Come To Your Senses

COME TO YOUR SENSES

Luke 15:11-21

In this passage Jesus pretty well describes what we see taking place in our culture and society today…and He describes what we see taking place in the lives of some families; and He describes, perhaps, even some one here this morning.

And, He tells us what needs to be done! He gives us the solution to all the problems.

Look at vs. 17. Jesus is teaching this parable and in vs. 17: “When he came to his senses…”

That is an interesting statement isn’t it?

Have you ever told anyone that they need to come to their senses?
What does that imply?
Does that imply that they have been acting pretty “senseless.”
That what they have been doing doesn’t make sense.
That they have been acting kind of crazy.
Isn’t that what we are seeing in our culture and society today, people acting “crazy; senseless?”

And what God wants is for people, perhaps some of us, to come to our senses.

To wake up and see things as they really are!
To see the reality of their situation and where they need to be.

And, this statement, “He came to his senses…” implies that this boy in this story knew that what he had been doing was wrong.

That he knew better than to do the things he was doing.
That he knew what was right and wrong.

And they may deny it but most people today are doing the same thing…Romans 1:18-23 indicates that they know what is right and wrong (murder; adultery; homosexuality; stealing; burning; lying, the immoral acts) and yet, they are acting as though they are senseless.

And what God wants is for, them/you/I, to quit being that way and like this boy, come to our senses.

Look at verse 18 and notice what this boy came to his senses about. He says: ”I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.”

He called a spade a spade didn’t he?

He saw things as they really were.
He says: “I have sinned…” (Not just a mistake; not short-comings; he didn’t soften what he did.) He says, “I have sinned!”
That was the basis of all of his problems.
And people today need to realize that sin is the basis of their problems.

When this boy left his father and started sinning things went down hill until finally, he was starving to death and tempted to eat the food meant for the pigs.

We need to understand that sin always has its consequences…it always costs something.

It will cost you your money…your integrity…your innocence…your job…your freedom…your family…your life…and ultimately your soul.
It will cause you to be on a constant downward spiral.
And for many people they are in the horrible mess and predicament they are in because of sin.
They live in poverty because of sin.
In jail because of sin.
Family is in turmoil because of sin.
Their wife has the kids and they only see them on the weekends because of sin.
And the tragedy is….their lives are in this horrible mess because of sin…and they still haven’t come to their senses.
They think their problems are a result of all these other things.

Sin always costs you…

If you or I are tempted to sin…to go to the distant country…and we all are…you need to remember this.
That lie…that cheating…that stealing…that unfaithfulness.
That drug use…that immorality…whatever it is you are tempted to give in too…it is going to cost you and cost you dearly.
And if you have any sense at all you will stay away from it.

Sin will always cost you something…and do you know why it does?

Because the only time some of us will “ever come to our senses” and come to the Father is when sin has taken us as low as we can go.

This boy came to his senses and he says: “I have sinned…”

It is amazing how many people won’t acknowledge that.
Why is that so difficult?
Why do people go to extremes sometimes to keep from admitting this?

It is interesting some of the things people do to keep from admitting that they are sinners.

One of the things we do is we try to “hide it.”

Like Adam and Eve in the garden; we sin then we put a few fig leaves on and say, “What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything!”

It is like the little white mouse that was put in the cage with the snake.

And the snake was asleep.
When the little mouse saw the snake it started kicking sawdust up over the snake.
Until finally he had the snake completely covered up.
Then the mouse laid down to rest…thinking, “I have taken care of the problem.”

That is what a lot of people do with sin…”I will just cover it up…hide it…ignore it…change the name of it…and it will go away.”

The snake didn’t go away at all!
And when it woke up it killed the little mouse…and sin will do the same thing to you/I.

A lot of people try to cover up their sin…pretend it is not there.

But Luke 15 says, “You cannot hide our sinfulness from God because He knows who is home and who isn’t; it is that simple.”

This boy says, “I have sinned…”

Do you know what that is?

That is the first step that must be made in order to be restored to son-ship with God.
This boy would never have been restored to son-ship without first coming to his senses and admitting that he had sinned!
And neither will anyone else!

Look with me at 1 John 1, John is dealing with some people who were saying that “they had fellowship with God” even though they were “walking in the dark”…and John says, “No you don’t.”

If you are walking in the darkness…you have no fellowship with God.

So some others jumped up and said, “We have fellowship with God…because we haven’t sinned.”

And listen to what John says to them starting in 1 John 1:8.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, (acknowledge that we are sinners) He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Anyone who refuses to acknowledge that he is a sinner has no fellowship with God.

In fact, if anyone is thinking that “they are not a sinner”, John says in verse 10 that they “make God a liar!”
They are denying something that God says is true and that God already knows.
If they are thinking that they are not a sinner…they are the only one who thinks that!

Look at Romans 3:23. This is a very familiar verse….and yet as familiar as it is…some just don’t seem to believe it.

Look what Paul says: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Now, we read that verse and there is this little deceptive mechanism inside that says, “It’s not talking about me! It’s talking about everyone else but not me!”

And the reason people do that is because they tend to view sin as being comparative.
“Compared to most people I know, I couldn’t possibly be branded a sinner.”
“Compared to others, I am not that bad.”
That’s the way people think.

But I want you to notice something here.

Paul does not compare you or I or anyone else to other people!
He is comparing everyone to the “glory of God.”
God is the standard…and when it comes to God…we all fall way short!
Yes, compared to me or me to you, we may be great.
But not when we are compared to God!

No matter how good we are…how we strive to live a righteous life…compared to God…not someone else…we have fallen short.

And the only way we or anyone else can be restored to son-ship is to first admit that.

It is no coincidence that in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5….that when it comes to being a child of the kingdom that the very first thing that Jesus mentions is being “poor in spirit.”

Because, the first thing that any one must do in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven is they must be humble enough to acknowledge that they are a sinner…and that without God there is no hope at all.

God wants us to come to our senses…and acknowledge that we are sinners….and come to Him.

And if you/I/ or anyone else will, notice what He will do? Look at verse 20:

20 “And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion {for him,} and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. 21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“Let me be one of your slaves so I can pay for what I have done…”

Is that what it says?

No, but that is what some of people think.

We think we have to somehow work our way into a right standing with God.

You can never pay what you owe…Christ did that on the cross.

The only reason you regain your son-ship is because of God’s mercy and grace extended to us…made available to us through Christ’s death. .

And what Jesus is trying to tell us here in this story is: “We matter to God and He wants us to come home.”

No matter what we have done…no matter how much we have blown it.
God wants us to come home.

Do you need to do that? God is watching…longing to run to you. If you know you need to come home, don’t disappoint Him…just come home?