[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our
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[00:00:24] Speaker B: Have you ever gone through something in your life? Maybe you're going through something in your life even this morning where you've had to just ask the question, question, why this? Of all the things that I could be going through, why this? Or maybe you've asked yourself, why me?
I think I'm a pretty decent person. I don't think I deserve what I'm going through. I don't seem to be able to make sense of this. Or you may even say, why now? I mean, good night. If there ever was a terrible time for the things that I'm going through to be happening, it's right now. I don't need anything else right now. I don't know if you've lived long in life as most of us have. You've probably been there, why me? Why this? Why now? And probably if you don't process that in a healthy way, you may even find yourself saying, if I were God, if I were God, I would have done this whole thing so much differently. Have you ever had that thought?
Have you ever wondered why in the world, man, if I ever. You just wish God would ask your opinion about something. Hey, before this goes on, is this a good time for you? I mean, I don't want to put you through something if you're not ready for this. God doesn't ask our opinion. He really doesn't. He just allows these things to happen. Sometimes he causes these things to happen. Reminds me of the guy that was sitting out under his massive oak tree, and he was sitting in front of this big watermelon patch, and he was sitting there thinking to himself as he saw these little tiny acorns growing off of these massive branches, and he saw those huge watermelons growing off of those little tiny vines. He said, if I were God, I would have done that a whole lot differently. And suddenly a little acorn fell out of the tree and hit him on the top of the head. He said, man, I'm glad that wasn't a watermelon.
I'm just saying to your heart this morning that even though we sometimes tend to question the things that we go through, we try to make sense of it. Part of what I do as a pastor is something called apologetics, which is a defense of the faith, meaning that I come out in the Sunday mornings and I try to help us all navigate a little bit some of the life experiences. And I'll be quite honest with you, there are some experiences you go through in life, as we all know, that will make no sense this side of heaven. You just will not get answers. And if you lock in and you dig your heel in and you just say, and if I don't get some kind of answer or some type of clarity on this situation, I'm not going to be satisfied and I will have no joy in my life. And I'm just going to just stay here. I'm not going to even move an inch. You're going to go through life very miserable. Because I said earlier, God seldom explains himself. And there are some things, folks, you just go through in life that you have to kind of gather all of those questions up and lay them at.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: The feet of Jesus.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: And you have to come to the conclusion, he loves me, he understands me, he knows what's best for me. And therefore, I trust Him.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: I trust him.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: You, you may not get that answer, and you may not get clarity, and you may not get out of that spin and confusion. And so you just have to simply say, with the things that I don't get and the things that make no sense and the things that don't, you know, that don't seem to square. I trust God.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: I just.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: I just trust Him. I believe this morning that God doesn't cause everything that you and I go through in life to happen. I believe he permits the things that happen in our life. And I further believe that God can take anything that happens and ultimately make it work out for us, for our good and for his glory. And I base that on Romans 8:28. When Paul said, for we know, he didn't say, I'm going to speculate, I'm going to guess, I'm going to hypothesize. He said, we know with certainty. We know that all things work together for good. He didn't say all things are good.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: The loss of a spouse, not good. Loss of a child, not good.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: A bad diagnosis, not good.
[00:04:21] Speaker C: Loss of a job, not good.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: Breakup of a home, not good. There's so many things in life that aren't good. He didn't say all things are good. He said, God has a way to make those things ultimately work out somehow for our good and for His Glory.
That's where the trust factor comes in. Because sometimes you have to understand that God can prevent us from falling off of the ledge. And sometimes. Are you ready for this? God pushes us from the ledge.
In fact, in the Book of Matthew, Jesus was teaching this principle of. In fact, it's in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 29. He said this. This was kind of a teaching that was. He was misunderstood. I think I've got clarity on it, and I'll share with you what I think he's saying. By what. What he meant by what he was saying. He said, if your right eye offends, you, pluck it out. You're better to go into heaven with one than into hell with two.
