Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - When Mr. Goldfinger Comes To Church | August 13, 2025
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- ♪♪♪
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- Male announcer: from the pulpit
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- Of the first baptist church of dallas, texas,
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- This is "pathway to victory" with dr. robert jeffress.
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- Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
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- Again to "pathway to victory."
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- In restaurants, shops, and sadly, even churches, we often
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- See preferential treatment given to those who seem wealthy
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- Or important.
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- The well dressed get the best tables.
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- The poorly dressed get pushed to the side.
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- But god's house should be different.
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- Today we're going to learn that how we treat those
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- Who are less fortunate is a test of genuine faith.
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- My message is titled "when mr. goldfinger comes to church" on
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- Today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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- ♪♪♪
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- Male announcer: where there's genuine faith, there will always
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- Be visible fruit.
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- In his brand new book "how to know if you're really saved,"
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- Dr. robert jeffress helps you take stock of the evidence of
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- Your faith, the spiritual fruit in your daily life.
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- This outstanding verse by verse walk through the book of james
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- Will help you cultivate the spiritual fruit that reflects
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- Genuine faith.
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- Request "how to know if you're really saved" when you give a
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- Generous gift to support the ministry of pathway to victory.
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- ♪♪♪
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- Jeffress: pastor kent hughes tells a story about a woman who
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- Came from the other side of the tracks, as we used to say.
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- She was economically disadvantaged, but she started
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- Attending a wealthy church.
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- She liked the singing, she liked the preaching, and decided she
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- Wanted to join, so she made an appointment with the pastor and
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- The pastor gave her the once over, decided this wasn't gonna
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- Be a match, so he tried to be diplomatic and said, "you know,
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- Church membership is very important.
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- Why don't you go home and think about it a little bit more?"
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- So she did and she came back the next week, determined to join
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- And said she wanted to join and the pastor said, "well, you
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- Know, in our church we prioritize the word of god and
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- We think the bible has a lot to say.
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- I want you to go home and every day of the week, read a chapter
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- Of the bible and see if god has something to say to you."
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- She was getting annoyed, but she wanted to join, so she did that.
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- She came back assured that she wanted to join and the pastor
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- Said, "you know, in our church we believe in the power
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- Of prayer.
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- We believe that god leads through prayer, so i want you to
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- Go back home and every day pray if god really wants you to join
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- To show you."
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- Where she left and never came back.
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- About six months later, the pastor found her on the sidewalk
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- And ran into her and said, "did you ever do what i said?
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- Did you ever pray about joining our church?"
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- She said, "oh yes, i prayed about joining it, and the lord
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- Spoke to me and said, 'don't worry about not getting into
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- That church.
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- I haven't been able to get into it for the last 20 years.'"
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- How do we deal with those less fortunate than we
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- Are economically?
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- Turn in your bibles to james chapter 2.
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- Beginning with verse 1, james begins with the exhortation.
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- Look at what the text says: "my brethren, do not hold your faith
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- In our glorious lord jesus christ with an attitude of
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- Personal favoritism."
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- That phrase, my brethren, is rich.
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- It comes from a single greek word adelphoi, adelphos.
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- The word adelphos is sometimes translated brotherly.
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- We call philadelphia, the city of brotherly adelphos, love,
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- Phileo, but the word adelphos actually means literally, "from
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- The same womb."
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- Brothers are brothers because they have a common mother.
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- It's the same way with christian brothers and sisters.
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- James says, remember what it is that unites us in the church of
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- Jesus christ.
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- It's not our economic status.
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- It's not some superficial criterion.
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- It is our love for jesus christ and his love for us.
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- So he says, "my brethren, don't hold your faith in jesus with an
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- Attitude of personal faith favoritism," literally, "to
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- Receive by face," to judge by face value alone.
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- If you have a king james version that says, "don't be a respecter
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- Of persons."
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- That phrase was immediately recognizable to james's
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- Jewish audience.
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- For throughout the old testament, there was a
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- Prohibition against being a respecter of persons.
