Peter's Prayer
(No. 3407)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1914.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING JUNE 10,
1869.
"When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus'knees, saying, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:8.
THE disciples had been fishing all night. They had now given up
fishing–they had left their boats and were mending their nets. A
Stranger appears. They had seen Him, probably, once before, and they
remembered enough of Him to command respect. Besides, the tone of voice
in which He spoke to them and His manner at once ruled their hearts. He
borrowed Simon Peter's boat and preached a sermon to the listening
crowds. After He had finished the discourse, as though He would not
borrow their vessel without giving them their hire, He bade them launch
out into the deep and let down their nets again. They did so and,
instead of disappointment, they at once took so vast a haul of fish
that the boats could not contain all and the net was not strong enough
and began to break. Surprised at this strange miracle– overawed,
probably by the majestic appearance of that matchless One, who had
worked it, Simon Peter thought himself quite unworthy to be in such
company–and fell on his knees and cried this strange prayer–"Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." So I desire that, first of
all, we shall hear–
I. THE PRAYER IN THE WORST SENSE WE CAN GIVE TO IT.
It is always wrong to put the worst construction on anyone's words and,
therefore, we do not intend to do so except by way of license and, for
a few moments only, to see what might have been made out of these
words. Christ did not understand Peter so. He put the best construction
upon what he said, but if a caviler had been there, a wrong
interpretation would have been to this sentence–"Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord."
The ungodly virtually pray this prayer. When the Gospel comes to some
men and disturbs their conscience, they say, "Go your way for this
time. When I have a more convenient season, I will send for you." When
some troublesome preacher tells them of their sins–when he puts a
burning Truth of God into their conscience and awakens them so that
they cannot sleep or rest–they are very angry with the preacher and
the Truth that he was constrained to speak. And if they cannot bid him
get out of their way, they can at least get out of his way, which comes
to the same thing! And so the spirit of it is, "We do not want to give
up our sin. We cannot afford to part with our prejudices, or with our
darling lusts and, therefore, depart–get out of our way–leave us
alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You
come to torment us before our time?" Peter meant nothing of this sort,
but there may be some here who do and whose avoidance of the Gospel,
whose inattention to it, whose spite and hatred of it, all put together
virtually make up this cry, "Depart from us, O Christ!"
Alas, I fear there are some Christians who do, in fact–I will not say
intentionally–really pray this prayer! For instance, if a believer in
Christ shall expose himself to temptation–if he shall find pleasure
where sin mingles with it, if he shall forsake the assemblies of the
saints and find comfort in the synagogue of Satan–if his life shall be
inconsistent, practically, and he also shall become inconsistent by
reason of his neglect of holy duties, ordinances, private prayer, the
reading of the Word and the like–what does such a Christian say but,
"Depart from me, O Lord"? The Holy Spirit abides in our hearts and we
enjoy His conscious Presence if we are obedient to His monitions. But
if we walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to us and, before
long we shall have to ask–
"Where is the blessedness I knew When first Isaw the Lord?"
Why does the Holy Spirit withdraw the sense of His Presence? Why, but
because we ask Him to go! Our sins ask Him to go! Our unread Bibles do,
as it were, with loud voices ask Him to be gone! We treat that sacred
Guest as if we were weary of Him and He takes the hint and hides His
face and then we sorrow and begin to seek Him again. Peter does not do
so, but we do. Alas, how often ought we to say, "Oh, Holy Spirit,
forgive us that we so vex You, that we resist Your admonitions, quench
Your promptings and so grieve You! Return unto us and abide with us
evermore."
This prayer in its worst is sometimes practically offered by Christian
Churches. I believe that any Christian Church that becomes divided in
feeling, so that the members have no true love, one to another, that
lack of unity is an act of horrible supplication! It does as much as
say, "Depart from us, You Spirit of unity! You only dwell where there
is love–we will not have love! We will break Your rest–get away from
us!" The Holy Spirit delights to abide with a people that is obedient
to His teaching, but there are churches that will not learn–they
refuse to carry out the Master's will or to accept the Master's Word.
