Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: Determine that as you live your life, you will number one, make sure that Jesus is glorified. Number two, make sure that others are edified. And number three, make sure that you are sanctified. I call that the joy principle, J-O-Y.

Guest (Male): If the joy principle sounds like something you want, then you've come to the right place. We'll tell you all about it on today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. You see, the joy principle, and I mean J-O-Y, is a three-step biblical guideline that not only helps you make godly decisions, it produces genuine Christian joy in your life.

Step one is to make sure Jesus is glorified. Step two is to make sure others are edified. And that's where Pastor Paul takes us today for an in-depth look at this critical step. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net where you can listen to Destined for Victory on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Now, here's today's Destined for Victory message, Living by the J.O.Y. Principle.

Paul Sheppard: First Corinthians chapter nine, and we'll begin at verse 19. It says this: Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, though I myself am not under the law, so as to win those under the law.

To those not having the law I became like one not having the law, though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize.

As we continue to examine this important letter, we come to a section where, as we've discovered in previous messages, Paul is answering questions that had been sent to him in advance from the church at Corinth. In chapter seven, what we call chapter seven, he answered questions related to singleness and marriage.

And in the last message, we looked at chapter eight and saw that he began to answer questions concerning food offered to idols. And in answering those questions, he is laying out for us some principles so that he not only addressed the matter of whether or not Christians should eat food that had been offered to idols, but he wanted to make sure we understood why we should or should not do that.

And so he's giving us some broader principles that will help you not only answer that specific question, but questions like it in your life. Now, as I have studied the passage from chapters eight through ten, what I have concluded is that Paul basically takes that time to lay out three aspects of an important principle for how to make decisions about right and wrong in your personal practice.

Those three principles are these: Determine that as you live your life, you will number one, make sure that Jesus is glorified. Number two, make sure that others are edified. And number three, make sure that you are sanctified. I call that the joy principle, J-O-Y. Determine that as you live your life: J-Jesus is glorified, O-others are edified, Y-you are sanctified.

Now, when we examined chapter eight in the previous message, we looked at the J, Jesus being glorified, and established that that’s the reason why we’re on the planet—to glorify and lift up the name of the Lord and to make His name great and known among people of the earth. And so we are called to glorify God.

I talked about the fact that we’re called to be Kingdom-first believers rather than Brylcreem Christians. And Brylcreem is a product where the slogan was, "a little dab'll do ya." And time is out for you being a Brylcreem little-dab'll-do-ya Christian. Little dab of church, little dab of serving others, little dab of living right, but don’t expect me to become some fanatic.

It’s just a little something I do on the side. I’m like in the Christian reserves. I’m not a full-time soldier. I’m just sort of in the reserves, you know. I drill a couple times a year sort of thing, every other weekend. But don’t expect this to be my whole life now. But I’m telling you, time is out for these part-time weekend warriors.

It’s time for those of us who name the name of Jesus Christ to decide that for Christ I will live and for Christ I will die. He who gave His life for me, it is only right that I give my life back to Him. And so we talked about the importance of Jesus being glorified. I want to move on now and talk about the second part of the principle, which is the O: Determine that as you live your life, others will be edified.

Now, getting back to this matter of food offered to idols, the controversy, the question had to do with whether or not Christians should eat food that had been sacrificed in pagan temples. No doubt that because there was a lot of idolatry in Corinth and in their world, there were two types of believers.

Some who came directly to the Lord out of an idolatrous background. They themselves perhaps worshipped in those temples at one time, and they now wanted nothing to do with temple worship, nothing to do with pagan practices. And they felt that no believer should eat food that had once been offered to an idol.

Meanwhile, there are other believers in the same church who didn’t come out of idol worship, and all they care about is whether the food is good. Food is good, cheap, I’m eating it. I’m not an idol worshiper, and I’m going to go on and eat the food. And so one of the questions, no doubt, that was posed to Paul is: should these believers eat food that had been offered to idols?

And as he addresses the question, he will say to us that what you want to do is make sure that you look out for those who are so weak in the faith that they cannot possibly believe that it is right to eat food offered to idols. And so in chapter eight, when you take some time and read those verses, you will see him saying, in essence, there is nothing really about that food that is significant because the idols that they were sacrificed to were not real beings.

Paul says there is no God but one. There is no Lord but one. But he says in chapter eight, we know that, but not all believers know that. He says there are some people who came out of that background, and they do not believe that you can eat food sacrificed to idols and have right standing with God. So Paul’s position is, rather than for you to just sit down and chow down and offend their conscience, he says consider what your freedom is doing to your brother.

