The Rebel In Me — Redemption — Rich Wilkerson Jr

Amen, amen. Well, I wanna welcome all of our friends who are joining us online right there in the chat. Let us know where you're tuning in from. It's been so fun to watch all of the different places in the world joining us into this ministry. Today, we are kicking off a collection that will lead us right up into Easter, and we are talking about redemption. How many of y'all know we love redemption stories? We love the story about the dude who got cut from the team only to make it back on the team, only to take the team to the championship. But we love those stories about businesses that go bankrupt, yet somehow they rebuild, and now they're profitable. We love the story of the addict getting clean and now sharing their story with others. I think we all love redemption stories. The reason why we love redemption stories is because down deep, whoever you are, wherever you're at, we know there's something inside of us that needs to be redeemed. Maybe you're in a state right now, maybe you're in a position or a place, something broke, something got off track, maybe it was a decision, maybe it was a relationship. For the next few weeks leading up to Easter, we're gonna be in a collection called Redemption, God Restoring What Life Has Ruined.

And today, I wanna preach from probably my favorite story in all of the Bible. It's been a long time since I've gotten to preach this passage, but it's hard to preach on redemption and not start here. This is Luke chapter 15. We're gonna start in verse 11 if you've got a Bible. Jesus continued. There was a man who had two sons. Someone say two sons. Two sons. The younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. And not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, someone say everything. Everything. There was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. Now, he longed to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have food to spare

and here I am starving to death? I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up, went to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, kissed him. The son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. My favorite part. So they began to celebrate. Come on, in the spirit of the text, can we just celebrate all across VU Church today? Come on, clap your hands, make some noise. We're grateful for the word of God. And today, part one of our brand new collection, I wanna preach from the subject, the rebel in me. The rebel in me. Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor,

you got a rebel in you. And right away, somebody's like, no, I don't. That's the rebel right there talking. That's the truth today, that there's a rebel inside of all of us. We don't really like to admit that. Maybe you're new to VU Church. Maybe you're new to a community like this. You're like, who is this man up there with that fake leather jacket on? Talking about, I got a rebel in me. You have a rebel in you. Whether you believe in Jesus, whether you know the gospel or not, I can prove it to you. How can you prove it, pastor? Have a child. All the parents in the room already know what I'm talking about, man. Kids do not need to be taught rebellion. They come out the womb rebelling. You have to teach your kids how to obey. You gotta teach your kids math. You gotta teach your kids grammar. You gotta teach your kids English. You do not need to teach them how to rebel. I've never seen a parent going, hey, come over here, Bobby. This is how you lie. Come over here, Susie.

This is what selfishness looks like. Come on, do it. Come on, do it. Here's a bad attitude. No, I got four kids and all of my kids, nobody taught them anything. A lot of people wonder, what are the first words that kids say? People think they come out saying mama, saying dada, not true. The first words that kids learn is mine. You little selfish little brat, you, you know? Mine, my children, nobody ever taught them the word no. They just know. No, no. Clean your room, no. Eat your vegetables, no. Share with your brother, no. Because there's a rebel on the inside of them. And if we're really being honest, it's inside of all of us. Something deep down inside of us. We want our way, our will, our preference. We want it the way we want it. And we can say this is what's inside of little children, but the truth is, as we grow older, this doesn't necessarily go away. We just get better at hiding it. Now, the word of God speaks to this rebellion, and the word is sin.

