Robert Jeffress - When Mr. Goldfinger Comes To Church

September 10, 2025 | 29:0

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 | September 10, 2025
  • ♪♪
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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
  • 00:08:42.211 --> 00:08:46.716
  • 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?
  • 00:09:13.676 --> 00:09:15.745
  • 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
  • 00:09:27.723 --> 00:09:34.497
  • Person is rich is because of the sovereignty of god.
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  • God controls every aspect of our life.
  • 00:09:39.101 --> 00:09:42.805
  • 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?
  • 00:10:13.969 --> 00:10:15.337
  • 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
  • 00:10:19.775 --> 00:10:22.912
  • 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
  • 00:10:45.901 --> 00:10:50.139
  • Regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the," what,
  • 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:55.444
  • "the work of his hands."
  • 00:10:55.444 --> 00:10:57.847
  • Both the poor and the rich are the work of god's hands.
  • 00:10:57.847 --> 00:11:02.017
  • 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
  • 00:11:07.323 --> 00:11:10.326
  • Are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not
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  • Many noble."
  • 00:11:14.930 --> 00:11:16.265
  • 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
  • 00:11:19.101 --> 00:11:23.205
  • Least according to the flesh?
  • 00:11:23.205 --> 00:11:25.474
  • They don't have earthly credentials.
  • 00:11:25.474 --> 00:11:28.043
  • You know, it used to bother me to death--
  • 00:11:28.043 --> 00:11:30.980
  • When i read a statistic that the overwhelming number of
  • 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.683
  • Scientists are atheists, did you know that?
  • 00:11:34.683 --> 00:11:38.487
  • The vast majority of scientists are atheists, and that used to
  • 00:11:38.487 --> 00:11:42.024
  • Bother me because i thought, you know, what is it about the study
  • 00:11:42.024 --> 00:11:45.494
  • Of science that made them atheist?
  • 00:11:45.494 --> 00:11:47.830
  • Have they discovered some secret about the nonexistence of god?
  • 00:11:47.830 --> 00:11:53.169
  • And then it came to me one day.
  • 00:11:53.169 --> 00:11:56.071
  • It's not that scientists become atheists, it's that atheists who
  • 00:11:56.071 --> 00:12:00.976
  • Have disavowed a belief in god tend to become scientists.
  • 00:12:00.976 --> 00:12:05.981
  • If they want to find an alternate system that explains
  • 00:12:05.981 --> 00:12:09.585
  • Why everything around this exists.
  • 00:12:09.585 --> 00:12:13.322
  • That's why you don't find a lot of people with certain degrees
  • 00:12:13.322 --> 00:12:18.394
  • In the church of jesus christ.
  • 00:12:18.394 --> 00:12:20.429
  • They're not that many noble.
  • 00:12:20.429 --> 00:12:22.431
  • They're not that many wealthy either, paul said.
  • 00:12:22.431 --> 00:12:27.002
  • I mean if i were to ask all of the millionaires and
  • 00:12:27.002 --> 00:12:31.106
  • Billionaires to stand up, there'd be some, but not many,
  • 00:12:31.106 --> 00:12:35.144
  • Because that's not god's plan.
  • 00:12:35.144 --> 00:12:37.513
  • No, god has chosen "the base things of the world," paul said,
  • 00:12:37.513 --> 00:12:42.318
  • "and the despised god has chosen, the things that are not,
  • 00:12:42.318 --> 00:12:46.722
  • That he may nullify the things that are."
  • 00:12:46.722 --> 00:12:49.892
  • To favor the rich contradicts the plan of god.
  • 00:12:49.892 --> 00:12:53.462
  • Secondly, to favor the rich violates logic.
  • 00:12:53.462 --> 00:12:57.233
  • Listen to verse 6 and 7, james said: "is it not the rich who
  • 00:12:57.233 --> 00:13:01.036
  • Oppress you and personally drag you into court?
  • 00:13:01.036 --> 00:13:04.607
  • Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have
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  • Been called?"
  • 00:13:07.576 --> 00:13:08.944
  • James is saying, why do you want
  • 00:13:08.944 --> 00:13:10.279
  • To favor those people who oppress you?
