Prescott July Conference 2025 | Pastor Torey Williams | Tuesday Morning |

Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House

Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from

our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.

The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown

and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,

20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel

to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful

series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship

to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard

Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.

So please enjoy and listen along these powerful

sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Amen.

Glory to God. Good to see you this morning. Hallelujah.

Good to be back in conference. Can you say amen?

What a way to kick it off. Last night, tremendous,

tremendous, going to be a Holy Ghost week, and

God's going to help us, and we're going to plant

churches. Can you say amen? Glory, hallelujah.

If you have your Bibles, Luke chapter 15, I'm

Luke 15 · chapter mention

very honored to be able to minister here this

morning. Luke chapter 15. How many shop at Costco

Luke 15 · chapter mention

or know the store Costco? Well, if you know about

Costco, one of the things you probably know about

them is that they have a very generous return

policy. Don't ask me how I know. That if you

purchase something, you can essentially return

it for any reasons with almost no questions asked.

Well, there was a California woman who put that

policy to the test. As she tried to return her

dead Christmas tree, In March. Put the picture

up. Now she's trying to return this dead Christmas

tree and she demanded a full refund. Her reason,

now get this now, the tree didn't last and it

didn't bring me any more joy. Talk about absurdity

marrying audacity. But not only did she demand

a full refund, but she told the clerk, I am entitled

to one. When I heard that, that triggered me.

Because how many know we're living in the age

of entitlement? Someone said where sacrifice

becomes unthinkable and duty becomes oppressive.

I want to minister a message on the emptiness

of entitlement and examine one of the greatest

stories Jesus ever told, these famous parables.

Parable of the prodigal son. Luke chapter 15,

Luke 15 · chapter mention

very familiar, we'll begin at 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. And so he

divided to them his livelihood. Not many days

after, the younger son gathered all together,

journeyed to a far country, and wasted his possessions

with prodigal living. But when he had spent all,

there arose a famine, a severe famine in the

land, and he began to be in want. Verse 17, but

when he came to himself, he said, How many of

my father's hired servants have bread enough

to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise,

go to my father, and I'll say to him, Father,

I've sinned against heaven and before you, and

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make

me as one of your hired servants. Verse 25. Now

his older son was in the field, and as he came

and drew near to the house, he heard music and

dancing. And so he called one of the servants

and asked him what these things meant. He said

to him, Your brother has come. And because he

has received them safe and sound, your father

has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry

and would not go in. Therefore, his father came

out and pleaded with him. And so he said, excuse

me. So he answered and said to his father, lo,

these many years I've been serving you. I've

never transgressed your commandment in any time.

And you never gave me a young goat that I might

make merry with my friends. But as soon as this

son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood

with heartache, you killed the fatted calf for

him. And he said to him, son. You're always with

me, and all that I have is yours, the emptiness

of entitlement. Let's look into this. The past

couple years, we have had a few longstanding

members leave our church, and just as a matter

of processing, you begin to wonder, how does

this happen? I mean, in one sense, it is nothing

new per se, but what is at the root? How does

someone who's been in our church or one of our

churches for a long time, perhaps all of their

adult life, maybe even church kid, how does someone

like that walk away from the relationships, the

investments that have been made? Why do people,

how do people walk away from the church? No doubt

there could be many reasons. There's sometimes

relocation, work, job, take care of an elderly

relative. Could be unresolved conflict. People

get in disagreements, and instead of solving

that, they just walk away. There's, of course,

just the, you know, old -fashioned sin, personal

disobedience. At some point, people who have

even experienced a genuine conversion, people

who have tasted the goodness of God, they can

come to the place where their desire to live

in sin without the accountability or the self

-inflicted guilt and shame that comes from living

in a community of believers. It just causes them

to walk away. 2 Timothy 4 .10, demons has forsaken

me, having loved this world. So these are just

a few of the reasons that people leave church.