That sin is a dysfunction. Sin is a poison. Sin, by definition, means to miss the mark. That you and I, once again, whether we want to admit it or not, God's word doesn't just say that we were sinners. It says that we were enemies of God. That we rebelled against God's plan. We didn't want God's will. We wanted our will. And how many of y'all know, sin breaks things. Sin ruins things. Sin destroys things. Last time I checked, my Bible says that the wages of sin is death. And so many of us are here today saying, I want redemption. But how many of y'all know, you can't talk about redemption if you don't first start talking about rebellion. Because long before we talk about getting back what the devil stole from us, we have to talk about what it is that we gave up. What part do we have to play in this brokenness, in these ruins, in this destruction? All of us have to come to a place that we would admit that there is a rebel in me. And today, I want to do so by looking at one of the most famous stories in all of the world. In fact, one scholar said that the story of the prodigal son is the most famous

short story ever told. And as you examine the story, what you're gonna discover is there is redemption in the story, but you first must talk about the destruction of sin. So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. Number one, write this down. Sin takes you far. Sin takes you far. The word of God, it says it this way, that there was a father who had two sons. Someone say two sons. And one of the youngest sons, or the youngest son came to his dad and said, father, I want my inheritance now. Now, in 2026, in American culture, maybe you hear this and it doesn't sound like that big of a deal. It kind of sounds like this is a financial conversation. But listen to me, this is not a financial conversation. This is a funeral conversation. Because in Jewish culture, the only way you can get your inheritance is for your father to die. So essentially what this boy is saying, dad, I wish you were dead. Dad, I want your stuff, I just don't want you. Is this not the essence of what sin is? God, I want your blessings, I just don't want your leadership in my life. Many times we don't consider this in our own lives, but this is what we do. God, I'm down with you on Sunday, but I wanna live my life however I want

Monday through Saturday. Give me my inheritance now. And the scripture says that the father lets him go. Why is that? It's because God will not force his love upon you. How many of you know that sometimes you gotta go and get lost in order to value home? So the Bible says that the father, he divided his property between them. This is an interesting word right here. This word property is the Greek word, the word is bios, and it literally means life. The father is dividing his life between his sons. The younger son isn't just taking money, he's taking the father's life resources. And what does the scripture say? The scripture says that this Jewish young man, he goes off to a distant land. He goes into Gentile territory. He goes beyond the boundary. And the scripture says that there he squandered his wealth in wild living. The Greek word is the word azitus, and it means reckless, wasteful, and debauched. This is where this title of this text has been called prodigal, because prodigal by definition means wastefully extravagant. The son, listen to me, wastes everything. Wild living, reckless choices. And those of us who've lived a little while,

we know how the story goes. The story goes, yeah, the party's fun until it's not. The party's fun until the bill shows up. Anyone ever go to a nice restaurant? I had an experience the other day. I got some friends that ball on a budget a little higher than me. You know, a lot of times they'll take me to dinner and they'll pay for it. for my food and so you know every once in a while you know you're like I gotta pay mine you know and so the other night I was at dinner with some friends and the bill came I said yo guys I got it only to look at the bill you ever look at a bill you're like can we talk about this who ordered the tomahawk steak you know you start getting mad at people for appetizers no you're gonna pay your way man what's happening what's happening is is that you thought you could manage it you thought you could control it this is how sin works in our life many of us were playing with sin we think we can manage sin only to find out sin manages you come on you thought you could control sin then you wake up one day going this thing is controlling me sin takes you far and here's the truth the matter is in life no one wakes up is like you know what I'm gonna do today wreck my life nobody has a plan for when their plan goes wrong you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna sabotage my career I'm so excited to just trade in my integrity this is gonna be an exciting day no one does that I have little kids right now they have big dreams none of those dreams are to become an addict none of those dreams are to trade in their calling no we don't start that way what happens is that we tend to drift a little bit it's one little compromise it's one little mistake it's a sin I can handle this give me mine God I want my inheritance let me step out into freedom the only thing is as we step out into freedom we discover this wasn't freedom this was slavery for the Bible says that this young man actually has to go and work

