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In the service of Christ Jesus, amen. Title of my sermon this morning is, you can always come back. You can always come back. In this chapter, we just read the famous story about the prodigal son coming home. He's nervous about coming home. He's ashamed to come home. But of course, the father is there waiting for him. He rejoices to receive him. Obviously, the prodigal son has done some irreparable damage to his life. But the father is always willing to welcome him home. He's better off coming home, getting right with God, and so forth. The reason I'm preaching this is because I know that there are a lot of people who, they get a little bit backslidden, and they get out of church. Maybe they just kind of slowly fade away. And then they're embarrassed to come back, or they're ashamed to come back because they've been gone, because they've been slacking, because they have been backslidden, or whatever the case may be. And I just wanted to preach this to let you know that if you ever find yourself in that situation, you can always come back. And not only just church, but just the Christian life in general. If you get backslidden, you get away from the Lord, realize that as long as you're saved, it's never too late to make things right, and come home, and get right with the Lord. Now, let's look at this story just a little bit, starting in verse number 11. The Bible reads, and he said, a certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his 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 this is one of the reasons that sometimes people will fade away, or be backslidden, or quit church, is because they just get enamored with what this world has to offer. And so maybe the deceitfulness of riches, or the pleasures of this world could distract them, and they could just get so caught up in those things. And that's what this guy's situation is. He wants to have all the fun now. He wants to enjoy now. He doesn't want to wait to earn what's coming to him. He just says, give me the portion of the inheritance that follow to me now. And what this pictures is, people who are just living for the present right now, they're not thinking about the future, they're not thinking about rewards in heaven, or eternity. They're not even thinking about 10 or 20 years from now on this earth, what their life is gonna be like if God blesses them, versus what their life is gonna be like if they invoke the curse of God by going out and committing all these sinful things. They're just focused on the pleasures of sin for a season. And so this guy's just very short-sighted. He's just looking at the short term. Hey, I wanna go out and party, and have fun, and eat, drink, and be married. So he ends up squandering his inheritance, wasting his potential, and just partying, and of course, the party always comes to an end. Now, I'm not gonna lie to you and say that sin doesn't have its pleasures, but they're only for a season. And it's not worth it, and it costs you way more than you're willing to pay, okay? If you go out there and party, sure, you're gonna have fun at first, but it's not worth it. You're gonna end up destroying your life. Now, it says here that when he had spent all, verse 14, there arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be in want, and he went and joined himself, verse 15, 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 husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. So he's starting to think about the fact that he could eat the pig slop because he's so hungry. And when you get hungry enough, you'll eat anything. Anything starts to sound good. And so he's at this point where he's at rock bottom. And when he's at rock bottom, that's where he came to himself, it says in verse 17. And he said, how many hired servants of my fathers 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 you know, this guy realizes a truth that is still true today in 2021, that even just being the lowliest person in the kingdom of God, even just being a doorkeeper in the house of God is far better than being out there in this world and what they have to offer out there. You're better off with the Lord. And he says, look, even a hired servant, if I think about the father's house, the person who has the lowest status in my father's house is doing way better than I am out here in the world. That's why it's always better to come back. You know, come back, get in church, get right with God, you're always gonna be better off no matter what. And so he realizes that he comes to himself. But notice how in order for him to come to himself, he had to hit rock bottom. And you know what, that's what young people sometimes have to do, they have to hit rock bottom. And one problem, and this isn't what the sermon's about, but I'm just kind of preaching through the story and then I'll get more into the sermon. But as we go through this sermon, I just wanna point out the fact that parents should not prop up the sinful lifestyles of their adult children. Do not prop them up, let them hit rock bottom. Be waiting for them to come home, be ready with open arms to receive them when they come to themself, but you should not be just constantly bailing them out and helping them and giving them money and taking care of them while they're living a sinful lifestyle. Let them hit rock bottom. And you know, we're surrounded in Phoenix and Tempe with homeless people who are completely able-bodied, young, healthy people that could be going to work, but yet they're out there asking for a handout and people are just giving them free money without even asking them what their situation is, without even getting to know them or getting anybody to vouch for them or figuring out what's really going on. They just keep handing these people money and how many times has someone just handed these people money and then they just go buy drugs with it? And then they just go buy more booze, more liquor, more drugs. They just have no motive to fix their lives because there's no accountability. Now look, our church is willing to help people out, but when people come to us for help, we say, okay, and we help them get a job. We help, we take them down to places that we know will hire anyone with a pulse and so we take them down to a job and we help them get cleaned up. We've bought hotel rooms for people. We've bought clothes for people. We've taken people places. But you know what? People who come here and they don't