A Case Of Genuine Repentance Luke 15: 11-24 Luke 15:11-24 And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. A. The true definition of repentance is: to change one's mind. B. The proof of repentance is the actions that follow. 1. There is more to confession than merely admitting that one has sinned. Many admit that, but repentance is to change. 2. We meet people every day who readily confess that they are wrong, but they never do any thing about it. Illustration: A little boy was always pulling his little sister's hair. She would cry; his mother would scold or paddle him; he would always say, "I am sorry," but then he would keep on pulling her hair. His little sister would say, "You are really not sorry or you would quit it." Illustration: The pastor was ready to perform the baptismal act on a certain person, when the man said, "Preacher don't put this hand in the water, I don't want it baptized." The pastor asked him a reason for it, and the man said, "That is my chicken stealing hand, and I intend to keep right on stealing chickens after baptism." I. Genuine Repentance Brings Sorrow And Remorse For Sin (vs 17-19). A. Sorrow and remorse is not repentance but the fruits of it. B. When King David was confronted with his sin, his heart was broken, as he confessed, "I have sinned." II. Genuine Repentance Is Always Met With God�s Forgiveness (v 20) A. You will notice that the father did not ask the son to give an account of every sin he had committed. He did not ask for a detailed report. B. Another thing to see here is that it was after the son had already been forgiven that he confessed. True repentance is continuous: it doesn't stop with its first act. It goes on all through life time. III. Genuine Repentance Brings One Into Fellowship With God A. There was the kiss, the robe, the ring, the feast, all of which speak to us of sweet fellowship. Whatever was between them was now gone. B. Only one who has know the misery of broken fellowship can know how sweet it is to be brought back into this holy state. IV. Genuine Repentance Exalts One To A High Position (v 19) A. He was willing to be a hired servant, but the father ignored his request and set him among the rest of the family. V. Genuine Repentance Opens The Door To All The Father Has For Us A. This son was brought back into the realm of the elite. B. We might say the father gave him the key to the storehouses. C. We often find ourselves going around having a pity party. We get to feeling sorry for ourselves. We moan and groan and say, "poor little old me; what's going to become of me?" 1. A fellow said to me recently that he was so low that he would have to stand on his tip toes to reach the underside of a piece of tissue paper. 2. One church member sent a sympathy card to another member of the same church. The member, who received the card, called the sender, and asked for an explanation since no one had died in the family. The sender said, "I thought sure God had died the way you acted last Sunday." VI. Genuine Repentance Brings Power Into One's Life (v 22b). Shoes enable one to walk over rough ground where there are rocks and thorns. A. People are hurting today, but there is power. (Isa. 40:29-31)