OMBS7 \ The Fathers Heart

PRAYER - "We Have Seen Strange Things Today"

Never before had any man taken it upon himself to forgive sins, nor had anyone seen a man with power to heal a palsied cripple. So Jesus' demonstration that day, of both forgiving and healing the palsied man, left the people dumbfounded. Nevertheless, "they glorified God, and were filled with fear." You may not know exactly what to say or think about what God is doing in your life, but glorify and fear Him anyway.

Luke 5:26 - "And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day."

PRINCIPAL - "A Parenthetical Thing Called Time"

The limitless, infinite Spirit we call God dwells in and rules all things. This parenthetical thing called time is such a tiny speck in God's forever. It is incomprehensible that anyone would suffice themselves with this paltry here and now, and forfeit His measureless, glorious eternity. I, for one, willingly gamble everything I might ever gain in this tiny envelope for the hope that I may soar happily into the great unknown with my Creator forever.

Mark 8:36 - "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

PRINCIPLE - "Beware The Leaven Of The Pharisees And Of Herod"

The disciples crossed Galilee with only one loaf of bread among them. Jesus said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." They thought He was talking about bread. But Jesus had miraculously created abundance of bread that day, and He scolded them for missing His point. The Pharisees were strict and hypocritical. Herod associated with liberal, unbelieving Sadducees.

Mark 8:17-19,21 - "Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? ...How is it that ye do not understand?"

PROPHECIES - "The Day I Drink It New With You"

At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples that He would not drink the Passover with them again until they all gathered again in His Father's kingdom. Presumably, that will occur in the "regeneration" (Matthew 19:28), at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), immediately following the great battle of Armageddon, when Jesus inaugurates His 1000-year reign on earth in Jerusalem. 

Matthew 26:29 - "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

The Father's Heart

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

- Luke 15:20

How much love do you have for sinners?

That may sound like a strange question, but it’s one I want you to think about today. All too often, once we get saved and get our lives cleaned up a little bit, we lose our compassion for those who are still lost. We look at the drunk stumbling down the street or the guy at the office who lies to the boss and tells dirty jokes and turn up our spiritual noses.

But if we ever truly understood the heart of our heavenly Father, we’d never do that again. Jesus told a story that can give us a glimpse of that heart. It’s the story we call the prodigal son.

You’ve probably heard it many times, how the son rebelled and dishonored his father, and how the father, in spite of it all, received him home with joy when he repented. But there’s one phrase in it I want to draw your attention to today. It’s this one: “But when [the prodigal son] was yet a great way off, his father saw him.”

That phrase gives such a moving glimpse of the heart of that loving father. It tells us that even before his boy had repented, even during those long days when he was up to his eyebrows in sin, that father was watching for him, longing for him to come home.

Every morning he scanned the horizon, hoping to see the silhouette of his returning son. And the last thing every night, he’d look again...straining his eyes in hope. His son was constantly on his mind, and his heart was always full of love for him. The kind of gut-wrenching love that, on the day his son came home, drove that father to run to him and kiss him.

That’s the kind of heart our heavenly Father has for those who are lost. It’s the kind of heart He had for you while you were still wandering in the world. It’s the kind of heart that embraced you with open arms even when you were still covered with the grime of sin.

There’s a whole world full of weary people out there who haven’t yet found that embrace. They’re more than just “sinners,” they’re our potential brothers...lost ones in desperate need of a loving heavenly Father. God forbid we should ever turn up our noses at them. May He help us instead to start bringing them home.

Plan of Salvation read acts 2:38