Prodigal (Part 2)

Well, thank you, ladies, for the beautiful music. It's just incredible the amount that music adds to a service. Just the praises of God going up, like prayers, it's just so beautiful.

Wanted to apologize up front. I managed to neglect thanking Odell last first Holy Day for his piano playing. I managed to lump him in with the ladies when I thanked the ladies for the special music.

So I completely missed it. So, Odell, I apologize. Thank you so much for the music that you provided last Holy Day as well. Greetings, once again, to everyone, to all the brethren we have gathered with us all over the—all over wherever you may be on the webcast and on the telephone hookup. We know we have a number that are within our congregation and within our circuit, as well as a number that contacted me and asked if they could jump in and join us. And so welcome to whomever you are and wherever you are. It is nice to have you here with us on this Holy Convocation. You know, these seven days in this spring Holy Day season that we've just experienced, they are incredibly symbolic.

Much of what is represented as Mr. Griswold mentioned this morning in his sermonette, which I very much appreciated, is that the two messages are going to dovetail very well today.

These days that we just experienced really look at a bookended set of miracles in the deliverance of God's people. You know, these two days represent a significant amount of miracles as God delivered his people, Israel, from the Egyptians. You know, as we talked about on the first day, God enacted this series of plagues to kind of increase pressure on Pharaoh to let his people go, to go out into the wilderness to be able to worship him as he requested. And as God's plan unfolded, as we see in Scripture, he describes how he executed judgment against all of the gods of Egypt. And what that means is against all the things that the people worshipped and that they believed that their gods controlled. He turned the Nile into blood, and he overran the land with frogs and with lice and with flies, all of which were gods to the Egyptians. He brought massive hailstorms, controlled the weather, all of which again they believed their gods controlled, put the land into darkness, and of course killed the firstborn of Egypt as he stated up front that he would. The day following the events of the Passover on the 15th of Abib, Israel left Egypt. They began their march toward the land of Sinai, and as Jewish tradition holds, this journey from Ramesses to the edges of the Red Sea took seven days. And on that seventh day, Israel stood between Pharaoh's armies in the Red Sea, wondering as they saw the chariots enclosed in one side and the water on the other, whether or not today would be the day that my life ends. As they sat there and they saw army the armies of Pharaoh closing in and an impassable sea behind them. As we see from Scripture, their complaints arose. You know, they were mildly concerned, to put it lightly.

They were deeply afraid, deeply afraid. We see Moses follow God's instructions. He stretches his arms out towards the Red Sea. God parts the water so the Israelites can cross on dry land.

And as the host of Israel crossed, Pharaoh and his armies dogged right on their heels. As the last of the Israelites stepped onto the shore on the other side of the Red Sea, those waters that God had brought up and had raised now suddenly crashed down on the Egyptian army, destroying the armies of Pharaoh and Pharaoh and their deliverance from Egypt. At that point, it was complete. God had heard their cries. He had redeemed his people.

One of the big themes of the Days of Unleavened Bread is this concept of God's redemption.

And while neither you or I were standing on the edges of the Red Sea on that day so many years ago, you know, we were not in that rock, between that rock and a hard place, literally, so many years ago, each and every one of us have stood on the shores of a spiritual Red Sea. When we have come up out of the waters of our baptism, we commit to following our God forward into the wilderness, leaning on Him for our protection, for our guidance, for our safety, as we go forward and as we trust and as we obey our Creator.

The story of the Israelites, as we explored briefly in the first message on the first day of Unleavened Bread, is one that is punctuated by disobedience and rebelliousness toward God. And particularly, in those years that we see in the wilderness, and as time got distant from that major miracle of the Red Sea parting. But sadly, it's a theme that we see repeated over and over and over again through much of Israel's history. Despite their redemption, despite the incredible miracles that God wrought to save them from certain destruction, as they left the land of Egypt and God rescued them from their bondage, whenever things got challenging, whenever things got stressful, when there was anxiety and fear that came into play, we see Israel run back to that which is comfortable, to what they knew and what they remembered.

