Luke 15, look in verse 11, and the Bible says, 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 follow to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into 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 war. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he had came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and despair, 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 and came to his father, but 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 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 him the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be married. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be married. You can be seated this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this wonderful day. I thank you, Lord, for the choir singing and we are truly blessed today. And especially with how great thou art. Lord, there's none greater and I pray in my own life that I would really realize that today to try to grasp your greatness of what you can and are able to do. And Lord, you said you can do above what we can ask or even think. And Lord, we do thank you this morning for helping Sister Sherry, for touching her. Lord, that was beyond doctors. And Lord, I just thank you so much. But Lord, as it's time now for preaching, Lord, I certainly desire your help. I certainly desire your guidance this morning and a touch from heaven that Lord while we stand to preach, I've got the scripture before me, I've got some thoughts before me, but Lord I need you to touch them today. I pray whatever the need is sitting in this house, Lord, you would deal with folks' hearts, help them and encourage them. Maybe somebody needs to get saved. Save them. Maybe somebody needs to get right. Draw close to you. There may be somebody cold and indifferent. I pray they'd get right with you. Lord, I beg of you today to help us. Thank you for what you've done. Give us good liberty while we preach. Save that sinner's nearest tail for all this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. I'll say this one time, I'm probably not going to say anything that you don't know today. But I want to preach on the thought of the prodigal son. That word prodigal simply means given to extravagant expenditures. It means profuse or wastefulness. A lot of times when we talk about, we say, well there comes the prodigal son. A lot of times we're making reference to somebody that's been away from God, or been away from church, or been away from home, and I think that's alright to use it in that form or fashion, but literally, that word prodigal means to waste. And he's not called the prodigal son in the Bible. You don't find that word in the Bible. But that's what he is and that's what he done. He takes what he's been given and he goes out and he wastes it. And that's what I want to preach on this morning if I might for just a little while. I want you to look real quick by way of introduction. that this father, he had two sons. Now I want you to understand something about this passage of scripture from verse 11 all the way to verse 32. It deals with three people basically in this passage. It deals with the younger son, it deals with the elder son, and it deals with the Father. That passage is literally about the love of the Father. That passage, that story, even though we focus a lot of times on the prodigal son, that's what I'm gonna do this morning, it is literally about the compassion and the love of the Father. He's got one son that is away from home, that is wasting everything that he gave him, and yet he's got an elder son that's home that don't even know how to love his own brother when he comes back home. And so he has to deal with him. That's the one I'm going to preach on this morning. But if you notice right here, it said that the younger son said unto his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them. And so you see right here that both those boys, the younger son and the elder son got what was coming to them. He divided out His inheritance. He said, Daddy, I don't want to wait for you to die. I don't want to wait until it's time for me to get it. I want it now. I want what's coming to me right now. Boy, I'll tell you what. what was coming to him. Notice right here, he said he divided unto them his living. And so he gives them what he wants. I'm gonna be honest with you sometimes, church. You better be careful what you ask for. You just might get it, amen. I know God watches over us and takes care of us, but I'm gonna be honest with you, you better be careful because sometimes we get into some places that we don't need to be in, we get some things that we don't need, we get some things that's gonna draw us away, and that from God. And let me talk to the young people this morning, I love you, I want you to understand your preacher loves you more than you'll ever know, but you really don't know how the world works. You think you know how the world works, but you don't know. Trust me, I know what it's like to be your age. I understand that when I want to strike out on my own, I go and do my own thing. But I'm just going to tell you, the world ain't nothing like you think it's going to be. I'll just go ahead and tell you that today. It's nothing like you think it's gonna be. You think mom and daddy got to where they are by just, it just fell in their lap. Maybe it did fall in their lap, I don't know. But I can tell you where me and Miss Kelly have got to where we are. It's because we dug, we scraped, I hustled, I prayed, I sought God. I've done everything that I know to do to get where I am today, amen. Listen, there's been times we've had to pray about how to pay bills. Amen, now I'm telling you, you just had to pray. