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LUKE CHAPTER 15 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Lk 15,1-32 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin – There is no condemnation in heaven over the prodigal son who backslid into sin and returned to His God. There is only joy and gladness and happiness that His son had returned. This is the beauty of God. The prodigal son gained an appreciation for his father that his brother never had. The righteous son took his father for granted, having lived with him his whole life. Loyalty is a very good trait, but the prodigal son received something better than loyalty; he received a revelation of God’s love, for “where sin increases, grace abounds all the more” (Rom 5-20). Actually, the brother had reason to be jealous, for to have a revelation of God’s love is far more valuable than a mere cognitive understanding of Him. The loyal brother was fully aware that his father loved him, but he didn’t understand it like the prodigal son, who literally experienced his love, and experience is the purpose of life. As Jesus said to Simon around his table with the woman washing His feet with her tears and drying them with her hair, “He who is forgiven little, loves little” (Lk 7-47). There was no questioning that the prodigal son was a sinner, but the loyal brother was just as great a sinner, but like Simon, the loyal brother couldn’t see it. Lk 15,1-7 (33k) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> God serves His people who serve Him >> Each one is special to God – We are the sheep of God’s pasture, and sometimes we go astray. Probably all Christians have fallen on hard times and were tempted to fall away. We all encounter periods in our spiritual lives when we struggle, because faith is very difficult to maintain in this world. It is like a backpack that God places on us, so we cannot compete in the ways of the world, because of our burden of faith that we must perpetually guard and protect. We are like garden plants that cannot compete with weeds, because of the burden of fruit that we must bear. There are treacherous ways that people act toward us that we cannot reciprocate, and there are fleshly temptations that beg us to play with them. By the grace of God we don’t fall to these temptations, but on occasion we do. We repent immediately, but there are other times we backslide, but God is faithful, who will help us in times of adversity. (203j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the narrow way -- These verses go with verses 11-24. When we fail to live up to Christ’s expectations, it has a negative impact on our faith. When we get to heaven, God will reveal to us just how unfaithful we really were, and mostly we were unaware of it. He will reveal to us the narrow way that He prepared for us, and He will compare it with what we actually did. How we filled His expectation will determine our heavenly reward. Our conscience does more to serve the Lord than anything else. If our conscience is clear, God is pleased with us, though we only partially complete His plan and purpose for our lives. If we can just maintain a clear conscience, we will have achieved most of what God intended for us, but this is not easy. We have all met people who have said, ‘I have no regrets.’ Either they are lying or they don’t have a conscience. A person with a good conscience knows to what extent he is actually serving the Lord. (207l) Salvation >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> God is kind to sinners -- These verses go with verses 11-32. Lk 15-1,2 (223a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >> Thinking you are superior to others >> Thinking you are inherently better than others – For the religious establishment to complain about Jesus associating with sinners indicates that they personally didn’t associate with them, but chose instead to associate with high society, suggesting that Israel’s faith in God during the time of Christ, originally founded upon the Old Testament, had regressed to a rich man’s religion. The slow and tedious evolutionary process mutated the meaning of Moses' teachings to become the monstrous religion that crucified their own Messiah. We can start with the pure word of God and given time and incentive, twist the meaning of the words to make it say whatever we want. What is most evil about this is our criteria we use to make the Scriptures conform to our preconceived notions. We don’t even have to change the words or destroy manuscripts or introduce new ones. We can just open our Bible and read into it for ourselves, looking though tailor-made belief systems like wearing colored glasses that "interpret" the true meaning of the Bible. Although we are using the same text, we have made it say something completely different. This is how the scribes and Pharisees were able to bring the Old Testament teachings of the law to high society and completely ignore the poor and unfortunate and those the elite considered sinners. The Church is doing the same thing today. When Jesus came, He based His ministry on the very people that the privileged and influential had deliberately overlooked. See also: Misinterpreting the Bible; Jn 16-2,3; 223f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,4-7 (225ja) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about nurturing the people of God >> Parables about a shepherd and his sheep – Jesus does not abandon His lost sheep. If he loses one, he goes looking for it. A shepherd probably would not hold a party for the sake of finding a lost sheep, but Jesus said, ‘This is what happens in heaven.’ This is how God feels about people who go astray and then return to the Lord. There is no condemnation. Lk 15-7 (15c) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in time of need – This verse goes with verse 10 Lk 15,8-10 (204b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Going astray – This parable refers both to backslidden Christians and to those who initially come to Christ. The Christian who believes in God for many years and then loses his way is like a silver coin setting in a drawer for years and then one day goes missing. Every Christian is in one of three states: either he is faithfully walking with the Lord needing no repentance, or he is backslidden or has fallen away altogether. The Bible teaches that if we completely fall away, there is no repentance for that, hence no way to restore the soul to his former faith, like a coin that was spent or stolen, but someone who is backslidden is still in the house somewhere. When this kind of backslider returns to his faith, when the coin is found, not only does the Lord rejoice, the angels rejoice with Him. A backslider is in need of repentance, though he most likely believes in all the doctrines of salvation. Belief in doctrine is rarely the issue; the aspect of his backsliding usually pertains to his inability to integrate those doctrines into his life. (225g) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about wealth >> Parables about treasure Lk 15-10 (15c) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in time of need – This verse goes with verses 22-24 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,11-32 (4i) Responsibility >> The choices you make >> Accountable for your sinful nature – Left to his devices, man is tragically depraved, and always chooses evil over good. God steps in and fixes his problems as the only time he ever does the right thing, and the moment God takes His hand off man, he returns to his old ways. God has not made a people with faults but to be free, and with that freedom comes responsibility, and to be free without the ability to rebel is not free. So, God is draining rebellion from our system and showing us that rebellion is not a good choice. Adam rebelled, and God hoped he would. This way in eternity, when God gives us a body that does not thirst for sin and lets us keep our freedom minus temptation, we will have already tasted the fruit of sin and found it bitter. Freedom is God’s greatest challenge, hence His greatest achievement. He suffered with us to accomplish this goal. Freedom is God’s most profound gift, and we mostly don’t appreciate it. Our freedom is what makes us like God, for without it we would be just well-constructed robots. A will that is honed to choose only good is precious in the sight of God. The prodigal son coming back to God is highly significant in that man is returning to His maker, bloody and battered but intact and now ready to do His will, having gone astray and seeing what comes of it, now wanting only Him. See also: Freedom defines us as made in the image of God; Heb 5,7-9; 189e (35d) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> No partiality with God’s generosity (49m) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of the Church in the last days – When the prodigal son was on his knees about to partake of the pig trough, it was a form of worship. This is what happens when we abandon God and chase the wind. We see the lights and the glamour, and we spend all our money on things that cannot buy happiness, and in the end we are on our knees worshipping the true nature of this world. We open our eyes to finally see its futility and its stench rising in our throat as vomit. (50dd) Judgment >> Last Days >> Jewish Led endtime revival >> Jews become obedient in the last days – The parable of the prodigal son is about an individual, but it can also be seen as about Israel, who throughout the Old Testament was mostly rebellious, obstinate and unfaithful, such as in the days of Moses. They didn’t wait for him on Mount Sinai but worshipped a manmade golden calf, while Moses was communing with God on the holy mountain. This level of unbelief continued throughout their wanderings in the wilderness until their generation expired. Then He chose Joshua and Caleb, and they led Israel in war for the promise land, still the people were faithless. Then, God picked King David, and he performed the will of God, which was twofold: to live in the land of milk and honey, and to uproot and utterly destroy its previous inhabitants. However, they didn't kill all their enemies, and they became a thorn in their side. God had a reason for commanding their destruction; they were grotesquely evil beyond any hope of repentance, as in the days of Noah when the Nephilim roamed the earth; their women had sex with demons and their gene pool was compromised. God wanted them destroyed so they wouldn’t infect the world with their demonic deities. For this reason He raised up David, and he destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan and gave his nation peace for a hundred years. Israel become a world empire, which became iconic to the thousand year reign of Christ, coming at the end of the age. However, after David's reign, Israel returned to their former ways, becoming worse than their neighbors. The fact that Israel was chosen among the nations was an honor, but with honor comes responsibility. God punished Israel more severely than the gentile nations for its rebellion, and for this reason we say that Israel is the prodigal son. Then, God sent Babylon, the Assyrians, to capture and enslave them for seventy years. They thought God should deliver them, but He had previously warned them that if they didn’t serve Him with a whole heart, they would lose His protection, and He would allow their enemies to enslave them again (Deuteronomy chapter 28). Later, a remnant returned to Israel, but they would never see the empire of David again, though it was prophesied that Messiah would come and deliver them from their enemies; these prophecies are yet in Israel’s future. Their Messiah came and they rejected Him, and God scattered them to the four winds for nearly 2000 years, having only recently returned to their homeland in the 1930’s and making their nation sovereign in 1948. In the last days Israel will finally repent of its unbelief, and God will give them an anointing that no other generation or people has ever known, and Israel will recognize Jesus Christ as their Master and Lord, and they will head an endtime revival that will diminish all other acts of God throughout His dealings with mankind. Billions of people will be saved from the satanic reign of antichrist through their ministry, and they will restore the true doctrines of the faith to the gentiles