Luke xv. 23, 24. 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.
THE willingness of God to receive sinners is abun- dantly declared in Scripture ; but in no place is it so amply, or so beautifully described as in the parable before us. The reference which the parable has to the Jews and Gentiles will be more properly noticed, when we come to consider the conduct of the elder brother : at present we may view it as a lively repre- sentation of a sinner's return to God. The text
546 LUKE, XV. 23, 2i. [1545.
leads our attention to three points (which are also the three distinguishing parts of the parable) namely, the Prodigal's departure from his father, his return to him, and his reception with him.
I. His departure —
He went from his father's house, little thinking of the ruin he should bring upon himself —
[The occasion of his departure was, that he hated the restraint of his father's presence, and longed for independence, that he might gratify his own inclinations. Hence he desired his father to divide him his portion. But little did he think to what extent his passions would carry him. Scarcely had he received his portion, before he left his father, and departed to a distant country, where his actions would pass unnoticed. Having thus thrown the reins upon the neck of his appetites, he was carried on with irresistible impetuosity. From one degree of sin to another he rushed forward without restraint ; nor stopped till he had wasted his substance in riotous living. At last he began to feel the consequences of his folly : he was reduced to a state of extreme wretchedness ; yet he determined to do any thing rather than return to his father. Though a Jew, he submitted for hire to the ignominious employment of feeding swine : his wages however, there being a grievous famine in the land, would not procure him even necessary subsistence. In vain did he attempt to fill his belly with the husks intended for the swine. In vain did he solicit assistance from those who had known him in his more prosperous days. " No man," either from gratitude or compassion, " gave him" any relief.]
Such is the departure of sinners from the presence of their God —
[They have experienced the restraints of education, but have sighed for liberty and independence. With their growing years, they increasingly abuse the mercies which God has bestowed upon them. Their reason, their time, and other talents, they employ in the service of sin. Though they do not all run to the same excess of riot, they live equally at a distance from God. At last perhaps they begin to feel the misery which their neglect of him has brought upon them. His providence too concurs with his grace to make a deeper wound in their conscience : but they try any carnal expedients rather than return to God, nor 'can ever be prevailed on to turn unto him, till they have fully proved the insufficiency of the creature to afford them help. Whatever they may think