UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS

Intro

1. There is an incredible masterpiece entitled “The Return of the Prodigal,” painted by

            the 18th century Dutch master, Rembrandt.

            This larger-than-life painting was secured by Catherine the Great of Russia in 1776             and placed in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg where it still hangs today. The      painting has been frequently copied, and it is said that on many occasions the line of             people waiting to get into the Hermitage museum to see this magnificent work             stretches for more than a mile.

            The painting is marked by a warm array of reds, yellows, and browns. There are             five characters: a young man dressed in a ragged yellow tunic, kneeling before an             aged father clothed in a red cloak who reaches out to embrace his son. Standing             nearby is a younger replica of the father also dressed in a red cloak. Using artistic license, Rembrandt includes two additional bystanders--one standing, the other             sitting, both clearly in the background.

2. My, how many sermons have been delivered on The Prodigal Son? It is a story that

            has touched hearts for centuries. It strikes a familiar cord in our own hearts.

            Sometimes we have been convicted by the behavior of the prodigal, realizing that

            our own lives mirror this younger son. At other times, we have seen ourselves

            as the older brother, judgmental and jealous, and that, too, brings conviction.

            But who among us hasn’t been moved by the love of this father? Many know

            the pain of prodigal’s parent---it run deeply in our souls.

3. This series of lessons is designed to study in detail this wonderful parable of

            Jesus. We will move slowly through it, studying it in more detail than most

            Bible studies that we have done.

            And we want to stay focused on the compassionate father in the story, because

            we know that this is a picture of our Heavenly Father, who eagerly looks for each

            prodigal’s return and restoration.

            Truly, it transcends human understanding.

4. Read Luke 15:11-32.

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I. SOME REAL-LIFE ILLUSTRATIONS AND DEFINITIONS

          A. This Story Is All Around Us:

                        #1. A young couple is in serious financial trouble. June doesn’t worry                                       about “finances,” because that’s Bob’s problem, her husband. She                                          just can’t say no to a good sale and if the checking account runs a                                     little low, she just continues to write checks. “After all,” she has                                           rationalized time and again, “we work hard and we deserve it.” But                                           now the bad checks have caught up with her. Her husband warned                                                 her they arrest people for writing bad checks, and sure enough they                                          did. Some people smile at bouncing a check, but in cases like June’s                           the police view it as a criminal offense. This is prodigal behavior.

                        #2. “Yes, sir,” Pastor Grainger, “it’s true. I’m pregnant and I’m thinking

about having an abortion.” Pastor Grainger had invested his life with Larry and Bethany Whitehurst; he had won the couple to Christ several years ago and had watched them grow as Christians over the past five years. Bethany, a distraught wife, Sunday School teacher, and mother of three, had had a chance encounter with her husband and a female colleague from his office in the coffee shop of a hotel. The confrontation turned ugly and Larry admitted to the affair and he had no intentions of giving it up.

                        #3. In was quiet in the car and finally the father spoke up in a stern and

                                    solemn voice, “Is it true? Have you been drinking?” Robbie has just

                                    been expelled from his Christian school for drinking at a party one

                                    weekend. The parents were devastated to learn that Robbie not only

                                    confessed to this one episode, but that there were many other times

                                    he had experimented with alcohol and had gotten drunk. They had

                                    notice the last semester’s grades had nose-dived, but hadn’t

considered alcohol or drugs as being part of Robbie’s problem. He knew better. His father served on the deacon board and his mother led a woman’s Bible study. But Robbie had some not-so-close-to-the-Lord friends. Robbie seemed sorry that he disappointed his parents and got caught. But Mr. Robinson did not sense that his son was truly repentant for way he had been living. Now, what?

          B. Defining Prodigals

                        1. Dictionary:  One who is “exceedingly or recklessly wasteful, a                                                        spendthrift... someone who spends or gives lavishly or foolishly.”

                        2. The Latin roots of the word come from two words:

                                    a) Prefix pro which means “for.”

