Transcription
Hey YouTube family, it's Kaye. And the title of our message today is "Come Home." Pastor KJ talked about the prodigal son and how it doesn't matter what you've done or how far you've ran, it's never too late to return home to the Lord. I hope this message blesses you.
So today, I'm preaching a sermon titled, "If You're Taking Notes, Come Home." And this is the first sermon I've ever preached in Radiant history, so it's a little nostalgic. And I don't know, this sermon, our ministry is pretty much built on this sermon I'll preach today. It's the first sermon I've ever preached, and, uh, really excited for you guys to hear it. But it's titled "Come Home."
So today, we're talking about the gospel. And the gospel is the foundation of our faith. Anyone that builds anything, any contractors, anything in the building, you understand the power of foundation. Um, a building is only as great as the foundation. You can have the best building, the best decorations, the best sheetrock, the best ceiling, best lighting, best plumbing, best electrical. But if that foundation is faulty, that building will begin to have cracks all over, in the floor, in the wall, in the ceiling. Everything will begin to fall apart, and it will not withstand tough times if it's not built on a proper foundation.
And I believe a lot of your Christian lives and your walks fall apart. I believe maybe you're not where you should be in faith because of your foundation. I believe that maybe you're not experiencing the Holy Spirit in the Lord at the level you should be experiencing Him at because of your foundation. And maybe how you view God, and, and how you view Christianity, may not come from the Bible. It could be from your experiences, of what other people told you, or based on how you are because you're judging. Now you want to make God more judging because you're critical. Now you want to make God more critical because, because you struggle loving yourself. Now you want God to struggle loving people.
And the gospel is not about you, it's about Christ. We don't represent the gospel, Jesus does. Gundy said something so powerful, he said, "I love your Christ, but I hate your Christians." Because sometimes the Christ and the Christians look different. So what is our biblical foundation? When my father-in-law was building this cross, he was like, "How big do you want it?" I was like, "I want it 10 feet big." He was like, "Hold up, wait a minute. Let me put some Jesus in it." He like, "I don't know if I can make it that big because I want to make sure it don't fall over." And if you want it on the base with some wheels, um, you know, a 10-foot cross, that's a heavy cross, that's some thick wood. I don't want it to fall over. And he was like, "It got to have a good foundation." I said, "Well, give it a good foundation, cuz I need a 10-foot cross. Amen. Figure it out, pops, you know what I'm saying?" And he figured it out. And he had to create a base, and then he created stabilizers around this base to make sure the foundation could hold the weight of the cross.
And I believe a lot of you guys have bad theological, biblical foundations. And now it can't hold the weight of the cross. Now the cross keeps falling over in your life. Faith keeps falling over in your life. You don't have the compassion you should have, the grace you should have, because you don't have the proper foundation and the proper stability to uphold the cross in your life. And now the cross is falling in your life. But if you would ever get the right foundation, the right theology, the right beliefs, it will be able to uphold the cross.
Let me tell you something. Maybe Jesus was misrepresented to you. But let me tell you something, that Jesus never intended to happen. He never intended to be judged based on Christians. Christians are not the symbol of Christianity. Jesus is the symbol of Christianity. Christians are not the foundation of the cross. Jesus is the foundation of the cross. And in fact, some of you guys, why do you struggle with faith? Because Christians are hypocrites. Jesus said, "Follow me."
I know your drunk uncle was at the club. But was Jesus at the club? I know the Christians hurt you. But did Jesus hurt you? I know they wasn't who you thought they was. But was Jesus who you thought he was? Because Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you." He left Christians out. Yeah, because he knew Christians had the propensity to misrepresent Him. That's right. So today, we're going to let God reintroduce Himself.