  • 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.115
  • Well we'll see in this third reason, to favor the rich
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  • Demonstrates a lack of faith.
  • 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:19.588
  • Verse 8: "if, however, you are fulfilling the royal law
  • 00:13:19.588 --> 00:13:24.093
  • According to scripture, 'you shall love your neighbor
  • 00:13:24.093 --> 00:13:26.762
  • As yourself.'
  • 00:13:26.762 --> 00:13:28.097
  • You are doing well."
  • 00:13:28.097 --> 00:13:29.465
  • All of the scriptures about how we treat others could be summed
  • 00:13:29.465 --> 00:13:33.435
  • Up with that phrase: love other people the same way you
  • 00:13:33.435 --> 00:13:37.139
  • Love yourself.
  • 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:38.507
  • Why do we have trouble with that?
  • 00:13:38.507 --> 00:13:40.276
  • Why do we naturally gravitate toward favoring the powerful and
  • 00:13:40.276 --> 00:13:44.813
  • The wealthy?
  • 00:13:44.813 --> 00:13:46.181
  • We think they're gonna protect us.
  • 00:13:46.181 --> 00:13:48.050
  • They don't determine your future.
  • 00:13:48.050 --> 00:13:50.252
  • God determines your future.
  • 00:13:50.252 --> 00:13:52.888
  • That's why jesus said in matthew 10:28: "do not fear those who
  • 00:13:52.888 --> 00:13:57.059
  • Kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear
  • 00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:01.597
  • Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
  • 00:14:01.597 --> 00:14:06.902
  • Focus on god, not other people.
  • 00:14:06.902 --> 00:14:10.639
  • And that leads to the application for us today.
  • 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:13.742
  • What's the application of this passage?
  • 00:14:13.742 --> 00:14:16.745
  • Some of you are tempted to think, "man, showing favoritism.
  • 00:14:16.745 --> 00:14:21.784
  • Why a whole sermon on this?
  • 00:14:21.784 --> 00:14:23.585
  • This is much ado about nothing."
  • 00:14:23.585 --> 00:14:27.957
  • When i was growing up, my father had a hobby.
  • 00:14:27.957 --> 00:14:31.393
  • He rebuilt volkswagens and our backyard was strewn with
  • 00:14:31.393 --> 00:14:36.298
  • Volkswagens half-finished, but every now and then he would
  • 00:14:36.298 --> 00:14:40.436
  • Finish one and he had his newest volkswagen parked out in front
  • 00:14:40.436 --> 00:14:45.741
  • Of our house in richardson.
  • 00:14:45.741 --> 00:14:47.543
  • And one day he heard a knock at the door, he opened the door and
  • 00:14:47.543 --> 00:14:51.547
  • It was a richardson policeman and the policeman asked,
  • 00:14:51.547 --> 00:14:55.617
  • "who owns that volkswagen out front?"
  • 00:14:55.617 --> 00:14:58.754
  • And my dad got excited thinking he had a potential customer on
  • 00:14:58.754 --> 00:15:02.424
  • The hook, said, "well, it belongs to me."
  • 00:15:02.424 --> 00:15:04.293
  • He said, "fine," and he wrote him out a ticket.
  • 00:15:04.293 --> 00:15:07.596
  • You know what the ticket was for?
  • 00:15:07.596 --> 00:15:09.531
  • My dad in his repainting of the volkswagen got a little bit of
  • 00:15:09.531 --> 00:15:13.369
  • Paint on the license plate and he got a ticket for his efforts.
  • 00:15:13.369 --> 00:15:18.173
  • My dad was furious.
  • 00:15:18.173 --> 00:15:20.776
  • I'll never forget, he went into a rant about why can't the
  • 00:15:20.776 --> 00:15:24.480
  • Police spend time hunting down the murderers and the rapists
  • 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.616
  • And the bank thieves instead of giving tickets to people because
  • 00:15:27.616 --> 00:15:30.419
  • Of paint on a license plate?
  • 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:32.321
  • What a small thing.
  • 00:15:32.321 --> 00:15:33.689
  • Well, we kind of think that way about this sin of favoritism.
