WEBVTT 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.800 Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast. 00:00:07.800 --> 00:00:11.600 This is where you can find audio from Sunday morning messages and more. 00:00:11.600 --> 00:00:18.000 Make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss future episodes, and thanks for listening. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:22.520 Well, good morning. 00:00:22.520 --> 00:00:27.560 If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Luke chapter 00:00:27.560 --> 00:00:29.240 15. 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:33.320 If you were here last week, you'll understand what I'm about to say. 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:38.640 We are in the parable of the prodigal son this morning, right? 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.000 If you don't know, go back and listen to last week's. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:44.120 It was a whole thing, right? 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:45.120 We are here. 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:49.880 We are excited to see what God is going to teach us in this. 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:53.760 After I'm done with the message, I'll lead us in a time of preparing our hearts for the 00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:55.000 Lord's Supper. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:00.480 The worship team will come on stage during that time, and then we'll have the Lord's 00:01:00.480 --> 00:01:01.760 Supper after that. 00:01:01.760 --> 00:01:02.760 You guys know that. 00:01:02.760 --> 00:01:06.240 But there's going to be an added element after that this week that's a little bit different 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:07.880 than normal. 00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:13.800 School is starting back for most of our students this week, I believe. 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:16.760 I think I heard one school district starting on Tuesday. 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:21.520 I know Lexington 1 and Lexington 2 are starting on Wednesday, and there may be, depending 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:24.920 if you're private school, homeschooled, or at a different school district, different 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:25.920 days. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.720 But for the most part, we're starting back this month. 00:01:27.720 --> 00:01:31.120 And I know college students are preparing to move back or to move off for the first 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.240 time and then to do that as well. 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:35.760 And so after the Lord's Supper, something that's a little bit different is we're going 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:41.280 to have some time in here where we're going to pray for all of our students, pray for 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:46.960 all of our school teachers, pray for the homeschool teachers, pray for all district workers, pray 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:50.760 for anyone that works in the educational system across the board. 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:55.640 And so that'll be at the very end of the service and would love for you guys to be a part of 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:56.640 that. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.360 So when we get done with the Lord's Supper, we won't take off at that point. 00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:03.920 We'll kind of hang in here for a couple more minutes. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:08.440 I want to echo what Pastor Dave said about our discipleship studies and really encourage 00:02:08.440 --> 00:02:13.800 you to look into signing up for one of these. 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:18.080 Since we've been doing this, it's been a wonderful encouragement in my life, both to teach some 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.880 of these classes and to have the opportunity to sit in and to be a part of some of these 00:02:22.880 --> 00:02:24.480 classes that are being taught. 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:27.080 And then kudos to Dave. 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:31.520 As I look at, we've had some wonderful studies that have been offered throughout as we've 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.280 been doing this, I think right out a little less than two years, right, that we've been 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.520 walking through this together. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.240 But this one is just, I think, a wonderful balance of really intriguing options to really 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:47.840 challenge you with where you are in your spiritual walk to grow in obedience to the Lord. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.920 And we are called to be discipled, right? 00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:54.800 And this is one of the tools and one of the avenues that we use for that at 9 a.m. every 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:55.800 Sunday morning. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:01.360 So please take some time in prayer to pray through, to read through this, and to see 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:02.520 what God has for you. 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.800 And for those of you that have kids, it's a wonderful opportunity to drop your kids 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:13.240 off at 9 o'clock for them to be discipled for the fifth grade and under or in building 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:14.280 two. 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:19.400 And then to hear, I don't ever really know exactly what's going on. 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:25.640 Like Joel gives me a snapshot, but I will say there is not a louder, more excited group 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:29.020 than our students that meet upstairs right up there. 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:32.080 And so it's just a wonderful, I don't know why you wouldn't want to be there and be a 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:36.200 part of that, a wonderful, wonderful time that they can have together as well. 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:40.960 And so parents, I want to say this here, my heart, this is just honest conversation with 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:42.600 you within this, okay? 00:03:42.600 --> 00:03:47.560 Mental discipleship for your kids, don't drop them off at discipleship. 