Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: Number one is the principle of preferring. Preferring. Key word: preferring. Preferring other people above yourself will help you to walk in agreement.

Some of us are used to a "my way or the highway" approach to living. That won't get you far in the kingdom. Jesus died a sacrificial death, but he also lived a sacrificial life.

Guest (Male): Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. You know, God wants to conform us to the image of His Son, to make us more like him day by day. And if we truly want to follow in his steps, a big part of that is learning to elevate other people above ourselves.

That's what Jesus did. He viewed the needs of others as more important than his own. Today we'll find out what happens when we begin to prefer others over ourselves in the body of Christ. But remember, if your schedule won't allow it today, you can always visit pastorpaul.net where you can listen to any recent message on demand, including today's. It's found at pastorpaul.net. Now let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, "Learning to Walk in Agreement."

Paul Sheppard: Peter was a straight-up fisherman that got saved. Fisherman, Jesus found him on the shore. And Jesus said to him, "I'm not even going to change your trade. I'm just going to change what you catch. I'm going to make you fishers of men." Peter said "Bet," dropped his nets, and went with Jesus.

And Peter, you know Peter. Peter was definitely what you see is what you get. Peter, man, that brother would just tell you what was on his mind even if he hadn't fully thought it out yet. And some folk resonated with that style.

Some people like that, but when you act like he's the only one with the anointing, now you got a problem. And then there was another group that said—watch them—"I follow Christ." Now, this is a super-spiritual group. These are the people who pastors retire early because of.

They retire early because of them. They absolutely do. I've seen them throughout the years. These are the people who are so spiritual it really doesn't matter who's speaking because they don't follow you. They follow Christ. They're the type of people who will come to your church, but they find it difficult to commit to what God is doing there because they want to be spiritual floaters.

"God called me here for a few weeks." And then as soon as you preach something they don't like, "God calls them somewhere else." Oh, I've been around church all my life. I know how this works. And they always feel led. They have to feel led. You ever met them? Not you. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about people I know.

They have to feel led. You ask them to serve in a ministry, "Help out, we need some help." "Well, I have to be led of the Lord." Well, he leads you by His word. And His word said he gave you gifts, and if you can find a compatibility between your gifts and a need in the local congregation, then give God a return on His investment and do something for Jesus Christ.

"Had to be led." Are you led to wash your dishes? Well, it's the same thing when you come to church and there are needs in ministries. It's pretty much, this is your spiritual house. There are some chores to be done that we might expand the kingdom of God.

Now, let me qualify. There are times when the Holy Spirit might specifically say to you, "That's not a particular ministry I want you involved in," but if he says that, it's because there is another one he does want you involved in. And so the point is, you've got to find your place and do it, and don't give the leadership a hard time.

Don't be super-spiritual. "I don't follow men, I follow God." Well, God who inspired the scriptures said that you ought to follow those who he has placed in leadership. It is Christ—I'm going to give you book—it is Christ, Ephesians 4:11, who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints.

God raised up leaders, and those leaders didn't hesitate to say "Follow me as I follow Christ." In fact, the book even goes on to say in Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those that God has placed over you." Oh, we don't like that in the 21st century. "Obey? I wish I would."

All right, well, you just happen to be out of sync with the word because the word said do just that. Obey them who have the rule over you and watch the balance. It says because they're watching for your soul. See, if you're in a healthy church, they're not ruling over you out of an ego need.

They are ruling because they want the best interest for the body. With leadership comes responsibility to protect and to grow and make healthy the body. In fact, we've got to answer to God not only for our own souls but for the souls of other people.

And so we have a calling to fulfill. But the bottom line is, you shouldn't be in the spiritual bunch either. "I follow Christ. I'm not studying Paul, Cephas, Apollos, or any of them. I follow Jesus. Do what the Lord tells me to do." And so Paul is saying this is not the way the body of Christ ought to operate.

