You You Thousands of voices are swelling. Amen, thank you for joining us this morning. If you would stand, we'll continue with our song service. 2 Timothy chapter four verse number five says, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. It's good to be in the Lord's house today. Look forward to seeing what the Lord has for us. Brother Benson, would you open us in a word of prayer, please? ♪ The music I love ♪ ♪ As we raise our vows in annual hymn of love ♪ ♪ We praise you, dear Father, and praise you, O Son ♪ ♪ Stay the light of love, the music I love ♪ Stay the night, stay the night, stay the night. Heart in my hand, wish I could fly. ♪ The Father's name is written in the sun ♪ ♪ The great Christ of the Lord in His own precious Son ♪ ♪ Savior and Lord of His own heart and mind ♪ ♪ All glory and hymns of love ♪ ♪ Smile and sing, smile and sing ♪ ♪ And sing and bow down, crucified one ♪ ♪ Sing and bow down, crucified one ♪ ♪ All hail to the Father, all hail to the Son ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Amen. Thank you, baby. merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend, who would have thought that a lamb could Rescue the souls of men. Oh, how you rescue the souls of men. Counselor, comforter, keeper, spirit we long to embrace. ♪ You offer hope when our hearts have ♪ ♪ Hopelessly lost our way ♪ ♪ Oh, how we've hopelessly lost our way ♪ ♪ You are the one that we pray ♪ You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for. Oh, our hearts always hunger for. Almighty Infinite Father Faithful in loving your own Here in our weakness you find us Falling before your throne Oh, we're falling before your throne. You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace hour. ♪ Hearts always hunger for ♪ ♪ Oh, our hearts always hunger for ♪ ♪ You are the one that we pray ♪ ♪ You are the one we ask for ♪ ♪ You are the one we adore ♪ our hearts always hunger for. Oh, our hearts always hunger for. Good, stand once again, we'll sing hymn number 56, when we all get to heaven. Hymn number 56, standing as we stand. ♪ Sing the wondrous love of Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing His mercy and His praise ♪ ♪ With all that He has brought and blessed us ♪ ♪ May our rejoicing ever be ♪ ♪ When we all see Jesus ♪ ♪ We'll sing and shout the victory ♪ ♪ God, we are humbled and badly pounded ♪ ♪ O'er the earth and the sky ♪ ♪ God, when tempting days are over ♪ ♪ And we all hail to heaven ♪ ♪ For it may our rejoicing ever be ♪ ♪ And when all see Jesus ♪ ♪ We'll sing and we'll shout the victory ♪ ♪ For the last day we'll be true and faithful ♪ ♪ Trusting, serving, and repenting ♪ Morning will answer to that new way. Soon his kingdom will be known. Soon the world he makes will open, we shall see. a a a When I was lost in my sin, I remember her well. That night when the Lord saved my soul from hell. And I thank God every day for his grace on me. Because I'm washed, I'm redeemed, and I've been set free. And I thank the Lord for the glorious night when the pleasant Holy Ghost led me to the light. At the altar where I prayed, Jesus washed my sins away. And oh, how sweet is the sound. I once was lost, but now I'm found, God's amazing grace. still amazes me. Now there's been times I've walked away from the Lord. My sins grew many, my heart grew cold. Fellowship was broken, I felt so all alone. Oh, but it didn't matter how far I'd gone. God was still faithful, and I came back home. My sins were forgiven, and grace to me was shown. Now I stand here before you tonight rejoicing, because everything's all right. Because in my heart, I know that I am saved. Now I long to do God's will. Yes, I know I failed Him still, but I'm so glad that His grace never will. Oh, and I thank the Lord for the glorious night when the blessed Holy Ghost led me to Him. To where I prayed Jesus wash my sins away And oh how sweet is the sound I once was lost But now I'm found God's amazing grace still amazes me I thank the Lord for the glorious night when the blessed Holy Ghost led me to the light. At the altar where I prayed, Jesus washed my sins away. And oh, how sweet is the sound. I once was lost, but now I'm found. God's amazing grace still amazes me. If you would stand once again, we'll sing hymn number five, When I Survey the Wonders Cross. hymn number five. I, my greatest gain, I count the cost, when for the temple my Lord, that I should boast. Saving the death of Christ my Lord. Love's loving peace hath ♪ His blood ♪ ♪ Sweet from His hand ♪ ♪ Is cleansed me ♪ ♪ Sorrow and love ♪ ♪ Hope me no doubt ♪ ♪ In such love ♪ ♪ Filled to the ground ♪ ♪ Were the morale of Major Brown ♪ ♪ And were a present for his song ♪ Amen. Thank you once again. You may be seated. Condemned to die on a cross for crimes he had done. He was guilty, everyone could see. But his destiny was changed as he looked at Christ and said, when your kingdom comes, remember me. And paradise that day he stood, just like the Lord had said he would, surrounded by those who had gone before. One said, friend, how did you come? What are the deeds you have done? With tears in his eyes, I can hear him reply. There are no merits to my name, no works that I can claim. He who brought me here told me to stay. I have come by the way of the cross. I have come by the way of the cross. It is nothing I have done. It's the suffering of God's Son. I have come by the way of the cross. of the cross. I had nothing to claim but my guilt and my shame. Hopelessly lost, I could not find my way. Till His glorious light of love shone down on me. His mercy washed all my sin