Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House
Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from
our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.
The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown
and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,
20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel
to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful
series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship
to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard
Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.
So please enjoy and listen along these powerful
sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Amen.
Glory to God. Good to see you this morning. Hallelujah.
Good to be back in conference. Can you say amen?
What a way to kick it off. Last night, tremendous,
tremendous, going to be a Holy Ghost week, and
God's going to help us, and we're going to plant
churches. Can you say amen? Glory, hallelujah.
If you have your Bibles, Luke chapter 15, I'm
very honored to be able to minister here this
morning. Luke chapter 15. How many shop at Costco
or know the store Costco? Well, if you know about
Costco, one of the things you probably know about
them is that they have a very generous return
policy. Don't ask me how I know. That if you
purchase something, you can essentially return
it for any reasons with almost no questions asked.
Well, there was a California woman who put that
policy to the test. As she tried to return her
dead Christmas tree, In March. Put the picture
up. Now she's trying to return this dead Christmas
tree and she demanded a full refund. Her reason,
now get this now, the tree didn't last and it
didn't bring me any more joy. Talk about absurdity
marrying audacity. But not only did she demand
a full refund, but she told the clerk, I am entitled
to one. When I heard that, that triggered me.
Because how many know we're living in the age
of entitlement? Someone said where sacrifice
becomes unthinkable and duty becomes oppressive.
I want to minister a message on the emptiness
of entitlement and examine one of the greatest
stories Jesus ever told, these famous parables.
Parable of the prodigal son. Luke chapter 15,
very familiar, we'll begin at verse 11. Then
he said a certain man had two sons, and the younger
of them said to his father, Father, give me the
portion of goods that falls to me. And so he
divided to them his livelihood. Not many days
after, the younger son gathered all together,
journeyed to a far country, and wasted his possessions
with prodigal living. But when he had spent all,
there arose a famine, a severe famine in the
land, and he began to be in want. Verse 17, but
when he came to himself, he said, How many of
my father's hired servants have bread enough
to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise,
go to my father, and I'll say to him, Father,
I've sinned against heaven and before you, and
I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make
me as one of your hired servants. Verse 25. Now
his older son was in the field, and as he came
and drew near to the house, he heard music and
dancing. And so he called one of the servants
and asked him what these things meant. He said
to him, Your brother has come. And because he
has received them safe and sound, your father
has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry
and would not go in. Therefore, his father came
out and pleaded with him. And so he said, excuse
me. So he answered and said to his father, lo,
these many years I've been serving you. I've
never transgressed your commandment in any time.
And you never gave me a young goat that I might
make merry with my friends. But as soon as this
son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood
with heartache, you killed the fatted calf for
him. And he said to him, son. You're always with
me, and all that I have is yours, the emptiness
of entitlement. Let's look into this. The past
couple years, we have had a few longstanding
members leave our church, and just as a matter
of processing, you begin to wonder, how does
this happen? I mean, in one sense, it is nothing
new per se, but what is at the root? How does
someone who's been in our church or one of our
churches for a long time, perhaps all of their
adult life, maybe even church kid, how does someone
like that walk away from the relationships, the
investments that have been made? Why do people,
how do people walk away from the church? No doubt
there could be many reasons. There's sometimes
relocation, work, job, take care of an elderly
relative. Could be unresolved conflict. People
get in disagreements, and instead of solving
that, they just walk away. There's, of course,
just the, you know, old -fashioned sin, personal
disobedience. At some point, people who have
even experienced a genuine conversion, people
who have tasted the goodness of God, they can
come to the place where their desire to live
in sin without the accountability or the self
-inflicted guilt and shame that comes from living
in a community of believers. It just causes them
to walk away. 2 Timothy 4 .10, demons has forsaken
me, having loved this world. So these are just
a few of the reasons that people leave church.
There are definitely others. I'm not suggesting,
by the way, that any of these are justifiable.
