216 - The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance 4#
216 - The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance 4
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Life of the Eagle)
Continuing with the fourth lecture of the series on the Father's love leading us to repentance.
Luke 15:11-13
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you. Thank you for leading us once again to your presence. You desire for us to know you through your word, to understand that your will is beneficial for us. May we willingly serve you. We commit this time to the Holy Spirit, to renew each person's heart and guide us on your righteous path. Do not let us stray like the younger son. Lord, through your word, correct our thinking and keep us on the path of grace. In the name of Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!
The Father's love leading us to repentance has already been discussed in three lectures. In Luke 15, there are three parables, all speaking of the same thing: God is seeking, saving, and restoring us. Why does God want to save us? Because we need to be saved; why does God seek us? Because we are lost; why does God restore us? Because we have lost many things. The purpose of God seeking, restoring, and saving us is to bring us into glory with Him. Amen!
In the first parable, when the shepherd seeks the lost sheep, what do you see? A shepherd desperately searching, and finally finding the sheep. In the second parable, you see the woman searching for the lost coin, carefully looking until she brings the lost coin back into the light. And today, in the third parable, what do you see in the loving father? His joy when the prodigal son is willing to return fills his heart with joy. Hallelujah! This is indeed the heart of our Heavenly Father. So we see the consistency of the three parables, all related to lost things: the first is the lost sheep, the second is the lost coin, and the third is the lost son.
The Chinese Bible refers to it as the parable of the prodigal son, seemingly focusing on the younger son, but that's not correct; the focus should be on the father. Both sons are lost. Regardless of how the younger son is lost, he ultimately receives restoration. In the first parable, the lost sheep is finally restored; the lost coin is also restored; and today, we see the prodigal son finally returning to a meaningful life. Although they were all lost, they were found by God again.
You should be very grateful for yourselves; those who have believed in Jesus are already the ones sought by the Heavenly Father. There are still many lost sheep in the world, or lost coins in darkness, and many people, like the younger son, are wandering outside. They need God to bring them back. Amen! Who should take on the responsibility of seeking them? The first two stories are interesting: the shepherd goes out, the woman searches, but in the third story, no one seeks him; it is the younger son who returns by himself. Why does the third story present such a scenario? In fact, there should have been someone going out to seek, and do you know who that is? It is the older son, who should have gone out to bring his younger brother back, but he did not.
Brothers and sisters, the legalists came much earlier than grace. Many lost sheep and wandering sheep should have been brought back by them, but they did not do it. When Jesus came into the world, He saw the people of Israel as lost sheep, wandering like sheep without a shepherd. Who should have been taking care of them? The Pharisees and the scribes, but did this group of people care for them? No, the sheep began to run everywhere, they had no place to go, and they were homeless. Logically, the older son should have taken care of his younger brother, but he did not, which is why the father was so worried.
We need to understand that the older son did not fulfill his duty. This story makes a complete turn, and from a spiritual perspective, who is the older son in the eyes of our Heavenly Father? Of course, it is Jesus Christ. The earthly older son did not fulfill his duty to seek his brother, but the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven, who is also the older son, Jesus, when He came into this world, did He not begin to seek His lost brothers? Jesus is the firstborn, and everyone else is the secondborn. Therefore, when Jesus came into this world, He was to do what the original older son should have done, which is to seek His brothers, no matter where they are lost. Jesus wants to bring them back, and this is what the older son should truly do. Hallelujah!
If you are the first in your family to believe in Jesus, you need to bring back the others in your family who have not yet believed in Jesus, because you are the older one. Hallelujah! This story is very interesting; through the three stories, we see God's intention, which is that He does not wish for anyone to perish, but desires everyone to repent. Hallelujah! This is the heart of our Heavenly Father.
Luke 15:11 begins with “Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons.’”
These two sons represent all of humanity. Today, those who are listening to the sermon are one of the two sons. In verses 1-2 of chapter 15, the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. The Pharisees and the scribes... are they not here? These are the two sons, one is the older son, and one is the younger son. We think the older son's behavior is quite good; let’s first look at the younger son.
