THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON, Pt 9
Luke 15:11-32 – The Prodigal’s Riotousness and Ruin, v13-16.
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1. All that man does, while he rebels against God, is really just a wasting of his substance.
No profit in the 30 pieces of silver Judas obtained by selling Christ!
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” 1 Cor 3:11-15.
Those who live their lives without God and jut gathering together “wood, hay and stubble” and trying to build that which will withstand the fire of God’s searching judgment! “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is,” 1 Cor 3:13.
* In school, we know all about tests and examinations! Our work is tested. So it will be with the Lord.
What we have done with Christ and His Word will be examined! There will be rewards: “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward” and there will be loss. “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
You can waste your life as a Christian and having nothing to show. Remember, “We (Christians) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad,” 2 Corinthians 5:10. This is a judgment of our service not of our sins. It is for rewards not for entrance into heaven.
It will be worse for the poor sinner who wastes his life by rejecting the gospel and running after the world’s delights as did the prodigal!
When he has spend all his father’s portion it is then that he discovers the true nature of the land to which he has come.
1. It is a land of famine. A famine of God. There is only one land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ — the land God has for His children and which may be entered by faith and obedience to Christ. How empty is every place outside of Christ, Ruth 1:1-5! “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it,” Amos 8:11-12.
2. It is a land of disappointment. “He began to be in want.” He started to become short, (Rom 3:23). Nothing lived up to his expectations. What disappointment lies ahead of sinners. Jer 2:13; 17:5-6, 13.
3. It is a land of no hope. He feeds swine. Men show defiance when confronted with the hopeless of their case. They will yet rescue themselves. They will prove God wrong, Isaiah 9:9-10; Jer 5:3-4; Amos 4:6-10; Rev 16:10-11.
The sinner’s own conscience and his circumstances testify to the truth of God’s Word!