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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Two's Company But Three's A Crowd! (Part 2)

November 11, 2025 | 29:0

Robert Jeffress - Two's Company But Three's A Crowd! (Part 2)
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#WalkwithGod #Faith #Covenant #PromisesofGod #Stress #Burden #Goals #WaitingonGod #Patience #SpiritualGrowth #Belief #TrustGod #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Two's Company But Three's A Crowd! (Part 2) | November 11, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
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  • Robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
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  • Again to "pathway to victory."
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  • Sometimes we grow impatient waiting for god to fulfill
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  • His promises.
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  • We start looking for shortcuts or alternative solutions when
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  • His timing doesn't match our expectations.
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  • But when we take matters into our own hands and run ahead of
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  • God's perfect plan, the consequences can be devastating
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  • And long-lasting.
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  • Today we're going to discover what happens when faith turns to
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  • Doubt and when god's people make decisions based on human wisdom
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  • Instead of divine direction.
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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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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, in the beginning. ♪
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  • ♪ all creation knows his touch. ♪
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  • ♪ one with god and holy spirit. ♪
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  • ♪ word of heaven, glorious. ♪
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  • ♪ and before the world's foundation. ♪
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  • ♪ stands the lamb already slain. ♪
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  • ♪ there is no one who is like him. ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, praise his name. ♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, laying in the manger. ♪
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  • ♪ infant savior, god with us. ♪
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  • ♪ sung by shepherds, sung by angels ♪
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  • ♪ word incarnate, holy son ♪
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  • ♪ oh behold the promised ♪
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  • ♪ he has come to make a way ♪
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  • ♪ wrapped in wonder, he is worshipped ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, born to save ♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, healer and teacher ♪
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  • ♪ reaching out to those in need. ♪
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  • ♪ love and mercy to the broken. ♪
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  • ♪ love and comfort to the weak. ♪
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  • ♪ there is truth and there is power. ♪
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  • ♪ in his word's a way of life. ♪
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  • ♪ hear the whisper that is rising ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, he is christ ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, savior, redeemer. ♪
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  • ♪ perfect offering on a cross. ♪
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  • ♪ all our sins are placed upon him. ♪
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  • ♪ oh, the greatness of his love. ♪
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  • ♪ willingly he bears our sorrow. ♪
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  • ♪ calvary's lamb will be-- ♪
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  • ♪ for the desperate, lost without him. ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus crucified. ♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus-- ♪
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  • ♪ god is love. ♪
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  • ♪ shout a new song ♪
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  • ♪ resurrection ♪
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  • ♪ death is conquered ♪
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  • ♪ life has won. ♪
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  • ♪ and--the song of heaven ♪
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  • ♪ will be led by the redeemed ♪
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  • ♪ hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus, king of kings. ♪
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  • ♪ king of kings. ♪
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  • ♪ king of kings. ♪
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  • ♪ this is jesus. ♪♪
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  • [congregation cheering]
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  • Announcer: the bible is filled with stories about heroes.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: but abraham rises above the rest as a true
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  • Champion of faith.
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  • In "walking by faith," dr. robert jeffress shares how to
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  • Step forward in faith 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" when you give a generous
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  • Gift to support the ministry of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: how did abraham respond to sarah's proposal?
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  • Men, how would you respond?
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  • Your wife comes to you and she says, "honey, we're not getting
  • 00:07:08.851 --> 00:07:13.022
  • Any younger right now.
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  • So i want you to take this young, beautiful egyptian maid
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  • Of mine with a perfect tan, and i want you to have sex with her.
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  • Would you please do that for me, abraham honey bunny?
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  • Would you have sex--for me?"
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  • How would you respond?
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  • Just like abraham, trying to wipe the smile off of his face,
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  • He says, "well, honey, if that's what you want, you know, what am
  • 00:07:39.048 --> 00:07:43.786
  • I to do?"
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  • It says: "abraham listened to the voice of his wife."
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  • F.b. meyer in his biography of abraham says it's always hard to
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  • Resist temptation when it appeals to natural instinct or
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  • To distrusting fear.
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  • Sarah's proposal did both.
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  • It appealed to abraham's carnal instinct but also to his fear
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  • That god couldn't keep his promise.
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  • But there's another reason this temptation was
  • 00:08:11.914 --> 00:08:14.216
  • Especially potent.
