Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day.

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This Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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You know, in our minds we see a timeline. We see the moment we trusted in Christ as our Savior.

And then we wonder, well, what about all of those sins? After I've become a Christian, since I've trusted in Christ, what happens to those sins?

The past, the present, and the future for us. He has forgiven us of all of our sins.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, most people think of God in one of two ways. Either he's righteous, just, and full of wrath, or he's loving, merciful, and all forgiving. Each side offers a fractured glimpse of who God is, but neither one really captures the full picture.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress paints a biblical portrait of God as the waiting Father. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 3

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. The Christian journey encompasses peaks and valleys. Sometimes we're on a mountaintop, and there are seasons when we wander into a valley far away from God. That's happened to me, and I'm sure it's happened to you as well. So have you moved away from God at times?

Here's the truth that changes everything: His attitude toward you remains unchanged. He's watching, waiting, longing for your return home. We're going to have a candid talk about this on today's program. Plus, I've written a practical book for you called *Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You*. Whether for yourself or for the prodigal you love, I want you to have an in-depth roadmap for anyone who needs to return home to the Father who loves them. Let me send my book to your home today. It's yours when you include a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In addition to my book, I'll be sure to include one of our most popular offerings. We call it *A Prayer for Your Prodigal*. It's conveniently printed to display at home or tuck into the pages of your Bible. David and I will share more details later in today's program. What's important is that you take action steps that will guide you and your loved one home to the Father who loves you.

Okay, let's get started with today's study in Luke, chapter 15. I titled my message "The Waiting Father."

Speaker 2

One of my most vivid memories of adolescence is when Amy and I were juniors in high school and we decided one day to play hooky from school. We were both honor roll students. I was president of the student council. We never gave our parents or teachers any trouble at all. But one spring day, we were headed to Richardson High School, and I looked over at Amy and I said, "Why don't we have some fun today? Why don't we skip school?" Amy looked at me like I had invited her to snort cocaine with me. I'll never forget that expression. She came up with all of these reasons that we shouldn't skip school, not least of which would be the reaction of our moms, both of whom were high school teachers and had no patience with that kind of foolishness. But I continued to paint pictures of all the fun we could have that day, and finally, she relented and gave in.

So we turned my VW Bug around and we headed away from the school, going against the traffic of all of those poor souls going to a prison of higher education. We felt free. Free at last. As soon as we got outside of the Richardson city limits, I said, "Okay, Amy, what would you like to do?" She said, "I don't know. What would you like to do?" And so we started thinking up ideas of what we could do with our freedom. But every idea we came up with was met with an objection. It would cost too much. We might get caught. Our parents would disapprove. We finally settled on two destinations for our day of freedom. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you what we came up with.

Our first destination was my dad's office at Love Field, where he worked. We hung around with him for a while. He thought the whole idea was pretty funny. The only other thing we could think of to do was to come down here to the church, walk around a little while, and then go across the street to the park where the Beck offices are and have lunch there. Finally, as the afternoon withered away and turned to evening, we knew it was time to go home. We were paralyzed with fear. We kept making excuses why we didn't want to go home. But finally, we knew we had to go home. We were fearful. What kind of reaction would we have from our parents? Would they be standing there on the front steps, relieved to see us, glad to know we were safe, elated that we hadn't gone off and eloped? That was the preferred ending of the story. Or would they be vengeful, wrathful, mean?

Well, we got home, and it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. It was worse. They unloaded on us. I tell you, if I had known they were going to be that mad at us, we would have stayed away a lot longer and had a lot more fun, I guarantee you. You know, A.W. Tozer has written, "What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us." What comes into your mind when you think about God? Do you imagine him as an angry, vengeful parent wanting to inflict as much punishment as possible if we come back home to him? Or when you think about God, do you see him as a loving parent who welcomes us when we return home? Which is the most accurate portrayal of God?

Well, Jesus answers that question for us. He answers what kind of father is waiting for us when we return home in the parable we're going to look at. If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke 15 as we continue our series, "Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You." Remember, it was the Pharisees who had that picture of God—that God was the avenging parent who hated sinners, who did everything he could to keep sinners away from him. But Jesus came to say, "No, God doesn't hate sinners. He loves sinners." Remember the Pharisees' indictment against Jesus? They said, "This guy eats with sinners." But what they meant as an indictment, Jesus took as a compliment. He said, "Well, of course I hang around with sinners. I came to seek and to save those who are lost."

To drive the point home, he tells one more story. In Luke 15, he's talked about a lost sheep and a lost coin. Then Jesus tells about a lost son. A father had two sons, and one wandered away. What was the father's attitude toward that son who was lost? You know? In this series on the Prodigal Son, we've used the story of the Prodigal Son as an analogy for what happens to Christians, how we all tend to wander away. Just as the son was lured away by money and pleasure and success, so we too are lured away from our Heavenly Father by a preoccupation with material things, a thirst for pleasure, a drive towards success.

