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Good morning, my name is Antoine. Today's scripture reading is from Luke chapter

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15 verse 11 through 32 page 902 and the Bible is in the back of the pews. He also

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said, a man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, father give me

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the share of the estate that I have coming to me. So he distributed the

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assets to them. Not many days later this younger son gathered together all he had

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and traveled to a distant country where he squandered his estate in in foolish

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living. After he had spent everything a severe famine struck that

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country and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that

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country who sent him into into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his

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fill from the pods that he from the pigs he were feeding that the pigs were

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eating but no one would give him anything. When he came to his senses he

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said how many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food and

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here I am dying of hunger. I'll get up go to my father and say to him father I

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have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called

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your son. Make me like one of your hired workers. So he got up and went to his

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father but while the son was still a long way off his father saw him and was

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filled with compassion. He ran through his arms around his neck and kissed him.

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The son said to him father I have sinned against heaven and in your sight I'm

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no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father told his servants quick

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bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals

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on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it and let's celebrate

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with a feast because the son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and

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is found. So they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field and he

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came now his older son was in the field as he came near the house he heard music

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and dancing so he summoned one of the servants questioning what these things

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meant. Your brother is here he told he told him and your father has slaughtered

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the fattened calf because he has he has him back safe and sound. Then he became

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angry and didn't want to go in so his father came out and pleaded with him but

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he replied to his father look I have been slaving many years for you and I

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have never disobeyed your orders yet you never gave me a goat so that I could

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celebrate with my friends. But when his when the son of yours came who has

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devoured your assets with prostitutes you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.

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Son he said to him you are always with me and everything I have is yours but we

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had to celebrate and rejoice because his brother of yours was dead and is alive

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again he was lost and is found. This is God's Word. All right if you have a Bible

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or grab one of the Bibles in the pews turn on over to Luke chapter 15 we're

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gonna spend our time there and we'll definitely be in that whole chapter.

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Also maybe you didn't know this but the pew Bibles those are for you if you

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don't have a Bible or you know someone who needs one grab it take it we'll

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replace it it'll be we'll have a new one there by next week but those are those

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are so that you can grab them and you can you can use them at home or give

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them away. Father we come before you now and we ask that you would speak through

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your word work in our hearts Lord Lord may our hearts be like that good soil

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ready to receive the seed of your word so that it might produce fruit in our

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lives we ask in Jesus name amen. What we have here is probably one of the most

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famous parables of the Bible. Second to maybe the Good Samaritan the parable of

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what has classically been called the prodigal son or in our headings in the

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CSB the parable of the lost son is probably one of the most told and well

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known parables there is. Maybe you're wondering what what does parable even

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mean right let's let's start there well parable is the the it's a Greek word

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that actually means to cast alongside cast alongside that's what parable means

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so it's like the cast alongside of the long the lost son and and you might be

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going well that doesn't sound right that sounds weird. Well basically these are

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stories that were meant to be cast alongside a truth in order to help the

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audience to better understand and for to illustrate the truth to them and so

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Jesus used parables to teach in fact in Mark chapter 4 it says that he did not

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say anything to the crowds of people without using a parable he can say

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anything to the crowds without using a parable but then he would privately

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explain the meanings of those parables to his disciples and in in your Bible in

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the CSB we have a heading that says something like the parable of the lost

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son but what we're going to find this morning is it's actually a tale of two

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sons two sons and a father and what we're supposed to do as good Bible

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students is we're supposed to compare and contrast these two sons in order for

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us to grasp a deeper meaning of the text to get beyond the illustration to get to

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the actual truth of the text which is the purpose of a parable and this

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parable particularly is it's intended to undermine our existing paradigms for how

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we understand the radical nature of God's love and how we relate to God and

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so I hope that as we work our way through it that is what we ultimately

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have is a paradigm shift in our understanding about who this God that we

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worship is as we look at the content of that particular scripture we actually

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have to go a little bit further back than what was read this morning in order

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to get that context and you can see it right there at the top of the heading at

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the top of the verse verse 1 of chapter 15 verse 1 of chapter 15 reads this all

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the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him Jesus all

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the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen and the Pharisees

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and scribes were complaining this man Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with

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them so the context is that Jesus is preaching and teaching and he is

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attracting groups crowds of tax collectors and sinners well who are tax

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collectors but the worst of the worst in the Jewish minds to be a tax collector