  • 00:08:14.216 --> 00:08:15.618
  • It came from abraham's wife.
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  • Ladies, don't ever underestimate the influence you have over your
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  • Husbands, even when they're buried in a newspaper or in a
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  • Football game on television and you're trying to talk to them
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  • And all they can do is grunt, don't forget, they really
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  • Are listening.
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  • You may not think they are, they're listening to you.
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  • You have great influence over them for good or for bad.
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  • Adam listened to the voice of his wife, eve, and the whole
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  • Race was plunged into destruction.
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  • Sarah influenced her husband, he listened, and this is a
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  • Catastrophe of all catastrophes, as we'll see in a moment.
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  • Now, i could make the application, men, don't listen
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  • To your wives,
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  • But i value my life too much to come up with that application.
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  • And most importantly, it would be the wrong application because
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  • There are times we better listen to our wives.
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  • Pontius pilate should have listened to his wife about
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  • Getting involved with the jesus trial.
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  • It's not, don't listen to your wife.
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  • We ought to listen to our wives.
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  • We ought to listen to our husbands.
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  • But we ought to weigh what they say against the
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  • Truth of god's word.
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  • Godly people can say ungodly things.
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  • And jesus experienced that when peter said, "oh, don't go to the
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  • Cross, lord," and the lord said to him, "get thee behind
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  • Me, satan."
  • 00:09:39.101 --> 00:09:40.703
  • Unfortunately, abraham did not weigh the advice that sarah gave
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  • To him, and he gave into it.
  • 00:09:45.374 --> 00:09:47.109
  • Verse 3 says: "after abram had lived ten years in the land of
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  • Canaan," that means he was 85, "abram's wife sarah took hagar
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  • The egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband abram as
  • 00:09:56.652 --> 00:10:01.257
  • His wife.
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  • He went in to hagar, and she conceived."
  • 00:10:02.625 --> 00:10:06.762
  • I'm sure when he got the news that hagar was pregnant, he
  • 00:10:06.762 --> 00:10:09.899
  • Probably was tempted to say, "isn't god good?
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  • Okay, this wasn't his perfect will, but it's his permissive
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  • Will, and he allowed this to happen.
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  • Praise be to god."
  • 00:10:19.675 --> 00:10:22.378
  • No, it was just the beginning of a tragic end.
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  • Look at hagar's provocation.
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  • Verse 4: "and when she," hagar, "saw that she had conceived, her
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  • Mistress," that is sarai, "was despised in her sight."
  • 00:10:35.925 --> 00:10:41.397
  • She had been a slave.
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  • She had been elevated to abraham's wife, the same level.
  • 00:10:42.998 --> 00:10:47.603
  • And now she was really above sarah because she was able to do
  • 00:10:47.603 --> 00:10:52.374
  • What sarah couldn't do and she began to despise sarah.
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  • She started prancing around the tent.
  • 00:10:57.546 --> 00:11:00.049
  • "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."
  • 00:11:03.452 --> 00:11:07.456
  • You know, there's an interesting proverb i came across.
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  • Proverbs 30, verses 21 to 23.
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  • Men, look at this especially.
  • 00:11:14.196 --> 00:11:16.632
  • "under three things the earth quakes, and under four, it
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  • Cannot bear up."
  • 00:11:20.469 --> 00:11:22.371
  • Number one, "under a slave when he becomes king."
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  • Secondly, "a fool when he's satisfied with food."
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  • Third, "an unloved woman when she gets a husband," and the
  • 00:11:28.577 --> 00:11:31.947
  • Fourth thing that will cause an earthquake is "a maidservant
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  • When she supplants her mistress."
  • 00:11:36.685 --> 00:11:39.822
  • In other words, men, when your wife senses that you love
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  • Anybody else or anything else more than you love her, there's
  • 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:49.698
  • Going to be an earthquake in your home.
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  • Your wife is not going to put up with it, nor should
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  • She put up with it.
  • 00:11:56.338 --> 00:11:57.673
  • Doesn't matter whether it's another woman, a child, a hobby,
  • 00:11:57.673 --> 00:12:00.943
  • Anytime something or somebody else replaces the place your
  • 00:12:00.943 --> 00:12:05.314
  • Wife ought to have in your heart, it's going to cause
  • 00:12:05.314 --> 00:12:07.983
  • Trouble, and that's exactly what happened here.
