Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the second in a seven-part series entitled, “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

Throughout this series,I’ll be basing my comments on Luke 15:11-32, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

Last time we were together, we talked about the parable we commonly call “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” And we talked about how Jesus told a story set in the context of Middle Eastern peasantry and how the story would have been seen as strange and abnormal by His listeners.

And finally, we talked about how the abnormality of the story needed to be restored to our hearts and minds to help us have a more true picture of our Heavenly Father’s love.

Who Is The Main Character?
As many of us already know, there are three basic characters in the story: the younger son, the father, and the elder son.

The normal approach to this parable sees the younger son as the main character. And I suppose this is so for a couple of reasons: 1) First, the younger son takes up most of the story; and, 2) secondly, it is easier for us to identify with the younger son. Second in the order of importance in the normal approach to this parable is the father, who represents God, our Heavenly Father. And finally, in the normal approach to this parable, the elder son is seen as being rather incidental to the story.

But this normal approach to the parable represents a serious misconception and leads to a definite misunderstanding of what Jesus is trying to say.

In reality, the main character in the story is not the younger son, but the father. At every turn of the story, the father is there, pouring out his deep love for his sons.

And the elder son is anything but incidental to the story. In many ways, the relationship between the father and the elder son is the focus of the story, although the father’s relationships with both of his sons have great lessons for us.

Why Did Jesus Tell This Story?
Let’s read the first two verses of chapter 15. To understand any parable which Jesus told, we must first understand what prompted Him to tell it, and if we go back to the beginning of chapter 15, we’ll find that Jesus told this parable (as well as the other two parables recorded in Luke chapter 15) in response to a specific statement made by a group of Pharisees and scribes.

So let’s read the first two verses of chapter 15: Now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

Do you notice that there are two different groups of people mentioned here? One group is made up of Pharisees and scribes; the other group is made up of tax gatherers and sinners.

Two groups of people. Notice also that in the parable Jesus tells, there are two sons: the elder son and the younger son.

And as we take a closer look at the story, we’ll see that each son has a different philosophy of life.

Two groups of people. Two sons. Two philosophies of life.

And each of those two philosophies of life is based on the same core belief, and that core belief is this: a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. That is an incorrect belief, but a strong motivating factor in the life of each son: a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior.

Now each of the two sons (and also each of the two groups of people to whom Jesus is talking), based on that core belief, arrive at very different philosophies of life.

The elder son, who represents the Pharisees and scribes, believes that a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. And the philosophy of life to which that belief leads him is as follows: faithful performance of duty merits reward. If you do the right things, your father will reward you. If you live right, your father will accept you and love you. So you have to try as hard as you can to do everything right and not make any mistakes.

The younger son, who represents the tax gatherers and sinners, also believes that a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. But that belief leads him to a very different philosophy of life. His philosophy of life is this: faithful performance of duty is impossible, so why try? You can’t possibly do the right things, so your father will never reward you. You can’t possibly live right, so your father will never accept you and love you. And if you will never be rewarded, accepted and loved by your father, the best thing is to stay as far away from him as possible.

Most of us tend to subscribe to that same core belief: a successful relationship with God, our Heavenly Father, depends on correct behavior. And if that is our core belief, we end up living our life according to one of the two philosophies I just described. We either believe that faithful performance of duty merits reward, or we believe that faithful performance of duty is impossible so we don’t even try. We either believe that if we do all the right things, our Heavenly Father will reward us, or we believe that we can’t possibly do the right things, so we will never be rewarded. We either believe that if we live right, our Heavenly Father will accept us and love us, or we believe that we can’t possibly live right, so our Heavenly Father will never accept us and love us.

Jesus Eats With Sinners
“....the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

The Greek word which is translated “grumble” in verse 2 is diagonguzo, which is a compound word.

The first part of the word is dia, a preposition which means “through.”

The second part of the word is gonguzo, which means “to mutter, to murmur or to grumble.”

And so the word diagonguzo literally means “to murmur through”—“to murmur through a whole crowd, to murmur among yourselves.” It always refers to indignant complaining.