How many figure it out that just because somebody
says, I prayed about it, doesn't mean that their
decision is backed up by the word of God? Doesn't
mean that their decision has been done for God's
glory? Nevertheless, I will say this. Of all
the reasons people may give for leaving their
church, Leaving the father's house. One of the
reasons they never give, or at least I've never
been given, but I've come to believe it's very
often an element, has to do with this issue of
entitlement. Somewhere in the equation. When
people, particularly long -term members, decide
to just walk away from relationships, walk away
from the truth that some of them have preached,
many of them have stood for, walk away from the
church and a fellowship that has discipled them,
that has developed them into the men and women
of God, that often what is there as a component
that is sometimes overlooked is this issue of
entitlement. Again, we're living in an age of
entitlement. It is the air we breathe. Whether
we're pointing to the welfare system or high
credit card debt or frivolous lawsuits like people,
you know, suing McDonald's over a hot cup of
coffee. Listen, the sense of entitlement has
become so prevalent in our world that we almost
don't even notice it. Or worse, if we do notice
it, but we consider it not to be as dangerous
as it is. So what is entitlement? What are we
talking about this morning? It's been defined
as the feeling or the belief that you deserve
to be given something. Often something you haven't
earned. Entitlement is the most dangerous form
of expectation. Expectations say, I expect. Entitlements
say, I deserve. And so entitlement carries with
it this attitude of there's been an injustice.
Could be I deserve an opportunity. I deserve
a certain ministry. I deserve that church. I
deserve an apology. I deserve recognition. I
deserve success. I deserve to be sent out. I
deserve to be repaid. I deserve a phone call
and on and on it goes. Let me just put a needed
disclaimer out there that although I get we are
at a Bible conference with very seasoned ministry
and ministers. However, I want to be perfectly
clear that we understand this because if you
miss this, you may take this message somewhere
it was never intended to go. And that is in the
truest sense of the word. How many know none
of us deserve anything except hell? No, really,
I'm not being sensational one bit when I emphatically
state we deserve to go to hell. Romans 6, 23,
the wages of sin. is death. Wages, that is an
entitlement word. It literally means what our
sin has earned, what our sin deserves. We deserve
to be utterly rejected. Had God had given us
what we deserve, we'd all be in torment right
now. We'd all be destroyed. The Bible says it
is by his mercy that we're not consumed. So therefore,
we must all resist the temptation to think more
highly of ourselves than we ought to. We must
resist the temptation to think that the world
or our pastor or the fellowship or even God owes
us something. Because truth be told this morning,
no one owes us anything. Except there's a guy
who owes me $4 ,000, but that's not. I'm kidding.
But listen to me, church kid. Listen to me, those
of us who came after the original pioneers of
our fellowship, we are the generation who has
been born on third base, but if we're not careful,
we have convinced ourselves that we got there
by hitting a triple. That is entitlement. Entitlement
is why people get handed a good church or a thriving
ministry, and instead of sincerely thanking the
previous pastor and his wife and being grateful
for their labors, instead you throw them under
the bus. Oh, well, you know, yeah, there were
people there, but, you know, a bunch of religious
folks. I don't know what that old knucklehead
was doing before I got there. That's entitlement.
Listen, all of us, except perhaps Pastor Mitchell
could aptly say, we are building upon a foundation
that another man has laid. And so we all, myself
included, to one degree or another, we have to
wrestle with this entitlement. Let's look at
our text because we know this text so well, but
let's consider these two prodigal sons. I want
you to see how... woven through this entire parable
is the sense of entitlement, this mindset of
what I deserve. Let's consider firstly the younger
brother. Right away, our text introduces us to
this younger brother by a statement that he makes
to the father. Verse 11, Jesus said, a man had
two sons. What a classic biblical starting point.
And the younger of them said to his father, father,
give me the portion of goods. That falls to me.
