The prodigal son

Issue no. 20

  Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-32

  I have spoken on this passage three times already. Today I will not speak much about it again. I am not going to cover the whole parable but only point out a few things. I will speak a little here and a little there in a fragmentary way.

  Verses 17 through 19 say, "But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants abound in bread, but I am perishing here in famine! I will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants." Whenever a sinner becomes repentant through the operation of his environment, he has a certain evaluation concerning his own salvation. If a man does not want to be saved, he will not have any consideration concerning his salvation; he will not care about the matter or be bothered about it. But once he is awakened, he will begin to consider how he can be saved and what are the conditions for one to be saved. If you ask any sinner about the way of salvation, you will find out that he has his own idea of being saved. God has His way of salvation, and a sinner has his way of salvation. I am afraid that with a hundred sinners, there are a hundred different ways of salvation. Everyone has his concept, and everyone has his evaluation. The prodigal son had his way of salvation. He thought that when he saw his father, his father would rebuke him with a stern face, and so he would answer, "The inheritance that you gave me has been spent. I cannot use another penny of yours anymore. But you are a rich man and have many hired servants. Just hire me as you have hired one of your servants." For him, salvation was not to be a son but a slave only!

  A sinner's way of salvation is by giving others what they deserve and receiving back what they deserve. It is by working for others and receiving wages from them. The amount of work one does is the amount of wages one receives. It is by being a slave and not a son.

  Verses 20 through 22 say, "And he rose up and came to his own father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him affectionately. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet." The prodigal son rose up to come to his father. When he saw the father, he repeated the speech he had planned. He said that he was not worthy to be called his son and was going to say more, "but the father said to his slaves." Hallelujah! "But the father." Salvation is according to God's concept and not according to our concept. No one in the world is saved according to what he thinks but according to what God thinks. The prodigal son's concept was to only be a hired servant. Our thoughts are filled with the law, which is always a question of doing something and receiving something back in return.

  The prodigal son had prepared a speech for his father. But when he saw the father and was touched by his love, the prepared sentence, "Make me like one of your hired servants," did not come out. If we read the whole passage carefully, we will see that he did not say these words because he was interrupted by his father and had no chance; it was not because he did not want to continue speaking. His father had heard enough and did not want to wait for him to finish his words. "But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet."

  Salvation tells us how God wants to treat us, not how we think that God should treat us. According to our concept, we will always be a hired servant. When we remember the Lord, we think of ourselves as sinners, but God considers us as sons. We think that we deserve to perish, but He puts us at the feasting table. We cannot speak enough of God's grace. Even as we repeat it again and again, we are not afraid that it will occupy too much of our mind. We may think that we are not worthy to be called sons, but He has done more than we can imagine. Thank the Lord that salvation is not according to our thoughts or our concepts but according to God's thought.

  While the prodigal was still a long way off, the father saw him and was moved with compassion. The Samaritan saw the man who fell among the robbers on his way to Jericho and was moved with compassion (Luke 10:30-35). What is compassion? Only after a person has fallen into a low estate can compassion be exercised. Compassion is directed downward from above; it is applied in mercy towards someone. If the son had come back in a grand manner, there would have been no way that the father could have shown compassion toward him. How was compassion exercised? When the father saw that the son had degraded into the position of a beggar and actually was a beggar, compassion was exercised. Only a beggar can become a son. Only a beggar standing by the door can sit at the feasting table. Only a beggar far from God can draw nigh to Him. When our condition becomes that of a beggar, God's compassion is moved.

  We should see that the son thought he was not worthy to be called a son; he thought that he would only be a hired servant. But the father told the slaves to bring the best robe out quickly and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. This shows us that salvation demonstrates God's riches and not our poverty. There are some preachers who have been preaching for many years, who still do not understand salvation. Salvation tells us how rich God is. Many times, we think that we are not worthy. When we are somewhat awakened, we are not sure if God will forgive us when we call on Him. It seems as if someone like us has no ground to call on Him at all. But I have to say that our eyes are set on the wrong thing. A rich man has untold riches; he does not think about how much his son has spent but about how much he can give to his son for him to spend.

  Let me give an illustration here; it may not be the most appropriate illustration. Once I met a rich man's son. I tried my best to persuade him to repent and believe in the Lord. One day he took me to his father. I told the father not to stop the son from believing in the Lord, and that if the son believed in the Lord, he would not spend his father's money carelessly anymore. But he said, "What I have is money. I am not afraid of his spending my money." He was not concerned about his son spending too much of his money. In the same way, our God is not concerned that we would spend too much. We think that God has only one hundred dollars and that we need one hundred and one dollars. We are always afraid that after we have spent everything, nothing will be left. But what our Father has is "money"; do not try to limit God. We should realize that salvation tells us how rich God is; it tells us that God has enough for us to spend again and again.

  Some may think, "I am not able to overcome a certain sin. I have exhausted all means." But can we say to God that He cannot do anything regarding our particular sin? Many times we do not behave well as a Christian; we become weak and sinful, and our conscience tells us that our condition is hopeless. But the conscience only tells us our condition, while the blood tells us the way that God deals with our condition. The conscience tells us how we are in ourselves, but the blood tells us how God deals with us. Our conscience has been sprinkled by the blood. We have not only the conscience and the blood in the basin, we have the blood sprinkled in our conscience. The blood is not separated from the conscience, and the conscience is not separated from the blood. Rather, we have a conscience sprinkled with the blood, a conscience which is whiter than snow and cannot be made whiter than it already is.