They have some other standard, some human book–and in the excellencies
of the human composition they forget the glories of the Divine! Now I
believe that where any book, whatever it may be, is put above the
Bible, or even set by the side of it, or where any creed or catechism,
however excellent, is made to stand at all on an equal basis with that
perfect Word of God, any church that does this, in fact says, "Depart
from us, O Lord." And when it comes to actual doctrinal error,
particularly to such grievous errors as we hear of, now-a-days–such as
baptismal regeneration and the doctrines that are congruous thereto–it
is, as it were, an awful imprecation and seems to say, "Begone from us,
O Gospel! Begone from us, O Holy Spirit! Give us outward signs and
symbols, and these will suffice us! But depart from us, O Lord–we are
content without You." As for ourselves, we may practically pray this
prayer as a Church. If our Prayer Meetings should be badly attended. If
the prayers at them should be cold and dead. If the zeal of our members
should die out. If there should be no concern for souls. If our
children should grow up untrained in the fear of God. If the
evangelization of this great city should be given over to some other
band of workers and we should sit still. If we should become cold,
ungenerous, listless, indifferent–what can we do worse for ourselves?
How, with greater potency, can we put up the dreadful prayer, "Depart
from us–we are unworthy of Your Presence! Begone, good Lord! Let
'Icha-bod' be written on our walls! Let us be left with all the curses
of Gerizim ringing in our ears."
I say, then, the prayer may be understood in this worst sense. It was
not so meant–our Lord did not so read it–we must not so read it
concerning Peter. But let us, oh, let us take care that we do not offer
it thus, practically, concerning ourselves!
But now in the next place we shall strive to take the prayer as it came
from Peter's lips and heart– II. A PRAYER WE CAN EXCUSE AND ALMOST
COMMEND.
Why did Peter say, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord"?
There are three reasons. First, because he was a man. Secondly, because
he was a sinful man. And again, because he knew this and became a
humble man.
So, then, the first reason for this prayer was that Peter knew that he
was a man and, therefore, being a man, he felt himself amazed in the
Presence of such an One as Christ. The first sight of God–how amazing
to any spirit even if it were pure! I suppose God never did reveal
Himself completely–could never have revealed Himself completely to any
creature, however lofty in its capacity. The Infinite must overwhelm
the finite. Now, here was Peter, beholding, probably for the first time
in his life in a spiritual way, the exceeding splendor and Glory of the
Divine power of Christ! He looked at those fish and at once he
remembered that night of weary toil, when not a fish rewarded his
patience. And now he saw them in masses in the boat–and all done
through this strange Man who sat there, having just preached a still
stranger sermon, of which Peter felt that never man spoke like that
before and he did not know how it was, but he felt abashed! He
trembled, he was amazed in the Presence of such an One. I do not wonder
if we read that Rebecca, when she saw Isaac, came down from her camel
and covered her face with her veil. If we read that Abigail, when she
came to meet David, alighted from her donkey and threw herself upon her
face, saying, "My Lord, David!" If we find Mephibosheth depreciating
himself in the presence of King David and calling himself a dog–I do
not wonder that Peter, in the Presence of the perfect Christ, should
shrink into nothing and, in his first amazement at his own nothingness
and Christ's greatness, should say he scarcely knew what, like one
dazed and dazzled by the light, half-distraught and scarcely able to
gather together his thoughts and put them connectedly together! The
very first impulse was as when the light of the sun strikes the eyes
and it is a blaze that threatens to blind us! "Oh, Christ, I am a
man–how can I bear the Presence of the God that rules the very fishes
of the sea and works miracles like this?"
His next reason was, I have said, because he was a sinful man and there
is something of alarm mingled with his amazement. As a man he stood
amazed at the shining of Christ's Godhead! As a sinful man, he stood
alarmed at its dazzling holiness. I do not doubt that in the sermon
which Christ delivered, there was such a clear denunciation of sin,
such laying ofjustice to the line and righteousness to the
plummet–such a declaration of the holiness of God–that Peter felt
himself unveiled, discovered, his heart laid bare! And now came the
finishing stroke. The One who had done this could also rule the fishes
of the sea! He must, therefore, be God! And it was to God that all the
defects and evils of Peter's heart had been revealed and thoroughly
known! And almost fearing with a kind of inarticulate cry of alarm
because the criminal was in the Presence of the Judge–the polluted in
the Presence of the Immaculate–he said, "Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord."