away. And what he did for me that day was a price I know he paid by his grace. I too can say, forever say, I have come by the way of the cross. I have come by the way of the cross it is nothing I have done it's a suffering of God's son I have come by the way of I see millions gathered round the throne from every kindred and tongue, those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And as they cast their crowns down at His feet, This will be their story. This will be their song. We have come by the way of the cross. ♪ Come by the way of the cross ♪ It is nothing we have done ♪ It's the suffering of God's Son ♪ We have come by the way, come by the way ♪ For there is no other way but the cross Well, good to see you this morning. Nancy and I are glad to be here. Brother Lalo told me that he was going to introduce me, and he did. He said, go ahead and preach. So that's fine. I've been here lots of times, but it's been a long time since I've been here. And I will tell you, my heart's broken. I don't know why Pastor Matt Singer's mad at me. But he is getting older. He might not remember how long it's been since I've been here. I don't know. But since he's not here today, he's on vacation, I mentioned this at Sunday school time, tonight, This afternoon, I guess it's at one o'clock, we're going to have service. And so if there's something that's bothering you, it's on your heart, and you'd like to bring it up in church and have a vote on it, this afternoon we're going to have a voting time. And so anyway, I've got some things in my mind that I'm going to bring up. And so anyway, I love Brother Kevin, Miss Cindy, and I love Shawnee Baptist Temple. I came here years ago when you were over there. And God's allowed me to come back many times. I'm glad to be here with you today. And so I'm going to go ahead and ask you to turn your Bibles to the book of Luke. Chapter 15. So I have some books in the foyer out there. And so one of the books is free. It's called Why Pro-Life. And you're welcome to take one of those. The other books are $15. If you need change, we don't have any. If you have a credit card, we have a way to do that. But anyway, those are out there. I'm just going to go ahead and do this. If I would preach what I truly want to do today, what I want to do, I would preach to you about a testimony that's been going on in my life for three months. I'm in the third month now. I got introduced to a book called sidetracked in the wilderness by a man named Michael Wells. It's not a very big book. It's 130, 140 pages. I'm not sure. But anyway, God used that to help me and my own heart and my life and my relationship with Christ. The Bible talks about being spirit-filled. And like I said, if I could preach to you what I really wanted to preach or what the work God's been doing in me, I would preach about being spirit-filled. We don't talk about it. I'm a Baptist just like you guys are, but it's not part of our normal vocabulary and conversation to talk about, are you filled with the Spirit? Are you walking in the Spirit? Right now, do you know if you're filled with the Spirit? How's your relationship with the Lord? Are you walking in the Spirit? We don't say that. We might say, how's your relationship with the Lord? But we don't talk about being filled with the Spirit. It's not taboo, but we just don't think it's any of your business kind of thing. It's almost too pointed to ask someone that. And so in this little book I read, God used it to help me understand there's some things in my life that were quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. So Mr. Wells, and one day if Pastor lets me come back after the vote this afternoon, I intend to preach it everywhere I go all the time, but today I don't get to, so I'm gonna give testimony. But Mr. Wells said, after we get saved, he said, imagine that you have a door above your heart that when you get saved, the moment you get saved, the doors open, you're born again, and the Bible would say the Holy Spirit, the Bible is termed rivers of water, rivers of living water flow through you and out of you. That's the same as the Holy Spirit filling you, flowing out of you. Is everybody with me? But what can shut the door? Any works of the flesh would shut the door. And we can shut the door like that in just a moment. As soon as you get saved, it's open, because you have to have broken, humbled, surrendered obedience to God to get saved. And that's what opens the door for the spirit to flow, broken, humbled, surrendered obedience. We shut the door so easily. And then we, me, we try to live the Christian life with the door shut. And we do. Many of us go a long time with the doors shut. In my own testimony, I preach sermons, I wrote sermons, I traveled, I read my Bible, I pray, I give, all that stuff for weeks and the doors shut. But that's called self-righteousness. And Jesus will not accept self-righteousness. It's called a Pharisee. He doesn't like self-righteousness. He won't accept it. It's impossible for him to accept. The only way to not do Christianity in the flesh is we have to get the door back open. And that's honest, broken, humbled, surrendered obedience to God. So there's some things we have to confess. That's brokenness. Everybody with me? And so anyway, that little illustration about the door, in my own life, in the last three months, it's been opened more in the last three months, maybe in the last two years, maybe three. It's been opened more. And it's been open longer. And when the door shuts, I have an awareness of it. And I ask God to forgive me. So there's a