SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole.
SPEAKER_00: I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.
SPEAKER_00: Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Today, be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Born for War podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's good to be in the house of the Lord today.
SPEAKER_01: My name is Marcus, and I'm one of the pastors here at The Road, and I love Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I am 31 years young.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a Colorado native, and I am married to the love of my life, Kaziah, and we have a four-year-old little tyrant, I mean princess, named Genesis Grace.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've seen her running around, she has pigtails, two missing front teeth, and she's just acting like she owns the place.
SPEAKER_01: She's super sassy, and she's usually bossing some poor soul around.
SPEAKER_01: I love my baby girl, she is one of my best friends, and she tells everyone that I am her boyfriend.
SPEAKER_01: So we're raising her right.
SPEAKER_01: I told her no dating until after she's married, so we'll see how long that lasts.
SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have your Bibles, would you open to the book of Luke and turn to chapter 15 with me?
SPEAKER_01: Book of Luke, chapter 15.
SPEAKER_01: And as you're turning there, I just want to quickly give you uh kind of a synopsis, if you will, of what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: Um, this is actually part of the Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is giving a whole list of parables, and this is probably one of his most famous parables that he's that he's sharing.
SPEAKER_01: These parables he's giving are kind of what the Christian life should look like.
SPEAKER_01: Uh he's kind of giving what faith should look like.
SPEAKER_01: He's also really showing the character of God.
SPEAKER_01: So Luke chapter 15, we're gonna be starting in verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: It says this.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.
SPEAKER_01: So he divided to them his livelihood.
SPEAKER_01: And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
SPEAKER_01: But when he had spent all their when he had spent all, there arose a famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
SPEAKER_01: Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine.
SPEAKER_01: And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and yet no one gave him anything.
SPEAKER_01: But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger?
SPEAKER_01: I will arise and go to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
SPEAKER_01: Make me like one of your hired servants.
SPEAKER_01: And he arose and came to his father.
SPEAKER_01: But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
SPEAKER_01: And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
SPEAKER_01: But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for my son was dead and is alive again.
SPEAKER_01: He was lost and is found.
SPEAKER_01: And they began to be merry.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Lord, I ask right now, Father, would you would you bless this word I'm about to speak?
SPEAKER_01: Father, I believe it's from you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I believe that this word is from your throne room.
SPEAKER_01: Father, I believe that you've given me this word for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_01: And so I ask, God, would you let only your words be the ones that we hear today?
SPEAKER_01: Father, would you let any words that I try to add in, whether it's my own cleverness or whether it's my own quote-unquote wisdom, Father, would you let those fall to the wayside?
SPEAKER_01: Would you let them, would you let them just die right there?
SPEAKER_01: Father, would you let your word be the only one that gives life today?
SPEAKER_01: Would you let your word be the only thing that is heard today?
SPEAKER_01: Father, would you hide me behind your your your cross?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, would you would you hide me behind your cross?
SPEAKER_01: Would you hide me behind you?
SPEAKER_01: And would you let all of us be able to see you and you alone?
SPEAKER_01: Would you let Marcus be cast as far as the east is from the west?
SPEAKER_01: And would you let Jesus be the name that is high and lifted up?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Lord, we love you, we worship you, we pray this in your name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you're taking notes, the title of my message is this Stop Eating in the Pig Pen.
SPEAKER_01: Stop eating in the pig pen.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure many of you heard this story before of the prodigal son, and it's probably one of Jesus' most famous parables, one that is quoted time and time again.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: How many times have you had someone reference as they're praying for a loved one?
SPEAKER_01: Hey, would you mind praying for for so and so?
SPEAKER_01: They're a prodigal right now.
SPEAKER_01: How many times have you heard someone come to you and say, hey, I have a prodigal prayer.
SPEAKER_01: My son or my daughter grew up in the faith and they've walked away?
SPEAKER_01: Or you've heard someone say, Hey, would you mind praying for for so and so?
