A rebellious child leaves home to pursue a wild life. That's a familiar story. It's also how Jesus taught a powerful lesson in one of his best-known parables.
A look at God's enduring pursuit next on Leading the Way. When this boy left home, he said, give me. Oh, but when he came to his senses, he said, make me.
When he left home, he called it independence. He called it pleasure-seeking. But when he came to his senses, he called it sin.
He called it for what it is. Has someone you've known gone off the rails in total rebellion to all they know is right and good? I'm sure many of us can relate at some level. And those who listened firsthand to Jesus telling the story of the prodigal son also painfully relate it. Hello and welcome to Leading the Way Audio with local pastor and author Dr. Michael Youssef. Today, Dr. Youssef will highlight God the Father's never-ending love for his children. This is a message called God's Enduring Pursuit. And by the way, if you can't stay until the end of the message, click on over to ltw.org.
You'll find lots of convenient ways to listen and engage further with Leading the Way. Now though, here's Dr. Michael Youssef to begin his teaching time. Today as we continue in this series entitled The God Who Pursues Us, we come in Luke chapter 15. We come to this part where this younger son arrogantly, haughtily, and selfishly asks his father to give him his estate, the part of the estate that he would have inherited after his father had died. We saw in the last message how that in a context of the first century Middle East would be the most insulting thing that a child can tell his father because he was basically saying, Father, I wish you were dead.
Why don't you hurry up and die? But I can imagine the smirk on this boy's face as he packed his designer Jerusalem jeans and his designer Jerusalem shirts and as he packed those and feeling contempt for his parents. Can you imagine that surly boy accusing his parents of being out of touch with reality? I mean I can imagine his bitterness toward his dad's rules of going to church and doing his chores and cleaning his room.
And the Bible said, Jesus said, it was only a few days after he got all the assets that his father gave to him that he sold them in a fire sale and converted them into cash. And there with pockets full of cash he gets into his convertible camel, pops the wheels and burns rubber for 30 feet and heads for the big apple. And as he takes off he leaves behind a broken hearted father. He leaves behind a scornful older brother and he leaves behind a devastated community.
Parodicals don't only affect themselves but they affect everybody around them. Whether they're children, whether they're husbands and wives, whether they're parents, whatever they may be, they leave devastation behind them. This boy thought that he wiped the slate clean. He thought that he burned all his bridges. He thought that he left no rights to claim. And Jesus said that son scattered the money, scattered the money.
In fact that's the word used in the New Testament or after the whole Bible as a farmer, scattered seeds in the time of planting all over the land without necessarily very systematic. He just spread them around. In other words he was like spending money like a drunken sailor. Thinking that his money was going to bring him friends, thinking that his money is going to bring him happiness, thinking that his money was going to bring him popularity, thinking that his money is going to bring him a status in society which he craved so much.
And it did work for a short period of time. When this boy's money ran out, he was dumped by every one so-called friend. And you would think at that moment he now says, now that I'm desperate I need to go home. I better go back to my father.
But no, it's too early yet. You know why? Because his pride was live and well. He hasn't been broken yet. He hasn't come to the point of desperation yet. Because his pride will not allow him to go back. He's probably not being broken enough but not being desperate enough and presumably he said to himself, he said, well I wouldn't go back there. How can I go crawling back to my father and asking for his forgiveness? How can I go back to my and live under his roof and eat my older brother's food? How can I go back to the narrow streets of the village where every finger is pointing at me? I would never do that.
No way. Well, to make things worse, famine hit the land in which he was. Most commentators think that was one of the cities in Syria is where he went. Famine hit that land where he was living. But the boy was not ready to give up his pride yet.
His pride was stopping him from coming to the father. And so he gets a novel idea that he never thought about before and that is getting a job. But what would a Jewish boy do? What kind of a job would he have in a Gentile city? I mean in the time of famine. Banks and corporations were not hiring CEOs at the time. And here where he gets closer to rock bottom.
Not quite rock bottom yet but it gets closer. For a Jewish boy to take a job feeding pigs would be like rich American kid has a job cleaning the sewer. Imagine that. Pigs in the Middle East back then and even now for that matter, not like the gentleman farmers who are raising hogs in this country. They're not anywhere near as clean. I mean they fed those pigs everything, every conceivable garbage and trash that you can think of and I leave that to your imagination. But in times of a famine, the garbage was in short supply.
They didn't have enough garbage to give to the pigs. So they were giving them dried pods. Now I've seen them, I know what they're like. Many of you may know this pod known as carob.
If you've seen the carob and if you ever ate a carob, there's some edible ones, they'll break your teeth. Well those particular pods were 10 times tougher than the edible curbs. And verse 16 says the boy was even glad to get these pods but he couldn't get enough of them. In other words, the pigs were better off than he was. That's the rock bottle.
That's the rock bottle. And he begins to think how much better off the servants in my father's house than I am. How much better off the servants in comparison to my bismill condition in which I find myself.