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:49.440 If they need it, you need it. 00:03:49.440 --> 00:03:50.920 All right? 00:03:50.920 --> 00:03:51.920 Sign up for them. 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:54.880 All right, Luke 15. 00:03:54.880 --> 00:04:00.760 I believe, this is my personal preference, this last year Emma took a class at Lexington 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:04.460 High School where she watched a movie every single week. 00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:05.680 That's what she did. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:07.620 And then she got to discuss it. 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:12.900 And I loved it because it was all old movies, like old movies that I would have known and 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:14.260 that I would have seen. 00:04:14.260 --> 00:04:19.420 And so she went through on her phone and she ranked all the movies that she enjoyed and 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:21.960 we got to talk through all of those things. 00:04:21.960 --> 00:04:26.340 And what I loved about her list is if I were to make my list, there would be some things 00:04:26.340 --> 00:04:30.060 that were different, but then there would be some things that were the same. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:35.460 And what unified our list was this beautiful telling of all of these wonderful stories. 00:04:35.460 --> 00:04:37.860 And you know what it's like to hear that story, right? 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:44.500 That story that just reaches out and it captures your imagination, it captures your heart, 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:50.680 your feelings, and you just want to hear it over and over and over and over again. 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:54.060 As a little boy, I spent most Friday nights at my grandparents. 00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:55.900 I loved going to my grandparents. 00:04:55.900 --> 00:05:01.180 And I'll never forget every night when I would go to bed at my grandparents' house, my grandfather 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:05.900 would come in and sit down on the edge of the bed and tell me a story. 00:05:05.900 --> 00:05:09.780 And it could have been a story that he was making up on the fly or a story that he always 00:05:09.780 --> 00:05:15.340 knew and I loved, loved, loved to hear his stories. 00:05:15.340 --> 00:05:16.340 Wonderful storyteller. 00:05:16.340 --> 00:05:21.940 Well in Jesus, we have the greatest storyteller. 00:05:21.940 --> 00:05:25.980 And as we've been going through these parables, we've been diving in to look at them and see 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:30.520 and to understand these stories that Jesus is telling. 00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:36.620 And maybe it's because of my own personal journey and my testimony of coming to faith 00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:44.980 in Christ, but for me, the story of the prodigal son is a wonderful, the greatest - we can 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:45.980 say that, right? 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:47.660 About God's Word, right? 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:53.140 It's all great, but for me, there's that attachment and the heart pull that is there and it's 00:05:53.140 --> 00:05:56.380 my joy and excitement to share this with you this morning. 00:05:56.380 --> 00:06:01.460 And so if you've heard this story before, I praise you journey through this with us 00:06:01.460 --> 00:06:06.620 this morning, that your ears will not shut down because I've already heard this before. 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.300 And if you're hearing it for the first time, right? 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:14.260 I will tell you this, in the time that we have today, we are scratching the surface 00:06:14.260 --> 00:06:19.180 of the beauty of the truth of what God has penetrated into this story. 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:23.460 And so if you've got questions, we would love to answer those for you. 00:06:23.460 --> 00:06:31.140 But we will see this of what starts off as a story of tragedy, and then we see the beauty 00:06:31.140 --> 00:06:32.820 of the Father. 00:06:32.820 --> 00:06:37.980 So we'll start looking in Luke chapter 15, we'll start reading in verse 11. 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:45.460 "And he," and this is Jesus, "said, 'There was a man who had two sons. 00:06:45.460 --> 00:06:51.220 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.460 is coming to me.' 00:06:53.460 --> 00:06:56.740 And he divided his property between them. 00:06:56.740 --> 00:07:04.100 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:09.060 And there he squandered his property and reckless living. 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:15.020 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began 00:07:15.020 --> 00:07:17.100 to be in need. 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:23.340 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him 00:07:23.340 --> 00:07:26.940 into his fields to feed pigs. 00:07:26.940 --> 00:07:31.540 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate. 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:34.140 And no one gave him anything.'" 00:07:34.140 --> 00:07:41.480 Verse 17, "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.860 have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:49.820 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against 00:07:49.820 --> 00:07:51.740 heaven and before you. 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:54.820 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:07:54.820 --> 00:07:57.540 Treat me as one of your hired servants.' 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:00.080 And he arose and came to his father. 00:08:00.080 --> 00:08:07.220 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion, and ran, 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:10.560 and embraced him, and kissed him. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:15.020 And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 00:08:15.020 --> 00:08:18.140 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.' 00:08:18.140 --> 00:08:24.700 But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and 00:08:24.700 --> 00:08:32.420 put a ring on his hands and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it, and 00:08:32.420 --> 00:08:35.460 let us eat and celebrate. 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:39.600 For this my son was dead and is alive again. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.560 He was lost and is found.' 00:08:43.560 --> 00:08:44.720 And they began to celebrate." 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:53.700 Verse 25, "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:55.940 he heard music and dancing. 