THE REBELLIOUS SON
A. An ACCUSATION brought against Jesus more than any other was: "He is a FRIEND of SINNERS!"
1. Luke 15:1-2 (READ and COMMENT)
ILLUSTRATION:
A lump must have SWELLED in the throat of Jesus and tears WELLED in His eyes. Before Him were people from all walks of life: TAX-COLLECTORS, PROSTITUTES, THIEVES, LIARS, SABBATH-BREAKERS, people who were SHUNNED, FORSAKEN, RIDICULED people who were like "SHEEP without a SHEPHERD."
Of course, in that same CROWD were the SELF-RIGHTEOUS, SELF-PROMOTING, "HOLIER-THAN-THOU" Pharisees who did nothing to HELP these SINNERS, only OSTRACIZE them. Now they CRITICIZE and BELITTLE Jesus because He received those SINNERS.
Why would these people come to Jesus? He was an ITINERANT PREACHER, the son of a poor carpenter, what could He possibly bring to these people? Why wouldn’t they go to the Pharisees, they were the RELIGIOUS LEADERS?
They did go to the Pharisees, but left SPIRITUALLY BUTCHERED. Here we see people PRESSING around Jesus that they might hear Him. They were thirsting for GRACE and HOPE, none of which they received from the Pharisees. Jesus gave them exactly what they came for--GRACE and HOPE.
2. Jesus came to REVEAL God, God’s AMAZING GRACE, the REVELATION that God will RUN to FORGIVE and SAVE.
B. The PRODIGAL SON is a story we’ve heard many times.
1. It is the GOSPEL in miniature.
a. It speaks of the FALL of man and the FORGIVENESS of God.
b. It is the AMAZING GRACE in one chapter.
2. Although we call this the parable of the PRODIGAL SON, in reality it should be called the parable of the FORGIVING FATHER. That is where the EMPHASIS is.
C. Today we will study about the REBELLIOUS SON, next week about the FORGIVING FATHER, and then the third week about the COMPLAINING BROTHER.
MESSAGE:
I. TRAGEDY IN THE DISTANT COUNTRY- Luke 15:11-16 (READ)
A. This story begins with the younger son’s REBELLION against his father.
1. He comes to his father and says, "You know the INHERITANCE that belongs to me; I want it NOW!"
a. The tragedy with this young son is that he wanted what his FATHER had, but didn’t want his FATHER.
b. This is the PHILOSOPHY of today.
COMMENT:
Modern Americans want LOVE without MARRIAGE. Man wants FREEDOM without RESPONSIBILITY. We want people to GIVE to us without our SERVING them. There are some Christians who want CHURCH BENEFITS without the CHURCH. There are even those who want FORGIVENESS without REPENTANCE and OBEDIENCE!
2. Notice that the FATHER didn’t ARGUE with his son, but gave to him what he asked.
COMMENT:
As difficult as it might be for us to understand, when someone THREATENS to LEAVE Jesus Christ, sometimes the best thing to do is to PRAYERFULLY step aside.
There are some people who are just HARD-HEADED. They have to learn the lesson of the PIG-PEN for themselves. Your WARNINGS, regardless of how STERN and how SINCERE, mean nothing. They have to experience the SEPARATION--the LOSTNESS--for themselves.
B. The younger son takes his MONEY, packs his BAG, and goes off to a DISTANT COUNTRY.
1. When the son went out the DOOR he really didn’t leave HOME, he LEFT his FATHER.
a. He SEPARATED himself from the one who LOVED him more than anything, and in so doing he became LOST!
COMMENT:
Although this is a story of GRACE and HOPE, I must also talk about one being LOST and CUT-OFF from the Father. If we FAIL to talk about LOSTNESS we can’t understand God’s GRACE.
b. When the son WALKED away from the FATHER, he became LOST.
2. The DISTANT COUNTRY always brings SEPARATION and DESTRUCTION.
a. It appears different from the way it really is.
b. The devil’s picture of the DISTANT COUNTRY is altogether different from God’s.
COMMENT:
The devil presents the DISTANT COUNTRY as an ADVENTURE with THRILLS, FUN, and LAUGHTER. The young son soon discovered the "DISTANT COUNTRY" is another name for the "PIG PEN". But he didn’t know that at the time when he PACKED his BAGS and LEFT.
3. This is the TRAGEDY of the DISTANT COUNTRY, it’s DANGERS are not evident until it’s too late.
a. The younger son did not leave his FATHER and his HOME to become the "World’s Worst Sinner".
b. On the contrary! He left thinking, "Don’t WORRY about me. I’ll be all right. I can take care of myself!" He would have VEHEMENTLY denied the PIG PEN ENDING. "It will NEVER happen to me. Just wait and see!"
