if you would please, to Luke chapter number 15. Would you find your place there? Luke chapter 15. If you don't have a Bible, the text verses will be on the screen this morning in front of you. Luke chapter number 15. As a matter of fact, we'll spend all of our time right here in these verses this morning. We've been studying for the last while on Sunday mornings the greatest stories ever told. And we're really confining that study to the Gospel of Luke. There's over 20 parables of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. And we've come to Luke 15. And when you come to Luke 15, it contains one of the best known and best loved stories that Jesus ever told. you're going to find that most of the time we understand it as the story of the prodigal son. But you'll find that the ancient Scot preachers back in the old country, they understood something that we're going to understand today. It's not so much about a wayward son as it is a wonderful father. You see, the Father is actually the hero of the story. He is. Can I tell you that when it comes to the Bible, there's a lot of great men and women of the Bible that we study, we learn about, we can learn from their lives and grow from. Do you know they're not the hero of the Bible? Do you know who the hero of the Bible is? God is, the Lord Jesus. He's the hero of the Bible. And so when we look at this passage today, we're going to learn something today about the heart of God. Would you look with me? Luke 15, verse number 11. And 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 falleth to me. And he divided into them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together." That means he got all his stuff together, liquidated his assets, and took his journey into a far country. He's left home. and there wasted his substance with riotous living. What we would understand is, where we get our word prodigal there, it was wicked living, it was wild living, it was riotous living. Verse 14, and when he had spent all, he's now empty-pocketed, there's nothing left, there arose a mighty famine. You know, a lot of times we read that and we think, how unfortunate. But actually, that wasn't accidental or coincidental, it's providential. in our story. You know God allows things to happen in our lives that at times are not so fun or desirable. Many times they're hard, they're difficult, but yet God uses them to get our attention. They're actually works of mercy in our lives. And it's actually a work of mercy in this young man's life. There arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want. You say, wait a minute. He began to be in want. You realize that sometimes you'll never learn that Jesus is all you need until He's all you have. And that's what we're finding out here. He's going to learn that who he needs more than anything else in his life, his younger son, is his father. Do you know who we need? We need God. Notice what he says in verse number 15. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. He's a Gentile. This is a Jewish boy. And he sent him into the fields to feed swine or hogs. You say, Preacher, how do you know that guy was a Gentile? Because Jewish people didn't have hogs. That's why. Look at verse 16. And I sure am glad for the book of Acts where God said it's okay to eat pig meat. What about you? There's nothing like barbecue. We're going to feed you all some barbecue after the service today, alright? Look, if you would, verse 16, and he would fain... That's an old English word that means gladly. I mean, he was so hungry, he would gladly have filled his belly with the husks. It's actually the husks of the fruit of the carob tree. The hogs have already eaten the fruit out of the carob tree. All that's left is the husks of that. And he would have filled his belly with it, the husks that the swine did eat. And no man gave unto him. And when he came to him, said, verse 17, he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose. Now he's talking to him, Seth, verses 17 and 18. They're feeding those pigs. Verse 20, And he arose. Aren't you glad he didn't just remember and he just didn't repent? He did something about it. And he arose and came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, 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, not just any robe, I want you to bring the best robe, and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it. and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found." And I underline these words in my Bible, and they began to be merry. They were happy. They were rejoicing. Now this parable has been called the Prince of Parables. It's been called the pearl and crown of all the parables of Scripture. Charles Dickens, the English writer, said it's the finest short story ever written. James Merritt said it's the classic biblical story of the second chance. It is a story that never grows old and is probably the sweetest storybook ending of any story in the Bible. We've already learned that it's been called and we understand it and hear it as the prodigal son. But it's actually not about the son. It's about the father. Now I believe we can preach about the son. We can learn about this wayward boy. But really what God wants us to understand is He wants us to understand something about Him. Do you realize the father is mentioned 12 times in this story? The son is only mentioned 9 times. When you come to Luke 15, this is not three