So he finally begins to swallow his pride. You know I was thinking about this and I was thinking of the people that I shared Christ with and the people that many of you probably shared Christ with. Do you know what the number one reason why so many people, whether they're church goers or not, but so many people who stay away from the loving arms of the heavenly father, from the forgiving hands of the heavenly father, from the warm heart of the heavenly father. Do you know what the number one reason is?
Pride. Well they think they're good enough just the way they are. They think they don't need God. They think they don't need a Savior.
They're good people. And good people of course God is obligated to let them into His heaven. They don't need repentance. They don't need forgiveness. They don't need redemption.
They don't need any of this. They don't need to bow before God in brokenness and humility. No wonder the psalmist said that a broken and contrite heart God will not despise. Because that's the only way you can come to God. Because none of us are good. None of us are good.
None of us are good enough for God. Verse 17, Jesus said, when the son came to his senses, he began to write his speech. When he came to his senses. Coming to his senses means that he snapped out of his stupor. That he snapped out of his self-focused blindness.
Please hear me out on this one. This was far more than just feeling sorry that he wasted the money. This is far more than just feeling sorry that he wasted his life. This is not just feeling sorry that things did not work out the way he planned it. This is not just feeling sorry that he had failed. No, no, no, no.
Not here. Not in this context. But he realized that he sinned not only against heaven but against his father. He realized that he brought degradation and shame to the good name of the father. He realized that he is no longer arrogant. That he is no longer prideful and he was no longer feeling that he deserves everything. He was no longer feeling worthy to be called a son. He was happy to be called a servant. He was happy to live in the servant's quarter.
In fact, he was very happy to have a servant-master relationship with his father. In other words, he was totally and completely broken. Beloved, there's nothing wrong with brokenness. It is only when you and I are broken that God can put us together again in a far greater way. And often God allows us and He waits until we are broken.
As long as we've got our strength, as long as we say we can do this, as long as we put the flesh out there, God waits. He waits. You see, when this boy left home, he said, give me. Oh, but when he came to his senses, he said, make me. When he left home, he was a son. But when he came home, he said, make me a servant, a slave.
When he left home, he called it independence. When he left home, he called it pleasure seeking. But when he came to his senses, he called it sin. He called it for what it is.
He got what he wanted, lost what he had, and he was contented now for far less. You know, the Bible said in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 25, that sin is pleasurable for a season. That sin is pleasurable for a time.
For a time. Until STD and AIDS begin to ravish the body, it is pleasurable until the alcohol begins to fry the liver. It's pleasurable until the drugs begin to fry the brains.
It is pleasurable until you realize that there are a whole lot of people paying a heavy price for your going to the far country. There are three stages of sin. The first stage is the charm of sin. The second stage is the contour of sin. And the third stage is the consequence of sin. The first is the charm, the allure of the far country, that Satan holds that shiny one for you and says, here, come get it.
Then there is the contour. Give me. I deserve this.
I am worth it. And the victim's mentality. And then there is the consequence.
The spiritual pigsty. Now, beloved, the only solution to sin and guilt is repentance. The only solution to sin and the only answer to sin and guilt and failure is the Father's home. In the last message, we saw how the Father stripped himself of his dignity by running in humiliation to welcome his repentant son.
And we saw how this is a picture of God the Father is in God the Son humiliating himself by hanging on a cross so that whosoever would come to him in repentance and in faith, whosoever come and ask for the forgiveness of their sins, they will receive it. Today could be the day in which some parodical sons and daughters, some parodical husbands and wives, some parodical fathers and mothers, some parodicals would come to the arms of the Father. He is waiting for you. But then there's something very, very important here that the average reader is going to miss in this story and I don't want you to miss it.
It is very, very important. Listen carefully. It's about that encounter between a repentant son and a forgiving father. The father would not let the boy finish his speech. I have no doubt the boy is a long way home and as he was walking home, he was rehearsing his speech.
Have you ever been there? When you're meeting with somebody and you plan your argument, planning your thoughts and build your speech in your head. When I see my father, I'll say to him, Father, forgive me for I have sinned against you in heaven. Father, I am not worthy to be called your son.
No, no, no. I said, Father, don't even call me a son. Father, just put me with the servants.
And he was going through that speech in his mind. When I see my father, I would say this. And when I see my father, no, no, no. I better say this. Now I want you to look at verse 21. The son begins to make his speech. If that doesn't tear you up, I don't know. But just look at it. He says, Father, I have sinned.
Forgive me. And the father stops him. He didn't want to hear the rest of the speech. Oh, that's very important. Father said, I've heard enough. But what about the part?
Make me one of your servants. He didn't want to hear that. The father did not.
