For example, we know from this scripture:
• “A certain man had two sons.” (v. 11)
• The younger son seemed to be a problem child. Look at verse 12. We read, “And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me...”
• -The younger son was irresponsible. Look at verse 13. We read, “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.”
• The younger son did not think about the future. Look at verse 14. We read, “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.”
• The younger son hit the bottom, socially and spiritually. Look at verse 15. We read, “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.”
• The younger son liked to have starved to death. Look at verse 16, “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”
• The younger son finally came to his senses. Look at verses 17-21, “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.”
We are taken behind the closed doors of that family and given a wealth of information about that family. In fact, after reading this passage, we probably know more about them than we know about most families in this church.
However, even though the scripture tells us a great deal about the family, it does not tell us WHY THE PRODIGAL SON WANTED TO LEAVE A HOME WHERE HE WAS LOVED AND WHERE HIS NEEDS WERE BEING MET.
We are left to speculate as to why he left. Since this is the case, I would like to share with you one of the reasons he may have left. I believe he could have packed up and left his home for the same reason many teens today pack up and leave. Often they leave because they do not like to be restricted in any way. They do not like...
I. THE RULES.
That is, they have their own idea of what they want to do with their lives and they do not like their parents making RULES to govern their lives. So, those who do not like this feel the only thing they can do is pack up their belongings and get out!
Perhaps the reason God’s Word does not tell us why the young man left is because it is so obvious. Almost every time we hear of a teen leaving home we find out it is because he did not like having RULES to govern his life.
Often teens will get the notion that parents, school teachers, Sunday school teachers, and preachers all want to make their lives as miserable as they can. All those teens think about is that these people:
-Keep telling them things they should do.
-Tell them things they should not do.
Many teens are bound and determined not to let anyone “ruin their lives” with all those rules. They will try to have things their own way if they have to SNEAK and CONNIVE. When they finally get tired of sneaking and conniving, they pack up and leave. For example...
Illus: This reminds me of the story of the parents who decided to use psychology in raising their children. At bedtime they would say to their child, “Would you like to take your doll to bed, or your Teddy bear to bed with you?” You see, the beauty of this is that in either case the child is choosing to go to bed.
But, the whole system collapsed when they asked the three-year-old, who was never allowed to go out after supper, “Would you like to take your doll, or your Teddy bear to bed with you?” And the child responded, “Do you want me to go out the back door, or should I go out the front?”
RULES ARE A NECESSARY PART OF LIFE!
Someone should make a horror movie of what it would be like if we had no rules to govern the behavior of our society.
Illus: Can you imagine what it would be like on the highway if we had no rules, or laws, to tell...
- How fast you should drive?
- Where you should park your car?
- How much noise our mufflers can make?
Our highways would be a nightmare if we did not have rules to govern us.
Illus: Can you imagine what it would be like if we had no zone regulations? For example, suppose you built an expensive home and the day you moved in you saw someone next door. Suppose you went out to meet your neighbors and find out what kind of house they were going to build only to be informed they were not going to build a house. Instead, they were preparing to build a nuclear waste station there.
RULES ARE A NECESSITY OF LIFE! I know we all complain about them from time to time, but the fact is, we could not live without them.
This is why there is so much ungodliness in liberal churches. They do not have any rules and if they do they do not obey them. Everyone is doing his own thing and bringing disgrace to the work of God.
If the truth was known, if I was a betting man, I would bet that the reason the prodigal son left his home, where he was loved and provided for was because he did not want to be governed by anyone’s rules. We have looked at his rejection of THE RULES. Now let us look at...
II. THE RUINATION.
The well-dressed, well-provided-for son left home, but look how sin wrecked the young man’s life.
Look at verses 13-16 again. We read, “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 (gladly) have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”
WHAT WILL SIN DO TO A MAN? IT WILL RUIN HIS LIFE!
Illus: You can go to a high school graduation in town and see the many young people who are filled with joy and excitement. They are embarking on a journey into the adult world of making money and achieving success. Some will do well, but if you could follow them, you would find that in a few short years many of them have allowed sin to ruin their lives. Some will become...
-Drunkards.
-Liars and cheats.
-Prisoners.
-Dope addicts.
-Prostitutes.
-Embezzlers.
-Adulterers.
-Homosexuals.
Sin will have robbed them of their self esteem, self respect, pride, health and wealth.