SPEAKER_01: Because they don't even know Jesus right now.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times when we're praying for prodigal prayers, we're praying for those who are lost.
SPEAKER_01: Now, those are great things to pray for, but what if this parable has a deeper meaning?
SPEAKER_01: What if this parable is referring to to more than those who are just lost?
SPEAKER_01: If we can look at this parable in a deeper way, what if this parable is speaking to those who walk away without knowing, walk away from the Father day after day?
SPEAKER_01: Friends, what if this parable is speaking of you and me?
SPEAKER_01: What if we are the prodigals?
SPEAKER_01: You might be like, well, Marcus, hold on, time out.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't think I'm a prodigal.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how many hours I'm at at this church?
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I basically live here.
SPEAKER_01: Marcus, do you know how many prayer meetings I go to?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how many events I sign up for?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how many ways I serve?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how often I pray?
SPEAKER_01: Marcus, I've read through this Bible in a year twice, and it's only July.
SPEAKER_01: This does not relate to me.
SPEAKER_01: I would say to you, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: Way to go.
SPEAKER_01: You're doing all the right things, but let me ask you this question: Is your spirit in the correct position?
SPEAKER_01: Please hear my heart on this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to condemn you or judge you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm speaking to myself on this as well.
SPEAKER_01: What if we are the prodigals?
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at the scripture once more.
SPEAKER_01: Starting in verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger said to him, his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.
SPEAKER_01: So he divided to them his livelihood.
SPEAKER_01: And not many days after the younger son gathered all together.
SPEAKER_01: He journeyed to a far country, and there he wasted his possessions on prodigal living.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the father, the son asked the father for what was to be given to him.
SPEAKER_01: He asked his father for his inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what's peculiar.
SPEAKER_01: Now I understand in today's day and age, when we think of inheritance, we think of something, whether it's a sum of money or an estate or something of value left to us when a person dies.
SPEAKER_01: But back then, it actually was not uncommon for sons to go to their fathers and ask for their inheritance early.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't super common, but it definitely wasn't uncommon for them to be able to go.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's not what's weird.
SPEAKER_01: See, what's weird is what he does.
SPEAKER_01: See, he goes to his father, he asks his father for his inheritance only to leave the father and squander what was given to him.
SPEAKER_01: How many times have we prayed and asked God to answer our prayer, to give us something only for us to leave his presence and live our lives in such a way that if the world were to look at us, they wouldn't see an ounce of sanctification, they wouldn't see an ounce of grace and forgiveness, they wouldn't see an ounce of the Holy Spirit living inside of us because we walked away from the Father.
SPEAKER_01: We look more like the world rather than looking like Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We look more like the world rather than looking like someone who has been uh bought by the blood of Jesus, we look more like the world than actually looking like the church.
SPEAKER_01: We ask God to move, and when he doesn't come in our timing, we find other means to make something happen.
SPEAKER_01: We lift our hands and voices uh on Sunday for worship, and then with that same mouth we speak perversely and crudely Monday through Saturday.
SPEAKER_01: We converse about how amazing God is and how much he saves, how much we love him, how much he loves us, loves us, only to act as if we don't even know him with the rest of the world.
SPEAKER_01: What if you and I are the prodigal?
SPEAKER_01: Just like the prodigal, we take what God gives us and we squander it with addictions, lust, anger, greed, unforgiveness, all kinds of sins.
SPEAKER_01: We ask God, and then we ask God to keep our children and to show himself to them only to parents out of a place of impatience rather than love.
SPEAKER_01: We ask God for freedom from this lust in our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: We ask God for freedom from this anger in our hearts, we ask God for freedom from this greed or pride that is building up in our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Only to lie to everyone that we are free from the clutches of pornography or sex or anger or greed or addiction.
SPEAKER_01: We don't even know what freedom is, and yet we judge others for struggling with the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: We ask God for spiritual gifts, but yet we refuse to forgive others.
