Participants: Pr. E.C. Polite
Series Code: HG
Program Code: HG000013
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00:38 So heavy laden
00:49 And burdened down 00:58 I did not know 01:08 Just what to do 01:16 So I went and I prayed 01:27 For strength to endure 01:35 Jesus said 01:39 "Be still 01:44 I will 01:47 See you through" 01:53 So I tried Him 01:59 And I know Him 02:05 He'll stick closer than any brother 02:11 So I tried Him 02:17 And I know Him 02:23 He's been better to me than I've been to myself 02:34 There could never be a friend 02:40 As dear to me 02:45 As Jesus 02:49 So now 02:52 When you go through 03:00 Through your trials 03:04 And your tests 03:08 Please don't look 03:12 Don't look to man 03:17 For 03:19 They'll let you down 03:25 Just remember 03:29 there is just one, one, one, one 03:36 Who will go with you 03:39 To the end 03:44 His name is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, 03:50 My Jesus 03:53 He'll tell you what, why and when 03:59 Ooh ohh 04:02 I tried Him 04:06 And I know Him 04:10 He'll stick you 04:12 He's been better to me 04:14 Than I've been to myself 04:18 So I tried Him 04:24 And I know Him 04:29 He's been better to me 04:31 Than I've been to myself 04:39 There could never be a friend 04:45 As dear to me 04:52 As Jesus. 04:58 Amen. 05:05 From the darkness came the light 05:11 Out of nothingness 05:13 You made life 05:17 And before the world You were 05:23 Bless Your name 05:25 Forevermore 05:28 Lord according to Your plan 05:35 You created every man 05:41 Just to glorify You 05:45 and Bless Your name 05:49 Forevermore 06:01 Then into the world You came 06:08 By the power of Your name 06:14 And You washed my sins away 06:20 I Bless Your name 06:22 Forevermore 06:26 So I come before your throne 06:30 And You come 06:32 Through no goodness 06:34 Of my own 06:37 And I worship You alone 06:44 Bless Your name 06:47 Forevermore 06:51 I will bless Your name, Jesus 06:56 I will bless Your name 07:02 I will bless Your name 07:07 Forevermore 07:14 I will bless Your name, Jesus 07:20 I will bless Your name 07:28 I will bless Your name 07:31 Forevermore 07:38 I will bless Your name 07:42 I will bless Your name 07:44 I will bless Your name 07:47 Your name's all we need 07:49 I will bless Your name 07:54 Forevermore 08:01 I will bless Your name 08:07 I will bless Your name 08:12 I will bless Your name 08:17 Forevermore 08:23 I will bless Your name 08:29 I will bless Your name 08:34 I will bless Your name 08:39 Forevermore 08:46 I will bless Your name 08:51 I will bless Your name 08:57 I will bless Your name 09:01 Forevermore 09:08 I will bless Your name 09:14 I will bless Your name 09:20 I will bless Your name 09:25 Forevermore 09:32 I will bless Your name 09:37 I will bless Your name 09:43 I will bless Your name 09:50 Forevermore 09:53 Forever and ever 09:57 I will bless Your name 10:00 Oh, the Lord 10:02 Forevermore. 10:06 Amen. 10:11 Luke Chapter 19 and considering verse 10. 10:21 Luke 19:10. 10:31 Trusting that you have it, read it with me everyone. 10:33 What does it say? 10:35 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save" what? 10:41 "That which was lost." "That which was lost." 10:46 Before I enter to our message for today 10:48 "The Prodigal God" The Prodigal God, 10:57 you all know my momma don't you? 11:00 She is every bit of five foot nothing 11:05 but I learned something about her when growing up. 11:08 She was strong as an ox. 11:11 So whenever she said, "Go into your room, 11:15 I'm going to be in there with my strap." 11:19 Be prepared for a whipping. 11:24 A whipping. 11:28 I thought that I was getting the little wise 11:32 the older I got not kept getting whippings. 11:36 One day mom told me to go into my room 11:38 because she was coming into to give me a whipping 11:41 and I got this bright idea. 11:45 I decided to put on some layers of clothes. 11:51 So when she came in the room just one time 11:53 I was looking mighty muscular and husky. 12:00 But just as I was getting wise, Mom was already wise 12:03 and she said, "Take off my clothes. 12:04 I don't want to beat up on my clothes that I bought." 12:09 And layer after layer came off 12:14 until it was just me and the strap 12:18 and she began to whip and whip. 12:24 It must have worked I'm a preacher now. 12:31 But I often think about those times 12:35 when I would try to prepare myself 12:38 for what was coming ahead. 