Destined for Victory

Narrator: Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. We've got a great message coming your way in just a few moments. But first, I want to share a conversation I once had with Pastor Paul. I asked him about the power of partnership and also about what he would say to you our listening friends and partners if he could visit with you in person. Here's what he said.

Paul Sheppard: I want them to know your partnership is very, very important and necessary. When you think about it, starting way back, I'm thinking about Moses, he could not have been Moses without the partners God gave him. God raised up Joshua. The Bible called Joshua Moses' minister before it called him God's minister. And Joshua was one of those key people. Aaron, his brother was one of his key partners. Every man or woman of God since then, all the way into, of course, when you get to the ministry of Jesus, Jesus himself required partnership. Isn't that amazing that the God-man needed partners?

He took Peter, James and John farther into the Garden of Gethsemane and he said, "Just stay here and watch with me." And he cried and poured out his heart to get ready for that moment when he would lay down his life for us. And he needed that partnership. He had Peter, James and John. He also had Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Then when you look at the apostles, there is no Paul without Timothy, without Silas, without Barnabas. And it on and on, all of us need partners.

So the bottom line is, I'm so grateful for every man, woman, boy and girl who has become a partner for our ministry so you can keep on providing this platform so that we can reach even more people for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Narrator: And today, your partnership with us is more important than it's ever been. For as little as $20 a month, you can become a Destined for Victory partner. And we want you to know that every penny of your donation will go towards advancing the gospel all over the world through our media ministry at Destined for Victory.

When you partner with us, we'll send you a few thank you gifts including one of our most popular CDs, the best of Let My People Smile. Call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner. Make your pledge over the phone or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. And you can also become our partner from our website, pastorpaul.net.

But if you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift to the ministry today, we'd love to send you our latest booklet, Clothed in Love, Seven Gifts for the Ones Who Matter Most. For more information on this outstanding resource, please stop by the website, pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: Jesus, like no other magistrate, like no other prince or king is large and in charge. He's at the top. He is King, he's not president. He's not running. He's not trying to get the vote out. He is the King, the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Narrator: If you've ever put your faith in someone or something other than God, I'm sure you've been let down, but it's not too late to switch sides, to lay down your false gods and surrender to the one true God. On today's Destined for Victory, featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard, an intimate portrait of the God who never disappoints. Lift him up and he'll never let you down. Let's pay close attention to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, Jesus in High Definition.

Paul Sheppard: You and I are called to serve the God who is King of kings, who is Lord of lords. The reason why I got to preach like this is because we live in days where people want to make truth relative. And your reality is not my reality. And you church people need to quit putting your stuff on us. No, no. The reason why I have a right to preach truth is because I'm serving in a kingdom ruled by the ruler of the kings of the earth.

He's in charge of who you think is in charge. And for most of us, that's us. Oh, come on now. Most of us think I'm in charge. And and people love that. We we love especially in America with our democracy. Nobody can tell me what to do. I'm my own person. And so we think we're in charge. We think we can vote. We think the majority rules. No, they don't. The majority makes decisions about this place. Whether it's your company or whether it's your city or whether it's your county or your state or your country, your vote might count there. In the kingdom that matters, your vote doesn't matter.

Now, as you can see, this is not a message of popularity. As you can see, I am not running for anything today because this kind of preaching is offensive to those of us who want our opinion to count. I'm here to tell you, Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the one all of us will meet one day. And he is the one who says, "When I say it, it is so."

And I'm called to preach not only messages that strengthen and inspire and make people feel wonderful. "Ooh, isn't that Pastor Paul wonderful? Ooh, I just love him." I can preach some messages like that, and they're full of truth and all, but you just happen to like the way it sounds and the things I have to say, and the points don't push too many of your buttons. But if I'm a Bible preacher, every now and then I get to a passage like this. That is going to have you going from, "Ooh, isn't Pastor Paul wonderful? That's my man. I drive anywhere to hear him preach." There's some messages when you hear them, you go say, "Hmm."

So, I'm down to a hmm passage. All that means is I'm a shown-up Bible preacher. I'm not preaching to be popular. If I'm a man of God, I can't always tell you you're wonderful. If I'm a man of God, I can't always tell you things that you're just going to be excited to hear. Some of the messages, a sister came up to me after the last message. And she said, "I would appreciate you getting out of my business." We had a good laugh. She hugged me. She was really thanking me, but she wanted to she wanted to just get a little steam off first. And she proceeded to tell me how the messages are convicting her life and changing her values and views. And she said, "When I first came to this church, I was having regular sexual relations with a man who I was not married to." She said, "He knew more Bible than I knew." But he refused to live by it. And she said, "I knew very little, but when I came here, I started hearing the word. And you were making it plain." And she said, "One day I went home and told him we, I can't live like this. I can't have you coming over Tuesday and Thursday and Friday for a little something." And she explained to him, "The word of God will not allow me. One day I've got to answer to God." And she said, "The word won't allow me to do this."