parables. It's one parable. It has three stories in it. It's the story of a shepherd who loses a sheep and goes and finds the sheep and lays it on his shoulders and he comes home rejoicing. It's about a woman that loses a part of her dowry. She has ten coins. It has to do with her wedding and her marriage and she loses one of those precious coins and she grabs a broom, lights a lamp and she sweeps the house. She's diligently looking for that coin and she sweeps He finds it. Here's a father who loses a son. And he's gone. He's wayward. He's left the father's house. And every day, that father is watching and looking and desiring for that son to come home. And when he does, He rejoices. You see, this story, this parable, these three stories, this one parable of three stories is designed, they're woven together and designed by the Lord Jesus to teach us this truth that God loves sinners like you and me. that He invites every one of us that's here today, every person all over the world, to come to Him and find forgiveness and salvation. If I was to put a title at the top of the story here of this younger son coming back to this wonderful father, here's what I would write. It would be this, Welcome Home. And you know what God wants to say to you this morning? He wants to say, Welcome Home. Let's pray. Lord, we love You today. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the truth of Your Word. Lord, teach us this morning about the heart of God. Lord, Your heart for us. Lord, Your love for us, Your desire for us to come to You. Lord, You never minimize the wrong or the sin of this younger son. But yet, Lord, this father pictures Your heart toward us that You love us in spite of our sin and failure. And Lord, that You're ready to forgive us and bring us to Yourself. And Lord, that You sent Your Son to die for our sins to make all of that possible. And I thank You for that today. I pray that someone would learn of Your love. They would respond to You, Lord, that they would hear the words, Welcome home, in their own heart. It would resonate. And Lord, they'd come to You, and I sure would thank You for it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. There are several lessons we're going to learn this morning as we think about this story. First of all, I want you to get this, that God hurts over our sin and waywardness. Would you get that? God hurts over our sin and waywardness. We saw in verses 11 and 12, here's this father. He has two sons. We're going to look at this son who stayed home next week. But this morning, we're going to look at the son who left home And he's the younger son. And he comes and he makes a demand of his father. He says, give me. He said, I want what's mine. I want the family's wealth that's mine. I want my portion of the inheritance. Now normally, children don't get their inheritance until after their parents are gone. You know what this young boy was saying? He was saying, Dad, I wish you were dead. You're in my way. You're standing in the way of everything that I want to do, and I want what's mine so I can go out and do what I want to do, live the way I want to live, and be what I... I'm tired of your rules, I'm tired of your regulations, I'm tired of living here at the house. I want what's mine. That's exactly what he's saying. Do you know what? There's more than one young person that's uttered those words. We may not have said it exactly that way, but we would say something like this in our hearts. I'm tired of going to church, and I'm tired of being at home, and I'm tired of mom and dad's regulations and rules, and I just can't wait until I turn 18, and I'm going to go out, and I'm going to go on my own, and I'm going to do what I want to do. I learned something when I got older. There's always somebody in life to tell you what to do. Well, I'm going to go join the army. Help yourself. He makes a demand. The root of ingratitude had bloomed into the fruit of rebellion into this young man's heart. So many of people in our world are just like this younger son. They want everything God has to give. They want to breathe His air. They want to eat His food. They want to enjoy His world, but they don't want Him. That's what he was saying. Dad, I want what you've got, but I don't want you. That's what he was saying. This is what the Bible says in verse 12. He said, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. What's mine? It's only one-third. The elder brother gets the lion's share of the inheritance. He only gets one-third of the wealth of the family, all that his fathers worked for and lived for. But listen to what he did. He divided unto them, both the elder and the younger son, his living. That word means life. Everything this father had worked for and sweated for and given his life to, he gives it to those boys. That's what he does. All that he'd had. I can imagine the broken heart. This younger son didn't hang around long. We find in verse 13 that not many days after, just a short period of time, he gathers all. He gets it all together. He liquidates all the land, the animals, all of the wealth that his father gave him. He liquidates it, turns it into money, gets his stuff together, and he's gone. He's out the door. Can you imagine the pain that father must have felt? You know what? There's parents sitting here right now. You know exactly how this father feels. You know His pain. I can only imagine the pain that