There are definitely others. I'm not suggesting,

by the way, that any of these are justifiable.

How many figure it out that just because somebody

says, I prayed about it, doesn't mean that their

decision is backed up by the word of God? Doesn't

mean that their decision has been done for God's

glory? Nevertheless, I will say this. Of all

the reasons people may give for leaving their

church, Leaving the father's house. One of the

reasons they never give, or at least I've never

been given, but I've come to believe it's very

often an element, has to do with this issue of

entitlement. Somewhere in the equation. When

people, particularly long -term members, decide

to just walk away from relationships, walk away

from the truth that some of them have preached,

many of them have stood for, walk away from the

church and a fellowship that has discipled them,

that has developed them into the men and women

of God, that often what is there as a component

that is sometimes overlooked is this issue of

entitlement. Again, we're living in an age of

entitlement. It is the air we breathe. Whether

we're pointing to the welfare system or high

credit card debt or frivolous lawsuits like people,

you know, suing McDonald's over a hot cup of

coffee. Listen, the sense of entitlement has

become so prevalent in our world that we almost

don't even notice it. Or worse, if we do notice

it, but we consider it not to be as dangerous

as it is. So what is entitlement? What are we

talking about this morning? It's been defined

as the feeling or the belief that you deserve

to be given something. Often something you haven't

earned. Entitlement is the most dangerous form

of expectation. Expectations say, I expect. Entitlements

say, I deserve. And so entitlement carries with

it this attitude of there's been an injustice.

Could be I deserve an opportunity. I deserve

a certain ministry. I deserve that church. I

deserve an apology. I deserve recognition. I

deserve success. I deserve to be sent out. I

deserve to be repaid. I deserve a phone call

and on and on it goes. Let me just put a needed

disclaimer out there that although I get we are

at a Bible conference with very seasoned ministry

and ministers. However, I want to be perfectly

clear that we understand this because if you

miss this, you may take this message somewhere

it was never intended to go. And that is in the

truest sense of the word. How many know none

of us deserve anything except hell? No, really,

I'm not being sensational one bit when I emphatically

state we deserve to go to hell. Romans 6, 23,

the wages of sin. is death. Wages, that is an

entitlement word. It literally means what our

sin has earned, what our sin deserves. We deserve

to be utterly rejected. Had God had given us

what we deserve, we'd all be in torment right

now. We'd all be destroyed. The Bible says it

is by his mercy that we're not consumed. So therefore,

we must all resist the temptation to think more

highly of ourselves than we ought to. We must

resist the temptation to think that the world

or our pastor or the fellowship or even God owes

us something. Because truth be told this morning,

no one owes us anything. Except there's a guy

who owes me $4 ,000, but that's not. I'm kidding.

But listen to me, church kid. Listen to me, those

of us who came after the original pioneers of

our fellowship, we are the generation who has

been born on third base, but if we're not careful,

we have convinced ourselves that we got there

by hitting a triple. That is entitlement. Entitlement

is why people get handed a good church or a thriving

ministry, and instead of sincerely thanking the

previous pastor and his wife and being grateful

for their labors, instead you throw them under

the bus. Oh, well, you know, yeah, there were

people there, but, you know, a bunch of religious

folks. I don't know what that old knucklehead

was doing before I got there. That's entitlement.

Listen, all of us, except perhaps Pastor Mitchell

could aptly say, we are building upon a foundation

that another man has laid. And so we all, myself

included, to one degree or another, we have to

wrestle with this entitlement. Let's look at

our text because we know this text so well, but

let's consider these two prodigal sons. I want

you to see how... woven through this entire parable

is the sense of entitlement, this mindset of

what I deserve. Let's consider firstly the younger

brother. Right away, our text introduces us to

this younger brother by a statement that he makes

to the father. Verse 11, Jesus said, a man had

two sons. What a classic biblical starting point.

And the younger of them said to his father, father,

give me the portion of goods. That falls to me.