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meant that you went behind your people's back and you went to the Roman

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governments and you agreed to extort and collect taxes from your own people for

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the enemy in order to support them tax collectors were garbage sinners well

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that's a pretty broad term right and that basically encapsulates all of that

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basically it's lawbreakers those who did not pay mind to the law of God or the

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Torah Jesus is attracting these kind of characters they want to know more there

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they're hearing his words and they're finding life in it but the Pharisees and

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the scribes come and they say this guy he welcomes them he spends time with them

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to eat with them was a sign of affirmation or affirming how dare he with

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this kind of people the Pharisees and the scribes well to contrast them with

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tax collectors and sinners they were the true Israel Israelites they were the

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perfect Jews there were those who were most faithful they had centered their

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life the Pharisees particularly they centered their life around the Torah

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around God's Word in fact to be a Pharisee meant that you are on the path

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to memorizing the entire Old Testament look at that Old Testament Ezekiel

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Isaiah all of it the law of Moses the Psalms you memorized all of it and that

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meant you can imagine we did a little exercise this morning in our prayer time

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before we memorized Psalm 117 which has a grand total of two words two

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verses and it took us a little while yeah we were stumbling I was making

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everyone stumble because I couldn't remember it they memorized the whole of

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God's Word and so they're coming and they're saying who is this guy and why

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is he eating with them why isn't he paying mind to the social

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statuses of our time if this really was the Messiah he wouldn't be going to the

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tax collectors and sinners he'd be going to the righteous he'd be going to the

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Pharisees and the scribes the ones who daily kept Torah read Torah memorized

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Torah and Torah is just the laws because of their focus on this they would have

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been very keen also because their focus on the law they would have been very

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keen on listening to Jesus's words and making parallels to the Old Testament

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and it's one of the interesting facts about Psalm about Luke 15 is that we're

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going to see all kinds of references to the Old Testament that Jesus is dropping

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in there because he wants to shift their paradigm they thought they knew they

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thought they understand they had no idea and so they come they complain so what

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does Jesus do it says verse 3 of chapter 15 so he told them a parable and what

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he's actually gonna do is he's gonna tell three parables right in a row here

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in Luke 15 the first one we're also familiar most probably most of us are

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familiar with is the parable of the lost sheep a man has a hundred sheep one

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strays off right and now he has 99 who are safe with him and one who is lost

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and what does he do he leaves the 99 like whoa something's coming through

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transmission received Lord he he leaves the 99 to go find the one and when he

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finds it he with great joy puts it upon his shoulder and he comes back and

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reintroduces it to the fold and then it says he calls his neighbors and his

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friends and he says I'm so excited I joy has to be shared I need some people to

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rejoice with come and rejoice with me because this one that was lost has now

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been found and Jesus says I tell you in the same way that that man when he found

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his sheep rejoice I tell you in the same way there will be more joy in heaven

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over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who do not need

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repentance that's a that's an odd statement there too because we go well

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we all need repentance right and scholars take a different way but a lot

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of them think that that was kind of a tongue-in-cheek 99 who don't need

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repentance in their own mind in their own heart they truly do need repentance

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they don't recognize it and then he goes from that parable to tell another

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parable about a lost coin a woman has ten coins and the coins represent about

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a week's wages and she loses one of those coins and so he says she begins to

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look everywhere she lights a lamp and she begins to sweep her whole house

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trying to find this coin and when she finally finds the coin she is overjoyed

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and she calls all of her neighbors and her friends and says come rejoice with

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me for this coin that I lost I found it and Jesus says I tell you in the same

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way there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents

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and after telling these two parables that leads him into the parable of the

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lost son and this parable is going to be similar to those first two and yet add

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all kinds of new elements to it beginning in verse 11 we see immediately

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a hyperlink or a reference that in the mind of the audience that Jesus was

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talking to the Pharisees and the scribes who spent their life on Torah Jesus

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begins the parallel by saying there was a man who had two sons now if you spent

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your life in Torah you spend your life studying the law of God then you know

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immediately two sons I've heard that before two sons is a pattern throughout

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the Bible throughout the Old Testament Cain and Abel Isaac and Ishmael Jacob

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and Esau you notice how in the stories of Joseph Joseph's brothers don't really

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have individual identities we don't know a whole lot about them it's like Joseph

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and his brothers or David and his brothers it's this idea of these pairs

