02.15 The Covenants Illustrated by the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Thursday, February 23, 1899; 7 p. m.

SERMON No. XI—THE COVENANTS ILLUSTRATED BY THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON.

Text: "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into afar country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living (Luk 15:13)." The story of the prodigal son is always interesting—interesting alike to the old and to the young, and interesting alike to every age and every tongue. Doubtless you have heard many sermons on this parable and have been more or less benefitted by them all. I shall re-tell the story to you tonight, believing that to say the very least of it, that it very forcibly illustrates the great subject that I have been trying to present and illustrate in clearness before you in this series of sermons. It is one of the Master’s own matchless inventions. No one has ever been able to write or utter parables like His. He speaks of it as a fact; He declares that a certain man had two sons. He made use of these characters as if they were from real life. The son took a journey into a far country and there wasted what he had in riotous living. And after he had spent his inheritance a mighty famine arose in the land and he began to be hungry and he went and hired himself out to a man in that country to feed swine and he became so low that he was even disposed to eat with the hogs that he was employed to feed. On reflection he came to himself and thought of his father’s servants at home—that they all had enough and he, the son, was in a land of strangers perishing with hunger. He made up his mind that he would go back to his father and acknowledge his fault, saying that he did not expect to be called his son any more but desired to be a servant and in pursuance of this he arose and went away from the country in which he had been and proceeded homeward and when he came within view of home the father went out to meet him and treated him with the greatest kindness and tenderness and love. The son acknowledged what he had done, feeling himself unworthy to be called his father’s son any more but wanted to be taken back in to the household as a servant. The father saw the thing in a different light and with the greatest demonstration 01 joy and affection welcomed him back. Not only this, but he clothed him, put a ring on his finger and manifested his joy in every way possible. The elder son, however, who had been at home all the time was out in the field at work and when he heard the rejoicing at home he called one of the servants and inquired what it all meant and the servant informed him that his brother who had been away had returned and that the father was making merry, that the father was rejoicing, because that he had received him back safe and sound. His anger was kindled and he refused to go in but the father came out and entreated him, reasoning with him and he answered his father by saying that he had been at home all those long weary years—that he had served him honestly, faithfully, and thoughtfully and that he had never been treated with such demonstration of kindness as this prodigal was receiving. The father assured him that the son who had gone had been to him as dead and that he the elder brother had always been with him and that all that the father had was his, and therefore that it was appropriate that they should indulge in demonstrations ofjoy because the dead was alive and the lost was found. This is the story in brief. I remember with great distinctness the sermons I used to hear on this parable or rather on the prodigal son. The preachers with whom I came in contact have never had very much to say about the son who stayed at home. They have told about the prodigal who wandered away. I remember particularly the sermon that impressed me most was a picture of the departure of this young man, the splendor with which he went away and the poverty and rags in which he returned. That all seemed good enough but when I got old enough to inquire about it I thought that if the prodigal meant anything the elder brother who stayed at home must mean something also, and after long and serious reflection I came to the conclusion that the sermons to which I had listened had only treated a very small part of the parable and therefore had practically not treated the parable at all. I wish you would understand that I do not propose to affirm tonight that my solution is absolutely correct but I do believe that you will agree that it is far better than the popular explanation and that it at least does that which I intend that it shall do: It will forcibly illustrate the idea I have of the two covenants: the one from mount Sinai, the other from Jerusalem, the one a ministration of death, the other a ministration of life, one by Moses, the other by Jesus Christ, one dedicated by the blood of animals, the other dedicated by the precious blood of Jesus Christ as the Lamb without blemish and without spot.