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- Because god is not a respecter of persons.
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- He doesn't judge people according to superficial values
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- That they have little control over.
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- Look at this situation in verse 2: "for if a man comes into
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- Your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and
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- There also comes a poor man in dirty clothes..."
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- Now this hypothetical situation, james says if somebody comes
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- Into your church in greek, that's in the third class
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- Condition meaning it's a theoretical situation that
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- Probably isn't going to happen.
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- It was unlikely that unbelievers would ever come into a church.
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- That rarely happened, by the way, it really rarely
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- Happens today.
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- There's some, but they're not that many unbelievers that come
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- To church.
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- He said, but if by chance a man comes into your assembly with a
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- Gold ring and dressed in fine clothes.
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- Now that word translated gold ring literally means he's
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- "gold fingered."
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- That's where my sermon title came not from the "james bond"
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- Movie, but from the gold fingered man, and he doesn't
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- Just have one ring on, he has a ring for each one of the fingers
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- On his left hand.
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- You see, the rings you have, the number and the quality was a
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- Measure of your wealth.
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- In fact, in james's day there were stores you could go to to
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- Rent rings, rent a ring.
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- Notice the two responses.
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- You say to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, verse
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- 3, "you sit here in a good place.
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- I want you to have the best seats in the house."
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- Now in a baptist church, the best seats in the house are
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- Back there.
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- That's where most people fight to get in the back row or on the
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- Mezzanine, but it wasn't that way in biblical times.
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- The best seats were down front.
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- They were the chief seats.
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- They were a row of seats that faced the congregation and
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- Behind those seats would be the ark that would carry your copies
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- Of the scroll or the scrolls themselves that would be read
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- Of scripture.
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- So a person would be paraded down to the front.
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- And the usher would say, "you sit here."
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- It's the same kind of seat that jesus talked about in matthew
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- 23:6, the chief seats.
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- But the second visitor, what does he say?
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- The usher says, "we don't have room for you, or at least go
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- Stand over there.
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- If you really have to sit down, sit not on the footstool of
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- Somebody else, sit by the footstool."
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- To the congregation, this man in soiled clothing was an
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- Inconvenience to be quickly dealt with and gotten rid of.
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- What's not right is to honor somebody and mistreat another
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- Person at the same time.
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- You should never favor anybody in the church when it results in
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- Disfavoring somebody else.
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- Now the explanation, here's what's wrong with that.
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- James says, "have you not made distinctions among yourselves,
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- Or become judges with evil motives?"
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- This is a common theme in the letter of james, being a
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- Double-minded person.
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- A double-minded person is somebody who professes to
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- Believe one thing but acts in a way completely contrary to what
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- He or she professes.
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- In james 1:7-8, james says, "for that man ought not to expect
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- That he will receive anything from the lord, being a
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- Double-minded man unstabled in all his ways."
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- To favor the rich subjugates the plan of god.
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- It subjugates, it contradicts, it undermines the plan of god
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- When we favor the rich.
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- What plan am i talking about?
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- Well, james goes on to say, you need to remember that when that
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- Poor man enters your church, he is not poor because of some
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- Deficiency on his part.
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- Most of the time the reason a person is poor and the reason a
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- Person is rich is because of the sovereignty of god.
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- God controls every aspect of our life.
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- He has a plan for us that was written before the foundation of
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- The world, psalm 139 says.
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- And part of god's plan includes the size of our bank account.
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- Now some of you are just arguing already in your heart
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- About that.
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- Listen to what james says in james 2:5: listen, my beloved
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- Brethren: did god not choose the poor of this world to be rich in
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- Faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who
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- Love him?
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- God had a plan for the poor, and that way they would be rich in
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- The kingdom doesn't mean being poor, makes you a christian, but
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- It gives you a better shot at it.
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- It's a lot easier for poor people to become saved than rich
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- People, jesus said.
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- The rich are self-sufficient many times, not all the times,
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- But many times, but the poor have an awareness of their need.
