Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - The One Prayer God Always Answers

August 27, 2025 | S25 E411 | 29:0

Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.

#inActive #Prayer #Righteousness #RelationshipwithGod #Self-Righteousness #Pride #Sin #Mercy #Holiness #Forgiveness #Salvation

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - The One Prayer God Always Answers | August 27, 2025

♪ music ♪
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From the pulpit of the first baptist church
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Of dallas, texas, this is pathway to victory
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With dr. robert jeffers.
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Hi, i'm robert jeffers
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And welcome again to pathway to victory.
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It's disappointing when a prayer goes unanswered.
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Sometimes our heavenly father clearly says no.
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Other times he tells us to wait
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And we don't like either one of those responses.
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Well, today we're going to look at a request
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That god responds to every single time.
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It's probably not your favorite answer,
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But you'll soon see why it should be.
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My message is titled the one prayer god always answers
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On today's edition of pathway to victory.
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♪ music ♪
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Give your heart the encouragement it needs,
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Start and end each day meditating on god's word
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With encouragement for the heart of a disciple.
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This brand new, beautiful,
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Full color patterned hardcover book by dr. robert jeffers
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Features 80 breathtaking images
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Of creation paired with scripture, prayers and insights
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You can read in under two minutes,
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Perfect for your coffee table
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Or as a thoughtful gift for a loved one,
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Request encouragement for the heart of a disciple
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When you give a generous gift to pathway to victory.
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♪ music ♪
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You know in the bible,
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God uses the term righteousness in two distinct ways.
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Sometimes when the bible talks about righteousness,
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It's talking about a judicial righteousness.
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Our standing before god.
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To be righteous is to be in a right relationship,
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A right standing with god.
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Paul said in romans four, verse five,
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But to the one who does not work
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But instead believes in him who justifies the ungodly,
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His faith is counted as righteousness.
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The moment you trust in jesus christ for the forgiveness
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Of your sins in the great courtroom of heaven,
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God pronounces you forgiven, righteous.
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You are in a right standing with himself.
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But other times the word righteousness in the bible
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Refers to right acting before god.
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It's our conduct, our obedience.
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It's an ethical, not a judicial,
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But an ethical kind of righteousness.
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For example, in 1 peter 3:12, peter says, for the eyes
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Of the lord are toward the righteous
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And his ears attend to their prayer,
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But the face of the lord is against those who do evil.
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One reason we don't get our prayers answered sometime
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Is we're not acting righteously.
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We may be in a right relationship with god,
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We may be forgiven of our sins,
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But if we don't act righteously,
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God doesn't hear our prayers,
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Judicial righteousness, ethical righteousness,
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But jesus said the prerequisite for both of them,
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Both a right standing with god and a right acting
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Before god is to want it.
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It's to hunger for it.
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
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My friend and bible scholar r.t. kendall tells about a time
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That he was nine years old
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And he was staying one night with his grandmother,
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And the next day he had a test at school
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That he wasn't prepared for.
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So when he awakened the next morning,
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He told his grandmother that he wasn't feeling well
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And didn't feel like going to school.
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She said, okay, well go back to bed.
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And he protested and said, well,
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I would like breakfast first.
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She said, if you have an appetite,
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That means there isn't much wrong with you,
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So you go get dressed for school and i'll prepare breakfast.
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Well, you know, jesus is saying the same thing here.
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Your appetite is a pretty good indication
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Of your spiritual health.
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If you're a christian this morning
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And you have a hunger, you have a thirst
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For being more obedient to god,
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Then you're in pretty good spiritual shape.
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You may not feel like it,
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But you're on the road to spiritual health.
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In fact, 2 peter one verse three says,
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You have everything you need for life and godliness.
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If you hunger for an ethical righteousness,
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Obedience to god, you're on your way to spiritual health.
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But if you're not a christian this morning,
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If you're just here by accident,
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Perhaps you tuned into this broadcast by accident,
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But you have a desire, a hunger to be clean,
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To be forgiven, to be in a right relationship with god,
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It's a good indication that you are also on your road
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To spiritual health.