Uh, not too long ago, I went to Texas Roadhouse. And when I went to Roadhouse, I noticed something. I pulled up to a fancy parking lot. I got to the fancy parking lot, and I started to walk up to the door. And then there was a fancy door that was open. I went inside a Roadhouse, and they greeted me in a fancy way. They seated me in a fancy way. Then they come out and bring these rolls, fresh out of the kingdom of God, set them on my table. And they brought some Holy Ghost butter. I'm just like, "Don't play, wife, in there. Tell something. You going to eat your food? Forget that food. Eating rolls got butter on my nose. This is fancy." Then I ordered a nice burger. Let's go. They come out with a fancy pan, spinning it around, presenting me this burger, put it in a nice fancy plate. I got like a, a black little cloth napkin. I ain't even got tissue up here. It's a napkin. A life napkin. Okay. Jesus. I eat this burger. She eat, you know, her little bougie meal. And, um, they bring me out a $100 ticket. I'm like, "Whoa, that burger was good, but I don't know if it was that good." You know what I'm saying? Good, but know how good.
Couple days later, I leave. I'll leave a couple days later. I didn't stay tonight. But I leave a little bit. I leave. And a couple days later, I go to McDonald's. And I said, "Go to McDonald's." It's not McDonald's, y'all. Country folk, it's McDonald's. I'm from Cali. Um, I go to McDonald's. And when I went there, I go to the drive-thru. A lady comes on the intercom. I'm so excited, happy to order my food. She like, "What you want?" It's like, "I want a burger with cheese on it." She was like, "One meat or two patties?" I'm like, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt no two patties." And, and she's like, "Go to the front." So I'm like, "Oh, Jesus. Like, what have I done to this lady?" So I go to the front. I pay for it. And she puts my burger in the back. She just throw it out the window. Hit the car door. And it falls on the floor. I'm like, "Ma'am, I need another burger." She said, "Boy, you better pick that burger up and eat it." Said, "Yes, ma'am." And they drive off. And then I noticed. I was like, uh, I spent $4. Spent $4. But at Roadhouse, I got a burger and I spent a hundred. Both of those burgers came from the same cow. One was $4, one was $100. And the only difference in price was presentation. Because one was presented in a fancy way, it was expensive. One was presented poorly, it was cheap.
And my question is, do we make a valuable God look valueless in how we present Him? Do we make a powerful God look powerless based on how we present Him? And I would like to say that sometimes Jesus is all-powerful, but we present Jesus as all-judgy. And people get a false presentation of Jesus. So what we have to do is allow Jesus to reintroduce Himself. Because He's probably not the McDonald's you experienced. He has a Roadhouse experience for you. But somebody else gave you a cheap, watered-down version of the cross. So we want Jesus to give you a representation of the cross.
So I want to show you, at the, at the very core of Christianity, the Father's heart towards sinners. I want to show you the Father's heart. If you have your Bibles, go to Luke chapter 15. You don't have a Bible, you should have one. And I know y'all be reading it every day, so y'all have no problem finding Luke. And I know y'all won't be waiting on it to come on the screen, cuz y'all got your own Bibles. And they don't glow. You turn the pages, right? Four of us. Pastor. All right, give you guys a second to get there. Luke chapter 15. We'll start verse 11. And it says, "Then Jesus said, 'A certain man had two sons.'" And the younger son of them said to his father, "Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me." All right, let me explain that. So in Jewish culture, the older boy was called the double portion boy. He got a double portion of all the father's estate. He got two-thirds. And then the younger boy would have got one-third of the father's portion. So that's how it worked. The younger boy gets one-third, the older boy gets two-thirds. So the younger boy wanted his inheritance now so he can leave. And, and, and then it says, um, here's what he said. He said, "Father, give me the portions of goods that falls to me." So he divided them his livelihood. So though the younger boy asked for his portion, the father didn't just give the younger boy his portion. He gave the older boy his portion. So the older brother got double portion, and then the baby boy got single portion. He got the one-third, and the older boy got two-thirds of the estate. This is how they handled it in, in Jewish culture, um, in that time. Uh, verse 12 says, "The younger of them said to his F-" I mean, uh, verse 13 says, "And not many days after, so when the younger boy got his money, not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, like all that he had, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living." Prodigal living just means wild living, splurging, wasting money, running up that credit card, swipe, swipe, swipe. Uh, verse 14 says, "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in the land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the field to feed the swine." Or the pigs. Verse 16, "And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But he came to himself and said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and say to them, F- I will go to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.'" Verse 20 says, "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion on him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servant, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here to kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and now is found." And they began to be merry. So basically, he threw his son a party. Verse 25 says, "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safely,' like the father received him safely and sound, 'your father has killed a fatted calf.'" So Daddy killed a fatted calf for him. But he was angry. The older brother was angry, and he would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to him, "Lo, these many years I have been serving you." One translation says, "been slaving to you." "I've never transgressed against your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I may make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who devoured all your livelihood with harlots, and killed the fat, and you killed the fatted calf for him." And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for you your younger brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Come on, somebody! Can we give our King a shout of praise?