Now, right away, right off the bat, we hear the

very language of entitlement. Give me. What's

owed to me? I want something given to me. Entitlement

is all about me. Someone said when entitlement

speaks, it never says we. It only says me. Then

secondly, it often involves wanting something

you haven't earned. He says, give me the portion

of goods that falls to me. So the language there,

he says, the inheritance, it sort of just falls.

Let's be clear. This is not just some rebellious

kid or son. You know, man, I can't wait until

I'm 18. I can get out of here on my own. I'm

out. No, no, no, no. Yes, he wants to leave,

but he doesn't want to just leave empty -handed.

He says, give me what you owe me. Now, church,

I think we can all agree that by definition,

an inheritance is not something you've earned.

In fact, it's typically something that somebody

else has earned. But they're going to pass it

down to you. They're going to gift it to you.

But see, one of the marks of entitlement is you

make demands on gifts, on blessings. I know it's

a gift, but I'm going to tell you how I want

it and when I want it. Hear stories sometimes

about ladies in our church. They're going to

have a baby shower, a wedding shower for them.

And the person they're having the shower for

feels the need to tell them every detail of how

they want to do it. Oh, I don't want those decorations.

So what's on the menu? Yeah, yeah, I don't want.

It's a gift we're doing for you. We're trying

to bless you. But see, entitlement wants to dictate

the terms of the blessing. Our fellowship. What

an incredible inheritance that has been given

to us. You know, if we're not careful today,

we want to take that blessing and we want to

dictate the terms of the blessing. We want to

change the standards. We want to lower the cost

of discipleship. I don't just want the blessing,

but I want to tell you how to bless me. In our

text, the younger brother gets his inheritance

prematurely. He then proceeds to pack his bags,

makes his escape. The Bible says he makes his

way to a far country. And here's what it says

in verse 13, that once in that far country, he

wasted his inheritance on prodigal living. Listen,

entitled people are wasteful people. Every parent

here knows what it's like to have their kids

leave the lights on or just walk outside, leave

the door open. Or, you know, one of my favorites,

you know, my wife prepares this great meal and

then they eat like two bites and they start walking

towards the trash bin. I'm like, hey, where are

you going with that? They're like, I'm finished.

No, you're not. But you know why they feel like

that? Because they haven't bought the food. They

haven't paid a price for it. And we've all heard

it said, but it does bear repeating. It's hard

to value what you haven't paid a price for. Instead,

what happens many times is you waste it. The

younger brother wasted his inheritance. And this

is the challenge that every younger generation

faces, that we don't waste what has been passed

down to us. The Apostle Paul, as he's about to

pass down the mantle to another generation, he

tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 6 .20, guard the things

that have been committed to you. That word guard

means to preserve. In other words, he's saying,

Timothy, don't waste this. See, the previous

generation, our spiritual forefathers, they pioneered

this thing. And inherent in pioneering is its

own price. There's a real cost associated with

going beyond the known into the unknown. There's

the cost of forging a new path. Just the act

of that demands a cost. It's been said that the

first to see the dawn also spends the longest

in the dark. You know, every time I see Bob Allen,

I see him over there by the door, I make a point

like I did this morning to say hello to him.

And I often thank him. Along with him. And if

I have anybody else with me, I introduce them

to him. And I say, have you ever heard the story

of the two couples when Pastor Mitchell came

here? Well, here's one of them. You need to understand

the legacy. Because we're all here, but we have

no idea the price when everybody else, nobody

else will stand. They say, I'll stay. Yeah. Not

to mention. Pioneers aren't typically the ones

who benefit the most from what they build. You

know, Pastor Mitchell never got to see 4 ,000

churches, but we did. We're blessed. But see,

this generation, one of the things when you've

inherited the blessing, listen, we've got to

be intentional about paying our own price. Otherwise,

we run the risk of wasting it or squandering

it or just walking away from it altogether. Again,

here's a younger brother. He's got his gift.

