Samuel Rodriguez - Let's Get This Party Started
So let me introduce you to characters for today's story. First of all, help me welcome the father, come on, pastor Jeff Carter who be the father today. Full disclosure, if you were to bet on which one of these three individuals was more inclined to party. Well, pastor Jeff party animal indeed, oh boy. Well we gotta get, and then we have the older son, pastor Elijah Lewis, come on, give it up for pastor Elijah, the older son. And we have the younger son give it up for pastor Nathan. What a story. This is tension between a father and two sons that Jesus lays out. The classic parable. Luke 15 is arguably one of the five most important chapters in all of scripture. According to some that evaluate the net worth of a chapter as it pertains to offering a plan of salvation, giving us clarity regarding our relationship with our heavenly. Because it's the chapter of the lost things.
So, the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son. But this story is so dynamic it's his relationship with him, his relationship with him, what takes place in this beautiful outline of the family. I love this. You heard the story, he read it. This guy comes up the younger one, oh, the younger one. If you're the youngest in your family out of your siblings raise you hand. Thank you for all the therapy. I'm the youngest in my, alright, we'll put that, true story. There it is. But why do they always say the youngest are spoiled like not, I mean. If you're the first child raise you hand? You were the experiment. Do you understand that? Your parents had no idea what to do! You came along! By the last kid they got it together. You follow what I'm saying? That first child is the one still going though anointed therapy sessions. And the last one gets oil! And they say 'cause the parents got better, right? No, it's because by the third kid, the fourth kid, the second kid, the parents just don't care!
Alright, so, oh, can I say something that will get us all in trouble? Do you mind? I don't mean to do this. I promise you it's not my intention it's not even in the script. I didn't even do it in the first two services. I just wanna give you advice as we talk about parenting. Don't let Disney parent your kids. Don't let Google parent your kids. Don't let the government parent your kids. You are the number one person responsible for your children growing up with the values that they need to hold on in order for them to see the fullness of what God has for them. Are you with me right now? We need Christian parents to be Christian parents! And rise up and educate their children with the values that the Word of God gives us! Let it go. Yeah, let it go alright. So, this guy comes up and says, this is right here says, "I want my", go ahead and do it.
Pastor Nathan: I want my stuff.
Samuel Rodriguez: Where are you from Modesto? What just happened? "I want my stuff". Alright, no, I need some auburn version of that.
Pastor Nathan: I would like my inheritance please.
Samuel Rodriguez: Thank you. Thank you. That's what I mean. "I'd like my inheritance please". So, he asks for his inheritance, the promise. He goes up to dad and says, "Dad, I want my inheritance". By the way typically, typically you get your inheritance, the kids get their inheritance when the parents... All the sophisticated people, "Passed away". Everybody else, "Die"! I love, a tale of two cities. You gotta love this. So, he says, "You're still alive you're not dead but I want my stuff. I want my inheritance". He gives it to him. The young one. He gives it to him. He demanded the promise, he demanded the blessing the inheritance, he receive it and the outcome was what? Disastrous. Why? He wasn't prepared for the promise. He wanted the promise but what he truly needed was preparation.
You must be prepared for what you're asking for. This young brother wasn't ready. This is the tension between preparation and the promise. How many stories have we heard of lottery winners, sports figures, artists who acquire large sums of money, and fall into the trap of addiction, vice, perversion and self-destruction? Why? Just like the prodigal son they received what they wanted instead of what they needed. He wanted the blessing, but he lacked self-control. He wanted the promise, but he lacked self-discipline.
Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls a dream without a plan is an illusion! Destiny without discipline is a recipe for disaster. Do not ask for something you're not ready for. Pre-mature access to resources will do more harm than good. Are you getting this? I'm being real, simply stating he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready for what he was asking for. And some of you are, even in the church environment, "God has given me this, give me this, give me this. God why are you waiting"? And God says, "You're not ready, to manage, to handle, to carry what you're asking for". Mark 2:22: "No one puts new wine into old... For the wine would burst the wineskins". You may have the right anointing but if you have the wrong attitude, your assignment burst. I'll repeat that. You may have the right anointing but if you have the wrong attitude your assignment will burst. You may have the gift but the gift without the grace of God will result in humiliation and disaster.
So, here's the first lesson from the story. Get ready. Be ready. Stay ready. Look at your neighbor nicely and tell them: "Get ready... Be ready... Stay ready..." 1 Peter 1:13: "Therefore preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". What does this mean? Your character has to be ready for the calling. Your integrity has to be ready for the influence. Your mind has to be ready for the idea. Your testimony had to be ready for the title. I wanna speak to all the people that took advantage of the past two years. The past two COVID years, corona virus year, pandemic years, cuckoo-for-cocoa-puff years. These past two years there are two types of people in this auditorium and streaming.
