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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory. You see, one reason God allows us to witness the destruction of other people's lives is to serve as a warning for us of the dangers. Of disobedience. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr.
Robert Jefferson. Whether it's a surprise layoff at work or maybe a sudden dip in the stock market, unexpected hardships are part of life. But you know, those moments of trial really can make us wonder at times whether God is really paying attention. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shows us how God can use difficult times to strengthen our faith.
But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. All of us know someone who's walked away from their Christian faith. I want to begin with a sobering truth. Parents and grandparents, you can plead with your prodigal loved ones to come home.
you can pray for them. You can reason with them. But sometimes only God can break through their rebellion. And when He intervenes, it won't be gentle. It'll involve suffering.
failure and painful consequences that finally open their eyes. We're going to talk about this painful reality today, and it's also an issue I address in my book called Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You. This is an excellent tool for the prodigal, but it's also a fabulous roadmap for those who carry a deep burden for their prodigal. Let me send you a copy today. It'll arrive at your home with a prayer card that I've written for you.
It'll guide your incessant appeals to God. We call this a prayer for your prodigal. Both resources are my gift to you with sincere thanks for supporting the ministry of Pathway to Victory with a generous gift. Your generous gift received in November does far more than cover the cost of these resources. When you give financial support to Pathway to Victory, you're empowering us to shine a light of God's hope to someone who desperately needs to come home to the Father who loves them.
We're living in a chaotic culture, and Jesus could return any time.
So now's the time to act. The need is urgent. Thanks so much. And now it's time to turn in our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12. I titled today's message, When God Steps In.
Many of you are familiar with the name of Ted Haggard. He was the pastor of the New Life Church, the megachurch in Colorado Springs, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, rising star in Christendom, who fell several years ago into sexual immorality and drug use. Shunned from his church and ordered by those involved in the restoration process to leave the state of Colorado for a period of 18 months. Recently, HBO did a documentary on the aftermath of Ted Haggard, and the cameras followed him and his family around as they traveled the country in a U-Haul trailer, everything they owned in that trailer going from motel to motel as Ted tried to eke out a living selling life insurance. It was a vivid reminder of the consequences of sin.
Ted and his wife Carol were interviewed on Larry King Live. And during that hour, Ted was very honest. He took full responsibility for everything that had happened. He didn't blame other people. He said, I'm the one who is responsible for what had happened in my life.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, Amy and I were eating with Dorothy up at a Mexican food place up in Plano, and as we were eating, I was surprised to see Ted Haggard walk in with his wife, Carol. And so I went over to their table and I introduced myself, and I told him how much I appreciated his honesty on Larry King Live and his humility and willing to exalt Christ the way he did in that interview. And Ted said, It's interesting, he said. I grew up in a Baptist church. And he said, I remember hearing messages on Bible prophecy as a child and teenager.
And I remember hearing that at the judgment seat of Christ, all of your worst scenes are going to be projected onto a movie screen, and everybody is going to view those sins. He stopped, he smiled, and he said, But you know, Robert, I've already experienced that. All of my sins were exposed on Larry King Live for the whole world to see. Why is it? That God allows some Christian sins, like Ted Haggard's, to be known by everyone.
You know, when we hear a story like that of Tega Haggard, our first response is to shake our heads and cluck our tongues and say, how could anybody do anything that evil? But the fact is, any of us is capable of just about any sin. And the experience of Ted Haggard ought to remind us not only of our potential for sin. But it also ought to remind us of the devastating consequences of rebelling against God. You see, one reason God allows us to witness the destruction of other people's lives is to serve as a warning for us of the dangers.
of disobedience. And that's the theme of the message that we're going to look at. How does God speak to those of His children who are in the far country?
Now, in this series, Coming Home to the Father Who Loves Us, we've been looking at the story of the prodigal son as an analogy of how we as believers wander away from God. Why is it that we tend to wander away from our Heavenly Father?
Well, we've seen it's a coupling of our sinful bent along with Satan's very intensive plan to destroy us spiritually. And then we've talked about how it is we move away from God. It's the pursuit of materialism or pleasure or success that lures us away from a right relationship with God. We also looked at last time what life is like in the far country separated from God. It's a strange mixture of both pleasure and pain, and it can last for a long time.