The younger son said to his father: ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’
Is there anything excessive about this? No, according to our customs today, it seems there is nothing wrong, but we need to return to the social context of that time. When a son says to his father, “Give me my share of the estate,” this is considered a great act of disrespect. Think about it, when is it usually time to divide the inheritance? Right before death. Jacob called all his children before he died: “You are the firstborn, you get a double portion; everyone else gets an equal share,” and he arranged everything before he passed away. In Israel, even to this day, inheritance can only be divided after the father has died.
But now, something unusual happens: while the father is still alive, the son says, “Father, please give me my share of the estate.” Is this estate something he is entitled to? Yes, it is indeed his. The younger son is quite astute in this regard; he knows what belongs to the father is also his! Amen, the older son’s problem lies here; he thinks what belongs to the father is the father's, and what is his may not necessarily be his. The younger son knows one thing: what belongs to the father is mine. But it is not his yet; it must be given to him by the father to become his.
Not to say that the younger son’s request for the inheritance is wrong, but the timing is problematic. The inheritance can only be divided when the father is about to pass away. The older son can receive a double portion of the inheritance. If there are two sons, the older son receives two-thirds of the estate, while the younger son receives one-third. Please remember: it is emphasized that the inheritance must be divided only after the father’s death; a will must be written, and only after the old father dies can the estate be divided. But the younger son wants to receive his inheritance now, which is a great insult to his father.
In language we can understand: “Old man, hurry up and die, today, die, and then give me my inheritance.” In reality, this is cursing his father to die today. By receiving the inheritance, it is as if his father has already died; this is a very, very serious curse. The younger son wants the inheritance but does not want the father; he would rather wish for his father to die to receive the inheritance. He values not his relationship with his father but his father's wealth.
How many families have been torn apart because of money, where sons and parents become enemies? There are many such cases. Recently, I saw a news report: because of demolition, a lot of money and houses were divided. There was one son, and his mother wanted to keep a little bit of money for her old age, giving more than two-thirds to this son, while keeping just a little for herself. However, this son slapped his mother at the bank, demanding that she give him that last bit of money. What was he hoping for? If you die, everything will be mine. This is actually very similar to the younger son; he resents his relationship with his father and wants to leave. So he says, “Give me my share of the estate,” in the younger son’s mind, he selfishly thinks he should get what is his.
Is the younger son in a blessing now? Yes, but he does not realize that it is a blessing. He wants to leave and live for himself, and this is the root of his suffering. Adam and Eve were indeed in a state of blessing when they did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Did they know that was a blessing? Did they think that was happiness? No, they did not. So they wanted to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, wanting to become like God, wanting to take control of their own lives. This is also the true root of why Adam and Eve later suffered.
The younger son could live without worry, completely unconcerned about everything, because his father was managing everything for him. He wants his father to die; he wants to live for himself, insisting on causing trouble for himself. So, everyone, today I want to bring you the following encouragement: you are already in grace; do not return to the law and cause trouble for yourselves. Simply look to the provision of Jesus Christ! If today God gives you ten dollars, enjoy the joy of having ten dollars. If it is not enough, you can pray to God; when God gives you a hundred, enjoy the joy of having a hundred. But do not be jealous of the hundred while you have only ten; thinking about the hundred every day will cause you to lose the joy you originally had. Today, thank God for what you currently have; do not always think: I want more, I want more... This kind of greed will take away your current joy.
The younger son’s problem is this: he wants to leave his father; he wants to control his own life, insisting on causing trouble for himself. When he makes this request, what should he actually receive as a result? Do you know what he should receive when the younger son says to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate”?
Look at Deuteronomy 21:18-23,
18 “If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his parents shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. 22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.”
Does the father have the right to deal with this son? He says, “Old man, give me my inheritance!” The father could completely follow the law given by God at that time and say, “Let’s go for a walk.” He just needs to take him where? To the city gate. We have talked about the parable of the wide gate and the narrow gate; why does entering through the wide gate lead to death? Because the law is waiting for you at the wide gate. You want the inheritance? Fine, let’s go to the law and see if you are worthy. Unless I die, you are not qualified to receive it. While I am still alive, who wants to die? You are dead for sure.