There are the kind of people that took the last two years to binge on Netflix, and then there are the kind of people that said, "Wait a minute, I'm gonna get ready. I'm gonna take advantage of this season to let God do what he has to do in my life because I know what's coming my way will shift my destiny forever more". So, to everyone here who got ready. It's for everyone here who spent the past two years in a season of alignment and preparation. If you believe the past two years for you were a time where God lined up your character to match your calling, your integrity to match your influence, your mind to handle the ideas. I got this. For all of these people who took advantage of the past two years where you actually prayed, "God, get rid of whatever you have to get rid of".
Did anybody make that crazy prayer in the past two years? Did anyone in the past two years say, "God do what you gotta do because when this thing is over, as for me and my house we're gonna occupy more promises than ever before". If that's you put a smile on your face and a shout on your lip! How many are ready? You may have not been ready seven years ago but you're ready now. Is there anybody here who can bear witness, "I wasn't ready ten years ago but I'm ready now. I wasn't ready seven years ago but I'm ready now. I wasn't ready five years ago but I'm ready now. I wasn't ready three years ago but I'm ready now". How many can even say, "I wasn't ready two years ago but I'm ready now".
Is there anyone here ready to occupy all of God's promises? All the ready people lift up your hands. How many are even grateful for what you went through? How many are grateful for what you went through because what you went through got you ready for everything that, anybody here got ready? How many here can even bear witness that everything the devil sent your way God turned it around to develop you? And to get you ready for what's coming next? If you believe you're about to see the glory of God in you, with you, for you and through you like never before praise like you're ready! Come on, Sacramento shout like your ready! Worship like you're ready! Lift up your hands like you're ready! Are you ready to occupy God's promises? The hell I went through got me ready for the glory that's coming my way. "We know that God calls causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose". Romans 8:28. It is that tension between preparation and promise.
Number two: it is the tension between your promise and the father's presence. So many would argue that his failure was, "He asked for his inheritance ahead of time". So, what if I tell you that that's not necessarily the case. I'll prove it. When he asked for the inheritance the father not only gave him his inheritance. The Bible says, "Them". Oh, you missed it. They both ended up with the promise. This guy didn't end up like this guy. This guy took the promise, you know what he did? "A few days the later the younger son packed all his belongings and he moved to Oregon". I'm telling you Portland will mess you up. "He wasted all his money," I'm just reading it. "In wild living. He went far away".
So far away. You remember that? They never let me sing here. Thank you, I'm here all week. It wasn't that he got the inheritance it, he left his father's presence. He ran with the promise, but he left the presence behind. This is when we fail, when we think we could run with the blessing without the blesser. When we have the gift, but we ignore the grace. There are people, "I wanna occupy the Promise Land"! Without having a relationship with the promise keeper. So, he literally took the inheritance, the money! Go ahead wild living. He just left. You high five the prodigal son? Who does that? He just, there he goes. He just... Left. Where is he going? Look at that.
The Psalmist said this, the Psalmist said, "One thing I've asked of the Lord, this is what I seek most is to live in the presence of the Lord, the house of the Lord all the days of my life". The younger son became a prodigal not when he asked for the promise ahead of schedule. But when he left his father's presence. This is what happens when you get away from your Heavenly Father's presence. This is what happens. Nothing is more important that the presence of our Heavenly Father. Let me repeat that. Nothing is more important than the presence of our Heavenly Father. The promises of God and the presence of God are inseparable. You need to understand that. Please, please forgive me but I have to tell you this just like the prodigal son there are people that want heaven without holiness, forgiveness without faith, they want joy without the Holy Spirit. And they want peace without the presence of the one who said, "Peace be still".
You can't separate the promise from the presence. I said you can't the separate the promise from the presence. You can't separate the gift from the grace, the blessing from the blesser. So, many people want breakthrough without letting God break the old version of you. "Let us hold firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise". Hebrews 10:23. The moment you take the gift away from the glory, the asset becomes a liability. The blessing becomes a burden, and the promise becomes a problem. But here's the remedy your capacity to manage the promises of God is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend in the presence of God.
Can you get that? The more time you spend in God's presence the more successful you will be in managing his promises. Don't get away from the presence of God! The presence of God changes everything! He wanted the promise without the presence of the father! You missed it! The father is your promise! I'm gonna get in trouble now even online I'm gonna get some hate mail. I'm gonna do it. Stop praying for cars. Stop praying for Jewelry. Stop praying for houses! Pray to be in the father's presence all... Let me say it again! Pray to be in the father's presence all the days of your life! There is nothing like the presence of our Heavenly Father!