But here is one place that the analogy of the prodigal son breaks down. In the story of the prodigal son, you remember that the father was seen as waiting for his son's return. And there's a beautiful scene that we'll see in a few weeks: that the father is waiting day and night to see any sign of his prodigal returning. In Luke 15:20, it says, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw his son, he felt compassion for him, ran and embraced him, and kissed him. We find that an appealing image of our Heavenly Father waiting, looking, longing for our return back to Him.
And certainly it's true that God is patient. He is longing for our return. But listen to me tonight, even though God is patient. He isn't passive. Unlike the earthly father who could do nothing but wait for his son to return, God doesn't just sit up in heaven twiddling his thumbs waiting for us to return, hoping one day we'll see the error of our ways and the emptiness of our pursuits.
No, the Bible teaches that God is actively working for our return to him. Right now, I'm speaking to some of you who are living in that far country. And the Bible says God is working right now to bring you back to himself. And when He decides to work in your life, He will not play fair. God will be willing to manipulate other people and circumstances to bring excruciating pain into your life for one reason.
Because he loves you and he wants you to come home. How does God do that? How does God orchestrate and use people and circumstances to bring us back to Himself? That's what we're going to look at. The way that God gets our attention when we're in the far country is through reproofs.
Now, the word reproof in the Bible is a term that simply refers to difficult circumstances that God brings into our lives to teach us a lesson. Again, a reproof is a difficult circumstance that God brings into our life to teach us a lesson.
Now we have a choice of how we respond to those reproofs. We can either listen to them and make the needed corrections in our life, or we can reject those reproofs. And throughout the book of Proverbs, you see a contrast between wise people who listen and learn from the reproofs of life and those who ignore those reproofs. Listen to Proverbs 10, verse 17.
Solomon says, he is on the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who forsakes reproof goes astray. Or Proverbs 12:1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Or Proverbs 29, verse 1. A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.
There are a number of reasons we suffer difficulties in this life.
Sometimes it's just because we live in a fallen world. Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulation.
Sometimes the difficulties we face are because God is strengthening our faith. He's actually using those difficulties to make us stronger.
Sometimes God allows hardships in our life to make us more sensitive to other people. 2 Corinthians 1: He strengthens us in our affliction so that we can strengthen others who face the same affliction. I think about Jenkins and the way God has worked in their life through the loss they experienced to reach out and minister to other people as well. But some of the difficulties we suffer in life are for our reproof. They are God's way of getting our attention when we're in the far country in order to bring us back to Himself.
What are some of the kinds of reproofs, correction that God uses? Let me mention three. First of all, one kind of reproof is financial pressure.
Sometimes God will use financial pressure to speak to us when we're in the far country. That's certainly what He did with the prodigal son. The prodigal son reminds us that living in the far country can be very, very expensive. God uses financial pressure sometimes to get our attention when we are in the far country.
Now, if God can't speak to us through our wallets, if He can't get our attention through our wallets, secondly, sometimes He will get our attention through our families, through family pressures. Again, when we have allowed success or pleasure or money to become our focus, many times God will speak to us through difficulties in our family. Bill Heibels tells a story about a man in his church at Willow Creek. He was a bond trader in the Chicago merck, and he would spend 15 hours a day working at his job. He neglected his wife.
His wife fell into an affair. This man said, I ran our marriage right into the ground. If it's not the loss of the affections of our mate, It may be the rebellion of our children that God uses to get our attention. I think about a man in a former church I served, Ron. Uh Ron um made an idol out of his career.
And he began to drift in his relationship with God. And we would have many lunches in which Ron would talk about his spiritual apathy and his drifting. He would even joke about it at times. Pastor, I know I'm not where I'm supposed to be, but you keep praying for me. I'll come back one day.
One day he called me frantic. It'd just been discovered that his 18-year-old son had been dealing drugs. Not only that, his son had renounced everything His father had taught him about God. And with many tears, Ron said to me, I just don't understand this. Why in the world would my son rebel against me and rebel against God in this way?
And see, my friend was bleeding already. I didn't want to stick the knife in too deeply. But I had to say what needed to be said. I said, Ron, Jeff has been watching you for five years rebelling against God. Where do you think he learned it from?
