Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY210021A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn, squeaky Quinn here, 01:18 and we just wanna welcome you to 3ABN Today, we're excited. 01:23 This Today program will be a Bible topic, 01:28 and we will look at Luke Chapter 15, 01:32 the parables of the lost and found. 01:35 And I believe you are going to learn some things today 01:38 about the Lord's character 01:40 and the Lord's work that you've never heard before. 01:43 Let me introduce our guests, 01:46 our family, my brothers in Christ. 01:48 We have Ryan Day. 01:49 Ryan, so glad you're here. 01:51 I'm glad to be here as well. 01:52 I'm looking forward to the study. 01:53 Oh, me too. 01:55 And Pastor John Dinzey. 01:57 We're glad you're here, Johnny. 01:59 It's a blessing to be here 02:00 and I'm looking forward as well. 02:01 We know that God will bring a blessing 02:03 to all that want a blessing. 02:05 Amen and amen. 02:06 And we are going to study 02:09 these three consecutive parables of grace 02:14 and truth, parables of God's, 02:17 how much each precious soul is worth to God. 02:21 And a parable is like a life sketch if you will. 02:25 It's a story that has rich symbolic meaning. 02:29 I know that I learned something in studying mine, 02:33 but what we will find about these is usually 02:38 you look at it and people feel that well, 02:41 they're all saying the same thing, 02:42 but it's not true. 02:44 This is not repetitious. 02:45 What it is each parable builds on the previous. 02:50 We're gonna see the work of Jesus, 02:53 the Holy Spirit, and the Father in these three parables. 02:57 Would you like to open with prayer, Brother Ryan? 03:00 Absolutely. Yeah, let's pray. 03:02 Our Father in heaven, Lord, we are so blessed, 03:04 so privileged and honored to be here, 03:06 Lord, to be able to open the bread of life and to study 03:09 and to come to know Your will for our life. 03:12 Lord, there are so many people 03:13 that are watching around the world right now. 03:14 I just pray Lord that Your Holy Spirit 03:16 be poured out on each and every one of us, 03:18 those listening, 03:20 those of us here on the panel here 03:22 that are, we'll be discussing and studying. 03:24 Lord, may there be a blessing poured out on each of us, 03:26 and may we each be drawn closer to Jesus Christ. 03:30 We ask in Jesus' name. 03:31 Amen. 03:32 Amen. Amen. 03:34 Let me just open up with the first few 03:35 and then scriptures. 03:37 And then I'm gonna toss it to you, Johnny. 03:39 You know what we see in Luke Chapter 15, 03:43 is God's divine hand of mercy 03:46 reaching down to human hands of misery. 03:50 We see how God put such great value 03:54 on every precious soul. 03:57 And He is seeking people to save people. 04:02 It starts, Luke 15. 04:04 It says, "All the tax collectors 04:06 and the sinners drew near to Him, 04:07 to Jesus, to hear Him. 04:09 And the Pharisees and the scribes 04:11 complained saying, 04:13 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" 04:15 So what we have here, Jesus is at this feast, 04:20 He's with sinners, He's with tax collectors 04:24 because He knew they needed salvation. 04:27 But these Pharisees are complaining, 04:30 they're grumbling, they're pointing fingers 04:32 and casting accusations at Jesus. 04:36 So, Johnny, why don't you give the first parable? 04:41 Okay. 04:42 So I am going to keep reading verse 3 04:46 and I'll read the parable 04:47 and then we'll come back and look at it. 04:49 So He spoke this parable to them saying, 04:52 what man of you having a hundred sheep, 04:55 if he loses one of them does not leave 04:58 the ninety-nine in the wilderness 05:00 and go after the one 05:02 which is lost until he finds it? 05:04 And when he has found it, 05:06 he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. 05:09 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends 05:12 and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, 05:16 for I have found my sheep which was lost!' 05:20 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy 05:24 in heaven over one sinner who repents 05:27 than over ninety-nine just persons 05:31 who need no repentance.'" 05:34 Oh, I love that scripture. 05:37 It is indeed a marvelous scripture. 05:40 The whole parable is a tremendous blessing 05:44 to consider it. 05:45 If we look at the verses, I'll just go back to verse 1. 05:49 It says, "Then all the tax collectors 05:51 and the sinners drew near to hear Him." 05:55 So we have a picture here of tax collectors and sinners 06:00 wanting to hear Jesus. 06:01 That's good news. 06:03 That's good news. 06:04 They are interested in hearing what Jesus has to say. 06:07 Now, why are they interested in what Jesus has to say? 06:09 Maybe they've heard. 06:11 Maybe they've seen things and they say, wait a minute, 06:13 there's something about this person. 06:15 We need to go hear Him. 06:16 There's something different about Jesus. 06:18 So they come near and when someone comes near, 06:22 there's interest. 06:23 You know, you can stand the far off. 06:25 You're hearing someone. 06:26 I'm not sure about this person. 06:27 I'll just stand back here. 06:29 Then in case, I don't like what I hear, 06:30 I'll just walk right and out. 06:32 I'm sure you've been to a church. 06:33 You see somebody come in, they sit way in the back 06:35 kind of just seeing how things go 06:37 and they can slip right out. 06:39 Or maybe they don't wanna be noticed, 06:41 but these individuals came here. 06:44 So that's good news. 06:45 Now, it's interesting that the parable, I mean the... 06:48 This scene before the parable doesn't say, okay, 06:51 you sinners, you guys, 06:52 no, you can't be here, you need to go. 06:54 No, Jesus allows them to come near, 06:57 but not only does He allow them, 06:59 but look at verse 2, 07:00 "And the Pharisees and scribes complained." 07:03 Where do the scribes and Pharisees want to be? 07:06 Close. 07:07 They wanna be close, 07:09 but the sinners are there close to Jesus. 07:12 And said, "They took our place." 07:14 They took our place, but not only are they looking 07:17 at the situation, but they are complaining. 07:19 Wait a minute, who is this guy? 07:21 Why is He receiving sinners? 07:23 They're complaining 07:24 because you're not supposed to do that. 07:26 You're doing something wrong, Jesus. 07:28 And so they are complaining. 07:30 He says this man receives sinners. 07:31 And then they add, and eats with them. 07:34 What? You're eating with sinners? 07:36 Oh no, there's something wrong with you. 07:38 Because eating was what? 07:40 In the east was assigned, A, I accept you. 07:44 I want to know you better. 