The young prodigal son of our text may have thought rules were ruining his life, but he found out shortly that it had not been the rules that had ruined his life--IT WAS SIN!
Now some will argue and say, “Preacher, you said sin will ruin a man’s life. Don’t you know there is pleasure in sin?”
Yes. I would not deny there is pleasure in sin. Only a fool would deny such a thing. But notice what the Bible says about sin. We know that Moses had a chance to be royalty, a ruler in Egypt, but instead he chose to suffer with God’s people. Why? In Hebrews 11:25 we read, “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”
Moses knew something a lot of people never learn. They are being “ripped off” by Satan. Why? The pleasure of sin only lasts a short “season.” We all know “seasons” only last a short time.
Illus: My favorite seasons are SPRING and FALL. But, do you know what? I have to enjoy them while I can because they are gone so quickly!
That is the way the pleasure of sin is. It only lasts a short time, then it is gone and then all that is left is the price to be paid.
I believe the prodigal enjoyed himself as much as sin allowed. The Bible says, “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.”
We have looked at THE RULES, THE RUINATION, now let us look at...
III. THE RETURNING.
In Luke 15:17-22, we read, “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.”
These verses of scripture show us a number of things.
A. His condition. Notice, the Bible says that, “...he came to himself...” The implication is that the person who lives in sin is madly insane and living in a make-believe world. For example-
Illus: A man may become involved in an adulterous relationship. He may cheat on his wife and children. Yet, he may come home and try to pretend everything is all right. That man’s mind is messed up! HE IS INSANE! He is trying to build happiness on a foundation of deception.
If he thinks he can find happiness while doing such a thing, he is INSANE!
The Bible tells us the young prodigal CAME TO HIMSELF. This implies that somewhere along the line sin had snapped his mind and he had been living in a dream world. HIS CONDITION was one of having been driven insane by sin. Secondly, look at...
B. His conclusion. Look at verse 17. We read, “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!” When he came to his senses he was able to see what sin had done to him! He CONCLUDED that he would be better off back at his father’s house because even his father’s many servants were better off than he was.
It is good for a man to look at the sin in his life and see what it has done to him. When a man does this he will conclude that he would be a lot better off repenting of his sins. Why? Because God’s many servants are a lot better off than any man who is in sin! That was that young man’s CONCLUSION, but then, look at...
C. His choice. Look at verse 18. We read, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee...” We see he was willing to do something about his condition. He said, “I will arise...”
This is a picture of a man turning from his sin.
Illus: When a person will “arise” from his seat and come down and bow before God at an old-fashioned altar, he is making a statement. That statement is: “I am leaving the hog-pen lifestyle of sin. I am OUT OF HERE!”
D. His confession. Look at Luke 15:18-19. We read, “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.”
Notice, he said, not once, but twice. First he rehearsed what he would say, then when face to face with his father, he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee...” Notice, he was repenting before he ever got to his father.
One of the problems we have today is that there are some people in our churches who have made a decision to accept the Lord Jesus, but they have never repented of their sins.
This is why they leave the church and go back to their sinful lifestyles.
In Acts 3:19, we read, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...”
The Lord does not save us to go out and SIN MORE. He saves us to GO OUT AND SIN NO MORE!
Conclusion/Summary: The Lord knows when a man has repented of his sins.
The Bible tells us, in verse 20, “...But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion...”
The phrase, “a great way off” makes us believe that the father was looking for him. He had already looked around close by and did not see him, but he looked “A GREAT WAY OFF” and saw him and recognized him to be his son.
The Bible tells us then the father, “...ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him,” and he told the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” The son came to him a mess. He had been in the hog pen and he smelled like the hogs. Without further ado, The father bestowed three things on him.
(1) The robe. The robe is symbolic of the fact Christ clothes us IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Illus: No one will be allowed at the Lord’s table with dirty hands and dirty clothes.
(2) The ring. The ring was the insignia of full-grown sonhood with all the rights that pertain to that position. The father restored the son.
Many try to make this a picture of the lost man coming to Christ, but this is not the case. The prodigal was a son-
- Before he left home.
- While he was in the hog pen.
- When he returned to his father.
This story is a picture of a child of God who fell into sin, came to his senses, and returned to his heavenly Father.
(3) The shoes. The shoes are symbolic of the life of the son who has repented. He does not walk the way he once walked.
I. THE RULES.
II. THE RUINATION.
III. THE RETURNING.
