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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1)

January 6, 2025 | S25:E9

Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1)
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1) | January 6, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
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  • Robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
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  • Again to "pathway to victory."
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  • In the opening verses of the bible, we read, "in the
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  • Beginning god created the heavens and the earth."
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  • But outside of the bible, is there any tangible evidence to
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  • Prove that god exists?
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  • It's an honest question that many people may not vocalize but
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  • They harbor in their own hearts.
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  • So today i'm going to address several of the greatest doubts
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  • People wrestle with regarding the existence of god.
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  • We're answering the question, "how can i know there is a god?"
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  • On today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪ there is a day coming ♪
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  • ♪ when the old will pass away ♪
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  • ♪ and every wrong will be made right, ♪
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  • ♪ no darkness, no night. ♪
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  • ♪ the sun will light the way. ♪
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  • ♪ there is a king coming, ♪
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  • ♪ the one who conquered death and grave, ♪
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  • ♪ no more pain and no more sorrow. ♪
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  • ♪ this hope for tomorrow is our hope for today. ♪
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  • ♪ he who was, he who is, he who was, ♪
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  • ♪ he who is, he who is to ♪
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  • ♪ come is christ the son of man. ♪
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  • ♪ he's riding on the clouds ♪
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  • ♪ with a crown upon his head. ♪
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  • ♪ every eye will see him ♪
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  • ♪ with the nail scars in his hands. ♪
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  • ♪ sing hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ he who is to come ♪
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  • ♪ is christ the son of man. ♪
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  • ♪ he's riding on the clouds ♪
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  • ♪ with a crown upon his head. ♪
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  • ♪ every eye will see him ♪
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  • ♪ with the nail scars in his hands. ♪
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  • ♪ sing hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ yes hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ he's coming back again. ♪
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  • ♪ hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ yeah hallelujah. ♪♪
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  • Announcer: it's okay to have questions about your faith, but
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  • You need answers you can trust.
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  • In his book, "how can i know," dr. robert jeffress addresses
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  • Seven of life's most important questions.
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  • If you've ever wondered how you can know the bible is true or
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  • How you can know if you're going to heaven, this book makes a
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  • Compelling case for answers you can embrace with confidence.
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  • Request your copy of "how can i know?"
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  • When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of "pathway
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  • To victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: i was saved by god when i was five years old.
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  • I was called to the ministry by god when i was 15.
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  • I serve god by pastoring a church.
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  • I write books and preach sermons to teach other people about god.
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  • I can't go through a few hours a day without talking to god.
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  • But occasionally, i have doubts that god exists, and i imagine
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  • If you were truthful, most of you would say the same thing
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  • As well.
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  • You know, polls show that an overwhelming number of americans
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  • Believe in god.
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  • George gallup claims nine out of ten americans believe that god
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  • Exists, but i'm not sure people are really as confident in their
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  • Belief about god as they claim to be.
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  • Daniel dennett is one of the so-called new atheists, and he's
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  • Written a book called "darwin's dangerous idea."
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  • I disagree with everything in that book.
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  • It's an attack against theism, about belief in god.
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  • But i do agree with one thing dennett says: "there's a
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  • Difference between belief in god and belief in your beliefs.
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  • A lot of people confuse their beliefs in their beliefs with
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  • The belief in god," they believe in a god that they've created in
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  • Their own mind.
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  • Dennett says something very profound.
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  • He said, "if as many people really believed in god as they
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  • Say they do, then certainly they would conduct
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  • Their lives differently."
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  • Whether we're willing to admit it or not, most
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  • Of us have doubts about god.
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  • In fact, i've become convinced that the only people who never
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  • Doubt are those who never think.
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  • Today we're beginning with that most basic question: how do i
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  • Know there is a god?
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  • I want to speak for a moment about five reasons people doubt
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  • The existence of god.
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  • There are five major sources of doubt about god.
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  • First of all, there's natural doubts.
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  • By that i mean it's very natural to doubt what you can't see.
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  • Every parent knows that.
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  • It's hard not to doubt what you can't see.
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  • You know, we spend, as parents, a lot of time teaching our
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  • Children about the tooth fairy.
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  • And we can teach them about the tooth fairy.
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  • We can describe the kindness, the beauty, the generosity of
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  • The tooth fairy.
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  • We can even leave evidences of a tooth fairy's existence under
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  • Our child's pillow when they lose a tooth.