Now preference is fine. If you happen to like somebody's style, many people tell me that they really enjoy the way I minister the word because I try to break it down and make it understandable, bring the truth out and make it live. I use humor to help illustrate some of the points and what have you.

And some folk love that, love my humorous style. Other people can't stand it. And I know that. I've been in leadership long enough to know that I don't float everybody's boat. So guess what? Years ago I quit trying. And I found that if somebody can't quite get with it and they need a pastor who's a little more serious and serene and what have you, doesn't walk all over the place, doesn't tell all kind of jokes.

I heard about one lady who came to visit and the person who brought her was just so thrilled with my ministry. Oh my Lord, just hanging on every word, and brought their friend just knowing that they would be excited too. And she said we left the service and I just asked the question because I thought I already knew the answer. "How did you enjoy my pastor?" She said, "I didn't like it at all."

And the member was shocked. The lady went on to say, "I just can't take all that joking and carrying on. I think that's inappropriate in the house of God. Ought to sober up and stand there and tell us what thus saith the Lord." You know what? Sister girl got to go to another church. Because I am who I am.

I'm functioning in the calling God gave me, and I can't accommodate everybody. So I just decided to be me and let the chips fall where they may. But you know what? Any good, wise pastor—and I attempt to be by the grace of God—knows that he has his limitations in terms of the way he can reach groups of people, and so you bring in people who can share on different levels.

And so when I get through being animated and walking all around and cracking up and all of that stuff, then I'll bring in a Pastor Zack Poonen. And he'll stand there, won't even hardly raise his voice. Just stand there and walk you through the scriptures. And but you know as well as I do, different style, but the anointing is heavy.

And then that gives my folks who have a quiet preference, that's when they perk up. They say, "Ooh, now see, that's my man right there." And then I know I got some folk from down home sure-enough church, and so I bring in a Bishop Timothy Clark, and he'll come in and tear the place up. And that's when you know everybody who came from Pentecostal and sure-enough holiness says, "Hey!"

And you just balance it out. There's room for everybody in the kingdom. But this breaking off into factions and saying "I have nothing to do with the other group," that's not God's plan. Let me just give you three principles that I find in scripture for helping you to learn to walk in agreement.

Number one is the principle of preferring. Preferring. Key word: preferring. Preferring other people above yourself will help you to walk in agreement. Some of us are used to a "my way or the highway" approach to living. That won't get you far in the kingdom because in the kingdom it's not about your way.

In the kingdom it is about executing the principle of agreement and one of the ways you do it is through the principle of preferring others. Romans chapter 12, verse 10, Paul talks about that, preferring others, honoring them above yourself. It's the concept of "after you." You remember old-fashioned? You got to go way back.

But it used to be if somebody was going through the door and they knew someone was behind them, especially if it was a man going through and he knew it was a woman, then they would hold the door and say "after you." "I'm coming in, but I don't mind tucking in behind you." I don't have to beat you in, I don't have to be first in line. After you still gets me in.

In fact, in fact, it might get me in further because if I show humility every now and then, God has a way of flipping the line. Oh, I don't know if you've ever lived it, but I've seen God do it many times in my life. When I have learned to practice humility, God will flip the line. You're content to stay in the back and stay in the background, let the others rush forward with their agenda and what have you and you just stay back there.

But every now and then your last in line and God will come out and get on the speaker and say, "Everybody in line, about face." And the last shall be first and the first shall be last. God will flip the line on you sometimes.

Guest (Male): Still ahead, the rest of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Our mission at Destined for Victory is to serve you and all of our listeners by sharing timeless truth for a victorious life. And one of the reasons we're able to do it is because of your prayers and financial support.

You're invited to prayerfully consider making a generous gift to Destined for Victory today. Call 855-339-5500 to make your gift over the phone, or give safely and securely at pastorpaul.net. And when you give today, we have a special gift reserved for you. We'll share those details with you at the end of today's program. But for right now, let's get you back to the second half of the message, "Learning to Walk in Agreement."

