Pathway to Victory

Guest (Male): 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.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I’m glad to study God’s word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today’s edition of Pathway to Victory, spiritual warfare is real. This is not make-believe, folks. The Christian battlefield is strewn with the corpses of Christians who have underestimated Satan’s resources and his resolve to destroy you. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to wake up. It’s time to stand firm. It’s time to put on our divine defense.

David J. Mullens: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. It's one thing to know that God has given us spiritual armor to protect ourselves from the enemy, but it's another thing to actually put that armor to use. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares six resolves that will help you stand firm against the forces of darkness. But first, let’s take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Well, for the entire month of March, we’ve been talking about God’s provision for our personal protection. I’ve titled this series The Divine Defense, and this is the very last day. With that in mind, please be sure to get in touch with us right away to request your copy of my best-selling book.

Christians cannot afford to walk into battle unprotected. The enemy wants nothing more than to take you out. My book equips you with the biblical armor to protect you. It’s called The Divine Defense: Six Simple Strategies for Winning Your Biggest Battles. And I’m prepared to send you a hardcover copy when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In addition, you’ll also receive the exclusive brochure we prepared for you entitled Equipped for Battle. You can tuck this multi-folded pamphlet into the pages of my book or perhaps your Bible as a constant reminder about each piece of armor God carefully crafted for your protection. So while there’s still time, please be sure to request your copy of my book and the brochure when you stop by ptv.org. Later on, we’ll give our mailing address and our phone number as well.

Right now, however, let’s turn in our Bibles to 1st John chapter 5. Knowledge by itself accomplishes very little. And so in this final message of the series, I want to speak with you about using your divine defense. A pastor friend of mine preached an excruciatingly long series on the book of Job. And finally, when he reached the end, that final Sunday and he announced it would be the final message, without any cue, the audience stood up and applauded the announcement.

Thank you for not doing that, even though we are in the final message in our series, The Divine Defense. I understand why some people may be ready to move on. I understand why I’m ready to move on. It’s hard hearing week after week that you’ve got an enemy who is trying to destroy everything important to you. But it’s true, and we need to be reminded of that. That’s the bad news. The good news is God has given us everything we need to be successful in that fight against our adversary, the devil.

And we’ve spent the last months in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 talking about those six weapons, strategies that God has given to us. Today as we wrap up that series, I wanted to do so on a practical note. And today we’re going to answer the so-what question: What can I do to diminish Satan’s influence in my life? And I’d like to share with you six practical decisions or resolves we need to make to diminish the influence of our enemy.

The number one, the most basic decision, is to receive Christ as your personal savior. Receive Christ as your savior. Now, let me be clear. Becoming a Christian doesn’t prevent Satan’s influence in your life, but it does prevent his ownership of your life. And there’s a vast difference between ownership and influence. For example, let’s say I own a hamburger stand. I get to control everything about that hamburger business.

I can say what size the meat patties are going to be, what style of French fries are served, what the prices are, who works there. I control it all because I own it. But I don’t own a hamburger stand. What I do own are a few hundred shares of McDonald’s hamburgers. Now, that’s not a lot. There are millions of shares of McDonald’s stock. I own about 200 of them. I have the right to go to the shareholders' meeting every year because I’m a stakeholder.

But if I start making suggestions, how much attention do you think I’m going to be paid? Not much. I’m a little tiny shareholder in a big company. There’s a difference between influence and ownership. My influence is limited to how many shares I own of the company. It’s the same way in our relationship with Satan. The difference between satanic or demonic possession and satanic influence is not just splitting theological hairs. It’s very important.

Satan cannot own us once we become a Christian. He doesn’t own us. Any claims he makes of ownership are based on a lie. Satan can’t own us. He can’t control us, but he can influence us based on how many shares of our life he has. Whatever portion of our life is not submitted to Jesus Christ is open to Satan’s influence. And so that’s why the most important decision you can make is the decision to trust in Christ as your savior.

The second decision we need to make is the decision to refuse to participate in any occult activities. If we want to diminish Satan’s influence, we need to refuse to be engaged in the occult. The word occult means hidden or secret. And simply put, the occult is any attempt to have a supernatural experience apart from God. There is a supernatural power in this universe other than God’s. It’s the spirit, the influence of Satan.