00:08:55.940 --> 00:09:01.060 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 00:09:01.060 --> 00:09:05.500 And he said to him, 'Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:08.940 because he has received him back and sound.' 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:11.860 But he was angry and refused to go in. 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:14.900 His father came out and entreated him. 00:09:14.900 --> 00:09:21.020 But he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed 00:09:21.020 --> 00:09:22.020 your command. 00:09:22.020 --> 00:09:28.180 Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 00:09:28.180 --> 00:09:35.420 But when this son of yours, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed 00:09:35.420 --> 00:09:37.560 the fattened calf for him.' 00:09:37.560 --> 00:09:45.540 And he said to him, 'Son, you were always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 00:09:45.540 --> 00:09:50.580 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad. 00:09:50.580 --> 00:09:56.140 For this your brother was dead and is alive. 00:09:56.140 --> 00:09:59.700 He was lost and is found.'" 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:06.860 I love this story so much because I think that this story, in my mind, as I read through 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:14.780 it, really describes in very vivid details what it looks like in the love that the father 00:10:14.780 --> 00:10:17.040 has. 00:10:17.040 --> 00:10:21.780 The story often - and we're going to look at these two sons, and if you've got a brother 00:10:21.780 --> 00:10:26.960 or you've got a sister, and especially if there's the two of you and maybe you've experienced 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:32.780 some of that sibling rivalry, you can kind of wrestle with and see and maybe even identify 00:10:32.780 --> 00:10:34.660 with some of the struggle that's there. 00:10:34.660 --> 00:10:38.740 And we're going to look at these two sons, but what I want us to really dive into and 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:43.780 just penetrate in my prayer for you this morning that would capture your hearts, right, is 00:10:43.780 --> 00:10:46.620 the love of this father. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:51.940 The love of who the father is and what the father does. 00:10:51.940 --> 00:10:56.900 And so we will look at each one of these and then the father's reactions. 00:10:56.900 --> 00:11:03.400 The very first, we see this son, the son of rebellion, and it's laid out in verses 11 00:11:03.400 --> 00:11:05.040 through 16. 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:10.780 He comes to his dad and says, "Give me what is mine." 00:11:10.780 --> 00:11:15.540 And it's not that dad just kind of had some money that he'd set aside for him at a certain 00:11:15.540 --> 00:11:16.700 point in time. 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:20.060 It's not that dad owed him some money for some work that he had done. 00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:24.660 It's he is saying to his dad, "Give me my inheritance. 00:11:24.660 --> 00:11:28.900 Give me what I'm going to get when you're dead. 00:11:28.900 --> 00:11:32.640 Give me what I deserved. 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:36.920 Give me what is mine." 00:11:36.920 --> 00:11:39.640 And in this, his focus was not on his father. 00:11:39.640 --> 00:11:42.260 It was not on their community that they had. 00:11:42.260 --> 00:11:43.660 It was not on his brother. 00:11:43.660 --> 00:11:45.420 It was not on anyone else. 00:11:45.420 --> 00:11:52.000 His sole focus in this is his own existence. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.180 He becomes his focus. 00:11:55.180 --> 00:12:01.000 His eyes locked in on himself. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:10.740 And so the father takes, he works what he needs to do, and he hands over his share of 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:12.860 inheritance. 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:21.980 And the son takes it and wastes, wastes what's been entrusted to him. 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:28.140 You know, when we look at our rebellion, when we look at the sins and the pursuits and the 00:12:28.140 --> 00:12:34.820 things that we do, it's remarkable to me that so many times, so many of us take the beauty 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:38.020 of what God has entrusted us with. 00:12:38.020 --> 00:12:41.140 We take the beauty of what God has given to us. 00:12:41.140 --> 00:12:46.500 We take the beauty of the grace that we all have the privilege to live in in this world. 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:52.860 And instead of living in that grace before the creator of the heavens and the earth, 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:58.280 we take that which was beautiful and entrusted to us, and we make it dirty when we make it 00:12:58.280 --> 00:13:00.840 all about ourselves. 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.740 We take those things that he has for us. 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:09.480 We take those things that he entrusts us with, and we waste it. 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:11.660 We waste it. 00:13:11.660 --> 00:13:20.380 The Bible says here, Jesus' words, was that he wasted what the father had given him on 00:13:20.380 --> 00:13:21.860 reckless living. 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:26.380 Doesn't get into details. 00:13:26.380 --> 00:13:28.860 The older brother's got some ideas, right? 00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:32.620 We'll see that without too much for the sake of kindergarten parents hanging out in the 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:34.620 room with us. 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:41.620 But we see this reckless living that he entrusts, this cravings of the flesh. 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:46.020 And what I want us to see, and I think this is what Jesus wants us to see, he's continuing 00:13:46.020 --> 00:13:54.100 to pull those things closest to him that will give him those desires of the things that 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:57.100 he wants. 00:13:57.100 --> 00:14:03.340 You know, the lie that we believe in this world, which has been the lie from the fall 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:12.540 to the lie of today, is that the ability to sin, the ability to live in the cravings of 00:14:12.540 --> 00:14:16.340 the flesh, is freedom. 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:18.260 It's freedom. 00:14:18.260 --> 00:14:20.580 I should be able to do what I want to do. 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.780 I should be able to have what I want to have. 00:14:22.780 --> 00:14:25.740 I should be able to experience what I want to experience. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:30.020 And to live in that is freedom. 