If one were to set the parable of the prodigal to music, it would be in a minor key. I am always saddened by the principle of the prodigal. It is true that there is great gladness and merriment in it, but the setting is sadness.
Think of this loving and generous father, with two prodigal sons. The younger a harlot-monger, and the elder a “me-monger.” The younger unrighteous and lawless, and the elder self-righteous and legal; both far, far from the loving father, with the latter set in his law-bound implacability. Does that not make your heart sad?
If you are already sad because you are a poor prodigal, or the parent of a prodigal or two, you can be sure that the Father of prodigals understands and cares. Yes, and in God the Son we have a High Priest who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” our burdens, our trials and heartaches (Heb 4:15).
Actually, we can all relate to, and are related to the prodigals. The principle of prodigality is there for us all. When we were unsaved, by the grace of God we came to realize that we were in a far country, “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). When no man gave unto us, we finally came to ourselves, and rose, and went to the Father. It was then that He came to meet us in fullness of love and acceptance. There was great joy in heaven, in our heart and in the Father’s heart, over that one sinner that repented (Lu 15:7).
Yet, long after we are saved, the principle of the prodigal reasserts itself in our lives (but it’s just the devil working through the old man’s attempts, from which God always delivers us—NC). Assured of your eternal security and acceptance in the Savior (yet saved but only instability results here until security is established—NC), we slowly drift into self-righteousness and independence (Jas 1:24—NC). We may be in some type of service for the Lord, but sooner or later we find ourselves in the far country; out of fellowship with our Father, and struggling to keep up appearances in our Christian life and service (Romans Seven).
We may slave on in this far country for years, slowly learning that the husks of the world and the old man are not even fit for swine. Finally, finally, we can struggle no longer and we give up—at least for the time being (still saved but in need of deliverance again—NC). Then it is that we whimper, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death” (e.g. from the old man, which is the sin nature and has its members like a body - Col 3:5—NC)?
It is then, by the Father’s mercy that we come to ourselves once again. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro 7:25). He is the answer, and back to the Father we go (always keep everything, good and bad into His trust, for He uses it no matter what to bring about our “good” - Ro 8:28). In His eternal love, He meets us again, this time not with the truth of justification, but with the truths of identification (He always sees the believer in Christ—NC).
Having subsisted on a far-country starvation diet for years, we hungrily feed upon the succulent identification truths. In due time we are fattened up on the liberating facts that we died unto sin, and that our life is now “hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
As a result, Galatians 2:20 becomes our “life verse”: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Christ lives His own Life in the believer, like a hand in a glove, He being the Hand—NC). We begin to reckon, reckon, and reckon: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro 6:11).
We study, study, study, all of the wonderful “deeper life” books. We share, share, share, the deeper truths—whether the recipient (victim?) is ready or not! We are learning about our position in Christ above, and we are improving in our condition. Our heart-hungers are being satisfied by more and more freedom from the old man, and more and more freedom in the new Man—Christ, “who is our Life” (Col 3:4). Liberation at last (of course the “new man” is the new nature which was “created,” not Christ, for He wasn’t created—NC).
No, it is not quite that pat. It is freedom at first! In this way our Lord gives us a taste of His ultimate triumph in our lives, and assures us that we are on the right path to that maturity in the Lord Jesus—“dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:11).
Hence, we reckon as we may, our wonderful victorious life and testimony begin to fade (everything seems less meaningful at repeated times—NC); and there is our principle of the prodigal, strong as ever. Once again, it is the far country—maybe not quite as far as before (because we know it’s just temporarily the old man again—NC), but too far for fellowship with the Lord Jesus and the Father (the purpose of this type of repetitious trial is to increasingly reaffirm our continuous dependence on God, the Lord Jesus and Their Holy Spirit—NC).
Could that be where you are right now? Well, yes, kind of. But I would like to know why. You will be encouraged to know that there are a number of reasons, and all of them are good (regardless of the reason; Ro 8:28, esp. 29). First, your loving Father has you right where He wants you at this time (He always knows what we are going to do and preplans all for the good of increasing our faith, which can always grow stronger - Luk 17:5; Eph 6:10—NC). He is not allowing you to grab the identification truths, run off with them and attempt to reckon upon them. He rather intends for you to become established, clearly and solidly, in those two basic growth truths—that you “died unto sin” (no more desire for sin and permanently forgiven—NC), and are now alive unto Him in Christ Jesus. A little farther on in this material we will see whether or not you are established enough in these truths to enable you to receive their practical benefits consistently and increasingly.
