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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Jesus Our Friend | April 10, 2025
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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,
- 00:10:22.311 --> 00:10:23.679
- Now this is a loose translation of the greek,
- 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.148
- "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?"
- 00:10:51.107 --> 00:10:53.275
- 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.
- 00:11:03.786 --> 00:11:06.355
- And when they got close to emmaus,
- 00:11:06.355 --> 00:11:08.224
- 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.
- 00:11:14.897 --> 00:11:19.001
- 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.
- 00:11:22.338 --> 00:11:27.009
- Jesus maintained a relationship
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- With his followers after the resurrection.
- 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.049
- I think that story is significant,
- 00:11:34.049 --> 00:11:35.751
- 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.
- 00:11:40.756 --> 00:11:43.626
- First of all, an enduring friendship.
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- We're going to have a relationship with jesus
- 00:11:47.596 --> 00:11:49.899
- That can begin right now
- 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:51.634
- And never be interrupted throughout eternity.
- 00:11:51.634 --> 00:11:55.204
- I want you to jot down 1st thessalonians 4:16-17.
- 00:11:55.204 --> 00:11:59.575
- Now, these are verses we usually use
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- To talk about the rapture.
- 00:12:01.377 --> 00:12:02.945
- You know, where do you come up with the rapture?
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- That's just a manmade term, people say.
- 00:12:04.613 --> 00:12:06.816
- 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,
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- 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,
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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,
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- 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,
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- 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.
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