So I'm going to need to execute this scripture. If it's okay with y'all, so we can, we can cut through all this scripture. I know it's a lot, but we're going to cut through and preach the whole story. Can we do that? Okay. We're going to cut through the scripture. So, um, in Jewish culture, the younger boy would get a third, the older boy would get a double portion. Here's the thing, though. You only got your inheritance when your father died. So you only got your inheritance when your father died. It would be like you going up to your parents right now, like, "Hey, can I have the house? Can I have the car? Can I have your 401k?" Your rockstar. They're like, "Please, we're going on vacation. You need to go back to your job and get out of our face, right? And when we pass away, you can get it. But until then, balling." And that's just what, what's going to happen. That's what happened with my mama. When I pull up on her, I'm like, "I need your car." She like, "You need to get out of my face." Oh. So in that culture, there was only one way you can get your inheritance early. You can only get your inheritance early is if you denounce your family. You basically said, "I hate you guys. I'm done with you guys." And when you ask for your inheritance early, you would be basically saying, "Dad, you're dead to me." So when he asked for his inheritance, he was saying, "Dad, you're dead to me." He was saying, "You're dead. Give me my bread. Give me my money. Give me what belongs to me." And he got his third. His brother got two-thirds. Everything that was up. And the father really didn't have nothing. He was just living with the older brother because he divided all that he had to his two boys.
So the younger son took the money, started balling out. He went to like Las Vegas. I mean, he at the bar, he at the club, he at the party. Hey, who won the party? Like he bringing everybody. Party, party, party. Like he got bands, he throwing money in the air. Everybody with him. He's cool. He got friends everywhere. He's the life of the party. Yeah. And then all of a sudden, he lost all his money. And when your money get funny, guess what? So does your friends. So his money got funny, his friends got funny. He didn't have no friends. He didn't have nobody. And because he didn't have nobody, he didn't have no work. And then finally, he found a job feeding the pigs. Yeah, feeding the pigs in the hog pen. That was his job. Now he's feeding all the pigs in the hog pen. He went from being a royal heir to feeding pigs. Stinky pigs, slimy pigs, nasty pigs, sweaty, heaven no, poor pigs. This is what he's feeding. Some of y'all like, "I don't even want no bacon, Pastor. I don't even want no bacon." Like he's feeding pigs. He's inside of this pot. And because no one would give him anything, he got so hungry, he started eating the pig slop. Eating pig slop. Maybe you don't know what that means. In other words, he was eating out of the trash can. It would be like you going to Vegas, running out of everything, and eating out the dumpster. This is what he started doing.
And the reason why he started doing that is because he lost all that he had. But then the Bible says something so powerful. The Bible says, "As he was in the pig pen, in the hog pen, eating slop, he came to himself." Everyone say, "He came." "He came to himself." So he came to himself inside of the hog pen. And when he came to himself, he said, "I'm in here starving, and my father has hired servants who has food to spare." I don't know what you're starving for in this room, but I want you to know your Father, God, has it to spare. If you need joy, He has it to spare. If you need peace, He has it to spare. If you need strength, He has it to spare. He said, "I don't know why I'm in here starving when my father's hired servants has food to spare." And I got new news for you. Whatever you need, your heavenly Father has to spare. If you have rejection, your Father has acceptance to spare. If you have fear, your Father has courage to spare. If you have doubt, your Father has faith to spare. If you have worry, your Father has wisdom to spare. If you have anxiety, your Father has peace to spare. If you have depression, your Father has happiness to spare. Whatever you need, God has it to spare. So you don't have to live in lack because God has your back. And He has it to spare. You don't have to take crumbs from the world when you can get a feast from your Father. You don't have to be tolerated by the world when you can be celebrated by your Father. Oh, give Him a praise break in this place. Your Father has it to spare.