But I have added that there was a third reason, namely, that Peter was
a humble man, as is clear from the saying, because he knew himself and
confessed bravely that he was a sinful man. You know that sometimes
there have been persons in the world who have suddenly found some king
or prince come to their little cottage–and the good housewife, when
the king, himself, was coming to her, has felt as if the place itself
was so unfit for him that, though she would do her best for his
majesty, and was glad in her soul that he would honor her hovel with
his presence, yet she could not help saying, "Oh, that Your Majesty had
gone to a worthier house, had gone on to the great man's house a little
ahead, for I am not worthy that Your Majesty should come here." So
Peter felt as if Christ lowered Himself, in coming to him, as if it
were too good a thing for Christ–too great, too kind, too
condescending a thing–and he seems to say, "Go up higher, Master! Sit
not down so low as this in my poor boat in the midst of these poor dumb
fishes. Sit not down here, for You have a right to sit on the Throne of
Heaven in the midst of angels that shall sing Your praises day and
night! Lord, do not stop here–go up, take a better seat, a higher
place–sit among more noble beings who are more worthy to be blessed
with the smiles of Your Majesty."
Don't you think he meant that? If so, we may not only excuse his
prayer, but even commend it, for we have felt the same. "Oh," we have
said, "does Jesus dwell with a few poor men and women that have come
together in His name to pray? Oh, surely, it is not a good enough place
for Him–let Him have the whole world and all the sons of men to sing
His praises! Let Him have Heaven, even the Heaven of heavens! Let the
cherubim and seraphim be His servants and archangels loose the laces of
His shoes! Let Him rise to the highest Throne in Glory and there let
Him sit down, no more to wear the crown of thorns, no more to be
wounded and despised and rejected, but to be worshipped and adored
forever and ever." I think we have felt so and, if so, we can
understand what Peter felt, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord."
Now, Brothers and Sisters, there are times when these feelings, if they
cannot be commended in ourselves, are yet excused by our Master and
have a little in them, at any rate, which He looks upon with
satisfaction. Shall I mention one?
Sometimes a man is called to an eminent position of usefulness and, as
the vista opens before him and he sees what he will have to do–and
with what honor his Master will be pleased to load him–it is very
natural and I think it is almost spiritualfor him to shrink and say,
"Who am I that I should be called to such a work as this? My Master, I
am willing to serve You, but oh, I am not worthy." Like Moses, who was
glad enough to be the Lord's servant and yet he said, and he meant it
so heartily, "Lord, I am slow of speech. I am a man of unclean lips,
how can I speak for You?" Or, like Isaiah, who was rejoiced to say,
"Here am I, send me!" But who felt, "Woe is me, for I am a man of
uncircumcised lips! How shall I go?" Not like Jonah, who would not go
at all, but must go off to Tarshish to escape working at Nineveh! Yet
perhaps with a little seasoning of Jonah's bitters, too, but mainly a
sense of our own unworthiness to be used in so great a service, we seem
to say, "Lord, do not ask me to do that! After all, I may slip and
dishonor You. I would serve You, but lest by any means I should give
way under the strain, excuse Your servant and give him a humbler post
of service." Now, I say we must not pray in that fashion, but still,
while there is some evil there, there is a sediment of good which
Christ will perceive in the fact that we see our own weakness and our
own unsuitableness. He won't be angry with us, but separating the chaff
from the wheat, He will accept what was good in the prayer and forgive
the bad.
Sometimes, again, dear Friends, this prayer has been almost on our lips
in times of intense enjoyment Some of you know what I mean, when the
Lord draws near unto His servants and is like the consuming fire–and
we are like the bush that seemed to be altogether on a blaze with the
excessive splendor of God realized in our souls! Many of God's saints
have, at such times, fainted. You remember Mr. Flavel tells us that
riding on horseback on a long journey to a place where he was to
preach, he had such a sense of the sweetness of Christ and the Glory of
God, that he did not know where he was–and he sat on his horse for two
hours, together–the horse wisely standing still! And when he came to
himself he found that he had been bleeding freely through the excess of
joy. And as he washed his face in the brook by the roadside he said he
felt, then, that he knew what it was to sit on the doorstep of Heaven
and he could hardly tell that if he had entered the pearly gates, he
would have been more happy, for the joy was excessive. To quote what I
have often quoted before, the words of Mr. Welsh, a famous Scotch
Divine who was under one of those blessed deliriums of heavenly light
and rapturous fellowship, exclaimed, "Hold, Lord! Hold! It is enough!
