In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of understanding God's delight in our deliverance in order to experience true joy and peace. He uses the parable of the prodigal son to illustrate this concept. The preacher encourages the congregation to recognize their forgiveness and to embrace the love and acceptance offered by God, regardless of their past sins. He urges them to repent and accept God's love by faith.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. I want to speak to you this morning about boldness to enter God's presence. Boldness to enter God's presence. I want you to go to Hebrews, the 10th chapter, if you will, please. Amen. It's raining outside, but it's, well, it's raining in here too, but it's raining a different kind of rain. Thank God for His presence. Hebrews, the 10th chapter, and I want you to begin with me at the 19th verse, please. Hebrews 10, 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which is consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for His faithful that has promised. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for His faithful that has promised. And go back to verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Holy Spirit, you want to speak to us this morning, so I'm asking you to give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say. Thank you, Lord, for truth that truly sets us free. Lord, in this day of darkness and bondage on all sides, you want a people that are living free, not just knowing, but enjoying what God has provided us. Now, Holy Spirit, come down upon me and anoint the word that you've given to me and make it meet to our souls and make it strength to our bodies and quicken our faith. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. I want to talk to you this morning about the two benefits of the cross. The one benefit we're well acquainted with, it's well preached, it's quite well understood. And that's to our benefit. That benefit you know to be forgiveness of sins, victory and power over the dominion of sin. The benefit of the cross of Jesus Christ is eternal life, it's relief, it's escape from hell and damnation. And this is well preached all over the world, it's being preached on Sunday, the benefit of the cross to humankind. But there's another benefit to the cross that we know so little about and do not fully understand, if at all. And that's the benefits to the Father. The benefit that the Heavenly Father resulting from the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. And until we understand that, you see, forgiveness is never a problem with the Heavenly Father. But coming into the fullness, coming into the delight of God, we understand very little about the delight of the Heavenly Father when He receives the prodigal into His house. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about the glory that is? Have you thought about the power and the incredibleness of the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ? And what it really opened the door to in the Father's heart? And that's what I want to talk about today. We know this side of Christ's sacrifice. The veil was rent in two. Remember the rocks rent? Earthquake, a shaking, because the greatest event in mankind's history was taking place. The veil was rent in two. And it was not just that we may go into the Holy of Holies, but He who once dwelt in darkness and deep darkness is now able to come out of the Holy of Holies. He took the initiative, God Himself, unilaterally. And that's when one person makes a decision, two people at war, two parties at war, and one party says, that's enough, I'm going to make peace. I'm going to tear down the wall, a partition. I'm going to do it on my own initiative, just out of grace. And out of grace alone, through no effort of mankind, He tore down the wall. He ripped open the curtain that blocked from His presence. There was no access to the general public. There was no access to the prodigal, only to a high priest. And now it's open and God can come out. God can come out and embrace the sinner. He can come out and embrace the prodigal. Because everything is settled. There's a judgment made against sin. And all we have to do, in fact, He not only tore down the wall, He removed the remains. You don't have to crawl over the ruins. He made a path into His own heart and into His presence. Now this is an amazing thing if you see it. You see it in type when Israel crossed the Red Sea. They got to the other side of the Red Sea and a great praise meeting broke out. Praising God, thanking Him. They saw the enemy, all dead at the sea, cast up on the seashores of both sides. You see, that's a type of coming out of the bondage of sin. And the antitype is our deliverance from the power of sin. And we know that our enemy has been slain. But you see, that's only half the victory. That's only half of God's purpose. They can't camp there on the victory side. I preached this sermon years ago entitled, Right Song, Wrong Side. You see, they should have been singing that on the other side. They should have trusted God. Who can't praise God after the victory comes? And they're