And so these Pharisees and scribes are complaining. They are indignant. Why? Because ‘this man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

Jesus received sinners. He received them favorably. He welcomed them as His friends, and this angered the Pharisees and scribes.

But not only did Jesus receive sinners, He ate with them. In Middle Eastern thought, to eat a meal with someone means you accept them as a brother or sister completely and without reservation. In Middle Eastern thought, the meal is a symbol of great intimacy. If I eat with someone, it means I desire to have an intimate friendship with them.

I was privileged to live in West Africa for over two years in a nation (Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast) which has a large Lebanese population. My roommate and I were able to make friends with a number of Lebanese families during our time in Africa.

One day, we went to visit one of these families in their home late in the afternoon. After we had visited for awhile, a group of Lebanese young people arrived at the house, also paying a visit to this Lebanese family. And in this group of young people, there were both Muslims and Christians. The family we were visiting were Lebanese Christians (it is important to realize that in Lebanese culture, Muslim and Christian often refer to what we would think of as political parties rather than religious faiths). 
After this group of young people had stayed awhile, they decided to leave. And my roommate and I thought that this would be a good time for us to leave as well, so we began to get up from the table. But one of the sons of the family we were visiting put his hand out on the table and signaled to us that we should stay, and so we remained. Once the group of young people had left, the family brought out dinner and we ate with them.

The family waited until the group of young people had left because there were Muslims among them. And to eat with those Muslims would have been to say to them that this Christian family accepted them completely and without reservation as brothers and sisters. But because of long-standing animosities between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, this family was unwilling to do that.

Again, in Middle Eastern thought, eating a meal with someone signifies that I accept that person completely and without reservation. And so these Pharisees and scribes are angry and indignant because Jesus, who claims to be the messenger of God, is receiving sinners favorably and accepting them completely as brothers and sisters, with absolutely no reservation.

And so Jesus tells our parable in direct response to this statement made by the Pharisees and scribes: This man receives sinners and eats with them.” He directs this parable, not primarily to the tax gatherers and sinners (who we see represented in the life and personality of the younger son), but to the Pharisees and scribes (who we see represented in the life and personality of the elder son). Jesus directs this parable to those who are righteous in their own eyes and who sense no need of forgiveness.

Most of us know that the Pharisees and scribes felt that they were righteous before God and accepted by Him because they had fulfilled all the minute details of both the Mosaic Law and the tradition of “nit-picking” rules which had grown up around the law. They felt that their acceptance before God depended on their keeping all of these minute rules and regulations. They felt that their acceptance before God depended on their faithful performance of duty.

And part of their fulfillment of these regulations was in not associating with anyone who was a sinner in their eyes. So when Jesus, who claimed to be the messenger of God, received sinners and ate with them, these Pharisees and scribes were offended. They could not fathom the idea that these tax gatherers and sinners could be accepted (which was the clear implication of Jesus’ actions in eating with them) but they, as Pharisees and scribes who fulfilled all these rules and regulations, would apparently not be accepted. It violated their philosophy of life. It violated their concept of God and how He acted towards mankind. They believed that if they did all the right things, they would be rewarded. They believed that if they lived right, God would accept them and love them. But Jesus is rewarding the ones who don’t do anything right. Jesus is accepting and loving those who don’t live right at all.

Rules, Regulations & Intimacy
Jesus told this parable in order to expose to the Pharisees and scribes the attitudes of their hearts, to show them that their philosophy of life was flawed and would lead only to misery.

Again, the younger son represents the tax gatherers and sinners of Luke 15:1-2, those who have spiritually traveled to the far country, those who have strayed away from God in their sin. And again, the elder son represents the Pharisees and scribes, those to whom Jesus directs this parable.

Let’s read again what the elder son says to his father: “Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.”

This is exactly the attitude displayed by the Pharisees and scribes. In effect, they are saying to Jesus, “Look! We are righteous people. We keep all the commands of God. We have never neglected even one of God’s commands. We’ve done everything right, so now you should accept us and love us. But instead, you, who claim to be the messenger of God, have given us nothing. But when these tax gatherers and sinners come, you receive them and eat with them. They’ve violated God’s laws and God’s ways repeatedly, but you reward them with your friendship.”

