WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:06.759 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, I 2 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:10.359 have loved you with an everlasting love. 3 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:13.919 I have drawn you. 4 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:22.399 With unfailing kindness. Hear the word the Lord for you. 5 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.480 Let's pray Father in Jesus name. We thank you for 6 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:31.160 your word. We thank you for this time together to 7 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:35.320 worship you, to be together, to commune with one another. 8 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:38.679 And we thank you so much most of all that 9 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.280 you love us beyond our comprehension. 10 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:44.039 Holy Spirit. 11 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.719 We asked that you would come and move and lead 12 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.840 us to the Father. Come, Lord Jesus and speak to us. 13 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:58.520 Walk among us, and Father, be here Jesus name. Amen, 14 00:00:58.799 --> 00:00:59.640 please be seated. 15 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:05.599 So my wife Laurie showed me in the Epic Times 16 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:10.640 a particular article right before Valentine's Day that sort of 17 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.519 shocked me. And it shocked me because you'll see in 18 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:14.319 a moment. 19 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:19.079 How much it speaks to the word you just heard. 20 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:24.159 So doctor Alexander, even Alexander, he is a well respected. 21 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:30.920 Neurologist that was in the prime of his life, but. 22 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:37.000 He contracted bacterial meningitis and he was in a deep 23 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:42.159 coma so much in the hospital that the doctor said 24 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.359 he had two percent chance two percent chance of living 25 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:52.920 and for seven days his brain showed no activity whatsoever. 26 00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:00.599 At that point he encountered he actually his spirit left 27 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.680 his body. He was having a what some call a 28 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.479 near death experience. But he left his body and a 29 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.800 radiant being came up to him and spoke to him. 30 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.240 And delivered this message. 31 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:24.680 You are deeply loved and cherished forever. You have nothing 32 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:32.560 to fear, and you are richly cared for. Sounds amazing 33 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:40.280 considering those words were very similar to Jeremyah's word speaking 34 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:48.639 from the Father. So miraculously, doctor Alexander recovered, and he 35 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:52.479 says love is what pulled him back from the brink 36 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:56.439 of death. See, he had been adopted at birth, and 37 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.919 he said, I had this subconscious belief that maybe i'd 38 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.120 it didn't even deserve to exist, that maybe I didn't 39 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:12.759 deserve love since my own mother had given me away. 40 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:14.000 But he believed this. 41 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:18.800 He said, this love expressed to him in this message 42 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:25.400 cured the deepest scars of his heart and brought healing 43 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:36.039 to him and brought him back to life. The Lord 44 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:41.240 appeared to us in the past, saying I have loved 45 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:47.879 you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with 46 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.120 unfailing kindness, King James says, loving kindness. 47 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:55.159 I like that word too, loving kindness. I've drawn you. 48 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.759 So Here the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the people 49 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:03.599 of Israel, and it's actually at a time when he's 50 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.879 speaking about restoration coming, and it's actually the same chapter 51 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.879 where the promise of the New Covenant is given. But 52 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:19.399 as he's speaking to his people and talks about from 53 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:26.319 the past, he's reminded them of his deliverance out of Egypt. 54 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:30.240 He's reminded them of their time on Sinai, where he 55 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.680 walked with him through the difficult time of the desert. 56 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.759 He's reminded them of bringing them, leading them into the 57 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:41.439 Promised Land. All these different things. I have been with 58 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:46.079 you all this time, showing you my love, drawing you 59 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.360 to me all this time. Whether you knew it or not, 60 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:59.360 do you know that you're in a love story? 61 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:10.279 You are? You are in a love story with God. 62 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:17.240 From gen Genesis to Revelation, we see again and again 63 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:24.240 the Lord pursuing out of his love, pursuing us, creating us, 64 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:30.279 redeeming us, walking with us, being with us, showing his 65 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.879 love all along the way, drawing us, as he says 66 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:37.600 to us, with unfailing love, loving us with an everlasting, 67 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:45.240 forever love. The God of Love is pursuing you, not 68 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.120 just the world, but you. These words are for you 69 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:55.959 this morning. Of course, the greatest expression of the love 70 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:59.480 of God is Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus his love, 71 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.959 sending his only son to die on the cross, sacrificing 72 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:08.360 his life, putting all the sins of the world, all 73 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:10.399 your sin, on him. Of course, that is the greatest 74 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.160 expression of love that could ever ever be right. 