Paul Sheppard: You got to learn to prefer others. You don't have to beat them, you don't have to be first. You can be content to say, "I know God has a plan and purpose for me," and so I don't have to push, I don't have to make it happen. I can watch God and I can make sure that I'm executing the principles in the word, such as the principle of agreement.

I'll tell you, committees will be better off, ministries will be better off, groups in the church will be better off when we walk this way. Our homes will be better off when husbands and wives learn to prefer one another in love and honor them above yourself. And you just say, "Listen, I really don't have to have my way on this, and I'll be glad to follow you."

Now here's the trick. When you do that, you've got to mean it. You ever seen folk in a committee meeting or something who's "No, no, no, that's what y'all want to do? No, no, go ahead, go ahead." And you can tell right then there's no unity, there's no agreement. Eyebrows all up.

And then sometimes those folk between meetings will get on the phone and run down the very thing they said they were going to support instead of praying that God will bring success and fruitfulness. And so we got to learn how to walk in that kind of agreement. Learn to do it in your home. "Honey, I really see that a different way."

Share your thought, share your view. But at a certain point, just say, "Well, I don't mind. Let's go with your way and let's pray that that will work." And get behind it. And you will find that God will bless you. If you will humble yourself and practice preferring, you will find that you will have a heart full of peace.

You won't be troubled about everything because you will understand that there are issues here bigger than me. And if I show my spouse that I'm willing to be supportive and come along despite the fact that I have a different way I would like to do it, then I'm in a perfect position for God to deal with them about their need to honor me as well.

And so that's a powerful principle of preferring. Preferring others. And so at times, that's the way you want to get into agreement. You want to purposely tuck into second place. Now, there's also a principle of compromising. That one is found in Acts chapter 15, the story of Paul and Barnabas.

It's toward the end of the chapter, starts at verse 36. And the story of Paul and Barnabas is when they were about to go on the second missionary journey. As they got ready to go, Barnabas said, "All right, let me go get John Mark and we'll be back and we'll go." And Paul said, "Stop the presses."

"John Mark is not going with us this time. Need I remind you that he went on the first trip and he deserted us on that trip?" Now what had happened is they got out there, you know, experienced some persecution, some roughness. They weren't staying in the Westin everywhere they went, you know?

And so it was rough out there. And John Mark was a young man who was used to a nice, cozy spiritual comfortable environment. The church in his city met in his mother's house. So he's used to the saints being in the house and being surrounded by prayer and praise and comfortable surroundings.

And they got out there on that rough missionary road, little persecution broke out, my man said, "I will see you all later." And he left. Now Paul was the kind of guy who didn't play that. Paul want you to count the cost before you go.

And if you get out there and leave Paul, Paul doesn't believe in three strikes. Paul the kind of guy one strike will do, cause you should have done your due diligence, found out what we were dealing with and made a good decision. Don't get out there where I'm finally depending on you to help us with the logistics of this ministry and then you're gone.

So Paul said, "No, he's not going with us." Barnabas, who is the son of encouragement—see, you need all kind in the body of Christ—Barnabas said, "No, no, we need to give him a second chance. How are we going to know whether he learned his lesson unless we take him again?" Spoken like a true encourager.

Paul said, "Read my lips." Aren't you glad the Bible is plain about things like this? Read my lips, he is not going. Barnabas said, "Yes, he is, we need him. We need to give him another chance." Paul said, "He is not going. What about that don't you understand?" And the Bible says the contention was sharp.

This wasn't some little "oh, but dear brother Paul." This wasn't some little milk-toast conversation. Couple of little wimpy men. These were brothers who were standing up looking each other eyeball to eyeball saying, "He is going." "He is not going." "Yes, he is going." "He is not going." Sharp.

But here's the powerful principle: they found a compromise. Because there are points on which you can't find that initial point of agreement. There are points on which you can't simply tuck into second place like the preferring principle, because you feel like there is a compelling, Godly compelling reason that you must stand for.