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- If you don't believe that, listen to job 34, verse 19
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- Talking about god it says,
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- "he shows no partiality to the princes, nor
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- Regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the," what,
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- "the work of his hands."
- 00:10:56.367 --> 00:10:58.770
- Both the poor and the rich are the work of god's hands.
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- In 1 corinthians 1, verses 26
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- To 29, listen to what paul said.
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- He said, "for consider your calling, brethren, that there
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- Are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not
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- Many noble."
- 00:11:15.854 --> 00:11:17.188
- He's saying do a look around your congregation, corinthians.
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- Have you noticed there are not that many wise people there, at
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- Least according to the flesh?
- 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:26.397
- They don't have earthly credentials.
- 00:11:26.397 --> 00:11:28.967
- You know, it used to bother me to death--
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- When i read a statistic that the overwhelming number of
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- Scientists are atheists, did you know that?
- 00:11:35.607 --> 00:11:39.410
- The vast majority of scientists are atheists, and that used to
- 00:11:39.410 --> 00:11:42.947
- Bother me because i thought, you know, what is it about the study
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- Of science that made them atheist?
- 00:11:46.417 --> 00:11:48.753
- Have they discovered some secret about the nonexistence of god?
- 00:11:48.753 --> 00:11:54.092
- And then it came to me one day.
- 00:11:54.092 --> 00:11:56.995
- It's not that scientists become atheists, it's that atheists who
- 00:11:56.995 --> 00:12:01.900
- Have disavowed a belief in god tend to become scientists.
- 00:12:01.900 --> 00:12:06.905
- If they want to find an alternate system that explains
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- Why everything around this exists.
- 00:12:10.508 --> 00:12:14.245
- That's why you don't find a lot of people with certain degrees
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- In the church of jesus christ.
- 00:12:19.317 --> 00:12:21.352
- They're not that many noble.
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- They're not that many wealthy either, paul said.
- 00:12:23.354 --> 00:12:27.926
- I mean if i were to ask all of the millionaires and
- 00:12:27.926 --> 00:12:32.030
- Billionaires to stand up, there'd be some, but not many,
- 00:12:32.030 --> 00:12:36.067
- Because that's not god's plan.
- 00:12:36.067 --> 00:12:38.436
- No, god has chosen "the base things of the world," paul said,
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- "and the despised god has chosen, the things that are not,
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- That he may nullify the things that are."
- 00:12:47.645 --> 00:12:50.815
- To favor the rich contradicts the plan of god.
- 00:12:50.815 --> 00:12:54.385
- Secondly, to favor the rich violates logic.
- 00:12:54.385 --> 00:12:58.156
- Listen to verse 6 and 7, james said: "is it not the rich who
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- Oppress you and personally drag you into court?
- 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.530
- Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have
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- Been called?"
- 00:13:08.499 --> 00:13:09.868
- James is saying, why do you want
- 00:13:09.868 --> 00:13:11.202
- To favor those people who oppress you?
- 00:13:11.202 --> 00:13:14.038
- Well we'll see in this third reason, to favor the rich
- 00:13:14.038 --> 00:13:19.043
- Demonstrates a lack of faith.
- 00:13:19.043 --> 00:13:20.511
- Verse 8: "if, however, you are fulfilling the royal law
- 00:13:20.511 --> 00:13:25.016
- According to scripture, 'you shall love your neighbor
- 00:13:25.016 --> 00:13:27.685
- As yourself.'
- 00:13:27.685 --> 00:13:29.020
- You are doing well."
- 00:13:29.020 --> 00:13:30.388
- All of the scriptures about how we treat others could be summed
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- Up with that phrase: love other people the same way you
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- Love yourself.
- 00:13:38.062 --> 00:13:39.430
- Why do we have trouble with that?
- 00:13:39.430 --> 00:13:41.199
- Why do we naturally gravitate toward favoring the powerful and
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- The wealthy?
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- We think they're gonna protect us.
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- They don't determine your future.