Brothers and sisters, under the law, God is alive, and we are doomed. Do not argue with God under the law, asking God for anything; that is a dead end. Can this father do that? Yes, I have already told you, the inheritance must wait until I die before you can divide it. But you want it now, so fine, if I don’t want to die, I can take you there and let the law judge you and have you stoned to death. The reason is that you do not obey your parents. Do you see that? This son is now guilty of the sin of “not obeying his parents.” What is his problem? He is already cursing his father, so what God gives him is: he should be stoned to death, and his body must not remain on the pole overnight because he is cursed before God.
When will we be cursed? When we return to the law. Those under the law have a characteristic; they think they are very impressive, that they can do many things. I can live well without you; he pulls himself back under the law. As we said, at first, both the older son and the younger son were under grace; their father expected both sons to live like this. Unfortunately, the younger son had the first problem; he wanted to leave grace, and he fell from grace into the law. He wanted to live by himself; should he not receive the result of death? But he did not.
Here, I want to share a spiritual meaning: the father divided the inheritance among them. Is this father’s heart good? According to the law, should he not be dead? But the father did not let this son fall into death; instead, he divided the inheritance among them. The father’s reaction is even more surprising than the son’s request! The word “inheritance” in Greek is bios, meaning life. It means the father had to sell off the property that sustains life because the younger son wanted the estate. Do you understand? He wanted money, not the land to farm later; he did not want that. So now, is this inheritance still sustaining life? If you sell it, will it be sold cheaply? What does this mean? The younger son is tearing apart his father’s lifeline, but the father, because of his love for this son, still did it.
Let’s return to the question: if we had not sinned, would the Heavenly Father need to send Jesus to be torn and cursed? Absolutely not. Amen! So when you hear Jesus preaching, you should understand this. Most of the Jews at that time had never heard such a story. Most Jews, including the patriarchs of today’s Middle East, would not do such a thing. For a patriarch, his life and reputation are more important; it is impossible to do such a thing for a son, a rebellious son, to sell off his own property and bear a huge loss of reputation. But this father did it; he endured the pain of being rejected by his son just for this son. Usually, when we are rejected, we get very angry, and some may even think of revenge, or some say, “I will try to minimize contact with this person to avoid more harm.”
But what did this father do? This father, because of his love for his son, willingly suffered pain. We also realize another fact: in legal terms, the son is already dead in the eyes of the father. Do you understand, brothers and sisters? Although this father divided the inheritance among the sons, in the eyes of this son, his father is already dead because the moment he received the inheritance proves that the father has died. Conversely, in the father’s eyes, the son is also dead. Do you understand?
Do you know that in the eyes of the Heavenly Father, you are all people who are dead and resurrected, lost and found? It is not the past you; this is why in Luke 15:24 and 32, it mentions twice, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” In the eyes of the father, when he sees this son returning again, the one who returns is no longer the previous son; the previous son is already dead. The one who is alive now is a new creation. You are now a new creation living before the Heavenly Father, no longer the old self. Some people say to crucify the old self; this is wrong. You are not the old self living in the eyes of the Father; under the law, you are already dead.
Why later does this son not dare to say, “I have no money, I want to go back to my father”? Why does he keep saying, “Make me like one of your hired servants”? Because he has already committed a great act of disrespect and has cursed his father. He feels he has no face to go back and say, “You are my father,” because in the son’s eyes, the father is already dead. But in the father’s eyes, he has been waiting for this son to return. Hallelujah!
Why does this younger son have to leave his father’s house? Have you thought about this question? He has no worries for food and clothing; why does he have to leave? If we do not understand grace, one day you will also leave grace and return to the law. We know that Adam was foolish! He had a good life in the Garden of Eden but wanted to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, resulting in all humanity living in such suffering. Was that a foolish decision? If it were you, would you do that? Some say, “I don’t know,” some say, “I wouldn’t.” You wouldn’t because you see the outcome! If you had never experienced these things, you would also do it. Do not think of ourselves as more noble than Adam or purer than Adam; that is wrong; we would all fall. The problem is that God is not afraid of you falling; He is afraid that you still do not know you are under the law.
Why does the younger son have to leave his father’s house? It is because he is unwilling to obey his father and unwilling to listen to his father’s words. From the later dialogue of the older son, it can be seen that the younger son must have often disobeyed his father and done bad things. He feels that even though he receives his father’s care for food and clothing, he is too restricted and has no freedom. As long as he leaves this house, he can do whatever he wants.