SPEAKER_01: What if you and I are the prodigal?
SPEAKER_01: And in the deepest places of our hearts, we know that we are far from our Father, but we keep telling ourselves that it's just a feeling, it's just a season, it's just a time right now, not realizing that we walked away.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look back in the scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 14, it says, When he has spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
SPEAKER_01: Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine.
SPEAKER_01: And just like the prodigal, we try to do everything we can to be better.
SPEAKER_01: We try to put ourselves together.
SPEAKER_01: We try to go to every church event.
SPEAKER_01: Will we sign up for every email that that will hold us accountable?
SPEAKER_01: We sign up for all these classes, we search for the podcast that will help us.
SPEAKER_01: We try to complete, we try completely new routines, we try to make ourselves better and put ourselves back together, hoping that we can get back to what it was like to when we first got saved.
SPEAKER_01: We try to put ourselves together and we try to do more, hoping that we can get back to that season or to back to that feeling of when we first got saved and Jesus was our everything.
SPEAKER_01: We do so much, we we research so much, and we think if we can just put all these things together, we think if we can just do things in a certain order, then we can get back to that feeling of what it was like to be saved by the power of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of getting back there, we become legalistic and we start judging others for uh we start judging our works, then we start judging others' works.
SPEAKER_01: We end up in the pig pen longing to eat what the pigs are eating.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the truth that most Christians forget or miss entirely.
SPEAKER_01: They spend their entire life eating scraps in the pig pen.
SPEAKER_01: They spend their entire life uh being jealous of what the pigs are eating, longing and hoping for what the pigs are eating.
SPEAKER_01: They spend their entire life hungry and with hungry eyes looking at what the pigs are eating, not realizing that there is a feast with the father at his table.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Stop eating in the pig pen.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing for you there.
SPEAKER_01: There is nothing in the pig pen for you.
SPEAKER_01: Stop eating and want and longing for what the pigs are eating and run to the father.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry about the money, don't worry about the waste, don't worry about the time that was lost, don't worry about the failure, don't worry about the regret.
SPEAKER_01: Run to the father because he's waiting for you.
SPEAKER_01: Watch how he responds when you run to him.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 17 says this.
SPEAKER_01: But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread and enough to spare?
SPEAKER_01: And I will, and yet here I am perishing with hunger.
SPEAKER_01: I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
SPEAKER_01: Make me like one of your hired servants.
SPEAKER_01: And he arose and came to his father.
SPEAKER_01: But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
SPEAKER_01: And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
SPEAKER_01: But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.
SPEAKER_01: For my son was dead and is alive again.
SPEAKER_01: He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the prodigal did not have to have his affairs in order before he went back home.
SPEAKER_01: The prodigal didn't have to go and find his sandals and his robe before he went back home.
SPEAKER_01: The prodigal didn't have to earn back all the money he lost before he went back home.
SPEAKER_01: No, he he went the way he was.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're taking notes, write this down.
SPEAKER_01: The message of the new covenant is come as you are.
SPEAKER_01: Come as you are.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the father's response.
SPEAKER_01: The son couldn't even finish his speech that he had prepared before the father ran to him, wrapped him up, kissed him, loved him, said, Bring the fat and calf because my son is home.
SPEAKER_01: All the son was able to say is, Hey, I've sinned against heaven, I've sinned against you, I'm not even worthy to be called your son.
SPEAKER_01: And the father said, No, no, no, before you even go, I'm gonna stop this right now and I'm gonna celebrate you for being home.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the son wasn't forgiven because he was good, the son was forgiven because the father was good.
SPEAKER_01: The father is so good, everything that the son squandered and wasted and lost was restored.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Marcus, how do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: How do you know that it was restored?
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, just look at the things that the father gave to the son.
SPEAKER_01: The robe, the robe that he said, bring the robe and put the robe over him.
