Speaker: Rick Fry

Passage: Luke 15:11-32

LUKE 15:11-32

I just need to start by saying I’m an interactive preacher, so if you don’t respond with me, I won’t preach well. So, if I ask for hands, if I ask for like a fist bump, you got to give it to me. 

We love pastor Greg and Belinda, and Jay and Mark, and all the gang. We love them so much. We’ve had so much fun with them. I’m going to tell you how I knew I liked him. 

When he came to do our church, we have a large sanctuary, and he was putting in the PA, and we were talking about what we’re going to put in, and he was like, Yeah, we’re gonna put in this Meyer system. I was like, All right. 

And he showed me some speakers, and I was like, Can we go bigger? And he goes, Yeah, we can go bigger. So, we went big, and it sounds amazing. Because I’m a musician, I love the way the church sounds right now. 

I was like, Hey, you want to go to Israel? So, we brought him on one of our Israel trips, and I am angry. It’s probably day four, and some friends of ours from the church that are Middle Eastern said, We know this great spot in Jerusalem where we can go eat. So I’m hangry, you know where it’s like, I don’t want to talk around the people from my church because they won’t think I’m a Christian at that point. 

And so, we’re running around, and they can’t find this restaurant, and it’s been an hour, and I’m finally losing it. I’m like hungry and tired, and I got kind of a little bit riled up. And Greg just walks up to me, and he hugs me. He goes, I love you. And I said, Me and this guy can be friends forever because he can put up with the hangry Rick, 

If you have a Bible, go to Luke 15. We’re going to do two sermons in one today. I’m going to go fast. What time do you guys get done? Whenever? Don’t say that to me, brother. Before you do that, stand up one more time. I know we’re not Catholic, but we’re doing it, up, down, up, down. 

Why don’t you put your hands out like you’re gonna receive this morning, like a sack of potatoes. Father, we thank You in the name of Jesus for Your presence. And Lord Jesus, we just declare that You are Lord of this room. Holy Spirit, captivate this atmosphere for the glory of God, and Lord, make us good soil for the word. Make us good soil for the word to be planted in, and we will protect it. We love You. Encourage those who are discouraged today in Jesus’ name, amen. 

Luke 15. Wait, wait, wait, stand back up. Stand back up. We missed it. We missed the holy kiss. We’re gonna do a holy kiss now. Let me explain what the holy kiss is. Before you start thinking I’m weird, it’s a high five. So, high-five somebody, and have a seat. All the single guys were like, Yes, I get to kiss somebody. 

THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON

We’re going to talk about the joyful pursuit and the prodigal lie that we have to overcome. Luke 15:11. How many have heard the story of the prodigal son? I’m going to read the whole thing. I didn’t in the second service because we didn’t have time because there’s that time crunch, but I’m going to read it. 

Luke 15:11, “Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them. 

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he had set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave them anything.’”

Have you ever thought about that? He wanted to eat what the pigs were eating, and the pigs wouldn’t share with them, stinking pigs. 

Verse 17, “‘And when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. 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–’” it’s a beautiful picture. 

“‘The son said to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.” 

“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. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they begin to celebrate. 

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe and sound.” 

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out to him and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, “Look! All these years, I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you’ve never given me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours has squandered all your property with prostitutes came home, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”’” 

Okay, paint the picture. Prodigal son gets the inheritance. He goes, and he squanders it on what we find out from the older brother. The older brother had a little more information. He didn’t just squander it on bad real estate deals. It was partying, it was drugs, it was sex, it was the prostitutes. This was a bad thing. He took his father’s inheritance and squandered it. 

And there are people here, the Father has invested something in all of us, and our life’s aim should be to not squander that thing that God has given to us, that investment that He’s put in our life. 

Well, he did. He squandered it, and he’s out there, he’s like, Man, you got money? You got friends. And as soon as his money was gone, he had no friends. And he had a severe famine come on the land. 

And so, he goes, and he finds this guy, and he starts feeding pigs. We had pigs growing up. I was born in Los Angeles, raised in Cottonwood, California, which is way up north, and it was just ranches. So, we had pigs. They’re disgusting. They will eat anything you put in there, and I mean anything. 