Let us study this parable a little while. Certain things appear on the surface that even the superficial student will see. There are three conditions of the family represented here. First the united family or I should say the undivided family, consisting of father, elder brother, younger brother—all at home. Second, the family divided, the elder brother at home with his father, the prodigal in a far country wasting his substance in riotous living. Third, the family re-united: Father, elder brother, younger brother, who had been a prodigal, at home again. I raise this question tonight; If the father in this parable represents the Father of the spirits of all men—and I do not think anybody denies it—if the prodigal represents the sinner, and a great many people think that he does, then what does the elder brother who remains at home represent? He must represent something or somebody. If the father here represents our Father in heaven, and I think we agree that he does, if the prodigal represents the ordinary sinner, the wanderer, the profligate, the scapegoat, the rebel in the government of God, then the elder brother who stayed at home all the time must either represent the church or an individual Christian. Understand me now, I am just carrying out legitimately the ordinary interpretation of this parable. Well, we will say for argument’s sake that this elder brother represents the church, the church of the living God. Do you think the spirit that he manifested when that prodigal sinner returned was the spirit of the church of the living God? Apparently he was suspicious that something unusual had happened at home and without personal investigation called a servant and wanted to know what it was, and then the servant informed him and he would not go in. Surely he does not represent the church. Well says one he must represent the individual church member. Here is his claim: "Lo, these many years have I served thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment." A man who could make such a claim as that would surely be a very good man. Therefore he represents the individual Christian. Do you think the spirit he manifested there was the spirit of a Christian? Not by any means. If this parable does not mean that the father represents our heavenly Father, the elder brother the church or the individual Christian, and the prodigal the ordinary sinner what does it mean? It evidently means something.

I have some parallel Scriptures, some scriptures that in my judgment throw light on this. Therefore I will call your attention to them before proceeding: "And he spake this parable unto them saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth if on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance (Luk 15:3-7)." Here we have exactly the same idea. Somebody at home, somebody lost. The elder brother stayed at home, the prodigal was lost. His father said he was. There were ninety and nine of the sheep that were safe in the fold, one was lost. Here is another parallel: "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she finds it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Luk 15:8-10)." Here we have the same ideas again: Something not lost, something lost. And mark you these parables are in the same connection and precede the parable of the prodigal son. Again: Taking up the same idea of the lost sheep I give you the words of the Master and they are plain and conclusive: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (John 10:16)," Something of great importance is meant. Notice here: One lost sheep, one lost piece of silver, one lost prodigal. I raise the question who was the lost sheep, who was the lost piece of silver, who was the lost prodigal? Who were the "other sheep"? Now it is clear that our Master was talking to the Jews but they were not lost in the ordinary or popular sense, for they were the children of God. For generations they had been in His school, and were being educated up to higher and better things and it would be utterly out of all harmony with what God had done for them and was doing for them and expected to do for them, to say that they represented the lost. I think, however, without answering this it will be apparent to your understanding as I proceed. Let us broaden this application just a. little. It is a fact beyond any doubt that God is our Father and that we are all His children in one sense. He made us, He preserves us, He has redeemed us, whether we honor Him for making us, whether we thank Him for preserving us, or whether we obey Him for redeeming us. Facts are facts and these facts stand. Originally there was only one family and even yet we talk about the human family meaning everybody.

There is a broad sense in which a man is a member of the human race without regard to color, without regard to nationality, without regard to anything under the sun save the fact that he is a man. And we speak of Jesus as a Hebrew and yet there is a deep and wide and enduring sense in which He was more than that: over and over and over again He called Himself the Son of Man. I take it that He realized that He was the Son and a member of the whole race of man. Whether or not my exegesis of this parable is correct it is a fine illustration, a beautiful illustration, a telling illustration of the very thing that I want to press on you in this series of sermons. God made man and the original pair was increased by births until there was a great family and yet there was one family. From Adam to Abraham practically we may say there was no enduring distinction except the distinction resulting from conduct. That distinction has always been maintained and always will be maintained. But the