But as my pastor said years ago, well, he then

took that gift to a place where his character

could not keep it. Listen to me, young pastor,

disciple. If you get something before it's time,

before you have developed the character to properly

use it, that thing that started off as a gift,

it'll become a curse. That blessing will turn

into a burden, or at least you'll see it that

way. I've seen disciples literally cave under

the weight of ministry, and it's not so much

because of the weight itself, but because they

had not yet developed the spiritual muscle to

carry it. One of the things I've personally prayed

for a long time, God, I don't want any ministry

before my time. God, if I'm not ready for it,

don't give it to me. And I learned that years

ago, I was on staff with Pastor Campbell, and

we got launched to go to Hawaii, and the pastor

there invited me and my wife over. He says, I'll

pay for you to come. And I know he's thinking,

this is Pastor Campbell's assistant. But I had

never been out. I just went from door director,

my wife and I, right on staff. And so I know,

and it's my, oh, yeah, I have Pastor Campbell's

assistant. And I only had about three, well,

two and a half Bible studies. And, you know,

I'm going to go there and preach a Sunday. And

I'm telling you, man, those sermons were so,

I put the capital T in terrible. And the reality

of it is, he's deceased. But even before, I've

never been invited back. So there's just a clue.

It doesn't matter how good they tell you it is

if they never invite you back. You know, it's

interesting to me, man. Today, guys, we'll talk

about and even ask for ministry. that nothing

in their past demonstrates they're ready for.

What is that? That's entitlement. Somehow I want

something that I haven't earned. It's an old

African proverb, when the fruit is not yet ripe

and you pluck it, it's bitter. Listen, if you

somehow maneuver yourself into a position or

ministry that you're not all prepared for, it

may sound sweet, seems to, it'll be bitter. Someone

asked the question, what's worse than failure?

And I would say success unearned. Why? Because

it deceives you into thinking you're equipped

when you're not. Our text says when he had spent

all. Entitlement is such an empty way to live.

It says there arose a severe famine. Now think

about this. This younger brother was to blame

for the foolish living. This younger brother

was to blame for the wasteful living. But he

was not to blame for the severe famine. But it

isn't just that he wasn't to blame for it. Even

worse, he was unprepared for it. How many of

you know, had he been wise with the inheritance?

When the famine came, he would at least had some

resources to make it through it. He would have

been better positioned to weather the storm.

But the thought here, it's like he never even

considered such a thing as a famine. One of the

problems when you live with a sense of entitlement

is you cut off the pipelines to wisdom. You fail

to realize that you don't even know what you

don't know. And so unfortunately, you have to

learn all the lessons the hard way. In our text,

the younger brother, see, he didn't just leave

the father's house. He left the father's covering.

He left the father's wisdom. He left the father's

advice. And now when the famine hits, he's out

there on his own. And such is the case with many

who receive things before their times. It's often

that they don't learn the lesson until the famine

hits. financial famine, famine in their marriage

or their family, a famine of hearing the word

of God or the voice of God. So we, of course,

know the rest of the younger brother's story.

We know the Bible says that he eventually came

to himself. Thank God. Can you say amen? But

you know, in trying to wrestle through the mind

of entitlement, I begin to ask myself, what was

it that really caused him to come to himself?

Was it the famine that I just mentioned? Was

it the fact that he had spent all his inheritance

and now he's broke? Might as well go home. Was

it the reality that, you know, man, look at me,

man. I'm eating with pigs. I'm sure to some degree

it was a combination of all of that. But there's

two statements that I believe are so telling,

particularly when it comes to entitlement. Verse

14 tells us that when the famine hit, it says

he began to be in want. In other words, he's

hungry. Now, no doubt the entitled mind right

here would have began to whisper, man, I deserve

to eat. I mean, I might have been a little rebellious,

but come on, everyone deserves to eat, right?

