Hello friends, Michael Youssef here with Leading the Way. I am so grateful that our Leading the Way partners are standing with us, supporting us, so that we take these resources and help others. You know, all of you who have supported this ministry and have given to those folks who desperately needed to bring the gospel message, you're going to have friends in heaven who are going to walk up to you and going to say thank you because of your partnership with Leading the Way. I am now in heaven. So I want to thank you on behalf of heaven for all that you have done and for all that you are doing and for all that you're going to do.
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Call now at 866-626-4356. Well, coming up, a young rebellious son demands his inheritance, runs away and spends it all on partying and pleasure. Eventually, he runs out of money and options and shamefully returns home to his father, who unbelievably welcomes him with open arms. But he got a different reaction from his brother. Today, Dr. Youssef looks at the familiar story of the prodigal son, but from a slightly different perspective.
He reveals that the brother who stayed home is just as rebellious as the brother who misused his family's inheritance. Get ready for a challenging message from God's Word as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this episode of Leading the Way Audio. Some time ago, I read a story that sort of brought home to me how many times we try to please the Lord in the flesh, and we end up blowing it in the spirit.
How many times we think how, we know how to please the Lord in our walk with Him, and in reality, we are really not pleasing Him at all. Let me tell you the story so you can understand what I'm trying to tell you. Mom was sick and in bed, and her little girl so much wanted to help. I mean, she really wanted to be a big helper to Mommy, so she brought her a magazine and then fluffed her pillow, and finally she thought she might do something really big, so she disappeared for a while, and then she came back a few minutes later with a cup of tea. And the mother was so amazed, she was so surprised, and she said, darling, that is really nice, and I didn't even know how, you know how to make tea. And she said, oh, Mommy, yes, I've been watching you making tea all the time, all these years, I've been watching you. I first put the tea leaves in the pan, and then I added water, and when it comes to the boil, I put the strainer on the cup and I strained the leaves. She said, well, that's wonderful. She said, only one thing, I couldn't find a strainer, so I used a fly swatter.
And as the mother spotted out the last sip of tea that she was drinking, she said, oh, Mommy, don't worry, I used the old one, I didn't use the new one. And how many of us sometimes, the children of the living God, try to please God our way? How many times we try things in the flesh instead of in the Spirit?
How many times we try to do things with our own brilliant mind and own ideas, and then we blow it and we wonder why? I want you to turn with me, please, to Luke chapter 15. Now most preachers through the years have always focused on the strong willed, the defiant boy. That's why we call him the prodigal. In fact, that is why the prodigal son story is very well known, because preachers through the years have focused all of their attention on that one boy and left out the older boy who stayed home. Do you know why? Because most people who are churchgoers are like the older boy and not the younger one.
I'm going to explain that to you in a minute. So look with me, please, because today I want to look at those who are outwardly compliant, those who try to keep the laws and the rules, those who do the outside things without a change of the heart. And there is a message that Jesus drives home into the lives of those Pharisees, the Pharisees whom Jesus called like sepulchres. They are painted white on the outside, but inside there is dead corpse.
And outside may look good to people, but it's the inside that God cares about, beginning at verse 25 of Luke chapter 15. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him, what's going on? Oh, your brother has come, he replied. And your father has killed the fatted calf because he's got him back safe and sound.
The older brother became angry and he refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, look, all these years I have been slaving for you and I never disobeyed your orders and you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours who has squandered your properties with prostitutes come home, you kill the fatted calf for him. Oh, my son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because your brother was dead and is now alive again.
He was lost and is found. Most people see the outwardly compliant son to be far more respectable than his defiant disobedient rebellious brother who went into the far country. But the truth is this, both the strong willed defiant son and the outwardly compliant son were prodigals. Both needed grace. Both needed salvation. Both needed repentance. Both needed a change of heart.
True, the older boy stayed home. Oh, but his heart was in the far country. True, he outwardly kept all the rules on the outside but his heart was filled with bitterness and resentment. True, he did not run away but he stuffed all of his bitterness.
He stuffed all of his anger deep down in his heart that he himself even could not get in touch with his stuffed anger until the moment came and his brother came home and the father was celebrating. And so as I conclude this series of four messages calling it Parenting 911, I want to tell you that godly parenting require our discernment of both traits in our children, those who are strong willed and those who are outwardly compliant. Parenting 911 is always careful lest we mistake outwardly compliant children for true love for Jesus Christ.
