Ps Charles Knight - I'm Glad God Let You Down

to biblical stories country Oh good afternoon my brothers and sisters happy Sabbath I will bless the Lord at all times it's president and executive secretary treasurer all of the administration and officers of the conference allowing me to come all across the sea to come and be with you at this wonderful camp meeting God's Spirit is indeed in this place a man church and we have feasted at the Welcome Table this afternoon I'm going to going to preach a message that I hope will inspire not only inform but inspire us to do evangelism and even a greater way I am going to stay within the context and the theme of of lead but I want to share with you that what we'll preach today is really about the mindset that we need to have when we're doing evangelism sometimes we focus on the methodology the strategy without understanding that we have to have the same mindset towards people that God does and so I'm gonna share that in this message and I'm sure the Spirit of the Lord will speak to you in other ways we just wanted to mention to you a few people asked me to remind you that after sunset immediately after sunset whenever I travel I've been asked to bring some of my copies DVD CDs of my series that I do at my church I preach almost always in series and so we have several ones that will be available for you we have the one that we did at sentient church sex in the city we were talking about spirituality and sexuality topics that oftentimes we are a little afraid of talking about in the church but it affects all of us and we want to address it from a biblical perspective relevant to the 21st century and so we'll share that with you as well as the power of the Sabbath a series that we've done of course we know the right day but a lot of us are not walking in the right way in terms of the full power and and relevance of the Sabbath in our lives so we're gonna share that along with many other series that will be there so after sunset we'll be in the ABC and that will be available and also I was asked to let you know our first book my wife and I who is also she she's an occupational therapist by career but she preaches as well powerful preacher she preaches to me in the kitchen all the time and so we have a book that's coming out that we will bring back with us when we come in a few weeks we'll be in Johannesburg and that will be available to you on the subject of sexuality and spirituality and whenever we talk about that a lot of folks say well that's for the young people I think not it's really for all of us and it's going to be a rich blessing so we know that you'll look for that as we go to God's Word I want to invite you to to turn to Luke chapter 15 verse 1 and 2 we're going to go to an old well to get some fresh water Luke chapter 15 verse 1 and 2 let me give this disclaimer that I gave this morning I think it was helpful I am a youthful or young man but I do not believe in preaching youth sermons you know just a lot of times folks will see a young preacher say oh he's a youth preacher I believe that the Word of God is applicable to every age group every deaf demographic and so this word this word is not for somebody you know it's sometimes when we're shaking hands at the door somebody will say well I wish so-and-so worried that was for them no it's not for somebody you know it's for you amen in some way form or fashion it's for you Luke chapter 15 verse 1 and 2 and it is the afternoon and you have eaten and had a wonderful meal and so the temptation right now is wear those eyelids to close so I'm gonna ask you I'm gonna pretend like I'm back at Mount Olive in Atlanta and we're gonna do what we do at my church right around this time I'm gonna ask you to stand for the reading of the word would you please Luke chapter 15 verse 1 and 2 you're standing because I want you to be alert and awake when the word of God is preached Luke 15 1 - and if you have it please say Amen just these two verses then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him and the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them now that's the King James Version if you would allow me to give the Wesley night interpretation then drew near to him all of the scandalous messed up devious promiscuous lying cheating people here from Jesus and the good Church people who thought themselves better than everyone else complained saying this man hangs out with sinners and spends intimate time with them I want to preach from the subject that is not listed in your bulletin under the instruction of the Holy Spirit I want to preach the subject I'm glad he let you down I'm glad he let you down remain standing for prayer now father put your words in my mouth so that your people will hear your voice father we do not come for more information we come tonight for spiritual transformation do it in Jesus name for our benefit and for your glory in Christ's name we pray amen you may be seated after now about 16 and a half years in pastoral ministry having been able to travel both nationally and internationally to Pastor in several different parts of the United States different demographics cultural groups and understandings and backgrounds I've come to this very sobering conclusion that while most of us who come to church genuinely love Jesus most of us would not want Jesus to be a member at our church I will say it again for it is a sobering statement and I will qualify it in a moment that most of us who love Jesus really would not want him to be an actual member of our local church we would not want him to come to our board meetings because he would say things that eat him perhaps as being soft on sinners we would not like Jesus at our meetings