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these two and so immediately these scribes and Pharisees are going whoa

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that's interesting okay I know this story I know how this goes I've read

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Torah there's a man who has two sons and then he begins with the younger and he

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says here's the younger son comes to the father and he says what give me my share

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of the inheritance give me my share of the estate that I have coming to me

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right there the original audience would have gasped how dare he what an

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unrighteous ungrateful child to ask for the inheritance of the father while the

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father is still alive is like saying I wish you were dead I wish you were dead

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just give me your stuff I don't want anything to do with you this would have

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been an insult and the expected response would have been well to get the cane out

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and either verbally lash him or probably verbally and physically lash him this

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would have been accepted and acceptable in the culture how dare you get out you

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are no longer my son it would have been a complete and total insult what he

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wants the father's things the young stuff young son wants the father's

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things but he does not want relationship with the father and this would have

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caused disgust but you know what it would cause more disgust was the father's

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response the father responds and instead of pulling out the cane and beating him

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up and giving him a verbal lashing what does it say he did he gave it to him he

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gave it to him and we think oh he gave it to him he went and he wrote a check

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no their wealth was tied up in their property their wealth was tied up in

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their property and if you had two sons one son the older son was entitled to

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two-thirds of your property and one son was entitled to one-third of your

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property the younger one and so to ask for the inheritance was so much more

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than just all right I'll go to the bank account I'll get you the gold and you're

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on your way it was I'm going to go out and I'm going to sell my land now I'm

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going to sell my land and cash it out I'm going to sell this one thing that

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gives me status this one thing that gives me prestige this one thing that

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says that I have any worth in this community I'm going to reduce it by

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one-third at least so that I can I can supply this request it's interesting

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because the word asset that we read in the scripture here when it says so he

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distributed the assets the word asset is actually bios and it's it's the same

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Greek word that means life he distributed his life because his life

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was wrapped up in what he had that's how it was back then is your life and

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livelihood was wrapped up in your assets in order to fulfill this request the

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father would have had to divest of his life to fulfill it and he does and the

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Pharisees would have gone foolish son foolish father what a fool he literally

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had to tear his life apart in order to meet this request and the father does so

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what happens next well the young son takes his stuff takes this out of these

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assets that have been distributed to him from his father and it says that he goes

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off to a distant country to a distant land a distant country and this would

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have immediately in the minds of the readers and the listeners spoken of the

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idea of exile he's going into exile you don't go to a distant country you stay

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with your people God brought you into the land and give you the land you don't

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go to a distant land stay with your people so he must be in exile he's going

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to exile this young son and it says that he takes all of that stuff and it

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doesn't give us a whole lot of narrative it simply says and he squanders it all

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on foolish living he takes what the father divested that the father tore

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apart his own life in order to give to the son so that he could go and in

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foolish living squander it all and a severe famine struck that land that he

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was in and without any of his without any of his income without any any of his

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supplies and now with a famine striking a land he has nothing he's destitute and

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so he must sell himself into a sort of form of indentured servitude serving

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slop to pigs which were unclean to a Jewish man and at this point the

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audience would have said good he got what he deserved good on him but then

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the Bible says in verse 17 that after he went through all this process and he's

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found himself in the pigsty literally in the mud that he came to his senses he

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came to his senses it really literally means he came to himself he came to

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himself and he said you know what how many of my father's hired men go hungry

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they don't how many of my father's hired men go hungry it'd be better for me to

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go back and be a hired man than it would to be and live in this condition you

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know what I'll go back to my father and I'll say that I've sinned against heaven

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and against him and I'm not worthy to be called his son anymore and I'll ask him

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if I could just be a hired man and a hired man was different than a slave see

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a slave actually lived in the house he lived in the estate and worked a hired

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man usually lived in the city and was hired for a certain price he didn't even

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think he was worthy enough to live in the house anymore or on the property

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instead what he devised in his mind is I will go back and I will repay I will

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repay what I took he has a plan for restitution and it's I'm gonna go back

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as a hired man and I'm gonna work I'm gonna receive a wage I'll be able to eat

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and I'll be able to repay and maybe one day I'll be able to earn my way back

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into the family but all I know is that I can't stay here in this distant land I

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have to get back home I have to get back near my father that's what all that's

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all I know I have to be near to my father if this is going to work out and

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so he makes the decision I will go back and the Pharisees sit on edge the

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scribes what's next what's next boy when he comes back the father is gonna lay