Many people are unwilling to believe in the Lord, thinking that believing in the Lord will bring many constraints. Are they not returning to the law? They are released from the law but are not told what grace is, and people will fall. So both outcomes are very scary. Today, we are under grace, not to do whatever we want. Many people say they want to live however they want, be their own master, how free! Why put a yoke on themselves? Every day, someone is watching you, saying, “Don’t do this, this is not good for you.” Our God seems to have become a nagging God, afraid we will go astray, saying, “Don’t eat this; it will be bad for your health.” “I love to eat, so I will eat.” We feel God is being overly cautious.
Have you seen the God of the Old Testament? Is He really a nagging God? Every time the Israelites are about to fall into a pit, God sends prophets to say, “Hurry, go tell them, don’t go forward; if you go forward, suffering will come.” The Israelites say, “Stay away from me; if you say more, I will throw you into the well.” One of the most tragic was Jeremiah. Jeremiah knew that a great disaster was coming for seventy years; for seventy years, they would be slaves to others. “Do not go forward!” The king said, “Throw him into the well; let him speak to me; I do not want to hear you.” Jeremiah felt very sad and said, “Since you are so ungrateful, I will not speak anymore.” But did he feel sad? His heart was like fire. Do you think Jeremiah wanted to burn the Israelites? He did not want them to walk the path of destruction; he did not want them to live as slaves for seventy years. Could he stop this group of people? No, this group of people, this king, would rather imprison him than listen to him. They insisted on going their own way. Eventually, this happened, and they were all taken as slaves to Babylon for seventy years.
Brothers and sisters, this is the younger son; he insists on going his own way, which leads to problems! So we are under grace, not to do whatever we want. This idea is wrong. In our grace church, we have order; we must obey authority and act according to order.
In this family, the younger son thinks he can live however he wants; he feels his father has too many restrictions on him. In fact, quite the opposite, once he leaves his father, he loses what he calls true freedom. Look at Adam after he sinned; was he free or not? He was very unfree. His legs were free, his mouth was indeed free, but his life lost its freedom, which is very unfortunate.
John 8:34, Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
Do you know what a slave is? A slave is someone who is not their own, who cannot do whatever they want, who has lost their freedom and identity, and lost everything; that is called a slave. The television says, “I bought a slave from outside; when I ask him, ‘What is your name?’ I see your hair is yellow, so I will call you ‘Little Yellow’! Is that okay?” “Yes, that’s fine.” It is completely according to my wishes, not yours; there is no need to discuss whether this name sounds good or not. You are a slave; you do as I say. A slave completely loses everything, including their life, which belongs to the master. If one day the master kills him, then he is dead because you are the one I bought with my money. After Adam and Eve sinned, they became slaves to sin and truly lost their freedom. This is very unfortunate, brothers and sisters. Only in Jesus Christ do you have true freedom.
Look at John 8:36, immediately after, Jesus tells us, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
This proves that the previous freedom was false. Yes, brothers and sisters, true freedom is given to you by Jesus Christ. The Son of the Father refers to Jesus; if Jesus sets you free, you will be truly free. Hallelujah! How many people are still bound by sin, tightly bound by smoking, drinking, and bad habits, losing their freedom? But in Jesus Christ, you are truly free. Hallelujah! Let’s repeat: freedom is not what some people think it is, doing whatever they want. Freedom is: I can choose not to do something; I have the ability not to do it. Amen!
When a person casually sins, they are actually not free. Look at some truths and stories in the Bible; after the younger son left home, was he truly free? No, his path became narrower and narrower, and in the end, he had nowhere to go. Is this not the case for people today? Is this not the case under the law? They feel very free, but the more they walk, the narrower the road becomes, and they find themselves not free because when they want to do good, evil comes out from within. Every time they try to do good, evil comes out; is that not unfree? Moreover, they cannot overcome this; this is a painful thing.
The freedom God gives us is absolutely not for us to do as we please, but to produce freedom under the constraints of God’s truth. Amen! The freedom of doing as one pleases is actually self-centered. The younger son wants to leave home; he actually wants to live centered on himself. But brothers and sisters, do you know? When everyone lives centered on themselves, they will harm the freedom of others.
