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  HOW FAR IS THE FAR COUNTRY
  by Fred Tomlinson
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Summary: This sermon delves into the parable of the Prodigal Son from
Luke's Gospel, emphasizing the themes of repentance, grace, and the
father's unconditional love. It explores the concept of the 'far
country' as a spiritual state outside of God's presence, highlighting
the need for a transformative new birth experience. The message focuses
on the extravagant grace of God, showcasing how true repentance is
initiated by God's sovereign work in a person's heart, leading to a
profound realization of one's sinfulness and God's overwhelming love and
acceptance.

Duration: 50:22 Topics: "Repentance", "Unconditional Love"
Scripture References: Luke 15:1, Ephesians 1:4, James 1:14, Romans 4:4, Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 4:9, John 6:44

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke's
Gospel, emphasizing the themes of repentance, grace, and the father's
unconditional love. It explores the concept of the 'far country' as a
spiritual state outside of God's presence, highlighting the need for a
transformative new birth experience. The message focuses on the
extravagant grace of God, showcasing how true repentance is initiated by
God's sovereign work in a person's heart, leading to a profound
realization of one's sinfulness and God's overwhelming love and
acceptance.

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CONTENT
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Well, if you have your Bible with you, please open it up to Luke's
Gospel with me. I'll give you the reference in just a moment, but I
wanted to say something first of all. Like everyone else, I have
childhood memories or memories of my days when I was young.

One of them comes back to mind as I turn you to the passage that we're
going to look at in a moment. And that is, I can picture myself arriving
at the Gospel Hall, I would not have been into my teens yet, but
arriving at the Gospel Hall midweek for the children's meeting, which
happened every week, and coming into the hall from the back, through the
doors at the back of the room, and very quickly recognising that
something special was going to happen that evening. And that was because
in the aisleway between the two sets of pews, there was a little table,
and on it was a filmstrip projector, and at the front was a screen, and
this happened from time to time.

This was before there was such a word in my vocabulary as movies, and of
course there was no television, there was no, and I could go down a
whole list of things that didn't exist back then, but so far as this
little projector, I think it was called an Aldis, I think that was the
name, you'll have to check up on me, and just a little piece of
equipment with a big long lens on the front of it, and so this wasn't a
slide projector, it was a filmstrip projector, so there was a strip of
35mm film, which might have been two feet long or thereabouts, in a row.
And so when everything would start up, and the lights went out, and the
projector light went on, we'd see a coloured picture on the screen, and
then while we were all looking at this, in this exciting moment, looking
at a coloured picture on the screen, the leader of the event would be
reading through the scriptures relative to the picture that we were
looking at, because they had someone had presented, portrayed, and
painted, or whatever, these different pictures, which were all
portraying sections of the story which was being read to us, and then
we'd move on to the next picture. So as you can see, it was tremendously
exciting for us, and I can remember one of the favourite stories that we
got to look at in that particular way, was the story of the Prodigal
Son, and I'd like to read part of that story to you.

The parable which we refer to as the parable of the Prodigal Son,
rightly or wrongly, is the longest of all the parables that Jesus told.
I was also taught in those days that a parable was an earthly story with
a heavenly meaning, and of course Jesus spoke in parables frequently.
This particular parable actually comes in two parts.

Both parts are essential to the overall message that Jesus was seeking
to communicate, however, for this morning, we're not going to look at
both parts this morning. So let me just read first of all. In chapter 15
of Luke's Gospel, I want to read two verses from the top of the chapter,
and then we'll go to the section that I've been referring to.

So from verse 1 we read, Then drew near unto him, unto Jesus, all the
publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And
he spoke this parable unto them, saying, Verse 11 A certain man had two
sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the
portion of goods that falleth to me.

And he divided unto them his living. 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. And when he
had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to
be in want.

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his
belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spur, and I perish with hunger.

I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and
came to his father.

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said
unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his
servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on
his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and
kill it, and let us eat and be merry.

For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.
And they began to be merry.

