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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - When Persecution Comes

June 4, 2025 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - When Persecution Comes
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#Testimony #Faith #Blessing #Persecution #Religion #Overcoming #WordofGod #Dr.RobertJeffress #RobertJeffress #Tribulation #Resurrection #Courage #Prosperity #John16:33

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - When Persecution Comes | June 4, 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"
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  • 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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  • To many christians, persecution is something that happens in far
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  • Off places like asia or the middle east, but in reality,
  • 00:00:21.978 --> 00:00:26.449
  • Persecution is running rampant in america.
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  • And while we've been given a reprieve with our current
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  • Administration, the bible teaches that hostility toward
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  • Christians will one day get even worse.
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  • Today i'm going to offer three essential words to help you
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  • Prepare for what's coming.
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  • My message is titled, "when persecution comes," on today's
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  • Edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • Announcer: jesus declared, "you are the salt of the earth and
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  • The light of the world."
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  • With so much darkness creeping into our schools and
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  • Communities, now is the time to answer that calling.
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  • Become the salt and light the
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  • World desperately needs through
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  • The "pathway to victory" salt
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  • And light matching challenge.
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  • Your gift today doubled in ministry impact will empower
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  • "pathway to victory" to proclaim the gospel and stand for
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  • Biblical truth.
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  • Push back and hold strong
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  • Against moral decline
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  • By joining the salt
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  • And light matching challenge.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: any christian who seriously takes god's command to
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  • Be light and salt in this dark and decaying world needs to
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  • Understand, you may not and will not always receive justice, but
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  • You always can be guaranteed to receive persecution.
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  • Jesus said in john 16:33, "in this world you will have
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  • Tribulation, but be of good courage, i have overcome
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  • The world."
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  • The apostle paul, who before his conversion had been an
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  • Instrument of persecution against christians, almost
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  • Overnight became a target of persecution.
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  • In 2 corinthians chapter 11, he details some of the suffering
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  • That he experienced as a christian.
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  • He said in 2 corinthians 11:24 to 27, "five times i received
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  • From the jews thirty-nine lashes.
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  • Three times i was beaten with rods, once i was stoned, three
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  • Times i was shipwrecked, a night and a day i have spent in
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  • The deep.
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  • I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from
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  • Rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen,
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  • Dangers from the gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in
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  • The wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among
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  • False brethren.
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  • I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless
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  • Nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold
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  • And exposure."
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  • That was paul's experience.
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  • Or listen to the experience of the first century christians
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  • That followed paul.
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  • As the writer of hebrews notes, believers "were tortured, not
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  • Accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a
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  • Better resurrection; and others experienced scourging, yes,
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  • Chains and imprisonment.
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  • They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they
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  • Were put to death with the sword; they went about in
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  • Sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
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  • Ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering
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  • In deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground."
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  • Now, when we read passages like that, let's be honest, we try to
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  • Assure ourselves that we won't have to go through that kind of
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  • Suffering, because after all, we live in a different time
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  • In history.
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  • And yet it's pointed out that more christians died as martyrs
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  • In the 20th century than all the other centuries combined,
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  • Christians around the world.
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  • The reason we in the west, in america specifically, feel
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  • Immune from this kind of suffering is we live in a
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  • Self-made bubble.
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  • We're not aware of what is happening to christians around
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  • The world today.
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  • For example, since 2003 iraqi christians have been frequent
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  • Targets by islamic extremists; in iran, authorities arrested 70
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  • Christians over a 6-week period of time in an effort to target
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  • Grassroot christian groups; in january of 2011, a judge in
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  • Afghanistan told shoaib assadullah that if he did not
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  • Renounce christ within one week, he would face up to 20 years in
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  • Prison or even be sentenced to death.
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  • Today, more christians are imprisoned in china than in any
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  • Other country in the world.
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  • Hundreds of thousands of believers are detained in work
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  • Camps each year without even a court order so that they can
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  • Participate in a "re-education through labor" program, as the
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  • Chinese like to call it.
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  • The only legal churches allowed by the chinese government are
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  • Those controlled by the government.
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  • Those who meet in house churches not sanctioned by the government
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  • Risk torture, imprisonment, and death.
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  • Philip yancey describes a visit with pastor allen yuan, who
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  • Helped to found the house church movement in china during the
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  • Japanese occupation.
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  • Pastor yuan was 90 years old at the time of his interview.
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  • He had spent 22 years in prison.
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  • He had been tortured and spent months in solitary confinement
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  • In a windowless cell.
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  • Listen to what he said to philip yancey.
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  • He said, "i pulled blankets over my head and prayed.
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  • For 10 years no letters from my family got through.
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  • I had no bible, but a few passages in psalms stayed
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  • With me."
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  • Yuan spent 13 years of his sentence in china's most
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  • Northern province.