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In fact, if that's true of you this morning,
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You are only seven words away
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From a right relationship with god,
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And today we're going to discover
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What those seven words are in a familiar parable.
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Turn to your bibles into luke chapter 18,
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Beginning with verse nine.
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As we look at the one prayer god always promises
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To answer, luke chapter 18.
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Now, this is one of those parables jesus told
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That's very easy to interpret
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Because luke gives us the right interpretation
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At the beginning of the parable.
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He tells us the reason jesus told it.
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Look at verse nine,
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And jesus also told them this parable to some people
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Who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
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And viewed others with contempt.
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This parable is directed toward a group of people,
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Specifically the pharisees who trusted in themselves.
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Literally in the greek text it says,
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Who based on themselves thought they were righteous.
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They thought god looked on them with favor,
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That they had a judicial righteousness.
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They were not guilty before god.
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They also were ethically righteous.
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They did all the right things,
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But their reason they believed that was a standard
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That was based on themselves.
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You know today there's a lot
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Of talk about having self-esteem
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And that people suffer from a bad self image.
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But the truth is, the problem with most of us
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Is not that we think too little of ourselves,
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But that we think too much of ourselves.
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Dr. david meyers is a psychologist
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Who has written a lot about
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What he calls the inflated self syndrome in america.
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He reports that when the college board surveyed
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High school seniors, they found that amazingly
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0% of high school seniors thought that they were
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Below average compared to other students.
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60% believed they were in the top 10%
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In their ability to get along with others,
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And he concluded that the most common error
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In people's self-image
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Is not unrealistically low self-esteem,
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But rather self-serving pride.
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It was not an inferiority complex,
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But a superiority complex.
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That was the group that jesus was talking to,
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Those who thought they were righteous,
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And notice the second phrase he uses
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And they viewed others with contempt.
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I mean, that's the byproduct of feeling superior.
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What's the good of being superior
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If you can't look down on other people?
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Right?
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And there are actually some people who are proud
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Of their own humility.
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Whenever i read this parable
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That jesus told about the pharisees, i'm reminded
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Of the third grade sunday school teacher who
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After teaching this lesson to the children said,
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Now children, let's bow our heads in prayer
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And thank god that we're not like the pharisees
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Or people who feel that way.
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The purpose of this parable
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That jesus told is very clear in verse nine,
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This parable is not a parable that teaches us how to pray.
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It's not a parable that answers the question why god answers
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Some prayers and doesn't answer other prayers.
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This parable is about how to be righteous,
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How to be in a right standing with god.
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And in this parable we find
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Two very different approaches to god.
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One that is based on our goodness, our own works,
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And one that is based on god's grace.
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Now, let's look at the two characters,
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The two players in this parable.
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Verse 10, jesus said, two men went up to the temple
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To pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector.
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If jesus were telling the story today, he might say,
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Two people went into the church to pray,
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A preacher and a prostitute.
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That's the contrast jesus is trying to give us here.
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The pharisee, let's look at him first of all.
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Now, today, and this is so important to understand,
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We think of the pharisees as the villain.
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They were highly revered, respected men.
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They knew the old testament backwards and forwards.
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And not only that, they were thought
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To be truly godly people.
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They had a desire to be godly.
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Their problem was they had the wrong idea of godliness.
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They thought that godliness was based on themselves
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And not the grace of god.
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Now, notice his prayer.
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The bible says, jesus said this pharisee, when he went
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To pray, he stood to pray.
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Now, a lot of people make a big deal out of that.
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Oh, look how proud he is.
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He stood.
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There's nothing wrong with standing to pray.
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In fact, a good jew would stand to pray, today if you go
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To the western wall, the wailing wall, people stand there
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And pray and pour out their hearts to god.
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The problem with this man's prayer was not his posture,
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It was his attitude.
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And you see that in the second phrase, he stood
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And he prayed to himself.
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Isn't that a funny phrase?
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He prayed to himself.
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Now, he probably didn't think he was praying to himself,
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But you look at the prayer here, it was a prayer
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Of self congratulations about all he had done.
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Look at verses 11 and 12.
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The pharisee stood praying this to himself.