division of the family of man began with the call of Abraham in Ur of Chaldees. It was intensified at the covenant of circumcision. It was perpetuated and intensified again by the covenant of Sinai, and became absolute, and from the day of Abraham’s call for two thousand years the human family was divided, divided by Divine authority, by Divine arbitrament or by Divine will. There is no doubt about that. The parable of the prodigal son may not mean it but it surely does illustrate it. It is a fact, historically that can not be denied, that cannot be overturned, that by the act of calling Abraham out of Ur of Chaldees, by cutting him off from others, by giving him promises, by making a covenant with his seed, by throwing around him the great wall of law, by giving Israel special service, that Abraham or that God by that very act made a division of the human race and just as the father said in the parable of the prodigal son to the elder brother that the elder son was always with him and that all that he had was his, just so Abraham and his children always, compared with others, stayed at home and served God while the other nations were set adrift and the majority of them absolutely forgot God. That is an historical fact. I have been insisting in this series of sermons or arguments that the promise and the covenant of circumcision and the covenant at Sinai including the law and the service at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, were inclusive so far as Abraham and his blood were concerned and absolutely exclusive so far as others were concerned. And I may say that the difference was just as positive, just as deep, just as radical as the difference in a divided family. The population of the world outside of Abraham’s family was just as certainly cut apart from God’s dealing with them as was the prodigal from his own father’s house when in a land of strangers he wasted his substance, indulged in all sorts of riotous living and for a time forgot his home. That is a historical fact. Now the contrast that we have here in this parable is very remarkable. The elder brother stayed at home all the years and served his father. He said he did and the father did not dispute it. The prodigal wandered away, lost all he had and came to the conclusion that he was not worthy to be a son of his father any more but still desired to be a member of his household if he could only be one of his servants. It is a fact that the Scriptures, in describing the condition of Israel and of the Gentile world during the time, from I may say, the call of Abraham, but particularly from the covenant at Sinai, down to the cross, these things I repeat, bear me out in what I have said. Proof: "For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which ’I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you (Deu 11:22-25)." What have we here? God talking to the Jews or to the Hebrews. What is the sum of this assurance? That if they would do the will of God He would actually favor them and drive out other nations before them and give them a goodly land. Again: "For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend upon many nations, but thou shalt not borrow: and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee (Deu 15:6)."

What about the Gentiles during this time? Hear Moses: "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hast cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth (Deu 7:1-6)." Here we have a glimpse of the Gentile world—God’s people were not to mingle with outsiders. Originally I said there was one family and that family had the intimation that God would at some future time bruise the serpent’s head. In an important sense all men knew God. When God called Abraham and began to reveal Himself to him it seems that the other nations like the prodigal son wandered away and forgot God, and idolatry, rank, terrible, awful, pervaded the world; so awful, so terrible that God gave an order at Sinai that all idolaters should be put to death, not only in Israel but that they should destroy the idols of the people of the land into which God was leading them. It is recorded of the prodigal that he wasted all he had in riotous living. Allow me to read. Referring to the Gentile world no doubt: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them (Rom 1:28-32)." How strikingly that like the statement concerning the prodigal! They did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Hear the Saviour’s own words: "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 (Luk 15:13)." Again, hear Paul: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph 2:1-2)." Hear this statement: You who are dead in trespass and in sins! The father said of the prodigal: "This is my son who was dead and is alive." Again: "which in time past were not a people, but are now the children of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1Pe 2:10-11)." Get that thought if you can. Here he asserts that in time past these Gentile Christians were not the people of God. Did not the prodigal declare that he was no more worthy to be called his father’s son and was he not willing to be admitted into the household on an equality with the servants? Certainly. The Hebrews stayed at home. They were the special, the peculiar people of God. They were a kingdom of priests, a holy nation unto Him. It is a historical fact that the Gentiles wandered away, that they forgot God, that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge and God gave them over to minds devoid of judgment, to do all sorts of things, to work out the destiny that He had placed in their hands because originally they knew God, but had wilfully turned away and forgotten Him.