  • 00:15:33.689 --> 00:15:37.626
  • Why the big deal?
  • 00:15:37.626 --> 00:15:38.961
  • Why not james talk about really big sins instead of little sins?
  • 00:15:38.961 --> 00:15:44.767
  • The answer, he says in verses 9 and
  • 00:15:44.767 --> 00:15:47.036
  • 10, is because there is no such thing as a little sin.
  • 00:15:47.036 --> 00:15:51.707
  • Look at this: "if you show partiality, you're committing
  • 00:15:51.707 --> 00:15:55.244
  • Sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
  • 00:15:55.244 --> 00:15:59.948
  • For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point,
  • 00:15:59.948 --> 00:16:06.822
  • He has become guilty of all."
  • 00:16:06.822 --> 00:16:10.259
  • Pop quiz.
  • 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:12.027
  • Anybody know how many laws moses had in the old testament?
  • 00:16:12.027 --> 00:16:18.500
  • Six hundred and thirteen.
  • 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:21.070
  • There are 613 laws.
  • 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:23.038
  • I want you to imagine a giant chain with 613 links in it, a
  • 00:16:23.038 --> 00:16:30.145
  • Chain that is used to keep a luxury ocean liner harbored at
  • 00:16:30.145 --> 00:16:35.284
  • A pier.
  • 00:16:35.284 --> 00:16:36.618
  • It's held there by these 613 chains in a chain--links in
  • 00:16:36.618 --> 00:16:42.724
  • A chain.
  • 00:16:42.724 --> 00:16:44.059
  • How many links would you have to break to set that entire
  • 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:47.563
  • Ship adrift?
  • 00:16:47.563 --> 00:16:49.164
  • Only one.
  • 00:16:49.164 --> 00:16:51.200
  • One link broken and the ship is lost.
  • 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.904
  • It's the same way with god's law.
  • 00:16:55.904 --> 00:16:58.540
  • All you have to do, james says, is stumble in one point of the
  • 00:16:58.540 --> 00:17:02.544
  • Law and before god you're guilty.
  • 00:17:02.544 --> 00:17:06.048
  • You see, god doesn't grade us on the curve.
  • 00:17:06.048 --> 00:17:09.451
  • He doesn't say you may not be perfect, but you're better than
  • 00:17:09.451 --> 00:17:11.954
  • This person.
  • 00:17:11.954 --> 00:17:13.322
  • We don't get graded on a curve.
  • 00:17:13.322 --> 00:17:15.257
  • It is an absolute standard.
  • 00:17:15.257 --> 00:17:17.693
  • It's a standard that paul mentions in galatians 3:10.
  • 00:17:17.693 --> 00:17:20.996
  • He says, "for as many as are the works of the law are under a
  • 00:17:20.996 --> 00:17:24.967
  • Curse: for it is written, 'cursed is everyone who does not
  • 00:17:24.967 --> 00:17:28.937
  • Abide by,' some, "'things written in the book'"?
  • 00:17:28.937 --> 00:17:31.507
  • No.
  • 00:17:31.507 --> 00:17:33.108
  • Most things written in the book?
  • 00:17:33.108 --> 00:17:34.810
  • No.
  • 00:17:34.810 --> 00:17:36.178
  • "'cursed is the person who does not abide by all things written
  • 00:17:36.178 --> 00:17:41.984
  • In the law to perform them.'"
  • 00:17:41.984 --> 00:17:45.187
  • You have to be absolutely perfect to go to heaven when
  • 00:17:45.187 --> 00:17:50.792
  • You die.
  • 00:17:50.792 --> 00:17:52.761
  • Never a wrong action, never a wrong attitude, never a wrong
  • 00:17:52.761 --> 00:17:57.599
  • Word, never a wrong thought.
  • 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:59.501
  • Cursed is you and me if we do not keep all things in the book.
  • 00:17:59.501 --> 00:18:04.940
  • Well, who in the world can meet that standard?
  • 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:09.478
  • No one, and that's the point.
  • 00:18:09.478 --> 00:18:13.115
  • All of us have sinned, some more than others, but it
  • 00:18:13.115 --> 00:18:16.218
  • Doesn't matter.