SPEAKER_01: That robe was reserved for only honored and highly esteemed guests.
SPEAKER_01: Honor and highly esteemed guests.
SPEAKER_01: Think of the most important person in your life, or a person that you're like, hey, this person's considered and uh of utmost importance.
SPEAKER_01: That robe was considered for that person.
SPEAKER_01: It wouldn't be considered for your friend who came over at that time.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they had their own robe, maybe it wasn't the greatest one, but it was a robe.
SPEAKER_01: But the robe was reserved for honored and highly esteemed guests.
SPEAKER_01: The ring was indictive of sonship and the ability to approve transactions on behalf of the father.
SPEAKER_01: That means that that the son had had something on his finger that when he would walk around and people saw it, they would know that he belongs to that house, that he that they would know that that if he's saying, hey, we can pay for this, they would look at that ring and know, oh, they that family has the money to be able to pay for it, sign off on whatever they're asking.
SPEAKER_01: They know that if that ring that he's wearing, if he's wearing it, then they know that, oh, this isn't just a mere servant, this is a son of this man who has many riches.
SPEAKER_01: And the fatted calf was reserved for the biggest, most lavish celebration of that house for the year.
SPEAKER_01: Each house would reserve a calf that that was, I don't know, maybe it was Wagyu, I don't know, A5, Japanese Wagyu, um, or something, but but they would have a fatted calf reserved for the most lavish celebrations in that house for the most important person that would ever come to that house.
SPEAKER_01: And all three of these things were given by the father because the father wanted the whole house to know that his child is still important to him, that there was no disappointment towards him, and that he still loved him.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to get real with you guys real quick.
SPEAKER_01: This might step on toes.
SPEAKER_01: But some of you can't even remember what the father's presence was like because you've been in the pig pen for so long.
SPEAKER_01: You don't even remember the last time you had actual joy was.
SPEAKER_01: And if we're being real and honest, you don't even know who you would be if you were actually happy, you don't even know what that person would look like if you were actually happy.
SPEAKER_01: But can I just say this that there is a joy that the world cannot take away.
SPEAKER_01: There is a peace beyond all understanding, there is a hope beyond all comprehension.
SPEAKER_01: And it's sitting with the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Run to him.
SPEAKER_01: You have so much more than what's in that pig pen.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to stay in that pig pen anymore.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to stay in that place of hopelessness anymore, you don't have to stay in that place of defeat or misery anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Run to the Father and you will have joy and you will have peace and you will have hope and you will see him for his glory and you will be glad in your soul because the father is pleased in you.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, that that may be you today.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel like you've wandered too far to ever come back.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel you may be telling yourself, Marcus, you you don't know what I've done.
SPEAKER_01: You don't know what I've done in my past.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm lucky just to be sitting here in church and alive right now.
SPEAKER_01: You you don't know what I've done.
SPEAKER_01: You may even be in the middle of trying to put yourself back together just so you can come back and put on a brave face and a happy face at church.
SPEAKER_01: Can I just say this that the Father is waiting for you with open arms?
SPEAKER_01: He is waiting to see you, even from a far ways off, coming to him.
SPEAKER_01: And I promise you, when he sees you, he's going to run to you, he is going to embrace you, he's going to hug your neck, he's going to kiss you, and then he's gonna tell all of heaven and all of earth, my son is home, my daughter is home.
SPEAKER_01: Prepare a feast for them.
SPEAKER_01: They're home, they're back with me, they're here.
SPEAKER_01: Tell everybody they're here, my child is home.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there may be some of you who cannot even relate to what I just said, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the crazy thing about this parable is that there are two sons in this story.
SPEAKER_01: And if we were to go back when the Bible was compiled and put together and the chapters and verses were put in, I would actually ask them to, I would ask them to rename this chapter to something that's a little more um affirming of what the chapter is, a little more truthful to what the chapter is.