00:14:30.020 --> 00:14:34.220 But look at where this young man finds himself. 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:40.820 He doesn't find himself living in the joy of freedom as he fulfills the cravings of 00:14:40.820 --> 00:14:42.780 his flesh. 00:14:42.780 --> 00:14:51.440 What he finds himself living is what the truth that sin brings, which is slavery. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:56.260 He sells himself. 00:14:56.260 --> 00:15:02.340 He stoops below where he would have to stoop. 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:06.140 He settles for lesser than. 00:15:06.140 --> 00:15:15.780 He longs for the things that even now at this point in his flesh acknowledge as disgusting, 00:15:15.780 --> 00:15:22.740 but it's where his sin has brought himself to. 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:34.100 The lie of the world, the lie that humanity is embraced over and over and over again is 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:38.980 this, sin satisfies. 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:42.060 Scratch that itch. 00:15:42.060 --> 00:15:44.500 Experience what your flesh wants. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.540 Give in to who you are. 00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:49.300 And there you'll find your freedom. 00:15:49.300 --> 00:15:52.980 But the sin never satisfies. 00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:57.100 And all it does is create a greater hunger. 00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:04.860 It was interesting what Jesus used as his illustration here at the very end in verse 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:15.580 16, in where this young man found himself was not longing for shelter, was not longing 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:21.540 for conversation, but longing to be fed. 00:16:21.540 --> 00:16:26.620 He hungered for more than what sin could provide. 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:31.260 That's the sin of rebellion. 00:16:31.260 --> 00:16:38.140 When we move aside God's standards, God's plans, God's expectations, and we say I become 00:16:38.140 --> 00:16:43.420 my own God with my own plans, my own expectations. 00:16:43.420 --> 00:16:47.820 And instead of seeking the spirit of God, we seek the flesh of ourselves to fulfill 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:50.540 those and to satisfy those. 00:16:50.540 --> 00:16:53.220 But here's the hope. 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:55.540 The hope is what we find in the Father. 00:16:55.540 --> 00:16:59.220 The hope is not what we find in the son, the hope is what we find in the Father. 00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:04.660 And so what we see here is the Father who pursues and restores. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:07.420 The Father who pursues and restores. 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:11.620 But in order to see this, let's look at what happens in this young man's life. 00:17:11.620 --> 00:17:13.860 Look at your Bible back in verse 17. 00:17:13.860 --> 00:17:22.100 It says, "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants 00:17:22.100 --> 00:17:26.260 have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? 00:17:26.260 --> 00:17:31.820 I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against 00:17:31.820 --> 00:17:33.460 heaven and before you. 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:36.260 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:38.100 Treat me as one of your hired servants.'" 00:17:38.100 --> 00:17:43.060 In the first part of verse 20, "And he arose and came to his father." 00:17:43.060 --> 00:17:47.420 I love the response of this younger son. 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:51.180 But when he came to himself. 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:54.980 That's not an expression that we use often. 00:17:54.980 --> 00:18:00.380 And so once I did some word study on this phrase, "But when he came to himself," there's 00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:07.700 a very descriptive explanation of what this means in the context of what Jesus was saying 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:11.860 to this group of people that is listening to him teach this parable. 00:18:11.860 --> 00:18:17.060 On a surface level, it's he's had a change of mind. 00:18:17.060 --> 00:18:22.500 On a surface level, he looks around at himself and he's like, "Who am I? 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:26.020 Why am I doing this? 00:18:26.020 --> 00:18:30.160 Why am I treating myself this way? 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:35.100 Why am I allowing myself to live in this manner?" 00:18:35.100 --> 00:18:38.660 It's a change of mind. 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:43.380 But also within this, it's more than that. 00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:46.340 It's a change of heart. 00:18:46.340 --> 00:18:48.800 It's a change of heart. 00:18:48.800 --> 00:18:57.300 And I believe what we see happening here is not this young man thinking to himself, "How 00:18:57.300 --> 00:19:03.980 do I scheme my way back into the good graces of my Father?" 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:09.740 But I think what we see here is a young man broken for his sin. 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:15.420 What I think we see here is a young man who understands the goodness of the Father. 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:19.780 What I think we see here is a young man who's heard about grace and love and forgiveness 00:19:19.780 --> 00:19:24.300 his whole life, but has never lived in the reality and the expectation that that's for 00:19:24.300 --> 00:19:26.420 him too. 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:37.660 So whatever caused that in that moment, Jesus says, "But when he came to himself." 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:41.180 And the reason why I think it's repentance, I'm going to show you a few of these in Jesus' 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:45.500 words, but it's going to be because we see the Father's response. 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:47.780 We see the Father's response. 00:19:47.780 --> 00:19:50.340 But let's look at this young man. 00:19:50.340 --> 00:19:52.440 What did he recognize? 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.540 He recognized the Father was the only solution. 00:19:55.540 --> 00:19:57.300 He recognized the Father was the only solution. 00:19:57.300 --> 00:20:01.180 He said, "I will go to my Father." 00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:03.700 He didn't say, "I'm going to search out someone better." 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:06.860 He didn't say, "I'm going to search out some different perspective." 00:20:06.860 --> 00:20:09.780 He didn't say, "I'm going to search out some self-help opportunities." 