Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress.

And right now, your generous gift will have twice the impact, thanks to the Salt and Light Matching Challenge, active now through July 6th. To give a special matching challenge gift, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's word with every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

We have the privilege of choosing our leaders. Every time we go into the voting booth, we decide which direction this nation is going to be headed.

That means every time we go into the voting booth, we are casting a vote for righteousness or we're casting a vote for unrighteousness.

We are the ones who are determining the moral and spiritual direction of this nation.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. On July 4th, we'll celebrate our independence in America as one nation under God.

But at the same time, we are very mindful of the precarious risk facing our country today. On Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress urges us to push back against popular culture and become salt and light for the Gospel.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message: Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 2

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I'm glad you joined us for today's program because you're about to hear one of the most highly requested messages ever presented on Pathway to Victory. More than 50 years ago, our United States Supreme Court made a trilogy of devastating decisions that undermined the intent of our founding Fathers. And while our current justices have restored a glimmer of hope, my heart, like yours, is heavy for the nation we love.

Now, with July 4th right around the corner, I need to call your attention to an important deadline. At midnight on this Sunday, July 6th, we will reach the culmination of the Salt and Light Matching Challenge. Some friends of Pathway to Victory established this $1 million fund so that every dollar you give up until the deadline will be matched and therefore doubled by two. As we receive your gifts and many others, we will build an arsenal to deploy in bringing light into the dark spaces of our world. Please get in touch with us and become part of this movement of God to bring salt and light to our families, our neighborhoods, and even our country.

When I receive your gift, I'll be sure to send you a copy of my brand new book called Shine the Light. It comes with my thanks. In my new book, you'll be encouraged to see how even your smallest acts of kindness and compassion become beacons of hope. I'll say more about my new book and the matching challenge right after today's message.

But right now, it's time to resume a very personal message I delivered to the congregation of First Baptist Church in Dallas. I titled my message America at the Crossroads.

Speaker 3

Ladies and gentlemen, over the last 50 years, there have been three explosive decisions by our United States Supreme Court that have so weakened the moral and spiritual infrastructure of this nation that our country's collapse is inevitable. The first one occurred in 1962. It was the Supreme Court case of Engel vs. Vitale. This is the case that removed prayer from the public schools. Of course, this was just the first in a series of court decisions against prayer, Christianity, and faith in the public square. In 1963, Bible reading was removed from the school. And on and on and on it went until 1980. In the case of Stone vs. Graham, the United States Supreme Court said you can no longer even post copies of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky school.

And why did the court say you can't do that? If I were to summarize the court's ruling, you would think I was making it up. So I want you to hear verbatim why the Supreme Court of the United States now says you can no longer post the Ten Commandments in the school. Quote, "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps venerate and obey the Commandments. This is not a permissible state objective under the establishment clause of the First Amendment." Can you believe that the Supreme Court says we can't post those Ten Commandments in a school because if we post them, the children might actually read them? And if they read the Ten Commandments, they may begin to respect them, to venerate them. And if they begin to respect the Ten Commandments, God forbid they might actually obey the Ten Commandments. And that's unconstitutional in the First Amendment. They said Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion. Our forefathers came from a country where there was a state church and people were coerced to worship in churches they didn't want to be in. That was wrong. Our forefathers said, we want no part of that, and you and I don't want any part of that. But the First Amendment absolutely has nothing to say about nativity scenes or prayers at graduations or Ten Commandment displays. It has absolutely nothing to say about that. Our country was founded as a Christian nation. And although we allow and welcome people of all faiths or no faiths, this country was founded as a Christian nation.

The second explosion occurred in 1973, the case of Roe vs. Wade, the court case that legalized abortion in our country. And since the Roe decision, more than 60 million children have been murdered in the womb, and an additional 1.3 million children are murdered every year through abortion. The third explosion occurred on January 26, 2015. It was the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. This was the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage. Now, I know. Look, I know, or some of you are thinking, oh, Pastor, why do we have to talk about that? Why do you get so worked up about that? It's no skin off of your nose. You must be homophobic to talk about this. No, we don't hate gay people. We don't hate anybody.

