We're going to read together from the gospel according to Luke and the chapter 15. Luke's gospel and the chapter 15. The Lord Jesus is addressing the gathered multitude here, and as was his want, he is speaking to them in the course and by way of parables. And we are taking up our reading in the first 11, where we commence to read concerning that parable known as the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus is a speaker, and we read in verse 11, 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 falleth to me. And he divided onto them his living. 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. And when he'd spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he was come to himself, He said, how many hard 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 thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hard servants. And he rose and came to his father. 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 thy sight, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither 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. Amen. We'll end our reading for now. And we know that the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his own holy word. I'm going to sing another hymn together, Christine, if that's all right. The hymn number 16. The hymn number 16, page 181 in our hymn book, if you're using the hymn book. Abba Father, we approach thee. I hope you know this hymn and I hope that you'll sing it out for me, for I'm trying to spur my throat a wee bit for the wee message. Father, Father, we uprose Thee in our Savior's precious Name. We, Thy children, here assembling, Thine, Thy promise blessing claim. From our sins, it's blood that washes us. Israel, our soul's true light. And thy spirit, dear, has taught us. Have a fervent voice to cry. Once as prodigal we wandered in our folly far from thee. But thy grace for sin abiding rescued us from misery. By thy prodigals as pardon, Love us with a father's love. Welcome us with joy o'erflowing, Ain't it glad, oh, that we are one? Golden garments of salvation at thy table is our place. We rejoice and thy rejoices in thy riches of thy grace. In his speech we hear him saying, we should never be envious. I have found my once lost gentleman. I have played with her once. The End The father, all adoring, all rejoiced in heaven above, while in us they learned the wonders of thy wisdom, grace, and love. Soon before I throw the sample All thy children shall proclaim, glory everlasting, glory be to God and to the Lamb. Well, you're singing very well, I must say. Enjoyed those lovely hymns. Will you turn with me, please, once again to the 15th chapter of Luke's Gospel? And I don't want to Luke tonight, at all of this parable in detail, but I'd like to direct your attention to just a few words, the opening words of the first 18 of the chapter. And of course they are part of what must be one of the best-known parables of our Lord what we commonly refer to as the parable of the prodigal son. And no doubt you're all very familiar with the details of this parable, how we are told and we've read together that a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided on to them his living. So here's a young man couldn't wait till the old man died to get his inheritance. He wanted it now. Typical young people. Well, except for the ones that are here. He didn't want to wait till the old man died. He wanted it now. And the father was very accommodating. And instead of chastising him and telling him to wait until the time was right, the father divided his possessions amongst his two sons. Verse 13, we read, 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. He didn't stay long once he got hold of his father's money and he went out to have a good time on it and enjoy himself, not with his own money, I suppose it was his by inheritance, but it was the money his father had made and given to him. So he went out and he wasted his living and his money and his inheritance on riotous living. Then there came a famine, a sore famine upon the land, and he began to be in want. He ran out of money. And so he turned to others to help him, to have compassion upon him. No doubt some that he had shared his wealth with, he thought maybe they'll help him now. So he went to them, but they would have none of it. One of them, the best he could do for him was he sent him to feed pigs and he was so hungry and so destitute. He sought to fill his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man would help him. But then we read that he got so low he hit rock bottom, and then suddenly he came to himself. You see, he'd been out of his mind. He had been reckless. He had wasted his money, he lived very foolishly, as if in a mad rampage, enjoying all that his father's money could buy and all the pleasures that sin could give. But then he came to himself, suddenly, What have I done? What a fool I have been! And he realized, boy, have I gone astray. Have I got things wrong? Have I played the fool? And when he got to that point, We find that when he came to himself, he said, how many hard servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. And