The Prodigal Son

Frank Fournier

Maritime Conference

We Can Do This

I'd like to invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 15.

We're studying the parable of the prodigal son together.

And tonight will be our last study on the prodigal in the parable of the prodigal son.

Tomorrow night and Sabbath evening, Sabbath night, we're going to look at what it is that makes the elder brother who he is, and how that we don't want to be elder brothers, not in that sense in any case.

And so tonight is our last look at the parable, at the prodigal in the parable.

So we're in Luke chapter 15 and we're going to look at verse 22.

We began to look at that verse last night.

Verse 22, the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.

Now we already know what the best robe is all about.

We've been looking at that all week long.

It's a righteousness that has been formed by Jesus Christ and by his Father with no help from anyone here in this world below.

We know that it is the robe of Christ's righteousness.

And there's not 1 thread of human devising.

Because if there was 1 thread of human devising, we would never know whether we could have assurance.

We would never know whether we've really done our part.

We would never know whether we've prayed enough or whether we've studied the Bible enough or whether we've witnessed enough to be acceptable to God.

But no, we're already acceptable to God Because Jesus went to the cross and paid the full penalty, turns around and offers us his own righteousness, not 1 thread of human devising.

So we may receive the gift and thank him for it.

And then we can put forth all the efforts we want in doing good works, in being good, in reading the Bible, in praying and all the rest.

It doesn't add anything, it doesn't contribute anything to our salvation.

Ah, but you know, effort is good, isn't it?

Yeah, if you're ever going to build yourself up in strength, you better make an effort.

You got to lift a few weights or you got to walk a few miles or you got to play a few sports or something and we can understand that.

And anytime we put forth an effort, even in spiritual things, there are gains to be gained, I guess, is the only way I can say it.

Well, you're going to have to explain that 1 to me later.

But before we read, we can reiterate the story of Joseph.

Joseph was a bit of a spoiled boy in the house of Jacob, because Joseph came from Jacob's favorite wife.

If Joseph hadn't, excuse me, if Jacob hadn't been such a cheat, If he hadn't been such a supplanter, and gone around to cheat his brother, and lie to his father, and connive with his mother, and found himself where he found himself with his uncle Laban, I believe that the Lord would not have allowed things to happen to Jacob the way they did.

But you know the Bible says, right, that with what measure we meet it shall be measured to us again.

And because Jacob had had, you know, it had been easy for him to be a cheat and a supplanter, the Lord says, you know, you've got to taste some of your own medicine.

And so he ended up falling in love with a beautiful woman, Rachel, I think that was her name, Rachel.

And you remembered on his wedding day, he got cheated.

Yeah, so that he could feel what he had made other people feel.

Well, he still loved Rachel a lot, and so he was willing to work another 7 years for her.

He ended up with 12 children, and Joseph was his favorite because Joseph was the firstborn that came from Rachel.

He treated him a little bit better and eventually he made him a coat of many colors which was showing that Joseph would be the prince of the family.

And the other boys caught the insinuation here, and they were not happy with this thing.

Not only that, eventually Joseph had a couple of dreams, and you know, if he had had any intelli...

I wouldn't say intelligence, if he'd had been a little bit wiser in his choice of words, if he had been a little bit more discerning, he would not have been so upfront with his dreams.

But he was an open kid, he had an open heart, he didn't have anything to hide.

I had a dream last night, let me tell you what the dream was, and you know, all the sheaves are bowing down to his sheave and and something like that.

And all the brothers caught the insinuation there also that eventually he would be the prince and everyone would be bowing to him.

And even his father went around scratching his head like, not really Joseph, even your mother and I are going to bow to you.

And his brothers were really not happy with this thing.

Well, eventually Jacob sent his boys to feed his sheep somewhere far away.

And they hadn't heard from them in a long time.

So, he sent Joseph with food, just to find out how these boys are doing.

And when he came over the hill, when he did finally find them, they saw him coming and they said, Aha!

Let's see what happens to his dream by the time we're done with him.

But Reuben didn't like the idea of killing him.

And so he convinced his brothers that they should put him in a pit.

Reuben goes for a walk or wherever he goes.

By the time he comes back, Joseph has been sold to the Ishmaelites and now he's becoming a slave on the way to Egypt.

And he saw a few dollars coming down the track there and he thought, ah I've got a better idea.

After all, he is our brother and we shouldn't kill him.

They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites who brought him to Egypt.

And in Potiphar's house, he rose to the top.

He came to the place where Potiphar didn't know what was in his house, because Joseph was such a manager and so honest and he won Potiphar's house.

But Potiphar had a wife and the wife took a shine to Joseph and she really tried to get close to him.

And 1 day they're both in the same house and Potiphar's wife lays hold on Joseph's jacket and doesn't let go.

And Joseph leaves the jacket in her hands and flees the house and she has the evidence.

This man attempted to molest me or something and that left of course Potiphar with a decision to make to save face because in those days a slave would have been killed right on the spot except that Potiphar understood his wife.

