Are you the prodigal son? Is the elder son is justified?
Job Anbalagan
“And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land: and he began to be in want” (Luke 15:14).
The above verse was taken from the parable of the Prodigal Son. In fact, the word “prodigal” is not mentioned in the gospels. He is referred to as the younger son. There are spiritually immature younger sons in the Body of Christ. They do not want to remain in their Father’s house for ever.
The younger son covets “the portions of the goods that falleth to me” (Vs.12). The younger son set his heart on those portions of the goods that gave him material prosperity. In the Father’s house, he was supposed to serve his Father out of love. He had to undergo the rod of discipline of his Father, to work hard in the house and then to enjoy the goods in the house. The younger son always chooses only those portions of the goods that give him joy and entertainment. He does not want the other portions of the goods in the house which make him conform to the image of his Father who is perfect. What are visible in the Father’s house? These are material blessings that we see with our eyes. The Father’s love which is intertwined with these material blessings is not visible to our physical eyes. We separate those portions of the goods from His love. As we obey Him and follow His commandments in His house, we can enjoy these material blessings. These days, we separate these material blessings from His commandments. We covet only His material blessings. In the churches, preachers focus only on such material blessings. They teach us how we can inherit material blessings through faith. People receiving such messages are likened to the younger son who sets his heart on the material blessings. Today, we find majority of Christians likened to the younger son who has no spiritual growth. Many of us ask our loving Father, “Father, I want this or that”. Of course, our loving Father grants our prayer requests and we take these material blessings and go to the distant land where we have to face famine or want. A dear couple always sends me prayer requests asking for every material blessing on this earth. They wanted the best treatment in the hospitals, insurance coverage for the medical treatments, favor with their employers in the work places, avoiding of tensions in their work places, permanent settlement in a foreign land (where they are now working) for their enjoyment. Of course, the Father may grant such prayer requests when the same requests are made in the Name of Jesus Christ or in a continual manner like the widow who approached the unrighteous judge.
Today, we find many children in the house of the Father likened to the younger son. When the temptations entice or assail them, they fall a victim to such temptations because they have not attained the spiritual maturity through sufferings. They want to live comfortable lives after entering their Father’s house. They do not want to bear their crosses and follow the Lord but relegate the crosses to the background. They think that the outside world from which they were redeemed by the Father is still attractive. They are in the Father’s house but do not lead a crucified life with their Master. They are in the Father’s house but their heart and soul lies in the world. They want to keep one leg in the world and another leg in the Father’s house. Ultimately, they identify themselves with the swine of the world and fill their bellies “with the husks that the swine did eat” (Vs.16). They leave the Father’s house progressively and slide into the ditch of this world. Maybe, they attend the church services and throw some coins into the offertory boxes. But they are partaking with their heart and soul of the husks of the swine. Husks of the swine are not merely abominable sins that a believer commits after accepting Christ Jesus. These also include the corrupt life-style and the corrupt habits of this world that a believer prefers to cling to. In the Father’s house, one has to willingly follow discipline, devotion and sacrifice. The Father does not enforce His rules and commandments on His sons.
After entering the Father’s house, the younger son does not want to cherish the love of the Father through a disciplined and sacrificial life. When his heart and soul is not with their Father, he has in fact taken “his journey into a far country” (Vs.13) and joined himself to a citizen of that country. Who is this citizen of that country? It is an unsaved person who lives in the world and who lives for the world. Many of the sons in the House of God are today gone into this far country and to live a life which is after the fashion of this world (I Cor.7:31).
They are attracted towards the husks of the swine i.e. the corrupt cultures and customs of this perishing world. Today, many children of God when confronted with the commandments of Jesus and His apostles meant for holy living, and for our marriage life, they simply say that these commandments are not for them. They argue saying that the Word of God is not against divorce and remarriage. They simply follow the cultures and customs of their nations which are at variance with the commandments of our Lord. They simply follow a religion without Christ being seated in the center of their hearts. In the Father’s house, we do not find “husks” but solid food which strengthens our inner man. Man does not live by perishable bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.
