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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, 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, hear this. The only way to survive spiritually is to be adequately trained before the crisis hits, and then trust our training when the crisis hits. If you wait until a crisis hits your life, To decide to be trained for it, you've waited too long.
You've waited too long to train in righteousness. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Whether you know it or not, you are living in a hostile world. And if you wait until your life is falling apart to consult the training manual on how to respond, well, you've waited too long.
Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers urges us to engage in spiritual training before the crisis hits. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we begin today's message, let me ask you something.
Do you remember those fire drills we did in grade school? The alarm would sound, and within minutes, students and teachers would file out of the building and toward safety.
Well, fire drills provide the perfect analogy for spiritual survival. You see, when life gets crazy and the real fires are ignited, well-trained Christians know exactly how to run for safety. They're ready. See, here's the hard truth about spiritual warfare. You don't get to choose when the battle begins.
And too many Christians find themselves completely overwhelmed. Why? Because they never trained. My book, Courageous, is your training manual. It gives you 10 biblical strategies to build the kind of faith that holds up under fire.
The book is my gift to you when you become a new pathway partner or make a generous one-time donation to Pathway to Victory. In fact, when you respond today, I'll also include a stack of 10 courageous encouragement cards that you can carry with you for daily encouragement. We'll give more details about my book and the cards later in the program. Right now, however, let's give our full attention to today's important topic. I titled this next message in the Courageous series Survival Tip Number 5.
Trust your training. He had no ambition to become famous, to be interviewed by journalists around the world, receive honors and medals, appear on the cover of magazines, and have a movie made about him. After more than 40 years as a pilot, his only ambition was retirement. And he was about one year away from that. when the unimaginable happened.
A complete loss of power while piloting a jetliner over Manhattan. In about the same time, it takes most men to comb their hair, floss, and brush their teeth. The pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Had to decide whether he could keep the plane in the air long enough to turn back to the airport. or risk the lives of all 155 people aboard with a hazardous water landing.
Departing on the afternoon of January the 15th, 2009, from New York LaGradias Airport, bound for Charlotte, North Carolina. Flight 1549 flew into a flock of Canadian geese just two minutes after takeoff.
Some of the geese were sucked into the plane's engines. Almost immediately, the aircraft began to vibrate and the engines shut down. 21 seconds later, Captain Chelsea Sully Sullenberger sent out a distress signal. Mayday, mayday, mayday. Her Sullenberger pitched the nose up.
About 90 seconds before hitting the water, he pulled the nose fully aft and addressed the passenger. This is the captain. Brace for impact. Passengers described what felt like a gradual controlled descent, as if the river were a tarmac. And though the plane made a tremendous splash, it remained intact and afloat.
Once the aircraft became stable, Sullenberger and his crew began emergency evacuation procedures, instructing passengers about how to locate and wear life vests, deploy emergency rafts, and open wing exits. Fortunately, the plane had landed between two ferry terminals. Within minutes, ferry boats were plucking passengers off the wings and out of the rafts, saving all 155 people on board. Sullenberger, who had learned to fly at the age of 16, graduated from the Air Force Academy and flew fighter jets before turning to commercial aviation. has been asked many times what he was thinking during the three and a half minutes that elapsed between his engines cutting out and landing in the Hudson River.
His standard answer is that he wasn't so much thinking. as he was acting. Going through the proper procedures to solve the problems that immediately confronted him. He said, My training kicked in. Trusting your training.
If you don't hear anything else I say during this sermon, hear this. The only way to survive spiritually is to be adequately trained before the crisis hits, and then trust our training when the crisis hits. Where do we go to find that training that we need in times of crises in our life? We find it in God's word. Turn back to 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17.
Paul said, for all scripture is inspired by God. And it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for, here it is, training. in righteousness. that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. The Bible is what we use as our flight manual, if you would, that tells us exactly what to do, how to train for righteousness.
That word righteousness simply means right living before God. Why is it so important that we be adequately trained before the crisis hits? Consider another aircraft. In another threatening situation that had a completely different outcome. In October of 2018, the pilots of Lion Air Flight JT610 took off from Jakarta.
Two minutes after takeoff. They noticed a sensation they had never experienced before. The automatic pilot started pointing the nose of the aircraft down. The pilot struggled with it to bring it back up. No matter how hard they tried, the nose kept pointing down on this 737 aircraft.
They've searched frantically through the flight manual to try to find what they were supposed to do in that situation. But while they were searching the flight manual, The plane crashed, killing all 189 people aboard. If you wait until a crisis hits your life, To decide to be trained for it, you've waited too long. You know, we have a good illustration of that in the character we looked at last week. Joseph Remember what happened when Joseph found himself being assaulted?
Uh with temptation. Mrs. Potiphar grabbed him by the shoulder and said, lie with me. Literally in Hebrew, have sex with me. Just imagine Joseph had said, Mrs.
Potiphar, would you wait just a moment? There is a verse somewhere. I know, I remember it somewhere on what to do when the boss's wife makes a move on you. But I can't find it. If you'll hold on.