And he wanted to eat that food. That’s how desperate he was. He was desperate, and the pigs wouldn’t share. And he comes to himself, and he goes, How many of my father’s hired servants eat better than me? I’m just gonna go back to him. I’m gonna repent, and I’m just gonna tell him, make me one of your hired servants. 

By the way, repentance is good. Look right here: repentance is a good thing. I tell our church all the time, joyful repentance. By the way, our church is in Danville, California. It’s called The Rock, and it’s right in the belly of the beast by San Francisco. It’s between Napa Valley, and so it’s just crazy. 

There’s just crazy people. There’s weird ideas. How many of you, when you hear about California, like, Oh my gosh, they have problems? Yes, we do, but the church is rising up. Even in the Bay Area, we are seeing it. 

We pray a lot. We pray four or five times a week as a church. We have live prayer and worship. We have twenty-four-hour prayer meetings. We have fasting days, and we’re seeking the Lord, and we’re seeing a miracle. We’re seeing people coming to Christ, twenty to thirty-five people every Sunday for the last year, coming to the Lord. And we’re seeing cancer healings and miracles and all this powerful stuff because we’re praying to the Father, and we’re joyfully pursuing Him. 

FOUR WRONG VIEWS OF THE FATHER

The problem is, a lot of Christians, when it comes to joyfully pursuing God, it’s not joyfully pursuing God. It’s a dirge to pursue God. So, we’re going to deal with four lies that we have to overcome. Two that we’re going to get from the prodigal son, two that we’re going to get from the older brother. Ready? Write it down. I’m going to go fast because we’re doing two sermons. Remember that, and hopefully, they’ll tie together. Here’s four outcomes of a wrong view of the Father. 

Number one: a wrong view of the Father reduces us to hired hands. Watch what he says in Luke 15:9. He goes, “I’m not worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” He didn’t know who his father was, so he said, “Lord, just make me like one of your hired hands.” 

And there’s tons of people in the body of Christ today that are hired hands in the Kingdom. They’re in church, they go to Sunday school, they serve, they’re always busy. They’re out in the field, like the older brother, just work, work, work, work, work, I’m gonna do, do, do, do, do. And they never be. They never be.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, body, mind, strength, right? You know that Scripture? How many of you know that Scripture? First commandment, and the second is like it, but it’s not it. You should love your neighbor as yourself. 

If we don’t love the Father first, and we act like hired hands and all we do is serve, we end up with spiritual hernias. We just have spiritual blowout because we’re serving without love. And so, when we don’t know the Father’s love for us and aren’t with the Father worshiping, prayer in the word every day, what happens? 

We become– I just love these people because I can see them, and then eventually, you won’t even love the people that you’re serving. I tell our staff all the time– fifty staff members start out every morning from 9:00 to 10:00, we are in our sanctuary. It’s open every day from 7:30 to 5:00. People come in and out all day, and our whole staff sits there for an hour praying and reading the Word. 

Here’s what I told them: I don’t want you to just be professional servants, I want you to be full of the love of God. I want you to be full of the Word of God. I want you to be full of the Spirit of God because if you don’t love Him well and know His love well, you won’t love our people well, and they’ll become a burden to you. 

So, when we make ourselves just a hired slave in the Kingdom, we end up, at some point, honestly, quitting and leaving. And how many of you don’t want to quit? Remember what I said? I’m interactive. Raise your hand. Beautiful. 

Number two: a wrong view of the Father produces self-loathing. Watch what he says: “I am no longer worthy,” which is true. How many know none of us are worthy? We’re not worthy. But God makes us worthy through His Son, Jesus. He goes to his father, he goes, I’m not worthy. And many Christians, this is how we live. 

I’ll bet you in this room, there might be one. I know in the last service, there were probably like four hundred, they were crazy. But they do this: you flog yourself, self-loathing. You sin, and the enemy whispers in your ear, Hey, you’re not that great of a Christian. Put yourself on a ninety-day probation with the Lord. Get yourself cleaned up, get yourself squared away, then you can go back to church. 

It’s called self-loathing. It’s the, Oh God, I’m the worst Christian that’s ever lived. I’m just a worm. God, step on me and watch me squirm. I’m a horrible person. Oh, I loathe, I loathe. 