00:20:09.780 --> 00:20:13.100 He didn't say, "I'm going to search out someone that can do something for me." 00:20:13.100 --> 00:20:16.540 He said, "The only solution was the Father." 00:20:16.540 --> 00:20:22.700 I want to tell you this, when you find yourself lost in your trespasses and sins, the only 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:25.360 solution. 00:20:25.360 --> 00:20:30.020 It's not about you white knuckling this, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. 00:20:30.020 --> 00:20:33.140 Bible tells us that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:34.140 What can a dead man do? 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:35.860 A dead man can do nothing. 00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:38.820 He can do nothing to save himself. 00:20:38.820 --> 00:20:46.660 The only thing that he could do was acknowledge the solution was the Father. 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:48.700 What did he repent of? 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:50.620 What did he repent of? 00:20:50.620 --> 00:20:53.760 He didn't blame society. 00:20:53.760 --> 00:20:58.940 He didn't blame his older brother that dad always liked him more. 00:20:58.940 --> 00:21:02.920 He didn't blame the people that conned him out of his money. 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:07.660 He didn't blame the farmer that was taking advantage of him. 00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:16.220 He didn't blame the Father who had given him the money and the property in the first place. 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:18.380 What did he repent of? 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:23.340 He acknowledged that his sin was the issue. 00:21:23.340 --> 00:21:28.340 I have sinned against heaven and you. 00:21:28.340 --> 00:21:35.420 When you're lost in your trespasses and sins, when we find ourselves in patterns of rebellion 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:45.780 and disobedience, can we have the honest conversation within ourself to stop pointing the blame 00:21:45.780 --> 00:21:49.500 at everyone and everything else? 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:57.060 And can we understand that the greatest struggle that you and I have is ourselves? 00:21:57.060 --> 00:22:02.820 It's me and it's you. 00:22:02.820 --> 00:22:09.020 And our issue is our sin. 00:22:09.020 --> 00:22:11.400 And then what did he acknowledge? 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:14.140 In where he had found himself. 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:17.580 He acknowledged that he was unworthy. 00:22:17.580 --> 00:22:20.060 He acknowledged that he was unworthy. 00:22:20.060 --> 00:22:29.980 He said, "I'm gonna say to him, 'I'm not worthy to be your son. 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:39.760 If you just treat me as one of your hired servants, I'm not even worthy.'" 00:22:39.760 --> 00:22:42.820 This is beautiful. 00:22:42.820 --> 00:22:53.980 And our response and our desperation of what sin has created to understand in our lives 00:22:53.980 --> 00:23:00.580 that Jesus is the only solution, that sin is our problem. 00:23:00.580 --> 00:23:07.460 And as graciously as he gives it, we are unworthy of God's grace. 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:20.700 And in our perspective, in this, this break from rebellion, it begins and rests on us. 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:28.180 But if we're careful, if we're not careful, we'll miss what Jesus tells next in this passage 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:30.420 of Scripture. 00:23:30.420 --> 00:23:35.500 In this verse, in the second half of verse 20, I believe it says, "But while he was a 00:23:35.500 --> 00:23:48.460 long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed 00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:50.100 him." 00:23:50.100 --> 00:23:53.100 So here's what I want us to see. 00:23:53.100 --> 00:23:57.340 The Bible tells us, Jesus tells us in this story that while the young man was a long 00:23:57.340 --> 00:23:59.140 way off, the father saw him. 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:00.140 All right? 00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:08.100 I don't think that this means that the father sees someone at the end of the driveway. 00:24:08.100 --> 00:24:13.100 I think when we look at the wholeness of Scripture of what God's teaching us, that this is what 00:24:13.100 --> 00:24:18.660 we, what we see, that this young man had gone off. 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:28.260 And what this wording implies is that the father was actively out searching for him. 00:24:28.260 --> 00:24:36.540 And that in the midst of his searching, this young man comes to his senses. 00:24:36.540 --> 00:24:39.380 This young man repents. 00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:46.380 And in the midst of his rebellion, in the midst of all of this, God was looking, God 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:52.580 was pursuing, God was calling, God was at work. 00:24:52.580 --> 00:25:00.660 God's not the father sitting on the rocking chair waiting for us to figure it out. 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:09.180 And in your rebellion and in mine, God in His mercy and His love was pursuing our hearts. 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:13.660 God in His mercy and love was calling others to share the truth. 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:19.100 God in His mercy and love was at work and was at moving, and so in that moment where 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:25.180 we woke up is the evidence and the fruit of the God working in our lives. 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:30.900 The father saw Him because he was searching for Him. 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:35.180 It says that the father felt compassion. 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:41.140 I think for so many of us when we look at the long list of crimes stacked up against 00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:47.340 us, of sins that we've committed, there's the hesitation in coming before God with this 00:25:47.340 --> 00:25:53.780 because what we're expecting to do is we understand at some point in time there's like salvation 00:25:53.780 --> 00:25:58.940 and love that happens, but what we think is going to happen is before we get there, let's 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:02.660 go ahead and handle this anger and wrath issue. 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:09.540 But here's the thing, when you come to God in profession as Jesus Christ as your Lord 00:26:09.540 --> 00:26:12.300 and Savior, here's the beauty of it. 00:26:12.300 --> 00:26:18.780 Look at the cross, every bit of wrath that would have been given to you was poured out 00:26:18.780 --> 00:26:21.460 to Jesus on that. 