So what does he do? The text says he goes and

he joins himself to a citizen of that country.

Now, right here. Though this citizen is unnamed,

which would seem to indicate his irrelevance,

but beloved, I submit to you that what this unnamed

citizen does right here could not be more relevant,

could not be more crucial when it comes to dealing

with the spirit of entitlement. When the younger

brother joined himself to this unnamed citizen,

guess what our text says the citizen made him

do? He made him work. He put this young man to

work. Oh, you're hungry? You want food? No problem,

big boy. You're going to work for it. No freebies

here. The Bible says, and he sent him into his

fields. That is powerful. Because remember now,

I said entitled people always approach life as

though people owe them something. They don't

want to work for anything. There's something

else more powerful, and here's what I personally

believe really triggered the repentance. Verse

16, and he would gladly have filled his stomach

with the pods that the swine ate. Now listen

to this, and no one gave him anything. Nada.

Zilch. And you know how you deliver people from

entitlement? Stop giving them stuff. Don't give

them anything. Make them earn it. And what will

happen is they will either repent and get set

free or, you know, they'll pout, complain, and

eventually they'll leave and expose their entitlement.

It's one of the reasons it's so frustrating when

people leave our churches and, you know, another

church just gives them ministry before they barely

even know their name. It's not only, you know,

violating their own congregation, but they're

also enabling a sense of entitlement, which then

brings us to the elder brother. Let's read it.

Verse 25. Now his older son was in the field.

And as he came and drew near to the house, he

heard music and dancing. Now I want you to stop

for a moment. Can you imagine if this were you

right here? Let me help make it real for you.

Have you ever been laboring and you look over

and everybody else just standing around? Help

me, disciple. I thought this was like all hands

on deck. Not just all my hands, all hands. This

is where the elder brother's at. So perhaps he

began to wonder, man, did I miss something? Did

I forget about somebody's birthday? Have I been

working that hard that I somehow overlooked an

important celebration? Or maybe he thought to

himself, you know what, man, it's about time.

Folks are finally starting to recognize what

I've been doing around here, man. I'm sure the

reason I didn't know, it's a surprise party for

me. But of course, not wanting to be wrong, he

called one of the servants over and he asked,

hey man, what's going on? And he said to him,

your brother's come home. And because he has

received him safe and sound, your father killed

the fatted calf for him. But he was angry and

would not go in. Therefore, his father came out,

pleaded with him. He said to his father, lo,

these many years I've been serving you. I've

never transgressed your commandment at any time.

And yet you never gave me a young goat. So here's

the older brother. He's out in the field. He's

been working, laboring. And in his mind, he's

doing everything right. And yet not only are

his actions not being celebrated, but to add

insult to injury, the celebration that is taking

place is for the guy that's done everything wrong.

And the text says he's upset, man. He's irate.

When the father comes out to find out what's

going on, his anger is wrapped up in these four

words. You never gave me. And there it is again,

entitlement. See, whereas the younger brother

said, give me, the older brother said, you never

gave me. One brother wanted something he didn't

deserve. The other, didn't get what he felt like

he did deserve. And so the younger brother's

entitlement was marked by a belief that he deserved

something before it's time. The elder brother's

entitlement was marked by the belief that he

deserved something because of time, because of

time served. Verse 29, the older brother said,

lo these many years, another translation, all

these years I've been serving you. I never transgressed

your commandment and you never gave me. What

he's saying is I never got what my serving deserves.

You owe me, man. And as you read that, you're

like, wait a minute, wait a minute. When did

this become all about you? Oh, here you throw

this party for this transgressor, but I never

transgressed. You never did that for me. I've

been stuck on this farm with you. I've been pulling

my share and by the way, his share as well. Look

how hard I work, how faithful I've been. And

I want to tell you something. Listen, I could

have left like he did, but I didn't. I pray,

I outreach, I tithe, I come to church every week.