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get ready for a good show how will the father respond to all of this and we

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read in verse 20 the father ran the father saw him far off the father saw

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him far off as he was coming and the father began to run and all the

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Pharisees gasp because patriarchal men of that time do not run because you

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would have to hike up your dress thingy put it between your legs show your knees

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in your legs which was dishonorable and disrespectful and run you did not do

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that and this father is unlike any father in our culture that this was

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there thinking in our culture that we've ever seen who is this guy he's

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running now children run young people run men don't run or can't run but they

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don't run and yet this father is running running to meet this son running and it

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says he fell on his neck which is a way of saying he kissed him and he relieved

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all of his his his weight onto the neck like as if you embraced and you just

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collapsed into the arms of your son earth-shattering paradigm shaking what

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is going on here and the son begins to try to to get get his plan out right I'm

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so sorry I'm not worthy of being and the father says no I'll have none of it I

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don't need your plan I don't need your money you're not earning your way back

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in here in fact go go get the signet ring the signet ring the family crest

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the way you signed legal documents the way you said you're a part of the family

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go get that ring and put it on my son go get the robe drape it over his shoulders

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you know that fattened calf that you saved for a once-in-a-lifetime party

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we're gonna cook that tonight that's gonna be the greatest party ever why

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because my son has come home this son of mine who was dead is now alive he was

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lost but now he's found the son doesn't need to earn his way back in because the

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father runs out to bring him back in I'll ask you this morning are you the

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younger son are you the younger son did you live your life gladly taking all

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that the father gives including your breath and your life and you spend it on

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yourself wanting nothing to do with the father but only to indulge yourself have

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you spent your life under the guilt and shame that comes from wasting all that

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God has given you have you wasted your life on foolish living in sin the good

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news of this parable the good news the gospel of this parable tells us

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something amazing that no matter who you are and no matter what you've done if

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you will simply come home to the father the father will accept you the father

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will love you the father will show that radical love that he has and his amazing

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grace it's yours if you are far away and you have lived that way come home the

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father's waiting but there's more right that's what's so odd about this story is

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that's where it's supposed to end the father running this very sentimental

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probably you know tears in our eyes or at least in our heart right oh my gosh

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the father look what he's done for me for us but it doesn't in there we may

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feel the sentimental because we see this beautiful story laid out but again I'll

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remind you the original audience would have been shocked horrified what on

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earth is he talking about who are these characters who is he saying the father

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is who is he saying the young son is who are they this is ridiculous this is

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offensive and so Jesus introduces another son and this son the older son

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he's been faithfully working away in the fields and he comes near from his day in

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the fields and he begins to hear the reggae music check right as he's coming

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near to team night and he starts smelling the fat and calf burning on the

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grill and it smells good if you ever smelled you know good old tri tip or some

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ribs or whatever it's like he smells it he starts to come near he's like he

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hears the voices the celebration the laughter the merry-making what is going

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on and he's he finds a servant he says I gotta know what's going on I was out in

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the field man I was I was faithfully working away what's going on why is

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there a party going on and I wasn't invited what's happening here and so the

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servant says you know what your brother came home your brother came home and

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your dad flipped out with joy like he went off the edge with joy he called

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everyone he knew and he killed that fattened calf that we've been saving

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forever we had no idea what we were gonna use it for he used it for this he

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said this is worth it this is the time kill that thing let's celebrate how's

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the older brother gonna respond my brother's home our families reunited

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happy ever after the older brother is furious the older brother is furious and

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he refuses to go back in in essence he's disrespecting the father's joy he's

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disrespecting the father's heart he says I don't want to be a part of this

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family if he's a part of this family I won't have it what does the father do

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it's another moment there's a father shooting with a BB gun you know get in

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here boy no that's maybe what I would do no he it says he came out to him he came

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out again the father initiating taking steps to come near to his son he comes

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out to him everyone gasp his father is driving everyone mad who's listening

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and the son in response to seeing the father he doesn't say father which is

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very traditional and is exactly what you would expect in the text he says look

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look look look where the verse is there it is he replies to his father look I

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have been oh my gosh slaving away many years for you and I have never disobeyed

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your orders yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my

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friends but when this son of yours came who has devoured your assets with

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prostitutes you slaughtered the fattened calf for him you hear all that look he

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doesn't even acknowledge him as father I've been slaving away I've never