07:46 I want to have a close relationship with you. 07:49 So Jesus is eating with the sinners. 07:51 That's good news for us. 07:53 Jesus will receive people. 07:54 Not only does it say that He receives them, 07:57 but He eats with them. 07:59 Jesus wants to have a close relationship with us. 08:03 And let's look at the parable a little more. 08:05 It says, "What man of you having a hundred sheep." 08:08 So he puts this to them. 08:10 Think about it. 08:11 If you had one sheep that was missing, 08:13 wouldn't you go out and find it? 08:15 Yeah. Right. 08:16 And notice, now He's comparing them. 08:19 Consider the love of God. 08:21 If you as a human being will go for one lost sheep, 08:24 what about God that created the sheep? 08:27 Amen. 08:28 His interest is even greater than yours, 08:30 but He's trying to put them, 08:33 put Himself on their level so that they understand 08:35 why I'm doing what I'm doing. 08:38 So He says He leaves the 99 08:40 and goes out to find the lost sheep. 08:43 Why is He wasting time, 08:45 they would say after one lost sheep? 08:47 Because one, it's important, two, it has value. 08:52 Amen. 08:53 And it shows that He goes out to look for this lost sheep. 08:57 What's out there? 08:59 There could be danger out there. 09:00 You know, Jesus told another parable 09:02 that a person was on his way somewhere 09:07 was attacked and they left him dying. 09:09 So the person, 09:10 the man goes out to seek the lost sheep. 09:14 Of course, he goes, with probably a staff 09:17 because they can defend themselves with that. 09:18 But He... 09:19 It shows that He goes to search. 09:21 And the good news is that 09:24 He comes back finding the sheep. 09:27 He seeks until He finds. That's right. 09:29 And this is what Jesus does with us. 09:31 I mean, He knows where we are, but it says, 09:34 He goes to where we are 09:37 and calls us from there to come. 09:41 Now it says that He takes it upon His shoulders. 09:46 Now the sheep is above the danger. 09:49 Yes, amen The sheep is above the danger 09:51 and no one can come to that sheep 09:54 unless the shepherd allows that access. 09:58 But he's got the sheep, He's protecting, 10:01 lays it on His shoulder. 10:02 Care is shown here. 10:04 And, of course, what's the intention? 10:08 Bind up the wounds. 10:09 Maybe the sheep is injured. 10:11 This is what Christ would do. 10:12 He will bind up our wounds. 10:13 He will bring healing to our souls. 10:16 And this is a picture of Jesus 10:18 that goes out to seek for us, receives us. 10:23 And when the sheep is brought back, 10:25 what do you do with it? 10:27 You feed it, you nurture it back to health. 10:31 And so it says that 10:34 when He finds it, He's rejoicing. 10:36 That's right. 10:37 God rejoices to find the lost sheep. 10:41 No condemnation is shown here. 10:42 There is rejoicing. 10:44 And look at verse 6. 10:46 And when He comes home, He's not quiet. 10:49 Hey, I found my lost sheep. 10:50 Yeah. 10:52 You know the sheep was lost? 10:53 No, He immediately... 10:56 Interesting thing is, 10:57 when He notices the sheep is missing, 10:59 He immediately goes out. 11:00 He doesn't say, well, 11:02 I'll go to tomorrow, I'm kind of tired. 11:03 You know, it's been a long day. 11:06 Tomorrow I'll go out. 11:07 Maybe when it's not raining, I'll go out there. 11:09 No, He leaves. 11:11 And He goes out to find. 11:12 Now He finds the lost sheep and He wants to share this joy 11:16 with His friends and neighbors saying to them, 11:19 "Rejoice with me for I have found my lost... 11:23 My sheep which was lost. 11:25 I say to you that likewise, 11:27 there will be more joy in heaven, 11:28 over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine 11:33 just persons who needs no repentance." 11:36 Not that there's not joy for the 99, 11:39 but there's more joy over that one 11:43 that repents comes home is received. 11:47 Amen. 11:49 And there's great rejoicing in all of heaven. 11:52 Amen. You know, you think about that. 11:55 God is happy. 11:57 The angels are happy because they are also involved 12:00 in the process of salvation. 12:02 You think about it. 12:03 And so this parable is so wonderful, so precious. 12:08 And I would just encourage everyone to look at it 12:11 and consider I am the lost sheep, 12:13 you know, and Jesus is willing to seek for me. 12:16 One is the very lowest number. 12:19 And you know, people have said about this 12:21 and I'm sure you've heard it or said it yourself. 12:23 This shows us 12:25 that if there was just one sinner 12:27 in the whole universe, 12:30 God for that one sinner will give His Son, 12:33 Jesus Christ to die for that one person. 12:35 And so, I would encourage you to consider that, 12:37 you are of such great value to God 12:40 that He would send His only Son to die for you, 12:42 so that you could have eternal life. 12:44 You know, this makes me think of Isaiah 40. 12:47 In Isaiah 40 talking about the Messiah coming. 12:51 We know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 12:56 That's what He says. 12:57 But in Isaiah 40, it says, it's talking about, 13:00 behold, He's coming. 13:02 His reward is with Him. 13:03 Verse 11 of Isaiah 40 says, 13:05 "He will feed His flock like a shepherd. 13:08 He will gather the lambs with His arm. 13:11 He'll carry them in His bosom 13:13 and gently lead those who are with young." 13:16 So Jesus isn't cracking the whip and driving them out 13:21 or hitting them over the head with the rod. 13:23 He's picking them up and carrying them. 13:25 It's a beautiful picture. 13:26 When I was... 13:27 As you were studying 13:29 through this and reading through this, 13:30 and I'm looking at all the details, I couldn't help, 13:32 but my mind was drawn to the larger picture. 13:36 You know, the Bible makes it clear 13:38 in the Book of Hebrews, that there are other worlds. 13:40 Yes, absolutely. 13:42 And, but this is the only world that needed repentance. 13:45 This is the only fallen world. 13:46 And in a very literal sense, 13:48 the Son of God left His kingdom to come to the one lost. 13:53 Amen. 13:54 And I love this detail here in verse 5 13:56 because it says here, 13:57 "And when He has found it, He lays it upon His shoulders." 14:00 That's precious. 14:02 And I could just see Jesus there 14:03 in the Garden of Gethsemane, 14:04 as He's now within the heart of the earth, right? 14:06 In a spiritual, from a spiritual perspective, 14:08 He's there in the heart of the earth. 14:10 He's laying the sin of the world 14:11 upon His shoulders. 