I want to tell you something about God. God is not mad at you, but He's madly in love with you. He is pursuing you. And I don't know who told you, shame on you. But Jesus is saying, "Shame off you." Because shame was on Him at the cross. Guilt was on Him at the cross. Fear was on Him at the cross. Brokenness was on Him at the cross. And because it was on Him at the cross, now you can come home and not have shame, not have fear, not have worry, not have depression, but have acceptance. He has it to spare. In other words, God is not here to scream at you and beat you down. No, no, no. He's here to love on you and build you up. That is the heart of the Father, and that is the heart of God.
So the prodigal son, he's in his pig pen, and he came to himself. To come to himself, it actually meant that he repented. He came to himself. He repented. To repent means to change one's mind. He repented. He changed his mind. I'm going to tell you something. If you ever repent and change your mind, you ain't got to change nothing else. Your outfit ain't got to change. Your hairdo ain't got to change. Your earring things ain't got to change. What you drive ain't got to change. Where you work ain't got to change. Who you hang out with ain't got to change. You don't have to change your address. But if you ever change your mindset, everything else in your life will change. You have to change your mindset. You got to renew your mind. You have to change your mindset.
And here's the deal. When you renew your mind, nothing can hold you down. When a prodigal son came to himself and renewed his mind, the hog pen couldn't hold him. The hurts couldn't hold him. Fear couldn't hold him. Guilt couldn't hold him. Shame couldn't hold him. Embarrassment couldn't hold him. Humiliation couldn't hold him. Whenever you change your mind, nothing can hold you. Why? Because when you change your mind, it means you know the truth. And the Bible says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Oh, come on, somebody. To repent means to change your mind from lies to truth. That's what it means to repent.
The word repent in the Greek comes from this word, it's called metanoia. And metanoia means to turn. To repent. Let me show it to you. This cross represents Jesus, represents your Savior, represents your Father. And when you're a prodigal, what did the prodigal do? The prodigal left his Father's house. He left the cross. And in order to leave the cross, what happens? You walk away from it and you put distance between you and the cross. Now, when he left his Father's house, the Bible says he lost everything and went into a famine. Because whenever you leave the Father's house, a famine will always follow. So if you're in a famine season in your life, where you're in lack, you don't have enough, you're depressed, you're anxious, you're worried, you're frustrated, you're bitter, you're unhappy, when you leave the Father's house, a famine will always follow. Yeah. So he had a, so he left the Father's house.
So a metanoia means to turn and to repent. It's basically saying you stop and turn, and you go back to the Father's house. You go back home. You go back to the foot of the cross. That's what it means to have a metanoia moment. That's what it means to turn. That's what it means to repent. And that's what some of you guys in this room need to do. You need to repent. You need to turn away from what's led you astray. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a mindset. Maybe it's a career. I don't know what has caused you to walk away from the Father's house and walk away from the cross. But you can have a metanoia moment, and you can turn and repent. To repent means turn. It means to go back to the Father's house.
Now I want to show you something. I want to show you something. So he came to himself. He turned around. He changed his mind. He said, "I'm going back to my Father's house." So he's going back to his Father's house. And as he's going back to his Father's house, something so crazy, mind-blowing, staggering happened. He's going home. He's returning to his Father's house. Now, I want to tell you something about Jewish culture. In Jewish culture, under no circumstance ever could a grown man run. Because if a grown man ran, it showed weakness. It showed poverty. It showed a lack of esteem. It was deemed unclassy. Read your whole Bible. There's never a record of Jesus running. And the only people that ran were people of lower status, like lepers and people in desperation. But if you read the Bible, you won't see many men running. It's because in Jewish culture, to run was desperate. It was weak. It was lonely. You never ran. You walked. It was a symbol of power and a symbol of strength.