If your right arm offends you, cut it off. You better to go into heaven with one than into hell with two. Now, here's what he wasn't saying. He wasn't saying that God is some sovereign sadist that takes pleasure in pain. Here's what I think he was saying. I think he was saying that if it takes affliction to bring us to a point in life where we can trust God and we can connect with our Creator, that God is more just to allow the affliction, if ultimately it brings us to him, than to allow us to go merrily through life with no recognition or acknowledgement of God at all, and therefore go out into eternity completely disconnected from the Creator. So I'm suggesting to you, as a way of thinking through what you might be going through this morning, that God may not have caused the experiences of life you're dealing with. He may be allowing them, and there's a purpose in them. And ultimately it's so that we trust him and that we can come to him and say, God, you're God. I'm not. And I trust you in the midst of everything that I'm going through. And so, God, I'm going to bring all my questions and I'm going to lay them at your feet. And I'm going to understand that you are my creator. You made me, you designed me, you love me. You know me better than I know myself. And so, therefore, God, I'm just simply going to trust you, particularly in the things that I don't understand and the things that make no sense.
The great C.S. lewis once said, God whispers to us in our pleasures, he speaks in our consciousness, and he shouts to us in our pain.
The psalmist wrote in the 119th Psalm in the 71st verse, Listen to this. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your ways.
Now, I'm sure David didn't have that attitude going into this situation or going into the circumstance. But once he got through it and he looked back on it, he realized God had a purpose in it.
When Jesus was going to the cross, he said to his apostles in John on one occasion, he said, what I'm doing, you won't understand. Now, in fact, he went on to say, you will weep and you will mourn over what you're about to see.
But he said, what I'm going to, you won't understand. But he said, you will understand thereafter. Meaning there will come a point in time where you'll look back on the situation that has broken your heart and that has brought you so much distress. And there will come a point in time when you will see that I had a purpose in it. Now, what was he talking about? He's speaking of the cross. He was saying, in a little while, I'm gonna go to the cross. And you followed me. You've left everything. Simon Peter, man sold his shipping business and he fall in for Jesus, right? He's following. And so here they are, all in for Jesus. They're following him. And now Jesus is crucified and he's taken to the cross and he dies.
And so they're in the middle of this distress. In fact, the Bible, Jesus prophesied, when the shepherd is smitten, the sheep will scatter. And they did. Simon Peter stood at the fire and denied knowing Jesus. In fact, when you look at John 21, he quit. He went back to his old life. He said, I'm done. I'm out of here. If this is what being a Christian and serving God looks like, I don't want any more of this. He said, I'm going fishing.
And the rest of the guys that were with him said, man, we're out of here too. We'll go with you.
So they were weeping and mourning over what they were going through. And they didn't understand the significance of what Jesus was allowing them to go through. But once the Easter morning happened and once the resurrection occurred, and once salvation was complete, the thing that caused them grief on this side of the cross brought them great joy on the other side of the tomb.
And that's a principle of life. Ladies and gentlemen, I just suggest to you of how God works.
We go through these cross experiences in life. That brings us to a crossroad in life. And we weep and we mourn, and we're confused and sometimes we walk away. Cause they make no sense. But once we go through them and we can look back on them and have different perspective from our experience, we come to realize God was with us.
[00:09:19] Speaker C: Every step of the way.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: So I found in life and see if this rings true in your mind.
The troubles and the mysteries of life do one of two things. They either draw you closer to God.
[00:09:31] Speaker C: Or they drive you away from Him.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: And I told you, we have people in this room. We have people in our church. We have thousands of members that call them at their church home. And many of them aren't here because the experiences of life have driven them farther away from God. I get that. I understand that.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: When you've lost what I've lost, and.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Some of you have, when you've gone through what I've been through and some of you have, you understand how people can not respond in a healthy way initially, and they tend to walk away. Why this?
Why me? Why now?
Especially when God doesn't give you answers, you do the best you can. You pray as hard as you know how. And the answer from heaven is not yes, but the answer from heaven is no. And sometimes it's a hard no.
And so you navigate through that. You have to if you're going to stay alive. And you navigate through it. And at some point, you realize, God, I choose to trust you. And in that period of time, you're driven from him. And now you're drawn back to him.
And I think, ladies and gentlemen, all of us are somewhere on that.