Now, right away, right off the bat, we hear the
very language of entitlement. Give me. What's
owed to me? I want something given to me. Entitlement
is all about me. Someone said when entitlement
speaks, it never says we. It only says me. Then
secondly, it often involves wanting something
you haven't earned. He says, give me the portion
of goods that falls to me. So the language there,
he says, the inheritance, it sort of just falls.
Let's be clear. This is not just some rebellious
kid or son. You know, man, I can't wait until
I'm 18. I can get out of here on my own. I'm
out. No, no, no, no. Yes, he wants to leave,
but he doesn't want to just leave empty -handed.
He says, give me what you owe me. Now, church,
I think we can all agree that by definition,
an inheritance is not something you've earned.
In fact, it's typically something that somebody
else has earned. But they're going to pass it
down to you. They're going to gift it to you.
But see, one of the marks of entitlement is you
make demands on gifts, on blessings. I know it's
a gift, but I'm going to tell you how I want
it and when I want it. Hear stories sometimes
about ladies in our church. They're going to
have a baby shower, a wedding shower for them.
And the person they're having the shower for
feels the need to tell them every detail of how
they want to do it. Oh, I don't want those decorations.
So what's on the menu? Yeah, yeah, I don't want.
It's a gift we're doing for you. We're trying
to bless you. But see, entitlement wants to dictate
the terms of the blessing. Our fellowship. What
an incredible inheritance that has been given
to us. You know, if we're not careful today,
we want to take that blessing and we want to
dictate the terms of the blessing. We want to
change the standards. We want to lower the cost
of discipleship. I don't just want the blessing,
but I want to tell you how to bless me. In our
text, the younger brother gets his inheritance
prematurely. He then proceeds to pack his bags,
makes his escape. The Bible says he makes his
way to a far country. And here's what it says
in verse 13, that once in that far country, he
wasted his inheritance on prodigal living. Listen,
entitled people are wasteful people. Every parent
here knows what it's like to have their kids
leave the lights on or just walk outside, leave
the door open. Or, you know, one of my favorites,
you know, my wife prepares this great meal and
then they eat like two bites and they start walking
towards the trash bin. I'm like, hey, where are
you going with that? They're like, I'm finished.
No, you're not. But you know why they feel like
that? Because they haven't bought the food. They
haven't paid a price for it. And we've all heard
it said, but it does bear repeating. It's hard
to value what you haven't paid a price for. Instead,
what happens many times is you waste it. The
younger brother wasted his inheritance. And this
is the challenge that every younger generation
faces, that we don't waste what has been passed
down to us. The Apostle Paul, as he's about to
pass down the mantle to another generation, he
tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 6 .20, guard the things
that have been committed to you. That word guard
means to preserve. In other words, he's saying,
Timothy, don't waste this. See, the previous
generation, our spiritual forefathers, they pioneered
this thing. And inherent in pioneering is its
own price. There's a real cost associated with
going beyond the known into the unknown. There's
the cost of forging a new path. Just the act
of that demands a cost. It's been said that the
first to see the dawn also spends the longest
in the dark. You know, every time I see Bob Allen,
I see him over there by the door, I make a point
like I did this morning to say hello to him.
And I often thank him. Along with him. And if
I have anybody else with me, I introduce them
to him. And I say, have you ever heard the story
of the two couples when Pastor Mitchell came
here? Well, here's one of them. You need to understand
the legacy. Because we're all here, but we have
no idea the price when everybody else, nobody
else will stand. They say, I'll stay. Yeah. Not
to mention. Pioneers aren't typically the ones
who benefit the most from what they build. You
know, Pastor Mitchell never got to see 4 ,000
churches, but we did. We're blessed. But see,
this generation, one of the things when you've
inherited the blessing, listen, we've got to
be intentional about paying our own price. Otherwise,
we run the risk of wasting it or squandering
it or just walking away from it altogether. Again,
here's a younger brother. He's got his gift.