12:43 Christ ministry was coming to a rapid close in two months. 12:49 He would stand before the unjust justice 12:52 of Caiaphas' judgment hall. 12:55 In two months 12:57 He would bear the excruciating scourging 13:00 of that Roman whip call the cat o' nine tails. 13:05 In two months He will watch as disrespectful Roman soldiers 13:11 will clear their throat 13:14 and then project their garlic stain spittoon 13:17 into his face. 13:19 In two months He will model an ignominious clown that falls 13:25 and be thrust upon a splinter-ridden cross 13:30 that would dig deeply into his already bruised 13:33 and bleeding back. 13:35 In two months He would endure the insults 13:39 and ribaldry of a satanically inspired crowd. 13:45 If you can't come down don't stay up there. 13:49 He hung there for six hours. 13:54 Not because it was fashionable, not because He wanted to 13:58 but because He loved us that much. 14:01 Understand something, 14:03 we can quantify the time that Christ hung on the cross. 14:06 However for Him it was a little different experience. 14:10 Remember now, when He was on the cross 14:13 that Father enshrouded Him with a covering of darkness 14:18 so that He could not sense the presence of God 14:21 His Father anymore. 14:23 That was the first time in eternity history 14:25 that He had ever experienced 14:28 what it would be like to be cut off from the Father. 14:30 Let me share something with you, beloved. 14:32 Hell is not about the fire that's going to be there 14:37 to destroy the wicked. 14:38 Part, that's part of it but the other part, 14:40 the weightier part of it is hell is eternal separation 14:44 from the God who loves you 14:48 and cares about you. 14:51 You don't think like me that knowing of this, 14:53 Christ would have prepared himself for His whipping 14:59 and get me a few legions of angels to come, 15:03 they'll take care of the matter. 15:05 I don't have to suffer as badly 15:07 but instead knowing the condition of the heart 15:11 of those around Him, 15:13 the publicans and the sinners and the Pharisees. 15:16 Christ instead tries as if for the last time 15:19 to get them to understand 15:21 the unfathomable love of His Father. 15:25 He does so by telling them three back to back parables 15:30 as recorded in the 15th chapter of Luke. 15:33 Turn there with me in the 15th chapter of Luke. 15:37 There we find, you got it there three parables 15:43 called The Lost Sheep found in verses 3 through 7, 15:47 The Lost Coin in verses 8 through 10 15:50 and The Lost Boy in verses 11 through 32. 15:55 It is important to know that these parables represent 16:01 three dimensions of lostness. 16:07 They represent what? 16:09 Three dimensions of lostness 16:11 in the Parable of the Lost Sheep. 16:16 Here we find that the sheep knew it was lost 16:20 but it didn't know how to find its way back 16:23 out of its lostness. 16:25 It's also interesting to know that this particular parable 16:29 was addressed to the men in the crowd. 16:33 Then we'll come to the Parable of the Lost Coin, 16:38 The Lost Coin. 16:40 The coin does not, it's in the house 16:43 but it does not know that it's lost. 16:45 Let me see if I can help you understand a little bit better. 16:48 The coin is lost in the church 16:51 but it doesn't know that it's lost. 16:56 This particular parable 16:58 is directed at the women in the crowd. 17:03 Of all the 30 plus parables that Christ told, 17:09 perhaps none is more poignant, 17:11 passionate or popular as the next one, The Lost Boy. 17:17 The Last Boy because within that one parable 17:21 both dimensions of lostness are mentioned. 17:26 The sheep knew it was lost 17:28 but didn't know how to get back. 17:31 The coin was in the house 17:34 but didn't know it was lost in the house. 17:37 That's in that parable 17:38 but then there is a third dimension of lostness 17:40 that we have to also consider 17:42 and that is the father's lostness 17:45 at not being able to love his sons. 17:51 He is in fact the prodigal son. 17:53 It's interesting that Christ addressed this parable 17:56 to the young adults probably in the crowd. 18:01 It's just a parable that we want to focus on. 18:03 It comes in two acts. 18:05 Act one is the act about the younger brother. 18:09 Act two is the act about the elder brother. 