Where's My Father? | Bro. Alex Mason

Are you just warming up tonight? Oh, I'm just warming up.

Don't wait around. Don't wait around for me to

change. That's right.

You're going to be waiting a long time, but I'm just warming

up. Amen is good to be in the House

of the Lord today man, it has been great spirit of the Lord in

this place. It's what happens when we decide

to be obedient. Just allow him to move.

I've said it many, many a times, either to the students or just

in in leadership aspect for services.

Just just let him do what he needs to do, what he wants to

do. We, we get, we get in the habit

of things need to go a certain way and it, it, it's, you know,

we, we like order. There's nothing wrong with that.

But but when we get when we get so, so hardened to the order,

some things sometimes things just need to switch up a little

bit and blessed by that. And I say that from someone that

gets exhausted from all of that being on the being on the drums

and and praise team praise team says Hallelujah on that.

But God is good. God is good all the time, all

the time. He is good.

Man. Turn with your Bibles with me to

John 14 verse 16 if you will. Blessed to to be here and and to

John 14:16

minister to you and do not take it lightly.

Appreciate pastor and his wife. Love and appreciate them and

their leadership and everything that they do that may not even

be noticed. But I pray we make sure that it

doesn't go unnoticed. Amen and thank you thankful for

Bishop and his wife. What wasn't it was just nice to

have sister McGee singing is just love that so much and how

about how about Bishop the past a couple couple weeks ago with

according to the code both both parts blessed blessed by that

word Amen and then and then Dr. Mason love and appreciate him.

I'm so excited he's he was talking a little bit about what

he's planning on doing at at music conference.

I'm so excited about that so glad that he he is preaching

there. I'm just looking forward to

that. If you have the opportunity, I

highly encourage you to go both both days highly encourage you

to go. It is always a very just a very

sweet presence. You know you think how how much

can I get out of a a worship experience on Saturday.

I'm telling you what, there's some there's some good moves

that just happened just just from having some anointed men

and women of God singing and playing unto the Lord.

You will be blessed even if, even if you're not a musician,

go, not a singer, go. You know the, the joke Brother

Zach always makes he say, I, I make a joyful noise.

And so if you make a joyful noise, that's still a good place

for you to be too. Amen.

And I, I, I will not forget my lovely wife.

We just celebrated 4 year anniversary being married.

Love and appreciate her. We're, we're coming up just just

dating each other because you always should be dating, right?

Just coming up on 10 years in October, which is just wild to

me, but it's very, very awesome. I love and appreciate you so

much. If you're there, say a man we

are. John 1416 states that I will

pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that

He may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom

the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not,

neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you

and shall be in you. I will not leave you

comfortless. I will come to you.

We read it from there's other versions.

I did the NASB you read it from this it says I will not leave

you as orphans. I will come to you.

I have a simple thought tonight is where's my father, where's my

father. If you could set your Bibles

down and help me pray tonight, Lord, I ask you just to move in

this this place, Lord, you are already here, Lord.

We're just here to entertain, Lord, and here to to welcome

you. Lord, entertain your presence

tonight. Ask you just to prepare, Lord, a

planting ground for your word. Hearts and minds, Lord would be

changed. Lord, that we would take the

word with us. It would not just be here, but

it would go abroad. Minister Lord through the Lord,

through my lips of clay, Lord, not my word, but your word be

done in this place tonight. But we're not going to fail to

thank you and to praise you in the mighty name of Jesus.

I pray and everyone said Amen, Amen.

You may be seated tonight. Look at your neighbor and say,

where's my father? Amen.

And as my wife so lovingly put the, the, the alternate title to

this, she said, you're not going to name it.

Who's your daddy? So I told her that I was going

to do that and I don't know if she believed me, but I was like,

I'm saying that will not leave you as orphans when we come upon

this spot of John chapter 14. If if you know, and you may

John 14 · chapter mention

already know, we are knee deep in the account, John's account

of the Last Supper here, John's account is, is happening in

verses in chapters 13 and 14 and Jesus has just washed their

feet. He has predicted who will

betray. Well, not who.

They're not going to know that till later.

But he, he, he said that there will be a betrayal.

And then he also told Peter that he would deny him the disciples,

rightfully so. We've talked about it before

that they are shaking. They are in disarray.

They, they, they, they know something is about to happen.

They don't know. They're not putting all the

pieces together, but they know whatever it is, they're probably

not going to like it. Whatever it is that there's

something doesn't feel right. Jesus, hold on here, time out.