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  • He said, "it was a miracle.
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  • I had only a light jacket, and in the freezing winter weather i
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  • Never caught a cold or the flu, not sick a single day."
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  • Pastor yuan is convinced that persecution for christians is
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  • Not only inevitable but profitable for believers.
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  • Listen to what this pastor said.
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  • He said, "we live in a time like the apostles.
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  • Christians are persecuted, yes, but look at the hong kong and
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  • Taiwan church.
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  • They have prosperity, but they don't seek god.
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  • I tell you, i came out of that prison with faith stronger than
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  • I went in, like joseph.
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  • We don't know why we go through hard times until later,
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  • Looking back.
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  • Think of it, we in china may soon have the largest christian
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  • Community in the world and in an atheistic state that tried to
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  • Stamp us out."
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  • Christians experienced intense sufferings in the first century.
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  • They are now experiencing suffering around the world.
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  • The bible also predicts that in the final years before christ's
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  • Return, christians will also experience
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  • Unprecedented hardship.
  • 00:07:09.952 --> 00:07:11.988
  • The apostle john describes a large group of believers who
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  • Will be slain during the tribulation.
  • 00:07:15.024 --> 00:07:17.426
  • In revelation 6:9, he says, "and when he broke the fifth seal, i
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  • Saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been
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  • Slain because of the word of god, and because of the
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  • Testimony that they had maintained."
  • 00:07:28.004 --> 00:07:31.073
  • Of course, the instigator of this persecution will be
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  • The antichrist.
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  • In revelation 13:7, john says, "and it was given to him, the
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  • Antichrist, to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and
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  • Authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was
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  • Given to him."
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  • The special target of antichrist's persecution will
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  • Be christians.
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  • What way will antichrist make war with god's people?
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  • One way he will do so is by restricting the purchase of
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  • Necessary goods and services for survival to those who agree to
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  • Worship him.
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  • David jeremiah envisions the possibility of long lines of
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  • Christians waiting in the supermarket to purchase food,
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  • And praying for a miracle that that scanner will somehow not
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  • Notice that they do not possess the required identification.
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  • Now such a thought is not just fanciful imagination.
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  • It is guaranteed reality if you take seriously the revelation
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  • From john.
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  • There is coming a time of great intense persecution.
  • 00:08:42.478 --> 00:08:47.350
  • Now obviously there is a spectrum of persecution that
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  • People experience.
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  • That spectrum can range from not being invited to a dinner party
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  • Because you're too opinionated, all the way to being tortured
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  • And even executed because you don't recant your faith.
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  • There is a spectrum of persecution.
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  • And i want to suggest to you tonight that the degree to which
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  • You as a christian will experience persecution is
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  • Dependent upon two factors.
  • 00:09:14.577 --> 00:09:17.279
  • First of all, the intensity of your conviction will determine
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  • The intensity of the persecution you face.
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  • Let me say it again: the intensity of your conviction
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  • Will determine the intensity of the persecution you face.
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  • The pastor who never preaches against homosexuality or
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  • Abortion or the--talks about the exclusivity of the gospel
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  • Will never face ridicule from the media.
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  • The christian student who refuses to challenge his
  • 00:09:42.004 --> 00:09:45.107
  • Non-christian professor's erroneous teaching will never
  • 00:09:45.107 --> 00:09:48.210
  • Have to worry about a lowered grade.
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  • A believer who decides not to offend his non-christian parents
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  • By sharing the gospel with them will never risk experiencing
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  • Their disapproval.
  • 00:09:58.754 --> 00:10:00.723
  • The intensity of your conviction will determine the intensity of
  • 00:10:00.723 --> 00:10:05.261
  • The persecution you experience.
  • 00:10:05.261 --> 00:10:07.329
  • Secondly, the extent of the persecution you face is
  • 00:10:07.329 --> 00:10:12.168
  • Determined by the spiritual climate of the culture in which
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  • You live.
  • 00:10:15.171 --> 00:10:16.539
  • The extent of the persecution you face is also determined by
  • 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:19.842
  • The spiritual climate of the culture in which you live.
  • 00:10:19.842 --> 00:10:23.446
  • We have become increasingly hostile toward christianity in
  • 00:10:23.446 --> 00:10:28.250
  • Our country.
  • 00:10:28.250 --> 00:10:29.618
  • Now secularists would attribute that change to our nation's
  • 00:10:29.618 --> 00:10:32.688
  • Collective open-mindedness and tolerance.
  • 00:10:32.688 --> 00:10:37.493
  • They would say we now are much more sophisticated than
  • 00:10:37.493 --> 00:10:40.996
  • Earlier generations.
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  • We recognize that there are multiple paths to god and no one
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  • Religion can claim exclusivity.