SPEAKER_01: And I would actually rename the chapter this the parable of the prodigal sons.
SPEAKER_01: Or the parable of the great and gracious father.
SPEAKER_01: So here's the thing, again, there's two sons in the story, and it's not solidified which one is is fully the prodigal because both sons do the exact same thing.
SPEAKER_01: They both leave the father's presence.
SPEAKER_01: See, if you look up in the dictionary, what the word prodigal means, a lot of us think it means lost or gone away.
SPEAKER_01: No, prodigal actually means um one of two things.
SPEAKER_01: It either means uh reckless spending or wasting time.
SPEAKER_01: Reckless spending or wasting time.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we think of it, both sons wasted time.
SPEAKER_01: They actually went away from the father, and instead of spending time with the father and time celebrating, and time being in his presence, they spent time away from him.
SPEAKER_01: If you continue reading, you will see that the other son had a hardness in his heart as well, and he left the father's presence.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 25 it says this.
SPEAKER_01: Now his older son was in the field, and he came and said and he came and drew near the house, and he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
SPEAKER_01: And he said to him, Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.
SPEAKER_01: But he was angry and would not go in.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
SPEAKER_01: So he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me even a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.
SPEAKER_01: But as soon as this son of yours came, the one who devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.
SPEAKER_01: And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
SPEAKER_01: It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is now found.
SPEAKER_01: A good indicator to see if you have a hard heart or if you have any self-righteousness in your heart is this.
SPEAKER_01: When you start thinking about other people during sermons.
SPEAKER_01: What do I mean by that?
SPEAKER_01: That means that if you're listening to a sermon and the sermon's about repentance, and instead of looking inward and saying, Is there anything I haven't repented from from, the first thing that you think of is up, you know, Sally has a lot to repent from from.
SPEAKER_01: Look at her life.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01: Like Sally needs to repent.
SPEAKER_01: Sally is like, I don't even know if Sally's saved.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you're listening to a sermon, and this sermon is about walking in holiness.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of saying, God, am I walking in this holiness?
SPEAKER_01: The first thing you're thinking is, hmm, yeah, Michael's not holy at all.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like the first person that comes to your mind is like, oh man, like, like, like, like Tom needs to walk more in holiness because Tom can use a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01: Or Cindy, oh, she can use double portion of holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Like, and then you like, you don't even turn to your neighbor, like you're not gossiping, but like in your mind, you're like, yeah, Cindy.
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, yeah, Cindy.
SPEAKER_01: There's a Cindy in here, I'm sorry, I'm not talking about you.
SPEAKER_01: But that's a great indicator to know if your heart is hardened or if you have any self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: And when you start thinking about other people that need the sermon before you even think about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, that may be you today.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel like you wandered too far.
SPEAKER_01: Nope, I am way above.
SPEAKER_01: I need to go down.
SPEAKER_01: When you start thinking about this in your sermon, this son refused to go with his father and celebrate the return of his brother.
SPEAKER_01: He became cross with his father and the grace that he was showing his younger brother.
SPEAKER_01: And when his father came out, he showed just how faithful he was and how hard he worked.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he couldn't even get a goat to party with his friends when his when his father came out and he said, Hey, why aren't you here?
SPEAKER_01: Like, come inside, your brother's home.
SPEAKER_01: He said, No, I'm not gonna go in and celebrate your son.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't even have the audacity to call him his brother.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I'm not gonna go in there and celebrate your son.
SPEAKER_01: I've worked tirelessly for you day and night.
SPEAKER_01: I have served you faithfully, day and night.
SPEAKER_01: I have given you everything on heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And you couldn't even give me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
SPEAKER_01: But when this son of yours came home, you wanted to kill the fatted calf?
SPEAKER_01: He took your money, he went out, and he spent it on prostitutes.
SPEAKER_01: And partying and friends, and he wasted all of it.
SPEAKER_01: And you want to celebrate him?
SPEAKER_01: If you notice the father's response to both sons is the same.
