Privilege and Responsibility

After I finished up with the biatitudes on Wednesday night, I felt like the Lord had just stirred my spirit about a subject matter. And I want to talk today about privilege and responsibility. Privilege and responsibility. Ephesians chapter 4 is where I'm going to go today for scripture reading. I love the book of Ephesians. It's probably one of my favorite New Testament books. And I say that because there's just so much about life in the book of Ephesians. So much about how we can live. And especially when we are trying to be spiritled in all we do. You want to be spiritledd, right? >> Yeah. I know I do because when I'm when I'm just flesh, when I'm just on my opinion, I I tend to get myself in trouble. Anybody identify with that, man, I I'm I can wreck. You know, sometimes all I need is an opportunity to make a mess out of things. You're probably the same way. If I had an opportunity, I can probably lean into that. But Ephesians helps us out. Ephesians chapter 4, verse number one, Paul writing to the church at Ephesus. So who's he writing to? >> Church. >> Church people. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called with all loneliness and gentleness with longsuffering bearing with one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit just as you were called into one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. Verse number seven, but to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift, privilege, and responsibility. When I when I read through the book of Ephesians, and if you have done that before, and if not, I would encourage you, you can do that this afternoon. It's a short book. It won't take you not even 30 minutes to read through the book of Ephesians. There's so much in there that you can grab a hold of in your life and apply that God is trying to guide us and direct us in our lives. It shows us ways that we can live according to the principles of God's word and our lives will be whole. There's really no life that can compare to living for God. Well, that fell flat. >> There is no life that can compare to living for God. >> Yeah. This world has a lot of appeal. Let's be honest. There's a lot of things that appeal to us outside these walls. A lot of things that appeal outside of the of God's word and God's kingdom. But nothing compares to living for God. Nothing compares to living for God.

Nothing fulfills you like living for God. Nothing satisfies the soul like living for God, dedicating your life to him. Now, what I like about this is when you look at God and his promises, he's never abandoned one of those promises. He has never abandoned one of his promises. Again, you and I often times we struggle with time. We're finite. We are we are bound by time. God is outside of time. We get all worked up by calendars and clocks. Have you noticed that? God, why have you not showed up yet? Lord, where are you at? Why am I going through this? We we we're very stuck inside our our limited abilities. But God's not stuck. He's not abandoned his promise. And all you have to do is look at his people and see that through the years, God always kept his promise. Now, his people didn't always keep their promise. You and I are guilty of not keeping our promises. But not him. He has always kept his promise. He's always kept his his his word. And even though they've and you and I, we have violated our side of the covenant. God has always kept his part of the covenant. He's always kept his promise. He said this, "I will bless them to bless you. I will curse them to curse you. And through you shall all the nations of earth be blessed." And that's exactly what he has done.

God has been good to us. >> He's been good to his people. We will never be forsaken. We will never be forsaken. We will never be forsaken. He is always there. Paul writing to the church at Ephesus in the first four chapters has talked about that relationship that you and I can have. It's not a relationship that's unattainable. It's it's something that you can possess. You can have a relationship with God. >> You can. It's not difficult. It's not hard. It's not out of reach. Often times where you and I struggle is right up here. We battle in our own minds. We we try to think of all the reasons why we're disqualified. And I want to talk about privileges in our life and what what comes to Paul again writing to the church here. He's letting us know that it is possible to have a relationship. Living for God was never intended to be something that's difficult to do. People have a misunderstanding of a relationship with God. Sometimes they've come up with this notion that if I live for God, everything works out perfectly according to my plan. That's that's never been the case. In fact, I don't know how you can read the word of God and come away with that conclusion that just because you live for him, everything goes the way you want it to go. I feel like if you're honest and you read this book, what you will conclude is that everything goes according to what he wants it to go.

>> That's right. >> According to how his will wants it to be. And here's another little nugget for you. God's will will never violate his word. >> So if you come to me and say that you're in the will of God, but it goes contrary to the word of God, I'm going to tell you you're wrong. >> I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but you're just not wrong. If you have a if you have a lifestyle conviction, if you're living something that goes contrary to the word of God, you are out of order. >> God's not confused. God doesn't change his mind. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. His word is forever settled. But if we will follow the principles of the word of God, he's made us to be accepted in the beloved. That's how that's how Ephesians starts off. That you and I would be accepted. You and I would be accepted. That you and I would be accepted. That we didn't have to qualify ourselves. That we didn't have to clean ourselves up. That because of what he did at Calvary, he covered over all of our sins and all of our failures and all of our faults and all of our labels. He covered all those things. That you and I, if we would be obedient to what he asked of us, we would be accepted into the beloved.