You know, I remember so well a few years ago when one of these decisions attacking traditional marriage came down from the Supreme Court. I was on Fox News the night of that decision debating a gay activist. I was talking about the sociological studies of why children need both a father and a mother. And as I was talking about that, he interrupted me and he said, "Pastor, I just want you to know I'm offended by what you're saying because you're suggesting that a heterosexual relationship is superior to a homosexual relationship." I said, "Well, sir, I'm sorry you're offended, but the fact is, you wouldn't be alive here and arguing with me tonight if it were not a heterosexual relationship that had brought you into this world." I mean, that is God's way of saying, this is a special relationship. Now, I know that's not always possible to have a father and mother; death, divorce, and other things can intervene. But government ought to be encouraging that ideal relationship instead of counterfeiting it.

Now, here's my point in all of this. What I'm simply saying is this: no nation that outlaws the mention of God in the public square, that celebrates the murder of its own children, that destroys the most basic unit of society, the family, is going to survive that. What are we supposed to do about that? Some of you are saying this is the most depressing message I've ever listened to. No, this is not depressing. As long as you understand our purpose as Christians, if you understand our purpose as Christians, there's never been a better time to be alive and living in America than right now. As long as we understand the mission, what are we supposed to be doing right now?

Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 5. Turn there to Matthew 5:13. You probably never thought we'd get into the Bible. Here we are right now, Matthew 5. Jesus said, first of all, "You are the salt of the earth." But if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Jesus said we are to be salt in this decaying world. Now remember, in Jesus' day, salt was a preservative. Salt could not prevent the decay of meat, but it could delay the decay of meat. Now Jesus said in the same way, the reason he has left us in this world instead of taking us to heaven immediately is to be a preservative in this world. To not prevent the decay, but to delay the decay of the world.

Now, before salt can impact meat, guess what? It has to penetrate the meat. As long as it stays in the salt shaker, it is absolutely worthless. And I'm going to tell you one thing that really concerns me is the number of Christians, the number of pastors who are still in the salt shaker. They have siloed themselves. They have said things like, "Oh well, if it's all going to end anyway, why should I even bother to get involved? You know, we're going to hell in a handbasket. Why should I do anything? Shouldn't we be welcoming Jesus' return anyway? Why should we care about what's happening in the culture?" You know how I respond to that? I know I'm going to die one day. But the reason I get up and run every morning, the reason I gag down that Raisin Bran for breakfast instead of an Egg McMuffin every day, the reason I do those things is to delay the inevitable. I want to live here as long as I can and do what God has called me to do before I go home to meet the Lord.

And it's the same way with our culture. We're not afraid of the end. We know the best chapter is yet to be revealed when Christ returns. But the Bible says we're to push back against evil. We're to try to delay the premature collapse of our country and our world so that we have longer to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. How do we do that? How do we push back against evil in the world? One way we do it in our country, a major way we do it, is through the government officials that we elect. I know some of you are saying, "We knew Jeffress was gonna get involved in politics. If we came here today, we knew this was gonna be a political message. Christians shouldn't be involved in politics, and pastors certainly shouldn't be involved in politics."

Well, before you say that, remember two things. Number one, God is the one who designed government. Government is God's idea. Did you know the Bible says there are three institutions that God created? Not two, not five. There are three. In Genesis 2, he created the family. In Genesis 9, he created the government. And in Acts chapter 2, he created the church. Did you know government is just as ordained and holy as the church is? Government is just as ordained by God as the church is. Both were created by God for unique purposes. Government's not been called to share the gospel; we have. But government has been called to be a restrainer of evil. God designed government to keep order and morality in society. And that means when we elect government officials, we are determining the moral and spiritual direction of our country.

