One of the most discouraging phrases you can say to a child is ìstay in the houseî. Most children would agree that they would rather get a whipping instead of being told to ìstay in the houseî. I remember getting in trouble in school and praying that I would get whipped. For I knew that if I were to ìstay in the houseî I would miss out on playing basketball, I would miss out on playing tag, tether ball and hide and go seek. For I would rather get a whipping than to be told to ìstay in the houseî!!
I have observed that there are two reasons why a parent will tell a child to ìstay in the houseî
The first reason is to prevent that child from enjoying the pleasures of what is ìoutsideî.
*For if your child gets an F on his report card you will say ìStay in the houseî.
*If your child gets in a fight at school you will say ìStay in the Houseî.
*If your child stays out too late, you will say ìStay in the houseî.
The second reason you will tell your child to stay in the house is to prevent the child from suffering exposure to the danger of what is outside.
*For if you hear a gun shot you will say to your child ìstay in the houseî.
*If its extremely hot or extremely cold outside you will say to your child ìstay in the houseî.
*If there is a known troublemaker in the neighborhood you will say to your child ìStay in the HouseîÖ
The reason we tell our children to stay in the house is because the house is a place of refuge. The house is a place comfort. The house is a place of safety.
Everything that has a purpose has a house.
The executive branch of our government has a house, the White House
The representative branch of our government has a house, The House of representatives
In the south you will find in the country a hen house, if you look a little further you may find an out houseÖ
Barbie and Ken have a houseÖ a doll house
Even rover and fido have a houseÖ.a dog house
Everything that has a purpose has a house!
And in our text, we have a young man who is ready to take control of his life. This is not a greedy young man, nor is he a poor young man. He simply is tired of being under the rules and restriction of living in the house. Some people have said that he should not have asked for his inheritance at such a young age, I disagree.(calmly) There is nothing wrong with abundance of blessings as long as you stay in the house. The reason some of us are not receiving all that God has for us is because God canít trust us to stay in the house with his goods. We get a new car and drive right pass the church, get a new job and suddenly we resign from bible study and graduate from Sunday school. This young man had everything a young man could want, Nintendo 64, Sony Playstation, Maids, Butlers and a ChaffeurÖ all the latest cdís (Bustarhymes, Puff Daddy, Tupac etc) all the latest tennis shoesÖ He had it made. But he didnít have control. So he ask for it and he got it. He said ìDad I want my inheritance nowî. Now he has it all. Money, clothes, pagers, cell phones etc. And heís doing ok until he made one mistake. HE LEFT THE HOUSE!
Today there are three houses that I have observed that our young people need to stay in.
The first house I want you to stay in is the SCHOOL HOUSE.
A press release came out few weeks ago that determined that only 66% of all 9th graders will graduate high school in California. So statistically speaking, if you have 3 children one of them wonít graduate. The devil wants our young people to leave the school house because he knows that an uneducated Christian is a Christian that will perish, for the bible says ìMy people perish for lack of knowledgeî. Young people get your education,
*we need doctors in the kingdom
*we need lawyers in the kingdom
*we need teachers in the kingdom,
*we need journalist in the kingdom
Donít let anyone tell you a high diploma is worthless, Donít let anyone tell you a college degree is worthless. The kingdom needs some educated people to handle Gods businessÖGET YOUR EDUCATION!
The first step to dropping out is getting behind in your school work. When you are behind in your school work then you will get discourage and skip that class. Before you know it, you have dropped out completely. And young people have to quit making up excuses for failing. (excited)
*If you can remember all the words to ìSilk the Shockerî then you can remember your Science lesson.
*If you can remember all the words Missy Eliotís cd then you can remember your math lesson.
*If you can remember the words to Lauren Hillís CD then you can remember you language lesson.
Quit lying to your parents saying you donít have any homework! (Iím glad that the parents are saying ìamenî because every child in this room learned how to lie from their parents. Parent will lie about how much money they make so their kids can get free lunch at school. When the phone rings, parents, you will say ìTell them Iím not hereîÖ.)
Our next house that you have got to stay in is the CHURCH HOUSE,
Do you know that there are parents in this room, who go to church every Sunday, that have children living in their home that donít go to church? When I was growing up no one ever came in my room on a Sunday morning and asked me am I going to church. If I was alive I was going to church! There were no excusesÖ
*If my stomach hurt when I woke up on a Sunday, I took pepto bismol and sat near the bathroom in church.
