Robert Jeffress - Jesus Our Friend

April 10, 2025 | S25:E172

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 - Jesus Our Friend | April 10, 2025
  • ♪ music ♪
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  • [announcer] from the pulpit
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  • Of the first baptist church of dallas, texas,
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  • This is pathway to victory with dr. robert jeffress.
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  • Hi, i am robert jeffress.
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  • Welcome again to pathway to victory.
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  • Have you ever longed for a best friend,
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  • Someone who truly understands you
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  • And supports you through life's ups and downs?
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  • The bible reveals that we have access
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  • To the most faithful friend imaginable,
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  • Jesus christ himself,
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  • And today we'll discover how jesus demonstrated friendship
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  • During his ministry
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  • And why he wants an intimate relationship with you
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  • That will last for all eternity.
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  • My message is titled "jesus, our friend,"
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  • On today's edition of pathway to victory.
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  • ♪ music ♪
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  • [narrator] jesus is the most talked about person
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  • In human history, but we can't fully grasp who jesus is
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  • Until we understand both his first and his second coming.
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  • In his powerful new book, "jesus revealed in the end times,"
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  • Dr. robert jeffress unveils the glorious return
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  • Of our savior.
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  • Learn what his triumphant return means for your life today.
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  • Request your copy of "jesus revealed in the end times,"
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  • When you give a generous gift
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  • To support the ministry of pathway to victory.
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  • ♪ music ♪
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  • Two boys, lew wilcox and bobby rohrbach
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  • Met while riding their bikes in 1962.
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  • Both boys grew up in working class church-going homes.
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  • They spent their saturday mornings
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  • Watching cartoons together.
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  • They leaned on one another during those awkward teen years.
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  • Neither of them liked school that much,
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  • So they spent their time cruising local root beer stands
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  • And went to drive in movies.
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  • After high school, they had planned to travel
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  • Around the country by car,
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  • But bobby was drafted and lew got married.
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  • While bobby was stationed in germany,
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  • The two men sent reel to reel tapes, remember those?
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  • To one another jabbering away about
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  • What was happening in their lives.
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  • In time, both men ended up becoming police officers.
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  • They talked about their cases together
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  • In order to release the tension of their jobs.
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  • At one point, they both had open heart surgery
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  • And boasted about their matching scars.
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  • Now they're in their 70s and they still remain best friends.
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  • The wall street journal recently profiled these men
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  • Because of nothing spectacular they had accomplished.
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  • They were profiled because they are a rarity.
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  • People who remain friends throughout the decades.
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  • Do you realize that four out of 10 americans say
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  • They do not have a best friend?
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  • In fact, the reason is probably obvious.
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  • Sociologists tell us, it takes spending at least 300 hours
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  • With a person to develop a close relationship with them.
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  • Would you like to have a best friend,
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  • Somebody who accepts you just like you are,
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  • Somebody who answers and responds to your phone calls
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  • And your texts, somebody who's there to encourage you
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  • During the difficult times?
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  • Well, we have such a best friend though.
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  • Few of us really know it.
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  • He's a friend, proverbs 18:24 says,
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  • "who sticks closer than a brother."
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  • His name is jesus.
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  • And throughout eternity we will have the distinct pleasure
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  • Of knowing him forever and ever as our eternal friend.
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  • In fact, you see that in both the old and new testaments.
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  • Look at jesus in the old testament.
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  • You say, "in the old testament,
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  • I thought he didn't come on the scene until bethlehem."
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  • No, jesus has existed forever.
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  • And we see that in the old testament.
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  • For example, notice jesus friendship with adam and eve.
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  • Again, i bet you've never heard that before.
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  • Jesus was a friend to adam and eve. just think about it.
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  • Genesis 3:8 says, that the lord came down every day
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  • In the cool of the day to visit with adam and eve.
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  • That's how we know the garden of eden wasn't in dallas.
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  • There was actually a time, when it was cool in the day
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  • And the lord would come down and visit.
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  • Now, who is it that came down
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  • And visited with adam and eve?
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  • Was it god the father? no, god is an invisible spirit.
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  • 1st timothy 1:17, nobody has seen god.
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  • No, it was jesus, god in the flesh,
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  • Who came down to visit with adam and eve.
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  • We call this a theophany, a pre-new testament appearance
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  • Of christ on earth.
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  • Think about abraham.
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  • The bible says three times, abraham was known as what?
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  • The friend of god.
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  • Think about moses.
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  • In exodus 33:11 it says,
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  • The lord used to speak to moses face to face,
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  • Just as a man speaks to his friend.
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  • When god spoke to moses, was it the booming voice
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  • On mount sinai proclaiming the 10 commandments?
