The Comeback
by Wesley Stephens
February 13, 2022 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Genesis 15:12-16, Genesis 1, Genesis 32, Exodus 3, Genesis 13:3-4, Revelation 2:3-5, 1 Corinthians 10:14, Malachi 3:7, Ruth 1:21, Micah 7:8, Isaiah 59:1, Deuteronomy 32:10-11

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/wesley-stephens--the-comeback
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Genesis is the 15th chapter. God is good, and He's going to have His will done in this place. We're finding here in verse 12, right after the promises — a promise has been given to Abram, where he is to look up and count the stars. And when he's looking at those stars, all those stars represent his descendants. But it's in the 12th verse, it says: "Now when the sun was going down, that there was a deep sleep that fell upon Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him." Then he said — him being God — to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge. Afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, and you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here" — everybody say "return"; everybody say "here" — "they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

Today I want to preach on this subject: The Comeback. I believe in this place today that God is reaching for people to come back to where they once were. You know, in the business realm, businesses love when people come back. When you leave a restaurant, they give you that little receipt, and on there it says, "Thank you. Please come back and visit us." As you leave places that are full of tourism, like Gatlinburg for example, and you leave there, you'll see signs around town. They say, "Please come back. Come back and visit us. Make your way back." In the church realm, we like when people return to church, when we have guests and then they come back a second and third and fourth time, and we like to say, "Y'all come back and and worship with us." If you got relatives and you go visit them, and the trip goes well, at the end of the trip hopefully you'll hear that relative say, "Come back and visit us anytime."

My mom's in the house, and she remembers what I'm sure her dad used to say when we'd visit him in Findlay. He'd come, and at the door he'd say, "Now when are you all leaving?" I don't think you meant it wholeheartedly. And at the end of the trip, typically he would say, "Y'all come back." There was a TV show back in the day about some hillbillies that moved to Beverly, and at the end of every episode, in the song you'd hear, "Y'all come back now, you hear?" That's just a good Southern thing to say. "Y'all come back now, you here." I don't know why, but I always envision that being like right after I've eaten a bunch of frog legs or something random like that — not that I've ever tried frog legs. But we like the comeback. But I, I feel in this spiritual realm that the Lord is reaching for people to also make a comeback. I believe that there is a different kind of comeback: a comeback from disaster, a comeback from disease, they come back from despair, a comeback from disappointment, a comeback from discouragement. I, I believe that there's a comeback from the brinks of divorce. I believe that there are, uh, there are kinds of comebacks from illnesses and sicknesses and diagnosis. I believe that today in this place, God is trying to reach out to somebody and tell them it's time to have a comeback.

I know that today is Super Bowl Sunday, and maybe all of us are rooting for a good game, but there's nothing quite like a comeback. We like to see the comeback take place. But I believe, as much as we like to see it, and as much as we like to see other people experience it, I believe that there is something about our heavenly Father, that He likes it when He sees His people begin to repay, retake, return — to make a comeback. I want to speak to somebody today, that your failure is no longer going to define you, that your defeat is no longer the place you have to live within, that God is looking for a people to that will make a comeback. I want somebody to know that today ought to be the day that you make a comeback, that you get back what the — oh, I wish somebody would hear this today. It's time for you and I to make a comeback.

Within the sports realm, we love a comeback story. We give awards out for them, come back player of the year. When a team comes back from a large deficit, it's like it unites people. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the 2004 Boston Red Sox, when they made that comeback against the arch nemesis, the New York Yankees. I am a Red Sox fan. I'm sorry if that offends you. You can take it up with my dad. It was like, in 2004, I'll never forget the, the nation united around the, the Red Sox, because they were making this historical comeback. No team had ever been down three games tonight in the playoffs and found a way to win the series, but they did. What I've seen time and time again is that when there is a comeback, it unites people. It encourages them to cheer for them. You don't even have to like the team to like a comeback story. I've seen people who don't even like the sport start rooting for a team, because they're simply trying to make an historic comeback. I've seen it time and time again. People will stay glued to a game that 10 seconds ago they didn't care about, because there's this team that was the underdog, that had no chance, had no outlook that was positive, yet they were making this historic and iconic comeback.