wanna work will get zero help from us. They will get nothing from us because they need to hit rock bottom. If someone is so sinful and lazy and wicked that they refuse to get a job and integrate into society, then they should starve. The Bible says if any man will not work, neither should he eat. Let me say that again, you bleeding heart liberal, woke, whatever you are. If any man will not work, neither should he eat. Thus sayeth the Lord. That's God's word. Anybody who's mad at me about saying that, you know what, you're mad at God. God said, well that must be the Old Testament. No, that's 2 Thessalonians, that's the New Testament. If any man will not work, neither should he eat. That's what the Bible teaches. People who refuse to work, hungry. Hungry, God bless. You oughta be hungry. Because you know what, when you get hungry enough, you know what, then you'll come home. When you get hungry enough, maybe you'll get right with your parents. When you get hungry enough, maybe you'll get right with your church. Maybe you'll get right with your brothers and sisters. Maybe you'll get right with all the people that you've burned in your life, and all the people that you have treated badly in your life. All the people that you didn't care about in your life when you cared about yourself, and your drugs, and your liquor, and your fornication, and everything else. Hey, you need to hit rock bottom so that you can come to yourself and get right with God. You know, people have accused me of hating homeless people. I don't hate homeless people. But you know what, I despise what they're doing. I despise their sin. I don't hate them. And you know what, if any of them actually wants to get right, I would love to help them get right. I would love to help them get right. But you know what, I'm not just gonna help someone be a drug addict, help someone be lazy, help someone be worthless. No, if they wanna make something out of their life and get right with God, hey, amen, let's help them out. Amen's great. I'm willing to help the poor, but I'm not willing to help the lazy. It isn't right for people in their, I mean, these people are in their 20s. It's insane, it's an epidemic. Somebody needs to say something about it. You drive around, they're in their 20s, they're in their 30s, they're healthy, they're able-bodied. You see them running across the street. And then at night, they're cutting out people's catalytic converters, probably. That's a whole nother sermon. We've had like three catalytic converters cut out in our parking lot. It's unbelievable. Don't park your car here at night unless someone's guarding it, is the moral of the story. That's why when we do our soul-winning trips, we hire a security guard to watch the vehicles because it's just, that's what our society is becoming. It's just a bunch of derelicts, a bunch of thieves, a bunch of lazy people that don't wanna go to work. It's incredible. They scrap the catalytic converter for 50 bucks and it costs us $1,500 to fix it. But man, I am way off track in this sermon. You can always come back, all right? So these bums, they can come back whenever they want, as long as they are willing to stop taking drugs and go to work and get right with God. But anyway, he comes to himself because he hits rock bottom. He realizes that the worst day with the Christian life serving God is better than being down and out out there, facing the consequences of the sinful life. And so he comes home and it says in verse number 20, 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 in him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring 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 they began to be married. Notice the son comes back with a really humble attitude, but the father doesn't even require that. You know, the father just sees him coming home. He realizes that he's gotten right. And obviously being humble is great, but he actually doesn't require him to say, I'm no longer worthy to be called thy son and make me as one of the hired servants. That's not what he requires of him. He's just glad that he's getting right and coming home and wants to be right with the Lord. And so he just welcomes him with open arms. Even when he sees him a great way off, before the guy's even said anything, he already runs out to meet him with open arms. Now, what can we learn from this? Well, we have the good example in the father that's willing to welcome the prodigal son home. And then we have the bad example where the older brother gets angry and doesn't want to accept the sinner who comes back and gets right with God a little bit later in the chapter. So there's really two main things that I want you to take from the sermon this morning, okay? Number one, I want you to realize that you can always come back. You know, you go out there and you mess up your life. You can still come back and get right with God anytime. Not only that, but if you just fade away, get backslidden, get lazy, don't be shy about coming back. If it's been two weeks, four weeks, six months, a year, just come back. We're glad to see you, we want you back, okay? But then the second thing I want you to take from the sermon is the fact that when people come back, you know what? Embrace them and don't treat them poorly because they've been gone. And here's what you don't do to people that come back. Don't say to them, where have you been? What's going on, where have you been? Now look, I've been a pastor now for over 15 years. And so the good thing about being a pastor for over 15 years is that you get the chance to see people come back. It's a blessing. You see people get backslidden and then a couple years later they come back. And it's great to pastor in the same place long enough to where you keep getting to see people come back and you get to see old friends and people come back. And so when I see people come back, I don't ask them where you've been, what happened, it's been so long, how long has it been? You know, I basically say to them, hey, it's great to see you. And you know what, I act like they just missed nothing. I just, it's just like, I just pick up right where we left off, amen. Why not? I mean, why not just pick up right where we left off with people? You know, it's not our problem, it's not our responsibility. You know, we're just here to minister to people and preach to people, help people grow, disciple people, take people out soul winning, be a blessing to people, encourage people. So if somebody gets