Thank you Naomi and we can say Hallelujah to the Lamb and Hallelujah to the Lamb that was slain for our sins and we bless God that someday we'll gather round the throne and we'll worship him forever, those that have been redeemed by precious, precious blood. Thank you, Roger, for leading. Thank you for being out. It's lovely to have you with us this evening. We trust that the Lord will speak to every waiting heart tonight. If I was to be asked what my favourite story in the whole of the New Testament would be, I would have to say that it is the story that we will read off and then preach off in God's Word tonight. It is the story of the prodigal son. You might ask the question, why is it your favourite story? The reason is because I was the prodigal because I was the prodigal son. I want you to open the Bible to Luke's Gospel in the chapter 15 if you have a copy of God's Word. If you don't, don't you worry about that. We'll just read a few passages. If there's someone beside you, I'm sure that they'll allow you to look on to the Word of God that we will read tonight. Luke's Gospel and the chapter number 15 commencing to read at the verse number 1. then drew near unto him, that being the Lord Jesus Christ, all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. These religious hypocrites lay the charge against the Saviour that this man receiveth sinners. But instead of the Saviour refuteating that claim, He's going to back home that claim and he's going to prove that he really does receive sinners. And so he gives three different stories to back home the truth that Jesus Christ receives sinners because he is the friend of sinners. And it is the third story that I want us to read, verse number 11, and he said, a certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me, and he divided unto them his living. 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 want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my Father 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 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, 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 fattest 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 merry. Amen. May God bless the reading of His precious Word. Let's keep our Bibles open, our finger on this story, and let's unite our hearts in prayer just for a few moments to seek help from God tonight in the preaching of His precious Word. Our Father in heaven, we come again, Father, to Thy throne, confessing, Lord, that the arm of flesh will feel Confessing, dear Father Lord, that unless the Spirit of God comes and attends the preaching of Thy Word, this will just be another meeting, just another mission, just another gospel message. But we pray, heavenly Father, that Thou wilt come, Lord, and clothe this, Thy servant, with Thy power and with Thy Spirit, dear Father Lord, that none of our words would fall to the ground tonight. We pray, Lord, that Thou will grant us, O God, the covering and the sheltering of the precious blood of the Lamb. We pray, Lord, that Thou will drive out every distracting thought, blessing me that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. And we ask Thee, Almighty God, that thou wilt come and vindicate God's one and only ordained way to save the lost through the preaching of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, heavenly Father, that we might uplift Jesus. We pray, Lord, that men women, young people, might look away, dear Father, from all that they have been looking towards, and they may look on to Jesus, the slain Lamb. O Father, we pray that Thou wilt answer prayer, fill Thy servant with Thy Spirit. We thank Thee that Elijah's God still lives today, to take the guilt of sin away. And when I pray, my heart's desire upon my soul He'll send a fire, but we ask it, believing in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Within the heart of every man and woman that has ever stepped onto the stage of history, there is a desire for just one thing. It is a desire for freedom. The desire for freedom. The very thought of rules and laws and regulations and commandments goes against the very grain of a human heart that is bound and captured by sin. Society encourages the individual to throw off every restraint in search for such freedom and such happiness, while Satan and sin silences men's conscience as they pursue this utopia on earth. Tonight we have read the story of a young man to Bible readers. He's known to us as the prodigal son. This young man resented the restrictions of home. He despised his father's laws and his regulations and hated his small-town existence of his life. And so, with a windfall of cash from his soft touch of a father, he decided to head off into the world, into the place of sin, into the far country, all in search for one thing. He wanted to find freedom. Freedom. His journey into the far country, his journey into sin and into the things that Satan would bring him into was fuelled by certain things. It was fuelled by the promises of the devil. The devil told the young man, far off fields are always much more greener. It was fuelled by the passions which reigned within this young man's body. And it was fuelled by the encouragement of his friends, come on, let's have a good time. To this young man, the far country and its world and its pleasures promised so much. The world promised this young man, as we have said, it promised him the freedom that he desired. Freedom from his dad. Freedom from the rules and laws of his home. Freedom to be what he wanted to be. Freedom to do what he liked. He could come and go as he pleased. Once and for all, this young man is going to be