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  • Was that it? no.
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  • Moses met with him face to face.
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  • That was the lord jesus christ.
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  • Jesus was also the friend of those in the new testament.
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  • You find that name, "friend," used throughout scripture.
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  • For example, think about that paralyzed man.
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  • Remember the story in luke 5.
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  • Jesus was teaching in a house
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  • That was filled to the rafters.
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  • In the middle of his sermon, there was a disruption.
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  • People looked up and they noticed
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  • The ceiling was being peeled apart
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  • And some men on top of the roof had a friend
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  • Who was paralyzed
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  • And they lowered him down to be in front of jesus.
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  • And when jesus saw him, what did he say?
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  • "friend, your sins are forgiven."
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  • Or think about his relationship
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  • With john the baptist and lazarus.
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  • John the baptist, jesus called him in john 3:29,
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  • "a friend of the bridegroom."
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  • What does that mean?
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  • Well, the picture of the church is of the bridegroom, jesus
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  • And the bride, the church coming together.
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  • And the bible says, when christ comes back again
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  • At the very beginning of the millennium,
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  • The thousand year reign of christ,
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  • There's going to be a great party, a banquet,
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  • The wedding supper of the lamb described in revelation 19,
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  • And it will celebrate the union of the groom, of jesus
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  • And his bride, the church.
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  • And the bible says, jesus said, john is going
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  • To be the friend, the best man if you will,
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  • Of the bridegroom.
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  • I think it's john the baptist who is going to preside
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  • Over the wedding supper of the lamb.
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  • Not only that, he referred to lazarus, who was dead,
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  • As his friend.
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  • Remember in john 11:11, jesus said,
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  • "our friend lazarus has fallen asleep."
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  • When somebody dies, it's their body that falls asleep.
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  • It's not their soul.
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  • Their soul goes on forever and ever in heaven or hell.
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  • But our friend lazarus has fallen asleep.
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  • But i go that i may awaken him out of sleep.
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  • Isn't it good to know when you die you still have a friend,
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  • Somebody who promises to fulfill his promise
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  • To raise you from the dead?
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  • His disciples were known as his friends in john 15:13-14.
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  • Jesus said, "greater love has no man than this,
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  • Than he laid down his life for his friends.
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  • You are my friends, if you do what i command ."
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  • And here's something that will blow your mind.
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  • Even judas iscaroit was known as a friend of jesus.
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  • Jesus was a friend of children. i love this.
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  • In matthew 19:13-14,
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  • Then some children were brought to jesus,
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  • So that he may lay his hands on them and pray.
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  • Isn't that interesting? jesus wanted to bless the children.
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  • I don't want to chase a rabbit here,
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  • But i think this is one clue in the bible
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  • Of many of what happens to a little child who is too young
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  • To know christ as savior.
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  • Do they go to hell, as some people teach,
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  • That if they're too young to trust in christ,
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  • They just miss out on salvation?
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  • Of course not.
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  • There is room in the atonement of christ for those
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  • Who are mentally challenged
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  • Or just mentally incapable of trusting in jesus.
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  • Why would jesus bless little children
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  • If he was going to send them to hell?
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  • That makes no sense whatsoever.
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  • But jesus wanted the children to come
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  • So he could pray for them, lay hands on them and bless them.
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  • But the disciples rebuked them.
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  • "he doesn't have time for this sort of stuff,"
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  • The disciples said.
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  • But jesus rebuked them and said, "leave the children alone
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  • And do not hinder them from coming to me.
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  • For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
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  • At first baptist, dallas, we love children.
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  • The reason we love children is because jesus loves children.
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  • You see jesus in that friendship relationship
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  • After his resurrection.
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  • Remember the story in luke 24?
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  • Two of jesus' followers were walking back
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  • To their home from jerusalem to emmaus.
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  • It was the afternoon,
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  • Sunday afternoon after the resurrection,
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  • And these two followers of jesus
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  • Were talking about everything
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  • That had happened the last three days.
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  • And jesus appears to them in human form,
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  • In his resurrected body.
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  • They were prevented from recognizing him immediately.
  • 00:10:18.974 --> 00:10:22.311
  • And jesus said,
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  • Now this is a loose translation of the greek,
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  • "what is the hubbub all about? what are you all talking about?
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  • What are you talking about?"
  • 00:10:31.053 --> 00:10:32.855
  • And these two men looked at jesus
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  • And said, "are you the only one in jerusalem
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  • Who is unaware of what's gone on these last three days
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  • About how this jesus was thought to be the messiah
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  • Was arrested, tried and crucified, he was buried,
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  • And now they're saying he's been raised from the dead.
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  • Have you not heard about that?"