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God, i thank you that i am not like other people,
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Swindlers, unjust, adulterers
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Or even like this tax collector over here
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Standing next to me.
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I fast twice a week, i pay tithes of all that i get.
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This pharisees problem was he had an i problem.
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I, i, i, i.
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He was focused on himself.
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Have you ever noticed people today who try
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To give a testimony but they can't help
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But make themselves the hero of the story.
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Their testimonies are what one friend
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Of mine call braggamonies is about me, me,
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Me, me, me, contrast him
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To the other character in this story, the tax collector,
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The tax collector, the jewish people hated tax collectors
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For two reasons.
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First of all, they were helping fund
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The oppressive roman government
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That was occupying their land,
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But not only that, they were cheating people,
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Taking more than they were supposed to take.
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And so this tax collector went up to pray as well.
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Don't miss the point that this tax collector
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Was just as much under god's judgment as the pharisee was.
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They both went to the temple to pray,
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But notice his prayer in contrast to the pharisee's,
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The tax collector standing some distance away
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Was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven,
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But instead was beating his breast saying, god,
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Be merciful to me the sinner.
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This is one of the shortest prayers in the bible,
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Seven words in the english language,
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Six words in the greek text.
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And yet this prayer reveals the two essentials
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For righteousness, for a right standing with god,
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For god's salvation.
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First of all, he expresses sorrow for his sin.
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You hear that in the prayer, be merciful to me
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The sinner is what it actually says in greek.
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It's articular.
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There's an article before the word sinner.
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It's not be merciful to me, a sinner,
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Just like everybody else in the world.
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No, be merciful to me the sinner.
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I am the chief sinner of all.
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By the way, notice his position.
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He stood some distance away, away from what?
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Well probably away from the altar
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Of sacrifice representing the presence of god.
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But he even stood away from the pharisee, oh,
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I can't be near a holy man.
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I can't be near to him
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And i certainly can't stand near to god.
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But here's the paradox.
00:13:58.127 --> 00:13:59.895
By standing far away from god, he was closer
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To god than the pharisee.
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Here's one thing you understand.
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The more you understand the true holiness of god,
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The more you understand how sinful you and i really are.
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A real encounter with the genuine god leads you
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To understand your own un holiness.
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That's what happens to any sinner who confronts a holy god.
00:14:23.819 --> 00:14:28.490
You're aware of your need,
00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:30.793
But an expression of sorrow for your sin
00:14:30.793 --> 00:14:33.395
Isn't enough to be forgiven.
00:14:33.395 --> 00:14:35.831
It's not enough for salvation.
00:14:35.831 --> 00:14:37.833
There's a second ingredient you see in this brief prayer,
00:14:37.833 --> 00:14:40.803
And that is he requested god's mercy
00:14:40.803 --> 00:14:43.839
To cover his sin.
00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:46.875
He said, god, be merciful to me the sinner.
00:14:46.875 --> 00:14:52.181
Now that word, greek word translated merciful is not just
00:14:53.315 --> 00:14:55.951
Any word for mercy.
00:14:55.951 --> 00:14:57.720
It's a very special word.
00:14:57.720 --> 00:14:59.755
It's a word that is a form of the word that was used
00:14:59.755 --> 00:15:03.292
To describe the mercy seat in the temple.
00:15:03.292 --> 00:15:08.597
Remember, in the temple, the holiest place
00:15:09.465 --> 00:15:11.100
Of all was the holy of holies.
00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.669
It was behind the veil
00:15:13.669 --> 00:15:15.804
And only one person could enter into the holy of holy
00:15:15.804 --> 00:15:19.141
Once a year.
00:15:19.141 --> 00:15:20.042
That was the high priest.
00:15:20.042 --> 00:15:22.044
Remember in the holy of holies,
00:15:22.044 --> 00:15:23.612
Behind the veil there was the ark of the covenant,
00:15:23.612 --> 00:15:27.383
And that ark among other things, contained the two tablets,
00:15:27.383 --> 00:15:31.220
Moses tablets with the 10 commandments.
00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:34.323
On top of the ark,
00:15:34.323 --> 00:15:35.491
Which was more like a box,
00:15:35.491 --> 00:15:37.359
There was a lid covered in gold.