for he would stop the the politics and he would make us pray before we vote we would not like him and and and I qualified this because I am in the Bible you know right there in those two texts that you read and the Pharisees and the scribes did not like him because you must understand that Jesus in his time in in in his time and day and culture Jesus was a great disappointment he was we worship Him now as king of kings and Lord of lords but when Jesus first showed up on the scene if you really understand what was going on then he was a huge disappointment yes yes yes even John the Baptist his cousin when he was preaching a one day by the riverside saw Jesus coming you remember that and he said behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world but then when he cousin was in prison watch this and heard what Jesus was doing in his ministry he questioned his own cousin and said shall are you the one or shall we look for another mm-hmm because when they saw the Ministry of Jesus it was not like what they expected they expected condemnation they expected whipping the people into shape they expected him to do the things that they would do Jesus was a huge letdown to the religious sanctimonious people who thought they knew and had all the truth he was a huge letdown the Bible says in verse 1 though that when Jesus showed up crowds of people would come to hear him it is interesting that Jesus this is pre Facebook and pre Flyers Jesus did not have to advertise to people where he was going to be it is interesting that when Jesus went one place people would show up to hear him and we have to beg people and plead with people and sometimes bribe them with gifts to come to our evangelistic meetings Jesus would simply set up shop and the crowd would come he didn't have to give an invitation they simply knew if Jesus was going to be there that was going to be power maybe it was because of the way Jesus loved people before he preached to people so that when he stood up to preach the people came to him because he they knew he loved them hmm he always drew a crowd and you do know that in every crowd there are those who have come to get a blessing and there are those who have come to retreat to critique even right now in this audience are the same two groups Jesus when he was there the Bible says that the crowd came to hear him and the Pharisees in scribes showed up to see if his theology was congruent with their human understanding isn't it crazy isn't it funny that these finite beings who had studied the law thought that they could criticize and critique the one who was the author of it and here is their accusation of him this man receives sinners and eats with them ah you missed that let me say it again this was their accusation against Jesus this man receives sinners and eats with them you still missed it see that was a part where we should rejoice and praise God because newsflash you and I are sinners in need of God's grace and we ought to be grateful that he still hangs out with sinners and eats with them the fact that they accused Jesus and thought that it was a condemnation that he hung out with sinners implies that they thought they were not part of that group and the sanctimonious those who look down there sanctimonious nose of snobbery at other people are always those who refer to others as those people Jesus drew those kinds of people though and their accusation was that he accepted sinners now now the three stories that follow we know them the Good Shepherd the lost coin and the prodigal son understand that you will never fully understand the import the power of those stories until you realize why Jesus told the stories and here's why if you're with me say yes stay with me I'm going somewhere Jesus hears the accusation of the Pharisees and the scribes and he realizes something understand this that Jesus came not only to save us from our sin that was the primary reason but he also came to save us from something else he came to save us from a faulty understanding of the character of God let me say that again he came not only to save us from sinn that's primary but he also came to save us from the wrong idea of who the father is now when he hears this accusation by these religious scholars he knows they don't understand who the father is so he makes up these three stories to teach them and the crowd the character of his father watched Jesus the master teacher teach he starts with his story you've heard it before of this Good Shepherd who has a hundred sheep and one goes straying and he says now if it's a Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd will leave the ninety-nine and go after the one and when he finds the one he will come back ask his friends to join him and they will throw a party now the reason he says this is because he's trying to teach them and he's trying to teach us this principle that if we are called as the church to give this everlasting gospel in the last days then we cannot afford to stand by trying to please the ninety-nine when the one is still out there in the world mmm let me come a little bit closer so what's some of the problems that we're having in our church is that the pastors and the leaders are bound by this this this need to make the ninety-nine happy because if the ninety-nine are not happy they will write letters to the conference because if the ninety-nine who started the church aren't happy with where the church is going there will be problems but do you not know you are not called to please than ninety-nine you are called to go after the one that is lost the ministry of the church is not to babysit than 99 it is to go after the one I'm trying to get you to understand this it's to go