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  • But sooner or later, our child comes to understand there's no
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  • Such thing as the tooth fairy, and it's only a short journey
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  • From there to doubts about the big man up there.
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  • I'm talking about santa claus.
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  • Secondly, there are philosophical doubts that lead
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  • Some people to question the existence of god, and the most
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  • Cited philosophical argument against god is the reality of
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  • Suffering and evil in the world.
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  • The 18th century philosopher david hume, attempted to
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  • Discredit christianity by his famous trilemma about suffering
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  • And evil.
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  • Hume said, "is god willing to prevent evil but not able?
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  • Then god is impotent.
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  • Is god able but not willing?
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  • Then he's malevolent," evil.
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  • "is god both willing and able to prevent evil?
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  • Then where's evil?"
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  • In other words, what hume was saying was,
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  • When you look at evil in the world, is god willing to stop
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  • It, but he just can't pull it off, he's not able?
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  • Then he's an impotent god.
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  • On the other hand, if god is able to stop suffering, if he
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  • Could have stopped the holocaust, if he could have
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  • Stopped the disaster you're facing in your life, but chose
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  • Not to do so, then he must be evil.
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  • If he's both willing and able to stop suffering, then where
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  • Is evil?
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  • In other words, there must not be a god.
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  • Actually, there is a 4th explanation that hume
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  • Doesn't offer.
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  • It's one that we're going to explore in the message, how can
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  • I know god is good with all of the suffering in the world?
  • 00:08:38.496 --> 00:08:42.601
  • But many times, it's a philosophical argument that
  • 00:08:42.601 --> 00:08:45.136
  • Keeps people from god.
  • 00:08:45.136 --> 00:08:46.471
  • Thirdly, there are experiential doubts.
  • 00:08:46.471 --> 00:08:49.474
  • You know, we're all prisoners of our experience?
  • 00:08:49.474 --> 00:08:52.544
  • If you grew up in a home that didn't believe in god, you're
  • 00:08:52.544 --> 00:08:55.513
  • Inclined, perhaps, not to believe in god.
  • 00:08:55.513 --> 00:08:58.483
  • Sometimes god intervenes miraculously in that situation.
  • 00:08:58.483 --> 00:09:02.354
  • I remember in the first church i pastored, i invited william
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  • Murray to come share his testimony.
  • 00:09:06.691 --> 00:09:09.594
  • William murray was the son of famed atheist, madalyn
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  • Murray o'hair.
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  • And he talked about in his testimony how he observed the
  • 00:09:14.633 --> 00:09:18.303
  • Misery, the unhappiness, the discontent of his mother
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  • About life.
  • 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:23.308
  • She was so unhappy that he decided to reject her belief
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  • System, which was an unbelief system in god, and that's how he
  • 00:09:27.245 --> 00:09:31.916
  • Became a christian.
  • 00:09:31.916 --> 00:09:33.418
  • But the one thing that causes most people to deny the
  • 00:09:33.418 --> 00:09:37.122
  • Existence of god is being disappointed by god.
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  • That's the experience that causes people to question god.
  • 00:09:41.226 --> 00:09:44.996
  • The loss of a child, the betrayal of a mate, the abuse of
  • 00:09:44.996 --> 00:09:49.300
  • A parent, unanswered prayer all cause people to be profoundly
  • 00:09:49.300 --> 00:09:55.807
  • Disappointed in god and come to the conclusion there must not be
  • 00:09:55.807 --> 00:10:00.178
  • A god.
  • 00:10:00.178 --> 00:10:01.613
  • You know, evolution is man's attempt to create an alternate
  • 00:10:01.613 --> 00:10:06.217
  • Explanation for the origin of life, the origin of
  • 00:10:06.217 --> 00:10:09.954
  • The universe.
  • 00:10:09.954 --> 00:10:11.289
  • And by the way, it is a faith-based explanation for
  • 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:15.593
  • The world.
  • 00:10:15.593 --> 00:10:16.928
  • You never thought that evolution was faith-based.
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  • It is.
  • 00:10:18.963 --> 00:10:20.398
  • Both evolution and creationism have something to say about god.
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  • The evolutionist comes through to question, to answer the
  • 00:10:25.603 --> 00:10:29.240
  • Question, where did everything come from, with an assumption
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  • That there is no god, that there is no god, at least, who
  • 00:10:32.510 --> 00:10:36.581
  • Exercises any control over the origin of life.