We see them go back to what is familiar, what is comfortable, what they knew, what they understood.

Bessel van der Kolk, in his book, The Body Keeps the Score, discusses the human tendency to return to that which is comfortable as a means of managing uncertainty. Van der Kolk's book addresses trauma. It addresses the difficult things that people experience in their lives, and it addresses the human response to it, the standard typical human response. Van der Kolk writes, brain and body are programmed to run for home, where safety can be restored and where stress hormones can come to rest. And so, as we read Israel's story, again and again, we can observe in their wilderness wanderings Israel running for home. The problem was, home was not in the arms of their God.

It was in the land in which they left behind, the land which their God called them out of.

They desired a return to the foods, to the culture, to the gods, the gods that had been shown to be completely and totally impotent and unable to do anything. They longed for the security of what was normal, the environment which they had developed in and were formed by. And in some ways, that familiarity was more comfortable to them, despite the negative consequences that were associated with it than the uncertainty of being out in the wilderness.

You know, as God inspired Jeremiah to write in Jeremiah 2 and verse 8, Israel, going forward from that day, walked after things that did not profit. They went after the gods, they went after the customs, they went after the desires of their hearts. Let's turn over once again to Luke 15. You know, in the last message we read through these parables that Christ provided to the Pharisees and the scribes here to illustrate the love that God has for His people. You know, Christ is providing the scribes and the Pharisees with this connection and this understanding of the way that God views those who are struggling, the way that God views those who, we might say, are lost. Ultimately, we see that God's desire is that all come to repentance. We see that in Scripture throughout. We see God state that explicitly through His servants. And in Luke 15, Jesus Christ uses the analogy of a lost sheep. He uses the analogy of a lost coin, describing how God sought that which was lost and how He rejoiced and how He celebrated in the joy when it was found.

You know, the implication of the parables being that God sought out that which was lost, that the sinners and the tax collectors at the Pharisees so despised, God was seeking, and God was hoping for their repentance and for their restoration, ultimately for their redemption. Luke 15 verse 11. Christ gives us the parable of the prodigal son. We're going to go ahead and read it again today. I know we just went through it on the first day, but I want to go ahead and read it again as we dig into part two of this message, focusing more so on the spiritual and the personal aspects of this concept as we're looking at it. Luke 15, and we'll pick it up in verse 11.

Luke 15 verse 11. 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. So he divided to them his livelihood.

And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.

But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.

Then he went and he joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine.

And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

Verse 17. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise, he says, and I will go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

Verse 20. He arose, and he came to his father, but when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and we talked in the last message of the customs at this time of the father having been dishonored. This would have been unheard of, and probably quite surprising to the Pharisees and scribes listening to the story.

The father said to his servants, instead, verse 22, Bring out the best robe, and put it on him, and bring it, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet, bring the fatted calf here, and kill it, and let us eat, and be merry.

You know, it's an incredible story. It's one that's filled with a lot of evocative language. You know, this young man in question within the parable asks his father for his inheritance early. Says, Father, please give me my portion. His father obliges, gives his son the inheritance that he requests, and the son takes his wealth and travels off to a far country. You know, again, we mentioned last time some scholars think it really may not have been that far. It may have just been an area of Judea that was so different and so opposed to the lifestyle and the culture of the Jews that it felt like another country. The area of the gatherings and the gurgessines, where we see Christ cast the demons into the herd of swine. But we see this young man then begins to spend those funds in a prodigal manner. We mentioned last time the Greek word for prodigal is the Greek word asodos. We didn't dig much into that. I want to do that today. This word, asodos, is only used in one place in Scripture. It's right here in this passage, the word asodos, only used once. The word comes from the Greek word, which is sozos, which means to save or to deliver. The word soter is savior. Soteria is salvation and deliverance.

