You realize you’ve gone off course in your spiritual walk, and you find yourself headed away from God. As such, you are experiencing the hardships that come from making bad decisions. Tony Evans explains that the first thing you need to do in such situations is to take the nearest exit, which the Bible calls repentance.
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well here we are friends at the
beginning
of a brand new year
and you know that reminds me of new
opportunities
you know as i stand in this chapel i’m
reminded about
beginnings in this chapel babies are
dedicated
marriages are established
it means they’re looking forward to the
future
you know the bible says to despise not
the day of small things
of humble beginnings because anything
that’s achieved
a lot started somewhere
you know i think of our own ministry the
urban alternative and how we started
with just a few cassette tapes 40 years
ago
packing them up and taking them to the
post office and sending them to people
who wanted to hear the messages of god’s
word being proclaimed
and now 40 years later
over 1400 radio stations in 130
countries around the world
a training institute impacting
individuals families churches and
communities
all over the nation and we started
so small as you look at this year
i want you to dream a little bit i want
you to dream
about what you can start doing now that
god can grab a hold of
and turn into something huge
for your good his glory
and blessing to others when those three
things
are packaged together no matter how
small you start
you’ve given god something to work with
amplify
and favor so
at the beginning of this new year i want
you to think
about what god can do through you
as you dream his dreams working through
you
for the advancement of his kingdom we
dreamt 40 years ago
and we praise god for what he has done
as we turn the clock to a new year
to do so much more
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god knows what you like he knows our
propensity
and he has compassion when we come home
come back home as quickly as possible
though your sins being scarlet
they shall be white as snow though they
be red like crimson they shall be his
will
so whatever inheritance whatever god
still wants to do for you
to you through you in you don’t lose
anymore
jesus christ broke the curse so don’t
ever talk about you being cursed again
if you know jesus christ the curse the
consequence of the law
is broken the greatest miracle of all
is when you dip yourself in the blood of
jesus christ
for the forgiveness of sins and the gift
of eternal life
god is inviting us to a family
reunion he wants to reconnect
with members of his family who have
drifted from him
he has a term for that reconnection
that term is repentance
repentance is that inner resolve and
determination
to turn from sin and return
to fellowship with god it is that inner
resolve and determination to turn from
sin
and return back to god that is
validated by what the bible calls fruits
of repentance or
visible demonstrable actions that are
taken
to prove you weren’t just talking noise
or having a momentary feeling because
you took
steps to return back to him
that could be authenticated fruits of
repentance
repentance is the word to bring you back
into fellowship
which opens up the door based on god’s
sovereign prerogative
to address the consequences that the
departure
created from him
we have established the fact that
departure from god
results in consequences in life
sin has repercussions
many most if not all can point to
regrets
in your life that if you could go back
turn back the hands of time and do it
all over again
you would have done it differently
because there is the ongoing consequence
of the sin
that you are ashamed of
in luke chapter 15. we are told
that the tax collectors and sinners were
coming
near to jesus to hear him teach
they were listening to his message
but the religious leaders according to
verse 2
the scribes and the pharisees grumbled
saying this man jesus received sinners
and he actually
eats with them they were ticked off
that jesus christ was interfacing
and even fellowshipping
with folks who in their minds ought to
have been avoided this leads jesus to
tell a couple of stories
he tells about a shepherd where one
sheep goes and gets lost and the
shepherd leaves the 99 and goes after
the one
and brings one back he then says there’s
a woman with ten coins
she loses one she turns on the light she
dusts she sweeps
in order to find the one coin and the
shepherd celebrates when he brings back
the shepherd the
wife’s or the woman celebrates when she
finds the coin
and then he makes the point that heaven
rejoices
when one sinner repents
then over righteous who do not need to
repent
heaven has a party
when a sinner comes home there is
actually
a party in glory when someone who is
lost returns to the fold
having stated his two illustrations
he comes with the zinger
you know it as the prodigal son
let’s revisit his story today
to see how it affects your fellowship
with god and
the possible reversals of consequences
you may be experiencing because of sin
or those you know and love
may be experiencing because of sin i
think you’ll find some very interesting
things in this story a man has two sons
verse 11 says
the younger of the son comes to the
father and says
give me the share of the estate that
falls to me
so he divided his wealth between them
the younger son comes to dad and he says
dad
i want my inheritance
because i want to leave now now that may
not seem like a big deal
to you and me but it was a big deal back
then
because in the jewish world you only
sought your inheritance when it was time
for your father
to die when he was on a death bed
like we do wills today when somebody