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  • A biblicist would say, no, it is romans chapter 1 in action.
  • 00:10:48.704 --> 00:10:52.742
  • Because our nation has rejected the truth of god, we have fallen
  • 00:10:52.742 --> 00:10:56.045
  • Into a time of darkening in our understanding.
  • 00:10:56.045 --> 00:10:59.582
  • But regardless of the reason, i think even the most casual
  • 00:10:59.582 --> 00:11:02.318
  • Observer realizes that our culture is more hostile toward
  • 00:11:02.318 --> 00:11:06.455
  • Christianity than at any other time in our nation's history.
  • 00:11:06.455 --> 00:11:10.025
  • And realizing that that negativity and hostility is more
  • 00:11:10.025 --> 00:11:13.662
  • Likely to increase than it is to subside means we ought to get
  • 00:11:13.662 --> 00:11:18.734
  • Ready for persecution.
  • 00:11:18.734 --> 00:11:21.003
  • Well, how should we respond to the escalating attacks
  • 00:11:21.003 --> 00:11:24.673
  • Against christians?
  • 00:11:24.673 --> 00:11:26.041
  • How do we get ready for persecution?
  • 00:11:26.041 --> 00:11:28.410
  • In hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, the writer says we ought to
  • 00:11:28.410 --> 00:11:32.248
  • "encourage one another and all the more as we see the day
  • 00:11:32.248 --> 00:11:37.686
  • Drawing near."
  • 00:11:37.686 --> 00:11:40.389
  • Now one way we can encourage one another as christians is to help
  • 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:45.294
  • Prepare one another for this inevitable time of persecution,
  • 00:11:45.294 --> 00:11:49.632
  • And that's what i want to do in these moments tonight.
  • 00:11:49.632 --> 00:11:53.502
  • Tonight i want to share with you three words that i believe are
  • 00:11:53.502 --> 00:11:57.239
  • Essential in strengthening yourself and preparing for the
  • 00:11:57.239 --> 00:12:01.277
  • Coming persecution that every genuine follower of christ
  • 00:12:01.277 --> 00:12:06.682
  • Will experience.
  • 00:12:06.682 --> 00:12:08.017
  • The first word and write it down, is the word "certain."
  • 00:12:08.017 --> 00:12:12.054
  • Suffering is certain.
  • 00:12:12.054 --> 00:12:15.357
  • The first recorded case of persecution against christians
  • 00:12:15.357 --> 00:12:18.727
  • As a whole occurred under emperor nero in 64 ad.
  • 00:12:18.727 --> 00:12:23.165
  • On the night of june 18th, a great fire erupted in rome,
  • 00:12:23.165 --> 00:12:27.169
  • Destroying 10 of the 14 sections of the city.
  • 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:30.206
  • Many believed that nero himself set the fires, but to deflect
  • 00:12:30.206 --> 00:12:33.809
  • Blame from himself, he blamed christians.
  • 00:12:33.809 --> 00:12:36.879
  • And he was able to devise the most heinous tortures imaginable
  • 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.716
  • For believers.
  • 00:12:40.716 --> 00:12:42.051
  • One thing he would do would be to take christians while they
  • 00:12:42.051 --> 00:12:44.620
  • Were alive, immerse them in wax, and then set them on fire to
  • 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:49.024
  • Serve as human torches to illuminate his gardens.
  • 00:12:49.024 --> 00:12:53.062
  • However, as in our culture, this awful persecution against
  • 00:12:53.062 --> 00:12:57.099
  • Christians didn't happen suddenly.
  • 00:12:57.099 --> 00:13:00.536
  • Instead, it happened progressively.
  • 00:13:00.536 --> 00:13:02.972
  • Nero was allowed by the population to commit these
  • 00:13:02.972 --> 00:13:06.041
  • Atrocities against christians because as the historian tacitus
  • 00:13:06.041 --> 00:13:10.880
  • Notes, "christians were already a class hated for the
  • 00:13:10.880 --> 00:13:16.085
  • Abominations by the populists."
  • 00:13:16.085 --> 00:13:19.455
  • And you know, i believe in our culture you see this growing
  • 00:13:19.455 --> 00:13:22.825
  • Hatred toward christians that is festering and is being fueled by
  • 00:13:22.825 --> 00:13:27.663
  • The media by using these stereotypes of what
  • 00:13:27.663 --> 00:13:31.066
  • Christians are.
  • 00:13:31.066 --> 00:13:32.534
  • Just watch the media, notice how any evangelical christian in a
  • 00:13:32.534 --> 00:13:36.605
  • Sitcom or a movie is portrayed, and it is this growing animosity
  • 00:13:36.605 --> 00:13:41.644
  • Toward believers that is going to pave the way for a general
  • 00:13:41.644 --> 00:13:45.014
  • Acceptance in our culture of the persecution against christians.