But as my pastor said years ago, well, he then
took that gift to a place where his character
could not keep it. Listen to me, young pastor,
disciple. If you get something before it's time,
before you have developed the character to properly
use it, that thing that started off as a gift,
it'll become a curse. That blessing will turn
into a burden, or at least you'll see it that
way. I've seen disciples literally cave under
the weight of ministry, and it's not so much
because of the weight itself, but because they
had not yet developed the spiritual muscle to
carry it. One of the things I've personally prayed
for a long time, God, I don't want any ministry
before my time. God, if I'm not ready for it,
don't give it to me. And I learned that years
ago, I was on staff with Pastor Campbell, and
we got launched to go to Hawaii, and the pastor
there invited me and my wife over. He says, I'll
pay for you to come. And I know he's thinking,
this is Pastor Campbell's assistant. But I had
never been out. I just went from door director,
my wife and I, right on staff. And so I know,
and it's my, oh, yeah, I have Pastor Campbell's
assistant. And I only had about three, well,
two and a half Bible studies. And, you know,
I'm going to go there and preach a Sunday. And
I'm telling you, man, those sermons were so,
I put the capital T in terrible. And the reality
of it is, he's deceased. But even before, I've
never been invited back. So there's just a clue.
It doesn't matter how good they tell you it is
if they never invite you back. You know, it's
interesting to me, man. Today, guys, we'll talk
about and even ask for ministry. that nothing
in their past demonstrates they're ready for.
What is that? That's entitlement. Somehow I want
something that I haven't earned. It's an old
African proverb, when the fruit is not yet ripe
and you pluck it, it's bitter. Listen, if you
somehow maneuver yourself into a position or
ministry that you're not all prepared for, it
may sound sweet, seems to, it'll be bitter. Someone
asked the question, what's worse than failure?
And I would say success unearned. Why? Because
it deceives you into thinking you're equipped
when you're not. Our text says when he had spent
all. Entitlement is such an empty way to live.
It says there arose a severe famine. Now think
about this. This younger brother was to blame
for the foolish living. This younger brother
was to blame for the wasteful living. But he
was not to blame for the severe famine. But it
isn't just that he wasn't to blame for it. Even
worse, he was unprepared for it. How many of
you know, had he been wise with the inheritance?
When the famine came, he would at least had some
resources to make it through it. He would have
been better positioned to weather the storm.
But the thought here, it's like he never even
considered such a thing as a famine. One of the
problems when you live with a sense of entitlement
is you cut off the pipelines to wisdom. You fail
to realize that you don't even know what you
don't know. And so unfortunately, you have to
learn all the lessons the hard way. In our text,
the younger brother, see, he didn't just leave
the father's house. He left the father's covering.
He left the father's wisdom. He left the father's
advice. And now when the famine hits, he's out
there on his own. And such is the case with many
who receive things before their times. It's often
that they don't learn the lesson until the famine
hits. financial famine, famine in their marriage
or their family, a famine of hearing the word
of God or the voice of God. So we, of course,
know the rest of the younger brother's story.
We know the Bible says that he eventually came
to himself. Thank God. Can you say amen? But
you know, in trying to wrestle through the mind
of entitlement, I begin to ask myself, what was
it that really caused him to come to himself?
Was it the famine that I just mentioned? Was
it the fact that he had spent all his inheritance
and now he's broke? Might as well go home. Was
it the reality that, you know, man, look at me,
man. I'm eating with pigs. I'm sure to some degree
it was a combination of all of that. But there's
two statements that I believe are so telling,
particularly when it comes to entitlement. Verse
14 tells us that when the famine hit, it says
he began to be in want. In other words, he's
hungry. Now, no doubt the entitled mind right
here would have began to whisper, man, I deserve
to eat. I mean, I might have been a little rebellious,
but come on, everyone deserves to eat, right?