The Bible warns us against any activity that involves trying to harness the power of Satan. The Bible mentions three specific practices that we are to avoid as a Christian. First of all, divinations. What is a divination? It’s an attempt to ascertain information about the future apart from God. Secondly, we’re to avoid magic. Now, when God talks about magic, he’s not talking about card tricks. He’s not talking about pulling rabbits out of a hat, like our friend Dr. Jim Wirker does every time he preaches.

He has a magic trick. You don’t have to go out and burn him at the stake. That’s not prohibited because what he’s doing and other magicians today do, those are illusions. We call them illusions. They are something that appear to be real, but they’re not real. Magic is real. It’s a supernatural power utilizing that power apart from God. And there are some people who have the power to harness Satan’s power to perform magic.

Third, the occult practice we’re to avoid is spiritism. Again, Leviticus 20 talks about spiritism. What is that? It’s the attempt to communicate the spirits of the deceased to obtain comfort or knowledge of some kind. Spiritism is calling on the spirits of those who are deceased. Now, does Satan have the power, the authority over the spirits of Christians who are with God right now? Absolutely not. He didn’t possess them while they were on earth. He has no mandate over their spirits when they’re in heaven with Christ.

Does Satan have the power to produce the spirits of the unsaved dead who are in Hades right now? That’s a debatable question, but what isn’t debatable is Christians are to have no part of that. In Leviticus 20 verses 6 and 7, the word of God says, "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists to play the harlot after them, I will also set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people." The point is we are to stay away from divination, magic, or spiritism, which are attempts to channel Satan’s power into our life.

Thirdly, a resolve we need to make to diminish Satan’s influence in our life: renounce Satan and his kingdom. Now, I want you to hear what I’m saying carefully. This is going to sound really strange to some of you. By renouncing Satan and his kingdom, I’m not saying we have the power to bind Satan as you hear some people talk about. We certainly don’t have the power to remove Satan or demons from other Christians or from ourselves.

But we do have the power to remove ourselves from Satan’s influence and demonic influence. We can’t remove them from us, we can remove ourselves from them by renouncing any kind of agreement or covenant we’ve made with Satan. Now, this may sound strange to some of you. Covenants with the devil? That sounds like something in third-world countries or in horror movies from Hollywood. But I do believe it’s possible to make a covenant with Satan.

I remember an experience I had when I was six years old. It was a Saturday afternoon. I was having one of those parent-imposed naps they tried to force us into. I didn’t want to go to sleep. And so I was laying on the top bunk of our bunk bed and thought, "What am I going to do to entertain myself for the next hour?" And I thought, "Why not have a conversation with the devil?" So I actually pretended I was talking to Satan.

I can’t remember anything I said. But I remember the feeling of how wrong what I was doing was. Many years after that, I started studying these principles. And I went back to that experience. At first I thought, "Oh, that’s just harmless childhood curiosity. It’s nothing." But then I thought, if it was nothing, why do I remember it so vividly decades later? So I decided to have another brief conversation with the devil.

And I said, "Satan, I don’t remember what I said to you when I was six. I don’t remember what, if any, agreement I made with you. But I want you to know right now, I am renouncing any commitment I’ve ever made to you. I do not serve you. I serve Jesus Christ alone." And to me, that was the renouncing of the devil. Now, you know what I have found since then? It’s not only children who sometimes make deals with the devil.

Sometimes adults, either non-Christians or sometimes even Christians, at a time of weakness made a covenant with the devil. Maybe out of some disappointment, the loss of a mate, the refusal of God to heal an illness, the loss of a dream in life has caused some Christians or non-Christians in rebellion to say, "God, if you won’t give me what I want, I’ll go to somebody else who has power. I’ll serve them." Now, some of you think I’m just talking loony tunes right now.

You can’t imagine doing that, but some of you know what I am talking about. Making a deal with the devil out of disappointment. By the way, that’s why Saul did what he did. We find out in 1st Samuel 28 verse 3 that Saul actually removed all the spiritists from the land of Israel. He knew it was wrong. So why would he get involved in spiritism? Well, it tells us in 1st Samuel 28:6, when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by the urim or by prophets.

