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. And right now, your generous gift will have twice the impact thanks to the Light the Darkness matching challenge.
It's active now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. 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've come in our study of Luke to some of Jesus' most familiar words. We call them the Sermon on the Mount. He talks about love your enemies, turn the other cheek. And a lot of people realize these words seem impossible to keep. How in the world can they apply in a world like this?
Like ours today? Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus delivered a brief message that contains a sequence of paradoxes like blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Well, today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress suggests that when you view things from Jesus' perspective, his words really start to make a lot more sense. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress, thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. From Thanksgiving until now, we've been racing toward a deadline.
I'm referring to the incredible, like the darkness matching challenge that culminates tomorrow on New Year's Eve. Look, if you've had good intentions to respond to this wonderful opportunity, today's the day to call or go online to ptv.org or write a letter when you give a generous year end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. And when your gift is given before the deadline at midnight tomorrow night, we'll be able to double that amount because of the matching challenge.
The math is really pretty simple. Your generous gift of $100 would become $200. A $500 gift would become $1,000. A $5,000 gift would be matched until it became $10,000.
That would even exceed the matching challenge of $1.5 million. Now, to say thanks for your last-minute investment in the light the darkness matching challenge, we're going to send you the Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2025. The contents are brand new. I've written an inspirational chapter for every single day in the coming new year. And it's beautifully bound in navy blue leather with gold inlay accents. The daily devotional is a key part of our daily devotional. It's a keepsake that you'll keep handy at your favorite reading place at home. And it's our way of walking together side by side in our spiritual journey next year. Now, I'm going to say more about the matching challenge and the daily devotional again at the close of today's message. But right now, let's open our Bibles to Luke chapter 6.
I titled today's message The Crux of Christianity. It's about a couple that lived in New Orleans. The husband loved his wife desperately, but he hated his wife's cat.
Some of you can relate. Every night, he'd come home from work and that cat would curl itself around his leg. The cat would jump up in his lap while he was trying to eat dinner.
At night, the cat would insist on sleeping at the end of the bed. One weekend, his wife had to leave town for a few days to go visit her mother. And the husband thought this was his big chance. So while his wife was gone, he took a burlap sack, loaded it with rocks, put the cat in there, went down to the Mississippi River, and threw the cat and bag into the Mississippi River.
He knew his problem was over. Comes back home Sunday night, his wife returns from visiting her mother. And of course, the first thing she wanted to know was where was her cat? He said, well, I guess the cat ran away.
She burst into tears. And so trying to console his wife, he said, look, I'll try to retrieve your cat for you. And so the next day, he put an ad in the newspaper, $500 reward for missing cat. And he put his phone number in there. Of course, there was no response.
That night, his wife again began to sob uncontrollably. And so he said, well, let me put another ad in the newspaper. So the next day, he took out an ad, $1,000 for missing cat. And put his telephone number. Later in the day, a coworker said, hey, I saw that ad in the newspaper for the missing cat. And I recognize your phone number. That sure is a lot of money to offer for a cat.
The husband smiled and said, when you know what I know, you can afford to be generous. Some of you can't get past the cat in the river. I know that.
But just try for a moment, okay? You know, Jesus said something very similar in Luke chapter six, not about cats. But the message of Luke chapter six is very clear. When you know what Jesus knows, you can afford to be generous in your attitude toward difficult circumstances and difficult people. In Luke, there's some of Jesus' most familiar words. We call them the Sermon on the Mount. And there's some of Jesus' most familiar teachings, but also some of his most misunderstood words. He talks about love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. If somebody asks you for your coat, not only give them your coat, but your shirt as well. And a lot of people realize these words seem impossible to keep. How in the world can they apply in a world like ours?
Today. And so I've noticed throughout the ages, people have gone to one of two extremes when it comes to these words that we call the Sermon on the Mount. Some people say, this is a list of requirements of what you must do to go to heaven when you die. Now, if that's true, if Jesus was giving us a list of impossible requirements to keep, then Jesus was no better than the Pharisees. Remember what he said about the Pharisees?