So what does he do? The text says he goes and
he joins himself to a citizen of that country.
Now, right here. Though this citizen is unnamed,
which would seem to indicate his irrelevance,
but beloved, I submit to you that what this unnamed
citizen does right here could not be more relevant,
could not be more crucial when it comes to dealing
with the spirit of entitlement. When the younger
brother joined himself to this unnamed citizen,
guess what our text says the citizen made him
do? He made him work. He put this young man to
work. Oh, you're hungry? You want food? No problem,
big boy. You're going to work for it. No freebies
here. The Bible says, and he sent him into his
fields. That is powerful. Because remember now,
I said entitled people always approach life as
though people owe them something. They don't
want to work for anything. There's something
else more powerful, and here's what I personally
believe really triggered the repentance. Verse
16, and he would gladly have filled his stomach
with the pods that the swine ate. Now listen
to this, and no one gave him anything. Nada.
Zilch. And you know how you deliver people from
entitlement? Stop giving them stuff. Don't give
them anything. Make them earn it. And what will
happen is they will either repent and get set
free or, you know, they'll pout, complain, and
eventually they'll leave and expose their entitlement.
It's one of the reasons it's so frustrating when
people leave our churches and, you know, another
church just gives them ministry before they barely
even know their name. It's not only, you know,
violating their own congregation, but they're
also enabling a sense of entitlement, which then
brings us to the elder brother. Let's read it.
Verse 25. Now his older son was in the field.
And as he came and drew near to the house, he
heard music and dancing. Now I want you to stop
for a moment. Can you imagine if this were you
right here? Let me help make it real for you.
Have you ever been laboring and you look over
and everybody else just standing around? Help
me, disciple. I thought this was like all hands
on deck. Not just all my hands, all hands. This
is where the elder brother's at. So perhaps he
began to wonder, man, did I miss something? Did
I forget about somebody's birthday? Have I been
working that hard that I somehow overlooked an
important celebration? Or maybe he thought to
himself, you know what, man, it's about time.
Folks are finally starting to recognize what
I've been doing around here, man. I'm sure the
reason I didn't know, it's a surprise party for
me. But of course, not wanting to be wrong, he
called one of the servants over and he asked,
hey man, what's going on? And he said to him,
your brother's come home. And because he has
received him safe and sound, your father killed
the fatted calf for him. But he was angry and
would not go in. Therefore, his father came out,
pleaded with him. He said to his father, lo,
these many years I've been serving you. I've
never transgressed your commandment at any time.
And yet you never gave me a young goat. So here's
the older brother. He's out in the field. He's
been working, laboring. And in his mind, he's
doing everything right. And yet not only are
his actions not being celebrated, but to add
insult to injury, the celebration that is taking
place is for the guy that's done everything wrong.
And the text says he's upset, man. He's irate.
When the father comes out to find out what's
going on, his anger is wrapped up in these four
words. You never gave me. And there it is again,
entitlement. See, whereas the younger brother
said, give me, the older brother said, you never
gave me. One brother wanted something he didn't
deserve. The other, didn't get what he felt like
he did deserve. And so the younger brother's
entitlement was marked by a belief that he deserved
something before it's time. The elder brother's
entitlement was marked by the belief that he
deserved something because of time, because of
time served. Verse 29, the older brother said,
lo these many years, another translation, all
these years I've been serving you. I never transgressed
your commandment and you never gave me. What
he's saying is I never got what my serving deserves.
You owe me, man. And as you read that, you're
like, wait a minute, wait a minute. When did
this become all about you? Oh, here you throw
this party for this transgressor, but I never
transgressed. You never did that for me. I've
been stuck on this farm with you. I've been pulling
my share and by the way, his share as well. Look
how hard I work, how faithful I've been. And
I want to tell you something. Listen, I could
have left like he did, but I didn't. I pray,
I outreach, I tithe, I come to church every week.