The elder son was angry because his father had accepted the younger son, even though the younger son had done all sorts of terrible things. And the Pharisees and scribes were angry because Jesus was accepting the tax gatherers and sinners, even though they had done all sorts of terrible things.

And so the parable is aimed at the Pharisees and scribes, those who never neglect rules and regulations, but also those who are not eating with Jesus (those who are not experiencing intimacy with Him).

And that’s a very important contrast to keep in mind: on one hand, keeping rules and regulations; and on the other hand, intimacy with God.

I’d like us to examine the father’s dealings with his sons. I want us to examine first the attitudes and actions of each of the sons and then, most importantly, I want us to examine the father’s reaction to his sons’ attitudes and actions. And in the father’s reaction, we will be given a hint of how our Heavenly Father reacts to us when we display the same attitudes and take part in the same actions.

This concludes the second part of our seven-part series entitled “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

I hope that you will join me next time as we begin to look at the younger son and the depth of His sin, as well as at the depths to which God’s grace will reach.

Thank you for joining me today.

Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the first in a seven-part series entitled, “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

Throughout this series,I’ll be basing my comments on Luke 15:11-32, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

Coming Home To A Father’s Love
The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office, 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.

We all walk in Paco’s footsteps. We ran away from home when we were very young, but our father has been steadily pursuing us ever since. Although we like to pretend that we have made a new home for ourselves, far from our father’s reach, we know deep in our hearts that our lives are dysfunctional. We long to hear the voice of our father shouting above the noise of everyday existence, “All is forgiven. I love you!”

Deep in the heart of every person is a desire to come home to a father’s love. To return to the passion of his embrace. To yield to his infinite affection. To be immersed into that which is so deep and so strong that it cannot be comprehended. To be baptized into unbounded gentleness. Consistent and ever-faithful mercy. Tenderness which is relentless and constantly-pursuing. Lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, even furious kindness. This is our Father’s love. A love which is passionate in the purest sense of the word. A love which has no limits, a love which is totally unselfish, a love beyond our wildest dreams.

Luke 15:11-32
In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story about coming home to that kind of love. We call this story “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” and it’s found in Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32.

Let’s read the passage:

And (Jesus said), ‘A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.” And he divided his wealth between them.

“‘And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

“‘But when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.’” And he 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, and 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.” And they began to be merry.

“‘Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.”

“‘But he became angry, and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and began entreating him. But he answered and said to his father, “Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours, and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.”

“‘And he said to him, “My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found."‘“

Middle Eastern Peasantry
This is a very familiar parable to many of us. In fact, it is probably the most well-known of all Christ’s parables.

And the danger in this is that it is quite easy for us to think to ourselves, “Oh, I know all about the parable of the prodigal son. There’s nothing new for me to learn from it.”

But I hope we will see, through this exposition of the parable, that there are some very common misconceptions among Christians today about this parable, and because of these misconceptions, we often miss the basic lessons of the story.

One things which we have to realize when we read this parable is that it is set in the context of Middle Eastern peasantry. Its setting is a small, Middle Eastern village. The story was told by a Middle Eastern peasant to people who grew up in Middle Eastern villages.

And because we don’t live in a Middle Eastern village, and because for the most part, we are ignorant of Middle Eastern culture, a great deal of what Jesus is trying to convey in this story escapes us. If we did understand Middle Eastern culture, especially the culture of a Middle Eastern peasant village, we would know that this is a very strange story. It’s a bizarre story. The Pharisees and scribes who were listening knew that it was strange. The tax-gatherers and sinners who were listening knew that it was strange.

Jesus told this parable in this way precisely because He knew His listeners would find it to be very strange. It was as if He was saying to them, “You don’t understand the kingdom of God. You don’t understand the way in which the Heavenly Father works. You don’t understand the Father’s heart. You need for your hearts and minds to be challenged and stretched with new understanding.” And so Jesus told a story about a father who does some very strange things to show primarily the Pharisees and scribes how insufficient and warped their view of God was.

