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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, the key to bending and not breaking. was to claim the same promise Paul claimed in 2 Timothy 2.12. when he said, If we endure with Christ through suffering, One day, we will reign with Christ. That assurance.
is the best hope for bending without breaking. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffers. You know, America may have been founded as a Christian nation. But Christians in America today are finding themselves in a culture that's increasingly hostile toward their faith.
Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers explains why it's essential for Christians to learn the art of maintaining our convictions in the face of opposition. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David. You know, it's been said that the best ability is flexibility.
I'm not talking about compromising our convictions, but rather knowing where to stand firm and where to give ground when our faith comes under attack. And today on Pathway to Victory, I'm going to give you a survival tip that originates in Romans chapter 12. When the world pushes back against what we believe, the key to success lies in bending without breaking. Like a tree in a storm, we need enough flexibility to survive the wind without snapping. But enough strength to stay rooted.
This is one of the 10 survival tips I've given you in a book that I've written to go deeper into our current topic. It's called Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. And a copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, plus when you respond today. I'll also include a collection of 10 encouragement cards. Each one features a different survival tip and a corresponding memory verse.
We'll say more about these helpful resources at the close of the program, so please be prepared to write down our contact information. Right now, let's give our attention to the importance of flexibility. I titled this next message in our Courageous series Survival Tip Number 6: Bend, Don't Break. As this world becomes increasingly hostile to the things of God, we've got to know how to handle that opposition. And the key is to learn to bend in certain areas without breaking.
You know, Paul offered some great advice on how to handle opposition in a hostile environment. And it's found in Romans chapter 12. Look at Romans chapter 12. Would you, for just a moment? Verses 17 to 21.
Look at what Paul says in verse 17. He said, never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God.
For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
What Paul is saying is With everything you have, seek to be a peacemaker. even when you're facing opposition. Notice two characteristics of peacemakers. First of all, peacemakers don't take their own revenge. Verse 19, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God.
For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. I want to make two observations about that verse. First of all, Paul is referring to personal offenses, not spiritual convictions. When he says don't seek revenge, don't fight back. He's talking about in the area of your rights.
He's not talking about Your convictions. You can give up your rights as a Christian, you're never to give up your convictions. Big difference. Secondly, we are to surrender our desire for vengeance, but not for justice. When Paul says, don't take your own revenge, he's saying don't try to pay back somebody for doing you wrong.
He said, don't seek your own vengeance. But, You don't give up your desire for justice. You know, justice is the payment that God or others may exact from those who wrong you. Vengeance is trying to pay back evil for evil. We don't do that, but that doesn't mean we give up our desire for justice.
Secondly, Paul says peacemakers seek the good of their enemies. They seek the good of their enemies. Look at verses 20 to 21, Romans 12. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
You want to surprise your enemies? Do something good for them. Why should you do something good for them?
Well, he says, because you will heap burning coals upon their head.
Now, some people misinterpret that. They say, oh, I get it. If I do something good for them, it's going to make them feel so wretched and lousy, it'll make them suffer for what they're doing to me. I want to make them feel worse. Yeah, I'll bake them a cake or do something else for them.
That's not the point. The idea is not to make them feel bad so that they can suffer for doing wrong to you. The idea of setting, heaping coals on their head is. When you do something good for somebody who has wronged you, That brings them under conviction. conviction that will lead them to eternal life.
And that's what it means to love your enemies. It doesn't mean to want to hang around them, it doesn't mean to enjoy being around them. It means wanting God's best for their life. We bend without breaking. You know, I think there's nobody in the Bible outside of Jesus Christ Himself who better illustrates that principle of resiliency, of bending but not breaking under persecution, than the Old Testament character Daniel.
Remember Daniel's situation? In 605 BC, When King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded Jerusalem, he took a group of Jews captive back to Babylon. And part of those captives included a 19-year-old Daniel. And Daniel immediately distinguished himself among the other Hebrew youths who were taken captive. And Daniel was selected to become part of a very special group of Jewish young men who would assist Nebuchadnezzar in reigning over the Jewish people.
Nebuchadnezzar wanted men who understood the Jewish customs so that he could effectively reign over them.
So they were going to be a part of this select group of the king's men. But to qualify to be a part of that group, they had to go through a three-year re-education program. During that time, they were given a new name. Daniel's name was changed. They were given a new education.
They learned everything about the Babylonian culture they could learn. And as a part of the training program, they were given a new diet. They were told that they would not eat what others ate. They would eat the choicest foods from the king's table.
Now this was both a privilege. But it was also a strategy. The reason Nebuchadnezzar gave them a new name and a new education was to erase their Jewishness. To erase the training they had had, to make them think and act like Babylonians. And it was the same thing with the new diet.
No longer would they follow the Old Testament Mosaic requirements for diet and food and drink. By shunning that, And eating the king's food, it was a way of erasing their past. Daniel accepted the new name, the new education, but when it came to Breaking God's law, he would not do it. And as you know, he made an appeal to Aspenaz, who was the captain of the king's forces involved in this training program, in charge of this training program. He explained his dilemma.
