THERE IS A FAMINE IN THE LAND
By Pastor Jim May
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."
This is one of the most familiar passages in the entirety of the Word of God. It has been taught, preached, dissected, expanded and ministered on so many times that we can’t count them. There is no one in the House of God, not even someone who has been saved only a short time that cannot tell you the story. But there is always something else to learn, something else to talk about, and tonight I want us to look once again.
One of the most devastating things that can happen in a family is for a child to become rebellious to the point that they are uncontrollable and refuse to listen to reason. I have experienced this, and I know that just about everyone who has grown children can say Amen with me. There has never been a harder battle to win than the battle for the determined will of a child to self-destruct and run from the Lord.
From the moment of their birth, parents look at their children, wishing only the best in life for them. We want them to enjoy a better lifestyle. We want them to serve the Lord. We want them to be a productive and respected member of society. We watch over them when they are too young to walk. We watch them as they learn, first to crawl, then to take baby steps, and finally as they begin their own long journey as an adult.
We may tend to think that this is just one of the signs of the times and I suppose to some degree it really is because this scenario has been played over and over again in an almost epidemic manner.
This wayward son, of a man that lived in ancient Israel, is no different from your son or daughter that is running from God right now. This problem isn’t something new to our times. There has ever been the desire in the heart of a young man or woman to leave the comfort of their nest at home and venture out into the unknown and dangerous world where the discipline and instruction of the parents can be put to the test. In fact, God has designed life so this is a natural course of events. The problem arises when we leave for the wrong reason. Leaving to make your own way is commendable and even necessary. But leaving just to join the devil’s crowd and forsake the ways of righteousness and the authority of the father is absolutely the wrong reason.
I wonder how many arguments this father had with his son before he finally gave in? I wonder if he had finally come to the place that it was just easier to give his son what he wanted, knowing that it would bring about his son’s ruin, just because he was just too tired to resist him.
Oh how the heart of this father must have hurt when his son asked for his inheritance. If he wasted it like the father knew that he would, what would become of the rest of them. This was the family fortune we are talking about, not just a savings account with extra cash in it. This was the money from the cookie jar, and the feed for the cattle and the expenses of running a home. This money wasn’t just set aside and not being used as a trust fund, so when the Prodigal son asked for it he must have known that it would cause great hardship for the father. I’m sure he didn’t even consider the mental and emotional anguish that he would leave in his wake as well.
The Prodigal Son was just like every other teenager, when they reach the age of 14-18. Suddenly and miraculously they know everything. They are absolutely convinced that they know all the answers. They are conceited of themselves, and consider themselves to be capable of acting for themselves, independently, and without any assistance or advice from their father at all.
This prodigal Son was probably not very calm in making his case to his father. He was bound and determined to become a disobedient son. Sometimes the only thing you can go is simply let them go and do what they want to do. Some people can’t learn the easy way, from other people’s experiences. No they have to make the same mistakes for themselves before they will become a believer. It’s simply amazing how much more mom and dad become more intelligent when the wayward child reaches 25 years old.
Off he ran, to seek his fortune in the world. Little did he know or understand that it was the world who was really seeking his fortune and it wouldn’t be long until his fortune was gone, his self-respect would be gone, his future shattered and his dreams dead. The world doesn’t care about you when you’re down and out. They only love you when you have the means to entertain them or to give them what they want. When you can’t provide what they want anymore, the world will throw you aside like a used can of Coke and step on you while you’re down. The world doesn’t understand true love, only lust. The only true source of Love is God for God is Love and without Him there is no love.
Rest assured young man or young lady, that once your money is gone, your friends will be too. No one is going to step up to support your habit now. No one is going to care. No one will wonder where you will sleep tonight, or what you will eat, or what you will wear! The world is the devil’s kingdom and he has no love for mankind at all. He might put on a façade of caring, but behind every one of those “caring” efforts is nothing more than the desire to get your money and do with it what they wish.
How many times have we heard of “charity organizations” whose overhead costs of management and salaries and business needs took the vast majority of every dollar given? How often have you heard of corporate CEO’s who were on the take while their investors suffered loss?
How often have we heard of people losing retirement savings, and ending up financially ruined simply because the company they worked for went under because of shady business practices. Just think about the Enron scandal of the past few years!
Not only will you lose the earthly fortune, but most importantly, you will be in danger of losing your Heavenly fortune as well. The farther you run from the father, the longer it will take, and the harder it will be to turn back.
Our Father in Heaven doesn’t leave us. He never changes. The father of the Prodigal Son was there all the time. He just kept doing business as usual supplying for the needs of his children. It was the Prodigal who left and it would have to be the Prodigal who would come back again.