Or, you know, I pastored three churches before
they were even saved. And nobody seems to celebrate
me around here. Nobody ever asked me to testify
or give a report. Or I bet pastor doesn't even
appreciate what I do. He certainly never shows
it, never calls me. He always chooses somebody
else, less qualified I might add. I'm always
overlooked, man. Today I hear people say silly
stuff like, you know, I'll just send myself out.
Oh, really? See, his entitlement was produced,
listen to me, his entitlement was produced by
his longevity and his faithfulness. Let me ask
you an honest question. Do you ever find yourself
thinking like this? I have. Because this is also
how entitlement works. It causes you and I to
be spiritual scorekeepers in the house of God.
Everything's got to be tallied up. Here's what
I did. Here's what they didn't do. Here's my
spiritual accomplishments. Where's theirs? Why
are they getting what I deserve? Find yourself
like the elder brother, full of complaints. Listen,
your complaints point you to what you feel entitled
to. Want to know what you're feeling? Just monitor
your complaints. And the more you complain, the
more entitled you are. You know, it's possible.
You could have come to a conference like this,
elder brother, and you're sitting here this morning
convinced that you've been treated unfairly.
You're sitting in disappointment, and your disappointment
is not valid. It's not justified. This elder
brother, his entitlement has caused him to become
angry. You read it. He's jealous. He's bitter.
He's got rejection issues. But you know, probably
worse than all of that, his entitlement has caused
him to become extremely self -righteous. I've
been with you all these years. I've done everything
you've asked me to do. But when this son of yours,
not my brother, by the way, when this son of
yours came, who has devoured your wealth with
prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him.
So think of this. First he says, this younger
brother has done wrong. Now he's accusing the
father of doing wrong. But then look at what
he says about himself. I've never done anything
wrong. I've never transgressed. You know, as
I've served God over these last... 22 plus years,
I've come to understand that one of the finest
lines in the gospel is the line between righteousness
and self -righteousness. It is such a fine line,
beloved. Notice the elder brother. He says to
the father, you never gave me a young goat to
celebrate with my friends. And I read that. I
said, it's interesting. He didn't want to celebrate
with the father. Because for him, it's not about
the father. It's about him. Father, I don't want
to celebrate with you, and I don't want to celebrate
what you're celebrating. You know, the elder
brother, in his mind, he's so righteous that
he refuses to have any part in this celebration
of this sinning little brother, never mind the
fact that it's the father who is hosting the
celebration. But evidently, he sees himself as
even more righteous than the father. Listen,
you know your righteousness has gone too far.
You know your appeal for righteousness has crossed
over to self -righteousness when you make yourself
out to be even more righteous than God. Let's
close and consider the cure. Cure for all that
I have is yours. You know, we often come to this
story and we refer to it as the parable of the
prodigal son. And we say that we know in reference
to the younger brother, but the... Parable is
actually spoken to highlight the elder brother.
If you know, just prior to Jesus telling these
stories about the lost coin, the lost sheep,
and the lost son, the Pharisees have just come
to him, and they're looking at him. Jesus is
eating with these, what it says, tax collectors
and sinners. That is the context. Listen, in
verse 2, and the Pharisees and scribes complained.
Remember, I told you your complaints point to
your entitlements. They complained saying, this
man receives sinners and he eats with them. So,
the Bible says, Jesus spoke this parable to them.
So, here's the context. The whole point in Jesus
even telling this parable in the first place
is because these Pharisees are coming to him
and they're telling him, you're receiving sinners,
you are associating with the wrong kind of people.
It's the same mindset as the elder brother. And
Jesus is saying to these Pharisees, through the
elder brother, oh, they're the wrong kind of
people? Oh, you think your brother is the worst
kind of sinner? And Jesus says, well, let me
show you what kind of people you are. Yes, your
younger brother is entitled, but so are you.