Guys, that is no way to walk in the grace of God. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that you and I could have a dirty walk with Him. You ever seen those Christians that are just angry, they look like they’ve been baptized in lemon juice? Have you seen these?

There’s people in our church, man, they’ll be in our church, and they’ll just walk in, and I’m just like, Hey, come here. What’s up with your face? They’re like, What do you mean? Are you happy? Yeah. Well, tell your face because your face doesn’t look super happy today. There should be a joy in us that we have been forgiven. 

We don’t have to flog ourselves. Why? Because Jesus was beaten for us. He took all of the abuse and the cost of our sin upon Himself, and it’s wrong when we reject the grace of God, and we start doing it ourselves. By the way, we’re gonna pray and break these off of you before the day is over. 

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He’s faithful and just to forgive our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Who’s faithful? Jesus. I’m not that faithful. He’s way more committed to me than I am to Him, far more, and I try to be sold out every day. 

Okay, here we go. Third: a wrong view of the Father– this is the absolute opposite. Now, we’re going to go to the older brother. The first two were the prodigal son. Now, we’re going to the older brother. A wrong view of the Father produces self-righteousness. That’s worse. 

Luke 15:29, “But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I have been slaving for you and I’ve never disobeyed your orders.'” How many read that and go, Mmm, never? How many have kids? How many say, No, it’s not possible, never disobeyed. 

Yeah, because what happens is, if we do this, the other response is, we do this: I’m more godly than anyone in this room. I’m better than every person here. I read my Bible more. I pray more. I know perfect theology about everything. Then we do this: we do the caste system in the church. You’re here because you’re not there, and I’m here. 

Why? Because we don’t know who the Father is. In our church, people come and get saved. I took over a church that is in Danville, which is a very– I’ll just say it, I’m just saying– it’s a very, very, very wealthy city, ton of money. 

We came from the hood in Pomona, ministering prostitutes, naked people coming into church, like all kinds of crazy stuff. And we go to Danville, and my son’s eleven, and at that time, we’ve been there fourteen years, and he’s like, Where did we come to? It’s like a fairy tale. There’s like two sidewalks on both sides of the street, there’s a deer running around, but there’s big demons there. 

And I start preaching, I did twenty-two weeks on the Book of Revelation. Was my first series out the gate. Come on, church. Let’s pray. They didn’t want to pray, and the people started coming from all over, two hours away, people are coming. And they’re driving twenty-year-old cars that are all beat up, and there’s Lamborghinis sitting by these old beat-up cars. 

And I’m loving it. I’m like, Yes. We have every race known to man now, and so people were getting upset. Well, who am I sitting? By then, people start getting saved, and I sat– this really happened– this lady gets saved, and this lady comes up. She goes, I know her. I know her. I’m like, Oh, cool. You know her? Yes, I went to high school with her. I know that she did bad things in high school. And I was like, She’s forty-five, and she just came to Jesus and wants to serve the Lord.

That self-righteous thing, we forget where we came from, we forget that I was a long-haired rocker playing in a band, didn’t know the Lord, and He rescued me out of that thing. And so, we don’t want to become self-righteous because it’s never good for a church. By the way, there’s no one in this room that deals with that. The other two services, quite a few, but we dealt with it all right. 

Number four: a wrong view of the Father creates distance. It just creates a little distance. Watch what he says: “You never gave me a little goat that I could have.” That’s funny in our day, that would not be a party at all. Oh, cool. My dad gave me a goat. Sweet, got a goat. 

“You never gave me a goat that I could party with my friends and make merry,” and watch what the father says, the father goes like this: Hey, you’ve been with me all these years, and you just had to ask. He didn’t know who the father was. 

So, can I submit to you something? The prodigal son who went to Vegas and partied– and by the way, what goes on in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. It comes back in the form of a rash. Just so you know, it’s true, people. Oh, I’m sinning over there, and I’m safe, and I’m like, Dude, sin will find you out. Don’t do that. 

Listen, it creates a little distance if you don’t really know the Father. The prodigal son and the older brother, I think, had the same heart. One just stayed in church, the other one just stayed and served. But he didn’t know his father. 

