The Prodigal Son
The Prodigal SonLuke 15:11-32
Many very fine Gospel sermons have
been preached from the Parable of the
Prodigal Son, and many unsaved and
backslidden souls have made their peace
with God through the personal and spiritual
application of this parable. For this
we thank God.
The kingdom parables may have many
spiritual applications and lessons, but
there is always one correct interpretation.
The fact that the parable of the prodigal is
not primarily a parable on personal salvation
becomes emphatically evident when
we consider the attitude and the action of
the elder son.
In order to have this before us we shall
read verses 25 through 28 of Luke 15:
“Now his elder son was in the field:
and as he came and drew nigh to the
house, he heard music and dancing.
And he called one of the servants, and
asked what these things meant. And
he said unto him, Thy brother is come;
and thy father hath killed the fatted
call, because he hath received him
safe and sound. And he was angry,
and would not go in: therefore came
his father out and entreated him.”
The elder son's behavior certainly is
not the attitude and action of Christians
when sinners and backsliders repent and
accept mercy and pardon from God.
There is no greater joy to the Christian
than the repentance and regeneration of
the unsaved. And any so-called Christian
that did not rejoice at the repentance of a
sinner would give unmistakable evidence
of not being a true, born again Christian.
Therefore in seeking the correct interpretation
of the Parable of the Prodigal
Son we must look further into the
Scriptures.
If we let the elder son represent the
Church of Jesus Christ as a whole rather
than the individual Christian, and if we
let the younger, wayward and unruly son
represent the other great God-ordained
institution, civil government, the Parable
of the Prodigal son fits throughout and
gives us a tremendous revelation which is
in harmony with what was foretold by the
prophets for our day and age.
The two great institutions brought into
being by God are Church and State.
The Church is a spiritual body or association
and is composed of all who believe
in and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as
the Messiah, the Son of God.
Civil administration with its civil laws,
statutes, commandments and judgments
was also established by God through
God's great and faithful servant Moses.
While the Church burst forth into
active power and glory through the ministry
of the Apostle Paul, the Church as a
spiritual organism goes back to the
Garden of Eden where God, after the sin
of Adam and Eve, provided personal salvation
through the sacrificial blood of an
innocent animal which represented the
sacrificial death of Christ who, in God's
appointed time, would die on Calvary for
the sins of the world. So there is a sense in
which the Church was established before
civil administration was brought forth by
God.
It is important that we realize that
Apostle Paul repeatedly stated that the
truth and light which he taught concerning
the Church was revealed to him from
the Old Scriptures.
In Romans 16:25-27 Paul wrote:
“Now to him that is of power to stablish
you according to my gospel, and
the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery,
which was kept secret since the world
began, But now is made manifest and
by the scriptures of the prophets,
according to the commandment of the
everlasting God, made known to all
nations for the obedience of faith: To
God only wise, be glory through Jesus
Christ for ever. Amen.”
Note, Paul said “my gospel, and the
preaching of Jesus Christ ... is made
manifest, and by the scriptures of the
prophets.”
In 1 Corinthians 15:1,3,4 Paul wrote:
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto
you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand; ... For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures; And
that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the
scriptures.”
In other words, the gospel Paul
preached was in and according to the Old
Scriptures, the only scriptures in existence
in the time of the Apostle Paul.
Thus we learn that Church and State,
as we speak of them today, have run parallel
down through history. They were
both brought forth by God and ordained to
serve and glorify God and bless mankind.
However, throughout the last 2,520
years, or the seven times of punishment,
civil administration has been for the most
part a prodigal son.
The Father's will relative to civil
affairs has been almost completely
ignored. God's civil laws, statutes, commandments
and judgments have been
cast aside. Legislators have made laws
that defy and violate the civil laws of God.
Like the prodigal son who joined himself
to a citizen of that far country we, in civil
affairs, have exacted and enforced heathen
laws, and now like the prodigal we
find ourselves feeding the swine of communism.
But like the prodigal, we too will finally
get our fill and will come to our senses
and realize there is only one of two courses
open to us in civil, national and international
affairs, and that is to arise and
return to God our Father and to honor and
observe His civil, moral and social laws, or
perish.
Like the prodigal, we have wandered
so far from God's word and will in civil
affairs that we no longer think of human
government as being born or ordained of
God.
It required considerable time for the
prodigal to finally get back into the
father's house, and when the father saw
him returning he was yet a great way off.