Oh, sure, his sin is outward and obvious, so
everyone can see his sin. But listen, your sin
is just as wicked. Only it's more hidden. It's
concealed better. But make no mistake about it,
you're both lost. He's lost in the far country,
you're lost in the backyard. He's physically
closer to the Father, or you're physically closer
to the Father, but your heart is just as far
away. His is outward rebellion, yours is inward
resentment. You know, church, we pray often.
for our prodigal sons and daughters as well we
should do. We pray that our children never become
prodigal. We pray that we never become prodigals.
But you know, one of the things I also pray,
especially as I get a few years under my belt,
is that I never become an elder brother. Not
in this sense. God, please don't let me become
an elder brother. Why do I say that? Because
in this story, it was the prodigal who got saved.
The prodigal came home. The parable ends and
the jury is still out on the elder brother. When
the story ends, he's still outside the house
and the implication is obvious there if you're
willing to see it. Listen, I'm not casting stones.
This is a temptation we all face. Oh, better
believe there's been times I've had to examine
myself. Am I acting like the elder brother right
now? Is my attitude becoming that of an elder
brother? Am I seeing glimpses of the elder brother
in me? And that's where the Holy Spirit begins
to work in us. Revealing things because the father
loves both the younger and the elder brother
equally. Can you say amen? God's heart is for
sinners, period. And the loving father here is
not giving either of these two brothers what
they actually deserve. Psalm 103 .10, the Lord
does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay
us according to our iniquities. How many know
everything we have is a gift? Salvation, the
church, any ministry we might have, the fellows,
it's all a gift. And the Father is the gift giver.
James 1 .17, every good and perfect gift is from
above coming down from the Father. You know,
the moment you start seeing things as a right,
you'll stop seeing them as a gift. And the moment
you stop seeing things as a gift is the moment
you begin to lose gratitude. And the only cure
I know for entitlement is gratitude. We see this
in the younger brother's repentance. Verse 21,
and the younger son said, Father, I've sinned
against heaven and I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me like one of your hired
servants. See, he comes to realize he has no
right to the blessing of the Father. He has nothing
to offer the Father except for a life of service.
What he's saying now, Father, you don't owe me
anything. I am grateful for whatever you have
for me. You know, I was reminded when I preached
for the first time here at the Prescott Conference
on a Thursday night. which in my mind was Pastor
Tom Payne's slot. I had watched him for 16, 17
years fill that slot, maybe Pastor Greg at one
point. But it was COVID, and Pastor Greg had
me preach, and I was, of course, very grateful,
but I'll never forget. I finished preaching,
and the first text message that I saw after I
got back to my seat, I looked at my phone. It
was from Pastor Payne. Now, you got to understand,
this is the Pastor Payne. who were all praying
to fully recover and get back behind this pulpit.
Can you say amen? This is the Pastor Payne who
was preaching when my wife got saved. It's the
Pastor Payne, again, that I've been watching
preach Thursday night, all my salvation. And
so I come off the platform, I look at my phone,
and there's the message from Pastor Payne. Excellent
message, Tori. I'm thrilled that Generation Next
has got it. I replied, I feel so out of my league.
Pastor Payne said, join the club. We're all in
over our heads. We're all punching above our
weight. Yeah. What he was saying is that none
of us deserve any of this. Can you say amen?
He's saying, Tori, I don't deserve to be up there
either. That's God's platform. That's God's pulpit.
In our text, the father says to the other brother.