There are two things that I want to share with you that are applicable specifically to the outwardly compliant children. Number one, pray with them. Pray with them. Of course, you pray for them.
That's taken for granted. Pray with them. You say, Michael, well that's obvious. Nothing new here.
Well, let me tell you why. I've heard parents who say something like this, I guess the only thing left now for me is to pray. No, no, no, brother, listen.
The best thing, the first thing, the main thing to do is to pray with your children. Especially those who are outwardly compliant. Especially those who are not rebellious. Especially those who are not self of strong willed.
And I'm going to tell you why. An outwardly compliant child is more inclined to stuff his or her feelings deep down. An outwardly compliant child is more likely to hide their emotions. And that is why it is vitally important for mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, listen to me, it is vitally important for them to hear your intimacy with God. It is very important for them to hear your intimacy with your heavenly body. To let them observe you and copy you, expressing your love for Jesus Christ. To let them watch you unburden your soul before the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that will help them to emulate you.
That will help them to copy you. That will help them being able to get things off their chest instead of stuffing them in, they will learn how to get them out and place them at the altar of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like giving them wings. Let them understand that there is power when they claim the promise of God in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 11 28, come unto me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Secondly, tell them the Bible story often.
It is vitally important, particularly for that quiet child. I don't mean Bible stories, which is fantastic, it's wonderful. We told our children Bible stories all the time, that's great.
But I'm talking about the Bible story. Tell them the story of creation. Tell them the story of the fall and of sin. Tell them the story of redemption. Tell them the story of the new creation in Christ. Tell them always and often your story of how God saved you. How God redeemed you.
How God welcomed you. Tell them and show them how you repent when you fail. Because that will show them how to repent when they fail. Tell them and show them how you experience the grace of God when you don't deserve it and did not deserve it. Tell them and show them how God is more concerned with the heart and the change of the heart and the obedience of the heart than all of the outward performances in the world. Tell them and show them how God loves inward change of the heart and not just the outward appearances.
Josh McDowell wrote a significant book a few years ago. It tells us why four out of five children look good Christians. They drop out of the church before they graduate from high school.
The reason? Many children are in the church, but they're not in Jesus Christ. That's a secret. You see, I'm a pastor. I love the church.
But moms and dads, let me tell you something. The task is greater than just bringing kids to church. And the one reason why these kids drop out is because they've never been put on the road of how to fall in love with Jesus. I can tell you all we can do as a church and as ministries of children and students is to preach the truth, is to proclaim the truth, is to model the truth.
But listen to me. It is only mom and dad's job to model the truth for them. It is not enough for children to be found in the church.
They must be found in Christ. And so pray with your outwardly compliant children. Secondly, tell them the Bible story. I want you to look with me again at this outwardly compliant boy in Luke 15. I want you to look at this incredible reaction he had when he came home and found his father rejoicing at the return and the repentance of his defiant brother. See, the older boy thought that outwardly keeping of the laws, outwardly appearing good while his heart is in a far country is what really going to earn him the love of his father.
Listen to me. Jesus is not just telling a story here. This is so deep. He is trying to let you, whether you are five or fifty-five or eighty-five, to understand the heart of your heavenly father. And that is why he told this story. He was showing that this person who may be a churchgoer, who may be a church member, he may be even leader in the denomination, that he was going through the motions, all the outward things, but his heart was in the far country. His heart was far away from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why, hear me right on this one, that is why when his brother came back, he could not have the heart to forgive him because his heart was full of bitterness. Oh, he was home all right, but his heart was full of bitterness and anger.
Listen to me. There is nothing that can make you identify with your heavenly father than being willing to forgive a person when he or she repents. And the older boy's refusal to forgive his brother brought to the surface all of that pent up anger that is being stuffed inside of him for all these years. It was able to bring all that stuff that he has been carrying.
What was it? Oh, he was carrying a lot of stuff. He was carrying bitterness. He was carrying jealousy. He was carrying feeling of being taken for granted. Oh yeah, he was resenting being home. He was resenting obeying his father. He was resenting everything he is doing. He is going through the motions. But deep down, there is no change of heart and that is why he had a hard time forgiving his brother when he repented.
Hear me right on this one. When you choose to forgive, you unlock the handcuffs of hatred. You open the doors of heaven to far greater blessings than you could ever imagine. You soar to greater heights, not just in life but even in health. You defeat and scorn the enemy of your soul. All happens when you learn to forgive. From the father's point of view, listen to me, from the father's point of view, the outwardly compliant child and the defiant child are both prodigals. Beloved, listen to me.