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Me and Paul Henry had a conversation one day, not too long ago, I don't know if you remember this, months or a few ago, and Brother Paul, he told me, he said, the problem we've got today, and you correct me if I'm wrong, Brother Paul, but he said, we've not had to pray the beans and the corn in a long time. And boy, I tell you, that's a problem. We have had it easy. We've had it too easy. And we've not had to get on our knees and beg God. I mean, just ask Him to help in a great way. And I think it's good for your children to see you have to do that every now and again. They need to see you beg God and ask God. Say, Lord, we don't know what we're gonna do right here, but I sure wish you'd help, amen. I remember meeting, brother, I'll get started here in a minute, I'm just gonna preach a while. I remember meeting our church when Brother Ricker was up in West Virginia pastoring up there. And I remember when he was up there. Well, the ghost is coming in the back door back there. That wind's getting it, amen. When's he getting it? There ain't nobody out there. Son, shut the door. Amen. He's looking around out there. There you go. There you go. Slash her up. It'll be good. But I remember when Brother Ricker was up in West Virginia. And the Lord had just dealt with my heart and the folks here at the church about helping him and giving him some money. And because, man, you talk about hard. He was in coal country, and there is no more coal up there. They won't let them dig. They won't let them do anything. So I mean folk are just poor, and he's trying to pastor this church. A little bit of folk coming, and just poor folk. Ain't nothing wrong with being poor, friend, as long as you're working and trying. Amen. Now, there ain't nothing wrong with that. As long as you're working and trying, it just is what it is, okay? But I want you to listen to me. And so we decided to send him some money. And so, lo and behold, I pull in the gas station out here. Now, he's in West Virginia. I pull in the gas station out here at Athens, a gas station I rarely go to, and I pulled up in a part that I never go to, and I look across the gas pump from me, and there stood Brother Ricker. I said, well, brother, what are you doing down here? He said, well, we come down for a meeting. Our church is having a jubilee meeting and I come down for jubilee meeting. I said, hey, stand still right here. I said, I'm going to work. Let me put my gas in. I've got something for you. So I drove over to the parking place and got Miss Evelyn always keeps me a check in my back pocket. I've always got a church check. And so I just, we'd already decided to give him some money, we just hadn't got it done yet. And so I just felt led to write him a check, what we'd decided, and I took it over to him and I handed it to him. Boy, he thanked me for it. You know, he called me a few weeks later and he said, preacher, you don't know. He said, you don't understand. He said, we had no money. He said, we come down here just hoping God would do something. And he said, we had no money. He said, it hadn't got bad enough yet for us to tell our children, but we were on the way of telling them, hey, we need to do something right here. Hey, I'm gonna tell you, it is amazing what God can do. Well, let me preach this for a minute if I could. I want you to look at, first of all, number one, now keep this in mind why I preach, okay? He always had a home and he always had a father. Now once you get saved, you're always saved. I know you can preach this boy saved or lost, and I believe you can. I believe you can preach him any way you want to, and you can make it work. Amen. I'm going to preach him. It's backslidden. Amen. Saved, but backslidden. And I want you to understand something. He had a father, and he had a home, but for whatever reason, he didn't want to be there. Number one, I want us to see in verses 12 and 13, the rebellion of the son. Notice that he said right here, Father, give me the portion of goods that follow to me, and he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And so here I want you to see, imagine in your mind if you could, this young man, he's told his dad he's got a brother, no doubt he's got a mama somewhere, and he tells his dad, Dad I want everything coming to me. Now no doubt his dad probably knew what was going to happen. I don't think it took him by surprise. Sometimes it does with children, but most of the time, you all