Amen. The story, as you can see very readily, and let me say this before
I go ahead with what I was about to say. Let me remind you of something
that we know very well, but let me remind you, let it be highlighted in
your mind and kept as a kind of a backdrop as we continue to look here.

And that is that this is Jesus speaking. We've just been listening to
Jesus. And we've just been listening to a story that Jesus told, an
earthly story, but it had a heavenly meaning.

In other words, Jesus wasn't just talking for the sake of telling
stories. He, the son of God incarnate, had a message to communicate with
men and women. And he himself had designed a story which he tells here.

We've read part of it. And so every word is chosen by God. I know we're
reading English and he didn't say it in English, but nevertheless, every
word, every phrase, every point that he's making was designed by Jesus
Christ to communicate something to the people he was hearing.

He wasn't just being wordy, but every particular part of it is designed
particularly for a spiritual purpose and reason. So we'll keep that in
our mind, shall we, as we look at anything that we are able to find
here. So the story involves two sons and a father.

This is, of course, very obvious to us. The two sons, both of them, the
two sons stand in complete contrast to their father. Both sons are lost.

The father is the epitome of grace. This section of the parable is very
commonly used, and certainly was in my background, as a tool of
evangelism. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm not challenging that by any means. That said, clearly that was not
the original intent when Jesus was speaking this parable. There was a
purpose that really is obvious.

I hope that we can discover that from just reminding ourselves what the
opening two verses were in the chapter. He's responding to a prevailing
situation that had to do with the Pharisees and the scribes, in other
words, the religious hierarchy and their hearts toward other people who
were not as knowledgeable in spiritual things as the Pharisees thought
themselves to be, or as lofty in status as the Pharisees thought
themselves to be. And Jesus had then this purpose, which he's explaining
by all three of the parables which appear in this chapter.

The one we're looking at is the third in the category, as we know. So
this section of Scripture, while it may suit us very nicely as a basis
for a gospel talk for evangelism purposes, and again, nothing wrong with
that, but the fact is that I think it has an application which is very
appropriate to any church gathering or gathering of people who are
professing to be Christians. And it could very well be that this story
has an application for you in particular, whoever you are.

What I want to do this morning in the time that I have is build the
message which I feel that God has put on my heart around four two-word
phrases that I find here. I could have extended it beyond four, but it's
four that we shall look at. We'll find the first one in verse 12, where
we read, And the younger of them said to his father, Give me.

Give me. That's a phrase, really, whether it comes in exactly that form
or not is not the point, but the idea behind those words is a very
familiar concept in the culture in which we find ourselves living at
this point in time. In thinking about it, it reminds me of how things
all started so far as the unfolding message of the Bible is concerned.

It reminds me of Adam and Eve in that paradise into which God placed
them and so on. It was there, we remember, that Adam, this incredibly
privileged individual that God uniquely created, virtually made an idol
of himself and bowed down before it and in doing so, of course, rejected
the authority of the word of God himself. What we also know is that that
spirit, that self-centered spirit replicated itself in his offspring for
all time and here we are.

All is for self, for self-gratification. Even when many people perform
acts of kindness that appear to be for the benefit of other people, in
so many cases, concealed within that act is a selfish motive. And this
self-spirit not only wants for itself, but it wants what it's looking at
or thinking about now and that's what we're finding here in this section
of scripture.

And without the restraint of human decency and a fear of the law we end
up with what we're finding around the nation at this point in time that
is vandalism and looting and rape and cheating. It's give me, I deserve
this, it's for me, for self-gratification and so on. That's the very
spirit of the age and the culture in which we find ourselves.

It reminds me of a proverb or a word in Proverbs chapter 30 where I
read, the leech has two daughters crying give, give. Another translation
puts it, the leech has two suckers that cry out more, more. That's the
living translation and so on.

