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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Two's Company But Three's A Crowd! | May 22, 2025
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- From the pulpit of the first baptist church
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- 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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- And welcome again to pathway to victory.
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- Do you ever get tired of waiting on god
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- To answer your prayers?
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- Maybe you've prayed and pled
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- And yet it seems like god just isn't listening?
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- Well, in those moments,
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- Sometimes christians take matters into their own hands.
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- That's what abraham and sarah did
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- When they were tired of waiting on god to give them a child.
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- Today, we'll learn some harsh lessons
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- From their fateful decision.
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- My message is titled, "two's company but three's a crowd"
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- On today's edition of pathway to victory.
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- (music)
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- ♪ your voice, o lord, is power ♪
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- ♪ the god of glory thunders ♪
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- ♪ the sound of mighty waters ♪
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- ♪ echoes deep within my soul ♪
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- ♪ holy, you are holy ♪
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- ♪ all the glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ jesus, you are mighty ♪
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- ♪ strength and glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ holy, you are holy ♪
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- ♪ all the glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ jesus, you are mighty ♪
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- ♪ strength and glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ holy, you are holy ♪
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- ♪ all the glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ jesus, you are mighty ♪
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- ♪ strength and glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ glory to your name ♪
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- ♪ holy is your name ♪
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- ♪ your name ♪
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- (congregation applauding)
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- [announcer] the bible is filled with stories about heroes,
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- (music)
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- But abraham rises above the rest
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- As a true champion of faith.
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- In "walking by faith,"
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- Dr. robert jeffress shares how to step forward in faith
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- Even when the future appears uncertain.
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- Your faith can thrive despite the challenges you face.
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- Request your copy of "walking by faith"
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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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- Edward murphy was an engineer
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- Who worked with the air force in the late 1940s
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- On the rocket sled experiments
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- That were designed to test
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- How human beings would relate to high speeds.
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- In one particular case,
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- The victim, i mean the subject of the test,
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- Was hooked up with 16 sensors.
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- Each sensor only had two ways it could go and be attached,
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- But at the end of the expensive test,
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- It was determined that all 16 sensors had been placed
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- In the incorrect way.
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- Edward murphy was so frustrated by it,
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- He developed an axiom,
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- Which you know as murphy's law.
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- Remember it?
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- Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
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- That came from edward murphy.
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- Throughout the years,
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- There have been other axioms attributed to murphy,
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- We don't know if he came up with them or not,
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- But for example, there's murphy's law of belief.
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- It says, "tell a man there are 300 billion stars
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- In the universe and he'll believe you.
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- Tell him there is wet paint on a bench
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- And he'll have to touch it first."
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- Or murphy's law of copiers it says,
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- "the legibility of a copy
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- Is inversely proportional to its importance."
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- And then i love this one, murphy's military law.
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- "never share a foxhole with somebody braver than you are."
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- You have to think about that, but it's true.
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- Now, there's no evidence that edward murphy,
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- He developed any axioms about spiritual matters,
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- But if he had, i'm convinced that at the top of his list
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- Would've been this one,
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- "running ahead of god leads to bad decisions
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- And painful consequences."
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- You know who discovered that first of all?
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- Our subject, our friend named abraham.
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- He's the living illustration
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- Of how bad decisions and painful consequences
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- Are always the result of running ahead of god.
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- If you have your bibles, turn to genesis chapter 16.
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- Genesis chapter 16,
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- As we discover why two's company and three's a crowd.
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- Look at chapter 16:1.
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- We come to abraham's problem.
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- "now sarai, abram's wife had borne him no children,
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- And she had an egyptian maid whose name was hagar."
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- Infertility is a common problem
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- And it's a painful problem.
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- The reason infertility was so painful
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- Was it seemed to contradict what god had said to them.
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- God had promised to make them parents of a great nation
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- And yet he made that promise when abraham was 60.
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- By the time we get to genesis 16,
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- Abraham is 85 years of age,
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- And there is no answer to the promise.
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- Whenever our life situation doesn't line up
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- With what we believe is god's promise,
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- There is a crisis of faith
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- That tempts us to run ahead of god.
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- There was no biblical command to do what he was about to do.
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- In fact, a biblical command not to,
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- But they plowed ahead.
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- Look at sarah's proposal.
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- "so sarai said to abram,"
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- We've been waiting here for 25 years for a child,
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- It's not working,
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- "'now behold, the lord has prevented me
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- From bearing children.