[00:10:40] Speaker C: On that measurement today.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: I think the people watching online are somewhere on that measurement today.
And the story I just wanted to share with you before we go home is the story of a young man that chose to walk away for a period of time. What he experienced in the process and the things that ultimately brought him back home. Because I really think in this young man's story, all of us can find some relevance and some application. And I think all of us, if we're honest about it, have probably been here at some point and we can relate to this young man's experience.
If you've been in church very long, you probably know the story is the story of the prodigal.
Charles Dickens described it. He said it's the best short story ever written in the English language. The story of the prodigal.
And the story really opens with what I wanted to share with you this morning. Considering what he left, what this young man left behind. Look at Luke 15, verses 11 and 12. Jesus is telling the story. He said there was a man who had two sons the younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate. So the father divides his property among them. The first thing this young man did when he left home is he left a good parent.
He walked away from a loving father. Everything we know about the prodigal father is very good, very positive. He provided a good home for his son. He provided, as far as we know, a very healthy environment. This was not an abusive father. This was not a home where he was being harmed in any way.
This was a home that had a loving father who cared for him, who provided for him, who did everything that he could to protect him. This was a good father. And yet this young man, in spite of that type of father, he chose to walk away.
You can't find a better father than our Heavenly Father.
Jesus was using this story, this parable. Remember I told you a couple of weeks ago, a parable is a earthly story that has heavenly or spiritual significance.
You get parable from the idea of parallel.
And so when he's talking about this Father, he's talking about the Heavenly Father. And when he's talking about this prodigal, he's talking about us.
So if you put yourself in the story, I don't know what motivated the young man to want to walk away from a loving father, but he chose to do that.
And what's interesting in the story is the Father lets him go.
The culture of the day, the Father could have kept him at home. The culture of the day, the Father could have not allowed him to do that. But the Father gave him permission to walk away.
And can I tell you, this morning, our Heavenly Father understands we have a will. He gave it to us. He will let you press into him or he'll let you walk away from Him.
It's a good news, bad news situation.
The good news is you can have all of God you want.
The bad news is you have all of God you want.
And so the first thing this young man did was he left this wonderful parent. The second thing he did was he left this great protection, this protection that this home provided him. Everything he needed, he was provided for within the care of his Father.
There's a protection you get when you're connected with your Creator. Jesus said, all that the Father has given me are in my hand, and no one can take them from my hand.
There's a protection you have when you press into the Father. There is just a special presence of him that you'll know that you don't necessarily feel when you walk away from Him. And so this young man walks from a good parent. He walks from a gracious protection. He walks from a generous provision Father was providing for him every step of the way. He didn't have to worry about where his next meal was coming from.
You think those kids over in Met kids this morning are stressed about the mortgage?
We got a lot of precious children in here. Let me tell you what. They're not thinking about their car payment.
They're not worried about groceries.
They're not worried about the economy.
They could care less about the election.
They're not worried about any of those things. They know why? Because Mom's got it covered. Dad's got it covered. Why do I need to worry? You protect them, you provide for them. You're a good parent.
In fact, Jesus said, if you who are earthly know how to do good things for your kids, how much more does your heavenly Father know how to do good things for you? So I'm just saying, when you stay in the analogy of that story, he is saying, I am a good father. I am a father who will protect you and I am a father who will provide for you. And one of the greatest things that that type of father provided, he provided.
[00:15:31] Speaker C: Peace, a gentle peace.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: There was a peace that this young man had. It was security and serenity that he had when he went home. I love this line and I copied it in my notes for you. It's by Rudyard Kipling. And he said, in a family, all of us are we and everyone else is they.
All of us are we and everyone else is they. You remember when you were growing up, somebody could, I mean, you could, you could have this knock down drag out with your brother or sister, but nobody else better go after them.
Were you that way?
I mean, my sister is three years older than I am and she was, man, she was like Mother junior. When my mother was gone, she stepped into that role.
I'm seven years older than my brother though. I look much younger, but it's the miles. But anyway, you know, and so when my mom would go, you know, on Saturday, I don't know if you had this experience when you were a kid. My mom would go get her hair done on Saturday. That's what she called it. I'm going to get my hair done. And you only go with her one time and you know you'll never go again.