18:14 You will recall some times ago 18:16 I preached about this first act, 18:18 do you recall. 18:20 I preached it under the sermon title 18:22 where little Wayne meets Sasha Fierce. 18:28 You know that? I will re-preach that. 18:33 But I want to lift up some highlights 18:36 to help fresh up our story. 18:39 You'd recall that a young man gets up one morning 18:42 smelling himself and he goes in to talk to his father. 18:45 Said, "Father, give me everything 18:47 that's coming to me." 18:48 Understand something 18:50 that while it was quite customary 18:52 for father to divide up his inheritance among his sons 18:56 while he was living, 18:57 he did not have to give it to them until he was dead. 19:01 And so for a son to come and ask his father 19:05 give me what's coming to me 19:06 doubt his father was still living 19:08 was to say to the father "I see you as being dead. 19:12 Give me what's mine." 19:14 Imagine the ache and the hurt 19:17 in the father's heart to have his son come and say 19:21 "Give me what's mine 19:23 because in my mind you're dead." 19:28 Why was he so hostile towards his father? 19:32 Simply because his father did everything possible 19:35 to provide him with a spiritual, stable home 19:40 and sometimes, sometimes 19:44 our children don't appreciate it. 19:49 They believe that perhaps you're hollowing something. 19:52 You're keeping them from knowing something 19:55 that they should know outside in the world 19:57 and so he comes and says 19:59 "Let me go into the far country. 20:04 Where is my stuff? 20:07 I want to take my stuff with me." 20:10 And so the Bible says that he took his inheritance 20:13 and he went into the far country 20:16 and there verse 13 it says, 20:19 "And there wasted his substance" 20:20 with what kind of living? 20:22 "Riotous living." 20:23 In fact, the Greek says living riotously, riotously. 20:28 That's an interesting thought to pick up living riotously. 20:32 Because when we look at that word riotously 20:37 in the Medo Greek, 20:38 it comes from the word "Asotos." 20:41 When you get a word in Greek that begins with the letter "A" 20:44 it takes on a negative connotation 20:46 so that to the word that follows the "A." 20:49 The word that follows the "A" is so which means to save. 20:54 So that if you put an "A" in front of a save 20:57 it means doing something opposite than saving. 21:02 You're destroying. You're squandering. 21:06 You're wasting. 21:08 You're living a riotous living. 21:14 In other words, it wasn't just any other kind of living, 21:16 this boy was a player player. 21:21 Mickity mickity mickity mack. 21:30 He had it all, 21:33 he had money, he had women, he had friends, 21:40 had everything that the world says 21:43 makes you successful. 21:47 But when they get to the place 21:49 that we allow someone or something else 21:51 that define success for us, that's the moment 21:53 when we find ourselves a failure. 21:56 But in fact, they complete their success 21:58 outside the will of God 21:59 only when they walk in the ways of the Lord 22:02 to truly understand success. 22:04 The ways of a good man are what? 22:07 Ordered. Ordered by the Lord. 22:09 If God is not ordering us, 22:11 expect how can you be successful? 22:16 Something else is going on in your life. 22:19 But the Bible says 22:23 that if we train up a child 22:26 in the way he should go will he what? 22:30 What will happen to him? He won't depart from it. 22:38 In the book 22:40 "Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions" 22:43 George Barna says that the most ideal time 22:47 to get a hold of our young children 22:48 and introduce them to Christ is at the age of five to thirteen. 22:52 And that if we miss that window of opportunity 22:56 should they wander off in the world, 22:58 it's more difficult for them to find their way back to God 23:01 because they never left him. 23:05 They had no starting point. 23:08 That he who confirms that concept because it says, 23:13 train up a little child in the way that he should go, 23:15 and when he is old, it won't depart from him. 23:22 It didn't say he won't depart from it, 23:29 it's going to stay there if it's put there. 23:32 It's gonna remain there if you'll put it there. 23:35 He will walk off from it 23:37 but it will never walk off from him. 23:40 If we train up a child in the range of God, 23:44 it's going to be there. 23:46 Somebody ought to say it today. 