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- Please go into my maid;
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- Perhaps i will obtain children through her.'
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- And abraham listened to the voice of sarai."
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- Now listen, sarah was a woman of faith.
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- 1 peter 3:5 says she was a woman of faith.
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- But people of faith can have lapses of faith,
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- And that was true for sarah.
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- She basically said,
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- "we can't depend upon god to do what he promised.
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- We need to help her out. so here's a plan."
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- Now you have to read this and think,
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- Sarah, what is wrong with you
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- That you would come up with an idea
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- To tell your husband to have sex with another woman?
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- That's unbelievable.
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- If you've been reading too many romance novels
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- Or visiting internet sites you shouldn't go to,
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- Where would you come up with such an immoral idea?
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- Well, actually, it was the law of the day.
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- Law number 146 of hammurabi's code
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- That abraham followed
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- And the people in mesopotamia followed said,
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- If a man has a barren wife,
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- He can have sex with somebody else
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- And the child born can be the heir of that man.
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- It was perfectly legal in man's eyes,
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- But it was immoral in god's eyes.
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- Listen, god's plan has always been the same for marriage
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- Since the beginning.
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- Genesis 2, "a man shall leave his father and mother,
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- And cleave to his wife,
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- And the two shall become one flesh."
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- That is always god's plan.
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- One man with one woman in a lifetime commitment.
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- And so what she was proposing was totally against god's law.
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- So, how did abraham respond to sarah's proposal?
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- It says, "abraham listened to the voice of his wife."
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- Fb meyer and his biography of abraham says,
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- "it's always hard to resist temptation
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- When it appeals to natural instinct or to distrusting fear."
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- Sarah's proposal did both.
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- It appealed to abraham's carnal instinct,
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- But also to his fear that god couldn't keep his promise.
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- But there's another reason
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- This temptation was especially potent,
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- It came from abraham's wife.
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- Ladies, don't ever underestimate
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- The influence you have over your husbands.
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- Even when they're buried in a newspaper
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- Or in a football game on television
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- And you're trying to talk to them
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- And all they can do is grunt.
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- Don't forget, they really are listening.
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- You may not think they are.
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- They're listening to you.
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- You have great influence over them for good or bad.
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- Unfortunately, abraham did not weigh the advice
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- That sarah gave to him and he gave into it.
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- Verse 3 says,
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- "after abram had lived 10 years in the land of canaan,"
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- That means he was 85,
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- "abram's wife sarai took hagar the egyptian, her maid,
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- And gave her to her husband abram as his wife.
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- He went into hagar, and she conceived."
- 00:10:45.534 --> 00:10:49.805
- I'm sure when he got the news that hagar was pregnant,
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- He probably was tempted to say, "isn't god good?"
- 00:10:52.708 --> 00:10:56.712
- "okay, this wasn't his perfect will,
- 00:10:56.712 --> 00:10:58.814
- But it's his permissive will and he allowed this to happen.
- 00:10:58.814 --> 00:11:02.718
- Praise be to god."
- 00:11:02.718 --> 00:11:05.387
- No. it was just the beginning of a tragic end.
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- Look at hagar's provocation, verse 4.
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- "and when she," hagar, "saw that she had conceived,
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- Her mistress," that is sarai,
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- "was despised in her sight."
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- She had been a slave,
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- She had been elevated to abraham's wife, the same level,
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- And now she was really above sarah
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- Because she was able to do what sarah couldn't do,
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- And she began to despise sarah.
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- She started prancing around the tent.
- 00:11:40.422 --> 00:11:42.858
- "look at me, look at me. look at what i have.
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- I have the child you could not give to your husband."
- 00:11:46.428 --> 00:11:50.533
- You know, there's an interesting proverb i came across.
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- Proverbs 30:21-23.
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- Men look at this especially.
- 00:11:57.072 --> 00:11:59.508
- "under three things the earth quakes,
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- And under four, it cannot bear up."
- 00:12:02.378 --> 00:12:05.314
- Number one, "under a slave when he becomes king."
- 00:12:05.314 --> 00:12:08.017
- Secondly, "a fool when he's satisfied with food."
- 00:12:08.017 --> 00:12:11.520
- Third, "an unloved woman when she gets a husband."
- 00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:14.590
- And the fourth thing that will cause an earthquake,
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- "is a maidservant when she supplants her mistress."
- 00:12:17.827 --> 00:12:22.932
- In other words, men, when your wife senses
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- That you love anybody else
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- Or anything else more than you love her,
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- There's going to be an earthquake in your home.