He wasn't going to kill Joseph because he knew that it would be his wife's fault.

This Is the Condemnation

This story has nothing to do with the sermon I'm going to preach tonight.

If you remember on the very first night, I started telling a story and I was telling the wrong story.

It wasn't the story that was meant to go with the sermon I was preaching.

So I stopped in mid drift and changed around and told the right story and left some people hanging.

And if you remember the story, now let's see if I can remember the story.

I was telling you that I was working in the mines and then at 25 I began reading the Bible.

Then I quit working in the mines and went to work in a little place called Woodland Park Foundation.

I was a student for a couple of years and my wife, and then 1 year I was on staff and then they made me the president.

And that's about as far as you know the story went.

Well, what follows that is that I didn't know anything about leadership.

By the way, I hardly know anything about leadership now.

So you can imagine how it was 40 years ago.

All I knew about leadership was that if you worked your tail off, then maybe you could accomplish something and I would call that success, you see.

And so this was my idea of being a leader of a small institution.

We were just going to work and work and work.

And if there were too many students in our little school, then those extra students would be in our home.

And if there was anyone that would come to visit, we would host them.

And if there was a heavy end to the load, that's the end we would lift.

And if there was a dirty end to the stick, that's the end we would handle.

And so we worked and we worked and we worked.

Well, about a year down the road, my wife began to say, listen, you can't earn your way to heaven, you can't work your way to heaven, we're working ourselves to death.

And you remember I said, we can't leave because I know how God has led us here, but I don't see Him leading us away.

I can see all the providences that put the responsibilities on my shoulder, but I don't see Him relieving me of those responsibilities.

There isn't anything I can do." And that held for a while.

And then a year or 2 down the road, she came back and she says, I'm going to leave.

I'm going to take the children and I'm going to go.

And my only answer was exactly the same as it had been before.

I can see the responsibility that God has given me.

And then finally, about 4 or 5 years down the road, my wife began to use the D word.

Who wants to be divorced from such a wonderful person." She's sitting right there, I've got to say that.

So because it was so serious, I began to pray and I began to claim a very special promise.

Now I understand that I don't have the sermon surrounding this little story that I would normally have and so I'm just telling you the story outright.

We were living in a home that was 3 stories.

But anyway, we had a little door and I could go in there.

And every morning I would go in there and I would pray, I would claim this promise.

Every evening I would go in there and I would claim this promise.

And we're going to read from verse 1, Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord, that walks in His ways.

For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, happy shalt thou be, it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be a fruitful vine by the side of your house, and thy children as olive plants round about your table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord." And I would go into this little domer, and I would put my finger on the promise, and I would stick it under God's nose, and I would say, listen, you promised, you promised.

I didn't make this promise, God made this promise to me and to all of us.

And He said that if we want to do God's will, and if we want to walk in His ways, if we want to be God's man, then my wife will be a fruitful vine by the side of my house and my children will be olive plants round about my table." Now I really don't know how long I prayed that prayer.

It was week in, week out, month in, month out, and somewhere along the way I quit praying this thing.

In any case, I woke up to it about 10 years later.

I was doing a series of meetings in Norway, researching through my Bible.

I came across Psalms 128, and it was like, whoa, I used to pray this prayer every day, twice a day for months and months and months, whatever happened.

Well, by this time we have moved to Africa, and my wife had come onto her own.

And now you've heard some of the stories of some of the things that the Lord has used her to do.

Even to this day she is in Africa and she is still working for the African people, bringing the gospel over there.

Rising, rising up, raising up an institution by herself, by God's help and God's grace, doing an amazing thing.

And As far as I'm concerned, she is, what does it say?

Living in 3 different countries, You can't pray that your children will be missionaries and then complain if your children are missionaries.

And so I brought my son to Africa when he was 14 years old, and he's 40 years old.

And he is the director of his own mission station out there in Tanzania.

And my wife has her own institution in Tanzania.

I have a daughter in the Yukon territories, and she has a home church, and she has all these people giving Bible studies, and also doing health clubs, and whatever else she's doing.

Doing all that she can to spread the gospel.

I have a daughter in Wenatchee, Washington, who has raised up I don't know how many choirs, and they've had to expand the church because they have become so popular and people are coming to church there.

Do we believe them enough to not let Him go?

Decisive

I'd like to invite you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 22.

On our first 2 nights, I emphasized that Jesus's birth is taking on of our humanity, our fallen humanity.

Living a life from the beginning to the end without sinning and then dying our atonement, our atoning death and his resurrection from the second death, all of these things he did so as to bring redemption to the whole world.

And he has provided this redemption, according to the scriptures, without money and without price.

I want you to read verse, well I will read verse 17, Revelation 22 and verse 17.

And the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely." Now you need to notice in this verse that there's only 2 action words, 2 predicates, 2 verbs, whatever you want to call it, that's of any consequence in this verse.

And the 2 verbs in this verse are come and take.

Do you know that this is all that God requires?

And I can read it to you from 6 BC, 6 Bible commentary, 1071 paragraph 5.