on the other side. But you see, if they camp there, all they do is have a testimony that they're saved. That's as far as it goes. I was once lost, I was bound by sin, I was in bondage and now I'm free. And they can stay there the rest of their lives singing and shouting and saying, I'm free, I'm free. And they're not in the eternal purpose of God. The eternal purpose of God was to bring them out to bring them in. Into His own heart. Into His love. To become wholly dependent that God would be everything. That He would take away and strip away everything that man could depend on. In fact, God said to Israel, I'm bringing you to Myself. He wanted a people wholly, totally dependent on His love and His mercy and His grace. So, these people are camping there and if you don't move on, in fact, they get to the first test. Just a few days later and they're murmuring and they're complaining. You see, if you don't really know the Father's heart, you're going to end up murmuring and complaining. You're going to wind up totally dissatisfied. And I'm going to make a statement I want you to hear. It's a premise of the revelation that God's been speaking to my heart. You cannot fully come into joy and peace until you see God's delight in your deliverance. Until you see the joy of His heart. Until you see everything removed at the cross. Until everything that's been of the past has been judged. You see, God says, I want you to move on. Now, this can be best explained in the parable that Jesus gave of the prodigal son. This is Christ's own teaching parable. Full of magnificent, glorious truths if we just take the time to dig them out. You know this story. It's a story of a young man that rose because he left his father's house. And you know the story, he wound up broken and ruined in health and spirit. And he decides to get up and the scripture says in Luke 15, 20, he arose, came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion to ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. You see, there is nothing hindering his forgiveness. He has been reconciled, the father reconciled himself. In fact, the father was never out of reconciliation with his son. See, God has made it possible. He declared reconciliation with lost mankind. And we have to come and accept that reconciliation. We have to believe in the provision of the cross of Jesus Christ to come into the reconciliation that he himself declared. This boy was, there's nothing he had to do. He did not have to, he didn't at this time confess his sins. Immediately, the father ran to him first, afar off and embraced him and kissed him and said, welcome. You see, the problem of forgiveness of sin, it is never a problem with a heavenly father when he sees a repentant son. See, forgiveness is not the issue right now. Thank God that we are forgiven. I'm talking to the believer now. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ. Thank God for the joy of salvation. Folks, if we don't move on, if we don't get into the father's house, if we don't come to that place of rejoicing because we begin to understand the father's heart, until we get there, we're never going to know peace. We're never going to know how to serve. We're never going to know the full joy of the Lord. We're never going to walk in peace. The father not only wants him, see, he didn't forgive this boy. He didn't embrace him. They could just go on his way and say, I am forgiven. And he goes out and does his own thing, goes his own way. He says, I'm delivered from my past and now I'm free. Father, thank you for your forgiveness. I will come and visit you on occasion. No, that is not the complete delight of God's heart. He's taking you out to take you in. Get that in your mind. And this young man is not at ease in his father's presence. He's forgiven, but he is not at ease. There's something in his heart of the flesh that says, well, wait a minute. You don't know what I've done. Father, you don't know the filth that I've been in. You don't understand what I have done. I've sinned against your love. I've sinned against light. You don't comprehend. And you just forgive me. And you see the old man in him, the old nature in him is thinking, now, I can't just come and accept it like this. You just hug me. You kiss me. You don't ask questions. You don't dig into my past. You just accept me with open arms. Now, this is a foreshadowing of the cross of Jesus Christ. But he says, you just received me, Father. I want a payment schedule. I don't know what I owe you. It's probably more than I can pay, but I've got to try. Lord, I just don't know how. I am not worthy. I've sinned against God and I've sinned against you. And you see, he has a sense that it is humility to tell the Father how bad he's been. We get this idea that we are humble when we go to prayer and say, Oh God, I am worthless. I don't know how to study. I don't know how to pray. I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to do that. But you know what? The Father wouldn't have any part of it. He didn't even listen to it. Because you see, in the Father's mind, that old man that left is not there anymore. He's dead. In the Father's mind, his sins are gone. In the Father's mind, he said, look, I don't want to hear about this. He said, that boy that left is dead. And he's saying now to this boy, you're a new man. Well, how did I become a new man? That's my estimation of you. That's what I declare you to be. At the cross of Jesus Christ, the old man was dead, crucified. And God said, I'll never deal with you again. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want you coming into my presence. And he says this with love. And he does this by simply ignoring what the boy said. Just ignored it. And I'm telling you, God's ignoring every time you go into his presence, telling him how bad you are. That's defaming the blood of Jesus Christ. And you see at the cross, the Lord says, I have judged sin. And all judgment was placed on my son. Everything you've ever done, all your past is gone. And now, in the last days, I'm going to deal with one man. One man's coming out of the grave. And I'm taking every one of you into that grave with him. I'm taking everyone that's confessed their sins. Everyone who believes that there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ at the cross. And now you've gone down into the grave. This is God's estimation. This is what God is thinking. This is what God declares to be. And there's only one man coming out of the grave. Folks, you didn't come out of the grave unless you were in Jesus Christ. And then out of the grave came a body. Christ, the man. And when he went up to glory, he became the head of a body of people called the church of Jesus Christ. And God says, I will not deal with the old flesh. I'll not deal with the old man. There's only one man I'll deal with. That's Christ. And when you're in Christ, I'm dealing with you as I deal with my own son. I look on you as my own son. Because sin has been judged. It's dead. It is dead. So God deals with us now only through his son. And you see, the father said, no, you don't go into my house as a beggar. You don't go in with that kind of old talk that you had before. You see in the father's eye, he's new. And he says, bring out the best robe you can find. You're going into my house as a kingly, royal son. And so they bring out the best robe in the house. That had to be the father's own robe. Couldn't be any higher than that. This is the righteous robe of Jesus Christ. He put a ring on his finger, which means union with Christ. And he shod his feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You see, forgiveness is not enough. There has to be renewal of the mind. A renewal of the thinking. How do I come into God's presence? How am I received? You see, God is the father, heavenly father. This is the type of heavenly father, renewing the mind, renewing the thinking. He said, no, you're not coming in with those old rags of self-righteousness. You're not going to dress up that old man and come into my presence and say, please have mercy. I tried so hard. See, the flesh doesn't want to die. We keep coming in the presence of Jesus and we've done something wrong or we failed God or the weakness in our life. And we don't seem to be walking in the fullness of the spirit. And so we bring our sweat and we bring our tears and we fast and we pray and we're driven by the flesh because the flesh doesn't want to die. The flesh has a hard time acknowledging what God says I am. Are you getting any of this? Lord says, no, you're not coming in as a beggar. You're coming in as a kingly son. It's not enough to be forgiven in itself. If you want the fullness, if you want the joy, you want the peace and the assurance of who you are in Christ. There's a renewing of the mind. He has already done his repentance. But you see, he he still does not feel qualified. And a lot of us try to qualify ourselves. You know, there is no way you and I can be qualified by anything we do in the flesh to go into the house, into his presence. And to be there at peace, because you see the whole idea, the real issue of the prodigal parable is not just the coming home of the son, but more so the delight of the father. I think that's the key to the whole thing, because until you know that, until you understand that, until you know that there's no hindrance, he's removed every hindrance from you and I coming in and he's looking more at company. At fellowship and oneness with his child, with you and with me, he wants the company. He enjoys the company, our company, our presence in his holy place in the house is the joy. It's the delight. He said, this is my beloved son in whom I delight and whom I have great pleasure because I'm in Christ. He delights in me just as he delights in his son. I delight in you. Do you have any sense of that knowledge this morning in the presence of God? Did you come to this church this morning convinced and your heart at peace because you say there's nothing between me and the father, that he is removed at all? If you can see that and you can't see it unless you ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, open your eyes to the fact that he has qualified us. Let me give you the scripture for that. Having