COMMENT:
The son may not have intended to go off into the DISTANT COUNTRY and give his life over to SIN, but that’s exactly what happened. He left himself VULNERABLE to the TRAPS Satan places out in the WORLD. When we PULL AWAY from our Heavenly Father Satan is always there ready to TAKE US IN, and his WAY always leads to DESTRUCTION.
4. Jesus said the young man was involved in "WILD LIVING," but no particular SIN is specified.
a. I believe it’s good that Jesus didn’t tell us what the young son did; He allows us to draw our own CONCLUSIONS.
COMMENT:
The older son said that he "SQUANDERED his money on PROSTITUTES"- v. 30. Jesus doesn’t say. Maybe the older son was thinking, "If I were in the DISTANT COUNTRY, that¡¦s what I would do."
b. Could it be that Jesus doesn’t tell us what the younger son did because He wants us to EXAMINE our own hearts to see what we might have done?
COMMENT:
If we think the younger son committed SEXUAL IMMORALITY, that just might be the "DISTANT COUNTRY" to us. Therefore, we are not to allow ourselves to be placed in a situation where we might be VULNERABLE to committing IMMORALITY or to be ENTICED by it.
If we think the WILD LIVING of the younger son was DRUNKENNESS, maybe we have a DRINKING PROBLEM and the "DISTANT COUNTRY" could be the LOCAL BAR.
What we imagine the young son did may not be an INDICTMENT to his GUILT at all, but to our own.
C. While in the DISTANT COUNTRY, the younger son’s WORLD fell apart- vv. 14-16.
1. "After squandering everything he had, a great famine occurred in the land leaving the young man in need. The only JOB he could find was SLOPPING hogs. The young man soon became so hungry that he wanted to fill his stomach with the PODS the pigs were eating."
a. This young man’s REBELLION led to his DESTRUCTION.
b. He hit ROCK BOTTOM!
ILLUSTRATION:
At one moment he thinks he’s on TOP of the WORLD. He’s SPENDING money, making new FRIENDS, he’s ENJOYING his FREEDOM being able to DO whatever he wants, and he’s done it all. Finally the MONEY runs out. He LOSES everything. No more MONEY, no more FRIENDS, no more FREEDOM. He winds up in a PIG PEN slopping HOGS. This is the WORST possible place for a Jewish young man to wind up, especially since the Jews considered HOGS ceremonially unclean.
When the young man left home, that’s not what he set out to do. "What are you going to do when you get where you are going, son?" "I’m going to become a PROFESSIONAL HOG SLOPPER! I’m going to get FILTHY, STINKY, and MESSY. I’m going to RUN out of MONEY. I’m going to STARVE and start eating PIG SLOP. IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT!"
2. Anytime we leaves God, we end up in the PIG PEN- II Peter 2:20-22 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
If only Christians who are being enticed to go off into the DISTANT COUNTRY could learn the lesson of the PIG PEN without having to EXPERIENCE it. But sadly, many will have to end up WALLOWING in the SLOP, MUD, and MIRE before they will ever learn that what the WORLD has to offer only results in RUIN and DESOLATION.
II. DIFFICULT RETURN HOME- Luke 15:17-24 (READ)
A. Hitting ROCK BOTTOM, the young man finally came to his SENSES.
1. The Prodigal finally opened his eyes and thought, "Here I am in a PIG PEN starving to death."
a. Sometimes it takes a PIG PEN before one will come to their senses and realize what he or she has been doing to themselves.
ILLUSTRATION:
A person can be out in the WORLD thinking he’s really ENJOYING life. He feels like he’s free, he can do whatever he PLEASES. That is until his WORLD begins to CRUMBLE all around him.
He loses his JOB, loses his WIFE and CHILDREN, loses his FRIENDS, loses his RESPECT from the CHURCH, all because he no longer has a sense of MORAL VALUES. He threw it all out the WINDOW when he LEFT Christ. And, ultimately, he will LOSE his SOUL, unless, like the PRODIGAL SON, he comes to his SENSES.
b. One cannot begin the RETURN HOME to God until he or she takes an HONEST look at the MISERY they have caused themselves.
2. The young man also remembered the way it was at HOME!
a. He began to think back, "Even my father’s hired men have plenty of food to eat"- v. 17.
b. HOME never seems as APPEALING as the DISTANT COUNTRY until one LEAVES it!
COMMENT:
The DISTANT COUNTRY promises HAPPINESS and FREEDOM, but offers only MISERY and HEARTACHE. All the while, HOME is the place where UNDERSTANDING, LOVE, and FORGIVENESS abound. The PRODIGAL is painfully AWARE of that now and MISSES it!
B. As difficult as it might be, the young son decided to return HOME to his father.
1. The problem with many people caught up in SIN is that they STAY there.
COMMENT:
They look at their lives and know that something’s MISSING. They say they’re HAPPY, but deep down they feel an EMPTINESS that won’t go away. They HATE what they are doing to THEMSELVES and to their LOVED ONES and FRIENDS, but they don¡¦t do anything about it. Maybe they feel that they can’t DO anything about it, that they are too DEEP in SIN for God to FORGIVE.