Some of you may remember back to biology or other sciences that use Greek terminology. When you put the a in front of a Greek word, it causes it to mean not or without. For example, abiotic factors are factors that are not living. They are not biological in nature. They are abiotic. They are not biotic. Apathetic is someone who is without emotions, without feeling. Someone who is atheistic is someone who does not believe in God or is without God.

So the word asodos, the word that's translated here is prodigal, is describing a manner of living that is, as some commentators have said, unsavedness. It's kind of a strange word.

But someone who is living without any hope of safety. We might say they are living with reckless abandon. They are not at all concerned. They are not at all thinking about the future. One bit. It is right here, right now, and that is all that matters.

In this example of the prodigal son, he's being wasteful with his inheritance. We see that he's not considering saving for a rainy day, so to speak. So it's very financial in this regard. But when the famine arises and the young man falls on hard times, he's broke, he's unable to support himself because he didn't consider the future, because he didn't give that much thought. He ends up having to take a job that at that point in time would have been absolutely anathema to an observant Jew at that time. Would have been rock bottom, feeding the swine. All the while, his belly grumbling as he watched the food that the swine were eating, realizing he didn't have anything that he could feed himself. He comes to his senses, his conscience is pricked. He realizes that even his father's servants have food. All he has to do is swallow his pride, admit he was wrong, and go back to his father. That's all he has to do. And his situation is repaired. That his father will then have mercy and allow him to serve as a hired servant. We see the father's response is just beautiful. It's heartwarming. It's loving. He is so thankful to have his son back. He gives him mercy. He forgives him. He collapses into his neck, weeping, so thankful that his son came to his senses. You know, this is the father God that is painted by Christ's parable to the Pharisees, a God who will take back his children, joyfully forgiving them when they come to their senses and they repent of their sins. When they come to themselves and when they realize that God desires for them so much more. When they come to realize that they're sitting in the mud surrounded by swine and that God wants them to return to him, to run for home. Title of the sermon this morning is simply prodigal, part two. And in it, what I'd like to do is consider the example of Israel briefly. Young people don't check out. I know Mr. Griswold talked about talking about Israel and checking out because I'm not Israel. But I'd like to also explore the themes of these days of Unleavened Bread and the parable that we just read to think about the spiritual and the personal implications for us today as we all navigate towards God's Kingdom. Let's turn over to 1 Peter, book of 1 Peter, and we're going to jump into 1 Peter 1. Again, as we build this concept and we consider what this means for us today, 1 Peter 1, and we're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 3. 1 Peter 1 and verse 3.

Book of 1 Peter was written in the mid-60s A.D., probably early to mid-60s A.D., during a time in which persecution had come upon the church. And it was a great deal of persecution. This was not the first time the church had experienced persecution, but it was definitely ramping up at the point in time in which Peter wrote this book. And so within this book, as you go through 1 Peter, you're seeing Peter right to encourage and strengthen the believers during this time of trial and during this very difficult time that they were experiencing. And he was endeavoring to focus their efforts on what was to come. And ultimately, what Peter consistently goes back to in this book, and he doesn't always state it by name, but he lays it out here, as he consistently points them back to their inheritance, back to their portion which God has given them. 1 Peter 1 and verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Verse 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Verse 6 he says, In this, in this inheritance you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.

Now Peter uses a Greek word here, chloronomia, chloronomia, to describe this inheritance.

And it's the exact same word that is used in the Greek Old Testament to describe the inheritance of the Promised Land that God gave to Israel. And the word, the way that it's used in Scripture, describes a current possession, not a future possession. We think of inheritance as a future possession. We think of it as something that is going to come sometime in the future. The way that it's described in in the Greek language and the way that it's used, it is describing a current possession. It is describing a portion that they possess now, that they have now.