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:29.500 Every single moment of it, every single molecule of it was sent by the father to his son, and 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.660 he paid the price in full. 00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:33.020 He didn't pay part of it. 00:26:33.020 --> 00:26:39.620 The Bible says that he canceled the debt that our sin created. 00:26:39.620 --> 00:26:44.180 But it's there, it's compassion. 00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:52.820 The father, in seeing his son covered in filth, covered in the mess, covered in all that it 00:26:52.820 --> 00:26:58.940 would be, he felt compassion. 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:01.180 And I love this. 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:06.020 The next thing that he did is he ran to him. 00:27:06.020 --> 00:27:07.020 He ran to him. 00:27:07.020 --> 00:27:16.100 Let me tell you this, when Jesus said this, there could have been people in the audience 00:27:16.100 --> 00:27:25.460 that would have laughed, because noblemen, wards, kings, rulers, like this man would 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:30.380 have been, would never run for anyone. 00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:44.140 They would sit and they would wait, but yet what we see is the father ran to the son. 00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:55.820 Jesus didn't say from his throne, "Hey, come figure out how to get to me." 00:27:55.820 --> 00:28:00.500 He didn't say, "Hey, go start making your list. 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:02.820 Make sure there's more good than bad. 00:28:02.820 --> 00:28:05.820 You better make sure there's a lot of good, because even some of that good's probably 00:28:05.820 --> 00:28:07.900 bad, so you gotta really make sure, right? 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:08.900 You gotta figure this out. 00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:09.980 You gotta check all these boxes. 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:12.620 You gotta do all these things in order to get to me." 00:28:12.620 --> 00:28:14.660 Jesus says, "No, no, no, no, no. 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:15.660 I'm coming to you. 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:20.300 And as crazy as you think that is, the king of the king and lord of the lords is stepping 00:28:20.300 --> 00:28:24.460 out of heaven, and he's taking on the flesh of man, and he's walking around on this earth, 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:28.500 and this is who I am, and I've got a message for you, and I've got healing for you, and 00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:32.420 I've got hope for you, and it's gonna all come to fruition, because I'm gonna die for 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:34.860 you. 00:28:34.860 --> 00:28:42.820 And then I'm gonna raise from the dead, and the raising of my body is not just found in 00:28:42.820 --> 00:28:46.300 Christ's victory, but it's found in our victory as well." 00:28:46.300 --> 00:28:56.620 And then he says, "Let's put some shoes on his feet. 00:28:56.620 --> 00:28:57.620 Let's put a robe on his back. 00:28:57.620 --> 00:29:01.420 Let's put a ring on his hand." 00:29:01.420 --> 00:29:12.580 And in this process, what he's doing is he's restoring his son beyond where he was before, 00:29:12.580 --> 00:29:18.780 beyond where he would have been before the inheritance, beyond where he would have been 00:29:18.780 --> 00:29:21.860 before he squandered it all away. 00:29:21.860 --> 00:29:33.100 He restores him and sets him and establishes him in who he is in him. 00:29:33.100 --> 00:29:35.620 And then he says, "We gotta celebrate. 00:29:35.620 --> 00:29:36.620 We gotta celebrate." 00:29:36.620 --> 00:29:46.380 And so fire up the barbecue, get the band playing, we're about to have a good time. 00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:52.620 Which is why in those moments, like what we just saw right there with Patrick, can I tell 00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:54.220 you what that is for us? 00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:57.860 I mean, that's an opportunity to celebrate. 00:29:57.860 --> 00:30:00.620 That's not an opportunity to go, "Oh, we got one of those today. 00:30:00.620 --> 00:30:03.860 Oh, this is a good time to check my Facebook account. 00:30:03.860 --> 00:30:08.180 Oh, this is a good time to go ahead and let me go ahead and find out. 00:30:08.180 --> 00:30:11.300 Last week, Bo said we'd be at the prodigal son and he messed that one up, so let me go 00:30:11.300 --> 00:30:12.900 ahead and find where we're gonna be today." 00:30:12.900 --> 00:30:13.900 Right? 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:20.820 It's an opportunity to celebrate, to celebrate the goodness of the Father. 00:30:20.820 --> 00:30:24.860 The third thing that we see, though, is we see the son of works. 00:30:24.860 --> 00:30:27.980 We see the son of works, the older son. 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:32.140 Right, we got the rule breaker and the rule keeper. 00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:35.020 Quick little survey, I love doing this. 00:30:35.020 --> 00:30:37.340 Y'all know what I'm about to do. 00:30:37.340 --> 00:30:42.580 Raise your hand if by nature you're a rule keeper. 00:30:42.580 --> 00:30:43.940 You love to keep the rules. 00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:47.740 Keep 'em up, keep 'em up, keep 'em up. 00:30:47.740 --> 00:30:50.900 I'm looking, I'm looking. 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:54.980 I really question that on some of you, right? 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:58.100 I know who you are, right? 00:30:58.100 --> 00:30:59.860 So I did not raise my hand. 00:30:59.860 --> 00:31:00.860 I did not. 00:31:00.860 --> 00:31:08.740 I will say this, all you rule keepers, the rest of us in here, we don't get you, alright? 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:13.660 Also when we play Monopoly, don't leave us in charge of the money, alright? 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:14.980 That's all I'm saying. 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:16.020 That's all I'm saying. 00:31:16.020 --> 00:31:20.660 If you've ever said at a sporting event, if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying, alright? 00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:22.900 You're not this, you're not this. 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:27.420 We got these two brothers, and you know how difficult it can be and we see the stereotype, 00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:34.060 man, this one is living in rebellion, and this one man, like, you're probably, probably 00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:36.540 the easy kid. 00:31:36.540 --> 00:31:37.540 Probably the easy kid. 00:31:37.540 --> 00:31:39.980 The one you had to worry about. 