  • 00:12:07.983 --> 00:12:10.619
  • Look at verse 5: "sarah said to abram, 'may the wrong done to me
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  • Be upon you.
  • 00:12:16.525 --> 00:12:17.993
  • I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had
  • 00:12:17.993 --> 00:12:21.096
  • Conceived, i was despised in her sight.
  • 00:12:21.096 --> 00:12:23.365
  • May the lord judge between you and me.'"
  • 00:12:23.365 --> 00:12:26.268
  • Translation: "abraham, i can't believe you did such a thing.
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  • Look at what has happened.
  • 00:12:30.372 --> 00:12:32.041
  • Oh, god's gonna get you, abraham."
  • 00:12:32.041 --> 00:12:36.912
  • And abraham starts to say, "but sarah, you were the one--"
  • 00:12:36.912 --> 00:12:42.151
  • And then he thought better of it.
  • 00:12:42.151 --> 00:12:44.653
  • He thought better of pointed out she's the one who came up with
  • 00:12:44.653 --> 00:12:47.723
  • This idea.
  • 00:12:47.723 --> 00:12:49.091
  • So what does he do?
  • 00:12:49.091 --> 00:12:50.426
  • What most men do, he became passive.
  • 00:12:50.426 --> 00:12:52.728
  • "but abraham said to sarai, 'behold, your maid is in your
  • 00:12:52.728 --> 00:12:56.265
  • Power; do to her whatever you wanna do.'"
  • 00:12:56.265 --> 00:12:59.134
  • In other words, i'm tired of all this trouble and turmoil.
  • 00:12:59.134 --> 00:13:02.504
  • I'm just gonna let you have your way, do
  • 00:13:02.504 --> 00:13:04.740
  • With her what you wanna do.
  • 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:06.075
  • That is not the right response.
  • 00:13:06.075 --> 00:13:07.409
  • What he should have said as the spiritual leader of the house
  • 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:10.379
  • Is, "sarah, you're right.
  • 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:12.047
  • I was wrong, you were wrong, we were wrong.
  • 00:13:12.047 --> 00:13:15.618
  • Let's go to the altar and kneel before god and confess our
  • 00:13:15.618 --> 00:13:18.787
  • Mistake and ask god to redeem the situation,"
  • 00:13:18.787 --> 00:13:21.056
  • But he didn't do it.
  • 00:13:21.056 --> 00:13:22.391
  • He just told sarah to do what she wanted to, to keep peace in
  • 00:13:22.391 --> 00:13:25.427
  • The tent.
  • 00:13:25.427 --> 00:13:26.795
  • "so sarai," verse 6, "treated hagar harshly, and she fled from
  • 00:13:26.795 --> 00:13:31.066
  • Her presence."
  • 00:13:31.066 --> 00:13:33.469
  • As act 2 on this drama comes to a close, we see sarah feeling
  • 00:13:33.469 --> 00:13:39.141
  • Betrayed, hagar being mistreated, and abraham
  • 00:13:39.141 --> 00:13:42.645
  • Absolutely miserable.
  • 00:13:42.645 --> 00:13:44.213
  • Remember, running ahead of god produces bad decisions and
  • 00:13:44.213 --> 00:13:50.019
  • Painful consequences.
  • 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.354
  • Fortunately, we serve a god who is able to work together for
  • 00:13:52.354 --> 00:13:56.292
  • Good, all things, including our bad decisions.
  • 00:13:56.292 --> 00:14:00.462
  • Let's see how he does that.
  • 00:14:00.462 --> 00:14:02.131
  • Beginning in verse 7, the angel's promise.
  • 00:14:02.131 --> 00:14:05.267
  • "now the angel of the lord found hagar by a spring of water."
  • 00:14:05.267 --> 00:14:09.138
  • Remember, she's pregnant, she's out in the wilderness.
  • 00:14:09.138 --> 00:14:12.274
  • "by the spring on the way to shur, and he says, 'hagar,
  • 00:14:12.274 --> 00:14:16.111
  • Sarah's maid, where have you come from and where are
  • 00:14:16.111 --> 00:14:20.482
  • You going?'
  • 00:14:20.482 --> 00:14:21.850
  • And she said, 'i am fleeing from the presence of my mistress.'"