  • 00:10:36.581 --> 00:10:39.317
  • By definition, evolution says, "life came into existence by
  • 00:10:39.317 --> 00:10:43.354
  • Chance, not by design."
  • 00:10:43.354 --> 00:10:45.924
  • It is by chance that the right molecules got together and
  • 00:10:45.924 --> 00:10:49.427
  • Formed the first cell after billions of years, and that
  • 00:10:49.427 --> 00:10:52.030
  • First cell became a multi-cell creature and on and on.
  • 00:10:52.030 --> 00:10:55.433
  • But it has something to say about god: god is not involved
  • 00:10:55.433 --> 00:10:58.336
  • In creation.
  • 00:10:58.336 --> 00:10:59.704
  • The creationist comes to the table with an idea that in the
  • 00:10:59.704 --> 00:11:03.341
  • Beginning god created the heavens and the earth, but both
  • 00:11:03.341 --> 00:11:06.611
  • Are faith-based.
  • 00:11:06.611 --> 00:11:08.346
  • The atheist either rejects god or at least attempts to
  • 00:11:08.346 --> 00:11:12.717
  • Refashion god.
  • 00:11:12.717 --> 00:11:14.452
  • Many so-called people of faith do that.
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  • I think about harold kushner, who, years ago, the rabbi wrote
  • 00:11:17.489 --> 00:11:21.392
  • The book, "when bad things happen to good people."
  • 00:11:21.392 --> 00:11:24.496
  • He wrote the book after experiencing the death of his
  • 00:11:24.496 --> 00:11:26.998
  • Young son to a terrible disease.
  • 00:11:26.998 --> 00:11:29.768
  • Rabbi kushner claimed that, quote, "even god has a hard time
  • 00:11:29.768 --> 00:11:34.072
  • Keeping chaos in check."
  • 00:11:34.072 --> 00:11:36.474
  • And then he came to the conclusion
  • 00:11:36.474 --> 00:11:38.276
  • That, quote, "god is a god of justice, but not of power."
  • 00:11:38.276 --> 00:11:43.581
  • Another rabbi who read that said, "if that's who god is, he
  • 00:11:43.581 --> 00:11:48.052
  • Needs to resign today and let somebody more confident
  • 00:11:48.052 --> 00:11:50.421
  • Take over."
  • 00:11:50.421 --> 00:11:51.923
  • But that's what an unbeliever does.
  • 00:11:51.923 --> 00:11:53.691
  • They try to refashion god.
  • 00:11:53.691 --> 00:11:56.594
  • One wag said it this way: "in the beginning, god created man
  • 00:11:56.594 --> 00:12:00.265
  • In his own image, and ever since that time, man has tried to
  • 00:12:00.265 --> 00:12:03.835
  • Return the favor."
  • 00:12:03.835 --> 00:12:05.870
  • This idea that you can't reconcile a
  • 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:09.007
  • Belief in god with a belief in science is based on
  • 00:12:09.007 --> 00:12:12.844
  • Circular reasoning.
  • 00:12:12.844 --> 00:12:14.579
  • Let me explain what i mean by that.
  • 00:12:14.579 --> 00:12:16.748
  • Everybody who's been to a basic science class in school knows
  • 00:12:16.748 --> 00:12:20.685
  • About the scientific method.
  • 00:12:20.685 --> 00:12:22.720
  • We're taught that the only way you can have a reasonable
  • 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:26.791
  • Explanation for a hypothesis, the only way you can prove a
  • 00:12:26.791 --> 00:12:30.695
  • Hypothesis, a statement of why something happened, it has to be
  • 00:12:30.695 --> 00:12:36.267
  • Based in observation of that which is visible over a long
  • 00:12:36.267 --> 00:12:40.839
  • Period of time.
  • 00:12:40.839 --> 00:12:42.407
  • If you're gonna be scientific, you have to be rooted
  • 00:12:42.407 --> 00:12:45.677
  • In naturalism.
  • 00:12:45.677 --> 00:12:47.145
  • What is naturalism?
  • 00:12:47.145 --> 00:12:48.580
  • Naturalism says nature is all that there is.