Or, you know, I pastored three churches before

they were even saved. And nobody seems to celebrate

me around here. Nobody ever asked me to testify

or give a report. Or I bet pastor doesn't even

appreciate what I do. He certainly never shows

it, never calls me. He always chooses somebody

else, less qualified I might add. I'm always

overlooked, man. Today I hear people say silly

stuff like, you know, I'll just send myself out.

Oh, really? See, his entitlement was produced,

listen to me, his entitlement was produced by

his longevity and his faithfulness. Let me ask

you an honest question. Do you ever find yourself

thinking like this? I have. Because this is also

how entitlement works. It causes you and I to

be spiritual scorekeepers in the house of God.

Everything's got to be tallied up. Here's what

I did. Here's what they didn't do. Here's my

spiritual accomplishments. Where's theirs? Why

are they getting what I deserve? Find yourself

like the elder brother, full of complaints. Listen,

your complaints point you to what you feel entitled

to. Want to know what you're feeling? Just monitor

your complaints. And the more you complain, the

more entitled you are. You know, it's possible.

You could have come to a conference like this,

elder brother, and you're sitting here this morning

convinced that you've been treated unfairly.

You're sitting in disappointment, and your disappointment

is not valid. It's not justified. This elder

brother, his entitlement has caused him to become

angry. You read it. He's jealous. He's bitter.

He's got rejection issues. But you know, probably

worse than all of that, his entitlement has caused

him to become extremely self -righteous. I've

been with you all these years. I've done everything

you've asked me to do. But when this son of yours,

not my brother, by the way, when this son of

yours came, who has devoured your wealth with

prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him.

So think of this. First he says, this younger

brother has done wrong. Now he's accusing the

father of doing wrong. But then look at what

he says about himself. I've never done anything

wrong. I've never transgressed. You know, as

I've served God over these last... 22 plus years,

I've come to understand that one of the finest

lines in the gospel is the line between righteousness

and self -righteousness. It is such a fine line,

beloved. Notice the elder brother. He says to

the father, you never gave me a young goat to

celebrate with my friends. And I read that. I

said, it's interesting. He didn't want to celebrate

with the father. Because for him, it's not about

the father. It's about him. Father, I don't want

to celebrate with you, and I don't want to celebrate

what you're celebrating. You know, the elder

brother, in his mind, he's so righteous that

he refuses to have any part in this celebration

of this sinning little brother, never mind the

fact that it's the father who is hosting the

celebration. But evidently, he sees himself as

even more righteous than the father. Listen,

you know your righteousness has gone too far.

You know your appeal for righteousness has crossed

over to self -righteousness when you make yourself

out to be even more righteous than God. Let's

close and consider the cure. Cure for all that

I have is yours. You know, we often come to this

story and we refer to it as the parable of the

prodigal son. And we say that we know in reference

to the younger brother, but the... Parable is

actually spoken to highlight the elder brother.

If you know, just prior to Jesus telling these

stories about the lost coin, the lost sheep,

and the lost son, the Pharisees have just come

to him, and they're looking at him. Jesus is

eating with these, what it says, tax collectors

and sinners. That is the context. Listen, in

verse 2, and the Pharisees and scribes complained.

Remember, I told you your complaints point to

your entitlements. They complained saying, this

man receives sinners and he eats with them. So,

the Bible says, Jesus spoke this parable to them.

So, here's the context. The whole point in Jesus

even telling this parable in the first place

is because these Pharisees are coming to him

and they're telling him, you're receiving sinners,

you are associating with the wrong kind of people.

It's the same mindset as the elder brother. And

Jesus is saying to these Pharisees, through the

elder brother, oh, they're the wrong kind of

people? Oh, you think your brother is the worst

kind of sinner? And Jesus says, well, let me

show you what kind of people you are. Yes, your

younger brother is entitled, but so are you.