after the one that Jesus died for and if your church is full of the 99 but does not focus on the one then you are not following the Good Shepherd Jesus tells this story and he can tell that some of them don't get it some of them don't agree so he tells another story watch Jesus the master teacher teach this lesson he says there's a woman who's got ten silver coins you've heard the story and if she loses one does she not light a candle and go after the one now you will not understand the importance of this until you understand the cultural understanding of what's going on see one of the gifts that a groom would give to prospective prospective bride was a necklace with ten coins on it stay with me and the ten coins would be an engagement gift now if she were to lose one piece of those ten silver pieces it renders the other nine of the other nine invaluable mmm do you see what Jesus is doing so he says so so so understand that the the woman now has to find that one because when the groom does that sound familiar comes back he's not just looking for the nine he wants to find all ten and if there's not ten there then the necklace is no longer valuable may I suggest to you that the value and the worth of our worship services cannot be measured by how many Adventists we have there but it must be measured by the one that we are called to light a candle and go looking for just because your church is full does not mean that you have fulfilled the mission because there's somebody lost right around you and when the groom comes back he wants to find what he's given but Jesus can tell that the crowd just like I can tell right now totally didn't understand so he tells one more story watch Jesus the master teacher teach Jesus conjures up this story and says there's a man who has two sons you know this story and and there's an older there's a younger and and there is a there is a covenant made that when he dies the inheritance will go to his sons the larger portion - the older and and the lesser Porsche to the younger you know the story the young man brash and bodacious bodacious and belligerent he comes and he demands his inheritance now he says father I want what is mine now interestingly enough it's not the boys stuff it's the father's stuff but he demands the father give him what is his he doesn't deserve the inheritance but he demands it anyway does that sound familiar everything we have we don't deserve and he says I want it now in other words he was telling his father I wish you would hurry up and die now now you must understand Jesus is making up this story this is not a historical account he's making up this story as a parable to teach a greater point about the character of God so pay close attention to the details of the story the boy says give me my stuff now which shows the kind of the kind of relationship he has to the father you see his relationship is I simply want you to give me stuff and some of us don't pray unless we can ask God for stuff for many of us our relationship with God our relationship with the father is give me what I don't deserve this boy is characterized all those who demand from God what we don't deserve but yet we are bold enough to ask for it before the time we can handle it be careful what you pray for you may just get it now watch the father are you still with me say yes watch the father watch what Jesus says about the father it'll give you a clue to the character of God our Father he says that the father gives him his inheritance even though he does not deserve it hmmm-hmmm say with me now we must understand that in this story God the Father is symbolized as the father in the story God knows everything so as Jesus is telling the story they understand and you must understand that what he's implying is here it is that the father knows the boy is going to use his inheritance in a bad way but he gives it to him anyway did you catch that let me say it again that the father knows what he's going to do and gives it to him anyway what do you do with a God who will finance your foolishness now that doesn't sound right God wouldn't do that but no it's not his intent to help the boy but it is his intent to respect the boy's power of choice and allows the boy to take his inheritance and to waste it come here let me help you do you not know that God knows your thoughts that God knows your plans for tomorrow he knows your plans to do wrong and even though he knows you plan to do wrong tomorrow he still wakes you up tomorrow mm-hmm I'm in the Bible yeah yeah that that you plan to do wrong he knows where you're gonna do it with whom you're gonna do it you know he knows all of that and yet he wakes you up the next morning he gives you strength so that you can exercise your own power of choice to dishonor him that's that that's the father that he knows this boy this father knows his son he knows what he will do but isn't it something that God is so gracious oh thank you Jesus that he knows that I'm gonna do wrong he knows prone to wonder lord I feel it prone to leave the god I love and yet he wakes me up in the morning with brand new mercies hoping that I'll choose mercy but respecting my choice enough that I can use the breath he gave me to dishonor him and he takes his father's stuff and wastes it on riotous living I like that we're in the King James version riotous I don't quite know what it means but perhaps if we think of all the devious scandalous crazy things your flesh wants to do and that you would do if church people weren't around do I have any real people here today that's riotous and the Bible says that he goes to a far country now when Jesus is telling the story he knows the primary audience knows that if Jesus says far