75 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:20.480 We know that. But he loves you, He really really 76 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:21.839 loves you, and he likes you too. 77 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:26.199 By the way, sometimes we say, oh, he loves me, 78 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:26.800 but does. 79 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:28.160 He like me? He likes you too. 80 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:33.160 He made you the way you are, right, He made 81 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:40.519 you the way you are. You've been deeply loved since 82 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:45.240 certainly certainly from your conception, but probably from the beginning 83 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:45.680 of time. 84 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:50.639 You have been deeply, deeply loved by God. He was 85 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.639 there your conception. 86 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.040 He was there when you took your first steps. He 87 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.879 was there when you fell on your face running down 88 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:01.240 the sidewalk. He was there when you had your first kiss. 89 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:08.560 He was there when you had brokenness and hurt, when 90 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:10.560 you chose paths of destruction. 91 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:17.800 He was there, He's always been there. Think about. 92 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:23.560 Your life and the times that he's shown you, he's 93 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.439 revealed to you the evidence of his presence and the 94 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:36.439 evidence of his love. But the resolution of this love 95 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:42.360 story is still to be told. And I'm talking about 96 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:45.040 the love story inside the bigger love story. I'm talking 97 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:46.720 about the love story between. 98 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:54.720 You and your heavenly Father. It's open ended. It's open ended. 99 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.839 And for those of you who are here, who who 100 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.360 who don't have a deep relationship with your heavenly Father, 101 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.920 it's still open ended whether or not you will. 102 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:11.720 Because it's all up to you. It's all up to you. 103 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.120 My first glimpse of the love of God was when 104 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.040 I was four years old. I had what I now 105 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.360 know was a vision. At the time, I didn't know 106 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:30.160 what a vision was. But I saw the Lord Jesus 107 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:34.320 on a cross. On the cross, I saw him with 108 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:37.519 his crowns crown of thorns, with the nails in his 109 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.000 hands and feet, blood dripping down his face and off 110 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:54.240 his hands. And the only feeling I had was love, absolute. 111 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:58.360 Total, complete love. And I knew that. I knew that, 112 00:08:58.399 --> 00:08:59.159 I knew that I. 113 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:05.120 Was loved, And I have always known that and it 114 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:13.440 has never ever ever left me. Soon after that, I 115 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:15.639 gave my life to the Lord. I prayed the Sinner's 116 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:22.879 prayer with Annie K. Gave my life to him and 117 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:26.960 he has always, always, always been there. But when I 118 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.159 was growing up, I grew up in a family I 119 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.799 like to say, you know, we didn't know we were 120 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.039 just we didn't have the name dysfunctional, but that's what 121 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.159 we were, you know, I mean, we really were, and 122 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:45.320 a family of seven, five kids. I was the second 123 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:49.840 of five. But my parents they didn't know how to love. 124 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.639 They loved very imperfectly. They did their best based on 125 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:58.240 their level of brokenness and their own past and some 126 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:01.519 of you recognize that in yourself or in your parents. 127 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:07.279 And they fought constantly. I went to bed many times 128 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.639 lying in bed, not being able to go to sleep 129 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:17.039 because my parents were fighting. And eventually they eventually long story, 130 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:21.320 but they did divorce, and that was an area of 131 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.080 brokenness for my life. 132 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.440 But the Lord was with me and I knew that 133 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:29.159 and he protected me. 134 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.080 I didn't that didn't mean I didn't have to go 135 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:36.759 through the process of healing, forgiveness and all that stuff, 136 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.120 but he was there. I was abused as a child, 137 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:46.240 it's sexually abused by a family friend, and that was 138 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:53.039 very it was devastating. But even in that, I knew 139 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:56.240 I was loved. And even through that, through the process 140 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.679 of forgiving and and letting go that came because I 141 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:01.879 knew I was loved, I could do that. I could 142 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:05.720 walk through that healing and cling to my heavenly Father 143 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:10.279 because of the love of God has so much power. 144 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:19.799 I grew up close friends in the neighborhood. Three of 145 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:26.080 my closest friends. My friend Paul, he died, he choked 146 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:31.120 to death on his own vomit, having over drank alcohol 147 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:37.759 at a party. My friend Dominic became so addicted to 148 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:44.639 drugs that he eventually lost virtually all his teeth. And 149 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:49.480 my friend Jimmy Kay the strongest guy in the neighborhood. 150 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:53.519 If he wasn't on your side, then you might get 151 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.919 beat up because he's also a really angry kid, and 152 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:59.720 he played football like crazy and we could never tackle him. 153 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:06.799 But Jimmy, Jimmy got into drugs as well. He got 154 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.919 he got into uh uh. 155 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:12.720 A lot of bad, bad things. 156 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.519 He ended up in prison, He ended up uh he 157 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.799 had lots of street fights and everything else ended up 158 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.679 in prison. Uh family accounts of battery and ended up 159 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:23.559 dying in prison. 