We also saw what life apart from God is like, what it's like over there in that far country. It's not all pain; it's not all pleasure, and it can last a long time. Last time, we began looking at how we come back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Remember, I said there are four steps necessary for a homecoming. First of all, there has to be a crisis in the prodigal son's life. It was that he ran out of money. That's a pretty severe crisis. Not only that, a famine came into the land, awakening him to the real spiritual and material need he had in his life. I've never known a Christian to come back to God without going through a severe crisis in his or her life. But as we said last time, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Just because you're going through a difficult time doesn't ensure you're coming back to God.

Secondly, there has to be repentance, a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. You see that in the prodigal son. He says, "This is insanity for me to be living in this country when my father has so much. This is what I will do." He came up with a plan: "I will get up and I will go to my father." And that's what he did. He got up and he took that first step toward home. Crisis and repentance. But there's a third ingredient necessary for a homecoming, and it's perhaps the most vital ingredient: forgiveness on the part of the father. You see, in the story of the prodigal son, more important than the son's actions was the father's attitude. This whole homecoming depended on the father's attitude.

Let me illustrate what I mean. Let's suppose the son made the decision to come home. He comes home after a long journey, knocks on the front door, and his mother comes. "Oh, son, it is so good to see you again." The son says, "Mom, I have made a tremendous mistake. I know I've hurt you and Dad, and I really need to talk to Dad. Is he available?" My mother says, "Well, son, you know, you really hurt your father. I'm not sure he wants to talk to you." But, Mom, tell him I've been away a long time. I've come home. I'm ready to say I'm sorry. Please, at least go talk to him." She says, "Okay." She disappears into the recesses of the house for what seems like an interminable amount of time. Finally, she returns and says, "Son, this isn't a good day for your dad."

"But Mom, didn't you tell him his younger son is home?" "Well, yes, I told him that." "Well, what did he say?" the son presses. The mother finally says, "Well, he said, we no longer have a younger son." That's the ending to the story the Pharisees would have preferred because, you see, they believe that God hates sinners. But Jesus' ending surprised and angered the Pharisees. I want you to notice the ending to the story that Jesus told. It's found beginning in verse 20 of Luke, chapter 15.

"And the son got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him. He ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found.'"

I want you to notice, first of all, the reality of the father's forgiveness, as demonstrated in three very specific attitudes the father demonstrated for his son. First of all, the father longed for his son's return. Jesus said that even when that boy was an unrecognizable dot on the horizon, the father saw him and ran toward him. Now you have to ask yourself the question, how is it that the father just happened to see the son when he appeared on the horizon? Was that a coincidence? I don't think so. The idea here is that the father spent his days on the front porch looking, scanning the horizon for any sign of his son's return. Every sunrise of a new day brought the hope that perhaps this would be the day that his boy would come home. And every sunset was a prelude to a sleepless night of wondering what had happened to his boy. The reason the father saw the son when he appeared was because the father longed for his son's return.

Secondly, the father felt compassion, not anger, toward his son. Jesus said that when the father saw his son for the first time, you know what his first reaction was? He felt compassion for his son. In fact, he was so moved that when he saw his son on the horizon, the Bible says that he ran to meet his son. In those days, a wealthy landowner like this father, a wealthy man of dignity, would never run anywhere. Dignified people just didn't run. But the father put dignity aside. He lifted up his robe and started running toward his son. He felt compassion, embraced him, and kissed him.

Not only that, thirdly, the Bible says the father desired restoration, not retribution, toward his son. He desired restoration, not retribution. The father met the son, embracing him and showering him with kisses. You can only imagine the surge of relief the son must have felt when he understood his father's true feelings toward him. Nevertheless, the son knew it was time to get down to business with his dad. After all, he had a speech that he needed to deliver. So he screwed up all the courage he had and launched into the speech: "Father, I know I've sinned. I'm sorry for what I've done. And if you will just allow me to be..." The father cut him off. He didn't want to hear any of that. All the father needed to hear were the words, "I'm sorry." That's all he needed to hear. And as soon as he heard those words, he ordered the slaves to bring out the robe, the royal robe that was used for festival celebrations. "Bring out the ring, the signet ring that was the highest sign of authority." And then he said, "This son of mine has come back to life again."

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Let's have a party.

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Let's celebrate. You say, what does this have to do with you? God doesn't hate you when you wander away from him. God loves you. He's watching. He's waiting. He's longing. He's working for your return to him.

How is it that God is able to forgive us of our sin? Listen to what the Bible says. First of all, the Bible acknowledges that God does hate sin. Now score one for the Pharisees. At least they got that part right. God does hate sin. Listen to what the Scripture says. In Psalm 7:11, God judges the righteous. And God is angry with the wicked every day. Now that's angry. God is angry with sinners every day. Or Psalm 34:16, the face of the Lord is against evildoers to cut off the memory of them from the earth. God hates sin.

Secondly, the Bible teaches God must punish sin. God can't simply overlook and excuse and turn his back on sin. He must punish sin. It is impossible for a holy God not to punish sin. But here's the heart of the Gospel. Number three. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin. He took the punishment that you and I deserve for our sins.

