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Add: 13th Dec 2011. This video relay the heart of our Father so well.

 

The Parable of the Two Lost Sons (Luke 15:11-31)

¹¹ Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. ¹³ And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. ¹⁴ But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
²⁰ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
²⁸ “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
³¹ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. ³² It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

I was mistaken. For the longest time, I thought this story was about the prodigal son. About the son that took all of his inheritance and squander it all. He later repented and was welcomed home. The story is not about the elder son either, though the story has a lot to say about the elder son. I realized the story is really about the Father.

Let me summarize a few interesting facts that jump out at me.

• The Father divided his livelihood to both sons.
• The younger son never got to say all that he planned to say, which is “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” Instead, he only managed to say “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son”
• Though the younger son went on prodigal living, he came to his senses. He repented.
• Notice the Father’s actions
  • When he was still a great way off, his Father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
  • He said to his servants, “ring out the best robe and put the best robe on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill the fatted calf, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry
  • The Father was not treating the younger son as servant at all
• The older brother was angry and would not go in to join in the celebration. When the Father pleaded with him, he answered, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.“
• The elder brother was self-centered. Noticed in his statements, it was
  • I have been serving you…
  • I never transgressed your commandment…
  • I might make merry…
• The elder brother has a negative opinion of the Father. He is in fact legalistic. He view the Father as demanding, harsh. He never had fellowship with the Father. His mentality is one of a servant. Check out his response. Unlike the younger son, the older brother never repented.
  • …Serving you
  • … I never transgressed your commandment
  • you never gave me…
• The heart of the Father is revealed in verse 31
  • He said to the older son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
  • He is really saying is that we are always with Him. How unfortunate it is that we are always with the Father but do not know Him as a loving Father that has given us ALL things.
  • How do I know that he has given us ALL things? Verse 31 states “all that I have is yours”.
• Our Father in heaven has given us ALL things in heaven. We are unfortunately poor receiver. We are poor receiver either because of our upbringing, social conditioning, lack of knowledge, etc. Whatever the reason was, we are robbed off our inheritance. What we are entitle to. It is time to wake up to the fact that we have a loving, gracious, welcoming Father in heaven.