1 Peter, he contrasts his spiritual inheritance with the inheritance that Israel received, and he makes a really important point. He says, our inheritance is incorruptible. It's undefiled, and it does not fade away. It is reserved for us. And so he kind of contrasts this with Israel's inheritance and says, look, this is so much greater than the inheritance of Israel. This is so much greater than the inheritance of Israel. The Promised Land, look, it was an incredible blessing.

This was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was full of cities that they didn't build and vineyards that they didn't plant, and it was full of all sorts of amazing and incredible blessings.

But Peter makes the point. It was physical. It was physical. That Promised Land could be overrun by Israel's armies. It could be burned. It could be salted after a conquest. The army could come through there and absolutely raise the crops in the fields to the ground, salt the fields, and destroy their ability to grow crops in that area going forward.

The marauding armies of their enemies could damage it, and quite frankly, brethren, they did, repeatedly throughout the history of Israel. And while God's blessing could and would make it fruitful again, it was not incorruptible. It was physical. It was defiled with the abominations of false gods, and for a time, Israel was dispossessed of their land. They lost that blessing for a time. But brethren, the inheritance that God promises us cannot be defiled. It cannot be corrupted. It cannot fade away. Now, why is that? Because in many ways, that inheritance, that portion that we have been given, is God Himself. Let's go over to Lamentations 3.

Lamentations 3. We're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 22. The book of Lamentations is a book that was written by Jeremiah. And, you know, it's in many ways, it's written in a fashion of someone who witnessed the consequences of Judah's rebellion against God firsthand. Someone who was there boots on the ground, so to speak. You know, Jeremiah was sent with prophecies to his people, who by and large, repeatedly refused to listen. And you read the book of Jeremiah, you read the book of Lamentations, and you can see that God had Jeremiah do some very uncomfortable things in his prophecies. You know, he spent some time in very, very uncomfortable positions and places, and minus hair, and I mean, there were some really challenging things that Jeremiah was asked to do in this process. And so Lamentations, especially Lamentations 3, the earlier part of it, Jeremiah is reflecting back on his time that he was doing this.

And he's reflecting back and lamenting on the process that he experienced. But in verse 21, what is so incredible about this is he lists all these really difficult things. But then in verse 21, his whole entire outlook and position and the tone and the tenor of his writing changes.

Lamentations 3 and verse 21.

That is Lamentations 2 verse 21. Give me one second. There's 3 verse 21.

He says, This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Though the Lord's mercies, or through the Lord's mercies, I have my glasses on. It didn't feel like I did. Like, why are those words not working? Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. Because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, he says. And notice what he says in verse 24. The Lord is my portion. The Lord is my portion. He is my inheritance.

Says my soul. Therefore I hope in him. Verse 25, he says, The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord, and it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Jeremiah reflects on his inheritance. He reflects on the portion that he has been provided. And he recognizes and lists that God is that portion. That God is that inheritance. That that is the future that he has been provided. That's what he's been promised. And therefore, he says, I will place my hope in him. In that inheritance, in that future that I've been given. In the promise of his kingdom, in the promise of that eternal life with his God, and the promise of that city with foundations. This is a set of promises that are upheld by God. And again, through the hope in those promises, Jeremiah can have hope in spite of all the difficulties and all the challenges that he faced. You know, Asaph echoes this concept in Psalm 73. Let's turn over to Psalm 73. Psalm 73, we'll see another example here of God being our inheritance, being our portion. Psalm 73, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 23. Again, the Psalm here of Asaph. Psalm 73 and verse 23 says, Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand, you will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to the glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?

Notice what he says next, And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you.