And I feel today that within this preacher, I want to tell somebody, and to encourage somebody, that God would like to link up with somebody who is interested in making a comeback in the spiritual realm. What I believe is that before this service is over, God is looking for a person who feels beaten up, who feels discouraged, who feels like they've been knocked out, who's on the brinks of quitting, and He wants to reach it. Oh, I wish somebody would hear this. He wants to reach in and find you where you're at, and get you back on your feet, and say, "It's time to make the comeback."

What I want to do right now is this: I want you to understand, a comeback is for you today. What I mean by that is this, is I don't want you looking over your shoulder and thinking, who else should be coming back? It's you today. I'm speaking to you today. Today you need to make it personal, that you make a comeback, that you make a return, that you get back to where you know you are. I wish somebody could hear this. You need to get back to where God has called you to be. God is calling a group of people here at Center Point on this Sunday in February to make a comeback. I wish somebody to — oh, I wish somebody today would believe a comeback's for them.

It was in the 1930s that the American president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created a new series of programs called the New Deal. FDR, he put this into place, because it was his hope and dream that these programs would fuel the American comeback from the Great Depression. It was in 1942, during the Second World War, that Douglas MacArthur was forced to flee the Philippines, yet he vowed to the nation, "I will return." And after two years of gruesome battle in the Pacific, MacArthur walked again on the beaches of the Philippines, and he delivered his famous speech entitled "I Have Returned." It was in that same awful war that, as the United Kingdom was being bombarded and burned by Nazi Germany, that Winston Churchill, all five foot five of him, stood before a nation and said that the British would never, never, never, never, never give in. And it was just a few years after he made that speech that his country was victorious in battle.

And I've come to tell somebody today that, despite how bad it looks right now, and despite maybe how bad you've been beaten up, in despite about how much maybe you've lost in your circumstance, I've come to tell somebody, and to encourage somebody, that you need to have that same mindset as Churchill, where you would declare to your God, and declare to the people around you, that you will never, never, never, never, never give up. I don't care how much the devil has bombarded you lately. I don't care how many bombs he's thrown your way. I want to tell somebody: it's too early to quit. It's not over yet. It's not done yet. Because there is going to be a comeback. Or, today can be a comeback. Maybe it's been a long time since you felt the presence of God, but before you leave this place, you can come back. You can get back to where you once were. I believe in a God who restores. I believe in a God who gives. Job felt like he lost it all, but God said, "No, no, no, no, no. On the other side, I'm going to give you more than you've ever had, because I'm going to give you a comeback. You're going to come back to Me, and I'm going to —" I want somebody to hear this today, that God is making a way where there seems to be no way, because He's the God of the comeback.

In Genesis, the 15th chapter, Abraham has been given by God a glimpse into his future. He can see his descendants. He can see the multiple generations. He can see his great, great, great grandchildren. And as he's sitting there, and he's looking at the sky, he's counting the stars, I can only imagine that he was completely taken away by the promise that God had given him. But it was in the night time, in the dark times, in the devastation, in the defeat, that the, the Lord began to reveal to him a second tear to this promise. It was there that the Lord began to speak over Abraham and say: "Abraham, yes, I'm giving you descendants, but there's going to be a day where they're enslaved. There's going to be a day where they face devastation. There's going to be a day where they even face death. They're going to be trapped in this foreign country for 400 years." But before the dream was completed, the Lord spoke to Abraham, and He said: "But Abraham, I do not want you to fear, because one day they will return back to the place where I have promised them to be. Abram, I want you to know that there is a comeback that has already been planned."

I don't know what you're facing today. I don't know what the devil's been throwing at you. But I want you to know that the Lord has already made a way of escape. He's already made the comeback plan. He's just — He's just waiting for you to step out in faith and make your way back to where He promised you to be.