And the pastor told me that in the words of that great theologian Beyoncé, if you want to live right, you got to put a ring on it. Uh-oh. I do more than read the Bible. I know what y'all listening to. And she went and declared to him that there was either a ring or no more benefits. And she said, "Pastor, he has left my life. He's out there messing around in drugs. Life going from one vice to the other one." She said, "But I'm determined to live for God."

So don't ask me to be popular enough where I'm worried about what you're going to think. I can't do it. You didn't call me to preach. He did. You didn't give me the message. He gives me the message. It's right here in the book. If you get mad, get mad at the book. This is what I'm preaching out of. He's the ruler of the kings of the earth. Now, get this straight. If the king's opinion doesn't matter to the ruler of the kings, and we don't live in a kingdom. We live in a democracy. We vote on who leads us. In a kingdom, you don't get to vote. He was born or she was born into that regal position. That's the king or queen. All you have to do is just bow and do what you're supposed to do.

And we don't even operate in a kingdom. We operate in a democracy. But let me tell you something, when it comes to grace and truth, we don't get a vote. So we have to learn to live as citizens of his kingdom, no matter where we live. So what we live in a country that is normalizing sin. We cannot force as a church, we can't force righteousness on a nation that seems hell bent on normalizing sin.

So we vote when we can. We express our values, our convictions through our single vote. If enough of us vote along with some other people, we can get some righteous decisions made. But I've come to tell you, I don't care what America does. I don't care what they say is okay. We are citizens of another kingdom. We're citizens of another kingdom. You can normalize extramarital relationships. The Bible will not. You can normalize fornication and call it friends with benefits. The Bible will not. You can normalize living together, man with man and woman with woman. The Bible will not. It's not in your book. We're citizens of another kingdom. Oh, that's so politically incorrect. I realize that. The problem is politics, not me.

We are subjects in a kingdom, not just any old kingdom. We serve the ruler of the kings of the earth. And one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is exactly who we're told he is. So we preach faithfully, we witness faithfully, we ought to love people well, whether they say yes to the gospel or not. They deserve our love. They deserve us to show them who the Father is by the way we love them. You can't be mean and represent the kingdom. Oh, come on. Can't be mean. You mean saints that ought to be a contradiction in terms.

Some folk are so righteous, they downright mean. You're misrepresenting the kingdom.

Narrator: In case you joined us late, you're listening to Destined for Victory, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. But stay with us. The second half of today's message is coming right up. One of the things we love to do for friends and listeners like you is to pray for you when you're in need. So, if you have a prayer request, please visit pastorpaul.net and use the contact feature to share it with us. Our ministry team is always happy to lift you up in prayer. And of course, when you stop by our website, remember that's where you can listen to the broadcast on demand at your convenience. Pastorpaul.net. Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's message, Jesus in High Definition.

Paul Sheppard: We serve a King who is full of love, full of grace. Even when his standard is holy, and it is. A holy God says, "I will love you, even if you resist my will, but you will never be outside of account to me." One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. That includes you. You're not getting away with anything. Your opinion doesn't account. We can't overrun God's position on something. We don't get to make the rules. We live in the kingdom to do his will, to serve him, and to do the things that pleases him. That's why we exist. We are citizens in the kingdom ruled by the ruler of the kings of the earth.

I've had occasion to see a president. And man, we get excited about seeing a president. Wow, that's the president. And if he's in the room, you're supposed to stand and acknowledge the president. But we don't know in a kingdom, it's a whole another dimension. When the president comes, you stand. When a king comes, you bow. You acknowledge I am subject to you. In fact, that's what they call the citizens, subjects of the kingdom. And let me tell you something, all of us are called to live in subjection to a loving God, who says, "I created you for my purpose. I have a plan to bless your life. I don't want to do you harm, I want to do you good." Do you know that living right will do you good?

It's a blessing to be able to live right. There are blessings that are associated with living right. When God tells you, "This is to be avoided," he's trying to bless you. Look at what he did back in the beginning with Adam and Eve. He said, "I want you to have dominion over my creation." And he said, "Now, here is a tree I want you to leave alone. The knowledge of good and evil. I don't want you to experience evil, experience life outside of fellowship with me. That is not why I created you. However, I've created you with free will. And so, you need to choose to avoid that so that I can bless you."

