8 Blessings the Prodigal's Brother Missed

Luke chapter 15, you can remain seated. Uh I will read several verses uh in your reading and uh then I will take my launching uh my launching place for what I feel the Lord would have us uh to hear and partake of tonight. And he said, "A certain man," somebody say, "A certain man, had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fallth to me." And he divided unto him his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, somebody said came to himself. He came to himself. He said, "How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants." And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet afar, a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry." Now his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music. He heard dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked, "What these things meant?" And he said unto him, "Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound." He was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and intreated him. Look at this. And he answering said to his father, "Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make Mary with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." And he said unto him, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." It was meat that we should make Mary and be glad. For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. Everybody still with me? Everybody wait.

I'm going to teach to you tonight from this simple subject. Eight blessings that the prodal brother missed. Eight blessing that the prodal's brother missed. If you're going to help me preach tonight or teach, would you say amen? Amen. If I could just say right on the onset, I I I would say these words to every one of in this room. Don't let bitterness blind you from the blessings of your father's house. I'm going to say that again. Don't let bitterness blind you from the blessings of your father's house. For it was in the passage that I just read, Jesus tells one of the most beloved stories in all of scripture. There's probably not one in this room that has not heard of or read, for it's known as the parable of the prodal son. And we often focus on the younger son, the rebellious, the black sheep. We would we would point fingers and and and we would probably say he was a little unwise and he made foolish choices and foolish decisions. But if you read long enough, you'll you'll read about his repentance and his restoration. But tucked into the closing verses is a tragic figure. The older or the elder brother, a man who stayed home physically but drifted away spiritually. He didn't run to a far country, but he ended up far from the father's heart. I believe it would be said in one of the saddest of stories uh is to be in the father's house but never have the father's heart. He lived in the same house but he didn't enjoy the same grace. He was faithful in my in my assessment of scripture. He was faithful in duty, but he was bankrupt in joy. By the end of this story, while the younger son is rejoicing inside, the elder brother is standing outside, refusing to come in, angry, offended, and missing out on all the blessings that his father was pouring out. That's right. So, as I prepared for this message tonight, I want to walk you through what the prodals brother missed. That's what I want to do for us tonight because I don't want any of us in this room to miss what God's doing. I don't want us to miss this season of what God's doing in our church. And if you're taking notes, this would be an amazing time for you to get pen and paper and or or your smartphone. uh and make some notes.

Number one, the prodal's brother missed this blessing. He missed his brother repent. He missed the repentance of his brother. When the younger son came home, he came with a broken heart and an humble spirit and he said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee." But that elder brother never saw the beauty of that repentant heart. He was too busy. Oh, help me. He was too busy judging to rejoice. That's right. He was focused on the sin that was instead of the change that now is. There's something about uh when we repent of our sins, there ought to be if there's rejoicing in heaven, there ought to be rejoicing on earth. Uh there ought to be somebody that says, "I still get excited every time somebody repents of their sins." Amen. Amen. I think we can lose sight of repentance. And when we do, we lose sight of the grace of God. Some people, and I hate to say this, can't celebrate because they're too busy comparing. You see, the father saw repentance as the doorway to restoration, but the brother saw it as a reason for resentment. I I'm trying to help us. This is this is the saints of the most high tonight in this room. Uh I pray that we never get resentful when a prodal walks back into our back into the house and says, "I have sinned and I repent of my sins." Uh we better be on the front line saying, "Uh we're on your side. We're behind you. We're rejoicing. I refuse to let a spirit of resentment get in my heart because a prodal repents. That's right. It's the doorway. Repentance is always the doorway to restoration. That's right. So the brother missed number one, he missed the repentance.

Number two, he missed the request. You see, this the the younger son came with the request of humility. He didn't come home and uh he didn't come back home and wanted the spot that he had, wanted the bed that he lived in, uh uh wanted his seat at the table that he had always had. No. See, the the older brother never got to witness the request of his younger brother. Because here was the request. Make me as one of thy hired servants. He left the house. Hear me tonight. He left the house with the give me attitude. But when he came home, it was drastically different. He come home and this was his request. Just make me one of the hired servants. He came not home demanding a throne, but all he wanted was mercy from the father. All he wanted was the eyes of mercy just to welcome him home. But the elder brother, he missed and never saw that transformation. He didn't see that this wasn't the same boy, the same young lad that left with pride, but now his brother came home in humility. Be careful that the spirit of the elder brother will always judge what God has already forgiven. That's right. I'm gonna say that again. We better be careful because the spirit of the elder brother will always judge what God has already forgiven. He missed that most important request. Make me a servant.