he felt at the rebellion of the younger son's heart. The sting of his words that stabbed him. The tears that stained that father's cheeks as he brokenheartedly watched his son leave home and set out on his own. And the Bible says, verse 13, he went to a far country. He took his journey into a far country. It doesn't tell us how far he went. It doesn't tell us where he went. It doesn't really give us a name. Father. It was out of the reach of the Father. Spiritually speaking, the far country is any place that is far from God. Do you realize you can be sitting in this auditorium this morning, you can be here every service, but yet your heart be in the far country away from God. Where's your heart this morning? Are you out in the far country away from God? Are you distant from Him? I want us to never lose sight of this fact right here. Here's what I learned from this Father in the opening part of this story. That I want to never lose sight that my sin hurts the heart of a holy God. We hear this all the time. Well, my sin doesn't hurt anybody. I just do this in my home or I do this here. My sin only hurts me. I want you to understand something with me this morning. God loves you so much that He wants more for you than you want for yourself. And your sin hurts the heart of God that loves you. My sin hurts His heart. Our rebellion breaks the heart of God. He loves us. See, if you're not careful, you're going to have a wrong view of God. You get the idea that God's in heaven just waiting to zap people. Now listen, if I was God, I would zap me. You know? And if I was God, there's probably a few people I know I'd zap. What about you? God doesn't. Now, will God hold us accountable? Yes. Is there a coming day of judgment when every person will stand before God? Absolutely. But right now, do you know that God in the picture of this story is unveiling His heart and He's saying, what I really want you to do is I want you to come to Me because I love you and your sin hurts My heart. Because I want more for you than you want for yourself. Matter of fact, I thought about this younger son. He packs up his stuff. He walks out to the door. He goes to the far country. The Bible said he wasted his substance. Everything that he had, he blew it, he squandered it, scattered it. I mean, it was just like throwing it to the wind. And it was all thrown away. Do you realize there's many a person in our world just throwing their life away? Living for now rather than for eternity. Absolutely no thought of God in their lives. I thought about how our younger generation today is chasing a high and it's killing them. We're seeing more drug overdoses and deaths by fentanyl that's coming across our border than anything we could ever imagine in people's lives. I think about right here in our little small town, right in Taco Bell and in parking lots around here, there are young people whose lives have just been thrown away as they died in a bathroom or a car or in a parking lot because they thought that now, what I was going to get now, this excitement now, And they threw it all away. People live their entire lives chasing stuff. And they'll get to the end of life after they've chased its stuff. Whether it's pleasure or possessions or whatever it might be. And they're going to come down to the very end of life and they're going to look back over it. And it's empty. And what was it all for? That's exactly where this young... He spent all... The money ran out. His friends ran out. Nobody gave to him. I want us to learn a lesson this morning. And it's something not just for young people, it's for everybody. The devil takes everything. He'll take your purity, your hopes, your dream, your future, your marriage, your family, your health. He'll leave you broken and empty and hopeless. You say, preacher, what is wrong with America? We want to breathe God's air. We want to eat God's food. We want to hike in His mountains. We want to paddle on His lakes. We want to enjoy His world. But we don't want Him. That's what's the matter. And then there arose a famine. He's empty, he's broken, he's hopeless, and the famine comes. What seemed coincidental was actually providential. God allows things into our lives to get our attention, and no doubt this young man, he finds himself in one, and he's so hungry, he has no outlet, there's nobody to give to him. He goes and he finds somebody, some person that would have some kind of heart for him, and he joins himself to that person, and he said, listen, I don't have a job, I don't know what I'm going to do. And he said, well listen, I've got some pigs down there. You can go down there and feed them. Can I tell you that the devil will take everything and the world will give you nothing? And there he is, so hungry he could eat the pig's food. You know what? The devil never shows anybody hog pens that our lives can get into. He never does. He never shows a young person who wants to live the party life. He never turns the billboard. He says, it doesn't get any better than this. That's what the devil says. But then there's a billboard that could be turned around. He never turns it around and shows the family walking to a cemetery to bury that child. Never shows that. He never shows the brokenness. He never shows the emptiness. See, Satan is a life taker. Jesus is a life giver. And God hurts over our sin and waywardness. Just like this father never forced his way into his