Jesus knowing their disarray and they're shaking this he he is he

knows that he is leaving them soon.

He comforts them at the beginning of chapter 14.

Even he says let not your heart be troubled.

They start saying things like show us the Father and it will

be enough for us. They start panicking, right,

because they don't know how life will look without Jesus walking

by their side. They have, they have had this

time that they have been blessed with to be able to have Jesus

walking alongside them physically.

He is here when, when all of these things, Jesus, what are

you saying? All of these different things

and they're just like, show us the Father.

Then that'll be sufficient to us.

That'll, that'll, that'll, that'll ease our minds, so to

speak. And it is in this moment of fear

and uncertainty that Jesus makes the promise of our main text is

I will not leave you comfortless or in the other translations, I

will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.

When Jesus said this, he was speaking not only to the

disciples who were afraid of living life without him, but he

is speaking to even us today, speaking to our soul, speaking

to that fear of being left alone, being unprotected,

unloved. So I, I want to take you down

imagination lane, if you will tonight, if you will indulge me

and walk with me and, and just listen if you need to, if it

helps, you can close your eyes as as I do it.

But I'm going to talk here for a minute.

Let's say you are five years old.

One of your parents took you to a store.

Let's say they went to Walmart. It is a busy Saturday afternoon,

maybe it's the week that everybody got their paychecks

and they are just going at it. And the hustle and bustle noise

of shopping carts beeping, cash registers, voices filling the

air. There's just so much going on.

A lot for a 5 year old to take in.

But all is good because you are holding on to your parents hand.

You feel safe, you feel protected, but then something on

the shelf catches your eye. Whatever it is, toy candy.

I, I, I can't, I can't begin to name off all the different

things that probably look shiny to a 5 year old.

It could literally be some, it could, it could be the scanner

at the, at the cash register. And they'd be like, oh, look,

that's for me. But something catches your eye.

It draws your attention and you stop for a moment.

Your, your hand slips free and you take a look at that thing.

And when you turn back around, for whatever reason, mom and dad

are gone. For whatever reason, maybe they

just didn't notice that, that, that you let go, but they are no

longer there. So at first, what would a 5 year

old do? Maybe they wouldn't start to

panic right away. You know, maybe you're not

panic. You think, well they must be

over here. And so you check, check, glance

down 1 aisle. Not there.

You glance down the next aisle, and with each aisle becoming

more and more nervous, the heart starting to race, there's a knot

in your stomach because everything around you now seems

more intimidating to you. It wasn't intimidating before.

Shelves feel taller, the noise feels louder.

And where you once felt safe, in that same exact place you felt

peace, now you feel fear. And so with that knot in your

stomach, you are afraid. Your heart is racing, tears may

be welling up in your eyes, and the only thing you can get in

your mind isn't the toy anymore. It isn't the candy that once

seemed all important that you had to stop and look at it.

But the only thing on your mind is where is my dad?

Where is my mom? The thing is, is that you are

surrounded by people. It's not that you are alone.

They they, those people may even be friendly.

They may even look at you and smile.

They may not be mean. But no matter to that five year

old, those strangers, the toy, the candy, nothing is going to

take that fear away because there is only one thing that

will settle your heart and that knot in your stomach as the five

year old. It is the sound of the parents

voice or seeing their face, That comfort you feel and the peace

comes back to you whenever you are taken back with them.

That same way the five year old reached for a toy and lost their

parents hand. That's what people are doing

every day. We maybe not even us, but let's

just even talk about people that have never entered into a church

building of, of of doctrinal approach that we teach here.

They reach for things. They, we reach, they reach for

money, they reach for success, relationships, addictions,

alcohol, so many different things.

And they, they turn back around in their soul and they are

feeling lost after seeing getting that thing.

There's so many things we they trying to grasp, trying to grab

hold of because this is going to be the thing that fixes me.

But they still feel lost because they are just like that five

year old. I'm not calling everyone that's

not in the church or five year old.

What I am saying is their soul is without their parent or if in

the context of the message they do not have the comfort of their

father. While the KJV states it, I will

not leave you comfortless. I love the way these other

ESVNAT the NASB all says I will not leave you orphans.

See in in the original Greek, and you might have heard this

before, but in the original Greek it is translated

comfortless as in the KJV and orphans in the other versions

the Greek word is orphanos. I might not be saying that

right. I'm not Greek, which means

fatherless, without protection, without identity.

What does that tell you? Well, it tells me a few things.