that you and I would have privileges that come by being his child. Says in chapter one that we didn't earn our way in, that we are saved by grace. It is the gift of God. But there's a difference in being saved by grace and living by grace because the Bible doesn't teach you and I to live by grace. It teaches us to live by faith. >> So if you're trying to live by grace, you're messing up. That's not what he said do. Romans 1:17, for in the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Grace is the door in which we get in. It's the imitation that lets every man whosoever will. That's grace. But once we've walked through the door, I don't live by grace. I start living by faith. Living by faith. That means there's some things I'm going to face in my life that I'm going to have to allow faith to be there to get me through. That I'm not going to see the way out. Boy, am I identifying with anybody today? You've been in something that I can't see my way out of it. I can't reason my way. I don't understand why I'm going through it, but I can't live by my by by by what I just see. I got to let faith operate. And there's going to be times I'm just taking steps out of obedience and faith.

>> God, I don't know. It's it's dark. I don't I can't see where the road is. There's a bend coming up. There could be a cliff. God, I'm trusting that you're going to guide me and you're going to direct me. You're going to lead me down the path I need to walk. That's why it says his word is a lamp unto my feet and to light on my path. Sometimes we have just enough light to see the next step I'm taking. In fact, Jewish tradition says when when when referring to that scripture that they used to actually have little holders on the side of their ankles that had a candle on them and when that verse is referring to the priest as they were walking, they had just enough light to see the next step. You know, I love it when God reveals the big picture to me. Anybody else love that? I love it when I see the obvious. I love it when I see the wide open door. But more often than not, my life has been spent one step at a time. that but trusting in him, living by faith is taking the next right step in my life, the next right obedient path in front of me. Anybody ever felt that way? Anybody know what I'm talking about today? There's privileges that come by being obedient and in living a life by faith.

God doesn't always do what I want him to do. God heals. God performs miracles. He'll deliver. He does those things for us. But he doesn't always do what I want him to do. I'm supposed to be doing what he wants me to do. That's the difference. We We somehow think this is a give and take. Well, God, I did this. You should do that. We do that, don't we? We think that way. We're like, "God, well, I' I've been showing up. I've been obedient. I've followed your word. I go to church. I I didn't cuss anybody out today. I I put a few few coins in the offering pan. I was I was nice to the lady at the grocery store. Surely, you should answer this prayer for me. It should be a give and take. There's no way you read this and it's a give and take. It's not. It's he wants me to do what he wants me to do, not what I want to do. And because of that, he's made me he's made me accept that I don't have to do something to get God's blessings in my life. When we have that mindset, and this is where often times we struggle is when when it's a give and take mindset, we struggle. We struggle when God blesses us and we don't think we deserve it. Follow me for just a minute.

I receive the blessings of God simply because I'm his child and that I carry his name. and because I carry his name and because I'm his child, he blesses me not because I've earned it or I've done something to achieve it. It's simply because I belong to him. Now, the world would like to say that that's grace. But they misunderstand grace. Grace, as I've said many times in this pullpit, is the most abused word in all Christian. It is abused. It has been stretched and malformed and misshapen into something it was never intended to be. I will die saying this. Grace is a higher standard than the law ever was. Grace is a higher grace. As you've heard me say this before, grace points to Calvary and says that's the standard. >> You got to commit yourself 100% totally all in. All in. You go all in on this. It's not part it's not when it's convenient. It's not when I want to. It's an all-in situation. We have privileges because we're part of the family. You know, I I grew up in what used to be termed a traditional model home. I grew up, my mom and dad and my brother and I were in the home and and I'm going to say this. It doesn't and and what I'm saying doesn't make me any better than anybody. I'm just a human being. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

That's all I am. But I I want to explain something to help you understand my story today. I grew up in a traditional model home. Mom and dad were together. Their parents were together. Their parents were together. If you go straight up my tree, there was there was no divorce. Now, I got aunts and uncles that separated and and things happen and and there's brokenness in humanity, but I'm saying this for a reason is I've never you've heard me say this before, I've never known a day in my life I wasn't loved. I was I was loved. And what that did is because I was a part of the family, it afforded me some opportunities. There was always a place for me at the table. When when I would go to my grandmother's house, my mom's mom, I love my grandma, godly woman. I I I remember feeling the presence of God in her house as a as a very young man. Vivid memories of hearing harvest time radio playing in the background. I go in my grandma's house after school. It's harvest time. I remember walking in there and feeling that. And then then my grandma always had a way of knowing when I got there after school, I'd go to my grandma's house and she always had something ready. She was always feeding me. That's what happens when you're part of the family.

