Transcript: Good morning. Today’s sermon is going to be on the topic of what I will call the prodigal son and a happy father. I think it’s timely to discuss this topic, and I’d like to dedicate this sermon to Mike, my brother David this morning, who was saved about a decade ago and has become an extremely productive person. So this sermon is for you, David. Let’s turn in our Bibles or look at the screen Luke, chapter 15. And I’m going to read verses eleven through 13.
¶ And hee said, A certaine man had two sonnes:
12 And the yonger of them said to his father, Father, giue me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he diuided vnto them his liuing.
13 And not many dayes after, the yonger sonne gathered al together, and tooke his iourney into a farre countrey, and there wasted his substance with riotous liuing.
The purpose of this sermon is to understand the natural parable through examples from real life. Quite frankly, I believe this account of a father with two sons is something that many families can relate to. It seems like throughout my life, a lot of families that I’ve known, they always talk about, well, there’s always a black sheep or there’s always a prodigal sun. That’s the terminology that I’ve heard throughout my life. So I think this will be an interesting lesson this morning. And the second purpose is to understand what God is teaching the Saints. That’s important. It’s one thing to understand the natural parable and the natural account in Luke chapter 15. But what is the spiritual significance of this? We’re going to explore that this morning. So going back to Luke chapter 15, I’m going to continue reading in verse 14.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he beganne to be in want.
15 And he went and ioyned himselfe to a citizen of that countrey, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would faine haue filled his belly with the huskes that the swine did eate: & no man gaue vnto him.
17 And when he came to himselfe, he said, How many hired seruants of my fathers haue bread inough and to spare, and I perish with hunger?
18 I will arise and goe to my father, and will say vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heauen and before thee.
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy sonne: make me as one of thy hired seruants.
20 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 ranne, and fell on his necke, and kissed him.
I’m going to comment here that just on a natural level, I think many of us can relate, whether we’ve had siblings or children of our own or known other people and families that have gone through similar experiences. In a natural level, that there is a person in a household that is in rebellion, and they wind up reaping what they’ve sowed in life. They get into some type of trouble and because of disobedience, and they wind up regretting it. But in this account, the father his father is merciful. And rather than saying, Son, I don’t want to ever see you again, has compassion and love for his son. I think just on a natural level, we can all learn something from this that we should be forgiving in our hearts, for people that have wronged us or rebelled against us, and that may be family members or people that are acquaintances. It doesn’t matter. As Christians, we need to have mercy. And I think that’s a great natural lesson on a spiritual level. I’m going to talk about that in a few minutes, but first I’m going to continue verse 21.
21 And the sonne said vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heauen, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy sonne.
22 But the father saide to his seruants, Bring foorth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shooes on his feete.
23 And bring hither the fatted calfe, and kill it, and let vs eate and be merrie.
24 For this my sonne was dead, and is aliue againe; hee was lost, & is found. And they began to be merie.
25 Now his elder sonne was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musicke & dauncing,
26 And he called one of the seruants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said vnto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calfe, because he hath receiued him safe and sound.
I think we can relate naturally to this. We’re starting to get an account of what could be set up as jealousy celebration for someone who did very foolish and bad things. But yet there was great compassion that the father had for his son, and a great celebration took place. Maybe some of us can relate to this. I ask people listening right now if you take inventory of people that you’ve known in your life, some people have taken paths that have drifted way off. But God is letting us know here that there is great joy when someone comes back into compliance. It’s the way I’ll phrase it, continuing on with verse
28 And he was angry, and would not goe in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Loe, these many yeeres doe I serue thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandement, and yet thou neuer gauest mee a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soone as this thy sonne was come, which hath deuoured thy liuing with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calfe.
31 And he said vnto him, Sonne, thou art euer with me, and all that I haue is thine.
32 It was meete that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is aliue againe: and was lost, and is found.
It’s a great natural account of how merciful this father was, in spite of the fact that his younger son had squandered resources and wasted his life and was a lost person. So natural versus spiritual. First of all, the older son served without transgressing the commands of his father, while the younger son squandered resources was a lost person. The older son spiritually represents Israel or God’s people. When you get saved, you’re sealed until the day of redemption. There is no I’m born again, but then I lose my Salvation. Now I’m born back again. I’m alive again, and then I lose my Salvation because of the problems I have in my own decisions in the flesh.
No. When you’re born again to the Spirit, you’re sealed until the day of redemption. That’s the power of Jesus Christ to be able to save people and separate their spiritual body from their natural body. Okay. The prodigal son represents Babylon or Egypt, the lost people of the Earth, the far country. And scripture is going to interpret Scripture so that it’s not privately interpreted because I don’t want people to believe me. I want them to believe the Word of God. It says in Luke chapter 15, verse 13, and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living. If you’ve read the Word of God and you believed on the word of God and have been saved, you should be getting cues from the Holy Spirit on the spiritual depth of what is being taught here in Luke chapter 15.
