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The word prodigal means
= wasteful or extravagant
We read in Luke 15:13 that the
younger son wasted his substance with riotous living.
(Luke 15:11 NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this
story: "A man had two sons.
(Luke 15:12-13)
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.
This
is one of the parables that Jesus gave, seeks to bring the
Pharisees and the teachers of the Law to repentance. This
parable teaches individuals that one ought not to think
more highly of himself or herself than one ought to think.
This parable is a call for repentance. The main theme of
this parable is not so much the conversion of the sinner,
as in the previous two parables of Luke
15, but rather the restoration of the two
brothers with the Father.
(Luke 15:1, 2 KJV)
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and
sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured,
saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with
them.
(Luke 15:11 NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this
story: "A man had two sons.
(Luke 15:12-13) 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.
Symbolizes
Father = God --- Jesus
identifies Himself with God in His loving attitude to the
lost.
Sons = Believers
Younger brother = New Convert
--- the tax collectors and sinners of that
day, Luke 15:1
Elder brother = the
self-righteous, the Pharisees and teachers of the law of
that day, Luke 15:2
Servants
= Faithful believers
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Jesus said in Luke 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. |
God will
not force us to love Him and be faithful to Him. Even
though it is harmful for the youngest son to levee the
Father "God" and go astray "backslid", the Father will not
volatile one's will. When a believer walks in the flesh
goes astray from the Father, like the prodigal son, the
loving Father will aloe you. Instead of rebuking his son,
the father grants him his request.
(Deu 30:19 KJV)
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy
seed may live:
(Luke 15:14 - 16 KJV) 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.
When the devil tempts, he never reveals the disastrous end of sin! Before the son left the Father he longed for wild living "things of the world", but now he was longing to have his stomach filled with the pig's food, O how low sin will bring you. This is a picture of the state of a rebellious Christian who has returned to a life of slavery to sin.
(Luke 15:17 - 19 KJV)
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.
He came to his senses -- He was
willing to turn from sin, admit he sinned.
I perish -- Rom 6:23a For the wages of sin
is death;
When a
person is away from God, he is spiritually dead.
(Luke 15:24 KJV)
For this my son was dead,
and is alive again;
he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Note: The
Prodigal son needed to repent to become alive
again.
The
Prodigal son sinned against God, by the way he lived. The
son was spiritually dead and in a lost condition,
even though he was a son. Even wail he was dead
spiritually, he could still choose to repent and became
alive again.
(Deu 30:19 KJV)
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose
life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Signs of True Repentance
Right thinking about God: When he came to his senses,
he said, How many of my Father's employees have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death.
Confess your sin: Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you.
Humility: I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Willing to serve God as your Lord: make me like one of
your employees.
Go to God: So he got up and went to his father.
We read in Gen 2:16, 17
And the LORD God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God
commanded Adam that he could eat from every tree but one
and if he disobeyed "sinned" he would die.
Note:
die in the day that thou eatest
Did Adam die in the day that he sinned?
God had warned Adam
-- Adam was a righteous man and lived in the
garden of Eden, he was expelled from the garden after he
sinned. Adam did die spiritually the same day he
sinned, yet he lived physically many years after he sinned
to be 930 years of age.
Brethren, if any of you do err from the
truth
(James 5:19 - 20 KJV)
Brethren, if any of you do err
from the truth, and one convert
him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the
error of his way shall save a
soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Note: God
calls the brethren a sinner in verse 20 and that you are
saving him from death
Do err — be
led astray
Doctrinally, by embracing error
By falling into sinful practices
And one convert him —
turn him from the error of his way; bring him back from
his backsliding
Convert = WD.
to change in character/form or purpose etc
(Luke 15:20 - 24 KJV)
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.
They began to be merry, Why?
Because the Prodigal Son is no longer spiritually dead and
lost, but is now spiritually alive again.
A backslider can come back into the inheritance of the
Father "delivered from sin"
There is rejoicing when a soul gets saved.
