From The Pig Pen To The Palace

They started running toward the bear hollering, “Bad Bear! Bad Bear!” The bear raised up on its back legs, and it appeared to be around 7 or 8 feet tall. They realized that they had made a serious mistake by approaching the bear. Needless to say, both of them were frightened. One of them picked up a bottle of honey that was on the ground, and he said to the bear, “Honey! Honey!” Then, to save his own hide, he took the honey and squirted it on his good friend, and the bear started chasing after him.

Later on, the young man is at their campsite with a young lady, and she said, “Didn’t you have a friend camping with you?” And he stated he did. And if you look beyond the young man, in the distance you can see his friend up in a tree, and the bear is at the bottom of the tree trying to get to him.

We all know what a “Bad Bear” is, but today I want to talk to you about a “Bad Boy” who is known by most as the Prodigal Son.

There is a very important message in this parable for today’s church. To understand what that message is, you have to examine why the Lord gave us this parable.

Illus: The reason the Lord gave us this parable was because the church leaders of that day, the Scribes and Pharisees, came to Him complaining that He was spending too much time with SINNERS, DRUNKARDS, AND TAX COLLECTORS.

However, the Lord's answer was simple: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."

The clear message in this parable of the Prodigal Son is that the Lord came to save sinners.

While many are doing everything they can do to turn the church into a social club, to entertain all ages, we must never forget that the purpose of the church is two fold.

• EDIFY THE SAINTS OF GOD. (Through praise and worship)

• REACH THE LOST! (Through evangelism)

While the focus in this parable is on the lost son, it is also on the "The Loving Father" that loved his lost son. Let’s look at this parable to see the PRODIGAL SON and the LOVING FATHER. The first thing we see is:

I. THE REBELLION OF THE SON

WHAT KIND OF REBELLION WAS IT? It was a rebellion against many things, such as:

A. HE REBELLED AGAINST AUTHORITY

The Prodigal son wanted to leave his father’s house for several reasons, but most likely, one of the primary reasons was that he was rebelling against the AUTHORITY OF HIS FATHER.

This is the same reason that a lot of children leave home today, they want to live their life with no one telling them what to do.

But the Prodigal son’s Father’s house provided three things.

• PARENTAL DISCIPLINE

• PROTECTION

• PROVISION

When a young person leaves home, they leave the DISCIPLINE, but they also leave the PROTECTION and PROVISION of their father. Rebelling against AUTHORITY is a bad way to start out in life as a young person.

Because some young people start out in life rebelling against authority, it may take them decades to overcome the damage they have done to themselves, and sometimes they never do!

Illus: Some adults in this congregation would tell you that many of the problems they have today, can be traced back to their rebellious youth.

The Bible teaches that once young people get married, they should be willing to leave Mother and Father to establish their own home. BUT NOT UNTIL THEN! They should not leave because they are trying to escape authority. Why?

• Because you can not be a productive citizen and not respect authority.

• Because you can not be a good employee and not respect authority.

• Because you can not be a good church member and not respect authority.

• Because you can not be a good soldier and not respect authority.

• Because you can not be a good marriage partner and not respect authority.

• Because you can not be a GOOD SON or a GOOD DAUGHTER and not respect authority.

Many do not like authority! In fact they enjoy bucking the system, and challenging those who are over them.

Illus: This reminds us of a young fellow whose name was Charlie. It was early on a spring morning, when Charlie went walking down to the lake, carrying his fishing rod. From behind a tree stepped the game warden, and he said, "Okay Charlie, I need to see your fishing license." Charlie stared back and said, "There ain't no law against carrying a fishing rod."

The Game Warden knew he had a point, and he couldn't say anything else, so he watched Charlie start walking toward the woods beside the lake. The warden let him get about 20 yards ahead and then he began to follow him.