Verse 26, My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and he is my portion forever. He is my portion forever. God is our portion. He is our inheritance. It is through that inheritance that we can have hope in spite of all the challenges that we face today, and it's through that inheritance that we can ultimately be assured of our future, of what God has planned for us, of eternity with him in his kingdom. Now note the psalmist's next words in verse 27. He says, For indeed those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all your works. You know, he reflects on the history of Israel, considers the times in his nation when they were far from God, when they perished, when they were separated, when they were distanced from their God. He reflects that the people were destroyed when they deserted him for harlotry, when, as Jeremiah describes, that they played the harlot with the gods of the surrounding lands. He says that they were destroyed when they ran from God, when they ran to the world, the times when they returned to Egypt, so to speak, to the gods, to the customs, to the desires, which God called them out of. We went here in the last message. You don't need to turn here if you don't want to, but I'm going to read it again. Jeremiah 2, verses 4 through 8. Jeremiah 2, verses 4 through 8. Once again, if you just want to jot it in your notes as a reminder, please feel free. Jeremiah 2, verse 4. God reflects on this return to Egypt that his people did at time and time and time again. It says, Moreover, beginning in verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord. He says, I remember you. I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, or your engagement, when you went after me in the wilderness in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase, all that devour him will offend, disaster will come upon them, says the Lord. But then God reflects on what happened. Says here, the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel, thus says the Lord, What injustice have your fathers found in me that they have gone far from me? God says to Israel, Why are you running? Why are you running away from me? What have I done? I've done nothing but bless you. I've done nothing but deliver you. I've done nothing but protect you and guide you, and yet you run.

God says, Why are you running? Why have you followed idols? Why have you become idolaters?

Verse 6, neither did they say, Where is the Lord? Not even seeking him at this point, he says, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who delivered them at that time, Who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought in the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt.

You know, you look at that portion of the map today, you can see why very few people dwelt in that area. That is a dry, arid area for much of it. You know, and it's possible it was in a much better place, you know, back then, and certain pockets of, you know, nice areas, but that area he brought them through, coming out of Egypt into the Promised Land, it was wilderness.

He said, I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness, but when you entered, you defiled my land. You made my heritage, you made my inheritance and abomination. The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who handled the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. He says, The prophets prophesied by Baal, and they walked after things that do not profit. You know, God describes the times early on in His relationship with Israel when they were faithful to His betrothal, when they were faithful in their engagement to Him, when they pursued Him in the wilderness.

You might say the early stages of the relationship, where you just cannot get enough of each other. You know, the early stages of the relationship, where they didn't want to be a part. They wanted to be right next to Him, near one another all the time, but then God notices and God says, something changed. Distance crept in. Israel went far from Him. They departed His presence, and they followed the gods of the land around them.

They didn't seek Him. They sought instead the desires of their heart. He says, the priests didn't turn the people back to God. They defiled the land. They made His inheritance an abomination. And as Jeremiah puts it, they walked after things that do not profit.

Israel didn't turn to Him. They turned from Him. They walked instead after things that had no lasting value, things which profited nothing, things which did not lead to salvation, things that were wasteful, things that we might say were prodigal. They took the inheritance that God had provided them and ultimately took it for granted. They took the inheritance that God had provided them to Him. The bounty of the land, the protection, the safety of being in His presence, that guidance and that deliverance that He's given them, they didn't value it and they didn't recognize it for what it was. Instead, they turned from Him and they ran the other direction toward the desires of their heart.

Those of you who have been parents, you likely remember your kids going through a phase where they did something like this. Every kid goes through this phase. Some of them go on, go through it a little bit longer. Some of them it's a little briefer. But you call their attention, you call to get them to come to you from where they were playing, wherever they might have been doing, it's time to go, it's time to get their attention for whatever reason.

Maybe they're being unsafe and you need to get their attention. You're like, come here, and they take one look at you, they take one look at what they want, and they go, nope! And they beeline for the thing that they want. Hopefully, in your child's life, it was a very brief phase. It usually is. It usually doesn't last long, so, you know, take some comfort in that.

But in your presence was safety. It was guidance. It was protection. It was for their own good. But as children, quite often, they know better. They know more of what they want. They think they know just how close they can get to danger without getting into trouble, without getting caught. They think they know how far, or sometimes they do know just how far they can stay out of reach. You know how long your arms are.