For one thing, that salon is so full of Aquanet, I think my lungs would freeze up. Remember Aquanet?
It's like spray stick em.
I played football, I'd just spray my mom's hairspray on my gloves. And I'd catch anything, better pry the football out of my hands.
And then my dad used brill cream. Remember brill cream? Oh, man, it's like. I don't. I'm off on that. But anyway, the point is, when my mom would go to that beauty salon on Saturday morning to get her hair done, and then she would wrap it, by the way, she wrapped toilet paper around it before she went to sleep.
Do y'all know what I'm talking about? How am I 100 years old up here? Don't leave me hanging.
She would wrap her hair up in toilet paper and go. I said, what are you doing? I mean, you know what? You know what toilet paper's for, right? You know, it don't go in your head. The point is, she always keeps my hair in place for the. For church tomorrow. I just went along with it. I was kid. Some things, you know, you don't understand. You just accept. But my point of this whole little goofy story is when my mom stepped out of the door, my sister was large and in charge of my brother and me.
And boy, she ruled with an iron fist.
She got so upset at me one time, she took a broom, ran me out of the house with a broom, just whacking me just as I ran out, slammed the door, locked it. My mom gets home a couple hours later, and I'm out in the yard. What are you doing out here? I said, she ran me out of the house.
You know how she is.
Of course, I was completely innocent, right?
But I'm just saying we could have those. But, boy, you better not get on my sister or my brother, right?
Because in a home, it's all about us and everybody else are out there. And I'm just saying that's what you have when you're in the family of God. You have a heavenly father who will protect you.
He looks out for you. I just don't want you to miss. This young man walked away from all of that. And the second part of the story is not only what he left, but then you begin to understand what he lost by what he left. You see that in verses 13 through 19 where he said not long after that and that boy, that's the key phrase, because there is. Can I tell you, there is something as pleasure in sin. Sin is pleasurable.
In fact, in Hebrews it says the pleasures of sin are seasonal.
Look, if you don't enjoy sin, you're not doing it right.
There's pleasure in sin, or there wouldn't be so many people involved in it. I'm just saying the devil set that up. The problem with the pleasures of sin is they're seasonal. They come to an end.
And the devil uses these temptations that you and I face in life. What he doesn't show you behind the temptation is this.
That sin will take you farther than you wanted to go.
The thing will cost you more than you were willing to pay, and the thing will keep you longer than you wanted to stay.
You don't get that on the front end. You get that on the back end. So I'm saying there's pleasures of sin just for a while. So just for a little while. This kid is foot loose and fancy free. Man. I'm out away from, you know, my dad. I'm out there on my own.
One of our dear friends is an evangelist. His name is Tim Lee. He's a decorated marine from the Vietnam War. Lost both of his legs walking point on his last. Just before he was going home, he was training a young man to walk point in Vietnam. And he said, no. They said, well, you're the commander. You don't need to walk point. He said, I'm teaching him how to do it. I'm going to walk point. Just before he was going home after serving several tours in Vietnam. Stepped on a box, mine. Lost both of his legs.
And his story is pretty powerful. He was a pastor's son, and he walked away. He said, my story is that of the prodigal, and he chose to walk away. He walks away from God.
And it took that experience, a devastating experience in life to bring him back. But he said I was a very rebellious child. He said it was the 60s. He said, you know, so my hair was longer than my dad wanted. And he said, we had fights over the length of my hair. We had fights over my schedule. He didn't like my clothes, you know, he said he didn't like my music. We were constantly fighting. And he said, finally I went in one day and he said, dad, let me tell you what I've done. Said, what's that, son? He said, I'm tired of you telling me how to cut my hair. I'm tired of you telling me what kind of music I listen to. I'm tired of you telling me when to get up and when to go to bed. You know what I did, dad? He said, what? He said, I joined the marines.
Dad said, good call, son.
