The Prodigal Son

We all know the story, in scripture, about the Prodigal son. The son who asked for his inheritance from his Father, then left his Fathers house to go and spend all that he had on riotous living until he hit rock bottom. After spending some time there, it says that he came to himself and returned to his Father who greatly and wonderfully accepted him back with open arms and a great feast. On top of it all, the Father lavished him with gifts of a robe and ring. Oh what joy there was in the house of the Father, that day, as the Prodigal son returned for he once was lost and now is found.

Before we go on, let us read, for ourselves, that wonderful story in Luke…

Luke 15:11
And he said, A certain man had two sons:
15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
15:13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again *; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
15:25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
15:27 And he said unto him *, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.
15:29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
15:31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

And so it was that the family was re-united again under the Fathers house.

Now most of us have heard this story many many times, throughout our life in the church and even seen several adaptation movies about and books dedicated to the Prodigal. They all dwell upon how the son is a sinner and of his being brought into the saving grace of the Father. How he is lost, separated from God and bound for hell. Then, by the grace of God, he is saved and born again. Most often it is told that someone shares with him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the message of the Cross. There have been many sermons preached from pulpit to pulpit and many a story told of the Prodigal and the following is but another one that I pray will be just a bit different than those you have come to know and love. Come let us see what the Spirit says to you.

Let us begin at the beginning where we find the younger son asking his Father for what he felt belonged to him, (15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.) and upon receiving it, he departed. It is interesting to note, that it was only one of the sons that requested his portion and yet the Father also gave the elder his. What did the Father give to His sons, that the younger went out and spent?

Well we must first understand who these sons are, then we can perhaps determine what the Father divided to them. If we maintain that this is a story of the Father of the believers, then we must assume that the sons were believers and thus followers of Christ to begin with, else the story does not make sense. So in coming to this conclusion, the son that left, was a Christian who left his first estate of the Christian Father and backslid out into the world to spend the inheritance given to him. What was his inheritance? Well it was all that comes with being a believer, faith, hope, love, the gifts of the spirit, etc., etc., etc.

So the younger took his portion and decided to spend these things elsewhere and away from the Fathers house. As he went out, he came to a different realm where he had to spend something he had to get in. He had to be relieved of some of his inheritance, in order to enjoy what he was buying. So in the first place on his journey to who knows where, he decides to spend his belief in the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and the speaking in tongues. He leaves the realm of, say, those Pentecostals, and becomes a Baptist. He spends and relinquishes his doctrine, to become and follow the doctrines of those that believe that tongues are of the devil, etc. He stays in this realm for until all former belief in the Pentecostal realm of the Father are gone and he has fully accepted the Baptist theology of salvation saved by grace and Baptism being only something one does to show they follow the Lord.

But after some time, he decides he has had enough of the Baptist realm and leaves it to go to another realm and so finds himself spending more of his inheritance on becoming a Catholic. Here he must leave behind the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, to one of works, the mass and Mary the Mother of God.

Oh how un-becoming and how un-seemingly this behaviour is to the Pentecostal and the Baptist. One can surely see how this former protestant has backslid into sin and degradation. An so more of his wealth has been relieved of him and he spends a bit more time here until all former traces of Protestantism has departed from him. Surely he is lost now to the Father of the "Christian". But wait, there is more, for this realm is not where the Prodigal wishes to be and he still has enough of his inheritance to spend it somewhere. But where?

So he leaves and decides to spend the last of his inheritance upon one last fling. He has hit the bottom of the barrel and he purchases a realm that all Christians, no matter the name, has said there is no coming back from. It is like wallowing in a pigpen. The last rung of the ladder has become the Prodigal sons home and now he has left all that the Father gave him and taken up with ---the New Agers. How low can one go and how far away from the Fathers house can one be?

This once, former son, has spent all that he had, his faith in Jesus, his gifts of the Spirit, his salvation by grace, etc., only to walk in the realm of crystals and whatever. He is finally lost and bound for hell and he knows it, for in every realm he has been in, everyone there told him that if he ever left their realm he would go to hell and be eternally lost. Hell was now in the realm of the New Age. Where was he to go now? He had spent all that he had received from the Father, on riotous living and now he was spiritually destitute. And hunger set in.