So we come back to this younger of the two sons in this story that Jesus
was describing here and he makes a request which clearly is a scandalous
request of his father. And in a sense the essence of what he is desiring
was legitimate but not yet. It was quite in order for him to expect and
anticipate that he would benefit from the value of the resources or the
property that belonged at the moment to his father.

But he couldn't wait for that event and what he said was tantamount to
saying we expected you to die sooner than this because we want this, I
want this material for myself. And this is what Jesus himself is
describing. perhaps we need to be very careful that we don't impose that
same idea in our relationship with God ourselves really.

The father in that situation was the source of the supply that he wanted
to get and so he comes. In so many cases perhaps that's a concealed
motive in our praying where so much of our praying is give me give me,
fill me bless me, heal me even in our worship it can come across. I
could quote a number of songs which are common today but I'm thinking of
one which says here I come to worship here I come to bow down so that's
the way the song goes and there's nothing fundamentally wrong with it
but it manifests this same spirit worship is to worship God for who he
is and to bow down before him because of who he is whereas here we're
saying that somehow in it we're concerned this morning like here I come
I mean there's an audacity in it really if I'm looking at it from that
particular point of view which is clearly wrong somehow and we even in
our worship again in so many cases it's this self factor we come with
our gifts and we come with our talents what we can do and the emphasis
is on what we are doing and we're missing something I love the lines in
this great hymn which was written what 244 years ago nothing in my hand
I bring simply to thy cross I cling do you notice the difference naked
come to thee for dress helpless look to thee for grace foul I to the
fountain fly wash me saviour or I die lovely there's no question that
God is gracious to us and he does impart to us blessings in so many
different forms and we praise his name for that but how careful we need
to be able to understand something of can I refer to it as the priority
in God's heart that which is God is looking for God's intention wasn't
merely just to bless men and women and provide this that and the other
for them so that they can have a happy life it's not that God's against
that but he looks on a different level altogether it's all about him
it's all about his name you know in Ezekiel chapter 36 which we've
looked at many times in the past which has such a lot to say about God's
great covenant of blessing for his people but we find right there in
that statement and that series of verses God saying I do not do this for
your sake O house of Israel but for my holy name's sake and somewhere we
need to get that as the foundation upon which we stand and upon which we
function and certainly upon which we worship God for my holy name's sake
in reading here in this section of scripture the boy comes to his father
do you see this in verse 12 he says give me give me the portion of goods
that falleth to me and once more I'm going to say remember Jesus is
teaching this and notice how the very next sentences and he divided unto
them his living when I referred to the father as being the epitome of
grace this is where I get that idea this story is being fashioned by
Jesus to speak of something infinitely higher clearly when he speaks
about this father this earthly father in his earthly story he has in
mind the heavenly father and his amazing grace toward the and in
response to the audacity of sinful men and women like you and me the
father in this story he soars above that which was rational and that
which was reasonable and we see his grace and the father responds you
know we have to remember so many things to remember aren't there but we
have to remember that God's grace we sometimes find ourselves referring
to his grace and we divide it into categories which is not wrong we talk
about his common grace he causes the rain to fall on the righteous and
on the unrighteous that's an expression of his common grace and there
are times when we come in our audacity and make audacious claims and
requests and there are times when he seems to have responded to those
claims but we must be careful that we don't confuse his common grace in
extending his kindness to us that he is approving of what we are
requesting and that would certainly be true in this story would it not
there is no way in the world that the father wanted to do this that the
son was requesting and yes the very next statement as I pointed out says
and he divided unto them his living Amen it's so easy to catch on lock
our minds onto this idea that well God provided or God did this so it
must be right well not necessarily so and I think that's quite quite an
under not an understood fact in verse 13 I find that second phrase let
me read it again not many days hence after the younger son gathered all
together and took his journey into a far country into a far country
clearly there was intended a spiritual significance to that statement I
have to give titles to these messages in some of the situations other
people do it for you but I want to entitle this message how far is the