First of all, Jesus isn't promising a stand in, but he is

promising that he was not going to leave them without the

Father. And he stated that he was going

to come to them. So as a byproduct, if he says

I'm not going to leave you, I'm going to send the Father, I'm

coming, then that would mean that He is the Father.

Hold up a second, right? If he's saying to them that He

won't leave them as orphans and He would come to them, then that

would mean He is the Father. He even stated earlier in that

chapter, verses 8 and 9, he said, Philip saith unto him,

Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

And Jesus saith unto him, Have I not?

Have I been so long time with you?

And yet hast thou not known me, Philip?

He's hath seen me, hath seen the Father.

And how sayest thou then show us the Father.

So. So Jesus is being pretty clear

here that He is the Father. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to

stand on the word of God and study and conviction.

This is a sidebar, but with understanding that the Holy

Ghost is not another person, but it is the Father himself

dwelling within us, Jesus Christ dwelling within us.

If it was, if it was another person that was sent and not the

Father, then we would still be living this life fatherless.

But I'm glad that I have a Heavenly Father that not only

saw to fit to robe himself in flesh as Jesus Christ, where all

the fullness of the God had dwelt bodily and He gave His

life that we may be redeemed, but He also saw fit to come

again, not moving forward, but He's all fit to come

spiritually. But when he came, He decided,

you know what? My Spirit has dwelt in the ark,

in the ark of the covenant and in the Tabernacle.

My spirit has dwelt in perfected flesh without spot or blemish.

But now I have offered myself a as a perfect spotless lamb slain

from the foundation of the earth.

That was a sufficient sacrifice. I am now going to dwell within

some common flesh. God's Spirit has dwelt in things

that we don't think nor could we ever measure up to.

But when that veil was torn, he said, I have, if you will, He

said, I have a new temple to dwell in.

I have some orphans to give a home to.

Justin, stop and think for a moment with that five year old

kid how they would have felt when their parent was nowhere to

be found. Now imagine if you will, if God

had never decided to come and dwell with us, never dwell

within us, How would how would we feel today?

Our spirit would feel just like that lost child.

We would feel alone. Everything that we face in life

would probably feel bigger to us, just like the five year old.

The the shelves, the things, the noises, everything.

And we can only imagine our heart saying, where is my

father? But that's not what happened.

We have the blessing that Jesus said, don't you worry, I'm going

to come to you and you will not be an orphan no more.

Your adoption day is coming, he said.

It is time the adoption day is coming.

Paul even said in Romans 815 said, For ye have not received

the spirit of bondage against the fear, but you have received

the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ABBA Father, the Spirit

itself, bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children

of God. You didn't receive the spirit of

fear, but of adoption. You can cry ABBA, father, but

think about those who do not have that right now.

They may look like they have it all together.

You work with them, you sit by them at lunch and you go

throughout your day, but their soul is crying, Where's my

father? Can you imagine how hopeless

they may feel? And here we are with the answer

to their orphan problem. They are still a lost child in

the store. They are looking for dad.

But not only, not only are those that have never heard and their

soul is trying to find their father, but there are those that

have been adopted and then rejected the one who adopted

them. Very familiar passage of

Scripture in Luke 1511. And a certain man had two sons.

And the this is Jesus speaking a parable here.

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the

portion of goods that falleth to the ME, and divided him to his

living. And not many days after the

younger son gathered all together.

He took his journey to a far country, and there wasted his

substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there

arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in

want. He went and joined himself to a

citizen of the country, and he sent him to his fields to feed

swine, and and he would fain have filled his belly with the

husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of

my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with

hunger? You see, the prodigal son left

his father's house by choice, but he ended up living like an

orphan. He was starving, he was empty,

he was abandoned. But the turning point came when

he remembered his father's house.

See, for those prodigals that have been adopted by the father

but then rejected and turn away, they, they look the part as

everyone else in the world does. They, they are trying to search

and find something to fill that void, the hole that is left by

not having the father. But the difference is of the

prodigal experience is because no matter how much they may try

to find something to fill that hole, they rejected the father.

And the issue is the prodigal knows where the father is.

The prodigal knows where home is.

He left, he left it exactly where it is.

He knows where the father is, but he was trying to make it and

find a way to fill the void of not being at the father's house.

So for those the prodigal, the question isn't where is my

father, but hoping that they could get to a place like the

prodigal son did. The question of why am I not

with my father? It was so much better when I was

in my Even the servants have even to spare.