little prayer I've been doing now for, now it's over a month, maybe a couple times, a few times a day. Jesus, you're the vine, I'm the branch. You know that the vine has no expectation of the branch by itself? Jesus has no expectation of me by myself. The only expectation he has is if he's living through me with the door open. So anyway, that's my testimony. And I'm thankful that God's been working me. And I'm ashamed, I'm kind of embarrassed to tell people what I just told you. The honesty about it is that I'm so glad the door's open, and I'm glad he's been at work in me, and he hasn't given up. And so we can do Christianity with the door shut. It's just he doesn't accept it. We're just doing it. We're doing all the stuff we're supposed to do. But our relationship with him is not where it's supposed to be, because we're not doing it through his strength and his power. Anyway, Luke chapter 15, a lot of people would know that it's called the lost and found chapter. When I say a lot of people, people have been in church a long, long time. So if you're able, I'm going to ask you to stand with me, please. Luke 15. Verse number 1. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners. for to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he, that be Jesus, spake this parable unto the scribes and Pharisees, unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, Doth he not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Verse 5, When he hath found it, he layeth on his shoulders rejoicing. When he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying, Hey, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. Verse 7, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Verse 8, either what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, sweep the house, seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I found the piece which I had lost. Likewise I say unto you, there shall be joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Verse 11, And he said, a certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days hence after the younger son gathered all together, he took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Wow. Verse 20, we're going to do the other verses in a minute, but verse 20. He arose and came to his father. But when he was a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Wow. You think there was rejoicing in that home? More than over a piece of silver that was lost. More than over a lamb that was found. That's the story of what we would call the prodigal son. Anyway, let me have prayer with you, and let's see what the Lord has to say to our hearts, okay? Our great God, we sure do love you. Thank you. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for proving that you love us. And God, I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to be with these folks again and just give a brief testimony about how that you worked in my heart concerning being spirit-filled and the door opened in my life and my heart. Thank you. Thank you. I pray that all of us would know the joy of the door opened and that we're not trying to do Christianity in our own power and strength. And God, you gave us this account of Jesus with the scribes and Pharisees and these three pictures about something lost. I pray you'd help me today. Please give me unction, power, utterance to preach that it would make sense to us, and then that you would use the preached word in our hearts in such a way that ultimately that it brings glory to your name. So if there's anyone here this morning that's listening that's not yet saved, I want to say thank you that you're giving them another opportunity. And for us that are saved, I pray that you would use this in our souls and hearts to remind us and stir up the joy that should be in our soul of what you've done for us. So thank you, Christ. Sure am looking forward to when we get to see you. And it's in your mighty and holy name we pray, Jesus. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. So Jesus gives these three pictures or illustrations, you could call it, the lost and found pictures. A hundred sheep. One's lost. Then it was found. Ten pieces of silver. One's lost. Then it was found. Two sons. He's lost. He's gone. Then he's found. I think we ought to at least acknowledge why Jesus tells the pictures, why he gives these illustrations. And so, verse 1, it says, the publicans and sinners drew near to him. They wanted to hear him. The Pharisees and the scribes said, hey, hey, hey, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. So the reason he tells the pictures is because of the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees. The publicans and sinners The reason the Bible would use these two words, sinner, it's kind of obvious that we go, ooh, they're the sinner people. Look at them, they're the sinner people. And we kind of tag them, and they're the non-religious, they are the selfish, they're the ones that are full of desires of the flesh, and they do what they want to do, and so on. But it uses the word publican, too. A publican actually, actually just is a tax collector. A publican's job is to go from place to place and collect taxes because all civilized society have taxes. Why do they have taxes? Well, the queen and the king need some money. But they're supposed to actually provide protection for the community. Amen? It's kind of what they're supposed to do. And then they decided, well, we also want to build some roads, so we need more money from you. Well, we need to upgrade our horses and chariots, so we need more money from