then he said this, and these are the words I wanted to direct your attention to. Verse 18, I will arise and go to my father. I will arise and go to my father. You know, this text came very powerfully and wonderfully to my own heart. That's why I'm sharing it with you tonight, hoping that it comforts and encourages and challenges you as much as it challenged me. I went through a very dark time, health-wise, And no one could help me. The doctors couldn't help me. Their prognosis wasn't very good or very hopeful. Medicine couldn't help me. It's beyond that. Family and friends couldn't help me. And drugs couldn't help me. Not that I was a drug addict. but these drugs they give to give you some kind of relief. It couldn't really help me. I was in a dark place. My wife couldn't help me, my children couldn't help me, my family, my friends couldn't help me, and I sank down into a dark, dark place. And I was resting on my bed one night, trying to get to sleep, My mind wouldn't shut off. Have you ever had that experience? As soon as you go to bed, everything just comes into your mind. And I was filled with terrible anxiety. And in the midst of it all, as I twisted and turned on my bed, these words shot into my head. I will arise. and go to my father. Nobody else could help me. No, they wanted to. No, they did their best. But there was one who could. One who could lift the anxiety and the fear and the dread and the worry and the annoyance. And that was worse than the actual physical problem. Believe me, there are things worse than physical problems. Arise, I will arise, and go to my Father. And I did. I knew it was the best thing I ever did, dear. He was the first to help me. Oh, I still have a problem, which I have to live with and accept, and only God knows how I come out. But all that old anxiety, and all those, that dark, darkness lifted. And I went to my Father. I will rise and go to my father. And I did. And that's what I want to leave with you tonight. As we come to the end of, as we have come to the end of an old year, and as we face a new year, I would exhort you to do what this young man did, and which I did. arise, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what your situation is, tonight, or in the days that lie ahead, go to your father. I remember when my boys were growing up, I have four boys, as you know, I'm sure, by now, I've often spoken to them. And I remember when they were little boys, trying to get it through to them. I said, we begin to grow up into teenagers. I used to say, listen boys, I want to tell you something now. I'm your dad. And I'll always be your dad. And whatever happens in life, whatever mistakes you may make, whatever folds you may have, whatever difficulties you might find yourself in, boys, I'm here. I'm your dad. You can always come to me. And you know, we have a great heavenly father, and we can always go to him in life struggles. As we look at the text, four simple thoughts. First, there is a blessed relationship in the text, a relationship that cannot be broken. For we read that the prodigal, when he came to himself, said, I will rise and go, where? To my friends. to my family, to my neighbors. He says, I go to my father. My father. You see, his dad was still his dad. His father was still his father. And for all his folly and foolishness, nothing could break that relationship. That's how it was. That was effective life. He was his father's son. And nothing can change that, for all is well with him. Oh, it is true that he was a wayward son, but he was a son nevertheless. It is true he was an ungrateful son. He didn't display a very nice character, this young man. Didn't treat his father very well. ungrateful, unthankful, selfish, sinful. He couldn't wait to get out of his father's house, away from under his father's restraints and the restraints of his father's house, to live his life, to be his own man, to do his own thing, to enjoy sin. He threw off the shackles of parental restraint. Yes, he did all that. But for all that, He never ceased to be the father's son, and the father never ceased to be his father. Yeah? Because even when he came to himself, and he went back to his father's house, full of remorse, and confessing his sin, and requesting that his father might make him as one of his higher childrens, Not that he was to be demoted from being a son, but he had been happy to be treated like one of the hired servants. What did his father do? His father said, kill the fatted calf. For this my son was dead. and is alive again. The father owned him as his son. Oh yes, wayward, sinful, selfish, all those things. But the father owned him. He's my boy. He's my boy. And you know, dear friends, if you are truly born again, and I believe you to be, of course, If you're saved by God's sovereign, wonderful grace, you're a child of God. God is your father, and nothing can change that blessed relationship. Nothing can break that. Nothing can change it. Nothing can alter it. That's effective life. If you're born again, if you're saved, you're blood-bought, blood-washed, you're a child of