We can well imagine that when the younger son went and made this demand on his father to which the father acceded that the father had in mind the ultimate reunion of the family. Sometimes a father gives his son his own way that his son may learn that his own way is not the best. And so "he divided unto them his living," and the young man took his journey into a far country. The parable of the lost sheep proves this. The shepherd who had ninety and nine at home desired to bring the other back that he might have an hundred. The woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one, hunted for the lost piece of silver in order that she might have the original ten. He who said that He had other sheep declared also that He would bring them and there should be one fold and one shepherd. And notice this, that the very promise that divided the human race had in it the seeds of its re-union. When God said that he would make of Abraham a great nation, He left out every other nation; When God said he would make of Isaac a great nation, He left out every other nation; when God said that He would make of Jacob a great nation, He left out every other nation; When God made a covenant with Israel at Sinai, He left out every other nation and every other covenant; but in that very promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob there was the seed of reunion for He declared that in Abraham’s seed, in Isaac’s seed, in Jacob’s seed, in their seed all nations of the earth should be blessed: "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:3)." Paul is a good witness: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And of thy seed, which is Christ (Gal 3:16)." Did God intend that the family should be re-united? He did undoubtedly. Hear the apostle: "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him (Eph 1:10)." But it is not to be wondered at that the Jew would naturally get the idea into his head that he was not only then the chosen of God but that he should always be. Here is a fair illustration: Sometimes I see a young man who needs my special care and attention and love and I for a moment forget that I have other children and I give my heart to him. I see his weaknesses, I see where he is ready to fail, and I have seen it I think in several instances where he came to the conclusion that because I helped him when he was weak and needy that he was my favorite son. But I have no favorites. And so it was with the ancient Israelites—they thought they were the favorites of God and would always be. Jesus recognized that thing Himself. For some reason, we know not what it was, He left His own country one time and went over among the people on the coast—over among the Sidonians, and there was a woman over there who had an afflicted daughter. She had heard the name of Jesus, of His great, and tender, and sympathetic heart, and she went to Him and besought Him that her daughter might be cured, and He said it was not meet to take the children’s bread and give it to dogs— meaning by dogs the Gentiles—and the woman assured Him that she knew this was true but that the dogs ate the crumbs that fell from the master’s table, and Jesus recognizing her faith did as she desired (Mat 15:21-28). And again the very same thing appears in His conversation with the woman at Jacob’s well. It was noon-day. Tired, hungry and thirsty, He sat down by the well to rest. The woman came up and He discoursed to her on the glories and beauties and the grandeurs of the reign of the Messiah and led her mind on up, and as He led her along the highways of knowledge, He perceived that her heart was enlisted and He said to her: "Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband; For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he (John 4:16-26)." Notice here this, that the idea had grown up and was recognized that salvation was to be of the Jews and in an important sense that was a fact and how like that elder brother who stayed at home! He would not go in and join in the festivities. He knew what kind of man his brother had been; he did not want to have fellowship with him; he thought he was better than his brother. He said to his father that he had stayed at home all these years and had honored him and obeyed him and he had never given him a kid that he might make merry with his friends. The same thing you see in Peter. Peter had the keys of the kingdom and the commission came to circulate the gospel among the Gentiles, yet as a matter of fact, having the prejudice of his race, the ideas of his race, the aristocratic ideas of his race, I may say, he would not go and preach the gospel to a Gentile until the very heavens had been opened and the voice of God came down to him telling him that what God had cleansed he had no right to call common (Acts 10:1-48). But I repeat that they knew, all of them knew that in the very promise and in the very covenant there was the seed of something for the entire human race. Proof: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be (Gen 49:10)." These are the words of Jacob. He did not say that the Hebrews only should gather to him, but the people, all the people. He had a vision broader than the mere handful of his own family, a vision that reached out and in mercy included the whole race of men! Again: "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God (Isa 62:2-3)." Again, away down toward the close of the prophetic writings, nearer the day of Messiah we have these words: "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts (Mal 1:11)." Mark you well this! Abraham knew, Isaac knew, Jacob knew, all intelligent Israelites knew, that the day would come when the prodigal would come back. As a matter of fact the very parable itself teaches that the elder brother was expecting him. He knew that something unusual was going on at the house and refused to go in until he had investigated, and when he had investigated he still refused to go, and Peter refused to go to the house of Cornelius until men came with a message from the Angel of God and until the voice told him to go and until the sheet from heaven and the voice from heaven proved to him that the Gentiles were no longer to be heathen, no longer aliens, no longer dogs. But the gospel was first to be to the Jews. Hear the word on this subject: When our Lord was about to leave the earth He said: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8)." Again, Paul was preaching the Gospel and the Jews turned away from him and he and Barnabas were ready to go elsewhere and here is the record of what they said: "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46)." And again: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jews first, and also to the Greek (Rom 1:16)."

