Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "What The Prodigal Son Did Not Say" by Neal Pollard

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"What The Prodigal Son Did Not Say" by Neal Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Good morning.
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I heard a story about a man named Henry and
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a woman named Henrietta. And Henrietta had money.
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After a bit of time, they bought a house and Henrietta
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said to Henry, Henry, if it wasn't for my money,
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we couldn't have bought this house. A little after
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that time, they bought a brand-new car, a luxury vehicle.
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Henrietta said to Henry, Henry, if it wasn't for my money, we couldn't
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have bought this car. Not long after that, they went on a long
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and very luxurious vacation, and when they got back home from that, Henrietta said
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to Henry, Henry, if it wasn't for my money, we couldn't have taken that long
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vacation. At this point, Henry was very fed up
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with Henrietta, and he said, yeah, if it wasn't for your money, you wouldn't have
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me either. You know, something motivates us
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in what we do, doesn't it? Some motivation has
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led you to be here today, to be in the presence of God's
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people, in the presence of God. And if I know you, I know that it's
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because you love God and because you're thankful for His Son and because you want
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to spend an eternity in heaven one day. I'm thankful
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for the prodigal son. You know, we have just spent
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some time reading the bulk of what he says in this story, not all of
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it, but a great deal of it. And we get some insight into what he
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was thinking and how he was feeling in the way that he was living in
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this parable that Jesus tells. But there
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are some things that he did not say. When I think about what he does
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say, I think about how valuable his words are. How many individuals
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have come come home from the pigpen of sin
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in the far country of iniquity because of the prodigal son.
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But if the prodigal son had said some things like we sometimes say today,
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then he never would have come back home. I'm thankful
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for what he did say, and I'm also thankful for some of the things
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that he did not say. For example, I'm thankful that the prodigal
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son did not say, I would arise and return But
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I've gone too far. You know, he had gone a long
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way. He had gone so far and so deep
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in sin, and he had to live with that. And the longer that he was
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there, perhaps the greater the regret and the
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fear that he felt in trying to make a change and coming back home.
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I'm thankful that he did not say, it's just been so long. There's too many
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things on the ledger and the record that I just can't come back home.
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Now, it is a fact of life that we can get far away from
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God, and the Bible really emphasizes this in a variety of passages.
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In 1 Timothy 6:5, the Bible talks about some who
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are depraved and who are deprived. And then in 2
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Timothy 3:2, we read of weak individuals who are weighted
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down with their sins. Paul even speaks of some in Ephesians
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4:17 who have the understanding darkened,
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and they are excluded from the life of God through their hard hearts.
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Paul would even say of some in Romans chapter 1 and verse 25 that they
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have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. And so,
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yes, we can find ourselves in the far country along with the prodigal
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son, but the question is, if we want to come back home, do we ever
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get too far? If we say the answer to that is yes,
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then we have overlooked some very important truths in the Bible.
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For one thing, we have overlooked the fact that the love of God in Christ
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is proclaimed to us as a love that can bridge the gap no matter
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how far we have gone. We need to know the love of Christ
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that it may fill our hearts, that we being
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rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with the saints what
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is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know
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the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that we might be filled with all the
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fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19. And in the
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golden text of the Bible in John 3:16, that God so loved
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the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him
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should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
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world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
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The message that we read is different. What if it had
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been that the prodigal son decided that he needed to come back home,
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and as he made his way into the presence of his father, that he met
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a cold and a harsh and an unloving father who held him at arm's
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length? But it's not what we see.
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Thank God for what's unveiled for us in this story. And when we
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began to read about this father, as soon as they're in contact with one another
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and he's on his way back home, we see that the father looked for him.
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What a beautiful picture in verse 20. How long had he been
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there? How many days just waiting and hoping that he would come over
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that horizon? But the father also had compassion
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on him. It said he looked on him. And as he looked
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on him, what did he see? Did he see the state of his clothing?
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Or maybe he looked at his weight. Surely he had pity on
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him. As we are revealed the father's love, we see the compassion
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that he had for him. And he also initiated things. In verse 20,
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we find him running. And we understand in the culture of the day that
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it was improper for the elder to run toward the younger. And yet he doesn't
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care about that. He cares about the son. And the father showed love for him.
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Aren't you thankful that the prodigal did not encounter the elder brother?
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Instead of the father. And then the father celebrated him.
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We see this in verse 22 when he says, this son who
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has been lost is now found. What's the next step? Let's rejoice
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together because he is back home. This illustrates for us the Father
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and the love that he has for us even when we're in the far country
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of sin. Read about Victoria Hallman who was
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driving in on the road and she drove unwittingly into a rain-swollen
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lake. And she found herself in a survival situation
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and she was holding on to her 7-year-old son. She screamed
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for help and within minutes local rescuers arrived on the scene.
