Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: I've read the Bible from cover to cover. I haven't found the first place where He promised to deliver us from our friends, but He does promise to deliver you from your enemies. So, you've got to hate what God hates. You've got to despise what God despises. You've got to take God's attitude about everything in your life. If you have a little pet bondage and it's your friend, you'll never get rid of it.

Guest (Male): Are you in bondage to sin or addiction? It might be because you've made friends with it. Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Always glad to have you with us. Well, Jesus came to give you freedom, not merely the eternal freedom that comes through salvation, but the kind of freedom here on earth to overcome sin and to walk in the will of God for your life.

As long as we're alive here, there will be a battle for that freedom. Today we'll help you understand how to win that battle. Online you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to Destined for Victory on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Now, to see what it can look like to live the abundant life Jesus wants to give you, let's pay close attention to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, When Jesus Comes.

Paul Sheppard: Isaiah chapter 61, where verses one through three serve as the foundation text for our current series. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God.

To comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.

We continue the series of messages entitled When Jesus Comes. We've established that this text speaks of what Jesus came to do some 2,000 years ago. It is somewhat of a job description that the Father gave to Jesus as He would minister on earth. And Jesus Himself affirmed and attested the fact that this was His mission. For one day as He launched His earthly ministry, He walked into the synagogue, took the Old Testament record, read these verses, and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing."

And then He went about, Acts 10:38 tells us, doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him. But we've gone on to see that not only does this show us what Jesus did, but this text also shows us what Jesus is doing. For Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And so He is still at work in the lives of men and women, boys and girls, doing the things mentioned in this text. So far, we have seen that Jesus came first to give us life. He comes into our lives to give us life. That life comes in two dimensions. First, it is eternal life. Jesus settles the eternity question for every one of us. When you put your faith in Christ as your Savior, the question of eternity is settled in your life. And Jesus gives you everlasting life.

And we've also seen that it is abundant life. That is to say that here and now, before you die, Jesus says the thief has come to kill, steal, and destroy, but not Me. I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. And Jesus comes to bless your life here and now. Jesus comes to give us life.

Secondly, we saw that Jesus comes to give us hope. For we've discovered that life doesn't always treat us well. People don't always treat us well. The devil never treats us well. And the result is that you and I find ourselves broken and bruised and in need of healing and hope at different times in our lives.

But Jesus said, "Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter what is in your past or present with regard to trouble and trials and difficulty and problems. I have come to give you hope." That's why the psalmist said, "Why so downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God, for He is the lifter of our heads and the lifter of our countenance." Jesus comes to give us life and hope.

And presently we're looking at a third aspect of His mission, which is that Jesus comes to give us freedom. Jesus comes to give us freedom. The last part of verse one of our text tells us that He came proclaiming freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Jesus comes to free us. To free us from what? To free us from every bondage that prevents us from doing God's will and enjoying our inheritance as God's children.

Now when it comes to experiencing the freedom that you have in Christ, I've been saying and it bears repeating that you're going to have to fight in order to live and experience the freedom that Jesus has for you. Because the fact of the matter is, you and I are in spiritual warfare. And the devil can't do anything about the fact that you're in Christ. He can't change that. He can't pluck you out of the Father's hand. But he is sure trying to keep you from living in freedom.

It is his stated purpose. If he can't do anything about your eternal life, he's going to contend with you about your abundant life. And freedom is part of the abundant life God has for each one of His children. He saved us to set us free. He doesn't want you living in bondage to things that prevent you from doing the will of God or bondage that prevents you from experiencing your inheritance as a child of God. And so he will fight you tooth and nail to keep you from enjoying your freedom.

If you've been saved any length of time, you ought to already know that, that you are in a fight. It is true. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness, rulers in high places. And if you're going to experience freedom and walk in it, you're going to have to fight the good fight of faith.

We said that the enemy wants to keep believers ignorant of their authority and their power in Christ. If he can keep you ignorant, then he can keep you bound. And so you've got to know that you have authority and power. You are just like a policeman. A force doesn't send policemen out without two things. They send them out first with authority. And that authority is captured in that badge. It's symbolized by that badge.

So that when the officer walks up to the car he's pulled over and taps on the window and says, "I need to see your license and registration," it doesn't matter if it is the puniest possible officer and you are talking to a driver that is 6'6", 290, all of it muscle. It doesn't matter that you're puny and this guy is big, because you are requesting what you're requesting not on the basis of who you are, but on the basis of the authority represented by your badge.

It means there is a whole force, a whole agency, that is backing you up. And if this person has any sense, if they don't like you, they'll respect your authority. But the force knows better than to send somebody out with just authority, because there are people who despise authority. That's why they're criminals. They despise authority. They don't care about authority. That's why they're criminals.