- 00:13:48.973 --> 00:13:51.175
- God determines your future.
- 00:13:51.175 --> 00:13:53.811
- That's why jesus said in matthew 10:28: "do not fear those who
- 00:13:53.811 --> 00:13:57.982
- Kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear
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- Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
- 00:14:02.520 --> 00:14:07.825
- Focus on god, not other people.
- 00:14:07.825 --> 00:14:11.562
- And that leads to the application for us today.
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- What's the application of this passage?
- 00:14:14.666 --> 00:14:17.669
- Some of you are tempted to think, "man, showing favoritism.
- 00:14:17.669 --> 00:14:22.707
- Why a whole sermon on this?
- 00:14:22.707 --> 00:14:24.509
- This is much ado about nothing."
- 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:28.880
- When i was growing up, my father had a hobby.
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- He rebuilt volkswagens and our backyard was strewn with
- 00:14:32.317 --> 00:14:37.221
- Volkswagens half-finished, but every now and then he would
- 00:14:37.221 --> 00:14:41.359
- Finish one and he had his newest volkswagen parked out in front
- 00:14:41.359 --> 00:14:46.664
- Of our house in richardson.
- 00:14:46.664 --> 00:14:48.466
- And one day he heard a knock at the door, he opened the door and
- 00:14:48.466 --> 00:14:52.470
- It was a richardson policeman and the policeman asked,
- 00:14:52.470 --> 00:14:56.541
- "who owns that volkswagen out front?"
- 00:14:56.541 --> 00:14:59.677
- And my dad got excited thinking he had a potential customer on
- 00:14:59.677 --> 00:15:03.348
- The hook, said, "well, it belongs to me."
- 00:15:03.348 --> 00:15:05.216
- He said, "fine," and he wrote him out a ticket.
- 00:15:05.216 --> 00:15:08.519
- You know what the ticket was for?
- 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.455
- My dad in his repainting of the volkswagen got a little bit of
- 00:15:10.455 --> 00:15:14.292
- Paint on the license plate and he got a ticket for his efforts.
- 00:15:14.292 --> 00:15:19.097
- My dad was furious.
- 00:15:19.097 --> 00:15:21.699
- I'll never forget, he went into a rant about why can't the
- 00:15:21.699 --> 00:15:25.403
- Police spend time hunting down the murderers and the rapists
- 00:15:25.403 --> 00:15:28.539
- And the bank thieves instead of giving tickets to people because
- 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:31.342
- Of paint on a license plate?
- 00:15:31.342 --> 00:15:33.244
- What a small thing.
- 00:15:33.244 --> 00:15:34.612
- Well, we kind of think that way about this sin of favoritism.
- 00:15:34.612 --> 00:15:38.549
- Why the big deal?
- 00:15:38.549 --> 00:15:39.884
- Why not james talk about really big sins instead of little sins?
- 00:15:39.884 --> 00:15:45.690
- The answer, he says in verses 9 and
- 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:47.959
- 10, is because there is no such thing as a little sin.
- 00:15:47.959 --> 00:15:52.630
- Look at this: "if you show partiality, you're committing
- 00:15:52.630 --> 00:15:56.167
- Sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- 00:15:56.167 --> 00:16:00.872
- For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point,
- 00:16:00.872 --> 00:16:07.745
- He has become guilty of all."
- 00:16:07.745 --> 00:16:11.182
- Pop quiz.
- 00:16:11.182 --> 00:16:12.950
- Anybody know how many laws moses had in the old testament?
- 00:16:12.950 --> 00:16:19.424
- Six hundred and thirteen.
- 00:16:19.424 --> 00:16:21.993
- There are 613 laws.
- 00:16:21.993 --> 00:16:23.961
- I want you to imagine a giant chain with 613 links in it, a
- 00:16:23.961 --> 00:16:31.069
- Chain that is used to keep a luxury ocean liner harbored at
- 00:16:31.069 --> 00:16:36.207
- A pier.