                                    b) Verb agere which means “to drive.”

                        3. Today we understand the word to refer to someone who is driven to                                            foolishly abandon something of great value, which is exactly what                                         the prodigal son did in Luke’s gospel.

                        4. For our study let’s use this definition:

                        5. Isn’t that what the people in our illustrations did?

          C. Two Kinds of Prodigals:

                        #1. Prodigal Unbelievers

                                    This person has never come to a relationship with God through                                                 faith. Because of the sin that separates this individual from God, we                                   would consider him or her to be what the Bible refers to a spiritually                           “lost.”

                        #2. Prodigal Believers

                                    This person has had an authentic experience of faith in god, but has                                           chosen a path of disobedience, turned his or her back on the God                                         who loves each one, and engaged in deliberate and self-destructive                                                 sinfulness.

Keep this in mind:

While we would tend to agree that this parable centers on the restoration of the spiritual relationship of those who are already members of God’s spiritual family, Jesus pointedly delivered this story to a collection of people, who were highly religious---namely the Pharisees. We know that the Pharisees had rejected God’s way of salvation. Also, the restored prodigal was given a new, more significant relationship with his father than what he had enjoyed before. (Luke 15:22)

          D. Identifying Prodigal Behavior

                        1. The spiritual prodigal squanders God’s gifts and blessings just as the

                                    prodigal in Jesus’ parable wanted his own inheritance.

                        2. It can be:

                                    a) Squandering money

                                    b) Squandering cherished relationships

                                    c) Squandering one’s purity, something that can never be regained

                                    d) Squandering one’s testimony for something that gratifies the

                                                immediate desires of the flesh

                                    e) Squandering one’s body/health in over-indulgences:

                                                drugs, alcohol, food

                        3. Prodigals are known for wasting any or all of these:

                                    a) physical strength

                                    b) mental abilities

                                    c) personal relationships

                                    d) potential long-term relationships

                                    e) spiritual gifts

                                                ...Often in the squandering of one’s money in the pursuit

                                                            of pleasure, the other areas are neglected and wasted

                                                            as a result.

                                                            Some prodigals may be dressed in a Hart, Schaffner,

                                                            and Marx business suits, simply pursuing what they

                                                            would call “the American dream.”

Five Results of The Prodigal’s Life:

                                                #1. Shattered relationships

                                                #2. Unfulfilled dreams

                                                #3. Broken hearts

                                                #4. Ruined health

                                                #5. Wasted possessions

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II. REASONS FOR PRODIGAL BEHAVIOR

• The obvious question is: “Why would a person act so foolishly?”

• How did it happen in Jesus’ day... and so frequently in our day?

          A. The Core of The Problem:

                        1. Jeremiah said...  (17:9)

                                    The heart is deceitful above all things,

                                    and desperately wicked:

                                    who can know it?

                        2. A description of this kind of heart must include:

                                    #1. Arrogant

                                    #2. Self-willed

                                    #3. Following the course of Satan

                                    #4. Proud

                                    #5. Rebellious

                        3. Satan’s goal is to thwart God’s plan:

                                    a) Going back to the Garden of Eden, we see this with the subtle

                                                temptation of Eve.

                                    b) Going back to Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, we see the

                                                same attempt being made.

                                    c) Nothing has changed today: same plan, same temptations, same

                                                                                                results

          B. The Two Major Tools of Satan:

                                    #1. Significance

                                    #2. Entitlement

                        1. It is born within the human heart to be significant, to mean something to

                                    someone else.

                                    Entitlement plays a key role in realizing our significance.

                                    Our culture encourages the attitude that we are entitled to more than

                                    we have and that we must pursue that  to which we are entitled in

                                    order to find happiness.

                        2. Our country has decreed that all Americans are entitled to certain things:

                                    a) Medicaid

                                    b) Aid to Families with Dependent Children

                                    c) Food Stamps

                                    d) Welfare

                                                ...all of which are recent inventions of the federal                                                                                government.