In the other land, there was none to feed the younger son. But when he “came to himself” he remembered about the hired servants in his Father’s house and about “bread enough and to spare” (Vs.17). In the Father’s house, there are hired servants likened to the apostles and prophets who were hired by God to serve His sons. The apostles and prophets who form the foundation of the Church are in fact appointed by God as such to the Church, the Body of Christ. If a person is appointed to an office, he is hired by the one who employs him. In fact God hires many servants to teach us in His House. Since we do not listen to these hired servants, we listen to the doctrines of the false teachers who are not hired by God. These false doctrines blind our eyes to the true blessings in the Father’s house and take us away into a far country. This country is far from the Father’s house. We have bread enough to feed us spiritually but we eat the husks that the swine eat. The husks are those doctrines that falsify the truth in the Father’s house. The husks are those doctrines which allow us to enjoy this world. In the other land, “no man gave unto him” (Vs.16). There is none to serve us in the manner the hired servants serve us in the Father’s house.
Those we preach standing in the other land and enjoying the life-style of that land cannot give any solid spiritual food to the younger son. The younger son will get his food only in the Father’s house. There is enough food in the Father’s house. There are many ministers of God hidden in the Father’s house who have enough food for the hungry “younger son”. But the younger son is attracted towards the other land where he is being given husks. In the other land, he is being taught how to lead a life enjoying this world by receiving material blessings from the Father. I greatly benefit from the spiritual food that I get from the Herald of His Coming ministry and from the daily devotionals of Streams in the Desert, etc. I can distinguish the Father’s food from the husks meant for the swine. I get so much food in the Father’s house which I can spare for others.
In Delhi, I use to minister to a group of people who hail from the Hindu and Sikh backgrounds. Earlier some preachers had been ministering to these people. These preachers mainly focused on the divine healing and miracles. Every week, these precious souls came there always expecting “miracles” or “healings”. These people were listening to an adulterated gospel from these preachers. These people were not exhorted to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. These people believed in the prayers of these preachers but not in Christ Jesus for deliverance. These people believed that Jesus would heal them only if preachers laid their hands on them and prayed for them anointing their heads with oil. These preachers told them that the Lord’s Table (Holy Communion) was not meant for them. They were given “husks” and not the food of the Father’s house. They were not exhorted by these preachers to become disciples of Jesus Christ by taking baptism in water by confessing their sins and by proclaiming their faith boldly before this world. The preachers were giving them “husks” i.e. adulterated gospel. Today we find many people seeking the prayers of evangelists because the former have not been given the Father’s food. These evangelists exhort the people to flock to their prayer towers for prayers and the people are thus made to be dependent upon their prayers and not upon Christ Jesus.
After the younger son had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. Today there is a mighty famine for the younger son who is gone into the land that is far from the Father’s house. He has begun to be in want. The souls of those children of God in the other land are famished because of the husks they ate. They have wasted all those precious years of their lives in churches which were feeding them with husks. They have spent all they had. Many of them have lost their health and wealth by feeding the husks in the other land. They have not inherited the true riches. They are always in want and they are not in a financial position to give to God’s work. Still they have not known Christ but here merely known about Christ Jesus because they have not eaten the flesh that Jesus offered to them and drank the blood that Jesus offered to them. They have lost their faith in Christ Jesus and expect other servants of God to pray for them. They are dependent upon the servants of God who minister to them and the servants of God in turn get themselves ministered to by these children of God.
The younger son is in a spiritual want today. Though he had eaten the husks, he feels hungry. He perishes with hunger. In the far off land, there is always hunger or want. Many of us are living in this land. In this land, there is destruction everywhere. We spend our monies on our health. When we are afflicted with diseases in this land, we complain that we have no insurance coverage. I have received prayer requests from many people who wanted me to pray for their getting insurance claims. These are the consequences of going away from the Father’s house.
Those who are in the other land should come to themselves. There is a Promised Land for them. They should enter this Promised Land and inherit the great blessings for them. They should set their eyes on the Father’s love and should follow His commandments. The Father’s house is nothing but the Promised Land.
When the younger son came to himself, he said, “I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, “I have sinned against heaven, and before thee”. Please remember that when you do not do your Father’s will and do not live according to His commandments, this is tantamount to your sinning against heaven and before your Father. Coveting material blessings and appropriating the same himself is tantamount to spending the Father’s money with harlots.