far country and my answer to that question in the statement is
everywhere outside of the father's house that's where it is it's
everywhere outside of his house after the fall that I alluded to earlier
that territory which was the paradise of God the garden of God as it's
referred to on another occasion became the birthplace if you will of
mankind and all those that would be born that would come out from the
succeeding generations would be citizens of that territory which could
very well be referred to as the far country it was transformed into
something that God never intended it to be as the result of man's
actions which were intensely selfish as we've seen and God's judgment
which resulted from it at that time but the fact is that all men and
women being born into this world are citizens of the far country they're
on the outside of the father's house and the only possible way for man's
citizenship to be altered and changed is by the regenerating miracle of
the new birth that's the only way there is no other way offered to us at
all and in saying that I think we need to remind ourselves here that the
new birth it's not just a phrase that's become so common for us in
evangelical circles of course because it's on a biblical basis true new
birth sorry to have to even say that but true new birth is more than
just a mental adjustment to whatever one's self, certain facts in the
bible or toward God however we want to think about that but a true new
birth, it's a miracle of God it regenerates us and it transforms us and
it actually moves us as it were according to the apostle Paul in
Colossians from the kingdom of darkness where we were citizens into the
kingdom of God's dear son where we become citizens of heaven our
citizenship is transformed and changed unalterably and it places us this
miracle places us in the father's house that's a wonderful thing to
think about and listen the only unalterable evidence that a man or a
woman has been truly born again is that they no longer live in the far
country and they are infused with the new and holy life of God by his
spirit you believe that? it is that radical this is why Jesus came, this
is what the gospel is all about I'm convinced in my own mind that
there's a huge quantity of men and women who profess to be Christians
but they've never really left the far country and if that's true well
then that is serious because that would presuppose that they've never
really experienced this life transforming new birth that Jesus came to
make possible for men and women so the far country then is far nearer
than we realised you know the far country could be as close as your
computer it could be as close as your TV set it could be as close as
your bedroom it could be as close as your next thought there's a paradox
here the far country is not so much a place but it's a state a spiritual
state the far country is always a place into which those who have made a
profession of faith in Christ they retreat to it's always a private
place it's what happens in their heads and in their hearts and where
they go, you can move into the far country in those private moments of
your thoughts and of your heart Jesus is dealing with the hearts of the
people when he speaks to the Pharisees and Scribes as we noticed
earlier, Amen for a Christian abiding in the Father's house is really
another way of thinking of abiding in Him it was James who said James
chapter 1 verse 14 and 15 reads like this, but each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own desire then desire when it is
conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth
death there is, I believe, a place of immunity, a place of safety
sheltered in Him where we experience the blessings, the full blessings
or at least we enter into the full blessings of Christ at that point,
but the far country always has an appeal to it and no doubt we meet many
of the citizens of the far country in our day to day activities or
whether we watch them in some technical way or whatever, but there is
always an allure, there is always that which is appealing to us but in
making that response that James is referring to in that passage there is
always a cost involved and the joys which are being promised by the far
country are always short lived there is always a hook in the devil's
bait and the intent is always to drag men and women further away from
God's purpose for their lives and seducing them from purity and passion
to God and purpose for their very living, so sin never fulfills its
promises never satisfies, it leaves only emptiness and bankruptcy, and
this man found that out as he engaged himself in what is described in
one translation as a reckless lifestyle of immorality and eventually he
had spent all there's another one of those two words, it's not the one
I'm thinking about particularly, but this road, if I'm back thinking
about this as a journey out from the security and the blessing of the
father's house, is actually more like a toll road and you pay the toll
at the end of the journey and you find at that point that the price that
you pay for the journey is far higher than you ever expected it would
be, because you were so taken up with your own self and the
gratification of your own desires, and there seemed to be no downside to
it at the time, but there certainly will be.