  • 00:14:21.850 --> 00:14:25.955
  • Many people believe this angel of the lord, the angel of the
  • 00:14:25.955 --> 00:14:29.725
  • Lord, is a reference to jesus christ.
  • 00:14:29.725 --> 00:14:32.394
  • Many times the angel of the lord is what we call a preincarnate
  • 00:14:32.394 --> 00:14:38.500
  • Appearance of jesus,
  • 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:39.835
  • Jesus before bethlehem.
  • 00:14:39.835 --> 00:14:41.904
  • If that's the case here, the first person jesus appears to on
  • 00:14:41.904 --> 00:14:46.075
  • Earth is an unwed single mother who is a foreigner.
  • 00:14:46.075 --> 00:14:52.014
  • That would make sense that jesus would choose an outcast to make
  • 00:14:52.014 --> 00:14:55.918
  • His first appearance to.
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  • It's not that he doesn't know where she's been.
  • 00:14:58.187 --> 00:15:01.123
  • He wants her to admit that she's left her mistress, and so the
  • 00:15:01.123 --> 00:15:05.694
  • Angel gives her a command and a promise.
  • 00:15:05.694 --> 00:15:08.797
  • The command is, "hagar, i want you to go back to sarah and
  • 00:15:08.797 --> 00:15:13.135
  • Submit yourself to her authority."
  • 00:15:13.135 --> 00:15:15.771
  • And then he gives her this promise.
  • 00:15:15.771 --> 00:15:17.840
  • The angel says, "i will give you a son who will also be the
  • 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:22.478
  • Father of a great nation."
  • 00:15:22.478 --> 00:15:25.547
  • As we'll see next time, that son ishmael, meaning god hears, is
  • 00:15:25.547 --> 00:15:30.986
  • The father of the arab nations today.
  • 00:15:30.986 --> 00:15:33.422
  • There's not an arab in the world who doesn't trace his ancestry
  • 00:15:33.422 --> 00:15:38.027
  • To ishmael.
  • 00:15:38.027 --> 00:15:40.062
  • Even though abraham did have a son ishmael, and blessed him,
  • 00:15:40.062 --> 00:15:43.999
  • The covenant blessing, genesis 17:21 says, comes through isaac,
  • 00:15:43.999 --> 00:15:48.871
  • The son yet to be born, not through ishmael.
  • 00:15:48.871 --> 00:15:52.374
  • Look at verse 15: "so hagar bore abram a son; and abram called
  • 00:15:52.374 --> 00:15:57.579
  • The name of his son, whom hagar bore, ishmael.
  • 00:15:57.579 --> 00:16:01.316
  • Now abram was eighty-six years old when hagar bore ishmael
  • 00:16:01.316 --> 00:16:06.789
  • To him."
  • 00:16:06.789 --> 00:16:08.424
  • You know, the whole basis of the conflict today between israel
  • 00:16:08.424 --> 00:16:15.664
  • And the arab nations can be traced back to one couple that
  • 00:16:15.664 --> 00:16:20.569
  • Made a bad decision and ran ahead of god.
  • 00:16:20.569 --> 00:16:23.305
  • Isn't that amazing?
  • 00:16:23.305 --> 00:16:25.074
  • One couple 4000 years ago made a bad decision, and that decision
  • 00:16:25.074 --> 00:16:30.712
  • Has had repercussions, worldwide repercussions, for thousands of
  • 00:16:30.712 --> 00:16:36.418
  • Years and continues to, to this very day.
  • 00:16:36.418 --> 00:16:40.022
  • But beyond explaining the conflict between israel and the
  • 00:16:40.022 --> 00:16:44.193
  • Arab nations, this story illustrates three timeless
  • 00:16:44.193 --> 00:16:48.097
  • Principles i want to share with you in closing today to help you
  • 00:16:48.097 --> 00:16:52.835
  • Avoid the temptation to run ahead of god.
  • 00:16:52.835 --> 00:16:56.905
  • Principle number one is this: artificial deadlines produce
  • 00:16:56.905 --> 00:17:01.944
  • Unnecessary stress.
  • 00:17:01.944 --> 00:17:04.546
  • Artificial deadlines produce unnecessary stress.
  • 00:17:04.546 --> 00:17:09.551
  • Abraham and sarah said by 85 we ought to have had children.
  • 00:17:09.551 --> 00:17:14.289
  • That was an artificial deadline.