that they mangled throughout the age of grace. See also: Prodigal Israel; Lk 15,25-30; 75k / History of Israel; Jn 6,24-26; 19i (76m) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Hunger for the word (195e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> Being double minded (207l) Salvation >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> God is kind to sinners -- These verses go with verses 1-7 (208g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Father & son relationship (225f) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about wealth >> Parables about a father and his sons – “Give me the share of the estate that falls to me,” said the Prodigal son, so what does this symbolize in relation to eternity? It does not refer to the grace of God which invites him to heaven in the first place, for if he squandered his invitation, how could he hope to ever get to heaven? Just because the prodigal son squandered his share of the estate doesn’t change the fact that he is still a son; he is welcome home and can live in his father’s house as long as he wants. The obedient son will be able to build new barns and buy more cattle, and the prodigal son will pitch in and help his brother fulfill his dreams. These additions to the property will belong to the obedient son. The prodigal son will not be a servant as the angels, but neither will he have an interest in the improvements on the farm, because he lacks an inheritance by which he can make investments, though he can always help his brother with his estate, herding cattle and building barns and houses, and he will always have food to eat and clothes on his back and a place to lay his head as a viable member of the family. The prodigal son will be a beneficiary of all the improvements made to the farm, so in that sense the obedient brother serves his prodigal brother, as it is written, 'the greater shall serve the lesser,' (Heb 7-7). Therefore, the “estate” represents his heavenly rewards that the prodigal son squandered, meaning the things we do in this life will determine the quality of our experience in eternity. See also: Prodigal son asked for servant status with the angels; Lk 15,11-24; 161d / Rewards; Col 3-25; 218e KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,11-24 (30i) Gift of God >> Favor by His grace >> He does not take your sins into account (32l) Gift of God >> Father will honor your devotion to Him >> He will honor your faith (161d) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Wandering >> Wander from the love of God – The prodigal son got thoughts in his head and asked for the share of his inheritance without triangulating the potential consequences of his actions and came to his senses when he found his lowest point. We too venture along a self-determined path that leads to a dead end and then finally open our eyes to the truth when it becomes so necessary that we cannot live without it. The prodigal son hoped that his father might take him back under limited terms as a servant, the position of angels in heaven (Heb 1-14). He never suspected his father would receive him as his son, yet he was reinstated in the family without losing his status. Note that the father never gave his son a chance to express his proposed terms, unwilling to watch him stew in his humiliation, elated that his son had returned home. He held a party in his honor, and his brother became jealous, calling him “your son,” instead of my brother. See also: Prodigal son asked for servant status with the angels; Lk 15,11-32; 225f (203j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the narrow way -- These verses go with verses 1-7. The Bible teaches you can lose your salvation, but this parable of the prodigal son in no way teaches this; in fact it teaches just the opposite, that God is incredibly merciful when we sin; He is mindful that we are but dust. It is the next chapter that covers the subject of the reprobate mind in the parable of the unrighteous steward. Any Christian who loves God has absolutely nothing to fear regarding blasphemy, developing the reprobate mind or losing his salvation. There is a difference between falling away from the faith and backsliding. Falling away as it speaks so fearfully in Hebrews describes a person with spiritual problems, but the prodigal son didn't have spiritual problems; he had fleshly problems. That is, he didn’t hate his dad; he just wanted to kick up his heels and experience the world. Backsliding is a fleshly problem, and the blood of Jesus fully covers this kind of sin that we commit in ignorance. The difference between the prodigal son and blaspheming the Holy Spirit is: lying to yourself, lying to God and resisting the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us. None of these things were involved in the story of the prodigal son. He was just a lustful kid looking for the next party. (221j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind disobedience Lk 15,11-20 (195a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only love one at a time KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,11-16 (17e) Sin >> Judging in the flesh >> Based on greed (18g) Sin >> False Judgment lacks evidence >> Temporal mindset – The prodigal son had a temporal mindset in asking for his share of the estate. He judged the value of His Father’s possessions, along with the value of His Father and brother and compared his family to the value of worldly pleasure and misjudged that Indulging himself was more valuable. That sounds deeply offensive, but his Father did not give up on him. The idea that associating with the world was more important than family blew up in his face. Turns out that his life-decision didn’t make him happy, for all forms of unrighteous judgment end in tragedy. When we don’t understand the forces in our lives and our personal situations and make decisions based on that ignorance, how could it end any other way? It could be that the prodigal son didn't think his life was worth the time and effort of making solid plans. (20d) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Motives of unbelief (22d) Sin >> Greed takes without consideration for others >> The worldliness of