  God also has a robe for us, and He is not afraid that we will sell it. He has a ring for us, and He is not afraid that we will pawn it. He has sandals for us, and He is not afraid that we will wear them out. God's children ought to be adorned well and appear attractive. God has enough for those of His household to spend.

  Verse 23 says, "And bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry." The robe, ring, and sandals in the previous verse are for the son alone to enjoy because a robe can only be upon one person, a ring can only be upon one hand, and a pair of sandals can only be upon one pair of feet. However, a fattened calf cannot be consumed by one person alone; rather, "let us eat and be merry." Let me give a new thought today, God can be merry! On the night I was saved, I was so happy. The more I considered, the happier I became, and the happier I became, the more I sang. Although I did not have a tune or a song, I could not care less. This is the joy of a sinner concerning his salvation. But this verse tells us that God can be merry also. It is the joy of God's salvation of man! When a sinner is saved, we think how happy he is. But we have not seen how happy God is when He saves a sinner. When we see this, we will understand God's heart.

  Verse 29 says, "But he answered and said to his father, Behold, so many years I have been slaving for you and have never neglected a command of yours, and you have never given me a goat that I might be merry with my friends." This was the word of the older son to the father. The heart of the older son was on the father's happy giving to the younger son. The younger son had spent all, yet the father was happy. The older son had fulfilled his duty in the father's house. His mistake was that he only wanted his father to make him happy. The father wanted the older son to go and join the merriment. Our God wants us to be merry with Him. We have to take care of His heart. The older son wanted a goat for his own merriment. But in everything that God does, He never gives anything to man to enjoy by himself; He always gives something with the intention that man would enjoy it together with Him.

  Let us compare two things, the kissing and the feasting. The father fell on the neck of the son and kissed him affectionately. Such kissing caused the son to be happy and satisfied. When the son was kissed this way, he knew that his father had forgiven him and would no longer remember his sin. He received the freedom of forgiveness and was satisfied. At the same time, while the son was sitting at the feast, the father's heart was happy and satisfied because he had gained his son back. Many people do not realize that when a man is saved, God is happy. They think that God has saved them because of their strong pleading. They do not realize that God is happy to save. In saving men, God receives the joy.

  When we hear the Father telling us that our sins are forgiven, we have peace and joy. If we have not yet received the freedom of forgiveness, we are indeed poor men. All who are sitting here today have heard that their sins are forgiven; they have peace and do not need to ask anyone or look for any other evidence. As long as God has said it, it is enough. When He says that we are forgiven, we are forgiven. Unfortunately, we only enjoy half of the happiness; we have not yet entered into God's happiness, enjoyed His happiness, and allowed Him to enjoy His happiness over us. Real worship is having the happiness which God has. Some have said it well, that worship is not just to thank Him but to consider Him as one's joy. We joy in God. There is a phrase in Psalms which says that God is our exaltation's rejoicing (Psa. 43:4). We should all consider God as our exaltation's rejoicing.

  Verse 24 says, "Because this son of mine was dead and lives again; he was lost and has been found. And they began to be merry." God says that we should be merry. What are the reasons for being merry? There are two reasons. The first is that the son was dead and now lives. The second is that the son was lost and now is found. This is why we should be merry. Being dead and living again is the son's gaining something. Being lost and being found again is the father's gaining something. The prodigal son was originally a son; now he becomes a son once again. Man was first created by God, but later he fell and was as good as dead. When the Lord Jesus came to save men, He caused dead men to become alive again. This is to be dead and live again. This is not the part we emphasize today. What we will pay attention to today is to be lost and found again.

  There are three parables in Luke 15. They are the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Have you ever thought about this? With these three losses, who do you think is the one that lost them? We think that the lost sheep was poor, who was probably fumbling in the barren hills and the scattered rocks, and who had probably fallen into the thorny paths. We forget that the one who lost the sheep was the shepherd. The one who suffered was the shepherd. The one who was poor was the shepherd. We wonder where the lost coin was, but we forget that it was the woman who had lost the coin and it was she who suffered. In the last parable we always think about the poor prodigal son, who wandered in destitution and longed to be satisfied with carob pods when no one would give him anything. When we consider how he turned, we rejoice for the great blessing he received. But who was the one who had lost the son? It was not the son but the father. The poor one was the father; the suffering one was the father. It was the father who had sacrificed his heart and wasted his money on his son's education. This is why the father said that his son was lost and now was found, and why they began to be merry. Have we ever thought that when we turn back and obey, God's heart will rejoice? The highest point of the gospel is not to show us what the sinner has received but what God has obtained. We have squandered the money, but God has suffered. We should give ourselves totally to God. How much have we given to God? Do not think that it is all right to be a little cold. We have to realize how much God suffers by our little coldness. Do not think that it is all right to love the world a little and be mixed with it a little. We have to realize how much this affects God. This will cause God to suffer. Every time we come before God, consecrate ourselves to Him once again, and deny ourselves once again, God gains something, and we are giving joy to God.

  Our personal, petty gains and losses are worth nothing. What counts is for God to gain something. It is a wonderful thought that every time we choose the way of submission to God, we make His heart happy and gain something for Him. God can create the universe, and He can give things to men. But it is possible for Him to lose the heart of men! God cannot force man's heart to go His way! What a joy to consider that a God as great as ours, who is omnipotent, who has everything, and who is the Creator of everything, would want something from those who are like worms and dust! He said, "We had to be merry and rejoice" (v. 32). The return of a prodigal son can cause God to rejoice. The God who holds the universe will rejoice at a little obedience from us. Consecration is not an imposition or concession but a way for us to enter into the joy of God; it makes God happy on account of us. How amazing this is! May we all enter into the joy of God today, and may we all render Him the joy.