  • 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.217
  • Alvin plantinga is a philosopher, and he nails it
  • 00:12:52.217 --> 00:12:55.920
  • Perfectly when he talks about the absurdity of such a
  • 00:12:55.920 --> 00:12:59.257
  • Circular argument.
  • 00:12:59.257 --> 00:13:00.792
  • He said, "it's like the drunk who insisted on looking for his
  • 00:13:00.792 --> 00:13:05.463
  • Lost car keys only under the streetlight on the grounds that
  • 00:13:05.463 --> 00:13:10.301
  • The light was better there.
  • 00:13:10.301 --> 00:13:12.337
  • In fact, it goes to the drunk one better.
  • 00:13:12.337 --> 00:13:14.873
  • It would insist that because the keys would be hard to find in
  • 00:13:14.873 --> 00:13:18.776
  • The dark, they must be under the light."
  • 00:13:18.776 --> 00:13:22.447
  • To limit our search for
  • 00:13:22.447 --> 00:13:24.282
  • The origin of the universe by only that which is under the
  • 00:13:24.282 --> 00:13:27.752
  • Light, that which can be seen, is to limit an honest
  • 00:13:27.752 --> 00:13:32.724
  • Exploration for the truth.
  • 00:13:32.724 --> 00:13:35.260
  • Now, that leads us to a question: can we prove the
  • 00:13:35.260 --> 00:13:39.497
  • Existence of god?
  • 00:13:39.497 --> 00:13:41.332
  • And the answer is no.
  • 00:13:41.332 --> 00:13:43.401
  • You can't prove the existence of a supernatural, invisible being.
  • 00:13:43.401 --> 00:13:49.073
  • But there's a difference between proof and evidence.
  • 00:13:49.073 --> 00:13:53.144
  • We're going to look at four powerful arguments for the
  • 00:13:53.144 --> 00:13:57.048
  • Existence of god.
  • 00:13:57.048 --> 00:13:58.549
  • Today, we're gonna look at just the first one, and it's the
  • 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:01.953
  • Cosmological evidence.
  • 00:14:01.953 --> 00:14:04.022
  • I could summarize this argument this way: why is there something
  • 00:14:04.022 --> 00:14:09.594
  • Instead of nothing?
  • 00:14:09.594 --> 00:14:11.963
  • Why is there something instead of nothing?
  • 00:14:11.963 --> 00:14:15.033
  • Look around you right now.
  • 00:14:15.033 --> 00:14:16.834
  • Look up from your notes.
  • 00:14:16.834 --> 00:14:18.336
  • Look around.
  • 00:14:18.336 --> 00:14:20.204
  • Why is there a pulpit?
  • 00:14:20.204 --> 00:14:24.475
  • Why is there a pastor?
  • 00:14:24.475 --> 00:14:27.345
  • Why is there somebody sitting next to me?
  • 00:14:27.345 --> 00:14:30.315
  • If we could look above, why is there a sun, and moon,
  • 00:14:30.315 --> 00:14:33.484
  • And stars?
  • 00:14:33.484 --> 00:14:34.819
  • Why is there something rather than nothing at all?
  • 00:14:34.819 --> 00:14:39.924
  • Second question you ought to ask yourself is why do i see
  • 00:14:39.924 --> 00:14:43.528
  • Anything at all?
  • 00:14:43.528 --> 00:14:44.862
  • Why is there something rather than nothing?
  • 00:14:44.862 --> 00:14:47.265
  • Why do i see anything at all?
  • 00:14:47.265 --> 00:14:49.934
  • And if you really want to blow your mind, ask yourself the
  • 00:14:49.934 --> 00:14:52.303
  • Question, why am i asking this question?
  • 00:14:52.303 --> 00:14:56.975
  • How do you explain everything that we see or feel?
  • 00:14:56.975 --> 00:15:01.012
  • Now, here's the atheist explanation for why we see
  • 00:15:01.012 --> 00:15:04.816
  • Something instead of nothing.
  • 00:15:04.816 --> 00:15:06.718
  • The atheist says the answer is no one times nothing
  • 00:15:06.718 --> 00:15:12.023
  • Equals everything.
  • 00:15:12.023 --> 00:15:14.659
  • No one times nothing equals everything.
  • 00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:18.730
  • Out of nothing because of no one comes everything we have.
  • 00:15:18.730 --> 00:15:23.101
  • Now think of what a silly argument that is.