son's life. I've heard preachers say, well, that father never went to get his son. Remember, Jesus isn't just telling a story to be telling a story. He's telling a story to teach us something about God. God will never force His way into a person's life. That's why the father didn't go get the son in the story. He wasn't forcing himself into the son's life. Because God will never take his shoulder and barge his way into your heart. For 17 years of my life, I did what I wanted to do, live the way I wanted to live. And thank God, there was a situation that erupted in my life, a famine came in my life that got my attention. And I came to myself like this young man. And I went to my Father. I went to God. I found salvation in Jesus Christ. It changed my life. God never forced His way into my life. Oh, He just lovingly invited me. And there was a day, thankfully, I let Him in. And I hope you'll let Him in your life today, in your heart. Number one, God hurts over our sin and waywardness. Number two, I want you to get this. Here's a lesson in the story. God never turns us away when we come back to Him. Verse 17 is the hinge on which the whole story turns. Now I'm going to pick up speed just a little bit, alright? Look at verse 17. And when he came to him, Seth, this young man, he's down in the hog pens, he's feeding the hogs, and suddenly he sees a Jewish boy, this is as low as he can go. Matter of fact, he's so far down, he needed a ladder to reach the bottom. He'd have to climb up. And he comes to him, Seth, he comes to his senses. Do you realize that living for sin is a form of insanity? Because it destroys you. It is. See, we think that somehow or another that living for Jesus is abnormal. No, that's what God created us for. Going the other direction is abnormal. And we find that here he is in his failure, and he hadn't been thinking straight, and suddenly he remembers. Look what he said. How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I'm down here wanting to eat the hog food. What in the world? He begins to come to himself. And he repents. He changes his mind. I know what I'm going to do. I will arise and go to my Father. I've been running from Him. Now I'm going to run to Him. And will say to Him, Father, I have sinned. Here's confession against Heaven and before Thee. And am no more worthy to be called Thy son. Make me as one of Thy... I just want to be a servant. I've already forfeited the right to be a son. Just make me a servant. That's what he said. I believe this prodigal understood something every one of us needs to understand. There's a way back to the Father's house. Look at verse 20, "...and He arose." One of the most dangerous things that can happen in a service like this is for our hearts to be stirred, for us to sense our need of God, but remain where we are. That young man could have died in the hog pen, but he didn't. He arose. And I'm not saying everybody in this room, but if we're away from God in the far country, can I tell you, there's no length to which Satan can take us. We don't know where we could wind up. And he comes to his senses. And he arose and he came to his father. See, that's the story. Here he's using an extreme of what this young man went to. But wait a minute. Satan operates in extremes. None of us are as bad as we could be. But we could find out if we let Satan have his way in our lives and we keep going away from the Father. Does that make sense? And we don't have to stay in the far country. We don't have to stay away from God. We can come home. And the younger son arose and came to his father. Now, you know what? He had no idea what he would find when he come back. How his father would respond to him. Everybody in the crowd that heard Jesus' story, they're on the edge of their seat right now. See, we know how it ends, but they didn't. He's telling it for the very first time. And they're on the edge of their seat. They're thinking, He's coming back home. I wonder how the Father's going to receive Him. They know what Jesus has been talking about. That He's been talking to them about God and how He receives people. And all of that is going through their mind. And they didn't know the end of the story. And in their minds, they're wondering what kind of reception is this Son going to receive? And that's the idea that the Lord is wanting us to have in our minds. What is it going to be like when we come home? Will His Father shun Him? Will He slam the door in His face? Will He turn Him away? Will He reject Him? Will He say, Son, you've given... Hey, listen, the way you treated Me, I have no forgiveness for you. What kind of reception would He get? And see, can I tell you that's exactly how we feel sometimes when we're away from God? Or maybe, friend, if you're not saved today, you're wondering, if I come to God, He doesn't want anything to do with me. And He's going to turn me away. He might receive everybody else, but He's not going to receive me. And those things go through our minds. And many times, Satan uses those lies to keep us from coming to God. And so he comes back home and let's see what he finds. He finds a longing father. I love this part. But when he was yet a great way off, watch this, and he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. How did he see him? He was looking for him. That prodigal son may have forgotten about his daddy, but his daddy had never forgotten about him. And I believe every