Lord, He, He gave Abram a promise, but He said there's also going to be pain. There's going to be frustration. There's going to be moments where you doubt the promise that I've given you. There's going to be days where your people will doubt that I'm going to deliver them again. I don't know where you're at today, but I want you to know that if God gives you a promise, He's going to see it through. If the Lord has told you something, if He has given you something, if He has promised you something, today you may feel doubt in your heart, but I want you to know that He still has a plan. He can still see that promise through. Yes, sometimes we do have to wait on the Lord, but He has never felt us. He's a faithful God. If He said it, He's going to do it. I said, if He said it, He's going to do it.

I'm always reminded of Genesis chapter 1, where God spoke and things happened. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Today, I don't know how dark your situation seems, but I want you to know, at the moment that God begins to speak light, there will be light. There will be restoration. There will be healing. There will be — I wonder today, does anybody still believe that God can deliver, that He can set — The God told Abram, He said, "There will be a day that I will pull them back out of the, the captivity, and I will place them in the promised land." And I just believe with all my heart that if God was willing to do that for them, what is He willing to do today for His church, for those that have been bought with a price, who have been washed in His name, who had been filled with His Spirit? I want somebody to know that if God could pull them out of Egypt, that He can pull you out of whatever you're facing, and He can set your feet. I wish today somebody would start believing in those old promises again. I wish somebody today will start believing in their giftings again. I wish today somebody would believe in their callings again. It's not over. It's not done. It's time. It's time for the combat.

In our country's short history, we have seen an economic disaster. We have seen natural disasters. We've seen attacks by terrorists. Yet every time, every situation, we've seen a full comeback. We've been restored to where we once were. In fact, sometimes I feel like we've only just made it better. There is something in the human condition that says that, "I may have lost this last round, but I'm not totally defeated yet. I'm going to get back up. I'm going to rebuild. I'm going to make it better. I'm going to get back to where I'm supposed to be."

Today, if you're in this place and you believe it's over — well, I believe I'm speaking to somebody. If today you're in this place and you believe that you're finished, or that it's done, or that it's never going to get better, or that you've gone too far, I want you to do this right now: I want you to tell the devil to shut up. If you feel like you can't get back up, I want you to know right now, the devil's a liar, and he's been lying to you for too long. It's time to get up. It's time to pat off that dust, and it's time to start making your comeback. The devil says it's over, but I'm looking at a people who still have breath in their lungs, who still have life, who have blood coursing through their body, and I want you to know that it's not over. But you are the perfect — you are the perfect candidate for a comeback. The comeback's for you today. The comebacks for you today. Today can be your day of — oh!

I'm gonna tell you right now, I get really excited when I start preaching about stuff like this. Let me tell you why. Because I've seen it happen. I've seen God deliver people. I've seen God break the walls of addiction. I've seen people pull — God pull people out of terrible situations. I've seen where His blood can come in and wash the center clean. I've seen it too many times. I've seen God fill people with the Holy Ghost. But I've seen God refill people with the Holy Ghost. If you've come today to tell me that God can't, I want you to know you've come a day too late, because I believe He's a restorer. I believe that He's a healer. I believe He's a deliverer. I believe that He is the God of the comeback.

There may be dark times in your life, but there's deliverance on the other side. There may be trouble, but there's always triumph. There may be adversity, but God has always got the answer on your behalf. He's ready to answer. He's ready to deliver. He's ready to give joy where there's anxiety. Oh, I believe I'm speaking to somebody, that today should be a day of comebacks.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've done anything for God." So what? Come back. "It's been a long time since I've taught a Bible study." So what? Come back. "It's been a long time since I felt a burden for the lost." So what? Come back. Today, on this Super Bowl Sunday, I think it's a great time for the church to make a comeback. Let me tell you why I think today is a great day for the comeback: the church is still here. Let me tell you why I think today is a great day for a comeback: the doors are still open. Let me tell you what, today is a great day for a comeback, because the altar can still be full of His Spirit. And where — where His Spirit is, there is liberty. There is freedom. There is opportunity for a comeback. Today ought to be a day for a comeback, because the altar is still here, and you can still have your life changed. It's come back season. Look at your neighbor and say, "It's come back season." I say it's comeback season.

