Pathway to Victory

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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. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

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

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day. This Bible teaching program on today's edition.

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Of Pathway to Victory, Satan's four favorite lies.

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And they're his favorites because they have the most devastating impact on your life. In fact, did you know you can go back to the beginning of time? And those same lies were responsible for the very first sin on planet Earth.

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That we're going to look at today.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Every day, you and I are bonded, bombarded with messages telling us what we need to be happy, successful, and fulfilled. But many of these messages are actually lies designed to lead us away from God.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals four lies that can destroy lives and shares how to replace Satan's deceptions with God's liberating truth.

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

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Thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Curiosity is a wonderful virtue, especially for men and women who love the Bible. You see, inquisitive minds can plumb the depths of God's Word with their challenging questions, and they'll find lasting satisfaction with the answers they discover. It's one of the reasons we're including a new feature on today's edition of Pathway to Victory called Ask Dr. Jeffress.

I'll encourage you to stick with us through the end of today's program because I'll be answering one of the questions we've received. Rebecca wants to know, as Christians, what should our response be to homosexuality? That's an important question.

And then there's still time to request the brand new resource we set aside for you. I'm referring to my brand new book for the Children and Grandchildren in your life. It's called Suit Up: The Armor of God for Kids. See, the devil wants to destroy our family's confidence in God, and he'll do anything to sabotage our children. My book will equip you with a creative way to explain spiritual protection and to help your children push back against the evil forces, and it's yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In addition to this children's book, I'll be sure to include a brand new resource for adults as well. It's a book called Angels: Fact versus Fantasy. We'll share more details about a wide variety of resources on spiritual warfare later after my message. But right now, let's open our Bibles for today's study as we expose what I call Satan's four favorite lies.

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The first lie deals with discontent. And it's a lie from the enemy that says you don't have what you really need to be happy. God has not given you what you need to be happy. God has shortchanged you in some way. You see that in the very beginning, sin committed on planet Earth.

Turn to Genesis, chapter three. Look at Genesis three, beginning with verse one. John. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field. And he said to the woman, indeed has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.

Think about this. God had placed Adam and Eve in an idyllic setting—a beautiful, perfect setting. He had created thousands of trees they could enjoy. You can have any tree you want, except that one. And it's forbidden. And what does Satan do? Through the serpent, he directs Eve's attention away from all of God's blessings, all of the trees that could have been hers to enjoy. He redirects it toward that one thing.

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God said no to.

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And he continues to do that same thing in our lives again.

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Oh, there's a reason God doesn't want you to have this tree.

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God is a cosmic killjoy. He wants to rob you of true happiness in life. When we fall for that lie, we believe that God has not given us what we need to be happy. We're ready to fall for his next lie, which is built around pride. It's a lie that says you are in control of your destiny. If God can't be depended upon to give us what we need, then we better start looking out for number one. Nobody else is going to look out for you. You better look out for yourself. You must control your destiny, and you can control your destiny. That's the essence of pride.

That thought, that belief, leads to a third lie that we're susceptible to, and that is one based on fear: the idea that you are all alone. Now, here's the great irony of all of this. We think pride and sovereignty over our choices produce confidence in people. It gives people great confidence. It doesn't. It gives people fear. People are filled with fear when they are unshackled from the truth that there is a God controlling their destiny.

You know why that is? It's because once somebody decides that there is no God and that He has no power over their lives, they become victims of random events or random circumstances in their life. It doesn't take long living on this planet to realize you're not in control of your circumstances. A disloyal mate, a maverick cancer cell, an unexpected accident or illness suddenly makes you realize you're not in control of the situation. That's what happens, and that's why people are so filled with fear.

We need to know there is a God who is bigger than the circumstances, bigger than the enemies in our life. But independence always produces fear. I think it's interesting that the very first negative emotion in the Bible isn't jealousy.

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It's not bitterness. It's not greed. It's not lust. It's fear.

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Did you know that the very first negative emotion in the Bible is fear? After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they went and hid from God. And remember, God came looking for them. In verse 10, Adam said to God, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself."