you. Well, we got a pretty big army. We need to feed them and make them look nice, so we need some more. Is everybody with me? Anyway. So because us humans don't want to pay taxes, they have to invent this category of people to go collect the taxes. So they're called IRS agents or publicans. No, no, no. The publicans in the Bible, though, they did collect taxes for the state of Rome. And they collect the taxes, but here's the problem. The publicans were liars, cheaters, manipulators. If you owed, let's just say you owed 5,000 pence of taxes, they might charge you 8,000 because they would want to keep three. Everybody with me? And they were well known to be liars and cheaters, manipulators. And if you go, well, I'm not paying the $8,000. I'm not paying it. All they have to do is blow the whistle or go like this, hey, hey, soldier, come in here. He's not paying his taxes. He wants to go to jail. And they could just haul you off. And so everybody despised and they hated the publicans. And so the publican became a synonym for a cheater, for a liar, a manipulator. Became a synonym for people we don't like. In Jesus' day, He willingly, the publicans and sinners, they wanted to come near Him. Why? They wanted to hear what He had to say. Why? Because Jesus, the whole reason He came is so sinners could get saved. He wanted to be around them. He wanted to talk to them. But the scribes and the Pharisees, the Pharisees are the most religious people on the planet. They dressed a certain way as soon as you saw them. Yep, they're religious. Oh, he's a Pharisee. Oh my, look at that, they're awesome. And they have all this garb and so on that depicts that they are followers of Jehovah. Now listen, Pharisee is a Jewish person and they follow Jehovah. the one of Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, in the beginning God. They follow him. They follow Moses and the Moses, the Levitical law it's called, and they did that. Then the Pharisees are thinking, if he's really, if he really is the Christ, if he really is like from God, he would want to hang out with us, because we are awesome. We're the religious people. We're the ones he should want to be around. He should be giving attention to us and telling us how proud he is of us and that he wants to be around us. And he's hanging out with the publicans and sinners. He can't be the Christ. And they're so mad at him. And they murmur against him. Is everybody with me? Well, Jesus hears them. And Jesus looks at him and says, hey, hey, hey, OK, which one of you, what man of you have 100 sheep? If you lose one of them, are you going to go try to find it? And then their little head, they're going, yeah, we go try to find it. He said, and when you found it, wouldn't you bring it home and rejoice? Well, yeah, I would. And you get your friends and have, is everybody with me? And in their little head, they're going, yeah, yeah, I do that. And he goes, OK, what woman, if she has 10 pieces of silver and she loses one of them, wouldn't she turn the house over and clean up everything and buy it until she found it? And they're going, yeah, she would. I know she would. If you had two sons. And one of them is not where they ought to be. They've left. Wouldn't you want them to come, is everybody with me? You know what Jesus is saying? He said, hey, Pharisees, hey, scribes. The issue is not that they're publicans and sinners. That's not just the issue. The issue is if something is lost, wouldn't you want to find it? And if you wanted to find it, the only reason you'd want to try to find it is because you care. And all Jesus is telling these scribes and Pharisees, the issue is you don't care about publicans and sinners. If you cared, you wouldn't be mad about it. The whole issue is, do you care? I got to thinking about, In this room right here, do we care? Do we care about the publicans and sinners? Do we care about the ones that you know, man, they don't fit into our church. Well, we don't want them coming in and sitting down with us. Is everybody hearing me? And we tag them. I know it's stereotypical and all that business. But the truth is, we do know there's some that we're not going to stop beside them, open the car door and say, hey, get in. We're going to go see you later. Is everybody with me? Jesus stopped, and he would speak to them. And not only that, the Bible says, he eateth with them. Good night. I think it's kind of a neat, anyway, it's something to observe anyway, but the pictures that Jesus gave. You know, how was that sheep lost? How did that one sheep get lost? All I could come up with is that it was aimlessly wandering around with no goal, no direction, It's around other sheep, but the sheep got his head down, and he just started eating, and he kept moving away, and now he's away from the flock. Wandering aimlessly with no particular meaning to get lost, not trying to get away from everybody, just not paying attention. The second one that got lost, it's the coin, a piece of silver. Do you know that that coin doesn't know it's lost? It has no awareness. It has no consciousness. It's just a coin. And it doesn't know it's conditioned. Then the sun. The son is lost by deliberate self-will. Made the choice. Everybody with me? I think that's fascinating. The first one, not paying attention, wondering aimlessly, not paying attention to the circumstances. Then the second one doesn't have any clue that it is lost whatsoever, doesn't even know. And then the third one is, on purpose, made a choice. So since we're talking about being lost, and Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost, those