They tie up heavy loads on the back. The backs of men so that they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The Pharisees had all of these do's and don'ts that made it impossible for anybody to keep. So Jesus is no better than if he gives us this list and says, this is how you go to heaven.
I don't think that's what this is. But other people go to the opposite extreme. In fact, it's the extreme that most evangelicals go to. And that is saying that these words have no application for our world today.
I attended a seminary, one seminary that taught that. A well-known professor used to say about the Sermon on the Mount that this has no application for today. This is the constitution for the millennial kingdom. And this is the way we're all going to act when we get into the millennium, but we can't do that today. Is that what Jesus is saying? As I read these words, there's nothing to suggest that this is for some future generation. Jesus is talking about how we are to act as Christians. Yes, it's difficult. If you believe this world is all that there is, these commands are impossible to keep.
There's no motivation for keeping them if this is all that there is. But remember the theme? When you know what Jesus knows about the future, you can be generous in your attitude toward difficult circumstances and difficult people. That's key to understanding what Jesus is saying. Look at Luke 6, verse 12. And it was at this time that Jesus went off to the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. It was at this time that Jesus prayed all night.
Now, of course, the question is, what time are you talking about? Well, the answers in the preceding verse, verse 11. They put together what they might do to Jesus. The Pharisees had been enraged by Jesus, what he was teaching.
They decided we've got to get rid of this guy. And so they were plotting to kill Jesus. Jesus is now aware that his time on earth is very, very limited.
And at this time, he goes off to pray all night. By the way, have you come to grips with the fact that your time on earth is limited? Have you come to grips with the fact that you are going to die?
And it's gonna come sooner than you can possibly expect. All of us are going to die, every one of us. And the inevitability of death produces one of two reactions. One reaction, the most common reaction is, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. If this life is all there is, grab all the gusto you can get, have all the pleasure, the recognition, pile up all the money you can, because one day you're going to die.
That's one reaction. The other reaction, the one that lasts beyond your death, is to decide to invest your life in something that will outlast it. You know, the Bible says there are only two things that are going to last for eternity. People, everybody's gonna live forever, some in heaven, some in hell, but people are eternal, and God's word is eternal. Thy word is settled in heaven forever. It continues after you die, you're gonna spend your life investing God's word in the lives of other people. And that's what Jesus decided to do. He decided to instill his teaching in other people. And by the way, that's what discipleship is all about. Discipleship is spending your limited time on earth helping other people be faithful followers of Jesus Christ by instilling his word in them. Remember what Paul said to Timothy?
Paul knew his life was limited. And so he said to his young protege in 2 Timothy 2, verse 2, and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Paul knew that the continuation of Christianity depended upon him having someone to carry on his teaching after he died. And that's what discipleship is. It is investing our lives in instilling God's word in the lives of others. Of course, for those of us who are parents, our most important discipleship project is our own children, to teach our children to follow God and to imitate Christ. But our children aren't our only discipleship project.
We need to be entrusting our faith to other men and women who will carry on the faith. And that's exactly what Jesus did. Jesus knew his time was limited. He didn't have any natural children, but he decided to pass along his faith to 12 people. 12 men who would be entrusted with the Christian faith to spread it throughout the world. And so he needed guidance from his Heavenly Father.
Which 12 men should I choose? And so he goes and has an all-night prayer meeting for God's wisdom in making the right choice. Jesus knew how important prayer was. And so he prayed all night. And so he sent the disciples to him and he chose 12 of them whom he also named as apostles.
Let me say a word. You might want to write this down about the difference between a disciple and an apostle. A disciple is a follower of a rabbi.
A disciple is somebody who is so enthralled with a rabbi that he seeks to imitate not just his words, but his example. To be a disciple of Jesus means to model your attitudes and beliefs. Actions and affections after Jesus.
It means to love what Jesus loved. Act like Jesus acted. Think like Jesus thought in every situation.