00:15:37.359 --> 00:15:40.329
It was called the mercy seat.
00:15:40.329 --> 00:15:43.832
And on each end of the mercy seat was the replication
00:15:43.832 --> 00:15:48.470
Of an angel, a cherub,
00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:50.305
And the cherub on each end had outstretched wings.
00:15:50.305 --> 00:15:54.810
They were thought to protect the holiness of god,
00:15:54.810 --> 00:15:58.047
And it was believed that the spirit of god dwelt
00:15:58.047 --> 00:16:00.783
Between the cherub beam on that ark of the covenant,
00:16:00.783 --> 00:16:04.920
And the picture was very clear.
00:16:04.920 --> 00:16:06.455
It was a picture of god's judgment.
00:16:06.455 --> 00:16:08.490
God, a holy god is looking down on the law.
00:16:08.490 --> 00:16:12.294
His law, which he gave his people a law which the israelites
00:16:12.294 --> 00:16:16.265
Broke every day of every year.
00:16:16.265 --> 00:16:19.001
It was a picture of the judgment that god's people deserved
00:16:19.001 --> 00:16:23.872
For the law they had broken.
00:16:23.872 --> 00:16:26.208
But once a year on yom kippur, the day of atonement,
00:16:26.208 --> 00:16:30.879
The high priest
00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.314
After making an atonement
00:16:32.314 --> 00:16:33.849
For his own sins would take the blood of an innocent animal
00:16:33.849 --> 00:16:37.686
And he would come into the holy of holies in the presence
00:16:37.686 --> 00:16:40.789
Of god and he would take that blood
00:16:40.789 --> 00:16:43.158
And he would sprinkle it on the mercy seat
00:16:43.158 --> 00:16:46.028
That covered the broken law.
00:16:46.028 --> 00:16:48.797
And the picture was as god looked down,
00:16:48.797 --> 00:16:51.433
He no longer saw the law that had been broken,
00:16:51.433 --> 00:16:54.736
But he saw the covering, the atoning of
00:16:54.736 --> 00:16:58.340
That innocent animal.
00:16:58.340 --> 00:17:00.442
And of course all of that was a picture of
00:17:00.442 --> 00:17:03.378
What jesus christ our perfect high priest would do one day.
00:17:03.378 --> 00:17:08.717
The high priest for hundreds of years would have
00:17:09.718 --> 00:17:11.186
To come in year after year after year.
00:17:11.186 --> 00:17:14.857
He would have to first of all make an atonement
00:17:14.857 --> 00:17:16.925
For his own sins.
00:17:16.925 --> 00:17:18.193
He would come with the blood of an animal
00:17:18.193 --> 00:17:20.896
And he had to do it repeatedly.
00:17:20.896 --> 00:17:23.765
But jesus christ is our perfect high priest
00:17:23.765 --> 00:17:27.569
And he's entered not a manmade temple,
00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:29.805
But the true temple, the presence of god.
00:17:29.805 --> 00:17:32.574
And he approached the temple of god
00:17:32.574 --> 00:17:34.109
And the throne of god, not wood, the blood of an animal
00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:37.146
That was worthless, but with his own blood
00:17:37.146 --> 00:17:40.048
And he obtained what?
00:17:40.048 --> 00:17:41.617
Eternal redemption.
00:17:41.617 --> 00:17:43.952
That's what the writer of hebrews said
00:17:43.952 --> 00:17:45.654
In hebrews chapter nine, verses 11 to 12.
00:17:45.654 --> 00:17:48.423
But when christ appeared as a high priest of the good things
00:17:48.423 --> 00:17:52.261
To come, he entered through the greater
00:17:52.261 --> 00:17:54.463
And more perfect tabernacle not made with hands.
00:17:54.463 --> 00:17:57.766
That is not to say of this creation
00:17:57.766 --> 00:18:00.035
And not through the blood of goats and calves,
00:18:00.035 --> 00:18:02.838
But through his own blood.
00:18:02.838 --> 00:18:04.473
He entered the holy place once
00:18:04.473 --> 00:18:06.942
For all having obtained eternal redemption.