- 00:12:32.208 --> 00:12:35.477
- Your wife is not going to put up with it,
- 00:12:35.477 --> 00:12:38.614
- Nor should she put up with it.
- 00:12:38.614 --> 00:12:40.649
- Doesn't matter whether it's another woman, a child, a hobby,
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- Anytime something or somebody else replaces
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- The place your wife ought to have in your heart,
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- It's going to cause trouble.
- 00:12:49.925 --> 00:12:51.594
- And that's exactly what happened here.
- 00:12:51.594 --> 00:12:53.562
- Look at verse 5.
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- "sarai said to abraham,
- 00:12:54.763 --> 00:12:56.832
- 'may the wrong done to me be upon you.
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- I gave my maid into your arms,
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- But when she saw that she had conceived,
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- I was despised in her side.
- 00:13:04.540 --> 00:13:06.242
- May the lord judge between you and me.'"
- 00:13:06.242 --> 00:13:09.111
- Translation, "abraham, i can't believe you did such a thing.
- 00:13:09.111 --> 00:13:13.182
- Look at what has happened.
- 00:13:13.182 --> 00:13:14.850
- Oh, god's going to get you abraham."
- 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:18.787
- And starts to say, "but sarah, you were the one..."
- 00:13:20.022 --> 00:13:24.994
- And then he thought better of it.
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- He thought better of pointed out
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- She's the one who came up with this idea.
- 00:13:29.164 --> 00:13:31.734
- So what does he do?
- 00:13:31.734 --> 00:13:32.935
- What most men do? he became passive.
- 00:13:32.935 --> 00:13:35.471
- "but abram said to sarai,
- 00:13:35.471 --> 00:13:37.006
- 'behold, your maid is in your power;
- 00:13:37.006 --> 00:13:39.441
- Do to her whatever you want to do.'"
- 00:13:39.441 --> 00:13:42.011
- In other words, i'm tired of all this trouble and turmoil.
- 00:13:42.011 --> 00:13:45.347
- I'm just going to let you have your way;
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- Do with her what you want to do.
- 00:13:47.349 --> 00:13:49.018
- That is not the right response.
- 00:13:49.018 --> 00:13:50.386
- What he should have said
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- As the spiritual leader of the house is,
- 00:13:51.654 --> 00:13:53.722
- "sarah, you're right.
- 00:13:53.722 --> 00:13:54.890
- I was wrong. you were wrong.
- 00:13:54.890 --> 00:13:57.059
- We were wrong.
- 00:13:57.059 --> 00:13:58.360
- Let's go to the altar and kneel before god
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- And confess our mistake
- 00:14:00.529 --> 00:14:01.897
- And ask god to redeem the situation."
- 00:14:01.897 --> 00:14:04.133
- But he didn't do it.
- 00:14:04.133 --> 00:14:05.467
- He just told sarah to do what she want to do
- 00:14:05.467 --> 00:14:07.236
- To keep peace in the tent.
- 00:14:07.236 --> 00:14:09.038
- "so sarai," verse six, "treated hagar harshly,
- 00:14:09.038 --> 00:14:13.442
- And she fled from her presence."
- 00:14:13.442 --> 00:14:16.979
- As act two on this drama comes to a close,
- 00:14:16.979 --> 00:14:21.317
- We see sarah feeling betrayed, hagar being mistreated,
- 00:14:21.317 --> 00:14:26.021
- And abraham absolutely miserable.
- 00:14:26.021 --> 00:14:28.324
- Remember, running ahead of god produces bad decisions
- 00:14:28.324 --> 00:14:33.295
- And painful consequences.
- 00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:36.365
- Fortunately, we serve a god
- 00:14:36.365 --> 00:14:38.467
- Who is able to work together for good all things,
- 00:14:38.467 --> 00:14:41.904
- Including our bad decisions.
- 00:14:41.904 --> 00:14:44.606
- Let's see how he does that,
- 00:14:44.606 --> 00:14:46.175
- Beginning in verse 7, the angel's promise.
- 00:14:46.175 --> 00:14:49.278
- "now the angel of the lord found hagar
- 00:14:49.278 --> 00:14:51.747
- By a spring of water."
- 00:14:51.747 --> 00:14:53.282
- Remember, she's pregnant,
- 00:14:53.282 --> 00:14:54.316
- She's out in the wilderness,
- 00:14:54.316 --> 00:14:56.452
- "by the spring on the way to shur.