23:51 I got excited about it. 23:57 It won't depart from him. 24:03 He knows he is lost but he knows how to get back. 24:12 Don't think your children don't remember 24:14 what you taught them. 24:16 Don't think they don't remember 24:18 what's happening in Sabbath school. 24:20 Don't think they don't recall the lessons 24:22 in their little primaries. 24:25 Don't think, don't underestimate them, 24:27 they understand the stories in the guide. 24:31 And when you least expect that, when you have given up on them, 24:35 when you think 24:37 that they are completely out of their minds 24:39 the Bible says and then he came to himself. 24:44 Then he came to himself. 24:46 He understood that as long as he was living riotously 24:50 that he had lost his mind but praise God 24:52 that comes a moment in their experience 24:56 about wayward children when they come to themselves. 25:04 I want to thank God 25:08 that we come to ourselves. 25:14 It occurs to me for something to come to themselves 25:17 means that they have to be outside of themselves. 25:21 How consistent a definition 25:24 that is with what Christ declared from the cross. 25:27 Father, forgive them, why? 25:30 They don't know what they are doing. 25:31 Anytime you're involved or evolved 25:33 you'll say you are out of your mind 25:38 and you got to come back to yourself. 25:45 It's interesting that he knew exactly how to get back home. 25:51 Remember now, 25:52 he is a young Jewish gothic ruler 25:58 and yet he is in, he has taken a job 26:00 with all of his money gone 26:01 because he had to get rid of everything he had to pawn. 26:04 He had to pawn his iPod, his iPad, his iPhone 26:08 in order to keep up his crack habit. 26:18 And now he is working at a pig farm 26:23 eating the husk of the Ceratonia siliqua tree. 26:28 Carob beans. 26:30 Can you imagine eating the carob beans 26:33 morning in and morning out? 26:36 In fact, the Bible says 26:38 he doesn't even have the luxury of eating the beans. 26:41 And let me good pod of beans 26:43 but he didn't even have the opportunity to eat the beans. 26:46 He had to eat the husk that have the beans. 26:52 That's the same food that the pigs ate. 26:56 It says, taken life had gotten as low as that of a pig. 27:02 A Jew becoming a pig. 27:07 Are you listening to me? 27:09 Yes, sir. Yeah. 27:10 Things that you live for, that you would do. 27:13 Things that you thought were beyond you. 27:16 Then you get outside of yourself 27:18 you don't even know how far down. 27:21 You will recall 27:22 of what you will ever say I'll never. 27:27 Amen. Amen. 27:32 Put in the right circumstances 27:33 you don't know what you are doing. 27:36 I used to tell my family and to mom, 27:38 I'll never eat a skunk. 27:42 I've never been holy in the wilderness either. 27:45 I'll chase that rascal over that saint. 27:52 Now, but I just have to stink. 28:09 Sometimes I don't know where I get stuff from. 28:17 The Bible says in verse 20, 28:21 "And he arose, came to his father. 28:25 But when he was yet" how far? 28:29 "A great way off, his father" do what? 28:32 "Saw him, and had compassion, and ran, 28:34 and fell on his neck, and kissed him." 28:39 Imagine now, his father saw him 28:44 which indicated he been looking for him. 28:50 It doesn't say how long he'd been looking. 28:53 It didn't say how long he'd been away from home 28:56 but what it does say that he, 28:58 that he came from the kind of family, 29:01 he came from the kind of home 29:03 where his father would stay up and look for him 29:08 to come back home. 29:10 Oh, I miss somebody 'cause he admitted that 29:13 I'm talking about God the Father today. 29:22 His father was looking for him and as he walked, 29:27 he was in his rocking chair, you know. 29:31 Just rocking, enjoying the Palestinian breeze. 29:41 Having the cup of lemonade and he stops rocking. 29:49 I know the way that boy walks there. 29:52 I've seen that walk before. 29:55 But keeps rocking 29:58 because his hopes are starting to rise. 30:02 Understand now, 30:03 understand the father has been existed 30:06 in a state of lostness because his son had gone 30:10 and that was the one less a relation 30:15 that he had to look and so he felt 30:18 as if this can't be it. 30:20 My void is not about to be filled 30:22 but as the boy came closer 30:24 and he watched his hat blow in the wind. 30:27 He says he looks a little different. 