that are unsaved, those three categories are still going on, aren't they? There are people that are not saved. They're wandering around lost. They have no idea. They're just aimlessly going from place to place, not paying any attention. Then there's others that are lost, and they're totally unconscious and unaware that there's even something called eternity. And then there's those that make the choice and go, nah, I'm not having anything to do with it. I'm out of here. Wow. Also, there's another little tidbit I'll give to you about them. The first two pictures, someone is looking for that which is lost. The last picture, someone is waiting for that which is lost. So Jesus is telling these scribes and Pharisees, the key to the situation is not the situation that they're lost, the key is you don't care! What is that? Another way to say it. You don't have a burden. You have no burden on your soul. Watch. If you have no burden, there would be no reason to go and look for the lost sheep. If there's no burden, there'd be no reason to look for the lost coin. If there's no burden, there'd be no reason to be waiting and waiting and waiting for the lost child. So let's think about that. What makes you have a burden? What would happen in your life to make you would have the burden? Well, I think that you would have a burden if you realize something was lost. If you don't know it's lost, there would be no reason to have a burden. So if you're aware that there's someone lost, something is lost, you'd have a burden. Let's just stop. I don't know how many, I have no idea how many of you live in a neighborhood. If you live out in the country and you don't have a neighbor for five acres or 10 acres or whatever, it still can be the same. But if you live in a neighborhood and a child is missing and someone can't find the 10-year-old, And the neighbors are going house to house saying, hey, hey, hey, we can't find her. We don't know where she is. Wouldn't it be true if you were informed that the girl was lost, wouldn't you join the search and help the neighborhood? And they said, well, there's a little field out there. She might have went out. Wouldn't you be willing to do that? Why? Because you got informed. You found out about it. Another reason that you could have a burden is that you've experienced yourself, that you know what it's like to not know where you are, and you're confused. And either someone came and found you, or you finally found your way back, that you were lost. And you know that, hey, I know what that's like, and I want to help, too. And you have a burden. You've been rescued. You've been delivered. You have a burden. Another reason that you would join the search is that you realize you can do something about it. What kind of person would you be that when you found out that the neighborhood girl was gone and no one can find her, and you go, good luck, hope you find her, and you're going to go back inside and eat popcorn? Everybody with me? No, no, no, no. If you realize I can help, I can do something about it. Now, if you are enveloped and you can't get out there, well, then you can't help. But if you could do something, you would participate. Why? You've got a burden. Mercy. When a child is lost. I thought that this was something that we ought to consider anyway. We're going to work on it. When the son left home, who do you think had the most sorrow? The parent or the boy? Everybody with me? Whose heart's broken? The boy with deliberate self-will said, I'm out of here. The one who suffers is the parent. Maybe I'm going too fast, and maybe I'm not swinging the illustration around so you can see this side of it. But Jesus is telling these scribes and Pharisees, Heaven cares about these publicans and sinners. Heaven cares about people that are lost. Heaven cares about sinners that need to be saved. That's why it says, There is rejoicing in the presence of angels over one sinner that repenteth. Heaven has a burden and a concern for those that are lost and that need a Savior. That's the whole reason Jesus came. Mercy. I wonder how much more dedicated we would be if we could see the burden of heaven. I wonder if it might impress on me that I need to be more committed, and I know this church loves missions, I should be more committed to the mission endeavor of this church because of heaven's concern for lost people. If I could do something about it, it seems like I'd want to. When is the last time you handed out a track with the church name on it and told people how to be saved in the track? You didn't even tell them. You just said, hey, I have something I'd like to give you. I'd like for you to read this. When's the last time? When's the last time you looked someone in the eyeball and go, hey? I'm a church-going person. I go to Shawnee Baptist Temple. I go regularly. I would love for you to come with me to church. When's the last time you invited someone to come with a heart, with a burden for it? When's the last time that you actually prayed for someone in your neighborhood that's not saved? When's the last time that you were burdened, that you felt like, I've got to be the one to go tell him. I have a chance to. I have the opportunity. I need it. Is everybody hearing what I'm saying? That's the whole reason Jesus brings up the three illustrations, because many times, you and I behave like a scribe and a Pharisee. We're going, well, yeah, they need to get saved, but someone else needs to do it. Mercy sinks. Perhaps some of you, I know, know these words. Let me see this world, dear Lord, as though I were looking through your eyes. A world of men who don't want you, Lord, but a world for which you died. Let me kneel with you in the garden. Blur my eyes with tears of agony. For if once I could see this world the way you see, I just know I serve you more faithfully. So actually, that's the introduction. Boom. My sermon this morning is about the boy, the prodigal son. Look at verse 12. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me. And he divided unto him his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, took his journey to a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. These two verses describe in a few words the path that has been the ruin of countless thousands of people. What's the first step? Leave authority. Shake off control. Dad, you're awesome. I'm glad you brought me into the world. I'm glad that you gave me all this stuff. But I want to be my own boss. I want to do what I want to do. Is everybody hearing me? I don't want to leave, I want to leave the responsibility. I don't want to have to be connected to the responsibility anymore. I want to do what I want to do. Hear me, listen to this, listen to this. It's not just young people that want to leave responsibility that they should be doing. I've been in the ministry a long time. I'm an old preacher now, and there are many, many fellas that have said, you know, I know I have responsibility in the home here. Got you and some kids, and I'm just responsible. However, I want to do what I want to do. And that's the story of lots of places where men go, I know, I know I had responsibility, but I'm out of here. You can flip that around. Women do it too. Women say, I know I have a lot of responsibilities. There's things that I was supposed to do, things I'm attached to and all that. But right now, I'm doing what I want to do. Wow. It's hard to believe that our own desires and our wants can outweigh our duty and our responsibility. But it happens often. Another part of his departure, when he leaves his father, the Bible says he finds himself in a far country. And you that were here years and years ago, I preach a sermon out of 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and I quote G. Campbell Morgan about a far country. And G. Campbell Morgan said these words, when you and I leave what we're supposed to be doing, and we go out to do what we want to do, he said, it will Land, it will land you in a far country. And Brother Morgan said these words, though a step can land you in it. One step. See, we think a far country, well, they've been gone a long time. One step away from what God has for you to do and what you're supposed to do will land you in a far country. Wow. You and I think, well, I'm pretty close. I'm almost right with God. Just about everything. You say, you know, I got one little thing that other than that, I'm pretty good at. Do you understand if you're not right with God, you're like not right with God? That's the illustration for me. When the door is shut, I'm not right with God. Even though I'm doing all the stuff I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm not allowing him to live through me and I'm living in self-righteousness. Is everybody hearing that? Mercy sings. It's a downward spiral. It says, he wasted his substance with riotous living. Oh, mercy. Too bad. I'm thinking about how long my sermon's going to be. Too bad. Do you know that sin is a cancer? Sin is not dissatisfied with a part of your life going, oh, good. It's over. I won't mess with you anymore. Sin is this downward spiral, this cancer that keeps eating at you. It wants more and more and more of my life. Let me go back to my testimony. When the door is shut, and I'm doing Christianity in the works, I'm doing it with my own self-righteousness and the works of my flesh. I'm trying to do it. It's not pleasing to God, and so now I have this sinful action in my life, and it's not satisfied that I just have the door shut. It wants to remove me and have other sin come in my life and begin to eat up my life. Is everybody hearing me? And that's where this young man is. It's a spiral downward fall that he's experienced. He's wasted his substance. It's used up. Riotous living. Riotous means that it's immoral. It's shameless. Wasted his substance. It's extremely wasteful, reckless, extravagant. So Morgan again, I quoted a while ago, he said, men madly plunge deeper into the mud in hopes of finding the pearl which has eluded them all of their life. They've got away from the Christ. They've got away from where they're supposed to be. And they're in the mud, and they keep getting deeper and deeper, saying, I'm finally going to get satisfied. I'm finally going to find what I wanted. I find what I want. No, it is a downward spiral to ruin your life. Wow. God doesn't give up. In His pursuit of us, He has the ability, watch, He has the grace, love, and desire to bring about circumstances that gets our attention. We're in the spiral, we're going down and down, and now God goes, alright, McCracken, I'm going to finally get your attention. And circumstances happen in my life. And what were the circumstances for this prodigal? It says that he joined, verse 15, it says, and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and the citizen of that country sent him into his field to feed swine, to feed pigs. Verse 16, he would have fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. See here, he got so low. He had money, he had a party, he had riotous living, and now he doesn't have anything. He can no longer take care of himself. And the Bible says he joined