- 00:14:56.452 --> 00:14:58.454
- And he says, 'hagar, sarai's maid,
- 00:14:58.454 --> 00:15:01.790
- Where have you come from and where are you going?'
- 00:15:01.790 --> 00:15:06.028
- And she said, 'i'm fleeing
- 00:15:06.028 --> 00:15:07.429
- From the presence of my mistress.'"
- 00:15:07.429 --> 00:15:10.132
- Many people believe this angel of the lord,
- 00:15:10.132 --> 00:15:12.935
- The angel of the lord is a reference to jesus christ.
- 00:15:12.935 --> 00:15:16.505
- Many times, the angel of the lord
- 00:15:16.505 --> 00:15:19.308
- Is what we call a pre-incarnate appearance of jesus.
- 00:15:19.308 --> 00:15:23.779
- Jesus before bethlehem.
- 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.081
- If that's the case here,
- 00:15:26.081 --> 00:15:27.783
- The first person jesus appears to on earth
- 00:15:27.783 --> 00:15:31.186
- Is an unwed single mother who is a foreigner.
- 00:15:31.186 --> 00:15:36.058
- That would make sense that jesus would choose an outcast
- 00:15:36.058 --> 00:15:39.628
- To make his first appearance to.
- 00:15:39.628 --> 00:15:42.398
- It's not that he doesn't know where she's been,
- 00:15:42.398 --> 00:15:45.134
- He wants her to admit that she's left her mistress.
- 00:15:45.134 --> 00:15:48.904
- And so the angel gives her a command and a promise.
- 00:15:48.904 --> 00:15:52.841
- The command is: hagar, i want you to go back to sarah
- 00:15:52.841 --> 00:15:56.979
- And submit yourself to her authority.
- 00:15:56.979 --> 00:15:59.882
- And then he gives her this promise.
- 00:15:59.882 --> 00:16:01.917
- The angel says, "i will give you a son
- 00:16:01.917 --> 00:16:05.287
- Who will also be the father of a great nation."
- 00:16:05.287 --> 00:16:09.658
- As we'll see next time, that son ishmael,
- 00:16:09.658 --> 00:16:13.162
- Meaning, god hears,
- 00:16:13.162 --> 00:16:14.930
- Is the father of the arab nations today.
- 00:16:14.930 --> 00:16:17.533
- There's not an arab in the world
- 00:16:17.533 --> 00:16:19.435
- Who doesn't trace his ancestry to ishmael.
- 00:16:19.435 --> 00:16:24.206
- Even though abraham did have a son ishmael
- 00:16:24.206 --> 00:16:26.575
- And blessed him the covenant blessing,
- 00:16:26.575 --> 00:16:29.445
- Genesis 17:21 says,
- 00:16:29.445 --> 00:16:31.580
- Comes through isaac, the son yet to be born
- 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:34.650
- Not through ishmael.
- 00:16:34.650 --> 00:16:36.351
- Look at verse 15.
- 00:16:36.351 --> 00:16:37.286
- "so hagar bore abram a son;
- 00:16:37.286 --> 00:16:40.522
- And abram called the name of his son,
- 00:16:40.522 --> 00:16:42.791
- Whom hagar bore, ishmael.
- 00:16:42.791 --> 00:16:45.594
- Now, abram was 86 years old
- 00:16:45.594 --> 00:16:48.831
- When hagar bore ishmael to him."
- 00:16:48.831 --> 00:16:52.734
- You know, the whole basis of the conflict today
- 00:16:52.734 --> 00:16:57.840
- Between israel and the arab nations
- 00:16:58.774 --> 00:17:01.477
- Can be traced back to one couple
- 00:17:01.477 --> 00:17:04.746
- That made a bad decision and ran ahead of god.
- 00:17:04.746 --> 00:17:07.683
- Isn't that amazing?
- 00:17:07.683 --> 00:17:09.284
- One couple 4,000 years ago made a bad decision,
- 00:17:09.284 --> 00:17:14.089
- And that decision has had repercussions worldwide,
- 00:17:14.089 --> 00:17:17.593
- Repercussions for thousands of years
- 00:17:17.593 --> 00:17:21.430
- And continues to this very day.