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:44.140 The one that didn't go and do all of these things. 00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:47.220 The one that went off to school and did what he was supposed to do. 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:50.620 The one that came home at curfew. 00:31:50.620 --> 00:31:53.460 But what we see here is we see the son of works. 00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:56.740 The son of works. 00:31:56.740 --> 00:32:05.260 So my assumption here, when we find him, we find him, he was in the field. 00:32:05.260 --> 00:32:10.420 And my assumption is he was doing what he was supposed to do. 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:17.020 He was out working just like he would most days, fulfilling the expectations that the 00:32:17.020 --> 00:32:19.480 father had for him. 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.120 And then all of a sudden he begins to smell. 00:32:22.120 --> 00:32:26.180 You know, like when you get that smell of that barbecue going, and then all of a sudden 00:32:26.180 --> 00:32:29.180 you hear, like there's music happening. 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:34.940 It's like, man, there's a party going on. 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:38.900 I didn't mean to do that. 00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:43.100 It just happened. 00:32:43.100 --> 00:32:46.640 Thanks Chris for laughing with me, buddy. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:49.140 So he hears, he asks the servant, man, what's going on? 00:32:49.140 --> 00:32:55.860 And he tells him, your brother is home, and your father has received him, and he's thrown 00:32:55.860 --> 00:32:58.620 a party. 00:32:58.620 --> 00:33:03.440 And in this moment, we find out who he is. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:14.780 In this moment, we find out that hidden underneath all of his works is sin. 00:33:14.780 --> 00:33:19.140 First thing here is we see the sin of assumption. 00:33:19.140 --> 00:33:21.460 We see the sin of assumption. 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:30.420 Jesus says that the younger son went out and wasted everything on reckless living. 00:33:30.420 --> 00:33:37.300 I read a commentator that talked about this, and I thought this was intriguing. 00:33:37.300 --> 00:33:45.340 The likelihood of the brother knowing what was going on was not likely. 00:33:45.340 --> 00:33:48.580 He'd moved off to a foreign country. 00:33:48.580 --> 00:33:51.140 He was in a foreign land. 00:33:51.140 --> 00:33:56.140 There wasn't the communication strategies that we have. 00:33:56.140 --> 00:34:01.820 But yet the older brother reacts with the telling of the details of the story without 00:34:01.820 --> 00:34:04.860 knowing the story. 00:34:04.860 --> 00:34:09.500 And he just assumed, you know my brother. 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:10.900 This is what he's like. 00:34:10.900 --> 00:34:15.440 Let me ask you this. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:29.020 How many of you have ever seen someone fall, slip up, and you've said to yourself or publicly, 00:34:29.020 --> 00:34:35.780 "I bet they fill in the blank"? 00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:39.120 It's the sin of assumption. 00:34:39.120 --> 00:34:47.340 We see in his engagement with the father, we see in the conversation that he gives, 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:52.380 we see the sin of self-righteousness. 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:59.840 He does this - look at all I've done! 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:04.340 Look at all I've accomplished! 00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:07.700 Look at me! 00:35:07.700 --> 00:35:09.300 Do you know how many mission trips I've been on? 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:11.340 Do you know how many Sundays I've been in a row? 00:35:11.340 --> 00:35:14.140 Do you know how many Bible studies that I've led? 00:35:14.140 --> 00:35:16.780 Do you know how many people I've shared the Lord with? 00:35:16.780 --> 00:35:21.940 Do you know what I've done, what I've done, what I've done, what I've done? 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:28.780 Jesus says that there will be a group of people who said, "Lord, here's all of the things 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:31.540 we've done for you." 00:35:31.540 --> 00:35:38.620 And Jesus will say, "Away from me, I never knew you." 00:35:38.620 --> 00:35:39.620 The sin of self-righteousness. 00:35:39.620 --> 00:35:52.500 Like, you ever found that when you get a little holy in your own mind, you never compare yourself 00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:57.220 to Billy Graham? 00:35:57.220 --> 00:35:59.740 I don't. 00:35:59.740 --> 00:36:04.680 You don't compare yourself to Lottie Moon. 00:36:04.680 --> 00:36:08.060 You don't compare yourself - my example, wish you'd have known her. 00:36:08.060 --> 00:36:11.980 My grandmother. 00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:18.820 We always want to take who we are, find those who we think are less than us, and then justify 00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:24.660 ourselves based off of their sin and our own righteousness. 00:36:24.660 --> 00:36:27.660 And that's what He does. 00:36:27.660 --> 00:36:32.700 The third is the sin of comparison. 00:36:32.700 --> 00:36:35.580 The sin of comparison. 00:36:35.580 --> 00:36:38.620 That's hurt my feelings this week. 00:36:38.620 --> 00:36:43.180 I'm not talking about the sin of comparison from one brother to another. 00:36:43.180 --> 00:36:46.380 I'm talking about the sin of comparison of, "God, you did this for them, but you've never 00:36:46.380 --> 00:36:47.380 done this for me." 00:36:47.380 --> 00:36:59.220 He says, "Dad, you've never done this for me. 00:36:59.220 --> 00:37:02.740 You've never given this for me. 00:37:02.740 --> 00:37:05.340 Look at all I've done for you. 00:37:05.340 --> 00:37:06.340 Look at who I am. 00:37:06.340 --> 00:37:08.420 Look how you treat him. 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:11.620 But look how you treat me." 00:37:11.620 --> 00:37:15.520 You see, he's moved now from comparing himself to his brother, and he's comparing the fairness 00:37:15.520 --> 00:37:17.340 and the goodness of God. 00:37:17.340 --> 00:37:24.580 I want to say this in those words that I just used. 00:37:24.580 --> 00:37:28.620 You know, the Bible never says that God will be fair. 00:37:28.620 --> 00:37:33.380 But the Bible always says that God is always good. 00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:38.300 So what God does for others, God might not do for you. 00:37:38.300 --> 00:37:42.740 But God is good in what He does. 00:37:42.740 --> 00:37:46.460 And God's good to uphold His promises. 