himself. And one of the ways that the Strong's Concordance says join, that he glued himself to this citizen of the country. Now, I don't know if you're aware of this, but in the text, Jesus is talking to scribes and Pharisees. It's as if they're in a Jewish community, and the Jewish people don't have nothing to do with pigs. But now that he's away from home in a far country, he doesn't have anything. He can't take care of himself anymore. He joins himself. He goes, no, no, no, no. I'll do anything. What do you want me to do? I'll work for you. Just please give me a job. Please give me a job. I don't have any way to take care of myself. And the guy goes, all right. Go feed my pigs. And then it says, as he's feeding the pigs, he would have feigned had filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. He's thinking about eating pig food. He's thinking, well, I'm hungry, I need to eat. He's thinking about, and God has brought him to a place that he cannot, he has to admit he can't meet his own needs. He's hungry, he's willing to eat pig food. And so God puts him in the situation where he has nowhere to look except up. And verse 17, look what it says. And when he came to himself, I love it, how the Bible says stuff. Even in our English vernacular, he came to. It's like he's been in a daze. It's like he's been unconscious. It's like he's been doing all kinds of stupid stuff, and he doesn't even know it. And now he can't take care of himself. He's at the last straw. He's at the bottom. And he looks up, and he came to. He woke up, he came to himself. I love how the Bible words it. It's precious, it's beautiful. Verse 17, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare? He said, my father's hired servants, they got food left over. And I perished with hunger. Wow. Verse 18. Oh, wait a minute. Let me do this. I wrote these words. I want to say them. He came to himself. He recognized his condition. He recognizes the rebellion that he had toward his father. He has nothing. He has no future. He's about to eat pig food. He will not get help out of this mess. It says no one came to help him. He cannot do it on his own. He feels dirty, and he is. He feels guilty, and he is. He feels embarrassed, and he is. He feels shameful, and he is. He feels broken, and he is. He feels unworthy, and he is. He realizes His Father has the resources He needs. He realizes His Father is benevolent. His Father is kind. His Father is forgiving. His Father never wanted Him to leave. His Father takes care of those that are under His wing. So He's coming to the end of Himself. You see His humility? Look at verse 18. I will arise and go to my Father, and I will say to Him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before Thee. I'm no more worthy to be called Thy son. Make me as one of Thy hired servants. Ladies and gentlemen, don't you see His humility? His brokenness? I am wicked. I'm dirty. I don't deserve to go home, but my Father is kind. He's forgiving. I'm just going to say, I don't deserve to be your son. Just let me be one of your servants. Watch this. He said, I sinned against heaven and earth. Let me see if I've got that right. I will say to him, I've sinned against heaven and before thee. Watch. Humility recognizes that you've offended God. Humility recognizes that you've offended family, friends, your church families. Everybody with me? See, as long as we're walking around going, well, I'm not really that bad, but you should let me come back. Well, you're not humble. You're not broken yet. He willingly humbles himself. No matter who sees it. No matter what others think or say. See, this is what real repentance looks like. That you're willing to turn away from what you wanted and what your desire was, and you humble yourself in front of God, in front of others, and it doesn't matter what they say and how they look at you, that's not the issue. You just want to be right with your Father again. He comes home. What's this? No strings attached. He doesn't have any demands. He has no expectations. He's willing to do anything. He's willing to be a hired servant. He's willing to submit to anything. He's not demanding or expecting. He doesn't expect to be in the big house. He's willing to part with anything. In fact, he's willing to part with everything. I thought this was fascinating. It's something that I feel like the Lord gave me in my brain. Watch verse 17. When he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants does my father have? He said, verse 18, I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father... Watch, watch. Maybe I'm going too fast. This is something my brain saw. I will arise and go to my father and will say, just because he knew he should go, I will arise and go to my father. He's just saying it right now. He's still at the pig pen. Do you know how many people know they should go to the Father? They should humble themselves. They know what to do, but they stay right there. They never make the decision to go ahead and take the step. You hear me? I've been in the ministry a long time. Personally, I know what I should do, and I don't do it. I'll humble myself. I'll rise and go to God and say, God, I don't deserve to be one of your sons. I don't deserve to be a preacher. And I know that's how I should do, what I should do. And I stay right by the big pen. Just because you know what to do doesn't mean you will. That's heartbreaking to me. It's heartbreaking to congregations that there are lost people that are not right with God, or there are wayward Christians that are not right with God. And we know that