are smart enough and got enough Holy Spirit in you to understand what's fixing to happen. And he says, look, Dad, I want everything that's coming to me. And so he lets him have his inheritance. And you know what he does? He takes it all, he piles it up, packs his suitcase, and he goes on a long journey. Notice here that he gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. He was moving out. Things looked better on the outside. Well, things is better away from home. I don't think, I'll be honest with you, I don't think this was a bad house. I don't think this was a house where them kids was took advantage of. I don't think this is where they were abused. I don't think it was a place where mom and dad was all that hard on them. I think they loved them. But he gathered up everything that he wanted. He packed up his suitcase, throwed it in the trunk of the car, throwed his hand out the window and said, I'll see you. Now, I'm going to be honest with you this morning. Notice right here that when he packed it up and gathered and took his journey into a far country, I think he'd been planning that for a while. I don't think he planned that just overnight. I don't think he went to dear old dad and said, dad, I want everything that's coming to me. If you'll just give it to me. Listen, he may not have told him up front, but dear old dad knew what was happening and he let him go on his way. I'm gonna tell you something, when you quit serving God, I'll guarantee you it ain't because it just happened just like that. You didn't plan to serve God today and not serve God tomorrow. I guarantee you, it's been on your mind for a little while. There's been some things going on up here and in here that's been drawing you away. Something's drawn him away from home. It might have been the excitement of getting to do his own thing. It might have been the excitement of nobody telling him what to do. It might have been the excitement of just getting all that money and I get to go spend it. I get to be an adult. I get to be as big as I want to be. Hey, I'm gonna tell you that's where you get in trouble at, friend. And here he is. I'm gonna tell you when it comes to us, and I know I focus a lot on young people right here, but I know that older people can get away from God just as sure as younger people can. Amen. They ain't nothing, ain't nobody twisting your arm or pulling a gun at you and made you come to church and serve God this morning. And nobody made you do that. Why are you here? Why'd you come? Now some of you young people may be here because mom and daddy made you come. Thank God for mom and daddy. Amen. There was a long time in my life I went to church because mom and daddy made us to go. After I got saved, that changed some things. That made me want to go to church. But here he is. He packs up everything. No doubt he's been thinking about this. It's been in his mind. And he says, boy, if I could just go do what I want to do. A lot of Christians think that way sometimes. Well, if I could just watch what I want to, listen to what I want to, dress like I want to. My, oh, it'd be so much better. And he gathered up all that he had, but notice where he went. The Bible says that he went down into the far country, a place where he didn't have to listen to mom and dad, a place to where he didn't have to listen to the preacher or the Sunday school teacher, a place where he didn't even have to think about God. He could just get away and that from it all. So preacher, I don't want to do that. Good, amen. But I've seen the days where I've been discouraged. Not that I wanted to get away from God, but I'll just be honest with you, I was so discouraged in the whole mess that I didn't know what, well, I knew what to do, but boy, I'm telling you, my flesh sure wanted to do something different. Why is it, friend, that our flesh gets drawn away on some things? And he's looking at a better time, so he thought. And that far country, reckon he'd ever been in the far country? Or had he just heard stories about the far country? Had he ever seen what happened down in the far country? Or had he just heard folks talk about what was going on down there? But nonetheless, he ended up down there because he wanted to get away from where he was. You know, I've watched young people get away from church, get away from mom and dad. I mean, I've watched it in this very church. I've watched young men and young ladies get away from God. And I can take you to them right now and show you their life ain't no better. As a matter of fact, it's worse. I mean, I sit and watch it. I sit and watch it and my heart breaks. My heart breaks because one, I know they knew better. But they done what they wanted to do and look what they got into. Does that make me better? No, that don't make me better. It's just that the Lord helped me, amen, and he's helped you to stay where you need to be. I'm not telling you I'm any better than they are. I'm not telling you I'm luckier than they are. I'm just telling you I've just tried to follow the Lord. Get you in trouble getting away. So the Bible said that he went down into