that a bad way, but in a good way.
And when the spirit is shattered like this, then we're ready to come back to God.
When the heart is crushed like David's heart was crushed, then we're ready to come back to God in all humility.
You know, that prodigal son, when he was there with the pigs, decided he would go back home and he wasn't worthy to be a son.
You know what?
You're not worthy to be God's child, and neither am I.
I'm not.
but God wants to call you His child.
You may not be worthy and I may not be worthy because we have rebelled against perfection.
but we are loved and He will take us back and we can be forgiven.
Forgiveness is beautiful and it's sweet and wonderful when you give it, isn't it?
Doesn't it make you feel good to give it?
But forgiveness is beautiful and wonderful and sweet when you receive it as well.
And though we have rebelled against God, He wants to take us back.
So remember, arrogance takes us away from the Father.
Humility brings us back to the Father.
And when the humility is there, we've come back to the Father.
There is forgiveness.
You know, we have an invitation at the end of sermons in most places.
And the reason we do that is not because, you know, the Bible says, thou shalt have an invitation at the end of every sermon.
But sermons are evangelistic in the Bible, aren't they?
The reason we do that is this, it's part of it anyway.
The only moment you know you have is the one you're in.
I'm not guaranteed tomorrow and neither are you.
And so when a change needs to be made, the best time to make that change is now.
So the invitation is offered as an opportunity for you to think about where you may be.
And if it is the case that you have gone away from the Father because of your pride, but you've humbled yourself, now is the time to come back to the Father and maybe it's a
situation where the church needs to know you've come back.
Tell them.
I'll tell you this.
church is doing it right.
Galatians chapter 6 beginning of verse 1.
When someone comes back to the father and lets the church know that they've come back, the church is not sitting around thinking, wonder what he did, how horrible must it have been,
and well I don't really...
no no no.
There is love and support and kindness and compassion with the understanding that we too have sinned and we too can fall and so there is that support.
And if it is the case that someone has been studying the scriptures and you've been thinking about being baptized, but you haven't yet taken that step, think about this.
Bible does very clearly teach that baptism is essential to salvation.
When you're baptized into the death of Christ, Romans 6, 4 and 5, you are baptized into His death so that you can rise to walk in a new life.
Don't you want a new life?
Come to the Father, be baptized into Christ.
He will forgive you.
Your sins are taken away.
And you can live that new life for Him.
If you're ready to respond to the Lord's invitation, much will come while together we stand and sing.