So under no circumstance. So Jesus is telling this story, this analogy, to a Jewish audience. And they all have this concept that, hey, I don't care what happened. You know, like when you, like with your friends, you hear like, "Boom, boom." You like, "You know, no, no. Walk, walk, walk. Can't run. Can't run. That dog come." You like, like, you know? Or like, and it's kind of like, I remember like one time me and Pastor on a date, and like, it was like, like some car hit a car. We're like walking. Miami on the streets. It was like, I was like, I was like, "Wait." The individual in me said, "Run." The husband of me said, "Get her." You know what I'm saying? That conflict. My body was at war. Half of me said, "Protect your brother." The other half of me said, "Boy, you better go." So, um, but I protected my bride. Praise God. You know. So, um, in Jewish culture, you never ran, right?
So while the boy was a long way off, the Bible says the Father saw him and broke out in an all-out sprint and started running towards the boy. And He ran towards him, fell on his neck, and kissed him. He sprinted and ran towards this boy who took half of his one-third of his estate, squandered it on while living, denounced him, wished him dead. And He sprinted and ran towards this boy. And I want to tell you something. In this moment, Jesus was saying, "I'm showing you the heart of God towards sinners." Because as a sinner, we were told, "You need to run to God." But I want to tell you, the gospel isn't you running to God. The gospel is God running to you. The good news isn't you pursuing God. The good news is God is pursuing you. God is chasing after you. God is dying for you. God is bleeding for you. God is resurrecting for you. The gospel isn't you running after God. It is God running after you. And God says, "I run after you. I'm chasing you. I'm calling you home. I'm coming to get you." And maybe you're in this room, and maybe you think you're sitting in this seat because you're running after God. No, you're sitting in this seat because God is running after you. God is pursuing you.
And all of a sudden, the boy, he has his speech. So he was in a pig pen. We read, he was rehearsing his speech. So he has his speech together, and he's bringing his speech to his dad. And he's like, "I'm not worthy to be your son." And here's what the Father's heart is saying. He's saying, "You're not a child by worth. You're a child by birth." You're not a child by worth, you're a child by birth. In other words, you're not the Son of God or the daughter of God because you're worth it. You're the Son of God and the daughter of God because somebody died so you can birth it. Somebody died so you can be born again. Somebody died so you can live again. He said, "My son who was dead is now alive." What does that mean? He got born again. And Jesus said, "I died on this cross so you could be born again. I didn't come to make bad people good. I came to make dead people live." That is the gospel and the good news. It's not about making bad people good. It's about making dead people live. And you make dead people live by letting them be born again. And you're born again because of the power of this cross. You're born again. You're not a child by worth, you're a child by birth.
And there's nothing my daughter can do to separate me from love. She never earned it. She never had to deserve it. She never had to work for it or had to pay for it. Maybe you never had a parent for that. But your earthly parent was supposed to be a symbol, a small, small fragment of the love of God. And you were supposed to belong to people that would accept you and love you. You wouldn't have to work for it, earn it, strive for it. You wouldn't have to be the best on a dance team, the best on a football team, the best on a baseball team. You wouldn't have to have the best grace. "I love you because you're mine." And there was nothing you should have ever been able to do to mess that up. And if you say you didn't have that kind of love from your parents, well, you can be that kind of parent to show the love of God, the agape love of God, to your kids. Friends, this is the gospel. This is the good news.
So the boy comes to his dad, and he comes to his dad with the speech. And the speech is basically that, "I'm a sinner. I'm not worthy. Make me a slave. Make me like, like one of your hired servants." And before the boy could finish his speech, the Father cut him off. Father cut him off and started bringing him gifts. Cut him off, started bringing him gifts. I don't know how far you've been from God. And I don't know how you got here today. I don't know, maybe you've been backslid. Maybe you're a prodigal in this room. And maybe you're here with a speech. And in all due respect, I want to say this to you. You, the Father doesn't want to hear your speech. He's just glad you're here. He's just glad you came home. He's just glad you're back in His presence. He's just glad you're back in the kingdom.