therefore, brother, boldness to enter into the holiness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, the flesh, his flesh, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. What is a true heart and where is that full assurance? Full assurance is that when I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I walk by faith, I walk by faith. You see, the new man that the father is talking about is one of faith. This boy has to believe that he is what God has dressed him as and what the father is seeing. And he sees the delight and joy of the heavenly father. And here is the qualification. Colossians 1.12, giving thanks to the father who has made us meet in the word there is qualified, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and translate us into the kingdom of his dear son. He's forgiven. He's being renewed in his mind. He's not talking now about what he did or how he can repay, how he can reconcile himself. He's now turning to the father and his delight. He's understanding now. Maybe he's not mad at me after all. Maybe I can trust this expression of love. And the Lord, the father said, it is me. It's necessary that we go into the house and be merry. He said it's necessary. Folks, this is so necessary that at the cross we were qualified. We were made meet to go into the very presence of God without fear, without condemnation, without guilt. But this boy, that's all he had. The devil put these thoughts in his mind. The thoughts, well, maybe I can't make it. Maybe I want to leave again. The father hears nothing about it right now. Right now, I want you to come into my presence. You see, he's made provision if any man sins, we have an advocate with the father for my present sins. I believe that when I fall in love with the father and the son, when I really come to him that he is all in all, he's all my provision, he's all my strength. You see, we tell people when they come to the altar, when you get saved, the Holy Ghost is going to come and give you strength. Well, now, how does he do that? Most of us can't explain how the Holy Spirit does that. He takes us to the word of God. He takes us into this book. And when I believed on Jesus Christ, I was immediately placed in Him. My life is, I am dead into this world, but I am hidden in Him, in Christ. I am hidden in Him, in Christ Jesus. You were taken into His body. And you are told that you sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That means that wherever Christ is, that's where I am by faith. It's all by faith. Nothing else. It is by faith. We enter in to this delight of the heavenly father. He goes into the house. Let me try to explain it, illustrate what I'm trying to say. I have a minister friend who was delivered years ago from drugs. And recently, he took a fall. It started with prescription drugs. But he was exposed recently, evidently, for taking hard drugs. His reputation is in shambles. And he described the anguish of his Christian life and the whole time since he's been saved. He described his insecurity, always comparing himself with others. Always feeling he didn't measure up. He's always had a hard time forgiving himself and accepting God's forgiveness. He continually condemns himself. He's always living in fear. And then he tries to work harder, trying in some way to please the heavenly father. And you see, he's come now to a place of repentance. And he said, I'm truly repentant. I've lost my reputation. I've lost everything. And I know there's no pride now because I have nothing left to be proud about. But he's probably going to have a harder time now than he's ever had because his friends and pastor advisors and others now are gathering around him, like Job's comforters. And they're giving him all kinds of ideas and concepts of how to get right again with God and make things right, suggesting he go into a program. And he can't leave his children and do that. Others are saying it's pride until you get rid of your pride. And they have all of these are coming at him all places. And everybody wants him to replay his sin. How did you get into it? Why did you do this? And he's getting so discouraged because every other guy that comes along, they want to hear the whole filthy mess. How tragic it is in the church of Jesus Christ, how we treat particles, even in the church of Jesus Christ, the lack of compassion. Because I got a letter from somebody who knew the situation, and he had a whole list of things, a half a page of things that he believed the Holy Spirit told him to tell that boy so he could get back to God. And I'm saying now, I'm going to do this in a letter to that precious boy. My heart started bleeding for him. He's a dear, loving man that's just given his life and heaping on him. Why do we, when people are going through it, especially if somebody either committed adultery or fall back into drugs or something, those who've been forgiven the most jump on them the worst sometimes. Come on. Some of those who have been shown the greatest mercy become the most merciless people of all. I don't want that. I don't want to be forgiven a great debt, and they go jump on the neck of somebody that owes