Now He would have been spiritual roadkill if he had waited until that happened. He had committed God's word to memory ahead of time and knew exactly how to use it. We need to do that as well. The Bible is our training manual for how to act righteously. Let me talk for just a moment about the benefits of the training that comes from God's Word.
What is it that God's Word does for us? Psalm 119 is a beautiful chapter, the longest chapter in the Bible, and it details the benefits of God's Word in our life. I want you to notice three of them. First of all, God's Word provides wise counsel throughout life. In Psalm 119 verse 105.
God says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light. to my set path. That is the beauty of the direction that comes from God's word. Secondly, God's Word is a faithful friend during difficult days. Look at Psalm 119, verses 92 to 93.
If thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished. In my affliction, I will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast revived me. No matter where you are or what situation you're facing, God's word is a faithful friend during times of affliction. Thirdly, God's Word serves as a sure defense against temptation. It's the best defense we have against temptation.
Remember David's words in Psalm 119:11? Thy word have I treasured in my heart that I might not sin against God. You say, well, how is it that the Bible is a defense against temptation. Exactly how does that work? You know, we have a great illustration of that in the Bible through the life of Jesus Himself.
We're talking about survival tips. Jesus was in the wilderness going through his own survival experience for 40 days and nights after his baptism. How did he resist the temptation of Satan? Turn over to Luke chapter 4 for just a moment. Luke chapter 4.
He had just been baptized, had a spiritual high moment in his life in the Jordan River. The clouds parted, and the Lord Himself, God Jehovah, said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then, as And then, notice what happens, Luke 4 says, and then the Spirit led him in the wilderness. And he was tempted by Satan. Satan was hoping that these temptations would break Jesus and disqualify him as the Messiah.
Now, we've been through these temptations before. Let me just remind you of them briefly without dwelling on them. The first temptation was an appeal to Jesus' physical appetites. After 40 days of not eating, he was hungry. Satan came and said to him: If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
There was nothing that was wrong with eating. That's part of God's plan. But the temptation was to act apart from God. And Jesus would have none of it. He said, quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
So Satan came with a second temptation, an appeal to power. He said to him, Come up here with me on this mountaintop and let me show you the kingdoms of this world. They will all belong to you if you will simply bow down and worship me. Interestingly, the kingdoms of the world already belonged to Jesus. He had temporarily relinquished it while he was on earth.
But he would one day be the king of kings, to whom everyone would bow and confess that he is Lord over all. But this was a temptation. to ignore God's timing for that. To have it now instead of later. Just worship me now, and you can have it all.
Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13, as it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Finally, the third temptation: an appeal to glory. Remember in verse 9, he takes. Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and says, just jump down from here and the angels will take care of you. And he actually quotes scripture.
Did you know Satan knows scripture? He quoted Psalm 91, for he will give his angels charge concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. What he was basically saying is, Jesus, you don't have to go to the cross. If you want everybody to worship you as Lord right now, just prove that you are the Son of God and you can escape the cross. And he quoted scripture to supposedly back out that claim.
But Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:16 that says, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And after that final unsuccessful try, Luke says that the devil left. He departed. Until a more opportune Time arose. How did Jesus Repel the temptation of Satan.
He did it. Notice each of the three times. He did it by quoting scripture.
Now I'm going to confess to you I was a preacher for a long time before I ever even picked up on this truth. How is it that the Word of God repelled Satan's temptations? The power of God's word is not what it does to Satan, it's what it does for us. That's why Jesus quoted scripture, not to make Satan run away. But to give Jesus the insight, the clarity, the strength he needed.
To say yes to God and no to Satan. That is the power of the Word of God. I have to point out this truth as well. Notice that Jesus quoted from the same book of the Bible in each of those three instances. What was the book?
Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy. Most of us give up on hiring. Read the Bible in a year program, but we get to Deuteronomy, if not before. When's the last time you read the book of Deuteronomy?
Huh. No, I think about my Old seminary professor Howard Hendricks. He was teaching a group of us one time and he said, men. If your spiritual survival depended on how well you knew the book of Deuteronomy, And we're able to quote from it. How well would you do?
He paused a moment and then he said. Maybe that's why you're not doing so well. In your own spiritual life. If knowing God's word, hiding it in his own heart, was essential for Jesus' spiritual survival, the perfect Son of God, how much more important is it for you and for me? What is it?
that scripture does for us. It shows us what to do, how to behave in every situation. Remember this simple formula. Memorize God's Word. Recall God's word, obey God's word.
That's how you train in righteousness. Let me just close today by giving you four practical tips for how to engage in your own training program. in God's word. How do you develop your own training? program.
Have a scheduled time and plan for memorizing the Bible. Set a time and a place where you're going to meet with God every day. Maybe it's five minutes, maybe it's ten minutes. You say, well, how do I know what to memorize? Here's a very practical suggestion.
When you get home this afternoon, Google the Navigators, great Christian organization, the Navigators. They have a system called the Topical Memory System. You get about 52 little cards with scripture verses on them for anger. for temptation. worry.
an appropriate scripture verse for these different topics. And if you'll take one of those and memorize a verse a week in a year's time, you'll have your arsenal complete of everything you need to recall when you go through these times in your own life. You know Jeff Bridges. Hollywood actors, one of my favorite actors. His father was Lloyd Bridges.
