GRACE HERE AND A HOME THERE
[p. 241] GRACE HERE AND A HOME THERE
The first scripture that I have read sets forth the misery of the sinner, his state here as a sinner, and how he suffers - he fell among thieves who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. This is man’s state as a sinner. The grace of God which bringeth salvation is described in the Samaritan, who, as he journeyed, came where the suffering man was. Christ came to the place where the sinner is. He was beside the thief on the cross. The light from God shone into the sinner’s heart and he could see in Jesus One who had done nothing amiss, and One who could deliver him from all his misery. The sinner is not only relieved; not only are his wounds bound up, and oil and wine poured in, but the One who relieved him set him on His own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The very power which brought Christ into the place of our misery carries the one who is the subject of His grace out of it, and he is brought to a place of safety, and there cared for. This is the grace of Christ to the sinner respecting his own state; he is relieved, he is carried by a new power, and he is cared for through all his pilgrimage. “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”, Hebrews 13: 5. He is to be taken care of as a traveller at an inn, until the Lord returns. There is nothing for him on earth till then.
Now in chapter 15 we are taught that where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Many confine the gospel to the sinner’s side, to the relief of his misery. The cause of all man’s misery is that he has offended against God. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin”, Romans 5: 12. The younger son in [p. 242] this parable is man in his natural state. The greater his abilities, the more abandoned he has become. At length grace works. All his resources have failed, he is compelled, he is reduced to the lowest point, death stares him in the face. No one is converted easily; no one is converted who has not been made conscious that he cannot stand before God. The prodigal comes to himself and he counts on his father’s goodness, for he has not a word to say for himself. He comes, “But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses”. Love travels faster than necessity. The father reaches him before he could reach the father. All the offence has been so fully removed that the heart of the father can fully express itself.
We must bear in mind that if the Shepherd had not gone out to seek the lost sheep the Father never could have come out in righteousness to meet the returning sinner, and if the light had not shone into the prodigal’s heart, he never could have come to his father. All has been so fully removed by Christ, who followed the lost sheep to the dark mountains to which it had wandered, that the love of God in all its mighty volume can flow out righteously to the returning prodigal; and not only has all been removed from the eye of God which had offended Him, but He fits the returning one for Himself. He enables him to enjoy His own presence. Not only is His love shed abroad in your heart, so that you know the heart of God as it is toward you, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death. You are in Christ, and now you begin to be merry.