If you read the speech that he had, he made in the past, when he came to his father, he never had a chance to finish his speech because the Father interrupted the speech. He stopped the speech and he started blessing him and giving him gifts. God will always interrupt your speech because He don't need your speech. Because you're not rejected because of your bad, nor are you accepted because of you're good. See, your speech don't matter because the grace of God is not based on you. The grace of God is placed on you by the cross. See, everywhere else you go, you actually need a speech. Because if you wrong man, man wants to know, "Why did you do me like that? So what were you thinking, Jimmy? Why would you do something?" Jesus don't care. Because Jesus is saying, "You're not here based on your works. Lest any man should boast. You are here based on His blood." You don't need a speech. You don't need a speech.
So the Father interrupted his speech. So I'm going to show you something that the prodigal son did. And if you want to come back home, or come to the Father, or, or, or understand the true heart of God, and understand who you are to Him, here's the things that took place. Four things that took place that will get you back in the presence of the Father, Ed to bring you home. The first one, recognize. Everyone say, "Recognize." Recognize. The first thing that the prodigal did when he was inside the pig pen, he recognized that he needed help. "I'm hungry. I don't have any food. My father's hired servants has food to spare. I know that the state I'm in, the position I'm in, I need help." He came to realization. He had a recognition. He recognized that he needed help. Some of you guys in this room, you have to recognize, "I need the power of God. I need the blood of God. I need the grace of God. I need the love of God. I need help." He had to recognize.
The second thing he had to do was repent. He came to himself. And then he started saying, "Hey, I'm not made to be in this pig pen. I'm not made to be in this hog pen. I'm not made to eat this slop. I will return to my Father's house." And some of you guys be like, "I'm not made to live in depression. I'm not made to live in anxiety. I'm not made to live out the presence of God. I'm not made to be treated any kind of way, talked to any kind of way, belittled, hurt, anxious." No, I'm a daughter of a king. I'm a son of a king. You need a metanoia experience where you will turn and go back to the Father's house. A repentance. You need to repent.
The third one, and this one happened with the older brother, we read about earlier. You need to renounce the lies. Everyone say, "Renounce." Renounce the lies. Do you know that all bondage, I didn't say something, all bondage is rooted in lies? In lies. All of it. I venture to tell you that whatever bondage you have in this, I don't care what it is. I don't care if it's healing you need in your body, a new belief system you need, maybe you feel like you're not enough, maybe you don't know your identity. Whatever it is, is rooted in lies. Let me prove it to you. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Why? Because here's what the truth does. So if you're not free, that means you're in bondage. You're in bondage in the house of lies. The truth tears down that house, that house of lies. Do you know that you can't be in bondage without a lie? So when Jesus wanted to remove your bondage, He never touched it. He just brought truth to touch the lie. And when truth punched that lie in the face, bondage had to release you, and freedom came for you. So you shall know the truth, and the truth set free. All bondage is tied in lies. And this is why renewing your mind and repenting and having metanoia moments are so tough, because Satan will fight you to defend lies and to believe lies. Because if you ever got the truth, you would go free.
So here's the older brother. The older brother, he believed lies. So, so here, here, here's the lies the older brother believed. He he came and he's like, "Dad, like, I can't believe you. Why are you throwing him a party? He squandered everything. He denounced our family. He made us look bad. Dad, why would we ever throw him a party? He deserves to be crucified at best and denounced at worse. And, and why would you throw him a party? I've never left you. I've been here slaving for you all this time." See, it was serving, but now he's offending. Now slaving. You know how it goes. Wow. And I, I've always obeyed you out of religious obligation. Why would you bless him and not me?" And the Father said something so profound. I believe most people missed it. The Father said, "Son," he talked to the older son. He said, "You are with me always." Now, that may sound like not a lot. Here's what He's saying. He's saying, "I'm giving him a party, but you've had My presence." To be with God always means to be in His presence. He's saying, "You had the greatest gift a person could ever have. You have the presence of God with you always. And you're mad because I gave someone else a party? You had the blesser with you always, and you're mad I gave someone else a blessing? You had the Redeemer with you always, and you're mad I gave someone else redemption? You had the restore with you always, and you're mad because I restored someone?" In other words, everything you're angry about, boy, you already got. But you're so religious and judgmental, and you're so worried about sinners and looking down on other people, you can't even see the blessing that's before you. You're mad that I have given him a young calf. I've given you my castle. Everything I have is yours. He said, "I'm with you always. Everything I have is yours." You're mad he got a calf and you got a castle. And you're so jealous of him having a calf, you forgot, dummy, this is your castle. In other words, I didn't even give him a young calf. You did, you idiot. So this is the heart of religious people. And that older brother, he represents most religious Christians that misrepresent. That maybe, "Dad loves him more than me." And these lies created bondage. And his Father spoke truth. Okay. So you have to renounce the lies. What lies do you believe that hold you in bondage?