14:13 And it leads Him to the cross 14:14 to make the greatest sacrifice of all for the one world, 14:17 the one lost and dying world out of all of who knows the... 14:21 We don't really know 14:22 how many other worlds there are, 14:24 but the one world that is lost 14:25 and that God could easily just go forget that. 14:28 You know, let's hit the reset button 14:30 and start over. 14:31 He sent His Son 14:33 and Jesus came and died for the one lost kingdom, 14:36 the one lost world that needed redemption. 14:38 And so, as we were reading through that, 14:40 my mind went to that Jesus upon a cross 14:42 bearing the sin of the world upon His shoulders, 14:44 going all the way to save and redeem mankind. 14:47 Absolutely. 14:48 And it's just so exciting because every life 14:53 is, every precious soul is valuable to the Lord. 14:55 So let's look at the parable of the lost coin. 14:58 I wanna leave you some time on the other end of this, 15:01 the next parable. 15:03 So here we see the work of Jesus. 15:04 The parable of the lost coin says, "Of what woman, 15:08 this is Jesus speaking, 15:10 "having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, 15:13 does not light a lamp, sweep the house, 15:16 and search carefully until she finds it? 15:19 And when she has found it, she calls her friends 15:22 and her neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, 15:27 for I have found the piece which I lost!' 15:31 Likewise, I say to you, 15:33 there is joy in the presence of the angels of God 15:37 over one sinner who repents.'' 15:40 You know what? 15:41 I didn't really wanna do this parable, 15:43 but I can't assign it to somebody else if I don't... 15:46 I've never heard a sermon 15:49 on the parable of the lost coin. 15:51 There's not much to be said about it. 15:53 So as I'm praying, 15:55 here's what I'm going to give you 15:57 an interpretation that maybe you've not heard before. 16:00 I've certainly never heard it before. 16:02 But as I was looking, parables are so symbolic. 16:07 In Scripture, what is the church? 16:11 It's a woman. 16:12 The church is referred to as a woman. 16:15 So here we see a woman whose husband is away. 16:19 She's home alone. 16:21 Just like the church, our bridegroom is in heaven 16:25 and she's got a problem. 16:28 She knows that something's missing. 16:33 And this coin had great value. 16:37 It was stamped with the image of the king, 16:40 just like every soul is stamped with the image of God. 16:45 But the coin was not a living thing. 16:47 It wasn't like the reckless sheep 16:49 that walked off, the sheep was still living. 16:52 The coin was unconscious, unaware of its own condition. 16:57 Just laying there powerless to move on its own. 17:01 And you know, I just wanna say, 17:03 if we're living in sin, we're dead. 17:07 And there are people who don't know their condition. 17:11 They don't realize that they're dead, 17:15 but it's laying in the dust unconscious lost 17:21 but not forgotten. 17:22 I believe that this parable is showing the work 17:26 of the Holy Spirit through the church. 17:30 It was lost in the house. 17:31 Now the house could be 17:33 in because she's bringing in her neighbors. 17:35 Let's say the house is the church. 17:37 And its sphere of influence, 17:40 the neighborhood in which the church is. 17:44 She lights a lamp. 17:46 The Bible says in Psalm 119:105, 17:49 "The word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path." 17:55 Now, when you think about this, 17:58 when she lights the lamp, what was the lamp? 18:02 Oil and fire. 18:04 What are those symbols serve? 18:06 Holy Spirit. 18:07 The Holy Spirit. 18:09 So now in Christ's day, 18:13 there were no glass windows. 18:16 So homes usually either were windowless 18:19 or they had little tiny slots that were ladder step. 18:23 So even at high noon 18:26 they have to light a candle to search for something. 18:29 But so this woman, 18:31 if you think of the church without the word, 18:35 the church can't be lit up inside, 18:38 but without the fire and the oil of the Holy Spirit, 18:42 we can't get out there and search, 18:46 searching in the church. 18:47 Let's not talk about in the house. 18:49 When you're in your Sabbath School class, 18:51 your Sunday school class, whatever class you're in, 18:54 the young adults, the seniors, 18:56 there are people who are lost inside the church, 18:59 but then think at this sphere of influence, 19:01 we should be out there knocking on the doors, 19:04 passing out tracts, doing all of these things. 19:07 And this coin had great value 19:11 just as every precious soul has great value to the Lord. 19:17 Amen. 19:19 Lost but not forgotten. 19:21 So when she finds it, she rejoices, 19:23 she calls in her friends and neighbors to celebrate, 19:26 but notice what was lost after it was found. 19:32 It excites the hearts of the angels. 19:36 Now I think that's kind of interesting. 19:39 Did you know, 19:40 the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:12, 19:43 angels are intently watching 19:47 any time there is a conversion of one lost soul 19:52 to the gospel of salvation by grace, 19:55 through faith in Christ Jesus. 19:58 1 Peter 1:12 says, 20:00 "That the things which now have been reported to you 20:03 through those who have preached the gospel to you 20:07 by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, 20:10 these things angels long to look into." 20:15 So we've got the work of Jesus in the first parable. 20:19 The work of the Holy Spirit through the church 20:23 in the second parable. 20:25 Now let's dive into the parable of the prodigal son. 20:29 Before we do though, I've got to just also say 20:31 about this parable of the lost coin. 20:33 I also see a prophetic application here as well. 20:36 Amen. 20:37 Because again, the woman being the church 20:39 and in Revelation 12:17, 20:41 it says the description of that woman's character 20:44 is that she's a commandment keeping people 20:46 with the testimony of Jesus Christ. 20:49 And when I read this, 20:50 it's interesting that it says she had 10 coins, 20:52 but she lost one 20:53 just as God gave us Ten Commandments. 20:58 And in a span of historical time, 21:00 there was one that was lost and what happened? 21:02 She lit a lamp, again, the oil of the spirit. 21:06 And she has the word there, the lamp unto my feet, 21:08 a light unto my path, the Word. 21:10 And it says that when she... 21:12 Excuse me, that she swept the house, right? 21:15 She swept the house and she searched for it. 21:18 And we see kind of a prophetic implication here 21:20 that God's Church, God's people 21:23 at an appropriate time in history, 21:24 we know the mid 1800s. 21:26 You know, there was that one commandment 21:28 the world had seemed to forgotten, 21:29 the very commandment that God said to remember 21:31 is the one they forgotten, the Sabbath commandment. 21:33 There was Ten Commandments. 