- 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:24.333
- But beyond explaining the conflict
- 00:17:24.333 --> 00:17:27.302
- Between israel and the arab nations,
- 00:17:27.302 --> 00:17:29.938
- This story illustrates three timeless principles
- 00:17:29.938 --> 00:17:33.475
- I want to share with you in closing today
- 00:17:33.475 --> 00:17:35.878
- To help you avoid the temptation
- 00:17:35.878 --> 00:17:38.580
- To run ahead of god.
- 00:17:38.580 --> 00:17:42.918
- Principle number one is this,
- 00:17:42.918 --> 00:17:44.686
- Artificial deadlines produce unnecessary stress.
- 00:17:44.686 --> 00:17:49.791
- Artificial deadlines produce unnecessary stress.
- 00:17:51.026 --> 00:17:55.531
- Abraham and sarah said,
- 00:17:56.165 --> 00:17:57.399
- "by 85 we ought to have had children."
- 00:17:57.399 --> 00:18:00.169
- That was an artificial deadline.
- 00:18:00.169 --> 00:18:01.770
- God never told them when the baby was coming.
- 00:18:01.770 --> 00:18:03.672
- He said, the baby's coming,
- 00:18:03.672 --> 00:18:05.274
- But they set this deadline, artificial,
- 00:18:05.274 --> 00:18:08.977
- Now we've passed the deadline,
- 00:18:08.977 --> 00:18:10.279
- We better take matters into our own hands.
- 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.381
- Don't do that.
- 00:18:12.381 --> 00:18:13.782
- Artificial deadlines produce unnecessary stress.
- 00:18:13.782 --> 00:18:16.885
- As we enter into this thanksgiving season,
- 00:18:16.885 --> 00:18:20.189
- I'm always reminded of something that happened to me
- 00:18:20.189 --> 00:18:23.492
- More than 35 years ago
- 00:18:23.492 --> 00:18:25.060
- On the wednesday before thanksgiving.
- 00:18:25.060 --> 00:18:26.995
- I was in the coffee shop
- 00:18:26.995 --> 00:18:28.797
- Of the houston intercontinental airport.
- 00:18:28.797 --> 00:18:31.600
- My flight had been delayed
- 00:18:31.600 --> 00:18:33.068
- And so i took out my yellow tablet,
- 00:18:33.068 --> 00:18:36.004
- And i spent several hours sketching out
- 00:18:36.004 --> 00:18:38.640
- What i believe were god's goals and plans for my life.
- 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.844
- And i had five specific goals
- 00:18:42.844 --> 00:18:45.113
- And i actually attached a date, a year,
- 00:18:45.113 --> 00:18:48.116
- To accomplish each of those goals by.
- 00:18:48.116 --> 00:18:51.987
- And i felt like it was in keeping with god's plan
- 00:18:51.987 --> 00:18:54.122
- For my life.
- 00:18:54.122 --> 00:18:55.724
- When i got back to dallas,
- 00:18:55.724 --> 00:18:57.226
- I plunged ahead in trying to achieve those five goals
- 00:18:57.226 --> 00:19:01.363
- And by the date that i had selected.
- 00:19:01.363 --> 00:19:04.566
- You know, all that did was it caused stress in our marriage,
- 00:19:04.566 --> 00:19:08.070
- It caused stress in my work,
- 00:19:08.070 --> 00:19:10.072
- It caused stress in every area of my life.
- 00:19:10.072 --> 00:19:13.275
- And then a series of unrelated events came to pass
- 00:19:13.275 --> 00:19:17.012
- That made me have to put aside my list
- 00:19:17.012 --> 00:19:19.715
- And concentrate on other things for a while.
- 00:19:19.715 --> 00:19:22.718
- It was decades before i picked up that list again.
- 00:19:22.718 --> 00:19:27.289
- And after several decades, you know what i discovered?
- 00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.392
- Every one of those goals had been accomplished,
- 00:19:30.392 --> 00:19:33.328
- But not by the date i had set.
- 00:19:33.328 --> 00:19:35.864
- It was an artificial deadline.
- 00:19:35.864 --> 00:19:38.867
- The point i'm making to you is,
- 00:19:38.867 --> 00:19:40.602
- Don't give up your god-given goals.
- 00:19:40.602 --> 00:19:42.638
- Don't do that.
- 00:19:42.638 --> 00:19:43.805
- But give up your manufactured deadlines.
- 00:19:43.805 --> 00:19:46.975
- It'll make life a lot more pleasant for you if you do.
- 00:19:46.975 --> 00:19:50.545
- Second principle,
- 00:19:50.545 --> 00:19:51.947
- God sees our situation and he hears our prayers.
