Pathway to Victory

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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.

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Have you ever witnessed the breathtaking majesty of massive glaciers rising from crystal blue.

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Waters or stood in awe as bald eagles soar over snow capped mountain?

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

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There's something powerful about connecting with God.

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And fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness.

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I truly believe this journey will refresh you spiritually, physically and emotionally.

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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.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

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Glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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Underneath our every decision, our every circumstance, even underneath our every mistake is a safety net called the Sovereignty of God. We're going to talk about the sovereignty of God and how it relates to the choices we make in everyday life.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, in every season of life we face a number of important decisions. Some are so risky it feels like we're walking on a tightrope and one wrong step could send us plummeting.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress describes the God-given safety net that catches us when we fall. 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. You've chosen a pivotal day to join us because today's edition of Pathway to Victory features the conclusion to a series we started at the beginning of this month. We've been talking about how to make wise decisions. Most of us enjoy exercising our free will, that is our God-given right to make our own choices. But truth be told, we get a little confused when it converges with God's mysterious plan. Balancing those two major factors, our free will and God's sovereign control, requires tremendous wisdom and insight.

Well, I've decided to conclude this practical teaching series with a message on this important topic. My prayer is that you will gain a deeper respect for the scope of God's sovereignty and that you'll begin to see this godly virtue as a divine protection over your life. As we wrap up this study, let me urge you to get in touch with us today to request the book I've written on this subject. It's also called How to Make Wise Decisions. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure you receive a copy.

Also, at Pathway to Victory, we're hoping to add 50 new pathway partners to our family of monthly supporters. So I ask you, would you be willing to be among them? As a pathway partner, you become a missionary, casting the seed of God's truth into fertile soil. In return for your first gift as a pathway partner, I'll be pleased to send you my book, How to Make Wise Decisions.

Now let's pick up the message I titled The Shepherd's Safety Net.

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What do we mean when we talk about the sovereignty of God? Let me give you a simple definition of the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God means God rules over his creation. God alone is the ruler. And what that means for us specifically is God will accomplish his plan for my life. Do you believe that? Well, wait a minute, Pastor. What if I make a mistake and marry the wrong person? God will accomplish his plan. Wait a minute, Pastor. What if I confuse a circumstance for being God's will? God will accomplish his plan for my life. I don't know about you, but I am comforted by the fact that someone wiser and more powerful than I am in control of my steps. That's what the Bible teaches. Our steps, even our steps, are ordained by the Lord.

But there's a second implication of God's sovereignty, and that is God has the power to accomplish his plan. Write that down. God has the power to accomplish his plan. There are some people who will concede they will agree to everything I've just said. They believe, yes, God does have a plan for the world. He has a plan for my life. But don't human beings sometimes do something to mess up God's plan? And so people have proposed this idea that God has not one will, but he has two wills. He has a perfect will. And then he has a permissive will. When you ask people now what do they mean by God's permissive will? They talk about all the things that God wishes wouldn't happen. And they put in that category earthquakes, floods, starving babies, murders. All of those things they say are not a part of God's perfect will, but they are part of God's permissive will.

Now, that makes great sense until you read the Bible, because the Bible does not teach God has several wills. The Bible says God has one will. Look at Ephesians 1:11 again. He causes all things, having been predestined according to the purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will. Will you look at that word will? Is that word singular or plural? It's singular. God doesn't have multiple plans. God has one plan. Faith is believing in God, believing that God is working in the darkness even when we can't see his hand in the darkness. The sovereignty of God means God has a plan for my life and he has the power to accomplish that plan.

Now, if I were to stop the message right here and issue the invitation, you might think, well, maybe you are off balance if you believe in the sovereignty of God like that. But you see, the message would be incomplete if I stopped right there. Because the Scripture does affirm the sovereignty of God. But there's also another truth the Bible affirms, and that is our responsibility for making wise decisions. You see, whatever you believe about the sovereignty of God, and I strongly believe in the sovereignty of God, understand that first of all, the sovereignty of God does not excuse us from making wise decisions in life. Write it down. The sovereignty of God does not excuse you from making wise decisions. Proverbs 4:5 says, acquire understanding, acquire wisdom.