30:30 He walks a little different, 30:32 but I declare that looks like my boy Jimmy. 30:36 I declare that's him and nobody were serous. 30:41 He doesn't wait for Jimmy 30:43 to come all the way up to the house. 30:48 The Bible says he went and ran 30:52 and got Jimmy. 30:55 And when he got to Jimmy 30:59 he said, "Look here, this is my boy. 31:05 He is ragged, he is stinking. 31:10 He looks gaunt and emaciated 31:14 but he is my boy." 31:17 And so the Bible says, he places a robe around him. 31:23 Now you seek a word robe in the Bible 31:26 but in the Greek it says stole 31:30 from which we get our word stole 31:33 from which we get mink stole. 31:38 He didn't put just any other kind of robe on him. 31:42 He put an expensive robe on him. 31:45 He put a robe on his path that the moment upon he saw him. 31:50 That would see that he was no longer coming 31:53 by the stain of his rebellion, the stain of his sin 31:58 but instead got cover him with his all righteousness. 32:03 Then the Bible says that he put a ring on his finger. 32:07 It's a signet ring that identifies 32:10 that you belong to a certain family. 32:16 He doesn't want anybody 32:17 to just look at him as if he just anybody. 32:20 He wants people to know this is my boy. 32:22 Oh, I love something about God 32:25 that no matter what a mess we make of ourselves, 32:29 He will never disown. 32:30 Have you ever had a family member 32:32 that disowned you because you made a mess of yourself 32:36 that just threw you to curtain? 32:37 And nobody claims you as theirs but when it comes to God, 32:43 God has a way of saying to the world 32:46 "I don't care what they've done 32:48 as long as they're coming back to me, 32:51 I claim them for My own." 32:53 He put shoes on his feet 32:57 because only slaves walked around barefoot. 33:03 But folk who belong to somebody 33:06 walk around in Stacy Adams. 33:10 He is mine. 33:14 And the Bible says, he said, "Kill the fatted calf." 33:17 The fatted calf is significant. 33:19 Now let me tell you something else. 33:25 When he goes to get his son 33:28 and he sees him a great way off, 33:32 inspiration gives us the impression 33:33 that he ran to meet him. 33:36 What's so significant about that? 33:39 Because when you reach a certain station in life, 33:43 you don't run in public. 33:49 You don't embarrass yourself like that 33:52 especially not for some ragged hobo bum son 33:55 that just got off of crack. 33:57 You maintain your dignity 34:00 but God was trying to illustrate for us, 34:03 I don't have any dignity to maintain 34:06 when it comes to My child who is always right at home. 34:10 Amen. 34:12 Praise the Lord. 34:18 Am I speaking to somebody today? 34:22 Parents don't worry about your name, 34:24 your name now mean nothing. 34:27 How can you mess with my name? 34:28 My dad name has been in the family, 34:31 that's all that is been in the family. 34:35 Haven't done nothing with it. 34:38 There, there he is, kill the fatted calf. 34:42 The calf was fatted for the entertainment 34:47 of the dignitary. 34:50 How can somebody from a pigpen now become a dignitary 34:53 at oriental banquet? 34:57 My faults are not your faults. 35:00 You don't mind my ways, your ways. 35:03 You run your party your way. 35:06 Let me run my party my way. 35:09 God places a completely different value 35:11 on a soul than we do. 35:18 And the party is going on. 35:20 Can't you hear the music, 35:22 "I want to dance with somebody?" 35:29 Did you hear it? 35:34 It's a celebration 35:37 but actually he is elder brother. 35:40 He's been out there all alone. 35:43 He's been out there in the field. 35:46 And here is the party coming on. 35:49 And as he gets up to the house he sees the service 35:52 doing the electric slide. 35:58 Where are you off scouting to? 36:01 Your father has come back home. 36:04 Your father has said to kill the fatted calf. 36:07 I want you to understand 36:09 everybody is silent except for the elder brother. 36:15 Get this. Don't miss this. 36:17 Don't miss this. 36:18 When folk come to Jesus 36:23 that we all attend a silent above that. 36:28 But let me tell you, let me tell you 36:29 what happens sometimes 36:32 when folk come back to the Lord. 36:33 Look at verse 25 and 4, it says 36:37 his elder brother came out of the field 36:38 and heard the music and the dancing 36:41 and he called the servant, what does it mean. 36:42 And 27 says your brother is back 36:44 and your father said killed the fatted calf. 36:47 Verse 28 and he was what? 36:49 Angry. 