  • 00:18:16.218 --> 00:18:17.586
  • All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god, and
  • 00:18:17.586 --> 00:18:21.089
  • That's why we all need a savior, the lord jesus christ.
  • 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:25.594
  • When christ came and died on the cross, he came to offer
  • 00:18:25.594 --> 00:18:29.798
  • Forgiveness from all of our sins.
  • 00:18:29.798 --> 00:18:34.403
  • To draw favor to one person over another, to judge somebody based
  • 00:18:34.403 --> 00:18:41.043
  • On external circumstances like their net worth over which they
  • 00:18:41.043 --> 00:18:45.581
  • Have no control is a complete violation of what james is
  • 00:18:45.581 --> 00:18:50.752
  • Telling us.
  • 00:18:50.752 --> 00:18:52.154
  • Three principles i want to share with you.
  • 00:18:52.154 --> 00:18:55.123
  • First of all, to show preference to others is contrary to the
  • 00:18:55.123 --> 00:18:59.561
  • Nature of god.
  • 00:18:59.561 --> 00:19:01.196
  • You know, we call the church the body of christ.
  • 00:19:01.196 --> 00:19:05.934
  • The head, jesus is in heaven, but we are his body, paul said.
  • 00:19:05.934 --> 00:19:12.274
  • And that means what unbelievers see is not jesus the head, they
  • 00:19:12.274 --> 00:19:16.812
  • Can only see his body that's you and me in the church and how
  • 00:19:16.812 --> 00:19:22.251
  • They feel about god is largely determined by what they think
  • 00:19:22.251 --> 00:19:26.288
  • About us.
  • 00:19:26.288 --> 00:19:27.756
  • If we act with partiality, they think god is partial to
  • 00:19:27.756 --> 00:19:32.694
  • Superficial criterion.
  • 00:19:32.694 --> 00:19:36.365
  • Secondly, to show preference toward the rich prioritizes the
  • 00:19:36.365 --> 00:19:40.936
  • Material over the spiritual.
  • 00:19:40.936 --> 00:19:43.238
  • When we in the church show preference toward the rich, it
  • 00:19:43.238 --> 00:19:47.142
  • Prioritizes the material over the spiritual.
  • 00:19:47.142 --> 00:19:51.546
  • The great theologian madonna said it this way: "we live in a
  • 00:19:51.546 --> 00:20:00.589
  • Material world."
  • 00:20:00.589 --> 00:20:03.558
  • I shouldn't have said that.
  • 00:20:03.558 --> 00:20:04.893
  • That's all you're going to think about now is--
  • 00:20:04.893 --> 00:20:08.063
  • But isn't that true?
  • 00:20:08.063 --> 00:20:09.398
  • We live in a material world.
  • 00:20:09.398 --> 00:20:11.933
  • We live in a material world, and we get it crammed down our
  • 00:20:11.933 --> 00:20:14.870
  • Throats six days a week.
  • 00:20:14.870 --> 00:20:17.773
  • People ought to have a day of the week they come and see the
  • 00:20:17.773 --> 00:20:21.777
  • World as god sees it.
  • 00:20:21.777 --> 00:20:23.812
  • It's not about the material.
  • 00:20:23.812 --> 00:20:25.247
  • It's not about keeping up with the joneses.
  • 00:20:25.247 --> 00:20:27.716
  • It's about our relationship with god.
  • 00:20:27.716 --> 00:20:31.420
  • Finally, to show preference to the rich prioritizes the
  • 00:20:31.420 --> 00:20:36.091
  • Temporal over the eternal.
  • 00:20:36.091 --> 00:20:39.094
  • One of the constant themes in the letter of james is how
  • 00:20:39.094 --> 00:20:43.065
  • Fleeting riches really are.
  • 00:20:43.065 --> 00:20:46.001
  • In verses 10 to 11 of chapter 1, james says, "and the rich man is
  • 00:20:46.001 --> 00:20:50.539
  • The glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass, he
  • 00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:56.445
  • Will pass away.
