Throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, we find him discipling his disciples and teaching his disciples in many different ways. One of those ways was the parable, where Jesus would tell a story in order to make a point. And one of the more recited and familiar parables that we talk about is that of the prodigal son, and we all know this story. The father had two sons, one of which rebelled and followed the ways of the world, and while he was out partying and squandering his inheritance, his father was at home longing for his return. When the young man realizes his foolish ways, he plans on going home to beg his father just to let him be a servant in his house. The father, however, was not angry or bitter, but instead we find he was overcome with joy, thus the prodigal son and his father's relationship restored. This parable is one that allows us to get a picture of God and how he longs for the return of his children and rejoices rather than chastises when they do return. Most of us have read this parable many times since we were children and growing up. However, have you ever asked the question, am I a prodigal son or daughter? And to better answer that question, what we need to do is we need to go to this parable, which is found in the book of Luke. If you'll flip with me to Luke 15 real quick, you'll see this parable. And Jesus starts off saying, there was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Now, not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had, and he took a journey into a far country. There he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to the citizens of that country, and they sent him into the fields to feed the pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread? But I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father. I will say to him, Father, I ascend against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose, and he came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, the father saw him, and felt compassion, and ran, and embraced him, and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy that he called your son. but the father said to his servant bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened cap and kill it let us eat and celebrate for this my son was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found and they began to celebrate so we see here as we read the story of the prodigal son about a son who took all his inheritance he took it from his father early which in itself was an insult then he came and he left and he squandered it all in a partying a loose living lifestyle of we know the partying the nightlife and then when he after that he winds up hungry and starving even the pig food looked good to him then finally he winds up and said father I have sinned against you I'm going to go home and tell him that. And heaven. Notice the order here, by the way. He's sent against heaven and in the Father first. And he goes, I'll tell my father, just let me be a hired servant in your household. So he goes back to his father. He's probably rehearsing this the whole way home. And when he gets there, he tells his father why he's been rehearsing and his father just comes out and he falls on him and he hugs him and he loves him. He wraps a robe around him, a ring on his hand, and he demands that the cow be slaughtered. Slaughter the calf so that we can celebrate. My son, who was dead, is now alive. A story of redemption and restoration of the relationship between the father and the son. And that's what we read when we read the prodigal son. Normally, At first glance, when somebody asks us a question if we were a prodigal son or not, we would give a yes answer to this question if we had lived a rebellious lifestyle. Maybe we had grown up in the church, and as we got older, we got out of the church, we went away, and we started to live in the lifestyle of the partying, the drinking. Myself did that, many of my friends, many of you who go to church every Sunday and are living a great life and trying to be an example of God to your children. You had a point in your life where you rebelled against God, you rebelled against your parents and you went out and you lived that rough lifestyle until God sent someone into your life and you realized what you were doing and you had to go back and restore your relationship with both God and your Heavenly Father and your Earthly Father. Maybe some of you are listening today and you're still in that state where you've left But you haven't made the step to go back yet. Well that's the lifestyle that we would answer the question yes to. I was a prodigal son or I was a prodigal daughter. We would answer no if we fall in the category that maybe we were raised up in the church and we never went away. We just did what we've always done. We went to church all of our life. We got married. We got out of school. We started a family and we've always been in church. Now we haven't always been, you know, you may have had your ups and downs here and there but for the most part you were a pretty good person and you've been in church most of your life and you've tried to get your children in church most of their life so to that you would say no I never was a prodigal son I never strayed that much but that's not the question I'm asking in order to answer the question I am asking one must go back further than this one must go back all the way to the book of Genesis But not only all the way to the book of Genesis. Let's go all the way back to the beginning of Genesis in the garden. And we look in Genesis 2. 