  • 00:13:45.014 --> 00:13:48.951
  • Most scholars agree that the apostle peter wrote his letter
  • 00:13:48.951 --> 00:13:51.954
  • One year before nero began his empire-wide persecution
  • 00:13:51.954 --> 00:13:55.624
  • Of believers.
  • 00:13:55.624 --> 00:13:56.959
  • But listen to what peter said in 1 peter 4, verses 12 to 13.
  • 00:13:56.959 --> 00:14:00.629
  • He said, "beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal
  • 00:14:00.629 --> 00:14:05.734
  • Among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some
  • 00:14:05.734 --> 00:14:10.472
  • Strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you
  • 00:14:10.472 --> 00:14:14.476
  • Share the sufferings of christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at
  • 00:14:14.476 --> 00:14:18.180
  • The revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation."
  • 00:14:18.180 --> 00:14:24.386
  • "do not be surprised," peter says.
  • 00:14:24.386 --> 00:14:27.423
  • You know, when hit with hardships, many christians
  • 00:14:27.423 --> 00:14:30.059
  • Appear dazed and confused.
  • 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:31.694
  • They walk around in a spiritual stupor wondering what's wrong?
  • 00:14:31.694 --> 00:14:35.631
  • Why is this happening to me?
  • 00:14:35.631 --> 00:14:38.133
  • They are shocked that obeying christ has resulted in an
  • 00:14:38.133 --> 00:14:42.571
  • Alienation from friends or the loss of a job, or even the
  • 00:14:42.571 --> 00:14:47.843
  • Breakup of a marriage.
  • 00:14:47.843 --> 00:14:50.412
  • The truth is, we ought to be more surprised if we're not
  • 00:14:50.412 --> 00:14:54.650
  • Suffering for our faith.
  • 00:14:54.650 --> 00:14:56.752
  • See, peter says persecution is the rule rather than the
  • 00:14:56.752 --> 00:15:00.389
  • Exception for those who have chosen to follow christ.
  • 00:15:00.389 --> 00:15:04.526
  • Beyond being surprised, many christians get disillusioned
  • 00:15:04.526 --> 00:15:07.129
  • With a god who would allow them to suffer for doing not the
  • 00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:10.132
  • Wrong thing, but for doing the right thing.
  • 00:15:10.132 --> 00:15:12.034
  • And yet, all you have to do is look at how god dealt with his
  • 00:15:12.034 --> 00:15:15.771
  • Own son, his beloved son, to get a different perspective
  • 00:15:15.771 --> 00:15:19.908
  • On persecution.
  • 00:15:19.908 --> 00:15:21.543
  • You see, suffering is not an unexpected detour in god's plan
  • 00:15:21.543 --> 00:15:25.914
  • For your life; it is actually a part of god's calling for
  • 00:15:25.914 --> 00:15:29.752
  • Your life.
  • 00:15:29.752 --> 00:15:31.086
  • Why would god allow--not only allow, plan for his son as well
  • 00:15:31.086 --> 00:15:36.458
  • As for you and me to suffer?
  • 00:15:36.458 --> 00:15:38.594
  • That leads to the second word that would encourage you in
  • 00:15:38.594 --> 00:15:41.296
  • Times of suffering.
  • 00:15:41.296 --> 00:15:42.664
  • Suffering is not only certain, but suffering is profitable.
  • 00:15:42.664 --> 00:15:47.770
  • While suffering results in some temporary discomfort, the
  • 00:15:47.770 --> 00:15:50.973
  • Long-term gain far exceeds the short-term losses.
  • 00:15:50.973 --> 00:15:54.977
  • In fact, on a personal level, it is the heat of persecution that
  • 00:15:54.977 --> 00:15:59.415
  • Fortifies our faith.
  • 00:15:59.415 --> 00:16:01.016
  • Remember what james said in james 1, verses 2 to 4.
  • 00:16:01.016 --> 00:16:04.353
  • He was talking to a group of hebrew christians
  • 00:16:04.353 --> 00:16:06.221
  • Who were suffering.
  • 00:16:06.221 --> 00:16:07.823
  • They were being dispersed throughout the roman empire
  • 00:16:07.823 --> 00:16:09.324
  • Because of their faith, and james said, "consider it all
  • 00:16:09.324 --> 00:16:12.061
  • Joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
  • 00:16:12.061 --> 00:16:15.697
  • Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
  • 00:16:15.697 --> 00:16:19.401
  • And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be
  • 00:16:19.401 --> 00:16:22.938
  • Perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
  • 00:16:22.938 --> 00:16:26.842
  • Now that word "testing," the testing of your faith, literally
  • 00:16:26.842 --> 00:16:31.013
  • Means approved.