21:35 One was forgotten 21:36 and God's people, His remnant church... 21:38 Through His remnant church, He brought that truth back. 21:41 And because of it, we rejoice of that, right? 21:44 And so, as I was reading through that, 21:45 that came into my mind. 21:46 I just have to add one more thought. 21:48 When you think about it, 21:49 she didn't just light the lamp and sit there. 21:51 Right. 21:53 She grabbed the burned lamp, she was... 21:54 Moved things aside. 21:56 Searched diligently. Yeah. 21:58 She's stirring up the dust. 22:00 And you know what? 22:02 We as a church need to stir up some dust. 22:04 That's right. 22:06 Sometimes it makes people choke on it, 22:08 but we can't worry 22:10 about the dust we're stirring up. 22:11 As we go out to evangelize, 22:15 we've got to search for those precious. 22:18 I'd like to add, you know, this coin like you said, 22:21 it's inanimate. 22:22 It doesn't have a care in the world. 22:24 There are people like that in the church 22:26 and out of the church, they don't care. 22:28 They're lost in trespasses and sin. 22:31 They don't care to be found. 22:34 Did the coin care to be found? 22:35 No, it didn't matter to the coin 22:38 whether it was lost or found. 22:40 But the coin does not know its value. 22:41 Yeah. 22:43 God knows our value. 22:44 Amen. 22:45 And it shows, again, this is a picture of God 22:47 interested in finding those that are lost, 22:49 even though they are indifferent, 22:51 they don't understand. 22:52 But when you bring to them the message of Jesus 22:55 that He came to this world, suffered in this world, 22:58 was tempted like we are, went to the cross, died for us. 23:03 Then that person that is, wait a minute, 23:06 maybe there's more to this than I understood. 23:09 There's something of greater value 23:11 than what I am doing and what I am enjoying. 23:13 There's something of greater value. 23:14 And there's a rescue mission 23:17 is put in place and another successful rescue mission. 23:21 Amen. 23:22 Amen. Amen. 23:24 Praise the Lord. Okay. 23:25 Search diligently, 23:26 study to show thyself approved, right? 23:28 A workman not ashamed, 23:29 rightly dividing the word of truth. 23:30 And that's what we're doing here in Luke 15. 23:32 This last parable in the 15th chapter of Luke 23:35 is probably one of the most notorious parables 23:38 that Jesus tells in His lifetime. 23:41 This is probably one of my favorite, 23:43 if not my favorite parable, 23:44 just because it has so much meaning to it so much... 23:47 There's just so many jewels in here and richness. 23:50 And so this is the parable of the lost son. 23:51 We're gonna begin in verse 11. 23:53 I may not read the entire parable for the time sake, 23:55 'cause I know there's a lot to be said about it, 23:58 but let's just start reading, and then we'll go from there. 24:00 Verse 11 says, "Then He said: 'A certain man had two sons. 24:05 And the younger of them said to his father, 24:07 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' 24:11 So he divided to them his livelihood. 24:15 And not many days after, 24:16 the younger son gathered all together, 24:18 journeyed to a far country, 24:20 and there wasted his possessions 24:22 with prodigal living. 24:25 But when he had spent all, 24:27 there arose a severe famine in that land, 24:29 and he began to be in want. 24:32 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, 24:36 and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 24:41 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods 24:45 that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything." 24:48 So this guy, he first goes and he asks 24:50 for the inheritance father, give me my inheritance. 24:54 And we'll get to that in just a moment. 24:55 There's a significance to that. 24:56 And he goes out and he's living just in the world, 24:59 however, with no care at all. 25:01 And, of course, now he's finding himself 25:02 that the world does not have all that it's... 25:05 The world's not all that it's cracked up to be, right? 25:07 He now is desiring to go back to his father. 25:10 That's where we come to verse 17. 25:11 It says, "But he came to himself, and said, 25:15 'How many of my father's hired servants 25:17 have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger! 25:21 I will arise and go to my father, 25:22 and will say to him, 25:24 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 25:26 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 25:29 Make me like one of your hired servants.' 25:33 Then he arose and came to his father." 25:35 I love this part. 25:36 "But when he was still a great way off, 25:41 his father saw him and had compassion, 25:44 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 25:47 And the son said to him, 25:48 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, 25:51 and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 25:54 But the father said to his servants, 25:56 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, 25:58 and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 26:01 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, 26:03 and let us eat and be merry, 26:05 for this son was dead and is alive again, 26:09 he was lost and is found.' 26:10 And they began to be merry.'" 26:14 And if you read through the rest of this parable, 26:16 you know, they are celebrating, 26:18 the father is happy that the son has returned. 26:20 Well, the older son, you know, he comes 26:22 and he sees the celebration happening. 26:24 He recognizes his brother's back 26:25 and he gets in this jealous 26:27 and he refuses to go into the ceremony. 26:30 The father comes out, has a meeting with him, 26:32 and addresses the issue with the son. 26:33 Come inside, come celebrate with us. 26:35 And, of course, out of jealousy the son's words 26:38 are this right here... 26:41 He says Verse 29. 26:44 Verse 29. Thank you. 26:46 "So he answered and said to his father, 26:47 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you, 26:50 I never transgressed your commandment at any time, 26:52 and yet you never gave me a young goat, 26:55 that I might make merry with my friends. 26:57 But as soon as this son of yours comes home, 26:59 or your son came, 27:01 who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, 27:04 you killed the fatted calf for him." 27:05 And I love these closing verses. 27:07 "And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, 27:12 and all that I have is yours. 27:14 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, 27:17 for your brother was dead and is alive again, 27:20 and was lost and is found.'" 