Sunday service, Erlo Stegen, 03 Jul 2016
Luke 15:11-32
“11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’””
In this chapter the Lord is talking about 3 different things that went lost. One story is about a woman who lost one of her 10 coins and she found it again and there was great rejoicing when she found it again. That silver coin was very significant and has a deep meaning. The other story is about the sheep that went lost. A man had 100 sheep and one went lost and the shepherd went to look for it until he found it. That is 1%. The woman lost 10% of her coins. Now we are speaking about the son that went lost and that is 50%. Now the others had lost just money, or an animal but the third story is about a human being. That just shows to us the value the Lord places on a human soul even if a person is disabled. Everyone is precious to God. Even if you haven’t repented, you are precious to God. Learn that today and remember that to God you are precious.
There are many who are lost like this prodigal son. This is a tragic story. It was the younger son. He did something very wrong. He said to his father, ”Father, give me my portion of the inheritance.” That is a shocking thing. Today you don’t go to your father and ask for your inheritance. You would say such a young person has no brains. An inheritance is divided among the children when the parent passes on. My father divided the inheritance amongst his children while he was alive but under other circumstances the father would say that a child has a cheek to ask for the inheritance while he, the father, was still alive. He obviously had no respect for him. He treated the father as if he was dead and wanted to go and do his own thing. I remember when I was young in 1952. There were some young men who said they want their father to die so that they could get the inheritance. Today there are children who would kill their own parents to get their inheritance. You don’t want him. You want his possessions. You are just self-seeking.
The younger son said, “Father, give me what is for me.” In the Old Testament times the oldest son got a double portion. You can see how often young people don’t have much upstairs. Sometimes a child isn’t even a teenager and they think they know more than their parents. The Bible says someone with grey hair has wisdom. Some with grey hair still smoke and drink and this shows they don’t have wisdom. Some young people say, “How can I respect my father when he wants to mess around with us.” We are living in evil times. Some boys don’t even respect their own sisters and do disgusting things with them. Such behavior stinks and they are under God’s wrath. You are lost if you think nothing of your father. If your father is an alcoholic or adulterer you should respect him and win him for the Lord. Now, God is our father because He created us. Remember how God created man out of clay and breathed life into it. So the life we have is from God. Never forget that God breathed his life into you. Remember there is something in you that God gave you directly. God has even given you oxygen so that you can breathe. If you have asthma you would know how terrible it is when you can’t breathe. One person said it would be easier to climb a wall than to go through that experience of not being able to breathe. We are all here. We can breathe air free of charge. Do you remember to thank God for that. He has given us water and food. He gives us time to do things. He has given us the earth and all for free. The youngest son didn’t even say thank you to the father for all that he was enjoying in the home. The father had worked hard to educate him and he didn’t say thank you. Young people we should respect our parents for what they have done for us. The Bible says you are the worst fool if you live as if God doesn’t exist. You live your own life. You don’t ask God for His direction. You are lost because you don’t acknowledge Him. You don’t thank Him for the sleep He gave you. You do everything on your own. You eat like a cow and don’t give thanks.
Then you go to that pasture that you should never go to and sin. You want to just live your own life and choose your own life. If you just do as you want, woe to you. You are deceived if you do that. God shows you his grace and mercy and food and you take it and use it for the wrong thing. It’s God’s grace that you are here today and you didn’t have to pay a cent for it. But I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the services in any way. Children across all the different races from different places sent money towards the conference. God will reward you greatly. We are truly thankful. Someone sent a truck of potatoes and another person sent a truck of carrots. Some are Germans and Afrikaners and many blacks also contributed. Think of all God does for us. We eat three times a day and travel in buses and God makes that possible. Woe if you trample this grace underfoot. We are thankful that you opened your hearts to the Lord and presented your bodies to the Lord. Sin looks attractive but the wages of sin is death. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house. Moses was known as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son and he left all that and went and herded sheep. Moses recognized that it is better to suffer with the children of God than enjoy the pleasure of Egypt for a short time. You enjoy sin but it is for a short time. You want to enjoy your life but it is short-lived. If you think of a cigarette, you only enjoy it for a short time. You think it’s nice to be with boys and girls, but it is only for a short time. Don’t fool yourself, it is only for a very short time.
There was a girl who lived a good life but she was deceived by the boys. This girl had a date with a boy. After that experience she fell ill. She had AIDS. She didn’t know what to do with herself. But then she was filled with hatred. Then she mislead many boys all over. When she was in hospital, she was happy that she had infected 30 other boys. When AIDS started, there was a boy in France. He was a good, respectful boy and people liked him. One day he went to buy bread for home. He went to a restaurant and met a beautiful girl. She greeted him. Usually it’s the boy who chases the girl, not the other way round. The girl said, “Are you in a hurry?” And she asked who he is and where he came from. Then she invited him and said, “ I will book in at a hotel and we can spend time together.” The boy was embarrassed and didn’t know how to react and so he agreed. She ordered coffee for him. She booked them into the hotel. It was the first time that he had slept with a girl. When he woke up, the girl was gone. He thought she was in the bathroom. She wasn’t there. It was a posh hotel and there was a washbasin and a whole wall of mirror. When he was in the bathroom, something was written on the mirror in lipstick. It said, “Welcome to the AIDS club.” When he read it, his legs were like jelly. He went straight to the doctor. He was very talented and had many dreams about what he was going to achieve in life. He said, “Tell the doctor I need to see him urgently.” The doctor let him in. He told the doctor that it was the first time he had slept with a girl. He told him about the message on the mirror. He said, “Doctor, please help me.” The doctor said, “We can only give medication to extend your life. It’s too soon to say.” and he had to come back after 3 months. He couldn’t study in that time and after 3 months he tested positive. It didn’t take long and he died a young man. The Bible says the wages of sin is death and the Bible is 100% correct (Rom 6:23).
The Eskimos live where there is permanent ice. They can’t even dig a grave because of thick ice. They just stack people on top of each other because it is like a deep freeze. It’s very interesting and I thought I could go with my children but I’m old already. They have different types of animals and wolves. The Lord Jesus said beware of sheep in wolves clothing. This Eskimo had a way in which he trapped these wolves. He had a trap with a knife that was razor sharp. He took the knife and put sheep’s blood on it. The blood iced up. The knife got a thicker layer of blood on the knife. He planted this knife in the ice. Only the blade was sticking out. He said he was going to get the wolves even if they are clever. At night the wolves got the scent of the knife with blood. The wolves licked the blood on the knife. They enjoyed the taste of the blood until the knife cut its tongue. The wolf carried on licking, not realizing that blood was from its own mouth. It didn’t realize that it was drinking its own blood. When the hunter went out, he found the knife and next to it a dead wolf. The wolf didn’t realize that it was committing suicide without realizing it. Don’t do those things and find you have lost your life through it. The Bible says the wages of sin is death.