For example, there are traffic lights on the road. Someone says, “I want to be a little freer; I don’t want to follow traffic rules anymore; I want to lie down wherever I want, even in the middle of the road.” You are free, but what about others? Others’ freedom is harmed by you. Do you understand? You say, “In the middle of the night, I want to sing; I am praising God.” Yes, you are indeed praising God; you are free, but what about others? Others’ freedom to sleep is taken away by you.
When you feel that self-centered freedom is actually harming the freedom of others. Only freedom under the constraints of truth will allow each of us to be free. Hallelujah! Let’s talk more about what freedom is. After the younger son received his father’s inheritance, he went to a distant country. This is a serious problem! He went to a distant country; since he received the money, he has the freedom to independently manage this money. Why does he not find a place nearby to settle down?
In case of difficulties, at least his brother can take care of him. Why run so far away? The reason is simple: he has long looked down on his father. Although he verbally says, “You are my father; I tolerate you,” in his heart, he hopes his father dies sooner. After he receives his inheritance, the farther he leaves his father, the better; he does not want to be constrained even a little bit. In fact, this is the greatest foolishness; he thinks the farther he goes, the freer he is. This is exactly the state of humanity after distancing themselves from God.
In many aspects of human history, there has been continuous progress, moving from barbarism to civilization, from backwardness to advancement, with science and technology advancing rapidly, and material goods and commodities being abundant. But have you noticed another fact? The relationship between man and God is becoming increasingly distant, is it not? What is the result of this? The human heart becomes increasingly corrupt, with no bottom line. We always hear people say, “The world is getting worse, and human hearts are not what they used to be!” Since humanity distanced itself from God, it has become increasingly corrupt. This can only prove one thing: people are getting farther and farther away from God. Each of us is like the younger son; we wish to distance ourselves from God, not wanting to see Him for even a moment.
After Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, Adam had two children. The Bible records one was Abel and the other was Cain. Two kinds of people emerged: one feared God, and the other? Clearly self-centered. It is not that Cain’s offering was bad; Cain offered according to his own will.
Can we all worship God? But is there order in the church? Suppose Brother Zhao is worshiping and praising, and you shout, “I want to go up and praise too!” Why should it just be you up there? You have the right, but do not casually go up at this time. We need to have order. Amen! Cain’s service is like this; Cain says, “I have offered my favorite potatoes, pumpkins, and corn to you; you still don’t like it? What do you mean?” “You just like Abel, right? I will kill him!”
What is this equivalent to? “Okay, are you saying my voice is bad? I can’t sing as well as him; I will kill him, and then I will see who else worships!” This is wrong; he is worshiping himself, while Abel is worshiping God! Why was Abel’s sacrifice pleasing to God? He offered according to God’s way. Amen! Cain’s service is clearly based on his own preferences, and this will lead to problems.
Our service to God is absolutely not according to our own preferences, doing whatever we want; this is not acceptable. We must serve according to God’s way to be pleasing to God. The church is the same. Today, we talk about Cain; no matter how evil he is, you see, at the very beginning, after distancing himself from God, he is not too far from God. Although he indeed sinned, one is good, and one is bad, but both are not far from God; at least he still knows to offer sacrifices to God. But as time goes on, you will find he is getting farther and farther from God. Let’s first look at Cain; let’s not talk about Abel; he has already been killed. Let’s see what Cain becomes later.
By the seventh generation, he has a descendant named Lamech. This person seems very successful, greatly developing literature, art, agriculture, and military affairs; he is strong in all aspects. But this person’s heart becomes extremely corrupt; he even takes the curse to the extreme. Look at Genesis 4:15-16. After Cain killed Abel, he was very afraid and said, “This will not do; look, without law, if I kill you today, tomorrow, if someone does not like me, what if they kill me? Because there is no law! You kill me; why can’t I kill you?” So Cain was very afraid; he feared that others would kill him. In reality, no one had the heart to kill him; it was just his own idea. This is what a self-centered person is like; while alive, he is filled with fear.
So at that time, the Lord said to him, “Whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” The Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Is he starting to distance himself from God? Getting farther and farther away. God gave him a mark to prevent others from killing him, but what did his descendants do?