- 00:19:51.947 --> 00:19:56.752
- You know what the most significant verse
- 00:19:56.752 --> 00:19:58.954
- In this old chapter is?
- 00:19:58.954 --> 00:20:00.822
- It's verse 13:
- 00:20:00.822 --> 00:20:02.357
- When hagar says to the angel, "you are a god who sees."
- 00:20:02.357 --> 00:20:07.396
- Listen, egyptian slave girl
- 00:20:08.897 --> 00:20:10.699
- Knew more about god than abraham did.
- 00:20:10.699 --> 00:20:13.702
- She said, "god, you see my situation. you know where i am."
- 00:20:13.702 --> 00:20:17.773
- The same is true for you.
- 00:20:18.907 --> 00:20:21.176
- When you think god has not kept his promise to you,
- 00:20:21.176 --> 00:20:24.713
- When you're frustrated about your lack of progress,
- 00:20:24.713 --> 00:20:28.050
- When you feel like you've been abandoned by god,
- 00:20:28.050 --> 00:20:30.085
- Remember god knows exactly where you are.
- 00:20:30.085 --> 00:20:33.522
- He knows your situation,
- 00:20:33.522 --> 00:20:35.757
- And he will answer in his way and his time.
- 00:20:35.757 --> 00:20:39.661
- And that leads to the third principle:
- 00:20:39.661 --> 00:20:42.264
- Waiting on god produces spiritual maturity.
- 00:20:42.264 --> 00:20:50.238
- There is a difference between belief and trust.
- 00:20:47.102 --> 00:20:54.276
- You can believe in an instant like abraham did.
- 00:20:54.276 --> 00:20:56.845
- He believed god's promise
- 00:20:56.845 --> 00:20:58.246
- And his faith was counted as righteousness.
- 00:20:58.246 --> 00:21:00.549
- That was instantaneous.
- 00:21:00.549 --> 00:21:02.050
- But there's a difference between belief and trust.
- 00:21:02.050 --> 00:21:05.420
- Trust doesn't happen in a moment,
- 00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:07.322
- It's developed over many, many years.
- 00:21:07.322 --> 00:21:10.225
- Psalm 37:5 says, "commit your way to the lord,
- 00:21:10.225 --> 00:21:14.396
- And trust also in him, and he will do it."
- 00:21:14.396 --> 00:21:18.066
- God wants to develop trust in your heart,
- 00:21:18.066 --> 00:21:22.070
- And that only happens over a period of time.
- 00:21:22.070 --> 00:21:25.307
- Now listen to this.
- 00:21:25.307 --> 00:21:26.575
- You know how i would've entered the story
- 00:21:26.575 --> 00:21:28.143
- If i were writing it?
- 00:21:28.143 --> 00:21:29.511
- I would've said, "hagar gave birth to ishmael.
- 00:21:29.511 --> 00:21:33.582
- And lo and behold, the next month,
- 00:21:33.582 --> 00:21:36.418
- Sarah discovered she was pregnant too.
- 00:21:36.418 --> 00:21:39.488
- And nine months later she gave birth,
- 00:21:39.488 --> 00:21:41.990
- And they all lived under the same tent together
- 00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:44.493
- Forever and ever happily."
- 00:21:44.493 --> 00:21:46.628
- That's not how the story ends.
- 00:21:47.462 --> 00:21:49.865
- Yes, ishmael was born when abraham was 86,
- 00:21:49.865 --> 00:21:54.369
- But sarah wasn't pregnant.
- 00:21:55.137 --> 00:21:56.805
- She didn't get pregnant the next year,
- 00:21:56.805 --> 00:21:59.074
- The next year, the next year,
- 00:21:59.074 --> 00:22:02.277
- After a decade she was still waiting.
- 00:22:02.277 --> 00:22:04.613
- It was 14 years after ishmael was born
- 00:22:04.613 --> 00:22:09.518
- That the promise was finally fulfilled.
- 00:22:09.518 --> 00:22:12.454
- Abraham and sarah had to wait,
- 00:22:14.022 --> 00:22:15.791
- But never forget this: waiting time isn't wasted time.
- 00:22:15.791 --> 00:22:20.896
- God uses waiting time to prepare us for the future,
- 00:22:22.097 --> 00:22:25.867
- And he was using those 14 years
- 00:22:25.867 --> 00:22:28.136
- To develop abraham's trust
- 00:22:28.136 --> 00:22:31.406
- So that abraham could respond
- 00:22:31.406 --> 00:22:33.408
- To the greatest test he would ever face in his life.