And the strangeness of this story is significant for you and me because for the most part, we don’t understand the kingdom of God either. We don’t understand the way in which the Father works. We don’t understand the Father’s heart. Our hearts and our minds need to be challenged and stretched with new understanding. And so like the Pharisees and scribes, we need to hear a story about a father who does some very strange things to show us how insufficient and warped our view of God is.

And so in order for our hearts and our minds to be challenged and stretched, the strangeness, the bizarreness, the abnormality of this parable needs to be restored to our minds and hearts. And I hope that as we proceed through this exposition of the parable, we will begin to see just how strange this story is.

This concludes the first part of our seven-part series entitled “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

I hope that you will join me next time as we answer some important questions about the main character in the parable, about our core beliefs and philosophies of life, and how Jesus told this bizarre story to challenge and stretch our thinking about God.

Thank you for joining me today.

Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the fourth and final part in a four-part series entitled, “The Valley of Weeping.”

I’m basing my comments regarding the suffering we experience in life on Psalm 84, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

The Transformed Obstacle
If we begin our journey with a firm resolve and allow our goal to be a motivating force, we will transform the apparent obstacles which lie in our path into blessings. The sixth verse of Psalm 84 says, “As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.”

The Hebrew word for “make” in verse 6 means “to fashion” - as a craftsman fashions shapeless blocks of wood into a beautiful piece of furniture; as a painter fashions a blank canvas into a beautiful painting; as a sculptor fashions a mass of stone into a beautiful statue.

The Hebrew word for “spring” in verse 6 means “a place of refreshment.” In the Old Testament, the world almost always is used symbolically of the presence of God.

The combination of these two Hebrew words suggests two things. First of all, time is required to fashion the valley of weeping into this place of refreshment. Again, the New Testament call is never to escape difficulty, but always to endure and embrace it, allowing difficulties to work character into our lives.

Secondly, if we respond correctly to the valley of weeping - if we have prepared ourselves by setting our hearts on pilgrimage and turning our eyes towards Zion - the valley of weeping will be a place where the God’s presence sustains us.

When you find yourself in the midst of the valley of weeping, and you have allowed the Lord to prepare you for it, the tears of your sorrows will mingle with the rain of God’s blessings to form springs and pools of God’s presence.

We need to realize that when the valley of weeping is made into a spring, we are still in the valley of weeping. The struggles continue. But the presence of the Christ is there - the presence which sustains, the presence which strengthens, the presence which encourages, the presence which transforms.

And this is the desire of God for you when you find yourself in the midst of the valley of weeping - that you might recognize the presence of your Lord; that you might experience intimacy with the Christ.

And then, not only will the valley of weeping be transformed, but your life will be transformed. Not only will you fashion the valley of weeping into a place where the intimate presence of the Christ is experienced, but the valley of weeping will fashion you into a complete and mature believer.

And dear one, you will take that far beyond the valley of weeping. And the valley of weeping will fade in comparison with the unutterable joy of intimacy with the Lord Jesus.

Those who set their hearts on pilgrimage and allow their goal (that which is eternal) to be a motivating force will fashion the valley of weeping into a place of refreshment, into a place where they will be sustained by the presence of God - into a place where they will be comforted by the presence, encouraged by the presence, transformed by the presence.

Your circumstances may remain difficult. You may continue to weep. But God’s presence with you will sustain you.

Two Examples from the Life of Paul
The first example concerns Paul’s general attitude while in prison. Do you realize that Paul never called himself a prisoner of Rome? He always called himself a prisoner of the Lord Jesus. Paul wasn’t chained to Rome; Rome was chained to Paul! [The insight and language are taken from a sermon preached by Steve Savelich of Eugene, Oregon.]

And because Paul had set his heart on pilgrimage and because he maintained his focus upon that which was eternal, because he continued to seek intimacy with the Lord, a Roman dungeon was transformed into a temple in which Paul was sustained by God’s presence.