  • 00:15:23.101 --> 00:15:26.404
  • Look at the cosmos, the cosmos, the universe.
  • 00:15:26.404 --> 00:15:30.775
  • Think for just a moment about the immensity of the cosmos.
  • 00:15:30.775 --> 00:15:34.712
  • This is gonna blow your mind.
  • 00:15:34.712 --> 00:15:37.348
  • We live in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:37.348 --> 00:15:40.184
  • Everybody knows that.
  • 00:15:40.184 --> 00:15:41.519
  • We're in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.421
  • There are over 100 billion stars in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:43.421 --> 00:15:49.594
  • The average distance, and i looked this up last night to be
  • 00:15:49.594 --> 00:15:52.764
  • Sure, the average distance from one star to the next star in our
  • 00:15:52.764 --> 00:15:56.701
  • Galaxy is 30 trillion miles.
  • 00:15:56.701 --> 00:16:01.606
  • Now to give you an idea how far 30 trillion miles is, just
  • 00:16:01.606 --> 00:16:07.812
  • Imagine getting one of the decommissioned space shuttles.
  • 00:16:07.812 --> 00:16:11.015
  • They're gonna loan it to you for a little while to take a journey
  • 00:16:11.015 --> 00:16:14.118
  • By space.
  • 00:16:14.118 --> 00:16:15.720
  • The space shuttle travels at 17,000 miles an hour, 5 miles
  • 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:20.992
  • A second.
  • 00:16:20.992 --> 00:16:22.326
  • If you were to get in that space shuttle, and take off, and go to
  • 00:16:22.326 --> 00:16:26.731
  • The next star 30 trillion miles away, it would take you 201,000
  • 00:16:26.731 --> 00:16:33.571
  • Years to get there, traveling at 17,000 miles an hour.
  • 00:16:33.571 --> 00:16:38.876
  • To put it another way, let's say that you were to take off in the
  • 00:16:38.876 --> 00:16:43.781
  • Space shuttle on the day christ was born in bethlehem.
  • 00:16:43.781 --> 00:16:48.352
  • From then until now, you've been traveling at 17,000 miles
  • 00:16:48.352 --> 00:16:52.557
  • An hour.
  • 00:16:52.557 --> 00:16:53.958
  • You would have only completed 1% of your trip toward that star
  • 00:16:53.958 --> 00:16:58.830
  • By today.
  • 00:16:58.830 --> 00:17:00.198
  • You would still have 99% more of the trip to go.
  • 00:17:00.198 --> 00:17:03.634
  • That would be to get you to the next star.
  • 00:17:03.634 --> 00:17:06.871
  • How do you explain that?
  • 00:17:06.871 --> 00:17:10.108
  • Well, you know what the atheist says?
  • 00:17:08.773 --> 00:17:11.542
  • The atheist says, "there is no explanation.
  • 00:17:11.542 --> 00:17:14.645
  • There doesn't need to be an explanation, because the
  • 00:17:14.645 --> 00:17:17.348
  • Universe is eternal, and whatever is eternal doesn't need
  • 00:17:17.348 --> 00:17:22.820
  • A beginning."
  • 00:17:22.820 --> 00:17:24.188
  • And that's true.
  • 00:17:24.188 --> 00:17:25.523
  • If it's eternal, it doesn't need a beginning.
  • 00:17:25.523 --> 00:17:27.992
  • But guess what scientists have discovered?
  • 00:17:27.992 --> 00:17:30.761
  • We have a beginning to our universe.
  • 00:17:30.761 --> 00:17:34.465
  • The second law of thermodynamics says that the universe is
  • 00:17:34.465 --> 00:17:40.037
  • Running out of energy.
  • 00:17:40.037 --> 00:17:41.405
  • It's winding down.
  • 00:17:41.405 --> 00:17:43.074
  • Now think about this.
  • 00:17:43.074 --> 00:17:44.408
  • If the universe is eternal, it has an eternal past.
  • 00:17:44.408 --> 00:17:48.412
  • And if it has an eternal past, then it would have already run
  • 00:17:48.412 --> 00:17:51.149
  • Out of energy by now, and more and more scientists are coming
  • 00:17:51.149 --> 00:17:55.086
  • To see that.