In verse 17 we read, and when he came to himself to himself how did he
arrive there? Did he wake up one morning and say, that's it, I'm
finished here maybe, maybe yes but what we know is that any reformation
that we seek to make in our own lives is always short-lived, we know
that very well. The Bible in other verses makes statements such as these
can a man change his heart? Or another says, can a leopard change his
spots? And yet another says, can the Ethiopian change his skin? So we
end up really just chasing shadows in the name of changing our lives or
improving ourselves spiritually or trying to become something somewhat
better, more approved of God, but we're chasing shadows, we're chasing
those bubbles that children make they all burst at some point The
question is, how did the man come to himself? Jesus let's throw some
light on this for us in another scripture, he says this you did not
choose me I chose you let me read some verses of scripture to you if you
read them thoughtfully they may be very challenging, they may be very
scary to our theology but you know, I thank God for someone who I used
to listen to years ago when he was around, who said I didn't write the
Bible and that's something to remember isn't it, we didn't write these
things we want to know what the Bible says, we want to know what God is
saying I'm reading to you, you needn't turn, that's just two verses but
it's from Ephesians chapter 1 I'll read three verses actually to himself
according to the good purpose of his will and to the praise of his glory
of his grace wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved Jesus said,
the choosing has been done by me and that's a clear statement here this
man didn't in the light of these kinds of scriptures I've just quoted to
you and there are very many more the man, and Jesus would know that the
man didn't just come to himself he certainly looked at the pigs and he
knew what he felt about himself and his hunger and so on, no question
about that but no one truly comes to God merely because they're bankrupt
at one level or another the Bible clearly teaches that men and women
come to God because God has taken an initiative and he is working upon
that life and he opens the eyes of their understanding and he makes his
truth known to them concerning himself and ministers faith to them to
believe what it is that God is saying it always has to be God who takes
the initiative it can never be man but the sovereign God makes his own
choices and he awakens men and women spiritually and he does that in all
kinds of different ways he may use many different means in order to do
that he may use people, he may use circumstances but let us be careful
that we're placing the emphasis where it belongs, and we're not coming
because things got so bad in our lives men may choose to try and make
amends in one way or another on that basis, but in terms of coming to
God we are awakened by God's initiative by God's spirit sovereignly to
us, and it's him God, who brings men and women to this point and he
reveals himself to us and at that point, when God reveals his truth to
us, light is shone into our human hearts, and I'm thinking just now of
Saul of old not the Saul who became Paul, but King Saul where the divine
light revealed truth to him, and his response was I have played the fool
and it wasn't just that he'd come into a difficult circumstance but
truth shone like a searchlight into his heart and he saw what he
couldn't see by any other means and this is exactly what God does and
prior to coming to that place for any one of us we would have to say
with the hymn writer our richest gain we count but loss and poor
contempt on all our pride and once God awakens us in that particular way
to see things as they truly are we know, as it were deep within our
hearts, almost intuitively we know where to run at that moment and it's
to our father's house and the boy says, I will arise and go he plans his
speech his speech was not repentance his speech was common sense under
the circumstances, but the next scene is stunning, and you can see this
in verse 20 and he arose and came to his father but when he was a great
way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his
neck and kissed him this is the father, when he saw him who did the
father see? he believed he saw the young boy that had grown up in his
household and yes, he saw the young boy as the result of his behaviour
at the end, he was worthy of the harshest discipline that could be
possibly meted out, it was audacious what he had said to his father and
father would know very, very well all of the criticism that he, the
father, bore as the result of what was deemed to be his foolish response
in going along with the boy's request and the neighbours who would look
at him from that time and say, what a foolish old man to have behaved in
that way, it was that boy that was at the centre of all of that that
really wounded the father's heart in so many ways that it caused such
pain to his heart the boy who had come and said, dad I want this now,
you know, I can't wait until you die and then the father having given it
to him he'd taken it away into that far country and he'd squandered it
and now it was all gone there was nothing left and when the father saw
him, when he was still a great way off even the very statement leads me
to believe that this was not just a chance thing it leads me to believe
that maybe for days for months, for years, I don't know that the father