- 00:16:36.207 --> 00:16:37.542
- It's held there by these 613 chains in a chain--links in
- 00:16:37.542 --> 00:16:43.648
- A chain.
- 00:16:43.648 --> 00:16:44.982
- How many links would you have to break to set that entire
- 00:16:44.982 --> 00:16:48.486
- Ship adrift?
- 00:16:48.486 --> 00:16:50.088
- Only one.
- 00:16:50.088 --> 00:16:52.123
- One link broken and the ship is lost.
- 00:16:52.123 --> 00:16:56.828
- It's the same way with god's law.
- 00:16:56.828 --> 00:16:59.464
- All you have to do, james says, is stumble in one point of the
- 00:16:59.464 --> 00:17:03.468
- Law and before god you're guilty.
- 00:17:03.468 --> 00:17:06.971
- You see, god doesn't grade us on the curve.
- 00:17:06.971 --> 00:17:10.374
- He doesn't say you may not be perfect, but you're better than
- 00:17:10.374 --> 00:17:12.877
- This person.
- 00:17:12.877 --> 00:17:14.245
- We don't get graded on a curve.
- 00:17:14.245 --> 00:17:16.180
- It is an absolute standard.
- 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:18.616
- It's a standard that paul mentions in galatians 3:10.
- 00:17:18.616 --> 00:17:21.919
- He says, "for as many as are the works of the law are under a
- 00:17:21.919 --> 00:17:25.890
- Curse: for it is written, 'cursed is everyone who does not
- 00:17:25.890 --> 00:17:29.861
- Abide by,' some, "'things written in the book'"?
- 00:17:29.861 --> 00:17:32.430
- No.
- 00:17:32.430 --> 00:17:34.031
- Most things written in the book?
- 00:17:34.031 --> 00:17:35.733
- No.
- 00:17:35.733 --> 00:17:37.101
- "'cursed is the person who does not abide by all things written
- 00:17:37.101 --> 00:17:42.907
- In the law to perform them.'"
- 00:17:42.907 --> 00:17:46.110
- You have to be absolutely perfect to go to heaven when
- 00:17:46.110 --> 00:17:51.716
- You die.
- 00:17:51.716 --> 00:17:53.684
- Never a wrong action, never a wrong attitude, never a wrong
- 00:17:53.684 --> 00:17:58.523
- Word, never a wrong thought.
- 00:17:58.523 --> 00:18:00.424
- Cursed is you and me if we do not keep all things in the book.
- 00:18:00.424 --> 00:18:05.863
- Well, who in the world can meet that standard?
- 00:18:05.863 --> 00:18:10.401
- No one, and that's the point.
- 00:18:10.401 --> 00:18:14.038
- All of us have sinned, some more than others, but it
- 00:18:14.038 --> 00:18:17.141
- Doesn't matter.
- 00:18:17.141 --> 00:18:18.509
- All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god, and
- 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:22.013
- That's why we all need a savior, the lord jesus christ.
- 00:18:22.013 --> 00:18:26.517
- When christ came and died on the cross, he came to offer
- 00:18:26.517 --> 00:18:30.721
- Forgiveness from all of our sins.
- 00:18:30.721 --> 00:18:35.326
- To draw favor to one person over another, to judge somebody based
- 00:18:35.326 --> 00:18:41.966
- On external circumstances like their net worth over which they
- 00:18:41.966 --> 00:18:46.504
- Have no control is a complete violation of what james is
- 00:18:46.504 --> 00:18:51.676
- Telling us.
- 00:18:51.676 --> 00:18:53.077
- Three principles i want to share with you.
- 00:18:53.077 --> 00:18:56.047
- First of all, to show preference to others is contrary to the
- 00:18:56.047 --> 00:19:00.484
- Nature of god.
- 00:19:00.484 --> 00:19:02.119
- You know, we call the church the body of christ.
- 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:06.857
- The head, jesus is in heaven, but we are his body, paul said.