  • 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:15.891
  • God never told them when the baby was coming.
  • 00:17:15.891 --> 00:17:17.759
  • He said the baby's coming, but they set this
  • 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.262
  • Deadline, artificial.
  • 00:17:20.262 --> 00:17:23.132
  • Now we've passed the deadline, we better take
  • 00:17:23.132 --> 00:17:25.000
  • Matters into our own hands.
  • 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:26.335
  • Don't do that.
  • 00:17:26.335 --> 00:17:27.669
  • Artificial deadlines produce unnecessary stress.
  • 00:17:27.669 --> 00:17:30.973
  • As we enter into this thanksgiving season, i'm always
  • 00:17:30.973 --> 00:17:34.943
  • Reminded of something that happened to me more than 35
  • 00:17:34.943 --> 00:17:38.413
  • Years ago on the wednesday before thanksgiving.
  • 00:17:38.413 --> 00:17:41.016
  • I was in the coffee shop of the houston
  • 00:17:41.016 --> 00:17:43.452
  • Intercontinental airport.
  • 00:17:43.452 --> 00:17:45.721
  • My flight had been delayed and so i took out my yellow tablet
  • 00:17:45.721 --> 00:17:50.058
  • And i spent several hours sketching out what i believed
  • 00:17:50.058 --> 00:17:53.462
  • Were god's goals and plans for my life.
  • 00:17:53.462 --> 00:17:56.765
  • And i had five specific goals and i actually attached a date,
  • 00:17:56.765 --> 00:18:00.903
  • A year, to accomplish each of those goals by.
  • 00:18:00.903 --> 00:18:06.008
  • I felt like it was in keeping with god's plan for my life.
  • 00:18:06.008 --> 00:18:09.745
  • When i got back to dallas, i plunged ahead in trying to
  • 00:18:09.745 --> 00:18:13.482
  • Achieve those five goals and by the date that i had selected.
  • 00:18:13.482 --> 00:18:18.420
  • You know, all that did was it caused stress in our marriage,
  • 00:18:18.420 --> 00:18:21.990
  • It caused stress in my work, it caused stress in every area of
  • 00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:25.727
  • My life, and then a series of unrelated events came to pass
  • 00:18:25.727 --> 00:18:30.899
  • That made me have to put aside my list and concentrate on other
  • 00:18:30.899 --> 00:18:34.903
  • Things for a while.
  • 00:18:34.903 --> 00:18:36.672
  • It was decades before i picked up that list again, and after
  • 00:18:36.672 --> 00:18:41.643
  • Several decades, you know what i discovered?
  • 00:18:41.643 --> 00:18:44.513
  • Every one of those goals had been accomplished, but not by
  • 00:18:44.513 --> 00:18:48.016
  • The date i had set.
  • 00:18:48.016 --> 00:18:50.018
  • It was an artificial deadline.
  • 00:18:50.018 --> 00:18:52.888
  • The point i'm making to you is don't give up your
  • 00:18:52.888 --> 00:18:55.591
  • God-given goals.
  • 00:18:55.591 --> 00:18:56.959
  • Don't do that, but give up your manufactured deadlines.
  • 00:18:56.959 --> 00:19:01.063
  • It'll make life a lot more pleasant for you if you do.
  • 00:19:01.063 --> 00:19:04.766
  • Second principle: god sees our situation and he hears
  • 00:19:04.766 --> 00:19:09.538
  • Our prayers.
  • 00:19:09.538 --> 00:19:10.906
  • You know what the most significant verse in this whole
  • 00:19:10.906 --> 00:19:13.508
  • Chapter is?
  • 00:19:13.508 --> 00:19:14.910
  • It's verse 13.
  • 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:16.411
  • When hagar says to the angel, "you are a god who sees."
  • 00:19:16.411 --> 00:19:22.985
  • This egyptian slave girl knew more about god than abraham did.
  • 00:19:22.985 --> 00:19:27.756
  • She said, "god, you see my situation, you know where i am."
  • 00:19:27.756 --> 00:19:32.794
  • The same is true for you.
  • 00:19:32.794 --> 00:19:35.130
  • When you think god has not kept his promise to you, when you're
  • 00:19:35.130 --> 00:19:39.067
  • Frustrated about your lack of progress, when you feel like
  • 00:19:39.067 --> 00:19:42.704
  • You've been abandoned by god, remember god knows exactly where
  • 00:19:42.704 --> 00:19:46.808
  • You are.