would look along the road as he went about his business on his property
and wondered, would he ever see that boy returning and when he saw him
when he was a great way off and he recognised him, he saw his gait as
he's walking he saw his rags, he saw the filth of the boy and he ran and
old men didn't run then they shouldn't run now but they didn't then, but
this old man clearly he gathered up the skirts of his clothing pulled it
under the belt that was around his waist and he ran and I believe it was
at this moment the true repentance took place in the boy prior to that
he was remorseful but remorse is not repentance before that he had
regret, but regret is not repentance Romans chapter 4 says it's the
goodness of God that leads to repentance and when he saw his father who
he knew he had injured and wounded so deeply his father had shown such
amazing grace to him he's now running toward him I believe something was
going on inside the depths of this young man's heart at this point and
you know what happens it doesn't come prefixed with this word but it's
as though he says dad and he starts to speak to him and I've sinned
against heaven you see it in verse 21 I'm no more worthy to be called
your son and it's as though the father ignores what he's saying
completely and the father is now embracing him in all of the stench of
the pigs place where he'd been living and he's embracing him and it
wasn't a casual traditional fellowship hug this man is holding his son
he would later say this boy was dead and he's alive again he was lost
and he's found and he's holding him at this point Jesus is telling this
story he has a purpose in telling it and the boy tries to speak but now
the father is kissing him and he doesn't just peck his cheek but the
word in the Greek is that he kissed him and he kissed him and he kissed
him it's to kiss profusely he couldn't stop kissing him amazing grace
amen and the boy's heart broke at that point there lies the great need
it's not just merely the communicating of information about the gospel
but men and women need to be impacted sovereignly by the spirit of God
that brings a man and a woman to a place where they see themselves and
their behaviour their own behaviour, their wicked disobedience for what
it really is in the light of such grace and such love and such kindness
this boy had no right to anything he had forfeited this by what he had
received and he'd squandered and here we are so what we're looking at
here is the extravagance of grace and it's Jesus telling the story and
the father doesn't say anything about you've wasted your life, he's no
reprimand just a loving, whole hearted in the most ultimate sense
embrace and acceptance oh the welcome I have found there, do you
remember it? God in all his love made known we sing amen and all the
benefits of sonship which we could spend more time on but the father
bestowed these blessings upon his son as he is restored to a full status
of sonship in the family, never mind the servant thing the boy had been
talking about but the robe is the special robe that's kept for the guest
of honour who may come to their property, put that on him he says, and
the ring which was a symbol of his authority as a true son in the family
put the ring on his finger, put shoes on his feet slaves don't wear
shoes in these days put shoes on his feet, each of these items declare
his father's acceptance and embrace of him and then the lavish
celebration and the meal that was made, the boy is home, safe amazing
grace, amen you know what the simplest definition of grace is it is love
that pays a price and that's exactly what happened in this story you
know, I don't know everyone and I will never know everyone that's going
to be listening to me this morning but I'd like to ask you, are you
home, safe this morning have you entered into that rest that remains for
the people of God will you cease from your own works your own efforts to
try and be the kind of Christian you feel or understand you should be
ceased from your own works as God did from his but you know, that rest
that many people seek for, will never be found in the far country it
doesn't exist there nor can it it exists exclusively in the father's
house or as I pointed you earlier, in Christ that's where it belongs,
only there I wonder if the Holy Spirit is perhaps whispering into your
heart this morning the gracious words that Jesus once spoke when he said
come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you
rest rest for your souls we used to sing a hymn back in those long ago
days that I referred to earlier and for a good longer time after that
come home ye that are weary come home and I believe that's the word of
God to many of you who are listening to me this morning it's a call it's
the call of God into your heart do you hear his whisper deep in your
heart calling you to come home come home completely, come home
permanently just come home I pray to God that you will make the
appropriate response to him in your heart Amen Can I just add this
footnote if you have been blessed and helped through this message can I
encourage you let me know, I'd love to hear from you you can find me
through our fellowship website which is mckenziefellowship.com God bless
you Amen

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/vLs_Asby500.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/fred-tomlinson/how-far-is-the-far-country/
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