Number three, he missed the reception. When the father saw his son, here was the here was the reception that he received. He ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. Go read it. I I've already read it, but you go back. That was the heart of the father. And and the way I like to it was the heart of the father in motion. But the elder brother missed it. He missed the blessing of watching and being part of the reception. He was out Oh, God help me right now. He was out in the field doing work and I would say good work, but he had a cold heart. Some people are so busy working for God that they stopped walking with God. I don't want to be guilty of busy being a worker for God that I stopped walking with God. You see this elder brother, he missed the beauty of his arms, of the father's arms wrapping around that one lost son. He missed that. He missed love in action. He He missed the blessing of seeing the reception.

But number four, he missed the robe. The father said, "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." That robe covered the stains of the pig pin. It was a robe of righteousness. It was a robe of covering of grace and mercy. But the elder brother didn't see it. He missed it. He missed that blessing because he didn't think his younger brother possibly deserved it. as I prayed this afternoon and I I said, "God, I want the SEC to always be careful passing our own judgment on who deserves mercy and who doesn't." The robe wasn't about worthiness. It was about mercy. Right? Because many in this church, I'm I'm afraid this happens and I'm just going to say it loosely in our church, but the apostolic movement a as a whole if we're not care. This is a spirit that we're fighting in this end time. Many in the church can't rejoice over the robe because they forgot they once wore rags, too. That's right. Right? We forgotten where we have fallen. We forgotten we were a sinner. We were forgotten. We were the one that needed the embrace, that needed the reception, that needed mer, that needed forgiveness. And it's easy to point a finger. It's easy to do those things. But oh God, help us as a church that we not miss the robe like he did. Like he did.

You want to tell you what else he missed? He missed the ring. Everybody say the ring. And I thought I had my phone off ring, but I think it's supposed to be. He missed the ring. The ring represented authority. Somebody say authority. It represented belonging. It represented restoration to the family name. It meant you ready. You're not a servant any longer. You're my son and you belong here. But the elder brother missed it because his heart couldn't see beyond the past. Right? Let me just give you an a little enlightenment. God's grace doesn't just forgive, it restores. That's right. He doesn't just let you back in the house. He gives you the key again. He says, "You Oh, come on, somebody." He says, "You know what? I'm not just going to show you my love in action. I'm not just letting you back in the house. Here's the key to the house again. You I'm giving you the authority to unlock and come and go and belong just as my son. And I couldn't help but think this afternoon, brother Guzman, that I'm glad that this place is a safe place. The sanctuary is where we believe in restoration. Right. I I'm telling you, I'm speaking in the vein of the Holy Ghost. And as your pastor, uh we are not content with you just sitting on a pew. Uh but I've come tonight to put keys in your hand and say, uh you belong here. Uh your restoration is here. This is where God has placed you. And I declare unto you, serve the Lord with gladness here. Serve the Lord with gladness here. I hope y'all are feeling what I'm feeling up here. God's getting I don't know why the Lord put this in my spirit. I don't know why the Lord, but I just believe there's some prodals that are going to come and God's getting ready for the church. He's getting the church ready.

Number six, Brother Sparks, Brother Brian, he missed the shoes. Brother Paul, he missed the robe, the blessing of the robe. He missed the blessing of the ring. And he missed the blessing of the shoes. I've never seen this quite like this. The father said, "Put shoes on his feet. I'm telling you, this rocked my world this afternoon. Only servants went barefoot. Sons wore shoes. And the Holy Ghost, if I've ever felt anything, we've got too many that are walking around barefoot. We are in the business of passing out shoes. And by doing so, what we're saying is you're no longer a servant. You are a son. You are a son of the you are a righteous son. You are a restored son. You belong in the family. We got too many walking barefoot. It's time to start handing out shoes and letting people know they belong here and they have a place. The younger son came home empty-handed, but left the father's presence. Here's what I love. Equipped and restored. But again, the elder brother missed it all. That's right. He never saw the father that was in the business of turning servants into sons. I don't want to miss. You want to know why is every service is important? Because I don't want to miss when the father turns a sinner into a saint. That's right. I don't want to miss when the father says, "You know what? I'm going to feel them. I'm going to change them. I'm going to make them whole and new again. Yeah, I don't want to miss that because of my own bitterness.

