Leading The Way

Matt: My name is Matt. I listen to Dr. Youssef Dally and his advice and his preaching helps me every day to think more clearly about God, his role in my life, the mistakes that I have made, and that I am forgiven, and that God does love me, and I have a place in this world because of him, and that I am forgiven. Even though I am broken, I am forgiven. And there's nothing more powerful than that. So, thank you for bringing that to me on a daily basis.

Guest (Male): And by the way, Dr. Youssef would like to hear your story as well. He's always so blessed to hear how God is using his voice to reach into the hearts and the lives of people all around the world. So, if you'd like to share a testimony that might be used on the air sometime in the future, we encourage you to call 877 941 7934. Just follow the prompts when you get there. Again, that's 877 941 7934. And if you'd like to learn more about Leading the Way or products or support Dr. Youssef with your gifts toward worldwide ministry, well, the easiest way is to visit ltw.org.

That's ltw.org. You're probably familiar with the Bible story of the adult son who demands his inheritance while his father is still alive and then runs away, waste all of the inheritance money in depravity, and then eventually comes back home asking for forgiveness. Today, we usually refer to this as the parable of the prodigal son, and it's not an uncommon story, not in Jesus' day and not here in 2026. Up next on Leading the Way audio, Dr. Michael Youssef provides a unique insight into this popular parable, perspectives that you might not have heard before, perspectives that will deepen the impact of this gospel story in your own life.

Now, you're going to quickly come to understand that the prodigal son is not only the story of a rebellious son, it's the story that reveals a loving and forgiving father representing our heavenly father, representing the love and forgiveness that he offers to his wayward children. So, let's listen together. Let's get a glimpse of the compassionate, forgiving heart of God from Dr. Michael Youssef as he continues his Leading the Way audio series called Enduring Wisdom.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Today, as we continue to look at the story of Jesus telling of the father of those two sons. Today, we're going to deal with the younger rebellious son, and in the next message, I'll talk about the outwardly compliant son. This younger boy, as we would say, he had the mind of his own. This is the kind who doesn't want to do anything his parents tell him to do. He want to be his own boss. In fact, back in the '60s and the '70s, there used to be a big billboard in a small town in the South and it read as follows, Attention teenagers, are you tired of being harassed by your stupid parents?

Act now, move out, get a job, pay your bills while you still know everything. Now, the word prodigal, which describes this younger son in the story, it means rebellious extravagance. Rebellious extravagance. I want to tell you, extravagance with children in any area creates prodigals. Lack of boundaries and limitation with children create prodigals. Absence of training and discipline create prodigals. But if you really want to be extravagant with your children, young mom and dad, I want to tell you, there is a one area you can be very extravagant with them. As your time. Be very extravagant with your time with them.

I want you to turn with me, please. Luke 15, I hope you have it open in front of you. Just want you to imagine the smirk on that boy's face as he was packing his Jerusalem designer jeans and his man Zion designer shirts. I can imagine his surly face accusing his parents of being out of touch with reality. I can imagine the bitterness that he had toward dad for his rules about going to church and cleaning his room and doing his chores. The Bible said, it was only a few days after he gathered some of his assets that his father gave him and left, probably went on a fire sale and converted these assets into cash, filled his pocket with cash, went out into his convertible camel.

Have you ever seen a convertible camel? Seriously. They all are. He got into this convertible camel and popped up the wheels, front wheels and peeled rubber. 30 ft headed for the big apple. Oh, baby, he's made it now. He takes off and leaves behind a broken-hearted father, a scornful older brother, a devastated community. He leaves no rights to claim. He burns all the bridges, or at least he thought he did. He wipes the slate clean, or so he thought. Look what Jesus said in verse 13. And the son scattered. I know some translation has other words, but the word scattered is more accurate because it's literally the same word that is used when a farmer at planting time throwing seeds on the ground during the planting time kind of without much thought.

He just scattering it around. He was thinking that this money is going to buy him friends, that this money will buy him happiness, that this money will buy him popularity, this money is going to buy him some social standing. And it worked. It worked for a while, for the money lasted. I recently was reading an article about some celebrity who has all these friends for a big party and the commentator says, he said those friends that she bought. Now, to all my young friends, I want you to listen to me wherever you've been sitting. Young friends, please listen to me.

This is coming from a heart of a loving grandfather. Be careful of wanting popularity at any cost. Be careful. Be careful of wanting acceptance at any cost because it could cost you a whole lot more than money. And when the money ran out for this young man, all of his friends that he bought with his money basically dropped him and dumped him like a a disposable diaper. Now, you would think, okay, he's in trouble. First thing occurred to him at this point is go home, right? Oh, no. He not about to crawl back to his father.