Let me tell you who it's comeback season four: are backsliders. "Well, they don't want this anymore." Wrong. "They don't believe in truth anymore." Wrong. "They've gone too far." Wrong. I want somebody to hear this today: God's still reaching. He's still making a way. He's still got a comeback plan for each and every person that has walked away. The devil is a liar. In these last days there will be revival, and revival will spring forth from the backslider. I wish today a prayer mama would stand to their feet and say, "He's coming back," or "She's coming back," because it's come back season. It's come back season. It's time for the comeback.

Genesis, the 15th chapter — the 15th chapter in Genesis — the Bible says that the Lord began to speak to Abram when it was dark. Abram could not see — but he could feel, and he could hear, the word of the Lord. The Bible says that Abram was all alone, but God was there right beside him. I've come to experience in my life that, that God speaks the clearest when it's the darkest, when there's no distractions from the world, when there's no other voices that are blending in with His. When I'm all alone, it's then, in that season, where God can speak to me the best. I want somebody to know today: you may feel like it's dark, and you may feel all alone, but I do not want you to be discouraged, because it's in that place, it's in that setting, that God can do His best work. It's when it's darkest, it's when you feel the loneliness, that God will begin to speak to you.

Jacob, on three different occasions, when he finds himself all alone, it's then that God begins to speak to him. In the 32nd chapter of Genesis, Jacob — it says he sends his family onto the other side, and it's then that God begins to attack him in the middle of the night. It was a holy ambush. Bit Jacob didn't even see it coming. And then, surprise — God's here. God's here. He's going to make a comeback for you, Jacob. Today, it may be dark. It may be gloomy. You may not feel any hope. You may feel all alone. But what I believe — that, oh, I believe this with all my heart — some of you woke up not expecting much. You didn't anticipate much. But before this day is over, God is going to surprise you. He's going to surprise you with a plan. He's going to surprise you with a comeback. Well, I believe this today: He's going to make a way.

In Exodus, the third chapter, we find the Lord begin to deliver His people out of Egypt. Moses says, "Who should I say has sent me?" "I AM," He says. "Tell them it's the God of Abraham." I love the fact that He says, "I'm the God of Abraham." What He's trying to say is, "Look, Moses, I made a promise. I made a promise. I'm going to keep my promise. I'm going to keep my promise." In this place a day, I want you to hear this: the Lord is not breaking His promise. The Lord is not breaking His promises. He loves to bring people back. He loves to see the comeback. He's here today, and He's saying, "You're not far enough. You're not too low. You're not too bad." Today can be a day for a personal comeback for you. It's been too long? No. Today, the comeback is for you.

The 13th chapter of Genesis find Abram leaving Egypt. He was humiliated. He was embarrassed. I want somebody to grab a hold of this today. He had messed up. He did some things he shouldn't have done. He, he lied about Sarah. But in the third verse of Genesis 13, he says: "And he went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning." The Lord was bringing him back to the place where it all started. And verse 4 says, He brought him to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Abram was lost. He was humiliated. He was defeated. He was discouraged. And what did God say? God said, "It's time to get up and get back to where you first found Me. It's time for you to get back to that first altar, where you made that first sacrifice, where you made that first commitment." What I believe the Lord is reaching and telling somebody today is that it is time for you to get back to your first place where you met Him. Today I believe it's a day for somebody to get back to where you first committed everything to Him.

You know, when you first get in a relationship with the Lord, it's, it's easy to give up everything. But as we get seasoned in this, it becomes harder and harder and harder to sacrifice everything at an altar. But what I believe today that God is trying to tell somebody is that it's time to get back to your first commitments.

