Luke 15:25-30

Luke 14:18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Spiritual Orphans

Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans.”

Common Patterns of the Orphan Spirit

1.   Victim

2.   Persecutor

3.   Rescuer

Psalm 68:5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Signs of an Orphan Spirit

1.   Anger

Ephesians 4:26 be angry and sin not: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Types of Anger:

·       Holy Anger (God has anger)

·       A natural response to injustice

·       Unbridled Anger opens doors for Demons.

2.   Isolation

Luke 15:28 But he was angry and would not go in

Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.

Christian Community: We are born with the need to live with each other.

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

3.   Demanding and Controlling

Luke 15:29  So he said to his father, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you I never transgressed your commandments at any time.”

4.   Jealous When Others are Promoted

Luke 15:30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.

5.   Unable to Access your Inheritance

Luke 15:31 Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.

How to Break the Orphan Spirit

1.   Trust God’s Love

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

A.   Experience God’s Love

B.   Know He Loves You!

Look to the Cross!

2.   Embrace Your Identity

Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2:12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you were raised with Hiim through faith 

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

3.   Forgive

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offenses come!

4.   Embrace Community

Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

5.   Serve People