I’m going to go back to Isaiah 39, verse three.
¶ Then came Isaiah the Prophet vnto King Hezekiah, and sayde vnto him, What sayd these men? and from whence came they vnto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a farre countrey vnto me, euen from Babylon.
Babylon represents all the lost people on Earth who have yet to be born of the Spirit. God knows that not everyone will believe on Jesus Christ. He knew that before he laid the foundation of the Earth. But we’re all born onto trouble. We’re born as lost people, and there’s great joy when a person in their natural life becomes a spiritual creature in Christ and they get saved. There’s great joy there. And it doesn’t matter to God what you have done in terms of your fleshly rebellion. All that matters at the end of the day or in your lifetime is do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? When you read the Word of God, does it feel like arrows sticking in your heart, piercing your soul? Do you weep?
Do you believe that you are destined for the Lake of fire and there’s nothing you can do to stop that except cry out to Jesus and ask him, Jesus, save me from the hell I deserve. I put my trust in you. Thy word is true. That’s all we can do as natural rebellious people who have rebelled against God. We don’t hear his voice, but when we read the Word of God and we believe on it, we are sent the Holy Spirit and are grafted into the Covenant of Abraham. We are taken from that far country, and we are now put in spiritual Israel. And that’s the great joy that God has grafting us back into that Covenant so that we can be Jews, not outward Jews, but inwardly spiritual.
In Luke chapter 15, the riotous living son is famished and wood that he eats. In other words, he greatly desires bread. He’s hungry on a natural level. What does that mean spiritually? If we look at Proverbs chapter 28, who so keep it? The law is a wise son, but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father. Riotous is associated with rebellion against God. When you’re eating unworthily, when you’re not dining on the bread of life, you’re riotous because you’re drunk. You don’t know who God is. You’re living in this world may be studying and learning and thinking of yourself as wise, but to God you’re a fool until you get born again of the Spirit.
It says in Amos chapter eight,
11 ¶ Behold, the daies come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
That’s a precept that teaches us to associate famine with a spiritual famine, that there will be a great famine of people hearing the words of the Lord because many corrupt the word of God because they’re from a far country and they are as crowned locust. They eat up the harvest, so there’s hardly any food on Earth. God tells us we have to diligently seek him out and how happy our Father, the Lord God in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ will be if we listen to him and seek him out and put our trust in him rather than confidence in men. Then there will be great joy in heaven, because then we’re listening to God our Father. It says in Luke chapter 15, we find that the riotous living son is famished and would gladly eat the husk with the swines as he greatly desires bread. In other words, he’s going to settle for pig food. The swines represent the lost people on Earth.
Think about Legion. Think about all the other precepts that have been taught to us in scripture about what a swine is symbolic of. It says in Proverbs chapter 23, Be not amongst wine bibbers among riotous eaters of flesh. In other words, don’t be spiritually drunk and don’t eat flesh. In other words, the word of God in a riotous fashion, meaning that you either don’t believe it or you’re feeding on swine’s food. In other words, on corrupt idols.
You’re drinking the blood of goats and eating the flesh of swine is what God is saying, you’re having idolatry in terms of your scriptural knowledge and consumption. In John chapter six it says,
51 I am the liuing bread, which came downe from heauen. If any man eate of this bread, he shall liue for euer: and the bread that I will giue, is my flesh, which I will giue for the life of the world.
You have to eat Jesus flesh and that’s not through Hocus Pocus or ceremonial magic that is, you have to dine on the word of God worthily, meaning that you believe it and get born of the Spirit. You’re born of incorruptible seed, the word of God which liveth and abides forever. You’re not born of corruptible seed if you’ve got an idol. The Holy Spirit didn’t write the testimony of all these false Bibles in the markets today. You have to diligently seek out the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you pray and put your trust in him, he will lead you to all truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. It says in Isaiah chapter 65,
3 A people that prouoketh mee to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense vpon altars of bricke:
4 Which remaine among the graues, and lodge in the monuments, which eate swines flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels:
Vessels of flagons, flagons of wine, lost people are drunk. I put a couple of pictures, a few pictures. There one I took off Google images. It says, The Scriptures say I am unclean to eat and if you continue to eat me then you will burn according to Isaiah 66, because this is a natural person’s understanding. It says if you eat swine’s flesh you’re offending God. Well, he’s speaking spiritually to the Saints because natural people are confounded. Jesus says, it’s not what goes in your mouth that defiles you, it’s what comes out when you’re born of the Spirit.
Now you can confess Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost. That’s the only way you can confess Jesus with your mouth is if you have the Holy Ghost in you. And so we don’t have to cleave to natural understandings like the world does if you’ve dined on bacon in your life, is that really offending God? Or is he talking about eating swine flesh like using a false Satanic Bible like the NIV or the NAB or the new King James or for that matter virtually all modern Bibles, because if you have the Holy Spirit in you, he should be greatly rebuking you and getting you out of those false idols which he has done. For many people I know who are true Christians, it’s the ones that are not getting that rebuke that really need to take inventory and ask themselves do I really believe the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because if I do and I read all these Bibles, only one testimony is right because they all say different things.