day that broken-hearted father would walk out on that porch, maybe walk out to the end of the road and out on a hill and look into the distance, longing and desiring and waiting for that son to come home. Days may have went by, months may have been by, years may have went by. We have no idea in the story, but he may have wondered, I wonder if he's dead or sick or what shape he's in. Maybe he can't come home. But one day the Father walks out and He looks and there's a dot on the horizon and His heart began to leap with joy. He knew His Son had come home. Can I tell you that's the heart of our God. He's like that Father. He's looking. He's watching. He's waiting. He's longing for men, women, boys and girls to come to Him. He longs for people to come to Him and be saved. And He longs for His way with children. who know Him as Savior, but you're out in the far country, you're away from the Father's house, He wants you to come home. Notice what He does. We're going to move along. And His Father saw Him and had compassion. Oh, I love that. Preacher, what's compassion? That's love with legs on it. How do you know that? Because watch what He does next, and ran. That boy is walking to Him. He starts running to that boy. Now can I help you understand something? There's nothing you can do to stop God from loving you. I remember one time years ago, My predecessor, Dr. Baker, who pastored this church and wonderful pastor, I remember him preaching and told me a story one day of a man that was sitting in a service and he preached on having your name in the Lamb's Book of Life and that man was so angry at God he came to the pastor after it was over with and he said, Pastor, how do I get my name out of that book? I'm just wondering if it's really there. Can you imagine that? Oh friend, can I tell you, God loves you more than you can imagine. You might be mad at God, but I'm going to tell you this, God loves you. The life of the son hadn't destroyed the love of the father. You know, aged men in the Middle Eastern culture didn't run. That was undignified. This father didn't care. He ran to meet that wayward son. You know what? We may run from God, but you never find God running from us. God never runs from you. He always runs to you. Notice what else he did. He fell on his neck and kissed him. That doesn't mean he just walked up and pecked him on the cheek. It literally means that he saw him, he grabbed him, and he smothered him with kisses. They were the kisses of forgiveness. You say, Preacher, how do you know that? Because in Jewish culture in that day, a son that had done what this son had done could be stoned. And Him coming back home, the villagers, they didn't have the heart of the Father. See, they all knew. Everybody listened to this story. They understood the context that He would come back. They would see the villagers, the people living in that town. They would spit at Him. They would hurl accusation and insults at Him. And then the elders would come and they could take Him and they could actually stone Him. But here's what that Father did. The Bible said that He ran. He got to the Son before anybody else could. And He didn't just walk up and peck Him on the cheek. He embraced Him. and began to smother him with kisses, and he was sending a message to everybody, this is my boy, and I've forgiven him. Let me tell you something, the devil would love to condemn my soul to hell, but there was a day in 1984 that God ran and wrapped His arms around me, and He said, He's mine. It don't get any better than that. He didn't care what anybody thought. His Son had come home. You know, I thought about it. That boy, if he had waited to get cleaned up, or to get financial owners to feed, or wait until he could pay his dad back, he would have died in the pig pen. He came just as he was. I'm glad that God doesn't expect us to clean up to come to Him, because I couldn't have done it. I'd already tried. I'd turned over so many new leaves and tried to quit doing this and quit doing that so many times and failed so many times. It was hopeless on my part, but I'm sure glad the day God saved me, He sure changed me. I'm glad we can come just like we are. What about you? The younger son started trying to rehearse the speech to his father. Verse 21, the father cuts him off. He never got to the part about making me a servant, because you know what? The father was going to make him a son. Look at verse 22. But the father said to his servants, he's coming, he's rehearsed it. Father, I've sinned. I'm no more worthy. The father cuts him off. He said to his servants, bring the best robe. I don't want just any robe. I want the best. The father takes the rags off of him and puts a robe, the best robe, the robe of acceptance, the robe of righteousness. Listen to Isaiah 61 verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He covered me with the robe of righteousness, friend. I was unrighteous. He made me righteous. I was a sinner and He brought me forgiveness. and put a ring on his finger. That's the family ring. He was reuniting father and son. And then stuck some shoes on his feet. You know what? Servants didn't wear shoes. Only sons did that. Only people in the house did that. They didn't have those. You know what? That father didn't shun him. He didn't scold him. He didn't threaten him. He didn't refuse him. No, he didn't turn him away. And Frank, can I tell you today, if you come to