So Tim Lee joined the Marine Corps. And the point I'm making is, man, this young man, for a little While thought, boy, I just made a brilliant choice. I walked away from my dad. Nobody's going to tell me how to rule my life. That's why I wanted to underscore that phrase when you read that there at verse 13. Not long after that, he gets everything he had. He goes to this country and after he spent everything, there's a famine in the land. He finds himself in hurt. He goes and hires himself out as one that would keep pigs. And boy, if you're a Jewish boy, that was an offensive job in order to try to keep pigs. And he longed, the Bible says, verse 16, just to fill his stomach with what the pigs were eating. And no one gave him anything.
So when this young man left, here's the things that he lost.
[00:22:19] Speaker C: The first thing that he lost was his faith. Lost his faith.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: Now, I don't mean by that, when I say lose your faith, I don't mean you've lost your relationship with God. Because I'm one who believes in eternal security.
Meaning that once you become a Christian, you're always a Christian. You can't recount, renounce, and God will not kick you out of his family. Ephesians says, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
[00:22:43] Speaker C: The Holy Spirit seals you in that.
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Relationship, meaning that you are his child and he is your father.
Losing faith for a child of God doesn't mean that you no longer have that relationship with him. John 3. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus the rabbi, he said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And Nicodemus didn't understand what he was talking about. And then Jesus said, that which is born of flesh is flesh, Nicodemus.
[00:23:10] Speaker C: And then there's a spiritual birth.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: That which is born of spirit is spirit. Jesus compared a spiritual birth to a physical birth.
Let me ask you this morning, is it possible for you to be unborn physically? No, it's illogical. It's impossible. You can't be unborn physically. Jesus said, just as you are born physically, you were born spiritually. If it is impossible for you to be unborn physically, you cannot be unborn spiritually. It is not the relationship with God that you lose when you walk away.
[00:23:41] Speaker C: You lose your fellowship with God.
[00:23:44] Speaker B: You can be in a relationship with someone this morning and be out of fellowship with them.
You can love someone this morning and not like them.
[00:23:52] Speaker C: Don't look at anybody right now.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: And I'm not looking. I'm looking at your foreheads right now. I'm not looking. I'm not making eye contact with anybody.
I'm just saying if you're in a relationship with anybody, you know how that can be. Sometimes you don't even like your own kids. You love them, but you just don't like them right now. Like that lady asked a friend, if you could do it all over again, would you still have kids? She said, yeah, I just wouldn't have the same ones.
I mean, everybody's kind of been there where you just were worn out with them little boogers. You love them to death, but oh my gosh, you need a break. Mama needs a break. And I'm just saying, this young man, all of a sudden, he walks away. And what broke when he lost his faith was his fellowship. He didn't have connection with God. He had no fellowship with him. He lost his faith. Not only did that, secondly, he lost his finances.
The Bible says he squandered his wealth. And when his money ran out, so did his friends.
He had these fair weather friends, these friends that were with him because of what he could do for them. He had. All of his relationships, when you read the story, were very commercial, very transactional.
There were friends that were only with him because of what he could do for them. I can help them make more money. So therefore I'm their friend. I help them out. I give them a loan every now and then.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: Therefore I'm their friend.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: I'm somebody they benefit from being around, therefore I'm their friend. And boy, you find real quick that not everybody that hangs on to you is your friend.
You'll make a lot of acquaintances in life.
[00:25:14] Speaker C: You'll make very few real friends.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: And sadly, this young man, his judgment so impaired that he surrounded himself with some really bad friends.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: And when the money was gone, so were they.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: Some guy said one time, he said, man, I've lost half my money and half all my money rather than half my friends. And the guy says, well, you still have half your friends. He said, they just hadn't heard. I lost all my money.
So here he is. He lost his faith, he lost his finances. Track a little further. He lost his friends and he lost.
[00:25:45] Speaker C: Hope for the future.
[00:25:46] Speaker B: I mean, here he is in this pig pen. Here he is at this place of despair. Here he is losing everything in his life and the check has come due. He's bankrupt, he's sown to his flesh. And now of his flesh he's reaping corruption. All of the things his father warned him about.
[00:26:03] Speaker C: Now he is experiencing it. But let me close with this thought.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Not only what he left and what.