00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:49.940 And God is good to fulfill what He said He's going to do. 00:37:49.940 --> 00:37:52.940 The problem is not what God does. 00:37:52.940 --> 00:37:58.460 The problem is the comparison that we draw ourselves into. 00:37:58.460 --> 00:38:10.620 And so what we see here, man in a story that could have ended at this pinnacle of celebration, 00:38:10.620 --> 00:38:12.540 doesn't. 00:38:12.540 --> 00:38:21.820 But this is a parable, not to get us to feel good at the end, but it's a parable to understand 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:31.060 who we are, how others are, and God's response. 00:38:31.060 --> 00:38:38.860 We see here from the Father, the Father who invites and the Father who provides. 00:38:38.860 --> 00:38:44.020 Man, that sounds mad. 00:38:44.020 --> 00:38:48.860 I don't know if you've ever had a... 00:38:48.860 --> 00:38:50.860 We've all been in arguments. 00:38:50.860 --> 00:39:10.740 Man, I remember before I got saved, I had a fight with my dad. 00:39:10.740 --> 00:39:13.540 He'll watch this. 00:39:13.540 --> 00:39:15.100 He'll remember it. 00:39:15.100 --> 00:39:23.060 Man, I said terrible things. 00:39:23.060 --> 00:39:27.540 I did awful things. 00:39:27.540 --> 00:39:37.580 And my dad just told me that he loved me and that he forgave me. 00:39:37.580 --> 00:39:46.820 And God used that five years later to bring me to the Lord. 00:39:46.820 --> 00:39:52.060 In the son's anger, the Father doesn't rebuke him. 00:39:52.060 --> 00:39:55.860 Scripture says that the Father entreats him. 00:39:55.860 --> 00:39:58.020 He invites him. 00:39:58.020 --> 00:40:00.500 He pleads with him. 00:40:00.500 --> 00:40:12.540 He appeals to him to experience the goodness that the Father offers, that the son already 00:40:12.540 --> 00:40:15.300 knows of. 00:40:15.300 --> 00:40:19.100 To live in that, he invites him. 00:40:19.100 --> 00:40:23.340 It's like, "Son, stop. 00:40:23.340 --> 00:40:27.500 Come to me. 00:40:27.500 --> 00:40:38.660 Why are you waiting for a party to be thrown for you when all of this is yours?" 00:40:38.660 --> 00:40:41.100 He provides for him. 00:40:41.100 --> 00:40:43.140 Like we miss this. 00:40:43.140 --> 00:40:44.980 We miss this. 00:40:44.980 --> 00:40:58.420 All of the grace that this younger son has been given has also been given to him. 00:40:58.420 --> 00:41:03.420 Sometimes we look at people and we're like, "They don't deserve the goodness and the grace 00:41:03.420 --> 00:41:04.420 of God." 00:41:04.420 --> 00:41:05.660 And yes, it's true. 00:41:05.660 --> 00:41:08.060 They don't, but neither do we. 00:41:08.060 --> 00:41:11.060 Neither do we. 00:41:11.060 --> 00:41:15.100 And let me tell you how God gives grace. 00:41:15.100 --> 00:41:21.380 God doesn't put some of us under a swimming pool and flip it upside down, and some of 00:41:21.380 --> 00:41:26.700 us under the Niagara Falls of grace, and then some of us with a little bit of water that 00:41:26.700 --> 00:41:31.100 I've got left and said, "Well there's some for you." 00:41:31.100 --> 00:41:45.300 But there's an overflowing, continually moving, constantly penetrating us, overtaking flow 00:41:45.300 --> 00:41:50.340 of grace that falls on all. 00:41:50.340 --> 00:41:55.220 And it all comes from the Father. 00:41:55.220 --> 00:42:02.580 So the question that we have, in spite of this younger brother being this way, and the 00:42:02.580 --> 00:42:11.440 older brother being this way, in their sin, what connects them? 00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:15.420 What makes them alike? 00:42:15.420 --> 00:42:20.260 I think it's called the idol of me. 00:42:20.260 --> 00:42:29.500 I think it's for both hearts, this is what I want, this is what I need, this is who I 00:42:29.500 --> 00:42:39.020 am, this is all about me. 00:42:39.020 --> 00:42:47.580 Some of you, I don't know, I'd be willing to bet, there's some of you right now that 00:42:47.580 --> 00:42:56.060 spiritually speaking, you woke up this morning and found yourself in the same stall that 00:42:56.060 --> 00:42:58.900 the younger son found them. 00:42:58.900 --> 00:43:05.260 You're living in the rebellion of your trespasses and sins. 00:43:05.260 --> 00:43:11.340 And maybe you want to be there, maybe you like it, maybe you think that you know what, 00:43:11.340 --> 00:43:15.740 tomorrow though, there's going to be this satisfaction that comes. 00:43:15.740 --> 00:43:24.400 And let me tell you something, friends, as the man who lived in that stall for 22 years, 00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:26.820 you never find it. 00:43:26.820 --> 00:43:31.780 You never find it. 00:43:31.780 --> 00:43:38.620 Maybe you are like, "Well, I'm in the stall, not because I want to be here, I don't want 00:43:38.620 --> 00:43:43.880 to be here, but though God could never forgive me. 00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:48.380 God could never, if you knew the things that I did." 00:43:48.380 --> 00:43:52.500 And let me then tell you this, if that's your heart, if that's your mindset, if that's the 00:43:52.500 --> 00:43:55.820 thought, number one, you're not thinking that. 00:43:55.820 --> 00:44:00.180 Who's penetrating you with that is the lie of Satan. 00:44:00.180 --> 00:44:06.220 And number two, stop limiting God. 00:44:06.220 --> 00:44:08.300 Stop limiting God. 00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:09.980 Can he forgive you? 00:44:09.980 --> 00:44:10.980 Yes. 00:44:10.980 --> 00:44:12.380 Here's the beauty of it. 00:44:12.380 --> 00:44:14.380 Will he? 00:44:14.380 --> 00:44:16.020 Absolutely. 00:44:16.020 --> 00:44:18.080 Absolutely. 00:44:18.080 --> 00:44:26.200 Or maybe, maybe you're the older brother, and you're out in the field, you're doing 00:44:26.200 --> 00:44:37.560 all that you're supposed to do, but never experiencing the relationship with the Father. 00:44:37.560 --> 00:44:45.620 You see, our relationship with Him is not found in the simplistic ways that we think 00:44:45.620 --> 00:44:47.960 of a relationship. 00:44:47.960 --> 00:45:03.300 It's found in a depth of intimacy where He is greater than everyone or everything else. 00:45:03.300 --> 00:45:13.860 So whether you find yourself in the stall or the field, my challenge to you today is 00:45:13.860 --> 00:45:16.620 to come to the Father. 00:45:16.620 --> 00:45:19.120 Here's my hope. 00:45:19.120 --> 00:45:25.860 My hope is, right now, if you were in this story, do you know where you'd be? 00:45:25.860 --> 00:45:29.480 Man, you'd already be at that party. 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:32.780 When you heard the younger son had come back, and you heard it was time to eat, and you 00:45:32.780 --> 00:45:36.620 heard that the band was on their way there, you went and you put your dancing shoes on, 00:45:36.620 --> 00:45:41.100 you put your stretchy pants on, because it was time to dance and time to eat, and you 00:45:41.100 --> 00:45:51.860 were ready, and you were celebrating and living in the goodness of the Father. 00:45:51.860 --> 00:45:56.380 Thanks again for listening, and be sure to check back next week for another episode. 00:45:56.380 --> 00:46:02.020 In the meantime, you can visit us at willowridgechurch.org or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on 00:46:02.020 --> 00:46:02.520 Facebook, Instagram.