Remember, I am but an earthen vessel, and if You give me more, I die!"
God does sometimes put His new wine into our poor old bottles and then
we are half inclined to say, "Depart, Lord! We are not yet ready for
Your glorious Presence." It does not come to saying that–it does not
amount to all that in words–but still, the spirit is willing and the
flesh is weak, and the flesh seems to start back from the Glory which
it cannot bear as yet. There are many things which Christ could tell
us, but which He will not because we cannot bear them now.
Another time, when this has passed over the mind, not altogether
rightly, not altogether sinfully, like the last two, is when the sinner
is coming to Christand has, indeed, in a measure believed in Him, but
when, at last, that sinner perceives the greatness of the Divine Mercy,
the richness of the heavenly pardon, the glory of the inheritance which
is given to pardoned sinners1 Then many a soul has started back and
said, "It is too good to be true, or, if true, it is not true to me."
Well do I remember a staggering fit I had over that business! I had
believed in my Master and rested in Him for some months–and rejoiced
in Him–but one day, while reveling in the delights of being saved and
rejoicing in the Doctrines of Election, Final Perseverance and Eternal
Glory–it came across my mind, "And all this for you, for such a dead
dog as you–how can it be so?" And for awhile it was a temptation
stronger than I could overcome! It was just saying, spiritually,
"Depart from me, I am too sinful a man to have You in my boat–too
unworthy to have such priceless blessings as You bring to me!"
Now, that, I say, is not altogether wrong and not altogether right.
There is a mixture there, and we may excuse and somewhat commend, but
not altogether. There are other times in which the same feeling may
come across the mind, but I cannot stay now to specify them. It may be
so with some here, and I pray them not to concern themselves utterly,
nor yet to excuse themselves completely, but to go on to the next
teaching of this prayer–
III. A PRAYER THAT NEEDS AMENDING AND REVISING.
As it stood, it was not a good one. Now let us put it in a different
way. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Would it not be
better to say, "Come nearer to me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord"? It
would be a more brave prayer and a more tender prayer–more wise and
not less humble, for humility takes many shapes. "I am a sinful man,"
here is humility. "Come nearer to me." Here is faith which prevents
humility from degenerating into unbelief and despair! Brothers and
Sisters, that would be a good argument, for see–"Since, Lord, I am a
sinner, I need purifying. Only Your Presence can truly purify, for You
are the Refiner and You purify the sons of Levi. Only Your Presence can
cleanse, for the fan is in Your hand and You alone can purge Your
floor. You are like a refiner's fire, or like fuller's soap–come
nearer to me, then, Lord, for I am a sinful man and would not be always
sinful. Come, wash me from my iniquity that I may be clean. And let
Your sanctifying fire go through and through my nature till You burn
out of me everything that is contrary to Your mind and will." Dare you
pray that prayer? It is not natural to pray it. If you can, I would say
to you, "Simon Bar-Jona, blessed are you, for flesh and blood have not
taught you this." Flesh and blood may make you say, "Depart from
me"–it is the Holy Spirit, alone, that under a sense of sin, can yet
put a Divine attraction to you in the purifying fire and make you long,
therefore, that Christ would come near to you!
Again, "Come near to me, Lord, since I am a man and, being a man, am
weak–and nothing can make me strong but Your Presence. I am a man so
weak that if You depart from me, I faint, I fall, I pine, I die! Come
near to me, then, O Lord, that by Your strength I may be encouraged and
be fitted for service. If You depart from me, I can render You no
service whatever. Can the dead praise You? Can those with no life in
them give You glory? Come near me, then, my God, though I am so feeble!
And as a tender parent feeds his child, and the shepherd carries his
lambs, so come near to me."