greed (55m) Paradox >> Lose by gaining >> Lose God’s will to gain your own will (74f) Thy kingdom come >> Heart is man’s central value system >> Where value interprets the man – The heart is where man interprets value, but at the same time it is where value interprets the man. We think we control what we consider valuable and for this reason we put a price on gold and silver and on money and possessions. We make these assertions in our heart, but we often don’t realize that these same assertions are being made on us. Society uses this value system as a measuring device to put a price on people, and this is what happened to the prodigal son. While he was counting his money, it was doing the same to him, and as he ran out of money, he ran out of self-worth. We say our possessions have value, so society sets a value on us based on our money, but this never agrees with God’s value of us. Even at the height of our wealth, our heavenly Father thinks more of us than all the money in the world. (94p) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective >> False perspective in the Church (157e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >> Walking in disobedience -- These verses go with verse 24 (160k) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Temptation to walk in unbelief >> Tempted to pursue your addictions – Being impulsive doesn’t work; that is why this word has a negative connotation. There are people with obsessive/compulsive personality disorders, but this is not to say that the prodigal son returned to his Father and remained impulsive, because God can fix that. He can fix any aspect of our lives, not in ways that we want to be fixed, but in ways that God wants to fix us. How He decides to fix a person is His own business, and the person must agree to it. We must be patient with Him and let Him work on us and be faithful. When temptation becomes strong, we resist; when we fall, we return to our feet. Giving up on God is based on a false premise about God. We should never give up on Him, for He considers Himself worthy of more than that; it is the one thing that God will not tolerate. Note that this is not the lesson of the prodigal son; he did not give up on his father; the lesson is that his father did not give up on him. He will work with us day and night for years, and if we fall and get up continuously, it doesn’t bother Him. It is when we stop getting up that He takes offense. (163j) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy your own life (165e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of the world >> Do not desire the treasures of the world – So long as we have money, society will consider us valuable, but soon as we run out of money, the world will retract its value of us. When we have lots of money we tend to think highly of ourselves, but even then we are not thinking the way God thinks of us, and after our money disappears, our self-esteem follows the same downward spiral. People don’t know how to get off this merry-go-round value system and onto God’s value system. This happened to the prodigal son, feeding the swine and licking his chops for the pig slop, mixed with feces, urine and saliva. He looked into the trough and saw himself. Suddenly he remembered what his father thought of him; he hoped to find some level of acceptance, though his expectations were low, after he took advantage of him and valued his inheritance above his family members. His father couldn’t have felt worse of him than he felt of himself, so he said, ‘What am I doing here; I’ll get up and go to my father and ask to be his hired hand.’ Of course, when he came home he discovered that his father didn’t think any less of him, which came as quite a surprise. He thought his father should be disgusted or angry with him, like his brother, who if it were up to him would still be feeding pigs. When he met his father, none of this was true, but received him with full status as a son, equal to his brother. (184f) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Trying to take advantage of God’s kindness (197g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Distracted from a fruitful life (201h) Running From God (Key verse) (201j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Man’s will over God >> God permits man to go his own way (202b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God by running to the world (218e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> Reaping the harvest of our works (223g) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the point >> Miss the meaning of being with Jesus (242g) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Worldly pressure >> World pressures you to forsake God KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,11-15 (169b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blind to Jesus >> Blind to the holiness of God in Christ Lk 15,11-14 (207d) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> You can get lost again -- These verses go with verse 24 Lk 15,11-13 (21i) Sin >> Premeditated sin >> Intending to abuse the grace of God (70h) Autho rity >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth (enemy of discernment) >> Familiar with Jesus in the Spirit Lk 15,13-16 (77l) Thy kingdom come >> Being Humble Before God >> Let your laughter be turned to mourning Lk 15,14-24 (227f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >> Depending on Jesus to have compassion >> Depending on Jesus to receive us – While the prodigal son was out spending his money, a famine occurred and it inflated the economy so he blew through his estate in no time. Once he ran out of money he couldn’t find a job, so from desperation he bound himself as an indentured servant to a ruthless taskmaster who didn’t care about him. The taskmaster represents the world, and as we all know, the world can be cruel and uncaring. The prodigal son was a Jew, for they were the Lord's audience, and it is no coincidence that he got stuck with the pigs in that Jews consider swine to be altogether loathsome. He either ate from the hog trough or starved, and perhaps the prodigal son did get on his knees preparing to partake, but while he was there prayed to his Father instead. Lk 15,14-18 (103h) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Cleanse yourself Lk 15,17-32 (94e) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective >> God’s Perspective on the Church (193d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin to God – During a period of backsliding we become deaf to the things of God; we cannot hear the Holy Spirit calling us; we become unfeeling in discernment, blind to His glory, and dumb to His knowledge. His kingdom doesn’t make sense to us like it did when we were serving Him, but when we return to our senses and to our faith, He restores us. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,17-24 (29f) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Delivered from spiritual impoverishment – Is the prodigal son a story about salvation, or is it about a person backsliding and then returning to the faith? Jesus said he was dead in sin (v32). He used this parable as a depiction of mankind starting from the very beginning with Adam, who was once in right standing with God and then fell away. This can also be used as a story about a child who reached the age of accountability and fell to the temptation of the world's ostentatious glitz and glamour. Since then Jesus died on the cross for man to be reinstated with God, and along came the Prodigal Son. Therefore, the parable is mostly about someone originally getting saved, not so much about backsliding, though it can also be used for that. (120c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> God forgives us when we become accountable to Him >> As we confess our sin (194j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Confessing your sin to God (233e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek The Kingdom With Your Essence >> Seek the Kingdom of God with your whole life Lk 15,17-22 (193k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God to avoid running from Him Lk 15,17-19 (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness – The prodigal son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.” He sinned against the host of heaven, suggesting that everyone in heaven can see what happens here on earth. Heb 12-1 also says, “Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us….” The motivation for the prodigal son to come home, after bowing to the pig slop that he contemplated for his stomach, was hunger. He thought he lost credibility with God, saying, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” As a young child, he was happy living with his Father, and now he hoped the relationship could be mended, though he suspected that he would be demoted to a hired hand. He thought he had lost his place, figuring his Father abandoned him, because he abandoned his Father. It was therefore a great surprise and joy when he saw his Father running to him with a big smile and embraced him and kissed him and butchered the fatted calf and celebrated His son's returned. (196h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to love God – These verses go with verses 25-30. We should note that the prodigal son lived at home his whole life with his brother prior to venturing into the world. Most people use this parable of the prodigal son as a story about a Christian who backslides and then returns to his faith. That is not wrong, but it is best seen as a boy who comes of age, and one of his first decisions as an adult was to walk away from God, then repented of his worldly living and returned to his childhood faith. Although we are born sinners, we are also born destined for heaven, but as adults we can choose not to go there. The prodigal son, the moment he was old enough, liquidated his account and spent his inheritance that represented his childhood faith. The prodigal son did not have a mature faith; there is a faith that we should not spend, for it represents a deeper, fuller knowledge of God with a matching accountability. After he had his fill of the world and discovered its emptiness and voided promises and its willingness to make sport of him, he remembered that his Father was the only person who ever loved him, so he returned to Him. Lk 15,18-25 (157b) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Rejecting Christ Lk 15-18 (212h) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> God is all knowing >> Nothing hidden >> God exposes things hidden in darkness KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,20-24 (30e) Gift of God >> Prepare to receive from God >> We must first get His attention (117f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His mercy (123c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Compassion is the emotion of the Spirit (224g) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> Rejoicing in heaven (228e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Comforted >> God comforts us in our shame Lk 15,22-32 (24h) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Being envious of your brother (24k) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Anger >> Unforgiveness Lk 15,22-24 (15c) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in time of need – These verses go with verses 31&32. As a reminder, the Father’s slaves in this story represent angels, as in verses 7-10 of this chapter. Therefore, when the prodigal son asked his Father to make him as one of His servants, he was asking for a position with the angels, but his Father insisted that he retain his son-ship, implying that man has a higher position with the angels, not that we should boast about that, but so we can serve all the more according to the convention of God's kingdom. Lk 15-24 (157e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >> Walking in disobedience -- This verse goes with verses 11-16 (207d) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> You can get lost again -- This verse goes with verse 32 Lk 15,25-32 (130l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accept the weak – The father said to his loyal son, “All that is mine is yours,” meaning he could have killed a fattened calf and held a party with his friends whenever he wanted, but he never asked. His father could have said, ‘If you are so loyal, then