So then we go to the fourth one. Everyone say, "What is it?" What is it? Now, y'all, this going to be good. This going to be real good. I wouldn't say it if it wasn't so, so, oh, this is so good. When I read this week, I was like, "I read this story a million times. I never see that." Um, so the Father interrupted the son, and He didn't let him finish his speech. But He responded to his speech with blessing. Let me show it to you. The boy came to his dad, and this is his rehearsed speech before he even got to his dad. Because your Father's omniscient. And his first part of his speech was, "I am a sinner. Father, I sin before heaven. I sin before you. I am a sinner." And then the Bible says the Father said, "Go get him the best robe." What do a robe symbolize? In Isaiah 61:10, it says Jesus covers us with the robe of righteousness. So in other words, He said, "Go get him the best robe. Get him the robe of righteousness." Because the opposite of sin is righteousness. He who knew no sin became sin that we may become the righteousness of Christ Jesus. So the antidote to sin is righteousness. And the robe represents righteousness. So He said, "Get him the best robe. Bring him the best righteousness so I could cover him with righteousness." To tell you, "I got something for that speech, boy."
The second thing was, he said, "Hey, make me like one of your hired servants." In other words, "I shouldn't even be a son. Make me like one of your hired servants. Give me low rank." He said, "Go get him a ring." A ring, a ring was a symbol of rank. When you give a woman a ring, it's you're giving her equal rank with you. When, when Pharaoh gave Joseph a ring because everything he had was given now to Joseph, he had all authority, all power, all rank. The Father said, "Boy, I'm putting you back into position. You're not going to be a lower-class citizen. I'm giving you your rank back. I'm giving you a ring." Why? Because Jesus gives you a ring. The Bible says we're joint heirs with Christ, which means that we're at the same level as Christ, not because of our merits and good, but because of the grace of God and what He imputed to us. So He said, "I'm giving you a ring. You're not going to come back. You're my son. You're not going to come back." And some of you guys come back to the house of God, "I'll just be a servant. I'll just be a slave. God, I'm not worthy. I'm just a dirty, and I'm nothing. I'm scummy." And God is saying, "I got a ring for you." The people that's been here worshiping for 20 years, you stand equal with them. The people that's fasting and praying, you stand equal with them. The people that never went to live on while living and were prodigal, you stand equal. You stand as an equal. I have a ring for you.
And then he said, "I'm not worthy to be called your son. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy." He said, "I'm not worthy." Take you back to the Old Testament. Moses was before the angel of God. They was on holy ground. And then the angel of God said to Moses, He said, "Moses, take off your sandals because you're on holy ground." What it meant was, "Moses, you don't deserve to stand on holy ground. I'm going to need them shoes to come off." Now, what makes us worthy to stand on holy ground? That cross makes us worthy to stand on holy ground. So when the prodigal son comes home with his shoes off, feeling unworthy, the Father said, "Bring him sandals and put sandals on his feet." Because you are worthy. You do deserve to stand here. You do deserve to come home. And you deserve love. He put a robe on him, and He put a ring on him, and He put sandals on him.
And I know some of you guys, like the older brothers, okay, Pastor K, this sounds too good to be true. Like, like, this boy deserves a beatdown. Yeah. I mean, let's be honest. If this happened with you and your kids, they took a third of what you had, they denounced you, they wished you were dead, and they came home, you all would agree, at the very least, that fool at least deserves a whooping, right? Right? Well, I would venture to tell you, he didn't have to get a whooping because someone else was whooped for him on the cross. Someone else got whooped in his place. Jesus was whooped for him. Jesus was whooped when He was punished and beat on the cross. And you got to know something, that the prodigal son is a picture of you. And Jesus is showing you, you don't have to be whooped because He was whooped.
