THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL

SON.

"I

PART II.

"A certain man had two sons: And 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," &c. &c.—ST. LUKE XV. 11-32.

THE RESOLUTION.

WILL arise and go to my father."

This is life from the dead! It is the dawn

of eternal day; the seed-time of a

harvest whose fruit endureth unto life everlasting. It is indeed a memorable hour in the life of the wanderer, when he resolves to return to his father. But how does the sinner return to God? Remember the nature of his departure. It was not a physical, but a moral journey; and consisted not in a change of

I

place, but in a change of heart. It was losing confidence in God,—a shutting of the heart to his love, like a shutting of the eye to light. To return to God, is but reversing this process. It is the restoration of confidence—the opening of the heart to the unchangeable love of God,-in one word, it is the seeing of God revealed as our Father in Jesus Christ his Son. For if God be indeed recognised as our reconciled Father, this necessarily implies faith in his character as such, and in his fatherly love towards us and interest in us,—an assured confidence in his good-will,-a seeing of Him as worthy of our profoundest reverence, deepest love, and unreserved devotedness. When we thus see and know God, we have not to travel far to find Him. He is found, even as the light is found when the eye is opened to its beams. He is not far from any one of us.

THE INTENDED PRAYER.

"I 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.”

Such was the confession and prayer which the

prodigal intended to make to his father when they met. He had no hope of being received as a son, but would thankfully become a servant-anything, if he could only obtain admission once more into his father's house. As yet, his views were very dark regarding the fulness and freeness of his father's grace. The life in the far country had weakened his power of perceiving the beauty of such a heart. He made up his mind, therefore, to be treated, for a time at least, as a slave; as if he had said, "It cannot be that my father can treat me at present as a son; but I shall willingly serve him; and then, when I have proved, by my obedience and diligence, that I am no longer the prodigal I once was, but an obedient and loving son, then, perhaps, my father may treat me as a son. In the meantime, I dare not look for any proofs of affection upon his part. But come what may I shall arise!" And it is often thus with the returning sinner:-" It cannot be," he argues, "that God will at once receive me and treat me as a son; I, who have despised his counsel, and would none of his reproof; I, who have so obstinately sinned against light and conviction; it cannot be that the holy and just God will receive such a one imme

diately into his favour. But I will begin again to resume my long-silenced prayers, to read my longclosed Bible, and to listen attentively to the longneglected preaching of the Word; I will begin some work in the Christian Church, and, when I have proved to God and my own conscience, that I am a reformed man, and no longer the weak, irresolute, hypocritical professor which I have hitherto been, then, I hope, my Father will receive me. In the meantime, one thing I am resolved to do, I will arise and go to Him! This week, this day, even now, I shall pour out the sorrows of my weary heart before my Father, and implore mercy to pardon, and grace to help; and I 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!'" If the result in the case of the prodigal proved how low an estimate he had formed of his father's feelings towards his penitent and returning child, so will the result, in the case of every penitent sinner who thus argues, also prove how low an estimate he had formed of God's love, when resolving to return in sincerity of soul to seek his favour.

THE RETURN.

"And he arose and came to his father."

However long the journey was, the prodigal did not rest until he came to his father. Outward obstacles there may have been in such a return from a far country. There may have been deep valleys to thread; steep mountains to climb; hunger, and thirst, and weariness to endure; old companionships to forsake; and many scenes on the road to tempt the wanderer to pause; but these did not deter him. Even so, there are difficulties corresponding to those in the journey Godward of the returning sinner. But whatever his difficulties may be, whatever temptations may assail, or doubts and fears perplex him, he must firmly resolve, in spite of all, to stop at nothing short of God himself. There must be no rest until he finds his Father. Any spot where He is not found, is, to him, the far country still. For it is possible that he may be tempted to return to the form of prayer, yet not to God who is the Hearer of prayer-to the Bible, yet not to God who speaks in the Bible-to the Lord's Supper, yet not to God who can alone feed his soul with the Bread of Life-to ministers, the earthen vessels, yet not to God who is "the