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  • The bible says at that point, jesus begins speaking to them
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  • And showing them how from moses in the old testament
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  • Through now, all the prophets showed
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  • Why these things must happen.
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  • And when they got close to emmaus,
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  • It was about a seven-mile walk from jerusalem,
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  • When they got close to there,
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  • Jesus acted like he was going to leave them.
  • 00:11:12.161 --> 00:11:14.897
  • They begged him, "oh, please don't leave us.
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  • We love talking to you. come and have dinner with us."
  • 00:11:19.001 --> 00:11:22.338
  • So jesus came and fellowship with them and encouraged them.
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  • Jesus maintained a relationship
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  • With his followers after the resurrection.
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  • I think that story is significant,
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  • Not only because it happened,
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  • But it also portrays the kind of friendship
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  • Jesus wants to have with us.
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  • First of all, an enduring friendship.
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  • We're going to have a relationship with jesus
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  • That can begin right now
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  • And never be interrupted throughout eternity.
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  • I want you to jot down 1st thessalonians 4:16-17.
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  • Now, these are verses we usually use
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  • To talk about the rapture.
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  • You know, where do you come up with the rapture?
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  • That's just a manmade term, people say.
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  • No, it's found in the bible,
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  • And the key verse is 1st thessalonians 4:16-17,
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  • For the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
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  • With a voice of the archangel and the trumpet of god
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  • And the dead in christ shall rise first
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  • And then we who are alive and remain shall be raptured,
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  • Harpazo, caught up, snatched away
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  • To meet the lord in the air,
  • 00:12:29.171 --> 00:12:31.540
  • And thus we shall always be with the lord.
  • 00:12:31.540 --> 00:12:35.110
  • And the kind of fellowship we're going to have with god,
  • 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:37.580
  • The kind of friendship is also an intimate friendship.
  • 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:41.951
  • Paul said in philippians 3, "my one desire is
  • 00:12:41.951 --> 00:12:45.020
  • That i may know christ jesus,
  • 00:12:45.020 --> 00:12:48.390
  • Not just about christ jesus, but that i might know him
  • 00:12:48.390 --> 00:12:52.428
  • And the power of his resurrection."
  • 00:12:52.428 --> 00:12:54.797
  • In 1st corinthians 13:12, paul said,
  • 00:12:54.797 --> 00:12:57.499
  • "we shall finally see face to face
  • 00:12:57.499 --> 00:13:00.502
  • And know fully just as we have been fully known."
  • 00:13:00.502 --> 00:13:04.039
  • Those are great verse in revelation,
  • 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:06.008
  • Actually, two verses, 22 verses three to four,
  • 00:13:06.008 --> 00:13:09.478
  • There will no longer be any curse and the throne of god
  • 00:13:09.478 --> 00:13:12.982
  • And of the lamb will be on it
  • 00:13:12.982 --> 00:13:15.217
  • And his bond servant shall serve him
  • 00:13:15.217 --> 00:13:17.720
  • And they will see his face
  • 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:20.356
  • And his name will be upon their foreheads.
  • 00:13:20.356 --> 00:13:25.027
  • Don't we long for that?
  • 00:13:25.027 --> 00:13:27.129
  • The time that we're going to see jesus face to face.
  • 00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:30.900
  • By the way, you don't have to wait until you die
  • 00:13:30.900 --> 00:13:33.402
  • To enjoy friendship with god.
  • 00:13:33.402 --> 00:13:35.971
  • It can begin right now.
  • 00:13:35.971 --> 00:13:37.973
  • While i was preparing this series of messages,
  • 00:13:37.973 --> 00:13:40.910
  • I came across a report from the surgeon general
  • 00:13:40.910 --> 00:13:43.579
  • Of the united states.
  • 00:13:43.579 --> 00:13:45.147
  • He issued a warning
  • 00:13:45.147 --> 00:13:46.282
  • That our nation is facing a,
  • 00:13:46.282 --> 00:13:47.883
  • Quote, "epidemic of loneliness."
  • 00:13:47.883 --> 00:13:51.820
  • Never before in history have we been more connected
  • 00:13:51.820 --> 00:13:55.224
  • To one another technologically
  • 00:13:55.224 --> 00:13:57.993
  • And at the same time never have we felt more isolated
  • 00:13:57.993 --> 00:14:01.597
  • From one another than we do right now.
  • 00:14:01.597 --> 00:14:03.899
  • You know why? we don't need any more virtual friends.
  • 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:08.103
  • We need face-to-face friends.
  • 00:14:08.103 --> 00:14:10.506
  • And that's what jesus promises to be,
  • 00:14:10.506 --> 00:14:13.275
  • Our face-to-face friend.