Listen to me. This is of vital importance because when Jesus Christ, God of very God and human flesh, when he left heaven and came to earth and there he hung on the cross. He died for the outwardly rebellious person as well as the inwardly rebellious person. He died for the outwardly defiant and the inwardly resentful. He died for all who are physically in the far country and those who are spiritually in the far country. He died for the one who ran away from God and came back and he died for the one who stayed in the church but never received Jesus Christ as the Savior of his life.
He died for all and he welcomes all. What an incredible story to tell your children. What a remarkable story to teach your children whether they are strong-willed or whether they are outwardly compliant that they would know that God loves them equally, that God is only pleased with them when they receive his grace, that God desires above all else that their hearts be turned toward him, that God is not impressed like people with outward appearances, that God cannot be deceived by outward performance, that God is only honored when life is totally surrendered to him. What a remarkable story. And you know only the Christian faith that can talk and tell the story of grace because only the Christian faith is all about grace.
I'm going to tell you this true story and I'm going to conclude and hope that I illustrate what I'm trying to tell you. A man by the name of Ludwig Normansen was a missionary to the Batak people. He was a veteran missionary over in Indonesia and he went there. He studied the culture. He learned the language. He tried hard to reach him with the gospel of Jesus Christ but he kept running into one brick wall after another, one hindrance after another. And Normansen after a number of years, he studied the laws and studied their culture and discovered so many nice and noble things about their culture, some good noble laws in their religion, pagan religion basically, animistic.
And just as was dejected and disappointed and about to go home, right at that point, the chief of the Batak people sent for him. And so, he comes before the chief and the chief said to him, why should we embrace your religion? Why should we become Christians? We have laws just as good as your laws. Our laws say that you must not lie or cheat. Our laws say that you must not take your neighbor's wife. Our laws said many good things.
In fact, when somebody break the law, we punish them severely. Why should we embrace Christianity? And kind of in a Holy Spirit moment, Normansen had this little revelation right on the spot, you know how God can provide you with an answer like that.
He wasn't even prepared for it. He said, yes sir, I have studied your laws, so many good things about it. But our master gives us power to keep his commandments.
At that moment, the chief becomes so intrigued about that power, he wanted to know more. And after six months, he was baptized into Christ and thousands of the Batak people became believers. Today, there are over a million Batak believers in Indonesia because of the uniqueness of the Christian faith.
We don't have to do it alone because every time we try, we're going to strain the tea with the flyswatter. But only the grace of God that can empower us to obey God. Children of God, whether they are old or young, from every tribe and every language, from every nation, desperate to know the grace of God. They are desperate to know the God of power and might that we worship.
They are desperate to know. Because beloved friend, let me tell you something, every religion has rules. Every religion has rules. Ah, but only the Christian faith is the faith that is only possible by you receiving the grace of God.
That's it. Will you receive the grace of God today? If you have never come to the point in your life of realizing that all of your outward obedience is going nowhere, then you're ready to surrender and receive the greatest blessing of all, the grace of God. Dr. Michael Youssef with a message called The Outwardly Compliant Child.
It's from his series called Parenting 911. And if you'd like to talk with someone about your spiritual journey, you are invited to speak with one of the Leading the Way pastors or counselors. They'd be so happy to chat with you discussing life and God and ways to reconcile the struggles of faith and life.
Fill out a short contact form to connect and look at the helpful FAQs at ltw.org slash Jesus. The greatest threat to America is the wrath of God on a wayward nation. Is there still hope for America? We are to invade Satan's territories. We are to stand toe to toe with the enemy of our soul because he's a defeated foe. We are to count the cost and prepare to pay the cost of occupying until Jesus comes back.
Change can happen, but only when our nation repents and turns back to the God of our founding fathers. The Price of Liberty. Dr. Michael Youssef sounds the warning bell to call God's people to wake up, repent, and return to reliance on him. Contact us today to get your own copy of The Price of Liberty at ltw.org. That's ltw.org. If you have any questions about leading the way, perhaps how to order products or support outreach in your community or communities around the world, give us a call. 866-626-4356. Now it's time to say goodbye, but do join Dr. Michael Youssef once again next time for a very special message where he'll take you to Proverbs 18 to find safety and comfort from all of life's stresses and struggles. It's a look at an invitation to run into the shelter of the most high on Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.