[00:26:10] Speaker C: He lost, but notice what he learned.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: And man, this is where the, this is where the sweet spot is in.
[00:26:17] Speaker C: Life, is the things we learn from what we go through.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: It's what we learn about the mistakes we make. It's important.
[00:26:23] Speaker C: It's what we learn by the experiences of life. It's what is important. It's the things we learn when we're betrayed that's so important. What have you learned from that experience?
[00:26:33] Speaker B: I've lived long enough. Now when I go through something, I'm.
[00:26:35] Speaker C: Just saying, God help me learn whatever it is in the world you're trying to teach me.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Cause I don't wanna take this lesson over.
And sometimes we go through the same thing over and again. Much like a teacher giving her class, her students or his students, a pop test. Didn't you hate pop tests in school? You didn't see it coming?
[00:26:53] Speaker C: You didn't Pop quiz.
[00:26:54] Speaker B: Clear your desk. Here we go. And what they're doing, really, they're just evaluating if what they're being, what they've, what they've been teaching is taking effect. Are you learning this because a good teacher will tell you there's no point in going to the next section of material if you hadn't learned the previous section.
Especially in math, everything builds on the next thing. I was never good at math, but what helped me just understand, you know, five out of four people aren't good at math either. So you get that on the way home. But the point is, in math, one thing builds on the next thing.
So you learn this level so you can go to the next level, so you can get the next level. So a pop test comes around not for the teacher's benefit, but for the students benefit to let you know you don't know.
And God sometimes will send his kids through a pop test and we have to retake it and retake it and retake it and retake it. We're wondering, why has this happened continually in my life? And it could be we aren't learning the lessons. So God is sending us back through the test.
By the way, everything in life will hit you in one of two ways. It'll either be a test or a temptation. And a test is an evaluation to.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: Prepare you for life at the next level.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: A temptation is a solicitation to do.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: Something that will hurt you and go against God's will for your life. You can always tell the difference.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: So if it's a test, it's God's evaluating me to see if I can handle life at the next level. Oh God, give me that promotion.
[00:28:19] Speaker C: You know what happens if he does more responsibility.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: There may be more money, but there's more headaches. Be careful what you pray for.
If you're in management and you're managing people, you may have aspired to that, but let me tell you, it's a bigger headache. You got more responsibility, and that's okay. I'm just telling you, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. And you just need to know that with that comes a greater level of responsibility. And life at fourth grade is going to be tougher than it was at third grade, even though third grade was challenging.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: It's everything we go through prepares us for the next thing we're going to go through.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: And so here this young man is learning some things, and he learned some things about himself.
In fact, it opens in verse 17 with when he came to his senses.
We might call that an epiphany. He came to himself. And by the way, you'll never really. You'll never really get where you're going if you don't first of all, come to yourself. You have to come to your senses.
[00:29:20] Speaker C: You have to know where you are.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: If you're going to get where you need to be. You have to be honest and evaluate where you are. You have to say, I'm not where I need to be. And, you know, there's some things in my life I need to change if I'm ever going to achieve these goals in life. And this young man, the first step in him moving in the right direction is he learned some things about himself.
He wasn't blaming his dad, he wasn't blaming his friends. He wasn't blaming anything in life, he. He came to his senses.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: He was honest, he was humble.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: And I won't take the time to read through this narrative, but I have it for you there. And the point he. He realized was I'm.
[00:29:59] Speaker C: I'm going to try to go home.
[00:30:01] Speaker B: And I'm not going to go home and assume that I'm going to have the same position that I had when I left. I'm not even going to assume that my dad will even receive me, because.
[00:30:10] Speaker C: I don't deserve it.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: By the way, do you realize in the culture of that day, for a young man to demand his inheritance, the only way an inheritance was given was that the father or the mother or.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: Both had to have died.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: And for a young man to ask for his inheritance was in essence saying to their mother or their father, I.
[00:30:31] Speaker C: Wish you were dead.
I wish you were dead.
[00:30:34] Speaker B: I wish you weren't even in my life. I wish you dead.
I mean, it was so hurtful to that father and so, so, you know, devastating to him. And so the father, in spite of his hurt, allowed the young man to have what he demanded and gave it to him.