His pride is still alive and well. The number one reason why people don't come to Christ, they might call themselves atheists, agnostics, they might call themselves whatever they want to call them. You go all the way and dig deep, it's pride. They don't want to humble themselves before God. They're too prideful. They think they can save themselves. Coming to Christ, crown him the Lord of your life requires putting down of human pride. I'm guessing that at this point, this son is not broken enough, is not desperate enough to come home. Probably said to himself, I can't go back there.

I can't go back there and ask for forgiveness. That's require humility. I'm going to eat my brother's food and I'm going to live under my father's house and I cannot walk through the narrow streets of the village where every finger is pointing at me. To make things worse, verse 14, look at verse 14, underline it. A famine struck that part of the world where they were living. See, that son was not ready yet, even though there's a famine. They're still not ready. So, he gets a brilliant idea, a brilliant idea you never thought about before.

Get a job. Oh, well, kind of a job a Jewish boy, a Jewish young man is going to have in a gentle country in the middle of famine. I mean, bankers and corporations that are hiring CEOs anymore. And there where he has struck bottom. Now, this is rock bottom, not rock rock rock bottom, but just rock bottom. Hasn't got the rock rock rock bottom yet. For a Jewish young man to take care of pigs would be like a very rich American kid working on cleaning sewers. Remember, pigs back then were not like what they are now in the Western countries where you have hog farmers feed them nice food and take good care of them and clean them and all that stuff.

Back then, they gave the pigs the worst of the worst of the worst of the garbage. Think about this. And that's why our Jewish friends to this day do not eat ham. But this is a famine time. This is a famine time. Even the garbage was in short supply. So, they use these dry pods. Some of you may have seen those corn carobs, two varieties of carobs. I as a boy growing up, I used to eat the edible one. There are edible one little softer you can eat and they're sweet. But there are a harder ones that they fed for to the pig.

I mean, literally would destroy your teeth if you just take one bite. And those inedible carobs or pods, verse 16, look at it with me. But even this young man, that this is what they're giving to the pigs, they wouldn't let him have that some of that. In other words, the pigs were better off than he was. Now, beloved, this is what you call the bottom of the bottom of the bottom for that son. So, now he begins to think how much better off servants in his father's household in the servants quarters, how much better off they are than he is, where he is now in this abysmal condition.

Finally, he begins of thinking of swallowing his pride. Have you ever tried to swallow your pride? Oh my goodness, you can get choked, but it's a good thing to do every now and again. Swallow his pride. Listen, pride destroy individual, pride destroy nations, pride destroy families. Think about this. Think about this. The very core of the Christian faith, it is only when a person comes to the realization that they are totally broken, that they are desperate in need of the savior, that they have to bend the knees to the savior, that they have to bend their will to the Lord Jesus Christ.

They have to come and say, Father, forgive me. That's the very core of our Christian faith. Verse 17, Jesus said that when the son came to himself, that's actually literal translation, came to himself. Some of your translations said came to his senses. But literally when he came to himself, he came to his senses. Only then will he began to articulate his speech that he needs to give to the father. He began to rehearse what he would say to the father. What would he say to father? See, all of a sudden, he began to snap out of his insanity.

All of a sudden, he began to snap out of his stupor of self-focus. All of a sudden, this is more than just feeling sorry that he wasted his money, that he has wasted his life, that things just did not work out as the way he wished that they would have worked out. This is not just being sorry that plans have failed. No no no no. This is a whole lot more than that. He actually realized that he had sinned greatly, not only against his father, but against God. He actually came to the realization that he brought degradation and shame on his father's good name.

He understood now that everything has to change. Everything has to change. He is no longer arrogant and prideful. He is no longer feeling I deserve this. He is now contented to be called a servant or a slave. He is now happy to live in the servants quarters. He is now happy to have a servant master relationship. To put it in the vernacular, he was totally and completely broken before God. Often, we have to be broken before we come to our senses. Look at this young man. You see, when he left home, what did he say?

He said, Give me. But when he came home, he said, make me. When he left home, he resented being called a son. But when he came back and came to his senses, he was willing to be called a slave. When he left home, he called it independence and pleasure seeking. But when he came home, he called it sin. He got what he wanted and lost what he had. Now, he's contented with far less. Beloved, the Bible said in Hebrews 11 25, Hebrews 11 25, sin is pleasurable. For a moment, for a moment. It's pleasurable until STD or AIDS begin to destroy the body.

It's pleasurable until alcohol begins to destroy the liver. It's pleasurable until drugs start frying the brains or until you realize that there is a hefty price that there many other people are paying for your sin. In fact, I believe there are three stages for sin. Now now don't panic. It's not three-point sermon, but three stages. I'll tell you them very very quickly. There's the charm of sin, there's the contour of sin, and there is the consequences of sin. I had to work hard. Get them all in the sea here so you can remember them. I'm going to explain that.