And he says what I want you to do is to begin to live your life with a sensitivity to the needs of weak brothers and sisters in your fellowship. He says now, if you have been in Christ longer than them, they are going to follow you in the same way that a little child will tend to emulate an older brother or sister.

And if the older brother or sister does something that maybe they’re old enough to do and understand how to do it, the younger brother or sister might try it, but they are incapable of doing it in the same way, and what is helpful to one might be harmful to the other. So he says we have to learn to look out for one another. We have to learn to not live our lives in that selfish vacuum, but to begin to pan out and to ask yourself: is my behavior, are my actions going to possibly cause someone for whom Christ died to defile himself or herself by trying to follow my practice while violating their own conscience?

And so look at how he concludes, verse nine of first Corinthians eight. He says: Be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge—what is that knowledge? The knowledge is that the idols didn't mean anything, so the food doesn't mean anything.

He says you have the knowledge and you’re eating in the idol, but won’t the person who doesn’t have that knowledge be emboldened to eat, and while they eat, they’re thinking all the time, oh Lord, this sure is wrong. This food been sacrificed to idols. Meanwhile, they won’t stop eating, but they’re defiling their conscience.

And so he says when you do this, you’re sinning against your brother, and in sinning against your brother, you’re also sinning against Christ. He says therefore, look at his conclusion, verse 13. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause him to fall.

Paul is saying when you are walking with Christ, don’t just make sure that Jesus is glorified, but also be considerate of those weak members of the family of God who might fall into sin as a result of not having your same level of knowledge about something as critical as food offered to idols. And so he is saying we’ve got to look out for one another.

Guest (Male): Don’t go away. The rest of today’s Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard is coming right up. You know, Jesus said that truth is the only thing that can set us free. And that’s our mission at Destined for Victory, to share timeless truth for a victorious life so that everyone who hears these messages might come to faith in Christ.

You can join us in this mission by sending a generous gift today. Stop by pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. That’s pastorpaul.net. Or call 855-339-5500. We’re called to build up our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we all look a little bit more like Jesus. Let’s find out how by paying close attention to the second half of today’s message, Living by the J.O.Y. Principle.

Paul Sheppard: My brothers and sisters, may I remind you that in today’s world, we have got to get back to looking out for the needs of other people. Paul again is giving us broader concepts so he doesn’t just answer one question, but he helps us to learn how to live our lives on a higher level. It is time that the body of Christ set a hallmark, set a new mark of looking out for the needs of others among us.

And he says in this way we can build up. Now, in the early part of chapter eight, he says knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. I want you to become a person who says, Lord, help me to do all I can to build up other people. Have you met these folks who have a gift of tearing down? A gift of—they can tear you down with their words.

They can tear you down with their attitude. They can tear you down by the way they look at you. They can tear you down in all kinds of ways. Some folks just seem like they are gifted in tearing you down. Have you met these folks? You can look great, but if there’s something on you that’s not quite right, they’ll pass up everything that is right and find that one thing.

That one thing, and that’s what they’ll focus on. If you lose a lot of weight, instead of just saying, oh you look great! They’ll say, oh I see you lost weight. Yeah, because I tell you, you sure had gotten... God bless you, and you get a new job. And instead of them saying, oh praise God for that provision! Bless the Lord! They’ll say, well I sure hope you can make it because I tell you, not everybody on that job can do it right.

I mean, just have a gift. They’ll see you raising your children, and if you raise the children that are well-behaved and all, instead of them coming along saying, oh praise God! You’re doing a wonderful job. Be encouraged! They’ll come along and say, yeah good thing that your children act halfway decent because Lord knows some of these children around here...

Where is your focus? Your focus ought to be on building up. Find somebody weak and make them strong. Don’t find somebody strong and tear them down. Some of y’all have a cold water ministry. You find something hot and throw cold water on it. And I’m telling you, Paul says in the body of Christ we need to learn that not only should Jesus be glorified, but others ought to be edified.

You want to be the kind of person that when people see you coming, they like seeing you come. You ever run into these Christians who when you see them coming, you don’t even want to be around them? You know somebody who doesn’t know Jesus doesn’t want to be around them because you’re saved and don’t want to be around them.

I’m telling you, I got to be honest with you. I know believers who if I see them coming, if I see them before they see me, they will never get to me. I got folk I run from. You see them coming—oh no, uh-uh, no, not today, uh-uh. I’m having a good day now. Because they have an ability to tear down. They focus on the negative. They never find the joy, they never find a point of encouragement, they never find a way to bless somebody.