  • 00:16:31.013 --> 00:16:33.148
  • It is a word that was used to describe the process by which a
  • 00:16:33.148 --> 00:16:37.286
  • Potter would take a clay pot and he would place it in a firing
  • 00:16:37.286 --> 00:16:41.890
  • Oven in order to fortify that piece of sculpture, that
  • 00:16:41.890 --> 00:16:46.428
  • Clay pot.
  • 00:16:46.428 --> 00:16:47.763
  • And the potter's purpose in putting his work of art into
  • 00:16:47.763 --> 00:16:51.967
  • That firing oven was not to destroy it, but to
  • 00:16:51.967 --> 00:16:55.471
  • Strengthen it.
  • 00:16:55.471 --> 00:16:56.805
  • And if it survived that fire without cracking, the word was
  • 00:16:56.805 --> 00:17:00.809
  • Written on the bottom, this greek word that is translated
  • 00:17:00.809 --> 00:17:04.313
  • "tested" or "approved."
  • 00:17:04.313 --> 00:17:06.982
  • Now that is the same word that james uses to describe god's
  • 00:17:06.982 --> 00:17:10.052
  • Reason for putting you through the oven of testing, so that
  • 00:17:10.052 --> 00:17:13.689
  • Your faith can be strengthened.
  • 00:17:13.689 --> 00:17:15.524
  • God's purpose is not to destroy you, but to strengthen
  • 00:17:15.524 --> 00:17:19.194
  • Your faith.
  • 00:17:19.194 --> 00:17:20.529
  • Persecution, testing is not only profitable for us personally,
  • 00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:24.900
  • But also for the church as a whole.
  • 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.769
  • Even the most cursory study of history reveals that persecution
  • 00:17:27.769 --> 00:17:32.741
  • Causes the church to flourish, to expand, while prosperity
  • 00:17:32.741 --> 00:17:37.546
  • Causes the church to wither away and retreat.
  • 00:17:37.546 --> 00:17:41.683
  • Later in his life, peter looked back and saw the connection
  • 00:17:41.683 --> 00:17:44.553
  • Between persecution and the growth of the church.
  • 00:17:44.553 --> 00:17:46.622
  • He said in 1 peter chapter 3, verses 14 and 15, "but even if
  • 00:17:46.622 --> 00:17:50.392
  • You should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you
  • 00:17:50.392 --> 00:17:53.095
  • Are blessed.
  • 00:17:53.095 --> 00:17:54.463
  • And do not fear their intimidation and do not be
  • 00:17:54.463 --> 00:17:57.065
  • Troubled, but sanctify christ as lord in your hearts, always
  • 00:17:57.065 --> 00:18:01.870
  • Being ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you to give an
  • 00:18:01.870 --> 00:18:05.807
  • Account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness
  • 00:18:05.807 --> 00:18:09.378
  • And reverence."
  • 00:18:09.378 --> 00:18:10.946
  • You know, we always take this verse out of context.
  • 00:18:10.946 --> 00:18:13.615
  • We think it's a verse for apologetics.
  • 00:18:13.615 --> 00:18:15.884
  • We kind of say, "well, now, you know, if you're walking down the
  • 00:18:15.884 --> 00:18:18.554
  • Street, be prepared to give people an answer for why you
  • 00:18:18.554 --> 00:18:22.124
  • Believe in the virgin birth of christ or why you believe in the
  • 00:18:22.124 --> 00:18:25.127
  • Second coming of jesus.
  • 00:18:25.127 --> 00:18:26.495
  • Have all of these facts because somebody may ask you why you
  • 00:18:26.495 --> 00:18:30.032
  • Believe these things."
  • 00:18:30.032 --> 00:18:31.466
  • Baloney, the world we live in today, nobody could care less
  • 00:18:31.466 --> 00:18:34.870
  • About those things.
  • 00:18:34.870 --> 00:18:36.605
  • They're not interested in those things.
  • 00:18:36.605 --> 00:18:38.974
  • Peter is saying, what causes people to ask you for the hope
  • 00:18:38.974 --> 00:18:42.911
  • That is within you is when they see you responding positively
  • 00:18:42.911 --> 00:18:47.916
  • To suffering.
  • 00:18:47.916 --> 00:18:49.618
  • He said, when people see you responding positively for--to
  • 00:18:49.618 --> 00:18:53.956
  • Suffering, be ready to give an answer because people are gonna
  • 00:18:53.956 --> 00:18:57.092
  • Ask you, "how do you do that?
  • 00:18:57.092 --> 00:18:59.361
  • How do you react that way when the world around you
  • 00:18:59.361 --> 00:19:02.397
  • Is collapsing?"
  • 00:19:02.397 --> 00:19:04.066
  • It's always been that way.
  • 00:19:04.066 --> 00:19:05.701
  • The suffering of christians is the seed for christianity.
