I. THE PRODIGAL'S DEPARTURE.

"A certain Man had two Sons." By the Father of these two sons, is represented the Lord Jehovah, He who is the common father of us all, whether Jews or Gentiles. He in whom we all live, and move, and have our being, and from whose inexhaustible fulness we receive our daily supplies. The two sons some have supposed we are to understand as representing Jews and Gentiles. Others again, have supposed that, by the younger son we are to understand men, and by the elder son angels. But this is impossible. Angels and men are not brethren by nature-these were. Nor do men dwell in the same place with their father, as these two sons did. Besides, we do not find that Adam asked for his trial like this younger son, but it was the act of God himself, in putting him to the test. These, and other remarks which might be made, show that we are not to understand the term "sons" of angels and men. Nor are we inclined to think that it refers to Jews and Gentiles, but by the elder son we understand a Pharisee in all ages and in all times; and by the younger son we understand a poor, guilty, helpless sinner, one who has ruined himself by his transgressions. We should remember that it was not to Gentiles that the Saviour was preaching, for to these he scarcely ever directed his ministry. He was addressing a congregation of Jews, and the Pharisees found fault with him, because he directed his attention to those who were regarded by them as the lowest and worst of characters; hence he delivered this parable to vindicate his character and his designs. We notice

First. The Prodigal's request. "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods which falleth to me,' and he divided unto them his living." This was his request. Dissatisfied with his paternal roof, and desiring a more free and unrestrained indulgence of his lusts and worldly pleasure, than what his father would probably gratify, he was therefore anxious to leave him, and to be delivered from his control; such is human nature. Proud, haughty, and independent, and at the same time anxiouslystriving to be free from all those restraints which a wise and indulgent parent has thrown around us. The Apostle has forcibly illustrated this, where he says, "The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The whole tone of our feelings, the bent of our inclinations, the nature of our pursuits, and the murmur and dissatisfaction we express with the arrangements of Divine Providence, all show us the bad and rebellious state of our minds, and our unconquerable disinclination to submit to God. Take only the conduct of a single individual, and carefully mark the tone and tendency of that conduct; interpret it, and clothe it with speech, and what will be its language? "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice, and who is Jehovah, that I should fear him?" This is our conduct. Like the Prodigal, we are dissatisfied with our father. We do not love his authority, or his restraint, or his control. We are anxious to remove as far from him as possible, and we say in effect, "Depart from us, for we desire not a knowledge of thy ways?" We observe,

Secondly. That when the Prodigal's request was complied with, he departed from his father's house, and wandered into a far country. "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wastedhis substance with riotous living." That is, he went to a considerable distance from home, that he might there enjoy his treasure, and gratify his lusts, without any check from his father or his friends. Had he fixed his residence near to his father's-though the uncontrolled master of his wealth-his father might have had some restraint upon him. He therefore went as far distant from his father as he could, in order that he might take his fill of pleasure without any restraint. So it is with the carnal mind, and here we have a painful picture of man's fallen and guilty state. He departs from God-he leaves him, and goes astray from him continually. He wanders in this world, which is the far country, in pursuit of its pleasures, and its fancied enjoyments-going more and more from holiness and from heaven. The Apostle says, "And you that were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Thus then the nature of sin, and the depravity of our own hearts, are placing us at a greater distance from God. Every sin makes us more unlike him, indisposes us for his service, makes his Sabbath and his Word distasteful to us, and induces us to wander farther and farther from God.

Thirdly. Observe how the Prodigal employed what his indulgent parent bestowed upon him. He "wasted it with harlots in riotous living." He devoted it to his lusts, he consumed it in his carnal pleasures, he displayed the utmost extravagance in dress, and in feasting with vile and worthless characters. Do you ask how this accords with human nature? Alas! the instances are too numerous in which it accords. Our attention is perhaps almost daily fixed upon some poor, unhappy rake, who thus spends his time in ruining his own soul, and in ruining the souls of others. The correspondence is not only complete in this particular, but even in others where there is no temporal analogy. Every unconverted sinner is pursuing this painful and distressing line of conduct. His possessions, his powers, his reason, his riches, his faculties, his influence, and whatever else Providence has bestowed upon him, he is wasting upon this world; upon its harlot pleasures, and using them for the base gratification of his sinful lusts. Take any individual-no matter what his station, his character, or his influence may be he is either the freed-man of the Lord, or he is the slave of sin. He is either using his "members as servants of unrighteousness unto sin," or he is using them 66 as servants of righteousness unto holiness." He is either serving God with all his heart, and soul, and strength, or he is like the Prodigal, wasting the precious gifts of heaven with harlots, and in riotous living.