What made the division? I answer the promise, the covenant of circumcision, the law, the priesthood, the ministration. When God made a covenant with Israel that left everybody else out and I have demonstrated that a covenant that left everybody out who wanted in was incompatible with the character of God save as it served His purpose for a little while in preparing the way for Messiah and the way for all nations of the earth. Well, •what took away the dividing line? I answer that the thing that made it being fulfilled, the division or the dividing line was therefore removed. If I set up a partition or a fence between myself and my neighbor it divides us. If I take it down we are no longer divided by a fence. And here is a very remarkable thing. In reality—I want you to catch this—in reality there never has been but one human family. God is the Father of the spirits of all men: "And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation (Num 16:22)?" God has made of one blood every nation under the heavens: "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation (Acts 17:26)." Therefore, when the prodigal was wasting his substance in riotous living and the other brother was at home in obedience, when the father was pleased with the son at home and saddened by the wandering son, it was still in an important sense one family. As a matter of fact the division was artificial, arbitrary and transient, and only made for a certain purpose. This is true of all the nations now. In reality there is only one race in North America though we call some Mexicans, and some Americans and some Canadians, but we are all one; as human beings we have only one God, one common ancestry and one Redeemer, and one sun shines for us all. As a matter of fact history teems with proof of what I say: That the divisions that we call political or governmental or national are only arbitrary and they soon pass. Ancient empires have long since gone to dust, ancient glories have faded from the memory of man, ancient and honorable families now sleep upon the gentle breast of eternal oblivion and the division of the human race by the promise to Abraham was arbitrary and transient and only intended to be maintained a while. Here is the proof of it: Terah had three sons Abraham, Nahor and Haran (Gen 11:26). The blood that coursed through the veins of Nahor and Haran was just as good as Abraham’s blood. The only difference was that God took Abraham out for a purpose, to serve a purpose to serve as an illustration, and when he served that purpose and that illustration, God had no more use for him than He has for any other man. And again, the Egyptians who came up as camp followers when Israel came out of bondage were, as human beings, just as good as the Jews or Hebrews, the blood that coursed in their veins was more ancient and more honorable, speaking after the manner of men, than those whose camp followers they were, but God had said that His covenant was to be in the blood of Abraham and therefore they were left out. The ancient Babylonians were God’s children by creation, their blood was just as good as the blood of the Hebrews. There was no difference save in this: God was keeping Abraham and his family at home for a while that through them He might at last reach the prodigal and bring him home. That is the idea exactly. And I may lay down a proposition here that the fleshly idea permeated the covenant: "In thy flesh my covenant shall be," was the assurance of God to Abraham that was fulfilled, and so far as I am able to judge that the best that God expected to get out of it He got out of it when Abraham’s blood and flesh was assumed by Jesus his Son. Hear the apostle Paul: "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham (Heb 2:16)." And Paul assures us that though we have known Jesus after the flesh as a member of the tribe of Judah, as one of the ancient and honorable family of Abraham, that even now henceforth we will know him after the flesh no more (2Co 5:16). How was the division obliterated, how was the middle wall of separation torn down? I will read to you and after I read I propose to analyze and apply the tests of the word of God, making the Scriptures their own interpreter. Addressing the prodigal son, addressing the Gentile, addressing those that had been heathen, the apostle says: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph 2:11-18)." Let us study this Scripture awhile, study it in the light of the parable of the prodigal son, in the light of the ground that we have traveled over so earnestly and persistently all these days. First, all nations, kindreds, peoples, tribes and tongues outside of Abraham’s family and the covenant of Sinai, were designated or known as the Uncircumcision, as the Gentiles, as heathen, and I may say as prodigals or dogs. Their condition in relation to God and one another is emphasized throughout the Bible. This is particularly so in the Epistles of the New Testament. The apostles remind them of what they were in sin and of what they were by the grace of God as an encouragement to them to be faithful in the performance of every duty. Hear the apostle Paul: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (1Co 6:9-11)." Before their conversion these people had been fornicators, idolaters, effeminate, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, but they had been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and justified by His name and Spirit. How awful the condition of the Gentile world before Christ! How awful the condition of the world now without His saving power! Again: "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led (1Co 12:2)." Again: "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1Th 1:9)." Again: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another (Tit 3:3)." Again: "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you (1Pe 4:3-4)." Keep before you the words "alien" and "stranger" and remember that these words were applicable for two thousand years to those who were not of Abraham’s blood or members of the covenant made with his seed. During the period under discussion the Gentiles were without Christ. They were exactly in the condition of the prodigal as in that strange land he wasted his substance in riotous living and began to be in want. Hear the great apostle of the Gentiles: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (Eph 4:17-18)." Is not that another photograph of the prodigal son? Alienated from his father’s house, a wanderer walking in the vanity of his mind, hungry, sorrowing, lost, humiliated, ruined! They were aliens from God’s promises and from the covenant of Israel. Hear the Master: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (John 10:16)." Is not that the same as to say, "I have some disciples or friends who are at home and some are wanderers but I am going to bring the prodigal, the wanderer, the sinner, the Gentile, the heathen back and then there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Hear Paul: "Who are Israelites; to whompertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen (Rom 9:4-5)." They were hopeless and Godless. Mark you well the expression. Hear Paul: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it (Rom 8:24-25)." These Gentiles were without salvation for they were without hope and without God in the world. Again: "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods (Gal 4:8)." When they did not know God, when they did not know Christ, they served those that by nature were not gods; gods that had ears, but they could not hear; they had eyes, but they could not see; they had tongues, but they could not speak; they had feet, but they could not walk. Again, hear Paul: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope (1Th 4:13)." O the sadness of the myriads that were hopeless! for a long time the prodigal was hopeless, but when he came to himself and reflected he said that his father’s hired servants had bread enough to eat and he was perishing; that he would arise and go to his father. Noble resolve that! They were afar off—the prodigal was afar off—Jesus said it, but they were made nigh by the blood of Christ. It was not by His birth, it was not by His doctrine, but by His own blood. When He presented the cup He said, "This is the new testament in my blood shed for many for the remission of sins (Mat 26:28)." Hear Paul the great commentator on that thought: "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (Heb 9:22)." By His blood He reconciled us and in Him all distinctions are blotted out. There is no Jew, no Greek, no barbarian, no heathen, no African, no Asiatic, no American in Christ. We are all one in Him. Again: There was peace by our Lord and Saviour in the breaking down of the middle wall of separation. Said Jesus the Master: "These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace (John 16:33)." There was no peace in the family while it was divided. The father’s yearnings were for the prodigal child, and at last when he came home and when the elder brother was convinced by the overpowering argument of the father, he said not another word. There was an abolishment of the enmity and hatred that had grown up through the administration of the law by which the Jew and Gentile were separated. Did not the elder brother say that he had kept the commandments? Was he not self-righteous? Did he not think himself better than anybody else? Hear the apostle Paul on this same subject: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross . . . Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as, though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (Col 2:14; Col 2:20)." Again, so great was the effect of the death of Jesus in the rending of the veil, in the removal of the law, the dividing line in his own body, that He fulfilled the promise for He was the seed of Abraham and on the cross He nailed the law and abrogated the law and took it away, and therefore there was a new opportunity opened for the world—the whole race! Hear the apostle Paul: "And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight (Col 1:20-22)." The alienated, the wanderers, those who had forgotten God and knew Him not, and were starving and perishing while the Father had plenty and to spare! By the death of Jesus on the cross, Jew and Gentile were reconciled one to another and also reconciled to God. By the act of His birth He fulfilled the promise, and by the act of shedding His blood He took away the old covenant and ratified the new. And therefore the reconciliation took place in the family, one member toward the other, one division toward the other, and the two toward God. It is a beautiful thought. The enmity was destroyed. It took time to remove it, but it gradually melted away under the mighty triumphs of God’s dear Son. Proof: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Rom 6:6-7)." Again: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom 8:3-4)." Again: Peace was preached through Jesus Christ. Not only was reconciliation effected between man and man, and between God and man, but peace was preached. I read it to you: "He came and preached peace to you which were afar off"—the prodigal was afar off—"and to them that were nigh." Let us have some Scripture on this subject. Here are the words of one of the prophets of Israel: "I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him (Isa 57:19)." Who is afar off? The prodigal is afar off. Well said one, "I do not believe in your interpretation of the parable." All right. Every Gentile was afar off whether my interpretation is correct or not. Again, hear the word of God: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth (Zec 9:9-10)." Again, turning to the Scriptures of the New Testament and to the first Pentecost after our Lord went up on high. These are the words of Peter: "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:39)." Again: "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ; (he is Lord of all:) (Acts 10:36)." Therefore let every kind and loving and tender heart, let every nation and kindred tribe and tongue bring forth the diadem of praise and honor and glory and crown Jesus King of heaven and Lord of all! And again: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1)." And again, and finally on this point: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Php 4:7)." Not only was there peace, but Jew and Gentile alike had access unto God. O the thought of admission to him! When the covenant was made at Sinai, when the tabernacle was set up in the wilderness the law went forth that any stranger who came nigh should die, meaning not only Gentiles but any member of any tribe save Levi, and I may narrow it down and say of the house of Aaron, but under the reign of Jesus Christ whose reign is peace, under the reign of Him who is life and light and liberty, we have access unto God! Only the high priest and he only with blood in his hand was permitted to stand in the presence of the Glory and Light between the cherubim on the mercy seat; but any heart, broken and breaking, under the weight of sin hath access to God through the crucified Redeemer who was spit upon, trampled upon for us, but was glorified in the heavens, making intercessions for us according to his Father’s will. Let us have some Scripture on this point: "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2)." And again: "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him (Eph 3:12)." And again: "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Eph 4:7)." Again: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16)."

Brethren, hear me: The promise to Abraham was the separation, but in it were the seeds of re-union. The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise as far as the flesh was concerned; the cross of Jesus was the dividing line and there we have reconciliation and in every nation in the world, wherever the sinner turns his eye and his heart and his soul to that cross in faith and obedience, there is salvation for him. Hear Peter at the house of Cornelius: "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him (Acts 10:34-35)." So the reconciliation was effected at the cross by the taking away of that which had caused the separation—by the removal of the old covenant, its sacrifices, its service, all that pertained to it. Now we come to the climax: and a glorious climax it is: To all of those who had been brought from idols to serve the living God—all the prodigals who had been brought back to the Lord’s house from heathenism, to the Father’s house, to all who had been united with other Christians in the bonds of Christian fellowship in the new covenant, Paul says: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph 2:19-22)." And again speaking of Jew and Gentile, of Israelites and heathen, Paul says: "And put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9)." And again: "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference; For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:21-23)." Again: "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom 10:12-13)."

Again, and finally: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious (Isa 11:10)." I have gone over the ground: First, a united family, down to the promise to Abraham; Second, a divided family, from Abraham down to the birth and to the cross of Christ; Third, a re-united family, not in the flesh of Abraham, not in the covenant of circumcision, not in the law of Moses, not in the prophets, but in the Son of God, reunited in Him who gave His life for us, having made peace by His cross, life by His Gospel, and hope and heaven by His promise. Surely my contention that the parable of the prodigal son illustrates God’s dealings with man in the old covenant and in the new is true. Brethren, as the old hath passed away, as the new hath come in, as the myriads of earth’s sons and daughters who are lost stretch out their hands to implore us, may the Holy Spirit press on each heart the weight of woe of those that are lost and those who can say from the depths of their helplessness, My Father hath enough and I perish here hungry! May the Holy Spirit stir our hearts and may the Gospel and the inspiration and the presence of the risen Lord who gives us the marching orders cause us to look out for ourselves and never rest until we make peace in doing the best of which we are capable. What rejoicing there was in the family when the wanderer returned! What joy there was when the shepherd came back from the mountains with the sheep that had been lost! What joy there was when the woman found the piece of silver that had been lost! What joy there was in heaven when one sinner repented! But O, the joy! O the glory that shall ring in earth and heaven when Messiah takes His own, when all the world shall come to a knowledge of Him who died for their salvation. Then it shall be that every human heart shall be attuned to the praise of God and every tongue shall speak His glory; then it shall be that all the hearts and all the voices of earth and heaven shall ring one grand and glorious and triumphant strain that shall shake the foundations of the earth and the foundations of the New Jerusalem, saying: Worthy is the Lamb to reign, worthy is He to receive the honor, the respect, and the admiration of every kindred, tribe and people and tongue in every age, yes, ages on ages innumerable, incalculable, inestimable, beyond the flight of any imagination, beyond the computation of any human mind!