God. I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, Jesus said. and all that come on to me, I will know why it's cast out. And to as many as received him and believed in him, to them give he power or the right or the authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And John in his first epistle, chapter three, verse one says, well, those very familiar, wonderful words, behold, what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us. that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he, Jesus, shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now are we the sons of God. When you trust Christ as your Savior, He gives you the right, the power, the authority to be a child of God. And you become a child of God. And you remember when the Lord would teach us to pray, what did he say to us? He says, when you pray, pray after this manner. Our Father, our Father, who art in heaven. So he wanted us to be aware of this, that God is our Father. and we are his children. Come what may, no matter what, that relationship is there and it cannot be altered, it cannot be changed. And you remember when the Lord rose and Mary Magdalene was outside the tomb, weeping, and the Lord spoke to her. And he says unto her, touch me not, once you realise who he was, The natural inclination was to embrace him. He says, touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended onto my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, listen to this, I ascend onto my father and your father, to my God and your God. Oh, listen, God is your father, brother. God is your father, dear sister. No matter what has happened in the past year, no matter where you're at tonight, God is your father, and nothing can alter that. The devil would try to make you doubt it. Surely he tried that with the Lord Jesus himself in the temptation in the wilderness. He said to him at least a couple of occasions, if thou be the Son of God, turn these stones and make them into bread. If thou be, if thou be the Son of God, questioning that. Want the Lord to doubt that. And he brought him up to the temple pinnacle. He says, if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down. If thou be. Mind you, the devil will try to shake your confidence and your relationship to God. And if he can do that, he will have a great victory. Your own heart might lead you to doubt it. Especially when you look in and you become aware of your faults and your failures and your shortcomings, things you've done you shouldn't have done, things you haven't done which you should have done. And you begin, how could I really be a child of God? Others might even question it. How can you be a Christian? But I tell you tonight, there's no power on earth or in hell that can break the relationship between the father and his children. We're loved with an everlasting love and nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So here is a blessed relationship, an unbreakable relationship. If you're saved, you're the father's son, and the father's your father, and nothing can change that. But there's also here a sad estrangement or parting that came between the father and the son. for the prodigal says in our text, I will arise and go to my father. You see, he had left his father. And this estrangement was all in the prodigal's side. The father did not leave his son. The son left the father. The world allured him. away from the father. The father says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I know I'm with thee always, even until the end of the world. God doesn't leave his children. This father didn't leave his prodigal son. His young son, his young boy left the father, lured away by sin, lured away by the world. for the glitter of sin and the things it would bring. He wanted to be his own person. He got tired of the restrictions of his father's house. He wanted to do his own thing and to be his own man. Does that not sound familiar? And many young Christians feel just like this prodigal man who'd been brought up in a Christian home. And you see your school friends and your work friends and your chums all around you, and they seem to be having a great time in the world. And you think you're missing out, because you're not allowed to go where they go. You're not allowed to do what they do. And you feel the restrictions of the parental home. And you feel like breaking free, having a good time, doing your own thing, being your own person. See, that's the whole go now, isn't it? You ever see so many different shapes and forms out in the street and in shopping centres all your life? Some of them run about like mohawks. And I don't know what, well I'm not saying in case I step on somebody's toes, there's nobody here with a mohawk hair. You know, remember Brother Thompson, the Baptist pastor, he passed away to be with the Lord. He did Ivan Thompson and he did a mission for us in Bambridge and he was given his life story and he told a story of he was down the town preaching on the street and he says this boy came up to him and he said he had this much haircuts and all these things sticking out of his face and his ears and his nose and his