When You're Lost and Choose To Stay Lost: Part 3 | Pastor Mike Fortune | June 24, 2017

WHEN YOU'RE LOST AND CHOOSE TO STAY LOST: PART 3
by Pastor Mike Fortune
June 24, 2017
 

Luke 15:31

31 His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.'

 

Luke 15:12

12 So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

 

Luke 11:37

37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.

 

Luke 14:1

1 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely.

 

Luke 15:32

32 'For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'

 

Luke 15:20

20 And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

 

The Prodigal God

Through this parable Jesus challenges what nearly everyone has ever thought about God, sin, and salvation. Jesus's purpose is not warm our hearts but to shatter our categories. Jesus is redefining everything we thought we knew about connecting to God. He redefining sin, what it means to be lost, and what it means to be saved. pp.10, 28.

 

2 Peter 3:9

9 The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

 

Luke 15:32

32 'We had to celebrate this happy day.' 

 

Luke 13:29

29 And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God.

 

John 3:1-2

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. 'Rabbi,' he said, 'we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.'

 

John 12:42

42 Many people did believe in him [Jesus], however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn't admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue.

 

John 19:38

38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away.

 

Acts 6:7

7 So God's message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.

 

Acts 18:8

8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord.

 

Acts 26:5

I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. 6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God's promise made to our ancestors.

 

Luke 15:28

28 The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him.

 

Christ's Object Lessons

When you see yourselves as sinners saved only by the love of your heavenly Father, you will have tender pity for others who are suffering in sin. You will no longer meet misery and repentance with jealousy and censure. When the ice of selfishness is melted from your hearts, you will be in sympathy with God, and will share His joy in the saving of the lost. p.210

 

 

Luke 7:29-31

29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God's way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God's plan for them, for they had refused John's baptism. 31 "To what can I compare the people of this generation?" Jesus asked. "How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs, and you didn't dance, so we played funeral songs, and youdidn't weep.'

 

The Prodigal God

'Wait', I have heard people object. 'You mean that in order to grow in Christ, you keep telling yourself how graciously loved and accepted you are? That doesn't seem to be the best way to make progress. Maybe the motivation of religion was negative, but at least it was effective! You knew you had to obey God because if you didn't, he wouldn't answer your prayers or take you to heaven. But if you remove this fear and talk so much about free grace and unmerited acceptance—what incentive will you have to live a good life? It seems like this gospel way of living won't produce people who are as faithful and diligent to obey God's will without question. But if, when you have lost all fear of punishment you also have lost incentive to live an obedient life, then what was your motivation in the first place? It could only have been fear. What other incentive is there? Awed, grateful love. pp.119,120