his own man from now on. It promised him fun. It promised him fun for every passion, every desire, every sinful lust that was within his body could be fulfilled within the far country. The drink would flow. Relationships would be struck up. Friendships would be united. For him, the far country promised to be just one big party. And so off he goes, leaving behind him the people that loved him the most. What a picture this is of many a young man, many a young woman in this land tonight. They pack off their bags and they head to university, they head to college, they throw off the restraints of a Christian home and they want to go out and just have one big party. It's like an individual who even stays at home and yet they rebel against a mother and a father's godly advice. And they decide to go off into the world. They decide to leave the house of God. They decide to leave a youth fellowship. They decide to leave a Sunday school. All in search for one thing. In search for freedom. I wonder, does that describe you tonight? I wonder, have you left off your godly influence of a mother and a father? I wonder, have you thrown off every moral restraint that has ever come across your life, all in order to find freedom, liberty, joy, satisfaction and happiness? Have you tried the far country? Are you in the world tonight? You're in this meeting, you're not saved, you're in this world and you've went to the world, to the discos and the nightclubs, all in search for this this utopia that you're looking for. I wonder tonight, are you in the world with bags packed And with goods by said this know-it-all of a young man headed down the road and he ran as fast as his feet could carry him into the world and into its pleasures. He had great expectations in the far country as he entered the big city and for a while things went well for this young man until one day, until one day God stepped in and taught this young man a few lessons. In the far country, in the place of sin, in the world, this young man was going to learn a few lessons. And I want to say to you, if you're unseathed in this meeting, if you continue down the road of sin that you're on, and if you continue to throw off the restraint, and if you continue to walk away from God, you're maybe a young man in this meeting, and you've only taken the first steps away from God. You're a backslider. You've left off the prayer meeting, you've left off Bible study, you've left off prayer, and you've only taken just a few steps into the far country, just a few steps away from God. But I want to say to you that you're going to learn the same lessons as this young man learned in the far country, and I'll tell you, they're going to be very bitter lessons that you're going to learn. You may ask, well, what questions or what answers? Or what lessons did the young man learn in the far country? The first lesson that this young man learned was that sin takes you further than you ever intended to go. Sin takes you further than you ever intended to go. The book of Proverbs, in Proverbs 13, in the verse number 15, it says that the way of the transgressor is hard. And there's many an individual in this meeting and you say, you know, I couldn't be a Christian because the Christian life is a hard life. But I'll tell you the life of a sinner is a harder life. The life of an ungodly man is a harder life because the way of the transgressor is hard. The way that I look at it is that the Christian has the best of both worlds. What do I mean? Well, first of all, the Christian has the best life. Jesus Christ says that I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. The life that Jesus Christ gives, He gives you life. If you're unsaved in this meeting, you're only living in existence and you don't know what it is to truly live. The Christian has the best life. If I was to ask Christians in this meeting tonight, Do you regret coming to Jesus Christ? I can guarantee you 100% that not one Christian in this meeting would say that they regretted becoming a Christian. Not one. They would actually say that they wish they had come to Jesus Christ a lot earlier in life. Why? Because their life is full of scars of sin. Many tears were shed before they came to Christ. Many a heartache was broken and many a heart was breaking because of sin in their life. and they wish that they are to come to Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus Christ comes to give life. The Christian not only has the best life, the Christian has the best death. You see, whenever I come to die, I'll not be alone because the Word of God says that if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God's going to be with me. You see, the problem is that you might live your life without Jesus Christ and get on quite fine and dandy. But there's going to come a day whenever the coronary is going to come. There's going to come a moment whenever the heart attack is going to come. There's going to come a moment whenever the car accident is going to come. And you're going to be standing at the River Jordan, the Jordan of death. And you're going to have nobody to take you on to the other side. And you're going to be all alone. The Christian has the best life. The Christian has the best death. And the Christian has the best eternity. Heaven is my home. Heaven is my home. There's going to come a day whenever these feet, size 9, are going to walk onto the streets of glory. I'm going to walk through the streets of Perth. I'm going to see Moses. I'm going to see Joshua. I'm going to see Rahab. I'm going to see Esther. I'm going to see Ruth. I'm going to see Peter. I'm going to see James. I'm going to see John. I'm