for a farmer and he's feeding pigs that don't miss this because it's hard once again for us right yeah that's a bad deal but this is a really big deal for a Jewish young man because if you know anything about the law what you would know is that pigs are considered unclean they're not kosher so this man is hitting rock-bottom he is at the lowest moment he has traded a life of luxury to become one who feeds pigs because this is how sin works sin always takes you further than you want to go it always keeps you longer than you want to stay and it always costs you more than you're willing to pay can anybody out there testify if you got a testimony Oh pastor I know all about it maybe you know I know but pastor come on man like I didn't I didn't engage in wild living maybe you didn't engage in wild living but maybe you two have drifted into a distant land maybe it was your pride chasing success to a point that you've drifted out of God's presence maybe you find yourself today and it was someone who offended you somebody who hurt you and you knew you were meant to forgive but man I just couldn't do it and you held on to unforgiveness and now you've drifted you've been pulled out of community maybe it was a failure maybe it was a mistake and something took you out here's the encouragement today because there is no doubt that sin takes you far but how many believe that there is hope today in God's Word because we serve a God who is a redeemer 160 times in this book the word redeem redemption is right there in God's Word listen to me loud and clear it is not just something God does come on somebody this is who our God is redemption means to buy back what was lost to restore what was forfeited all throughout the Word of God you see it Psalm 130 verse 7 with the Lord there is unfailing love and with him is full redemption Isaiah 43 1 fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by name Isaiah 44 22 I have swept away your offense like a cloud I like it how Job says it he says I know that my Redeemer lives anybody grateful that you have a living breathing Redeemer David he writes it this way in Psalm 103 verse 4 he redeems your life from the pit I want to encourage you you might be at the pig's trough but we serve a God who can bring about redemption in your life

because here's the truth today that yes sin takes you far to a distant land but let's redeem the point if we can today sin takes you far but grace grace brings you back come on somebody testify somebody clap your hands grace brings you back it was grace that brought David back after his failure it was grace that restored Peter after his denial it was grace that pursued Jonah when he ran in the opposite direction It was grace that rescued Moses after 40 years in the wilderness. It was grace that restored Samson after his collapse. It was grace that called Matthew out of a life of corruption. It was grace that transformed Paul, the persecutor of the body of Christ, and turned him into the greatest apostle we have ever seen. And the same grace that brought them back can bring you back too, no matter how far you wander. Come on, no matter how deep the pit feels. Come on, somebody. No matter how far the distance seems, our God specializes in bringing rebels home. Somebody give Him praise in the house of God today. There's a rebel in me and sin takes me far. But it's not just that sin takes you far. Watch this. Sin makes you lose your mind. I'm quiet in church today because this is coming for home. There is a passage that just messes with me. Here it is. This is Luke chapter 15, verse 16. Because He's not just feeding these pigs. Watch what happens. This is what the scripture says. Luke chapter 15, verse 16. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave

him anything. Y'all, He's not just feeding pigs. He's looking at the pigs food going, that looks good. I'm hungry. Can I just say it plainly? This doesn't make sense. This is illogical. Let me be even more clear. Sin doesn't make sense. It's to miss the mark. It's to drift out of God's purpose and plan. And at the core, it's a lie. The enemy has been lying to us ever since the garden and he's lying to you right now. He says, this will make you happy. This will make you feel good. Do it. Try it. Attempt it. It's going to bring you peace. But every single time it's a lie. I saw a quote circulating on the internet and it ministered to me and it captures this truth so perfectly. Porn is loneliness sold as sex. Alcohol is escape sold as fun. Drugs are numbness sold as peace. Strolling is distraction sold as rest. Fast food is poison sold as pleasure. Luxury is emptiness sold as purpose. Smoking is addiction sold as relaxation. Notifications is control sold as importance.

Social media is validation sold as friendship. Wine makes you lose your mind. You know what all those things are? Those things are pig food. It's slop. And here we are in 2026, be like, this guy is crazy. Who would ever eat pig's food? We do it all the time. We trade the truth for a lie. We worship creation instead of the creator. It's pig's food. It don't make any sense. This week I got really obsessed with this and I started studying pigs. It's like I learned about pigs. I don't know a lot about pigs, but I found some facts out. Pigs have no ability to sweat. And because they cannot sweat in order, watch this, to get cool, they lie around in mud. I never knew that. No offense to pig culture. I can think of a lot of better ways of cooling down than getting dirty. Because that's what happened to some of y'all. Life got hot. Life got heavy. Life started to overwhelm you in a desire and in an attempt to cool down, to find relief, to find satisfaction, to find peace. You got yourself into the mud. You got yourself dirty. You lost your mind. You forgot about your sense. You forgot who you are.