To be a disciple means for me to live my life as Jesus would live my life if he were I. How would Jesus operate if he had your job? How would Jesus relate to your family members? How would Jesus relate to your friends?
How would Jesus handle the amount of money he's entrusted to you? That's what it means to be a disciple. But out of the disciples came 12 apostles. These are the ones who would be sent forth, a unique group, to proclaim the message of Jesus to the Jews and the Gentiles. Now let me just give you three observations about the list you find in verses 12 to 14. And you find the similar list in Matthew and Mark. Number one, the lists begin with Simon Peter. All three lists of the apostles begin with Peter. He was the leader. But you know what?
What's interesting? He was the greatest failure of all of the apostles. Here's a guy who denied Jesus not once or twice, but three different times. He was a major screw-up as an apostle. And yet, Jesus chose him to be the leader. Doesn't that give you hope?
It doesn't matter how much you failed, what is in your past. God can take your mistakes, forgive them, and redeem them. Peter is at the beginning of every list. Secondly, the list ends with Judas Iscariot. He led to his crucifixion. Now at first reading, we have to think, well, why did Jesus choose Judas?
Did he make a mistake? Maybe Jesus should have spent even longer praying about this selection, so he didn't make a mistake like Judas. No, all of this was a part of God's plan. Jesus chose Judas for a reason, because Jesus knew God could use the evil in Judas' own heart to accomplish his purpose. I'm gonna say more about that in a moment. God can take evil people, he can take evil circumstances that are used against you, and he can still use those for your good and his eternal purpose.
The final thing I notice about these lists is they are comprised of young men. They were chosen to be apostles. Now, having said all of that, let's look at verse 17. Verse 17 tells us that when Jesus descended to a plane, there was a great multitude of his followers there, and verse 20 says, turning his gaze on his disciples. What I want you to notice is this message we're going to look at for just a few moments is not a message for the unsaved. There's nothing in this passage that will tell you how to go to heaven when you die. There's nothing about God's forgiveness through Jesus or the cross or the blood of Christ. This was a message for his disciples, his followers.
You know, it's interesting. Jesus was in the midst of relentless criticism from the Pharisees, but Jesus did not spend his time answering the criticism of the Pharisees. He focused this message on the ones who would carry on his faith long after he had ascended back into heaven. And that brings us to the substance of the sermon beginning in verse 20. Let me remind you, this is just a summary of the Sermon on the Mount. You find a longer version in Matthew 5 through 7.
This is a short version of it. Some people get hung up on that. In the English language, quotation marks means this is a word-for-word exact quotation of what somebody said. In the Greek language, there were no quotation marks. This is an indirect paraphrase of what Jesus said, and that's why Luke emphasizes some things that Matthew doesn't. So don't get hung up on that. This is a paraphrase of what Jesus said. Now, having said that, remember the theme. When we know what Jesus knows, we can be generous, first of all, in our attitude toward difficult circumstances.
Let's just look at some of these. Verse 20, and turning his gaze on his disciples, he began to say, blessed. Literally, happy are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Now, he's not talking about material poverty. There's nothing blessed about being poor financially automatically. Matthew adds the words, blessed are the poor in spirit. That is, blessed, happy are those of you who recognize your spiritual poverty.
I like the way one commentator says it. Blessed are those who realize they are spiritual zeroes, for one day, yours will be the kingdom of God. Do you ever feel like a spiritual zero? You just feel like you're not succeeding in your Christian life? You know you ought to pray more and read the Bible more, but you just can't do it, and you don't react like you should, and you wish you could be better than you are? He said, relax, be happy, because one day that struggle you have in your Christian life is gonna be satisfied.
Yours is going to be the kingdom of God. Verse 21, blessed, happy are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Again, another version says, blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He's talking about a spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness. Do you ever wish we lived in a world where justice reigned? Do you wish there was a world in which evil would be overcome by good every time?
That's what he's talking about. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for one day you will be satisfied. One day the tables are going to be turned, and God is going to right the wrongs of this world.