  • 00:19:46.808 --> 00:19:48.176
  • He knows your situation, and he will answer in his way and
  • 00:19:48.176 --> 00:19:52.514
  • His time.
  • 00:19:52.514 --> 00:19:53.915
  • And that leads to the third principle: waiting on god
  • 00:19:53.915 --> 00:19:57.919
  • Produces spiritual maturity.
  • 00:19:57.919 --> 00:20:01.356
  • Waiting on god produces spiritual maturity.
  • 00:20:01.356 --> 00:20:04.426
  • There is a difference between belief and trust.
  • 00:20:04.426 --> 00:20:08.497
  • You can believe in an instant, like abraham did.
  • 00:20:08.497 --> 00:20:10.999
  • He believed god's promise and his faith was counted
  • 00:20:10.999 --> 00:20:13.635
  • As righteousness.
  • 00:20:13.635 --> 00:20:14.970
  • That was instantaneous, but there's a difference between
  • 00:20:14.970 --> 00:20:17.706
  • Belief and trust.
  • 00:20:17.706 --> 00:20:19.641
  • Trust doesn't happen in a moment.
  • 00:20:19.641 --> 00:20:21.510
  • It's developed over many, many years.
  • 00:20:21.510 --> 00:20:24.446
  • Psalm 37, verse 5 says: "commit your way to the lord, and trust
  • 00:20:24.446 --> 00:20:29.484
  • Also in him, and he will do it."
  • 00:20:29.484 --> 00:20:32.287
  • God wants to develop trust in your heart, and that only
  • 00:20:32.287 --> 00:20:36.725
  • Happens over a period of time.
  • 00:20:36.725 --> 00:20:39.361
  • Now, listen to this.
  • 00:20:39.361 --> 00:20:40.696
  • You know how i would have ended the story if i were writing it?
  • 00:20:40.696 --> 00:20:43.699
  • I would have said, "hagar gave birth to ishmael and, lo and
  • 00:20:43.699 --> 00:20:48.570
  • Behold, the next month, sarah discovered she was pregnant too
  • 00:20:48.570 --> 00:20:53.775
  • And 9 months later she gave birth and they all lived under
  • 00:20:53.775 --> 00:20:57.546
  • The same tent together forever and ever, happily."
  • 00:20:57.546 --> 00:21:01.616
  • That's not how the story ends.
  • 00:21:01.616 --> 00:21:04.152
  • Yes, ishmael was born when abraham was 86.
  • 00:21:04.152 --> 00:21:09.291
  • But sarah wasn't pregnant.
  • 00:21:09.291 --> 00:21:11.093
  • She didn't get pregnant the next year, the next year, the
  • 00:21:11.093 --> 00:21:14.696
  • Next year.
  • 00:21:14.696 --> 00:21:16.465
  • After a decade, she was still waiting.
  • 00:21:16.465 --> 00:21:18.934
  • It was 14 years after ishmael was born that the promise was
  • 00:21:18.934 --> 00:21:25.140
  • Finally fulfilled.
  • 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.176
  • Abraham and sarah had to wait, but never forget this.
  • 00:21:28.176 --> 00:21:32.114
  • Waiting time isn't wasted time.
  • 00:21:32.114 --> 00:21:36.184
  • God uses waiting time to prepare us for the future, and he was
  • 00:21:36.184 --> 00:21:40.689
  • Using those 14 years to develop abraham's trust so that abraham
  • 00:21:40.689 --> 00:21:46.862
  • Could respond to the greatest test he would ever face in his
  • 00:21:46.862 --> 00:21:50.265
  • Life in genesis chapter 22, the offering of isaac as
  • 00:21:50.265 --> 00:21:55.203
  • A sacrifice.
  • 00:21:55.203 --> 00:21:57.472
  • God's doing something in your life as well.
  • 00:21:57.472 --> 00:21:59.674
  • Remember, god is much more interested in what happens in
  • 00:21:59.674 --> 00:22:04.813
  • You than what happens to you.
  • 00:22:04.813 --> 00:22:07.516
  • There's not one circumstance happening to you right now that
  • 00:22:07.516 --> 00:22:11.186
  • God couldn't change in an instant if he wanted to.