country it can't be closed so it's not within the boundaries of Jerusalem or even where they are in Israel it's in a pagan place so he goes to a far country which means it takes him a long time to get there because you do know that sin will be very very patient in leading you away from the presence of the father and then when he gets there he wastes all his substance because sin will make you pay more than you plan to pay it'll make you stay longer than you plan to stay and he's way out from the reach of his father now the Pharisees and the scribes at this point of the story and maybe we have a few Pharisees and scribes here would probably say this boy is outside the reach of God I remember when I was coming up they would tell me if you go to certain places that the Angels the holy angels would not go into those places right and so if you went to the nightclub the angels will stay outside and you would go in unprotected into that place and I believed it until I read the scripture that said if I make my abode in heaven you are there but if I make my abode in Hell yet you are there to think about it if you could go anywhere where the presence of God was not there and your angelic protection was not there to hold you together do you not know the enemy would bring the roof down on your head and snuff you out but God says wherever you go I might not agree with it wherever you go I might not want you to go but he goes so he can protect you so you can have another chance and another day for His mercy and His grace he's in a far country but he's not beyond the reach of his father and some of you are in a far country right now I mean you're here presently but you're in a far country your body is parked in the seat here but your mind is somewhere else and the grace of God he is he'll go wherever he needs to go in order to get you somebody ought to say Amen he's in the far country you know the story he's in a far country and he wastes all of his substance on riotous living he's got all these friends who he thinks are friends they help him waste his father's blessings he ends up in a pigpen no self-respecting Jewish boy would ever find himself in a pigpen they weren't even supposed to touch pigs now he's living with pigs because sin will make you live with what your above hang out long enough in the mud and you will eat like pigs cuss like pigs do business like pigs hang out with pigs this boy is beneath he this boy is beyond this but he's living beneath his destiny he's in the mud he he has exercised his independence but now he is bound by his own liberty he's incarcerated by his own independence he is now in the mud and the mess of his own choices but I like that there's grace even in the mud for the Bible says if you say with me say yes the Bible says that he comes to himself which implies that when you are in the mud you are not yourself hmm you are not what God Destin's you to be when you are in the mud he comes to himself in the mud I like that because it could be that some of you are one mistake away from finding yourself one mistake away because God watch this God the perfect parent unlike some of us who rescue our children prematurely from the consequences of their own unwise decisions God the perfect parent will let you hit the bottom so you can realize the grace that you need he finds himself not in the father's house pampered by his father's blessings no he finds himself in the mud of his own mistakes Oh hallelujah and there's glory in the mud because as he's there in the mud the Bible says he comes to himself now realize this is not a historical account this is a made-up story that Jesus is telling to make a bigger point so why does Jesus bring up this mud and how does this boy find himself in the mud remember this is Jesus talking Jesus who in pre-incarnate state was there at creation what did he make man from the word Adam literally means from the ground or from the mud so Jesus telling the story I hope you catch this puts the mud in the story because he wants us to know that he made us from the mud and if we ever find ourselves back in the mud it's the best place for him to make us all over again in the mess of your muddy situations God is able to reform your mind he is able to transform your thoughts so that your worst day can become your best day because all things work together for good to them that love God is there anybody here that God has saved you from your mud come on take your halos off for just a moment and I know you're ready for translation but let's just be real and thank God that he found you in your mud and you're no longer living in your mud because of the grace of God he applied his blood to your mind he finds himself and here's where we usually kind of end off the story with celebration and rejoicing because watch what he does next he says I realize that uh the servants back in my father's house eat better than I do so he says I will arise and I'm gonna tell my father I have sinned yeah yeah yeah yeah and you got to do that because you gotta own your wrong amen he says I have sinned that's confession he said I'm gonna go back to my father and I'm gonna say father I have sinned and he starts walking on his way home and that's usually when we rejoice because he's on his way back and says it's what the prodigal says on his way home that shows us he doesn't quite yet get it watch what he says he says uh I'm gonna tell my father I have sinned III I've seen I've done wrong and I am no longer worthy to be called the Son make me a slave in your house let me say it again so you get it he's on his way home in the right direction but he's going in the right direction with the wrong attitude because he is thinking that the father when