backslidden and fades away and comes back a few years later, you know, my attitude is just great. Hey, good to see you, buddy. And it's just like they've never been gone, that's the way I feel about it. And you know, that's how we wanna treat people so that they can understand that it's okay to come back. You know, I was thinking about this. I used to go to a kickboxing gym that was pretty brutal. And I remember, you know, I wouldn't go for a couple weeks. And you know, you get a little bit out of shape and you haven't been in a couple weeks. And then I was embarrassed, I was always embarrassed to go back. And it was like, I always felt weird about going back because I'd been gone for a couple weeks. And it was like, oh, I've been slacking, you know. And I was thinking about that, how that is such a carnal thing and it's such a small thing, but yet I was embarrassed if I missed classes, I was embarrassed to go back. So then pretty soon you're just like, I'm just not going back because I don't wanna have to face them after having gotten out of shape and slacked off, right? I mean, don't you think that if I felt that way, there's probably a lot of other people who feel the same way, where they're just kind of embarrassed to go back, they've been slacking and they don't wanna face you and whatever. And so I wanna make sure that people understand that at Faithful Word Baptist Church, you know, you don't have to worry about facing us because you quit for a few months. I, you know, I was talking to a pastor friend of mine and we were talking about different people and old friends of ours and everything. And he mentioned somebody who'd been gone for a while and then they came back. And when they came back, they were all excited and saying, you know, we're back now and you know, we're gonna participate and it's good to be back and excited. And they were just back for that one service and then that was it. They were all gung ho and then that was it. And you know what I said to my pastor friend was, I said, you know what it probably was, was that then something came up or something went wrong in their life and then they missed a little bit of that and then they were probably embarrassed to come back because they'd been so gung ho and made a big deal, we're back, you know. And it's sad because here's the thing, we just want you back. We don't care, right, just come home. And I guarantee you that there are literally hundreds and hundreds of people in the Phoenix area who listen to every sermon that I preach that don't come to church here. That listen to every sermon. Sunday mornings, and I know because I meet people all the time. Like I'll meet people out and about, hey, Pastor Anderson, you know, and it's like, oh, I listen to all your sermons and they really do because they'll be like, oh man, Wednesday night, and they know what I just preached on Wednesday night. And I'm thinking to myself like, where do you live? You know, oh, so you live 15 minutes away and you listen to every sermon I preach, you know, you could actually come down. And not only that, you know, a lot of people who go to our church right now told me, oh, I listened to you for years before I showed up. You know, and so the point that I'm making is there are people all over this city who are listening to every sermon that I preach, but they're not here. And part of the reason why, you know, there could be a lot of reasons why they're not here. But I'll bet you that one of the reasons why they're not here is because of the fact that maybe they have been backslidden or they faded away or they haven't been faithful, and then they're just kind of embarrassed to come back because they've been gone too long. But you've never been gone too long. I don't care if you've been gone for 10 years, you know, come back, right? Now obviously, let me give a caveat here. Obviously when I say, hey, you can always come back, you know, you can't come back while you're living in fornication or something. You know, there are certain sins and there are specific sins where, you know, the Bible teaches that we should kick people out of the church. So the Bible does teach that people who are saved, Christians who are living in fornication, need to be kicked out of the church. But they can always come back once they're not living in fornication. You know, I've thrown out more people for fornication than I can count. I mean, it's been a lot where, I mean, people, they're living with their girlfriend, they're out of wedlock, and I've told people, hey, you know, you got a few choices here. You can either get out of this relationship or you can get married if you love each other so much, then get married and do it right, or you have to stop coming to church. But you know what I always tell people when they get thrown out because they're living in fornication, this is what I always tell people. I say, hey, as soon as you're married, come back. Or if you're ever out of this relationship, come on back. Right, I mean, you can come back. And there's no hard feelings. You know, six months from now, if you get married, come back. And the whole point of throwing people out of the church in those type of situations where it's those 1 Corinthians 5 sins of drunkenness, fornication. You know, we've thrown people out of the church because they refuse to get off drugs or stop drinking or whatever. You know, but here's the thing. The whole purpose of throwing people out of the church is a wake up call for them because the goal ultimately is repentance. You know, that they would actually get off the drugs or get off of the liquor or get out of fornication. You know, we want people to get right with God. They can always come back. But I just want to give that caveat. Obviously, if you're living in one of the open sins of 1 Corinthians 5, you know, you got to get that right to come back. You know, it's not like the prodigal son comes back with some hooker with him or something, you know, that he brings back with him. Hey, you know, is it all right if we, you know, stay in the same bedroom, dad? He would have said, get out of here. You know, come back when you're ready to actually get right is what he would have said there. Now look, obviously none of us are perfect. We're all sinners. Obviously everybody in this church is a sinner. So I'm not saying, hey, you got to wait till you clean up your life. You got to wait till you get right with God. But you do have to abstain from these 1 Corinthians 5 things, right? Just, it's