"Pastor Sam, are you saying God doesn't provide any of that"? Of course, he does, but that follows you! It's his presence. How many know the presence of God changes everything? How many truly know that God's presence changes everything? How many know there's nothing like the presence of our Heavenly Father? I know, I know, I know, I know some of you are saying, "But Pastor Sam, all of God's", say it, say it, say it all of God's promises are... We even sing it, ready? All of God's promises are... That's not what the Bible says. It doesn't, but we sing it. The Bible doesn't say, "All of God's promises are yes and amen". If we put a period there that's biblically incorrect.
The Bible 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 does not say, "All of God's promises is amen". It said, "All of God's promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus". You missed it! In him! I said in him! Not in your ability but in him! Not in your contacts but in him! Not in your bank account but in him! Not in your job but in him! Not in your relationship but in him! Not in your potential but in him! In him, in Jesus there is fullness of joy! In Jesus you are blessed and highly favored! In Jesus your family will be saved! In Jesus the ladder of glory will be greater than the former glory!
In him. In him you have abundant life. In him you have new life. In him your wounds are healed. In him your sins are forgiven. In him your past cannot stop you. In him your anointed and appointed. In him you are multigenerationally blessed. In him the new you is alive and the old you is dead. In him you are called and chosen. In him the gates of hell will not prevail against you! In him you are the head and not the tail! In him, in him you go from glory to glory! And in him we live! I said in him we live! In him we move! In him we have our being! Are there any people in this house who are in Jesus? In him.
The tension. Do not separate the promise from the presence. You can't. There are people that come to church and go, "God, I want a brand-new job". And they walk into church with great indifference. No disrespect but they walk into church first time, "God, I want a brand-new job". And then once they get the job and get the income and get everything all of a sudden, they just separate from body and fellowship and church because they got what they wanted. And like the prodigal son they weren't ready to manage it 'cause they separated the presence from the promise. You follow that? "God, my last relationship went, blip, and I want you to give me someone new in my life". And once you get that someone new you don't fellowship. You ignore, and then all of a sudden you end up like the prodigal son. And you question, "What happened"? What happened is that you left the presence of the father.
The last point is the tension between your hunger and the father's love. "About the time his money ran out a great famine swept over the land. And he, the prodigal son, began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him. And the man sent him into the fields to feed the pigs. This young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything". He said, "I'm hungry"! And no one fed him! No one fed him! When he finally came to his senses, because hunger will prompt you to come to your senses. Have you ever been so hungry that you saw what you did not see before? And you heard what you not could hear? I know it sounds counter intuitive, but I praise God for the season where no one gave me anything! Some of you don't understand that that's too radical for you! But there comes a time where no one will help you, no one will pick you up, no one will lift you up and then you lift up your head!
"Where does my help come from? My help cometh from the Lord! The maker"! Anybody been there? Anybody hit rock bottom? It doesn't have to be financially. Emotionally, relationally, spiritually. Have you ever hit rock bottom? Sometimes you will never discover the rock until you hit rock bottom. I praise God that I hit rock bottom. I wouldn't be here right now if in a season of my life I didn't hit rock bottom! Oh, this guy was so hungry because hunger makes you do strange things. Hunger makes you do strange things. The Bible says, "He was so hungry that he came to his senses". I'm gonna flip this in a positive light. We're about to see a hungry generation rise up. Oh, you missed it. We are about to see a hungry millennial, Generation Z and the alpha generation will be the hungriest generations in the history of mankind!
I promise you you're about to see generations so hungry they're gonna look up and they're gonna say, "Ahh! We're going back to our father's house! We're going back to our father's house! There are things that only God can provide, only things that God can do"! I need you to get ready! Your prodigal sons and daughters are coming back home! I gotta calm down. No, I know. He said, "I'm dying of hunger". And when he finally came to his senses. He said, "I'm dying of hunger. I will go home to my father, and I'll go confess". Repentance works! "'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,' I will tell him. I'm no longer worthy of being called your son. Take me on as a hired servant". So, he started going home. Come here, dad. And while he was still far away. Far away! He was far away. While he was still a long way off his father saw him coming.
Oh, you missed it. He was broke, busted and disgusted. He was hungry hanging around pigs. He hit rock bottom! Wow, oh, oh! But when he was far away the father saw him coming. Because the father will always recognize his child! You're not getting this! He may have been broken but he was still his son! He may have been lost but he was still his son! He may have slept with prostitutes, but he was still, he many have wasted his inheritance, but he was still his son. He was dirty both internally and externally, but he was still his son. Because a prodigal son is still a son. Because a broken daughter is still a daughter. Because the father looks at the son and says, "There's nothing you could possibly do that will stop you from being my son". Is there anyone here grateful for the love of God?