mouth and the way he described him to a tee. And he said, you know what this boy said to me, the preacher? He said, do you not feel ashamed standing on the street? You know, talking like that. Ask the preacher, standing in a suit, preaching the word of God, and here this boy comes up, you know, do you not feel ashamed? You know? Well, I don't know. I don't mean to judge anybody, of course. It's sad for them, but I just don't understand them, I admit that. They want to do their own thing, be their own person. Everybody's got to be different. You know, we're not all going to just be like one another. We're all going to be different. I've got to show my character and my whatever. That's what this young fellow wanted to do. Perhaps you intend to do that, young person. Remember, you're not so young. and you've got to be a bit wary of it anyway and you would like to follow the trend a wee bit and the fashions a wee bit and, you know, burst loose. Oh yes. I remember a sad, sad, sad situation where a young man, broken hearted young man came to me. He was married. He had been married for a good number of years. They had at least two quite teenage type children, that age group. And his wife had left him. She walked out. She got tired of being a housewife. She got tired of being a mother. She got tired of her humdrum life and she got into this crowd that were going to these different places of worldly amusement and she wanted to go with them and she wanted to be part of it. Drawn away by the world and the glitter of sin. She left her husband, she left her children, she left her home. So sad. And that can happen, you know. By the way, she was a professing Christian, this young woman. Only the Lord knows if she was his. But she was a professing Christian. And so there was a sad estrangement between this son and this father. I wonder, have any of us here tonight, not to the same degree, We're not running about with mohawk haircuts, and we're not, you know, spending our money and right as living musicians. But have we got away from the Lord in the year that has passed? Have we gone after, maybe secretly, sin, worldly pleasure, and grown cold towards the Lord? Well, there was a sad estrangement between this father and this son. But bless God, there was a happy and a wise resolution. He came to himself. He wised up, as we would say around Northern Ireland. And he said, I will arise and go to my father. I will arise and go to my father. He came to himself. What a fool I've been. He said, I will arise and go to my father. That was the best resolution he ever made. I'll go to my father. He's talking sense now. He's in his right mind now. He's on the right road now. He's going the right way. He's facing the right way. I'll go to my father. I'll arise. I'll not just sit here and mourn my condition and grieve over my condition and feel sorry for myself. I'll arise and I'll go to my father. What a New Year's resolution for us all. whatever our circumstances. I'm sure none of us are perfect. I'm sure there's not one of us will say that we've come through the year that's passed and haven't done a thing wrong, or we haven't put a foot wrong, or we haven't failed in the Lord in some way. But we can arise and go to our Father for everything. Now this young man, he went to his Father for forgiveness. He said, I have sinned. Have you sinned, gotten away from the Lord? Well, the Lord's still your Father, and He's a loving Father and a forgiving Father, and He will forgive you. Go to Him for reconciliation. Perhaps it's comfort and consolation you need. Perhaps you're in a dark place tonight, Life hasn't treated you too well. Problems and troubles have come your way. Well, there's no one can comfort like the Lord. No one can console a troubled spirit like the Lord. Believe me, go to Him. Rise and go to your Father. for restoration, to fellowship with him if you're out of step with him. And not only that, but for provision of all your needs. We hear all the time, don't we, about the cost of living. That is going up and it's hard for people. People, I'm told, have to make a decision between heating and eating. Now that's a sad situation to be in, although I find it hard to understand because a wee bit, you know, I'm in full sympathy with people who are going through hardship, but don't misunderstand me. And the cost of living is rising, but I come from a family of 12. I was the youngest but one. And mother never got any family allowance or government help for any, well, that's not quite right, got it for Edna, the youngest one, the baby. She's our baby. She's coming 70, but she's our baby, you know. My big sisters all used to talk to Reverend Crean about our young belly, that's me. It's a big crowd of us, you know. And heating, heating, heating. We had a fire in the grate and that was it. Your bath was in the kitchen and it was a big tin bath. And you heated the kettle up and put it in, got a bit of heat there to get a bath. And I remember old Willie Mullen telling the story of growing up in a big family. His mother put them all up to bed one night and told them to be quiet She had visitors coming in. She