00:18:06.942 --> 00:18:11.380
Why do i mention this?
00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:14.183
Because when this tax collector said, lord, be merciful
00:18:14.183 --> 00:18:19.188
To me, he was asking for a blood atonement,
00:18:19.188 --> 00:18:23.492
A covering that would wipe away his sins.
00:18:23.492 --> 00:18:27.095
He understood he was powerless to forgive himself.
00:18:27.095 --> 00:18:30.365
He needed the forgiveness that was based on the sacrifice
00:18:30.365 --> 00:18:34.036
Of the true high priest jesus christ.
00:18:34.036 --> 00:18:37.272
You see that even in the way he prayed.
00:18:37.272 --> 00:18:41.843
James montgomery boice points out the simple sentence
00:18:41.843 --> 00:18:45.013
Structure of this prayer.
00:18:45.013 --> 00:18:47.015
It's a prayer that starts with god and ends with the sinner,
00:18:47.015 --> 00:18:52.287
But has mercy in the middle.
00:18:52.888 --> 00:18:54.890
It is god's mercy.
00:18:54.890 --> 00:18:56.592
It is god's grace that connects sinful man
00:18:56.592 --> 00:19:01.029
To a holy god.
00:19:01.029 --> 00:19:03.632
God be merciful to me the sinner.
00:19:03.632 --> 00:19:08.303
Two men with two very different ways to approach god.
00:19:08.303 --> 00:19:12.741
One who tries to approach god based on his own righteousness
00:19:12.741 --> 00:19:16.878
And one who approaches god based on god's grace.
00:19:16.878 --> 00:19:22.217
Now, if jesus had stopped right here with the prayer
00:19:23.285 --> 00:19:27.222
And said, now i'm going to give you a pop quiz audience,
00:19:27.222 --> 00:19:30.392
You've heard the story,
00:19:30.392 --> 00:19:32.060
Which man walked away from the mountain
00:19:32.060 --> 00:19:35.163
Justified in a right relationship with god?
00:19:36.064 --> 00:19:39.701
The audience without of doubt would've said,
00:19:39.701 --> 00:19:41.570
Why the pharisee of course.
00:19:41.570 --> 00:19:45.240
The pharisee is the one who ended up righteous.
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:47.943
I mean, look at all of the things he's done.
00:19:47.943 --> 00:19:50.345
He's tithed.
00:19:50.345 --> 00:19:51.213
He's fasted.
00:19:51.213 --> 00:19:52.581
He's not like these adulterers and murderers.
00:19:52.581 --> 00:19:56.752
He's righteous.
00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:59.187
Why would that tax collector think
00:19:59.187 --> 00:20:02.157
A little seven word prayer suddenly makes everything
00:20:02.157 --> 00:20:04.993
All right with god?
00:20:04.993 --> 00:20:06.094
Haven't you heard that before?
00:20:06.094 --> 00:20:07.729
How can people think that praying a prayer
00:20:07.729 --> 00:20:09.798
Of salvation erases all of the bad
00:20:09.798 --> 00:20:12.634
That they've ever done before?
00:20:12.634 --> 00:20:14.836
They would've picked the pharisee for sure,
00:20:14.836 --> 00:20:18.206
And that's why jesus turns their expectations
00:20:18.206 --> 00:20:21.209
Upside down in verse 14.
00:20:21.209 --> 00:20:22.878
He says, no, i tell you this man,
00:20:22.878 --> 00:20:26.515
The tax collector went
00:20:26.515 --> 00:20:28.550
To his house justified rather than the other.
00:20:28.550 --> 00:20:34.756
You know what's interesting to me?
00:20:35.490 --> 00:20:37.859
I'm sure when the pharisee finished
00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:40.262
His self-congratulatory prayer, i'm sure he felt great.
00:20:40.262 --> 00:20:45.634
I'm sure he left the temple mount that day saying,
00:20:46.635 --> 00:20:48.670
You know nothing like some good quality prayer
00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.239
Time with the lord.
00:20:51.239 --> 00:20:53.041
And i imagine that the tax collector probably left
00:20:54.042 --> 00:20:57.212
Just as miserable as he went, feeling bad
00:20:57.212 --> 00:21:01.616
And terrible about his sin.