going to see Timothy. I'm going to see Mr. Mueller. I'm going to see C.H. Spurgeon. I'm going to see Mary Schleser. But I'm going to see Jesus. I'm going to see Jesus. And Jesus will outshine them all. And I'll not care about my mansion. As I say to some people, I don't care if I'm stuck in a wheelie bin some corner in the streets of glory. Just as long as I get there. And getting there I am by the blood of Jesus. And that's the only way. You see, the best eternity. And I'm going to be in the presence of Jesus Forever. Imagine that. You know, you would think some Christians, you know, they think like forever. And they come to church and they kind of think, phew, that boy is going to be late tonight. Listen, this is just getting ready for heaven. This is just getting ready for heaven. And if you don't like church on earth, I'll tell you folks, you're going to be stuck in heaven. You're going to be stuck. It's a clear evidence that maybe you're not born again if you can't meet with God's people. Well, we have the best life, we have the best death, and we have the best eternity. In God's presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore. And I'm going to enjoy just being at the feet of Jesus. Well, the way of the transgressor is hard. And I tell you that's very true. I want to tell you why. Because in the church that I have went to, I have saw young girls go out of our youth fellowship and leave our church. I've seen this happen. I've seen young men. I've seen young beautiful looking girls going out and in five years time, written over them is the way of the transgressor's heart. It shows in their face and in their appearance. Sin scars a man. And a young girl that was beautiful, she now bears the marks of sin. A young man that was a handsome young man. Now he has reddened eyes. He's got that beer belly because he's drunk so much alcohol. He's got that scrubby looking look about him. You know, as appearance-wise, it shows him that sin is hard. The way of the transgressor is hard. You know, the prodigal entered the promised land with so many dreams he wanted to fulfill. I'm sure the young man thought that he could handle his drink. I'm sure he could handle himself in the far country. And at the beginning it was just one drink. Just one drink, just one party, and just one girl. But you see, sin doesn't satisfy. Sin doesn't satisfy with that individual and so one drink has to move on to another drink. It has to move on to another drink and very soon people are drinking bottles of vodka to try and get that kick out of life that they once got from their first drink. It was just one drink, just one party, just one girl. But this young man went deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into sin, insomuch that the Word of God records us in the verse number 13, that he spends all his inheritance on riotous living. Riotous living. Maybe this describes you tonight. Once it only took one drink, but now it takes shot after shot. You know, once you find pleasure in sin, but now it no longer gives you the buzz, and so you've went deeper and deeper and deeper into sin. You know, you've went deeper than you ever expected to go. So deep that you've lost your purity. So deep that you've lost your dignity. And so deep that you're about to lose your soul. so deep into sin that you're about to lose your soul. The Word of God says, because there is wrath, beware. Lest he take thee away with his stroke, then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. Did you ever think tonight that your soul could be required of thee, and God would take you away with his stroke? and you will have missed your opportunity, your moment and now you're in God's eternity and you've all held and all eternity to regret having missed the gospel and the call of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may ask, how far? You might say, I'm a young man and I know that I've started to wander away from God. How far does an individual go? The answer to that question is further than they ever expected to go. Further than they ever expected to go. Sin took this young man first of all to sexual immorality. Sexual immorality. Strip clubs, the brothels and the red light district of this big city. became the hunting ground of this young man. How do I know that? Well, if you turn to the verse number 30 of Luke chapter 15, you'll see that the elder brother in this family, whenever the prodigal comes home, it says he lays his charge against them. But as soon as this thy son, verse 30, was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots. Now, if you want to know what a harlot is, a harlot is a prostitute. Now, it wasn't just one prostitute. It says that he devoured his living with harlots, plural. This wasn't just one prostitute. Night after night, weekend after weekend, this young man devoured his living, spent all his living on wild women and prostitutes of that city. You may say, that preacher always preaches against sexual immorality. I'll tell you why I preach against sexual immorality, because I believe that it is the greatest sin of the 21st century. 