just a short list there. You can't be living in gross sin according to 1 Corinthians 5. And then the other caveat I would give is that those that are false prophets or reprobates, pedophiles, they're not welcome to come back, obviously, because of the fact that people who are reprobates and are rejected by God and cannot be saved, those people are doomed and that's a whole nother sermon. But you know what? Anybody who's saved can always come back, can't they? And it's not just coming back to church. You can always come back to the Lord. You know, it's not just that Pastor Anderson's willing to receive you back with open arms and the church body is willing to receive you back. But you know what? So is God himself. Any day, I don't care if you've lived backslidden and a sinful life for 10 years straight, you can wake up the next morning and say, God, I'm sorry and I wanna get right. And you can come back to the Lord, you could read your Bible, you could join the church, you could pray, you can just jump back in and God will use you. God is ready to receive you because his mercies are new every morning. So don't ever get to the point where you think, oh, I've ruined my life, I've blown it, it's too late for me. You can always come back. You can always come back to the Lord. You can always come back to church. And then we wanna make sure that we're like the Father, not like the elder brother, where when they do come back, we don't give them a bad time, we don't attack them and say, who do you think you are? You've been out living in fornication and drinking and partying and you think you could just come back here and come to church here, how dare you? No, that's the wrong attitude. Yes, they can come back. Yes, they can. I don't care if they've committed fornication, if they've been addicted to drugs, if they had an abortion, whatever they've done. Hey, if they're willing to get right, come on back. Come back, fix your life, come to church. And so we should be ready to receive the sinners who come back again. So of course we see the elder brother had the wrong attitude. It says in verse 25, now his elder son was in the field and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said in him, thy brothers come and thy father has killed the fattest calf because he had received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and treated him. And he answering said to his father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time, my commandment. Of course we know that's not true anyway. And yet thou never gave us me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. He's like, you don't even give me a goat. You don't even give me a kid to party with. You know, to at least have some kind of a barbecue. But as soon as this thy son was come, which had devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fattest calf. Now stop and think about it. What is it that's bothering the elder brother? The elder brother actually envies the younger brother. You see that? Because the elder brother envies him because he's comparing himself to him. And saying, I wish that I could party with my friends. I wish that I had the kid to party with. You know, how come he gets the fatted calf to party? So he's basically envying his brother in that sense, right? Because he's saying, why don't I get what he had? Now the thing about that is that this is a foolish thought since sin has severe consequences. And any time you're envying sinful people, that's a very foolish thought to have. You know, you should never envy someone who's sinning because I guarantee you they've gone through more pain and sorrow and misery than you can imagine or will imagine. You know, if you're a Christian who stays in church and never goes off the deep end, you lived a way more enjoyable life than the people, than the Christians who went out and got backslidden and went off the deep end. I promise you that. So envying them is stupid. That's why the Bible tells over and over again in Psalms and Proverbs, like don't envy the wicked. Don't envy these sinners. Like they do not have a better life than you in any way, shape, or form, enjoyable form. And you know, I grew up in a Christian home and I never went off the deep end and I never went off and did, you know, drinking or fornication. Obviously I'm a sinner. I'm not perfect. I've done bad things, but I never went off the deep end and got out of church and went out and got drunk and fornicated or whatever. But imagine how stupid and foolish it would be for me to look at someone who did, right? Like let's say I looked at someone who did and I'm like, well man, you got to have your cake and eat it too. I mean, you got to go out and fornicate and sleep with all these girls and drink and party and you got to enjoy, you know, that as a teenager and in your 20s and whatever. And then now you're, you know, now you've got the Christian family. Now you're married with kids in church living the Christian life. Man, you got the best of both worlds, man. You had your cake and that'd be the stupidest thing to think in the world because you know what? I would never trade my life for that, ever. Never. I would, you know, and look, why preach this? Because people get some dumb ideas in their head. I remember one time when I was a teenager, I was in a Christian youth group and the youth leader asked us, this was like, these churches, don't go to a liberal church. It's just stupid. But you know, we were going to some liberal NIV church when I was a teenager and the youth group was so stupid. Like just the, they didn't teach the Bible. It was just all this weird, I don't even know what it was. But anyway, we're in this Sunday school class. Just imagine like a teenage Sunday school class youth group and this was like the discussion of the day in the Sunday school was like, would you rather like just have grown up as a Christian, like born and raised Christian, grown up in church and just stayed, you know, or would you rather have lived like this really, like grown up as a heathen and lived this really worldly, sinful life and then come to Christ later in life because then you'd have this powerful testimony. You know, about how God cleaned you up and you know, brought you out of this horrible life of sin. And I kid you not, I was the only person in the youth group that said I would rather be born and raised a Christian and live a Christian life the whole time. And you know what, I'm sorry, but that just shows that everyone