  • 00:17:55.086 --> 00:17:56.420
  • In the 1930s, there was a belgian priest who became an
  • 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:59.957
  • Astronomer named georges lemaitre, and he theorized that
  • 00:17:59.957 --> 00:18:04.595
  • The entire universe had been packed in a dense collection of
  • 00:18:04.595 --> 00:18:08.966
  • Matter that existed at temperatures of trillion of
  • 00:18:08.966 --> 00:18:12.670
  • Degrees, and then about 13.7 billion years ago, there was
  • 00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:17.542
  • An explosion.
  • 00:18:17.542 --> 00:18:19.043
  • He called it the cosmic egg that exploded the moment of creation.
  • 00:18:19.043 --> 00:18:24.549
  • Sir frederick coyle later changed that to the big bang.
  • 00:18:24.549 --> 00:18:28.653
  • It was the same theory, that there was a massive matter that
  • 00:18:28.653 --> 00:18:32.056
  • Suddenly exploded and became the universe.
  • 00:18:32.056 --> 00:18:35.960
  • Respected astronomers, like edwin hubble, for whom the
  • 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.263
  • Hubble telescope was named, confirmed that there had been a
  • 00:18:39.263 --> 00:18:43.501
  • Myriad of galaxies beyond our galaxy, the universe is
  • 00:18:43.501 --> 00:18:47.471
  • Expanding, therefore, it had a beginning as well.
  • 00:18:47.471 --> 00:18:51.475
  • Interestingly, on april the 23rd of 1992, a team of scientists
  • 00:18:51.475 --> 00:18:56.814
  • Released the findings from the cosmic background explorer
  • 00:18:56.814 --> 00:19:00.785
  • Satellite, cobe, that confirmed what hubble and lemaitre said,
  • 00:19:00.785 --> 00:19:05.056
  • That there had to be a beginning of the universe.
  • 00:19:05.056 --> 00:19:09.160
  • Can i add something here?
  • 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:11.896
  • Science is not the enemy of christianity as long as it's
  • 00:19:11.896 --> 00:19:16.100
  • True science.
  • 00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:17.802
  • True science will always lead you to the truth.
  • 00:19:17.802 --> 00:19:21.372
  • Scientists have discovered there had to be a beginning of
  • 00:19:21.372 --> 00:19:25.376
  • Our universe.
  • 00:19:25.376 --> 00:19:27.278
  • Interestingly, even atheists are willing to concede that.
  • 00:19:27.278 --> 00:19:32.350
  • David hume, the scottish philosopher that i told you
  • 00:19:32.350 --> 00:19:35.553
  • About, an atheist, said, quote, "but allow me to tell you that i
  • 00:19:35.553 --> 00:19:40.324
  • Never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything
  • 00:19:40.324 --> 00:19:46.364
  • Might arise without a cause."
  • 00:19:46.364 --> 00:19:49.500
  • Ladies and gentlemen, it is a
  • 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:51.269
  • Simple but profound truth, out of nothing comes nothing.
  • 00:19:51.269 --> 00:19:58.009
  • Richard dawkins, who wrote "the god delusion," concedes very
  • 00:19:58.009 --> 00:20:02.046
  • Much there could be a first cause.
  • 00:20:02.046 --> 00:20:05.216
  • In an interview with "time magazine," dawkins said, quote,
  • 00:20:05.216 --> 00:20:09.120
  • "there could be something incredibly grand and
  • 00:20:09.120 --> 00:20:12.690
  • Incomprehensible and beyond our present understanding."
  • 00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:17.261
  • When the reporter asked him if that something could be
  • 00:20:17.261 --> 00:20:22.233
  • God, dawkins replied, "yes.
  • 00:20:22.233 --> 00:20:26.437
  • But it also could be any of a billion gods.
  • 00:20:26.437 --> 00:20:30.474
  • It could be the god of the martians, or the inhabitants of
  • 00:20:30.474 --> 00:20:34.011
  • Alpha centauri.
  • 00:20:34.011 --> 00:20:35.846
  • The chance of it being a particular god, yahweh, the god
  • 00:20:35.846 --> 00:20:40.084
  • Of jesus, is banishingly small."
  • 00:20:40.084 --> 00:20:44.622
  • I love author mark mittelberg's rejoinder
  • 00:20:44.622 --> 00:20:48.125
  • To dawkins's statement.
  • 00:20:48.125 --> 00:20:49.460
  • He said, "you can call him what you want.