I ask the Lord all the time: Lord, I want to have a great time with You today. I want to party with You. Could we just rejoice today in our prayer room? Can we seek God at the church, and may it be a joyful pursuit and not some dirty religious thing where we’re just like, all heavy and we’re pursuing God? 

I can’t do it. People do that stuff, and I’m just like, Bro, stop. God’s not impressed. He’s unimpressed with your loathing and your self-righteousness. Receive grace and come in, and let’s party together. We won’t enjoy or celebrate our position as sons and daughters. We just won’t. 

All right. Father says, “Put a robe on him and a ring on him, and sandals.” Jesus, when He died on the cross, He gave us everything that we need. There’s nothing we’re going to add to the cross. There’s not a work that we’re going to add to it.

The robe. He had no robe, the robe of righteousness. Jesus is the robe of righteousness. The shoes. The dude had no shoes. He lost everything. They walked everywhere back then. So, the Lord gave him a place to stand. His father gives him a place to stand. And then the ring was a signet ring. It was like a credit card. He could go into Macy’s and be like, boop on the sheet of paper. 

And so, watch what the father did. He didn’t put him on a ninety-day clock, he brought him right back and restored everything to him. In that moment, he didn’t go, Well, I’m going to wait like ten years and see how you do because I’m going to do this right now.

FORGIVING OTHERS

There’s two things, and this is the second part of the sermon that’s going to tie back to them. There are two things in Christianity that create the most problems, and the one is unforgiveness. And we’re going to talk about unforgiveness right now. 

Look what Jesus said, Matthew 6:12: “And when we pray, forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” right? We’re supposed to ask for forgiveness. Isn’t it funny we want mercy for ourselves, and we want judgment for everybody else? Oh Lord, I receive Your mercy. Get them, Jesus. And the Lord’s like, Well, if I’m going to get them, then I got to get you. 

Watch, this is what most of us do– a lot of Christians, not you. We use the Bible like this. We study the Bible so that we can debate denominations, so that we can win at Bible trivia, so that we can argue on YouTube. 

Right now, I can’t stand it. It’s just a bunch of dudes with cameras and a YouTube account, and they’re just, I want to talk to you today about this pastor. I don’t like what he preaches. And then there’s another guy over here throwing rocks at this guy. And I’m going, How does the world even know, how are they ever going to come to Jesus when we’re fighting each other? The Devil’s going, Sweet. I don’t got to do anything anymore. They’re fighting each other. 

Just pretend this is a big light. “Thy words are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Isn’t that what it says? Lamps show you where to put your foot, safe place to put your foot. Light gives you direction of where you’re going. 

This is what we do with it: Look at her. Look what she’s doing. Look at him. Look at that sin he’s committing. Hey, come over here. Let’s come here. You know, Susie’s really having a problem. Let’s pray for her. And ten people get in a group, and they gossip about Susie for half an hour. 

I’ve been in those prayer meetings where people are like, Lord, I just pray for Susie. We know what she’s doing. It’s not good. And I’m just like, Hey, come here a second. Let’s not do that, that’s praying on someone, not for someone. 

Let’s not gossip. Let’s not turn prayer into a gossip and slander section. It’s hard for God to move in a church where people are against each other and slandering. I’ve actually told people to leave my church that are gossipers. Cast out the mocker, and scoffing ceases. 

So, sometimes in church, you gotta go, Hey, dude, come here a second. You can’t come back here anymore. Well, why? Well, because you’re a loudmouth, and you’re trying to create dissension. Do this, turn it on yourself. God gave us His word, not just so we could be smart, but so we can get the word in our hearts, in our minds, we get the seed in us, and then we go out to the world. 

Alright, we’re gonna go somewhere a little bit different. Some people come to church, and they think it’s all about them, right? We read the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians, and we think that it’s just all about us. I get to church, it’s like, I didn’t like the worship today. 

I did this to the Lord once. I was speaking at a conference, and it was a big conference, and I’m in the front row, and I was like, I don’t like this. I said it out loud. I was like, I don’t like this song. And the Lord said, Good, it’s not for you. And I was like, Oh. 