The second example concerns Paul and Silas’ activities while they were in prison in Philippi [cf. Acts 16]. Although they were prisoners, they did not despair. Instead, they prayed and sang hymns to God. The valley of weeping was transformed. And the presence of Christ sustained them.

And so a Philippian jailer and his entire family submitted their lives to Jesus, because they were confronted with the intimate presence of the Almighty which had invaded the valley of weeping.

An Old Testament Example
The three Hebrew children in Daniel 3 are a wonderful example. When commanded to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s idol or be thrown into the fiery furnace, their response was as follows: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” [Daniel 3:16-18]

They had set their hearts on pilgrimage. They maintained their focus on that which was eternal. They sought an encounter with their God. And thus, when they were thrown into the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar said that he saw a fourth man in the furnace like unto a son of the gods. The intimate presence of the Christ was with the three Hebrew children in the midst of the valley of weeping.

An Example from Modern Church History
Allow me to share with you a letter which was written by a prisoner in a Soviet concentration camp. While we may not agree with every point of this man’s theology, his letter gives a vivid illustration of how the presence of the Lord will meet us in the valley of weeping.

“It is only by being a prisoner for religious convictions in a Soviet camp that one can really understand the mystery of the fall of the first man, the mystical meaning of the redemption of all creation, and the great victory of Christ over the forces of evil. It is only when we suffer for the ideals of the Holy Gospel that we can realize our sinful infirmity and our unworthiness in comparison with the great martyrs of the first Christian Church. Only then can we grasp the absolute necessity for profound meekness and humility, without which we cannot be saved; only then can we begin to discern the passing image of the seen, and the eternal life of the Unseen.

“On Easter Day all of us who were imprisoned for religious convictions were united in the one joy of Christ. We were all taken into one feeling, into one spiritual triumph, glorifying the one eternal God. There was no solemn Paschal service with the ringing of church bells, no possibility in our camp to gather for worship, to dress up for the festival, to prepare Easter dishes. On the contrary, there was even more work and more interference than usual. All the prisoners here for religious convictions, whatever their denomination, were surrounded by more spying, by more threats from the secret police.

“Yet Easter was there: great, holy, spiritual, unforgettable. It was blessed by the presence of our risen God among us - blessed by the silent Siberian stars and by our sorrows. How our hearts beat joyfully in communion with the great Resurrection! Death is conquered, fear no more, an eternal Easter is given to us! Full of this marvelous Easter, we send you from our prison camp the victorious and joyful tidings: Christ is risen!” [Ware, pgs. 116-117]

Truly, this one had seen the valley of weeping transformed into a sanctuary where the presence of God sustained him.

Conclusion
And so, dear one, do you find yourself in the midst of the valley of weeping? God is calling you to intimacy with Himself. He is crying out to you, “Come to Me! In the midst of the wilderness, come to Me! In the midst of your wandering, come to Me! In the midst of your suffering, come to Me!”

Set your heart on pilgrimage. Turn your eyes towards Zion. Then you will see the valley of weeping transformed into a temple where Jesus’ presence will lift you up.

May the Lord richly grant us grace and courage to do these things. 

This concludes our series on the Valley of Weeping. My prayer is that what I have shared has blessed you and will result in your experiencing a greater maturity in your Christian life and a greater intimacy with God.

I hope also that you will join me next time as we begin a new series - Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.

Thank you for joining me today.

Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the third in a four-part series entitled, “The Valley of Weeping.”

I’m basing my comments regarding the suffering we experience in life on Psalm 84, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

The Motivating Force
The first thing we must do in order to traverse the valley of weeping victoriously is to begin our journey in the Christian life with a firm resolve. Secondly, we must allow our goal in the Christian life to be the motivating force which forcefully draws us through the valley of weeping.

Verse 7 of Psalm 84 says, “They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

The goal of the psalmist’s journey was Zion. In the Scriptures, Zion represents more than the physical city of Jerusalem. It was the place where one encountered God, where one drew near to Him and experienced intimacy with Him. The pilgrims of Psalm 84 appear before God in Zion.