You got blessings that come. Not because I earned it and I sure didn't deserve it, but it was because I was a part of the family. I got blessings that came into my life. I always had a seat there. I was always I didn't have to knock to go in grandma's house. I just opened the door. I didn't have to ask permission because of I belonged to the family. I just I was able to go in and you I lost my grandma and it was it was hard. But God was good and gracious to me. He gave me a bonus grandma. I got a bonus grandma and my wife's grandmother Nima. I miss Nima. Remember y'all remember Nima Carlton? Precious lady. She was like grandma three for me in the same way. Godly woman. always had her. She had Moody radio playing. Yeah, we had to work on that. Little doctrinal differences there. There was always Moody radio playing. I I remember how many times I would go into Nima's house when I go pick the girls up when they were little and and she always had something on the table. You know, she she just I just been cooking and I'm a fat boy and I like to eat. And I was like, "How'd you know I wanted sweet potatoes?" I just had a feeling. I'd sit down and I remember one time she had she fed me so many sweet potatoes thought I was going to bust.

Why am I bringing these stories up? I got to do that. It was a privilege because I belong to the family. When when we're part of the family of God, there are privileges that are afforded to us. There are some blessings that come into our life. Not because we deserve it, but because we're his we're his children. We have blessings. Don't confuse that with grace. That's not grace. That's a privilege that comes into your life. Because when you confuse it, it causes you problems. We seem to think that when we do something and God doesn't get our attention when we do it, that God doesn't really have a problem with what we've done. That's not true. We're confusing the way we earn our way in and earn our way out. You know, you don't earn your way in. He paid the price at Calvary for you and you're his child. You bear his name. You were purchased by his blood. It comes with benefits and privileges into your life. Now, here's where we get into trouble is because we we're on this merit-based system of thinking that when I'm good, God ought to answer my prayers. when I'm bad, there's a reason why he didn't answer my prayers. But then we also take that same train of thought and we flip it into this is I do something I know I'm not supposed to do and God doesn't say anything, that means God's okay with it.

His silence on the matter is not consent. It's not just because he has just because there wasn't a big thumb come down out of heaven to pop you right in the head. You know, some of you like, well, God, if you just do that, if you just thump me in the head. How crazy I look. I mean, even in this room right now, there'd be people's head doing this right now. Be in a constant state of whiplash. God's never going to embarrass you. He loves you. There are times that he will get our attention. And there are times we need to have our attention gotten. But for the most part, what he's trying to do is trying to let you understand he loves you. He will keep blessing your life. But at the same time, just because you have blessings in your life doesn't mean he's condoning every decision you're making. That's why you have a responsibility and an obligation to know what he likes and what he doesn't like. >> You can't base it off of how you feel or the fact that he didn't strike you down with lightning because you did the wrong thing. And then it turns into this whole situation which I've said this many times from the pullpit and to all the guests in the house. Please forgive me if I rant for just a minute, but I don't want to talk about whether it's heaven or hell.

Is this a heaven, Pastor Kevin? Is this a heaven or hell issue? If I do what? Like, you've heard me say that before. I don't I don't like that question. You trying to boil down your relationship to the bare minimum of what you do. Here's here's I'm going to say this here. Here's where I'm going to put you. Now, this is going to be my response for everybody comes up and has the audacity to ask me if it's a heaven or hell issue at this point. The Bible says to him knoweth to do good and doeth not. So if you know you sass your your your your spouse or you say something derogatory. If you know that's not right, then to answer your question, yeah, it's a heaven or hell issue. It is to him to know to do good and doeth it not. To him it is a sin. Hello. Where does that put you? That answers a whole lot of questions. Is it the right thing to do? You better do it because if you don't, guess what? It's sin. And guess what keeps you out of heaven? No. Unrepentant sin. Unrepentant sin. So, you got to work on that because we get this mindset because we're merit-based people. If I'm good, then God ought to have let me do it. But if I've messed up, there's a reason why he didn't answer my prayer.

Stop that. There are privileges that come by being a child of the king. He's afforded things to you. It's not because you were good enough. You're not good enough. None. No one in this room breathing right now has been good enough to deserve what he did at Calvary. Not a one of us. But he did it anyway. Why? Because he loves you and he cares for you. He's concerned about you. You're his children. He's going to do good things for you just because you belong to him. That's why. Not because you deserve it because you're his. He loves us in spite of us. And he blesses us when we don't deserve it. And he blesses us when when we can't even look up and say, you know, God, I there's nothing good in me. He loves us anyway. Paul's writing to the church that's doing this very very thing in in Ephesians. They have this attitude because God hasn't wrecked them yet. That he's okay with them going against his word. And Paul's trying to address these issues and say, "No, that's not how you live. That's not what grace is. That's not what you you've been accepted in the beloved because of him, not because of you." Don't misunderstand God's silence, his consent. It's not there. The will of God will never violate the word of God. It's an absolute. You can mark it down.