Now notice what Ellen White says here, all that man can possibly do toward his own salvation is to accept this invitation.

And then she quotes Revelation chapter 22 verse 17, all that a person can possibly do toward his own salvation is to come and take.

Now the words that follow are so precious, in my sight anyway, in my heart, that I just have to read them.

No sin can be committed by man for which satisfaction has not been met on Calvary.

You cannot commit a sin that satisfaction has not met the requirements of erasing that sin.

It goes on to say, thus the cross in earnest appeals continually prefers to the sinner a thorough expiation.

And so what Jesus did at the cross of Calvary offers to the human race, everyone, all the time, a thorough expiation.

And all that Jesus is saying here is, 2 things you need to do, come.

In John chapter 6 verse 37 it says there that, if you will come to me I will never cast you out.

There's a lot of people who seem to feel that they are so sinful they cannot possibly come to Jesus.

And Jesus makes this promise, I know how sinful you are, I don't care who you are, I don't care where you've been, I don't care what you've done, I don't care how miserable you are today and there are probably some of us here today miserable over something and I don't care what sin you will commit in the future, come, come, Don't let anything stop you because if you can come to me I can save you to the uttermost.

It says God can save us to the uttermost if we will come to him through Jesus Christ.

Whoever lives to make intercession for us.

You know, I have a wide margin Bible and I've got a lot of Spirit of Prophecy juxtaposed against different verses and this is John chapter 6 verse 37 where he gives this promise.

Now watch what he says, cling to that promise John 6 37 cling to that promise and you are safe.

Present this assurance to Jesus and you are as safe as though inside the city of God.

Now friends, if you were inside the city of God today, would you be safe?

Now how safe, could you be more safe anywhere else?

And God says right here, the promise is right here.

If you should take this promise and cling to it as if there is no other promise, you are as safe as if you're already in the city of God.

King David is somehow getting a picture of all that Jesus has done for him.

And he is so overwhelmed with the idea of what God has done towards him for his salvation, that he begins to think in his own mind, what can I do to repay what God has done?

Now, have you ever thought of doing something to repay what God has done?

Well, there's not much you can do, is there?

We're looking at verse 12 and this is his question, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

Look at verse 13, I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

You know, there's no way that you and I can do anything to make God happy.

Ah, but God has gone out of His way and He's made a sacrifice that is infinite.

And He's produced a redemption, a plan of salvation that will save your soul and mine and the only thing that we could do to please God is take the cup of salvation.

That's the only thing we could do to please God and it would please him greatly.

Now does that mean that there is nothing more for us to do in relation to the gift of salvation?

At the very least there are some decisions that need to be made.

You know I've been talking and someone came to me the other day and said, well you're not saying that we don't have choices do you?

No, I'm not saying that we don't have choices.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I would like to speak about today.

You can take or not take and it's a choice.

We say that salvation is by faith, is it?

Now, our faith or lack of faith is also revealed in every decision that we make.

Yes, when Eve was in the garden, she came to that tree.

God said to Eve and to Adam both, do not eat from that tree, because in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.

So 1 day Eve wanders away from her husband, she gets near that tree and there's a serpent in the tree and he's got some other idea and he says to Eve, did God say that you shouldn't eat from this tree?

She says, well that's right, he said I shouldn't eat from this tree.

He said that because when you eat from that tree you shall be as gods.

She was very beautiful and she had all that she could possibly need.

She couldn't advance any more than she was because she had everything already except for 1 thing.

Nothing Shall Hurt You

Have you turned with me to Romans chapter 3?

I promised you a couple of stories, or more, this evening.

What I'd like to do this evening is be very, very practical.

You know, Christianity is not all theology.

The theology is meant to teach us how to be practical as Christians.

Now when we talk about righteousness by faith, whose righteousness are we talking about?

Yeah, God's righteousness, Christ's righteousness, not our righteousness because we don't have any.

Anything we try to pass off as righteousness or human goodness or good works is according to the spirit of prophecy defiled.

Defiled because it goes through a corrupt channel.

There is only 1 righteousness and there's none of it in this world except in Christ and in God.

I mean try to wrap your mind around that.

And as far as I know, I had you turn to Romans chapter 3.

As a matter of fact, we talked pastor Arnett, is that right?

Yeah, he spoke on Romans chapter 3 this morning.

And my mind went to Romans chapter 3 also when I was thinking about God's righteousness.

Can you imagine having God's righteousness?

In verse 19 in Romans chapter 3, It says, now we know that what things soever the law says, by the way the law can't do anything else but say, you know, talk to us.

It says that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may become guilty before God.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

We Can Do This

54m

This Is the Condemnation

38m

Decisive

42m

Nothing Shall Hurt You

45m

Blessings Bestowed, Blessings Removed

40m

You Have Everything

41m

Not Enough to Be Religious

44m

09. Luke: Jesus, the Master Teacher

49m

He Descended Into Hell

29m

Walk This Way

30m

You’re On Stand

1h

What Is Freedom?

29m

Sound Doctrine