And that's the second thing I want you to understand about government. We have the privilege of choosing our leaders. Every time we go into the voting booth, we decide which direction this nation is going to be headed. Just think about this. In the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, you didn't get to vote for the king. You didn't get to vote for the emperor of Rome. That was kind of given to you. But John Jay, the first chief justice of our United States Supreme Court, said this: "God has given us the privilege in this Christian nation of choosing our leaders." Isn't that interesting? The first chief justice of the Supreme Court said, "This is a Christian nation." He said, "God has given us in this Christian nation the privilege of choosing our leaders." That means every time we go into the voting booth, we are casting a vote for righteousness or we're casting a vote for unrighteousness. We are the ones who are determining the moral and spiritual direction of this nation.

Now, pastor, don't you think that's a little melodramatic to say we're actually choosing between righteousness and unrighteousness? Not at all. If you don't hear another word I say this morning, hear this: what we're facing in this country is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It is a battle between good and evil, between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. That's exactly what is at stake in this country. If you don't believe that, just look at what happened in the 2016 election. We had two choices. Two choices. Talking about abortion and the murder of children, which God absolutely hates. We had two choices. One choice was a man who said he believed life was sacred and began at conception. He said in his colorful way that he didn't believe children ought to be ripped from the mother's womb. That was one candidate. The other candidate said she didn't believe there ought to be any restriction on abortion at all, for any reason or any time. That means if you want to kill a child in the womb because you don't like the sex, you were hoping for a boy and you got a girl, no restriction on that. No restriction on the time. If the week before the child is delivered, you want to kill it because it's inconvenient, no restriction. The liberals have never yet come up with one restriction of any kind on abortion.

And furthermore, this candidate had said a year earlier at the Women of the World Conference in New York City that for women to have unfettered access to abortion, the deeply seated religious beliefs of many people will have to be changed. She wasn't content to have her own beliefs; she wanted to change your religious beliefs to allow for the murder of children. That was a battle, ladies and gentlemen, between good and evil. And aren't we glad good won out in that case? That's what this is about now. I know, I know, I know. We've got Democrats here today, and you're welcome too. God is not Republican or Democrat. Okay? And that's why I am just as critical of the Republican Party as I am the Democrat Party.

Let me tell you, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would make illegal abortion after 20 weeks. After 20 weeks, the House passed that bill that spoke to me personally because, as you know, my daughter Julia is pregnant with triplets right now. And just a few weeks ago, she was at that 20-week mark, and I saw a sonogram of my grandchildren. They weren't biological blobs; they were real children in that womb. And now our House of Representatives said we're going to end the barbaric practice of aborting children after 20 weeks. The House passed it. President Trump has said he will sign it, but that bill is going to die in the Republican-controlled Senate because they don't want to take it up. In fact, one of the Republican leaders, you all know very well, said, "We're not going to deal with this. We have other more pressing priorities than this."

Let me tell you what: if that Republican Senator were a 20-week-old baby in his mother's womb, I'll guarantee you that bill would be a priority for him because his survival would depend on it. What I'm saying to you is this: this is a battle between good and evil. You know, how often in church do we pray this prayer? We pray it all the time. The Lord's Prayer. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven." What in the heck are we praying for when we pray that? Have you ever thought about it? We're saying, "God, we are praying for it. We are working for your will to be done, not just in the by and by, but right now on earth."

Let me ask you, is it God's will for 1.3 million children to be murdered in the womb every year? Is it God's will for his name to be outlawed from the public square and for crosses to be taken off war memorials? Is it God's will for Christians around this world, like we have here today, to be persecuted, tortured, and beheaded by ISIS and other radical Islamic terrorists? Of course, it's not God's will. And we have the power to stop it. It's time for us to rise up and say, enough. We are pushing back against the evil in this world. That is what God has called us to do. We've got the now. God has said, you're to be salt. You're to be the preservative.

But that's not all he said. He said the reason you're to push back against evil is so that you have the opportunity to do what you've been called to do, and that's to share the light of Jesus Christ. And that's what he said in Matthew 5:14-16. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." You know, the best way to deal with darkness in our culture? It's not to isolate yourself from the darkness. It's not to curse the darkness. It is to confront the darkness with the light of God's truth. Let there be light. Light overpowers darkness. And we've been called to share the message of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible before his return.