God's calling them. God's waiting. He's the Father. And He's waiting and waiting. Are you going to come? Are you going to come? And you know you should. Doesn't mean you will. Wow. Praise God. Verse 19, I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Now here it is, verse 20. And he arose. Can somebody say amen? He knew what to do in verse 17, but verse 20, he actually did it. He arose and came to his father. When he was a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. I'm almost done. Let me just do this. We know that the Bible says God is omnipresent. He's everywhere at the same time. Amen? When Jesus was on the planet, He's God. But He's in the flesh, and so He's not everywhere at the same time. But because He's God in the flesh, He still knows what's going on over there underneath the fig tree. He knows where the little donkey's tied up. Is everybody with me? But as a human, he's not there. And in the Scriptures, when you read the Bible from Genesis to the Revelation, when you read the whole Bible, you cannot find a picture, in my opinion, of anywhere that God would ever run. Except this picture. Jesus is telling them, the scribes and Pharisees, heaven cares. Heaven rejoices over one sinner that repenteth. And when people get away from the Father, and they become riotous in their living, the Father's waiting for them. And the Bible says, when he saw him a great way off, that means he was looking for him. He wasn't inside moping and whining, saying, well, he probably ain't coming today. He's out there going. And when he saw him, the Bible says he ran. The only time in the Bible that I know that God ran is when we were coming home. Hallelujah. The prodigal shows his faith is real, doesn't it? He put action to what he knew he should do, and he arose and came home. Today, if you're not saved, that's what you gotta do. You have to admit you're not saved, and you gotta admit that you can't do it on your own. And then you get to the place where you believe, you know I do believe God is a good God, and he sent his son to be my savior. He will forgive me. And He takes care of all of those that are under His wings. If you're not saved, you can get saved today. We're not going to embarrass you. You don't have to give a speech, but we'd love to pray with you and help you know what it means to be forgiven. Now, I will assume, and assume is not good, but I will assume many of you are saved. That doesn't mean everyone is. But you that are saved, You know, the prodigal is his son that left. If you've been saved for 10 years, you know that you've gotten away from God. But he's waiting for you to come back. You even know what to do. But you're still there by the pig pen. And God is just waiting. When you turn to him, he'll run to you. Man, it'd be like an awesome, I'll just go ahead and say it'd be almost like a revival, that you make things right with God, and there'll be rejoicing. I'm gonna ask you to stand with me. Thank you, thank you for listening. I'd like to pray with you, please. Our great God, I come to you again. I want to say thank you. Thank you for the Holy Bible. Thank you for the truth. Wow. Thank you, Christ, for explaining to the scribes and Pharisees how much you care and the burden you have, that heaven has. Thank you for how it makes impact in my heart. And I pray that it makes impact in these hearts today. Jesus, if there's anyone that's not where they ought to be in their relationship with you, perhaps their door is shut. And they know that they've been trying to live for you in the works of the flesh and their self-righteousness. I pray that today would be the day they'd ask for forgiveness that you would flow through them. Some have gotten away from you and they know they need to get back. They even know how to, it's just they're still stuck by the pick pin. I pray that today would be the day they'll arise, come to the altar, Our heads are bowed. Brother Steve is going to begin the invitation. As he begins, I invite you to respond. Let's just do what God touches our heart about. Come on. Just as I am without my fear, Do you care? Do you have a burden? Father is waiting, He's looking, He's watching for you. He's watching and waiting for you. He knows your name, He knows where you are. Bless his name. We'll have another verse, brother Steve. You need to come. Come on. You and God know. You and the Lord know. ♪ My tears and fears be clear ♪ ♪ Without your help, oh God, I come, I come ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm sad, I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying ♪ Smiling bridges, healing of the mind. They all I need, need to find your light. Amen. Well, praise the Lord for the message. Thank you, Brother McCracken. It's been a great morning so far and thankful to have you here again being prayer for pastors is traveling today and we'll have lunch here pretty soon and come back for our one o'clock service or some other points of interest there. You can read on the bulletin there. I know some big ones coming up. We have a youth rally coming up this Friday, and then we also have outreach this Saturday, June 1st at 9 a.m., so put down your calendars and make sure that you're here. Like he talked about a little bit for his intro, for his message, the burden. We should all share that burden, and we get to put our faith to action this Saturday by coming out together and being together for outreach. So we're gonna be dismissed in prayer for lunch. brother steven want to go to this was a prayer that will meet together again at one o'clock for the afternoon service you