160 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:27.679 Why was I spared? 161 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:34.720 I was spared because I was not captured by the world, 162 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:36.120 because the love. 163 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:40.919 Of God had captured me. That's why I was spared. 164 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.159 Now, for the entire three years of jesus ministry on 165 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:52.679 this earth, what did he talk about and what did 166 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.480 he do? His words and his works were all about 167 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:02.080 Your heavenly Father loves you. He cares about you. Come 168 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:08.279 enter into a love relationship with him through me. That's 169 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.440 all Jesus talked about. That's all he demonstrated time and again. 170 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:17.759 Your heavenly Father loves you so very much. If you've 171 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:20.399 seen me, you've seen the Father. You want to know 172 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.600 what the Father's like. Open the book, look at the 173 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.039 New Testament. That is the Father, That is your father 174 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:30.559 in heaven. That is the one who loves you. That 175 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.039 is the one who draws you. 176 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.879 To him with his unfailing love. 177 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:44.120 But Jesus also told stories. He told parables, right, and 178 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:49.639 there's one parable where he really told about his father's love. 179 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:52.759 You might know that parable. 180 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.399 As the parable of prodigal Son, but you may not 181 00:13:57.480 --> 00:13:59.840 have realized that it's a love story. 182 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:01.279 That's right. 183 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:02.799 We're going to take a look at that love story 184 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:09.399 right now. It's Luke, chapter fifteen, starting in verse eleven. 185 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.600 There was a man who had two sons. The younger 186 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:17.759 one said to his father, father, give me my share 187 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:22.120 of the estate. Now, according to the custom, if he 188 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.840 was a younger son, he was a second son of 189 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:27.799 two sons, he would get a third of the estate, 190 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.879 a third of all that his father had when he died. 191 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.159 But to come to his father and to speak to 192 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.240 him and say this is what I want was not 193 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:43.279 only unheard of, it was absolutely disrespectful, completely, particularly in 194 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:47.240 that culture of honor. It was like the worst thing 195 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:52.000 you could ever say to your father. And by implication, 196 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.679 he is rejecting him, and he's rebelling against him, and 197 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:01.000 he's basically saying, father, I do I love you, and 198 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:09.320 I do not respect you. In fact, he's saying, father, 199 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:18.639 I can't wait till you die. Could anything been more 200 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:26.120 painful to that father, I'm sure it broke his heart 201 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:31.919 into a million pieces. The son's demand would also been 202 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.840 a great grief to his family, absolutely stunning, and in 203 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.080 our front, to the entire community who would have known 204 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:48.080 this family and to have heard what had happened now 205 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.559 most of you here, In fact, I would venture to say, 206 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.879 all of you here, at one time or another, and 207 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:02.600 maybe even this morning, have been a prodigal son or daughter, 208 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:11.240 have been that younger son. You know, we simply want 209 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.919 to live our lives the way we want to live them. 210 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:21.240 What we want to do, you know, and enjoy what 211 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:27.879 the Father gives us. The blessings of life, the blessings 212 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.120 of family, the blessings of good work, the blessings of health, 213 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:32.759 whatever blessings we have. 214 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:34.440 We have so many, many. 215 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:37.159 Of them, and we want to enjoy those, and we 216 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:42.559 want to do what we want to do. But in 217 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.720 doing so, we deny what the father desires most from us, 218 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:53.200 and that is a love relationship or he's first, or 219 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:54.360 he's our first love. 220 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.799 Verse twelve B. The second part of the verse says, 221 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.000 this what the father does. 222 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:14.000 So he divided his property between them. 223 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.039 So he does it, and he didn't have to do it. 224 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:23.920 Any normal father in that culture would have thrown him out, 225 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:33.880 disowned him, and maybe even beating him up first. But 226 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.200 this father gives him what he asks for. Here you go, 227 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:37.880 Here you go, son. 228 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.319 Listen out of the generosity of his love. 229 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:52.960 The father gives, he gives, he gives, he gives. He 230 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:57.640 loves you so much, even when his heart is broken 231 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.960 for some of you here this morning. His heart is 232 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.880 broken just telling you that. 233 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:11.839 Verse thirteen. 234 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.599 Not long after that, the younger son got together all 235 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.440 that he had set off for a distant country and 236 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.200 there squandered his wealth in wild living. 237 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:27.079 Now there's a surprise. He was just waiting to do 238 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:27.519 it right. 