00:21:01.616 --> 00:21:03.919
But guess what?
00:21:03.919 --> 00:21:05.520
Your relationship with god isn't based on
00:21:06.388 --> 00:21:09.191
How you feel about your relationship with god.
00:21:09.191 --> 00:21:11.860
It's how god views you, how he sees you,
00:21:11.860 --> 00:21:16.031
How he feels about you.
00:21:16.031 --> 00:21:17.833
And jesus said, i'm telling you, regardless
00:21:17.833 --> 00:21:21.069
Of this tax collector's feelings, he left the mountain
00:21:21.069 --> 00:21:24.606
That day justified.
00:21:24.606 --> 00:21:27.442
Declared not guilty
00:21:27.909 --> 00:21:30.812
Because his prayer wasn't based on his righteousness.
00:21:30.812 --> 00:21:34.282
It was based on my mercy.
00:21:34.282 --> 00:21:37.185
And then jesus adds this word, these familiar words
00:21:37.185 --> 00:21:40.989
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
00:21:40.989 --> 00:21:46.294
But he who humbles himself will be exalted.
00:21:47.162 --> 00:21:50.966
The person who refuses to bow before god
00:21:51.833 --> 00:21:56.171
And admit his need for forgiveness
00:21:56.905 --> 00:21:59.908
For will one day be humbled.
00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:02.978
One day he will be shocked
00:22:02.978 --> 00:22:04.980
To hear from the lord he thought he served
00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:08.216
Utter these words, depart from me, you worker of iniquity,
00:22:08.216 --> 00:22:13.088
For i never knew you.
00:22:13.088 --> 00:22:16.291
On the other hand, the person who bows before god
00:22:17.292 --> 00:22:21.496
And says, god, i am a sinner.
00:22:21.496 --> 00:22:23.532
I am the sinner
00:22:23.532 --> 00:22:25.467
And i have no hope except jesus christ.
00:22:25.467 --> 00:22:29.304
A person who humbles himself will one day be exalted
00:22:29.304 --> 00:22:33.375
And will be welcomed into god's kingdom.
00:22:33.375 --> 00:22:37.546
As a.w. tozer said in ourselves, nothing.
00:22:38.447 --> 00:22:44.119
In christ, everything.
00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:52.027
When we ask for righteousness, we can be absolutely certain
00:22:53.195 --> 00:22:57.165
That god will answer our prayer.
00:22:57.165 --> 00:22:59.835
Now in closing, i want to thank you for your partnership
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With pathway to victory.
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Your faithful support enables us
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Thank you so much for joining us in this mission
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To pierce the darkness with a light of god's word.
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Together we are making an eternal difference,
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And please stay right there.
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I'll be back with more pathway to victory in just a moment.
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We all need god's strength to make it through the day.
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Encouragement for the heart of a disciple
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By dr. robert jeffers provides the spiritual refreshment
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That draws you toward the beauty of god's creation.
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I know how challenging it can be to stay connected
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With god in our busy lives.
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In my new devotional, i provide personal reflections
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And practical insights
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That will help you experience god's presence
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And encouragement throughout your day.
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Filled with stunning images of creation,
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This padded hardcover book is the perfect daily companion
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Or loved one, request your copy
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Of encouragement for the heart of a disciple
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When we express sorrow for our sin
00:25:20.742 --> 00:25:22.944
And ask for god's mercy to cover our inequity, we can know
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For certain that god will answer our prayer
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And put us in a right standing with him.
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Stay tuned for a preview
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Of what's coming up next on pathway to victory.
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You know, jesus' words can be best summarized
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By this sentence.
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You can't take it with you,
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But you can send it on ahead of you.
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Randy alcorn in his book, the treasure principle,
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Summarized it this way.
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He said, everything we invest here on earth will one day
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Be lost, but anything we invest in heaven
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Will never be lost.
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That is the treasure principle.
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Set your dvr and join us next time for the message
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Investing for maximum returns here on pathway to victory.
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Robert Jeffress - The One Prayer God Always Answers

August 27, 2025 | S25 E411 | 29:0

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