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And in an act of desperation, she pushed off that 7-year-old
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son to the rescuer and she was pulled underneath the water to her death.
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She had been asked by the rescuer, can you swim? And she said,
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yes, but not while holding on to my son. And she surrendered
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him that he might live. I suggest to you
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that this is the picture of the Father's love for us in this parable.
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Jesus, he could save himself from the cross, but not if
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he's going to save us. And so the Father's love is demonstrated through
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what we see here. When we think about the Father's love, we realize
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that we may find ourselves so far away from him, but if
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we want to, we can always come back home. We have never gone
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too far. Think about some who have gone to
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such depths and they came back. You know,
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those on the day of Pentecost were murderers with the blood of
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the Son of God on their hands, and they came back home.
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Think about the sensual Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians
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chapter 6, we read about just about every kind of sexual
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perversion and sin that one might spend some time
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trying to build a list of. He says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall
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not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, that is
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the sexually immoral, or idolaters, or adulterers,
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or effeminate, or homosexuals, or thieves, or covetousness— coveters,
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or drunkards, or revilers, or swindlers shall inherit the kingdom
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of God. Really, it goes beyond the sexual immorality to
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anything you could think of that would describe somebody who is so
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far away. But what happened with them? Paul says, but you are washed,
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but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of
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the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11.
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And then there's the Apostle Paul who would describe himself as before being
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one who was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent
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aggressor. He said, but I acted ignorantly and I received
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mercy from God because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. But the grace of our Lord
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was more exceedingly abundant through the grace— through the faith
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that is in Christ Jesus. For this is a faithful saying and worthy
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of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
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sinners, of whom I am foremost of all.
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When we study and we read about the prodigal son here, we see
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him going so far away, and yet he's— he
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comes back home. I'm thankful that he didn't say, well, it's just been
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so long, I can't come home. But then
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second, as we study, we see that the prodigal son did not say,
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I will arise and return, but I'm about as well off
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here as I would be back at home. He might've
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said that. You know, he might've said, things aren't
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so bad here in the far country. And I think he would say that it
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was that way for a while. He might've said that if he had not come
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to his senses. That's what verse 17 says that he
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does. After having been there for a while, he says, it's not
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as good here as it is back home. Well,
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what does one say today? Perhaps one says, I know I
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may need to obey the gospel, but I'm a good and I'm a moral person.
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Surely that counts for something. Really, that's all that I need.
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Or maybe somebody will say, I don't see why membership
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in the New Testament church, the church of our Lord,
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is essential anyway. I'm as good off here as
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I would be at home. Now I think about how Paul describes
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the church as the household or the home of God.
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And so the church is identified for us in that way. But let's explore
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that idea. Is that right? Is it right for us to say that being
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a good and a moral person is enough, is the same as being
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back home? Well, I think about Cornelius.
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Man, Cornelius was such a good guy. In Acts 10:1,
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we see that there was a man of Caesarea named Cornelius
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who was a centurion of the Italian
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cohort who feared God with all
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of his house and gave much alms to the Jews, and he prayed
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to God continually. If there was somebody who
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could claim being good and moral, it would be the this
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man Cornelius. And yet in Acts 11:14,
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he was told words whereby he and his house could be
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saved. And apparently those words included the command to be baptized,
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Acts 10:48. No, I'm reminded of
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passages like Ecclesiastes 7:20, that there is not a
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just or a righteous person upon earth that always
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does good and never sins. When I
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lean on my own goodness and my own morality, I'm reminded
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of Romans 3:10, that there is none righteous, no, not one.
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No, not in the sense that I can save myself by my good deeds.
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But what about membership in His church?
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Is that essential? Is that necessary? Well, I began to
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think about what the Bible says about that church and what it is.
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I realize that the same blood that redeems me
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from my sins purchased the church, Acts 20:28.
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I began to think about what the Bible says about the church itself,
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that it was in the mind of God even before the creation was
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executed, Ephesians 3:9-11.
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And then I see that God is glorified through the church of His Son,
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Ephesians 3:21. The Hebrews writer says in Hebrews
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12:23 that the church are a are those who are enrolled in
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heaven. And then when the— from the very beginning of the church,
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we see it stated for us that the Lord added and
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the Lord adds to the church those who are being saved.
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Acts chapter 2 and verse 47.
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You know, Mount Everest is the highest point on earth and individuals have
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risked frostbite and hypothermia and altitude sickness
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and death so as to be able to stand on the beautiful summit.
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Individuals have given their lives to go out into outer
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space in the attempt to explore the vast,
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beautiful grandeur of the universe. Well, you think about individuals
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like Cousteau and Cameron and Ballard who have
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explored the depths of the sea for the strange and exotic and
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otherworldly creatures that are there. But if we are to understand the Bible right,
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when God looks at those things, they pale before His eyes
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in comparison with the church of His Son. And so I
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think about the prodigal son and how he did not say,
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I would arise and return to my father's house, but I've
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got— I'm about as well off here as I would be there.