he sees him we'll have so much condemnation for him that the only thing he could be treated as is a slave but what he does not understand is he has too low an expectation of the character of God and so many of us today are on our way to the father's house yes you're on your way to glory but some of us are going with the wrong attitude we've got a slave mentality if you don't get it let me illustrate what does a slave do in order to get food a slave has to work in order to get food to eat but what does a son do a son does not have to work because slaves get food by way of their performance hmm but sons get food by way of their relationship slaves have to let me come a little bit closer slaves have to make up for the sins they've done in their past so that God will see them worthy but sons don't have to work they accept the finished work of Christ on Calvary let me get a little bit closer this is why you have some people who come to church and they have no joy they think it's a sin to smile in church this is why they show absolutely no emotion and I'm not saying you've got to do all the stuff that other people do but their emotionless and and that's why they have no peace and that's why they they seem to be very somber and stiff usually those are people who are going in the right direction with the wrong attitude because they're thinking I've got to work my way obey my way perform my way into the father's house that's what slaves do but the father says you are a son you are a daughter slaves worked for the food at the Welcome Table sons and daughters pull up and take a seat because they are related to the Father by blood so he's walking in the wrong direction right direction he's got the wrong attitude but praise be to God here's the grace of the Father is that the father meets him on his way even though he's got the wrong attitude he meets him while he's going in the right direction and the Bible says he throws his hands around him now the son tries to give him his pitiful speech father I have sinned and he needed to say that because confession is necessary but then the next part was unnecessary make me a son and before he can make me a slave and before he's finished the father interrupts him and embraces him and here is where the son is let down by his father he expected the father to condemn him but thank God the Father lets you down because you have too low an expectation of the grace of God and somebody here ought to praise God that he lets you down you expected condemnation he gave you grace you expected punishment he gave you mercy you expected him to put you out but with loving kindness he brought you back in you praise God today that he lets you down so that he can bring you up to understand that God doesn't just have love but God is love the father runs out and embraces the boy he hasn't cleaned up yet he doesn't have all his bad practices behind him yet but he throws his arms around him and embraces him I wondered why this father embraces him well Jesus remember telling the story knows what should have happened to the boy because according to the law of their time if a boy ever displeased or dishonored his father like this he was supposed to be stoned so the reason the father embraces him is he says if you're going to stone my boy you're going to have to stone me too you ought to be grateful that God got to you before the church did if the church got ahold of you you would have been disfellowshipped by now if the church got ahold of you you wouldn't be a camp-meeting right now but is there anybody here who's grateful that God got to you before the church did that's the father of grace that's the father of love because this boy was a son when he left the house he was a son when he was caught up in riotous living he was a still a son when he was messing with prostitutes he was still a son when he was getting drunk he was still a son when he ended up in the in the mud of his own mistakes he was still a son he wasn't a good son but he was still a son and the goodness of God is that he loves all his lost sons and daughters back to him with loving kindness that's why the Pharisees did not understand why Jesus eats and drinks with sinners because he is the Good Shepherd that goes after the lost sheep he is the woman who likes the candle and finds the lost coin in the house and he is the good father this story is not the prodigal son because if you call it the prodigal son you makes in the star of the story this is not the prodigal son this story is actually about the prodigal father because the father of grace can understand and you got to understand this you cannot outs in God's grace the father welcomes him home and what happens like every part of the story they rejoice because all of heaven rejoices even over one sinner that understands who the father is he's a God of both mercy and justice grace and truth and when you understand that then you realize that as long as you hear that pricking in your heart as long as you hear that still small voice as long as you are able to say and come to yourself you can always go home I'm glad God let me down because my expectation of him was way too low he is greater than you've ever dreamed he is more merciful than the church will ever be he is more gracious than the religious scholars of their day and today will ever be for he is Grace and he is love your heads about your eyes are close understand this the Pharisees and scribes had the wrong understanding of who God is they would tell the folks that they had to perform their way into righteousness but the Bible says that none of you none of us at our very best would be able to be worthy and called righteous for our best is as filthy rags but