224. God says, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. What does it say right here? It says, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother when he is old enough. When he is mature enough. No, it says when he is wealthy enough. Oh, when he is ready to. When he is mad enough to leave. When he is angry at his parents. No, what does it say? When does it say a man is to leave his father and his mother? When he cleaves to his spouse. You see, when we look at the Bible and say, when do we leave home? It is when we cling to our spouse. So if one was to answer the question, are they a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter? They need not look just at whether they rebelled against God and their parents, but did they leave home before it was time? And again, we go back to this, when was it time? When you become one with your spouse. And again, you ask, how do I know if I left too early? Well, if you follow culture, you'll say it's at 18. That's when you get to choose. At 18, you can leave home. I would ask you right here, and this is a huge misconception in the church, not only here for what we're talking about this morning, but across the board, this has got to be dealt with. And that is, can someone please come to me? personally come up here and show me or can you email me can you call well however contact me and let me know the scripture verse that tells you that when you are 18 you are an adult when you were 18 you were free from the authority of your father please if you can find that in scripture I would like for you to show it to me because I have read the scriptures and I can find nowhere that tells me that when I turn 18 I am immediately allowed to leave the authority of my mother and my father. I am not. That is not in the scripture. It is unbiblical. Again, there is no magic age. You can search long and you can search hard but I assure you it is not there. Yes, at 18 you are a legal adult, but according to the scripture you are still under the authority of your father. Only, now this is according to the scripture, not culture. Only the Bible, the Bible shows us that only when a man and woman take each other as a husband and wife are they permitted to leave the father and the mother. You see, we've fallen into this lie that says that when we're 18 we are free. I can't tell you how many times I've heard somebody, when I'm 18, I'm out of here, I can't wait till I'm 18. That is so sad. And fathers, how many times I've heard, I can't wait till they're 18. I can't wait till they're out of my hair, out of my house. That is sad. That one would think of their son that way. That one would think of being under their father's authority. of that way now I know there are fathers that it would be very hard to be under their authority yet we are still under our father's authority you see now let's get something straight first one can live in the father's home but rebuke his authority this doesn't just mean you move out okay that's not what I'm talking about A lot of people think that, well, when I'm 18 I'm my own man. I'm my own woman. No. You can still live in your parents' home and still be a prodigal son because you've rebelled against their authority. You don't even have to be past the age of 18. You may be 14, 15, 12. I don't know. But if you're living at home and you have decided already that you no longer fall under the authority of your father or your mother then you are a prodigal son or daughter. You may say, well, I go to church, I sing in the choir. Yes, but when you look at it and say, I'll do this, this, this, but dad, mother, these are areas that I've already decided, these are, I don't care what you say, I'm doing it this way. You are out from under the authority of your father and your mother. and the same prodigal would still be at home. You may be going off to attend school or maybe the admission field somewhere and you're away from your parents. You know, I know people who are young, they went off, they've been in the admission field for two years. They haven't been on the state side in over two years. You know what? They're not a prodigal. You know why? Because they're still under the authority of their father. When they want to make a decision, they still call their father and say, look, I want to make this decision. What do you think? I may be 5,000 miles away from you, but dad, you're still my dad, you're still my authority figure in my life, and I want to know how to do this. You see, let's just look at it. As we're talking about marriage being the way you get out of authority, or not out, but the way you come into your own, and you go out from your father's authority, how many of us actually today ask our father, look, I want to get married. What do you think about her, Dad? No! We pick it out, we decide on our own that we're going to marry this girl or this guy, and then we go and talk to our parents about it after we've already decided. We seek our parents' blessing to what we've already decided instead of going and saying, Dad, what do you think? Now that's not saying that Dad picks out your spouses for your children. You pick out your spouses for your children? No. What it is saying is that children, you need to take your parents into consideration there. And go to them and say, look, dad, I'm thinking about maybe asking this girl to marry me. Do you think this is wise? What do you say, dad? And if he says no, then you need to sit down and talk with him. If you feel that's where God is leading you to, you need to sit down and talk to him and explain why. Not just run off and do it anyway. So many people you hear that they elope because they knew their family didn't like it. That's unbiblical. Eloping because your family does not like it is unbiblical. You've got to seek your blessings of your parents. You've got to be under the authority. I know this sounds awful. I know this sounds hard to believe in today's times. But we are under the authority of our Father. That is what the Bible says. So, young men, you may feel as though you are a man and you are free of your father's authority. Scripturally, you are not. Culture says that daughters should move out, get an apartment, maybe a roommate, and get as good a job as they can possibly get until marriage comes along. The Bible, however unpopular as it might be, says that you are to remain home until the authority of your father, under the authority of your father until you cleave to your husband. And that is very unpopular. We claim the Bible in all these areas, but when it gets to this, we say, no, I don't want it. Well, no, if you want the Bible, if you want to follow what the Bible says, it says you are to be under the authority of your father until you cleave to your husband. Your father is your protector until he can hand his duty off. to the groom at the altar. Unfortunately, feminism has killed the idea that daughters are to help their fathers and mothers until the time of marriage. If my daughter chooses to further her education, that will be