Number seven, one of the blessings that he missed, he missed the reception and celebration, the celebration. The music started playing. The food was cooking. The people were shouting. The father was rejoicing because his son finally came home. But the elder brother refused to go in. He stood outside angry, alone, judgmental, belittleing. He stood outside. He didn't understand what the father understood. He didn't understand that when heaven celebrates, the saints ought to celebrate, too. When heaven gets happy, we ought to get happy. When a sinner comes to the altar and repents, God help us that we're not in the seat of the scornful. Uh, well, I wonder if they really going to change this time. Come on. I wonder I I just wonder how long this is Come on. I wonder how long this is I wonder how long they going to stay clean. Well, if their if their cleanliness and their their soberness is based upon that, probably not long. Probably not because they're going to feel the judgmental view. They're going to feel the eyes against them and they're going to feel that scornful look. But oh, I can tell you the percentages drastically increase when they see a brother and a sister uh that when they walk in the door, they get happy. Uh when they say, you know what, I've been living clean for one week. Uh I'm rejoicing. And you rejoice with I made it six weeks. I made it six months. I made it. Come on. We've got to start rejoicing with those and not judge them on the outskirts. We've got to get in on the rejoicing in the celebratory times. Don't stand out on the outside. This is a revelation. Grace is singing on the inside while judgment's looking in on the outside. We better come in with a thankful heart and say, "You know what? Uh, I may have not I may have dropped the ball a time or two this week, but I made it into the househ. I'm going to go inside where grace is singing that song. Uh, oh, how precious it is. Uh, this amazing grace. How sweet the sound. It saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now I'm found. was blind, but now I see. Every time someone comes home, we should be the first ones to rejoice. Every time you see somebody that hadn't been here a long time, we ought to get happy. Well, where you been? No. Don't let that come out of your mouth. We're so glad you're here today. And please, please don't say, "Well, the roof may fall in today." you're here. You know that's happened to people before. You're talking about making somebody feel uncomfortable. But every time somebody comes home, every time somebody comes to the house of God, we should be the first ones on our feet rejoicing. I just want to say thank you to this church. Every time my son has walked into this church, not one time that I know of has anybody treated him in any other way but with love and grace and mercy. And you know what? Sooner or later, there's going to be a moment that he walks into these doors and there's going to be a change that we've been praying for. And God is going to do a miracle unlike anything he's ever done. But it's not only going to be for him, but for some of your babies uh that have been treated and loved uh and and caressed with the love of the It's going to happen. Amen.

Oh, number eight. The father said it kind of goes seven and eight kind of go hand in heaven. H hand in hand. He missed the celebration. But I think it's just a little different just slightly. That brother missed the blessing. He missed the rejoicing. The father said it was meat that we should make merry in glad that we that we should make merry and be glad. In other words, this is what he was saying. This was the right time to rejoice. But the elder brother's bitterness robbed him of the blessing. They were dancing. They were shouting. They were rejoicing. They were having, I would like to think, the time of their life rejoicing that the one they thought was dead is now alive. The one they thought was the lost cause is now in the house of God. Let me help some mom and some daddy. You never know where your kids are going to end up. You don't know what you don't know where they're going to end up. And they you may get a text or a call and they may get moved or transitioned and it's not in my notes, but they may find themselves in a church plant somewhere. They may find themselves in a storefront somewhere in an apostolic preacher preaching. They may not come back to these altars. But that's where we've got to understand and come to an agreement. God. Anytime they're in the household that preaches truth, it's the right time to rejoice. It's the right time to get our praise on. It's the right time to give God glory and praise and honor. Because that elder brother, he was close to the house but far from the heart. That's right. He was close to daddy's house, but oh, he didn't have daddy's heart. You can be in the father's field and still not share the father's feelings. The tragedy of this story, and I'm coming to a quick close, the tragedy of this story, this is really what provoked me to teach this The tragedy of this story as I reread it and I reread it the things he missed. The tragedy of the story is that the elder brother missed everything. Not because he was far away but because his heart was closed. He missed the repentance of his brother. He missed the request for mercy. He missed the reception of love. He missed the robe of righteousness. He missed the ring of authority. He missed the shoes of sunship. He missed the celebration of welcome. But he also missed the rejoicing of heaven. He missed it all because he stayed in the field of resentment instead of coming into the house of rejoicing. Oh God, help us that we not stay in the field of resentment while we are gathered in here rejoicing. We rejoiced last night on a Tuesday night. Two were baptized in Jesus name. Sister Nikki, we're so proud of you and your husband, Brother Josh. They went down in the name of Jesus last night. There was rejoicing in this house. There's rejoicing tonight. God's doing a great work. We have come too close to the coming of the Lord to let our feelings sabotage us and cause us to stay in a field of resentment instead of coming into the house of rejoicing.

