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, we're just the same as our forefathers were, as the Israelites were. We all sin against God. We all try to cover over our sins and make excuses for our sins. Human nature is still the same. And if we don't want to be doomed to the same fate as those who went before us, we need to learn from the past. Learn from the past.

David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. For some people, history is just a boring subject. While not all of us were destined to be history buffs, most of us, at the very least, recognize its value. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress encourages us to avoid the mistakes of past generations and use their experiences to make better choices. 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. Just four days remain in our series called Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. As someone who listens to this daily radio program, you'll need very little convincing that we're living in dangerous times. The hostility toward the Christian faith has never been greater in our country than it is right now. While the pressure sometimes feels more than we can handle, there's really nothing new under the sun.

Today, I'm going to show you that the brothers and sisters who have gone before us will teach us valuable lessons about how to survive. In fact, this eighth lesson is one of ten that I describe in my book called Courageous. Time is running short to request your copy. Don't allow external pressures to make you retreat into your own bubble of isolation. God has so much more for you when you learn to face your greatest trials with courage.

I want to send you a copy of Courageous. It's yours right now when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. We'll say more about my book and other resources later. But right now, let's look at a scene from the Old Testament book of Job, chapter 8. I titled this next message in our courageous series, Survival Tip Number 8: Learn from the Past.

In our series Courageous, we've been looking at ten of those survival tips that will guarantee that we thrive and live as God would have us live in this threatening situation. Today, we've come to survival tip number eight, and that is to learn from the past. Learn from the past. Over and over again in both the Old and the New Testaments, we are taught about learning lessons from the past.

For example, when I think of learning the lessons of the past, there's one man who comes to mind from the Old Testament. His name was Josiah. He was the king who allowed history to shape his future. We find the story in the Old Testament book of Second Chronicles. Turn back in your Bibles to Second Chronicles, chapter 34, beginning with verse 1. Josiah is sometimes called Good King Josiah. Many of the kings of Judah, the southern portion of Israel, were evil kings. Some were good.

How did he become a good king? Look at verses one and two. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his forefather David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. When we read about Josiah's ancestry, it's amazing that he turned out the way he did.

It talks about his father David. David was not his father; he was his forefather. David lived hundreds of years before Josiah. Josiah had a grandfather named Manasseh. Manasseh held the title of the most evil king to date in Judah's history. Why was he considered so evil? Because he introduced idolatry to the Israelites. His son, Manasseh's son, was named Amon. Amon was Josiah's father, and he took the title from his father of Israel's most evil king. After his death, Josiah, his son, became king when he was eight years of age.

Josiah could have very easily thought of himself as doomed to failure. He could have bought into that idea you still hear talked about today of a generational curse. He refused to believe that. He refused to become a victim of a generational curse. Instead, he decided to walk uprightly with God. How was that decision made? How did he make his decision to follow God? First of all, I want you to notice that decision was influenced by his mother.

He had an evil father, but he had a godly mother. His mother's name was Jedidah. His mother carefully taught him the Word of God. Let me just say a word to those of you who may be single moms right now, trying to rear children by yourself. Your children don't have to be destined to a life of ungodliness. Don't underestimate the power you have to shape and mold the future of your child.

In today's world, we sometimes think the most important thing we can do for our children is to help them score high on the SAT exams or to develop them into a star athlete. The most important thing we can do for our children is to teach them to know and fear God. Jedidah believed that. She taught her son to love God, even at a young age, eight years of age. Josiah's decision to follow God was certainly influenced by his mother, but secondly, it was confirmed by his own choice.

Go back to Second Chronicles 34, verse 3. For in the eighth year of Josiah's reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his forefather David. The eighth year of his reign would make him how old? If he was eight years of age when he became king, the eighth year of his reign would be 16. When he was 16, he began to seek the God of his forefather.

It doesn't matter how much of a godly influence a child has in his or her home, there has to come a time in his or her life when he or she individually chooses to follow God. Sometimes that's an easy thing for a child or a teenager to do. Sometimes it's only after questioning and investigation that a child comes to faith himself.

Maybe you have a child who's eight, nine, ten, or maybe they're in their teenage years and they're beginning to question the things they've heard in church and the things you've tried to teach them. A lot of parents I know just have a meltdown over that. They think, what's happened? I'm raising a heathen. Why are they questioning all of this? Questioning is a normal part of embracing faith on your own. They've come to an age where they don't believe it just because you or I have told them. They need to come to that conviction on their own. Don't panic if your child or grandchild starts to question. That's a natural part of embracing faith for himself or herself.

That's what happened with Josiah. He personally chose when he was 16 to seek the God of his forefather David. His decision was influenced by his mother, confirmed by his own choice, and then thirdly, it was illustrated by his actions. Once he began to seek God on his own, he started to look around him and asked what was happening in his country. It was not consistent with the faith that he had.

