Rose Ave Baptist Church

The Trip Back Home

Luke 15:11-20

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.



Intro:

A. He was Foolish toward his Father – vs. 12



B. He was Frivolous with his Finances – vs. 13



C. He was Famished by the Famine – vs. 14



14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.



The Bible says there arose…

· You have no control over the SEASON of the famine.



· You have no control over the SEVERITY of the famine.




· You have no control of the SUFFERING from the famine.



Psalms 34:9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.



D. He was Forgotten by his Friends – vs. 15, 16 …no man gave unto him.



E. He was Forsaken in the Field



F. He was Fixated on the Filth – vs. 16a





I. His ROUTE was STRENUOUS



He wasn’t down the street at a friend’s house.

He wasn’t across town at an Air B&B.

The Bible is clear; he was a long way from home.

· verse 13 – he journeyed to a FAR COUNTRY.

· verse 14 – in that land

· verse 15 – that country



ILLUSTRATIONS:

· Ask Eve how easy it was to get out of God’s will.

· Ask Moses after he smote the rock how easy it was to disobey.

· Ask Jonah how much easier the trip was to Tarsus than the trip to Ninevah!

· Ask David how much easier it was to sleep with Bathsheba than it was to deal with the fallout.





II. His RESTRAINT was SIGNIFICANT



· He had to walk back by every one of those houses of ill repute to get back.

· He had to walk past every one of thos harlots that he had encountered to get back.

· He had to walk past all those friends he’d met to get back.

· He had to walk past a lot of parties and get-togethers to get back to the Father.

· He had to ignore a lot of phone calls.

· He had to delete some contacts.

· He might have even had to change his email address and his phone number.

· He might have had to delete some social media accounts.

· He might have had to put up some boundaries and guidelines to prevent him from taking a detour.



III. His REPENTANCE was SINCERE



· He was determined to ACKNOWLEDGE that he had sinned. – vs. 18

· He was determined to ASK forgiveness.

· He was determined to ASSUME responsibility.



· He didn’t blame his Father for giving him the inheritance.

· He didn’t blame his brother for not loving him enough to come find him.

· He didn’t blame the citizen of that far country.

· He didn’t blame the harlots for taking all his money.

· He assumed full responsibility for his actions.





Conclusion:

· THE TRIP BACK HOME means you’ve got to get rid of some friends.

· THE TRIP BACK HOME means you’ve got to stop blaming others for your mess.

· THE TRIP BACK HOME means you’ve got to forsake the hog pen and make a beeline to the Father’s house.

· THE TRIP BACK HOME means you’ve got to stop acting entitled and realize that you’re a servant.

· THE TRIP BACK HOME means you’ve got to change the way you look at yourself, and the world and the Father.

· THE TRIP BACK HOME might take a while, but you can get there if you are sincere.