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Published by DEDICATION The second edition of this humble effort is dedicated to KENNETH JACQUES, M.D. Devoted servant of the Lord Jesus Christ Distinguished orthopedic surgeon Treasured friend ACKNOWLEDGEMENT No originality whatsoever is claimed for these messages. The author has gleaned freely from many, sources. Special mention should be made of a book entitled ‘‘The Waste of Sin” by W. W. Melton, pub­ lished by Fleming H. Revell in 1922, now long out of print. Many portions of the material used came from this source, and the author expresses his appre­ ciation and debt. PREFACE This material was presented in a series of brief messages on the Voice of Calvary radio and television programs. In answer to the many requests for these sermons we have prepared this book which contains the entire series. This eternal story is inexhaustible in its content and remains as fresh and provocative as the day our Lord first told it to His disciples. The lessons are deep and abiding. The unforgettable portrait of the father and the son presents God and the sinner as only our Lord Jesus Christ could paint the picture. It is our prayer that this little book will tell the story once again, and that the loving Father will, as always, be­ stow the "kiss of God” in the embrace of eternal forgive­ ness and restoration upon some wandering prodigal who at last finds his way home. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Riotous Living ..................................................... 1 II. The Famine of Sin ............................................. 14 III. Homesick for God ................................................25 IV. “ I Have Sinned!” ................................................39 V. The Kiss of God ................................................. 48 VI. Found, Alive, Forgiven, and Restored ........... 59 VII. The Self-Righteous Prig ................................... 70 THE mKiSSif Chapter I RIOTOUS LIVING Luke 15:11-32 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto 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. 14 And when he had spent all, the) e arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, 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. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, 1 have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to 2 be called thy son. 22 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: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again: he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and danc­ ing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath re­ ceived him safe and sound. 28 And he was"angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. This parable of the prodigal is filled with fascinating and relentless interest. Here life is painted in its naked and dramatic reality. This is a story that no matter how often repeated never grows old. Its truths are familiar to each successive generation. The anguish of the father’s aching heart, the folly of the son, the bitter dregs of sin, the remorseful repentance, represents the tragic secrets of many homes and hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the 3 author of this drama, and it surpasses anything that has ever been put on the stage, in conciseness, in point, in fullness and beauty of meaning, in pathos and in power. The story begins, And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. (v. 12) A vital lesson is set out in the very first word. The seed is here planted from which the great harvest of sorrow and shame comes. This is the fountain head from which springs the putrid stream of poison and death found in the after years. This was where it all began; and all the succeeding tragedies were invited when this first sin was committed. The germ of selfishness and the stubborn will it demanded was responsible for the suppurating infection that developed. There would have been no wasting of all if there had been no demanding of all. There would have been no sorrow in the end if there had been no folly in the begin­ ning. The first selfish demand was the matrix from which was spawned all of the tribulation and suffering which was later experienced. Here we see the beginning of sin--the damning, vicious sin which ultimately destroys a life beyond the possibility of repair and sentences it to perdition. This devastating end of sin is actually the result of little sins fully developed. What is true in this parable is true in life. A little rattlesnake is as poisonous as a big one. One that has a few rattles on its tail is as deadly as one with a great many rattles. All of the poison and the death of the full-grown one is in the nature of the little one, and in like manner, the little sins contain the poison of hell as the larger ones do. Just one drop of rain may well be the forerunner of a great deluge, or the first gust of wind may be the announcement of a coming hurricane, or the first crackle of a flame may be the indication of a disastrous conflagration. Even so, tlje first deviation from what is known to be right, the first demand of selfish desire, may prove to be the bursting forth of a stream that will carry the spirit to utter ruin. That great catastrophic tragedy, the crumbling of the St. Francis Dam, whose waters descended with the fury of a thousand Niagaras on the people of California in the valley below, one New Year’s evening, was first discovered when 4 a young man named Dan Mathews noted several little streams coming through the wall of the dam. He gave his warning, but few heeded it. He knew there was not so much danger in a little stream, but he knew that little streams were fore­ runners of a major tragedy. The sins to be most carefully guarded against are the little ones--the first ones, the seem­ ingly harmless ones—because if these are controlled, there is little to fear concerning the greater, more shameful, more destructive ones. A narcotic addict becomes what he is by accepting the first injection of a narcotic, or perhaps by the smoking of a single marijuana cigarette. An acoholic becomes what he is by taking that first drink, and with that first drink there is not for a moment the realization that he will become a spewing drunkard, a disgrace to himself and those he loves. But it all begins with the first drink. This verse reminds us of the possibilities and poten­ tialities in every life—both good and bad lie dormant in every heart, waiting to be called out. It would be purely speculative to consider what the prodigal might have been and what he might have done instead of wandering and squandering. Yet it is a speculation that has a note of certainty in it. His life was what it was because he chose it to be so. There is no doubt about the fact that it could have been otherwise, and would have been, had he so determined. He stood at the parting of life’s road and was faced with a decision, and ultimately he decided which direction his life would take.

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