the far country. Well, I bet the far country was something to look at. I bet the far country was something to see. But he's away. When I read that, talking about the far country, he's got far away from home. He's got far away from the family. He's got far away from the father. He's got far away from his friends. Anybody that could help him or take care of him or wants to see to him, he's far away. There's one thing you need to understand as I preach this right here. The father never left home. The father is still at home. The father did not chase him down into the far country and begged him to come home. Or you said, shouldn't I do that? If you wanna go beg them to get right, I think it's a good thing to talk to folk about getting right, but I'll tell you this, and I'm getting ahead of myself, but he didn't go down to the far country and say, son, it'll be all right. Let me give you a little money. Let me take care of you just a little bit. No, when that boy left home, he left home. Now I want you to understand something. You decide you won't leave God, you're leaving. But man, you're leaving the blessings of home. You're leaving the care of home. You're leaving the security and that of home. I remember the promise that my daddy made me when I was in high school. I don't know why he made me this promise, but this is the promise that he made me one day. He said, son, he said, if you'll finish high, I don't know why he thought I wasn't gonna finish, but I think he was a little worried. I don't know why I was doing all right, or I thought I was anyway, maybe I wasn't. Maybe I need to ask him that question. But he said, son, if you'll finish high school, he said, I'll keep you a car and keep you gas in it and insurance on it. That's a deal. And when I come out of high school, he said, I'll tell you what son, he said, if you're either going to college or technical school or trade school, I went on to trade school, and he said, I'll keep your vehicle, keep gas in it and insurance on it. That's a deal. And the day that me and Kelly decided we were gonna get married, and I was gonna quit school and go to work, we went up to mom and daddy's and told them, gonna get married, gonna quit school, gonna go work. I was already working part-time at that point. And they said, I remember talking to them out there, they were sitting out on the swing under the tree out there, and we was telling them we was gonna get married. Never said a word, they said, that's fine, that's great. But do you realize that was the last time? That was the last time he put gas in my car. That was the last time he paid for the insurance bill on that thing. I'll tell you what, he kept his word now, friend. He kept his word. Now I'm gonna tell you, he's gonna keep his word. You know why the Bible said that the ways of a transgressor is hard? Because God keeps his word. Listen, it's hard to get away from home. It's hard when you get away from God. Things don't always go like you think it's going to. He's having a big time. How do you know He's having a big time? Because the Bible said right here that He wasted His substance with riotous living. You know what that word riotous means? It means luxurious or wanton. in festive indulgences. In other words, whatever he wanted to do, he did. If he wanted to buy it, he bought it. If he wanted to spend $100 on a steak, he spent it. I mean, if he wanted to buy that good-looking set of clothes, he bought it. If he wanted to buy a diamond ring for a girl, he bought it. Whatever he wanted to do, he done it, until guess what happened? He ran out of money. The good times wasn't so good no more. You know, the Bible talks about, is it in the book of Hebrews over there, that there is what, choosing rather to suffer the affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Sin has got a great time for a little while. I mean a great time. It's enjoyable, it's fun, your flesh enjoys it and it's pleasure to it, but you know, there comes a time when it just wears out. You know, God's never wore out on me. His Holy Spirit has never quit being kind to me and giving me peace and giving me joy and giving me comfort. He's never. But I'll tell you, that world out there, it'll run out on you. So what happens? What happens? He runs out of money. He spent everything. And when he had spent all, It's all gone. It's all used up. The blessings of the Lord, the blessings of the Father is gone. There's some folk out there right now that are not right with God, and they're living on prior blessings that God gave them. But do you realize there's coming a day that that's gonna run out? And so what happens? What happens right here? When he had spent all, After he took his journey, he's had a big time, he has spent all, and there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be in war. See, he couldn't see that. He couldn't picture that. He couldn't see. Well, if I spend everything, not only had he spent everything, maybe he thought to himself, well, if I spend everything, I can go get a job. I can work it out. I can make it as good as I can. But notice right here that there