The Prodigal son

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chris_2012

Guest
#1
#1

[FONT=&quot]Jesus tells the story of a man who has two sons. The younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the family estate as an early inheritance. Once received, the son promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins to waste his fortune on wild living. When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He takes a job feeding pigs. He is so destitute that he even longs to eat the food assigned to the pigs.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The young man finally comes to his senses, remembering his father. In humility, he recognizes his foolishness, decides to return to his father and ask for [/FONT][FONT=&quot]forgiveness[/FONT][FONT=&quot] and mercy. The father who had been watching and waiting, receives his son back with open arms of compassion. He is overjoyed by the return of his lost son! Immediately the father turns to his servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in celebration. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Meanwhile, the older son is not one bit happy when he comes in from working the fields and discovers a party going on to celebrate his younger brother's return. The father tries to dissuade the older brother from his jealous rage explaining, "You are always with me, and everything I have is yours."[/FONT]
Points of Interest from the Story:

• Typically, a son would receive his inheritance at the time of his father's death. The fact that the younger brother instigated the early division of the family estate showed a rebellious and proud disregard for his father's authority, not to mention a selfish and immature attitude.
• Pigs were unclean animals. Jews were not even allowed to touch pigs. When the son took a job feeding pigs, even longing for their food to fill his belly, it reveals that he had fallen as low as he could possibly go. This son represents a person living in rebellion to God. Sometimes we have to hit rock-bottom before we come to our senses and recognize our sin.
• The father is a picture of the Heavenly Father. God waits patiently, with loving compassion to restore us when we return to him with humble hearts. He offers us everything in his kingdom, restoring full relationship with joyful celebration. He doesn't even dwell on our past waywardness.
• Reading from the beginning of chapter 15, we see that the older son is clearly a picture of the pharisees. In their self-righteousness, they have forgotten to rejoice when a sinner returns to God. Bitterness and resentment keeps the older son from forgiving his younger brother. It blinds him to the treasure he freely enjoys through constant relationship with the father.
Questions for Reflection:

Who are you in this story? Are you a prodigal, a pharisee or a servant? Are you the rebellious son, lost and far from God? Are you the self-righteous pharisee, no longer capable of rejoicing when a sinner returns to God? Maybe you've hit rock-bottom, come to your senses and decided to run to God's open arms of compassion and mercy? Or are you one of the servants in the household, rejoicing with the father when a lost son finds his way home?
[FONT=&quot]If you are a backslider, then I have good news for you.[/FONT]
In I John 1:9 is this sweet verse for Christians, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Isn't that simple? We simply confess our sins honestly, then God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us. Whether for a lost sinner who wants salvation, or a backslider who wants his blessing renewed and his joy restored, it is only one step to the Father's house! Oh, believe me, if you honestly in your heart confess your sin to God, He will forgive you and cleanse you in a moment!
I think it would help you if you would get on your knees and read the fifty-first Psalm and let that divinely inspired prayer be the heart-cry of your own soul. It is the prayer of David, a backslider, and you might let it be your own, too. But remember this: All you need do is to make an honest heart-confession of your sin to the Father and believe that He forgives you as He promised, and that He cleanses you from all your sins. And then you will have sweet fellowship with the Father. So, backslider, come back today to God with your hungry heart and find peace and forgiveness.
There is a life of victory and joy for every Christian, and you may have it. Since you are still a sinner, you will find that you will need daily to commit your sins to God. First John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." You may walk in the light every day. When a sin appears, confess it quickly to God, ask Him to forgive it, and He does then and there. And so every day you may live in the smile of God's presence, in a conscious communion of His blessed Spirit. You need not wait to fall into outbroken sin and shame but can have rich blessing and victory every day.
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Enow

Banned
#2
Dec 21, 2012
2,901
39
0
#2
I reckon one can apply the verses of the prodigal son in that way, but there is a few problems with that application.

#1) The Pharisees could not be the elder son because they did not really do all that the Father had asked of them as no one was righteous, no, not even one.

I can understand why you would apply that to the Pharisees because Jesus did mentioned to the religious Jews why He was hanging around sinners as they would be the ones in need of a physician and not the "righteous". The thing to point out here is: the religious righteous would be the last to realize that they need the Saviour: sinners would not, just by the way Jesus told the parable of the two men in the temple: the one "righteous" and the one sinner wherein, the sinner asks for forgiveness and walked away more justified than the righteous for despising the sinner for the way he was.

This is how the Lord led me to read the parable of the prodigal son.

The prodigal son is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that gave up the inheritance of His birthright of being raptured to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in the City of God for not departing from iniquity which is akin to wild living.

Being left behind and having lost that inheritance, the son returns, but before he could ask for forgiveness, the father threw a robe on him and slipped on a ring, calling for a celebration. This happened because the prodigal son was still son even though he lost his inhertance to wild living.

The elder son is the disciple that continued in His words to be found abiding in Him to be chosen for that reserved spot of honour at the Marriage Supper.

The father is as you conveyed is the Father, and what He says to the elder son is highly indicative of what the prodigal son does not have even though he has returned because all that the Father has was his, and so there is a loss of rewards for those believers that did not prepare themselves by looking to the author & finisher of our faith to lay aside every weight & sin to run that race for the high prize of our calling to remain by His grace & by His help as that vessel unto honour in His House to receive that full reward of attending the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in the City of God: Zion.

God is going to judge His House first: 1 Peter 4:17-19

Those that do not depart from iniquity.. even those that are former believers, but err from the truth & had their faith overthrown, are still His ( 2 Timothy 2:18-22 ) even them that deny Him, Jesus can deny at that time to attend, ( 2 Timothy 2:12 ) but even though they believe not, He cannot deny Himself ( 2 Timothy 2:13) , as He will lose nothing of all the Father has given Him ( John 6:39-40)

Which is why the father embraced the prodigal son on his return before he could say anything or asks for forgiveness, because he is still son even though he was liken unto Esau for giving up his birthright for a meal.

This does not mean that it does not matter what a believer does as if they can live in sin without consequences because there are consequences that involves a weeping and gnashing of teeth which means the foolish virgins will be very sorry indeed for not being ready to receive their birthright to attend that place of honour at the King's Supper.

This is why I see God wiping the tears from the eyes of those saints coming out of the great tribulation as the loss of their inhertance was so great that God has to perform a miracle by wiping the tears from their eyes to help them get paqst that loss.

The prodigal son will receive a robe and a ring and there will be a celebration because the wayward will return to Him because Christ will finish what He has started even in them as they will reign with the King as priests & kings for His milleniel reign on earth.

That is the difference between the vessels unto honour & the vessels unto dishonour... the vessels of gold and silver and the vessels of wood and earth: the elect that live in the City of God with unimaginable treasures, and the second harvests of believers coming out of the great tribulation to inherit the earth.

So the disciples will be made to accept them because the prodigal sons are still sons which is why Jesus said what He did about the lost sheep in correcting a brother in error in Matthew 18:10-15, signifying that he is still a brother even if he did not repent: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-7,14-15, and thus if he remains unrepentant, then he is not of the first fold, the elect, but of the second fold or the second harvest as He MUST bring them because He says they are other sheep that He has which was not of the fold ( John 10:14-16 ) that followed His voice, but a stranger's voice: John 10:1-5.

So the parable of the prodigal son is really about those saints left behind from the pre tribulational rapture event.
 
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