He remembered the commandment in Exodus 23: you shall have no other gods before me. And yet, as Josiah looked around Judah, he saw many other gods and many other idols that were being worshipped. He made the decision that he was going to rid the nation of those idols. Look at verse three. In the 12th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places. Those were the places of idol worship, the Asherim, the carved images, and the molten images.

That is a good word for us today as a country. Certainly, one of the bedrock principles for the founding of America was a freedom of worship. The ability to choose to worship however we want to worship and whomever we want to worship. But I'm afraid that freedom of worship has confused people, both non-Christians and Christians alike. We have confused diversity with pluralism.

Diversity is the recognition that there are many diverse faiths and gods in America. That is a fact. There is a diversity of faiths and gods who are worshipped in America. That's diversity. But pluralism is the idea that all faiths are equally valid, that all gods are real gods, and that is absolutely wrong. Even though people in our country choose to worship many different gods, there is only one true God. His name is Jehovah. There is only one way to that God, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Don't confuse diversity in our country with pluralism. All gods are not equal. Josiah believed that, and he destroyed the false gods. His actions included purging the nation of its false gods and also rebuilding the temple, repairing the temple that had fallen into disrepair. They began a building project to repair the temple, and in the midst of doing so, they made a discovery.

Second Chronicles 34:14 and 15 says that when they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord. They found the scrolls, the Old Testament scrolls of God's law that had not been read for 50 years. Josiah ordered that the scrolls be opened and that the Word of God be read. Look at Second Chronicles 34:19. It came about when the king heard the words of the law that he tore his clothes.

That was a sign of deep remorse and repentance. Josiah was convicted when he heard the word of the Lord, and he repented. He made a vow to lead the nation in a way that would please God. That's the power of the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and it's able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Is there a Bible somewhere in your house that's gathering dust? Are there cobwebs on your Bible? Take it out, open it up, and begin to read it. You'll be amazed at what it does to you. Somebody has said the Word of God is always doing something to those who read it or hear it. Somebody else said the Word of God is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet; it runs after me. It has hands; it lays hold of me.

That's what happened with Josiah. He was reminded of the truth of God's Word, and he repented. He made the decision to do something differently in his life. The Bible says he did not turn from following the Lord God of his fathers. He learned from the lessons of history. He decided he didn't want to be like Manasseh, his grandfather. He didn't want to be like Amon, his father. He wanted to be like his forefather David.

That has a word for us today. We too need to learn the lessons from history. A lot has changed in our world in the last 100 years. Technology has certainly improved, but one thing that has not improved is human nature. We're just the same as our forefathers were, as the Israelites were. We all sin against God. We all try to be our own god. We all try to cover over our sins and make excuses for our sins. Human nature is still the same.

If we don't want to be doomed to the same fate as those who went before us, we need to learn from past experiences. How do we do that? Let me mention three practical steps we all need to take to learn from our past. First of all, take history seriously. Write that down. Take history seriously. Understand the value of learning from those in the past. There's a lot we can learn from secular history, and we can learn from their examples of how not to repeat their mistakes and learn from their successes. We need to learn from general history. Take that seriously.

We need to learn from our family history specifically. You need to know your family history. There are probably some mistakes in your family that you want to avoid. Does your family have a history of immorality in it? Is divorce prevalent in your family history? Are addictions something that has been a struggle with some people in your family? You haven't inherited a generational curse, but you may have inherited a generational weakness. Whether that's genetic or it's learned, it really doesn't matter; it's a powerful hindrance in your life. You need to be aware of it. It doesn't mean you have to be a victim of it, but you need to be aware of it. Vow not to repeat the mistakes of those who have gone before you in your family.

By the way, you can learn positive things from your family history as well. David was King Josiah's great-great-great grandfather. He didn't have a personal relationship with David, but he heard stories about him. He decided he wanted to be like David, not like Manasseh or Amon.

In this series called Courageous, I have people in my family that I learn that trait of being courageous from. I think about my mother and father, but I especially think about my grandfather. He was an example of real courage. I'll never forget that he and my grandmother had an African American man who worked for them for many years. One night this man got drunk, got in a knife fight, and was killed. So my grandparents went to attend the funeral service of this friend of theirs, and they took me with them. It was a graveside ceremony in a part of the cemetery in that little town that was reserved for minorities back then.

We sat there at that graveside service. We were the only white people in attendance. The minister stood up, and he went on a tear against the deceased, talking about the evils of alcohol and what a terrible life that he led and how he got what he deserved and on and on he railed against this man. He started to close the service in prayer, and I was seated next to my grandfather. He was a big man, and he stood up and interrupted the preacher.

He said, "Pastor, could I say a word before you pray?" He didn't have any choice. My grandfather went on and he said, "You know, everything you said may be true. But there was another side of my friend you haven't talked about." He went on to list all of the good things about this man's life. After the service, I'll never forget just standing there and watching the family of that man come up and hug my grandfather and thank him for having the courage to say what needed to be said.