239 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:31.960 The son demands his inheritance, takes it from his father, 240 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:37.519 takes the money and runs. In doing so, he further 241 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.240 rejects the love of his father. He rejects his family, 242 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:46.160 he rejects his community, and he rejects any faith that 243 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:49.480 he had, because to go into the far country is 244 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.440 to go away from God's people, to go to where 245 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:57.839 the Pagans worship their idols. And so he does all 246 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:03.480 this as he rejects the farther and again by his actions, 247 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:07.640 he's saying, I don't want to have anything ever to 248 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:16.319 do with you, father, I am completely done with you. Now, 249 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:19.160 we don't think that spending our lives the way we 250 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.920 do is rejecting his love, putting him second or third 251 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:24.759 or away. 252 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:26.960 But that's what it is. 253 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:29.519 That's what it is. 254 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:35.119 Now the Father lets him go without a fight. Here 255 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:35.720 you go. 256 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.480 In essence, your heavily father says, I love you so 257 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:50.359 much that I will not make you love me. He 258 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.440 doesn't want robots Autona toms. 259 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.279 He doesn't. He wants somebody to love him back. He 260 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:59.200 wants you to love him back. I won't make you 261 00:19:59.279 --> 00:19:59.599 love me. 262 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.400 He won't force the relationship that he desires from you. 263 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.240 But he's there with open arms. He's there, he's right, 264 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.000 and he's near. 265 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.599 He's as near as your neighbor to you right now 266 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:23.079 and nearer. But the risk is worth it so that 267 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:23.720 he has. 268 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:29.519 A real love relationship with you Verse fourteen. 269 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.839 So after he had spent everything, there was a severe 270 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:35.759 famine in the whole country, and he began to be 271 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:39.119 in need. So he went out and hired himself out 272 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:41.880 to a citizen of that country, who sent him to 273 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:46.559 his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his 274 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:51.160 stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but 275 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:56.119 no one gave him anything. He ends up in a 276 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:01.880 pig sty, starving to death. Jesus gives us a very 277 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:07.640 simple picture of what it means to be away from. 278 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:08.240 The father's love. 279 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:25.240 Spiritual poverty, emptiness. You know nothing will truly satisfy and 280 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:26.000 fulfill you. 281 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:34.319 As the lover of your soul. Can he is the 282 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.200 love of your soul? 283 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.960 He is. Yes, I spent time as a prodigal as well. 284 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:47.119 I chose to live my own life about the time 285 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:52.200 I went off to college. The attractions and the temptations 286 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.200 were too great for me. At least that's what I thought. 287 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.279 I guess I don't know, but they were partying, heart 288 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:08.640 eating relationships, not focused on God relationships, selfishness. 289 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.759 I could go on with many things. 290 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.559 But by the time I was twenty two years old, 291 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:18.759 I already had an engineering degree, I was working on 292 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:24.799 my masters. I was getting basically out straight a's. I 293 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.920 had a full scholarship. I was paid for being for 294 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.920 doing research. I was living on the beach. 295 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:33.599 With some of my. 296 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.799 Buddies, hanging out, partying, having a great time in and 297 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:42.000 out of various relationships. Wow, you think I'd have the 298 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:52.400 greatest time ever, But I wasn't. One weekend, I was 299 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:57.000 in the San Berardino Mountains with my girlfriend and some friends. 300 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.160 We were at a cabin there and I was out 301 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.279 on the porch, and I remember it so clearly. I 302 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.640 went on the porch by myself, and I looked out, 303 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:10.319 just kind of out the scene off into the mountains there, 304 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:16.559 and I was completely empty. 305 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:17.599 I was. 306 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:22.440 It was like it didn't matter if I still believed 307 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:28.000 in God. I was far from it, and I felt 308 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.480 like he has no use for me. 309 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:33.160 I think I'm going to die. 310 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.319 I actually thought I thought that that something's gonna happen. 311 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:39.839 It's gonna be an accident. I'm gonna my heart's gonna stop. 312 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:41.599 I don't, but I thought I was gonna die because 313 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:46.200 I thought I am useless here. I'm living for this. 314 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:56.599 Whatever I was in the PIGSTI I really was. Have 315 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:03.880 any of you been there? Yeah, Verse seventeen. So when 316 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:07.559 he came to his senses, he said, how many of 317 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.920 my father's hired men have food to spare, but here 318 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:13.480 I am starving to death. I will set out and 319 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:15.440 go back to my father and say to him, Father, 320 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.000 I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no 321 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:20.720 longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like 322 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:26.599 one of your hired men. So he decides to go 323 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:29.720 home just to be a hired servant. He's no longer 324 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.640 a son, He's not worthy to be a son. And 325 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.920 so he's rehearsing what he's going to say to his father, 326 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:39.400 and he begins to head home. Verse twenty says, So 327 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:41.880 he got up and he went to his father. He's ragged, 328 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:48.279 he's dirty, he's weak, he's hungry, he's broken, and says, 329 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:51.480 but why he was still a long way off. His 330 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.240 father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, 331 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:59.319 and he ran to his son, threw his arms around 332 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:02.680 him him. Is it that amazing? 