And the prodigal son got what Jesus deserved. And Jesus got what the prodigal son deserved. Jesus got the opposite of the prodigal son. Let me show it to you. Jesus got the opposite on the cross. Jesus was stripped down, and He was pierced in His side. The prodigal son at home was covered with a robe of righteousness. He deserved to be stripped down. Jesus deserved the robe. So what Jesus deserved, He got. And what He got, what Jesus deserved, Jesus got. So he was covered with a robe because Jesus was stripped. My God. On the cross, Jesus had, Jesus had nails in His hand. And because Jesus had nails in His hand, now the Father is saying, "Now I can put a ring on your hand." Jesus had nails in His feet. Now the Father is saying, "Now I can put sandals on your feet." Because Jesus had nails in His feet. Jesus was forsaken by the Father. "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani." "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus was forsaken by the Father so the prodigal son wouldn't have to be. He would be accepted, brought into the family, brought into the house, brought into love.
In other words, the whooping that he deserved, Jesus got. And now that prodigal walked home, and he was treated exactly how the Son of God, Jesus Christ, should be treated. Wow. And I want to tell you something. Maybe you're in a, maybe you're a prodigal in this room, and maybe you're debating on coming home. I want you to know that you will not get the treatment that your actions merit, the merit of your actions. You will get the treatment that Jesus deserves, which is a robe of righteousness, a ring of authority, and sandals of worthiness. That is what you get. You don't get a whooping. Someone else got whooped for you. This is the gospel. This is the good news. This is the power of God unto salvation. And for you to think that your religious duties, and you're reading the Bible, and you're going to church, and you're paying your tithe, for you to think that somehow qualifies you is a spit and a bust before the cross. This is why the Bible says, "It is not by works, lest any man should boast." The only reason you come to the Father's house is because of the cross of Christ. It's the only reason.
So as I get ready to wrap up, I want to take a look at the older brother for a second. He hears about this party, and as he hears about this party, he's saying, "Hey, what is going on?" And they're like, "There's music and there's a party and there's dancing because your younger brother has returned home." And he's frustrated. He's angry. He storms out to his father and he's like, "Dad, are you throwing him a party?" And Dad's like, "Yes, your son's home. Let's rejoice. Let's be merry." And he's like, "Dad, why would you throw him a party? Dad, do you want to know who deserves a party? Me! Because I never left, and I never wronged you, and I was always at church, and I always paid my tithes, and I did everything right, and I never went to the world, and I never sinned. And yet this sinner comes in here and gets a party, and I don't get a party, and I've done everything right." The Father said, "Son, you are with me always."
And here's the thing. Here's the thing. We look at this older brother, we judge him. But I would venture to say, we are him. Because just to be honest, if I was the Father, and my child done that, and there was a party, I would have said, "Boy, sit down on that seat. I better not catch you whipping, na-na-ing, cha-cha-ing, no wobbling. You better hit them folks. Nothing. You've been a moonwalk. You better." I'll dance. You watch. You I'm on that. You, you going to watch. We'll eat. You watch. We'll rejoice. You watch. And you would have did the same thing. And you do it all the time to other sinners and people that's far from God all the time. You act just like that big brother, misrepresenting a powerful God, making Him look powerless, thinking that you're somehow better because your good deeds. And I'm not diminishing holiness. No, no, no, no, no. I'm just saying that you're not holy to be accepted. You're holy because you are accepted. You don't live right so you can get into the kingdom of God. You're in the kingdom of God so you can live right. That is the gospel, my friends. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. Is that everyone can come and get a party and rejoice and be merry because of the goodness of God. Friends, this is the gospel. This is the good news. You're not a child by worth, you are a child by birth. You have been born into the kingdom of God. You have been called into this. God is saying, "You have a seat. You have a seat."
So if you're a prodigal in this room, I just want to invite you to come home. Come back to the Father. Come back to the cross. Come back to His heart. Come home. Wow, what a powerful message. I hope it blessed you. Make sure to share it with all your friends and family so they can be blessed as well. And if you'd like to connect with us or receive prayer, text us at 93201 066. And if you'd like to give, make sure to click the link below.