Second, while reckoning will result in definite gain in your Christian life, that is not God’s primary purpose for it. That is prodigal thinking. The young prodigal reckoned upon his father’s faithfulness (God always delivers and provides—NC), and was willing to settle for bread and servanthood. At least that would free him from the pig sty, and give him some of the comforts and benefits of family life.
But the father would never settle for that. He fitted him for fellowship (best robe, which is the Lord Jesus—NC), and took him into his presence in complete acceptance (permanent forgiveness—NC). That is the Father’s purpose for you. He has freed you from the old and positioned you in the new, that He may enjoy fellowship with you. If there is to be service, it will be as a son, not as a servant or hired hand. “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal 4:7).
Third, your Father does not want you to be like the elder prodigal. He served his father faithfully and kept his commandments, all to establish his own self-righteousness. His father humbled himself and went out into his presence, while he refused to go into his father’s loving presence. If your Father were to give you freedom and make you fruitful through your present state of reckoning, you would be just another elder prodigal. You would expect Him to come to you and bless you and use you, and you would see no reason for responding to His pleas for you to come inside and abide in His glorious presence.
Fourth, while you reckoned by faith for your new birth, you do not reckon for your growth. Reckoning is the basis for growth, but it is not the means of growth. Reckoning yourself dead unto sin does not free you from the reign of sin and the sinful old man—the Cross has already accomplished that (Ro 6:6-8 - reckoning doesn’t produce effect but assumes truth with what has been already done—NC); and reckoning yourself alive unto God in Christ Jesus does not establish you in your position in the Lord Jesus above—the Holy Spirit has already done that, too (Jhn 3:6, 8—NC).
It is true that the Father has made you the object of His eternal love. He has saved you, and thereby freed you from the old sinful Adam-life, and placed you in the Life of His perfect Son at His own right hand. Now it is for you to count upon these truths (which are mostly contained within the Pauline Epistles—NC) so that He can be your Object.
Hence it is by the Spirit that you grow (all power comes from the Father and the Son and flows through the Spirit to the believer—NC). He centers your attention and affections upon the Lord Jesus in glory, and you are thereby “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (Col 3:1-4). Your reckoning upon your freedom from the old man (Ro 6:12, 14), and your position in the Lord Jesus, comprises the basis for your access for face-to-face fellowship with Him in glory, and that by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (the Word of God, which is through the Spirit is like a mirror to see what you’re supposed to look like - 1Co 13:12—NC).
That is how you make the Father your Object, and thereby glorify Him—in the Son, and by the Spirit. The Father has you in His presence that you might partake of His glory, and by that means grow in His image. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Co 4:6).
Surely you cannot reckon yourself to be unworthy (Eph 4:1; Col 1:10; 1Th 2:12; 2Th 1:5; 2Th 1:11; Rev 3:4—NC) as the younger prodigal, nor too worthy as the older prodigal. Rather, reckon yourself in glory for the Father’s glory (as the Son glorifies the Father we glorify the Father—NC). “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (Col 1:9).
—Miles J Stanford
MJS devotional for Aug 2
The joy of sowing is exceeded only by the joy of harvesting; and yet both sowing and reaping are a matter of death.
“If we follow and note the history and ways of any true servant of the Lord, we shall see, that on the one side they, like Moses on the Mount, or Paul in Arabia, are entranced with the brightness and most marvelous display of divine glory; yet on man’s side, those who know most of the divine ways, suffer most because of the indifference of those who have professed to be the Lord’s people.
“It is nowhere admitted in Scripture that a servant can be merely the herald of the light of God’s grace; that is, that he should only have the joyful side of service. For every real servant, be he evangelist, teacher, or anything else, there must be the side of suffering, burden, and humiliation.”
“We must bear in mind that, while it is the Father’s purpose, in His dealings with Job, to vindicate His own estimate of His servant; it is, at the same time, shown us how He educates or disciplines that servant so as to render him worthy of that estimate.”
“In every trial, however gloomy, there are gleams of light and relief; but full deliverance is often delayed by our anxiety to obtain it. God Himself, and not the deliverance, is to be the satisfaction of His servant; consequently the deliverance is often postponed until we are without prospect or expectation of it; and then it may be accorded in a manner so transcendently beyond our conception, that we must see and understand the love and interest which surrounded us during the whole period of our trial.”