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It's not what Scripture teaches. I think
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about what the prodigal son did not say. He did not say, I would arise
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and return, but I don't know if I can find the
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way back home. You know, he had status and he had wealth.
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And then by the time he's there in the far country of sin, he has
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starvation and he has homelessness. He understands that he
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has been gone, but he needs to find his way back home.
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And maybe somebody would say it this way today, instead of saying what the prodigal
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son would say, they might say, I don't think I know enough to become a
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child of God, to do what it takes to be a part of the
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household of God. But I would say this in response, how much do
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you need to know in order to know enough to be a part of
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the body of Christ? I suggest to you that we read of at least
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one occasion where the folks who listened were listening to their first sermon.
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And at the end of that first sermon, they responded to
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repent and be baptized. That's the folks on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 and verse
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38. And there have been instances where There were those individuals
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who sat down in a Bible study, and in one thorough comprehensive
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study with someone who was sharing the gospel with them,
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at the end of that, they obeyed the gospel. Isn't that the Ethiopian eunuch
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in Acts chapter 8? Or what about a man who didn't even know who Jesus
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was, the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31-34?
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At the end of that Bible study with Paul and Silas, he and his household
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were baptized that very night. Now I understand,
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Matthew 28:20 puts on us the responsibility
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of continuing to study with and to ground and to help people
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to know more about the commitment of following Christ. And that's certainly
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a job that we have. And yet so
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often I think that we try to complicate things.
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What does it take for one to become a part of the
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body of Christ? Jesus says, he that believes
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that He is the Son of God, and is baptized shall be saved.
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He that does not believe shall be condemned. Mark 16:16.
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On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the questioning crowd,
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what shall we do? He says, repent and be baptized, every one of you,
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in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,
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and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Or if I'm somebody
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who has already done that and I find myself in the far country, what is
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it that I need to do? If we confess our sins, he is faithful
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and just and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from
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all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9.
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Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be
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healed. The effective fervent prayer of righteous men does much good.
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James 5:16. I read about
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Edward Latchilip. Edward Latchilip was a troubled
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young man and he, got on a bus in Kitchener,
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Ontario, and he was on his way to Niagara Falls. In fact,
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he made it to Niagara Falls, but soon after getting off of
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the bus, he fell and hit his head. He lost part of his memory.
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He lost his identity. And this kicked off 30 years
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where he creates a new identity and a new life.
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He finds himself on public support and has a
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social worker. And on January 7th,
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2016, he wakes up one morning and he says, He says,
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I know who I am. I have— and he said, I've been
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having dreams, and my name is Edward Latulippe, and can you help me find
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my mother? His mother's name was Sylvia Wilson,
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and you can imagine what she was thinking. 30 years have gone
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by, 32 years, in fact, and she has to think by this point
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either he has been killed or he has killed himself.
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The social worker makes contact and says, Edward would like to come back home.
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What do you think she did? She welcomed him with
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open arms. I asked Phil if he
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knew this song. It'd been better for him to lead it than me. I don't
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know how many of you know this, but there's a song in our songbook that
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is this parable in melody.
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I'd like for us to sing that together. And I don't know, guys,
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I'll take care of it from here.
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You'll sing it with me. Love for all,
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and can it be?
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Can I hope it
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is for me? I who
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strayed so long ago,
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strayed so far
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and fell so low.
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I, the disobedient
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child,
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wayward,
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passionate,
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and wild. I who
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left my Father's
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home in forbidden
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ways to roam.
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I who spurned its
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loving hold, I who
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would not be controlled,
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I who would
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not hear its call.
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I the willful
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prodigal,
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to my Father can
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I go?
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At his feet
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myself I'll throw.
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In his house
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there yet may Place
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a servant's place
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for me.
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See, my Father
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waiting stands.
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See, he reaches
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out his hands.
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God is love,
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I know, I see.
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Love for me as
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he loved me.
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I don't care how far you've gone.
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You've not gone too far.
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I don't care how low you've gone.
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You've not gone too low.
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Thank God the prodigal son did not
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say, I'd arise and return,
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but I don't know my way back home.
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I'm thankful that the prodigal son did not say,
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I'd come back home, but I'm afraid of what my friends would think.
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Did he have some friends in the far country? Well, if you listen to the
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older brother, he would say he's consorting with prostitutes. We don't know if that's true
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or not, but that's what he says in verse 30. And surely there were those
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who were willing to help him to spend his father's inheritance that was given
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to him. But if he has friends in the far country,
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he doesn't mention them. Maybe sometimes
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we would say today, I would obey the gospel. I would come back home,
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but I'm afraid that my friends would laugh at me. Really?
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Which friends? Your good moral relatives
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and friends? Your spouse?
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Your parents? Your children?