21st century society has made sex its God. And this preacher, and sex, I tell you, there's nothing wrong with it, but it must be in the bounds of marriage, full stop. That's it. Within the bounds of marriage. Any other act of sexual nature is forbidden against God. It is between a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage. Anything else is fornication or adultery. And that's what the Bible says. You know, we live in a society where a lot of people have sleeping partners. You hear about this? Oh, she's just my sleeping partner. Well, I'll tell you, we live in a society where the virginity of a person is laughed at. We live in a society where adultery is rampant and we live in a society where sexually transmitted diseases are at epidemic proportions. You go to Dungannon tonight and HIV and AIDS is at epidemic proportions in Dungannon tonight. We live in a society where a world that calls sexual immorality by different names. What do I mean? Well, you hear people saying he or she is my sleeping partner. I want to say God calls it Sin. Sin. Aye, we hear, oh, we're just cohabiting. We're just living together. God calls it sin. People say, oh, it's just a little fling in the side. It's just an extra-marital affair. God calls it sin. It's just a one-night stand. God calls it sin. Sin. And sin, when it is finished, will bring forth death. Now this young man not only went to the depths of sexual immorality and impurity, but sin took him to financial bankruptcy. Look what it says in the verse number 13 and 14. It says, And when he went into the far country, there he wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, Not a penny, not a shackle, that's what they used in Israel. Not a shackle left that that young man had. I tell you, sin empties a man's wallet and sin empties a woman's purse. Sin empties a man's wallet and sin empties a woman's purse. I tell you, you ask the gambler. You ask the gambler what sin has done in their life and I'll tell you, he'll tell you that it's emptied their pockets. You ask the drug addict about her sin and about trying to feed her habit and you'll find out very soon that she's had to steal and she's had to take money from other people to feed her habit. You tell or ask the alcoholic about his sin and I'll tell you, he'll tell you about remortgaging his house and the repossession of his house. Sure we heard it on Friday night from her sister Jeannie, 14,000 pound down in three months she had drunk it dry. I tell you, sin empties a person's pockets. Do you ever see them, people there, sitting with their scratch cards, you know, they think they've got fleas. They're scratching through there, and then you look down, and they're trying just to get a bit of money. But sin always empties a man's pockets. You know, there's a lot of people, and they say, you see that church business, all they're after is your money. I've heard that. I remember having a mission up, up round Ballybreast, up round the Cookstown area, and there's a man, he says, all those, that mission stuff, they're only after your money. But that's not true. You think about it, you go out at the weekend, you spend £20 on the dog, say you get £300 a week. You have £300 a week for your wages. You spend £20 on the dogs or the horses. You go out to Dormans or Mary's and you spend £40. That's £60 the weekend. That's a very light weekend. So do you know how much money you've spent on sin? 20% of your hard-earned cash has went into the till of Dormans or into Mary's or into William Hill. 20%. Now God's people are just to give 10% to God. So I'll tell you, you'll be better off coming to Christ, money-wise. instead of giving your money to Mr. Dorman or up the road. Sin empties a man's pockets. You see, whenever I give to God, I never lose. Never lose. You always get an investment. You are investing in eternity. But I'll tell you, the sinner, do you know what your investment brings you? Do you know your returns on your investment? Do you know what sin will bring you? It'll bring you a sore head on a Monday morning. It'll bring you thrown up in a toilet bowl on a Saturday morning. It'll bring you empty pockets. It'll bring you to a visit of casualty. It'll bring you to empty pockets and an empty soul, a broken marriage, and it will finally end you in God's hell. It brought him to financial ruin this time in the far country because the Word of God says, the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. It also brought another thing, the far country. It brought him to complete loneliness. Look what it says in the verse number 16. And when he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave on to him. It's very interesting. Where's his friends now? Where's the friends that encouraged him to go into the far country? Where's the friends that put the drunk down his throat? Where's the friends that put the drugs into his veins? Where's the friends that says, come on, have a good time with us? Where's his friends now? Do you know where they're at? They've ditched him, like all your friends. And I know, folks. I was in Edinburgh University and I soon found out that I didn't have very many friends. You know who I found out were my friends? My family and God's people. And that's all I had. whenever I was away from God. It says no man gave on to Him because I tell you whenever the rubber hits the road you don't have too many friends. You don't have too many friends. Complete loneliness. No man gave on to Him. You know maybe tonight you're in this meeting and you feel alone. Maybe you're in this meeting and you feel that nobody cares. Can I tell you that Jesus cares? The Word of God says, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for thee. Maybe you're in this meeting and you feel, you know, that I'm one of society's castaways. The Word of God says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And maybe you feel that society has cast you out. Maybe you feel that there's no hope for me. Can I tell you, there's no hopeless cases with God, because the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, can cleanse from all sin. Whatever you've done, whatever act of sin you've committed, I'll tell you, the blood can cleanse you from all sin. Because