—Mile J Stanford
Think of this loving and generous father, with two prodigal sons. The younger a harlot-monger, and the elder a “me-monger.” The younger unrighteous and lawless, and the elder self-righteous and legal; both far, far from the loving father, with the latter set in his law-bound implacability. Does that not make your heart sad?
If you are already sad because you are a poor prodigal, or the parent of a prodigal or two, you can be sure that the Father of prodigals understands and cares. Yes, and in God the Son we have a High Priest who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” our burdens, our trials and heartaches (Heb 4:15).
Actually, we can all relate to, and are related to the prodigals. The principle of prodigality is there for us all. When we were unsaved, by the grace of God we came to realize that we were in a far country, “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). When no man gave unto us, we finally came to ourselves, and rose, and went to the Father. It was then that He came to meet us in fullness of love and acceptance. There was great joy in heaven, in our heart and in the Father’s heart, over that one sinner that repented (Lu 15:7).
Yet, long after we are saved, the principle of the prodigal reasserts itself in our lives (but it’s just the devil working through the old man’s attempts, from which God always delivers us—NC). Assured of your eternal security and acceptance in the Savior (yet saved but only instability results here until security is established—NC), we slowly drift into self-righteousness and independence (Jas 1:24—NC). We may be in some type of service for the Lord, but sooner or later we find ourselves in the far country; out of fellowship with our Father, and struggling to keep up appearances in our Christian life and service (Romans Seven).
We may slave on in this far country for years, slowly learning that the husks of the world and the old man are not even fit for swine. Finally, finally, we can struggle no longer and we give up—at least for the time being (still saved but in need of deliverance again—NC). Then it is that we whimper, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death” (e.g. from the old man, which is the sin nature and has its members like a body - Col 3:5—NC)?
It is then, by the Father’s mercy that we come to ourselves once again. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro 7:25). He is the answer, and back to the Father we go (always keep everything, good and bad into His trust, for He uses it no matter what to bring about our “good” - Ro 8:28). In His eternal love, He meets us again, this time not with the truth of justification, but with the truths of identification (He always sees the believer in Christ—NC).
Having subsisted on a far-country starvation diet for years, we hungrily feed upon the succulent identification truths. In due time we are fattened up on the liberating facts that we died unto sin, and that our life is now “hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
As a result, Galatians 2:20 becomes our “life verse”: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Christ lives His own Life in the believer, like a hand in a glove, He being the Hand—NC). We begin to reckon, reckon, and reckon: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro 6:11).
We study, study, study, all of the wonderful “deeper life” books. We share, share, share, the deeper truths—whether the recipient (victim?) is ready or not! We are learning about our position in Christ above, and we are improving in our condition. Our heart-hungers are being satisfied by more and more freedom from the old man, and more and more freedom in the new Man—Christ, “who is our Life” (Col 3:4). Liberation at last (of course the “new man” is the new nature which was “created,” not Christ, for He wasn’t created—NC).
No, it is not quite that pat. It is freedom at first! In this way our Lord gives us a taste of His ultimate triumph in our lives, and assures us that we are on the right path to that maturity in the Lord Jesus—“dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:11).
Hence, we reckon as we may, our wonderful victorious life and testimony begin to fade (everything seems less meaningful at repeated times—NC); and there is our principle of the prodigal, strong as ever. Once again, it is the far country—maybe not quite as far as before (because we know it’s just temporarily the old man again—NC), but too far for fellowship with the Lord Jesus and the Father (the purpose of this type of repetitious trial is to increasingly reaffirm our continuous dependence on God, the Lord Jesus and Their Holy Spirit—NC).
Could that be where you are right now? Well, yes, kind of. But I would like to know why. You will be encouraged to know that there are a number of reasons, and all of them are good (regardless of the reason; Ro 8:28, esp. 29). First, your loving Father has you right where He wants you at this time (He always knows what we are going to do and preplans all for the good of increasing our faith, which can always grow stronger - Luk 17:5; Eph 6:10—NC). He is not allowing you to grab the identification truths, run off with them and attempt to reckon upon them. He rather intends for you to become established, clearly and solidly, in those two basic growth truths—that you “died unto sin” (no more desire for sin and permanently forgiven—NC), and are now alive unto Him in Christ Jesus. A little farther on in this material we will see whether or not you are established enough in these truths to enable you to receive their practical benefits consistently and increasingly.