arose a mighty famine. Boy, there's nothing to eat. There's nothing to drink. Crops won't grow in the field. There just ain't a whole lot to do. The economy had got bad. You ever seen the economy get bad in somebody's life? Boy, it just, I don't believe in good luck and bad luck. Although I do know the race don't always go to the swift. I know what he says over there, that sometimes, I won't say that it's luck, but just because you're a good runner don't mean you're gonna win all the time. Somebody else might win. You might trip and fall, amen. But notice, notice he had spent all, and then there arose a famine. You know, there comes a time when it's gonna get dry in your life. It's gonna get dry. You get away from God, it's gonna get dry. You get away from home, it's gonna get dry, and it's gonna get empty, and it just seems like there ain't no help. Some of y'all know what I'm talking about. How do I know you, I know, how do I know you know? Because I know you've been there. You've told me so. You've told me that you've been there. But he's wasted all. He's lived it up, had a good time, and now the famine has came. He's rebelled, but number two, now the result has came. There's always a result. Notice how he is. He's bankrupt. He's bankrupt physically. He has no money. He has no job. He has nothing. He's spent all and there is a famine in the land. And the Bible said he went and joined himself to a citizen and he began to be in want. And he joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and there's something there about that young Jewish boy, about that young man. Go get again, son. Lock it this time. Unless there's somebody outside. The white wind's just got it. But notice what he said, and he went and joined himself to assist in that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and he would have fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. Now pay attention right here, and no man gave unto him. Nobody. Now get this in your mind. Picture it in your mind. He's had a good time with all the money. He's had a good time with all what the world has had to offer. And he has, I mean, money's been coming and going and going, more going than coming, and he's spent all. And then here he sits, and he's got nothing. Now we understand here in a minute, we understand here in a minute that he has probably sold his ring, or he's gambled it away, He comes back without the robe on him or it's so wore out and so dirty he gets in there and his shoes are gone. Reckon he sold his shoes? Reckon he sold his ring? Reckon he sold his robe? Think about it for just a second. What do folks sell out to so that they can have a good time and still try to make it? Think about it for just a second. What do they give up that they shouldn't give up? Now I know you can't be lost in what you get saved, but I'm going to be honest with you, there's a lot of folk in the world, their son that's saved, but they gave up their sonship and their daughtership. What do you mean preacher? I mean they don't look like a child of God. They don't act like a child of God no more. They give it up so that they can have a worldly good time. I mean, that's what it's about. But look at the result that he comes into. Now it's shame and desperation. Not only is he physically bankrupt, but he is spiritually bankrupt. That's what happens to folk when they get away from home, when they get away from God. Look what he would do, look what he was willing to do. He was willing to go feed swine, which those Jews does not have anything to do with swine. But then the Bible said right here, and he would feign. Do you know what that word feign means right here? It means gladly or pleased or rejoiced in. and he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat." In other words, he would have been happy to eat the slop that the hogs were eating. That's pretty broke, ain't it? That's pretty destitute. How destitute do you have to get? How low do you have to get to get down into the slop of the world? Amen? He is surrounded by nothing but pigs, mud, slop, the nastiness of the world, and the Bible said he would have rejoiced. He would have feigned to have done that. He would have been glad to have ate what those hogs were eating, what them old pigs were eating. That's how bad he had got. How low can a person go? You know, I talk to Brother Seals sometimes, and he'll tell you, and he's probably said it from this pulpit before, he'll tell you some of them boys sent in prison is because they were saved. Not because they weren't saved, but because they were saved. And boy, God got their attention. He said they got into some places where they didn't belong, and God just got their attention. Think about this right here, here he sits. The Bible said that he found himself where? In want. He was in want, but nobody would give to him. They would not enable him, they would not help him. No matter what he done, nothing worked for him. Think about this for a minute. Reckon how sorry he was. I don't mean sorry as a person, but reckon he ever looked at his life as he was hauling that slop out there and he