- 00:19:06.857 --> 00:19:13.197
- And that means what unbelievers see is not jesus the head, they
- 00:19:13.197 --> 00:19:17.735
- Can only see his body that's you and me in the church and how
- 00:19:17.735 --> 00:19:23.174
- They feel about god is largely determined by what they think
- 00:19:23.174 --> 00:19:27.211
- About us.
- 00:19:27.211 --> 00:19:28.679
- If we act with partiality, they think god is partial to
- 00:19:28.679 --> 00:19:33.618
- Superficial criterion.
- 00:19:33.618 --> 00:19:37.288
- Secondly, to show preference toward the rich prioritizes the
- 00:19:37.288 --> 00:19:41.859
- Material over the spiritual.
- 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:44.161
- When we in the church show preference toward the rich, it
- 00:19:44.161 --> 00:19:48.065
- Prioritizes the material over the spiritual.
- 00:19:48.065 --> 00:19:52.470
- The great theologian madonna said it this way: "we live in a
- 00:19:52.470 --> 00:20:01.512
- Material world."
- 00:20:01.512 --> 00:20:04.482
- I shouldn't have said that.
- 00:20:04.482 --> 00:20:05.816
- That's all you're going to think about now is--
- 00:20:05.816 --> 00:20:08.986
- But isn't that true?
- 00:20:08.986 --> 00:20:10.321
- We live in a material world.
- 00:20:10.321 --> 00:20:12.857
- We live in a material world, and we get it crammed down our
- 00:20:12.857 --> 00:20:15.793
- Throats six days a week.
- 00:20:15.793 --> 00:20:18.696
- People ought to have a day of the week they come and see the
- 00:20:18.696 --> 00:20:22.700
- World as god sees it.
- 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:24.735
- It's not about the material.
- 00:20:24.735 --> 00:20:26.170
- It's not about keeping up with the joneses.
- 00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:28.639
- It's about our relationship with god.
- 00:20:28.639 --> 00:20:32.343
- Finally, to show preference to the rich prioritizes the
- 00:20:32.343 --> 00:20:37.014
- Temporal over the eternal.
- 00:20:37.014 --> 00:20:40.017
- One of the constant themes in the letter of james is how
- 00:20:40.017 --> 00:20:43.988
- Fleeting riches really are.
- 00:20:43.988 --> 00:20:46.924
- In verses 10 to 11 of chapter 1, james says, "and the rich man is
- 00:20:46.924 --> 00:20:51.462
- The glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass, he
- 00:20:51.462 --> 00:20:57.368
- Will pass away.
- 00:20:57.368 --> 00:20:59.036
- For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the
- 00:20:59.036 --> 00:21:02.273
- Grass; and its flowers fall off and the beauty of its appearance
- 00:21:02.273 --> 00:21:06.444
- Is destroyed, so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits
- 00:21:06.444 --> 00:21:12.350
- Will fade away."
- 00:21:12.350 --> 00:21:14.652
- An old southern preacher said it this way, "our lives is
- 00:21:14.652 --> 00:21:17.988
- Like grass.
- 00:21:17.988 --> 00:21:19.790
- It is sown, it is grown, it is mown, and then it's gon'."
- 00:21:19.790 --> 00:21:28.332
- That's not just grass, that's us.
- 00:21:28.332 --> 00:21:31.836
- If you're rich today, don't get too excited about your wealth.
- 00:21:31.836 --> 00:21:37.174
- If you're poor today, don't despair over your poverty
- 00:21:37.174 --> 00:21:40.745
- Because your economic status, whether rich or poor, is
- 00:21:40.745 --> 00:21:44.315
- Very temporary.
- 00:21:44.315 --> 00:21:46.350
- It's all going to be left behind and the church's responsibility
- 00:21:46.350 --> 00:21:52.223
- Is to show people, to help people prioritize that which is
- 00:21:52.223 --> 00:21:56.327
- Eternal over that which is temporal.
- 00:21:56.327 --> 00:21:59.563
- Paul said it this way in 1 timothy 6:17.