  • 00:14:13.275 --> 00:14:15.644
  • Jot down these two truths about that friendship with god.
  • 00:14:15.644 --> 00:14:19.448
  • First of all, we are made to be friends with god.
  • 00:14:19.448 --> 00:14:23.986
  • There's a god shaped vacuum in every heart.
  • 00:14:23.986 --> 00:14:26.755
  • We are made to be friends with god.
  • 00:14:26.755 --> 00:14:29.024
  • Now, that doesn't mean we don't need other people.
  • 00:14:29.024 --> 00:14:31.460
  • In fact, did you know a relationship with god is not enough
  • 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:34.697
  • To fulfill your deepest needs?
  • 00:14:34.697 --> 00:14:37.499
  • It's not.
  • 00:14:37.499 --> 00:14:38.734
  • That sounds like heresy to some of you,
  • 00:14:39.535 --> 00:14:41.403
  • But i can say that with authority, because god said it.
  • 00:14:41.403 --> 00:14:45.607
  • God looked down at adam,
  • 00:14:45.607 --> 00:14:47.176
  • They were having a perfect relationship untainted
  • 00:14:47.176 --> 00:14:50.279
  • By sin whatsoever, and what did god say?
  • 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:53.749
  • "adam, it's not good for a man to be alone."
  • 00:14:53.749 --> 00:14:57.820
  • "alone? god, i have you."
  • 00:14:58.387 --> 00:15:00.589
  • "that's not enough, adam.
  • 00:15:00.589 --> 00:15:02.057
  • You need another human being." and so he created eve.
  • 00:15:02.057 --> 00:15:04.760
  • That's why god created the family.
  • 00:15:04.760 --> 00:15:07.396
  • That's why god created the church.
  • 00:15:07.396 --> 00:15:10.065
  • I'm so grateful for the millions who watch on our icampus
  • 00:15:10.065 --> 00:15:13.302
  • Or pathway to victory,
  • 00:15:13.302 --> 00:15:15.104
  • But we're not a replacement for the local church.
  • 00:15:15.104 --> 00:15:17.673
  • We're a supplement, an encouragement to the local church,
  • 00:15:17.673 --> 00:15:20.943
  • But you need face-to-face fellowship with other christians.
  • 00:15:20.943 --> 00:15:25.814
  • But the other truth is you will not feel fulfilled
  • 00:15:25.814 --> 00:15:29.084
  • Until you have that relationship with god.
  • 00:15:29.084 --> 00:15:32.287
  • In hebrews 13:5, jesus said, "i'm the kind of friend
  • 00:15:32.287 --> 00:15:36.892
  • Who will never desert you,
  • 00:15:36.892 --> 00:15:38.861
  • Nor will i ever forsake you."
  • 00:15:38.861 --> 00:15:42.698
  • Secondly, not only are we made to be friends with god,
  • 00:15:42.698 --> 00:15:46.335
  • But jesus wants to be our friend.
  • 00:15:46.335 --> 00:15:49.104
  • A writer from yesteryear said it this way:
  • 00:15:49.104 --> 00:15:51.740
  • "many believers adore christ as god.
  • 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:55.344
  • They feed on him in communion.
  • 00:15:55.344 --> 00:15:57.146
  • They cleanse themselves in his precious blood.
  • 00:15:57.146 --> 00:15:59.715
  • They look to the time that they will see him as their judge.
  • 00:15:59.715 --> 00:16:02.651
  • Yet of that intimate knowledge of
  • 00:16:02.651 --> 00:16:05.087
  • And companionship with christ,
  • 00:16:05.087 --> 00:16:07.256
  • They have experienced little or nothing.
  • 00:16:07.256 --> 00:16:11.260
  • Jesus christ, first and foremost desires our friendship,"
  • 00:16:11.260 --> 00:16:15.264
  • Now get this,
  • 00:16:15.264 --> 00:16:16.532
  • "now the consciousness of this friendship
  • 00:16:16.532 --> 00:16:19.368
  • With jesus is the very secret of the saints."
  • 00:16:19.368 --> 00:16:24.706
  • You look at great men and women in the past of faith,
  • 00:16:25.808 --> 00:16:28.477
  • They all had this in common.
  • 00:16:28.477 --> 00:16:31.113
  • They were conscious, aware of a friendship,
  • 00:16:31.113 --> 00:16:34.917
  • A personal relationship with jesus christ.
  • 00:16:34.917 --> 00:16:38.420
  • One of my heroes of the faith was the late great evangelist,
  • 00:16:39.621 --> 00:16:44.560
  • Dwight lyman moody, dl moody.
  • 00:16:44.560 --> 00:16:47.763
  • At his funeral service in 1899,
  • 00:16:48.397 --> 00:16:52.034
  • This friend gave this testimony of moody.