36:50 He was what? Angry! 36:55 He was angry. 36:57 And the Bible says he will not go in. 37:05 Are you getting this? 37:09 You think everybody is happy about your conversion? 37:14 You think everybody left you came back to city temple. 37:19 You think everybody is happy about the fact 37:22 that you found Jesus. 37:25 You forget this the elder brother 37:29 that sits in the church sometime getting angry. 37:33 This is a more subtle form of lostness because he is lost 37:39 and doesn't know he is lost. 37:45 He is so caught up in his moralistic practices. 37:51 I've been in field working, 37:55 I will come to the church faithfully. 37:59 I haven't given tiny headache one day of his life. 38:04 I stayed here and took care of him 38:07 while that fellow-- 38:17 Good thing, I got to edit it. 38:25 He ran out there and got with any little sister he could 38:31 and they're treating him like royalty. 38:33 Now notice what he says here. 38:35 Look here, look here verse 29. 38:36 "And he answered and said to his father, 38:38 'Lord, these many years do I serve thee, 38:39 neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, 38:42 and yet thou never gavest me a kid, 38:46 that I might make merry with my friends." 38:47 Now understand he's killed a fatty calf for the other son 38:51 and he says you haven't even given me 38:53 one of the calf's babies. 38:56 Just paid me a little bit of attention 39:00 and I haven't done anything wrong. 39:01 You know, I've read 39:03 all the Spirit of Prophecy books. 39:09 I'm vegan now. 39:15 I've memorized entire chapters of the Bible. 39:20 On Sabbath I'm involved in personal ministries 39:23 and then in the afternoon I'm part of the Bible study 39:26 and yet you haven't even given me a kheer 39:31 to celebrate what I've done. 39:33 You must understand something 39:34 about the older brother mentality. 39:38 Sometimes the elder brother, 39:42 the elder brother makes it hard for the other brothers 39:47 to come back home. 39:49 Our cities are full, full of younger brothers 39:53 who go off into the far country and make messes of themselves 39:57 but when they come back to their churches 39:59 they find churches full of elder brothers. 40:06 I'm just telling something about the elder brother. 40:08 He has not stayed at home and done all of these things 40:13 out of obedience to his father, 40:17 instead he does it out of obligation 40:19 to make sure I will get my stuff when he dies. 40:26 So he gets two thirds as the elder brother. 40:30 The other one gets one third. 40:32 He is saying, how much did this party cost? 40:39 He got all his money 40:40 so this must be some of my money get to spend. 40:45 He is spending up my money on this barbeque. 40:57 The other brother sets a standard high for himself 41:02 that spoke of words righteousness. 41:07 I can somehow end my way into the father's favor. 41:14 I can earn my way into the kingdom. 41:18 Let me share something with you 41:19 as I come down the whole stretch. 41:21 In Isaiah 64, Isaiah 64 41:25 I want you to notice what the Word of God says here 41:28 in Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 64:6 the Bible says, 41:33 "But we are all as an unclean thing, 41:38 and all our righteousness are as" what? 41:47 And our iniquities, like the wind, 41:49 have taken us away." 41:54 "There is none righteous, 41:57 no, not one." 42:02 Carol Cannon in her book in her 1993 epic work 42:06 called Never Good Enough, 42:09 states that there are some people 42:12 who live their lives 42:14 in a constant search for significance. 42:17 They are constantly looking for somebody 42:19 to affirm or validate their existence. 42:27 They measure that affirmation by the things they do, 42:34 never understanding that when it comes to God, 42:37 you can't do enough good to win His favor. 42:44 I want to turn to my favorite verse in scripture 42:46 I want you to see this here. 42:50 This is important, this is special. 42:53 Romans 5:8 notice what the Word of God says. 43:00 "But God commendeth his love toward us, 43:04 in that, while we were" what? 43:07 "Yet sinners," What does yet mean? 43:10 Still. Still sinners. 