SPEAKER_01: It's grace.
SPEAKER_01: Like many believers today, this son struggled with this thing called legalism.
SPEAKER_01: Look at all my works, look how good I am.
SPEAKER_01: We make a huge museum of our works, claiming it's for God, yet it's actually making us feel good about ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And then we use it as a measuring stick against other believers.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of it drawing us near to the Father, it actually causes us to be bitter against our brothers and our sisters.
SPEAKER_01: Licentiousness lures you away from the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism keeps you from the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Only grace can lead you to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Licentiousness lures you away from the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism keeps you from the Father, but only grace can lead you to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: In Christianity, we see this a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01: People are arguing between legalism and licentious living, and we're talking about, you know, and like we think about it, and there's huge differences.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to do something different today.
SPEAKER_01: I actually want to look at this and talk about the similarities that these two have because they're actually very similar.
SPEAKER_01: Licentious living is abusing grace.
SPEAKER_01: It means you're living a life and you're abusing grace.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism means you're living a life as if you can do it without grace.
SPEAKER_01: Here's where the similarities come in.
SPEAKER_01: Neither can save you.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful to not substitute action with adoration.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, your adoration of God should lead you to action for God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again because I feel like you guys, are we sleeping?
SPEAKER_01: Are we awake?
SPEAKER_01: Are we good?
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's heavy.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's awkward, but but I'm just gonna say that again because this is a powerful truth.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful to not substitute action with adoration.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, adoration of God should lead you to action for God.
SPEAKER_01: Meaning that everything we do isn't like, God, I'm gonna do this work.
SPEAKER_01: Look how great I am.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, it should actually be like, God, I love you so much.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just blown away by your grace.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so in love with you that I can't help but to do this work for you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, okay, Marcus, what then can I do?
SPEAKER_01: Well, as I said before, the message of the new covenant is come as you are.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what is the new covenant?
SPEAKER_01: Marcus, I've heard of the new covenant before.
SPEAKER_01: I've heard it from really old preachers, probably who are dead or really old and almost dead.
SPEAKER_01: Marcus, I've heard it from prosperity preachers, like you better be careful where you're going because we are not a prosperity church.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I live in the prosperity of Jesus, but we're not a prosperity church.
SPEAKER_01: I get that.
SPEAKER_01: Um Marcus, be careful because when I hear new covenant, I hear people asking for money.
SPEAKER_01: I'll just say this.
SPEAKER_01: When we can understand this new covenant, when we can understand this covenant, we will be able to unlock the power to having a lasting victory over sin.
SPEAKER_01: How?
SPEAKER_01: Well, in Hebrews chapter 8, verses 8 through 13, it says this.
SPEAKER_01: Because finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them from the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant.
SPEAKER_01: And I disregarded them, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
SPEAKER_01: None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the last from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
SPEAKER_01: In that he says, A new covenant.
SPEAKER_01: He has made the first obsolete.
SPEAKER_01: Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
SPEAKER_01: See, all right, here now we're gonna get into the really juicy stuff real quick.
SPEAKER_01: The word covenant can also be used, transitioned and switched out with the word contract.
SPEAKER_01: The old covenant is a contract made between God the Father and God the Son.
SPEAKER_01: The covenant was formed so that mankind could be in right standing with God.
SPEAKER_01: But how?
SPEAKER_01: Well, see, the old covenant, the law that was given to Moses, was actually given to show just how far from holiness we actually were.
SPEAKER_01: The law was given to show just that that even on our best days we could never reach perfection.
SPEAKER_01: But here's where the great news of the new covenant is.
SPEAKER_01: Just like the old covenant, the new covenant was given to still fulfill the requirement of the law, meaning that the law had to still be lived out perfectly, not one fall, not one stumble.
SPEAKER_01: It required perfection.
SPEAKER_01: But you and I, even on our best days, as we as we try, we can't be perfect.
