Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

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.

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

Speaker 2

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

Speaker 3

The reason we have assurance of our relationship of our eternal salvation is because we're in a right relationship with God.

Look at what God did for you when he was your enemy. How much more is he going to do for you now that you are his friend?

God loves us with an everlasting love.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, some people spend their entire lives searching for a sense of peace and satisfaction.

But we can't have a lasting peace in our lives until we have peace with God. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares how to experience peace and contentment regardless of life's outward circumstances.

Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Speaker 2

Dr. Jeffress thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. In the last few weeks, we've been taking a journey alongside the Apostle Paul in his groundbreaking Letter to the Romans. My teaching series through Romans chapters one through five is called Grace Powered Living. Theologians and scholars have referred to Paul's epic book as the greatest letter ever written. That's not an exaggeration. For generations, the Book of Romans has opened a window to the wonderful world of theology and doctrine. Paul eloquently describes our sinful nature and God's redemptive solution.

To complement this series, I've chosen a one-of-a-kind reference tool for you and your family. It's an illustrated guide to the Apostle Paul. This limited-time offer expires Friday, so please reach out with your request right away. I want you to have this book because it will open your eyes to the significance of Paul's historic ministry. Whether you're a seasoned student of the Bible or just getting started, I'll send a copy to your home when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Plus, when you respond today, I'll also include the exclusive full-color brochure that summarizes Paul's three missionary journeys in Acts. This is a natural companion piece to the illustrated guidebook, and it's called the Journeys of Paul Map. I'll say more about these two resources later on, but right now let's dig into our series on Grace Powered Living. Turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 5. I've titled today's study "Without a Doubt."

Speaker 3

The fact is you will never find lasting peace in your life until first of all you are at peace with God. And that's the theme of the passage we're going to look at. I want you to take your Bibles and I want you to turn to Romans chapter 5 as we look at four very practical benefits of being justified, being righteous with God without any doubt. Romans chapter 5. And remember, Paul's theme in this book is that righteousness, that's simply a word that means a right relationship with God. Righteousness is available only to those who trust in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Well, when we come to chapter five, we find the practical application. Paul is going to share four benefits, four very tangible benefits that come from the assurance that you are in a right relationship with God. First of all, he says, righteousness, a right relationship with God, gives us peace with a holy God. Look at chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says righteousness, a right standing with God, provides us first of all, peace with a holy God.

Secondly, it gives us hope in a future glory, hope in a future glory. Look at verse 2. Into this grace in which we stand, we exalt and the hope of the glory of God. The Bible says the assurance we have is that one day, if we're in a right relationship with God, we will see the full glory of the God in whom we have trusted. Those of you who have been a part of First Baptist Dallas for a long, long time may remember an organist we used to have here back in the 60s and the early 70s named Tommy Brinkley. How many of you remember Tommy Brinkley from way back? I remember when I was a teenager sitting up in the balcony of the old sanctuary on Sunday nights. I remember this so well, listening to Tommy play the organ. And I thought to myself, I had a little prayer in my heart. I said, God, please allow me to pastor a church one day that is big enough that we could afford to have Tommy Brinkley as the organist. I mean, to me he was the consummate organist.

Well, my wish came true many years later when I was pastor at First Baptist in Witcha Falls. We called Tommy Brinkley to come be our organist. And he did a great job. And we were just in the beginning phases of talking about building our new sanctuary. And so one night our minister of music had all the choir and orchestra together. And he said, I just want to have a dreaming session. I want everybody to close their eyes and just dream about what you see in the future of our church. And so they did that. And one person raised their hand and said, oh, I see a youth building with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of teenagers coming every week. And somebody else said, oh, I see a multi-level parking building where people can come and go easily. Somebody else said, I see a new worship center with people streaming down the aisle at every invitation.

