218 - The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance 6#
218 - The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance 6
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Little Prince of Heaven)
What we are sharing is still: The sixth lecture of the series "The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance"
The content of Luke 15:20-24.
20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Let’s pray together:
Heavenly Father! We thank and praise You! At the beginning of a new week, we come before You seeking You, and You will surely grant us everything we desire. We look solely to You, laying down all our worries and problems, drawing strength and provision from You. Protect every brother and sister who comes to seek You, let them gain strength and Your help from Your word, may the Holy Spirit renew us and lead us, allowing us to see You with our own eyes, and let Your love continually lead us back to You. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!
What we are doing now is the sermon series "The Father's Love Leads Us to Repentance." When we are willing to turn back to the Lord, it is because we have seen the Father's love and realized how much God loves us, which makes us willing to turn back to Him. Very few people believe in Jesus out of fear; we believe in Jesus precisely because we have seen the Father's love. In this world, what we lack the most is love. When we understand that the Father's love and grace are so immeasurable, we are willing to entrust everything to the Father's hands, for His love for us is beyond measure. The Bible never talks about how much we love God, but rather about the Father's love for us, and this is made very clear in the Bible.
In 1 John 4:10, it clearly tells us: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
This is the definition of love in the Bible. In the story we are sharing today, the younger son, unwilling to stay with his father and not understanding his father's love, stubbornly left home to live on his own, and in the end, he lost everything. Suddenly, he woke up and remembered that there were so many rich provisions in his father's house, so he wanted to go back.
We think that in the parable of the prodigal son, the main character must be how the prodigal son turns back, how much he suffers, and finally one day his conscience tells him to return home. In fact, it is not. The main character in the whole story is the father, about a father's perfect love for his son. It is never about how much we love God, but about how He has complete love for us.
When people boast about how much they love God, they quickly fall. Peter once boasted about how much he loved Jesus, and he fell quickly, worse than the other disciples. John always boasted about how much the Lord loved him, and he could stand firm in the Lord. Some people always think that unless you completely repent and thoroughly acknowledge all your sins, you cannot restore your relationship with God.
They believe that you must confess your wrongs to God for His anger to subside, and then He can hear your prayers. But you must understand that we are not against saying sorry to God or confessing sins; what I mean to express is that we are never as great as we think. It is always our Lord who is the proactive one.
Before the younger son had the thought of wanting to go home, his father was already thinking of him, already going out to look for him, and this father had already forgiven him before the son confessed. Although this son had rehearsed, perhaps repeating the dialogue in his heart many times, preparing to apologize, just like rehearsing a play to tell his father. From the text, we can see that before the son could say these words, his father had already run to him, embraced him, and was kissing him. Amen! What does this indicate? This father had already forgiven this son; even if the son had not confessed, the father had already accepted him. This is the love of our Heavenly Father.
But how many people describe the Father's love as very conditional, saying that unless you confess your sins first, unless you cleanse yourself first, this Heavenly Father will not hear your prayers, will not embrace you, will not bless you. These are all problems brought about by erroneous teachings. What was the younger son's plan? Initially, he left his father and went to a distant place, and in a life of indulgence, he squandered everything he had, and when he was so poor that he could only eat with pigs, he suddenly woke up. Last time we shared that his awakening at this moment was not repentance; it was merely setting a plan for himself.
Today we share the content: The younger son's plan. Don’t think this is repentance; the string of words he said to his father was not heartfelt confession. No, it was just his plan. What was he planning? First, to admit to his father the mistakes he made. He knew he had lost his sonship, did not expect to be treated as a son anymore, and only wanted his father to treat him as a hired servant, because to them, this son was already dead.
In the teachings of the rabbis at that time, if you wanted to live under the law, they would tell you what the original standards of the rabbis were: If you violate the law, merely confessing is not enough; you must also make restitution. Reading Deuteronomy makes this clear: If you steal a cow from someone, saying sorry and acknowledging your wrong is not enough; you must return the cow. But is that enough? No, if you steal one cow, you must return five. This does not mean that confessing to you is sufficient; many people have lowered the Father's standards, thinking that confessing to the Father is enough. You still have to make restitution if you want to live under the law.