That was not necessary, you see. Do you know why? Because our Heavenly Father does not take servants and slaves. He only takes in sons and daughters. He only takes in sons and daughters. You can serve God after you become a son. You can serve God after you become a daughter. But he will never look upon you as a slave. He will never look upon you as a servant. Jesus said, no longer do I call you a servant, but friends, God will not call you anything when you come to him but a daughter and a son. He's in the adoption business. He's not in the hiring of slaves and servants business.
He's in the adoption business. Beloved, let me tell you something. The grace of God is not partial. The grace of God is not with measure. The grace of God is irresistible. The grace of God is unconditional and he's offering it to you today. As soon as you repent and say, Father, forgive me.
The rest of the speech was not necessary. Oh, but Father, what about my past sins? You say, what sins are you talking about? Father, what about what I did to you? What did you do?
I don't seem to remember. Listen to me. Listen to me. The devil will always, always try to remind you of your past sins, but not your Heavenly Father. The devil will always try to harass you about your past sins, but not your Heavenly Father. And Jesus wants you to know that the moment you say, Father, forgive me. He'll say, that's enough. All of your past, present and future sins are forgiven and forgotten.
In other words, they will not be held against you. That moment, all of your sins, all of your failures, all of your guilt, not part of it, all of it washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Listen, God does not. God does not. God does not. God does not. God does not. Can you say God does not? He does not back up your sins on a computer hard desk and then keep it for safe in storage for future references. He doesn't do that. No way.
You can say no way. The moment you say, Father, forgive me. He erases the entire desk. He no longer possible for Him to use it against you because He said so.
He promised so. He can no longer use it in evidence against you when you come to Him and be a son and be a daughter. That's how God works. You know why there are some people who have difficulty forgiving their spouses and forgiving their parents or forgiving their children, forgiving a friend, a brother in Christ, a sister in Christ. They have a hard time forgiving. You know why? Because they have a certain measure of self-righteousness.
They fail to remember that God forgave them much. But there's something else that's very important. I cannot conclude this part of the story without bringing it to your attention. You notice the boy did not stop outside in one of the bath houses outside of the village, get showered, shaved, and cleaned up. No. He did not go to some old friend and try to borrow some clothes so he can look presentable to his father. No.
He didn't do any of that. You see, Jesus wants you to know that you can come to Him as you are. Try to get and improve your life. Try to get better in order to please the Father. No, no, no.
That doesn't work. And that is why before you come to Jesus Christ in repentance and ask Him for forgiveness, all of your good works, the Bible said, is like a dirty rag. You say, you mean all the charitable work and all the good things?
Yep. Before you become a daughter and a son, Isaiah said, it's like dirty rag. All your efforts. And that is why the boy did not try to get cleaned up and dressed up and be presentable to his father. Listen to me. When you come to Jesus Christ as you are, He cleans you up. He washes you up. He dresses you up and He sends you on your way as a son and daughter.
And then you may do good work to please Him, but not before. There may be someone here today who would say, Michael, I am so overwhelmed with guilt and I'm so overwhelmed with failure. I'm so overwhelmed with grief. I'm so overwhelmed with sin. I don't know that God can forgive me. God promised to forgive everyone who would come. Will you come to Him? Will you come to Him?
Say, Father, forgive me. An invitation to come as you are to the Father, whether you have warm clothes and a full wallet or your next meal isn't certain and you've lost everything you want sailed to. He always welcomes you with open arms. 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. Hey, thank you for making Leading the Way with pastor and author Dr. Michael Youssef part of your day. Okay, while cleaning the house recently, I found one of my past copies of my journal. And although our family had already read through this one, I did pause to skim it again because I was really surprised at how encouraging it was to the circumstances of my day, that day, right then, even several weeks after reading it first all the way through with the family. You see, each my journal contains unique content and updates about Leading the Way, about how truth of God's Word is impacting a lost world, a world of darkness. And it just reminded me how the power of the resurrection will not only reach my community, but also remote villages all over the world. And as we heard today, God the Father always seeks to draw the lost to himself. I think you and your family would really be encouraged by subscribing to my journal. Okay, if you're not already on the list to get your free copy each month, get on the list today.
Just give us a call at 866-626-4356 or online ltw.org. In God's Final Call, Dr. Youssef draws on years of ministry experience and passionate study of God's words to bring to life the context of revelation, revealing the striking similarities between what the early church faced and what Christians today are experiencing. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I may allow the evil to prosper for a little while, but only so that the judgment will be greater. What Satan means for evil, I'm gonna turn it for the good. Whatever Satan tries to destroy you, I will turn it around to bless you.
Whenever Satan designs to work against you, I will make it work for you. Get your copy of God's Final Call by Dr. Youssef on the way to you when you give a gift of any amount to the ongoing ministry of leading the way today. Learn more about this special offer and the powerful content in God's Final Call at ltw.org. Ltw.org. Alrighty, it's time for me to say goodbye. Do accept this invitation, though, to join Dr. Michael Youssef right here next time for more Leading the Way. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org or through your favorite social media platform, including YouTube, Facebook, X, previously called Twitter, Instagram, and more.