SPEAKER_01: But in steps, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
SPEAKER_01: He lived this perfect life of perfection, he was obedient even in the point of death.
SPEAKER_01: He lived a sinless, blameless life, and not only that, but he took a beating that was meant for the guilty.
SPEAKER_01: He carried a cross which was meant for criminals and traitors, and he was nailed to that cross, which was meant for enemies of the kingdom, and not only that, he was put in a grave which was made and reserved for those who have died because they were bound by sin and death.
SPEAKER_01: Everything that was meant for you and I, he endured.
SPEAKER_01: But when he died and resurrected, here's the key and here's the amazing thing when Jesus resurrected, everything that was given to him on earth was now given to us.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what do we get out of this new covenant?
SPEAKER_01: Well, everything that Jesus had here on earth, if you read the gospels, what his ministry is, everything that he had, he had he had the spirit of God.
SPEAKER_01: He was God, but he also had the spirit of God on him.
SPEAKER_01: We are given the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
SPEAKER_01: God will be a father to us, just like he was a father to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: God lifted up Jesus in his times of turmoil and discouragement.
SPEAKER_01: God will lift us up in our times of turmoil and discouragement.
SPEAKER_01: God will be our protector, God will be our provider.
SPEAKER_01: Well, okay, Marcus, that's great, but how does that give me victory over sin?
SPEAKER_01: Well, look back at the parable.
SPEAKER_01: The first son couldn't do anything in his power to get out of the famine, he couldn't do anything in his power to get out of the pig pen.
SPEAKER_01: The second son was so filled with bitterness that he was unable to see the amazing truth that his brother was home safe and sound.
SPEAKER_01: He was unable to see just how good his father was.
SPEAKER_01: All these two brothers could do, all these two sons could do was run to the father.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, we cannot win this battle of sin on our own, but Jesus already won this victory for us, and it is sitting with God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Run to him, stop fighting this battle day after day alone.
SPEAKER_01: Run to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Each time you fail, each time you fall, each time you stumble, each time, each time you have a setback, each time you feel like you're down and out.
SPEAKER_01: Run to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you're not defeated yet.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_01: I actually in Bible school, uh, one of my Bible school teachers, his name was Nick Pastor Nick Godshell.
SPEAKER_01: He he said this quote and he didn't remember who it was from.
SPEAKER_01: I looked it up on Google and tried to read one book and I couldn't find out who it was from.
SPEAKER_01: But the quote is this there is no such thing as a defeated Christian because there is no such thing as a defeated Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say that again because that should get you excited.
SPEAKER_01: There is no such thing as a defeated Christian because there is no such thing as a defeated Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That means that that sin that you struggle with, that means that that that failure that you feel like you can't overcome, that means that means that that hopelessness and that and that anxiety that you have in uh plaguing over you, weighing on you, you are not defeated because Christ was not defeated.
SPEAKER_01: Another quote that he would say, Pastor Nick, not I mean, it says it in the Bible, but not in these words.
SPEAKER_01: If you get the Son, you get everything.
SPEAKER_01: That means that if you are here today, and if you are a Christian, if you are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are and you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, that means that everything that the Father gave to Jesus is given to you.
SPEAKER_01: That means that your inheritance that you felt like you lost because of your sin, that means that it is restored to you because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_01: That means if you're like Jesus, you are my Lord and you are my savior, that means that if when you say that prayer and you are my Lord and you are my savior and you are bought with his blood, that means that you are now holy and righteous and sanctified because of what he's done.
SPEAKER_01: That that door and that sign over your life that says sinner, that door and that sign over your life that says angry or whatever your sin is.
SPEAKER_01: Insert here.
SPEAKER_01: That means that it can't even stay on there because the only thing that is on there says sanctified, rectified, child of God.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Corn for War podcast.
SPEAKER_02: We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_02: To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holtonline.org.
SPEAKER_02: God bless.