it cleansed my soul, and it cleansed others, because Jesus is a friend of sinners. Like, who really wants to know the alcoholics? true life. Who wants to know the alcoholic? Accept Jesus. Who wants to know the drug addict? Stuck on dope and heroin. Who wants to know something? Accept Jesus because Jesus is a friend of sinners. Jesus is a friend of sinners. Sin takes you further than you ever intended to go but I want us to see second light. Lesson number two, there are pleasures in sin but only for a season. There are pleasures in sin, but only for a season. The Word of God tells us in Proverbs 21, 17, He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. Can I tell you, I see a friend in this meeting tonight, there are no free rides on the devil's playgrounds. There's no free rides on the devil's fairgrounds, because there's always wages for sin. Like any good summer holiday, it always has to come to an end. You're sitting out there, lying in Mallorca, and you're soaking up the tan, and you're thinking, well, I've only a couple of days left. You see, it always has to come to an end someday. Football careers, football managers, Mr. Mourinho, all knows very well today that his time at Chelsea, it's all over. The season's all gone. The season's over. Because everything has to end. Everything has to end and then eternity starts. And what will you do then? What will you do then? Well, I tell you, there comes a time whenever you have to hang up the boots whenever you're playing football because the aches and the pains are too much for you and you can't go on to the football pitch. And like any good movie, there's always the rolling of the final credits because, you see, it all has to come to an end someday. is a young man in the Bible by the name of Moses. Moses was brought up in Egypt's palace. He had everything that his heart could desire. There was beautiful women in the palaces, there was music, there was drink, there was food. There was that position within society where everybody looked up to Moses because he was next in line to Egypt's dynasty. And as that young man, he looked out And as he considered all these things, all these pleasures, all this entertainment that lay before him, it says that Moses made a choice. It's recorded for us in Hebrews 11, and it says that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. I want to stop there. He suffered, he wanted to suffer affliction with the people of God. I'll tell you, if you're a genuine Christian, if you're a genuine Christian, you'll suffer affliction. You'll have people laugh at you whenever you tell them that you're a Christian. You'll have people mock you and ridicule you. You'll have people, and they will ridicule and say all manner of evil against you if you are a genuine Christian. If you are not suffering in these things, then I wonder, are you a true child of God? Well, it says Moses chose rather to suffer the affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Why? Because he realized that they were only for a season. just for a season. Can I ask you, unseen friend, in this meeting, whenever you've drunk yourself stupid and you're still miserable, what will you do then? I want to ask you, whenever you've tried the last drug on the market and you still feel empty, what will you do then? Whenever you've climbed the last rung of society's ladder and you've got to the top and you find that there's nothing there, what will you do then? Whenever you've entered into relationship after relationship after relationship and you still feel lonely and unloved, what will you do then? Whenever you've tried the last sin that you could have ever imagined that you could have committed and you still feel unsatisfied with life, what will you do then? Do you know what people do nowadays? They take a gun and they blew their heads off and they urged themselves into God's eternity. You ask people like Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain stuck a gun to his head and blew his brains out and the world was at his feet. Think about Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix, that guitarist, just before he died, he went to a concert and at the end of the concert he played his guitar And then he smashed his guitar and he fell down on the platform on his knees with his hands raised and the crowd applauded and roared in silence. They thought this was great. Jimi Hendrix stayed there for five minutes and the place was in total silence, thousands of people. And Jimi Hendrix broke the silence and he said, if there's anyone in this audience can tell me where I can find peace. Then come to my stage door. I want to speak to you tonight. Not one person came to the stage door. And within one week, Jimi Hendrix had took a drugs overdose and went into God's eternal. Having gained the world, he lost his soul. Ask people like Elvis Presley. Ask people like Paula Yeats, Robbie Williams, Britney Spears, all these people, all these people that have the world at their feet. Isn't it strange that the people that have the world at their feet have their worlds crashing in around them? Because there is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. For tonight It could be said of them, he that liveth in pleasure is dead, while she liveth. They are the walking dead. They are the walking dead. And maybe that's you tonight. Be not deceived. The Word of God says, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man or a woman soweth, that shall he also reap. The third lesson this young man was going to learn was lesson number three. God will break up your party. God will break up your party. You see, God suddenly applied the brakes