Jesus, He'll not turn you away. Oh, the Father giveth me, shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise I never, no never cast out. Friend, you say, preacher, how do you know God saved you? Because He told me if I come to Him, He wouldn't cast me out. That's how I know. God always keeps His Word. He's a welcoming Father. Friend, that doesn't mean that God's happy with our sin. No, He hurts over our sin. That doesn't mean that sin won't have to be paid for. It will. But Jesus paid for it here and now so that we can be saved and forgiven so we don't have to pay for it forever in a place called hell. Let me give you the third thing and I'm done. Are you ready? We've learned God hurts over our sin and waywardness. We learned that God never turns us away when we come back to Him. Here's the last truth in the story. God rejoices over every sinner that receives Him. Look at verse 23. And bring hither the fatted calf. I wonder how that calf got fat. Well, he said he was feeding it. I wonder why he was feeding it. Because he just knew there'd be a day that son would come home. Here's what I learned from that. God's not going to give up on you. God's not going to give up on you. You may have rejected Him for years, but He's not going to give up on you. That father never gave up on that son, did he? He never said, guys, it don't look like He's coming home. Go ahead and pull the calf out and turn it out in the pasture. No, He just left it in there and kept fattening it up. Can I say something, Mom and Dad? You've got a wayward son or daughter. Don't ever give up on them. You just keep praying, keep trusting, keep believing. He had stalled and fed that calf just for this occasion. You know when they pulled that calf out, you know what He was saying? Welcome home, son. It pictured the joy of a forgiving God and a forgiving man. See, if you go all the way back to the beginning of this story and why Jesus told the story, there's a whole group of people listening to the story. The Bible says that the publicans and sinners up in verse 1 drew near. That means when Jesus began to tell this story in Bethany that there was a whole crowd that had gathered and in that crowd were some publicans, some tax collectors, the most hated people in Israel, and then there were sinners in that crowd. And you know who they were? They were just common, ordinary people like you and me. See, if you weren't a Pharisee, you were a sinner. And Pharisees didn't think God loved sinners. And they're listening to Jesus. And you know what they're learning? God loves sinners like us. God wants me to come to Him. Now He's got a message for those Pharisees and the elder brother. It's coming in the next lesson. Because if we're not careful, all of us can get a little Phariseeism in us, can't we? Isn't that right? Sure. And He's going to talk to them in a minute. But everyone in that crowd that day learned something. God loves them. And God wants to welcome them. And God wants to save them. And friend, can I tell you, if you'll come to Him this morning, He'll kiss you with a kiss of forgiveness. He'll give you a robe of acceptance. He'll give you a, spiritually speaking, ring of position. We are in Christ. We're the sons and daughters of God at the shoes of freedom. You say, preacher, all I hear is how living for God is one of the most restrictive things in all the world. Can I tell you, it's the freest thing in all the world because I'm being what God created me to be. I found purpose and meaning. When is a train freer? When it's off the tracks or on the tracks? Well, that train wants to do what? It don't want to run those tracks. It's going to get off those tracks. You know what it does? It just piles up into a mess. That's what my life was. Boy, you get on the tracks and that train, it can just go and go and go and go. There's freedom there. I'm going to tell you something. There's a freedom in Jesus Christ you'll never find anywhere else. And there's going to be a supper that will never end. I like that, don't you? Somebody says, well, I don't want to go to heaven. It's just being a long church service. Well, I can tell you, heaven's more than that, but if that's all there was, it's better than the alternative. I promise you that. Just going to throw that out there for us to think about. Better than the alternative. But that's not what just heaven's all about. It's a place of joy and service and meaning and purpose. There's a whole brand new earth waiting for God's people one day. It's an exciting thing. You come on Sunday night, you'll hear all about that. I'm getting ready to start a prophecy series next Sunday night. Years ago, I read a moving story about a preacher. He was traveling on a train. And that same coach was a dejected young man. It looked like he was just broken. The preacher, out of a heart of concern, went over to talk to him. He said, son, it looks like you're just desperate and in distress. Can I help you? He began to share his story. He said, yeah, my dad and I, we didn't get along. He said there came a day I just wasn't going to live under his rules and I left home. We fought and we argued. I left home that day. I've kept in touch with my mom. I've wanted very badly to come home for Christmas and see him, but I don't know that my dad would allow me. And I've been talking, and then I got a letter from my mom that urged me to come home because my dad's sick and don't know if