Here is, 1. The sin of a prodigal son. Besides the wrong he does to
himself, he is injurious to his good parents, and basely ungrateful to
those that were instruments of his being and have taken so much care
and pains about him, which is a great aggravation of his sin and
renders it exceedingly sinful in the eyes of God and man: He wastes is
father, wastes his estate which he should have to support him in his
old age, wastes his spirits, and breaks his heart, and brings his gray
head with sorrow to the grave. He chases away his mother, alienates her
affections from him, which cannot be done without a great deal of
regret and uneasiness to her; he makes her weary of the house, with his
rudeness and insolence, and glad to retire for a little quietness; and,
when he has spent all, he turns her out of doors. 2. The shame of a
prodigal son. It is a shame to himself that he should be so brutish and
unnatural. He makes himself odious to all mankind. It is a shame to his
parents and family, who are reflected upon, though, perhaps, without
just cause, for teaching him no better, or being in some way wanting to
him.