Watch this: we’re just sponges when we come to church. Oh, I worshiped, and I feel great. And the word was, you know, I got something. It’s not the way I come to church. I go in the middle of the week. I’m in the prayer times. I’m in my Word worshiping, I’m praying, I’m seeking the Lord. So, when I come to church, I’m a sponge that’s already full, and then I just go on other people. Prophesy, that you might encourage the body. 

What’s that mean? That means we’re supposed to be looking at others when I’m in church. When I’m in church, I’ll be like this: Lord, what’s going on with the guy behind me? How can I pray for him today? What kind of word can I share with him? So now, I’m full of the word. I’m full of the Spirit, and I can share with my brother and encourage him.

THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

Hebrews 12:14-16: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone should fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this, many become defiled.” 

There’s only one root in the Bible we’re supposed to pull out of us: it’s the root of bitterness. Why? Because when bitterness gets in our soul, that’s why you should have a daily prayer time with the Lord where you can examine your own soul. Lord, is there anybody that I’m angry at? Is there anything I need to fix? 

I’m going to pull that bitterness. Why? Because bitter people make other people bitter. They defile the work of God. I’ve seen it in churches where God is moving, and somebody rises up, a little group rises up that thinks they’re better than everybody, and they know, and they’ve heard God, and all this stuff. 

And they start coming against the pastor, and then they gather more people and gather more people, and they’re all praying, and they’re all getting visions from the Lord about the pastor dying and all this stuff. And I’m just like, Dude, it’s not the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t function like that. Bitterness needs to get out of us. Bye, bye bitterness. I do it all the time. Lord, is there anything I need to deal with? 

By the way, we can’t be so offended all the time. Can we just stop being offended? We live in the most offended culture I’ve ever seen. Everyone’s offended by everything. Oh, I had a guy one time. He was for like fifteen, twenty years. I got an email from his wife, said, Hey, my husband’s upset at you. And I was like, Okay, why? Well, because twenty years ago, you were coming out of the church, and you didn’t say hi to him. I was like, Dude, there’s eight hundred people outside.

I said I’m so sorry that he felt that way. But now, can I please tell you that he’s walked around for twenty years with this in his soul, and I didn’t even know I did it? Next time, have him just come to me right away. 

Proverbs 19:11: “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; and it is to His glory to overlook an offense. You don’t got to be offended all the time. Matter of fact, sometimes you need to be offended because your flesh needs to die anyways. So, just take the offense and go, This is something really bad. Don’t be offended all the time. 

Okay, I did research. I wanted to know what animal had the longest memory. And I’m that guy. I’m googling, and I’m like– I’ve done it before– I wonder how nickels are made? And you put in, How are nickels made? You misspell, it’s pickles. And then you sit there for two hours. I hate pickles. I found out that they’re from cucumbers, and I love cucumbers. So, why don’t I like pickles? So, I’m there for an hour thinking about this stuff with myself. 

So, I go online, and I’m like, What animal has the longest memory? I was amazed at what I found because I thought it was an elephant. It is a dolphin. I don’t know how they figured this out. Did they interview them? Hey, buddy, how long have you been alive? 

Okay, I don’t know how they did it, but they figured it out that a dolphin, when he hears the sound from his other buddy, he can hear twenty years ago from the particular dolphin, and he, twenty years later, will hear it and know who it is. 

They can see you when they’re swimming, they do a little different swim. When they’re swimming, they can see you, and they recognize your face, and they can see you years later and recognize your face. So, be nice to dolphins. They have massive memories. 

Some of you in here have long memories. My wife, I love her, she can remember thirty-seven years ago, a detail about something that I didn’t even know happened. She’s like, Remember this. Remember? And I’m like, No, you’re lying. She goes, I’m not lying. You just don’t have a good memory. You’re not a dolphin. 

Then I was like, what’s got the shortest memory? So, I go to Google, What has the shortest memory? This is awesome, fruit fly. It’s got a four-second memory. Four seconds. And I started thinking about it, Yeah, of course they have a four-second memory because they eat poo. That is their job. 