(Luke 15:10 KJV)
Likewise, I say unto you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth.
(Luke 15:11 NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this
story: "A man had two sons.
This parables is not only about the younger son but also about older son. Jesus gave several parables, in Luke chapter 14 throw 16 seeking to bring the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law to repentance. The prodigal son left the Father but there are some in the church like the older son that served the Father for years and also needs to repent like the prodigal.
(Luke 15:25 - 28 KJV) Now
his elder son was in the field:
and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard
music and dancing. And he called one of the
servants, and asked what these things meant.
And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy
father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath
received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore
came his father out, and entreated
him.
(Luke 15:28 NNAS)
"But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and
his father came out and began
pleading with him.
(Luke 15:28 NLT) "The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him,
God comes
to the older son's
Entreated him
Pleading with him
Begged him
Jealousy and anger go hand and
hand — The older
brother was angry and would not go in to the celebration,
some believers get unjustly upset over the mercy of God on
repented backsliders. The older brother’s focus was on
himself, and as a result he had no joy in the return of
his brother. The older brother allowed anger to take root
in his heart and was unable to show compassion towards his
repented brother.
(Heb 12:15 KJV)
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of
God; lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Seven Signs of Self-Righteous
Pride
Laughing at the sins of others.
Criticizing others to exalt yourself above them.
Boasting about how good you are, I did this, I did that.
Saying, I'm not as bad as that person.
Saying, I'm a good person.
Saying, I'm not a sinner.
Complaining when ex-sinners receive forgiveness.
(Luke 18:9 - 14 KJV)
And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and despised others: Two
men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee,
and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and
prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other: for every
one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The Father responds to the elder
son(Luke 15:31, 32 KJV)
And he said unto him,
Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is
thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be
glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again;
and was lost, and is found.
This parable of the Lord’s shows that there are three types of spiritually lost people:
Those who never came to first time salvation
Those who have salvation but afterwards died spiritually
became lost {again} through sin’s
destructive power
Sins of the BODY
Those who have salvation but afterwards died spiritually
became lost, trusting in themselves that they were righteous
Sins of the SOUL
(1 Th 5:23 KJV) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Gal 5:19 - 21 KJV)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Gal 5:19 - 21 NLT)
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your
lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality,
impure thoughts, eagerness
for lustful pleasure,
idolatry,
participation in demonic
activities, hostility,
quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
selfish ambition, divisions, the
feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own
little group, envy,
drunkenness,
wild parties,
and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have
before, that anyone living that sort of life will not
inherit the Kingdom of God.
| Spirit | Soul | Body |
| Idolatry |
Impure thoughts
|
Sexual immorality |
| Participation in demonic
activities |
Hostility |
Outburst of anger |
| Jealousy |
Drunkenness |
|
| Envy |
Wild parties |
|
| |
Quarreling |
Lustful pleasure |
| |
Heresies |
Murders |
This is
just a partial categorize list of the works of the flesh
in order to give you some insight to how they work in the
human spirit, soul and body. We can see that the older
brother was operating in the sins related to his soul
where the younger son was operating in sins of the
body. These sins operate hand and hand, that is to
say where you have one operating normally others are
operate also. We can see that some sins are more easy
identified. The sins of the older brother, sins regretting
from the soul where harder to identity than the sins of
the younger brother.
(Ezek 18:24 KJV) But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
(Ezek 18:24 NLT) However, if righteous people turn to sinful ways and start acting like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their previous goodness will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.
(Ezek 18:32 KJV) For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
(Psa 116:15 KJV) Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
(Phil 1:21 KJV)
For to me to live is Christ, and to
die is gain.
(Rev 2:4 KJV) Nevertheless
I have somewhat against thee, because thou
hast left thy first love.
(Rev 3:15 - 22 KJV) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Three Truths From the Parable of
the Prodigal Son
Jesus Seeks Sinners to Repent
God Rejoices Over Sinners Who Repent
Self-Righteous People Don't Think They are Sinners Who
Need to Repent