  • 00:16:52.034 --> 00:16:55.003
  • He said, "dl moody walked with god
  • 00:16:55.003 --> 00:16:58.774
  • And so did not have to turn out of his way to speak to god.
  • 00:16:58.774 --> 00:17:02.711
  • I had been driving with him on some deserted road.
  • 00:17:02.711 --> 00:17:06.048
  • We would be talking together,
  • 00:17:06.048 --> 00:17:07.483
  • When suddenly he would pause for a moment
  • 00:17:07.483 --> 00:17:10.652
  • And speak to god just as naturally
  • 00:17:10.652 --> 00:17:13.655
  • As he would speak to his friend."
  • 00:17:13.655 --> 00:17:16.058
  • Shouldn't that be the way it is for all of us?
  • 00:17:16.992 --> 00:17:20.462
  • You may not know the name joseph scriven.
  • 00:17:21.330 --> 00:17:24.366
  • He grew up in ireland, suffered a tragedy
  • 00:17:25.234 --> 00:17:28.203
  • And out of that tragedy he fled to canada.
  • 00:17:28.203 --> 00:17:32.241
  • He began to concentrate on his relationship with god.
  • 00:17:33.308 --> 00:17:36.879
  • He demonstrated that relationship by doing good things
  • 00:17:36.879 --> 00:17:40.382
  • For other people, chopping firewood for widows.
  • 00:17:40.382 --> 00:17:44.153
  • While in canada, he received word
  • 00:17:44.153 --> 00:17:46.722
  • That his mother was desperately ill and close to dying.
  • 00:17:46.722 --> 00:17:50.759
  • He couldn't afford a ticket to go back to ireland,
  • 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:54.429
  • So he wrote her a poem.
  • 00:17:54.429 --> 00:17:57.166
  • Little did he know that that poem would bring comfort
  • 00:17:57.166 --> 00:18:00.769
  • To millions of christians in ages to come.
  • 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:04.573
  • Joseph scriven wrote these words,
  • 00:18:04.573 --> 00:18:07.409
  • "what a friend we have in jesus,
  • 00:18:07.409 --> 00:18:11.780
  • All our sins and griefs to bear.
  • 00:18:11.780 --> 00:18:15.384
  • What a privilege to carry everything to god in prayer.
  • 00:18:15.384 --> 00:18:20.622
  • Oh, what peace we often forfeit.
  • 00:18:21.256 --> 00:18:24.092
  • Oh, what needless pain we bear,
  • 00:18:24.092 --> 00:18:27.062
  • All because we do not carry
  • 00:18:27.062 --> 00:18:29.765
  • Everything to god in prayer."
  • 00:18:29.765 --> 00:18:33.368
  • Jesus wants to be that friend.
  • 00:18:34.002 --> 00:18:37.573
  • Now, here is a simple truth,
  • 00:18:38.173 --> 00:18:39.908
  • If you don't remember anything else, a simple truth
  • 00:18:39.908 --> 00:18:42.911
  • For the chaotic world in which we live,
  • 00:18:42.911 --> 00:18:47.182
  • Now is the time to know jesus as your friend,
  • 00:18:48.116 --> 00:18:53.655
  • Not the future.
  • 00:18:54.022 --> 00:18:55.791
  • The time to make jesus your friend is not in the future.
  • 00:18:56.925 --> 00:18:59.861
  • It is now. why?
  • 00:18:59.861 --> 00:19:03.365
  • Because the future has a way of becoming now
  • 00:19:03.365 --> 00:19:06.335
  • Quicker than we ever can imagine.
  • 00:19:06.335 --> 00:19:08.837
  • The time to make jesus your friend is not the future.
  • 00:19:09.938 --> 00:19:13.408
  • It is now.
  • 00:19:13.408 --> 00:19:15.177
  • You know, the downside sometimes of preaching a series
  • 00:19:15.177 --> 00:19:18.847
  • Like i've brought to you these last six or seven weeks,
  • 00:19:18.847 --> 00:19:22.117
  • "jesus revealed in the end times," the downside is
  • 00:19:22.117 --> 00:19:25.187
  • We think of the end times, the rapture, the millennium,
  • 00:19:25.187 --> 00:19:28.924
  • The second coming as things that are way, way away.
  • 00:19:28.924 --> 00:19:34.196
  • They're the future.
  • 00:19:34.663 --> 00:19:36.331
  • We put them out of our mind
  • 00:19:36.331 --> 00:19:37.899
  • Because that's going to happen in the future.
  • 00:19:37.899 --> 00:19:40.402
  • The truth is we don't know when those events
  • 00:19:40.402 --> 00:19:42.504
  • Are going to happen.