Saul had asked for supernatural guidance or information from God. When God didn’t provide it, he said, "Okay, I’ll go to another source of power: the witch at Endor. I’ll utilize Satan’s power." 1st Samuel 15:23 says, remember, "rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry." Whether you’re a Christian or not, if at any time you’ve made any agreement with the devil, I think it’s important that you renounce that agreement you’ve made and announce your fidelity to Jesus Christ.

A fourth important principle for resisting Satan’s influence is to resist Satan’s attempt to influence your life. Resist. The Bible over and over again tells us to resist the devil. 1st Peter 5:9: "But resist him firm in your faith." James 4:7: "Submit to the Lord, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." God wouldn’t tell us to do something that he didn’t give us the power to do. We have the power to resist the devil if we use the weapons that he’s given us.

So for the last time after many months, let’s look real briefly, review those six weapons that are really strategies to diminish Satan’s influence in our life. They’re found in Ephesians 6:13 through 17. In five minutes, what I’d like to do is go through each one of these and give you one practical suggestion for how to implement it in your life. First of all, put on the belt of truth. That’s the strategy of replacing destructive thoughts with God’s thoughts.

The mind is our spiritual battlefield. We need to be continually replacing wrong thoughts with God’s thoughts. And there’s no better way to do that than through a regular intake of God’s word. One sermon a week, every other week, isn’t enough to give you what you need to resist the devil. We need a continuing daily intake through the ear gate of God’s word, whether it’s through scripture songs, sermons, the reading of God’s word.

Let me encourage you, here’s a suggestion: to find some time during wasted time to get more of God’s word into your life. Put on the belt of truth. Replace destructive thoughts with God’s thoughts. Secondly, the breastplate of righteousness. Remember what that is? It’s doing what you know you should do. Righteousness means right acting. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. What’s the one thing you could start doing or stop doing that would bring most pleasure with God? I bet you already know what it is. Go ahead and put on that breastplate of obedience.

Thirdly, your spiritual boots. Make God’s business your business. Putting on your spiritual boots is the preparation of the gospel of peace. When you make winning people to Christ, which is God’s business, when you adopt that as your purpose in life, your business, it gives you stability. It gives you direction in life. It gives you the power to say no to temptation. Do you have somebody right now you’re praying for that they come to know Christ?

Here’s the practical step of action: Think of one person. Invite them to come. I’ll guarantee you they won’t be offended that you invited them, and I’ll guarantee you they will hear the gospel. Make God’s business your business. Number four, the shield of faith. Take up the shield of faith. What is faith? It’s believing that God will do what he’s promised to do and acting accordingly. Don’t let Satan paralyze you. Move forward in that thing you know God wants you to do and leave the consequences to God. That’s the shield of faith.

Fifth, the helmet of salvation. That’s the resolve to remember your power to win. The helmet of salvation. Remind yourself over and over again you don’t have to be a victim. You can be the victor. When God saved you, he not only saved you from the penalty of sin—eternity in hell—he saved you from the power of sin. Sin has no more power in your life than you choose to allow it to have. One practical thing you can do is memorize three verses: Romans 6 verses 11 through 13. It’s about our power to say no to sin.

Finally, the sixth weapon, take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Strengthen your resolve to resist. How do you do that? By memorizing and meditating on specific scripture verses that will help you in the struggle. When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, when Satan tempted him, what did Jesus do? Did he pull out an Old Testament scroll and say, "Well, I know there’s something in here somewhere I need to know"?

No, he went immediately, without any scroll, to the book of Deuteronomy and remembered and recited the precise verse he needed for himself to give him the power to say no to Satan. We need to do the same thing. We need to be able to use God’s word skillfully. Here’s the practical suggestion. How do I memorize scripture? There’s a little tool put out by the Navigators called the topical memory system. It’s a little packet with 60 different cards, 60 different verses for every situation you may face in life.

There are 60 verses. So if you memorize one verse a week, in about a year’s time, you’ll have every verse you need for any foreseen circumstance that you might need the truth and the power of God’s word. Strengthen your resolve to resist. How do I diminish Satan’s influence in my life? Number five, rely on prayer. Look at Ephesians 6:18. After he talks about the weapons, Paul says, "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit."