If his words already spoke about it, he hasn't changed his mind. If he said it's an abomination, it's still an abomination. It doesn't matter what culture says is right. It doesn't matter how you feel about it. Frankly, he doesn't really care about your feelings. >> His will will never violate his word. When you have family privileges, there's things that come with being a part of this incredible family of God. You see, in this house, when you make mistakes, God doesn't rub your nose in it. He doesn't rub your nose in it. God doesn't say, "I told you so. If you'd listen to me, that wouldn't happen." Even though that's true, God will never do that. God knows that you're going to fail tomorrow. And if you repent today, he'll forgive you today, knowing that tomorrow there's a good chance you may fall again. But that didn't keep him from loving you. Are you thankful for that? I know I am. Maybe this message is for me. I'm I'm thankful for that because I know there's no there's times I need his mercy and grace in my life. There's hardly a day goes by that I don't need it. Hardly a day goes by that I'm like, "God, please forgive my thoughts, my actions, my ways, my my speech, whatever. This I need you, God. I'm not good enough. You're not good enough. We're not good enough." But thanks be to God that he loves us and he cares for us.

It doesn't keep him from forgiving us because he is faithful. He loves us and he loves us unconditionally. Part of that faithfulness is that he gives us the ability to not live under guilt and shame. I've said this before. You're not built for guilt. We like to d we like to defer that. We don't we don't want to feel guilty. I don't like the feeling. I don't like there. Jesus is teaching in Galilee somewhere along the sea coast. He tells a story that others heard because there's parts of this story that shows up in other books. But there was a physician, a doctor shows up and hears the story and for some reason felt incredibly important to stick it in his history of the life of Jesus Christ. It's found in Luke chapter 15. Every time I There's probably outside of Acts chapter 2, there's probably not another chapter that I have devoted as much time and study and dedication and devotion to than Luke chapter 15. Everything in Luke 15 is lost. The whole chapter is lost. But here's what I've discovered. Every time I dig into it, I find something new. I found something new again. You may may think after this many years, how do you find something? I mean, it's just the living word of God. >> It's constantly revealing something to us. I found in Luke 15 in this chapter, there are three lost things.

There's there there are things that are lost because of their nature. It starts off by one one sheep out of a hundred is lost. It's familiar story for for if you've been around church at all, you know the story. the the one sheep is lost out of out of a hundred. So he takes and puts the 99 up in the fold inside the fence and closes the gates and he goes and searches for that lost sheep. And when he finds it, the word of God says he comes rejoicing again, invites his neighbors to say, "Hey, what was lost is now found." There's a celebration. But I want you to know that that was lost because of its nature. Sheep are stupid. And we're compared in the word of God to all we like sheep have gone astray. How's that make you feel? Yeah. Yeah. We're stupid, too. No point fingers. It's in our nature to get lost. It's in a sheep. Now, there are other animals are not like this. You know, a dog dog can get out and it'll find its way home. Horse gets out, it'll find its way home. Not sheep. Sheep it don't it don't work out that way. There there's no sense of direction in them. and it gets outside the pack and all of a sudden it it when it realizes that it's lost, it takes off and does crazy things.

And often times it'll run off a cliff or it'll run headlong in into the bushes and get itself caught and then it just cries out which is saying free meal, free lunch right here. And that's how God says we are. But I want you to say this. It was lost by nature. Say nature. >> It was in its nature that it was lost. That's what caused it. It was there. There there there's a nature that's in us. A sinful nature that's a part of our life. We we were born into sin, you and I. It's part of we we fight this old devil called the flesh every day. We fight it every day. Every one of us every one of us in this room breathing fights flesh. Every one of us in this room has a besetting sin we are always mindful of. Yours is different than mine, but it's in our nature. Then there's things that are lost in the house. The next part of that story says there's 10 coins and one of the 10 is lost. Now we're 10%. It was 1%. Now we're at 10%. And the woman sweeps the house. The only way that she could find what she had lost was to get a broom and in sweeping the house she find the coin. It was lost by neglect. Everybody say neglect. >> So something was lost by nature.

Now something's being lost by neglect. And I found it interesting that the only way she could find what was lost is she had to clean up because there had been a lot of things that had come around the house that had covered stuff up that was important. So, there comes a time when you need to do some house cleaning. >> Yeah, I got two people on board with that. Everybody else is quiet. It wasn't outside the house. She She didn't go on a trip and lose the coin. She was at home. And at home in the familiar, in the everyday, in the ordinary, she lost it. Makes me a little nervous about things that get lost in the house. And there comes a time because of neglect, we need to stop and be more aware of what we've allowed to come into our house. I think it's good from time to time to just stop for a little bit and say, "Hey, you know, what have I allowed in? What have what have I what have I willingly brought in and laid on the countertop that has covered up the important things?" Sometimes you need to do a little house cleaning. You do a little evaluating be honest with yourself about what you've allowed to take place and and what has become a priority that should have never been a priority and has caused you to neglect other things.