- 00:21:59.563 --> 00:22:02.299
- He said, "instruct those who are rich in this present world not
- 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:07.671
- To be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of
- 00:22:07.671 --> 00:22:12.143
- Riches, but on god who richly supplies us with all things
- 00:22:12.143 --> 00:22:17.448
- To enjoy."
- 00:22:17.448 --> 00:22:19.884
- D.l. moody, the great evangelist
- 00:22:19.884 --> 00:22:21.519
- Said it this way, "trust in yourself,
- 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.189
- And you're doomed to disappointment.
- 00:22:25.189 --> 00:22:28.359
- Trust in your friends, and they may leave you or die.
- 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:32.963
- Trust in your riches, and they may be taken from you.
- 00:22:32.963 --> 00:22:37.735
- Trust in your reputation, and some slanderous tongue may
- 00:22:37.735 --> 00:22:41.605
- Destroy it.
- 00:22:41.605 --> 00:22:43.541
- But trust in god, and you'll never be confounded in time
- 00:22:43.541 --> 00:22:48.512
- Or eternity."
- 00:22:48.512 --> 00:22:51.315
- James says, "if you have authentic saving faith, you
- 00:22:51.315 --> 00:22:57.021
- Will prioritize the spiritual over the material; the eternal
- 00:22:57.021 --> 00:23:02.827
- Over the temporal."
- 00:23:02.827 --> 00:23:04.195
- ♪♪♪
- 00:23:04.862 --> 00:23:09.633
- Jeffress: james reminds us that authentic faith doesn't
- 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.703
- Play favorites.
- 00:23:12.703 --> 00:23:14.071
- When we truly understand god's impartial love, we'll treat
- 00:23:14.071 --> 00:23:18.275
- Everyone who enters our church with equal dignity and respect.
- 00:23:18.275 --> 00:23:22.646
- I want to thank those of you who support pathway to victory
- 00:23:22.646 --> 00:23:25.449
- Through your faithful giving, especially our pathway partners.
- 00:23:25.449 --> 00:23:29.787
- Your generosity enables us to broadcast the unchanging truth
- 00:23:29.787 --> 00:23:33.691
- Of god's word to millions of people every week.
- 00:23:33.691 --> 00:23:37.294
- Through television, radio, and digital streaming, we're
- 00:23:37.294 --> 00:23:40.431
- Reaching into homes, automobiles, and workplaces with
- 00:23:40.431 --> 00:23:44.034
- The transforming power of the gospel.
- 00:23:44.034 --> 00:23:47.338
- Every day we receive testimonies from viewers whose lives have
- 00:23:47.338 --> 00:23:51.175
- Been touched by this ministry and it's all possible because of
- 00:23:51.175 --> 00:23:55.179
- Partners like you.
- 00:23:55.179 --> 00:23:57.248
- Thank you for helping us pierce the darkness with the light of
- 00:23:57.248 --> 00:24:00.718
- God's word.
- 00:24:00.718 --> 00:24:02.119
- Stay right there, i'll be back with more "pathway to victory"
- 00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:05.256
- In just a moment.
- 00:24:05.256 --> 00:24:06.690
- Male announcer: every believer wants to see clear evidence of
- 00:24:08.893 --> 00:24:11.495
- Their spiritual growth and discover the fruit that god is
- 00:24:11.495 --> 00:24:14.765
- Producing in their lives.
- 00:24:14.765 --> 00:24:16.700
- Dr. robert jeffress shows you exactly how to recognize that
- 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:20.237
- Fruit in his brand new book "how to know if you're really saved."
- 00:24:20.237 --> 00:24:24.308
- Jeffress: the book of james teaches us that the christian
- 00:24:24.375 --> 00:24:26.777
- Life is about more than just knowing god's word, it's about
- 00:24:26.777 --> 00:24:30.948
- Living it out.