And verse 9 of Daniel 1 says, Ashbanaz was sympathetic with Daniel, but he said, How could I violate the king's orders? And Daniel said, Well, I have an idea. You let me and my cohorts Not eat from the king's table, we will eat vegetables and water for 10 days. And after the 10 days, you judge our appearance and see if we're not in better shape than the others. And so Ashbanaz looked with favor upon that and gave Daniel that opportunity.
And after the 10 days, Daniel's appearance was so far superior in his abilities to anyone else that Ashbanez let them continue that regimen until it was finally over, the training period. And Nebuchadnezzar was amazed with the superiority of Daniel and his friends over all the other Jewish young men. Daniel learned how to bend without breaking when faced with opposition to his faith. You know, I find four principles in Daniel's example that show us and illustrate for us how to bend without breaking when facing opposition. First of all, When you're faced with opposition, Be a winsome.
witness for Christ. Be a winsome, a happy, a pleasant witness for Christ.
Somebody after the first. service said, you know, Pastor, why we need to be winsome?
so that we might win some. There's something about being happy and joyful about your faith, even your stand for truth, that attracts people to the gospel. I mean, just think about how Daniel could have approached Ashbanaz. He could have said, you want me to eat what? Eat this filthy food and become as unholy and ungodly as you are?
I don't think so. Had he approached him that way, I doubt in verse 9, Ashburnaj would have looked with favor upon him. But he approached him with respect. He approached him in a winsome way. And the way we lead people to Christ is being a winsome rather than an angry witness for Christ.
You know, I wish I could do that all the time. I wished I did it all the time, and I don't. I have my moments when I'm not as winsome as I should be. But I had one interesting experience about eight years ago. When I went out to be on Bill Maher's HBO show real time.
And there's certainly nobody who's been more hostile to the Christian faith than Bill Maher. And I had a. Few moments of prepidation about that, and I remember having our prayer partners praying for me while we were doing that. Bill and I ended up having what was really a tremendous interview. I still run into people today who tell me they saw that on YouTube.
Non-Christians, you've never gone to a church, but they said, I remember what you said when you said so-and-so and so-and-so.
Well, after we finished the show, Bill invited Amy and me and our daughter Dorothy was with us to the after show party. And so I said, Well, you know, why not? Friday and I will go to the party. Bill and I went over in the corner and we talked for about 30 minutes. And I'll never forget what he said.
He said, You know, Pastor, I don't believe one thing you believe. But you are a great representative for your faith. You are a happy warrior. And I thought, you know, that's the best compliment I could get from a non-Christian. You know, a happy warrior.
There's no reason for us to be mad and angry and frothing at the mouth when we talk to non-Christians. We don't have to be defensive, we have the truth on our side. And that's why the best way to win people to Christ is being a winsome witness, even when facing persecution. Secondly, If you're going to bend without breaking, pick your battles carefully. I think we're going to have to learn this more and more.
We can't make every issue a federal case. We need to pick our battles as Christians carefully. I mean, Daniel did that. I mean, think about it. His name was Daniel.
You know what Daniel means in Hebrew? Yahweh. is my judge. God is my judge. Nebuchadnezzar said, We're not having that anymore.
We don't worship Yahweh around here. I'm changing your name to Belta Shazzar. You know what that means? Baal is great. Baal is great.
Now Daniel could have said, I'm not taking that name. I don't care what you call me, every check I sign, I'm using Daniel. I'm going to keep my name as Daniel. I'm going to refer to myself as Daniel. Had that happened, we wouldn't have made it past Daniel chapter one in your Bible.
Daniel would have had one chapter. And then Daniel was thrown into the lion's den and eaten alive, or had his head chopped off, or something else. But he didn't draw the line in the sand there. Not only that, but secondly, they gave him a Babylonian education. He could have said, I'm not going to fill my mind with that pagan mythology.
I want to go to a Hebrew school where I just learn from the Torah. No, he didn't do that, he didn't resist that. He took that Babylonian education. But when it came to that new diet, They required him to break God's law. He said, No, I'm not going to do that.
Because that was a conviction that was rooted in the word of God. And that's why when I say you need to pick your battles carefully, make sure that the battle line you're drawing is a biblical one and not just one of personal opinion or preference. If you're going to take a stand, make sure it's a stand that is rooted in the Bible. That's why in Peter in Acts chapter 5, he and the apostles were told, you can no longer preach in the name of Jesus.
Now, they could have rationalized. They could have said, well, we'll just preach in the name of Yahweh, or we'll refer to God and not refer to Jesus. And that way we don't have to suffer at all. No, they wouldn't bend on that. In Acts 5:29, Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.
When it comes to biblical truth, you cannot surrender those convictions. But make sure the stand you're taking is biblically based. Number three, demonstrate respect for authority. Demonstrate respect for authority. If you do disobey, do so respectfully.
Proverbs 16:7 says, When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Daniel reacted respectfully to Ashpanaz and Nebuchadnezzar, and he was granted favor. We see the same thing with Peter. When Peter was hauled before Caiaphas, the high priest, and told, don't preach in the name of Jesus. How did Peter react?