The younger son was saying to his father: I know I have no right to return home, but if you allow it, I am willing to be a hired servant, which is much better than being with others; at least I can use this to repay my debt. This was the younger son's true thought. He knew he could not repay his father's debt and only wanted to use the rest of his life as a hired servant to repay the debt; this was the younger son's plan.
He thought that living in his father's house was slightly better than living with the pig farmer; he did not truly understand his father's goodness, nor did he understand grace. Perhaps the younger son repeatedly practiced this speech, feeling that he was ready to meet his father on the way home.
Now let’s look at the third scene, which is also a dramatized scene we are sharing today, where the younger son, not far from home, perhaps when he could just see the house, the father saw him and began to run towards him. Brothers and sisters, have you ever thought about this: Is it such a coincidence? Just as the younger son is returning home, his father comes out. What exactly happened?
Because every day the father was waiting for the son's return, just as the Heavenly Father waits for us to turn to Him every day, He comes to bless us. But do you know how many people are still unwilling to turn to the Heavenly Father, wanting to live by themselves? This is the real reason they lose blessings.
When the father saw this son, he began to run towards him. In the customs of the Middle East at that time, a patriarch of status would absolutely not run; perhaps children would run, women would run, young people would run, but a patriarch would never run, because they were highly respected in society. They would never lift their outer robe and expose their legs to run, because they all wore long robes. If the father were to run, he would have to bend down to gather his robe and then run, which was very shameful at that time.
If others saw it, they would think: This father has no dignity; you have lost your dignity as a patriarch. Do you remember when David led a group of people to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city of David? Wasn't David particularly happy? He danced so much that his pants fell off. What did his wife Michal say at that time? "Our king is so glorious today." Was she mocking him? Why didn't David care? He might have said: "I don't care about all this; what does my dignity matter? Bringing God into the city is my greatest glory." At this moment, the father’s relationship with his son is just like this; he no longer cares how others see him; he just wants to run to this son. Brothers and sisters, do you know how willing our Heavenly Father is to bless us? As long as we turn to Him, the Heavenly Father runs to welcome you. When a sinner repents on earth, how happy our Heavenly Father is! He has been waiting for us to come back. Hallelujah!
He ran to the younger son without hiding his emotions and kissed him repeatedly. Brothers and sisters, think about what state this younger son was in at that time; did he have clean clothes? Had he bathed? Was he dirty? How clean could someone who worked in a pigsty be? Did the father despise him? But how many people tell you: Come to church, first clean up your sins, first cleanse yourself, then the Heavenly Father can accept you. Why doesn’t the Bible say that? If that were the case, this father should have first said: "Come, servants, clean him up for me first, then I will kiss him."
Would we kiss our own son if he just crawled out of pig dung? We would first clean him up before kissing him. You can try it yourself, brothers and sisters, but did this father do that? Although this son was filthy up to that point, the father did not despise him. Amen! Always remember: It is not that we love God, but that God loved us first. It is not about how much we love God, but how much the Heavenly Father loves you. He is the initiator; everything is about His love for you. So do not live in anger, resentment, guilt, and frustration.
When you come to the Father's house, you should enjoy His rest, and you do not need to rely on your efforts to cleanse yourself, because He can cleanse you. Your Heavenly Father wants you to know that everything He has is yours, absolutely not because of your perfect performance, but because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you have already become His child. So your Heavenly Father wants you to know that everything He has is yours, absolutely not because of what you have done, but solely because of what Jesus has done for you.
Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
Does God not love Jesus? He loves Jesus, and precisely because God loves Jesus, when the Heavenly Father could give His Son for us, what does that indicate? Our Heavenly Father loves you in the same way. He has already given you everything along with Jesus. This indicates one thing: You have been accepted; in the eyes of the Heavenly Father, you are already holy and loved by Him. No matter what you need in your life, the Heavenly Father will provide it for you through Jesus. He only wants you to do one thing: turn back, turn to Him, come back to His house, come back to His embrace, and join Him in joy and dancing. This is the expectation of our Heavenly Father; He has prepared a feast, waiting for the world to join Him. Amen! In fact, this is exactly what the Heavenly Father is doing now.