So, think about the little fruit flies. He’s out there. Ah, this is a good day. It’s a good day every four seconds. It’s a good day, right? And he’s like, Oh, what’s that on the ground over there? And he flies over. He takes three bites and goes, Oh, that’s terrible. Flies off. Four seconds later, sees it again, goes right back to it. 

If your job is to be the poo cleaner of the earth, you got to have a short memory, right? You can’t have a long memory. I’m going somewhere with this. When it comes to people’s stuff, don’t be a dolphin, be a fruit fly. Every time you see a fruit fly from now on, or hear the word fruit fly, just remember to be a fruit fly when it comes to other people’s junk. 

I’m not going to hold you to your past; if Jesus said you’re forgiven, you are forgiven now. If somebody is abusing you and hurting you, that’s a different story. Forgive and have big, high walls around you to protect you. You don’t have to go back to that, amen? You don’t have to go back to that. 

I’ve talked with women that are like, My husband beats me, what do I do? Leave. Yeah, but I just want to show them the love of Jesus. We’ll show them the love of Jesus by leaving. That’s called the discipline of God. Don’t stand there and take it. Jesus never intended for you to be a punching bag, amen? And if there’s guys that are doing that, may the Lord smite you. 

How many of you remember Covid? I’m an extrovert. I don’t know if you can tell, but I am a way high extrovert. Like my wife is introvert-extrovert. I’m an extrovert with no introvert at all. I just love whenever crowds come around. We just came from a pastor’s conference. We were here in Denver, three thousand five hundred pastors, and I was in my element. I was just meeting with guys. It was super fun. 

So, here comes Covid. Shut down. Doctor on my council’s like, Yeah, it’s killing people. So, we shut down for six weeks, and then we opened up again because four hundred people came to Christ during that time because they were depressed and scared. So, we’re going to be the church, and we’re going to go for it. And the news came, and the cops. It’s okay, we’re okay. 

That was a long time ago, but I would just laugh at people wearing the masks in their car by themselves with a mask on. I would just drive up next to him, roll down my window, You know you’re by yourself, right? It’s not just in the air. 

On the trail by our house, I’d walk our dog because I was bored. They said stay home. I’m like, I’m not staying home. So, I’m walking the trails looking for people to talk to about Jesus. I’m yelling at people in their backyards. How are you doing? And they’re like, Get away. People are hiding in the bushes from me when they see me coming because I don’t have a mask on. 

It’s so funny how we were so, as a church, willing to protect each other’s health, but when it comes to gossiping and slandering, we don’t put a mask on our ears to go, I’m not going to listen to that. 

I get phone calls from pastors, they’ll bring me into stuff. Hey, this pastor is having an issue. Cool. Am I going to be part of the solution? No, we just want you to know. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know anything more about it because if I’m not part of the solution, I don’t need to hear it. I just want to keep this sacred. 

And by the way, in order for me to change your view of me, I have to destroy your view of somebody else, and I won’t do it. We just went through a pretty hard thing in our church. It was about a two-year battle, and people wanted me to get up and talk about these people, and I was like, I’m not doing it because in order for me to make myself look better, I have to make them look terrible. And Jesus is my defender. I don’t have to do that. He’ll help me. Amen. 

HOW WE DEAL WITH TRIALS

All right, last little thing here. So, we have unforgiveness is a big deal. And then, how we deal with trials, how we deal with trouble when it comes our way. You know the story, the Scripture, Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for the good of those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose,” right? 

I was reading that one day, and I read, “All things work to good.” And I was like, I don’t believe that. I don’t believe all things work to good. And the Lord said, Read the next phrase. “To them that love Him.” When we love God. 

In the midst of our battles, in the midst of our whatever– how many of you are going through something? Come on, raise it up. How many have gone through some hard stuff? When I walk with Jesus, the Bible says that the things of the temporary, light afflictions I’m going through, aren’t worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed when I see Jesus someday. So, when I’m going through difficult things, how I go through those things matters. 

How many of you have had babies? If you’re a man, don’t raise your hand. I’m talking to just the women. Because guys say that, Oh, we had a baby. No, you did not. She had the baby. They had the pain.