  • 00:19:42.504 --> 00:19:44.273
  • We don't know when they're going to happen.
  • 00:19:44.273 --> 00:19:46.575
  • They could happen tonight
  • 00:19:46.575 --> 00:19:47.876
  • Before we go to bed, the rapture of the church,
  • 00:19:47.876 --> 00:19:50.212
  • Or they could happen a hundred or a thousand years from now.
  • 00:19:50.212 --> 00:19:53.715
  • We don't know when these events are going to occur,
  • 00:19:53.715 --> 00:19:56.885
  • But what we do know is this:
  • 00:19:56.885 --> 00:19:59.855
  • Our future becomes our present very quickly.
  • 00:19:59.855 --> 00:20:03.558
  • In fact, somebody once said, i love this quote,
  • 00:20:03.558 --> 00:20:06.695
  • "we are traveling toward our future
  • 00:20:06.695 --> 00:20:09.097
  • At the speed of 60 minutes an hour."
  • 00:20:09.097 --> 00:20:14.436
  • You are headed for your future.
  • 00:20:15.070 --> 00:20:17.105
  • It's going to become your present before you know it.
  • 00:20:17.105 --> 00:20:19.941
  • You know, i saw that illustrated in my own life
  • 00:20:19.941 --> 00:20:23.645
  • Five weeks ago.
  • 00:20:23.645 --> 00:20:25.480
  • Friday night, july 19th, 2024,
  • 00:20:26.114 --> 00:20:29.651
  • I was headed up to north dallas tollways 545
  • 00:20:29.651 --> 00:20:33.722
  • Headed toward home and i knew, or i thought i knew,
  • 00:20:33.722 --> 00:20:36.825
  • What i was going to be doing that evening.
  • 00:20:36.825 --> 00:20:38.593
  • I was going to be packing for our vacation
  • 00:20:38.593 --> 00:20:40.796
  • That began the next day.
  • 00:20:40.796 --> 00:20:43.065
  • I knew what i was going to do the next two weeks on vacation,
  • 00:20:43.065 --> 00:20:46.335
  • Or so i thought i knew.
  • 00:20:46.335 --> 00:20:48.437
  • But one 20-second phone call
  • 00:20:48.437 --> 00:20:52.341
  • From ben lawarren changed everything.
  • 00:20:52.341 --> 00:20:55.110
  • Just a brief phone call, "pastor, the church is on fire."
  • 00:20:55.110 --> 00:21:00.182
  • I turned around, went there.
  • 00:21:00.782 --> 00:21:03.218
  • Needless to say, i didn't spend friday evening
  • 00:21:03.218 --> 00:21:05.554
  • The way i thought i would.
  • 00:21:05.554 --> 00:21:07.089
  • Didn't spend the next two weeks the way i thought i would.
  • 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:10.726
  • I'm not going to spend the next two years
  • 00:21:10.726 --> 00:21:13.328
  • The way i thought i was.
  • 00:21:13.328 --> 00:21:16.031
  • Our future is coming at us very quickly
  • 00:21:16.031 --> 00:21:19.334
  • And it can change in just a moment.
  • 00:21:19.334 --> 00:21:22.304
  • Our future turns on the dime with just one event,
  • 00:21:23.305 --> 00:21:26.341
  • One phone call, one doctor's report.
  • 00:21:26.341 --> 00:21:29.745
  • I think about job in the old testament.
  • 00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:33.682
  • He was having a great life.
  • 00:21:33.682 --> 00:21:35.050
  • Everything was going well, when one day he got word
  • 00:21:35.050 --> 00:21:39.020
  • That his 10 children had been killed in a frequent storm.
  • 00:21:39.020 --> 00:21:43.024
  • And he was trying to recover from that devastating blow,
  • 00:21:43.024 --> 00:21:46.395
  • The same day he got news
  • 00:21:46.395 --> 00:21:48.730
  • That he had lost all of his possessions.
  • 00:21:48.730 --> 00:21:50.632
  • He had gone bankrupt.
  • 00:21:50.632 --> 00:21:52.567
  • And if that were not enough, he was struck
  • 00:21:52.567 --> 00:21:54.669
  • With a debilitating illness all in a single day.
  • 00:21:54.669 --> 00:21:59.841
  • I think about in the new testament,
  • 00:22:00.575 --> 00:22:02.177
  • The story of the wealthy entrepreneur
  • 00:22:02.177 --> 00:22:06.114
  • Who was unable to sleep because he had so many plans
  • 00:22:06.114 --> 00:22:09.451
  • And dreams for the future,
  • 00:22:09.451 --> 00:22:11.386
  • And he lay awake working out his business plan
  • 00:22:11.386 --> 00:22:13.955
  • For the next five or 10 years,
  • 00:22:13.955 --> 00:22:15.991
  • When god came to him and said, "you fool,
  • 00:22:15.991 --> 00:22:18.660
  • You fool, tonight, your soul is going to be required of you
  • 00:22:19.828 --> 00:22:24.933
  • And who will own what you have possessed."
