Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death!But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!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!But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
4 sermons cite this verse
And being here today, it feels very much like coming home. I was baptized in that font just over there as a baby. As a child, we used to sit in the third or fourth pew back there, and I would refuse to come to the front during the family worship. Then I used to be in the kids' groups down below in the cribs, and then in the youth in the spring or a church house. And this was my church in my early 20s. and then I started training for ordination and then went with Archie and Sam down to Brighton for 13 years so to be back with Archie and Sam definitely feels like coming home and then we were in Brazil for four years and Brighton while we were there and I was married we've had got four children that very much felt like home and then Brazil really felt like home we absolutely loved our time there. And so now we're here and we can't quite work out whether we're coming home or whether we've left home or where our home is. But there is within all of us a desire for coming home. …
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. …
First, they call for the aid of the Great Physician. "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble." Now that they are brought so near to the gates of Death that there is no hope of their recovery unless God Himself interposes on their behalf, "they cry unto the Lord." I have known some who when they have got to their most desperate state, have been afraid to call upon God to help them. "How can I pray, now," one asks, "when I never prayed before?" That is all the greater reason, my Friend, why you should begin to pray now! You need not even bend the knee, but let your heart go up to God in prayer just where you are now sitting or standing. "But," says another, "if I were to pray, it would only be through fear of Hell. Poor Soul, do not be too particular about your reasons for praying! Cry from your very soul, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," and God will hear you and have mercy upon you! I doubt not that many have come to God first through fear of Hell, and afterwards they have learned the attractive power of the love of God in Christ Jesus. If you go to Christ, He will in no wise cast you out! "But my prayer would be such a selfish one! I could only ask that I might be saved." Well, and what then? For whose sake did the prodigal go back to his father? And did his father refuse to receive him because it was a selfish motive that made him return? He said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" It was a mere bread and cheese motive that took him back from the far country, but his father's welcome was none the less hearty to the returning prodigal! I never send for a doctor except from the most selfish motive—I do it for my own good, not for his! And so it must be with you. Cry to the Great Physician because you need Him to cure you. You will think more of His honor and Glory after He has cured you, but for the present, be selfish enough to cry, "Lord, save me, or I perish!" …
Now our Lord is speaking not only of the weakness of these people and the worthlessness of these people, But he's speaking of the wretchedness of these people, and he's saying, this is why I keep company with them. Look at this boy, this boy now who's left his father's home. He's gone to the far country, some wicked city there where he can live his life high, wide, and handsome. But soon his pleasure turns to poverty. And what is the mark of a man without God? First of all, it's a life of depression. He spent all, he spent all. What is Jesus telling us? Listen to me. Young people, listen to me. College students, listen to me. Businessmen, listen to me. The most costly thing in the world is sin. Is sin. When he had spent all, sin cost character. It cost influence. It cost reputation. It cost time, it cost health, it cost love, home, money, it will cost you your soul. It cost to serve Satan. It cost every day. It cost every step of the way. It was a life of depression. It was a life of degradation. Look, if you will, in verse 15. THE BIBLE SAYS, and when he'd spent all, he joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. …