That's always the result of acting independently from God. When we act independently from God, when we unshackle ourselves from the responsibility we have to obey God, we're filled not with confidence, but with fear.

Are you familiar with the author named Michael Crichton?

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If you don't know his name, you.

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Know his books and movies. He's deceased now, but he was the author of *Jurassic Park* and *The Andromeda Strain*.

I remember years ago, he wrote an article that I clipped and put in my permanent file because it made such an impression upon me. The article was titled "Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves." In that article, he listed all the numerous things human beings have come up with to be scared by and how those things have changed through the years.

Listen to some of these fears that have seized control of our culture over time.

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The last 60 or so years.

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In 1975, Newsweek magazine warned that global temperatures were falling and could result in a worldwide famine. Ten years later, scientists were warning of a rise in global temperatures that threatened the survival of our planet. In the 1960s, we were warned of the dangers of overpopulation, with one global think tank predicting that by 2030, the world's population would be 14 billion people. By the end of the 20th century, fertility rates had fallen to half of what they were in the 1950s.

We once were worried that power lines caused cancer. Remember that? After $25 billion was spent in relocating power lines or the people living near them, it was discovered that not only are power lines not harmful, but the magnetic fields that they were feared to be carcinogenic can actually be helpful in some medical treatments. Killer bees, cancer-inducing deodorants, swine flu epidemics, economic collapses, giant asteroids, and the anticipated meltdown from Y2K are just some of the other manufactured fears in the last 60 years that have plagued society.

The more we teach people in our schools, teach our children, that there is no God, the more fear grips our hearts. If there is no God, all we're left to do is to calculate how many different things could go wrong in our lives and on our planet. Now, discontent leads to independence, independence leads to fear, and fear ultimately leads to bitterness. And that's the fourth lie Satan loves to convince us of: that you have been mistreated by God or by other people.

I remember once reading a story about a thief who broke into a convenience store overnight. He went to the vending machine to try to pry it open in order to get the change out of it. In the process, he ended up pulling the vending machine on himself and was trapped there for six hours. You know what his next move was? He sued the convenience store for negligence for the injuries he had sustained.

I thought, you know, that thief is a lot like Satan. He cannot accept the fact that he's the one responsible for his banishment from heaven. He wanted to blame somebody else for his predicament, and he happened to blame God. His unwillingness to accept blame for his rebellious heart not only kept him from salvation and forgiveness, but it also sowed the seeds of this cosmic battle that we're all a part of.

Think about it. Every problem you have in your life right now can be traced back to this spiritual war that began with Satan's resentment.

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Bitterness toward God.

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That's the fruit of bitterness. It shouldn't be any surprise to us that one of Satan's favorite mind games is to get us to believe all of our problems are the result of what other people or what God has done to us.

Whether it's the situation at work we're experiencing, whether it's our financial struggles, whether it's our miracle problems, we want to blame somebody else instead of receiving that blame and receiving God's forgiveness in our life.

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Listen to this bitterness.

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Bitterness is a blindfold that keeps you.

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From receiving God's forgiveness in your life.

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And it also keeps you from making the necessary changes you need to make for a better life. It should be no surprise that that's what Satan did to Eve. He tried to get her to blame somebody else for the predicament she was in.

It's interesting in Genesis 3:12, when God confronts this first couple, he goes to the man first and says, "Adam, what have you done?" And remember Adam's reply in verse 12: "The woman you gave me, she's the one who is responsible. She gave it to me. She gave me from the tree, and I ate." Oh, God, everything was great between you and me. We were having a wonderful relationship together, untainted by sin. And then you came up with this brilliant idea to create a woman. And now look what has happened. He blamed the woman.

And so God said, "Okay, what do you have to say for yourself, Eve?" In verse 13, God asks, "What is this thing you have done?" And the woman said, "That serpent that you created, that serpent, he's the one who deceived me. And I ate."

And so the pattern continues. When we are guilty, we have to shift the guilt somewhere. And so we shift it and transform it into blame. That blame, that refusal to acknowledge our responsibility, keeps us from receiving God's forgiveness, and it keeps us from making necessary changes in our life.

Now, let me say quickly, obviously, there are times that other people wrong us. There are other times that people really are to blame for what has happened in our life. Have you ever discovered that you can't...

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Control what other people do to you?

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One of the most liberating things to realize is you are not responsible for.

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What other people do to you.

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You can't control what other people do to you, but you can control your.

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Responses to what other people do.

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And when somebody wrongs us and live more than five minutes on this planet and somebody's gonna wrong you, you'll experience that when people wrong you, you've got.

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One of two choices.

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You can either hold onto it. You can grip that offense. You can turn it over and over in your mind and relive that hurt over and over again.

And until that bitterness becomes a tumor—a spiritual tumor—it can destroy everything good in your life and in the lives of those around you.

You can hold onto that bitterness, or you can choose to release it.

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Let go of that bitterness.

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I'm not talking about rationalizing what the other person did or denying what they did.

To forgive, though, means literally to let go. When you forgive, you let go of your right to hurt that person for hurting you.

When you forgive, you're basically saying, God, you take this person and you settle the score.

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You do what's right.

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But I want to be free to.

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Get on with my life.

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That's what Satan never wants you to do. He wants you to hold on to that bitterness. Turn that offense over and over again in your mind. Demand your pound of flesh, flesh from.

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That other person who has wronged you.

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Because Satan knows as long as he can keep you gripping your bitterness, you.

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Will never be free to serve God.

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You know, I remember reading one time an interesting article about how Africans caught wild monkeys. You know how they do it? They take a coconut and they clean it out.

And it's a hollowed out coconut in which they place peanuts. And when the wild monkeys come, they sniff those peanuts and they stick their hand in the opening of that coconut and they grab hold of those peanuts.

But a strange thing, once they grab.

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Hold, they've created a fist that keeps.

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Them from being able to extricate their hand from the coconut they're caught. And what is their response? They just hold onto those peanuts tighter and tighter and tighter.

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You say, what?

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Stupid monkeys. I'm glad I'm not as stupid as those monkeys are. Don't say that, because you and I do the same thing.

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When somebody wrongs us, what do we want to do?

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We want to hold on to them.

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We want to hold on to that offense.

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We want to remember every painful emotion we had.

And we want to visualize what it's going to be like to get even with that person.

And we hold on and on and on and grip that person in their offense.

And all the time we don't realize we're enslaving ourselves.

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The only way to experience freedom is by letting go. Letting go.

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How do I do that? How do I defeat the lies of Satan that comes into my mind? God hasn't given me what I really.

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Need to be happy.

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I'm going to control the destiny of my life. I'm fearful because I'm all alone in the world. I'm bitter because I think God has.

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Forsaken me and mistreated me or others have mistreated me.

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I'm bitter and unforgiving. How do I conquer those lies? Well, Ephesians 6 holds the answer, because in Ephesians 6, God gives us the.

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Resources for the spiritual war that we're all fighting.

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And of the six strategies, Paul calls them weapons that God has given us. The very first one deals with the mind, replacing Satan's thoughts with God's thoughts.

Paul calls it putting on the belt of truth. I said the list of lies is endless of what Satan would like you to believe.

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But I want to speak for just.

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A moment to those of you who may not yet be Christians. You may be here in our worship.

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Center, you may be watching this broadcast.

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But don't forget, Satan has you in.

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His crosshairs as well.

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His goal is to keep you from.

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Ever coming to faith in Jesus Christ and receiving the forgiveness we all need for our sins if we plan to.

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Be in heaven one day.

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If you would like to receive God's gift of forgiveness, I want to invite you, wherever you are, to pray this prayer in your heart, knowing that God is listening to you. Would you pray this with me? Dear God, thank you for loving me.

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I know that I have failed you in so many ways and I'm truly.

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Sorry for the sins in my life.

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But I believe what I've heard today.

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That you love me so much you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment I deserve to take for my sins.

And right now I'm trusting in what Jesus did for me. Not in my good works, but in what Jesus did for me to save me from my sins.

Thank you for forgiving me and help.

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Me to live the rest of my life for you.

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In Jesus name. Amen. The angels in heaven are celebrating right now as men and women take this opportunity to place their trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. And at Pathway to Victory, we're celebrating too.