When the younger son repented, he returned to the Father. He arose, and came to his Father. Dear child of God, you should now arise and go to your Father’s house. When the younger son was yet a great way off, his Father saw him and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The moment you realize your folly and decide to return to your Father, the Father comes forward to receive you on the way. This is the height of the Father’s love for you. You could not realize the same love when you were in the Father’s house.
The revival takes place when the younger son gets back to the Father’s house. 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. The best robe, the ring and the shoes are already available in the Father’s house. These are part of the Father’s love. You cannot separate the Father’s love from these material blessings. The younger son, when he was in the Father’s house, could not see these precious gifts there which were intertwined with the Father’s love.
The Father also said, “Bring higher 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.” In a true revival, the dead younger son is revived to life. The younger son is restored to the best robes i.e. the glory of the Father. On revival, the children of God likened to the younger son are filled with God’s glory. The younger is given a ring on his hand. This ring is given by the Father to the younger son in significance of His great love. It is an emblem of His love. When you have this ring on your hand, the evil spirits will flee from you on seeing you. The younger is given the shoes. Through these shoes, he can trample upon any snakes or scorpions. When you wear the shoes of the Father for serving Him in His vineyard, you will be filled with His father to bruise the Satan’s head. You will proclaim boldly the gospel in any places where there is opposition to the preaching of the gospel. You can trample upon any opposition in your ministry with the shoes of the Father. The younger son who was feeding the husks of the swine is now fed with the fatted calf in the Father’s house.
Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, do you want to remain in the Father’s house or to go to the distant land? The choice is yours.
Whether the elder son is more justified than the younger son in the sight of God?
While preaching messages on the parable of the Prodigal Son, most of the preachers focus mainly on the younger son and ignore the elder son. In this message, I focus on the elder son’s behavior and characters. Read Luke 15:25-32.
First of all, we find that the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house of the Father, he heard music and dancing. Then he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
Today, many of the ministers of God are in the field, performing their ministries. No doubt, they are spiritually mature servants of God unlike those children of God likened to the younger son. The younger son was not in the field and he coveted only the material things in the Father’s house. The elder son had no concern for the younger son who was at home, doing nothing. The elder son was very selfish and did not want his younger son to work in the Father’s house. Of course, the elder son had received all the training and talents to work in the Father’s house whereas the younger son was ill-equipped for work in the Father’s house. The younger son was simply relaxing in the Father’s house having set his mind on the visible material things in the house. It was the responsibility of the elder son to take care of the younger son and to equip him for service in the Father’s vineyard. Today, we find many of the ministers of God perform their ministries themselves without caring for those members of the Body of Christ who are without any work in the God’s vineyard. These ministers of God simply expect the children of God likened to the younger son to offer their offerings to them. They merely expect the offerings of the younger sons so that the former are better equipped to serve in the Father’s vineyard than what they presently do. The idle mind of the younger son became the devil’s workshop as he kept looking at the material things in the Father’s house. Had be been motivated and encouraged to work with the elder son side by side in the Father’s vineyard, the younger son would not have coveted the goods in the Father’s house.
After returning from the Father’s field, the elder son heard music and dancing in the Father’s house. The elder son should not have bothered about what was happening in the Father’s house. He was curious to know what was happening in the Father’s house. He wanted to know from the servants of his Father to know what was happening. This shows that he did not trust his Father but wanted to know something happening in the Father’s house through one of the servants. This shows that the elder brother did not serve his Father out of his love but with suspicion lurking in his heart about the greatness of his Father.
The servant told the elder son, “Thy brother is come: and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because He hath received him safe and sound”. On hearing this, the elder son was angry and would not go in. The elder son did not truly love his younger brother. Had he loved him, he would have definitely equipped the younger brother and taken him to the Father’s vineyard for work. The elder brother coveted praises from the Father for his wonderful work in the vineyard. He did not want his younger brother to be praised and to benefit from the reward of the Father for the work in His vineyard. These days, we find many servants of God performing great ministries without making the children of God to whom they minister as co-workers in the vineyard. The younger son as a co-worker is an equal partner with the elder brother in the vineyard. The elder son wanted the younger son only to serve him, and not the Father in the field. This is what happens in the Christendom.