Do you not think he might have said, "Come near to me, Lord, and abide
with me, for I am a sinful man," in the recollection of how he had
failed when Christ was not near? All through that night he had put the
net into the sea with many a splash–and had drawn it up with many an
eager look as he gazed through the moonlight–and there was nothing
that rewarded his toil. In went the net again–and now when Christ came
and the net was full to bursting–would it not have been a proper
prayer, "Lord, come near to me and let every time I work, I may
succeed! And if I am made a fisher of men, keep nearer to me, still,
that every time I preach Your Word, I may bring souls into Your net and
into Your Church that they may be saved"?
What I want to draw out from the text, and I shall do so better if I
continue bringing out these different thoughts– is this–that it is
well when a sense of our unworthiness leads us not to get away from God
in an unbelieving, petulant despair, but to get nearer to God! Now,
suppose I am a great sinner. Well, let me seek to get nearer to God for
that very reason, for there is great salvation provided for great
sinners! I am very weak and unfit for the great service which He has
imposed upon me–let me not, therefore, shun the service or shun my
God, but reckon that the weaker I am, the more room there is for God to
get the glory! If I were strong, then God would not use me, because
then my strength would get the praise for it. But my very unfitness and
lack of ability and all that I lament in myself in my Master's work is
but so much elbowroom for Omnipotence to come and work in! Would it not
be a fine thing if we could all say, "I glory not in my talents, not in
my learning, not in my strength, but I glory in infirmity because the
power of God does rest upon me"! Men cannot say, "That is a learned
man–and he wins souls because he is learned." They cannot say, "That
is a man whose faculties of reasoning are very strong and whose powers
of argument are clear–and he wins sinners by convincing their
judgments." No, they say, "What is the reason of his success? We cannot
discover it. We see nothing in him different from other men, or
perhaps, only the difference that he has less of gifts than they." Then
glory be to God! He has the praise more clearly and more
distinctly–and His head who deserves it–wears the crown!
See, then, what I am aiming at with you, dear Brothers and Sisters. It
is this– do not run away from your Master's work, any of you, because
you feel unfit–but for that reason do twice as much! Do not give up
praying because you feel you cannot pray, but pray twice as much, for
you need more prayer and, instead of being less with God, be more! Do
not let a sense of unworthiness drive you away. A child should not run
away from its mother at night because it needs washing. Your children
do not stay away from you because they are hungry, nor because they
have torn their clothes–they come to you because of their necessities!
They come because they are children, but they come more often because
they are needy children–because they are sorrowful children! So let
every need, let every pain, let every weakness, let every sorrow, let
every sin drive you to God. Do not say, "Depart from me." It is a
natural thing that you should say so and not a thing altogether to be
condemned, but it is a glorious thing, it is a God-honoring thing, it
is a wise thing to say, on the contrary, "Come to me, Lord. Come still
nearer to me, for I am a sinful man and without Your Presence I am
utterly undone."
I shall say no more, but I would that the Holy Spirit would say this to
some who are in this house, who have long been invited to come and put
their trust in Jesus, but always plead as a reason for not coming that
they are too guilty, or that they are too hardened, or too something or
other! Strange that what one man makes a reason for coming, another
makes a reason for staying away! David prayed in the Psalms, "Lord have
mercy and pardon my iniquity, for it is great." "Strange argument," you
will say. It is a grand one! "Lord, here is great sin and there is now
something that is worthy of a great God to deal with! Here is a
mountain sin, Lord, have Omnipotent Grace to remove it! Lord, here is a
towering Alp of sin–let the floods of Your Grace, like Noah's flood,
come 20 cubits over the top of it! I am the chief of sinners– here is
room for the chief of Saviors." How strange it is that some men should
make this a reason for staying away! This cruel sin of unbelief is
cruel to yourselves–you have put away the comfort you might enjoy. It
is cruel to Christ, for there is no pang that ever wounded Him more
than that unkind, ungenerous thought that He is unwilling. Believe,
believe that He never is so glad as when He is clasping His Ephraim to
His breast! As when He is saying, "Your sins, which are many, are all
forgiven you." Trust Him! If you could see Him, you could not help it.