I'm hurrying, I promise. Revelation, the second chapter, verse three, it says: "And you have persevered, and have had patience, and have labored for My name's sake, and have not become weary." Good job. But verse 4 says this: "Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Verse 5: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works." I believe God has sent this preacher to tell somebody that it's time to get up, and it's time to repent, and it's time to find that first love again, and it's time to get back to — let me tell you what I'm tired of. I'm tired of the new converts being the only ones that bring people to church. Okay, I'll tell you what I'm tired of. I'm tired of it just being the new folks that will invite somebody to church, and we'll teach a Bible study, and we'll believe that somehow, some way, God can make something out of a person who's — well, I'm tired of depending on the new people. I want some seasoned folks today to stand up and say, "It's time for me to make a comeback. It's time for —" I wonder sometimes if we've forgotten our first love. Church, this size — and I'm not trying to be mean — but the church decides, I shouldn't have to be begging for midweek teachers. Is this okay? Church this size shouldn't have to be begging for Sunday school teachers for the kids. There should be a waiting list. "Well, I'm too busy right now." You're too busy for kingdom work? Let me tell you right now — and I'm not trying to be mean, I promise. I don't have a mean bone in my body. You can ask somebody else that knows me better than you. They'll tell you I'm a good person. But if you're too busy to do kingdom work, that tells me you've got some idols in your life.

I think that there is an issue with idolatry. The Bible says in First Corinthians 10:14: "Therefore, my beloved, flee, flee from idolatry." We like to quote "flee from sexual immorality," but the Bible also says that we are to flee from idolatry. I think today would be a fine day for somebody to sacrifice from all idols and say, "I'm not going back to it. I'm returning back to my first love. I'm returning back to my first works. I'm going to catch on fire again. I want to burn with zeal and passion for the kingdom of God." I want people today to get back to the zeal, to get back to the hunger, to get back to the passion, to get back to that first altar where you made that first commitment to Jesus. Today should be a day for you and I to return back to Him.

Bible says, Malachi chapter 3, verse 7: "Yet from the days of your fathers you've gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them." Listen to this, he says: "Return to Me, and I will return to you. Return to Me, and I will return to you." Notice who has to return first. It's us. It's me. I've got to return. But he says, if you will return, I will return to you.

Naomi, in the first chapter of Ruth, verse 21, she says: "I left full, but I have come back empty." That's how some of us are. When we started this thing, we were full, but we've let culture, we've let world, we've let our adversary rob us and take things from us, and now we're empty. But I hear the voice from the heavenlies saying, "If you will return, I will return to you, and I will give you more than you —" In the second chapter of Ruth, you'll find Naomi, she's in the palace, and she's full again. Today, you can be full again. You can be full of desire, full of hunger, full for passion for kingdom works. It can happen to you. It's come back season. It's comeback season. It's come back season.

Micah, seventh chapter, eighth verse — so popular verse — it says: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise." We like the rise part, but it says "when I fall," not "if I fall" — oh, now, should I fall? — but "when." I feel like I'm, I'm hitting some people right now where you're at, because here's the deal: you don't want to acknowledge the fact that you've fallen. You don't want to acknowledge the fact that you're not as close to God as you once were. But the day you admit, "I'm not where I once was," that is the day that you can arise, and get back on your feet, and start making your — I wish today that somebody would be honest with themselves and say, "I'm not where I want to be. I'm not where God promised me to be. But I'm getting back up. I'm standing back up. Yes, I may — have fallen." But the Bible says that a righteous man may fall seven times, but he will rise again. He will get back up. He will get back to where he once was.

I'm coming to a close. You can stand your feet. Today it's comeback day for somebody. Today should be the day for the comeback. "Well, I've gone too far. I've done too much. God won't take me back." That's wrong. Isaiah 59:1 says: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save." I want somebody to hear this right now: you haven't gone too far. You cannot go far. You cannot go too far. Job said: "I look right. I look left. I look forward. I look back. I cannot see Him. But He knows where I am." Today, He knows where you're at. He knows you have not gone too far. And today He's reaching for you.

Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 10 — this is it, this is where I'm ending. It says here in verse 10, 11 — it says: "He found him in a desert land, and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness, and He encircled him, and He instructed him, and He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its shine, spreading out its wings, taking them up and carrying them on its wings." That's what the Lord's doing today. He's encircled you. He, He knows where you're at, and as an eagle, He, He's stirring some things up in you right now, some things to your remembrance. But He wants to know, "I'm not just going to make you remember some things. I'm going to hover over you. I'm going to hover. I want to watch you. I'm going to make sure you're ok."