just a little bit. No, no, no, no, no. He that shows mercy will receive mercy. See, none of those things are going to bring him back to the Father's love. He's got to come to the place where he knows that he's repented. I've sinned against God. I've sinned against my family. And I know there are consequences. But until he knows that the Father is right there to embrace him and kiss him and say, Welcome home, until he can see that God is not mad at him, that God still delights in him because he's come to the victory of the cross. He's come now to the fact that God has never left him. God will chasten. But he can come back to this living Word because if he would just lay hold of faith, God will take him right in here and will lead him into Christlikeness. We learn to be like Christ. We learn it through the Word of God. It doesn't come like some infusion, some sudden explosion of truth, and suddenly you're Christlike. No, it's going into Corinthians, it's reading about what charity is, it's what love is, and enduring one another, and bearing with one another, and merciful to one another. You're learning Christ. Now folks, I don't know if you see it, but I tell you that this is what brings joy and peace to my heart, that I know everything is settled with God at the cross of Jesus Christ by nothing I have done, nothing I have said, nothing that I can do, and I trust that work. I am a new man in Christ Jesus. Can you see this boy arm-in-arm with the Father singing, In my Father's house, come and go with me to my Father's house. In my Father's house is joy. In my Father's house is peace. Joy and peace are there in my Father's house. He is marching in without guilt, without condemnation, because he knows his Father is at peace with him. There is a difference between the peace of God and peace with God. Peace of God is out there, something I want to attain to, something out there glorious, but folks, it's different when you have the peace with God. He is at peace with the Father now. And there is dancing, and joy breaks out in the house. But you see, this is another thing. How tragic would be, and how demeaning to the Father's grace and love, if he gets in that house, and he is about to rejoice, and the enemy comes into his heart, and says, well, this is too good to be true. He may not, he may change his mind, and maybe tomorrow those old thoughts will come back again. You see, he has to rest right now in the delight that he has seen and experienced of his heavenly Father. You see, when we go into the presence of the Lord, there is Christ seated at the right hand. And I am at peace with him, and I have joy in my heart, because you see, God is looking at me through his Son. I am in his body. I am one of his. It is a many-membered body. Do you understand you are in the body? You are not just in Times Square Church. You are part of a worldwide body of Jesus Christ. And he is the head. And God deals with the head. He deals with... Let me say it one more time. As much and just like he delights in his own Son, he delights in you. He delights in me, because I am in Christ. And I am what he says I am by faith. Glory to God. I am not perfect. You all know it. And Gwen knows it most of all. But you see, I go to my Father through the blood. The devil, the accuser, he doesn't accuse you and me. He accuses the justice of God. You see, he doesn't believe in the blood. The devil doesn't believe in the blood. He doesn't believe that you are safe and secure in the blood. He tries to accuse you of the justice of God. Then all justice, your presence, sins, he'll judge you and keep you out of his presence. No, you come to him and say, Father, the blood that saved me is the blood that keeps me. Do you remember that security you felt the first time? You felt the blood wash over your sins. That's available. That's the life that we must live. I'm going to close with this. There's the Lord ties it up a little more in two chapters down from Luke 15 to Luke 17. There's 10 lepers that are crying out to him. Master, have mercy. And Jesus said, go to the priest, be healed. And they're on the way to what I would call ritualism. I really believe that the Lord had it in his heart that they would come back because he says, where are the nine? You see, they were more concerned about their reputation. They had to go to the priest to get back their reputation and to be restored into society and into the church body. So the nine go on the way to ritualism. But one man says, no, that all of that can wait. I got to know this man. I have to be near him. So he left the 10 and ran to Jesus, cried out with a loud voice, the praises of Christ, praises of the Lord, and fell at his feet. You see, that's the power, keeping power of the Holy Spirit. He draws us to Christ. He draws us to the praises, to the worship. And he draws us to the one who becomes our source, our resource, everything, so that we know that God invested in his own son everything we need. And folks, in the days ahead, and with this I close, Christ has to become everything, becomes your life, your help in a time of pain. I told Pastor Carter this morning, ask how my