Are You Prodigal? :: By Nathele Graham

Published on: September 4, 2022 by RR7

It’s always easy to point fingers at others while we turn a blind eye to our own misdoings. Jesus told a parable about a son who decided to rebel against his father and live a wild and extravagant life his own way. We know this as the parable of the prodigal son. Actually, there were two sons, and each had their own way of rebelling.

Jesus had already told two parables of losing something of value and searching for it diligently. One was about a man with 100 sheep; one got lost, and the shepherd left the 99 to find the one that was lost. When the sheep was found, he rejoiced. When he arrived home, he called his friends together, and they all rejoiced over the sheep that was found.

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

We know that the parable is about Christ as our Good Shepherd and His care for every one of the flock.

The next parable Jesus told was about a woman who had ten pieces of silver. That was a nice amount of money, but even just one piece of silver was very valuable. She lost one of the coins and diligently searched her home for it. She found her coin and rejoiced.

“And she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost” (Luke 15:9).

What joy and relief that woman felt. This is the joy God feels when someone comes to salvation through Christ.

“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).

God the Father gave His Son for our salvation, and Jesus gave His life. Their love is amazing, so when one lost sinner is found, there is much rejoicing in Heaven.

The next parable is known as the Prodigal Son. A prodigal is someone who lives recklessly and spends money rashly. They have all the friends that money can buy and seem to be having a great life. Are they happy? Are they fulfilled? The focus of this parable is the youngest son. He had probably been living in the shadow of his older brother and was tired of it. There were rules in his father’s house, and this young man was ready to live his dream.

“And he said, A certain man had two sons: 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” (Luke 15:11-12).

This wasn’t a wise choice by the son. The father loved his sons and allowed them free will. The younger son decided to go out on his own and live life his own way. That didn’t work out the way he wanted it to. With his freedom, he lived life by his own rules. It’s always interesting to me that people like the young son are drawn to sin. There was food, comfort, and safety in his father’s household, but the temptation to sin drew his heart away. So, off he went to a distant land and wasted all he had on a wild lifestyle that his father would not have allowed.

That young son was about to learn a harsh lesson. “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want” (Luke 15:14).

We aren’t specifically told that this was a Jewish family, but it probably was since Jesus was telling it to a Jewish crowd. Well, the young man hit rock bottom. “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine” (Luke 15:15).

This is something a Jewish person wouldn’t do unless they had no other option. Swine are unclean animals. The young man was not only feeding the swine but was so hungry that he wanted to eat the slop he fed them.

This was a hard lesson to learn, but he made his own choice and had to learn from his mistakes. Fortunately, this son finally woke up before it was too late. He could have died in his rebellion and been separated from his family, but he realized his sin that had separated him from his father.

“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! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (Luke 15:17-19).

This young man was very repentant. To repent means to change your mind. He changed his mind about his rebellion and the “fun” of living a sin-filled life. He humbly returned to his father.

There was quite a commotion at home. The father had been looking for his son’s return. “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” (Luke 15:20).

The father had never stopped loving his son and was looking for his return. The son was still his son even though sin had separated them. It was the son’s choice to rebel and sin, but it was also his choice to humbly return home.

“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. 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: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; 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” (Luke 15:21-24).

End of story, right? No, it isn’t. Remember, there were two sons. The older son hadn’t rebelled but stayed with his father without rebelling. Was the older son concerned about his lost brother? Was he concerned that his brother might be hungry, cold, and sick?

“Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 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” (Luke 15:25-27).

How would you feel if you were in this brother’s shoes? Would you resent the joy the younger brother’s return brought to the father? Would you be happy that your brother was home and safe? Maybe you would be a little jealous that he went out and had “fun” and came back and was treated as if nothing had been wrong. Many of our Christian brothers and sisters have rebelled against God and need to come back to the safety of the Father’s House.

The older brother showed that he had his own sin to deal with. “And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 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: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf” (Luke 15:28-30).

The older brother seems to know a lot about what his younger brother did. Unless he had spies in the land, how would he know his brother spent all the money on harlots? Instead of spying and accusing, maybe he should have tried to help.

It’s easy to look at these two sons and pass judgment. There’s a good chance one of them describes you. Are you the prodigal who has professed to be a Christian but turned your back on the Father and embraced a life of sin? Are you spending your riches on harlots, or maybe you’re the harlot? If you’re still in that lifestyle, it’s time to repent and humbly return home before you die in rebellion. God knows what you’re doing and all the excuses you have to justify your right to sin. There will come a time of 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. 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 Corinthians 3:13-15).

Good works won’t bring salvation, but they will bring rewards on the day you stand before the Bema Seat of Christ. Humbly repent of sin and return to a right relationship with God.

Christians all belong to the family of God. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

How do you react when you see a brother fall into sin? Do you encourage them to return to the family, or do you condemn them as sinners deserving of damnation? Maybe you smugly look down on a weaker brother or sister, knowing that you don’t do any of those vile things called sin. Pride is also a sin that God hates.

“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Proverbs 29:23).

Be careful when judging a brother or sister that you don’t let self-righteous pride get in your way of God’s love and forgiveness.

In the parable, the father’s feelings are evident. His joy over the prodigal son’s return was evident, but the hurtful words and attitude of the older son caused him grief.

“And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 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” (Luke 15:31-32).

In looking at the two previous parables, I see the two brothers reflected there. In Luke 15:4-7, a man has 100 sheep but one goes missing. You might say it was a prodigal sheep. The sheep was lost, but the shepherd looked for that sheep. When the sheep was safe at home, there was great joy. The next parable (Luke 15:8-10) was about a woman who lost a coin. Unlike the sheep, the coin had no idea it was lost. The woman knew and searched diligently for that lost coin. Like the older son, the coin was cold and unfeeling but still valuable. If the older son sees his coldness and returns to a right fellowship with his family, there will be joy and celebration.