You know, the only way—listen to this—the only way we will ever change the direction of America is by changing the hearts of Americans. And the only way to change a person's heart is by their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Jesus who can forgive their sins and give them a whole new way of living. And, you know, that's what our church is about. It's about sharing the gospel that can change people's hearts. You know, just recently we had a young couple that was coming to our church regularly, and they were unmarried, living together. But both of them recently made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And now they've decided they're going to get married. They're going to live God's way.

Now, you know, I could have preached 100 messages: "Thou shalt not live together. Thou shalt not live together." That would have done nothing. They needed a change of heart. And that's what Jesus Christ did. We had a man who called us not long ago. He listens to our broadcast in California. He's been living the homosexual lifestyle for 30 years. But as a result of God's word shared through our broadcast, he said, "I'm turning away from that lifestyle." We don't hate homosexuals. We love homosexuals. We welcome everyone to hear the Gospel of Christ. Had another man from Mississippi, he wrote in and he said, "I have been addicted to pornography for years. It's destroyed my life; it's destroyed my family. But through your program, I have been set free from that addiction."

Did you see a couple of weeks ago, a 98-year-old Jewish woman had been in our church, and she walked down the aisle, took my hand, and she said, "Today I'm trusting in Jesus to be my Savior, and I want to spend whatever time I have left on earth serving him." And she was baptized last week here. That is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's how we're going to change our world. You know? Dr. Criswell, who was pastor here for 50 years, said 35 years ago from the pulpit of the church, talking about America, he said, "The nation cannot turn to God if I do not turn to God. The nation cannot repent if I do not repent. God doesn't win nations or companies or crowds or throngs. He wins souls one by one. And the only way we can lift our nation Godward is if I am moved Godward."

That's why the mission statement of our church, First Baptist Church, Dallas, is very simple: "Transforming the world with God's word, one life at a time." Many of you are familiar with the French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville, who came and visited our country in the 19th century. He then wrote a book about his discoveries in America. Do you remember his famous words? He said, "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her harbors and her ample rivers, in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, in her public school systems and in her institutions of learning and in her Democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution. But it wasn't there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

Speaker 2

That's a powerful statement that has serious implications for our country today. The questions remain: Will our leaders choose to honor the Christian heritage that made us great, or will we continue to make choices that defy the goodness and holiness of God?

Well, over the years, we've discovered that our Pathway to Victory listeners and viewers care deeply about the future of our great nation. That's especially true right now, when so many pivotal decisions hang in the balance. As you feel stirred in your heart to take action, let me invite you to join Pathway to Victory to shine the light of God's truth into the dark corners of our world. By giving to the $1 million salt and light Matching Challenge, you empower us to share these daily messages on radio, television, the Internet, and beyond. As a result, our listeners are becoming bright lights wherever God takes them.

Let me give you a great example of that. I received a note from a former American diplomat who wrote, "Pastor Jeffress, I am a retired diplomat. I've spent a lot of time overseas, and I know firsthand how difficult a place the world can be. I hope everyone realizes how truly important the work is that you are doing, not only to reach people overseas, but frankly to reach people in our own country. With each passing day, the state of Christianity in our country is getting a wee bit darker. God bless you for bringing light into this world."

Well, that's such an encouragement to me, and I hope this diplomat's remarks inspire you to partner with Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift. Today, Sunday, July 6, is the final day to receive your gift toward the Matching Challenge, and I truly hope to hear from you even today.

Speaker 1

David thanks Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you invest in the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new book by Dr. Jeffress, *Shine the Light*. Just call 866-999-2965 or visit our website ptv.org, and when your gift is $100 or more, you'll receive not only the book and DVD but also the complete collection of audio and video discs for the *Shine the Light* teaching series. Remember, because of the Salt and Light Matching Challenge, your gift will be matched and therefore double in impact. But the deadline for giving your special gift is Sunday, July 6th at midnight. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You could write to us. Here's the address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. In recent decades, the American government has taken drastic measures to ensure the separation of church and state, but today's legislature is actually going against the wishes of our founding fathers. Join us Thursday for the message *America is a Christian Nation* here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.

And right now, your ministry gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Salt and Light Matching Challenge. Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on July 6th. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.