  • 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:52.363
  • But the evidence from the origin of the universe tells us a lot
  • 00:20:52.363 --> 00:20:55.800
  • About what he is like; and the description sounds amazingly
  • 00:20:55.800 --> 00:21:00.538
  • Similar to what the bible tells us about one particular god who
  • 00:21:00.538 --> 00:21:05.276
  • Actually is called yahweh, the god of jesus, the
  • 00:21:05.276 --> 00:21:08.846
  • Creator of the world."
  • 00:21:08.846 --> 00:21:11.682
  • The often asked question, "and if there's a god,
  • 00:21:11.682 --> 00:21:13.651
  • Why hasn't he revealed himself?" fails to take into account all
  • 00:21:13.651 --> 00:21:18.055
  • The ways he has revealed himself, starting with the
  • 00:21:18.055 --> 00:21:21.092
  • Cosmos with nature.
  • 00:21:21.092 --> 00:21:23.094
  • The psalmist declared in psalm 19:1, "the heavens declare the
  • 00:21:23.094 --> 00:21:27.465
  • Glory of god; and the skies proclaimed the work
  • 00:21:27.465 --> 00:21:31.068
  • Of his hand."
  • 00:21:31.068 --> 00:21:32.937
  • When famed astronaut, john glenn, was given permission
  • 00:21:32.937 --> 00:21:36.874
  • At age 77 to fly on the space shuttle, on that flight, he
  • 00:21:36.874 --> 00:21:43.013
  • Looked out the window and remarked, "to look out at this
  • 00:21:43.013 --> 00:21:46.951
  • Kind of creation and not believe in god is, to me, impossible."
  • 00:21:46.951 --> 00:21:55.092
  • Now, let's concede one thing atheist richard dawkins said.
  • 00:21:55.092 --> 00:21:59.597
  • It's a giant leap from a first cause of creation to the god of
  • 00:21:59.597 --> 00:22:05.836
  • Abraham, isaac, and jacob.
  • 00:22:05.836 --> 00:22:08.205
  • It's hard to get that out of the cosmological argument.
  • 00:22:08.205 --> 00:22:12.376
  • But fortunately, that's not the only evidence god has left.
  • 00:22:12.376 --> 00:22:16.180
  • There are three other sets of god's fingerprints we're going
  • 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:21.485
  • To look at next time that help us answer the question,
  • 00:22:21.485 --> 00:22:26.090
  • "how can i know there is a god?"
  • 00:22:26.090 --> 00:22:28.726
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:22:28.793 --> 00:22:33.697
  • Jeffress: the psalmist said, "the heavens are declaring the
  • 00:22:33.764 --> 00:22:36.467
  • Glory of god.
  • 00:22:36.467 --> 00:22:37.868
  • The skies proclaim the work of his hands."
  • 00:22:37.868 --> 00:22:41.138
  • And i hope you'll make plans to join us again next time, because
  • 00:22:41.138 --> 00:22:44.575
  • We're going to continue addressing this important
  • 00:22:44.575 --> 00:22:46.944
  • Question: "how can i know there is a god?"
  • 00:22:46.944 --> 00:22:50.614
  • Well, we're embarking on a brand-new year together, a fresh
  • 00:22:50.614 --> 00:22:54.485
  • Start, and as you consider the value of these daily bible
  • 00:22:54.485 --> 00:22:57.955
  • Studies, would you be willing to become one of our valued
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  • Pathway partners?
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  • Perhaps we don't talk about this program as much as we should,
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  • But those who participate in monthly automated giving have a
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  • Huge ministry of their own, because monthly givers are
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  • Becoming the financial backbone of "pathway to victory."
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  • So today, i want to invite you to join this special group of
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  • Supporters who are working together to pierce the darkness
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  • With the light of god's word.
  • 00:23:25.683 --> 00:23:27.885
  • Now stay right there.
  • 00:23:27.885 --> 00:23:29.253
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:23:29.253 --> 00:23:32.556
  • Announcer: if a friend or one of your children came up to you and
  • 00:23:33.924 --> 00:23:36.727
  • Asks, "how do you know christianity is the
  • 00:23:36.727 --> 00:23:39.129
  • Right religion?"
  • 00:23:39.129 --> 00:23:40.498
  • Could you give a clear and credible answer?
  • 00:23:40.498 --> 00:23:42.967
  • We'd like to send you a book from dr. robert jeffress
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  • Containing answers to life's seven most important questions.