And what does the enemy do? The enemy makes us feel like God is holding us back by not letting us have our way. When God doesn't let you have your way, he's doing you the biggest favor anybody ever did you, 'cause the worst mess you've ever made in your life were when you did it your way. And the problem is, some of us don't know that yet, living our way now. We haven't run into the consequences. And we say, "Oh, it's fine. Everything's good." But you just wait till the consequences catch up to the action.

Have you ever been speeding in your car? Okay, not you, but somebody on your row. Speeding in your car, and you're enjoying the speed. You're enjoying the time you're making. And it's feeling good. Car running well. You say, "Ooh, if I keep this pace, I'll get there real quick." And then you see a vehicle. You zoomed past, but you saw something. You all know where I'm going. You saw something. That feeling that comes over you. Oh, man. Why? 'Cause you knew you were subject to the consequence of going beyond the speed limit when you got in your car. But you figured, "Let me take a shot at it." And only when you recognize it's accountability time do you say, "Oh, man."

I'll never forget one time I was going, I told this story before, one time I was going to a camp meeting in Western Pennsylvania. I lived in Philadelphia and I was going to a camp meeting. I was on the program. I had to get there. And it was about a six-hour drive from Philly to this particular place in Western Pennsylvania. And I left a little late. But I had a nice car. I said, "I can make some time." I jumped on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, went up to Route 80 and took 80 West and I knew that would run me right into that town I needed to get to. And I was on 80 and I was making some time. I said, "Oh, this is going to be good. I'll be there in plenty of time." Oh, man, I was booking. I was enjoying myself. Had my music on. And at a certain point, I saw something as I whizzed by. And I said, "Oh, I hope. I hope that wasn't what I think it was."

Sure enough, my man had a nice place down low. Had his radar gun pointed right out on the road. He caught me when I went by. And I saw him come out. Light on. I said, "Oh, no." I said, "All right, well, let me pull over and explain to him who I am." Let me tell him who I am, where I need to be. So he came up to the window, you know, Pennsylvania state trooper, had the big hat. Came up, said, "License and registration." I handed it to him. I said, "Oh, officer, I'm so sorry. My name is Pastor Paul, uh, Shepard. I I am and I explained to him that I was a pastor, and that I was on the program at a meeting in Western Pennsylvania. I left Philly a little late, and I'm trying to get there and uh what have you. I'm so sorry, but if you could just let me be on my way, I can get there in time." He said, "All right, Reverend, I'll write this fast." He did. I thought write this fast? That's not gonna help a brother. He was saying, "You can't break the speed limit without consequence."

And if that's true of our natural laws, how much more is that true when we deal with the one who is the ruler of the kings of the earth. You can't oppose his will, his word, his way without consequence. Nations can do it and think they're getting away with it. Families can do it and think they're getting away with it. Individuals can do it and think they're getting away with it, but the reality is one day God is coming out of the bushes. And every one of us will give an account of our lives, of our decisions, of our actions, of the things we failed to do that we were to do. Of our hatred, of our malice, of our immorality, of our arrogance. We will give an account to him.

You say, "Man, then who could be saved?" That's why Jesus came. That's why he came. Without Jesus, we are toast. Don't stand a snowball's chance in hell. But Jesus came to first of all, be our savior. And then the secondly, to be the one who after saving us, says, "Now, I'm going to walk with you through the Holy Spirit. So that I can teach you and empower you to live in faith and obedience instead of in rebellion and in doubt and in fear." And God says, "I am the ruler of the kings of the earth. I have come through Christ to bless your life, to save you and to protect you. And even when I say, 'This is forbidden,' you have to learn to worship me and thank me because what I'm doing is keeping you out of a mess."

When the Lord says, "Don't do that, don't go there, don't say that." He's blessing you, not cursing you. The worldly mindset says, "I want to do my own thing. And so I resent that God won't let me do certain things." That's worldly, that's depraved thinking. But if you'll let the Lord renew your mind, you'll realize that if I walk in faith and obedience, God will give me righteousness, peace, and joy. God will be with me. He will help me. He will be my sustainer. He will be my provider. He will do all that I need him to do. When I can't make it, he will carry me. Because the one who is my King is also the one who leads me, who guides me, and who loves me every day of my life.

We serve a Christ who is the faithful witness, and we serve a Christ who is the firstborn from the dead. And he is the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Narrator: We're so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message, Jesus in High Definition. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously today, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: Jesus loves you better than anybody who has ever loved you. You know why? Because Jesus knew us at our worst. He loved us at our very worst. See, a whole lot of the folk who say they love you don't really know you.

Narrator: The unconditional, unwavering love of God on our next edition of Destined for Victory. I hope you'll join us. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.