else was being foolish. Why would anyone say, oh, it's better to grow up heathen. It's better to, because you have this powerful testimony. You know, last time I checked, the gospel of Jesus Christ was the power of God unto salvation, not your testimony. Last time I checked, the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The Bible says the preaching of the cross is to us that are saved. It's the power of God, the cross, the death, the burial and resurrection, it's about Jesus. It's not about you. It's like, oh man, I was snorting so much cocaine and I was in jail and I was in prison and I held the gun to my mouth every single day to blow my own brains out. I was so miserable and then God reached down and saved a poor wretched, vile, lost soul like me. Folks, that's not what it's about, my friend. You know, it's about God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You know, when I go out soul winning door to door, I don't tell people my life story. I tell people Jesus' life story, okay? Now look, I understand that if you have lived a very sinful life, that God could use you to reach other people who are in that same life because God can take that which was meant for evil and turn it to good. They meant it for evil, God meant it for good. God can take something that's bad and spin it into something good for those who love him. So basically, yeah, let's say you have been a drug addict, then yeah, God could use you to basically reach out to another drug addict and say, listen, man, it's not too late for you because if God saved me, God can save you too. Amen? But isn't it stupid to say, well, I just wish I'd been a drug addict so that I could say that? I mean, folks, that's ridiculous. That's absurd. Like, you know, I kind of wish that I had one of these radical testimonies, you know. Folks, I've never wished that for five, I've never wished, like, man, I kind of wish I'd been, you know, on drugs or drunk or foreign, you know, before I knew better. Just kind of do all that stuff and then I could have this real powerful testimony. You know, it sounds kind of prideful, like it's just all about your testimony or something. And look, hey, you, obviously God, you know, will bring us across people's paths where our past experiences, you know, we can minister to them because we've gone through the same things and hey, you've been on drugs, I've been on drugs or whatever. I get that. But imagine the foolishness of going into a teenage youth group and even asking such a stupid question. What do you think's better? And then all the dumb teenagers are like, yeah, I think that's better. So they're not being taught anything. Let me tell you something, going out and doing drugs and committing fornication, committing adultery, getting drunk, you know what, you do permanent damage to your life, permanent, permanent damage, folks. Okay, and look, you can always come home, but it doesn't mean that there aren't any consequences. Look what the Bible says. It says in, you know, he's angry, he wouldn't go in. Verse 29, or we already read that. Let's jump all the way down to verse 30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which had devoured thy living with harlots, thou has killed him for him the fattened calf. And he said unto him, son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. Now, notice here, when the prodigal son returns home, is he just reinstated into the will and he owns half the business? No, see, when he left, he was gonna be an equal partner. Basically, his brother and him, they're gonna inherit and they're in the family business and they own everything. When the prodigal son comes home, everybody's glad to see him, everybody treats him well. Hey, we shouldn't be giving him a bad time about his past. Why? Because we should forgive and forget. We should never rub his nose in his past sins. It's over, he's back, let's forget about it. Let's rejoice, let's just be happy that he's here. Let's just pick up where we left off. But does that mean that he gets back everything that he lost? No, he spent all the money and now he has no money. So who would you rather be in the story? Would you rather be the prodigal son who's getting the party, but then after that, he doesn't really own anything, so he has to start from scratch and, you know. Or would you rather be the elder brother who still gets to go to the party? Like, why is he so upset, like, well, yeah, I never get to party. It's like, there's a party going on right there, idiot. Go in there and party, right? There's a go, I don't even get a kid. Why are you trying to eat goat k-bobs when you've got a fatted calf right there? Go get the veal right there, man. It's ready to roll. Like, what are you, whoa, my friends aren't here. Just go have a good time. And guess what? Some day you're gonna own everything. Some day you're gonna own everything You could have parties with your friends every weekend if you want when you own everything, when you have everything. You could be having barbecues every single week, right? Every Saturday night, it's a barbecue over at your house, right? But the prodigal doesn't get that. So understand that, yes, there are consequences to sin. We should never think like, oh, I can always come back, so, you know, might as well go out there and see how the other half lives. Folks, don't do it. Number one, you do permanent damage to your life. Number two, unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required. Somebody who's growing up in Faithful Word Baptist Church, they're getting a lot of preaching, a lot of teaching, you're gonna be held accountable for everything that I'm teaching you. And I'm teaching you stuff, how to live your life, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, from the Word of God, you've heard a lot of Bible, your parents are teaching you the Bible. If you go out there, you know, God might just smoke you. I mean, you might just get in a car wreck, you might just get a disease, he might just kill you, or just put you in a wheelchair or something. You know, he might just wipe you out because of the fact that God's not mocked, and whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, okay? So not every story ends as happily as the story of the prodigal son does. So here's the moral of the story. Let's say you're out there backslidden and away from the Lord, you better come back while you still can. Because this guy still had a chance to come back, right? And the father's happy, father's