Genesis 4:24, “If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
When the human heart leaves God, does it become better or worse? So the younger son’s decision is actually very foolish; the moment he leaves his father, he has already determined that his outcome will be failure, and it will be very tragic. Amen! I want to tell everyone here that the younger son actually had no need to endure that period of suffering. You are already under grace; understand the heart of the Father and stay in grace! Every day, thank God for your life!
At first, the younger son did not see this as grace! That is why he had the idea of wanting to live by himself. What did he do? He squandered his wealth in wild living. Many times, a person’s corruption begins with recklessness. Today, this term has become very popular in our country; do you know what it is? It is “willfulness.”
Some people look at a pile of brand-name bags and say, “This one, this one, no, pack up all the others.” Someone says, “You are so young; why do you call yourself ‘I’?” “I want to; I am willful.” Can someone else call themselves ‘grandfather’? They are willful! These two words are particularly liked by people! A willful life, what is a willful life? It means living however I want, doing whatever I want; this is willfulness.
In fact, from the Bible’s perspective, it is recklessness. Recklessness will certainly lead to one thing: wasting wealth. A person’s corruption actually begins with willfulness. If a person starts to be willful, corruption is not far behind; this is a selfish idea. Yet many people, while they are already being reckless, still think they are being led by the Holy Spirit; this is what is terrifying.
The Israelites were like this, acting recklessly for four hundred years. Judges 17:6 summarizes the entire book of Judges in one sentence: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”
I want to ask brothers and sisters, at this moment, did they have a system of sacrifices? Did they follow God’s words? Yes, they did not have none; it started with Moses. But they did not want God’s way, saying, “Lord, your way is too old-fashioned; every time we go, we have to bring something; how troublesome! Every time we have to give our tithe to the Levites. I see the Levites not working; they just eat; it makes me uncomfortable!” Eventually, this group of people decided, “Let’s not give to the Levites; we can eat and drink ourselves!” Later, what happened? “I have money; I know God’s blessing comes through the Levites; I will invite a Levite to come to my house and be my priest.” How could that be? Did God ever do this? “Whoever has money, you can just get a priest to come over?”
So at that time, the priests began to have problems. At first, they had a normal way of worship; the Israelites offered to the priests, the Levites received blessings from God, and then blessed the Israelites. This way was good, and God kept blessing. One day, the people said, “We can’t live like this anymore; it’s too troublesome to offer sacrifices every time. Why not just get the priests to come home? Then I won’t have to be so troubled.” Is this a good idea? They think they are more advanced, but in reality, they are more corrupt.
For four hundred years, “In Israel, there was no king; everyone did as they saw fit” means everyone acted recklessly. What do you think this country will become? This period of living recklessly lasted for four hundred years. Have you seen their lives during these four hundred years? Most of the time, they lived under constant warfare. The Philistines would come and tease them, capturing them. When they saw they were suffering again, they immediately cried out, “Lord, save us!” God raised up a judge, and then they defeated their enemies. They had peace for forty or fifty years.
But after this time, what happened? They began to act recklessly again, falling into chaos, being beaten by others. During that process, the Midianites began to deal with them, and God raised up a person to save them. Can’t they learn a lesson? They always want to act recklessly. If this willfulness is not removed from their hearts, if they are unwilling to willingly obey God and live, this day will have no end. Do you understand?
How many Christians live like this? They say, “Why is it that just as one disaster passes, another comes?” You are always living recklessly! When will you be able to say, “Lord, I am willing to live according to your way”? That period was indeed a very terrible four hundred years; they were filled with pain and disappointment. Did they have freedom? Yes, they acted recklessly, yet they were not free! They were too willful! What about the Sabbath worship and sacrifices? They did not care; they saw whose city was comfortable, and they would seize it. They saw what was good in your house, and they would rob it. Did this not happen in the book of Judges? At first, they resisted external enemies, but later they began to kill each other.
So if we do not worship according to God’s way but offer worship according to our own righteousness, at first, you may resist those under the law, but in the end, you will also resist those under grace, with the same outcome! The corruption of the human heart is not much better than the other. They had temporary freedom, but the suffering that followed was greater. “In Israel, there was no king” indicates that there was no one seeking the true king. Hallelujah! This is their problem.