An interesting point in this text is that both brothers wanted to earn their blessings through their own efforts, which also indicates that people have a physical tendency to want to exchange for blessings. How many people still have this exchange mentality? They want to earn God's blessings through their own actions and efforts. Due to a lack of understanding of grace, they tend to think that through our efforts, our performance, and our achievements, they can exchange for God's love, acceptance, recognition, and blessings. Most people do this instead of receiving God's gifts freely. There is a significant difference between the two; if you earn everything through effort, you will be very careful to guard it and unwilling to give it away; if you receive it freely, you will be particularly willing to share it freely.
So from this perspective, those living under grace understand that everything is given to them freely by God, and when they give it away, they do not feel pained because they know that God will give them more again. We indeed need a revelation of grace that allows us to recognize our Heavenly Father's love so that we can receive more of His blessings. Our righteousness is also received from God. When you continually receive, you can triumph in life. Amen! This is why Christians fail; it is because they do not see the Father's provision. The key is that they are still trying to earn God's blessings.
What kind of God is the Heavenly Father to you? Is He a harsh taskmaster or a loving and generous father? If your understanding of God is wrong, everything that follows will be wrong. Are you willing to let Him clothe you with the robe of righteousness, let His loving grace put that ring on your finger, and put shoes on your feet? Or would you rather strive through your own efforts to earn your righteousness and reclaim what you deserve? What is the younger son's current mindset? It is clear that he wants to earn his inheritance through his own efforts; he wants to be a hired servant, and hired servants must work hard to earn a little return.
How you view the Lord also determines how you receive from God. Some may say: If everything is lawful under grace, then we can completely ignore God and live however we want; is there still a need to serve Him? In fact, you should ask: When a person truly understands the unearned love, grace, and blessings given by the Heavenly Father, how will they live?
Many people always think: If we keep receiving from God, do we not need to serve God? In fact, conversely, when you truly understand the Father's love, you will be willing to serve God. The two are different. How do you think this younger son will live? Will he run away from home again? Will he still say to his father, "Give me my inheritance"? He has already squandered it all. Amen!
Brothers and sisters, take a moment to put yourself in the younger son's position and think about what he did: You divided your father's property and then squandered the money, and when you had nothing to eat, you decided to go home because you knew that even your father's hired servants had enough food to eat. When you returned home, you found that this father did not scold you, nor did he condemn you; you did not need to beg him to take you as a hired servant. Instead, what did you receive? You received a warm embrace and kisses from your father to welcome you back. Shouldn't this be what the church does? No matter how that person was in the past, when they are willing to return to the church, we should not condemn them, nor should we ask about their past; we should accept them now. Hallelujah!
This is what the church needs to do. But how do some people act? "You are not worthy to enter the church; you are so filthy, and you have so many bad habits that you have not changed; first, clean yourself up." This is actually the attitude of the older brother and is not at all the heart of our Heavenly Father. This younger son just a few days ago was starving and even wanted to fight with pigs for food, but now the father has given him the best robe and put the father's ring on him, giving him the right and authority to spend money. The father feels that all this seems far from enough and even invites all the neighbors, carefully selecting a fattened calf to kill, and a family feast is being held in music and dance to celebrate the return of the younger son. Do you think the younger son deserves this?
If you think the younger son does not deserve all this, you are that younger son, and the Heavenly Father treats you this way. How will you treat this Heavenly Father in the future? Will you really say: "This father is so stingy?" This is the true place of the younger son’s repentance: when he realizes that all this is something he originally did not deserve, and he only deserves to be a hired servant, that is enough for him. But the father did not let him be a hired servant; the father restored his status as a son and told him: "Here is a ring for you," meaning to restore his authority.
Imagine these things happening to you; you have just experienced your father's warm embrace and forgiveness. Would you still rebel against your father and run away from home, returning to that filthy pigsty to eat things that cannot satisfy your appetite? Would you? Of course not. Some people have a great misunderstanding of the Father's love leading us to repentance; they always think that those who are still immersed in sin and love the world do so because they do not love God enough. They hear from preachers that believers should love God more and should give more for God, thinking that this will reduce the world's sins.