  • 00:22:25.834 --> 00:22:29.671
  • We don't know what the future is.
  • 00:22:30.405 --> 00:22:32.674
  • James said, our life has been a vapor.
  • 00:22:32.674 --> 00:22:34.676
  • It appears for a little while and then it vanishes.
  • 00:22:34.676 --> 00:22:37.446
  • We don't know what the future holds for us,
  • 00:22:37.446 --> 00:22:40.382
  • But we know who holds our future.
  • 00:22:40.382 --> 00:22:42.951
  • Doesn't it give you comfort to know you have a friend,
  • 00:22:44.052 --> 00:22:47.956
  • A friend who knows your future
  • 00:22:47.956 --> 00:22:50.425
  • Because he planned your future,
  • 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:53.762
  • And he's willing to walk with you side by side
  • 00:22:53.762 --> 00:22:57.098
  • Through your future until you get to the other side.
  • 00:22:57.098 --> 00:23:00.435
  • Don't wait to the future to make jesus your friend.
  • 00:23:01.436 --> 00:23:04.739
  • Make him your friend today. how do you do that?
  • 00:23:04.739 --> 00:23:08.243
  • It's very simple.
  • 00:23:08.243 --> 00:23:09.711
  • First of all, accept him as the messiah
  • 00:23:10.545 --> 00:23:14.249
  • Who came and died for your sins.
  • 00:23:14.249 --> 00:23:17.519
  • Believe in him as the prophet who said
  • 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:20.555
  • That he's coming one day to reward the righteous
  • 00:23:20.555 --> 00:23:23.992
  • And to punish evil-doers.
  • 00:23:23.992 --> 00:23:26.895
  • Be aware, revere him as the judge
  • 00:23:26.895 --> 00:23:30.165
  • Who is constantly evaluating your every word,
  • 00:23:30.165 --> 00:23:33.335
  • Thought, or action.
  • 00:23:33.335 --> 00:23:35.437
  • Honor him as the king who has total reign,
  • 00:23:35.437 --> 00:23:39.474
  • Has total say over your life.
  • 00:23:39.474 --> 00:23:42.878
  • And begin today to live with that continual awareness
  • 00:23:42.878 --> 00:23:47.482
  • That jesus is that friend
  • 00:23:47.482 --> 00:23:50.418
  • Who will neither leave you nor forsake you.
  • 00:23:50.418 --> 00:23:54.523
  • ♪ music ♪
  • 00:23:54.523 --> 00:23:58.493
  • Jesus wants to be more than just your savior.
  • 00:23:59.427 --> 00:24:02.497
  • He longs to walk with you as a genuine friend,
  • 00:24:02.497 --> 00:24:05.800
  • Not just in eternity, but beginning right now
  • 00:24:05.800 --> 00:24:09.204
  • In the ordinary moments of your daily life.
  • 00:24:09.204 --> 00:24:12.641
  • Well, before we wrap up today's program,
  • 00:24:12.641 --> 00:24:14.809
  • I want to share my gratitude for our pathway partners
  • 00:24:14.809 --> 00:24:18.179
  • And everyone who gives to support pathway to victory.
  • 00:24:18.179 --> 00:24:21.883
  • Through your generosity, we're able to bring biblical truth
  • 00:24:21.883 --> 00:24:25.153
  • To viewers across america and around the world.
  • 00:24:25.153 --> 00:24:28.924
  • Each year we continue to expand our reach
  • 00:24:28.924 --> 00:24:31.726
  • Through television, radio, and digital streaming platforms,
  • 00:24:31.726 --> 00:24:36.031
  • Touching more lives than ever before
  • 00:24:36.031 --> 00:24:38.533
  • With the message of hope found in jesus christ,
  • 00:24:38.533 --> 00:24:42.237
  • And it's all made possible by your generosity.
  • 00:24:42.237 --> 00:24:46.074
  • Thank you for partnering with us,
  • 00:24:46.074 --> 00:24:47.642
  • As together we pierce the darkness
  • 00:24:47.642 --> 00:24:50.211
  • With the light of god's word.
  • 00:24:50.211 --> 00:24:52.047
  • Stay right there. i'll be back with more pathway to victory
  • 00:24:52.047 --> 00:24:56.084
  • In just a moment.