So there came into his life, a good Christian pastor and he brought to him food for Life. He told him that he was a sinner and needed to get saved so that he would not go to hell when he died. Oh how the message of salvation brought to him a new outlook on his situation! How wonderful he felt and the change that came over him, when he gave his life to Christ again and began to walk anew. The mighty power of the preachers words that unfolded and lifted the Prodigal out of the miry clay! So say they of the church realm. But not so, says the Scriptures. For it says: "15:17 And when he came to himself…"

There was no fiery preacher bringing him the gospel of salvation, no declaration of get saved or hell is for you. Nothing and no one came near him, for he had left all their realms to be where he was now and Scripture says he came to himself. There was an understanding deep within, that he was missing something. He hungered, again for what he had in the Fathers house and He decided to go back to the Father. So he picked himself up and began his journey back to his Father. Back to where he could receive food and a roof over his head. Oh, he did not expect to have what he had had, for he had spent that. But to receive even that which the servants have, was enough for him. So off he went.

Now as he traveled back one notices that he was unable to come back through the same road he had passed on his way to becoming a New Ager. After all, he had bought those realms with his inheritance and was unable to pay the re-entry fee, to get back into those realms. He was not accepted back into the Catholic realm, the Baptist realm, for he had nothing to buy his way into them. And to get into those realms, one must pay their price, or one is not welcomed in. He could not enter into any realm that he once had been and so had to go directly to the Father as he was, a down and out vagabond and destitute New Ager. Oh, how humiliating an experience, to walk up to the Pentecostal Father as a New Ager! How it must have been when he passed the Catholic, the Baptist, the whoever, as they shunned him and ridiculed him for who had become! He was the dreg of society and the Christian world. He smelled of New Age. His clothing was New Age and he embodied all that the New Ager stood for and the Christian stood against. There was no room in the Inns for him. So on he went, alone and hungry for just a bit of food, a small drink of water or perhaps a taste of good wine. There was none to be found in the Inns he passed by and no inheritance to buy it any way. The Inns had taken all that he once had and were not about to give it back.


And now the scene changes and we find: "15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him". And oh how it changes. Can you imagine it. Here is the son who has spent all that the Father had given him on all the realms outside of the Fathers house, and here we see the Father running out to meet the New Age son, in all his degradation and filth. The Father wraps His loving arms around His son and gives him a kiss of love, that only a Father can give to a son. Oh, the compassion given to His son. Can you imagine what went through the mind of the son? Oh God, Father what are you doing? I am not worthy to be received in such manner! I am not worthy to have such love and compassion from you.! Look at me! I have nothing left of my inheritance. I have nothing left of what was once yours and I have spent it all in the Inns of riotous realms. How can you still love me so? How can you place the pure arms of compassion around the neck of a New Ager? You are of the house of the Kingdom People. You are of the House of the Tribe of the Sons of God and I have left the realm only to squander my seat at the Throne, for the belief in the Pentecostal realm! How can you still love a son who has given everything to the Baptist, to the Catholic, to the Jew and to Islam, only to become that which is despised by all. You are of the House of Mohammed, and I have become a Jew. You are of the house of Yahweh and I have become a believer in Allah! How can you accept me back as a Muslim, when all along you have been of the house of the Christian? I cannot understand this Love! I did not find it in any the Inns I went to. So I left to search for it in other Inns but there was no room there. The Inn keepers wanted part of my inheritance to be able to stay, and I gave it them, until I had not more. So I left.

Yet you come TO me with open arms, love and compassion and have not asked where I have been or who I NOW am. You give that which is yours, to someone who is no longer of your understanding. There is nothing left of that which I once possessed here with you, and yet you give unconditionally of your wealth. You have called for the fatted calf to feed a hungry one. You clothe me with a garment of warmth, place coverings over my feet and expensive gold upon my hand. And yet you ask nothing of me. Only to come and dine at the Fathers table where I once sat. Truly thou art a loving Father.

And so ends the story of the Prodigal son as seen from a different seat. He has returned to his Fathers house, from living a life of sin and has repented, been born again and has once more become a Christian in good standing. Has once more become a righteous Jew, a humble Muslim or a perfect member of the Hindu faith. He is now back in the house of the New Age consciousness. He has returned.

But my friends---he never left!

To be continued.

Namaste

Sirius8

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