Oh, sure, his sin is outward and obvious, so

everyone can see his sin. But listen, your sin

is just as wicked. Only it's more hidden. It's

concealed better. But make no mistake about it,

you're both lost. He's lost in the far country,

you're lost in the backyard. He's physically

closer to the Father, or you're physically closer

to the Father, but your heart is just as far

away. His is outward rebellion, yours is inward

resentment. You know, church, we pray often.

for our prodigal sons and daughters as well we

should do. We pray that our children never become

prodigal. We pray that we never become prodigals.

But you know, one of the things I also pray,

especially as I get a few years under my belt,

is that I never become an elder brother. Not

in this sense. God, please don't let me become

an elder brother. Why do I say that? Because

in this story, it was the prodigal who got saved.

The prodigal came home. The parable ends and

the jury is still out on the elder brother. When

the story ends, he's still outside the house

and the implication is obvious there if you're

willing to see it. Listen, I'm not casting stones.

This is a temptation we all face. Oh, better

believe there's been times I've had to examine

myself. Am I acting like the elder brother right

now? Is my attitude becoming that of an elder

brother? Am I seeing glimpses of the elder brother

in me? And that's where the Holy Spirit begins

to work in us. Revealing things because the father

loves both the younger and the elder brother

equally. Can you say amen? God's heart is for

sinners, period. And the loving father here is

not giving either of these two brothers what

they actually deserve. Psalm 103 .10, the Lord

does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay

us according to our iniquities. How many know

everything we have is a gift? Salvation, the

church, any ministry we might have, the fellows,

it's all a gift. And the Father is the gift giver.

James 1 .17, every good and perfect gift is from

above coming down from the Father. You know,

the moment you start seeing things as a right,

you'll stop seeing them as a gift. And the moment

you stop seeing things as a gift is the moment

you begin to lose gratitude. And the only cure

I know for entitlement is gratitude. We see this

in the younger brother's repentance. Verse 21,

and the younger son said, Father, I've sinned

against heaven and I am no longer worthy to be

called your son. Make me like one of your hired

servants. See, he comes to realize he has no

right to the blessing of the Father. He has nothing

to offer the Father except for a life of service.

What he's saying now, Father, you don't owe me

anything. I am grateful for whatever you have

for me. You know, I was reminded when I preached

for the first time here at the Prescott Conference

on a Thursday night. which in my mind was Pastor

Tom Payne's slot. I had watched him for 16, 17

years fill that slot, maybe Pastor Greg at one

point. But it was COVID, and Pastor Greg had

me preach, and I was, of course, very grateful,

but I'll never forget. I finished preaching,

and the first text message that I saw after I

got back to my seat, I looked at my phone. It

was from Pastor Payne. Now, you got to understand,

this is the Pastor Payne. who were all praying

to fully recover and get back behind this pulpit.

Can you say amen? This is the Pastor Payne who

was preaching when my wife got saved. It's the

Pastor Payne, again, that I've been watching

preach Thursday night, all my salvation. And

so I come off the platform, I look at my phone,

and there's the message from Pastor Payne. Excellent

message, Tori. I'm thrilled that Generation Next

has got it. I replied, I feel so out of my league.

Pastor Payne said, join the club. We're all in

over our heads. We're all punching above our

weight. Yeah. What he was saying is that none

of us deserve any of this. Can you say amen?

He's saying, Tori, I don't deserve to be up there

either. That's God's platform. That's God's pulpit.

In our text, the father says to the other brother.