And now you've lost something that's important to you. The lost coin is a story that is lost by neglect. So we've seen it's something by nature, something by neglect. But this last story is lost by choice because someone had to made a choice to leave. It's a story about two brothers. 50% lost in this one. The younger brother wakes up one day and says, "I don't like living here. I don't like my older brother. He's a jerk." Older brothers can be jerks. I don't like living in his shadow. I don't want to do this anymore. In that time, the older brother, the oldest son would have been given twothirds of the inheritance. The rest of the siblings would have had to fight over the one-third. So, he has the audacity to look at his dad and basically say, you've heard me teach this before. I'm not going to blavorver the point. Looks at his dad, basically says, I wish you were dead, but since you're still alive, can you go ahead and give me what I'm going to get anyway because I'm tired of being here. And he leaves. He leaves. And the word of God says that he wasted his living, found himself working in a pig pin. And in the pig pin, it says the word says he came to himself. He had a moment where like, hey, this didn't work out so good.

I think I'll just go home. I think I'll just make my way back. I think I've made a mistake. Anybody been there? Ever come to yourself and realize I've made a mistake. This isn't This didn't work out the way I thought it was going to work out. My plan didn't work out so good for me. Anybody been there? >> Yeah. This is what happened to him. He chose to leave. When he came to himself and he comes home, the father doesn't accuse him of doing anything wrong. Take note in the story. The father doesn't do that. Who who who is it that accuses him? Who is it? Say it out loud. >> The brother. Oh my my my my. The brother says, "You've been living with harlots." Where'd he get that? What what proof do we have of that? His brother built a narrative up in his own head because he knew his brother left and he left wrong and he just imagined what he was going to do because he's the home, right? He's the righteous one. He's the one that stayed back. He's the one that that never does anything wrong again. Those those older brothers, you got to be careful of them. But the dad didn't. The father didn't rub his nose in his mistake. His father didn't say, "I told you that was going to happen." Aren't you thankful that in this house that our father doesn't do that?

that he doesn't condemn us. The older brother says, "You did all this." But not the father. He didn't accuse him of anything. His father had prepared for his return the day he left. The day that boy left, the father put a calf in the pen to fatten him up. See, you you miss a lot in the language that is there between the English and the Greek translation. The definite article that was there, you know, there it doesn't apply the way in English as it does in Greek. If you were to read it appropriately, and it doesn't make sense phonetically or or it doesn't make sense grammatically, it would be say it was the one and only calf that was fatted was put up. In other words, there was no secondary calf. The day that boy left, the dad knew he's going to come back and when he comes back, we're going to be ready. Do you hear me? The dad knew the moment he left. That boy, he's not going to make the best decisions, but he's going to want to come back one day. And when he does, we're going to be ready. we're going to be ready. You've heard me dissect this story before. Again, for the sake of time today, let me say it this way. That that little that little community that he was in because of his son's actions, they would have had a funeral for that boy because it was so disrespectful what he did to his father.

They would have they would have buried that boy. His father was always looking down the road because he knew he's going to come back to his senses one day. One day, he's going to come to himself. When he does, I have to be aware. I have to be looking down the road because I have to get to him first. If he ever makes it to the town gates and I'm not there, they will kill him. So it says after he came to himself, I'm going to read it to you. 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 and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." Listen to these words. I'm going to bring this back up in a minute, but listen to me. He says, "I've sinned against my father and I sinned against heaven. I sinned against you." Verse 19, "I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." His father's looking down the road. He sees him coming and it says he takes off from running. He takes off running. Well, he's still a great ways off. His father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

The the the literal translation is he lunged himself at that boy and covered him with kisses. Now, let me just ask you something. Where had that boy been? Where he Where'd he been, Michael? >> Yeah. You ever been to a pig pan? It don't smell so good in the pig pan. Anybody been around livestock at all? Have you noticed there's an odor there? It's quite pungent. He's been living with the pigs. But I love the fact that his circumstances did not prevent the father from lavishing his love on him. What he was looking for was the moment he turned. The moment he turned, when he came to himself and said, "I want to go back." It was in that moment as he's walking, the father runs. And the father doesn't get up to him and said, "Oh my goodness, where have you been? Hello. I would love to give you a hug and kiss on you, but you you got to go down to the pond right now and burn whatever you got on. No. No. The wording, the language is he lunges at the boy and he's covering him with kisses. Now, when you go read this, I want you to go read this later. There's a couple of points that really jumped out to me. Couple of things I think are really important. Not just the fact he's covering him in kisses, but the son says to him, "Dad," he's got the speech rehearsed, right?