You are not a pig. You're a child of God. Pigs, as I discovered it, will eat anything when they're hungry. Well, I don't do that. Some of us do do that. You got so hungry for a relationship that you lowered your standards. You got so thirsty for validation that you just entered into that relationship that you knew was wrong. You were so lonely. You were so hurt that you were just looking for a sip. You were just looking for something to feed your flesh. But now you find yourself looking at pig's food, and I want to encourage you. You were never meant for the mud. You were never meant to live there. You've been called out. You got to get up out of that pit. Come on somebody and praise him in this place. It don't make no sense. Because watch this. This is powerful. Luke chapter 15 verse 17. Here it is. This is the turning point. When he came, when he came South Miami, when he came city, design district, when he came to his census, he said, how many more of my father's men who are servants, they're living better than this. That's an interesting, that first when, because it tells me he'd been there probably for a while. And we read it. It's like, dude, I know, but like, come on, man, it's pig food. Who thinks that's good? It's crazy. If you live life in a pig pen, it's just a matter of time before you stop noticing the spell. And what happens is, is the longer we stay there, the more and more we begin to believe it's lie. It looks desirable, but the Bible says that when he came to his census, sin doesn't make sense. I'm not a pig. I'm a son. I'm a child. He came to his senses and said, I'm going to go back home. Someone say, go back home. I had to go back to my father's house because the servants are living better than me. Listen to me this moment right here, where he comes to his sentence senses. This is where we get the theological word repentance because repentance means to change your mind, to get back your mind, to reclaim your mind, to come to your senses. Repentance is more than remorse. It's more than butterflies. It's more than coming in Sunday going, Oh, home, I'm a terrible person. I made so many mistakes. That is not repentance.

Repentance is looking at pig food saying, this is not it. Let me change my direction. Let me head back to my father's house, but hear me. You can't come home until you admit you're lost. You cannot come home until you admit you're lost. There is grace. There is mercy waiting for you, but you have to admit I am a rebel. There's a rebel in me. Some of us were here in the church a rebel. There's a rebel in me. Some of us were here today and it makes me laugh because some of us, we don't realize that we're lost. I'm hoping that I can sound the alarm a little bit in your life that you are trading God's truth for pig food. But some of us, we know we're lost, but we don't want to admit it. You ever been in the car with someone they're driving and you know, they're lost. Don't you be like, Rich, you know where you're going? Of course I know where I'm going. Follow me as I follow Christ. I've seen this gas station three times, babe. Stop, honey. I got this. We do this spiritually. We don't want to admit that we're lost, but you cannot come home until you admit that you are lost. So listen to me. This is so very, very true today. Let's redeem the point. Sin makes you lose your mind, but watch this. But repentance helps you find it. Come on. Repentance helps you find it. You got to come back to your senses. It's time to go home. There's this kid's book that I love so much. It's called the boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse. I don't know if you ever read this book before, but it's about a little boy who's lost and he's trying to get home. And as he's trying to get home, he encounters a mole, a fox, and a horse. And these animals have the ability to speak. It's a children's book. Chill out. And as he's searching for home, he asks the horse this question. He says, what's the bravest thing you ever said? And the horse responds, help. Because help does not mean that you've given up. Help means that you are fighting back. Help means that you have the courage to get back up. I want to preach to someone today. Repentance is you looking up towards your heavenly father and saying help. And when you say help, come on somebody, you are fighting back. You're waking up. You're coming to your senses. Come on. Clap your hands if you believe it's happening all over this house today. Repentance is the first step back home. Somebody give glory to God today. Sin makes you lose your mind, but repentance helps you find it. We can't talk redemption until we talk about rebellion. We can't talk about God redeeming and buying something back until we actually admit that we are a part of. of the consequences here on this earth. Lastly today, if you're writing this one down,