  • 00:19:05.701 --> 00:19:10.005
  • Persecution against christians is certain.
  • 00:19:10.005 --> 00:19:13.442
  • It is profitable both personally and for the movement as a whole.
  • 00:19:13.442 --> 00:19:18.413
  • Thirdly, suffering is temporary.
  • 00:19:18.413 --> 00:19:22.217
  • And that's perhaps the most encouraging word
  • 00:19:22.217 --> 00:19:24.453
  • About suffering.
  • 00:19:24.453 --> 00:19:25.821
  • It's temporary.
  • 00:19:25.821 --> 00:19:27.289
  • You know, that's the only comfort sometimes we find in
  • 00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:29.958
  • Suffering that as bad as it is, it is temporary.
  • 00:19:29.958 --> 00:19:34.062
  • The apostle peter was writing to christians who were imprisoned.
  • 00:19:34.062 --> 00:19:37.666
  • Others had lost their jobs, their homes, their livelihood.
  • 00:19:37.666 --> 00:19:41.003
  • Some were having to choose between their faith and their
  • 00:19:41.003 --> 00:19:43.171
  • Families, and some were beginning to be executed for
  • 00:19:43.171 --> 00:19:45.974
  • Their faith.
  • 00:19:45.974 --> 00:19:47.342
  • Listen to what peter said.
  • 00:19:47.342 --> 00:19:48.710
  • He never tried to diminish the reality of the pain they were
  • 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:51.947
  • Facing, but he encouraged them with one small phrase.
  • 00:19:51.947 --> 00:19:56.885
  • In 1 peter 3:6, peter writes, "in this you greatly rejoice,
  • 00:19:56.885 --> 00:20:01.723
  • Even though for a little while, if necessary, you have been
  • 00:20:01.723 --> 00:20:06.795
  • Distressed by various trials."
  • 00:20:06.795 --> 00:20:10.299
  • "for a little while."
  • 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:12.467
  • Those are perhaps the most encouraging words to anyone who
  • 00:20:12.467 --> 00:20:15.837
  • Is suffering, especially suffering because of his
  • 00:20:15.837 --> 00:20:18.573
  • Commitment to christ.
  • 00:20:18.573 --> 00:20:20.342
  • It's as if peter was saying, "i know this is hurtful, i know
  • 00:20:20.342 --> 00:20:24.179
  • This is hard, but the pain you feel will not last forever."
  • 00:20:24.179 --> 00:20:29.051
  • Of course, the question is how little is little?
  • 00:20:29.051 --> 00:20:33.188
  • You see, time is a matter of perspective, and suffering is a
  • 00:20:33.188 --> 00:20:37.793
  • Matter of perspective.
  • 00:20:37.793 --> 00:20:39.928
  • Remember a few moments ago we looked in 2 corinthians 11 at
  • 00:20:39.928 --> 00:20:42.731
  • The catalog of paul's sufferings: beaten 5 times
  • 00:20:42.731 --> 00:20:46.068
  • Within an inch of his life, shipwrecked, tortured, and so
  • 00:20:46.068 --> 00:20:48.637
  • Forth and so forth.
  • 00:20:48.637 --> 00:20:50.005
  • And yet listen in 2 corinthians 5, as he describes
  • 00:20:50.005 --> 00:20:52.474
  • Those sufferings.
  • 00:20:52.474 --> 00:20:53.842
  • He writes in verses 17 to 18: "for momentary, light affliction
  • 00:20:53.842 --> 00:20:59.414
  • Is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
  • 00:20:59.414 --> 00:21:04.019
  • Comparison, while we look at not things which are seen, but at
  • 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:08.190
  • The things which are not seen; for the things which are
  • 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:10.759
  • Temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
  • 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:15.897
  • Look at all that paul went through, and yet he described
  • 00:21:15.897 --> 00:21:18.433
  • Them as "momentary light afflictions," as if they were
  • 00:21:18.433 --> 00:21:22.437
  • Nothing more than getting stuck in the slow line at
  • 00:21:22.437 --> 00:21:24.840
  • The supermarket.
  • 00:21:24.840 --> 00:21:26.908
  • Paul's not diminishing the pain he felt or the pain you feel as
  • 00:21:26.908 --> 00:21:30.779
  • Well, but he said compared to the eternal weight of god's
  • 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:35.283
  • Unending rewards, what we suffer in this life is both momentary
  • 00:21:35.283 --> 00:21:40.455
  • And it is light.
  • 00:21:40.455 --> 00:21:43.258
  • It's nothing when you compare it to the weight of god's blessings
  • 00:21:43.258 --> 00:21:48.930
  • That will be ours forever and ever.