So which one is it? The Holy ghost will lead you to all truth. Prodigal son, I’m going to say that it’s not a word that’s found in the Bible, but in Isaiah chapter one,
21 ¶ Howe is the faithfull citie become an harlot? it was full of iudgement, righteousnesse lodged in it; but now murtherers.
It says in Nahum, chapter three,
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredomes of the wel-fauoured harlot, the mistresse of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredomes, and families through her witchcrafts.
You want to know what witchcraft is to God? Corrupt His Word and go buy a corrupt copyrighted Bible and think that it was written by the Holy Spirit, that’s witchcraft to God. He is giving us answers in Scripture that tells us that they’ve killed the prophets. The prophets have been murdered because the Word has been corrupted. You don’t have any Prophet in a corrupt Bible. Isaiah is dead. He’s got dead men’s bones. He cannot give you any prophecy in a false Bible because he’s been slayed by the corruption of the Word of God.
This is a spiritual lesson, the same with Daniel, the same with Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. They’ve all been slain, and this is a result of the corruption of the Word because the scripture cannot be broken. You want to get into the correct word of God, which is the Authorized Version of 1611 in English, and then you’ll be able to see in front of you, around you, and behind you spiritually. In Luke chapter 15, it says,
7 I say vnto you, that likewise ioy shall be in heauen ouer one sinner that repenteth, more then ouer ninety and nine iust persons, which need no repentance.
So anyone out there that has not yet received the Holy Spirit, let’s say there’s 99 of us that have God is going to have so much more joy and happiness if you come to true faith and receive the Holy Spirit than the rest of us. Just doing his will day to day is one way to look at it. And that’s a great thing that brings me joy because I know how much it’s meant to me since I’ve been a Christian now for about 14 years almost, and my life has become so much better in terms of joy, happiness, and what I’m able to do and accomplish day to day. In Luke chapter 13, it says,
26 Then shall ye begin to say, Wee haue eaten and drunke in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence you are; depart from me all ye workers of iniquitie.
God is just talking to the lost people of the world that have not been born again. They’ve dined on the Word of God, but they never received the Holy Spirit because of disbelief or idolatry. It comes down to that that you must have the Word of God. You have to have oil in your lamp and you have to dine worthily. In other words, you have to believe the testimony. Don’t be a prodigal son for your whole life. Wind up repenting and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then you will be saved. God calls people out of Babylon, which is spiritually Egypt. It says in Revelation, chapter 18, C
4 And I heard another voice from heauen, saying, Come out of her, my people, that yee be not partakers of her sinnes, and that yee receiue not of her plagues:
And then it’s revealed in Revelation, chapter eleven, the great city which spiritually is called Sodom in Egypt is Babylon or the Vatican. And if you know that spiritually because you’re a Christian, you look around the world and there is evidence above measure that it’s the same Babylonian religion regardless of what time in history we’re in. It’s the same set of symbols the obelisk, the papal miters, the hats, the Phallic symbols, the pyramids. All of that is just a counterfeit religion of the world. It has nothing to do with Christianity, but it is a veneer of deception that people need to come out from. An unsaved person still has great protection from God. You can look at Matthew chapter six, verse 28 there and can still come to faith and be born again. After they asked Jesus Christ to save them, they realize their lives are wasted as an unsafe person and desire the bread of life after being received by God.
So the prodigal son in this parable is alive again because he was born again, he was lost. As a person, he got saved, and God our Father is so merciful, his mercy endureth forever, and he has great joy when someone gets saved. So happy father’s Day to all. And we know as Christians that ultimately there is only one father or Father in heaven. We don’t acknowledge other men as our spiritual fathers because we only have one spiritual father. May every day bring joy to God as people get saved. Think about that. That is why we’re here, to spread the gospel, to share what God has done for us, and to testify what the word of God is. And I’ll leave this quote in One Chronicles, chapter 16,
34 O giue thanks vnto the Lord, for hee is good: for his mercy endureth for euer.
The younger son in the parable was loved and God his father had great mercy on him rather than shunning him or banning him. It was great mercy. We should be merciful as well. We should be patient with our families and our neighbors and our acquaintances, knowing that until a person gets saved, they’re going to continue to be in rebellion against God. And there’s nothing that they’re going to be able to do absolutely nothing unless they cry out to Jesus and say, Jesus, save me from the hell I deserve. I put my trust in you. Thy word is true. I have read thy word. Thou, thy word is true. That’s all you can do is share the gospel with someone and that’s a great way to celebrate. If we’re going to celebrate a day called father’s day, let us celebrate that way. I’ll close the sermon with this thought. God bless everyone and I’ll look forward to talking with you again in the near future. Have a great rest of of the weekend.
I leave this YouTube source above. If it is blank the channel was taken down or the video removed.