this is our third one, I want you to write this down. Sin makes you walk in shame. Sin makes you walk in shame. The scripture says it right here that he gets up from the pig pen and as he begins, look what the scripture says. Can you pull the scripture up for me? When he came to his senses, he said, "'How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? "'And here I am starving to death. "'I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, "'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. "'I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. "'Make me like one of your hired servants.'" So get the picture. The boy gets up from the pig trough. We don't know how long he'd been there, but when he came to his senses, sin don't make no sense, this thing's taking too much, I've gone to a distant land, I gotta go back home. And so he starts walking. You can imagine what his walk looks like. Head down, slow feet. And he's rehearsing his apology speech. You ever been there before? I gotta go back and face my dad. Okay, dad, what had happened was. No, no, no, no, my friend opened the window. I didn't touch the window. Actually, I fell out of the window.

We ended up at that party. That was like, that was somebody else, but I'm sorry, dad. We start rehearsing the speech because this boy is walking in shame. Make me, watch this, make me like one of the servants. Make me like the hired help. Make me like someone who works here in the house. My sonship is gone, so I gotta earn my way back. I gotta put forth effort. In fact, some of you today, you've walked in this place, and this is what keeps you away from our church because you made a mistake in the week and somehow you thought because of that mistake that you don't belong here. I wanna say to everybody, whether you believe or not, welcome home. This is home, come on. Every location, clap in your hands. Welcome home. You can belong here before you even believe. I gotta earn my way back. I gotta make forth effort to get back. Listen to me, that's not how redemption works. You don't earn redemption, you receive redemption. You don't work for redemption, you wake up to redemption. You don't actually have to achieve it, you accept it. Listen to me, repentance is your job, redemption is God's job. Repentance in this moment. God, I'm changing my mind, I'm changing my direction.

God, I'm gonna give you my shame, and I'm gonna trust that you're gonna turn the story around. How many believe in a God who can turn stories around? Woo! Because here's the good news of the text. Let's redeem the point. Sin makes you walk in shame, but the Savior runs in mercy. Woo, somebody clap your hands today. Somebody clap your hands all over this room. The Savior runs in mercy, because the Bible says, as this boy just makes this turn, as he makes this turn towards the Father, the Father, the Scripture says in verse 20, while he was still a long way off, the Father saw him and was filled with compassion, and he ran to his son. I wanna give you the clearest picture of what our heavenly Father looks like. He saw him in the distance. It tells me that he had been waiting for him. Every day, every moment, I wonder if my boy's coming home today. I wonder if he's coming back home. Could this be the day? Is that him? Oh, okay, that's not him. And the Scripture says that when he sees him in the distance, and you gotta get this, because we walk slowly in shame, but the Father runs fast in grace. And people don't know it, but like,

this is a big deal that this dad is out there, because patriarchs in Jewish culture don't run. It meant they had to roll up their tunic, and practically speaking, showing your legs in Middle Eastern culture 2,000 years ago was a shameful thing. But here comes this dad saying, I don't care about the cultural context. I don't care about the rules of the day. That's my boy. That's my child. I will run to him. Jewish culture actually has a tradition. The tradition is called Kezah. And Kezah means that when a Jewish young man went into Gentile territory, and they had squandered everything, when they came back home, the entire village would go out to that young man. They would surround him. They would get a pot, a clay pot filled with corn and nuts, and they would break the pot. And it was to show that he had squandered everything that had been given to him, and now he is shunned from society. I think the father ran. because he wanted to get to the boy first. That before the village gets around you, before the crowd gets around you, before somebody from your school, before somebody from your work, before some boyfriend, before some girlfriend, before some father who was absent, before they label you, here comes God the father. He says, I'm running in