We find the servants of God likened to the elder son on the pulpits or on the dais and the younger son sitting down below. In many evangelical crusades, we find a number of pastors and evangelists on the dais and they are introduced one by one to the multitudes who sit down below. Many of the unbelievers who hail from other religious backgrounds are made to witness such a glorification of men on the dais which is meant for glorifying the Son of God. By the time, the God’s message is delivered to them some of them leave the meeting because it becomes very late for them. During my ministry, I refuse to sit on the dais and I prefer to sit “on the pews” or on the ground. Recently, during a meeting, the pastor concerned asked me to sit by his side on the dais as I was the guest speaker. But I simply declined the offer and sat along with those who came there to hear my message. I learnt a lesson from the ministry of my elder, late Brother Gladys Easwarraj, a servant of God whom God used mightily. During a crusade held in North India, people who thronged to hear him thought he would emerge from the dais for giving the message but he emerged from the ground on which the people sat because he was busy arranging the chairs, etc. for the meeting along with his co-workers. These days, we find the servants of the God on the lifted podiums to be seen by others. In a Tamil Christian magazine, I found a caption, “Servants of God on the dais” under the photo of a group of pastors and evangelists who spoke during the meeting. In Tamil, it was written, “Deva Ooliyargal Medaiyil…” which means “Servants of God on the dais”. Let the elder son come down the dais to join hands with the younger son on the ground. Let there be a team ministry of both the elder and the younger.
On hearing the good news about the home coming of the younger son, the elder son was angry and would not like to go inside the Father’s house. Home coming of the younger son is the point of revival in the Father’s house. We cannot keep the younger son outside the Father’s house for ever.
When the elder son refused to enter the house, the Father came out and entreated him. The elder son informed the 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 was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf”.
Today, there are many servants of God in our midst likened to the elder son by boasting about the number of years of service that they spend in the Father’s vineyard. They judge their own work in the Father’s vineyard by the number of years of their service or the number of people who have attended their meetings or their churches. Their eyes are blinded by the spirit of self-righteousness. They also remind the Father in prayers that they have not transgressed His commandment to serve in His vineyard. In fact, the Father had never given any commandment either to the elder son or to the younger son to serve Him in His vineyard. The Father expected both the elder son and the younger son to serve Him on their own volition, out of love. The elder son treated his voluntary service in the Father’s vineyard as something borne out of the Father’s commandment. All these years he was serving the Father in a mechanical manner without comprehending or cherishing the love of his Father and without loving his younger brother.
The elder son complains to the Father that he was not given even a kid all these years. The elder son expected a reward from his Father in return for his services in His vineyard. He equated all his services with a kid in the Father’s house. His services are worth a kid! These days, we find many servants of God say that despite their best services in the Father’s vineyard, the Father has not given them even a kid. Kid means such blessings that emanate from good practices and habits that make your body healthy. The Father never refuses to give them the kid. In the Father’s house, you would find the kid for making you hale and healthy. You will get this kid as your life gets disciplined in every manner. You have to keep your body and bring into subjection as Paul said in (I Cor. 9:27). Many of the servants of God overwork in the Father’s vineyard and lose their health. They do not take proper rest as they want to do all the work themselves without entrusting the same to their co-workers. They prefer to eat “five-star hotel food” and do not stay in the houses of other saints. Their food habits and life style need to be disciplined so that they may be physically fit to serve their Master. They should know the truth that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
They do not trust their co-workers in the ministry. The Father never wanted them to suffer from illness due to fatigue or overwork. Many of them boast that they have suffered many illnesses in their bodies due to overwork or fatigue. The Father wants them to be merry with their friends by enjoying the kid. The Father wants them to be with their friends and to relax. Even Jesus relaxed and slept in the ship which was tossed to and fro by a tempest.