A few years ago, I wrote a book called *When Forgiveness Doesn't Make Sense*. In the first edition of that book, the hardback copy, the publishers put a picture of a painting called the Prodigal on the cover of that book. The painting, the Prodigal, is located in the Vatican. The original is one of the Vatican's most prized paintings. If you've ever seen the painting before, it's that scene where the Son has come home and the Father is embracing the Son. But not only is he embracing the Son, he is shielding the Son from the rocks and the sticks that the townspeople are throwing at them. You see, they're demanding that he be punished for what he has done in humiliating the Father.

What catches your attention in that painting is that as the Father is embracing the Son, you realize the Father is really suffering twice. First of all, he's already suffered the hurt of his son's rejection, and now he is suffering the punishment that his son deserves. That's a picture of what God has done for us. God has already suffered the pain of you and me rejecting him and rebelling against Him. But God, for no other reason than the great love with which he loved us, chose to bear the punishment for our sin by coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and bearing the penalty of our sin.

Isaiah the prophet said it this way in Isaiah 53:4-6: "Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him. And by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him." That's what Jesus did for us. He bore the punishment that you and I deserve.

What is God's attitude toward me, a Christian who has wandered away from him? How can I be forgiven? I want you to hold your place here and turn over to Colossians chapter two, and let's look at the extent of God's forgiveness of our sins. Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Paul said, "And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us of all our transgressions."

Which of my sins has God forgiven? I want you to underline that little three-letter word: all. The reason Christ came to die for you was not for your holiness, but for your unholiness. Not just for the little sins, but the big sins. This passage answers the question, which of our sins did Christ forgive us? But he's not only referring to the kind of sins, but the timing of our sins. And this is the point I want you to understand.

You know, in our minds, we see a timeline. We see the moment we trusted in Christ as our Savior. And then we wonder, well, what about all of those sins after I've become a Christian? Since I've trusted in Christ, what happens to those sins? May I remind you that when Jesus Christ died for your sins 2000 years ago, all of your sins were still future at that moment. All of them. The past, the present, and the future. He has forgiven us of all of our sins. Isn't that great news?

And what has he done with our sins? What has he done with those sins for which he has forgiven us? Verse 14 answers that question: "Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which were hostile to us." In Paul's day, a certificate of debt was like an IOU. It was like a mortgage you might have with a mortgage company. When we accept Christ as our Savior, he forgives us of our sin. He takes our sin and he cancels it out. He erases it.

He uses another word picture and says, "And he's taken that certificate of debt and he has nailed it to the cross." The cross of Jesus Christ, that is. He took the debt that we owe, he took that bill, and he nailed it to the cross of Jesus Christ. And what happened to that debt? Remember what Jesus said on that Good Friday? "Tetelestai"—paid in full.

You know, I'm reminded of a story about a couple who were going out to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary for dinner one night. On the way to the restaurant, the wife started to complain. She said, "Herbert, remember when we were first dating and we were first married? We would just sit so close together and we would cuddle with one another in the car. And now look at us. You're way over there behind the steering wheel and I'm over here on the other side of the car."

Herbert looked at his wife and said, "Mildred, I haven't moved." No matter how far you've wandered away from God, he hasn't moved. He's right where he's always been. And most importantly, his attitude toward you hasn't changed. He's still waiting. He's still working. He is still longing for you to return home.

Speaker 3

Maybe you're finally ready to relinquish your rebellion as a prodigal. You're tired of running from God, hunting for happiness apart from him. The Bible describes that our shepherd is waiting for his sheep to come home. You're lost, and he stands waiting with his open arms, ready to extend forgiveness.

Whether you're a prodigal or you're praying for one, I've written a book to help you. It's called *Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You*. It gives you a roadmap for finding your way home. All four steps are clearly outlined: crisis, repentance, forgiveness, and perseverance. There's even a study guide in the back of the book so that you can methodically work your way through these important steps.

When you give a generous gift, I'll send you a copy of my book *Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You*. In fact, I'll also include a prayer card we're calling *Prayer for Your Prodigal*.

Whether or not you wish to request these resources, I want to appeal to your generosity today. Pathway to Victory is widely known as a trustworthy source of biblical direction, and our influence is growing. But we cannot proceed without caring people like you who are looking for ways to influence our prodigal-filled culture.

The time is short, and God will use your generous gift today, in whatever amount you choose, to help men and women understand that God is not their enemy. He's their answer, and he's waiting with open arms to welcome them home.

Thanks so much. Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

You're invited to request your copy of *Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You* by Dr. Robert Jeffress. When you contact Pathway to Victory with a generous gift, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org.

You know, often folks in our audience express their appreciation for the reliable, trustworthy exposition of Scripture that they receive through Pathway to Victory. And with your generous gift today, we'll also send you a prayer for your prodigal as our gift of thanks. It's a keepsake that'll help you remain steadfast in praying for your loved one's spiritual return.

To request both resources, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You could also contact us by mail if you'd like. Write to P.O. Box 2223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again Friday when Dr. Jeffress returns with the conclusion to his series titled *Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You*, 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.

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You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes.

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