I love the story from the late Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Do you all remember listening to Dr. McGee on the radio? You can still listen to him. Though dead, he still speaks on the radio. But Dr. McGee one time was teaching on predestination and election, and a young man came to him after the message and said, Dr. McGee, I am so convinced of the sovereignty of God. I believe that if I went outside and stood in the middle of a busy highway and my hour had not come, God would save me. And Dr. McGee looked at him and said, son, if you go out and stand in the middle of a busy highway, your hour will have come. Don't test the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God does not excuse us from making wise decisions. Ephesians 5 says that we ought to live our lives wisely, with a sense of purpose.

Number two, the sovereignty of God doesn't exempt us from the consequences of wrong choices. It doesn't exempt us from the consequences of wrong choices. Some people can take this idea to the extreme of the sovereignty of God and say, well, if God is in control, if everything is predestined, I can do whatever I want to without any consequences. The Scripture does not teach that. For a good illustration of that, turn over to Acts, chapter 4. The setting is shortly after the day of Pentecost, just several months after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I want you to think about how the apostles must have viewed the crucifixion of Christ. On that Friday afternoon, as Jesus was taken down limp from the cross, I'm sure the disciples were disappointed. In an instant, all of their hopes for a new kingdom had evaporated. I'm sure they could have said to themselves, we know this may have been a part of God's permissive will, but certainly it wasn't God's perfect will for his own son to have gone through such torture, humiliation, and death.

By the way, if you ever doubt the sovereignty of God and God's ability to take control of all circumstances, just look at his plan for his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sure the disciples thought at that moment, this certainly couldn't be a part of God's perfect plan. It must be his permissive plan. That was on Friday. But several days later, from the perspective of an empty tomb, their thought changed dramatically about God's plan. I want you to look at what Peter said in verses 27 and 28. He said to the same group that had crucified Christ a few weeks earlier, for truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur.

Now here's the $64,000 question. Who was responsible for the death of Jesus Christ? Who was responsible? Well, verse 27 says very clearly. It was the hand of Pontius Pilate, it was Herod, it was the Jews, it was the Gentiles. They are the ones who physically nailed him to the cross. They were responsible for verse 28. But they were simply doing whatever God's hand and God's purpose predestined to occur. God took responsibility. It was God's plan for his only begotten Son to be tortured and murdered on a cross. Folks, if God is willing to take responsibility for the torture and murder of his own son, he's willing to take responsibility for the circumstance you're in right now. It's part of his plan for your life.

I'm sure on that Friday afternoon, the disciples would have said, God, we don't want to worship a God who would do something like that to his own son. You see, the problem was they were speaking on Friday afternoon, not on Sunday morning. Because from the perspective of an empty tomb, their belief and trust in God's plan changed dramatically. There's some of you right now who are saying, I can't believe in a God. I can't trust in a God who would allow me to go through this experience. The reason we have trouble with that is we make our judgment about God too soon. We don't see the whole picture. One day we'll be able to see how God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him, to those who are called according to his purpose.

The point here is though, even though God had predestined this event to occur, Pilate and Herod, the Jews and the Gentiles, they were immediately responsible and they have to suffer the eternal consequences of their choice. They rejected Messiah. And even though it was part of God's plan, they are going to pay the price for that wrong choice they made. Well, Pastor, I don't understand that. I don't understand how people can be held accountable for their own choices if indeed God has a plan that he's accomplishing through us. I can't understand that. Neither can I or neither can anybody else. And that leads to a third truth about God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty doesn't explain all of our questions. It doesn't explain all of our questions.

Folks, be very wary of anyone or any theological system that says we've got the answers for explaining God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Just read this book or look at this diagram and I'll explain to you how God's sovereignty and human freedom are reconciled. These are irreconcilable truths this side of heaven. Both are true. We can't understand or comprehend how they work together. People have asked me through the years, pastor, are you a Calvinist? Are you a Calvinist? I remember what my old theology professor, Dr. Ryrie, used to say at Dallas Seminary. He said, men, don't ever allow yourself to be labeled as an Arminian or a Calvinist. Be known as a Biblicist. Teach what the Bible says. And when you teach what the Bible says, you will affirm the sovereignty of God without apology. But you'll also affirm the responsibility of man. Romans 11:33 says, how unsearchable are God's judgments? How unfathomable are his ways. But folks, the sovereignty of God is not some theological topic to debate. It is a truth to be embraced.