dies when you’re on your death bed
was the time inheritances were handed
out
and so it was
it was the time of death that provided
it
well this father is very much alive
and the son says i’d like my inheritance
now
translation i wish you were dead i want
to get out of here now so he gathers his
things together
and when he gathers his things together
after many days
he goes on a journey to a distant
country
where he squandered his estate with
loose living
spent everything he had there was a
severe famine
that occurred in the country and he
began to be impoverished
please notice the father lets him leave
father doesn’t make him stay because god
wants you
with him because that’s where you want
to be and so he goes to a far country
in the bible the far country is called
the world
he squandered his estate with loose
living
he spent what he had
he messed up now that was in his control
but it got worse
because in the far country something
happened that was out of his control
a famine verse 15 he hired himself
out to one of the citizens of that
country
and he sent him into the field to feed
swine
and he would have gladly filled his
stomach with the pods
that the swines were eating and no one
was giving him anything
it went from bad to worse okay he didn’t
run out of stuff
his greenbacks have gone back
so he becomes a day worker
feeding pigs now you have to understand
it’s a jewish boy feeding pigs
that’s as low as you go if you’re a
jewish guy
and you got to feed pork the only thing
he’s desiring to eat is the food that
pigs eat
because in the far country if you’re
there long enough
you wind up in the garbage
oh it got worse it says no friends gave
him anything
because when things go left your friends
disappear
verse 17 offers us a transition
but when it came to his senses
he did not come to his senses until
things got
rock bottom and he says you are crazy
you have lost your mind
so he said how many of my father’s hired
men have more than enough bread but i am
dying here with hunger
i will get up and go to my father and
i’ll say to him father i have sinned
against heaven and in your sight
i am no longer worthy to be called your
son
make me as one of your hired
men look at my watch this
my circumstances see it was his
consequences that woke him up
so god will allow us to have
consequences
until we get tired of pig life
and then he shows the fruits of
repentance verse 20
so he got up and came to his father
while he was still a long way off verse
20
his father saw him felt compassion for
him
ran and embraced and kissed him
guess what daddy at the window looking
for his boy
because the father is waiting for some
folk to come home
please don’t miss this don’t miss this
don’t miss this
he never went to the far country
stay with me here he he didn’t go to the
far country
see a lot of folk are in the far country
calling on god to deliver them
they are away from god begging god to
turn their
situation they’re waiting for that
change to come
into our country in other words they
want to keep their sin
and have the father
no no no the father did not run to him
until he saw him on the way back
there must be movement toward god
demonstrating there is sincerity
about repentance and the father
will meet you before you ever arrive
because he wants you to come home
looking for you to come home
desirous of you to come home but you got
to be coming home
a lot of folk want god to meet him in
the fall country
read me can’t do that the bible says is
because the world the far country is
enmity against god
james 4 4 says first john chapter 2
verses 15 to 17
don’t love the world or the things in
the world for if any man loves the world
the love of the father is not in him
you lose the love of god you’re at
enmity with god
so he’s not going to hang out with you
in the fall country
but he’ll meet you if you decide to live
the far country
and to help you want to leave the far
country he’ll wait till you hit rock
bottom
he comes back to his father’s father’s
kissing him loving on him
and the son said to the father verse 21
father
i have sinned against heaven and in your
sight
i am no longer worthy to be called your
son
because of what i did to your name
because of what i did to your resources
i don’t deserve to carry your name
but the father said to his slaves
quickly bring out
the best road put it on him put a ring
on his hand
and sandals on his feet and bring the
fatted calf
kill it and let us eat and celebrate
ooh my boy gets a party
by the father after he’s confessed that
he sinned
and returned home see a lot of folk want
to party without a confession
uh let me tell you what he lost
he lost his inheritance
because he spent it in a far country
so whatever inheritance whatever god
still wants to do from you for you
to you through you in you don’t lose
anymore
come back home as quickly as possible
because he lost all of his
now verse 25 the older son
was in the field and when he came
and approached the house he heard music
and dancing
so they haven’t damn they have a great
time man
they have a celebration going on and he
summoned one of the servants verse 26
and began inquiring
what these things could be what what’s
this party all about
he said to him your brother has come
and your father has killed a fatted calf
because he received him back
safe and sound
but he became angry watch this now
and was not willing to go in i ain’t
going to that party
and his father came out and began
pleading with him come on in come on in
come on in
but he answered and said to his father
look
for so many years
i have been serving you i never
neglected a command of yours
and yet you have never given me a young
goat you gave him the fatted calf never
even gave me a goat
you gave him the turkey didn’t give me