What he's trying to say is this: when a female eagle picks a mate, she'll go around, fly around, she'll find a male that's willing to chase after her. Sounds about right. When she sees that male start to chase her, she'll grab a stick, and she'll fly high in the sky. As that male eagle is chasing her, she'll get to a certain point, and she'll let that stick go, and she wants to see if that male eagle can fly fast enough to get to where that stick is before it hits the ground. Eagle — male eagle catches it. "Yeah, I got it." She's like, "All right, that's, that's all right. Let me go find a bigger stick." Just grabs that bigger stick, flies up in the sky, drops that stick again. The male eagle descends and grabs that stick once more. "I'm pretty good, aina," she said. "All right, let me go find a stick that weighs just as much as me. Let me go find the heaviest log that I can lift. Let me take it to the highest place that I can take it, and let me drop it." She drops it. And again, if he's going to be her mate, he'll catch it. You know why she does that? Because she knows one day she's going to have some babies in the nest, and those babies, one day, are going to try to learn how to fly. But maybe they get out there and they're not quite ready. Or maybe some wind pushes them off the nest, and they begin to fall. She wants to know that the father, no matter how fast that eagle is falling, that eagle, that male eagle, that daddy eagle, is going to be fast enough, and quick enough, and strong enough, to grab that eagle, and pick it back up, and say, "No, no, no. You're not going to crash and burn. You're not going to die here."

What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say this: you've got a Father in heaven, and despite how much you've fallen, and despite how quick you may be going down, I want you to know that He is quicker than your fault. And He's a — He's reaching out for somebody today, and He's saying, "No, no, no, no. Not today, devil. I'm getting them back. I'm pulling them back. Today's the day of comeback. Today's the day they come back. Today's the day I get them back in the nest where they're supposed to be."

Today — today should be your day to make the comeback, to get back what the devil has stolen from you, to get back from him everything that he's taken from you. Today ought to be the day for the comeback. Today say to come back to your call. Today's the day for you to come back to that ministry. Today's the day for you to come back to your purpose. Today's the day for you to come back to your Savior. Today's the day that you come back to your Redeemer. And He is more than able to get you, to pick you back up, and to put you where you're supposed to be.

When God pulled these Israelites out of Egypt, He took them out and He placed them right back in the promised land. "I'm going to take you out, and I'm gonna place you." Today, in this place, He don't want to just pick you up. He doesn't want you just to make a comeback. He wants you to make a comeback with a purpose, with a plan, that you're gonna get right back where you were supposed to be. Here's gonna be a day. He said to Abram, "I'm going to get them out, and I'm going to return them here." Today, in this place, this is the day that He's reaching for somebody, and He's saying, "Today I'm pulling you back out, and I'm placing you where you're supposed to be."

"Return to Me, and I will return to you." Right now I open this altar. I'm making an appeal for everybody to come forward. Today should be the day of come back. Today ought to be the day that you make a comeback. Today ought to be the day that you get some things right in your life. You have not listened. You have not gone too far. You have not made too many mistakes. He is more than able to restore, to repair, to fix anything that's broken, anything that's damaged. Today could be the day for a comeback. Today could be the day where you make a full comeback.

I'm speaking right now over every family. I'm speaking right now over every situation. I'm speaking right now over every marriage. And I'm speaking right now over every person that's under the sound of my voice. You are drawing them near to You, to make a comeback. And I pray right now that faith would be elevated in this place, that people would believe that You are able to grab a hold of them and to restore them, in Jesus' name. Come on, right now begin to pray. Begin to make your comeback. You begin to make your declaration: "I'm not staying where I'm at. I'm getting up. I'm getting back to the Father's house. I'm getting back to where His promises are for me." Oh, come on. Some of you are sitting back. Today should be your day. Today should be the day that you make a comeback. Today oughta be the day that you repair your relationship with your Father. Come on. Today's the comeback. Today's the comeback. Today's the comeback. I'm not gonna quit. I'm not gonna give in. Today is the day I'm coming back.