to this young man's life. You see, God was going to engineer circumstances in this young man's life that were beyond his control. You see, everybody likes to have their world in control, but they forget about God. And they forget about that God can step into their life. And the thing about it is that God doesn't have to ask permission to step into your life. If God's wanted to get your attention as an unsafe person, if God has wanted to try and waken you up, God will break into your life whether you send Him an invitation or not. God will break up your parting. God was engineering circumstances. His friends would desert Him. His friends would desert him, his pockets would lie empty, his dreams all lie shattered. He's standing in the ashes of his dreams. Nothing has come to pass. All that he thought, all his sin that he thought would bring him this freedom, it's now all in the ashes. And God's going to break into his life, for look what it says in the verse number 14. And when he had spent all Look what it says, and when he had spent all, and whenever you thought that things couldn't get any worse for this man, it did. But it says, when he spent all there arose a mighty famine in the land. Do you know what God was trying to do? God was trying to get his attention. and there's people in this meeting, and you're on move with the gospel, you do not realize what's down this week, down the road for you. God might have you found in a car accident in order to get your attention. God may have to find you standing at the grave of your mother, or your father, or your best friend, or your cousin, or your schoolmate, in order to get your attention. God may have to break up that relationship between you and the girl, or you and the fella. God might have to work by times of sickness, times of illness, maybe times of depression, maybe a car accident, maybe a work accident, maybe a motorbike accident, maybe God's going to save your friend in this meeting tonight, and it's going to shock you tonight, and God will try to get your attention. Maybe everywhere you seem to turn, there's a Christian. You can't get out of the way. You walk down the street, and who it is, but it's a Christian. You come again, and you're walking down the street, and there it is, and there's a wee brother man, and he's handing out gospel tracts. You go round the corner, and there's some evangelical church, and they're having a gospel open air. You jump into your car, and you drive along, and on the telegraph poles, you know, there's a sign, prepare to meet thy God. Get ready, how shall we escape if we need lack so great salvation? You travel down to Belfast every day and there you see it, Christ died for us according to the scriptures, was buried and that he rose again according to the scriptures. Signposts at the side of the road. All in order to try and waken you up. But I can tell you folks, I think putting an atomic bomb under some of you sinners wouldn't even move you. Not realizing that God holds your next breath. Your next step could be into God's eternity. And you don't even seem to care! God's trying to waken you up. You may say, you know, that creature does a wild lot of shouting. You know why I do a wild lot of shouting? Because you're doing a wild lot of sleeping. That's right. You're doing a wild lot of sleeping. And you need to prepare to meet your God. Someday God would break up his party. We read of a keen, a keen by the name of Belshazzar. You know, Belshazzar was like a typical young, sort of 20, 30-year-old man that's about today that doesn't believe he needs God. He's a bit of a know-it-all. There's plenty of them about, a lot of smart alecks about the thing. They don't think that they need God in their lives. And Belshazzar, you know, thought that, well, he had made it. He's now the keen of the realm. And he thought that he would show off to all his friends, and so he decided to have a house party. I'm sure you all know what a house party is. And in this house party, there's going to be plenty of drinks, so there was. And it was just going to be like a drunken orgy, so it wasn't. But he was going to defy God in the midst of it. And so he decided to send out a few invitations. In actual fact, he sent out 1,000 invitations to all his friends. He had plenty of friends. Isn't it interesting that everyone wants to come to your party? Everyone wants to come to your wedding, but nobody wants to come to your funeral? It's very interesting, that. But everybody wanted to come to this man's party, and so 1,000 people showed up that night. He sent them out, but there was only one invitation that he forgot to send, but God was going to gatecrash his party anyway. You see, he didn't send an invitation to God Almighty for God Almighty to come to his party and ruin, as he saw, his sinful life. But God showed up, and God will show up in your life whether you send him an invitation or not. And if God does not show up to you in this gospel meeting, then he'll try harder and greater and more powerful ways to try and get your attention. But show up God will. Show up God will. God crashed his party. Have you ever heard the saying, the writings on the wall? Have you ever heard the saying, the writings on the wall? Well, it comes from the story in Daniel chapter 5. For in the middle of the party, in the middle of the dancing, in the middle of the drinking, in the middle of the eating, God was going to write a message and it was a personal message. This message wasn't for anybody else in the room. It wasn't for some other lord, some other ruler. This message was a specific message for that king. And I want to say that this message tonight isn't