Why am I not with my father? And we look at that story, and

then what happens in verse 20s. He arose and came to his father.

And 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.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against

heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy

son. But the Father said to his

servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put

a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hit her the

fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.

For this my son was dead and is alive again, was lost in the and

found he they began to be merry. Ladies and gentlemen, the

prodigal is just needing to turn around and remember what the

father's house was like. The father is waiting.

He is watching, even running to meet the son.

The prodigal went from powerless in a pig bin to restored back

into his father's embrace. And although that is just, that

is the prodigal story, sometimes it is us.

We we don't have we, We don't have to leave the father's house

to live like an orphan. Sometimes we we all need to live

like sons and daughters. Not rejecting the father's

embrace, but welcoming it. Sometimes we can.

We can live like a prodigal while sitting in a Pew.

We live like orphans, scared, insecure, and powerless.

We have to stop living like we don't know where our father is.

We were never meant to live passively as children of God.

The Father isn't just there to adopt us, but he is there to

empower us people. We we talk about it that, that

the, the plan of salvation is not a punch ticket.

It is not You got your ticket to the train and we'll see you when

we leave. We get we get this mentality, so

to speak of, of going through the checklist.

But then once we're done with the checklist, I will be here

present, but maybe not involved. I'm not focused.

I are I'm saved. I'm not focusing on discipling

anybody else. I'm not focused on anything.

I, Jesus came that I would be comforted that I wouldn't be

Father. I have a father and that I have

the father now. So I'm, I'm good.

But Jesus stated in Acts one and eight, ye shall receive power

after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be

witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea and all

in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

You know what that says to me. And that should say to you that

he's rattling off in Judea and Jerusalem and Samaria.

But when he gets to the uttermost, that's that's

including us, right? It's it's not just enough

because if he said Jerusalem, Judea and all Samaria, Oh well,

we got we got off we got by you know, but now he's saying into

the uttermost and that includes when Peter's preaching in

Pentecost and he says Even so much the Lord our God shall call

however many that includes us having a living part of this

Romans 811 even said stated the same spirit that raised Jesus

from the dead lives inside you. That is nothing to take lightly

or to have be passive him dwelling within you.

You have authority to walk in victory and to find other

orphans that need to know where the father is and the prodigals

that need to be woke up and they're missing and they

rejected the father and say, look, do you remember how good

the father's house was? Acts one and eight just doesn't

stop at power. It says you witnesses.

That's what we're called to once.

Once you've been adopted, once you have been ingrained into the

body, then our next thing is not to just stay here, but it is to

turn around and go find other orphans.

You aren't just filled with comfort and power for yourself,

you are filled so you can find those other lost children that

are in the aisles of life. Those five year olds that are

wandering and they don't know where their father is.

They try to find different things to fill their life and

they are desperate for being complete.

And you have the answer. You have the antidote because

you know where the father is. Maybe, maybe we'll end up

looking and finding people in in a pig pen like the prodigal and

and you say, hey, you don't belong here.

The Father's been waiting for you. 2nd Corinthians 1 and three

says blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforted us in

our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are

in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are

comforted of God. You weren't comforted just to

say stay comfortable. You were.

Your soul was comforted because it it lacked.

That's why you were comforted. But then you were sent off to

comfort others. You were adopted so you could

help others be adopted. Imagine, if you will, you were

the that person, maybe an adult now on the on the opposite side.

And you were walking through the store and you saw the child

wandering alone. Maybe there are tears in their

eyes and you probably stop, right?

You probably try to help. You would do everything in your

power that you could to get that child back to their father.

Now, what if I told you that though there are people all

around you in your life whose spirit with them themselves is

in the aisle and they are just begging it.

Their soul is begging for someone to find them and say I

know where the Father is, follow me, I know where the Father is.

I can show you their souls just crying, where is my Father?

And we have the answer. You're sitting there with the

answer. You're sitting there with the

solution. And we don't make effort to

guide the fatherless home. We don't make effort to bring

people to Him because that we have to He.

If He is dwelling within us, then that means we have to still

because the surrender is a first time is A1 it.

All it takes is one time of surrender for the the Holy Ghost

to come upon and dwell. But going and walking in the

Spirit takes consistent surrender.

And by doing that, then he can guide us to where we need to go,

the people we need to talk to, the people that we need to be

able to to minister to. And I'm not talking about you

walk up to them and saying, well, if you don't get saved,

you're going to hell. That's not what I'm saying.