  • 00:22:11.186 --> 00:22:14.156
  • No, he's interested in what's happening in you.
  • 00:22:14.156 --> 00:22:17.959
  • Waiting time isn't wasted time.
  • 00:22:17.959 --> 00:22:20.929
  • Isn't that what isaiah the prophet said?
  • 00:22:20.929 --> 00:22:23.665
  • "those who wait upon the lord shall gain new strength; they
  • 00:22:23.665 --> 00:22:30.038
  • Shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not
  • 00:22:30.038 --> 00:22:34.209
  • Get tired, they shall walk and not become weary."
  • 00:22:34.209 --> 00:22:38.613
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:44.352
  • Jeffress: i hope this promise of god encourages you today.
  • 00:22:44.352 --> 00:22:47.989
  • As you wait patiently on god, you will gain new strength.
  • 00:22:47.989 --> 00:22:52.894
  • Well, the bible doesn't gloss over family problems.
  • 00:22:52.894 --> 00:22:56.031
  • In fact, in abraham's family we can point to the obvious
  • 00:22:56.031 --> 00:22:59.334
  • Dysfunction that plagued them.
  • 00:22:59.334 --> 00:23:01.403
  • And yet god's healing power and forgiveness wiped away
  • 00:23:01.403 --> 00:23:04.940
  • Their transgressions.
  • 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:06.675
  • Let me give you a current day example from beth who watches
  • 00:23:06.675 --> 00:23:10.078
  • "pathway to victory" from south carolina.
  • 00:23:10.078 --> 00:23:12.747
  • She wrote, "pastor jeffress, 'pathway to victory'
  • 00:23:12.747 --> 00:23:15.250
  • Is doing a great job nurturing and helping
  • 00:23:15.250 --> 00:23:18.053
  • People like me!
  • 00:23:18.053 --> 00:23:19.621
  • I grew up with an abusive mother and many other
  • 00:23:19.621 --> 00:23:22.224
  • Negative things happened to me that caused me to
  • 00:23:22.224 --> 00:23:24.726
  • Question my self-worth.
  • 00:23:24.726 --> 00:23:27.095
  • But there was a day when i was told about jesus,
  • 00:23:27.095 --> 00:23:30.165
  • And that's when my life began to turn around.
  • 00:23:30.165 --> 00:23:33.435
  • Please keep up the good work!"
  • 00:23:33.435 --> 00:23:35.971
  • Well, thank you, beth, and let me extend beth's thanks to all
  • 00:23:35.971 --> 00:23:39.608
  • Of you who support "pathway to victory."
  • 00:23:39.608 --> 00:23:42.577
  • This is the kind of impact you're having.
  • 00:23:42.577 --> 00:23:45.614
  • Now, please stay right there.
  • 00:23:45.614 --> 00:23:47.382
  • I'll be back with more in just a moment.
  • 00:23:47.382 --> 00:23:51.086
  • Jeffress: the story of abraham is a invitation to come back to
  • 00:23:51.086 --> 00:23:56.091
  • The altar of god.
  • 00:23:56.091 --> 00:23:58.827
  • He fell into disobedience and ultimately disgrace.
  • 00:23:58.827 --> 00:24:05.467
  • Repentance begins with a change of mind that says, "i don't want
  • 00:24:05.467 --> 00:24:08.770
  • To keep going this direction."
  • 00:24:08.770 --> 00:24:11.106
  • And that's what abraham did.
  • 00:24:11.106 --> 00:24:13.875
  • Picture right now a challenge you're facing.
  • 00:24:13.875 --> 00:24:17.812
  • It may be a challenge with a child or a grandchild.
  • 00:24:17.812 --> 00:24:21.583
  • It may be a financial need.
  • 00:24:21.583 --> 00:24:24.085
  • It might be a physical problem with you or somebody you
  • 00:24:24.085 --> 00:24:27.289
  • Care about.
  • 00:24:27.289 --> 00:24:28.957
  • Do you believe the same god who's been faithful in the past
  • 00:24:28.957 --> 00:24:31.993
  • To you will be faithful to you now?
  • 00:24:31.993 --> 00:24:34.796
  • Is god still alive?
  • 00:24:34.796 --> 00:24:36.665
  • Is god still working?
  • 00:24:36.665 --> 00:24:38.667
  • Can you really trust in god?