Fortunately, Ron came to the conclusion that that was correct, and God used this experience in his life to bring him back into a right relationship with God. But remember, God doesn't play fair. when he's dealing with his children in the far country. He will use any and every circumstance necessary to get our attention.
Sometimes God will use physical illness as a way of getting our attention in the far country.
Now again, we need to be real careful here. I'm not saying that all sickness is a result of sin. The Bible says there are at least three distinct reasons for illness that comes into our life.
Some sickness, the Bible says, is a sickness unto death. That is, God gives us illness in order that we might make the transition from this life into the next one. Think about it: if we never got sick, we'd never die. If we never died, we would never experience the heaven that God has planned for us. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, for this perishable body must put on the imperishable, this mortal must put on immortality.
And so sometimes sickness is the ticket that leads us out of this life into the wonderful future that God has planned for us. Secondly, the Bible says some of the sickness that we have is given for the glory of God.
Sometimes God uses our illness as a way of glorifying Himself. And then third, the Bible says some sickness is the result of personal sin in our life. I think of the example in Numbers chapter 12 of Miriam, the wife or the sister of Moses, who, because of her rebellion, was struck with leprosy, or Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, who, because of disease, was struck with illness.
Now, again, not all illness is the result of sin, but some of it is. And God, again, will use physical illness to speak to us when we're in the far country. And we've talked about the different kinds of reproofs that God uses in our life. Let me mention three universal truths about the reproofs that God sends into your life when you're in the far country. First of all, God's reproofs.
are impartial. God's reproofs are impartial. What do I mean by that? Let's say you're a Christian who's living very obediently, very closely to God, and I'm a Christian living in the far country. Let's say we both climb on top of the Christmas center there.
and we both decide to jump off together.
Sometimes I feel like that, but let's just imagine that we both are going to jump off together.
Now, which one of us is going to fall to the ground? The Christian living obediently or the Christian living in the far country? We're both going to go splat, aren't we? The fact is, gravity is no respecter of persons. God is impartial when it comes to his reproofs.
Secondly, God's reproofs are helpful. The fact that God doesn't allow you to get away with anything. is proof that he really does love you. God's reproofs are helpful. They are for our good.
You know, when I was a child, I never believed my parents' speech: this is going to hurt me worse than it hurts you. I never did buy that. until I became a parent myself. And now I understand what my parents were saying. I mean, the fact is, it's difficult to discipline your children.
The easiest thing in the world is to let their transgressions slide. To make excuses, to make rationalizations, not to go through the pain of disciplining your children. The only reason we discipline our kids. is because we love them. We want the best for them.
We don't want them to continue in a path that's going to bring destruction into their lives. And the writer says in Hebrews 12:8, it's the same with God. Hebrews 12:8, but if you are without discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. God's reproofs are for our health. They're for our good.
And thirdly, The Bible teaches us that God reproves our instructional. One reason God sends difficult circumstances into our life when we're in the far country is for our benefit, yes. but it's also for the benefit of other people.
So that other people can see the consequences of disobedience. We are human object lessons in the sense of what it costs when a person engages in rebellion against God. Remember the story in Acts chapter 5 of Ananias and Sapphira? That couple who lied to God about what they were going to give in a special collection, and the Bible says God struck both of them dead. What was the result of that?
Acts 5:11 says, Afterwards, great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard those things. Can you imagine what would happen if, in the middle of a service, a lightning bolt struck? Duran? Yeah. Or Walter, or me, and suddenly.
Boy, that'd get people's attention, wouldn't it? Especially if everybody in the church knew that they had been involved in secret sin. It would have sent a message to everybody in this congregation. I imagine at the invitation time, the aisles would be flooded with people coming down to rededicate their lives.
Well, that's what happened in the early church. When Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead, great fear came upon the whole church. That's what Paul said to the Corinthians. He said the reason God struck his people, the Israelites, dead in the wilderness was to serve as a human object lesson of the consequences of disobedience. 1 Corinthians 10, 11, Paul said, now these things happened to them.