It is precisely because of such teachings that sinners are increasingly distanced from our Heavenly Father. If the Father's love is preached correctly, will these sinners not return? Of course, they will be willing to return, knowing that the Father will accept them. Why would they not want to come back? What they fear is that you always say: "You are so filthy; the Father will discipline you." Why would they want to stay far away? If it were me, I would also want to stay away because I know I have made many mistakes and feel ashamed to see Him, so I would just live in darkness. This is why many people are unwilling to return; it is a misunderstanding of the Heavenly Father. Amen! When our eyes are truly opened, we see that those who still live in sin do so because they do not recognize the Father's love. So everyone needs a revelation of grace. Hallelujah!
1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them."
What does this mean? Does it mean we should not love the world? When we love the world, the Father's love is not in us. Does it mean that once you love the world, the Heavenly Father does not love you? The real meaning of this statement is that if you always focus your gaze on the world, you will not see the Father's love and will not be able to believe in the Father's love.
Just like the younger son now, he may have looked for many jobs in the past, and when he had no choice, he went to tend pigs. What he received was a fair trade; he had to put in effort to get results. So he thought of his father in the same way, you understand? Always looking at our God with the world's standards, you cannot see the Father's love. This is the true reason for this statement. Hallelujah! Everyone, do not look at your Heavenly Father with worldly perspectives anymore. In other words, do not think that you can earn God's blessings through your efforts. Our Heavenly Father is willing to bless you because Jesus has already paid the price, so you can receive all this freely. Hallelujah!
If anyone loves the world, the Father's love is not in them, emphasizing the Father's love, not man's love for the Father. When people love the world, they will fall into the traps of the world, and they do not know that the Father loves them. If this younger son, after squandering all his inheritance, still believed that his father could forgive him and accept him, when he went back to find his father, he would definitely not use that set of lines to fool his father, right?
He may have memorized it very well, which proves that it did not come from the heart. How many people confess from the heart? They just want to complete a task, "If I do not do this task, God will be unhappy." But brothers and sisters, does God need these things? The Heavenly Father only wants you to understand His love. Hallelujah! Unfortunately, many times the sermons we hear are about how you should love the Heavenly Father more and more. In reality, what is truly needed is to preach more about the Father's love; it is never about how much we love Him, but how much He loves us.
Dear brothers and sisters, when a person truly understands and believes in the Father's love for him, this love will burn within him, and he will no longer want to leave the Lord to live a devilish life. The most powerful force in grace is God's love, which can change a person. If a person has tasted the sweetness of God's grace, the flavor of the Father's grace, he will absolutely not want to leave the embrace of the Heavenly Father and wander in the wilderness. In other words, if you have lived in the desert, when you return to this place, you will know this is paradise. If given a choice, you will absolutely not want to go back. It is evident that the Heavenly Father has restored everything to you!
The father's actions clearly surprised the younger son; in his panic, he wanted to finish his lines, but his father interrupted him. What lines did he want to recite? Was it the confession? "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." Why did he say he sinned against heaven when he clearly sinned against his father? "From now on, I am no longer worthy to be called your son." Is this the kind of speech? What was the missing part? "Let me be one of your hired servants."
Hadn't the father already embraced him before this? Just think about how hard-hearted a person can be! The father had clearly embraced you and did not treat you as a hired servant, yet you still wanted to finish your lines. This is equivalent to saying that the Heavenly Father has already forgiven all your sins, but we still act as if we are saying, "Heavenly Father, I am truly sorry; I really do not deserve to be your son; I have committed so many sins today; please give me a chance to finish what I have to say." How many people are still doing this futile work?
Did the father let the son finish? It seems that the father did not even listen to what the son was saying; the above segment is all nonsense. The father knew what the son wanted to say but interrupted him. He ignored the lines the son had practiced for a long time and directly said to the servants: "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him." What does this mean? The best robe in the house signifies that the father wants to restore the son's status in the family. Please listen carefully: This is a sign. In the past, in the Middle East, what kind of clothing a person wore indicated their status; the clothing they wore showed their identity. The clothing of a servant is completely different from that of a master.
Bringing the best robe means the father wants him to remember: You are not a hired servant; you are my son; the father also means: I do not want you to repay any debts; I do not want you to be a hired servant; I want to accept you back home and cover your nakedness, poverty, and lack with my honor. The question is, are you willing to let the father do this for you? This is important. When we stubbornly say: "No, let me first finish confessing my sins." Do you know how ridiculous this is? How many people stubbornly continue to do this? Thinking this is repentance; it is not. True repentance is recognizing the Father's acceptance of you. Amen!
