The Far Country

Coral Ridge Ministries

The Far Country

Luke 15:13

May 22, 2023

‘ …the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.’
—Luke 15:13

Someone once said that people can be divided into two types: givers and takers. The prodigal son in Christ’s parable was most definitely a taker. We can paraphrase his first words in the parable as “Gimme. Gimme the goods that fall to me.” “Gimme” is his attitude and the attitude of millions of people in our world today.

So the father divided the wealth and gave the son his living. With his newly acquired access to wealth, the prodigal set out for the “far country.” Where was that far country? Well, the original hearers of Jesus’ parable might have thought it was Babylon or Rome or Corinth. Today a prodigal might set out for New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Harvey Cox described the “far country” as the secular city, the place where most people live today, a world bounded by time with no thought of eternity or of God. People who adopt the secular philosophy don’t deny God outright; they merely ignore Him, considering Him irrelevant.

The prodigal son did just that to his father as he set off for the far country. But the far country wasn’t all he had dreamed it would be. The prodigal son soon found that out. The more he did what he liked, the less he liked what he did. He looked for liberty; he found tyranny. He looked for friends; he found pigs. He looked for sensuality; he found starvation. Those were the realities of the far country. When the prodigal had spent all he had in riotous living, a mighty famine came over that land, and he found himself in great need. To survive, he ended up feeding pigs, a most debasing task for a Jew. Further, he felt so hungry that he longed to fill his stomach with the slop he fed them! Such are the ravages of sin. It may look so glamorous at first, but it ends up so debasing.

The good news is that though we may venture to that far country, the Father anxiously awaits our return. If we repent and return to the Father, no matter how far we’ve strayed, He will welcome us in. Have you wandered off? Turn around and come back today. The Father is waiting with open arms.

QUOTE:
That which we call sin in others is experiment for us.
—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The Name Above Every Name

May 31, 2023

‘And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ —Matthew 1:21 Many people are given exalted names but never live up to them. Charles Spurgeon tells about wandering in a cemetery and seeing a headstone inscribed with these words: “Sacred to the memory of Methuselah Coney. Age, six months.” (Recall that the biblical Methuselah lived more than nine hundred years!) The most important name the world has ever heard is the name of Jesus, and Jesus lived up to everything that name foretold. To make sure Mary and Joseph named Jesus properly, God sent angelic messengers to proclaim what His name should be and why. “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves,” and Jesus saved all of us from sin. The Bible has many other names for Jesus, but “Jesus” was His personal name, the name we call Him as our friend, the name that celebrates Him as our Savior. Of course, we’ve Anglicized Jesus’ name. In His Hebrew home, people would have called Jesus “Joshua.” That name, common in that time and in ours, celebrates the memory of Joshua, one of the great heroes of Israel. Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land of Canaan and fought to drive out all the Israelites’ enemies. During his lifetime, Joshua kept God’s people in line so that they walked with the Lord. Joshua lived up to his name. He saved God’s people from earthly enemies and led them to the Promised Land. Jesus lived up to His name by doing something even greater—saving His people from eternal foes and delivering them into an eternal promised land. As you go about your business today, honor the name of Jesus. Each time His name comes to mind, dwell on the fact that He has lived up to the promise of His name by saving you from sin and death for eternity. QUOTE: Jesus Christ [is] the condescension of divinity and the exaltation of humanity. —PHILLIPS BROOKS

The Cares Of The World And The Deceitfulness Of Wealth

May 30, 2023

‘…the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life…’ —Luke 8:14 Yesterday we considered two kinds of “hearers” of God’s Word: the wayside hearers and the rocky-soil hearers. Both had hardened their hearts, refusing to allow the Word to penetrate and change their lives. Today we’re going to discuss the third kind of hearer that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the sower: the thorny-soil hearer. The farmer cast the seed everywhere, and some of the seed fell on thorny soil. Although the soil richly nourished the seed, the thorns choked the plant so that it couldn’t bring fruit to maturity. In the same way, thorny-soil hearers can hear and absorb God’s Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke them, preventing them from bearing any fruit. I have known so many people like this. I think of a dear man I know who once told me, “Oh, I haven’t got time for spiritual things. I have to make a living. It is so hard these days.” Thorny-soil hearers pay too much attention to the cares of this world, forgetting that they will one day die and face God and their cares will disintegrate in His presence. And yet people continue to allow bills, jobs, worries, and anxieties to crowd out the Word. These cares choke out time to serve Christ and to bear fruit. I know of too many people who have gone this way, spiritually strangled to death, never bringing forth fruit to maturity. What about the deceitfulness of riches? I have seen many people who have prospered, so blessed by God that they no longer concern themselves with the cares of this world, but they have now let riches deceive them. Everything has come their way, and they want more. Instead of God’s goodness leading them to trust Him more, their wealth simply brings forth more thorns in their lives. They buy every sort of new gadget and toy and invest in every new luxury to make life exciting. They have no time for God, no time for church. Instead, they say, “I must look after my portfolio.” Money in itself is not bad, but the love of money is; it has shipwrecked the faith of many. Instead of being wayside, rocky, or thorny soil for the seeds of God’s Word, we need to be good soil, hearing God’s Word, understanding it, and bearing fruit for His kingdom. Today, read God’s Word, and let it really sink in. Then let it do its work in your heart so that you might bear its fruit in your life. QUOTE: The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money. —JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

The Parable Of The Sower

May 29, 2023

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.” —Matthew 13:3-6 Why do some people fall away from the faith and others continue to the end? A person’s spiritual staying power depends on his or her inclination upon hearing God’s Word. Jesus explained this in detail by telling the parable of the sower. In this parable a farmer sows seeds on four kinds of soil; three were bad, and one was good. Each type of soil represents a way that people might hear God’s Word. Today let’s consider the first two types of soil and what they represent. Seed first fell along the wayside path. In Palestine, small farms were divided by paths trampled hard by many feet, both human and animal. As the farmer sowed the seed, some of it fell on this hard-packed dirt. Because the seed was vulnerable on the path, the birds gobbled it up. This hard-packed soil represents the hearts of wayside hearers. Trampled hard by the hoofs of Satan and his herd of lies, lusts, and vanities, God’s Word has no place to sink in and take root. Second, seed fell on rocky soil. This kind of soil was actually slabs of rock protruding from the hills or mountains with only an inch or two of soil on top. That soil was easily warmed by the sun, encouraging the seed to sprout quickly. But when the sun rose high, it scorched the seed. Having no root, the seed died. In the same way, rock-soil hearers feel enthusiastic about God’s Word when they first hear it. But while their hearts seem tender to the Word on the outside, inwardly they have no intentions of allowing the Word to change their hearts and lives. The instant that tribulation comes because of God’s Word, these people stumble spiritually, unable to withstand the heat. Do you know people who fall into these two categories? Ask God to soften the soil of their hearts, preparing them to hear His Word and bear its fruit in their lives. Tomorrow we’ll address the third type of soil. QUOTE: "Almighty God of truth and love, To me Thy pow’r import; The burden from my soul remove. The hardness of my heart." —CHARLES WESLEY