here's the glory of God is that grace which is unmerited favor that grace can be applied to any sin because you cannot out sin God's grace he says all you got to do is start walking in the right direction if you're if you're here this this afternoon under the sound of my voice and you believe that God is a God of truth and grace I just want you to stand if you just believe that he's a God of truth and grace just want you to stand now just before we pray I'm not gonna be naive enough to believe that because you're a camp-meeting you are in relationship with God so I want to ask and make this quick appeal and it doesn't have to take long it shouldn't be long because you've heard the word of the Lord this morning and all weekend and now you've heard this word and here's what God is saying if you're here you might be here this afternoon but you know some part of your life some facet of your existence is in a far country you know that in fact maybe people around your people at your church or people who know you don't know but you know and God knows he hears hears the word of the Lord to you this afternoon understand that because you cannot out sin his grace all you have to do it's not clean yourself up because the story never said he cleaned himself up from the mud he simply started walking in the right direction and the father will meet you on your way if you just start walking I want to pray for people who want to get to the father's house with the right attitude and if there's some mud that's holding you back from being what God has called you to be as a disciple I want you to do this for me because I want to pray for you I want you to slip out of the aisle and come down front signifying I'm walking I'm gonna start walking in the right direction your heads about your eyes are closed we're gonna wait for just a moment because I know there's more than one you're coming you're coming some part of your life is in a far country you might even go to church that doesn't mean you're not in the far country there might be some habits some practice some secret sins something someone whatever it is that has you your mind your spirit in a far country and and here's the grace of God is that though he takes a risk waking you up every morning for you to keep going back to that same sin here's the grace of God there's also a chance you realize his mercy that day guess what today is your day just start walking in the right direction amen come on come on just start walking in the right direction don't clean yourself up that's not your business it's not your business in the story Jesus told the boy I didn't clean himself up what did the father do he covered him with his robe so it's not your business to stop doing what you're doing it's God's business to give you the strength to stop not you for it is Christ that worketh in you both to will that's the desire you don't even have the desire to do right without him it's Christ that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure let God let the father of grace do what he does best clean up messed up sinners I'm getting ready to pray now but even as I pray you're coming to the Lord you're coming back to the Lord or you're surrendering some part of your life to the Lord that's in a far country he'll love you all the way back home it doesn't matter if you had a child out of wedlock I know what the church says we understand standards we don't lower that but the grace of God must be applied to every mistake we make the grace of God I know maybe some people at the church said some things to you they should not have said they stood in judgment of you and they were wrong yes but but the father will love you don't leave the church over people when God is what the church is all about come on back home wherever you are come on back home because His grace is wide enough to even include you let's pray now father we thank you that the Pharisees and scribes had it half right you really do receive sinners and you really do spend time with them thank you that the accusation is correct because we are those sinners we are the ones who need that grace we're grateful God that you the Good Shepherd went and found us we're grateful God that even when we got lost in the house in the church you still came and got us and we're grateful God that even when we made up our minds purposefully to sin against you your grace was waiting on us to bring us home now God where we're standing all over this building because we're saying we believe in grace and truth but God help us now to not only believe it but to live it to accept it and to practice it God some of us we have asked forgiveness for sins and we have not forgiven ourselves God deliver us from guilt and shame only leads us into the cycle of sin again and God convict us so that we will know that even though we are wrong you are in the process of making us right now God apply your blood to our mind help us to come to ourselves so we are we will realize that we are living beneath a divine destiny and God I pray that these who have pressed to the front that you will bring them from whatever far country they are in all the way to the father's house and we one day all of us will sit down at the Welcome Table where Jesus will finally and eternally eat with sinners saved by grace in Jesus name that all God's children say amen and amen god bless you you

Channel: AbundantLife Media

Views: 62,113

Rating: 4.6805325 out of 5

Keywords: CKT KS14 004, Charles, Knight, Ps Charles Knight - I'm Glad God Let You Down, Sedaven, CAmp Meeting, Northern, Conference, ETA, SA, SDA, God, Jesus, Let you, Bible

Id: 05MV_-AfpLY

Length: 49min 9sec (2949 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2016