for the person sitting beside you. You might be saying, well, he's a bigger sinner than I am, so he needs God more than I do. This sinner, this isn't for people in front of you, behind you. This message tonight is for you. For you. What was the message? The message was meaning. God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. You see that throne that you're on? That's finished, Belshazzar. Perez, thy kingdom is divided to the Medes and to the Persians. Tekel, thou art weighed on the balances and found wanting. In modern volacular, you know what God was saying to him? God was saying to him, Belshazzar, the party's over. The party's over and tonight you're going to stand before me. You're going to stand before your maker. And the Word of God says, and in that night, verse number 30 of Daniel 5, in that night, that very night, tonight, Belshazzar, it says, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And he found out that there was a God. And he found out that the God that broke up his party was going to cast him into hell. God will break up your party. You can be sure you're living a life of sin. There's going to come a day whenever God's going to break into your life. Because God wants you to become a Christian. God wants you to become a genuine Christian. The last lesson that this young man learned was this lesson. And it's the greatest lesson. Don't miss it. It's the greatest lesson. And it was this. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. You see, this young man, the music stopped. And all the dance floor cleared. And the dirty jokes and the stories of his friends, they were just a distant memory. And under the stars, of a Jerusalem night, this young man sat down and he started to do a bit of thinking. He started to do a little bit of thinking. What did he think about? He didn't think about the drink in a far country. He didn't think about the woman. He didn't think about the party. He didn't think about the disco. He didn't think about the nightclub. He started to think about how he had wasted his life. He started to think about how he had wasted his talents and how he had wasted his time on things that do not count for an eternity. And then he started to think about his dad. He started to think about his dad. And he started to think about home. He just thought about home. says, and when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's house have bread enough to spare. And this young man came to the conclusion, there's no place like home. There's no place like home. And so he decided, he decided, I was going to say he decided to pack up his bags, but he didn't even have shoes on his feet. His father calls for shoes to be. He didn't even have shoes on his feet. I don't know what happened. Maybe he lost them in the bat. I don't know. This young man didn't even have shoes on his feet. He went out with packed suitcases, and he came back with rags. And as he got up from the pigs that night, he started to make his way back home. And I want you to see that he didn't try to clean up himself. He just smelled like the pigs. He just smelled like the pigs. He didn't say, I must go into a chemist and get some Calvin Klein and put it on me before I see my dad, because he had no money. He didn't try to clean up his life before he came to the Father. I trust that you're getting what I'm trying to say. You don't have to try and clean up your life before you come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know how you come? Just as you are. Just as you are. He didn't go into a shop and say, you know, I must buy my dad a box of Quality Street to see if that will appease him and merit me acceptance with my father. No. Because nothing that that young man could have done would merit favor with his dad. He just came as he was. And tonight you're in this meeting and you may say, I don't understand all that that preacher is talking about. What I do understand is that I'm away from God. What I do understand is I have went into a life of sin and it has not satisfied me. And I want to come to the Lord Jesus Christ tonight. Well, then I trust that you'll just come as you are. He started to walk down a road. Do you know what the road was called? Repentance Road. Repentance Road. You see, as this young man arose, he was saying goodbye. He was saying goodbye to his worldly friends. Goodbye. He was saying goodbye to the nightclubs. Goodbye. He was saying goodbye to the drink. Goodbye. He was saying goodbye to the ungodly relationships. Goodbye. He was saying goodbye to uncontrolled passions. He was saying goodbye to his sinful habits. He was saying goodbye to the world. And that's what it is to be a Christian. To say goodbye to your sin. Goodbye. My old companions, fare ye well, I will not go with thee to dwell. You're trying to tell me, preacher, that I have to say goodbye to all the things that I love to take up the things that I hate? No. I'm trying to tell you that you're going to say goodbye to the things you now hate, to take up the things that you now love, because your sin no longer satisfies you, and so you're going to become a child of God. It was goodbye And I want to say to you, if you're in this meeting, if you're unwilling to say goodbye to the drink, and if you're unwilling to say goodbye to the sexual immorality, if you're not going to say goodbye to your friends, to your worldly companions, your dirty jokes, your filthy tongue, if you're not going to say goodbye to Dormans and Kellys and the Beach Club, if you're not willing to say goodbye, then don't be coming to this preacher for counselling. and don't be going to her archer for counseling, because there must