And so several people talked. And so Mike, our minister of music, turned to Tommy. Tommy had his eyes closed. He said, Tommy, what do you see? Tommy said, well, I don't see anything except a bunch of angels. I just see a bunch of angels, hundreds of angels. And Mike, our minister of music, said that made him so mad. Here they are in a dreaming session, thinking about the future and all Tommy can see is a bunch of angels. A couple of weeks later, Tommy had a massive heart attack. He died and went home to be with the Lord. And Mike, the minister of music, stood up at Tommy's funeral service. I'll never forget what he said. He said, you know, that evening, Tommy had a better vision of the future than any of us. Our future just extended from here to the next couple of years. His extended into heaven.

It reminds me about what Max Lucado said one time. He said, the older we get, the better our vision should become. Not our vision of things on earth, but our vision of things in heaven. The Bible says one of the benefits of being in a right relationship with God is the assurance we have that one day we will see and share in the glory of God.

Thirdly, he says another benefit of being in a right relationship with God is it gives us a consolation in present suffering. Look at chapter five, verse three. And not only this, but we also rejoice, exult in our tribulations. That word, tribulations literally means to be under pressure. It's a word that referred to the process by which a big grinding stone would press the olives and extract the valuable olive oil. That's what tribulation means. It means to be under pressure. And Paul says we can rejoice when we are under pressure.

And by the way, that word tribulation, sometimes we use it to refer to the persecution that comes from being a Christian. That's a very real persecution many people around the country or around the world are experiencing now. I think we're going to experience it more. But I think we would be wrong to limit persecution or tribulation simply to persecution for our faith. The fact is, all of us who are Christians, or non-Christians for that matter, we all suffer tribulations. Jesus said in John 16, in this world you will have pressure, tribulations. Sometimes that tribulation or pressure comes from family concerns, sometimes it comes from money problems, sometimes it comes from health issues, sometimes it comes from problems at work. But what he's saying here is, no matter what the source, we can exalt in our tribulations.

Now, to understand how strange that was for Paul to say, rejoice in tribulations, you need to understand this about Greek philosophy. When Paul was writing these words, there were two major schools of thought about how to handle problems in your life. One was founded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus. He founded epicureanism. That's the idea that if you're going through pressure, you can dull the pressure you're experiencing with pleasure. Just, you know, have more pleasure. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. And that will numb out the pressure that you're feeling. That was epicureanism.

There was another group called the Stoics. They promoted stoicism. They said, no, no, no, no, no, don't try to numb your pain. Instead, the Stoics said, just have a stiff upper lip. You know, just press through, grin and bear it for as long as you can. That was stoicism. But Paul said, no, Christians have a better response to pressure. Instead of trying to numb the pressure with pleasure, instead of trying to deny the pressure through stoicism, we can actually rejoice in times of pressure. Why? Remember, if you're in a right relationship with God, you have the assurance that that pressure, that problem you're facing is not there by accident. It's not the result of an angry God who is trying to get even with you. No, that pressure is the result of God's perfect and loving plan for your life.

And that's what he's talking about in verses three and four. He said, knowing that tribulation, pressure produces perseverance. That word, perseverance, means to live under something. To live under something. When you're going through a difficult time, you don't have to panic. You don't have to try to get out of the problem as quickly as you can. You can live under it knowing God is doing something valuable in your life. What is that? Something valuable. Follow it in verse four. Tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance develops proven character. That word, translated proven character, is dokimos in Greek. It's a word that was used to refer to a piece of pottery that, once formed by the potter, would be placed in a firing oven in order to be strengthened. And if that piece of pottery succeeded in staying in that firing oven without cracking under the heat when it was removed, the potter would write on the bottom of the pot the word dokimos. Proven tested.

What Paul is saying is in the same way, trials are God's way of taking the character flaws, the impurities, out of our life and preparing the kind of character he wants to develop in each of us. Billy Graham used to tell the story about a friend of his who went through the Great Depression. And during the Great Depression, he lost everything. His job, his money, his wife, all of his family. He was a strong believer, but he couldn't understand why God was doing this to him. And one day, in almost a desperate state, he was walking down the streets of the large city where he lived, and he noticed that masons were doing a lot of stonework on a massive cathedral. And he noticed one of the masons was chiseling on a piece of stone down on the sidewalk. And so he stopped and he asked the mason, what are you doing? Well, what are you doing with that piece of stone?