He's going to start the story. Dad, I've sinned against you and I've sinned against heaven. And then his dad stops him. All right? Because he needed to repent. He needed to make things right with his dad. But before he makes a declaration of his worth as only a servant, his dad stops him. And his dad turns and says, "Put shoes on his feet. Put a ring on his hand. Put a robe on him right now." before he ever before he ever declared and embarrassed himself in front of the servants. His dad wouldn't let him do that because his dad stopped him and said, "I don't agree with what you've done and I'm not bothered by what you've been involved in, but I'm not going to let you value yourself less than what you really are. You are still my child. >> Now, let me ask you this question. This is the new thing I learned. Let me ask you this question, Wesley. You're a sharp guy. You're smart. How where were they at in this moment? Where were they at? Where was the interaction taking place? A far off, right? A far. However far a far is, not a far, but a far. How did the robe get there? How was there a ring? How were there shoes, Carson? How? How? >> When he left, he left the house. He seen the boy. There's no indication that he took anything.

He sees the boy. He runs because I got to get to him first. They'll kill him. They will stone him at the gate. They will kill my boy if I don't get there first. But how did the shoes in the robe get there? You know how? Because dad had been telling the servants, there's going to come a day my boy's coming home. He's going to come home. And when he comes home and you see me, I got to get to him first. If I don't get to him, they'll kill him. So when you see me take off running, your next action is one of you grabs some shoes, one of you grabs a robe, one of you grabs a ring because he's going to doubt that he belongs to me. He's going to try to convince me that he's less than. But he will always be my son. And the only way I can pre prevent the town people from killing him is I have to put something on him that lets them know I have accepted him back. He's accepted in the beloved. He is my son. G. >> So when they seen him take off running. One of them said, "Dad ran, grabbed the shoes, grabbed the ring, grabbed the robe." So that when he turned around and said, "I'm not going to let him." He apologizes because he needed to apolog. But once he repented, >> he wouldn't let him degrade himself.

He wouldn't let him be less than. He said, "No, no, no, I'm not going to hear that servant talk. You're my son. What a good God we serve. There are privileges that come. Listen to me. He's waiting. I'm talking to somebody in this room today. He is waiting for somebody to realize. You keep trying to disqualify yourself and convince you that you are less than. But I'm telling you, you have always been and you will always be his child. There's nothing that you can do or ever have done that will ever take away or disqualify for you. It doesn't MATTER WHAT YOU SMELL LIKE, what you look like, what you've been through, what labels have been placed on you. You can never be disqualified from being HIS CHILD. YOU BELONG TO HIM. HE PURCHASED YOU AT CALVARY. You should be excited and overwhelmed by the love of GOD IN YOUR LIFE. WHAT A GOD WE SERVE. What a God we serve. He's waiting to put a ring on your finger and a robe on your back and shoes on your feet. >> Privileges. Privileges. What he was doing the whole time he left is trying to make sure that he was ready when that boy comes back. I'm trying to convince somebody here today that you still belong to him. It may be your nature just to walk away, but I'm telling you, God's trying to convince you.

Like Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, we also surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily snared us and let us run with endurance the race set before us." The word of God says that every time a sinner repents, there's a party in heaven. Why? Because a son come home. Because a daughter come home. There's always been and there always will be an expected party. Anytime we turn around and run towards him, he's waiting on us. Micah 7:8, "Do not rejoice over me and my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I said in darkness, the Lord will be a light for me. When a righteous man falls, he will get up. Seven times he'll get up." That's what the word of God says. Why? Because we have that ability. You do not have to be stuck in your scenario. You don't have to be convinced that you are disqualified. You're not disqualified. The blood covers you. The blood covers you. The blood covers you. The blood covers you. There's no sin that can't be covered by that blood. THERE'S NO WAY THAT YOU CANNOT be redeemed. >> Why? Because there's privileges when you're a child of the king. That's how God views us. The father loved his son so much that no matter what his failure was, he let him come back home because he always will.

He always will. All of us are sinners. All of us have that in our nature. But none of that disqualifies for us. His father said, "Come back home." Acts 3, Peter talking here in Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." It's a privilege. It's a privilege that we have. That blotting that word there, that's an interesting word. We live in a world where we have things like magic eraser, little little sponge. The word blotted though, to blot out, the term that was being used there had to do with parchment and ink be blotted out. In order for this to take place, you had to go get a sponge. And then you had to go get some vinegar and you had to get water. And you had equal parts, 50% vinegar, 50% water. You got that sponge and you would you put it in there and you you squeeze it up and let it absorb and you squeeze it out and let it absorb. You do this. You do this four, five, six times. You do that. Let it f full and then you pull it out finally and you would ring it out as best you can so it was dry as you could get it. And you would lay it on top of the parchment paper that was there.