quit grumbling,’ but he didn't. It’s not easy being a parent, because life does not allow us to treat our children equally. Some children go astray and others bark in our ear about our inadequate parenting skills, but God wants to be a parent, and he is willing to go through whatever it takes to resolve our issues so we can be a family. He will fight with us and for us, and He won’t resent it because He loves us. (158e) Division (Key verse) (158f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Division (Cliques) >> Jealously seeking prominence in the body (159a) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Love sickening sweet >> Mask over the real self – In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the two brothers represent the difference between being nice and being "good". Ironically, the good son was the prodigal son, while the nice son stayed home and did his father's bidding, though he never developed a relationship with his father. Being good is despicable to the world, just like the prodigal son was despicable to the son who stayed home, whereas being nice is acceptable to the world. Worldly people are nice in order to stiff-arm God, so when they hear the gospel, they can say, ‘I don’t need it because I am a nice person.’ In this parable Jesus was teaching that the son who stayed home had problems that had not yet surfaced, while his brother coming home from a life of decadence had his faults exposed, so the father and son might form a happy family on the Ponderosa. (177j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the circumstances Lk 15,25-30 (75k) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Jealously manipulating people – The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most well known parables in the Bible: the younger son went wayward, and then came to his senses and returned to his faith. These are some of the things that everybody understands about the Prodigal Son, but there are other things that are less known about this parable. Most of Jesus’ parables are multilevel, meaning there is truth underneath the surface, and this story is no exception. The Prodigal Son among other things was meant to elucidate the relationship between Jews and gentiles. The Jewish nation as a whole has rejected the gospel, representing the prodigal son, Johnny come lately, making the Gentile Church the older brother in relation to the gospel. Notice the attitude the gentiles have against the Jews for returning to their faith at the end of the age; they are jealous and angry. He complained to his Father, ‘We have been here serving you all these millennia while your younger son has been blowing his inheritance on loose living, and you killed the fatted calf for him?’ Why couldn’t the gentiles be happy for the Jews? Some Christians for surely have pure motives for standing by the Jews, but the Church in general has the motive of supporting Israel only to ensure endtime prophecy is fulfilled (as though God needed help with that). The Church thinks the old covenant temple must be rebuilt in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah next to the Muslim Dome of the Rock, and for this reason the Church supports Israel, not in hope that the Jews will return to their faith. They will return, though, and when they do, the gentiles will be offended, like the older brother was offended by the prodigal son. The gentiles did not steal the gospel from the Jews but obtained it through obedience, and so they became keepers of the faith for the last 2000 years by protecting the writings of the New Testament and promoting the gospel in the world. Jesus is prophesying that the Church as a whole will begrudge the Jewish newfound faith and the special treatment they receive from God and refuse to celebrate with them. We know that Paul spoke of making the Jews jealous in attempt to manipulate them to believe in Jesus, and it worked for some, but overall it didn’t work, so now the roles have been reversed so that instead of the Jews being jealous of the gentiles, the gentiles become jealous of the Jews, whose faith will blossom into a Great Endtime Revival and possibly win more people to the Lord than all who were saved throughout the age of grace. Many within the Church today will celebrate with the Jews during the endtime revival. Instead, God may have to pass over developed nations and go to third-world countries that have not sufficiently heard the gospel and invite them to join the celebration, and the turnout will range in the hundreds of millions, and they will participate in this celebration feast of the fatted calf. See also: Prodigal Israel; Lk 15,11-32; 50dd (196h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to love God – These verses go with verses 17-19 (197e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Fruitlessness >> A fruitless life offends God Lk 15,25-28 (15f) Servant >> Angels are messengers from God >> They are sent to change our perspective KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 15,28-32 (23a) Sin >> Pride closes the windows of heaven (203g) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God >> Dishonor God by dishonoring your brother Lk 15,28-30 (17d) Sin >> Judging in the flesh >> Accusing God and others of sin (174f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Comparing yourself with sinners (175g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Dodging the issue (willful ignorance) >> Evading the heart of the matter Lk 15-29,30 (75e) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Questioning God’s judgment Lk 15-29 (63h) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Ignoring the truth to convey the truth Lk 15-31,32 (15c) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in time of need – These verses go with verse 7. See verses 22-24 for commentary. (108e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Balance >> God's sovereignty balances good from evil Lk 15-32 (25l) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> You’re walking in death if you’re not walking in Jesus (207d) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> You can get lost again -- This verse goes with verses 11-14 See next page