because I actually want to redeem you. Get the worship team up here. We're going to worship today. I'm going to redeem you. I'm going to redeem you. He saw him in the distance. He saw him in the distance. Anybody grateful God saw you in the distance. Come on. Anybody thankful that before you got home, he saw you before you made it to an altar, before you got to VU church, before you went to the growth track, before you had a title. Come on. There was a good father who saw you in the distance and he runs towards you. He runs towards you. It's powerful because the story says that as he gets to him, you can see the boy. He's trying to make his apology. And as he's trying to make his apology, the dad doesn't even let us get his apology out. There's so much here. This is Jesus's words before the boy can even get out his rehearsed speech. The dad is kissing him quick. Bring the robe, get the ring, put the sandals on his feet, kill the fattened calf. We're going to throw a party. It's interesting because the story is known as the story of the prodigal son to be recklessly extravagant. But the story ought to be called the story of the prodigal father because the son was reckless with sin, but the father was reckless with grace. Get the robe. Most scholars believe that this was his robe. Go get my robe, take it off of me, the finest robe, put it around him. Is this not the gospel? That he clothed us in his righteousness? Oh friend, this is not about your effort or about your good deeds. Isaiah says our righteousness is like filthy rags. Woe is me for my lips are unclean, but praise God for Jesus and his blood that was shed. I've been clothed in righteousness. He says, grab a ring, put the ring on his finger. This is not about jewelry. This isn't about leveling up. This is the signet ring. It means authority, that you speak with my authority. I got a friend, he owns a nice restaurant. His name's Chris. And sometimes he'll send me to the restaurant. When he sends me the restaurant, he'll say, tell him Chris sent you. So I'll walk into the restaurant. No one paying attention. Got that fake leather on. Shut up. Sorry, sir, there's no tables. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Well, Chris sent me. Oh, Chris sent you? They start parting red seas. Friends, you don't come to God in your name. You don't come to God in the name of vood church or Rich Wilkerson. I pray in one name that at the name of Jesus, come on somebody. You carry his ring. You carry his authority. When you start speaking things in his name, whoo, seas got a part. You can walk on water. You can see mountains move when you use the name of Jesus. Somebody give him glory in the house today. He says, quick, put sandals on his feet. Put sandals on his feet.

This is so very, very important because servants walked around barefoot. Slaves were barefoot. No, this is my son. Put sandals on his feet. He smells like a pig pen, but I'm going to treat him like a prince. This is scandalous grace. Funny when you contrast the Old Testament with the New Testament, Moses is called by God on a great mission. A bush is burning. Moses, take off your shoes for you are standing on holy ground. But fast forward to the New Testament, put shoes on his feet for he's more than a servant. He is my son. This is my boy. And I don't know what you've lost today. I don't know who's discarded you. I don't know who's given up on you. I don't know what you believe about your story, that you have no value, that you have no worth. Listen to me. You are not a son by worth. You're a son by birth. You're a son by birth that you'd be born again. And. Our God can redeem you, but you have to admit that you're lost. You have to admit that you got off track. You have to admit that sin took you further. Sin made you lose your mind and sin is making you walk in shame. But praise God for redemption. redemption, grace can get you back, repentance can change your mind and get your mind back, and the Savior, well, he runs towards you in mercy. We've got to close, but we would be remiss if we didn't mention many know this story as the story of the prodigal son, yet Jesus never called it that. Instead, in Luke chapter 15, we see that Jesus has two crowds of people in front of him. He has the sinners and the tax collectors, those that are lost, but he has another group, Pharisees and Sadducees. In fact, it's the Pharisees and the Sadducees that begin to accuse his ministry. Who is this rabbi who sits with sinners? And what started as an accusation turned into the greatest story of redemption. For Jesus says, there's a shepherd who lose a hundred sheep, but he's got to go find one. Then he ups the ante. Then a woman loses 10 coins, but she's got to find the one. She has 10 coins, but she loses the one. And then he really ups the ante. He keeps leveling it up. He says, now there is a father who has two sons.