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The elders, the deacons, the preachers here?
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Exactly who would that be? Oh, you mean that friend
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from work or school, that hunting buddy, that fishing buddy,
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that golfing buddy, that shopping buddy?
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No, those who understand the commitment
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that's involved in living in the purpose that God has given us in this life
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know that they need you and you need them.
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You think about what Jesus endured for us and whatever price
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we might have to pay, would be small in comparison to that.
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Jesus, who was spat upon, who was maimed, who was rejected, who was
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nailed to the cross, surely His dying desire
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and the work of the church far exceeds what someone might
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say. But whoever we might fill in the blank with, remember what Jesus says,
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friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore
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will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God. James chapter 4,
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in verse 4, or, he that loves father or mother more
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than me is not worthy of me. He that loves son or daughter more than
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me is not worthy of me, Matthew 10 in verse 37. Aren't you thankful
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he didn't say, I would arise and return,
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but I'm afraid of what my friends would think? Or maybe,
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just maybe, he might say, I would arise and return,
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but then I think of that hypocritical brother. At home.
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The older brother has some problems. Make no bones about
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it. He's prejudiced. He's slandering.
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He's harsh. He's cold.
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We remind ourselves exactly who it is that he represents
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when we go back to the beginning of this parable. It's the Pharisees and the
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scribes who were grumbling because Jesus is eating with the tax collectors
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and those that were called
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the sinners. And yet Jesus is doing this because
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of His care for them. And certainly there's a responsibility for us to never
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ever be the older brother. But that's
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what he might've said is, they're hypocrites. I don't need to be a part of
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the church because of that. I heard a story I
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presume to be true about a Christian who was trying to get a man to
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come and to be a part of the church of the New Testament. And as
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he went out, and he began to talk with him and
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began to ask him to do that. He said, oh, I know the guys that
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go to your church. I know Sam. I know Red. I'm just as
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good as they are. There's no way I would go. If they're part of the
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church, I don't want to be a part of that church at all. But not
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only that, that hog farmer went around and he told everybody in town about
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the hypocrites in that church. About 6 months
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later, the Christian wanted to buy a hog. And so he went out to the
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hog farmer again and he asked if he could buy a hog. And so that
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farmer very proudly showed him his best hogs and they tried to
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buy one by one. And then finally, And finally there came a runt running by
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and he said, that's the one I want right there. And he bought that runt.
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The farmer couldn't understand why he would do that, but it
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was his money, so he let him buy that hog. Christian put
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that hog in his truck, and as he drove off, he rolled down his window
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and he said, now I'm going to tell everybody in town that this is the
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kind of hogs that you raise. He said, that's not fair.
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He says, if it's fair for the church, it's fair for the hogs.
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You think about the fact that there are hypocrites
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everywhere. There are hypocrites in the church.
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In fact, every unrepentant hypocrite,
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if we understand the Bible right, are going to be lost. But wouldn't
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we rather put up with hypocrites in the church
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on earth than to spend eternity with them? I'm thankful
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He didn't say, I will arise and return, but then I think about
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that hypocritical, older brother.
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He might have said, I will arise and return, but I think
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I'll wait a while. No, he knew what he had. What did he have by
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remaining in the far country? He had starvation.
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He had isolation. He had rejection.
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And what do we hope to gain by keeping ourselves away
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from the Father's house, whether by becoming a child of God or being restored
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as one who has fallen away? All we hope to have by
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staying where we are is fear and guilt
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and regret. Sir Walter Scott's
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last entry in his journal were 3 words,
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tomorrow we shall. Sir Walter
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Scott died that night and we'll never know what he intended to do, but he
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died before he did it.
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Solomon said, do not boast yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know
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what a day will bring forth. Proverbs 27:1.
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James echoes this by saying, go to now, you that say, today or tomorrow
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we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and
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sell and get gain, whereas you do not know what shall be on
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the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for
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a little time and then vanishes away.
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Jesus does not dispute that this man was prodigal,
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wasteful, and that he was far from home. He paints
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the picture for us, but he also paints the picture of
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him coming to himself, realizing what
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was wrong with where he was staying and what was right and where he needed
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to go, and shows us that no matter what excuses
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we may give, He didn't give those.
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And what was the result for him? The father welcomed
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him back, celebrated him, and restored him not to a servant's
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place, but to a son's place.
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Maybe you've been holding on to that excuse.
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Remember the prodigal son. And if it is the
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need that you have to be baptized into Christ to have
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your sins forgiven, Why not just let it go?
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And with those arms open, the Father will embrace you and
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welcome you. And if you're a child of God who needs to
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come back and to be restored,
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nothing that you might say by way of excuse nullifies
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the need that you have to come back to him. He's waiting.
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He's longing. He desires you back at home.
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If you need to respond to his invitation, won't you come as we
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stand and sing?