He goes on to say, blessed, happy are those of you who weep now, for you shall laugh. There's nothing more painful than losing a loved one. Losing a loved one through death is painful. I've come to believe even more painful is losing a loved one through defection. Their heart turns cold towards you. They desert you.
They leave you. Many of you have suffered a loss of a loved one, either through death or defection. He said, blessed are those of you who weep right now, for one day eventually you will laugh. Remember when you know what Jesus knows about the future, you can be generous even about loss. Verse 22, happy are you when men hate you and ostracize you and cast insults at you and spurn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man.
Verse 23, for great is your reward in heaven. Students, teenagers, do you ever feel like you're ostracized from the rest of the group because you want to live for God? Do you ever feel like in your business you've been passed over for a promotion because you won't bend your Christian principles? Do you ever feel like there's a division in your family between you and your mate or you and your children or you and your parents because of your Christian faith? That's all part of the price for living for Christ.
But he goes on to say, great, one day will be your reward in heaven. Let me illustrate that truth this way. Let's say like many people, many families, you're just keeping your head above water financially. You're trying to meet monthly expenses, think about your kid's education, think about your retirement. Every month you're hoping you run out of month before you run out of money. You're having a struggle.
It's tight. That's the bad news. The good news is you have an uncle who has left an irrevocable trust for you of $10 million that will be yours when he dies.
And the even better news is he's 99 years old. Now, what does that knowledge do for you? Does the fact that that trust has been set up, does it alleviate your day-to-day problems? No, it doesn't eradicate your problems. But it gives you a different perspective about your problems, doesn't it? You know your problems are temporary. There's a great reward coming. And that's what Jesus is saying here.
Yes, your difficult circumstances are real and they're painful. But remember, when you know what Jesus knows about the future, you can be generous in your attitude toward those difficult circumstances. You can also be generous in your attitude toward difficult people. Look at verse 27 through 30. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Now, don't read into this what Jesus isn't saying about your enemies. He's not saying you have to hang around your enemies.
It doesn't mean you have to have them as your best friends. He says, love them, pray for them, do good to them. A day is coming when God will make all things right. And that's the best news of all. And our role as believers is to shine this good news as broadly and widely as we possibly can until Jesus returns. Well, at Pathway to Victory, we're postured to shine the bright light of the gospel in the new year as never before.
That's due in part because of our Light the Darkness matching challenge that matures tomorrow on December 31st. But the major reason we're postured to make an impact in 2025 is because of the partnership we've established with friends like you. Together, shoulder to shoulder, we're empowered to beam the light of God's truth all around the world.
And through this radio program and daily telecast, our ministry in the digital realm and through the printed resources we provide, we can't accomplish these goals without you. So with just hours before the deadline at midnight tomorrow night, I'm inviting you to come and join us in this worthy mission. To express my thanks for your gift to the Light the Darkness matching challenge, I'm going to send you the exclusive daily devotional.
Today and tomorrow are the very last days to request your leather-bound copy. There's a two-fold benefit to receiving your gift today. First, your gift is automatically matched and doubled in size and impact because of the matching challenge. And second, your gift entitles you to request the Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2025. Let's continue this important mission while there's still time. Help us take Pathway to Victory to the next level next year for God's glory alone and in order to continue piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word. David.
Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you give a generous year-end gift to support this ministry, we'll send you a copy of the brand new leather-bound 2025 Pathway to Victory daily devotional. To request your very own copy, call 866-999-2965, or you could visit our website, ptv.org. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also include this month's teaching series, Reigniting Your Passion for Christ.
You'll get that on DVD video and MP3 format audio discs. And right now, because of our Light the Darkness matching challenge, any gift you give will be doubled in impact. But tomorrow, December 31st, well, that's the last day this matching challenge will be in effect, so be sure to get in touch right away. Call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. To give by mail, simply write to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
I'm David J. Mullins. We'll learn more about God's plan for our eternal future when we conclude our message called, The Crux of Christianity. That's Tuesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. 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. And right now, your special year-end gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Light the Darkness matching challenge. Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on December 31st. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