The fatted calf means such blessings and spiritual experiences that make your spiritual life wholly dependent upon Christ. The younger son was given the fatted calf so that he would become wholly dependent upon his Father and would thus be equipped to serve Him through a life of sacrifice and devotion. The fatted calf strengthens the famished spiritual life of the younger son who lost everything in the foreign land. The fatted calf is that spiritual food that the servants in the Father’s house serve to the spiritually weak younger son. The Father could have simply arranged to serve a kid to His younger son. But the Father out of His great love for His lost son gave him the fatted calf so that His younger son could become whole in his body, mind and spirit. The elder son merely craved for the kid which he could have taken on his own. The elder son merely stopped with the kid and did not press towards the fatted calf. The fatted calf is the apostolic doctrine which the apostles of Christ like Paul, Peter, etc. gave to the Body of Christ. If you read the epistles of Paul and other apostles to the Body of Christ, you will find that this doctrine revolves on crucifixion of self, death to the fame and covetousness, equipping the people of God for the ministry, fellowship with and submission to the other saints in the Body of Christ, service without expecting service, ministry to the widows, the orphans and the poor, ministry to the poor saints, etc.
When God blesses the younger son with His choicest blessings on restoration, the elder son should be happy and should not murmur against the Father. If a popular minister of God comes to know that a co-worker who worked with him started his own ministry by taking the name of the popular minister, the former may get annoyed with the latter. If a co-worker of a popular minister of God has been entrusted by God with a ministry of signs and wonders or with a fatted calf, the latter should be happy. Many servants of God claim patent or copyrights to their ministries. They are very conscious of their names and the names of their children and advertise their names everywhere, whereas they do not mention about their co-workers who work night and day in their organizations. If a younger minister of God gets a lot of revelations from the Word of God, his elder should rejoice over this.
Ultimately, the Father told the elder son, “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”. No doubt, the Father is with the servants of God likened to the elder brother for ever. All the Father has is theirs. The Father rejoices more on the homecoming of the younger son than on the loveless services rendered by the elder son. The elder son did not love his younger brother who was lost. Today, the Father is more concerned about the homecoming or the restoration of the thousands of children of God to His house for ministry, whereas the servants of God likened to the elder son keep these children of God out of the Father’s house and expect the younger sons to serve them. Today, many servants of God have raised up many buildings and projects and they appeal to the children of God for their sacrificial offerings. They think that God has not called the children of God likened to the younger son for ministry and that the latter should always remain as sponsors or supporters for their various ministries.
If we read the Acts or any of the epistles, we find that Paul or other apostles always worked shoulder to shoulder with the other disciples. Paul did not promote his own apostolic ministry but encouraged and exhorted his co-workers to fulfill their respective parts in God’s vineyard. Paul recognized the ministry of his spiritual son Timothy and said, “...He (Timothy) worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man, therefore, despise him: but conduct him forth in peace that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethren”. Paul wanted Timothy to come to him “with the brethren”. Similarly, Paul also desired Apollo “to come unto you (Corinthians) with the brethren” (I Cor.16:10-11, 12). Paul did not desire Timothy or Apollo to go in for the ministry alone but in the company of brethren. This is of the apostolic doctrine.
The Father wants both the elder and younger sons to work together and to be happy with Him in His house.
Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, please examine whether the elder son is justified in the sight of God or not. According to you, who is more justified in the sight of God? Is it the elder son or the younger son?
We give below a reply received from a reader:
A response from a reader
The younger Son has what the Father requires...faith in his Father's great love for him. "Love overcomes a multitude of sins." He is a sinner that recognizes his sin and is willing to ask the Father's forgiveness. He has a contrite heart and his willingness to change his life is what has brought him back to the Father's house. Unlike the older son, he has no sense of self righteousness. The older son has served the Father under the old covenant, expecting a reward based on time and amount of service. His beliefs are contrary to the new covenant: " All the angels in heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner," and “I did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world." Your statement about the older son's unwillingness to train the younger son and share the burden because he wants the inheritance and the greater glory is very true in our Churches today. I have been victimized many times by the older "sons" that are unwilling to accept my ideas, background, education and use my "talent" as a launching pad for me to minister.
Too many times I have been judged...why didn't I join a Church earlier, why didn't my parents raise me in a Church home, etc. These judges are similar to the older son that never recognizes the specific gifts he was given as a birthright and never worked for, in comparison to the lack of training the younger son received. However, the parable on the workers that were hired late in the day and received the same wage as those who started early in the day, restates the emphasis that Jesus has put on saving the lost. These Bible truths are as difficult for the Christians of today to accept as they were for the Sadducees and Pharisees to accept during the time that Jesus walked the earth.
God bless,
Rhonda Heithaus