  • 00:24:38.667 --> 00:24:42.337
  • The one quality god admires, god desires more than any other
  • 00:24:42.337 --> 00:24:48.043
  • Quality in our life, is faith.
  • 00:24:48.043 --> 00:24:51.813
  • What is faith?
  • 00:24:51.813 --> 00:24:53.415
  • It's believing that god will do what he has promised to do and
  • 00:24:53.415 --> 00:24:58.086
  • Acting accordingly.
  • 00:24:58.086 --> 00:25:03.592
  • If the story of abraham tells us anything, it tells us this.
  • 00:25:03.592 --> 00:25:07.929
  • It doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter how far
  • 00:25:07.929 --> 00:25:10.465
  • You've drifted away from god.
  • 00:25:10.465 --> 00:25:13.234
  • You can come back.
  • 00:25:13.234 --> 00:25:14.636
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:25:14.636 --> 00:25:20.408
  • Jeffress: it's one thing to say that you trust god completely,
  • 00:25:22.544 --> 00:25:25.747
  • But demonstrating your faith in action is something
  • 00:25:25.747 --> 00:25:29.050
  • Entirely different.
  • 00:25:29.050 --> 00:25:30.418
  • It requires learning to walk with god rather than sprint
  • 00:25:30.418 --> 00:25:34.022
  • Ahead of him.
  • 00:25:34.022 --> 00:25:35.390
  • Next time we're going to discover what it means to
  • 00:25:35.390 --> 00:25:37.792
  • Develop that steady, faithful walk with our heavenly father.
  • 00:25:37.792 --> 00:25:42.130
  • We'll explore four essential components of walking with god
  • 00:25:42.130 --> 00:25:45.734
  • That will transform your relationship with him.
  • 00:25:45.734 --> 00:25:48.870
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:25:48.870 --> 00:25:51.172
  • Series "walking by faith."
  • 00:25:51.172 --> 00:25:54.576
  • Jeffress: you see, walking is the most common metaphor in the
  • 00:25:54.576 --> 00:25:57.979
  • Bible for our relationship with god.
  • 00:25:57.979 --> 00:26:01.182
  • That's what the christian life is.
  • 00:26:01.182 --> 00:26:03.084
  • It's going the same direction, obeying god over a period of
  • 00:26:03.084 --> 00:26:06.855
  • Time, and when you do that, you end up at your
  • 00:26:06.855 --> 00:26:09.457
  • Desired destination.
  • 00:26:09.457 --> 00:26:12.460
  • What's involved with walking with god?
  • 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.797
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for the message,
  • 00:26:15.797 --> 00:26:18.933
  • "walking with your god," here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:26:18.933 --> 00:26:22.904
  • Jeffress: each of us will leave a legacy.
  • 00:26:26.775 --> 00:26:29.611
  • What will your legacy be?
  • 00:26:29.611 --> 00:26:32.013
  • Your legacy giving can further the gospel and be an example to
  • 00:26:32.013 --> 00:26:35.850
  • Your children about what matters most in life.
  • 00:26:35.850 --> 00:26:39.754
  • The world my daughters and grandchildren are growing up in
  • 00:26:39.754 --> 00:26:43.324
  • Is vastly different than the one you and i grew up in.
  • 00:26:43.324 --> 00:26:46.861
  • The gospel of jesus christ is our only answer,
  • 00:26:46.861 --> 00:26:51.066
  • And naming "pathway to victory" as a beneficiary in your will
  • 00:26:51.066 --> 00:26:55.303
  • Helps guarantee that there will be a trusted ministry that will
  • 00:26:55.303 --> 00:26:59.174
  • Continue to be salt and light.
  • 00:26:59.174 --> 00:27:02.077
  • Like the ripples that emanate from a rock thrown into a pond,
  • 00:27:02.077 --> 00:27:06.081
  • Your influence for christ can keep going on and on after you
  • 00:27:06.081 --> 00:27:10.418
  • Die with a gift in your will.
  • 00:27:10.418 --> 00:27:13.288
  • What will your legacy be?
  • 00:27:13.288 --> 00:27:15.724
  • Only one life will soon be passed,
  • 00:27:15.724 --> 00:27:19.327
  • Only what's done for christ will last.
  • 00:27:19.327 --> 00:27:19.327