Fourthly. Another feature in the Prodigal's case is, His subsequent wretchedness. "And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want." His wealth was very soon exhausted by extravagance. This was natural. The most extensive possessions will soon pass away, and then squandered

treasures will leave their possessor only misery at the last. This foolish youth dashed away at first, and gratified every wish. He indulged all his desires and exhausted all his treasury; and then, a famine, or scarcity, came over the land, and for this he was not prepared. O what a contrast! what a change! So it is with the transitory nature of those pleasures which sin imparts. They may be boisterous for a moment; their clamour and noise, their glitter and show, may intoxicate for a moment, but the delusion will speedily pass away. As Solomon says, "Like the crackling of thorns under a pot is the laughter of a fool with his folly." Blaze it may for a time, but it will soon go out and leave the poor unhappy creature in extreme misery and want. The famine may intimate still further the entire destitution of peace and happiness to which sin eventually reduces the mind. Like a man who feels he needs something to support and strengthen his body, but knows not where to obtain it ; so the sinner, when his sinful pleasures are exhausted, finds perfect destitution of all those blessings which can sustain and animate his mind. There is no hope, no peace, no joy, nothing but sorrow and alarm; nothing but the dark and gloomy forebodings of misery and hell. In this condition he is in want, wretched, guilty, and undone. Feeling his condition, but having no one to relieve him. We notice

Fifthly. The means which the Prodigal employed to obtain relief. "He went into the fields to feed swine, and he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat." He felt that he was wretched and destitute, and that there was no prospect of mitigation for his sorrows. Under such circumstances what does he do? Is he willing to return to his father's house. No, not yet. He does not appear to think of this. His pride is not as yet perhaps sufficiently humbled. He prefers "joining himself to a citizen of the country," and condescends to the most degrading employment. Some suppose by the "citizen of the country," we are to understand the devil, and by the service in which he engaged, we are to understand association with wicked people, and that "the husks" upon which he fed were sinful pleasures. But this exposition I cannot adopt. A multitude of objections might be raised against it. I am rather disposed to think the Saviour intends nothing more than a general illustration of a great principle, namely, that sinners in their distress will adopt any means in order to obtain peace rather than return to God. There is a natural proneness in the wicked heart to do something-to seek happiness by its own works, and to rescue itself from its perilous condition without frankly coming to God-confessing its sins, and imploring his pardoning mercy. We shall see this strikingly illustrated in the subsequent part of this parable. It was only in the last extremity, when all other efforts for relief had failed, that this poor unhappy youth thought of coming to his father, and it is just so with the sinner. We remark

Sixthly. That the unhappy condition of the Prodigal is further described by its state of hopelessness. "And no man gave unto him." From this we infer, that all had forsaken him. Those who had perhaps feasted upon his bounty would not now notice him. Those

who had perhaps lauded his display, and flattered his vanity, had forsaken him, and in his state of need, they either would not, or they could not, help him. So it is with a poor awakened sinner. Friendless and forlorn he looks around him in his distress, and his pleasures cannot help him; his former joys cannot restore his peace; the world frowns upon him. His wicked companions only laugh at him, or if they attempt to comfort him, they only mock his sorrows and deepen his pain. He is in want, but no one can help him. He tries all means, but still there is no food, no comfort, no peace. The arrows of conviction stick fast in his soul. The burden of guilt presses heavily upon his conscience; and none but Jesus Christ can do him good. To him then at last he comes; yes, he resolves to go to his father, to his Saviour, and his God. We notice

II. THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN.

We shall now see him in a new light. Awakened to a sense of his condition, and forming a determination to return to his father's house, and to implore his father's forgiveness. This is an emblem of the awakened sinner's determination to repent and return to God. The truth of this will be manifest if we look at

First. The manifested change of mind which the Prodigal experienced when "he came to himself." This is a striking expression. His past conduct, his riot, his extravagance, his pleasures, and his feasting, were only the result of insanity, the madness of sin. And what a picture is this of worldly men, of their thoughtlessness, and their folly. A person "coming to himself," has different acceptations in the Sacred Writings. Thus we read, that "when Jacob heard of the news of Joseph's elevation as governor over all the land of Egypt, his heart fainted, for he believed not his sons. But when they told all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them, and when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him to Egypt, the spirit of Jacob their father revived;" that is, he came to himself; and Israel said, "It is enough, Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die." In like manner it is said that "Sampson's spirit returned to him after he had drunk of the water which sprang up in the jawbone." But the case before us refers not to the body but to the mind. The delusion and mistakes under which the Prodigal had been labouring were now entirely removed. He saw and felt rationally. The charm had passed away, and he was brought to the painful reality of his condition, as one ready to perish. Such is the picture of sinners. They are blind, dead, insensible, and ignorant of their true condition, and before they will think of returning to their father's house they must be enlightened, awakened, made conscious and instructed, respecting their lost and ruined state. "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness," must shine into their hearts to give them "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Look for example at the case of Paul. His conversion may well illustrate this parable. In a moment, when he least expected it, the light of Divine truth shone his mind, and he was at that moment brought to feel the

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power and influence of the Gospel of Christ. This great change is effected by the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is his gracious influence diffused upon the mind which checks our follies, which corrects our mistakes, which convinces us of our sin, and which restores us to our right mind. We notice

Secondly. The reasoning or reflection in which the Prodigal indulged. "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger." This was natural. It appears that he was not sensible of this before. It is as though he had said, "Here I am, a poor, helpless outcast, whom no one cares for. Here I am, wretched, and ready to die from the incessant cravings of hunger with which I am afflicted, whilst in my father's house there are numbers who have ample provision, and I his son am here perishing for want." What an emblem of the sinner's state, and how it opens to our view the immediate effects which result from impressions made upon the mind.

(1) There is the deep and powerful conviction of man's lost and ruined condition. The first expression of the Prodigal was this, "I perish with hunger;" and the expressions of an awakened mind, or of a sinner returning to God, are, "Lord save me, or I perish." "What must I do to be saved?" The ruin and misery of sin now stand before him, and he sees and feels that he is exposed to the anger of a holy and righteous God. And until a sinner feels this, he has not been brought to his right mind. We must not suppose that all persons feel alike, or to an equal extent upon this subject. There are degrees in sorrow, and in the extent of spiritual distress as well as in other things. Some appear to feel all the terrors of hell; others are drawn by the cords of love; some are awed and overwhelmed by the thunders of Sinai; others are constrained by the still small voice. Coupled with this conviction of our lost and ruined condition

Observe (2) The Prodigal's assurance of the abundance which was in his father's house. "There is bread enough and to spare." Meaning by this that there was an abundance not merely of bread, but an ample supply of every necessary convenience. It was this conviction upon his mind which induced him to say, "I will arise, and go to my father." It is not to be supposed that he would have adopted this resolution if he had not felt convinced of the fact we have already mentioned; for it would have been useless his going to his father's house if he could not have obtained the relief he wanted. And is not this precisely the case with awakened sinners? No sinner would ever think of returning to God, were it not for the conviction that God is full of mercy; or, in other words, that "there is bread enough and to spare.' What avail would it be to the sinner to direct him to the Saviour, if there were not the assurance of "plenteous redemption." Hence the sacred Scriptures abound with the most plain, and gracious declarations of Divine mercy. They exhibit the freeness, the fulness, and the riches of Divine grace. They assure the trembling and heart-broken sinner that God will in nowise cast him out, when he comes unto him by faith in Jesus Christ. And when the sinner feels this, he is encouraged to rise