You Never Know What’s Coming Down the Road Luke 15:1-24 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This sermon deals with the story of the prodigal son and his return. Jesus gave this story in the gospel of Luke. There have been countless sermons preached on this subject and they usually deal with salvation. We are going to take a thought from this passage to use as the theme for this sermon. In verse 20 after the son had come to himself and realized his condition and sin he returned to the father. But when he was a great ways off the father saw him and ran to him. I wonder if the father went to the end of the road that led to their house or maybe to the edge of the field everyday to see if the son his son was returning. There is no scriptural proof for this but it leads us to ask to the question of how many days did the father look for his son before he saw him returning. Therefore we will look at the thought you never know what is coming down the road.
Things that might be coming down the road for us:
1) Salvation (Acts 9:1-12)
- This is where Saul (Paul) met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. I don’t think Paul had any idea that Salvation was coming down the road that day.
- Maybe you are lost and haven’t really thought about your condition and need of a Savior.
- The word of God says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Therefore even the smallest sin such as lying makes us sinners and in need of a Savior.
- Jesus Christ died for our sins and paid the price for our sins, therefore he is the only way to heaven. (Romans 5:8 ; John14:1-6 ; John 3:16)
- According to Romans 10:9-13 we must believe this and ask God to save us on the basis of what Jesus did and he will save. There is no works it is purely faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- May you be like Paul and have salvation come your way today.
2) Tribulation (Job 1-Job 2)
- In the first two chapters of Job he loses his money, livelihood, most all his servants and his 10 kids, and then if that is not enough he loses his health in chapter 2.
- We may not have tribulation to the extent of what Job did, but none the less tribulation may be coming down our road.
- The question becomes how can we deal with it as Job did and not sin? He prepared before the bad times came and when they did he simply trusted in God (Job 1:5 ; 1:21)
3) Nothing (Luke 15:13-19)
- Back to the story of the prodigal son. There were possibly many days in which the father look for his son and nothing was coming down the road.
- Maybe that is your position. Maybe you are looking for a husband, wife, job, son or daughter, health improvement or just answer to prayer. Maybe you have looked and looked but nothing seems to be coming.
- The answer is simple but very hard to do. Trust God and be content with where you are until God sends the right thing down the road.
- In Philippians 4 there are 3 great verses.
Verse 13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Verse 19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Verse 7 “And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
- Now the challenge becomes for us in the dry times when nothing is coming down the road. How can we go from the peace of God which passeth all understanding to I can do all things through Jesus Christ. The answer is found in the middle of these verses. Note in verses 11 -12 Paul says he has learned to be content with what so ever state he is in.
- Sometimes the dry spells are there for us to learn contentment.
4) The prodigal (Luke 15:20)
- Sometimes God may send exactly what you have been hoping for, just like the father seeing his son. This is why it is so important for us to just keep looking.
- Remember that God is able to do abundantly above all we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20-21), so sometimes what we are looking for might not come down the road but it could be that something way better is coming down the road instead.
5) Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13)
- No matter which of the above are coming down our road or anything else that is coming down the road, we should be looking for Jesus Christ.
- One of the best ways to change your life would be to look for Jesus Christ everyday to be coming down your road. We should have the same prayer as John in Revelation 22:20, “Even so come Lord Jesus”.