Now, I want to mention to you the three benefits of trusting in the sovereignty of God, especially when it comes to our decision making. First of all, a belief in the sovereignty of God frees me and gives me peace from my past. The sovereignty of God gives me peace from my past. I was talking to a husband not long ago. He had been guilty of infidelity in his marriage. And even though he was repentant, he still lost his wife and he lost his children. And he said to me, in honest repentance, he said, pastor, if only. If only I had been a faithful husband, I wouldn't have lost my family. And I shared with him the truth of Romans 8:28. Paul said, and God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That phrase, all things doesn't just mean the good things in our life. God is able to use that phrase. All things includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. God is so powerful that he uses all things to work together for good. One day I'm going to do a series here on how God has used people's failures in biblical times to accomplish his purpose. It's not in our strengths, it's in our failures that many times God is most glorified. But belief in the sovereignty of God frees us and it gives us peace over our past mistakes.

One popular writer, in talking about David and his sin with Bathsheba, says, when a man or woman of God fails, nothing of God fails. When a man or woman of God changes, nothing of God changes. When someone dies, nothing of God dies. When our lives are altered by the unexpected, nothing of God is altered or unexpected. God's sovereignty gives me peace from my past mistakes. God's sovereignty also offers me comfort for the present storms that I'm experiencing; it gives me comfort for the present. Remember the story? Turn over to Matthew, chapter 14. It's that familiar story of a sailing trip that the disciples went on at the command of Jesus. He told them to get on the boat and to go to the other side. And it was beautiful when they got into that boat and they were sailing along when suddenly, out of nowhere, like often happens, on the Sea of Galilee, the storms begin to gather and the thunder begins to clap and the lightning begins to flash. And suddenly the disciples found themselves in the middle of this fierce storm.

And about that time, Jesus appeared outside of the boat, walking on the water. And remember, Peter cried out, Lord, if that is you, command me to come out of the boat and walk on the water. And so the Lord commanded Peter to step out of the boat and walk toward him on the water. So Peter climbs out of the boat. He takes that first step and that second step. He's doing pretty good, bobbing up and down on the surface of the water as long as he looks at the Lord. But suddenly he starts noticing the boiling sea around him and he begins to sink. And in perhaps the shortest prayer in the Bible, but the most effective, he cries out, Lord, save me. Now look how Jesus answers that request. Verse 31. And immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and he took hold of Peter and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

Now, I want you to notice the order here. It's crucial. Jesus didn't grab hold of Peter, still the storm, and once it was calm, said, follow me and I'll deliver you safely into the boat. No, they walked through the storm together. And only after Peter was in the boat did the storm subside. Many times, you and I are sailing through life. Things could never be brighter when suddenly, out of nowhere, the storm clouds gather. The thunder begins to peel, the lightning begins to flash. And we find ourselves in a fierce storm of circumstances we never expected. It's only natural that we cry out, Lord, save me. Still the storm. It's been my experience, rarely does God answer that prayer request. Rarely is it God's will to deliver us out of the storm. What he promises to do is to walk with us through the storm until we reach the other side.

You see, the reason is God is much more interested in what is happening in you than in what is happening to you. Think about it. God could change any circumstance in your life he wanted to, just like this. God could provide that job this afternoon. He could heal your body right now, instantly. He could raise that loved one from the dead that you're grieving over. There's no circumstance God couldn't change if he wanted to. But God's much more interested in what is happening in you than what is happening to you. He's allowing you to go through that storm to produce that invaluable quality called faith—the assurance that God is in control even when we can't see him. And what you'll find is, once God has accomplished his purpose in your life, once you make it to the other side, walking through that storm with him, you'll find that that storm subsides as well.