Are you prodigal and rebelling, wasting the blessings that God the Father has given you? Are you hard-hearted and cold to a prodigal brother who has returned? Which sin is greater? God the Father loves you and wants to welcome you Home. Your faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ needs to rule your life. Show your love to Him by being faithful and share His love with others who are struggling and lost.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com
ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

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This Just Doesn’t Make Sense! :: By Dave Hubley

Published on: September 3, 2022 by RR10

(There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.)

Surely you have also noticed that things just don’t make sense.

How often have we heard this phrase from politicians, commentators, “news reporters,” etc., over the past year and a half or so?

How often have we said it ourselves? Quite a lot, I expect.

But here is an observation that I think more and more of us who watch geo-political, “religious,” and other current events from a prophecy-studying perspective have been doing (even perhaps unnoticed by us).

We have almost entirely stopped saying, “this just doesn’t make sense.”

I think perhaps, in light of the view we have from our studies of the only source of Truth, it DOES make sense!

Perfect sense. Tragic, heartbreaking, and perfect sense.

And that tells us ever so much about the lateness of the hour and the state of humanity.

Logic and Truth are the first casualties of lawlessness.

Here are a few more questions we have maybe discontinued asking ourselves or perhaps statements we no longer make to ourselves:

What is the world coming to?
How can these people believe this?
Why are they doing this?
I thought we had laws against …????
How can these people get away with this?
What about the Constitution?
What about the rule of law?
That isn’t even physically or biologically possible.
How can they do this to these little children?

I imagine you could add to this list with little effort and probably were doing it even as you read it.

Perhaps you were thinking, “you left out this, that, or the other.” I certainly did. I left out a lot of things, some of which I can’t really stand to contemplate.

If we read the warnings expressed in God’s Word about these latter days, we see that, even though they were written approximately 2,000 years ago, they are perfectly in keeping with the times. In fact, they have become the order of the day.

“Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32).

“But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

“Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ they will ask. ‘Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world of that time perished in the flood. And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:1-7).

“Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners” (Jude 14-15).

I would normally place emphasis on some of the characteristics above, but they ALL apply today. It is an unrelenting flood of evil. And where is it leading?

“And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:10-11). Emphasis added by me.

I added emphasis above as men, by and large, are not repenting of their deeds now, and they will not even under the Bowl judgments. Incredible.

The verse from Revelation Chapter 16 takes place late in the 70th week of Daniel (Great Tribulation) during the most severe of the judgments (Bowl Judgements), and “yet they did not repent of their deeds.”

It is impactful when we see these last days warnings all in a nice, condensed package. So easy to read and so terrible in its sadness.

Given this, are these lists of human depravities and conduct in these current days leading up to the pouring out of God’s Wrath a mystery?

And are we not seeing all these characteristics playing out every single day in one place or another… or almost everywhere?

Do we not sometimes read of these things and then see them occurring in reality, and we are almost tempted to think they are an understatement?

And this is what we do see. How much do we not see? Perhaps we should thank the Lord for these small blessings, as I’m not sure how much we could stand. But He knows, and He will strengthen us through the Holy Spirit.

At the same time, it is also heartening when we see how far our God is willing to go to try and save people even when they hate Him.

He literally moves heaven and earth.

I believe many will be rescued after the Rapture of the church, during the time of Jacob’s Trouble/Tribulation/Daniels 70th Week, and it is a Praise to the Glory of God.

“Then one of the elders addressed me: ‘These in white robes,’ he asked, ‘who are they, and where have they come from?’ “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, ‘These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb'” (Rev 7:13-14).

These, I believe, are in addition to all the Martyrs over all the ages who died in the Lord and who have been patiently waiting for the Day of the Lord.

The Fifth Seal: The Martyrs

“And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld. And they cried out in a loud voice, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?’ Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed” (Revelation 6:9-11).

It is another Praise to the Glory of our God that even in the midst of all these judgments, He provides the Gospel message to the lost yet again.

“Then I saw another angel flying overhead, with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters'” (Revelation 14:6).

I don’t mention the salvation of souls during the Post-Rapture period to people who I witness to for a couple of reasons.

I don’t want to give them any excuse to feel they can afford to “wait and see.” Like it is some event they can breeze through similar to purchasing fire insurance, or like they can wait and see if maybe Dave was right after all. And what then?
I don’t think they can even begin to comprehend the horror of that time. If they end up in that period, they will at least have heard the Gospel and know Who to turn to – if their hearts are not too hardened to permit them to repent and call upon the Lord.

I pray that they don’t fall under the judgment of 2 Thessalonians. I pray that there is a chance that, in their heart, they will not meet these terrible conditions but still will be willing to receive the Truth, even if it costs them their lives to stand up for Him.

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

Perhaps you may have a different opinion. That is your call. I don’t write these articles to convince anyone to come to my viewpoint. I write them to try to be a help to those who may have questions or are uncertain of what to do.

Whatever I may write, it should always be measured against the plumb-line of God’s Inerrant Truth.

I always try to keep these verses in the front of my memory when I study prophecy.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Emphasis added by me.

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Emphasis joyfully added by me.

We are certainly in a time when things “don’t make sense” in terms of the world most of us grew up in, but things always make sense in the solid foundation of God’s Word.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Truth is reality from God’s Perspective. It’s as simple as that.

For anyone who may read this article and has not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no hope or peace in your life:

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross.
To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics, or politicians. There are only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com