So our return to the civil and national
laws of God will require time. A great and
very significant development in this direction
took place at the founding of our own
nation. But now we have come to the time
when, according to all the prophets and
other kingdom parables, Christendom will
be forced by circumstances, as was the
prodigal, to honor and observe God's civil
and national laws. And those who will not
will perish.
This is the teaching of both the Old
and New Scriptures.
Peter had this in mind in Acts 3:23
where we read: “And it shall come to
pass, that every soul, which will not
hear that prophet, shall be destroyed
from among the people.”
The nuclear weapons, which we in our
defiance of God's civil and national laws
have given to the men in the Kremlin will
help a great deal in bringing us to our
senses.
When the prodigal son came back to
his father he said, "Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and in thy sight, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son."
This is the realization, acknowledgment,
and confession that we as a nation
— especially our civil administrators —
must realize, acknowledge and confess
before God.
When we as a people realize that civil
administration and international law was
established by God, and that the violation
of these civil and moral laws is sin, we will
begin to come to our senses and like the
prodigal be able to think and act intelligently.
When the prodigal first left his father's
house he undoubtedly imagined he was
embarking on a great and thrilliing
adventure, and that by casting aside the
standards and restraints of his father he
would enjoy great liberty and find challenging
and exciting opportunities.
So it was with us as a nation a generation
ago when we threw the Bible out of
our schools, threw to the wind God's
national law relative to Sunday (Sundaykeeping
is a national and civil law and not
merely a religious ordinance). We, too, as
a nation imagined that by casting aside
the standards and restraints of our God given
constitution that we were embarking
on a great and thrilling adventure.
Little did we as a nation realize that
when we established our present Federal
Reserve banking system we were violating
the basic economic laws of God and
bringing upon ourselves and our children's
children unbearable burdens.
It was not until the prodigal had for
some time found himself feeding swine
that he came to himself and decided to
return to his father's house and offer himself
as a servant.
Throughout the Scriptures we find
various animals used to symbolize
nations. For instance, in Daniel 7 ancient
Babylon was symbolized by a lion that
had eagle's wings.
The Medo-Persian Empire was symbolized
by a bear which had three ribs in
its mouth; ancient Greece was was
likened unto a leopard. This did not necessarily
imply that every person in these different
nations was as cruel, destructive
and dangerous as these animals are, but
the system of human government in these
nations was, as history shows.
And as we consider the nature, policy,
spirit and purpose of international, anti-
Christ communism we find that it is
undoubtedly one of the most corrupt, selfish,
unclean and destructive forces of all
history - and we are feeding it not only
with taxpayers' money but with peoples
and their lands in Europe, Asia and
Africa.
In considering the Parable of the
Prodigal Son we find that it was not until
the prodigal was face to face with destruction
that he actually arose and returned to
his father. Not until he realized and said
“I perish” did he repent. So it will be,
undoubtedly, with our nation and all
Christendom.
When world communism, which we in
our defiance of God's civil and moral laws
have fed, threatens us with utter destruction
we, like the prodigal, will have only
one way out of the dilemma which we
have brought upon ourselves by our
wicked and sinful departure from God's
civil and moral laws.
After receiving his prodigal son “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.”
The robe, the ring, the shoes and the
fatted calf symbolize redemption, authority,
peace and prosperity which will be ours
as a nation and as a people when we in our
civil administration cease to feed swine
and return to the civil and moral laws of
the Bible and our Constitution.
The significance of the father's word —
”For this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found” — is
apparent to anyone familiar with what
happened to the Israel people whenever
they departed from God's national laws.
This is set forth very clearly in the Book of
Judges and has been repeated in our generation.
Jesus, you recall, said “I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.” This does not mean that none but
Israelites may come to Christ for personal
salvation. It means that since the Israel people
were the only people who ever received God's national
laws they were the people that Christ
came to redeem and restore to His national
laws, and would use them to establish
His kingdom on earth.
The elder son certainly does not represent
the individual believer for no true
Christian is angry and complains when an
individual backslider repents and comes
back to God. And since the last part of the
Parable of the Prodigal Son cannot be
made a Church parable neither can the
first part be made a Church parable. Any
correct and scriptural interpretation of
the Lord's Kingdom Parables will always
be consistent throughout the parable, and
will be in harmony with Bible history and
Bible prophecy.
Those who insist on making the
Parable of the Prodigal Son a Church
parable, and spiritualize this parable, get
along fairly well until they get to the elder
son. They actually have more difficulty
with the elder son than with the prodigal
son; therefore most often the elder son is
ignored or bypassed.
For instance, can you imagine a truly
born again believer becoming angry when
hearing about decisions for Christ in the
various evangelistic efforts throughout
the land?