27:23 I used to read through this parable again 27:25 with my Western cultural mindset as most people do 27:28 and you read kind of read through it. 27:30 And on the surface, you get this beautiful story of, 27:32 oh, he leaves home and he comes back again. 27:34 And the father's like, oh, 27:36 there's my son and embraces him. 27:37 And the younger brother is jealous and the father 27:39 puts him in his place and says, look, I love you both. 27:41 And it just kind of, you know, 27:43 from our Western culture mindset, 27:44 we miss a lot of these details, 27:45 but I took a class a few years ago 27:48 at seminary at Andrews University. 27:50 And one of my instructors there, Dr. Joseph Kidder, 27:53 who is from Nineveh, he's from the Middle East. 27:56 He tells his story. 27:57 He tells his... He gives his personal testimony. 28:00 And in that personal testimony, he talks about the prodigal son 28:04 and he relates his testimony kind of to the prodigal son. 28:07 And he taught us something amazing. 28:09 After that class, I went and dug into the things 28:12 that he was talking about to do a little bit further research. 28:15 And I found that you really don't fully appreciate 28:19 this particular parable or many of the parables to say 28:23 unless you look at it through a Middle Eastern lens. 28:25 Absolutely. 28:27 When Christ told a lot of these parables, He was telling them 28:29 to the Pharisees, to the people of His time, 28:32 so that He could relate to them. 28:33 For instance, in the very next chapter, Chapter 16, 28:35 you have the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, 28:37 and many people look at that and say, well, 28:39 that's a story of, you know, God trying to teach us 28:41 about heaven and hell when really God... 28:43 Jesus was using a similar parable 28:45 that was often told by the Pharisees in those times 28:48 to relate to them instead He did it with the twist 28:51 to teach them a lesson. 28:52 If we looked at this parable 28:54 and all the others through a Middle Eastern lens, 28:56 from a Middle Eastern perspective, 28:58 we learn a lot from this. 28:59 I just wanna share a few gems about this 29:01 that I think really brings this to light, 29:03 and then we can discuss it amongst ourselves here. 29:05 So it's powerful that Pastor Kidder or Professor Kidder 29:08 shared a story with us about an actual professor, 29:12 seminary professor by the name of Kenneth Bailey who many, 29:15 many years ago was given basically the assignment 29:19 by the dean of his school. 29:21 said, I want you to come up with a powerful sermon 29:23 on the prodigal son. 29:24 And so as he began to study and look into it, 29:27 he asked the question as he was looking at it, 29:29 he said, wait a second. 29:30 Why did the son asked for the inheritance? 29:33 That's strange because even in our culture, 29:35 I mean, you wouldn't go to your father and say, 29:37 hey, you, dad, you know, 29:38 you know, give to me now what's mine. 29:40 You know, you just wouldn't do that. 29:41 It's disrespectful. And it's... 29:43 Not that it's unheard of in our culture, 29:45 but it's something that you just don't do. 29:47 And so he was wondering about that 29:49 and he asked the dean of his seminary 29:53 for a four-week sabbatical. 29:55 And that four-week sabbatical turned into 40 years. 29:58 Wow. 29:59 For he would spend the majority of the rest of his time 30:03 in ministry in 40 years in the Middle East, 30:06 where he literally went 4,000 miles east to west 30:10 from Morocco to Iran 30:12 and from Turkey to the Sudan, 4,000 miles north and south, 30:15 he was asking the question. 30:17 He wanted to know if someone came in this culture 30:21 in this particular area of the globe 30:24 and ask for the inheritance. 30:26 If a son ask his father for the inheritance, 30:27 would this be the response? 30:29 What's the... 30:30 'Cause this doesn't make sense 30:31 that the father would respond in this way 30:33 and what he found was amazing. 30:35 And so here's the just of it all. 30:38 In the Middle East, it would be, for somebody to come 30:42 and ask for the inheritance, it's a complete shame. 30:44 It brings complete shame and utter... 30:46 Just it's like the greatest disrespectful slap in the face 30:50 for somebody to do that. 30:51 In fact, it's something worthy of death. 30:54 He did 4,000 miles this way, 4,000 miles this way. 30:57 And in all of his 40 years of asking this question 30:59 and researching this, he found 31:01 that there was never one incident or one scenario. 31:04 And it's not like, he went to the big cities. 31:06 He went to all the little rural areas where, you know, 31:08 he wanted to know in these cultures, 31:10 you know, is that something that's is that normal 31:12 here to people come and ask for their inheritance? 31:14 And every single answer he received was no, 31:17 that's just unheard of and to do so would put 31:19 that young man who asked in a situation 31:22 where he would have been rebellious, 31:24 he would have been disrespectful, 31:26 brought shame on his family. 31:27 And that would have been grounds for him 31:29 to be put to death. 31:31 It's almost like saying, I wish you were dead. 31:33 Exactly, exactly. Yeah. 31:35 And so, it's interesting because this actually goes in 31:37 harmony with what we see in Deuteronomy. 31:39 This is actually a biblical basis and Deuteronomy 21:18-21. 31:44 I'm not gonna read the texts, 31:46 but if you go read Deuteronomy 21:18-21, 31:48 you see there that God actually gives permission 31:51 at that particular time for that culture 31:53 and that set, he says, look, 31:55 if you have a rebellious son and they've done this, 31:57 this, this, and this, 31:59 and they're proven to be continuously rebellious, 32:01 they have the right to take that young rebellious son 32:04 out and stone him to death, 32:06 whatever case that may be, 32:07 that brought shame and dishonor to the family. 32:10 And so he'd spent all these many years looking to see, 32:13 well, this is interesting because in the parable 32:15 he asked for the inheritance, 32:17 but he didn't receive the death decree upon his return. 32:22 And that's the beautiful thing about this parable 32:24 is how does the father respond once he returns? 32:28 Because according to Middle Eastern culture and law, 32:31 this is something that is obviously worthy 32:33 of being, you can be killed. 32:35 You can be murdered, beheaded, stoned to death, 32:37 whatever the case may be. 32:39 But if you read back in the parable, 32:40 it's powerful here. 32:41 It says here. 32:44 And when, this is verse 20, 32:45 "When he arose and came to his father. 