- 00:22:33.408 --> 00:22:37.012
- In genesis chapter 22,
- 00:22:37.012 --> 00:22:39.047
- The offering of isaac as a sacrifice.
- 00:22:39.047 --> 00:22:43.084
- God's doing something in your life as well.
- 00:22:43.084 --> 00:22:45.220
- Remember, god is much more interested
- 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:49.124
- In what happens in you than what happens to you?
- 00:22:49.124 --> 00:22:53.228
- There's not one circumstance happening to you right now
- 00:22:53.228 --> 00:22:56.565
- That god couldn't change in an instant if he wanted to.
- 00:22:56.565 --> 00:22:59.801
- No, he's interested in what's happening in you.
- 00:22:59.801 --> 00:23:03.638
- Waiting time isn't wasted time.
- 00:23:03.638 --> 00:23:06.675
- Isn't that what isaiah the prophet said?
- 00:23:06.675 --> 00:23:08.944
- "those who wait upon the lord shall gain new strength;
- 00:23:08.944 --> 00:23:14.049
- They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
- 00:23:15.550 --> 00:23:18.153
- They shall run and not get tired.
- 00:23:18.153 --> 00:23:21.456
- They shall walk and not become weary.
- 00:23:21.456 --> 00:23:24.059
- (music)
- 00:23:24.860 --> 00:23:27.696
- And i hope this promise of god encourages you today.
- 00:23:31.466 --> 00:23:35.237
- As you wait patiently on god, you'll gain new strength.
- 00:23:35.237 --> 00:23:39.341
- Well, the bible doesn't gloss over family problems.
- 00:23:39.341 --> 00:23:42.644
- In fact, in abraham's family,
- 00:23:42.644 --> 00:23:44.613
- We can point to the obvious dysfunction that plugged them,
- 00:23:44.613 --> 00:23:48.350
- And yet god's healing power and forgiveness
- 00:23:48.350 --> 00:23:51.253
- Wiped away their transgressions.
- 00:23:51.253 --> 00:23:53.688
- Let me give you a current day example from beth
- 00:23:53.688 --> 00:23:56.491
- Who watches pathway to victory from south carolina.
- 00:23:56.491 --> 00:23:59.728
- She wrote, "pastor jeffress pathway to victory
- 00:23:59.728 --> 00:24:02.497
- Is doing a great job nurturing and helping people like me.
- 00:24:02.497 --> 00:24:06.401
- I grew up with an abusive mother
- 00:24:06.401 --> 00:24:08.270
- And many other negative things happened to me
- 00:24:08.270 --> 00:24:10.772
- That caused me to question my self-worth.
- 00:24:10.772 --> 00:24:14.142
- But there was a day when i was told about jesus,
- 00:24:14.142 --> 00:24:17.345
- And that's when my life began to turn around.
- 00:24:17.345 --> 00:24:20.248
- Please keep up the good work."
- 00:24:20.248 --> 00:24:22.951
- Well, thank you beth for that encouraging note
- 00:24:22.951 --> 00:24:25.487
- And let me extend her thanks to all of you
- 00:24:25.487 --> 00:24:27.689
- Who support pathway to victory.
- 00:24:27.689 --> 00:24:30.091
- This is the kind of impact you are having.
- 00:24:30.091 --> 00:24:32.961
- Now, stay right there.
- 00:24:32.961 --> 00:24:34.396
- I'll be back with one final word in just a moment.
- 00:24:34.396 --> 00:24:37.566
- [announcer] in the midst of our chaotic world
- 00:24:38.867 --> 00:24:41.102
- And the personal problems that we face,
- 00:24:41.102 --> 00:24:43.438
- Is it possible to find peace and contentment?
- 00:24:43.438 --> 00:24:46.408
- Abraham did, and so can you.
- 00:24:46.408 --> 00:24:48.810
- In "walking by faith," dr. robert jeffress shows you
- 00:24:48.810 --> 00:24:52.080
- How to make courageous decisions,
- 00:24:52.080 --> 00:24:53.949
- Ones that are far outside your comfort zone.
- 00:24:53.949 --> 00:24:57.052
- In doing so, god will prove faithful.
- 00:24:57.052 --> 00:24:59.955
- Abraham was far from perfect.