son Greg was. He's still in pain. But I talked to him yesterday and I was flabbergasted. I just had to, I couldn't believe what I was hearing of the grace of Christ and the things he's learning in his pain and in his suffering. He said, Dad, I could have never known this. He said, you know, I can't get this from a seminary or Bible school. He is talking depths that I have not discovered yet. You see, Christ becomes all in all, even in our pain and our suffering and everything we go through. But the most important thing of all right now, Church of Jesus Christ, is to lift up your head. Don't let the enemy lie to you. Don't let him rob you of that. Because right now in this church, everyone here that's under the blood of Jesus Christ, God, the Heavenly Father, our priest is right there, right now, praising and worshiping the Father and bringing us to the Father. And we're praising Him through Christ. And He delights in you. Hallelujah. That should bring a shout in your heart. That should bring praise. Will you stand, please? Lift up your hands and thank Him. Thank Him that He delights in your heart and He delights in His body. He delights in the church, the Church of Jesus Christ. Oh, come on, folks, raise your hands. Raise your hands, Lord. Lord, I thank You that there's now no condemnation because I am in Christ. I refuse the guilt. I refuse the guilt of the enemy. I am in Christ, seated in a heavenly place in Christ Jesus. I am forgiven. I believe in the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. And I'm in my Father's house. Come and go with me to my Father's house where there's joy and peace. I've got a whole series on this. And God's going to open our hearts to the glory of the cross. Hallelujah. If you're here this morning and you really are not walking in union with Christ, maybe you are that prodigal that drifted away. You've wondered how to get back. And now you've discovered this morning that He's already come to you. He's come to you by the Spirit through the Word this morning. And this is His embrace to you. This is the kiss on the neck of the Father. He said, now come just as you are. I forgive you. But come now into my house. Come into the fullness. And that's what this is. He said He's more ready to forgive you than you are to receive. Would you step out of your seat up in the balcony, go to the stairs on either side or here in the mandatorium, come here. If you're in the annex, just go to the lobby. The ushers will show you how to get down here and meet me here right in front of the church. This is just a place where we do what we're talking about right now, where we come to accept the love that He's offered, the forgiveness and the peace and the rest and the endowment of the Holy Spirit. While they're singing, just step out of your seat and come. If you've been living under guilt and fear and condemnation, we open the altar area here where you can come and pray. I'll pray with you. We'll pray together and believe the Lord that you can walk out of this house this morning with peace and joy like you've never known or understood before, saying God is well-pleased. God is well-pleased. I'll say just one or two little things to you before we pray. Look this way, if you will, please. Do you remember what I told you about that particle? Some particle means stray, means drifting, all the things that take us away from the Heavenly Father. He's back and He's loaded down with everything that may be loading down on your mind right now. What did He have to do? What did the boy have to do? No explanation. No promises. You just have to accept the love that was offered Him. Will you accept the love? Quit thinking about what you did. He knows it. And if you come to Jesus and ask forgiveness and repent, I want you to repent right now. Say it right now. Jesus, I repent of all my sins and I look to You by faith to receive Your love. You're not mad at me. You love me. And I accept that love. And I accept forgiveness. Lord, teach me how to walk like Christ. Give me a love for Your Word. Holy Spirit, lead me to the Word of God and teach me how to obey what I read. Make it life to me. Now, let me pray for you. Father, this was not a long and involved deliverance. This was done as He just walked toward the house, as He just embraced Your love. You brought Him into the house. Now, Lord, You bring us into the fullness of Christ now. Bring us all, Lord. Lord, let us lay down the heavy burden. Lord, there's no need to feel guilt. You're not asking us to just pray more or read our Bible more so that God would be pleased. We do that now because we want to learn how to be like Christ. We fast and we pray now because we are so hungry. We are so bowed before You and so grateful and thankful and so blessed by Your love in us and through us that we begin to hunger and thirst after Your Word and thereby become like Christ. Look at one another. Look at the one beside you. Okay, just shake hands with somebody next to you. Say, I'm forgiven and I'm going to my father's house. Amen. Glory be to God. Can we sing that? Come and go with me to my father's house. This is the conclusion of the message.