32:46 But when he was still a great way off, 32:49 his father saw him and had compassion, 32:51 and ran and, notice, he fell on his neck and he kissed him." 32:56 And this is where Dr. Kidder brought up the fact 32:58 that he said, this is unheard of. 33:00 He says, but what this father is doing, 33:01 and this is where the spiritual application comes. 33:03 Why did he run at him? 33:06 And why did he fall upon him and kiss him? 33:08 He ran unto him and he fell upon him... 33:11 because he knew what that What faith 33:13 that young man was going to meet 33:15 if he were to return, the only person that could 33:18 save him was his own father. 33:20 Because upon return, what was... 33:21 What could he look forward to upon his return? 33:24 Death. 33:26 If the city folk would have gotten a hold of him, 33:29 they would have taken him out. 33:30 They would've stoned him and killed him. 33:32 The father ran at him, 33:34 threw himself upon him almost as to say, 33:37 you know what? 33:39 I pardoned him. 33:40 You came to kill him would be to kill me. 33:43 Just as Jesus comes into this world, 33:45 and He falls upon us and He takes the penalty 33:48 that we deserve to save us. 33:49 Powerful, powerful stuff. 33:51 And there's a few extra details here that we see here, 33:54 for instance, the, oh, 33:56 and it's also found this as well, 33:58 which is really awesome. 34:00 In the Middle East, 34:01 and this is actually really, even to this day. 34:03 In certain parts of the Middle East, 34:05 men over the age of 50 don't run. 34:08 It's not. They can't run. 34:10 It's not dignified. 34:12 It's not dignified, but in some cases, 34:14 you can actually have severe punishment. 34:17 If you're over 50 and you are found running, 34:19 for instance, in 1976, 34:21 there was a McCall Valley earthquake. 34:23 And there was these people having this big gathering 34:27 and the mountain started shaking 34:28 and they had all of their cars parked up 34:30 on the edge of the rim of the mountain. 34:31 And when the earth started shaking, 34:33 all of the cars started falling inward upon the people. 34:36 The people ran and there were four older men that refused 34:39 to run because they didn't wanna bring shame 34:40 upon themselves and upon their family. 34:42 And they allowed the cars to crash 34:45 in on them and kill them. 34:46 That's an actual real story. 34:47 There was another story that pastor Kidder 34:49 was telling us. 34:50 In Nineveh, a man lost his job 34:53 because he was running to avoid being run over 34:55 by a car at the last second. 34:57 Did they explain why you can't run after 50s? 35:01 I didn't... Haven't done that far, 35:02 but the point is, the point, 35:04 overall point that I'm trying to get at 35:05 is that what this man was doing in the parable, 35:08 what the father is doing was unheard of. 35:10 It was shameful in his, 35:12 even in his community to run it all, 35:15 to run at this young man as he was far off. 35:19 Of course, we know he was running to save his son, 35:21 but he was willing to even bring shame 35:23 upon himself in order to save his son. 35:26 And it reminds me of that text in Hebrews, 35:28 where it says that the joy that was set before Him, 35:32 He despised the shame, right? 35:35 That He endured the cross and despised the shame. 35:37 But yet, in this case, Jesus was willing to take the shame 35:40 of the sinful world upon Himself to save us. 35:43 There's so many beautiful little imageries here 35:46 that we can take from this. 35:49 He tells him in the parable, he says, bring the best robe 35:52 and put it upon my son. 35:53 In a Middle Eastern context, 35:55 if you understand what that means, 35:57 it basically means a veto right. 35:59 And by him placing that robe upon his son and saying, 36:02 I'm putting the best robe upon him. 36:03 He's telling the rest of his community, 36:04 don't touch my son. 36:06 He's pardoned. 36:07 Whatever he has done, it's forgiven. 36:09 It's clean. 36:10 He has returned and he's rewarded accordingly. 36:11 Hallelujah. He puts the ring upon his hand. 36:14 There's three or four things that's mentioned here, 36:15 the robe, the ring. 36:16 He puts shoes upon his feet and he kills the fatted calf. 36:19 All of these are very highly symbolic 36:21 in Middle Eastern culture. 36:23 They mean something. 36:24 The ring was as equal to him giving him 36:26 his checkbook or his credit card and saying, 36:28 you now have... 36:30 You are as equal with me as anybody else. 36:32 I'm giving you the family name. 36:35 And in fact, often in these rings 36:36 that they would wear these family rings. 36:38 The family name was engraved upon 36:40 or under the ring there. 36:42 So it was like he was giving him the right 36:44 to the kingdom by placing the ring upon his hand. 36:47 And shoes upon his feet, 36:48 this is a representation of freedom. 36:50 You're now set free. You're free to come and go. 36:53 Because often these people in these particular scenarios 36:55 would not be wearing shoes. 36:57 Certain servants didn't wear shoes. Yeah. 36:59 And you'll find in this parable, he says, 37:00 don't make me just a servant, 37:02 make me a hired servant lower than the regular servants. 37:05 But he says, no, no, no. 37:07 I'll put shoes upon his feet. 37:08 He's my son that has returned. 37:09 And of course the fatted calf, you know, 37:11 there was three instances in this Middle Eastern culture 37:14 where the fatted calf would have been okay and brought 37:17 forth and they deemed okay to kill and to, 37:20 you know, eat for the purpose of celebration. 37:22 That would be the birth of a child, 37:23 a wedding, or some type of major business transaction. 37:26 So in this case, there was an exception made, 37:29 the young son has returned home, kill the fatted calf. 37:32 Let's celebrate because he has returned. 37:36 And, of course, last but not least, 37:37 I'm gonna end on this 37:39 and let you guys kind of chime in on this. 37:40 There's just so much richness in this parable to learn from, 37:44 but it's one last point 37:45 that I got here was the brother's response, 37:47 the older brother. 37:49 He didn't leave the father. 37:51 He stayed with the father 37:52 and a lot of people can relate to that brother 37:57 in a real world scenario. 37:59 They see that they can, 38:00 they feel like that older brother, 38:01 yeah, you know, he left and I understand 38:03 the way that brother feels 38:04 'cause he didn't leave the father. 38:06 He stayed with the father. He worked hard. 38:07 He didn't disobey. 38:08 He was there, but yet, 38:11 while he did all that was right as far as his deeds, 38:16 his heart was not in the right place, 38:18 which brought me to this. 38:20 Is it possible on a greater spiritual note. 38:23 Is it possible to live in the father's house, 38:26 but not know the father's heart? 