was trying to impress them a wee bit. Next thing, Willie and the boys were carrying on upstairs, and one of the boys shouted downstairs, Ma, our Willie's pulled the arm out of the blanket. Well, we had one of those blankets. I'm not joking you. It was my uncle Norman's big army coat. He died in Dunkirk. And we had this big army coat, and it was three over the bed. That was your heat. And you took your head out from under it, you went, you think you were smoking a pipe? And the windows inside, the ice wasn't outside, it was on the inside. Yeah, yeah. And the bathroom was right down the yard. You didn't want to go out there at night, in the dark winter nights. I was too scared to go out there at night. you made sure you were comfortable before you went to bed. I had nine sisters, and listen, now you have to have a bedroom for the boys and a bedroom for the girls, and you need to have a bedroom nearly each, and all that sort of stuff. That's very nice. But I had Well, there were eight sisters, one of them got married, was married in a way, so I don't remember Mary, maybe she was older, but we had a big double, well, a double room, it was a wee terrace house, and the bigger room had two double beds, and my sisters, eight of them all slept in there. Yeah, you went in there, And all you saw was a head, a pair of feet, a head and a pair of feet. They slept sort of two up and two down. And you think, you couldn't make that up. That's the truth. I'm telling you the truth. And I was great because I was a wee boy. I had a special. I was a wee boy about the place. I had two brothers, but they were way out of the family by this time. And I had special treatment. So, but I used to go in with my popcorn on Christmas morning, bang at them all as they hit their feet that were sticking out of the bottom of the bed. But, so, okay, times are hard. Times are hard. And mother got family allowance for Edna, but as soon as I left school and went to work as an apprentice, they took the money off her. So, but times are not, you know, I'm not making light of. People are having difficulties. It's just, they find it, because we were used to it. You didn't know any better. Everybody else was in the same, situation. Your neighbours would come in and ask mother if she had an extra potato for their husband's dinner or something like that. And mum skipped many of the dinners so that my dad would get, because his was the only wheat that was coming in. And of course the other ones would go out and pick potatoes for the farmers and do the odds. And somehow we all got here. But listen, our Heavenly Father, not one of us went hungry. Not one of us died of hunger or died of cold. We're all here. And mum used to say, son, the Lord never made a mouth he couldn't fill. You have a loving heavenly father, go to him for your needs, your temple needs. I'm not making light of temple needs. I know it's hard to deal with that. You're raising a young family or whatever. and you've mortgages to pay and all that sort of stuff. Well go and tell your, arise and go to your father and tell him about it. Do you not think he'll help supply your need? Has he not said he'll do that? That he'll supply all our need according to his riches and glory? Tell him all your needs. whether they be physical, whether they be mental, whether they be spiritual, material, all your own needs, the needs of others, the needs of the church, go constantly, go continually, go prayerfully, go believingly. I will rise and go to my Father. And this had a joyful outcome, of course. It was the best decision this young fellow ever made. For when he went to his father, what did he find? His father was looking for him, watching for him. Watching for him, day by day, watching for him. His heart was yearning after his boy. Wanted him home, wanted to help him, wanted to know what his situation was. And when he saw him coming, he ran. He didn't say, hey, there's that boy coming now, he took all my money and cleared off, and now he's coming back. No, he ran, he threw his arms around him, he fell on his neck and kissed him, said, bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand, put shoes on his feet, kill the fatted calf, let's make merry. This father's love never changed. never cooled, and your Father's love will not change and will never cool. So, as we start this new year, if you have regrets over the year that's passed, if you need to make confession, need to put things right with God, arise and go to your Father and put them right. If you're concerned about the year that lies ahead, your situation, your business, your work, your home, your family, whatever, arise and go to your father. Whatever situation you find yourself in, stop. Though you've played the fool, you've done foolishly. You've done wrong. but you can arise and go near Father, and you'll find a wonderful welcome with him. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. O dear brethren and sisters, let us in this new year resolve, no matter what the situation is, to say, I will arise and go to my Father. Amen. May God bless His word to our hearts tonight. For His name's sake.