And the mason pointed his direction to a spire at the top of the church. He said, see that up there? Yes. See that little opening up at the top of the spire? Yes. The mason said, I am chiseling this down here so that it will fit up there. The man said. Suddenly, tears started streaming down his face because he realized God had him meet that mason for a reason. He realized that God was allowing these difficulties in his life not because he hated him, but because he loved him. He was chiseling away anything in his life that wasn't like Christ. He was preparing him down here for an eternity up there. That's what God's doing in your life. If you're a believer, these difficulties are not because God hates you. It's because he loves you.

I don't know if this is true for you. It's true for me. Have you found that you've learned the most in your life not through the easy times, but through the difficult times? Even Christ. It was true of him. Hebrews 5. 8 says, though he was the Son, he learned obedience by the things that he suffered. God has a reason for allowing these things in your life. It is to prepare you down here for the eternity that awaits you up there. That's what Paul is talking about. We can rejoice if we're in a right relationship with God. When we're in tribulation. Knowing that that produces perseverance. And that perseverance produces proven character. And that proven character, notice what he says, produces hope.

One thing I have found is that Christians who have been chiseled on by God, who have felt the blow of his mighty hand out of love, it's amazing when people have suffered the loss of a job, or the loss of a child, or a marriage or their health. If there are Christians, amazing how those losses caused them to be disinterested in the things of this world and to focus on the things of heaven. I think about one of our own members, you know. Well, Lynelle Humphrey, a widow in our church. About seven or eight years ago, she lost her son Jay, who died suddenly of a heart attack. Then a few years after that, she lost her husband, one of our deacons, Charles. And then several weeks ago, she lost her other son, Jed. Imagine that kind of loss. Your husband, all of your children. Last Sunday afternoon, we had the memorial service for her son Jed here in our Truitt Chapel.

I will never forget this as long as I live. We were sitting there and we were singing that hymn, It Is Well with My Soul. And as we were singing that hymn, seated there in those pews, suddenly Lynelle stood to her feet with her arms raised toward God. What a testimony. What a testimony. I'll tell you something. If you sit down and talk to Lynelle today, I'll tell you what she won't talk to you about. She's not obsessing about where she's going to spend her next vacation. She's not talking about any additions she's going to make to her home. She's not talking about her investment portfolio. There's one thing Lynelle's thinking about right now. And that's heaven. That's being where God is. That's where her treasure is.

The Bible says when you go through tribulations as a Christian, God has a way of using those trials to hammer out anything that's not like Christ and to fix your hope on the assurance of eternity. That's why we can rejoice as Christians. It gives us consolation in present suffering. But not only that, I want you to notice this. A right relationship with God gives you the assurance of eternal salvation. Verses 6 through 11. This section is probably one of the greatest sections in all of the Bible about the assurance we have of our salvation. You know, there are some people who would say, well, I believe, yes, it's through Christ's death on the cross for me that I have eternal life. But what if I quit believing? What if I fall into sin? Does my status change from friend of God back to enemy of God? Do I go from being a child of God, being a child of Satan? Do I lose my salvation? Such a question is an important one. But it's a question that fails to take into account not only what Christ did for us, but when he did it for us. And that's what Paul points out.

Speaker 2

Here.

Speaker 3

Look at verses six to eight. For while we were helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. I want you to notice when it is that Christ died for you and me. It's why we were helpless. That is, we were completely incapable of doing anything to earn God's approval. Not only that, he uses in verse 6 the phrase or the word we were ungodly. That's when Christ died for us, when we were ungodly. That word ungodly doesn't mean just to be unlike God. The prefix un means against, apart from Christ. You and I are against God. One commentator says, we apart from Christ are so against God that if we had the power to, we would drag God off of his throne and destroy him. That's how much we are against the true God of the Bible, apart from Christ. But notice it is at that time that Christ died for us.