- 00:24:30.948 --> 00:24:32.283
- In my new book "how to know if you're really saved," i'll walk
- 00:24:32.283 --> 00:24:35.252
- You through what it truly means to be a doer of the word,
- 00:24:35.252 --> 00:24:39.056
- Showing you how to respond to trials, control your speech,
- 00:24:39.056 --> 00:24:42.826
- Endure hardships, resist temptation, and so much more.
- 00:24:42.826 --> 00:24:47.865
- Male announcer: this outstanding 232-page book will help you
- 00:24:47.865 --> 00:24:50.834
- Examine the evidence of your faith and see the spiritual
- 00:24:50.834 --> 00:24:54.204
- Fruit that should be growing in your daily life.
- 00:24:54.204 --> 00:24:57.241
- Request your copy of "how to know if you're really saved"
- 00:24:57.241 --> 00:25:00.311
- When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of pathway
- 00:25:00.311 --> 00:25:03.514
- To victory, or when you become a pathway partner.
- 00:25:03.514 --> 00:25:06.717
- With your ministry gift of $75 or more, we'll send you not just
- 00:25:06.717 --> 00:25:10.821
- The book but also the personal and group study guide and the
- 00:25:10.821 --> 00:25:14.525
- Complete message series on both cd and dvd.
- 00:25:14.525 --> 00:25:17.928
- Jeffress: if you are truly saved, there's gonna be evidence
- 00:25:17.928 --> 00:25:21.365
- Of it.
- 00:25:21.365 --> 00:25:22.700
- There's some tests that you need to apply to your life.
- 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:25.936
- Male announcer: thank you for your generous support of pathway
- 00:25:25.936 --> 00:25:28.205
- To victory.
- 00:25:28.205 --> 00:25:29.540
- Your partnership helps us bring bold biblical and practical
- 00:25:29.540 --> 00:25:32.810
- Teaching into homes across the nation and around the world.
- 00:25:32.810 --> 00:25:36.213
- Jeffress: we often judge people by their appearance, their bank
- 00:25:39.550 --> 00:25:42.820
- Account, or their social status, even in the church, but god's
- 00:25:42.820 --> 00:25:47.224
- Kingdom operates by different standards.
- 00:25:47.224 --> 00:25:50.260
- God chose the poor to be rich in faith, reminding us that eternal
- 00:25:50.260 --> 00:25:54.898
- Treasures matter more than temporary wealth.
- 00:25:54.898 --> 00:25:58.902
- Well, next time we'll tackle what many call the biggest
- 00:25:58.902 --> 00:26:02.373
- Contradiction in the bible.
- 00:26:02.373 --> 00:26:04.608
- Paul says we're saved by faith alone.
- 00:26:04.608 --> 00:26:07.878
- James seems to say faith without works is dead.
- 00:26:07.878 --> 00:26:11.649
- So which one is it, or can it be both?
- 00:26:11.649 --> 00:26:14.818
- Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
- 00:26:14.818 --> 00:26:17.321
- Series "how to know if you're really saved."
- 00:26:17.321 --> 00:26:21.492
- Jeffress: but if we're honest, we would have to say that there
- 00:26:21.558 --> 00:26:24.294
- Are some passages that seem, at least at face value, to
- 00:26:24.294 --> 00:26:28.866
- Contradict one another.
- 00:26:28.866 --> 00:26:31.135
- And that is true of the passage we're going to look at today.
- 00:26:31.135 --> 00:26:35.205
- I call it the biggest contradiction in the bible.
- 00:26:35.205 --> 00:26:39.977
- Male announcer: set your dvr and
- 00:26:40.044 --> 00:26:41.378
- Join us next time for
- 00:26:41.378 --> 00:26:42.713
- The message
- 00:26:42.713 --> 00:26:44.048
- "the biggest contradiction in
- 00:26:44.048 --> 00:26:45.382
- The bible" here on "pathway
- 00:26:45.382 --> 00:26:46.717
- To victory."
- 00:26:46.717 --> 00:26:49.153
- Male announcer: witness god's glory on display in america's
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- Last frontier.
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