All that I have is yours. All that I have. It's

always God's. It's never ours. And that's the

point. It's God's. He's sharing it with us. So

if you're going to be grateful, you must get

a revelation of spiritual inheritance. And the

key is to always remain grateful. See, entitled

people are ungrateful people. Why? Because you

cannot be thankful. for what you feel entitled

to. Saw a video about a man, he was trying to

describe, you know, our first world lives of

someone in an indigenous tribe. People without

electricity, you know, people still living in

the bush, so to speak. And he says, you know,

you meet someone, they've never had electricity

or what have you, and there they are, and you

meet them. And so he says they just walk miles

to a spring to get you some water. And so now

they bring the water back, and they're talking

to you, and they ask you, well, how far do you

have to walk to get water? And you're like, well,

you know, my bedroom's right here, and then I

got a hallway, and the kitchen's over. I could

just go to the bathroom. Oh, water comes into

your home? And you're like, yeah, hot and water,

you know, it comes through. It's called a sink,

and it's just kind of got a knob. Oh, hot water?

How do you get it hot? Do you have a fire, like,

in your house? Yeah, we have a fire in our house,

but that's really just for looks, especially

if you live in Phoenix like me. But we have a

fire in the house, but that's not how we get

hot water. We have a hot water heater. Oh, so

does the hot water heater keep you warm when

it's cold? No, not really. That just keeps the

water hot. We have what's called central air

and heat. You know, we have a thermostat. What's

a thermostat? What's like this thing on a wall

that, you know, essentially tells you what temperature

to be in the house? And they're like, huh? Wait,

what? Oh, so you keep your food cold with the

thermostat. No, we got this other box. It's different,

man. It's different, you know. Because we don't

want it to be that cold in the house, so we put

the food in another box where we can make the

temperature even colder. And they go, well, how

do you keep your horses warm? With a thermostat?

Now, I don't really have, like, horses or things

like that. I have a car. What's a car? Well,

it's this thing that we get in and it kind of

takes you wherever you want to go. Where do you

keep your car? In the garage. A garage? What's

a garage? Well, it's kind of like a house, but

for a car. You have a house for your car? And

so you get the point. We have a lot to be thankful

for. But, yeah. You know why we're not thankful?

Because we have so much to be thankful for. Let

me say that again. Do you know why so many of

us are not thankful? Because we have too much

to be thankful for. Our abundance has killed

our gratitude. You ever go to Burger King, you're

like, yeah, I want a burger, but I want it like

without the bun. I want two onions, not three.

Remove the pickles, half a slice with cheese.

In fact, can you just go to McDonald's and get

their burger and bring it over? See, church,

we're not entitled because we have so little.

We're entitled because we've been given so much.

We see this in our text. The Father says to the

Son, all that I have is yours. See, entitled

people, you can give them literally everything

and it doesn't matter. It still won't be enough.

Because there's just simply no satisfying entitlement.

That is why entitlement always leaves you empty.

Don't ever stop being grateful. And this is so

important, of course, for ourselves. But really

what the parable shows us is that ingratitude

will affect how we treat the lost. If we are

ungrateful for all that God has done in our lives,

all that he's done in our hearts, what the text

says is somewhere we'll lose compassion for the

prodigals of the world. Because entitlement blinds

us not to just what we have, but also to what

others need. Heard it said, but if you'll just

remain grateful and humble, you can survive anything

in the church. You can survive any personal violation,

survive any injustice. But the moment you start

thinking, I deserve better. I deserve more. I

deserve what they got. Listen, you are on setting

yourself on a course. Oh, you may never leave

the house, but you'll just stand outside kind

of with an attitude like this. All the while,

prodigals are getting saved. Prodigals are making

heaven their home. All the while, the father,

son, listen, son, I'm going back in the house.

You're welcome to come with me. You're welcome

to come and join the party anytime you want.

Listen, I love you, son, but you got to deal

with this entitlement. It'll leave you empty.

Listen, we are going to be incredibly blessed

this week. We already were last night. I'm saying

this because we want to posture ourselves to

receive all that the Father has for us this week.

We want to leave this place full, not empty.

Full, full of what God has for us. But if you

hold on to your entitlement, you're going to

miss the blessing. All that the Father has for

you this week, you'll absolutely miss it. Don't

let that be you. Don't let that be you. That's

all I have. Thank you for listening to the PHSAA

Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. Be sure to

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