Sovereign Grace Church

Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

(DEUTERONOMY 28:5, Read LUKE 15:11-32)

It does not appear that the prodigal son added much to his fortune, when he desired the portion of goods that fell to him; that is, he desired to be an Arminian [Free-willer], to have an independent stock of his own: And to be left to improve it by himself; wherefore he did not choose to live near his father, lest he should interfere, but went into a far country, that his father might see how he flourished in the world when once he became independent. But self-will, free agency, self-sufficiency, and independency of God, seldom gain much by trading. For we all know that this independent merchant would have been starved, and damned too, if free grace had not undertook to feed him, and to save him. Poor soul! I warrant you he flourished away at first, but he soon brought himself down upon a level with the swine. Free Agency, with her boasted dignity, made but a poor figure while she sat banqueting at the hog-trough! And one would imagine that, if any thing would have excluded boasting, this certainly would. He could not boast of the entertainment, because it was nothing but husks; nor could he boast much of the company, they being only swine. I believe the prodigal left all boasting behind when he forsook the pig’s pound. If my reader, therefore, is an unbeliever, and has got a stock in hand, he may murmur against his portion, and view it as a snare or trap. Indeed it is a trap to many who set their hearts upon it. This was the case with Israel; their table became a trap, a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them; yea, that which should have been for their welfare became a trap. But, if my reader be a believer in a dear Redeemer, his stock is a blessing, while he is thankful to God for it, and does not place his affections on it; and, if he is liberal of the stock God has given him, his liberality daily sanctifies it. “Give alms,” says the Saviour, “of such things as you have, and behold all things are clean unto you” (LUKE 11:41). Paul declares that the lively faith of a believing husband would sanctify an unbelieving wife, and make her a temporal blessing [EPHESIANS 5:25-27]. The first sheaf under the law, being given to God, sanctified the harvest [LEVITICUS 23:10-11]; therefore I refer my reader, if he be one that has a stock in hand, to God's promised blessing. “Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store” (DEUTERONOMY 28:5).