  • 00:24:56.084 --> 00:24:59.654
  • [narrator] most teachings about bible prophecy
  • 00:25:00.622 --> 00:25:02.724
  • Focus on wars, natural disasters, and economic turmoil,
  • 00:25:02.724 --> 00:25:08.063
  • But the end times shouldn't scare us.
  • 00:25:08.897 --> 00:25:11.232
  • They should bring us hope.
  • 00:25:11.232 --> 00:25:12.901
  • In his brand new book, "jesus revealed in the end times,"
  • 00:25:14.069 --> 00:25:17.005
  • Dr. robert jeffress takes a radically different approach
  • 00:25:17.005 --> 00:25:19.908
  • To prophecy, helping you see the end times
  • 00:25:19.908 --> 00:25:22.777
  • Through the lens of jesus christ.
  • 00:25:22.777 --> 00:25:24.846
  • In my new book, i share why the bible's prophecies
  • 00:25:24.846 --> 00:25:27.816
  • About the last days should fill us with joy and peace,
  • 00:25:27.816 --> 00:25:31.820
  • As we anticipate the return of our savior jesus christ.
  • 00:25:31.820 --> 00:25:36.124
  • [narrator] request your copy of "jesus revealed
  • 00:25:36.124 --> 00:25:38.493
  • In the end times," along with a set of encouragement cards
  • 00:25:38.493 --> 00:25:41.496
  • When you give a generous gift to support pathway to victory,
  • 00:25:41.496 --> 00:25:45.033
  • Or when you join our team of pathway partners.
  • 00:25:45.033 --> 00:25:48.136
  • And when you give $100 or more, you'll also receive
  • 00:25:48.136 --> 00:25:51.539
  • The complete "jesus revealed in the end times"
  • 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:54.309
  • Message series on dvd and audio disc,
  • 00:25:54.309 --> 00:25:57.145
  • Plus the personal and group study guide.
  • 00:25:57.145 --> 00:25:59.714
  • When jesus comes again, he will conquer his enemies
  • 00:25:59.714 --> 00:26:03.952
  • And our enemies.
  • 00:26:03.952 --> 00:26:05.286
  • He will conquer satan himself.
  • 00:26:05.286 --> 00:26:07.756
  • He will conquer sin and evil forever.
  • 00:26:07.756 --> 00:26:11.192
  • [narrator] thank you for supporting pathway to victory.
  • 00:26:11.192 --> 00:26:13.928
  • Your partnership helps introduce hurting people
  • 00:26:13.928 --> 00:26:16.665
  • To the hope of jesus christ.
  • 00:26:16.665 --> 00:26:18.433
  • Through television, radio, and digital streaming,
  • 00:26:18.433 --> 00:26:21.302
  • Together we're sharing the life transforming truth
  • 00:26:21.302 --> 00:26:24.372
  • About our coming king
  • 00:26:24.372 --> 00:26:25.674
  • With people living in spiritual darkness.
  • 00:26:25.674 --> 00:26:30.578
  • Jesus wants to be our eternal friend,
  • 00:26:31.413 --> 00:26:34.482
  • Walking with us through every season of life,
  • 00:26:34.482 --> 00:26:37.852
  • Not just as our king and savior,
  • 00:26:37.852 --> 00:26:40.188
  • But as the one who sticks closer than brother.
  • 00:26:40.188 --> 00:26:43.725
  • Stay tuned for a preview
  • 00:26:43.725 --> 00:26:45.026
  • Of what's coming up next on pathway to victory.
  • 00:26:45.026 --> 00:26:49.264
  • Most men are willing to acknowledge that jesus lived,
  • 00:26:49.264 --> 00:26:52.801
  • That he was a great teacher,
  • 00:26:52.801 --> 00:26:54.035
  • That his morality is unsurpassed.
  • 00:26:54.035 --> 00:26:56.638
  • But here's the problem
  • 00:26:56.638 --> 00:26:57.972
  • With saying jesus was a great moral teacher.
  • 00:26:57.972 --> 00:27:01.876
  • Jesus claimed to be more than that.
  • 00:27:01.876 --> 00:27:04.879
  • He claimed to be much more than that.
  • 00:27:04.879 --> 00:27:07.582
  • If jesus is who he said he was,
  • 00:27:07.582 --> 00:27:11.052
  • That has tremendous implications for you and me today.
  • 00:27:11.052 --> 00:27:16.291
  • [narrator] set your dvr and join us next time
  • 00:27:17.225 --> 00:27:19.427
  • For the message: "jesus: man, myth or messiah?"
  • 00:27:19.427 --> 00:27:23.431
  • Here on pathway to victory.
  • 00:27:23.431 --> 00:27:23.431