  • 00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:51.066
  • As saint teresa famously said one time, "in light of heaven,
  • 00:21:51.066 --> 00:21:55.670
  • The worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious
  • 00:21:55.670 --> 00:21:59.941
  • Tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than a
  • 00:21:59.941 --> 00:22:04.446
  • One-night stay in an inconvenient hotel."
  • 00:22:04.446 --> 00:22:08.483
  • We hope we never have to make the choice between faithfulness
  • 00:22:08.483 --> 00:22:12.053
  • To christ and painful persecution.
  • 00:22:12.053 --> 00:22:15.424
  • But the stories of christians around the world and in history
  • 00:22:15.424 --> 00:22:18.293
  • Tell us that we are not going to be exempt from making those kind
  • 00:22:18.293 --> 00:22:23.698
  • Of choices.
  • 00:22:23.698 --> 00:22:25.367
  • You know, i'll have to confess to you that when i read the
  • 00:22:25.367 --> 00:22:27.602
  • Stories of christians in past ages, the great martyrs of the
  • 00:22:27.602 --> 00:22:31.907
  • Faith, i really am fearful that i won't have the same response
  • 00:22:31.907 --> 00:22:35.610
  • They did.
  • 00:22:35.610 --> 00:22:37.212
  • Sometimes i wonder, did--do they just simply have a greater
  • 00:22:37.212 --> 00:22:40.081
  • Threshold for pain than i have?
  • 00:22:40.081 --> 00:22:44.052
  • But as i read their stories more carefully, i discover that is
  • 00:22:44.052 --> 00:22:47.422
  • Not the difference between them and us.
  • 00:22:47.422 --> 00:22:51.460
  • It's not that they had a greater threshold for pain, it's that
  • 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:55.063
  • They had a different perspective.
  • 00:22:55.063 --> 00:22:58.800
  • They thoughtfully weighed the temporary real pain of
  • 00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:03.505
  • Persecution against the eternal unending rewards of god.
  • 00:23:03.505 --> 00:23:09.811
  • And using that scale, the choice was not difficult to make
  • 00:23:09.811 --> 00:23:14.916
  • At all.
  • 00:23:14.916 --> 00:23:17.018
  • And neither will it be for most of you when persecution comes.
  • 00:23:17.018 --> 00:23:22.824
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:23:22.824 --> 00:23:27.629
  • Jeffress: we do a disservice to our church members and all those
  • 00:23:27.629 --> 00:23:30.765
  • Who claim jesus is lord, to present anything other than
  • 00:23:30.765 --> 00:23:34.703
  • The truth.
  • 00:23:34.703 --> 00:23:36.071
  • The bible has made it very clear that persecution is coming, and
  • 00:23:36.071 --> 00:23:40.475
  • Christian believers need to be prepared.
  • 00:23:40.475 --> 00:23:43.411
  • In the time remaining today, i want to tell you that our salt
  • 00:23:43.411 --> 00:23:47.148
  • And light matching challenge launched earlier this week, as
  • 00:23:47.148 --> 00:23:50.919
  • You give between now and july 6th, any gift you give will be
  • 00:23:50.919 --> 00:23:55.223
  • Matched and therefore doubled in impact until we reach the
  • 00:23:55.223 --> 00:23:58.727
  • Finish line.
  • 00:23:58.727 --> 00:24:00.061
  • In matthew 5, jesus declared, "you are the salt of the earth.
  • 00:24:00.061 --> 00:24:04.833
  • You are the light of the world."
  • 00:24:04.833 --> 00:24:06.935
  • He didn't say you should be or that you ought to be; he said
  • 00:24:06.935 --> 00:24:11.373
  • You are, right now.
  • 00:24:11.373 --> 00:24:14.109
  • And that's exactly what we're doing together through this
  • 00:24:14.109 --> 00:24:16.945
  • Broadcast ministry of "pathway to victory."
  • 00:24:16.945 --> 00:24:20.215
  • So please join me in seizing this opportunity to push back
  • 00:24:20.215 --> 00:24:24.319
  • Against the moral decline in our nation and expand our influence
  • 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:28.423
  • For the gospel across america and around the world.
  • 00:24:28.423 --> 00:24:32.227
  • Now, stay right there.
  • 00:24:32.227 --> 00:24:33.562
  • I'll be back with more in just a moment.
  • 00:24:33.562 --> 00:24:35.830
  • Announcer: the moral decline in today's world can feel
  • 00:24:37.065 --> 00:24:39.634
  • Overwhelming, but god calls us to shine his light and make a
  • 00:24:39.634 --> 00:24:43.605
  • Difference for him in a world that has lost its way.
  • 00:24:43.605 --> 00:24:46.775
  • In his brand-new book, "shine the light," dr. robert jeffress
  • 00:24:46.775 --> 00:24:50.245
  • Shows you how small faithful acts like teaching, serving, and
  • 00:24:50.245 --> 00:24:53.715
  • Encouraging, can restore and renew christian values in your
  • 00:24:53.715 --> 00:24:57.218
  • Family, your church, and community.