We all need examples, positive examples in our family that we can emulate. Emulate those positive examples. Secondly, learn from your personal history. When we talk about learning lessons from the past, we can learn from our personal history as well. I imagine you can look back in your spiritual life and think of times when you were perhaps even closer to the Lord than you are right now. What is it that contributed to that desire to follow God? Learn from that.

I imagine, if you're like me, you can look back on some big mistakes you've made in your life as well. You can wallow in those mistakes, you can feel doomed by those mistakes, or you can say, you know what? I'm going to learn from those mistakes and never repeat them again. That was true about King David. Josiah emulated David. David wasn't perfect; he made some mistakes. His most famous mistake, the one he's remembered for, is Bathsheba, killing her husband Uriah. He spent the rest of his life paying for that mistake, but he learned from it. In Psalm 119:67, he said, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep thy word." He was saying, "God, I'm still hurting over those mistakes I made. I'm still paying for them. But you know what, God? The pain I feel every day from those mistakes is a motivation for me to stay close to you."

Look at your past mistakes. Confess them. Learn from them. And then finally, find heroes to emulate. We all need heroes from our history to emulate. Alexander the Great admired the characters in Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey. Julius Caesar emulated Alexander the Great. Abraham Lincoln was inspired by George Washington.

I think of Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. He spent 50 years in China and had very few converts. And yet, there are thousands of people who went into missionary service because of the example of Hudson Taylor. One of those was Amy Carmichael. She was born to a wealthy family in Ireland. She gave all of that up to go minister in India because of the example of Hudson Taylor. She would rescue orphans from physical and sexual abuse. She became known as Amma or Mother to them, all because of the godly example of Hudson Taylor. We need heroes. That's why First Corinthians 11 says, "Be imitators of me," Paul said, "just as I am an imitator of Christ."

This week, I came across a clip from one of my heroes, Dr. Criswell, who was pastor of this church for 50 years. I thank God that he gave me a hero like Dr. Criswell, somebody to emulate, somebody to follow. Do you have heroes in your life? I hope you do. When you find somebody to emulate, mimic their strengths, avoid their mistakes, and most importantly, derive courage from their example. When you do that, you'll find that you're able not just to survive but to thrive in this difficult world in which we live.

David J. Mullins: For some people, history is a boring subject, but it's never boring when you relive the stories of heroes who have gone before us. Those who want their faith to thrive in a hostile environment need to learn from their heroes. Look, there's a reason the men who built our nation dropped to their knees before they picked up their pens. Benjamin Franklin, no evangelical by anyone's measure, stood before the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and reminded George Washington and every delegate in that room of a truth they had not forgotten. He said, "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see that God governs the affairs of men."

This week, we're launching the In God We Trust matching challenge. It's a 1.5 million dollar campaign to get the Gospel to as many people as possible. Every gift you send right now will be matched dollar for dollar, and this is the moment to act. Plus, I'm going to say thanks by sending you my book called Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. While there's still time, please get in touch and request a copy. My book will help you identify the heroes in your life and learn from their example. Plus, I've pointed out nine other ways to survive and thrive in today's dangerous world. This is a time-limited offer that ends Friday, so take down our contact information that David will give in a moment and get in touch today. Here's David to tell you more.

David J. Mullins: When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you a copy of the book titled Courageous by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Call 866-999-2965 or, even easier, go online to ptv.org. You can also text PTV to 78800. And when your gift is 75 dollars or more, you'll receive the complete Courageous leader kit, which includes the book, the personal and group study guide, the complete teaching series on DVD and MP3 format audio disc. As a reminder, the In God We Trust matching challenge means your gift will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling your impact.

To request the Courageous leader kit, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You can also send your gift right to PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us Wednesday for survival tip number nine: help others, 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. The Apostle Paul sailed these waters, walked these streets, and the church was never the same. I'm inviting you to follow in Paul's footsteps on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul cruise through the stunning Greek Isles and the ancient Ephesus and many other destinations as well. This is purposeful travel at its finest. Set sail May 14th, 2027. Call 888-280-6747 or visit ptv.org. Oh, and one more thing: if you book online before July 31st, you'll receive a 200 dollar early bird discount.

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. One last thing before we go: don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise. You've heard me and Dr. Jeffress talk about it, and cabins are going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful Celebrity Infinity, sailing round trip from Athens, standing where the Apostle Paul stood in Ephesus, and taking in the breathtaking Greek Isles. Nine unforgettable nights with stops in Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, and more. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus fellowship with like-minded believers. There's also an optional pre-cruise extension to Athens. One more thing: if you book online before July 31st, you'll receive a 200 dollar early bird discount. To book your spot, go to ptv.org.