And boy, sometimes a lesson of life is you can get what you want.
[00:30:54] Speaker C: And miss what you need.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: And this young man got the thing he thought he wanted and missed the.
[00:31:00] Speaker C: Thing he desperately needed. And now he comes to himself, older, wiser, beat up and broken. But thank God, he came to himself.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: And he said, I'm going to go home. I'm going to see if my father.
[00:31:13] Speaker C: Will take me back.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: And the beautiful part of the story.
[00:31:17] Speaker C: Is the father had been waiting for him all the time.
[00:31:21] Speaker B: The young man had his well rehearsed thing he was going to say to his dad when he got back and the dad just interrupted him.
[00:31:26] Speaker C: He said, bring the robe and put.
[00:31:28] Speaker B: It on him and bring this ring.
[00:31:29] Speaker C: And put it on his hand. Son, I know where you are.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: I know what you've done.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: I don't even know that. I just know you've come home.
What is repentance?
Repentance is to turn, to turn. The Greek word is metanoia. It's to turn to Jesus from sin or to turn from sin to Jesus to turn. What happened in that pig pen is he turned repentance.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: And the minute you can be in.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: A service like this, you can be.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: Watching online, you can be going down the road.
[00:32:02] Speaker C: The minute that heart turns, turns, you'll find a heavenly father waiting on you like this Father was waiting on his son and you received him. He didn't just receive him, he restored him.
He gave that boy back everything that he had lost. And there was a rejoicing that happened in that family. There was a party that was thrown in that family for a boy who had come back home.
I can tell you the road home is short. The way back to God is fast. Some of you are one prayer away.
Years ago, there was a young man named John Newton.
[00:32:37] Speaker B: I'll share this and we'll close. John Newton walked away from a loving family.
[00:32:42] Speaker C: He walked away from a family who taught him about Jesus. He rejected it and just walked away.
He got involved in slave merchandising back in that day. He became the captain of a slave ship.
And transporting these poor people across the.
[00:32:58] Speaker B: Ocean, he encounters a storm.
[00:33:00] Speaker C: And the storm was so severe, they thought not just the ship would be lost, but every soul on board would be lost.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: And he went down as the captain.
[00:33:08] Speaker C: Of the ship, into the lowest parts of the ship and laid on his face before God.
And he said, God, if you will forgive me, I want to come home. I want to receive you as my savior, and I'm going to get out.
[00:33:20] Speaker B: Of this profession and I'm going to do everything I can to stop this.
[00:33:23] Speaker C: This is a godless profession.
And God heard his prayer and miraculously saved John Newton and everyone on board the ship that day. And he kept his word to God and he wrote a song about that experience. Maybe you've heard it. It goes like this. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found Was blind but now I see John Newton came home.
Would you pray with me this morning?
Some of you guys are here this morning. Let me tell you, God loves you. He knows where you are. He knows what you're going through. You are literally. You are literally one prayer away from the arms of your father.
There's no accident you're in this room. There's no accident you're watching online. The providence of God has brought you to this place, to this moment, so you could simply humble your heart and honestly reach out toward heaven by faith.
And if you'll do so, you'll find your heavenly Father will love you, receive you. Jesus said, if you come to me, I will in no wise turn you away. He loves you. He went to the cross for you this morning. He will forgive you. He will save you. He will restore you. Maybe you know Jesus and you've been walking away from him. Come home. Come home. The Father will receive you. Bring all that disgust and all that distrust and all of that disappointment and all that depression. Bring all that heaviness to him.
He can handle it. He said, cast all your cares upon me, for I care for you.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: He's the friend that will come into.
[00:35:09] Speaker C: Your life when every other friend walks out. He said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Come home.
So this morning, Father, I pray for my friends and I pray for those watching online, wherever they are and whatever circumstance they may find themselves in, I pray they'll come home.
I pray right where they are at this moment. Some will pray this prayer and say, lord Jesus, with everything I know about me, I now trust all that I know about you. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. I receive you as my Savior. In Jesus name I pray.
[00:35:50] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:35:52] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