He could have said, Why should I listen to you? You're the guy who sentenced Jesus to die a few weeks ago. I'm not gonna listen to you, you Christ killer. You can go take a flying leap into the Sea of Galilee. He could have said that.
But he didn't. He respectfully said, I'm sorry, but we must obey God rather than man. I think we need to be prepared for increasingly having to say no to our authority, whether it's an employer or even the government itself. But when we do that, we should do so respectfully. And finally, Daniel illustrates.
Be prepared to suffer for your convictions. Be prepared to suffer for your convictions. Yes, Daniel 1 turned out great. No suffering there. Get to Daniel chapter 6.
When King Darias was in charge and ordered Daniel and others not to pray to anyone except to Darias. Daniel couldn't obey that, and he had to spend a night in the lion's den because of it. I mean the fact is God is Most often, not going to rescue us from having to suffer. It seems to be the norm for those who want to follow God's will. And we need to be prepared for that.
If we say no to our employer, if we say no to the government, we need to be prepared to suffer the consequences of that. I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was incarcerated in a Birmingham jail because of the nonviolent protest he led in the streets. And some pastors were very critical of Dr. King.
They said, you shouldn't protest, you should just try to settle the matter in the courts. Dr. King wrote a very famous letter, the letter from the Birmingham Jail, in which he said something very relevant to our discussion today. Dr. King wrote, one may well ask.
How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others? The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws. There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with that moral law. Dr. King was willing to suffer for what he believed was an unjust and an ungodly law.
Remember this: most Christians are not spared from suffering because of following God. Look at what happened to Paul. He was beheaded because he would not obey the Roman government. We think about Jesus who was crucified because he would not renounce his messiahship. Look what happened even to Peter after he said we must obey God rather than men.
In verse 40 of Acts 5, it says, And after calling the apostles in, they flogged them. And ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. They were beaten. They were flogged because they would not disobey God. But what was their response to that suffering?
Verse 41 says, They went on their way from the presence of the council. Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for Christ's name. Down. Does that mean we ought to welcome suffering? I actually had somebody write me this week who said, you talk about religious liberty all the time and, you know, how we ought to be for religious liberty.
Well, the Bible says, you know, it's a joy to suffer. It's a joy to suffer. We ought to welcome persecution. You know what I found? The only people who say we ought to welcome persecution are those who've never experienced persecution.
When we see our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. Being imprisoned. Being tortured, being burned alive for their faith in Jesus Christ, we should say, oh, isn't that wonderful for those Christians? They have such a joy to be able to suffer for their faith. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to stop that.
We ought to be encouraging our government to make religious liberty a priority. In other countries, we ought to be standing up for our brothers and sisters in Christ. That is our responsibility. And when we see our own First Amendment rights being encroached upon, we shouldn't say, oh, well, you know, that's just the way the world is, and we ought to be able to suffer for our faith. No.
Our forefathers gave their life's blood for the First Amendment of our Constitution. Don't let anybody mislead you. The reason the founders of this country came from England was not to create a secular nation, it was to create a Christian nation. And the reason the freedom of religion is in the First Amendment because it is the first freedom of every American. And we have a responsibility to push back against any encroachment upon that First Amendment right.
We ought to do everything we can to make the Word of God free. and available to everyone. But even when Paul was in chains, he said, Even though I'm in chains, the Word of God is not chained. And when that time of persecution does come, in spite of our efforts to push back against it. The Bible says we can rejoice.
knowing that we have the privilege to suffer for the name of Christ. Bending but not breaking. Yeah. The key to bending and not breaking like... the Apostle Paul did.
was to claim the same promise Paul claimed in 2 Timothy 2.12. when he said, If we endure with Christ through suffering, One day, we will reign with Christ. That assurance. is the best hope for bending without breaking. Even at our weakest moments, when we're tired and feel beat down, that's when these biblical promises infuse courage into our lives.
It's possible you're in a season of testing right now. Maybe you're feeling stretched to the max, wondering when you're going to get relief. I want to send you a copy of my book. It's called Courageous, 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World. Of all the books I've written, this may be the boldest and most important.
As the Christian community faces ridicule from all sides, all of us need to learn that suffering for the name of Christ is a privilege. Learning to bend rather than break will help us survive and even thrive. These are some of the practical issues I cover in my book, Courageous. And a copy is yours when you give a generous one-time gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, or when you give your first gift as a new pathway partner. In closing, let me thank those of you who have given generously to make these daily visits possible.
I can assure you, your gifts are helping thousands of people, even millions, become bold in their Christian faith. While our country and world are suffering from civil unrest and global tension, God has given us a growing platform on radio and television to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And we couldn't do it without you. Here's David to tell you more. You're invited to request a copy of the book Courageous by Dr.
Robert Jeffress when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory or when you become a Pathway Partner. Request your copy when you call 866-999-2965. You could also go online to ptv.org or 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. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.
If you'd prefer to write, here's that mailing address, P.O. Box 223-609-Dallas, Texas, 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J.
Mullins, inviting you to join us again Friday for survival tip number seven. Don't celebrate the summit here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. What if your next vacation changed the way you read your Bible forever?
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