no chicken you you just
so that i might celebrate with my
friends you never did that for me
verse 30 when this son of yours not my
brother
this son of yours
who devoured your wealth he messed up
your inheritance
with prostitutes
and you killed a fatty cat for him
i’ve been with you for years years
and i don’t get a party and you’re gonna
go all hog
wild over this this evil loose living
money wasting son of yours
let’s see the father’s response to the
older son
and he said verse 31 son
because he’s a son too you have always
been with me
and all that is mine is yours
but we had to celebrate and rejoice for
this brother of yours was
dead and has become alive
was lost and is now found do you
remember what we just defined dead to be
he had he wasn’t physically dead he was
separated
so death in the bible means separation
this brother was dead dead to the family
separated from the family he’s alive
that is there has been
a reunion
you older son
have been with me always
all that i have is yours
i don’t know if you caught that you’ve
been with me you never left me you
you hung out with me you’ve been doing
it for years
all that i have is yours translation
you could have had a party anytime you
wanted one it was
always available to you so if you never
had a party
it’s cause you never decided to have one
cause the party was right in your
backyard
in other words brothers and sisters
there are two kinds of prodigals
there is a prodigal that’s a i’ll call
him a secular prodigal
this is the one that leeds church this
is the one that goes out into the world
this is the one that leaves god this is
the one that doesn’t want to have
anything to do with faith this is the
one that’s thrown
the bible away has no time for prayer
and
is out there just living it up and it’s
evident
the reputation is evident that this
is a sinning son
that’s a secular prodigal oh but you can
have a religious prodigal
the religious prodigal is staying in the
vicinity of the father
he’s hanging out in the father’s field
he still comes to church every sunday
she still sings in the choir he still
serves on the usher board
uh they’re still around they they give
the picture
of fellowship with the father never
taking advantage of the relationship
they are religious prodigals see we we
give a hard time to the secular
prodigals
because that’s like overt wickedness but
god has a lot of other children
he got a lot of other children a lot of
other
boys and girls who stay in the vicinity
of the father
who never take advantage of what the
father has to offer
they still in church
but they are disconnected from the
father
so they don’t get the benefit of what
they could have had
see the beauty of the second son is that
he could have had
what the young man had all the time
but he was satisfied with being in the
vicinity of
i love psalm 103
verse 10 to verse 14.
he has not dealt with us according to
our sins
nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities
for as high as the heavens are above the
earth so
great is his loving kindness toward
those who fear him
as far as the east is from the west so
far has he removed our transgressions
from us
just as the father has compassion on his
children
so the lord has compassion on those who
fear him
for he himself knows our frame
he is mindful that we are but dust
god god knows what you like what i’m
like what we like
he knows our propensity and he has
compassion
when we come home i love isaiah chapter
1 verses 18 to 20 though your sins be a
scarlet
they shall be white as snow though they
be red like crimson they shall be his
wool i love
isaiah 55 7 which says and he will
abundantly pardon pardoned
looking for opportunities to release
us from our sins which opens up the door
for him to address our consequences
so the question is what kind of prodigal
are you
am i am i a younger son prodigal
or i’m just loose living or maybe a
religious prodigal
well i go to church but there’s no
relationship with the father
because the father says i will deal with
the sinner who repents
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when we walk away from god when we walk
away from his word when we walk away
from fellowship with him
we enter into a spiritual zone
of problems the spiritual always
precedes the physical when things go
awry in our lives because we’ve walked
away from god they show up in our
circumstances
when we move from him then we see a
devolution of life we devolve
into pain and
aches and regrets and
stresses that god never
desired for us to have but what we’ve
done is we’ve created
spiritual distance the further we move
from god the closer we are to
the consequences of negatively
being impacted by life’s realities now
we know
just being alive even if you’re a great
person
doesn’t mean that you don’t have
challenges
but the difference is you can have
challenges with god
or without him you can have challenges
in close proximity
or challenges because you’ve wandered so
far from him
you’re out there on your own
the spiritual consequences of our
abandonment of intimacy with the father
will always lead to regrets in life
and you let those regrets go long enough
because we’ve stayed far enough
for far too long and you watch your life
and even those that you influence
unravel right before your eyes
so since the consequences are
spiritually founded
the solution is spiritual as well
when we get back into right relationship
with god then we
free him up to address our situations
our circumstances
our pain and our problems in a fresh way
so that we find healing from the
sores and scars that we brought on
because we wandered too far from home
come back home your father is waiting
for your return
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you