                        3. How far back can you trace the feeling of entitlement? Certainly, we                                        can go back to Genesis 3 again and see it in Eve’s decision to eat                                     of the forbidden fruit.

                        4. I John 2:15...

                                    Love not the world,

                                    neither the things that are in the world.

                                    a) Loving the world cannot be reduced to a list of do’s and don’ts.

                                    b) This is a warning against falling in love with A SYSTEM                                                        ORGANIZED BY SATAN AGAINST GOD.

                                    I John 5:19...

                                    And we know that we are of God,

                                    and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

          C. The Drive Behind It All:

                                    a) Usually this is in the form of sexual temptation.

                                    b) Our society has determined that everyone is ENTITLED to                                                             sexual expression in whatever way he/she wishes.

                                                1) Can be in being “sexually active.”

                                                            [a euphemism for immoral behavior]

                                                2) Can be in “getting involved.”

                                                            [another euphemism]

                                    c) God’s gift of sexuality is designed for inside the bounds of                                                         marriage. Outside of marriage it is cheapened and degrading;                                            children are confused by such relationships.

                                    d) This is supported in Hebrews 13:4...

                                                Marriage is honourable in all,

                                                and the bed undefiled:

                                                but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

                                    e) There are physical consequences to promiscuous behavior:

                                                AIDS and other diseases.

                                                ...but there are also damaged spiritual and emotional                                                                                  relationships. (see I Cor. 6:13-19)

                                    a) This, too, flows out of the feeling of being inferior.

                                    b) Today we know this better by the name of “materialism.” It is

                                                the desire to purchase everything in sight. Our society

                                                relates to “Shop ‘till you drop” and “A woman’s place is

                                                in the mall.”

                                    c) And the number of people filing for bankruptcy in our country

                                                has increased unbelievably. Many try to pay their Visa

                                                account with MasterCard.

                                    d) Materialism is just another dead-end street.

                                    e) I Timothy 6:6...

                                                But godliness with contentment is great gain.

                                                verses 9-10...

                                                But they that will be rich

                                                fall into temptation and a snare,

                                                and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,

                                                which drown men in destruction and perdition.

                                                For the love of money is the root of all evil;                                                            which while some coveted after,

                                                they have erred from the faith,

                                                and pierced themselves through

                                                with many sorrows.

                                                Verses 17-19 tell us to trust in God...

                                                Charge them that are rich in this world,

                                                that they be not high-minded,

                                                nor trust in uncertain riches,

                                                but in the living God,

                                                who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

                                                That they do good,

                                                that they be rich in good works,

                                                ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

                                                Laying up in store for themselves

                                                a good foundation against the time to come,

                                                that they may lay hold on eternal life.

                                    a) The first two examples of prodigal behavior are easy to spot, but

                                                this one is more subtle.

                                    b) This road begins with arrogant pride and often ends in power                                                   struggles, turf wars, and interpersonal conflicts.

                                                The root of this struggles is a desire for personal possession,

                                                control, and prestige---called...

The Friendship With The World

                                                Read James 4:2-6,10.

                                    c) The world sells many books telling people how to raise their

                                                level of influence and leadership...all for the purpose of

                                                gaining power and control.

Note:

            1. Which of the preceding three examples did the parable prodigal follow?

                        I think you can make a strong case that he was following all three:

                                    a) Could he have felt inferior because he was the youngest?

                                                Perhaps he wanted to prove his personal significance.

                                    b) He felt entitled to what he considered to be his rightful                                                                inheritance.

                                    c) The passage indicates he followed after illegitimate sexual                                                               gratification, blinding materialism, and selfish power-                                                 seeking.

            2. Even the request for one’s inheritance like this must have jolted Jesus’ listeners;

                        in essence, it is a request that his father just go ahead and die.

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Conclusion:

1. Before a prodigal can return home, there must be a moment of truth---a point of facing             reality.

2. Facing the truth is difficult in situations like this---denial is so much easier.