waiting for him, kill the fatted calf, let's all rejoice. So he still has a chance to come back. What if the prodigal son would have been, you know, looking at what the swine ate, and then, you know, thinking, man, I'd rather be a hired servant in my dad's house, this is the worst. What if he would have instead said, no, I don't want to go back, I don't want to face dad, I don't want his rules, I don't want to, you know, live a clean life. What if he would have just said, well, I'm just going to go cut out somebody's catalytic converter, and just cut out catalytic converters for a while. Well, then here's the thing about that. You know, how long is God's mercy going to endure in a situation like that? You know, because God will give you the second chance and the third chance and the fourth chance, but is he going to give a fifth chance? Is he going to give a sixth chance? You know, at some point, and we don't always know where that line is, at some point, God draws the line, and the Bible says this, it says, he that being often reproved, hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy. So eventually God could get to a point where he wipes you out. Now, when I say you can always come back, I'm saying as long as you're breathing air, you can always come back. But when you're dead, you can't come back, right? But you know, as long as you're breathing air, you can always come back. But you know what? God could, you know, I'd like to see you come back able-bodied and not come back crippled or not come back diseased or not come back paying child support to three different women. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, hey, good to see you. You're back. Hey, let's all rejoice that brother so-and-so is back and we'll pick up where we left off. And you know, I'm not gonna bring back, I'm not gonna bring up to you all the baby mamas that you have all over the valley. I'm not gonna bring it up. But guess what? Uncle Sam's gonna bring it up. You know, when they're garnishing your wages and court orders are telling you that you gotta pay that money. Hey, you can always get right with God, but you still gotta pay the child support. You still gotta pay alimony, right? You still gotta take your HIV medication, you know, because you went out and slept with some skanky woman who goes both ways or something. You slept with some filthy whore. And you know, you're still gonna have to take your meds. You still got MRSA. You've still got disease. You've still got child support, alimony. You still got a criminal record. You still got cravings for drugs that we will never crave because we've never tried them. You know, we crave Cinnamon Toast Crunch, okay? You know what I mean? Like, we're here. We all struggle with sin, amen? We all struggle with cravings. You know, but when I have a craving, you know, I'm craving orange chicken from Panda Express. You know, I'm craving a glass of strawberry milk. You know, when I fall into sin, you know, I fall headfirst into a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, okay? But here's the thing. Never does the thought enter my mind, boy, I'd love to shoot up on some heroin right now because I don't even know what that feels like. I've never done it. I'm just like, man, I'd love some cocaine right now because I've never done it. But here's the thing, once you've done it, now that's a temptation for you. Now you have to crave that for the rest of your life. I'm never just like, man, I wish I could smoke some pot right now because I've never done it. But once you've done it, now that's something you have to deal with. You know, people who smoke cigarettes, they crave that for the rest of their life. I was talking to a preacher friend of mine, and he said, I haven't smoked in 20 years, but he said, you know what? It sounds pretty good right now. He said the craving never totally goes away because I'd love to smoke a cigarette right now. It's been 20 years. But here's the thing, if you've never been addicted to that, it's not even a thing for you, right? So the point is, you know, you can always come back. And so, you know, don't ever think you can't come back. Come back while you can, meaning while you're alive, because if you're saved and you're breathing air, you can always come back, okay? But realize, though, that sin has its consequences, and the longer you stay away, the more damage you're doing to your body, to your life, to your reputation, to your finances, to your family, to your friends, the more damage you're doing. So if you're away from God, come back immediately. Come back now. Because the sooner you come back, the better. You can start, you know, you start fixing things, right? You can start getting on the right track again, okay? And then, you know, those of us that are left behind here, you know, we should be willing to accept anyone back with open arms, who's a brother or a sister in Christ, come on in, right? And why would we not? Like, why would it bother me? Why would I have this elder brother attitude? Why would it bother me for one second? Well, that's just not fair, they got to do all that stuff. Got to do all that stuff? It's not worth it. Oh, you got to fornicate. So what? So what? You know what? I got to do that exact same activity with my wife. Okay, been there, done that, but I did it lawfully, okay? So it's like, oh, they got to go out and fornicate and be with all these different, that's not a blessing. That's not good, that's not a benefit, that's not cool. I guarantee you that I've been happier just being married and remaining married, I guarantee it. Oh, but they got to go out and drink and wait, you know. There's other ways to get endorphins, my friend, okay? There are other ways to get endorphins, okay? You know, some of us, we go out and work hard physically and then we get endorphins that way. You know, going out and working hard is a natural high. Physical hard work makes you feel good. Try it sometime. You know, you go out and work and you feel good about work. You know, we get endorphins when we play with our children. We get endorphins when we go to work and accomplish something at work, right? Are you telling me that drugs and alcohol are the only way to feel good in life? Because you know, I've felt good many times, in many situations, you know. Sometimes it just feels good to just jump into the pool. Right, it feels pretty good, amen? Sometimes it just feels good to bite into that dessert. Hey, it feels pretty good to go to the