Worship:
Grace Wins Every Time by Matthew West
Memory Verse:
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19
Day 1
Definition of rebellion
1
: opposition to one in authority or dominance
2
a : open, armed, and usually unsuccessful defiance of or resistance to an established government
b : an instance of such defiance or resistance
Read part of The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-16 three times.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32
When I think of someone who is rebellious, they display disrespectful, devious, and deliberate actions.
These actions stem from the authority’s wisdom, boundaries, or guidelines being rejected or in question by the rebel. What is really being said with an act of rebellion is that the rebel’s way is higher and better than the institution they are defying. Historically, there have been times when this has been necessary and Biblically supported.
In the book of Luke, the parable starts with a rebel son.
1. Read verse 12. DISRESPECT #1
How would that make you feel if your child or a child came up to you and said that?
2. Read verse 13. DISRESPECT #2
How would you feel if you worked and saved an inheritance for twenty-five years and when you handed it over to your child, it was gone in two weeks?
3. The father had two choices. He could have told his son “no,” or complied as he did. What do you think would have been the atmosphere of the household with the rebellious child if he was not given his inheritance early?
4. If he would have said “no,” what would continue to build in the son’s heart?
Ultimately, we all have to learn from our mistakes. If the father would have held onto the inheritance, the son would have a deeper root of rebellion growing which would have been much harder to get rid of.
Second, it would have shown the son that the money was more valuable to the father than him. The son needed the money, but didn’t value it or he would have used it differently. So the father needed to show that he would rather lose the money, then his son forever. Had he prolonged giving him the money, rebellion would have continued growing in the son’s heart. It may have hardened so hard that he would have been lost forever.
Day 2: What Does Rebellion Forever Look Like?
A rebel is different from someone who is just unaware of the authority. That is someone who is lost. A rebel has full knowledge of the gospel, knows the Father, and knows the ways of the enemy and yet their heart leads them to believe their ways are above the Father’s ways. Eventually, they rise up against the father.
Read the following scriptures:
2 Peter 2:20-22New International Version (NIV)
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[a] and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Hebrews 6:4-8
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[a] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Hebrews 10:26-28
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later timessome will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Luke 8:13
13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
1. Can you think of anyone that you know that falls into this rebel category?
2. After reading these scriptures, what are your thoughts in relation to the rebel that you mentioned above?
3. What are the scariest parts of those verses to you and why?
4. What is more important to focus on? Your hurt or their hell?
5. Therefore, what is required to have a heart for the rebellious?
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Day 3
Read of The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke 15:17-31 once.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32
1. The younger son has arrived home, yet notice he doesn’t have to PROVE through action that he is sorry or his love. A verbal pure heart statement clearly declares his sincerity.
Notice the actions of the father:
1. Ran to his son
2. Threw arms around him
3. Kissed him
4. Bring the best robe
5. Put ring on his finger
6. Bring fattened calf
7. Kill the fattened calf
How would describe these items and what did the younger brother have to do to receive all of this?
2. In our human nature, would we model the father or would we want someone to prove that they are sorry?
3. Sometimes, people are not really sorry when they say they are. We should still model the father’s grace, but what does not need to continue or what may need to be different?
4. Thinking about Day 1, what was more valuable to the eldest son?
5. How is that a form of rebellion? Can you relate to that brother?
Day 4: What If?
Read of The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke 15:1-31 once.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32
1. What if the father was bitter about giving the inheritance and how would his days to follow be?
2. What if the father was wanting repayment when the son arrived?
3. What if the father expected his son to work his debt off on his return?
4. What if it was the eldest brother did everything the father did instead and the father acted like the eldest brother?
Do you think the outcome would have been the same?
5. How critical is the role of a loving father?
6. Who is the only father who can love us flawlessly?
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Dear God,
Thank you for not wanting anyone one of us to remain lost. Help us to have a heart for the rebellious and extend grace including at a distance if necessary.
To God be the Glory
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