- 00:24:59.955 --> 00:25:01.923
- He made mistakes, including some really big ones,
- 00:25:01.923 --> 00:25:05.093
- But through it all, he walked with god in faith;
- 00:25:05.093 --> 00:25:08.463
- And you can too.
- 00:25:08.463 --> 00:25:09.864
- [announcer] in this dynamic book,
- 00:25:09.864 --> 00:25:11.399
- Dr. jeffress explains how to walk by faith
- 00:25:11.399 --> 00:25:14.302
- In a faithless world squarely founded on the wisdom
- 00:25:14.302 --> 00:25:17.739
- Gained from the story of abraham.
- 00:25:17.739 --> 00:25:20.208
- Request your copy
- 00:25:20.208 --> 00:25:21.309
- Of "walking by faith"
- 00:25:21.309 --> 00:25:22.844
- When you give a generous gift to pathway to victory.
- 00:25:22.844 --> 00:25:25.914
- And when you give $75 or more,
- 00:25:25.914 --> 00:25:28.683
- We'll also send you all 11 messages
- 00:25:28.683 --> 00:25:31.119
- For "the walking by face" series on dvd video
- 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:34.356
- And mp three format audio disc,
- 00:25:34.356 --> 00:25:36.858
- Along with the personal and group study guidebook.
- 00:25:36.858 --> 00:25:39.995
- If the story of abraham tells us anything,
- 00:25:39.995 --> 00:25:42.297
- It tells us this:
- 00:25:42.297 --> 00:25:43.498
- It doesn't matter how old you are,
- 00:25:43.498 --> 00:25:45.133
- It doesn't matter how far you've drifted away from god,
- 00:25:45.133 --> 00:25:48.103
- You can come back.
- 00:25:48.103 --> 00:25:49.504
- [announcer] your gift today is important
- 00:25:49.504 --> 00:25:51.306
- And appreciated as we impact your home and reach a nation
- 00:25:51.306 --> 00:25:55.043
- And world in spiritual need.
- 00:25:55.043 --> 00:25:57.278
- God is clearly using "pathway to victory"
- 00:25:57.278 --> 00:26:00.115
- To fulfill his mandate, to pierce the darkness
- 00:26:00.115 --> 00:26:02.984
- With the light of his word.
- 00:26:02.984 --> 00:26:04.786
- Thank you for investing in this important gospel work.
- 00:26:04.786 --> 00:26:08.356
- It's one thing to say that you trust god completely,
- 00:26:10.525 --> 00:26:13.795
- But demonstrating your faith in action
- 00:26:13.795 --> 00:26:15.930
- Is something entirely different.
- 00:26:15.930 --> 00:26:18.433
- And sometimes, that means waiting on god
- 00:26:18.433 --> 00:26:21.403
- And resisting the temptation to control your circumstances.
- 00:26:21.403 --> 00:26:25.874
- Well, sometimes the bible uses running as a metaphor
- 00:26:25.874 --> 00:26:30.245
- For the christian life.
- 00:26:30.245 --> 00:26:31.946
- But frequently the christian life is also compared
- 00:26:31.946 --> 00:26:35.083
- To walking with god.
- 00:26:35.083 --> 00:26:37.185
- Next time, i'm going to show you four simple principles
- 00:26:37.185 --> 00:26:40.221
- That will transform your walk with your creator.
- 00:26:40.221 --> 00:26:43.725
- Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next
- 00:26:43.725 --> 00:26:46.227
- In our series walking by faith.
- 00:26:46.227 --> 00:26:49.497
- You see, walking is the most common metaphor in the bible
- 00:26:50.865 --> 00:26:54.469
- For our relationship with god.
- 00:26:54.469 --> 00:26:57.005
- That's what the christian life is.
- 00:26:57.005 --> 00:26:58.907
- It's going the same direction,
- 00:26:58.907 --> 00:27:00.775
- Obeying god over a period of time.
- 00:27:00.775 --> 00:27:03.211
- And when you do that,
- 00:27:03.211 --> 00:27:04.446
- You end up at your desired destination.
- 00:27:04.446 --> 00:27:07.515
- What's involved with walking with god?
- 00:27:08.583 --> 00:27:11.553
- [announcer] set your dvr and join us next time
- 00:27:11.553 --> 00:27:13.755
- For the message, walking with your god
- 00:27:13.755 --> 00:27:16.591
- Here on pathway to victory.
- 00:27:16.591 --> 00:27:18.493
- (music)
- 00:27:18.493 --> 00:27:18.493