You go to grab and you're like, how are you an inch away from where I am? They know! They know how long your arms are. They've tested it. Okay, got caught that time. Didn't get... oh, can't get me now! Can't get me now!

They learn to recognize the tone of your voice, to know what the request is, and they can be a half step ahead of you before you can react. You know, as a parent, it's frustrating. It's also scary, because there's a lot of dangers out there. You love your children. You don't want to see them get hurt. You're doing these things for their own good. And ultimately, God is no different. Let's turn over to Deuteronomy 10. Deuteronomy 10, we'll pick it up in verse 12. Deuteronomy 10 in verse 12.

You know, Moses has just finished reiterating to the people of Israel the history, by and large, of their time in the wilderness. You know, he's kind of going back through what they've experienced, and what they've done, and what they've been through. And he's talked about all the different rebellions, and all the times in which they had been stiff-necked, and when they challenged God. Verse 12, he says of Deuteronomy 10, he says, now Israel, you know, getting it after all these things that he's talked about, after all these things, he says, now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statues, which I command you today.

Why? So you can't have any fun? No! For your own good. God does these things for our own good.

And Moses just reiterates these things to the people of Israel, and he reiterates to them all these wonderful things that God has done, all the difficulties that they've provided. He reiterates to them ultimately that God has done all these things, and that God will do all these things.

And he concludes in chapter 10, verses 12 to 13, and what does God ask of you? What do you have to do in response? Fear the Lord, obey him, love him, and serve him. That's it. Moses says that's the essence of the law defined. That's it. Those are the things you have to do. You need to fear him, you need to obey him, you need to love him, and you need to serve him. All the things that God put on them, all the things that God placed upon Israel, all of his statutes and laws and commands, were designed to keep them safe. Not only that, they were designed to keep them separate from the world around them. They were to keep them holy and different. They were to make Israel not look like the nations around them, to not be similar, to be separate. Again, not like all of the other nations. He goes on to say in verse 16, if you skim down just a little bit here is what Moses is talking about in verse 16, he goes on and he says, therefore, verse 16, circumcise the foreskin of your heart. He says, be stiff-necked no longer. Be stiff-necked no longer. You know, God desired Israel to accept their calling, so to speak, to become the people that he had chosen them to become as descendants of Abraham, to become a people who would number the sands of the sea and who would be the model of the nations, model to the nations, rather, of God and of his ways. God desired that Israel would submit themselves to him. He desired that Israel would return to him, to come to him and to return to his open arms, to his comfort, to his guidance, to his love, so they could ultimately celebrate that return together. God wanted them to realize and to see the severity of the situation they found themselves in and to choose him over the world and what it has to offer, not to be stiff-necked. It's the same desire that God has for us in our own lives. It's the same desire that he has for us. You know, as we come out of these days of Unleavened Bread, during this time that God has set for his people to remember the events of the Exodus, the miraculous deliverance that he's provided, and to really consider what he's doing in our own lives today, we see he commands us to put the leaven in our lives out. And yeah, that's to seek out the physical leaven in our homes, but as Mr. Griswold mentioned this morning, that helps us recognize the ubiquity of sin. It helps us realize just how everywhere sin is. But the real critical focus throughout this time, not to say that's not critical, but to say, you know, that both are important, is to focus on ridding our hearts and our minds of the leaven that dwells within us. Brethren, we already possess our inheritance to an extent. God is with us. God is with us. His Spirit dwells within us. You know, we are baptized. We accept the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins, and we have hands laid on us. God gives us His Spirit. That down payment toward eternity resides in us. You might say we received our portion of the inheritance, though not yet in its fullness. So the question, brethren, is what will we do with it? What will we do with it? We see the example of the prodigal son. He took his inheritance and he ran. He ran far away from God. He ran to a far country, to a land where he spent that inheritance and wasteful living and dissipation, when he finally came to his senses and he recognized the seriousness of his situation. As he sat in the mud in that stockyard, starving, surrounded by swine, it finally clicked. This wasn't home. This was not home.