Some people wonder: Why didn’t Paul treat prayer as another one of the spiritual weapons? It’s kind of interesting he doesn’t. They asked me why I don’t preach a sermon in this series on prayer. Prayer isn’t treated as one of the weapons. It’s an assumption of Paul. He assumes that you’re going to be praying, especially when you’re in spiritual warfare. If you were going to buy a book called How to Dress for Success, you probably wouldn’t expect to open that book and chapter one say, "Remember to breathe."

That probably wouldn’t be the first chapter of the book. Because the author would assume you were going to keep breathing. Breathing’s necessary to dress correctly, but that’s assumed. It’s the same way with prayer. Prayer is like spiritual breathing. In 1st Thessalonians 5:17, Paul said, "Pray without ceasing." We’re to pray at all times. That phrase "without ceasing" in Greek means to pray with the persistence of a hacking cough.

You know, sometimes I cough up here and as hard as I try to suppress it, I just can’t suppress it. You know what that feeling is. We’re the same way with praying. It ought to be so natural to us that we can’t suppress it. We have to have a continuing conversation with God. Learn to do that. Just don’t wait until you’re able to kneel down in concentrated prayer. Make a conversation with God a part of your everyday life.

Number six, what do we do to diminish Satan’s authority in our life? Remember that victory is possible. 1st John 4:4 says, "Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." If there are any thoughts I would like to leave you with today about spiritual warfare, it would be these. Be ready to jot these down. We’ve got 70 seconds left. Jot them down. Number one, spiritual warfare is real. This is not make-believe, folks. It’s not imagination.

This is real. In fact, spiritual warfare is the reality behind every conflict you’re facing right now. Spiritual warfare is real. Secondly, the struggle is intense. Any cessation in attacks by Satan is just a chance for him to reload. It’s an intense study. He wants to lull you into complacency. Don’t allow him to do that. Thirdly, remember the enemy is determined. He has an actual blueprint, the Bible says, a method, a plan for your destruction.

The Christian battlefield is strewn with the corpses of Christians who have underestimated Satan’s resources and his resolve to destroy you. Number four, the stakes are high. Whether you win or fail in this struggle with Satan not only affects you, it affects others and their eternity. And finally, remember you can win. God has already provided you everything you and I need to succeed in destroying Satan’s plan to destroy us. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to wake up. It’s time to stand firm. It’s time to put on our divine defense.

To prepare you for the battle ahead, I’d like to send you a copy of my best-selling book. It’s called The Divine Defense. And now’s the time to request this special time-limited offer. I can’t think of a more timely study right now, when the cost of living is skyrocketing in our country. Most people are feeling uncertain about the future and vulnerable. Well, fear is one of Satan’s tactics. And my book identifies six practical strategies you can use every day to move forward in faith and defeat Satan’s destructive plan.

God has provided you with the spiritual equipment that you need to ward off the flaming arrows the devil launches in your direction. A copy of my book is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. As a bonus, I’ll also include the illustrated brochure I mentioned earlier called Equipped for Battle. You’ll appreciate having access to the pictures that clearly show you each garment God has prepared to protect you.

These are critical days for our country and our world. And your generous investment in Pathway to Victory is truly making a difference. People are responding in record numbers to this program as they awaken to the realities of spiritual warfare and as they step from the darkness into the glorious light of God’s word. So thanks for giving. Now’s the time. We’re in the heart of battle. And so the needs are the greatest. Here’s David with all the details.

David J. Mullens: When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we’ll say thanks by sending you The Divine Defense. That’s Dr. Jeffress’s best-selling book on demons and spiritual warfare. You’ll get that along with the Equipped for Battle brochure. Just call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. If you’d like to give by text, simply send PTV to 78800.

And when your gift is $100 or more, you’ll also receive this month’s teaching series on audio and video disc, a companion study guide, plus a book especially for children called Suit Up for Kids. This engaging book equips children with biblical truth and practical lessons on spiritual victory. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could write to us, P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That’s P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

I’m David J. Mullens. Few people can say they’ve experienced a genuine miracle. But every once in a while, God reminds us that he is still in control. Discover one of the most miraculous events ever witnessed Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Join us on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

Let me paint a picture for you. You’re standing on the deck of a beautiful cruise ship called Coffee in Hand, watching a glacier calve into the pristine waters while bald eagles circle overhead. You’ve got to see Alaska with your own eyes. Refresh your soul in God’s cathedral of natural wonders: Alaska. Call 888-280-6747 or visit 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 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.