But what I am saying is there are people that they are, their

soul is begging. And all it would take is an

unction of the Holy Ghost for you to walk up and say, how are

you doing? You may not know them from Adam,

but you walk up to them and say, how are you doing?

They may break down in tears and start to start to tell you their

life story. And you find out that they are

at the cusp of a change in their life.

And you say, you know what? Let's go to my father's house.

Let's go to my father's house because there is comfort.

But not only that, once we, once you, we get you comforted.

Once we get you there, let's go find others.

Let's go find others. That allowing of of dwelling in

us to guide us. It takes a continuous surrender.

And and when we do that, when we start to do that, that is when

we see with spiritual eyes. Before we were just looking

through natural eyes and we look and just say we just, you know,

we see people like, but there may be something there that we

need to allow him to prick our hearts a little bit.

We're all not perfect. There are plenty of times we

have walked, we have walked on by.

But what if in the hustle and bustle, God is trying to get you

to slow down, trying to get you to see with spiritual eyes?

God will guide you to those people that are wandering the

aisles ready for someone to help guide them to their Father.

Even the Great Commission in Matthew, Matthew 2819, it says

go the year 4 and teach all nations again, including all of

us, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever.

I have commanded you and lo, I am with you all way even to the

end of the world, a man. When Jesus gave that Great

Commission, it wasn't an option of discipleship.

It was a command of discipleship.

It wasn't an assignment. It was it was an assignment that

we were empowered to do when the Holy Ghost came.

You are the answer to someone's orphan problem.

You have directions to the Father.

You don't know how to word it. You don't know how to word it

Well then you know what? Why don't you just pick it up?

Pick up the word and start there.

You don't know how to word it well.

It you know spirit will give intercession and I also believe

that spirit will also help you in your time.

There have been plenty of times it happens during preaching, but

it also has it happens in conversation where I don't know

necessarily. I wouldn't know necessarily what

to say or even what verse to just go off cuff and say Oh,

this. But but when, when the spirit

gets a hold of you in that moment, you start to it's things

start to come the recollection and you can bring the people

home just by walking in the spirit.

When you're the answer to someone's orphan problem, we

have to walk differently. We have to walk differently.

Music can start to come, some of you here or listening maybe,

maybe there are still spiritual orphans.

You have not received, you have not yet received the Holy Ghost.

You you've never had the comforter come and dwell inside

of you. I'm telling you that today could

be your adoption day. Some here listening or listening

could could be prodigals, if you will.

And and and they they once knew the embrace of the father, but

but but have drifted. But just like in Luke 15, the

Father is waiting, arms open wide, ready to run and meet you.

He is not here to shame you. No one's here to shame you.

He is here to restore you back to His embrace.

And there may be some of us that have the Holy Ghost, but maybe

we have been living like orphans, just sitting on the

Pew. We haven't been taking the Great

Commission, the heart. We haven't been taking it to to

heart for the for discipleship and going unto the uttermost.

Maybe maybe we're still scared and insecure and we feel

powerless within ourselves. But I'm telling you, God wants

you to wants you to step back into your identity as a child of

God walking in his power and authority.

We stand tonight. This altar is open and wherever,

wherever you find yourself in tonight you need if you need

adopting tonight, if you need restoration tonight, if if you

need to step back into identity as a a walk walking believer,

then I'm telling you, come and I have the answer to your question

of where is my father is he is right here.

He is right here. He is calling your name and once

he comforts you, he sends you. Once he comforts you.

It's not just about power. It's not it's not just about

just what you get, but it is about witness.

You again, are the answer to someone's orphan problem.

You may be the one God wants to use another child to come home,

but it starts in His embrace. It starts from the Holy Ghost.

It starts from the indwelling and no longer having having the

option of the idea of where's my father?

No, I know where my father is. I'm no longer an orphan.

I'm no longer an orphan. God.

We could bring him home. So many people are lost, so many

people need disciples, need need witness to God.

Help me to see with your eyes that I could find those five

year olds, those spiritual 5 year olds that are just looking

for dad. Help me to get as many as I can

and take them to the Father's house.

Say, I know where, I know where your dad is.

I know where you can find. I know where you can fill that

hole. I know where you can fill it.

I know, I know where how dimty you may have felt.

I felt that before. But I'm telling you, once you

get in the embrace of the Father, everything changes.

Everything changes. Oh, God, give us a heart, Lord.

That would be for souls. Give us a heart, Lord, that we

would seek, Lord, to find more children to be adopted.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus.