Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and Dr. Robert Jeffress.

We're dedicated to bringing you bold biblical teaching that transforms your life and strengthens your walk with God.

And you can study God's word alongside Dr. Jeffress in person on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska.

Speaker 2

Have you ever witnessed the breathtaking majesty of massive glaciers rising from crystal blue waters? Or stood in awe as bald eagles soar over snow-capped mountains?

I want you to experience these unforgettable moments with me on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, June 13th through 20th, 2026.

Speaker 1

Join Dr. Jeffress and the Pathway to Victory family for a spectacular seven-day adventure aboard Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam.

Indulge in elegant staterooms, world-class dining, and expansive decks perfect for breathtaking views.

Visit historic ports like Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, where wilderness and frontier history await.

Speaker 2

There's something powerful about connecting with God and fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness. I truly believe this journey will refresh you spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Speaker 1

Cabins are filling quickly, so reserve yours today. To book your spot on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org 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 you every day on this Bible teaching program.

Speaker 3

On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

What does that mean? To humble yourselves?

Remember I referred to comedian Chevy Chase and his signature line at the beginning of his skit. He always began by saying, "Hi, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not."

Well, that's a real illustration of how we humble ourselves before God. I realize you're God and I'm not.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our human nature constantly pushes us to be in control. But the Bible teaches that true Godliness requires us to remember a fundamental truth.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress identifies two specific ways we try to usurp God's authority and how avoiding these traps will help you grow in godliness.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 3

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Some of us are planners, and if you're a planner, be encouraged because you're invited to book an early registration on board the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. The dates are June 13th through 20th, 2026. By doing this now, you'll have access to a premier LOC location on the cruise liner. We're planning a family-friendly experience for you. In fact, in addition to the world-class service on board one of the finest cruise vessels in the fleet, we're bringing our own Christian music and entertainment, and I'll be teaching from God's Word as well. To choose your preferred guest room, go to ptv.org.

One of our priorities at Pathway to Victory is to make certain that every day on this program we elevate God to His rightful position. Why is this important? Well, in these dark times, our culture is blind to the kingdom authority of Jesus. James was very clear on this matter, and it's one of the many important issues I address in my brand new book on James. It's called *How to Know If You're Really Saved*.

Today, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'm going to make sure that a copy is sent to your home right away. And remember, this is a time-limited offer that ends Friday, so please get in touch with us right away.

So let's turn in our Bibles to James Chapter five for today's study. I titled today's message "He's God and You're Not."

Speaker 2

A doctor said to his patient, "I have some bad news and I have some terrible news for you." The patient said, "Well, what's the bad news?" The doctor replied, "Well, the test results came in and you only have 24 hours to live." The patient was stunned. He said, "What could be worse than that?" The doctor said, "I was supposed to have told you yesterday."

You know, all of us face uncertain futures, don't we? And that's the thought that James has in mind about why we should live without presumption in our lives. The book of James is a book about how to know if you're really saved or not. Where there is faith, there will be visible fruit. And one test of whether or not we are truly Christians is if we're becoming more godly. Last time we looked at a checklist for godliness, and you may remember that to become godly, James gave us three keys. First of all, submit to God by resisting the devil. Secondly, draw near to God by purifying your heart. And then third, he talked about humbling yourself before God.

And that's where we left off last time in James 4:10: "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you." What does that mean to humble yourselves? Remember I referred to comedian Chevy Chase, whose signature line at the beginning of his skit always began with, "Hi, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not." Well, that's a real illustration of how we humble ourselves before God. We say, "God, I realize you're God and I'm not."

Now, that means more than just intellectually agreeing that you're not God. If you really understand that you and I are not God, we will refrain from two specific actions that attempt to usurp God's power and authority. First of all, James is going to say, if we're going to humble ourselves before God, we must stop judging other people. Listen to verses 11 and 12: "Do not speak out against one another, brethren. For he who speaks out against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"

Now, there's a lot of misunderstanding about what James is saying and what he's not saying. I read a survey not long ago that said for years the favorite verse of Americans was—can you remember what it was? Would you like to guess? For years it's been John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life." But that verse has been replaced as America's favorite verse. You know what America's favorite verse is now? Matthew 7:1: "Judge not lest you be judged." People don't have a clue what that means. They think in this anything-go culture it's a blanket pardon for anything you want to do. If you dare question their activities, they say, "Oh, judge not lest you be judged."

But was Jesus really saying we're never to make any discerning statement or any evaluation of another person? No. A closer analysis of what Jesus meant is found in verses 1 to 5 of Matthew 7. Hold your place in James 4 and turn over to Matthew 7. Remember, Jesus was James' older brother, and it explains why James quotes Jesus' Sermon on the Mount more than any other New Testament book. Look at what Jesus really said about judging: "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take that speck out of your eye," and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. What James is saying, and Jesus both, is don't engage in ungodly judging. An ungodly type, a wrong type of judging. He's not saying don't judge at all, but guard against ungodly judging.

What is that? First of all, ungodly judging usurps God's authority to pronounce condemnation. It's usurping only God's right to pronounce condemnation. It's not the act of making an evaluation that James is condemning; it's making that condemning judgment that says, "This person is beyond hope. They can't be turned around." The Bible's not against any type of judging; it's ungodly judging that only God himself can do.

By the way, I know some of you are probably thinking, "Well, wait a minute. Aren't we being judgmental? Aren't we being condemning when we say every other religion is wrong? The only way to God is through faith in Jesus Christ. Aren't we making a condemning judgment?" No, we're not making that judgment. We're repeating what God has already said. God has made that judgment. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me." Jesus was not attempting to send as many people to hell as he could; he was trying to save as many people.

You know, everybody knows John 3:16, but most people can't quote John 3:17 or John 3:18. Jesus said, "For the Son did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in the Son has life. But he who does not believe in the Son is condemned already because he has not believed in the only begotten Son of God." In other words, Jesus isn't saying, "I save you, I condemn you. I save you, I condemn you." We are all born into this world condemned. We are under a death sentence, if you will. Jesus came to save as many as would believe in him for eternal life.

The type of ungodly judging we need to abstain from is one that pronounces a final condemnation upon people. Secondly, James says, ungodly judging usurps God's ability to discern someone's motivation. Whenever we attempt to discover somebody's motivation for doing something, we're in dangerous territory. That's something only God can do. Remember, in 1 Samuel 16:7, it says, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart." Only God knows the full picture. Only God knows a person's heart. And that's why James says in verse 12 of chapter 4, "There's only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"

There's only one judge who can make righteous and correct judgments, and he's going to do that one day. Every deed is going to be judged, but it's when he returns. Don't try to take his role. Now James 5:9 says, "Do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the Judge," and he's talking about Jesus, "is standing right at the door." He's about to come back. His return is imminent, and he will judge the righteous and the unrighteous. If we're going to be a godly person, if we're going to become godly in our character, we must refrain from judging other people.

Secondly, we must stop presumptuous planning. Now this is an interesting topic: presumptuous planning. Look at what he says in verses 13 and 14: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we shall go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit,' yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You're a vapor, just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

Now, I was having a discussion with one of my daughters about this yesterday. We were talking about what this verse means and doesn't mean. He's not saying, "Don't make plans." The Bible is not against setting goals and making plans. In fact, you look at the Bible, there are all kinds of examples of God-honoring planning. What James is condemning here is planning without any thought of God—presumptuous planning. Planning your life, living your life as if there was no God. In verse 15 he said, "Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"

If the Lord wills, we will do this. That phrase "if the Lord wills" is not some superfluous prefix added on to make things more godly. "Oh, if God wills." And I'm going to go ahead. No, it means a mindset. It means that all of our realizing that all of our life, all of our plans, hinge on the sovereignty of God. To say "if the Lord wills" means to live your life under the sovereignty of God. It means to make God central in your planning for the future.

Why should we do that? Why should we keep God central in our lives? James gives us four reasons. First of all, because of the brevity of life. Look again at verse 14: "You don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. Your life—you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." Have you ever gone outside when it's cold, below freezing, and watched your breath just hang in the air for a few minutes, a few seconds, and then suddenly disappear? James is saying, that's what your life is like. It's like a mist. The word is "atmos," a mist. It appears for a little while and then it vanishes.

Have you ever considered how brief your life is here on Earth? I discovered this some time ago. If you live to an average age of 70—boy, that seems younger every day—the age of 70, you've been given 2,207,520,000 seconds of life. Now, that may seem like a lot—two billion seconds of life. But if you're 40 or more, how many of you are 40 or more? Confessional. If you're 40 or more, you've already used up 1,261,000,000 of those seconds. That means you only have 946,000,000 seconds left. But that's not all. Of those 946,000,000 seconds, you're going to spend 315,000,000 seconds sleeping. You're going to spend 59,130,000 seconds eating—some of you more than that. Furthermore, you're going to spend 1200 seconds just listening to me in the next few minutes, leaving you with only 570,157,000 seconds of life. And they're going by just like that.

The brevity of life. Why should we make God central in our lives? Not only is life brief, but it's filled with uncertainty. He says in verse 14, "You don't know what your life will be like tomorrow." You have no idea what your life is going to be like tomorrow. That's why you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." Have you discovered how uncertain life is? I'll never forget having a friend, an acquaintance who lived in another state, who was planning to come to Texas to attend the seminary and go into ministry. He was so excited about beginning seminary. But while he was having lunch, he felt something crawling up his leg, and when he swatted it, whatever it was bit his leg and out of his pants leg. Fellow dead spider. My friend went to the hospital. Soon he lost all the feeling in that leg. Gangrene set in. He ended up having his leg amputated and losing one of his kidneys and in the process racked up over $250,000 in medical expenses. His plans to go to seminary and into the ministry changed just like that.

That's why we need to remember the sovereignty of God when we're making our plans, for you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. Why should we make God central in our lives? Thirdly, James says, because of the emptiness of success. "Come now, those who say, 'Today we'll go to such and such a city and engage in business and make a profit.'" Notice in James 5:1-3, there were no chapter divisions in the original text. This is all part of the same discussion. Look at what he says about money: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. For your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be witness against you, and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure."

Have you discovered how fleeting money can be? Have you been watching as your 401ks became 101ks over the last few days? You know the Bible is correct. Riches are like eagles that sprout wings and fly to the cloud. Money that is earned can be so easily lost. And that's why Solomon, who was the wealthiest man of his day, who was the most powerful king in Israel's history, who built the temple, he said about all of his achievements as he was an old man looking back: "Worthless, worthless. Everything in life is worthless." And he came to the conclusion in chapter 12, verse 1 of Ecclesiastes: "Therefore remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you say, 'I find no pleasure in them.'"

Why should we not engage in presumptuous living? Why should we remember God and make him central in our life? Finally, James says, because of our accountability to God. Look at chapter 5, verses 7 and 9: "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the Judge," and he's talking about Jesus, "is standing right at the door."

For all our jokes about dying and standing at the Pearly gates and talking to St. Peter, there'll be nothing really funny when we meet God for our judgment. And by the way, we're all going to be judged by Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:27 says, "It's appointed unto every one of us once to die and then to judgment." Non-Christians will face the great White Throne judgment (Revelation chapter 20), where John says, "If any man's name was not written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire and tormented day and night forever."

We Christians don't have to fear the great White Throne judgment; we've been forgiven. Our sins have been taken away. But that doesn't mean God's not going to evaluate our life. He is. It's a different judgment—the bema, the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). "For we have as our ambition, whether here or at home, to be pleasing to God." Why? "Because we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may be rewarded for what we've done in the body, whether it be good or worthless."

Whether it's the great White Throne judgment or the judgment seat of Christ, the writer of Hebrews said, "It is a fearful thing to be in the hands of the living God." We are all ultimately accountable to God. That's why we need to make God central in our lives before it's too late.

I remember years ago reading the account of a girl who was driving with four of her best friends in the car. The car was going much too fast. It hit a concrete embankment. The car flipped over four times. For the next five hours, rescue workers tried to free the passengers in that car. The driver listened to her best friends, to their moaning, to their weeping as each one passed into eternity. Later, the rescue workers were able to save the girl that was driving. A reporter asked her what it was like being trapped in that car for hours. What did her friends say in the final moments of their life? And she said, "Each one of them died saying the same thing: 'Oh, God, no, no, no. Oh, God, no.'"

You understand, don't you? We're all going to face that same future. We're going to die. It may or may not be in a car wreck. It may not be today or tomorrow, but it's coming. And at that point, we're going to stand before the judgment of God. That's why Solomon says, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come. For every act will be judged by God, whether hidden, whether it be good or whether it be evil."

Speaker 3

So what does it mean to truly humble yourself before God? It's simple. You say to him, "You're God and I'm not." When we get that straight, it changes everything. According to James, our life is like a vapor. It appears for a little while and then vanishes in a puff of steam. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. But there's one thing we can know for certain: we will stand before God's judgment. And that's precisely why we need to comprehend that he's God and we're not.

Maybe you're looking for a book that'll guide your conversation with a small group Bible study. Only a few days remain to request my brand new book on James. It's called *How to Know if You're Really Saved*. When you give, you'll be helping people like Greg, who wrote to me and said, "Pastor Jeffress, I'm truly going through a difficult time right now. I've lost my job and all my benefits, and I am so depressed with anxiety and feel so lost. Thank you for reminding me that God sees my struggles and he cares. I really appreciate it."

While our culture is in chaos and people like Greg feel like their world is spinning out of control, God has positioned Pathway to Victory for such a time as this. And when you give, you're part of this movement of God to bring light where there's darkness.

So today, I want to thank you for your generous gift by providing my book *How to Know if You're Really Saved*. Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

When you get in touch with Pathway to Victory and give a generous gift, you're invited to request how to know if you're really Saved, the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Just call 866-999-2965 or visit our website at ptv.org, and as you give $75 or more, you'll also receive the complete set of unabridged messages for this new teaching series, how to know if you're really Saved. They come on both DVD, video, and MP3 format audio discs, so you can watch them with your small group Bible study or even listen in the car. You'll also receive a companion study guide, but time is running out. To take advantage of this offer again, call 866-999-2965 or visit our website at ptv.org. If you'd prefer to write, here's that address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Few topics in Christianity generate as much confusion and controversy as the subject of divine healing. Did the age of miracles end with the apostles, or does God still heal today? Learn what the Book of James teaches on this important subject 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. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, 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.