Let's go to the book of Philippians. The book of Philippians. Philippians 3. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 17 of Philippians 3. As we see Paul's admonition here to the brethren in Philippi, in Philippians 3, verse 17, it says, brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern, for many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. Verse 20, he says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it might be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Paul admonishes them to follow his example, to note the walk of others who are walking in the way towards God, as they'll serve as a pattern for the brethren also, as an example. But he also warns them that there are those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, those who set their mind on these earthly things, whose god is their appetites, and whose end is their destruction. We might say individuals who are running to dissipation, who are running toward things that are not of profit. Paul goes on to say in verse 20 that our citizenship is in heaven, from where we eagerly await Savior Jesus the Christ, who will conform us to his glorious spirit body when at the time to realize the totality of the inheritance that we've been given comes. But the point that Paul makes that this current world is not our home is critical. You know, Barkley writes in his commentary on the book of 1 Peter, and I love this quote. He says, the world is a bridge. The world is a bridge. He says the wise man will pass over it, but he will not build his house on it. You don't build a house in the middle of a bridge. You build a house someplace that has solid ground. You build a house someplace where you can make a solid foundation. He says a wise man will pass over, but he will not build his house on it. In other words, he will not make it home. The brain and the body remember the score.

The brain and the body remember the score. They're both programmed to return home. They're both programmed to return to what is comfortable, to what causes a reduction in levels of stress and anxiety and soothes the challenge that we face in our lives. Brethren, the question I have for you as we leave these days of Unleavened Bread today is, where is home? Where do we run? Where do we run?

Do we spend our time mindlessly scrolling our social media news feeds?

Do we nitpick other people's character flaws while refusing to acknowledge our own?

Do we give in to our pride? Do we feel the need to prove our superiority on positions on various topics to others? Do we find ourselves consuming an inordinate amount of time and in ordinate amounts of media, whether that's radio, talk radio, whether it's radio programs, whether it's television, whether it's movies? Do we get ourselves embedded in the latest social movement or in worldly politics? Do we run to a bottle? Do we take our comfort in the bottom of a bottle? Do we take our comfort scrolling the depths of the internet alone in the dark?

Do we take the edge off with substances?

With food?

Do we turn to unhealthy habits to bring ourselves comfort in the face of the challenges and the stress and the anxiety that we face? Brethren, the question I'm asking you is, do we run right back to the world that God has called us out of?

Right back to Egypt.

To the things that have no lasting value. To the things which do not profit.

You know, after this evening, the days of Unleavened Bread are complete. After the sun goes down tonight, you can have bread once again. You know, you can consume. It's no longer symbolic of sin.

I wouldn't run out at sundown and buy a box of donuts. Kind of defeats the purpose, maybe. As of this evening, Israel was out of Egypt, officially. They were on the other side of the Red Sea. They were out of Egypt, but their work had only just begun because Egypt was not yet out of Israel. Egypt was not yet out of Israel. It continued to have its pull on them. Every turn, they ran for home. They ran for what was comfortable, what was familiar. Not recognizing all along that home was right there in front of them, leading them through the wilderness, dwelling among them in their camp, his presence being there with them. God desired they recognize where home was.

He desired that they realize that home was in his loving arms, in his mercy, and in his grace, which is the only thing that makes our recognition of the pit that we find ourselves in sometimes the only thing that makes it possible for us to repent, to come to ourselves, and to run home.

He wants us to be evaluating the desires of our heart, to be evaluating the pulls of the world that we've been called out of, and recognizing this world for what it is. Temporary, finite, quite frankly, a counterfeit of what God had purposed. Brethren, as we come out of these days, I hope that we can do the same.

I hope we can recognize where home is. I hope we can take the time to really consider and analyze our lives going forward, and the challenges that each of us face, and to consider and to ask ourselves, is it profitable or is it prodigal?