38:29 Do you think when I look at this part of the parable, 38:34 I always think it's kind of like the comparison 38:37 between salvation by grace and salvation by works. 38:42 The brother, as you said, 38:43 did not have the right attitude. 38:46 He's not got a heart of love we see 'cause he's angry, 38:49 he's not excited. 38:51 And he's judgmental. 38:53 He's comparing himself, 38:56 which the Bible says, we're not supposed to compare 38:58 ourselves with others, but it's kind of like 39:01 I did this, I did that. 39:02 I've obeyed everything. 39:04 And I think, you know, this is what you just said, 39:08 in the church, there are people. 39:11 I mean, obviously, the younger brother was, 39:13 is a picture of salvation by grace. 39:16 Is it not? That's right. 39:17 The robe of Christ's righteousness. 39:20 The ring, grace writes the check. 39:22 Faith takes it to the bank, but the sandals, you know, 39:26 I mean everything about this, 39:28 but I've always kind, do you see that? 39:30 Oh, absolutely. In fact, it's interesting. 39:33 Take it a step further. 39:34 The older brother, 39:35 when they started this celebration, 39:37 he was out in the field working 39:39 and from a spiritual kind 39:40 of a Christian works perspective. 39:42 You know, we should be in the father's field, right? 39:45 That, you know, the fields are ripe for the harvest. 39:48 We need to be out there working, 39:50 but it is possible for us 39:52 to be doing the deeds of the father. 39:54 Yes. 39:55 It is possible for us to be, you know, 39:57 I didn't break that commandment. 39:58 I didn't break. 40:00 You know, we're doing all of the great 40:01 deeds per se, but as you brought out very clearly, 40:03 our heart's not in the right place. 40:05 That was the case with this younger... 40:06 With this older brother, when he returns he's out there, 40:10 he's been with the father. 40:11 He's never left the father, but yet, 40:13 while he was dwelling in the presence of his father, 40:16 he lacked to reflect the heart of the father. 40:19 And that's what we can learn from here 40:21 that grace works aspect. 40:22 Amen. Amen. 40:24 There's so many wonderful things 40:26 in each one of these parables. 40:28 We can keep talking here for hours and hours. 40:32 The prodigal son is one of those stories 40:36 that really touches the heart. 40:39 You know, when you look at it, there are many things. 40:41 Let me mention a couple here. 40:44 You know, you see the father is, 40:45 as in, nobody came to tell the father, 40:48 hey, is that your son coming? 40:51 He was in eager anticipation, looking. 40:55 And he says, he saw him as a far off, 40:57 it wasn't that, is that really my son, you know? 41:01 There's a thing about parents. 41:03 There's a thing about people that love other people. 41:05 They learn how their walk is. 41:07 They may not be able to distinguish the face, 41:09 hey, that's so-and-so 41:11 and you know, 41:12 so the father knew, 41:14 and there's this eager anticipation, he runs to him. 41:17 And like you said, acceptance and the father didn't say, 41:22 okay, what have you been up to, 41:23 you know? 41:25 It was none of that. 41:26 He says all is forgiven. 41:29 That's right. You are accepted. 41:31 Absolutely. 41:32 And he didn't even get to He didn't give 41:34 He didn't even have the opportunity 41:36 to give his little speech that he prepared. 41:38 You know father just make me as one. 41:41 I'm not worthy. And it's true. 41:43 When we come to the Lord, 41:45 considering we are not worthy, 41:47 but His mercy like you said, His mercy, 41:50 His mercy is so great. 41:52 In the Book of Psalms, it says, 41:53 "His mercy is as high as the heaven from the earth." 41:58 Okay. 42:00 That God's mercy for each one of us 42:02 is not only extended offered. 42:05 And you have different pictures here. 42:07 The shepherd goes out to seek the sheep. 42:09 You have the search for the lost coin. 42:11 You know, there's, people ask, well, why is the father? 42:14 Why didn't he go out to search for the son? 42:15 Sure. That's the question. 42:17 And there's an interesting discussion 42:19 we could have about that. 42:20 But you see here that the son realizes 42:26 that I was better off where I was. 42:29 And that's the thing 42:31 for all the people that walk away, you know? 42:37 Eventually the Holy Spirit reaches them, 42:40 you know, in their deepest need. 42:42 You were better off. 42:43 You are better off with the Lord than anything... 42:45 that you can gain out there In this situation, 42:49 we have a prodigal son 42:51 It says he spent all his things 42:53 on prodigal living It doesn't detail you, detail what that is 42:57 What does the word prodigal mean? 43:00 Prodigal? Prodigal means the I have it written here. 43:04 It's carelessness, basically carelessness, 43:08 you know. 43:09 And so when we realize 43:13 that we are better off with the Lord, 43:16 that we have a need that nothing in the world 43:19 could really fill because there are people 43:22 that leave the Lord and they don't lose everything, 43:25 but they do not have satisfaction. 43:28 They don't have that peace. 43:30 And this coming home, 43:34 coming to God is what brings that satisfaction 43:37 that nothing in the world could ever fill, 43:40 nothing in the world could ever fill. 43:41 It's powerful to consider, because again, 43:44 looking at this parable from a Middle Eastern lens 43:47 or through a Middle Eastern lens, 43:49 we can relate to it to 43:51 a certain extent because every community, 43:52 every culture, every nation has laws 43:55 and there's repercussions, there's consequences 43:57 for breaking those laws. 43:59 What this young man deserved he did not get. 44:02 But he deserved death. 44:04 And upon his return, whether he knew it or not, 44:07 he was, would have been originally 44:09 met with eternal death. 44:11 Right? Yes. 44:12 But the... I just get that image in my mind. 44:14 It's so powerful 44:16 that when we read this from our, 44:18 you know, our Western cultural American perspective, 44:21 you know, we see this happy father, 44:22 just running with a big smile on his face. 44:24 But yet when you hear it from their perspective, 44:28 he was running because he was trying to save his son's life, 44:31 a life that in most cases, 44:33 most of these fathers would have said, 44:34 you know what? 44:36 And most of them wouldn't even blink an eye, 44:37 you brought shame on the family. 44:39 You brought shame on me. 44:40 You've come and asked me for the inheritance. 