be a willingness to say goodbye forever. And then there must be a going towards the father. He left behind the far country, and he went to the father. And do you know what? The benefits of going to the father outweighed the negatives of staying in the far country. It was just three things, and we close with this. This young man didn't know what his acceptance would be, but the Word of God tells us when his father saw him, he fell on him and had compassion. He ran and fell on his neck and he kissed him. You know, his father didn't turn around and say, you know, I know what you have done to a country. The father didn't bring up the sins of his past, the father just forgave him. because there's no place like home. What was it about home that moved this young man from his life of sin and what should move you tonight? First of all, there was the Father's presence. Just to be in the Father's presence. And I tell you that there's no better, no more exciting, no more happy place to be whenever you're in the presence of Jesus. at the feet of the Father, at the feet of the Master. In His presence, we have said, is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore. There was the Father's presence, there was the Father's pardon. Pardon. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy unto our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah, chapter 55, and the verse number 7. There was the father's pardon, there was the father's presence, and there was the father's provision. You know, it's very interesting to note that this young man, when he sat in the far country, do you know what he talked about all the time? He says, I will arise and go to my father because how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and despair? He talked all the time about bread. He was talking about bread. But do you know what happened whenever he came to his father? Do you know what his father gave him? His father gave him a T-bone steak. He wanted bread, but he got a T-bone steak. Why did I say that? Because it says, bring hither the fatted calf. A 16-ounce sirloin steak was set on that young boy's plate, because God gives you more than you ever expected God could give you. And there's people that say, if I came to Jesus, well, what would I do? He'll give you more! And whenever you're finished with that, He'll give you more! And more! And more! Because Jesus satisfies! He does. Now, if you want to stay in the husks, you stay in the husks. But I'm going to feed on T-bone steak. And that's what that young man said. He says it's either the husks, Or it's a sirloin steak. And I'll tell you, I'll take a sirloin steak any day. And that young man came back home. He just came back home. You know, there's only one place that a person can find the Father's presence and the Father's pardon and the Father's provision, and it's at the cross. That's the only place, the cross. It's not at a church. It's not at an altar. It's not at a baptismal point. It's not at sacraments. It's not about being baptized. It's not about it. It's the cross, folks. It's just the cross. Just the cross. I close with this. There was a young girl, and she wanted to leave home. And so she decided to pack her bags, and she left her home. She just had one, just a mother. The father was away. And one day, that mother went up into the room and found a note and said, mother, I've decided to leave home. I want to go and enjoy the things of this world. The mother knew what depths that young girl would sink into. And so she decided to go down to the chemist and go and get some passport photographs of herself, the mother, and write a little message on the back of each of those photographs. Her mother took a plane to Rio de Janeiro, where she went to. She went into every hotel room and every hotel toilet and into bars and nightclubs and she pinned up that little photograph with the message on the back. There was no response but one day the young girl, having went in deep into sin, into prostitution, into the deepest place of sin that she could ever go to. That young girl walked down the steps of a hotel and walked into a bathroom and she saw on the wall, just beyond her, she saw a picture and it caught her eye. And as she went closer, she saw that it was her mother. She took that little picture off the wall. She looked at her mother and she cried. She knew what shame she had brought on her mother. And then she turned that little photograph around, and she read this message. I don't care where you have been. And I don't care what you have done. Just come home. And she did. Unsafe person in this meeting, backslider in this meeting. Tonight there is a picture of the cross, and on the back of it is this message. I don't care where you've been, and I don't care what you've done. Just come home. And He'll be with you. Let's pray. Like every other night, we will be at the door. We'll have little booklets, A New Beginning, if you want to speak to us on spiritual things, speak to myself. Roger will be in this building. Don't go home without Jesus. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for Thy Word and the love story that is of the Prodigal Son. And Father, He went far. But bless God, his Father's prayers went further and reached a young man and brought him back home. And Father, there are young men in this meeting and there are young girls in this meeting and they are far from God. And I pray, Lord, that tonight that you'll bring them home. Bless the food to our bodies, our fellowship, and help us to be sensitive to the Spirit of God and what He has tried to do in this meeting. We ask it in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.