he's going to make it. I'd like to see him one more time. I'd like to ask him to forgive me." So he's on the train, he's headed home, and that preacher's trying to console that young man. He said, I want my dad to forgive me before he goes. His mother had written him and said, well, I'll talk to your father and if he's forgiven you, what I'm going to do is I'm going to tie a white rag, a white handkerchief on the tree that grows next to the train tracks near our home. And you'll know if you see that white handkerchief that Dad's forgiven you. But if he doesn't, there won't be one. As the train drew near his home, he was so nervous, he said, Preacher, I can't look. He said, I can't bear to see. Will you sit in my chair and look out this window and tell me what you see and let me know if there's... He began to describe what the house would look like, the tree, and let me know if there's a white handkerchief in that tree. The preacher said, Son, I'll be glad to do that. traded places with him, began to look out the window of the sun. A young man began to put his hands in his face and not look. And he said, Preacher, do you see the house? He said, Oh yeah, I see. He said, Do you see the tree? He said, Yeah. He said, I see it. Preacher, he said, Is there a rag on it? Is there a handkerchief on that tree? And for a moment the preacher didn't say anything and then he turned in a gentle voice and he said, son, there's a white handkerchief tied to every limb. He said, there's pillowcases and sheets and everything and there's a couple people standing in the yard waving. It looks like they're saying, welcome home. There's a God in heaven right now that He's longing for you to come home. He's longing to save you and to forgive you of your sins and to make you His child this morning. He doesn't want you to live another second without Him. He gave His Son on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago to die for your sins and my sins so that we wouldn't have to pay for them in a place called hell, so that we wouldn't have to experience God's justice. We could have His mercy. And because Jesus died for us, He can say to every person, every man, woman, boy, and this girl, welcome home. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. You don't have to clean up. You don't have to straighten up. You can come just like you are to Jesus Christ. You can. And He'll receive you, and He'll forgive you, and He'll save you because of what Jesus has done for you if you'll but receive His Son as your Savior. Would you do that today? There's a Father waiting to say to you, welcome home. Could we bow our heads for just a moment? Nobody's going to make anybody here get up in front of anybody. Nobody is going to... to share a speech. We have some workers that are getting up, so they're doing some things, but I want to ask everybody if you would just give me a moment. This is the most important part of the service. God is talking to us. God's been talking to you this morning. He's been talking to you. And in this moment right here, God is knocking at your heart's door. He wants to save you. He wants to forgive your sins. He wants to make you His child. Do you realize you can be saved right where you sit? You don't have to give a speech. You don't have to do that. Nobody's going to put you in front of anybody. We're not going to do that. We're not going to embarrass you. You won't have a bad experience in this church. I promise you that. But we will give you opportunity to be saved. If you're willing to recognize your sin before God, that you've hurt the heart of a holy God, you've broken God's heart, you've sinned against Him, and without Him that you would perish in a place called hell. But you're ready to receive Him as your Savior. You're saying today, I want to be saved. I want to know Him. You can right where you sit if you're willing to put your trust in Jesus alone. Not baptism, not church membership, not trying to do better. You're willing to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. You could do that by praying this simple prayer. It's a prayer of faith. It's not repeating a prayer. It's a prayer to voice your faith to God. that you're calling on Him to save you and believing on His Son. You could pray a simple prayer of faith just like this, Dear Lord Jesus, are you ready? You could pray this simple prayer. If you want to be saved right now, Dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. If I die, I won't go to heaven. But I believe You died for my sins and rose again. And I right now, by faith, I ask you to forgive my sins. Save me. Take me to heaven. Thank you. If you prayed that prayer this morning, I sure would like to know it and want to pray for you. If you're saying, Preacher, right then I just bowed my head and I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believed on Him in my heart. Preacher, I've trusted Him. I'm saved. Would you slip up your hand? I won't embarrass you. I won't come to you. You just say, Preacher, I pray. Thank you. I just called on the Lord. Is there someone else? Thank you so much. In a moment, we'll have somebody to help you. In a moment, we'll have somebody to help you. Anyone else? Yes, thank you. I see that hand. Anyone else? Preacher, I just prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my Savior. I've just trusted Him. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else? Thank you.