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disobeyed and when this son of yours I'll have nothing to do with him he's

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not my brother the son of yours came home look what you did look what you did

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don't look what you never did for faithful me when the son of yours who

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has been devouring your assets spinning it on prostitutes comes home you

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continued to give him more you gave and gave and now so think about it father's

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assets one-third goes to the younger son two-thirds remains whose two-thirds is

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that going to be it's gonna be the older sons everything that he had

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everything the father now houses going to the older son so everything he spends

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is what the older son won't get and the older son says you took these precious

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things and you gave it to him and it's like you took it out of my own stock you

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took it out of my own cut how dare you the son of the father then turns to him

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and says son son you are always with me and everything I have is yours really

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truly everything he has is his older sons it will all be his but we had to

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celebrate and rejoice because his brother of yours was dead and is alive

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again he was lost and is now found the elder son can only see that his younger

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brother is taking and taking more he can't wrap his head around this kind of

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grace that the father is showing because he too has only obeyed and served his

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father for what his father can give him he too has only faithfully obeyed and

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faithfully slaved away for what he hoped he got out of it that became apparent

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through the text and so Jesus here with the Pharisees and the scribes are saying

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the younger brother and the older brother are the same the older brother

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and the younger brother the same one said I want nothing to do with you give

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me what is mine so I can go away from you and go live my life in licentious

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sin and all kinds of you know debauchery and whatever it is that I want to do

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over here away from your presence and the older son said you know how I will

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get what I want I'll obey I'll be faithful I'll study the word I'll pray

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every day I'll go to church regularly no one will ever be able to say that I

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wasn't faithful a faithful Christian and then God will owe me then God will owe

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me he'll owe me blessing he'll owe me an easy life he'll owe me heaven he'll owe

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me comforts he'll and when God doesn't give it what happens I thought you said

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if you're faithful I thought you said if you would only give yourself to the word

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then you'll live out your days in peace and harmony and joy I thought you said

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where's mine where's what is owed me he only obeyed

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slaved away because he wanted the father's stuff more than he wanted the

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father himself act one we get a very clear take on what it is to be a sinner

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it's pretty easy for us to see right you do that stuff your sinner we can list it

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off we all know self-centered self-indulgent in the gutter

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prostitutes whatever it is yeah that's a sinner we see it very clearly but can

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you see an act too with the older brother the same things they both want

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the father for his things they're both using the father to get what they want

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the younger is self-indulgent in his badness the older is self-righteous in

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his goodness both trying to get control one by leaving and one by staying one by

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breaking all the rules and one who is trying to control God by keeping all the

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rules both are lost both are lost because both are alienated from the

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father you can hide from God through your self-indulgent immoral life and

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you can thumb your nose at God but did you know that you can also hide from God

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with your self-righteous moral living you can hide from God and your

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self-centered self-righteousness and so I'll ask you are you like the older

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brother I'm good I pray I go to church I keep the rules and therefore God owes it

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to me to bless me God owes it to me to give me all the things the story began

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with tax collectors and sinners coming to Jesus and Pharisees complaining and

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saying how can you let them come how can you eat with them and can you see in

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this parable both of those he represents the centers the tax collectors as the

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younger son the Pharisees and the scribes as the older son and he says

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you're both in the same boat when you're sending when the sinners were

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sending they were trying to take all that God has given without acknowledging

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God or having relationship with him and when you go about reading your Torah and

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memorizing your Bible verses and then lording over people your

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self-righteousness you're trying to get from God all his things without having a

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true relationship with God and God doesn't want either of those for you

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gospel-believing Christians obey just to get God just to get God to know him to

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love him to honor him and to have relationship with him that's enough and

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so if you are in either one of those and we all have been there in some ways

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we're all all in in both of those at times our self-righteousness or our

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blatant sin encouragement today is to come back to the father that's what it's

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about it's not about one or the other it's about being with the father having

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relationship with the father loving the father if you came today thinking that

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if I go to church I'll be more acceptable to God and therefore I'll get

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all the benefits of being acceptable to God you are just like the Pharisees if

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you came today and you did not come for God out of a hunger and a thirst to be

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near to God to know God to love God you are just like the Pharisees and you need

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to repent and come to the father and he will meet you he will come running to

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meet you and welcome you and if you've been living in sin and wrapped up in

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that life trying to escape God repent come back and he will come running to

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you relationship with God is really what it's all about