43:15 What does it say? 43:16 "Christ died" 43:19 you mean while I was in the wrong bed? 43:28 Don't get quiet only now. 43:32 You mean while I was pocketing the Lord's money? 43:36 Yes. 43:38 Do you mean while I was smelling white powder? 43:44 Yes. 43:46 What are you saying, pastor, 43:49 while I was molesting that child, 43:52 while I was abusing my wife, the Lord died for you, 43:57 right when you were in the midst of your sin. 44:02 Amen. Amen. 44:07 Now, now, can we talk? 44:09 Yes. 44:10 I'm your pastor and I love you but you would just have to die. 44:26 Oh, they seem to say, look at our pastor says, 44:28 you wouldn't have died for me either. 44:31 No, you would. 44:34 If somebody is messing up you just say, 44:35 they just got to mess up. 44:38 I'm not gonna help you. 44:39 But while we were yet sinners, 44:43 Christ died for us. 44:50 So why would the elder brother get angry? 44:55 Why? 44:58 Because all of his righteousness 45:02 is centered in his works. 45:05 He believes that I've earned the right, 45:11 earned the right to be called your son. 45:14 Earned the right to receive everything that's coming out. 45:17 I've earned it. 45:20 How could you then ignore me like this? 45:27 We have lost the moment we believe 45:30 that we deserve a place in God's kingdom 45:34 based on what we've done as opposed to what He has done. 45:39 If we ever get out of view what He has done, 45:43 if we ever get the cross get out of our vision, 45:47 we will never fully understand what it is 45:51 to live by faith in the grace of Jesus Christ. 45:56 Look up here at verse 1, 45:58 "Therefore being justified by faith," by what? 46:01 Faith. 46:03 "We have" what? "Peace." 46:04 Say that word again. Peace. 46:05 "Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 46:08 by whom also we have access by faith into" what? 46:12 Grace. 46:13 "Into this grace wherein we stand, 46:16 and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 46:22 Amen. Amen. 46:26 We are the recipients of God's grace. 46:31 We are recipients of His imputed righteousness. 46:34 Do you know what I mean when I say 46:36 imputed righteousness? 46:37 That means that I'm guilty, 46:40 I'm a sinner. Yes. 46:42 But when I accept Jesus Christ based on His life, 46:46 I'm declared innocent. 46:48 Yes. 46:50 I was a teenager growing up in Germany 46:54 and succumb to peer pressure. 46:57 I want to be a member of that group in my school 46:59 called the Black Glove Club. 47:03 In order to become a member of the Black Glove Club 47:05 all you had to do is walk into the PX 47:08 and steal something without putting it in your clothes. 47:12 And I went to the PX and the boys were with me 47:16 and they were stealing stuff but the moment, 47:19 the moment that somebody got caught everybody is scattered. 47:22 Guess who got caught? 47:24 The Adventist. 47:27 You can always tell on occasion, 47:30 they dance too hard in the party. 47:32 They drink too much. 47:34 They get too loud you can tell it. 47:37 They leave me alone. 47:41 And as they were leading me up to the office, 47:44 they were leading me up to the office. 47:47 I said, I can pay for this. 47:49 I got some money. 47:51 I was just going outside to get a fresh air 47:53 before I went to the race to pay for it. 48:02 They took me up to the manager's office 48:05 and I saw the sign, "No shoplifting. 48:10 Violators will be prosecuted." 48:13 Gave them my ID card. 48:16 They said, the manager said get the MPs up here. 48:21 He looked at my ID card and he said, 48:23 it said, Eddie Polite. 48:24 He said, Eddie Polite. 48:28 Are you related to the commander, 48:30 Command Sergeant Major 48:32 of this post Edward E. Polite? 48:39 Yeah. 48:46 The man then said, hold, wait a minute don't call the MPs. 48:51 Call his daddy. 48:58 I said, "Please call the police. 49:00 Call the po-po, call the man you want to, but don't call, 49:05 have somebody, just don't call my daddy up here. 49:10 I have no daddy. 49:13 That brethren will beat me to death. 49:21 Amen. Amen. 49:23 But I heard them talking and they said, 49:29 the Sergeant Major wouldn't appreciate 49:31 this kind of publicity. 49:34 He has conducted himself with integrity the whole time, 49:38 he's been the commander. 49:41 Based on his life... 49:49 Based on his life and the way he's conducted himself 49:55 let's call his daddy 49:56 and forget about what his son has done. 50:01 And daddy came up there. 