If you could look into that dear face and into those dear eyes, once
red with weeping over sinners that rejected Him, you would say,
"Behold, we come to You! You have the words of eternal life! Accept us,
for we rest in You alone. All our trust on You is stayed." And that
done, you would find that His coming to you would be like rain on the
mown grass, as the showers that water the earth and, through Him, your
souls would flourish, your sackcloth would be taken away and you would
be girt about with gladness and rejoice in Him, world without end! The
Lord Himself bring you to this. Amen.
LUKE 15:1-27.
We shall, tonight, read a chapter which, I suppose, the most of us know
by heart. But as often as I have read it, I do not remember ever
reading it without seeing some fresh light in it. May it be so tonight!
Verse 1. Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners to hear
Him. A rare crowd they must have been, when it is said all the
publicans and sinners! All sorts of sinners came in such numbers that
it seemed as if the city had sent out all its hosts of sinners. And
these drew near–came as close as they could for fear of losing a
single word! They made the inner ring about the Savior. He had a
bodyguard of sinners and certainly there are none that will ever
glorify Him as these people will do.
2. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This Man receives
sinners and eats with them. They stood further off. Not to listen, but
to murmur. Here was the old fable of the dog in the manger. They did
not want Christ, themselves, but they murmured that other people should
have Him. They despise Him. They thought themselves too righteous to
need a Savior. Yet they murmured when the Physician came to His
patients to give them the healing medicine!
3. And He spoke this parable unto them, saying. They were hardly worth
His trouble. But though He spoke it to them, others who are not of that
sort have sucked sweetness out of it ever since! We are told this is a
parable, but on looking at it we find it to be three. Have you ever
seen a picture in three panels and the whole of the panels necessary to
complete the picture? So it is here. Different views of the great work
of Divine Grace suiting different persons, so that if we do not see
through one glass, we may use a second, and a third!
4. 7. What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,
does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that
which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it
on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together
his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep which was lost Isay unto you, that likewise joy
shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety
and nine just persons who need no repentance. Not that one repenting
sinner is of more esteem in Heaven than 99 saints who have been kept by
the power of God. No, not so, but there is a greater stir of joy in
Heaven at the time of the sinner's repentance than there is over all
the ninety-nine. And you know how that is. You may have many children
and you may love them all alike, yet if one is ill you take far more
notice of him just then–and all the house is ordered with a view to
that sick child. He may not be the best child you have, but still, for
the time being, there is more thought of him because he is ill. And if
you should happen to have in your family a boy that has greatly grieved
you and has gone astray, I am sure that if he were to repent, you would
feel intense joy over him. But it would not be true that you thought
more of him than of his brothers and of his sisters who are with you
and are obedient to you. We must not learn from a passage more than it
teaches. At the same time, let us learn as much as we can from it. It
sets Heaven on a blaze ofjoy when one single penitent turns to his
Father!
8. Either what woman having tenpieces of silver, if she loses onepiece,
does not light a candle andsweep the house, and seek diligently till
she finds it?Eastern houses generally are very dark and if you need to
find anything, you must light a candle. Now, this is one piece of money
out of ten, as the sheep was one out of a hundred. The woman does not
stand counting over the other nine, but she leaves them in the box and
lights a candle and begins to make a stir. No doubt other people who
were in the house would say, "What an inconvenience this dust is." She
must find her piece of money. So sometimes in a congregation, we feel
it necessary to have special services and makes a little stir–and
there are some good souls who are inconvenienced and they do not like
all the dust. Oh, it matters not what dust we make, as long as we find
the lost piece–and if a soul is found, we can put up with some
irregularities as long as the precious thing is discovered and brought
to its Owner!
9, 10. And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her
neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece
which I had lost. Likewise, Isay unto you, there isjoy in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.Here follows this
most wonderful of all parables–the truest picture of man's folly and
lost estate that was ever sketched–and at the same time the most
wonderful picture of the Mercy and Love of God that was ever painted!
11, 12. And He said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of
them said to His father, Father, give me the portion of goods that fall
to me. And he divided unto them his living. In the East the younger son
has a smaller portionof the estate compared with the elder. But it is a
usual thing–certainly not an unusual thing–to let him have his
portion while his father is yet alive, that he may make use of it and
be able, by his industry, to increase it till he becomes a substantial
person–a custom not altogether without wisdom in it if there must be a
distinction between elder and younger sons. You remember how Abraham
gave portions to his sons by Keturah and sent them away, whereas Isaac
had nothing because he was the heir and had everything. So this younger
son asks for his portion and the father divided to them his living.