And then that vinegar fumes that were inside that sponge like like some kind of great vacuum would would release the ink on the parchment paper and it would absorb it into the sponge. so that you pull it off a few minutes later and there was no record that was there. Part of the privilege of being his child is you have the ability to let that blood be applied to your life. You can blot out those things that are there in your life. So there's a lot of correlations here. I could take you to when he was on the cross and and and he said, "I thirst." And he dipped that sponge in that sour wine that that vinegar that was there put up to him. There's so many implications going on, but the the best one that I got for you, I want to show you scripturally is Colossians 2:9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of Godhead bodily, and you are completed him, which is the head of all principalities and powers. Verse number 12, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you were risen with him through the faith and the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead, and you being dead in your sins, under the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven all of your trespasses, blotting, here's the word, blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us.

He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. That's one of the privileges that we have as his king, as his as his kids, is we have the ability to live that life where he can those things can be blotted out that we don't have to have it held over us. Did you read that there? Blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us. I know what the enemy would tries to say. He tries to bring up our faults and our failures and our mistakes and everything that we've ever done in our life. But he says, "No, you can blot those out. It's a privilege. It's a privilege. It's a privilege." Say privilege. It's a privilege by being his child. Oh, what a God we serve. That we have that ability that that I make mistakes and fails. That's not a justification for me to do wrong. It's not it's not a right for me to do anything I want to do. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that when you realize what you've done, you have the ability as this child to say, "God, forgive me. >> Forgive me." He nailed those things to his cross. What can wash away my sins? >> Nothing but the blood. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood. Oh, precious is that flow that makes me white as snow.

No other fountain I know. Nothing but the blood. Why? Why is that important? Because it's a privilege as this child. It's a privilege. You and I, you and I don't always embrace what has really been afforded to us as his children. Because if we did, we would understand that privilege comes with responsibility. Ephesians 4:1 I read again to you just that verse. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy. What's the responsibility? What's the responsibility of the privilege that we have to walk worthy? It's prescribed to us. Grace is there. His mercy is new every day. There's privileges that come into our lives because we belong to him. We are his children. But we are asked to have some responsibility in this part that you and I, he says, beseech to walk worthy. Worthy a difficult word to process. Who is worthy of what Jesus has done? I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy when I think about where where I was at. When I think about what I have done in my life and the fact that he would even still talk to me is beyond my comprehension. I'm not worthy. That's a hard word for me to process. Even though he has forgiven me and he has cast my sins as far as the east is from the west, I STILL REMEMBER WHAT I did. I can still recall the times I failed and the mistakes that were there and the things that I've done and the people that I've hurt.

I can I can recall those things. So when I think about this WORD WORTHY, I STRUGGLE IN it because I know I'm not worthy. Neither are you. But this indicates, if you really study the word out and dive into the wording is there, it indicates weights and balances. Paul was talking to the people of the church in in Ephesus and he said, "I commend you. I encourage you to walk worthy to live a balanced life." Paul doesn't say admire what's going on. He doesn't say celebrate. He says walk worthy of it. The word worthy carries with it an equal weight of life matched with what it claims to be. Here's the truth. Being a child of God is a privilege. But ladies and gentlemen, it's a responsibility. So, get ready to bring this to a close. I just I feel like it's important that we understand that you and I have something that we are to do with the privilege given to us. We carry his name. We represent his kingdom. We reflect his character. The word of God calls you and I to be ambassadors, representatives for his kingdom. And to do that in a way that is worthy. Salvation is is free, but sunship carries an expectation. Not to earn his love because we already have. But when scripture calls us the children of God, it means that we bear resemblance of him.

So worthy living asked, "Does my attitude reflect his? Does my speech reflect him? Does my integrity reflect my father? Because if I claim the name, I carry the responsibility. If we claim that name, we carry that responsibility with us. We can't just be flippant with it or casual. It's not a casual thing. You know, my family's not perfect. I talked about it. There's faults and failures because we're all human beings. But as I said before, always knew I was loved. As cousins, we'd get out in the backyard, we'd be playing football and wrestling around, and we'd get in trouble. We'd be mad. We'd be spitfire mad at each other. Then we had to come in for dinner. We I'd sit beside each other. I don't want to sit beside him. You just punched me in the eye. I don't want to sit by him. You got around the table. My grandfather, my grandmother would pray and all of a sudden there'd be a piece kind of settle over you and you realized maybe he isn't so bad. Something happens when you're at the table, when you're there, when the father's love is being bestowed on you, and you know you don't deserve it. You know, you you you don't deserve that meal. You don't deserve the seat. But because you're part of the family, it was given to you. And when you really think about it, that weight carries with it an ability that you're able to let some things go because of what has been given to you.