50:04 Didn't know what to expect. 50:08 They called him in the office, 50:11 spoke to him and daddy took me downstairs 50:15 and paid for what I got caught stealing. 50:17 You know, what I got caught stealing? 50:19 A box of Smith Brothers cough drops. 50:27 Don't offer me one if you see me coughing. 50:41 You talk about the excesses, give me a Smith Brothers cough. 50:46 Daddy went to the register 50:47 paid for that box of Smith Brothers cough drops. 50:51 I walked out the store 50:54 as if I had done absolutely nothing 50:58 because my daddy showed up. 51:03 And everybody treated me as if I was innocent. 51:08 That's imputed righteousness. 51:12 It's nothing that you had in control of it. 51:15 You haven't done a faint to deserve it. 51:18 He's done everything to deserve it 51:20 and we become the beneficiary 51:23 of Christ imputed righteousness. 51:26 And in order to stay that way, in order to stay that way, 51:31 he doesn't stop there, 51:32 He gives you His imparted righteousness. 51:35 When I got home, daddy gave me his imparted righteousness. 51:44 Yeah, he give me something to make sure 51:46 you know how to walk right. 51:52 Power to talk right. 51:56 Power to be right. 51:59 Power to behave right. 52:02 Power to sit right. 52:05 Power in imparted righteousness, 52:09 so that you can stay on the narrow way. 52:16 All of our righteousness is filthy before God. 52:23 You can't pray enough, you can't study enough, 52:27 you can't testify enough, you can't work enough, 52:31 you can't do enough to deserve it 52:36 that negates the elder brother mentality. 52:43 In closing, 52:47 whether you are the younger brother 52:50 or the older brother, 52:54 the father has come out to meet you. 53:01 He doesn't just sit there in glory 53:06 allowing us to flounder in our sins. 53:10 He is a kind of God 53:13 that that down take calls the hound of heaven. 53:16 He seeks after those who are lost. 53:23 I'm glad to serve a God like that today, 53:27 who understands my lostness 53:32 and does something for me. 53:36 When we were in England, 53:39 I was looking for a special church there. 53:45 And on the top of that church 53:47 there is a cross called Charing Cross. 53:50 You can play musicians. 53:52 Charing Cross, that cross 53:57 a little boy got lost one day 54:01 and wandered away from his home. 54:06 Didn't know his way back 54:10 so he just sat down on the curve started crying. 54:16 A buddy comes along, a policeman and asked him, 54:22 "Little boy, what's wrong with you?" 54:27 He says, "I'm lost." 54:32 He says, "How do you know you're lost?" 54:35 He said, "Because I don't recognize 54:37 anything around me." 54:41 He said, "What? 54:45 Tell me your address." 54:47 He said, "I don't know my address." 54:51 "Tell me your momma's name, big momma." 55:00 "Does big momma have a name?" 55:03 "That's the only name I know, big momma." 55:08 "What's about your daddy?" 55:09 "I didn't got a daddy." 55:13 "You got to tell me where you live 55:15 so I can help you get back home." 55:17 "He is saying I told you everything I know. 55:20 I don't know how to get back." 55:22 And he sat back now on the curve 55:24 and started crying some more. 55:29 The policeman decides 55:34 that let me go there piece of another round. 55:38 He said, "Do you remember anything 55:40 that's around the house that you live?" 55:45 He stopped crying for a moment. 55:48 He said, "There is a cross. 55:55 A big cross on top of the church 55:59 by my house. 56:01 If you can just take me to the cross, 56:05 I can find my way back home. 56:08 If you can take me to the cross, 56:12 I can find my way back home." 56:18 There is a prodigal God 56:21 who wanders off into the far country 56:24 not to waste his substance in riotous living 56:28 but to save others 56:30 who have wandered off into the far country 56:33 and wasted their lives in riotous living. 56:40 That's the kind of God we serve. 56:43 He will come after you. 56:47 He loves you that much. 56:51 Do you understand that the word prodigal in that context 56:57 is someone who is wasteful or extravagant 57:00 but it comes from the same root word as the word prodigy 57:05 which means a genius? 57:07 You're not a genius because you waste your life, 57:10 you are a genius because you recognized 57:12 that you're messed up 57:14 and you need to come back to God. |
Revised 2016-04-11