Verse 8. But God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were helpless, ungodly sinners, that is when Christ died for us. Notice in verse 7 he says, for one will hardly. Verse 7. One will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. You know, we preacher types, we have this little arsenal of illustrations we use. You've probably heard them a thousand times, all of them. But there's one we use to try to demonstrate exactly how much Christ loved us in order to die for us. I know you've heard the story before. It's about this little girl, 10 years old, with a rare blood disease. She needs a transfusion desperately. Time is of the essence. And so they can only find one person who has the right blood type to provide the transfusion, and it's her six-year-old brother. So the doctor explains to him about what the transfusion will involve and asks him if he's willing to do this for his sister. He says, yes. And so after the transfusion is finished successfully, the doctor patted the little boy on the shoulder and said, thank you for doing this. The boy looks up at the doctor and says, doctor, how long before I die?

See, he thought the transfusion would result in his death, but he was willing to die for his sister because he was a part of her family and she loved him. And people say, well, that's a good illustration of what Christ did for us. No, it's really not a good illustration. You see, it's one thing for a little boy to be willing to die for somebody he's related to, for somebody who loves him. But Christ did not die for us when we were a part of his family. He didn't die for us when we were overflowing with love for him. No. Verse 8 says God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. That's when Christ died for us. Not when we loved him. When we hated God, God was still willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

You say, what does that have to do with the assurance of our salvation? Everything. Look at verses 9 and 10. Much more. Then having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if, while we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Listen to this. If God was willing to reach down and save you when you hated him, when you were against him, don't you think now that you're his friend, he's going to keep you saved? I mean, if God alone has the power to save you, isn't it true that God alone has the power to save, to keep you saved? That's what Paul is saying here. The reason we have assurance of our relationship, of our eternal salvation is because we're in a right relationship with God.

Look at what God did for you when he was your enemy. How much more is he going to do for you now that you are his friend? See, the problem we all have is we think God is like us. We love only people who are lovable. And we only keep loving people who keep loving us. If somebody stops loving us, we move away from them. But aren't you grateful? God is not like us. God loves us with an everlasting love. As the hymn writer said, oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free. That's the kind of love with which God loves you.

Speaker 2

As followers of Jesus, we don't need to worry about our standing before God because He's already declared his everlasting love. The assurance of our salvation should bring peace to our hearts every single day. This is just one of the rich theological treasures found in Paul's letter to the Romans. Tragically, people across our great country are not receiving this truth in their churches. Many pastors have abandoned the orthodox teaching of God's unconditional love.

Not long ago, we received a comment from a viewer in Arizona who said, "Pastor Jeffress, for the past few years it's really been a sad experience for me when going to church on Easter. This past Easter, I was feeling under the weather, so I decided to stay home and watch Pathway to Victory on television. Pastor, you spoke about the real reason for Easter and what God did for us through his resurrection. I haven't heard a message like that, a truth-filled message in a long time. It restored my faith in the truth."

Friends, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathways to Victory, God is using your generosity to reach viewers like this one. As a financial partner with us, you're providing the fuel that allows us to bring bold biblical teaching to listeners and viewers not only across our great nation but all over the world.

To express my thanks for your gift today, I'd like to send you the reference book I mentioned earlier. It's called *An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul*, along with a multifolded brochure called the *Journeys of Paul Map*. These two reference tools will open your eyes to Paul's historic missionary travels and what they mean to your life today.

Speaker 1

David thanks Dr. Jeffress. To request your very own copy of *An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul*, simply give us a call at 8. A copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. As an added bonus, we're going to include the new and exclusive *Journeys of Paul* map again. Call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org, and when your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the *Grace Living Teaching Series* on audio and video discs, highlighting chapters one through eight of the Book of Romans. But there are only a few days left to take advantage of this offer, so get in touch right away.

To request the book, the map, and the teaching set, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You could also send your donation by mail. Here's the address: P.O. Box 223, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. At the beginning of the world, one bad choice by Adam and Eve condemned the entire human race. But next time, we'll discover how Jesus Christ reversed the effects of our transgression. Join us Thursday for *Pathway to Victory* with Dr. Robert Jeffress, coming from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

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