The love of a heavenly Father

FARMERS MISSION PRAISE SERVICE

NOTES FROM SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2026 - PASTOR PAUL FERGUSON

READING: LUKE 15 VERSES 11 TO 24

What a story! A beautiful story that resounds with all of us. It is meant to. It is the story of a sinner restored by the grace, by the love of his father. A story that would have been one very familiar to the listeners, at least the characters of the story are. Why? Because of the economy they lived in. This was an agricultural culture. It is a story of these figures resonated and understood by those of that day in the Far East. The basis of the story was very familiar to everyone - sons were to be obedient to their fathers. It was considered to be an unspeakable offence. "Give me my inheritance. I am leaving home. I am going to live my life away from you." No doubt his listeners would have been horrified by the behaviour of the prodigal son. 

Verse 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."

Notice the language - "give me". No negotiation, no suggestion, no asking. The Greek language is even stronger. He is commanding his father to do something. "I don't want to wait until you are dead, I want what is owed to me now. I want to get on with my life as if you were dead. Give me that." Sinners behave that way today. They love the gift God gives us - health, wealth, the opportunities that God showers on everyone of us. Every one of us had 2 legs to put on the floor when we got out of bed this morning. We had food in our larder. We have all kinds of vehicles in our driveway. We have so much entertainment available. We are so blessed by what we have. Like the prodigal son we say to God "I want to enjoy the gift but I don't want the giver. I want to live my life away from you as if God were dead and I am free to enjoy to live life as if there is no God." The father graciously gave the son his inheritance. The son went off to the far country as far as he could get from the father. There he wasted all the gifts his father had bestowed on him. That is what sinners do today. God gave me all the gifts, opportunities and I am going to live life my way. They live life in this pursuit of pleasure. It may take years for that journey eventually. 

Verse 14 "And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want."

When he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the land. 2 problems. Now all the money is gone and he has nothing to show for it. All the friends he had procured was all wasted. Resources and time have disappeared. Now he is broke financially. His friends have run away. He is alone, broke and now he is hungry. To make matters worse a great famine has come into the land. God has allowed him to run his race, to go on a journey of sin and at the end of it he looks around and says 'I have nothing left.' If you pray for a relative to get saved sometimes you have to wait many years until you come to the end of themselves. That takes time. You may have to wait many years until they come to an end in themselves. That takes patience. You will often find a time when they are vulnerable. Either a financial crisis occurs in their lives or maybe is a relationship crisis. Just be prayerful and be patient. They will come to an end in themselves. This is what will happen in this story. He began to be in want. You would have thought that would have made him go back home. Sin makes you stupid. 

Verse 15 "And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."

He sold himself into slavery. He began to work in the fields as a labourer and feed the swine. These are the worse animals to have on a farm. They are the smelliest of all the animals. For a Jewish boy who was forbidden to be around pigs this was not just humiliation, it was as low as you could get. He is not only working with pigs, he is living with the pigs. He wanted to eat the foot of the pigs but it was indigestible to him. He was so hungry. The devil always does that. He doesn't tell you where you will end up - in the pigsty of sin. In the Garden of Eden to the very first sinner who fell in this world Satan came to Eve pretending to be her friend. He was using words to paint a picture of what would happen if she at the fruit - it would taste good, she would become a wise person and would break free from God and live life her way. Sadly she bought the lie. She was not told the real consequences of making that choice. She took the fruit and ate of it. It was looking nice on the tree, on the branch but it turned sour in her stomach. It left her feeling empty, estranged from God and afraid of God and of death, God's judgment. Sin always does that. Sin takes you on a journey. Sin promises so much but ultimately leads you to a lost eternity. The wages of sin is death. Adam and Eve - where are they today? If you eat the fruit you will die. Who told the truth? It wasn't the devil. People are still believing the lie today. You can go on in the journey of sin and believe there are no consequences, no pay day. God was merciful to Adam and Eve. He didn't strike them dead right away. He was merciful to this prodigal son. No doubt the scribes and Pharisees as they heard this story thought that the prodigal son deserved it and hoped he would die there. It was not the end of the story. What happens when he is in the far country? Right at the bottom of the barrel. For the first time this man said 2 words. At the start he said "give me". Now he begins to think of his father's house and his father's love and his father's compassion and his father's mercy and his father's forgiveness. 

Verse 17 "A when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father' shave bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger."

"when he came to himself." As people go past this meeting tonight they are saying 'look at those people going to that Christian meeting. They are brain washed. They are half crazy, bible bashers.' They think we are insane but don't realise they are insane. They are ignoring their creator, the giver of the gifts of life. They are ignoring death that soon will come and then the judgment to follow. There are 3 appointments in life. The first is the one we have all participated in - the date of our birth. Then "it is appointed unto man once to die." That is the second appointment fixed on God's calendar. You cannot change it. There is however a third appointment - "but after this the judgment." That is a very real appointment. The last great appointment that has to be faced. This prodigal came to himself. All those people who believe in God are not so stupid. All those prepared for eternity are not so dumb after all. You are in a very advantageous position if you are not saved because you are still alive. You can still come to your senses, waken up to the danger you are in. Like this prodigal son. The prodigal son began to speak to himself. "I am going back to my father's house and I will say 3 words - I have sinned." 

Verse 18 "I will arise ang go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee."

The hardest 3 words for a sinner to say. An important 3 words. "I have sinned". Have you said those words to God? Be very honest before him or have you lived your life differently? Doffing your cap to God but you have never come and faced him in an honest way, in a humble way and said "Lord I am a sinner. I deserve to go to hell. I deserve the judgment of God. I don't deserve your mercy." I need to go to my father, to a person not a church, not a religious system. I have to go to this person and confess what I have done wrong. He got up.

Verse 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."

The choice you have to make. Everyone of us has to make their own choice. As much as we would love to carry people to heaven they have to make their own choice. That is a hard thing to accept. This prodigal son arose. He has to make the first step. He ran away now he has to come and head back home. Here's the good news - verse 20 when he was yet a great way off. What a story. The father saw him. He was waiting, watching, ready to forgive him. Even though he had wasted everything, insulted his father, rejected his father. Even though by taking the inheritance he was saying to his father 'I wish you were dead, I wish you had no influence on my life'. Here's the good news. Whilst we were yet sinners Christ died for us. When we were his enemies he loved us. The Father is here tonight, watching and waiting and he is ready to welcome you home. But you must come. You must come personally and you must come to him. The only thing you have to resolve tonight is this. Not that you are sinner. Not that you are lost. Not that you are on the way to hell. The only thing you have to resolve tonight is are you willing to come back to your creator, to your heavenly Father. Are you willing to come to him and say the same words - "I have sinned. I have failed. I have let you down. I have turned my back on you." This prodigal son is willing to say those words and if you are willing to say them the Father is willing to receive you back. The Father in heaven is willing to welcome you back, to restore you. You might be at the bottom of the barrel metaphorically speaking but he is still willing. Are you willing to change? God is willing to change you, to save you, to turn your life upside down. Here's the conclusion - you don't have to stay in the pigsty. You can but you don't have to. The pigsty of sin is real but it does not have to be final. There is a road back. At the end of that road stands God the heavenly Father. His arms are outstretched. The robe is ready. he has come home Let's have a new relationship. I can forgive you. Jesus is waiting. Jesus is watching. Are you willing to come?