What does verse 22 say? "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him.'"
This proves that the father was very anxious; he particularly did not want the son to say those nonsense! How many of us in prayer are just like this younger son! "Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet." First, let’s talk about this best robe. In ancient Middle Eastern nomadic cultures, this was the father's most precious garment, worn only when guests visited. Therefore, the robe symbolizes status, while the ring represents the father's authority. Do you know that the younger son had lost everything? He lost his authority, lost his status; he lost everything. Now the father wants to give it back to him. Amen!
Genesis 41:42-43:
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Joseph had nothing back then, but Pharaoh saw him and made him governor of Egypt while also giving him authority; otherwise, would he have any say in Egypt? No, he would not. Brothers and sisters, when Pharaoh took off his signet ring, this signified authority! When a document needs to be approved, as long as he presses this ring, it becomes effective. When he put this ring on Joseph's hand, what did it prove? From then on, as long as Joseph had this ring, whatever he said would have absolute authority, just like Pharaoh. Amen!
"Clothe him in fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck." This proves that Joseph was sitting with him. The following statement means what? After Joseph was with Pharaoh, everyone saw Joseph as they saw Pharaoh. Amen! Do you know that our Heavenly Father has also given you His authority? He gives it to you to let you know that you have the authority of Jesus Christ. If you do not know our authority, it would be a pity. When you recognize the Father's love for you, He does not merely say it; He truly acts.
When "this" happens, Pharaoh appointed him to govern all of Egypt, to govern this world. Amen! Our Heavenly Father has also given you this authority to govern Egypt, which is this world. When you stand in that position, what will you do? The higher your position, the greater your responsibility. Perhaps in the past, Joseph would joke that if you were second only to the king, would your jokes be taken seriously by those below you?
This is why our Lord Jesus never jokes because He knows that the words that come out of His mouth have authority; He does not speak casually. Amen! Unlike many people who do not know their authority, they say, "I am so angry, I am so hot, I am so annoyed." If that is the case, we would have all died long ago.
Brothers and sisters, when the father gives the son a ring, it signifies that the father has completely entrusted his rights to this son. This ring is the authority of being a son. The following mention of shoes represents what? The qualification of being a son. At that time, only free men of non-slave status could wear shoes; slaves were not worthy of wearing shoes. Did the younger son have shoes? Because he had been a servant to others, his shoes had long been taken away. Only when you are a son can you wear shoes. Hallelujah! This signifies that the father wants to remove his identity as a slave and restore his identity as a son. You are not slaves today; you are sons, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This is God's redemptive plan. When this prodigal son turns back, the robe he receives represents the robe of salvation.
The prophet Isaiah has already told us this in Isaiah 61:10: "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Now we possess all this because in the past we did not have it, but He has clothed us with garments of salvation. After Adam and Eve sinned, our Heavenly Father found them to clothe them with garments of salvation and cover them with a robe of righteousness. Today, He treats us the same way. Hallelujah! You have the robe of righteousness of Jesus Christ upon you, the holiness of Jesus Christ, and the wisdom of Jesus Christ. Amen!
1 Corinthians 1:30 says, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption."
Whose reason is this? It is not the result of your efforts. Do not try to earn God's blessings through your efforts anymore; put all this down. All this is done by God, and it is because of God that you can be in Christ Jesus. Not only does God let you be in Christ, but God also makes Him—referring to Jesus—become your wisdom, your righteousness, your holiness, and your redemption. Amen! All of this is actually the grace of God in Christ that is freely given to us, allowing us to stand in the position of sons and enjoy complete freedom.
"Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate." He commanded the servants to prepare a celebratory feast, using the fattened calf as the main dish. Do you know why it is the fattened calf? This signifies that you can have a place at this feast because someone has paid the atoning sacrifice; someone has paid the price. Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. Amen! Therefore, the feast in our kingdom of heaven must center around Jesus Christ; He is the main dish. Amen!