But all they have to do is DETERMINE that they are SICK and TIRED of living the way they are and LEAVE it behind, and God is there through His SPIRIT to help CLEAN them up and get their lives back in order.
2. That’s what this young man did,he DETERMINED to get OUT!
COMMENT:
He looked at the PIG PEN he was in and WANTED OUT! He remembered how GREAT it was at HOME, and WANTED BACK! He was going to have to SWALLOW his PRIDE to do it, but he was DETERMINED to LEAVE the PIG PEN of SIN and take the LONG JOURNEY back HOME.
C. Now the younger son doesn’t plan to go back HOME and slip in quietly PRETENDING that nothing happened, he¡¦s going back to CONFESS to his Father how WRONG he was- vv. 18-19.
1. He said, "I will go back to my father and say: ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’"
a. The hardest words that anybody can say in life are: "I HAVE SINNED!"
COMMENT:
To say we have SINNED is to admit that we have FAILED, that we’re WRONG, that we need FORGIVENESS.
Sometimes we say we sin, but then we QUALIFY it by saying: "I have sinned, but no one’s perfect." "I have sinned, but my sin is no worse than yours." "I have sinned, but you did it too."
b. I’ve made those kind of EXCUSES before, haven’t you? It’s hard to say, "I have sinned!" PERIOD!
COMMENT:
The young man didn¡¦t try to make EXCUSES for his SIN. He knew he was a SINFUL PERSON, and he went to CONFESS that to his Father.
2. It’s so easy to LEAVE, but it’s extremely DIFFICULT to RETURN!
ILLUSTRATION:
The young man left HOME in a BLAZE of GLORY, worldly speaking. He’s taking this TRIP with MONEY in his POCKET. He’s his own BOSS. He left PROUD of himself.
But now he RETURNS home PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED and SPIRITUALLY BROKEN. But the hardest thing for him to do is to look his FATHER squarely in the eye and
say, "Dad, here I am! I’ve SINNED against God and I sinned against YOU."
COMMENT:
I think it’s easier to STAND before a JUDGE in a court of LAW than it is to stand before your DAD or MOM and say, "I have really made a MESS of my LIFE."
This is true PENITENCE--true HUMILITY. The son knew that he could do it no other way but to go to his FATHER and CONFESS his SIN!
3. Sometimes it takes coming before God and the church before one will really begin to get his or her LIFE right.
COMMENT:
Maybe you’ve had to do that before! It’s the HARDEST thing in the world to do, but sometimes it’s necessary to GET OUT of the PIG PEN.
CONCLUSION:
A. As parents, we want our children to be FAITHFUL Christians more than anything.
1. We want them to be in HEAVEN with us, and it GRIEVES us when they refuse to give their LIVES to Jesus or when they TURN AWAY from God.
ILLUSTRATION:
Wilbur Chapan in his book: PRESENT DAY PARABLES, tells about a PREACHER FRIEND of his in Cincinnati who, one Sunday evening, was closing his SERMON with the story of the PRODIGAL SON, when the DOOR opened and a YOUNG MAN slipped into the LAST PEW.
As the minister offered the INVITATION, the NEWCOMER lifted his HAND and asked for PRAYER. Before the night had ended, the YOUNG MAN accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior. Shortly after BAPTIZING him the minister said, "Tell me your story."
The young man replied, "I am the PRODIGAL SON that you just talked about. My home is in New York City where I have the best FATHER and MOTHER in the world, but I have SINNED against them and left HOME promising never to return until I could go back either as a CHRISTIAN or was taken home DEAD."
By the advice of the minister, the very next morning the YOUNG MAN sent a LETTER to his PARENTS of the GOOD NEWS that he had ACCEPTED Christ. No answer came to his letter for 10 days. When it did come, he EXCITEDLY opened the LETTER and as he began to read, TEARS welled up in his EYES. He took the LETTER to the MINISTER who then began to READ aloud:
"Dear Son: -- You can’t imagine what filled my heart when I received the news that you are a Christian. It was only tempered by the sadness that was there at the same time. For the same day you say you became a Christian, and as nearly as I can estimate the same time, your poor father was going HOME to God. Over and over through the hours of the day we heard him praying for you, ’O, DEAR FATHER, SAVE MY BOY!’ And when night came he died praying that God would SAVE you. My son, you are a Christian today because your old Dad would not let you go."
2. Just like PARENTS, God never GIVES UP on His CHILDREN. He WAITS and WATCHES for the PRODIGALS to return HOME! He is READY to FORGIVE anything you might have done, if you’re only willing to COME HOME!