fine. However, if she chooses not to, that will be just as fine as well. I am not training my daughters to be CEOs that take the world by storm, but instead to be first and foremost wives and mothers. Yes, God can call them differently, but that is not the norm, and He will guide us in that direction if need be. And if He does lead us in that direction, we need heavy, heavy, heavy prayer, because that is not the norm. Anytime you go against the norm of God's Word, don't just take it lightly. You need to be in prayer about it, and make sure it's God telling you that, and not Satan telling you that. You see, trained to be a wife and mother does not mean you lack education. It is my goal as a homeschooling father that by the time they are married, my daughters will not only be educated in the maths, the history, and the sciences, but also strong masters in things like English, Latin, Greek, law, and logic, just to name a few. You see, far from the barefoot and pregnant picture that many would like to paint. Culture also says that our sons should be 18. At 18 they begin to be their own man and have their own life. And yes, you can't deny that as children get older they start becoming their own person. Having their own ideas and their own thoughts and that's okay. But they're not their own authority. They're under the authority of their father still. You see sons, just like daughters, are not free to roam about the country at age 18. They are still their fathers under his authority until they cleave and start their own family. Our boys are sons or as sons they're being trained on being godly husbands and fathers. They as well may choose to further educate themselves or they may choose to enter a life of entrepreneurialism and be an entrepreneur, start their own business. Either way they are being taught that one day they too will be the protector and provider of their own family. Our goal, as is mentioned in scripture, is for them to go and prepare a place that they may take their bride and raise a family. Not take a bride, have some kids, and then say, now what? When the time is right, my sons will leave and cleave to their wives. They will then properly enter their role as husband, protector, priest, and God-willing as fathers. Our daughters at the right time or likewise, properly leave, and cleave to their husbands, and enter their role as wife, helpmate, and hopefully as well, a mother. When we leave in the terms other than this, we are being a prodigal son. That doesn't mean when your children leave a lot different than my children, you're a prodigal. That means what I mean by other than this, I mean when we just up and leave. I'm 18, I'm out. I'm moving out to get my own place, my own job. I just want my freedom. That's a lie that has been brought on by Satan. If you leave before you cleave, according to the scripture, and again, let me reiterate, it doesn't mean that you have to stay at home and by your parent's side. But when you leave that authority of your father, before you cleave to your husband or your wife, you are being a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter. Again, one does not have to physically leave and move out in order to rebuke that authority. You can do it right here, right under their houses. I know personally, both Dana and myself left the authority of my parents years, I mean years, before we were joined as one. We lived under their roof, we ate their food, we wore their clothes, we used their power, you name it. But we were out from their authority. I was in church on every Sunday, but I was out from under the authority. Why? Because I thought I was my own man. My wife would tell you the same thing was her. She was her own person. Yes, she was at home. Yes, she showed one side there, but when she went out, she was her own person. And in her mind, she rebuked the authority of her father. We were prodigals. You see, that was just as dishonoring to our parents as if we had gotten up and moved out to a distant land and lived the life of the prodigal son that we see in scripture at least the prodigal son in scripture had the decency to go to a distant land if he rebelled against his father and did the things he did so whether you're 14 whether you're 50 whether you're a parent whether you're not a parent whether you're divorced or whether you're single if you are not married you have left in the authority of your parents you are a prodigal son or daughter. It doesn't matter about your age. You see, your dad was put there to be your protector. Too many times that we want to go out from that authority and we leave the protection of our father. And that's when the things happen. Look at our lives. Those of you who are prodigals, when did your life start going downhill? It's when you left the authority of your father and your parents. The great news though is that we know how the redeeming story of the prodigal son ended. You see, while consequences followed him, he was never too far gone to return to the father. That's what we've got to do. If you're a prodigal tonight, It's time to return to the Father. It's time to go home. Maybe you need to go home and go to your parents' house. Maybe they're here. Maybe you need to get up and go get your parents. And say, you know what? Mom and Dad, I don't care if you're a teenager. I don't care if you're 30 or 40 or 50. Say, Mom and Dad, I've rebelled against you. And it's time I came home. It's time I give you the authority you deserve. The authority that the Bible has said is yours. It is time I hand that authority back over to you. Until it becomes my authority. Until I go out on my own. Maybe you need to call her when you get home tonight. I don't know. But I do know this, there's a lot of people going through this world that claim the name of Christ that have walked out and left the authority of their father. You see, Christ put your father in your life as that authority figure. And if you're not going to follow that, how's God going to honor you? How is God going to honor you and use you when you're rebelling against the authority that He's put in your place? again we know the redemptive story of the prodigal son and while consequences followed him like i said he was never too far gone for the father thankfully neither are we that includes both our earthly and our heavenly