In the society of that time, most people could not eat meat regularly because meat was very expensive, especially beef. Is beef very expensive today? Especially fattened calves, which could only be eaten on special occasions and feasts. Among all types of meat, fattened calves are the most expensive and can only be encountered in very rare occasions. In such a grand occasion, he would invite everyone in the village to participate; the news would spread quickly, and everyone would soon know that a formal feast was about to begin, and there would be music and dancing. Who is this all for? To celebrate the return of the younger son. When we pray for someone to make a decision, when a soul says: "I want to accept the Lord Jesus," there will also be music and dancing in heaven.
Our Heavenly Father is very happy because He has the opportunity to bless this younger son; He has the opportunity to bless this one who is willing to turn back. Amen! Our Heavenly Father has abundant provision; as long as one person turns back, our Heavenly Father will say: "Finally, you give me the opportunity to bless you." When a person understands such love, who would want to leave? Everything the father did was to celebrate the return of the younger son, to restore his life, to restore his family, and to restore his status. God's love is so great.
When you understand the Father's love like this, do you think the younger son's original plan was good or bad? It really was not great. Amen! But does our Heavenly Father care? Not at all; no matter what reason you have to return, you just give Him an opportunity to bless you. Perhaps many people say: "I am sick in my body, so I came to church." Congratulations! Through this illness, you can come here; this is your blessing! But you absolutely cannot say: "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me this illness." Wrong! The illness is not given to you by God, just like all the suffering the younger son went through was not given to him by his father. However, his father could use this situation to bless him again. Amen!
In hospitals, how many people die from illness without believing in Jesus! If someone with a sick body is willing to accept Jesus, our Heavenly Father will have the opportunity to bless him. Hallelujah! Similarly, no matter what reason you come to church, perhaps you were dragged here by a friend; if you can be here, you are giving our Heavenly Father an opportunity to bless you. As long as you are willing to open your heart, our Heavenly Father is eager to bless you. Perhaps you say: "I am not good enough yet." Put down your so-called inadequacies because no matter what you do, it is never good enough. It is better to put it all down and simply receive all that He has. Amen!
Let us enter into the feast of the fattened calf and eat and drink joyfully. Hallelujah! Before the younger son wanted to go home, what did he think? "My father's hired servants have food to spare." Why did he come back? That's right; he thought, "There is so much food in my father's house." No matter what your purpose is for coming to church,
Perhaps you say: "I go because I think their praise and worship songs are nice, so I come."
You say: "There is free food in the church, so I come."
You say: "If I let them pray for me, I will feel a little better, so I come."
No matter what your reason is, as long as you feel that there is abundance and surplus here, you can come. Although the initial purpose may not be so good, the Heavenly Father does not mind at all. He not only gives you food and fills you up but also restores your status, authority, and everything you have lost. This is the heart of our Heavenly Father. Amen!
What the younger son initially asked for was nothing, really nothing. This is what the Bible says; in fact, our Lord wants to bless us abundantly according to His will. Amen! Although you ask for a piece of bread, what does our Heavenly Father give you? Everything. He will give you all that He has; this is why when we believe in Jesus, you will feel that you cannot live without this Lord.
If after believing in the Lord, one day you find that this Lord makes you suffer more and more, what does that prove? You are a hired servant because hired servants must put in effort to get a return. If the Lord you believe in makes you more fearful the more you believe, but you have to believe, it is very likely that you are already under the law. Therefore, you need to come back and recognize the love of our Heavenly Father. Amen, He has abundance; in other words, grace abounds. Hallelujah! When you return to the Heavenly Father's house, you will find that His grace is abundant.
Romans 5:20 says, "The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more."
Did sin increase after the law came? The law came, and sin increased. This clearly means that the more you preach the law, the more sin will increase, after all, the power of sin comes from the law. But how do many people act? When they see people sinning, they preach more law, which is simply adding fuel to the fire. But what does Paul say? "The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase," meaning it was something that should not have appeared. Did the younger son need to endure this suffering? Absolutely not; if he had not gone out and had this strange idea, if he had known that his father loved him, would he have had this experience? No, it would have been impossible. Adam was like this, and the younger son was too.