So while the elder son cannot be made
to represent the individual Christian at
the conversion of the individual sinner,
the elder son does represent the position
and the attitude of most of organized
churchianity when it first hears the truth
concerning the restoration of the Anglo-
Israel people as a race.
It is a strange thing that the Christian
that seems so joyful when hearing about
one individual sinner repenting becomes
angry when he hears the Gospel of the
Kingdom and the restoration of the kingdom
peoples.
It is quite evident that the elder son
represents the Church as a whole rather
than the individual Christian, for in verse
the father said to the elder son, "Son,
thou art ever with me, and all that I have
is thine."
The Church is the body of Christ. And
as the Apostle Paul repeatedly stated, the
Church is heir and joint heir with Christ.
God could never say to any one individual
Christian “alI that I have is thine,”
but it is a true and scriptural statement
when applied to the Church as a whole.
Among other things, the elder son
when he became angry at hearing of the
younger brother's return and the father's
welcome said, “Lo, these many years do I
serve thee, neither transgressed I at any
time thy commandment.”
For the past 2000 years the true
Church, the body of Christ, has served
God and obeyed God's command to preach
the Gospel of Personal Salvation. Millions
have given their lives and other millions
have given of their means, and for the
Church it has been a long and hard service.
But the Church as a body has become
so occupied with the personal phase of the
Gospel, and the salvation of the individual
sinner, that it has forgotten the younger
brother who was also brought into being
by God the Father. The Church has
ignored the Kingdom and even imagined
itself to be the Kingdom of God.
We have now come to the close of the
Church Age; the Kingdom is soon to
become manifest in the earth. The
Kingdom people, the Anglo-Saxons, will
soon be forced by Divine providence as
was the prodigal, to return to God's
Kingdom laws, statutes, judgments and
commandments. And throughout
Christendom God has been calling messengers
(or servants) to preach and teach
the Gospel of the Kingdom, showing from
the Scriptures the identity and destiny of
the Anglo-Saxons who are the Kingdom
people, formerly called Israel. And as in
the parable these servants met with anger
and abuses from the organized Church.
The elder son would not even go in and
look at his brother, the returned prodigal,
although the father came out and entreated
him.
So it is with organized churchianity
today. It will not even look at the scriptures
pertaining to the Kingdom of God on
earth and the Kingdom people whom
Christ came to redeem. Most so-called
fundamentalists merely become angry
and without any study or consideration
condemn the Gospel of the Kingdom as
heresy and an unscriptural teaching.
They would rather turn the whole world,
including the nations of Christendom,
over to come great antichrist than join
those who rejoice in the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God on earth.
All that the eider son said about the
prodigal son has proven to be true. The
eider son said to the father, as we read in
verse 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.”
Note, he did not say “my brother” but
“this thy son.” And so it is with organized
churchianity, it must admit that human
government was ordained and set forth by
God, but Christendom is very reluctant to
admit that there is any redemption for the
Anglo-Israel people in the realm of civil
affairs and the government of this world.
It is true that in civil administration and
concerning God's laws for human government
the Anglo-Saxons (the Kingdom people)
have for the past 2,500 years been living
like the prodigal. A great awakening
and great recognition of God in civil
affairs came at the time of the founding of
our nation. But Anglo-Saxondom has now
come to the time and place when it must
return to the Word of God in both foreign
and domestic policies, or perish. From all
of the Kingdom parables and all of Bible
prophecy pertaining to the destiny of the
Anglo-Israel people we know they will not
perish but return to God's Word and will
in civil affairs and be used of God to
spread the Kingdom of God through-out
the earth.
The father has the last word in this
Parable of the Prodigal Son, and it is
addressed to the elder son. The father
said, as given in the last verse of Luke 15,
“It is 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.”
Note, the father's firmness and note
the father said “this thy brother.”
Like the elder son, the Church must
and will be made to realize that God
brought forth and established human government
as well as the Church. There can
be no Kingdom of God on earth for which
the Church has prayed for 2000 years
until and unless the Kingdom people, the
Anglo-Saxons, are restored to the place
where they will administer God's kingdom
laws, and this will come in spite of all that
evil men and devils can do to prevent it,
for it is the wilt and purpose of our
Sovereign God, clearly and repeatedly
stated in the immutable Word of God.
“This thy brother was dead, and is
alive again and was lost and is
found,” needs little explaining for the
history and destiny of the Anglo-Saxons,
God's kingdom, has been both dead and
lost as far as the Church is concerned, but
it is now becoming very much alive, a
truth the Church must recognize and
reckon with.