There's the charm of sin. It was the allure of the far country away from mom and dad. The allure. Then there was the control or the profile. I use control because it starts with C. The profile of sin. Give me. I deserve this. And then there is the consequences of sin. The spiritual pigs die. Beloved, the only answer to sin is re-turn. Re-turn. Can you say that with me? Re-turn. Re-pent. Re-turn to the place that you know God wants you to be. Re-turn to the place what you know your parents have prayed for you, your family members and your friends have prayed for you to come back to.

Re-turn to the place where your father's security, safety. In the last message, I showed you how the father stripped himself of his dignity, of his honor in that context and that culture. He stripped himself by running in order to welcome his repentant son. And we saw that this is a picture of God the Father through God the Son going to the cross, suffering all the indignities and the pain and the suffering of the cross in order that those who are redeemed and repent of their sins be forgiven, be restored, be accepted and be qualified for heaven.

But there's something else I don't want you to miss. And it's about the encounter between the repentant son and the forgiving father. The repentant son and the forgiving father. Don't miss this. The father did not even let the son finish the speech. Now, this is very He said, Michael, what's big deal about this? It's huge. Just listen to me, okay? Humour me. Probably this young man, no doubt knowing human nature, he was rehearsing the speech in his mind. He's probably going over it. When I see my father, I'll say this. And when I see my father, I'll say this.

When I see my father, I'll say this. You know, he was rehearsing it in his head. But look at verse 21. Verse 21. The son began to make the speech. Father, I have sinned. And as if the father says, I've heard enough. I've heard all I want to hear. I heard all I need to hear. But but but but but what about the part of making me one of your hired servants? That's not necessary. But why? Because the father, listen to me, this is very important. The father, our father in heaven, does not take anyone who is not a son or a daughter.

Can I get an amen?

Guest (Male): Amen.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Now, we can serve God and we do joyfully to our hearts content. I have the privilege of calling myself the servant of the living God, but because of Jesus, the Father will not He will not Say it with me. He will not call us anything other than son and daughter. Glory to God. I want to shout about you. Beloved, listen to me. The grace of God is not partial. The grace of God is not with measure. The grace of God is not conditional. The grace of God is immeasurable. Like the old song we used to sing in the old days about Thomas Williams, oh, deep deep love of Jesus, vast and unmeasurable, boundless free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.

But Father, what about my past sins? What sins? But Father, what about what I did to you? What did you do to me? I know most of you know this, but let me remind you again and I don't want you ever forget. Write it down, hang it on the wall, on your fridge, wherever you want to. Satan is the only one who will always remind you of your past sins. God never. God never. Because the Bible said he takes our past sins and he puts them in the deepest sea. As dear Cory ten Boom used to say, don't you go fishing for them.

Something else as I conclude. Some of you may have a hard time forgiving somebody else. I don't know. Only you do. Your parents perhaps, a family member, son or daughter, a brother or sister in Christ, and you're having a hard time forgiving them, or having a hard time forgiving yourself. Beloved, that's pride. That's pride. If God forgave you, you can and you must forgive others. Often, that's called self-righteousness. You notice the young man did not stop in one of the bathhouses nearby the village before he came to daddy and took a hot bath, cleaned himself up, stopped smelling and stinking.

He did not do that. The boy did not go to an old friend and say, can I borrow some clothes because these are filthy clothes. I want to get dressed and be presentable to my father. He did not do that. He came to the father confession on his lips, repentance in his heart because only the father, listen to me, only the father can truly cleanse us when he forgives us. There are some people who think that you have to go through these hoops before God can accept you. I grow up in it, I know it, I understand it.

I don't agree with it because it's obviously not biblical. Today, you can change that. Others think that they have to go through some religious rituals before they've been accepted by the father. Falsehood. The father only wants to hear from the lips and know that the heart is repentant of sin. Accepting Jesus as your only savior and the Lord of your life, he will do the rest.

Guest (Male): He will do the rest. Thank you for being part of Leading the Way with cultural anthropologist and international Bible teacher, Dr. Michael Youssef. Also, please know that you can reach out to stand in prayer and generosity with Dr. Youssef. You can order products. You can ask for prayers. Call 866 626 43 56 or go to the website ltw.org. Now, there are a few more episodes of this powerful series still to come. So, before time is completely gone for today, let's hear just a moment of what you can expect in an upcoming Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Beloved, listen to me. Legalism is Satan's theology. Legalism puts Satan in charge of any church because legalism gives the impression that you can be saved and accepted by God by just keeping the religious rituals.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth across and into six continents in 28 of the world's most spoken and understood languages. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.