gym and lift weights. You know, I mean, there's a lot of ways to feel good. Why would I for one second, well it's not fair that that person gets to come back. Hey folks, that's spoken like somebody who doesn't understand what's out there and the consequences of what's out there. So for me, I'm not gonna sit there and look at somebody who comes back and think to myself, oh man, you know, this guy gets to come back. He gets, and you know, it's the same thing with salvation. A lot of people are like, oh, how come these people get to go to heaven after they did all this sinful stuff? Hey, I'm just glad they're going to heaven. You know what, I hope God allows as many people to heaven as possible. You know, I believe I know who's going to heaven and who's not in general. Obviously I don't know specifically because I can't see people's heart. But you know, I believe studying the scripture, I understand, you know, what is required and who's going and who's not going. But you know what, if I got to heaven and it turned out that God, you know, allowed people with some squirrelly doctrine to get in that I thought weren't going because their doctrine was so bad, if it turned out like, well, I thought this many people were going and actually a little bit of extra people were going, I'm not gonna be like, come on, you're letting those people in? Like, what? Those bozos, you know what I'm saying? Wouldn't you just be like, well, great, more people got saved than I thought. Right? I mean, what kind of an attitude is like, well, you know, somebody, you know, goes out and lives a sinful life, I don't think they should be allowed to just go to heaven or it's like, none of us should be allowed to go to heaven. Cause we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. So if we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, why would I look at someone and say, well, I don't want this person to come back cause it's not fair. You're right, it's not, you know what? It's not fair because your life's been a hundred times better than theirs. That's what's not fair. So don't sit there and tell me, oh yeah, it's not fair, they got to have all that fun. It wasn't what it was cracked up to be. You, listen, young people, you say, why do you preach like this all the time? You know, I'm preaching for the young people. I'm trying to make me feel bad about my sinful past. I don't care about your stupid sinful past. I forget, it's forgiven and forgotten. All I care about is what you're doing right now. I don't care what you've done in the past. I don't care if you've committed murder, adultery, if you've been a drunk and I guarantee you, we have all of the above in this church. People who've been, I'm serious. I guarantee you, we have people in this church who've committed murder, who've stolen, who've committed adultery, who've been drunks, who've been drug addicts, who've been in prison. We've got all of the above in spades, I guarantee it. We're not gonna ask for a raise of hands because these things are forgiven and forgotten. But I'd be surprised if there wasn't a woman in this church who's had an abortion before or something like that or some dude who counseled some chick to have an abortion. Look, folks, there are hundreds of people in our church. We're living in a sinful world. There are sinful things out there. Look, I'm telling you that all of these sins have happened and it's like, the bottom line is though, I'm not trying to make people feel bad. I don't care, it's forgiven and forgotten. What I'm trying to do is grab ahold of young, stupid people and tell them, don't go out there and ruin your life. And if you have a sinful past, you should want me to do that because you should want me to warn people so they don't make the mistakes that you made. Otherwise, you're not right with God. And so, I just wanna grab Christian young people and say, look, stay with the Lord. Stay with church. Do not even try alcohol because now you're just getting ready to start a new addiction and you'd never crave it if you've never tried it. I never crave being drunk because I've never been drunk. I don't crave beer because I've never tasted beer. Okay, don't go down that road is what I'm saying. I'm saying young people, you're gonna live a way better life staying with the Lord, staying in church, staying with your parents, stay on track. And then if you stay on track, don't be like this elder brother, we're like, what's the fear, they got to do all that stuff. No, you know what you should be doing? Thank God every night that you didn't go there too. Because let me tell you something, I stayed with the Lord, but it's not because I'm so great because you know what, there were lots of times when I could have gone the wrong way and I had a lot of temptations as a teenager and I went through that difficult time of being a teenager young adult and I can think of a lot of different times and you know what, God really helped me and protected me and I had preachers in my life that were preaching hard and putting the fear of God into me and I had my parents that had put the fear of God into me. So it's not just that I'm so great or something, it's I'm just thankful because I can easily see how my life could have gone the other way easily. Like I don't think to myself, oh, I never would have done that, I never could have gone. No, I could see myself going out and doing all the wrong things. I could see key points in my life where I was at a crossroads where I could have gone the wrong way and maybe even I barely went the right way or so. It's by the grace of God that I had preachers and teachers and parents and the word of God in my life but you know what, I'm thankful for that. I'm so thankful that I'm here and I didn't screw up my life and that I'm with the Lord and that I stayed with the Lord. So you young people, I'm telling you, do likewise. Stay with the Lord. Don't for one second think that those people out there have it good. And once you realize that those who live for the Lord have it better than those who are living out there, then you're not gonna envy them. Now, see, this is a little bit paradoxical. Some people could look at this and say, well, Pastor Anderson, you know, you're teaching people how bad it is out there. Then, you know, people are gonna have the wrong attitude. No, no, no, no, no. By teaching people how bad it is out there, I'm teaching people have a better attitude to the prodigals when they return because they don't envy them. Why did the elder brother have the bad attitude? Is it because he looked down on his younger brother? It seems more that he envied his younger brother. He gets all the attention, he gets to party, he gets this and that. You know, if you realize how much better the Christian life is than the sinful life, which it is, way better. Amen? Amen. And you know what? There are a lot of people in this room who've lived both and they can tell you from experience, you know, is better. Christian life's better. It's a happier life, it's a more enjoyable life. The pledges of sin are only for a season. It's empty, it's vain, it's hollow, it's not worth it. Okay. Once you realize that, once you realize how much better it is inside the Christian life than out there being backslidden, then you'll never envy those people and when they come back, you're just happy to see them. You're just like, thank God this person's been rescued from that life. Thank God you're not on drugs anymore. Thank God you were able to kick the habit of smoking cigarettes so you can live longer and enjoy what God has for you, instead of just destroying your body, destroying your life. And so we need to get this in our heart that staying with the Lord is better, unlike the elder brother who thought, oh, staying home stinks. I wish I'd been partying and I could be, you know, getting this warm welcome. Now I'm just about out of time, but I just want to just briefly mention some other stuff that was in my sermon that I didn't really get to. You know, I had some stuff in my sermon about Peter because Peter is a guy who, he's a really humble guy. You know, when Jesus first called Peter in Luke chapter five, he was told by Peter in verse eight of Luke five, you don't have to turn there, but he said, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. You know, Jesus wants him to be a disciple. Jesus is reaching out to him, and Peter basically tells Jesus, you don't want me. Like, you don't want me as your disciple. He said, depart from me, I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. And then Jesus said to him, fear not. From henceforth, thou shalt catch men. You know, because he had been a fisherman, now he's going to be a fisher of men. And so Jesus tells Peter, no, follow me. I'm going to make you a fisher of men. But Peter's attitude is like, I'm too sinful. Jesus is telling him, no, I want you to be my disciple. But you see, that just shows that, but here's the thing, everybody's sinful. It's just Peter's being humble is what he's doing. That's good. Now later on, Peter's going to mess up, right? Peter ends up denying the Lord three times because he gets scared, he gets nervous, and so he pretends that he doesn't know Jesus, I'm not a Christian, I don't know Jesus, right? And when he did that, he wept bitterly afterward. When he realized that I've denied the Lord three times, he went out and he wept bitterly, didn't he? But then what did Jesus do? You know, Jesus reached out to him and brought him back into the ministry and restored him, you know, in John chapter 21. And also it's alluded to even in the Gospel of Luke itself. And so we see that for Peter, even though he had done a grievous sin, I mean, imagine how embarrassed you'd be if you were at a party or with friends or something and you denied being a Christian. How, I mean, how would you, how would that feel? How would that feel to, you know, oh yeah, these idiot Christians, you're not a Christian, are you? Oh, oh no, no, no way, man. You'd feel pretty rotten about that, wouldn't you? I mean, Peter did, that's what Peter did basically, three times, and then Jesus looked at him. And when Jesus looked at him, it's like, oh man. And he went out and wept bitterly. But he was still able to get back on the horse, wasn't he? And so it wasn't too late for Peter to come back, was it? You know, the prodigal son could come back, Peter could come back, Samson could come back. I mean, Samson had done a bunch of really bad stuff and he'd been fornicating and he had allowed his whole life to be destroyed. Now, did he have permanent damage? Absolutely, but yet he prayed to the Lord and was able to be used by God one last time and accomplished something in his death. And so it's never too late to come back. Now, to the young people, I say, don't go there. Don't go there. But to those that are astray, I say, come back. Come back, right? And to those young people that are stupid enough to not listen to what I'm saying and go out and think it's gonna be fun and party and fornicate and drink and take drugs or whatever, I want you to just remember this sermon in that day. In that day when you find yourself hitting rock bottom, remember this sermon and remember, I can go back to Faithful Word Baptist Church because Pastor Anderson will receive me. Pastor Anderson will receive me back. The people at Faithful Word, they've been taught to receive me back. We will all receive them back, amen? Because we know what the Bible says. Forgive other people, give people another chance and God's mercies are new every morning. As Christ has received us, so we should receive one another, right? Christ, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you, you should forgive one another. And so we know all that. And so if you are stupid enough to go out there and mess up your life after growing up in Faithful Word and hearing this stuff, remember that you can always come back. If you're astray right now, come back. And if you're a young person, don't go there in the first place because you know what's better than coming back? Not leaving is better than coming back. And only somebody who doesn't get it would think otherwise like this elder brother. That's why he has to be rebuked here. Let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy, Lord. Lord, in my life, your grace and your mercy was there to actually keep me from going astray in the first place and I'm thankful for that, Lord. And thank you so much for your grace and mercy in other people's lives where they did go astray, but you actually allowed them to come back and you brought them back to the fold, Lord. And so we just pray that every single saved Christian that's out there would realize that they can come back, even if they've been unfaithful to church, they can come back anytime. And Lord, help us all to stay faithful and to have a right spirit, never to envy the wicked and to always treat people who come back well. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.