  • 00:20:56.445 --> 00:20:58.113
  • For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the
  • 00:20:58.113 --> 00:21:01.350
  • Grass; and its flowers fall off and the beauty of its appearance
  • 00:21:01.350 --> 00:21:05.520
  • Is destroyed, so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits
  • 00:21:05.520 --> 00:21:11.426
  • Will fade away."
  • 00:21:11.426 --> 00:21:13.729
  • An old southern preacher said it this way, "our lives is
  • 00:21:13.729 --> 00:21:17.065
  • Like grass.
  • 00:21:17.065 --> 00:21:18.867
  • It is sown, it is grown, it is mown, and then it's gon'."
  • 00:21:18.867 --> 00:21:27.409
  • That's not just grass, that's us.
  • 00:21:27.409 --> 00:21:30.912
  • If you're rich today, don't get too excited about your wealth.
  • 00:21:30.912 --> 00:21:36.251
  • If you're poor today, don't despair over your poverty
  • 00:21:36.251 --> 00:21:39.821
  • Because your economic status, whether rich or poor, is
  • 00:21:39.821 --> 00:21:43.392
  • Very temporary.
  • 00:21:43.392 --> 00:21:45.427
  • It's all going to be left behind and the church's responsibility
  • 00:21:45.427 --> 00:21:51.299
  • Is to show people, to help people prioritize that which is
  • 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:55.404
  • Eternal over that which is temporal.
  • 00:21:55.404 --> 00:21:58.640
  • Paul said it this way in 1 timothy 6:17.
  • 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:01.376
  • He said, "instruct those who are rich in this present world not
  • 00:22:01.376 --> 00:22:06.748
  • To be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of
  • 00:22:06.748 --> 00:22:11.219
  • Riches, but on god who richly supplies us with all things
  • 00:22:11.219 --> 00:22:16.525
  • To enjoy."
  • 00:22:16.525 --> 00:22:18.960
  • D.l. moody, the great evangelist
  • 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.595
  • Said it this way, "trust in yourself,
  • 00:22:20.595 --> 00:22:24.266
  • And you're doomed to disappointment.
  • 00:22:24.266 --> 00:22:27.436
  • Trust in your friends, and they may leave you or die.
  • 00:22:27.436 --> 00:22:32.040
  • Trust in your riches, and they may be taken from you.
  • 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:36.812
  • Trust in your reputation, and some slanderous tongue may
  • 00:22:36.812 --> 00:22:40.682
  • Destroy it.
  • 00:22:40.682 --> 00:22:42.617
  • But trust in god, and you'll never be confounded in time
  • 00:22:42.617 --> 00:22:47.589
  • Or eternity."
  • 00:22:47.589 --> 00:22:50.392
  • James says, "if you have authentic saving faith, you
  • 00:22:50.392 --> 00:22:56.097
  • Will prioritize the spiritual over the material; the eternal
  • 00:22:56.097 --> 00:23:01.903
  • Over the temporal."
  • 00:23:01.903 --> 00:23:03.705
  • ♪♪
  • 00:23:03.939 --> 00:23:08.810
  • Jeffress: james reminds us that authentic faith doesn't
  • 00:23:08.810 --> 00:23:11.780
  • Play favorites.
  • 00:23:11.780 --> 00:23:13.148
  • When we truly understand god's impartial love, we'll treat
  • 00:23:13.148 --> 00:23:17.352
  • Everyone who enters our church with equal dignity and respect.
  • 00:23:17.352 --> 00:23:21.723
  • I want to thank those of you who support pathway to victory
  • 00:23:21.723 --> 00:23:24.526
  • Through your faithful giving, especially our pathway partners.
  • 00:23:24.526 --> 00:23:28.864
  • Your generosity enables us to broadcast the unchanging truth
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  • Reaching into homes, automobiles, and workplaces with
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  • The transforming power of the gospel.
  • 00:23:43.111 --> 00:23:46.414
  • Every day we receive testimonies from viewers whose lives have
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  • Been touched by this ministry and it's all possible because of
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  • Partners like you.
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  • Thank you for helping us pierce the darkness with the light of
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  • God's word.
  • 00:23:59.794 --> 00:24:01.196
  • Stay right there, i'll be back with more "pathway to victory"
  • 00:24:01.196 --> 00:24:04.332
  • In just a moment.