ever thought to himself, how did I get here? How did I get in this position? How did this happen? Now we know he eventually comes to that place, and I'll deal with that here in a minute. But I mean, do you ever look at people that you used to be in? I do, I think about them young people that left our church and man, and some of them just ain't doing good. They think they're doing good, but they're not. And I think, do they ever think about what I preached? Man, I think like that. Does that ever come back to their memory of what I preached? What these Sunday school teachers taught them? I mean, is it in their mind and in their heart? Does the Word of God ever come back to them? The songs that we've sung in the choir and in the congregation? I mean, does it ever come back to them? And do they ever wonder about that stuff? I mean, I dwell on that sometimes. Because here's the thing. It wasn't the father's fault. It was the son's fault. The father didn't kick him out of the house. He just piled up and said, I want to go. He's hungry. No doubt he's wore out and he has no rest. He has no fellowship because he's nowhere close to the father, the family, or the friends. and he joined himself to a citizen of that country. Remember, he has a home. He has a place he can go back to. Isaiah chapter 59 said, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hit his face from you that he will not hear. You cannot blame God when you get in that situation. I cannot blame God when I get in that situation. But look in verse 17. We see some repentance. And when he came to himself. He came to himself. You know what that means? He wasn't himself. Sin had grasped him so much. The thought of the good, stay with me, the thought of the good times, the thought of the money, the thought of I can go do what I wanna do, I can live how I wanna live, and ain't nobody gonna tell me no different. Okay. But it says when he came to himself, here's what he said, he began to look at home, didn't he? How many hard servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? He said, I will arise and go to my Father and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. What are you doing about a fellow that's got a repentant spirit? He says, I'm gonna go to the Father. I'm gonna go back home and I'm gonna tell him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and I've sinned against you. And I want you to look at the humility that this boy had. And I am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Can I stop right here and say this? Me and you ought to have that mentality today. We're not worthy to be called a son or a daughter of God, but in His graciousness, He's done that. And if me and you would keep that on our mind, if we would think about that, boy, it'll help us. He said, I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. Well, can you imagine? Now think about this. He's down there in the hog pen. I don't know where he's at when he comes to himself, but I believe he's down there in the hog pen. I believe he's looking at the situation that he's in. He's holding that bucket of slob pie. He's looking at these swine. And he says, what am I doing here? Why am I here? I mean, man, I'm telling you, my father, my father, I said, boy, back at the house, he had more than he knew what to do with. I said, he had servants that served him that had more than enough bread to get through. He said, here I am, look at the sheep. Son, look at the sheep. He's standing around and he's looking at himself and he's feeding the swine. He says, man, I want to eat that pig slop. Man, how low do you got to be to want to eat pig slop? Think about that for just a minute. How low do you have to go? But he came to himself. Thank God you can come to yourself. You can come to yourself. And I mean it's an internal thing. It's a heart thing. You've got to get right with God. And here he sits. And he says, Lord. He says, I know I've sinned against you. And I know I've sinned against my father over here. And you know what me and you have got to say? Lord, I know I've sinned against you. And here goes this boy. And you know what he does? He arose. Now, he can sit down here and he can talk about it all he wants to. A lot of people think about getting right and they talk about getting right. And in their mind, they think it'll be okay. But they never do nothing else. They stay right where they are. But the Bible said that when he arose, so he had to get up and he had to go. You know, you can't sit on that pew. You gotta do something. You gotta get right now. And you can't come in here and go back out and come in here and go back out and hope that it changes. Friend, you gotta do something in the heart. You gotta let God do something in the heart. And he arose and came to his father. Thank God for that. He done what he said. But when he was yet a great way off, well, this is the part I love. What's your Bible say? The father saw him. I'm telling you, while he was yet a great way off, Not when he walked up to the front yard, not when he got on the front porch, not when he got to the edge of the driveway