The Gospels in Harmony                   Sermon #330  Posted 1/10/21

The Gospels in Harmony   Sermon #330-11021

24  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:24

     As we continue in verse 24 from our last sermon, I would like everyone to note who is speaking, who is being spoken of and who is being merry.
We are still getting a view of just who our Father is, how He views us and what we can come to believe as the truth about a relationship with Him.
    Once again I must stress, these parables from Jesus recorded by the Saints are to be read literally but understood spiritually. Every character in the parable represents someone or something else. 
The father in our Parable represents God.
The young son represents anyone who has lived a life of rebellion and sin against God but has come to the point of confession and repentance. It originally was pointed at the people of Israel but in extension points to all mankind.
The servants were bond servants or slaves. They lived to serve the master and his household. As we will soon see the implication is that these servants were treated well and even included in the merriment of the celebration. Spiritually they represent God's angels.
The elder son that will soon be brought into our study is a pointed caricature of the scribes and Pharisees. Today it points to all the religions of the world that claim their righteousness by their zealous activities, adherence to their self imposed rules and their doctrines which keep them separate from all other religions and denominations.
    But for now let us focus on verse 24 because we still have much of the beauty of God our Father to enjoy in it.
For this my son was dead,---
Luke 15:24
     The father in our study or in this parable has just commanded his servants to prepare a feast after they dress this young man in the robe of acceptance back into the household, a ring of membership in that household and shoes of authority within that membership. He was not to be ranked with the barefooted servants but dressed as a master.
     The father proclaims to everyone there. Because this MY son.
A verification of direct involvement with his very being. My son is a statement of full restoration even with the recognition of his absence.
---My son was dead---Past tense. He has not only been restored back into the household but been brought back to life through the righteousness of confession and repentance.
     This is the spiritual statement from the father in our parable. His son was dead to him. Not physically but because his son had chosen to leave and live in sin, the father could have nothing to do with him. He was dead to him.
    Have you ever wondered why the father in our parable did not go looking for his son? Why did he not go and search for him and try to talk sense into him and bring him back to the farm where he was safe and well cared for?
Because that is not how God works. 
If you give someone everything they want and need, they will not love you for it. They will never know just how helpless and defenseless they are against the wiles of the Devil and his domain, the world we live in. They will have no idea what to be thankful for or to whom they should truly thank.
    God allows us to wander in our self centered, self righteous sin nature until we come to ourselves. Until we come to believe we are helpless against the devil and this world he is the master of. God allows us to stumble and struggle and hunger for all kinds of things that only lead to more trouble and more hunger. God never forces us to sin. It is our free choice. It was Adam and Eves free choice. 
    Think about it folks! Adam and Eve had it made and they still chose to disobey God! God did not make them sin, God did not force them to do only good. 
13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 
14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 
15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 1:13-15
God wants us to love Him as much as He loves us. He is ready to accept us back into His household as soon as we recognize what we are doing against His Word and what He already has for us when we confess and repent of our sin. 
     Satan does everything he can to keep us from hearing and seeing the truth. He covers the death sentence for sin with all kinds of lies to get us to think we are just having fun and we need to be and do things that are acceptable according to man. We are all just like the young son in this study. We all want to go and live for all we can, have all we can, get all we can. Everybody does it why not you?  
     Well that is what keeps us separated from our Father who is patiently, lovingly waiting for us to realize the Devil doesn't care about us. He just wants to keep us from returning to our Father so he can claim a victory.
You are being used by Satan. Satan loves to point out to God all of the people he has as followers. Even all the religious practitioners who follow their divisive doctrines. Even Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that their father was the devil. 
44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
     When we come to understand we are living a lie and Satan has been using us for his glory that is when we become crushed under the weight of our sin. That is when we reach for the only thing that can lift us from the depths of our sin. The only thing that can bring us back to a life of joy in holiness is faith in God through Jesus Christ. Christ is the Word of God given to us for our salvation.
21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
James 1:21
    The truth of salvation for the young man in our parable was in all the words of his father. Words of direction and correction and promise. Words of truth and encouragement to keep and grow in. All the father had spoken to this young man came to life when he realized he was dead in his own ways. The words of his father came to him and he knew where his salvation was.
24  For this my son was dead, and is alive again;
Luke 15:24
    He was alive because he had accepted the truth of his father’s words and repented of his sin. That means he had turned away from his sin to face the truth and make the sincere effort to walk in it.
    Our Father in heaven has given us His Word. All of the promises of God are yes.
20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2 Corinthians 1:20
     Our Father in Heaven has spoken even us into existence and by His Word He keeps us.
24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jude 1:24
51  Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
John 8:51
     The Word of God is Jesus Christ.
1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
2  The same was in the beginning with God. 
3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 
5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:1-5
14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:12
     We are all spiritually dead in our sin but God has given us His Word that we may come to know the truth about this world, and the ruler of it. We may come to know who and what we are in it. And we may come to know who we must believe in to be saved from it. God has given His Word to us. It is written and saved for us in the Holy Scriptures of your Bibles. It is alive by the Spirit of God and is waiting for you to confess and repent that He, Christ Jesus may escort us back to the fellowship and membership of the family of God.
----he was lost, and is found.
Luke 15:24
     We are so easily drawn away from the truth. But the truth never changes.
The Word of God never changes. It doesn't mean one thing to this group and another to that group and even something completely different to someone else. There is only one truth to every Word of God. There is no diversity or compromise. 
     It is so easy to be lost in this world of sin but it is just as easy to be lost in this world and it's thousands of religions and factions within those religions.
Once again, religion is manmade. The world is full of religious people who are just as lost as the most vulgar sinner.
    Only faith in the living Word of God brings salvation. It is the light in the darkness of everything this world has to offer.
105  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
Psalms 119:105
     Christ Jesus is the light that leads us from this lost and dying world to the presence of our Father that we may be once again dressed in the Holiness and Righteousness of the truth of His Word.
---And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:24
    They began to be merry. Who was there when the father made his announcement of the return and restoration of his son?
The father, the son and all of the servants. 
7  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luke 15:7
10  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luke 15:10
    Our Father in Heaven is waiting for you. He is waiting for you to come to know His Word of truth and promise. He is waiting with open arms and a household of angels ready to rejoice at your return and restoration to life through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the same loving, caring and devoted Father that created all mankind. And He is the same loving, caring and devoted Father who has given us His Word that we may return to Him through confession and repentance and faith in His living Word Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness and salvation is promised through Christ Jesus because of God’s love for us. All we must do is realize we are desperately in need of it.
AMEN!

Pastor Steven Freede
Cornerstone Independent Church Ministry
1/10/21

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