The purpose of placing these characters in the Bible is to warn you not to walk their path! He is not saying: "The younger son going out was actually quite good; at least it made him know what suffering is, at least it made him know what poverty is, at least it made him know what cold treatment is; this is beneficial for him." In fact, he did not need to walk such a path at all. There is an old Chinese saying: "Those who do not listen to the words of the elderly will suffer losses in front of them." Why should we listen to the words of the elderly? The reason is simple; they have fallen many times. They may not be able to tell you what the philosophy of life is, but they know how many pits are ahead that you should not jump into.
Just like me today, I only know a little more grace than you; I may not be able to tell you how good our Lord is, which cannot be expressed in words, but one thing I know is that there are many pits you should not jump into, and there are many paths you should not take. If you listen, shouldn't you avoid walking that path? Just like Moses back then, Moses would tell you: "Do not always run into the wilderness; that path is not good at all." Those forty years are not something a person can go through. If you have the opportunity, do not walk that wilderness path. Amen! But many people say: "No, we want to walk the wilderness road; we want to venture out ourselves." Fine, go ahead.
We must listen to God's word. Why did God put so many failures in the Bible? He hopes you will not walk that path again. The Israelites had so many failures; why are they still written in the Bible? He does not want you to walk their old path again. What does God hope you will do? Believe His words, believe that He is the God of grace, and hope you will not walk the path of the younger son again. Hallelujah! This is why we encourage each other because some people have experienced such things; they know how painful it is, and you do not have to experience this.
If you were to take the younger son's journey, would you be willing to experience it? Some say that at the beginning it was good! You always see the beginning, but what about the later part? When you are so hungry that you have to fight with pigs for food, is that process good? This is the law being added; did the younger son bring this journey upon himself? He insisted on living by himself. I advise everyone not to live by yourself; if you leave God's grace, you will indeed walk this old path, and in the end, you will come before God with nothing. Why go through that? The simplest way is to believe in God's promises; whatever God says, just believe it. Amen! Being foolishly faithful before God is a kind of happiness and wisdom.
You can be cautious and analyze with people, but do not do that with God. Hallelujah! Our Lord will absolutely not harm you, just as this father would not harm his son. The law was added so that trespass might increase; the younger son went out and realized how much he was worth, right? Otherwise, he would always think he was great in the past, capable, and wanting to achieve great things. He thought he could do better than his father. After he went out, he realized he did not have that ability, and only then did he know how many sins he had committed. Just as sin increases where the law is, grace increases all the more. When the younger son lost everything, did he truly know he had sinned? When the father once again restored what he had lost, how did the younger son feel? He knew this was grace.
To return to the point, the younger son truly repented when the father gave him all this; the father gave him the ring, clothed him with the best robe, and put shoes on his feet, all of which restored everything he had lost. Then he was invited into a banquet. At this moment, the younger son did not deserve any of this. Would the younger son show off the ring? Perhaps he would have before, but now would he show off the robe? Perhaps he would have before. When a person truly understands how much they have sinned, and they realize that the Heavenly Father does not hold their sins against them but rather uses His grace to cover their transgressions, they will absolutely not boast about themselves. Amen!
When a person always says, "I did this... I did so many things in the past; I healed so many people; I did so many things," it proves that this person does not yet recognize the Father's love. I believe that the younger son’s life after this will certainly say: "This is given to me by my father; I did not deserve it, but he gave it to me freely." Amen! When you truly understand the Father's grace, you will live this way; everything you have is freely given to you by the Father. Paul knows this, so Paul means that sin cannot stop the flow of God's grace, and God's grace will stop evil because it says that where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
But we absolutely cannot say: "To make God's grace more abundant, I will sin more." This assumption is wrong; it is very obvious. Let me give you an example to show you why it is wrong. Does our Heavenly Father have the power to heal? Then would you say: "Since our Heavenly Father has the power to heal, let me get some cancer so that the Father can heal me?" Have you ever thought about whether the process of experiencing cancer is painful or joyful? I once met a patient with brain cancer, and he told me what his state was like at that time. He said: "When this happens, the only thing I want to do is to bang my head against the wall until I make a hole in it." That was his only thought at that time, of course, when he was normal, he was fine.