All that I have is yours. All that I have. It's
always God's. It's never ours. And that's the
point. It's God's. He's sharing it with us. So
if you're going to be grateful, you must get
a revelation of spiritual inheritance. And the
key is to always remain grateful. See, entitled
people are ungrateful people. Why? Because you
cannot be thankful. for what you feel entitled
to. Saw a video about a man, he was trying to
describe, you know, our first world lives of
someone in an indigenous tribe. People without
electricity, you know, people still living in
the bush, so to speak. And he says, you know,
you meet someone, they've never had electricity
or what have you, and there they are, and you
meet them. And so he says they just walk miles
to a spring to get you some water. And so now
they bring the water back, and they're talking
to you, and they ask you, well, how far do you
have to walk to get water? And you're like, well,
you know, my bedroom's right here, and then I
got a hallway, and the kitchen's over. I could
just go to the bathroom. Oh, water comes into
your home? And you're like, yeah, hot and water,
you know, it comes through. It's called a sink,
and it's just kind of got a knob. Oh, hot water?
How do you get it hot? Do you have a fire, like,
in your house? Yeah, we have a fire in our house,
but that's really just for looks, especially
if you live in Phoenix like me. But we have a
fire in the house, but that's not how we get
hot water. We have a hot water heater. Oh, so
does the hot water heater keep you warm when
it's cold? No, not really. That just keeps the
water hot. We have what's called central air
and heat. You know, we have a thermostat. What's
a thermostat? What's like this thing on a wall
that, you know, essentially tells you what temperature
to be in the house? And they're like, huh? Wait,
what? Oh, so you keep your food cold with the
thermostat. No, we got this other box. It's different,
man. It's different, you know. Because we don't
want it to be that cold in the house, so we put
the food in another box where we can make the
temperature even colder. And they go, well, how
do you keep your horses warm? With a thermostat?
Now, I don't really have, like, horses or things
like that. I have a car. What's a car? Well,
it's this thing that we get in and it kind of
takes you wherever you want to go. Where do you
keep your car? In the garage. A garage? What's
a garage? Well, it's kind of like a house, but
for a car. You have a house for your car? And
so you get the point. We have a lot to be thankful
for. But, yeah. You know why we're not thankful?
Because we have so much to be thankful for. Let
me say that again. Do you know why so many of
us are not thankful? Because we have too much
to be thankful for. Our abundance has killed
our gratitude. You ever go to Burger King, you're
like, yeah, I want a burger, but I want it like
without the bun. I want two onions, not three.
Remove the pickles, half a slice with cheese.
In fact, can you just go to McDonald's and get
their burger and bring it over? See, church,
we're not entitled because we have so little.
We're entitled because we've been given so much.
We see this in our text. The Father says to the
Son, all that I have is yours. See, entitled
people, you can give them literally everything
and it doesn't matter. It still won't be enough.
Because there's just simply no satisfying entitlement.
That is why entitlement always leaves you empty.
Don't ever stop being grateful. And this is so
important, of course, for ourselves. But really
what the parable shows us is that ingratitude
will affect how we treat the lost. If we are
ungrateful for all that God has done in our lives,
all that he's done in our hearts, what the text
says is somewhere we'll lose compassion for the
prodigals of the world. Because entitlement blinds
us not to just what we have, but also to what
others need. Heard it said, but if you'll just
remain grateful and humble, you can survive anything
in the church. You can survive any personal violation,
survive any injustice. But the moment you start
thinking, I deserve better. I deserve more. I
deserve what they got. Listen, you are on setting
yourself on a course. Oh, you may never leave
the house, but you'll just stand outside kind
of with an attitude like this. All the while,
prodigals are getting saved. Prodigals are making
heaven their home. All the while, the father,
son, listen, son, I'm going back in the house.
You're welcome to come with me. You're welcome
to come and join the party anytime you want.
Listen, I love you, son, but you got to deal
with this entitlement. It'll leave you empty.
Listen, we are going to be incredibly blessed
this week. We already were last night. I'm saying
this because we want to posture ourselves to
receive all that the Father has for us this week.
We want to leave this place full, not empty.
Full, full of what God has for us. But if you
hold on to your entitlement, you're going to
miss the blessing. All that the Father has for
you this week, you'll absolutely miss it. Don't
let that be you. Don't let that be you. That's
all I have. Thank you for listening to the PHSAA
Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. Be sure to
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Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.