You may remember Lloyd Bridges. But he was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, and this Academy Award-winning performer, Jeff Bridges, was asked what advice he wished. he would have received at age 20. And he said, Actually, I did get the advice. I just didn't take it.
My dad would say, it's all about habit, Jeff. You got to get into good habits. And I would say, no, dad, you got to live each moment. Live it as the first one and be fresh. And he says, that's a wonderful thought, but that's not who we are.
We are habitual creatures. It's about developing these grooves. As I age, I can see my dad's point. What you practice. is what you become.
What you practice. Is what you become. We all have to work to develop these grooves of righteousness in our life.
So that when we are assaulted, not by wild geese like Sully Sullenberger, but we're assaulted unexpectedly by. Anger, by lust, by greed, by worry. We default, we go into that groove of right acting. Again, how do you do that? Memorize God's word, recall God's word, obey God's word.
Secondly, To develop your own scripture training program, start small. You know, if you had not eaten for a month, And I stumbled upon you. I probably wouldn't give you a 32-ounce T-bone steak to try to digest. No, if you've not been eating for a while, you need to start with small portions of God's Word.
Now there are some of you who are close. to starving to death spiritually. It's been so long since you've been reading God's Word that you don't even have a hunger for it anymore. If that's true, You've got to sit down for some forced feeding of God's word, but in small parts. For example, Did you know most of the books of the New Testament, two-thirds of them, could be read in less than 20 minutes?
Start with a small book like Philippians or James that's very, very practical. If you can't handle a whole book, just take a chapter. Here's some chapters you might want to consider. If you're facing a crisis, read Psalm 46. If you're facing temptation in your life, Read James 1.
If you're worried or concerned about finances, read Matthew chapter 6. Start small. Third, read the verses out loud. There's something about, especially these verses you're trying to memorize, read them out loud. Finally, And so important, remember the value of God's Word.
Remember the value of God's Word. I was doing some planing in my office the other day. In my desk drawer, I found an old bank book. I mean, a really old bank book. You remember when you used to go to the bank and you'd go up to the window and you'd give them a check or your money, and they would take your bank book and they would stamp it with the amount and the date and so forth of your deposit and so forth.
Well, I found one of these old bank books, and I looked through at all the deposits I had made through the years. And the last entry was May 29th, 1975, when I withdrew everything I had in that account. I can't tell you today what I did with that money, but I can assure you it's no longer around. It's gone. I can't remember what I did with it, but that account was shut down.
But there's another kind of deposit I've made through the years. Memorizing scripture. memorizing scripture. And I can't tell you the dividends it has paid in my life.
Some of you break out into a cold sweat when you hear the word memorize. Oh, I, Pastor, you just don't know I can't memorize anything. It's not a question of ability, it's a question of motivation, isn't it? And I want to tell you: as God is my witness, some of those verses I've memorized 20 and 30 years ago have come back at just the right time. And it wouldn't have only affected me, it would have affected those closest to me as well.
That's the value of God's word. Remember it. Moses said it this way in Deuteronomy 32:46. Take to your heart all the words with which I'm warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law, for it is not an idle word for you. Indeed, it is your life.
This word, it's not just Words on a page. This word is life to us. And the goal is not to Memorize verses so you can master a certain number of verses. The goal is to memorize verses so you can be mastered by those verses.
So that when you come to that time in your life when you enter that unforeseen turbulence, You can trust your training. until you land safely. That is the value. of the word of God. Sitting idle and doing nothing is a devastating option.
In order to have victory, in order to win the battle against our sinful nature, we must employ the tools God has given. Let me urge you to take your next steps in training for battle. First, I want to send you the book I've written for you. It's called Courageous, 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. My book will equip you with battle-tested biblical strategies to help you stand firm, push back, and live victoriously.
It's yours when you become a new pathway partner or make a generous one-time gift to Pathway to Victory. Your financial support of Pathway to Victory is making a profound impact. Let me quote one of your fellow listeners, Clay, who said, I was raised in the church but drifted away because I felt disconnected from what I was hearing on Sunday to the reality of my daily life. Then my mother introduced me to Pathway to Victory, and I have never stopped listening. Pathway to Victory has made a real difference in my spiritual walk, so much so that I now serve as a deacon at my local church.
Listening gives me peace, comfort, and guidance. Thanks for all you do. You see, when you invest financially in Pathway to Victory, or when you become a Pathway partner and give a generous gift every month, You're the one who's reaching men and women like Clay.
So thanks for linking arms with us. Here's David to tell you more. When you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, or when you become a Pathway Partner, 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 could also text PTV to 78800. And when your gift is $75 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, and a set of courageous encouragement cards. To request the Courageous Leader Kit, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You could send your donation by mail, simply write to PO Box 223-609 Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's P.O.
Box 220-3609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us again Wednesday for survival tip number six: Bend, don't break, 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.
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