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Quickly as it arose.

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The fact that God is in control gives us great comfort for the present. To know He's in control and has a purpose He's working out in our life is reassuring. Thirdly, God's sovereignty gives me confidence for the future. It provides confidence for the future. In Daniel 11:32, Daniel said, "the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action." Once you have sought God's will and feel like God is leading you in a particular area, you don't have to be bashful and hesitant, wondering, "Oh no, what if I make a mistake? What if this isn't God's will?" The word of God says that if you know God, you can stand firm and take action, knowing that your every choice, even your mistakes, are protected by the sovereignty of God.

That's what the sovereignty of God means: God is in control of every part of my life. And what a great comfort that is to us. A.W. Tozer, as you know, was a devotional writer of yesteryear. I found these words about predestination that Tozer had written: "The person of true faith may live in the absolute assurance that his steps are ordered by the Lord. For him, misfortune is outside the bounds of possibility. He cannot be torn from this earth one hour ahead of time that God has appointed, and he cannot be detained here on earth one moment after God is done with him."

A few months after Tozer had written those words, he received a letter from a Methodist preacher who was complaining about Tozer's belief in predestination and election, saying that it was just some peculiar doctrine of the Presbyterian Church. To this Methodist preacher, Tozer responded by letter: "Dear brother, when I said we traveled an appointed way, I was not thinking about predestination, eternal security, or eternal decrees. I was just thinking about how nice it is for the steps of a good man to be ordered by the Lord, and that if a consecrated Christian will put himself in the hands of God, even the accidents will be turned into blessings. I am sure my Methodist brother can go to sleep tonight knowing that he does not have to turn Presbyterian to be sure God is looking after him."

And isn't that the bottom line for all of us? We have a great shepherd who cares for us, who watches over us, and who orders our every step. Even when we wander away from Him, our movement away from Him is within the boundaries of His love and His perfect will. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, I watch after them, I give them eternal life, and no man shall snatch them out of my hands, those whom the Father has given me." What words of comfort for those who truly seek to know and follow the Master's voice.

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Complementing our freedom to make choices, God's sovereignty is stretched out underneath every decision we make, even our mistakes. That's the eternal, unchanging safety net that God provides for you.

Well, this concludes the teaching series we started at the beginning of September, and now's the perfect time to request a copy of the book that coincides with this study. It's also called *How to Make Wise Decisions: The Joy of Discovering God's Will for Your Life*. A copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In closing, I'd like to affirm those who have given generously to Pathway to Victory over the last year. Look back on all that's happened since January 2025, and it's breathtaking. While the culture wars continue to rage, God has seen fit to protect our rights to communicate the Gospel with freedom. During the same season, God's people have pulled together to ensure that Pathway to Victory has a voice. For millions of people around the world, your gift has become a lifeline because our radio and television ministries have become a place of comfort and truth.

Maybe you've been listening for a long time, but you've never stepped forward to join us in this mission. Well, all this month, it's been our desire to add 50 new Pathway Partners. A Pathway Partner commits to a monthly contribution in an amount that reflects their heart and capacity. These dedicated individuals serve as faithful seed sowers, casting gospel truth into fertile soil around the world.

Would you be willing to become one of the brand new 50 Pathway Partners? We'd be so grateful. Here's David to explain how you can.

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Join the team to take that next.

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Step and become a Pathway partner, just call 866-999-2965 or it's quick and easy to sign up online at ptv.org. When you give your first gift as a Pathway Partner or when you make a generous one-time gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you the book *How to Make Wise Decisions*.

When your gift is $75 or more, we'll also send you the complete CD and DVD teaching set for our current series called *How to Make Wise Decisions*. Again, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You're also welcome to make your request by mail; write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend. Then join us again Monday when Dr. Jeffress presents a message called "The Most Important Verse in the Bible," 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. Experience the breathtaking majesty of America's last frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

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Board Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam ship with Amy and me for a journey that.

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Will refresh your soul and renew your spirit.

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Experience the unforgettable adventures June 13th through 20th, 2026. To book your cabin, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org.

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.