Now, you might have a few lingering questions, so in just a moment, I'm going to answer one that we received from Rebecca. So please stay with us for today's edition of Ask Dr. Jeffress. The enemy wants to divide God's people. So today I'm going to answer a common question about one of the most divisive issues in our culture: homosexuality. Stay with us.

Well, as a father to two adult children and grandfather of triplets, my heart is very concerned about the culture our young families live in. But God has not given us a spirit of fear. Instead, he's provided spiritual armor to defeat the enemy. I've written a brand new book for your family called Suit Up: The Armor of God for Kids.

And today, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'd be pleased to send a copy to your home. Whether you're a grandparent, mom, dad, or school teacher, this children's book belongs in your collection. Again, it's called Suit Up: The Armor of God for Kids, and it's yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

We're living in perilous times, but with your help and partnership, God is using our collective efforts to push back the forces of evil on our culture and our families. Thanks so much for doing your part today. Here's David with all the details.

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When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory with a generous gift, you're invited to request *Suit Up the Armor of God for Kids*. You'll also receive *Angels* and *Fact versus Fantasy*. That's our brand new resource created especially for adults. Give today and request both books at 866-999-2965 or online. Simply visit ptv.org, and when you give $100 or more, you'll receive both books along with the *Spirit Wars* teaching series on audio and video discs, plus a copy of *The Divine Defense*. That's the best-selling book by Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Simply call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org if you'd prefer to write. Here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

If you enjoy listening to Pathway to Victory, you can also experience the powerful biblical teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress on television. Watch *Pathway to Victory* weekdays on TBN, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and weekends on both TBN and Daystar, as well as numerous other television stations across the country. The television broadcast features the same life-changing messages you love, and we invite you to join the thousands of viewers who are growing in their faith each week through *Pathway to Victory* Television. For complete program information and viewing options, visit ptv.org.

And now it's time for a very special edition of *Ask Dr. Jeffress*. Dr. Jeffress recently stopped by the studio to answer a pressing question from one of our listeners. Today's question comes from Rebecca in Nevada. She says, "What should our Christian response be to homosexuality?"

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Thanks, Rebecca, for that question. The Bible condemns homosexuality, make no mistake about it. In the Old Testament, it's called an abomination. God destroyed two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, because of homosexuality.

People say, well, that was the Old Testament. We don't live under that. Well, look at the New Testament: Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6. There are numerous condemnations of homosexuality.

God doesn't hate homosexuals. He loves all people, but he judges sin all the time.

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And I think we've got to be.

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Careful as Christians that we never condone what God has condemned. The often quoted retort to that is, well, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.

Well, in fact, he did. In Matthew, chapter 19, the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus on a question about divorce. And Jesus said, let's go back to the beginning.

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From the beginning, God's pattern was, a.

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Man shall leave his father and mother.

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And cleave to his wife, and the.

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Two shall become one flesh. And the Bible says there is one standard for sexuality, one man with one.

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Woman in a lifetime relationship called marriage.

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And any deviation from that, whether it be adultery, whether it be unbiblical divorce, or whether it be homosexuality, is wrong. It's sin. And so I think we need to be very careful, I often say, not to condone what God has condemned, but at the same time, we need to affirm that anyone, including homosexuals, can be forgiven of the sin. That's why Christ came to die. He came to die for our sins, not for our righteousness.

Now, those people who disagree with me and more importantly disagree with what God says about homosexuality have one good point. When they condemn Christians for singling out homosexuality, condemning it, and not condemning other sins as well. And the fact is, adultery is wrong. It's a deviation from God's standard. Unbiblical divorce is wrong. It's a deviation from God's standard.

So let's be consistent in what we teach about homosexuality that we also condemn any deviation from God's pattern. God's the one who made us. He knows how we operate best. He knows that the best way to have a fulfilling sexual relationship is in that one man, one woman, for a lifetime relationship we call marriage.

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Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. I'm David J. Mullins. Wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next time for a study of prophecy called Jesus Revealed in the End Times. That starts Monday right 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. 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 you can follow the link in our show notes.

We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go. Have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will.

Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visiting iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment. You'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.