There's a responsibility. If you bear his name, you have responsibility to carry it. Not according to what you want to do with it, but what he's already spelled out for us to do. We have a responsibility and an obligation. Paul goes on to define what worthy looks like. He says, "With all loneliness, humility is not optional for a child of God. Pride contradicts the family resemblance." He says in gentleness, you and I, we don't weaponize the truth. We carry it with love and with grace. He says with longsuffering, we don't quit on people the way God never quits on us. But instead, we bear one another in love. If we are his sons and daughters of what he's given us, if we are the sons and daughters of the grace he's given and afforded to us, we must become distributors of that grace and conduits. And then he says this, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." See, worthy children protect the unity of the family. Comes a time for the greater good. You come to the table and say, "You know what? I know we don't see the eye to eye, but we're family. We're family." They don't fuel division. They don't stir strife. They understand they represent something bigger than themselves. So here's the closing of my message today. Here's the weight of what I've tried to do today.

We don't just attend church. And we don't just believe doctrine. We are his children. We belong to him. And that identity carries with it a responsibility. Worthy is not about perfection, ladies and gentlemen. It never has been because we never could be perfect. It has always been about alignment. Can I bring myself? Can I bring my life to alignment with his will and his purpose in his word? is waking up every day aware that I am an ambassador for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That he died for me. He died for me in spite of me. He loved me when I didn't love me. He's given me privilege. And with that comes responsibility. So I wonder if we ever think about the way we walk, the way we talk, and the way we carry ourselves. Are we truly representing what he asked of us? Or have I allowed my feelings and my circumstances to dictate an alternative route? And because because he's been silent, I think that is he has consented that I'm okay. when I know good and well I'm not doing what I know I'm supposed to be doing. Oh, I can make an argument. I can make a case. Look, I've been doing this long enough. I I've seen every argument that comes against doing the what God has spelled out in his word. I'm just going to tell you every time 100% of the time, 10 out of 10 times, you're wrong.

I don't care what society says. I don't care what the what you can find online. I don't care what Chad GPT comes up with. None of that trumps his word. And here's what I want to tell you. You're not going to have the ability to stand up there on the day of judgment when you're giving your reconciliation for all that you've done and say, "Well, God, when I was reading it, I felt like what was in the Old Testament, what was in the New Testament." No, he's going to say, "I laid it out for you. Your flesh didn't like it, so you argued against it. You've always been my child, but you did not you did not embrace your responsibility." Here's what I know. That when the child reflects the father's will, when we do what we're supposed to do, here's the here's the here's the here's the weight. We don't always process that when we do the last thing I want to say. When we do what we're supposed to do, it reflects his image in a way that the world is drawn to it. They don't always understand it. oftentimes that doesn't make sense to them. But there's something about living out the beauty of holiness, embracing that I'm a child that has privileges afforded to me, but they're not for me to consume on all my selfish lust and desires, but they give me the privilege for me to bear the responsibility.

And when we do what we're supposed to do, the world sees God they see him and at the end that's what we've always been called to do is reflect that you and I to be the conduit that we would be the image bearer of the king of kings and the lord of lords but it only comes not just by me getting the privilege all the privileges are going to be there but for me to own the responsibility that I'm to live a life well served to my king >> amen will you stand with Jesus, I'm so thankful that you are merciful that I get to have your grace in my life every day. I need it, God. I need it. I'm so thankful for the privileges that come by being your son. That I didn't have to earn them, but that you freely give them to me because you love me. But God, I pray that I don't misunderstand why you give those to me. I pray God that I would make sure that I'm walking worthy of the life you've given. That I am patient and kind, long-suffering and good, gentle and meek, so that when I do what I'm supposed to do, when I when I own my responsibility, the world around me can see you. It's never been about me, God. It has always always been about you, God. Help us reflect your love.

Help us bear your image. Help us shine your light into the world around us who so desperately needs. Lord, in this moment we're in right now, God, I I'm quite sure that there are some who are reflecting on where they are and what's going on. And Lord, I I pray your convicting power would do a work that only you can do. Draw them in to a place where we can reconcile with you. Take the brokenness of our life, God, and make something beautiful out of it today in Jesus name. This altar is open. You are his child. And if it's been a while since you have felt that loving embrace, I invite you to an altar today and embrace what God wants to do for you. You have not been disqualified. You have not been cast out. You are still loved. You are in the beloved. You are accepted by him. Come and receive what God has for you today. It's prayer time, church. Let's find a place to pray.