44:42 How much shameful can you be? 44:44 And slap me in my face, 44:45 disrespect me than to come to me and ask me 44:48 for your inheritance before I've even died. 44:50 You know, I don't have a chance to leave it to you, 44:52 want me to give it to you now? 44:53 You're rebellious. You're shameful. 44:55 You brought shame upon this family. 44:57 You've dishonored me, you know, so be it. 44:59 Many fathers would have subject their kids 45:01 in this culture in that Middle Eastern, 45:03 they would have subject their kids to what they thought 45:05 was a just punishment, in this case, death. 45:07 But this father ran and it just... 45:09 It preaches to the heart of our Savior 45:13 that that's exactly how Jesus views us 45:15 in the way that this father responds 45:17 to this young man who deserved death, 45:19 he deserved the consequences of the sin 45:22 that he had had basically drowned himself in. 45:25 But yet the father runs at him, and falls on him 45:27 and embraces him just as Jesus does the same for us. 45:30 He doesn't give us what we deserve. 45:32 He saves us. 45:34 Now He wants to save us from our sins 45:36 and He has the greatest gifts and the greatest blessings 45:39 that He wants to bestow upon us. 45:41 All we have to do is just return home 45:42 and say, father, forgive me. 45:44 I've sinned against you. 45:46 I've sinned against everyone Lord, 45:48 I've sinned and I've dishonored you, 45:49 Lord, please create in me a clean heart 45:52 and renew a right spirit in me. 45:53 And He will put the robe of righteousness on us 45:55 and He will save us from our sins. 45:57 That's beautiful. But I do want to point out one thing. 46:00 This young man did suffer the consequences 46:04 of sin for a time. 46:06 Yes, that's right he did. 46:07 You know what we see here, 46:10 there was a young desire, 46:12 a young and foolish action 46:17 and results because here is a Jewish boy 46:22 who ends up spending all of his money. 46:25 He's out chasing wine, women, and song, whatever it is. 46:31 And he ends up feeding 46:33 the swine an unclean thing. 46:36 This is very, I mean, it shows the consequences. 46:40 It reminds me of something 46:44 from Haggai chapter 1. 46:46 I just wanna read this real quickly, 46:50 'cause this is what the Lord is telling us. 46:53 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, 46:56 consider your ways. 46:58 You have so much and bring in little, 47:03 you eat, but do not have enough. 47:05 You drink, but you are not filled with drink. 47:08 You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. 47:11 And he who earns wages earns wages... 47:17 to put into a bag with holes 47:21 Think about that We've got people 47:25 who And youth who say, 47:28 I don't want this. 47:29 Right. Give me my freedom. 47:31 I'm gonna go out and do this. 47:33 I'm gonna chase my dream. 47:34 I'm gonna chase the money. I'm gonna chase this. 47:37 And God says, you're basically, 47:40 you've got a pocketbook that's got a hole in it. 47:43 And here you are, you're trying to do this, 47:45 trying to do that. 47:47 But there is no real building 47:51 up of a treasure. 47:53 Our treasures are in heaven... 47:55 And, you know, 47:56 we just want to encourage everybody. 47:58 That's right. We see here. 48:00 And what I see in the first, 48:03 the parable of the sheep, 48:05 I see Jesus. 48:06 Amen. 48:07 He came to seek and save that which is lost. 48:10 He came specifically to the house of Israel, 48:13 did He not? 48:14 That's right. And then it was open to the Gentiles. 48:17 I see the church, 48:20 the Holy Spirit operating through the church 48:22 in this second one. 48:24 And I see the attitude of God, 48:27 the Father who loved us enough, 48:29 that He sent His Son to die for us 48:32 while we were yet sinners. 48:34 That's right. Amen. 48:35 To me, it's just, they build one upon the other. 48:38 And you see how... That's right. 48:41 And let me say this so, 48:43 and then I'll let y'all say another comment too, 48:45 but I just have to say this. 48:47 I may even repeat it. 48:48 When we come out on the other side, 48:52 somebody that's listening to our voices 48:56 has heard you're worthless. 49:00 You'll never amount to anything. 49:02 I wanna tell you something. 49:04 God once really impressed upon my heart 49:06 to say this as often as I could. 49:09 You are worth nothing less to God 49:14 than the price that He paid for you 49:16 with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. 49:19 That's right. You have... We're all undeserving. 49:24 None of us are deserving of salvation by, 49:26 but that's why it's by grace. 49:28 Hallelujah. 49:30 None of us are deserving, 49:32 but our worth to God 49:36 is more than this sheep. 49:38 More, you know, and it's interesting. 49:40 It was one out of a 100. 49:43 Then it got to one out of 10 and all of a sudden, 49:46 it's one out of two. 49:48 We are worth more to God. 49:52 And He wants us in His house celebrating 49:56 with that robe, with that ring, with those sandals. 50:00 Amen. This is beautiful. 50:02 Again, going back to the prodigal son here, 50:04 because when... 50:05 There's a picture, I'm sure you have seen it. 50:08 It's like a person. 50:10 Jesus is hugging a person. 50:11 You don't see the person's face. 50:13 Jesus is hugging a person in this painting 50:14 that somebody made and He has his eyes closed, 50:17 like an embrace, a passionate embrace of this person. 50:22 And this is a picture of God's great love. 50:25 Jesus, the great love. 50:27 You have accepted my sacrifice and I'm receiving you. 50:32 And in the prodigal son, the story the father says, 50:35 he hugged him and kissed him. 50:39 This is a show of such affection and love, 50:42 the son, it doesn't matter what you have done. 50:46 You are my son and you are welcome in this house. 50:51 You are my son. 50:52 What a picture this is of God saying to you, 50:56 come and I will accept you 50:59 no matter what you've done. 51:00 This guy was feeding pigs. 51:01 The lowest thing they could possibly do in those times 51:04 and the father didn't care. 51:05 He didn't care how he smelled, how he looked. 51:08 This is my son. 51:10 Amen. You're welcome home. 51:11 Amen. Amen. You know, we've got to... 51:13 We're gonna have to hold our other comments 51:15 till we get on the other side of the news break. 51:19 But we just want to remind you, 51:21 please help you stay with us for the last couple of minutes, 51:24 but there is joy in heaven. 51:27 There is joy among God the Father, 51:31 the Holy Spirit, the Son and among the angels 51:35 when one person turns around and heads toward God. 51:40 Lost, sought, and found. 51:43 We're gonna have a quick news break 51:45 and we'll be right back with a closing thought. |
Revised 2021-05-23