Because this boy came home and watch this. This is Luke chapter 15. This is verse 24. It says it this way, 25, meanwhile, someone say, meanwhile, meanwhile, the older son was in the field. And when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of his servants and asked, what's going on? Well, your brother has come, he replied. And your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat I could celebrate with my friends. But when the son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. It's fascinating because you've got two sons and both are lost. Both are rebels. What kind of rebel are you? Is it disobedience or is it self-righteousness? Because there's a party going on inside the house, but the older brother stands outside the house. The younger brother left his home, went to a pit, but returned to a party. The older brother stayed home, but he turned the party into a pity party. You can hear it in his voice. The father comes out to him, he says, dad, what's going on here, man?

I've been here with you, slaving for you. Notice that word. It tells you right away how he sees himself. He does not see himself as a son. He sees himself as an employee. You can be in the house, but have no heart for the house. You can talk to the father all day long, but still be in a distant land away from the father. This boy, dad, he comes home and you kill the fattened calf. You've never even given me a young goat. It's funny how religion always settles for less than. You got a dad who wants to give you a calf, but all you want is a goat? Oh yeah, my younger brother, he was out there in reckless living. He was with prostitutes. Ain't that just a religious spirit that we start adding details? The Bible never said he was with prostitutes, but that's what a judgmental spirit does. That somebody walks into this church and we start looking them up and down and said, oh, I can size them up. They've been out there in that world. They've been doing this, that, and that's not who we are as a community. We are not called to judge people and assume the worst about them. We don't want to be an older brother. What kind of rebel are you? Because what I love about our God is in both scenarios, in the distance, he runs towards the younger brother, but here's the older brother refusing to go in and what's the posture in the picture? We see the father. He walks outside the party and he pleads with him. Your younger brother's a rebel, but you are religious. It shows us that our father has grace. He has grace for those who committed the crime and he even has grace for those who judge

the crime. It's fascinating because, in Middle Eastern culture, if a family member was to step out and leave the home, it was the responsibility, watch this, of the older brother to go after him. But this older brother in the text, he stays at home, he hangs on to his inheritance. He's there, but he's not really there. And Jesus is looking at Pharisees and Sadducees in Luke chapter 15, and he says, you're wondering what I'm doing? I am being who I am. Ooh, I felt that. I am God's only begotten son, meaning I am the firstborn of all creation. And my job and my role is to leave my home, my home's heaven, but I came to this earth for one mission, to seek and to save that which is lost. Anybody grateful that Jesus Christ is a good older brother? He's the true older brother, and he came for redemption. So my question still stands, what kind of rebel are you? Is your issue license, or is your issue legalism? What kind of rebel are you? Because you cannot be redeemed until you say, the rebel in me. We can't go forward into the next few weeks talking about what God wants to do in your life until you actually first look at your life and say, sin has corrupted this place. Sin has broken me down. Things have gotten off track because of my participation. Yeah, I was born into it, but I have to admit, I want to come home. And so here I am saying, help, help, I'm fighting back today. Help, Holy Spirit, who can save me from my flesh? Only Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. There's a rebel in me. That's the truth. Maybe you're not ready to say it, let me say it first.

There's a rebel in Rich Wilkerson Jr. I want my ways. I want it right now. I want my preference. I want justice for all of my enemies. Oh, but God, I want grace for me. God, you know my heart and you know my intention. But the point of the story is the very grace that you long for is the very grace that we must extend. So I got to say it, there's a rebel in me, but let's redeem it. There's a rebel in me, but I am a rebel redeemed. Come on, anybody in the house, is that your testimony? There's a rebel in me, but I am a rebel redeemed. Any rebels in this house been redeemed by the grace of God? Any rebels in this house who can testify to the faithfulness of God, the goodness of God, the mercy of God? When I was faithless, come on somebody, he was still faithful. Somebody give God some praise in this house.