333 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:07.079 Amen? That's yeah, that is wow, wow wow. All this 334 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:09.240 time the father had been anxiously looking for him. 335 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:11.119 That's why he saw him in the distance, because he 336 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.559 every day he'd be looking out there, every free moment, 337 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.720 he's looking out there. Is my son coming home? Is 338 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.720 my beloved son coming home? And he saw him, saw 339 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:21.240 him out here? 340 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.720 Is that my son? I think it's my son. He's 341 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:25.240 probably limping. 342 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:29.279 But dragon just you know, clothes, if you know, just rags, 343 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:35.880 wearing rags, just skinny as a bone. 344 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:38.519 And so he runs. 345 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.920 A Jewish man would never run, not of this, not 346 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.799 not of that age that that's that would be beneath them. 347 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.920 That would be shameful to do. And yet he runs, 348 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.680 he runs, He runs for two reasons. The first reason 349 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.759 is that the uh that the son would would encounter 350 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:01.559 a gauntlet of the community who probably hated him for 351 00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:07.079 basically dishonoring the community by what he did to his father, 352 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:11.160 and we're just been horrified by it. And then they 353 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:15.759 probably they'd probably be, you know, casting a spurgeons at him, 354 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:16.799 probably just going. 355 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:19.480 Oh there's that you know, there's that bomb. You know. 356 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.319 The father runs out, I think, first of all, to 357 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:26.839 protect his son. Father humbles himself to protect a son. 358 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.240 The second second thing is he didn't want to wait 359 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:33.319 another second before he was in his son's arms. Not 360 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:42.160 another second, There's no time to waste. Threw his arms 361 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.839 around him, King James. I love the King James. It 362 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:51.480 says he fell on his neck. He fell on his neck, yes, 363 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:56.880 and kissed him. The neighbors watch and disbelief. Right, how 364 00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:58.519 how can you treat him this way? 365 00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:05.519 You know all he did to you? Are you crazy? Yes? 366 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:15.119 I'm crazy in love with my son, all this running, 367 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.920 all this running and falling and hugging and kissing. 368 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:23.039 What an amazing, loving mess. 369 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:27.559 Right, it's the spontaneous love just flows out of the father. 370 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:33.599 Spontaneous love and his actions tell us all we need 371 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.960 to know, all you need to know about when you 372 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:42.000 return to him, about when you seek him, seek his heart. 373 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:45.720 It's one of the most powerful scenes in the New Testament, 374 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:54.720 if not the Bible. Isn't it about the scene? It's 375 00:27:54.799 --> 00:28:00.960 Jeremiah thirty one three. What we just read Jeremiah thirty 376 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:11.920 one to three lived out expressed, demonstrated, running, falling, hugging, 377 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:17.319 and kissing slight. Let's see verse twenty one. Son says, father, 378 00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.039 I've sinned against Heaven, against you. I am no longer 379 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:25.799 worthy to be called your son. But the father stops him. 380 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:29.480 You can't finish his the rest of his he'd planned 381 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:31.799 to say about being a servant and about blah blah 382 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:34.519 blah blah blah. But the father says to his servants, quick, 383 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.680 bring the best robe, put it on him, put a 384 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:39.440 ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, Bring the 385 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:42.680 fated cat and kill it. Let's have a feast and 386 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.559 celebrate for this son of mine was dead and he's 387 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.480 alive now, and he is lost. 388 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:50.200 He was lost and now he's fine found. And they 389 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:52.160 began to celebrate. 390 00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:59.400 This in the midst, like I said, in the midst, 391 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:01.400 he stops him he doesn't even let him continue. 392 00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:04.559 He says, son, doesn't you're back? 393 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:10.400 Best robe that represents his acceptance, that would have been 394 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:14.599 his robe. The ring off his finger, the father's authority, sandals, 395 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:18.279 the sign of sonship, being a son and not a slave, 396 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:20.920 not a servant. The fatted calf a sign of the 397 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.519 father's joy and in his son's return, and a full 398 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:28.799 community celebration. Why don't we know that is because a 399 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.000 fatty calf was too big for a family to eat. 400 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:35.559 This was it was for the community to come. And 401 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:39.880