Only by accepting Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and making Jesus Christ the king can your life return to the right track. Jesus said a lot; let me give you an example: you must love one another. Is this a command Jesus gave us? No matter what, Jesus did not say, “Love him when he is lovable; hate him when he is despicable.” Loving one another means loving that person at all times.
The Bible says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry; do not sin.” You can be angry; God knows we cannot overcome this flesh. You can be angry, but do not let it last until the next day. Is this not God’s principle? If you live according to these ways, you will experience God’s joy. But what is feared is knowing that this is not good and still insisting on going your own way; this is where the problem arises. Each person does as they see fit; the original meaning in the text is that each person acts according to what they see as right, centered on themselves. “I think this is okay; I think this way is right,” and they act recklessly according to their own judgment.
At first, did Eve not feel a sense of accomplishment when she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? She thought, “This is the best choice I have ever made in my life, to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Looking back, was that correct? That is why there is a saying in Proverbs: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.” Who is the right way? You must take Jesus Christ as your right way; make Jesus your benchmark. Never think that just because you think it is right, you can do it; that is where the problem lies.
Losing a God-centered way of living, a life of sacrifice, the Israelites lived however they wanted, not only constantly fighting with others but also fighting with their own compatriots. Almost all twelve tribes united to kill the other tribe; this was done by their own people! Even one’s wife was raped and killed by their own compatriots. The more perverse thing is that this person actually cut his wife into twelve pieces and gave each piece to a different tribe.
You say, “Could we do this today?” No, because no one is willing to submit to God’s words; everyone acts recklessly. The result of failure is destined, and the tragic outcome will definitely happen. For four hundred years, they lived in suffering, and it was like this. Until the appearance of Samuel, when Samuel came, he first restored the correct system of sacrifice. I want to act recklessly and waste wealth; this idea is the problem of the younger son. He will ultimately experience failure, suffering, and all kinds of problems right here.
I want to encourage everyone: under grace, we need to have order; we cannot do whatever we want, or the result will be the same as the younger son. He was initially under grace, but unfortunately, he later had problems and was captured by the devil. The world hopes to be willful, but do you know what the result of willfulness is? Death? The result of willfulness is not death; the result of willfulness is being captured by the devil at will, falling into his snare. When you are willful, the devil will be willful; you will definitely not win against him.
Let’s look at a passage from 2 Timothy 2:22-26,
22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Today, I want to ask everyone a question: is the power of the Holy Spirit greater or the power of the devil greater? The power of the Holy Spirit is greater, so why does the Bible say they have been taken captive by the devil? Who gives the devil the authority to take people captive? What is the reason? When a person is willful, the devil can take that person captive at will.
If we have no evil desires, can the devil take you captive? If Eve had not gone to look at the fruit that she was not supposed to eat, would the devil have had the opportunity? Just stick to one thing: I will not look at that; I will not even look at it, let alone touch it. I will only remember what God said: I can eat everything else, I can eat everything else, I can eat everything else... Would it be better if you remembered this? But she remembered which one? “Do not eat this; do not eat this; do not eat this…”
If you keep focusing on the law, it is no wonder that problems arise! So she always thinks, “Why can’t I eat it? Why can’t I eat it? Why can’t I eat it?... Maybe... Maybe... Perhaps... It could be...” Good, the opportunity has come. When you doubt God’s words, this possibility may have a good outcome; this is where evil desires arise. Evil desires, once conceived, give birth to sin; sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Eve’s failure began right here.
The Bible says, “Flee the evil desires of youth.” If there are no evil desires inside, the devil cannot take you captive at will. In 1 Peter, it has already told us that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He does not just want to eat anyone; right? There must be some people he can eat. What kind of people? Those with evil desires. So God has also told us the correct way.
God tells us about the younger son not to let us experience suffering. Many people say, “Sometimes you have to experience pain in life to grow!” Yes, experiencing pain can lead to growth; you can completely choose not to experience pain and still grow! Who told you that children must grow under the rod? Isn’t it two choices that you can choose? If a person has evil desires, the choice afterward is to be taken captive by the devil. So God tells us, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Amen! This is what we need to focus on, Hallelujah!