I don’t even understand having a human being inside of me. Guys, that does freak you out a little bit. It’s like that movie Alien. It’s moving around. It’s kicking. Time comes. The baby’s coming. Water breaks. They’re off to the hospital. They get in the bed, the dad’s there rubbing the wife, It’s gonna be okay, baby. And she’s like, Get your hands off me. You did this to me. Don’t touch me. He’s now down by the feet, just going, Okay, it’s gonna be okay. 

She’s screaming and yelling, and the baby comes out. Baby’s out. Baby comes out. They picked a little baby up, put the baby on her. The dad’s over there, and kissing the baby more. This is so good. And then they do it again. And some in this room have done it again and again and again. Why? 

Watch what Jesus said, John 16:21: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child has been brought into the world.” The temporary pain brought beauty. 

There’s another problem in the world, and it’s called kidney stones. Never had one. Don’t want one. I had a friend who did, one pastor, pulled over in Seattle on the freeway, hanging over a guardrail because he was in so much pain. The ambulance came, took him to the hospital. 

He’s telling me the story. I’m laughing a little bit, and he’s like, Man, it was so much pain. They said, Oh yeah, it’s like giving birth. And I was like, Man, I don’t know about that, but maybe. And he goes, No, it was so painful. And then all of a sudden, I gave birth, and I was like, What was it? Tell me what it was. He goes, This little rock. And I go, Oh, all that pain, no life. And he just goes, Yeah, and I go, That’s a bummer. 

When I walk with Jesus through my pain and through my struggle, through my trials, through my tribulation, it births life in me. When I back away from Jesus, and I don’t serve Him, and I don’t call on Him, and I don’t stay close to Him, my pain and trouble– for He works all things to good to those who love Him– my pain and trouble, when I say I don’t know it all’s a birth at the end of the day, is nothing, no life. And God wants you and your pain to birth life. 

WAITING ON PROPHETIC WORDS

Okay, we’re gonna close with this thought. How many know Joseph? The story of Joseph? His dad gives him his favorite coat. He gets to ride the 5.0 donkey. He’s the favorite kid in the family. He goes to take lunch to his brothers. He tells his brothers, I’m gonna be better than all of you. Don’t do that. That’s a horrible thing. 

His brothers are like, This guy, he thinks he’s going to be better than us. Because God gave Joseph two dreams, and He said he was going to be amazing. He was going to be anointed. He had these prophetic words. And then he’s taking them lunch. And they go, and the one brother who’s the businessman goes, Let’s sell him. So, they pretend that they kill him. Here’s the guy who has a word from God that he’s going to do amazing things, and he gets sold into Potiphar’s house. 

You know the story, right? And Potiphar, his wife is there, and she’s tempting him every day. Oh, sleep with me, Joey, sleep with me. Come here, buddy. Wearing her two-piece bathing suit around the house. Hey, Joey. 

By the way, this is my theory: the Devil does not tempt with ugly. I bet you she was pretty. I don’t think she had a hump on her back and a slight mustache. Come here, Joey, come here. I don’t think so. He resists her. 

And temptation is something you should know yourself. You should know what easily ensnares you. That’s what the Bible says. I pray every day when it comes to temptation, God, keep me from temptation. Keep me from what I don’t even know is in me. Keep me from it. Lord, guard me, protect me. Put a wall about me and guard me because I want to walk with You, and I want to love You. 

So, Joseph gets thrown into prison. You know the story? She yells rape, he gets falsely accused, gets put into prison. He’s there for years and years. Two guys have a dream. He interprets their dream. They don’t remember Joseph until the king has a dream, and no one can interpret it. 

And one of the guys goes, Hey, I knew this dude in the slammer, his name was Joe. He knows how to interpret dreams. They go get him. He interprets his dream and watch what happens: he goes from the prison to the palace in one day. 

So, here it is. I’m going to share this with you because I want you to see this. How many of you ever shot a slingshot before? You know the little rubber ones? Okay, picture it, it’s on the stage right now. It’s big, and it’s got the little leather thing where you put the thing, and you are in that. 

You come to Jesus, so good. I got saved. I have hope. Oh, man, everything is going great. Every time I pray, everything’s happening. Remember when you’re first saved? Lord, where’s my wallet? Boop, there it is. 