*If my leg hurt, I limped to church. There were no excuses. Parents now are letting their teen-agers work all day Sunday, missing church, missing bible study and Sunday school. And Parents wonder why their children are raising hell, going to jail and talking back, Itís because youíre not making them go to church. They didnít learn discipline, they didnít learn a respect for Godís laws nor to respect their neighborÖ Come hell or high water, You must stay in church. As for me and my we will serve the LordÖ.
There are Christians who wake up on Sunday morning with a list of things they can do with their day. (slowly) Golf, Shop, Finish Watching the movie they rented last night, Wash their clothes, Wash their car or Go to Church. But If the devil tricks you in to missing one Sunday, You will miss two. And at about three you are ambarassed to come back cause people will look at you funnyÖ
Stay in the Church house
The third house our young people have got to stay in is OUR PARENTS HOUSE.
Now, eventually every young person under the sound of my voice will leave their parents physical house. Or at least they shouldÖ But today I am referring to the RELATIONSHIP between young people and their parents. You must never get so mad at your parents that you stop talking to them. I donít care what they did or did not do thatís still your mother, thatís still your father. You parents may appear to be nagging you, they may even seem strict, but the truth is they donít want to see you fail. They have made some mistakes in their lives and donít want you to make the same mistake. The reason they know when you are lying is because they use to tell those same lies. The reason they know that you hit your little brother, is because they use to hit their little brotherÖ
Now the young man in our story has left the house and the bible says he ìwasted his substance with riotous livingîÖ. The only reason the devil wants you out of the house, is because he canít reach while you are in the house. He wants you to spend your ìsubstanceî He wants you to spend your integrity, your identity, your self esteem, your self respect. He wants you to spend everything that you have so that the famine can reach you. As long as you remain in the house the famine canít reach you, but if the devil can trick you into leaving the house, then you will spend your substance. If you spend your substance then the famine can reach you.
I believe that our young people are in a famine today. The word famine means lack and our young people are in lack. They lack the love of a two parent home, they lack the security of a safe neighborhood they lack ambition and motivation. This is so, because some have left the house.
But if you have left the house today, I have good news. The father is anxiously awaiting your return. But its up to you to look at your circumstances and say I will arise!
Iím tired of being unhappy, I will arise
Iím tired of feeling empty, I will arise
Iím tired of sneaking out at night, I will ariseÖ
Iím tire of lying, I will arise
Iím tired of fornicating, I will arise
And when the son returned the father ran and kissed his dirty neck
And when you return to the father he wants to kiss your dirty neckÖ
Turn to a neighbor and say, ìI may be little dirty, but Iím on my way homeî
I may have children out of wedlock, but Iím on my way home
I may be pregnant, But Iím on my way home
I may have a criminal record, but Iím on my way home
I may be divorce , but Iím on my way home
I may have just lost the house, but Iím on my way home
I may have just lost my job, but Iím on my way home
Now after the Father puts a robe and a ring, kisses his neck he then KILLS THE FATTED CALF.
This my friends, is a symbol of salvation. If you go back to Genesis you will see that when Adam and Eve sinned against God, God killed an animal and used the skin to COVER Adam and Eve. This is ..The killing of the innocent for the covering of the guilty.
The animal in Genesis , didnít deserve to die
The calf in This story , Didnít deserve to die
My Lord and savior Jesus Christ, didnít deserve to die
But he did, because you left THE HOUSE
You see, Jesus came to save that which was lost, and he came with the POWER OF GOD and BODY OF MAN. He was Fully man and Fully God.
He was man enough to be born of a woman;
He was God enough to create his own mother
He was man enough to thirst for water
He was GOD enough to walk on water
He was man enough to get hungry,
He was God enough to feed five thousand with two fish and five loaves of bread
He was man enough to be late to his best friends funeral;
He was God enough to call his best out of the grave.
He was man enough to get tired
He is God enough to give you divine rest
He was man enough to cry
He is God enough to wipe your tears away
He was man enough to bleed
He was God enough to cure the women with the issue of blood
He was man enough to Die
He was God to get up out of the grave in three days;
He said, In my fatherís HOUSE are many mansionsÖ and if you will arise from your circumstanceÖ you can make it to the houseÖ.
Say YEAH!