I once met an elderly lady who was over sixty years old and had brain cancer. She was in great pain, and her husband said that at night, she could wake him up by banging her head against the wall. Did she want to do this? Did she practice iron head skills? She could not take it anymore. A very strange thing happened; I asked her: "Do you want to believe in Jesus?" She said: "Yes." Was she willing to believe in Jesus because of this? We prayed for her: "In the name of the Lord Jesus, remove this pain from you." From that day on, she never again banged her head against the wall. Was this God's grace? God healed her of this pain. How many people say: "Where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Great! After I get healed, I say: "Lord, give me another round of brain cancer." Who would want to live like this?
Because you have not suffered that pain, you would think it does not matter. People will deliberately sin. You are wrong; the process of that is unbearable. Therefore, after the younger son went through that, he absolutely would not want to experience it a second time. The answer is obvious. You absolutely do not want to sin and then show how abundant God's grace is. In fact, there are many ways to show God's grace more abundantly; why must you do it through sin? This means that today God heals; His power can be manifested in many places. Why must you manifest it through your illness? We do not need to try this ourselves.
Those who understand God's grace absolutely do not want to live in sin to make God's grace more abundant. Paul has already told us below that where there is evil, God's grace is even more abundant, and in the original text, it refers to being abundant and overflowing, meaning: No matter how big your problem is, our Heavenly Father can solve it for you; no matter how great your loss is, our Heavenly Father can compensate for it.
This is the reason for His grace being abundant and overflowing. Do not be afraid to preach God's grace because He is the only one with the power to stop us from sinning in our lives. When you fail, you should not have feelings of guilt and condemnation; these feelings are wrong. Many times, when we sin, what is our first feeling? "God does not love me anymore; God does not hear my prayers." This feeling is often wrong; many times, we are deceived by these emotions and feelings. Do not live in this feeling; you need to receive God's super abundant grace. When you come to church, you are still told: "You are a righteous person loved by God; His abundant grace can save you from sin."
Those who are immersed in guilt and condemnation do not have the power to overcome their sins. For example, how can a person control themselves not to get angry? It is completely impossible to rely on themselves unless they recognize the Father's love. Amen! And how does our Heavenly Father do it? He directly removes the fuel, and then the person will not be angry anymore.
What do we do? To make his anger disappear, we add more fuel; let’s burn the water dry. This is a completely wrong approach. The best way is to remove the fuel, and the person will not have anger anymore. The best way is to return to the love of the Father and recognize how much He loves you. Many people cannot overcome their struggles because they are still relying on themselves, believing that God's grace has left them, that they have already fallen, so God no longer blesses them.
What do you hope to use to overcome evil? I tell everyone the method is: Use God's abundant grace, use the grace that God calls you righteous. The father's acceptance of the younger son shows how deep and wide the father's grace is. In this text, you must clarify who the main character is; the main character is definitely not the younger son, nor is it the older son, but this father. The center of our faith is absolutely not you, nor others, but our Lord Jesus Christ. When you place the center on Jesus, your problems can be resolved.
Jesus spoke of this loving father embracing his filthy son in love; at that moment, this younger son had not yet repented, but later, when his father restored everything to him and gave it to him freely, I believe this younger son truly repented. In other words, when he understood that his father's love was given to him freely, he would not indulge in his life anymore.
My personal understanding is that after this incident, the younger son absolutely believed in everything his father said and was willing to obey. Because his father was not that cruel taskmaster, he did not make him do things to earn his father's acceptance; rather, all of this was given to him freely. His father hoped for him to live better, and when he understood this, he was willing to live under his father's love. Thank and praise the Lord!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for leading us to understand the Father's love once again. Just like this younger son, he was accepted by his father, and we too are accepted by the Heavenly Father, absolutely not because our behavior is good enough today, or because our repentance is thorough enough, or because we have recognized our past actions thoroughly enough, but because the Heavenly Father has always loved us. He has always been waiting for us to turn back. Therefore, the Heavenly Father does not want me to live by myself; I am willing to live by Your words because all that I have is Your free gift, all of which was given to me at a heavy price by Jesus. When I understand all this, I do not want to squander it; instead, I will cherish everything that the Heavenly Father gives me every day. I am willing to be like Abraham; You bless me, and I will also be a blessing to others. Hallelujah! Thank and praise You! All glory belongs to You. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!