I have a prophetic word from God, Joseph, prophetic word, You’re going to be great. You’re going to be amazing. Accused of rape, sold by his brothers, put into prison. Years go by, years go by, years go by, and he stays faithful, and he stays faithful, and he stays faithful. 

John 15, “If you abide in Me and I in you– My words abide in you– you’ll bear much fruit.” God’s will for you is to be a fruitful Christian. The problem is most of us don’t know how to stay in the saddle long enough. We don’t know how to stay in this, so when it gets tough, we jump out. I didn’t sign up for that. 

We had an orchard by our house, and there were all kinds of fruit trees. I didn’t walk by an apple tree, and then, boom, an apple came out. None of my apple trees ever walked out and went to another state. It just stayed there. It’s hot right now. And then the rains came. Oh yes, this feels so good. And then we were fruitful. Oh, beautiful. And then someone came and picked our fruit. Ouch.

And then what does Jesus do? He prunes us so we can bear more fruit. Well, wait a second. I was using that thing. And now the Lord goes, I know. I just want you to produce more fruit. He wants you to abide and remain in the middle of it all. 

I call it the slingshot of blessing. You think you’re getting farther and farther away from the call of God, and the Lord’s just got you right where He wants you, developing you, working in you, building your faith, and then one day you’re right where you’re supposed to be. 

There are prophetic words that I got when I was fifteen years old. Fifteen. And I’m just now seeing some of them fulfilled. Just now. I’m going to be fifty-eight in six weeks. I’m just now seeing them fulfilled, and I just put them on the back burner. Lord, I don’t know what you’re doing there, but I’m waiting. And He goes, Keep waiting. 

“Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength.” Why? How do you lose strength? Stop waiting on the Lord. You want it. You want to not be fruitful, give up, quit. Be an older brother that just does your duty in the church. I’m going to vacuum. I don’t like vacuuming. Give your all to Him everything, and be faithful in the moment. 

I’m going to have you do me a favor, would you close your eyes just for a moment, bow your heads? I told the Lord when I first started preaching, when I was like seventeen, I was like, I will never do a service where I don’t ask someone if they need Jesus. 

And if you’re in the room today, and you have never given your life to Jesus before, maybe you got brought with a friend, and today you want to give your heart to Jesus. Today, you want to be born again. Today, you want your sins forgiven. He is waiting for you to call on Him. He already did the work. You don’t got to beg Him. He already did it. 

If you’re in the room starting far left, you’re left of this room, and you want to say, Man, I just need Jesus, would you just raise your hand up where I can see it real quick, and then I’m going to move on. Hopefully, everybody in this room knows the Lord coming through the middle sections. You just say, Man, I need Jesus. Good, far right of this room, you’d say, I need the Lord in my life. Awesome. 

If you’re in the room today, and you’d say, I’m battling some of those things, self-righteous loathing, I feel distant, I’m not really sure how God feels about me, I got some people I need to forgive, I’m going to have you do something that you may not be used to doing, but I’m going to have you stand right where you are. 

And here’s the thing: people go, I don’t want to stand up. People will think I have trouble. We already know. You’re not hiding anything. We already know the deal. If that’s you, would you just stand your feet? Say, Man, I got some stuff I need to deal with. I want you just to stand up because I want to pray.

I want to see the Lord move in your life today. Good, beautiful. If you’re by somebody, would you set your hand on them? We’re the family of God. This isn’t a corporation. We’re the family of God. There’s a young lady in the back there in a blue dress that needs to be prayed for. Thank you, beautiful. 

Father, we are so thankful for how much You love us, how committed You are to all of us, even in our deepest sorrow, trouble, our deepest joys, our deepest strengths. God, You are faithful in it all, and right now, I just ask that You would break every lie off of every person in this room, the lie of, I don’t really belong, I’ve sinned, and I just need to stay out of the presence of God. 

We break self-righteousness. We break self-loathing. We ask for grace to come now and take the place of that, for the Blood of Christ to come, for the Holy Spirit to come and minister today. Lord, I love these people. I bless them today. I thank You for who they are, and I pray for absolute restoration of their emotional chemistry by Your grace, that You would change them. We love You. We thank You. In Jesus’ strong, strong name, amen.