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  • It's titled "how can i know?"
  • 00:23:49.707 --> 00:23:51.909
  • Jeffress: if we're honest, every one of us has questions about
  • 00:23:51.909 --> 00:23:54.812
  • Our faith, questions like, how can i know the bible is true?
  • 00:23:54.812 --> 00:23:58.849
  • Or how can i know god exists?
  • 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:01.552
  • In my book, "how can i know?"
  • 00:24:01.552 --> 00:24:03.554
  • I tackle seven important questions and provide biblically
  • 00:24:03.554 --> 00:24:07.424
  • Based answers you can embrace with confidence.
  • 00:24:07.424 --> 00:24:10.694
  • Announcer: seven straightforward answers to seven
  • 00:24:10.694 --> 00:24:12.963
  • Pressing questions.
  • 00:24:12.963 --> 00:24:14.398
  • The book, "how can i know?"
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  • Is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the
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  • Ministry of "pathway to victory" or when you sign up to become a
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  • Pathway partner.
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  • And when your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the
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  • Complete series on dvd and audio disc with newly updated content
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  • For 2025.
  • 00:24:33.817 --> 00:24:35.319
  • Jeffress: it's not a sin to have doubts.
  • 00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:38.589
  • Sometimes doubt is a prerequisite to genuine faith.
  • 00:24:38.589 --> 00:24:42.560
  • Announcer: thank you for investing financially in
  • 00:24:42.560 --> 00:24:45.329
  • "pathway to victory."
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  • Your partnership will help our ministry broadcast god's truth
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  • On television, on radio, and online, addressing doubts,
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  • Clearing confusion, and transforming lives through the
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  • Bold biblical teaching of god's word.
  • 00:24:57.708 --> 00:25:00.444
  • Jeffress: even the staunchest atheist must concede there
  • 00:25:04.181 --> 00:25:07.451
  • Really could be a god.
  • 00:25:07.451 --> 00:25:09.620
  • The existence of the universe is too hard to explain otherwise.
  • 00:25:09.620 --> 00:25:13.691
  • But while the cosmological evidence is a powerful argument
  • 00:25:13.691 --> 00:25:17.094
  • For the existence of god, the atheist is right when he says,
  • 00:25:17.094 --> 00:25:21.265
  • "it's a giant leap of faith to go from a first cause to the
  • 00:25:21.265 --> 00:25:25.469
  • Personal god in the bible."
  • 00:25:25.469 --> 00:25:27.404
  • Gratefully, god has left some
  • 00:25:27.404 --> 00:25:29.540
  • Other fingerprints in the universe that tell us even more
  • 00:25:29.540 --> 00:25:32.610
  • About himself.
  • 00:25:32.610 --> 00:25:33.944
  • And next time, we're going to look at three more powerful
  • 00:25:33.944 --> 00:25:36.947
  • Arguments for the existence of god.
  • 00:25:36.947 --> 00:25:40.017
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:25:40.017 --> 00:25:43.153
  • Series, "how can i know?"
  • 00:25:43.153 --> 00:25:46.056
  • Jeffress: where does the evidence lead you?
  • 00:25:46.123 --> 00:25:48.792
  • What decision are you going to make?
  • 00:25:48.792 --> 00:25:52.630
  • To ignore the evidence that we've looked at today for the
  • 00:25:52.630 --> 00:25:56.233
  • Existence of god is to, like one person said, "slide into
  • 00:25:56.233 --> 00:26:01.939
  • Eternity with your fingers crossed,
  • 00:26:01.939 --> 00:26:06.010
  • Hoping you're right."
  • 00:26:06.010 --> 00:26:09.046
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for part two of the
  • 00:26:09.113 --> 00:26:12.249
  • Message, "how can i know there is a god?"
  • 00:26:12.249 --> 00:26:15.085
  • Here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:26:15.085 --> 00:26:16.920
  • Jeffress: if you could go back in time and walk with the
  • 00:26:20.724 --> 00:26:23.093
  • Apostle paul on one of his journeys, would you do it?
  • 00:26:23.093 --> 00:26:26.664
  • This may, let's go together on the life-changing "pathway to
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  • Jeffress: walk with me and other believers in the very places
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  • Where god's word was written.
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  • Join us as we study his word together.
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  • Surrounded by natural beauty, we will seek our creator in
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