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prodigal really came to things in repentance, he said, “I will

rise up and go to my father”.

That was a return. After he had been received and the festive

scene had begun the elder son came up and enquired as to

what was going on. The servant said, “Thy brother is come,

and thy father has killed the fatted calf because he has

received him safe

and well”. So there you get it, “Return, come”. At the finish the

father said, “Thy brother was dead and has come to life again,

and was lost and has been found”. So, after all, it is the mercy

and grace of God that bring any one of us back. And we have

needed to be brought back. Is there anyone of us here that

would say that we have not needed to be recovered? We have

needed mercy and we shall need it to the very last moment

while we remain here.

In Matthew 14, a remarkable scripture, Jesus compelled these

disciples to go on board ship and to cross to the other side

before Him. That is where we are at the moment, still on the

crossing. They were in the middle of the sea; maybe we are

nearer the other side. We have the same kind of testing, things

that are against us, winds, waves, storms; we still have

sorrows. God desires to be known as near to us when these

pressures come. One thing that has greatly encouraged me

has been the utterance of Moses, “Thy refuge is the God of

old, and underneath are the eternal arms”, Deuteronomy 33:

27. Dear brethren, those arms are always there, no matter

how low we may get; underneath are the eternal arms. And

God means us to be encouraged. But here the Lord went up

into the mountain. He was thinking of them; His eye was upon

them. In the general sense, that is where He is tonight; He is

at the right hand of God, always living to intercede for us

(Hebrews 7: 25)—wonderful scripture, wonderful fact! (see

also Romans 8: 27). The very fact that He is living means that

He has the everlasting priesthood and “he is able to save

completely those who approach by him to God”. And so while