while he was yet a great way off. You can say what you want to say, but I believe our dad was looking for him. I really believe that. I believe he told him, son, you don't need to go, you don't need to go, but I always know you can come back home. I believe he told him that. I believe he told, there ain't a dad that loves God in here that wouldn't tell their children that. If you go, you're going on your own, but I always know you can come back home. I've got a preacher friend of mine, he's gone to heaven now. He said, I always thought, his youngest daughter got away from home, got away from God, and he said, I always thought to wait on, he said, I thought the police would come to my door one day and knock on my door and tell me that my daughter was dead. I've heard him say that. He said one day, he said there was a knock at the door, and there she stood. Did he turn her away? Well, no, he let her come on in the house. And him and his wife done for her what they could. Let me say this, sometimes I heard Brother David Epps say this one time, Sometimes people get so much world in them and so much on them. And when they get addicted to things, to drugs and alcohol, sometimes they need some help. They need some help. If anybody knew, boy, Brother David did. And sometimes it's, and not only do you have care and compassion, but you help them. You help them. Kind of like giving a Christmas card. I know it takes more than Christmas cards sometimes, but I'll say this about Brother Howard as he told us about the Christmas cards. Can I commend you all as a church for doing that? I want to commend you all for that. For loving on him and shaking his hand and just telling him it's good to see him today. And then giving him Christmas cards. I wanna commend our church for that. For the care that you have one for another. Let's not lose that. We don't ever need to lose that. But let me get back over here. I'm gonna have to close. Here he comes, he comes home. Now we see how he comes home because the Bible says right here that the father told him to bring a robe, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. So imagine him coming up the driveway. Imagine him coming up the road, and dad sees him. Probably ain't had a haircut in a while. He's nasty, he's dirty, but boy, old dad knew who he was. I'm glad old dad knows who I am. I'm glad my father knows me. And boy, he's seen him way out yonder. And boy, I believe old dad was sitting on that front porch and he lit off that front porch and here he goes to running just as hard as he can run. And boy, I tell you that old son was already on his knees by the time daddy got there. How do you know that? Because the Bible said that he fell on his neck and kissed him. I believe that boy was already on his knees by the time dad come around. You're talking about a boy that wanted to get right, he wanted to get right. Boy, I love to watch people get right. Want to get right, and then get right. And boy, I can hear him out while they're slobbering and carrying on and crying and lots of going on. I can imagine, I can hear it in my mind. He said, Daddy, he said, look, Father, I've sinned against you, I've sinned against heaven, and I'm no more worthy because of you, son. But you know what, old dad stopped him right there. You remember what he was gonna say? And I'm gonna be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants. He never got there. Old dad just stopped him. Because 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 him the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. The repentance of sin brought the reception of the Father. He saw him. He was looking for him. And there was one day he said, you know the great thing about the Father? I'm so glad of this here. He is a God of second chances. and third changes, and fourth changes. You know, it's of the Lord's mercies, he said in the book of Lamentations, that we're not consumed. And that father, I want you to pay attention, I know I've got to close, I know what time it is, I'm getting hungry too, okay? He said his father saw him and had compassion. He looked at him and he saw him coming, and he thought about him. He did not have to run out there. He did not have to let him come back home. He didn't have to do nothing for him. He could let him be a servant if he wanted to. He could let him be a servant, but he chose to let him be a son. He said, bring the best robe, put it on him. put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring him the fatty calf and kill it, and let us what? Eat and be merry. For this is my son was dead, is alive again, was lost and is found, and they began to be merry. The father received him, took him back in, put on the robe of righteousness, the ring of sonship, the shoes that would help him travel right, Put all that stuff back on me. Now let me say this, church. They begin to be merry. When's the last time we got excited because somebody got right? When's the last time we done that? See somebody get right with the Lord? We already get excited over that. Because the Lord sure does. Let's bow our heads this morning