Second, while reckoning will result in definite gain in your Christian life, that is not God’s primary purpose for it. That is prodigal thinking. The young prodigal reckoned upon his father’s faithfulness (God always delivers and provides—NC), and was willing to settle for bread and servanthood. At least that would free him from the pig sty, and give him some of the comforts and benefits of family life.
But the father would never settle for that. He fitted him for fellowship (best robe, which is the Lord Jesus—NC), and took him into his presence in complete acceptance (permanent forgiveness—NC). That is the Father’s purpose for you. He has freed you from the old and positioned you in the new, that He may enjoy fellowship with you. If there is to be service, it will be as a son, not as a servant or hired hand. “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal 4:7).
Third, your Father does not want you to be like the elder prodigal. He served his father faithfully and kept his commandments, all to establish his own self-righteousness. His father humbled himself and went out into his presence, while he refused to go into his father’s loving presence. If your Father were to give you freedom and make you fruitful through your present state of reckoning, you would be just another elder prodigal. You would expect Him to come to you and bless you and use you, and you would see no reason for responding to His pleas for you to come inside and abide in His glorious presence.
Fourth, while you reckoned by faith for your new birth, you do not reckon for your growth. Reckoning is the basis for growth, but it is not the means of growth. Reckoning yourself dead unto sin does not free you from the reign of sin and the sinful old man—the Cross has already accomplished that (Ro 6:6-8 - reckoning doesn’t produce effect but assumes truth with what has been already done—NC); and reckoning yourself alive unto God in Christ Jesus does not establish you in your position in the Lord Jesus above—the Holy Spirit has already done that, too (Jhn 3:6, 8—NC).
It is true that the Father has made you the object of His eternal love. He has saved you, and thereby freed you from the old sinful Adam-life, and placed you in the Life of His perfect Son at His own right hand. Now it is for you to count upon these truths (which are mostly contained within the Pauline Epistles—NC) so that He can be your Object.
Hence it is by the Spirit that you grow (all power comes from the Father and the Son and flows through the Spirit to the believer—NC). He centers your attention and affections upon the Lord Jesus in glory, and you are thereby “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (Col 3:1-4). Your reckoning upon your freedom from the old man (Ro 6:12, 14), and your position in the Lord Jesus, comprises the basis for your access for face-to-face fellowship with Him in glory, and that by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (the Word of God, which is through the Spirit is like a mirror to see what you’re supposed to look like - 1Co 13:12—NC).
That is how you make the Father your Object, and thereby glorify Him—in the Son, and by the Spirit. The Father has you in His presence that you might partake of His glory, and by that means grow in His image. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Co 4:6).
Surely you cannot reckon yourself to be unworthy (Eph 4:1; Col 1:10; 1Th 2:12; 2Th 1:5; 2Th 1:11; Rev 3:4—NC) as the younger prodigal, nor too worthy as the older prodigal. Rather, reckon yourself in glory for the Father’s glory (as the Son glorifies the Father we glorify the Father—NC). “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (Col 1:9).
—Miles J Stanford
MJS devotional for Aug 2
The joy of sowing is exceeded only by the joy of harvesting; and yet both sowing and reaping are a matter of death.
“If we follow and note the history and ways of any true servant of the Lord, we shall see, that on the one side they, like Moses on the Mount, or Paul in Arabia, are entranced with the brightness and most marvelous display of divine glory; yet on man’s side, those who know most of the divine ways, suffer most because of the indifference of those who have professed to be the Lord’s people.
“It is nowhere admitted in Scripture that a servant can be merely the herald of the light of God’s grace; that is, that he should only have the joyful side of service. For every real servant, be he evangelist, teacher, or anything else, there must be the side of suffering, burden, and humiliation.”
“We must bear in mind that, while it is the Father’s purpose, in His dealings with Job, to vindicate His own estimate of His servant; it is, at the same time, shown us how He educates or disciplines that servant so as to render him worthy of that estimate.”
“In every trial, however gloomy, there are gleams of light and relief; but full deliverance is often delayed by our anxiety to obtain it. God Himself, and not the deliverance, is to be the satisfaction of His servant; consequently the deliverance is often postponed until we are without prospect or expectation of it; and then it may be accorded in a manner so transcendently beyond our conception, that we must see and understand the love and interest which surrounded us during the whole period of our trial.”
—Mile J Stanford