So I close I close with a challenge. I close with a charge on this Wednesday Bible study. Please, SEC, don't let pride or bitterness make you miss what God is doing in someone else's life. You will find your greatest fulfillment in his kingdom when we are more concerned with somebody else than we are us. That's right. Because when it's all about me, me me, my problems, my faults, my failure, my my But when I if I could get you to turn that, that's really cloaked in pride or bitterness because God hadn't done for me like I thought he should. I've done all of this and he hasn't done for me. But oh, when's the last time you put your focus on somebody else? somebody else's issues, helped, discipled. When you begin to start celebrating in someone else's situation, maybe yours hadn't got fixed yet, but God, until mine does, I'm going to celebrate with everybody else around me that's having good things happen. He hadn't healed me, but he he healed. I'm going to rejoice with you uh in your miracle. I'm going to rejoice with you in your promotion. I'm going to rejoice with you in your new house, your new car, your new job. Don't stand outside. This is one of the greatest revelations that I've seen in a long time in scripture. I just feel like God just peeled back the pages and he sent me to this desk to tell you, please don't stand outside when he is inviting you in. It's sad when the father says, "Come on in here, son. Welcome to the party. I ain't coming in." No, there's joy in the house. There's mercy in the house. There's music in the house. There's celebration in the house. Why? because the father is still saving. And if you could hear the words that he would say as he said to the elder brother who missed it all, even in his attitude, even in his judgment, you know what the father said? All that I have is thine. He didn't hold it against him. He didn't hold it against He he didn't say, "You know what? Since you had that attitude, you're out of the wheel. Leave." No. He tried with a father's love to say, "Son, you got the testimony that you never left and all that I have is yours. But you're so bitter because your brother, yes, he squandered it. Yes, he did wrong, but he came back. He made things. He's still your brother. He's still your brother. Sometimes I think we forget sometime they're still our brother. They're still our sister. All that I have is thine. So I would say to this great church, step into the blessing and rejoice with the father. Don't be bitter. Don't be angry. Don't be judgmental, resentful. Just be glad. That which was lost is now found. That which was dead is made alive.

As you stand to your feet tonight, as you stand to your feet, I just believe with every fiber in me that there are blessings that we're not going to miss, but we're going to witness and be part of. Would you lift your voice right now all over this house with me? Father, right now, God, I don't know who's going to walk in this house on Sunday. I don't know what's I don't know what's going to transpire. I don't know. I don't know what pastor's son's going to walk in. And I don't know what grandsons are going to walk in. I don't know what family members of saints of this church that that are going to walk in this Sunday. But oh God, I pray when they walk in, they feel when they drive on the parking lot, they'll see a parking lot attendant with a smile on their face. They will see a warm smile and a hand that would wave them and say, "Welcome home." when they walk into our forer and they see our greeters and they see a smile and and a welcome to the sanctuary out of their mouth that they would feel something that they hadn't failed in a long time. God, I pray that they would not feel judgment. They would not feel condemnation, but they would feel your mercy and grace. They would feel something from us that would let them know if God can do it for me, he can do it for you. If God can do for me, he can do it for you. No matter what the physical need, the emotional, the spiritual, you can have your needs met here. God, I pray right now that you would go with us from this service and as we enter into a time of celebration, of greeting one another, speaking to one another, letting one another know that we love and the compassion of this great church. I pray you would go with us this day, this night. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Everybody say amen.