13. And 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. His heart was distant from his father. Therefore
he did not feel at ease until he put himself at a distance where he
could do just as he liked–could do that which he knew his father would
not approve of and what he would not like to do in his father's house.
And is not this a true picture of the man who is not a friend of God?
He wants to do as he likes. He desires to be independent and as he
knows that what he likes to do will not please God, he tries to forget
God. He gets into a far country by his forgetfulness. He says in his
heart. "No God." He wishes there was no God. He gets as far away from
God as he can. Then it is that he wastes his substance. Did you ever
look at an ungodly life as the wasting of precious substance? It is
just that! The love which ought to go to God is wasted in lust. The
energy that ought to be spent in righteousness is wasted upon sin. The
thought, the ability that ought to be laid at Jesus' feet is all used
for selfish pleasure–and so it is wasted. He wasted his substance in
riotous living.
14. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land
and he began to be in need. "Began to be in need." What a change! At
home with his father, then with plenty to waste–and now in need. Those
two words, "in need," describe the condition of every ungodly man!
After a time, he is in need–in need of everything that is good and
worth having. His soul is a pauper. He is in need.
15. And he sent and joined himself to a citizen of that country. A
gentleman with whom he had spent a fortune. Many a time had this
citizen sat at his table and drank his best wines. And what does this
fine fellow do for him?
15. And he sent him into his fields to feed swine.A very low occupation
anywhere, but in Judea a peculiarly degrading occupation. He sent him,
a Jew, into the fields to feed swine!
16. And he would gladly have filled his belly with the husks that the
swine did eat It does not say that he would have stopped his hunger
with the husks, for that could not be done. He would only fill his
belly–fill it up, as it were, with anything just to choke his sense of
need. And there are many men that know that the world cannot satisfy
them, but it could at least take their thoughts off a little from their
inward need and so they gladly fill up their belly with the husks that
the swine do eat.
16. And no man gave unto him.He gave to them–he spent all his money
with them. He was a fine fellow, then, so they said. But now no man
gave to him. And what a mercy it was, for if they had given him all he
needed, he would not have gone back to his father! There is nothing
like a little gracious starvation to fetch a man home to Christ. And it
is a blessed Providence and a blessed work of the Spirit of God when a
man at last is starved till he must go home to God!
17-20. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of
my father's 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 you, and am no more worthy to be
called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants. And he arose
and went to his father. "And when he came to himself." He had been
beside himself before. There are two things upon which ungodly men are
very ignorant–God and themselves. "He arose and went to his father."
That was the best of all. He stopped not with resolutions, but he
actually did the deed! This was the turning point with him. He arose
and went to his father.
20, 21. 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 your sight,
and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father interrupted
the prayer. He would not let him conclude it. "Before they call, I will
answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear."
22-24. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe
and put it on him; and a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And
bring 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.
And they began to be merry.What a change between being in need and,
"let us eat and be merry."–
"Wonders of Grace to God belong."
There is no wishing to fill his belly with husks, now! But the word is
passed round, "Let us eat and be merry."
25. Now his elder son was in the field. There is a great deal of
questioning about who this man was–this eldest son. Why, dear me, I
have known him! I have the misfortune to meet him every now and then.
He is a very capital man–one of the best of men, but he does not care
about revivals, or about having a great many converted. He is very
suspicious about such things–he does not care about making so much
fuss over men that have newly repented. He holds rather hard views
about them. "He was in the field at work."
25-27. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heardmusic and
dancing. Andhe called one ofthe servants, and asked what these things
meant. And he said unto him, Your brother is come; and your father has
killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound. Did
you ever notice that point–the father's gladness because he had
received him safe and sound? No bones broken. His face was not
disfigured. He was safe and sound. It is a wonderful thing that the
sinner should come back to Christ safe and sound, considering where he
has been! He has been in much worse danger than if he had been in
battle or in shipwreck. He has been with drunks and with harlots–and
yet he is received safe and sound. Oh, the wonders that Divine Grace
can do, to put safeness and soundness into us who went so far astray!