As an example, And they were written for our instruction. If you want to know how God deals with his children living in the far country, Paul said, just look at how he dealt with the Israelites. You see, viewing calamity Viewing destruction in other people's lives has a way of making us particularly sensitive to warnings. When we see other people's lives destroyed, It has a way of making us sensitive to warnings. I remember a number of years ago I was sitting in an airplane parked at DFW Airport getting ready to fly to San Diego late one night.
And I'd been really sick, and so I was kind of overdosing on NyQuil and probably having way too much NyQuil and enjoying it way too much. And so I was sitting there chugging the stuff down and waiting for the plane to leave. And I looked out my window, and there was an aircraft parked next to it. uh to us and I saw an orange flame shoot out of the wing of that airplane. I kind of did a double take and I turned to the guy next to me.
I said, Did you see that? Did you see that flame come out of that wing? He answered no, very curtly. And so I kept staring out there. I didn't know if it was the NyQuil talking to me or what was going on.
I saw another flame shoot out of the wing of that airplane. And the flight attendant was walking down the aisle getting ready for our plane to leave. I said, Miss, I need you to look out here. I think that airplane is on fire. She said, Sir, that airplane is not on fire.
She was looking out the window. I was looking out the window. Suddenly, that wing burst into flames. We saw the back door of that airplane bolt open, the inflatable slide came down, people started bounding out of that aircraft left and right until it was emptied. We sat on the ground for at least an hour and a half, waiting for all of the emergency equipment to finish doing its stuff.
And finally, it was time for our plane to depart. And so we started taxiing down the runway, and the flight attendant was at the front, and she gave her a little announcement about what to do in case of the emergency, and the exit's here, and the exit is there.
Now usually during those announcements, most people are asleep or they're talking to other people or they're reading a magazine. I want to tell you, that night, everybody in the airplane was hanging on every word that stewardess said.
Some were even taking notes. Why? Because having just viewed a calamity, made everybody especially sensitive to warnings. Let me ask you a question. Have you recently been bombarded with hardships in your life, out of nowhere, financial problems?
Physical problems. Family problems, they've suddenly come into your life. Don't write those off immediately as bad luck. or misfortune. And whatever you do, don't gloat at the misfortune other Christians are experiencing.
The fact is, God many times uses difficult circumstances in our life. or in the lives of other people. to get the attention of those who are living in the far country. When a believer strays far from home, when someone we know walks right out the door and into the arms of a moral calamity, It's not time for us to look down our nose in prideful disdain. It's a warning sign, and every one of us should respond in humility, knowing that we too can stumble and fall.
I've written a book that coincides with this series, and it's designed to give you a biblical compass to find your way home. The book is called Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You. And when you give a generous gift a pathway to victory, I'd like to send you a copy. This book is written to both the prodigal and those who love them. It includes a study guide at the end of the book as well.
All Christians at some point will wander away from God because of our sinful nature. This book is for anyone who longs for an intimate relationship with God. It shows how to find the way back home. I'm so encouraged today because Pathway to Victory often hears from prodigals who have come home. As a result of the Bible teaching they hear on this program.
But I cannot do this work alone. Our proven trustworthy effectiveness is due in part to the generous friends like you who support Pathway to Victory with the resources necessary. And I believe our time is short. Paul said, Behold, now is the day of salvation. While there's still time, and before our Savior returns to earth in glory, please be especially generous as together we pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word.
Here's David with all the details. Today, when you support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you Coming Home to the Father who loves you. That's the uplifting book from Dr. Jeffress that dovetails with our current series. To request the book, call 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org.
You know, time and again, folks in our audience share how they've come to depend upon pathway to victory. For solid, trustworthy biblical teaching that they can apply to their daily lives. And as a thank you for your gift today, you'll also receive a prayer for your prodigal. That'll help you lift up that wandering heart that's never far from your mind. Call 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org.
You could mail your gift to P.O. Box 223-609-Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J.
Mullins. Join us next time when Dr. Jeffrish continues his series, Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You, with a message titled The Journey Home. That's Wednesday, right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr.
Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Experience the breathtaking majesty of America's last frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. This seven-day journey combines spiritual growth with unforgettable adventures aboard a five-star luxury cruise shift. It's a vacation you won't soon forget. Space is limited, so reserve your cabin today.
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