In Revelation 2:5, when Jesus is walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks, representing the church of the ages, he speaks these words to the church at Ephesus, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
I didn’t see the father following and chasing after his wayward son. Parents of wayward children take note. God doesn’t expect you to be like a “spiritual bloodhound” on their trail. I’ve found that the best thing you can do for a wayward child is to let them go until they come to themselves and decide they want to come back. Until then, all of the words you speak and pleading you can do will only fall on deaf ears and you will lose your sanity trying to force other people to do what they don’t want to do. You have to learn to turn them over to God and let God do what He has to before they will turn around.
When the Prodigal Son finally found himself in the midst of a famine; when his partying was finished; when he found himself in the lowest gutter of life; and when he realized how far he had fallen; then, and only then, did he begin to turn around. What job could any Jew have had than to feed pigs? Pigs were unclean animals according to the Law of Moses and so self-respecting and devout Jew would have anything to do with them.
But the Prodigal Son found himself, not only living with filth of the world, but he was so hungry for something to fill the emptiness on the inside that he would have eaten and drank from the same slop trough that the pigs used.
Does that tell you about how far you can go into the things of the world? How many times have I seen Christians who were so worldly that they would rather feed on the filth of the world than on the good Word of God? How many of them would live like the devil, partake of the devil’s brew, drink of the wine of sin and shame, and desire to live in the vilest of relationships and think that it was good?
I know you’ve heard the statement made by Zig Ziglar when he says, “Pigs don’t know that pigs stink!”
My friend when you have gone far enough away from the sweetness and holiness of God that you forget what it was like, then the sin and shame of the world will not seem so bad to you anymore! You won’t think about how terrible the lyrics and the music are because you will just become too much a part of it! You won’t even hear the cursing and swearing, and blaspheming of God’s name because you will be doing it yourself. Your spirit will stink just like the rest of the sinful world around you, but you won’t smell it. Your heart will hunger for the things of the flesh like never before, and it will take a miracle of God’s grace to shake you back into reality.
Finally, when it seemed that he would never turn around, the Prodigal Son came to his senses. How far will you have to run before you come to your senses? How many pigs will you sleep with? How many times will you suck slop out of the pig trough? How many times will you look with envy on what the pigs have to live in, drive, eat, and wear? How long will you wish you could go to the places they go and do the things they do? Isn’t it time to get out of the hog pen and head back towards the Father and home?
When he came to himself again, the Prodigal Son looked towards home and his father. He knew that there was only one way out of the mess he had made of his life and that way depended solely upon the grace and mercy of his Father.
Jesus said in John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
You see; God’s mercy has to reach out to the Prodigal Son first. It isn’t the Prodigal Son who is making the first move; it’s the Father. God, in His infinite mercy and grace, reaches down into the pigpen of life and awakens the desire in the heart of a wayward child to turn back toward home one more time. Don’t presume upon that mercy and grace. Don’t think you can run from God, live in the pigpen and then expect God to call you back every time.
Way back in Genesis 6:3, when man was still in his early days of rebellion against the Father in Heaven, God made this statement, "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Somewhere between God’s mercy and grace; and God’s patience with sinful man coming to an end; is the place where we can find repentance. Where that median point is will be different for every man as God sees fit. I can’t tell you when God will say, “That’s enough! You are on your own. I won’t call you again!” Don’t push the envelope! Don’t take a chance with your soul! How do you know that God’s patience hasn’t come to an end with you? We are getting to close to the end of all things to take that kind of chance now and head back to the pigpen.
The Prodigal Son did go back to his Father. His Father saw him a long ways off and went running to greet him and restored him to his former place in the family. If God is speaking you right now, then don’t wait; turn back toward your Heavenly Father right now while He is calling. Turn back and go do your first works of repentance again. God’s mercy is being extended to you. His grace abounds to you. And he is waiting for you to come to Him before He will rise and run to meet you.
There is a famine in the land today. It’s not a famine of bread and water, at least not in America. It’s not a famine of natural things. It’s not even a famine of spiritual things because there are Physic hotlines, Tarot readers, Fortune Tellers, Eastern Mysticism, Voodoo, Yoga meditations and all sorts of spirituality. The real famine is a famine of faithfulness, obedience, holiness and service to the only God is alive. There’s a famine of the Word of God; not of its preaching; but of hearing and obeying it. There’s a famine of the real anointing power of the Holy Ghost. There’s a famine of the real miracle working power of God.
We sing the chorus that says, “I’m hungry for a mighty move of God. I’m thirsty, so send the Holy Ghost. I want to see the hand of God move mightily inside of me. I’m hungry for a move of God.” Those words only prove my point. There’s a real famine for the true things of our Father in Heaven. Those words show that we are famished to have more and more of God. Let us search for the real thing – and I don’t mean Coca Cola.
You can rest assured that this Prodigal Son learned his lesson the hard way. I don’t see where he ever tried to run again. He was content to be a part of the family and to live out his days as a faithful Son to his father. Let us do the same for our Heavenly Father. He is looking for faithful children. Let’s be one of them. AMEN