It’s always complaints and bellyaching and criticisms and backbiting and what have you. And you got to make up in your mind when folk like that come around you, to set them straight and say, that’s not what we’re called to do in the body of Christ. In a good church and one of the ways the enemy loves tearing down a good work is he’ll find folk who run their mouths too much.

And when those folks show up in your sphere of influence and begin to talk to you about things they ought to be praying about or talking to somebody who can help solve whatever the problem is, you got to learn not to participate. I learned years ago that if you don’t let a gossip dump on you, that they will have to find somewhere else. When they come around with that, as soon as they come around with it, you got to stop it in its tracks.

I’ve told folk through the years, if some gossip, some backbiter comes to you with some stuff—uh, you need to sit down for this. I’ve been around church folk all my life. I know how they do. Child, are you sitting down? Let me tell you something I learned about a couple of folk in the church. When they come with that nonsense, here is what you do.

When they get through with that, you say: is that true? Do you know that firsthand? No, I didn't talk to them personally, but I got it from a reliable source. Say: well, first of all, you really need to make sure that you know what you’re talking about because we’re not sure that that’s true firsthand. And even if it’s true, that’s horrible and you know what? We really need to pray about that.

We don’t need to talk about it, we need to pray about it. Tell you what, why don’t we stop right now and have prayer? That’s what you do with a gossip. Why don’t we stop right now and pray about it? And watch them go to humming and hawing and have something to do. Because they didn’t tell you to pray. They told you because it is in their heart to spread mess, to tear down, to criticize.

But make them pray. That’s the penalty for bringing junk to me. Okay, well let’s stop right now and have a word of prayer. Tell you what, since you got the information first, you lead in prayer and I will agree with you. I’m telling you what I’ve done. And listen, it’s going to be the most erratic prayer you ever heard.

Trying to put their thoughts and words together because they don’t even have a heart to intercede or to ask God to move or to solve the issue. And they're going to scramble and try to sound like they really want God to do something. I tell you what, when they get through praying, they’ll never talk to you again.

Make sure that others are edified. Look out for the needs of people. Have an orientation that says, if I can’t help, I’m certainly not going to hinder. I want to be part of the solution, I don’t want to be part of the problem. And so in this application Paul says, if you’re going to have that orientation, then when you know that you have a brother or sister who comes out of idol worship and they can’t deal with food offered to idols, he said stay away from it so that they are not offended.

Now, when he gets over in chapter 10, let me show you how practical this is. He is saying, in fact, follow me over to first Corinthians chapter 10. Same book. And we’re going to see that the apostle here begins to help them apply this principle a little further. Verse 23. He says: eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience.

Now here’s the context: some of the food could be eaten in the temple itself, and then other food offered to idols would be taken to the marketplace and it would be sold there. So Paul is dealing with the food, whether you eat in the temple or whether you buy it in the marketplace. He says: eat anything sold there and don’t even raise a question of where it came from.

For the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. If the food is good, he’s saying, buy it and eat it. But look at verse 27. He says: if some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you: this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake—the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours.

For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in a meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. See how practical that is? Paul says, look, if you have occasion to buy food that was offered to idols, he said take it and eat it.

Don’t even raise the conscience question of where did it come from? He says: but if someone else says, oh, you might not want to eat that because that was offered to idols, he says now you want to steer clear of it, not because it will offend you, but for the sake of your weak brother who doesn't understand this is a freedom you can exercise and still be in the will of God. See, in other words, you want to not be selfish as you live your life. You want to take other people into consideration.

Guest (Male): God’s Word tells us to do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit, but in humility of mind, regard one another as more important than ourselves. When we learn to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, He will exalt us in due time. If you missed part of today’s message or want to listen to Destined for Victory on your schedule, visit our website, pastorpaul.net, to listen and get all the details about how to subscribe to our podcast.

Well, the Christian life is a victorious life, and it’s not a happy coincidence. It’s your birthright already purchased by Jesus Christ at the highest price in history. And yet so many believers live in defeat, selling their birthright for things worth far less. In his booklet, "More Than Conquerors", Pastor Paul Sheppard uses the unlikely story of Gideon to outline the path from defeat to victory.

If you want to understand how to take on a victor’s identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart, you’ll want to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource today. It’s our gift to you when you give generously to the ministry of Destined for Victory. And you can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That’s 855-339-5500. Or by visiting pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.

Paul Sheppard: Remember, if you're sent to Africa, somebody got to pray for you while you're there. That's their ministry, perhaps. Somebody's got to give to your missions organization so you have money to go. That's their part in it. Not everybody's called to go.

Guest (Male): If all of us were alike, only one of us would be necessary. Join us next time for a continuing message, "Living by the JOY Principle". Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.