At the outset of this psalm, our pilgrim declares his deep hunger for the presence of God: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

And so the psalmist’s heart was possessed with a desire to be in Zion, with a desire to encounter his God, with a desire for intimacy with Him. The psalmist was able to traverse the valley of weeping victoriously because his desire to encounter God and grow in intimacy with Him called him on through the valley of weeping.

The goal of our journey is also Zion - again, not the physical city of Jerusalem, but that which Zion represents, the place of encounter with God, the place of intimacy with Him.

And like the psalmist, if we are to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping, our hearts will need to be possessed by a desire for Zion, by a desire for encounter with God, by a desire for intimacy with Him.

Our Citizenship is in Heaven
This deep desire which the psalmist demonstrates is in contrast to the desire of those who are Christians only for the sake of blessings, whose goal is not Zion, but comfort; whose goal is not that which is eternal, but that which is physical and material.

It is in contrast to the modern “prosperity teaching,” which really isn’t modern at all. Paul condemned this teaching when he clearly wrote to Timothy that those who teach that godliness is a means of financial gain are men of depraved minds who are deprived of the truth. [1 Timothy 6:3-10]

Paul went on to say that we should be content with food and clothing. And as one teacher has said before, the Greek doesn’t mean “banquet and wardrobe.” [The insight and language are taken from a sermon preached by Steve Savelich of Eugene, Oregon].

Later, in writing to Timothy again, Paul speaks once more of those whose goal is material blessing. In 2 Timothy 4:9-10, Paul writes some of the most tragic words in all the Bible: “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica;”

The heart of Demas was not possessed by a desire for Zion; his heart was not possessed by a desire to encounter God; his heart was not possessed by a desire for intimacy with God. Instead, he loved this present world.

This is also the testimony of the life of Judas, who betrayed the Lord Jesus for the sum of thirty pieces of silver. His eyes were not turned towards Zion. He did not seek intimacy with God.

The words of Paul in Philippians 3:8-10 ring true here: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. (But), our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Beloved, do not set your mind or your heart on earthly things. Your citizenship is in heaven. Wait eagerly for the Savior. Seek intimacy with Him. Seek encounter with Him. Turn your eyes towards Zion.

Modern prosperity doctrine is not the gospel of the kingdom. It is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is another gospel. It is a false gospel.

If you are not seeking intimacy with God, if you are not seeking encounter with Him, if your eyes are not turned towards Zion, but instead you are seeking comfort and material blessing, the valley of weeping will not result in greater maturity and greater intimacy with God for you. You may pass through the valley of weeping because God is faithful even when we are faithless [2 Timothy 2:13] , but you will pass through unchanged.

But those whose focus is not upon that which is physical and material, but upon that which is eternal, are able to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping. Those who are seeking intimacy with the Lord, those who are seeking encounter with Him, those whose eyes are turned towards Zion, will continue on victoriously through the valley of weeping.

And so Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. And according to Hebrews 12, we are to endure the discipline of the Lord, knowing it will produce holiness and righteousness in our lives.

An Example from the Life of Paul
In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, Paul wrote of his sufferings: “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul tells us how he was able to victoriously traverse these valleys of weeping: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Do you see the contrasts in those verses? Our outer man is decaying, but our inner man is being renewed. Our afflictions are momentary, but they produce an eternal weight of glory. We don’t look at the things which are seen, but at things which are unseen. We don’t look at temporal things, but at eternal things.

Paul was able to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping because he maintained his focus upon that which was eternal. He longed after intimacy with God, and he allowed that longing to be the motivating force which called him on through the valley of weeping.

Beloved, if you don’t allow your goal - that which is eternal - to be a motivating force in your journey, if you don’t long after intimacy with the Savior, if you don’t long after encounter with God, the valley of weeping will not result in greater maturity and greater intimacy with God for you. You may pass through the valley of weeping because God is faithful even when we are faithless [2 Timothy 2:13], but you will pass through unchanged.

This concludes the third part of our series. I hope you will join me next time as we look at the third of three secrets to traversing the Valley of Weeping victoriously - The Transformed Obstacle.

Thank you for joining me today.