  • 00:24:04.332 --> 00:24:06.768
  • Male announcer: every believer wants to see clear evidence of
  • 00:24:07.969 --> 00:24:10.572
  • Their spiritual growth and discover the fruit that god is
  • 00:24:10.572 --> 00:24:13.842
  • Producing in their lives.
  • 00:24:13.842 --> 00:24:15.777
  • Dr. robert jeffress shows you exactly how to recognize that
  • 00:24:15.777 --> 00:24:19.314
  • Fruit in his brand new book "how to know if you're really saved."
  • 00:24:19.314 --> 00:24:23.485
  • Jeffress: the book of james teaches us that the christian
  • 00:24:23.485 --> 00:24:25.854
  • Life is about more than just knowing god's word, it's about
  • 00:24:25.854 --> 00:24:30.025
  • Living it out.
  • 00:24:30.025 --> 00:24:31.359
  • In my new book "how to know if you're really saved," i'll walk
  • 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.329
  • You through what it truly means to be a doer of the word,
  • 00:24:34.329 --> 00:24:38.133
  • Showing you how to respond to trials, control your speech,
  • 00:24:38.133 --> 00:24:41.903
  • Endure hardships, resist temptation, and so much more.
  • 00:24:41.903 --> 00:24:46.942
  • Male announcer: this outstanding 232-page book will help you
  • 00:24:46.942 --> 00:24:49.911
  • Examine the evidence of your faith and see the spiritual
  • 00:24:49.911 --> 00:24:53.281
  • Fruit that should be growing in your daily life.
  • 00:24:53.281 --> 00:24:56.318
  • Request your copy of "how to know if you're really saved"
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  • When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of pathway
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  • Jeffress: if you are truly saved, there's gonna be evidence
  • 00:25:17.005 --> 00:25:20.442
  • Of it.
  • 00:25:20.442 --> 00:25:21.776
  • There's some tests that you need to apply to your life.
  • 00:25:21.776 --> 00:25:25.013
  • Male announcer: thank you for your generous support of pathway
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  • To victory.
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  • Your partnership helps us bring bold biblical and practical
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  • Teaching into homes across the nation and around the world.
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  • Jeffress: we often judge people by their appearance, their bank
  • 00:25:38.627 --> 00:25:41.896
  • Account, or their social status, even in the church, but god's
  • 00:25:41.896 --> 00:25:46.301
  • Kingdom operates by different standards.
  • 00:25:46.301 --> 00:25:49.337
  • God chose the poor to be rich in faith, reminding us that eternal
  • 00:25:49.337 --> 00:25:53.975
  • Treasures matter more than temporary wealth.
  • 00:25:53.975 --> 00:25:57.979
  • Well, next time we'll tackle what many call the biggest
  • 00:25:57.979 --> 00:26:01.449
  • Contradiction in the bible.
  • 00:26:01.449 --> 00:26:03.685
  • Paul says we're saved by faith alone.
  • 00:26:03.685 --> 00:26:06.955
  • James seems to say faith without works is dead.
  • 00:26:06.955 --> 00:26:10.725
  • So which one is it, or can it be both?
  • 00:26:10.725 --> 00:26:13.895
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:13.895 --> 00:26:16.398
  • Series "how to know if you're really saved."
  • 00:26:16.398 --> 00:26:20.669
  • Jeffress: but if we're honest, we would have to say that there
  • 00:26:20.669 --> 00:26:23.371
  • Are some passages that seem, at least at face value, to
  • 00:26:23.371 --> 00:26:27.942
  • Contradict one another.
  • 00:26:27.942 --> 00:26:30.211
  • And that is true of the passage we're going to look at today.
  • 00:26:30.211 --> 00:26:34.282
  • I call it the biggest contradiction in the bible.
  • 00:26:34.282 --> 00:26:39.154
  • Male announcer: set your dvr and
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  • Join us next time for
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  • The message
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  • "the biggest contradiction in
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  • The bible" here on "pathway
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  • To victory."
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  • Take a journey through alaska's awe-inspiring wilderness
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