  • 00:24:57.218 --> 00:24:59.554
  • Jeffress: the bible teaches that our primary purpose in life is
  • 00:24:59.554 --> 00:25:02.991
  • To influence the world with the gospel, and in my new book i'll
  • 00:25:02.991 --> 00:25:07.429
  • Show you how to live purposefully and leave behind a
  • 00:25:07.429 --> 00:25:10.599
  • Legacy of faith, wisdom, and compassion.
  • 00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:14.202
  • Announcer: the world may seem lost, but god's light has not
  • 00:25:14.202 --> 00:25:17.138
  • Dimmed, and neither has yours.
  • 00:25:17.138 --> 00:25:19.341
  • Request your copy of "shine the light" when you give a generous
  • 00:25:19.341 --> 00:25:22.377
  • Gift to the "pathway to victory"
  • 00:25:22.377 --> 00:25:23.712
  • Salt and light
  • 00:25:23.712 --> 00:25:25.046
  • Matching challenge.
  • 00:25:25.046 --> 00:25:26.381
  • And when your ministry gift is $100 or more, we'll also send
  • 00:25:26.381 --> 00:25:30.218
  • You the complete "shine the light" teaching series on dvd
  • 00:25:30.218 --> 00:25:33.622
  • And audio disc.
  • 00:25:33.622 --> 00:25:34.956
  • Jeffress: light is of little value in the light.
  • 00:25:34.956 --> 00:25:37.826
  • If we're gonna be effective, we're effective for christ, not
  • 00:25:37.826 --> 00:25:41.096
  • When we're around other light sources, other christians; it is
  • 00:25:41.096 --> 00:25:45.133
  • When we're in the darkness.
  • 00:25:45.133 --> 00:25:47.569
  • Light has to confront the darkness.
  • 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:50.138
  • Announcer: remember, your gift
  • 00:25:50.138 --> 00:25:51.473
  • Today will have twice the impact
  • 00:25:51.473 --> 00:25:53.475
  • Thanks to the "pathway
  • 00:25:53.475 --> 00:25:54.809
  • To victory" salt and light
  • 00:25:54.809 --> 00:25:56.144
  • Matching challenge.
  • 00:25:56.144 --> 00:25:57.479
  • Thank you for partnering with "pathway to victory" as we
  • 00:25:57.479 --> 00:26:00.148
  • Boldly proclaim the gospel and equip believers to shine god's
  • 00:26:00.148 --> 00:26:04.085
  • Light in a world that has lost its way.
  • 00:26:04.085 --> 00:26:06.921
  • Jeffress: i think even the most casual observer realizes that
  • 00:26:08.757 --> 00:26:12.160
  • Our culture is more hostile toward christianity than at any
  • 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:16.064
  • Other time in our nation's history, and because the
  • 00:26:16.064 --> 00:26:19.868
  • Negativity and hostility are likely to increase, we ought to
  • 00:26:19.868 --> 00:26:24.005
  • Get ready for coming persecution.
  • 00:26:24.005 --> 00:26:27.142
  • Well, even though the prophet elijah was a man of god, he
  • 00:26:27.142 --> 00:26:31.212
  • Cared deeply about what was happening in his world, and we
  • 00:26:31.212 --> 00:26:35.083
  • Ought to have the same passion that elijah had for influencing
  • 00:26:35.083 --> 00:26:38.953
  • The people and nations around us.
  • 00:26:38.953 --> 00:26:41.856
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:41.856 --> 00:26:44.592
  • Series, "shine the light."
  • 00:26:44.592 --> 00:26:48.163
  • Jeffress: you know, some people actually believe that god has no
  • 00:26:48.229 --> 00:26:51.766
  • Interest in what is happening in the world and yet, from the very
  • 00:26:51.766 --> 00:26:55.804
  • Beginning, god gave man the mandate to take care of the
  • 00:26:55.804 --> 00:26:59.407
  • World in which he placed him.
  • 00:26:59.407 --> 00:27:01.443
  • God's interest, listen to this.
  • 00:27:01.443 --> 00:27:03.344
  • God's interest extend beyond the four walls of the church.
  • 00:27:03.344 --> 00:27:07.148
  • God is not only interested in religious institutions, he's
  • 00:27:07.148 --> 00:27:10.985
  • Interested in the whole world.
  • 00:27:10.985 --> 00:27:12.854
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for the message,
  • 00:27:12.854 --> 00:27:16.124
  • "determine to influence your culture,"
  • 00:27:16.124 --> 00:27:18.727
  • Here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:27:18.727 --> 00:27:18.727