It's not your ego. It's fighting what you would consider a righteous battle. And at that time, two people with two equally strong views that they believe both believe are God's best plan, can't simply work that one out through preferring. So what you do is, you have to go beyond where you were hoping to agree and find another point of agreement.

You keep going down to the road till you can find where we intersect. And where they intersected was—well, the truth is, we don't have to go together. Because you feel strongly that John Mark should go, I feel strongly that he should not. Why don't I take another companion and go in one direction, and you take John Mark, who you love so much.

By the way, Paul became quite impressed with John Mark later in his ministry. When he writes his last letter, 2nd Corinthians, the one his final words before his head was cut off, he said in that letter, in the last chapter of it, "When you come, Timothy, bring John Mark with you, because he has been profitable to me for the ministry."

See, somewhere along the line, Paul realized this boy getting his act together. And so they found a compromise. Sometimes that's what you got to do. In church settings, that's what you got to do sometimes in your home. We can't agree on this, let's find a point where we can agree. And then there is the principle I call embracing.

Embracing. During the course of our spiritual journey, we need to learn to embrace a "both/and" attitude about non-essential things rather than an "either/or" attitude. Now when it comes to essential doctrines, you can't do both/and. We can't include heresy in our way of thinking or practice.

But when you're dealing with non-essentials, when you're dealing with style, you don't have to be either/or, you can be both/and. Later in this letter, chapter 3, verse 21, Paul says a wonderful thing. He says, "All things are yours." Whether Paul's, whether Apollos', no matter who you're talking about, he says embrace it all. All things are yours.

That's what you got to learn to do in your life is to take a "both/and" approach. I will enjoy what Pastor Paul has to say and the way he says it. I'll also enjoy Pastor Zack when he comes. I'll also enjoy Bishop Clark when he comes. I'll also enjoy everybody else who comes through.

I don't have to say this is the only kind of music I like. I only like the integrity worship songs, I don't like this other—these hymns and stuff they bring in there. You don't have to take that approach. All things are yours. And if it's not your style preference, discipline yourself to find the good in it.

So when they sing the song you like, you really go on and get into it. Then when they sing the style you don't like, look around and notice it's blessing other people. Look at those words and see that those words are full of biblical truth and rejoice in the Lord.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, "Learning to Walk in Agreement." As you may know, one of our most popular resources we've offered on this program is Pastor Paul's compilation of humorous stories and illustrations we call "Let My People Smile." And today we've got some exciting news for you. Here's Destined for Victory's executive director, Alicia Sheppard Greer.

Alicia Sheppard Greer: I'm excited to announce that in June we are offering for the first time a new compilation of "Let My People Smile" on video. One of the things that many of you really love about my dad's teachings is that he makes learning enjoyable. Even when the subject matter is convicting, he finds a way to deliver God's word without watering it down at all, and yet still make it funny, down to earth, and relatable.

And if you think about it, that's such a rare combo to find these days. So thank you so much for continuing to support this ministry. So I hope you enjoy this collection of lighthearted teaching clips from his latter years on video. It's available as a thank you gift to anyone who sends in their most generous donation of $25 or more only in June. God bless you.

Guest (Male): "Let My People Smile" is Pastor Paul at his very best, combining biblical wisdom with his unique style and humor. And for the first time we're making it available on video. You can choose from DVD format or a streaming link when you make your most generous donation of $25 or more in June.

If the Lord is leading you to give, we've got several options for you. Stop by pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online, call us at 855-339-5500—that's 855-339-5500—or if you prefer you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: So I'm telling you now, if you've ever believed that the Bible says "God helps those who help themselves," the Bible says no such thing. In fact, the simple message is just the opposite. God helps those who finally realize they cannot help themselves.

Guest (Male): Now that's tomorrow on our message. It's all about him. But until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.