If you are in your father’s house, under grace, pay close attention to how much the Heavenly Father loves you; pay close attention to how much grace the Heavenly Father has given you today. Hallelujah! Do not focus on what you do not have or what others have; this will cause problems. This will turn into evil desires. “Foolish and ignorant debates must be rejected.” What does “reject” mean? It means do not even participate; no matter who is right or wrong, it has nothing to do with us; reject it. This causes quarrels; you are the Lord’s servant.
So be kind to everyone, able to teach, and patient. Use gentleness to instruct those who oppose the truth. Why would this person oppose the truth? Because there are evil desires inside; they think God’s words may not necessarily be correct; they think what you are saying may not suit their taste. You can oppose the truth, but we advise you gently.
Do you know how to advise? If some people insist on doing something, and you know it is a pit, how do you advise them? At first, you can advise them. If they insist on going, like this father, he divided the inheritance for him. Do you understand? In this way, his path is destined to go through this difficult road, but he will return again. This is a final choice.
Earlier, we said we should gently advise them, “Do not do this.” If they ultimately do not listen, let them go! Just like this father, when the father let the younger son go, he knew what the outcome would be. But why did the father not say a word? Because the younger son’s heart was already filled with evil desires; he wanted to leave this old thing; he wanted to live by himself. The more you say, the more he resents you, right? At this time, the choice is: go. Or God may give them a heart of repentance, do you understand?
Now, does your advice work? Even if you are able to teach, even if you are patient, even if you gently advise, if they do not listen, at this time, after you let go, you must pray for them. Do you believe that after this younger son went out, his father prayed for him every day? Yes, so today we also treat the people around us like this. If you see your brothers and friends going the wrong way, advise them. If after repeated advice they do not listen, let them go. But do not forget to pray for them, asking God to give them a heart of repentance, or God will give them a heart of repentance so they can understand the truth! Hallelujah.
When a person is filled with evil desires, they no longer understand the truth and have been taken captive by the devil at will. That is why we must pray for them: In the name of Lord Jesus, remove all the devil’s schemes from this person. Let them awaken, Hallelujah! You can pray like this for unbelievers, and you can also pray like this for those under the law who oppose the truth; both are acceptable. Hallelujah! In fact, it is not this person’s problem, but the devil has taken him captive; it is not that he is unwilling to understand the truth.
When we pray for him, or God gives him a heart of repentance, he can understand the truth, awaken, and escape from the snare. One day, the younger son finally understood one thing; when was that? When life reached its end. But brothers and sisters, I do not expect you to walk this road. Amen!
In my own life, I once walked through a very tragic period. At the lowest point of my life, I thought of only one thing: death. At that time, I was indeed reckless; at the lowest point of my life, it was not about what I lost, but that my heart was dead. When I walked into the middle of the road, I wanted a car to hit me; I did not want to commit suicide because I knew that suicide would not get me into heaven. If a car hit me, I could go; I did not want to live in this world anymore. At the lowest point of life, I was unwilling to draw near to God; I had already lived recklessly for three years.
Then one day, God gave me a verse, reminding me of Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. I suddenly woke up and said, “Lord, no, I may not live to that age; do not give me forty years; three years is enough. Lord, I am willing; I am willing to try to live according to your way. Please open the road ahead for me.” God really opened the way for me; otherwise, I would not be able to stand here today sharing God’s grace with you. The result of recklessness is being taken captive by the devil, and the outcome is very tragic. I tell everyone today that the purpose is not to hope everyone lives like this; indeed, at first, you will feel very free, but the more you go on, the less freedom you have, and the more tragic it becomes. The life in the Lord Jesus Christ is the best. Hallelujah!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you. Thank you for using such words to turn our hearts back to you. Lord, we live in your grace. You have prepared a path of grace for us, allowing us to live in your grace, in your embrace, and in your provision. We do not want to be like the younger son, unwilling to live by ourselves under the law. I am willing to serve you according to your way. Lord, give me a correct heart, let me worship you like Abel, and not like Cain. Lord, let me be willing to look to you in all things. Thank you and praise you.
As the new week begins, may we gain strength and provision from your words and enjoy true freedom in Christ. Because the path you give me is the path of blessing, thank you for granting me grace today. I thank you for everything I currently have; you will give me more grace. Hallelujah, because you are my loving Heavenly Father. Thank you and praise you; all glory belongs to you! In the name of Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!