So they don't just send you out with a badge and say, "Don't worry about it, just take your badge. You'll be alright. Just take your badge." No, they know better than that. So what do they do? They send you out with authority and then they give you a holster full of power. Because you need both.

We have legal right, authority, to be children of God. John chapter one tells us that. To them gave He power, King James says, but it's the Greek word *Exousia*. It means legal right to become children of God. You have the right to walk in the freedom of a child of God. Now if the devil doesn't respect your right, he will challenge you.

So God said, "Don't worry about it." And in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, "I'm not only going to send you out with *Exousia*, but I'm going to give you some *Dunamis*." *Dunamis* is another Greek word that's translated power, but it's a very different concept. It means explosive ability. It's the word from which we get the English derivative, dynamite.

He says, "I know better than to send you out against the devil with just authority, because the devil disrespects My authority. And so I have to put him in his place with My power. And what I do is give My children authority, and if he doesn't like that, I give them power too." So in the name of Jesus, you can look at the devil and say, "I don't care what you want to do in my life. I have authority and power to walk in freedom."

But you have to know that and walk in it. And then we said, you've got to make sure that you don't treat your bondages like a friend, because Jesus won't deliver you from your friends. I've read the Bible from cover to cover. I haven't found the first place where He promised to deliver us from our friends, but He does promise to deliver you from your enemies.

So you've got to hate what God hates. You've got to despise what God despises. You've got to take God's attitude about everything in your life. If you have a little pet bondage and it's your friend, you'll never get rid of it. If you're bound by alcohol, it's because you've made it a friend. And until you make it an enemy, you'll never be able to see the power of God deliver you from that bondage.

You can't say, "Well, you see, my anger is my friend, because it gets folk told and gets them straight and gets them out of here." Well, then you'll be stuck with it, because God doesn't deliver you from your friends. The only thing He does is convict you about your friends when you have the wrong friends.

The Bible tells you that bad company corrupts good character. And so you'll be convicted even with the people in your life. If you have a bunch of raggedy folk who are speaking into your life, Jesus doesn't like that and He will convict you because it'll take you away from spiritual growth.

Alicia Sheppard Greer: Hi everyone, this is Alicia Sheppard Greer. We'll hear more from Pastor Paul in just a moment, but first, I want to share something special with you. As we continue carrying forward the ministry legacy of my father, one of the things we're passionate about seeing is believers growing in their faith and walking closely with the Lord.

One of the ways that's happening right now is through a ministry I'm honored to help lead called Kingdom Collective, where believers from many different churches come together to worship, pray, and seek God's presence. March 20th through 22nd, we'll be hosting Kingdom Revival Weekend. Three gatherings centered on worship, prayer, intimacy with the Lord, and unity in the body of Christ. If you'd like to be a part of this time set aside to seeking the Lord, we would love to welcome you. You can find out more at KingdomCollective.com.

Paul Sheppard: And so you have to learn to put people in their place. And people who aren't serving the Lord, who aren't walking with the Lord, they can't really walk with you. Sure, they have a place they'll hold in your life, but it's basically a place where God wants to make you a witness to them. But they can't have the right to speak into your life. It cannot be a reciprocal relationship in terms of them sharpening you because they're moving in the wrong direction. And how can two walk together except they be agreed?

You have to walk with people who are going where you're going. And so God will convict you about your friends, but He won't deliver you from any of them. You have to make up in your mind that you hate what God hates. So when you have a bondage in your life, it might start out as a cute little monkey, but don't fool yourself, it's going to grow into a gorilla.

Grows into a gorilla. And the next thing you know, when you tell it, "Okay, go in the closet now, I have to go," it'll look at you like, "Please. You go in the closet." And it will dominate your life. And so you have to treat your bondages like enemies. So assuming we know who we are in Christ, that we know our authority and power in Christ, and we're willing to treat our bondages enemies, what are the steps we need to take? What are the keys to overcoming bondage?

First of all, you have to replace Satan's lies with God's truth. John 8:32 tells us you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Truth is associated with freedom, and lies are always associated with bondage. How do you get into bondage? You bought a lie somewhere along the line. Oh yes you did. No, Pastor, you don't understand. Yes I do. You bought a lie. You can't be bound without buying a lie.

The bondage was ushered in by a lie. Let's go back to an alcohol. If alcohol dominates your life, it's because one day you turned to the bottle because there was a lie in your mind or a lie spoken to you that said, "This is helpful, this will get you through this tough time." And you bought the lie. And the bondage over time was ushered in by the lie. And the monkey of a single glass became a gorilla. And now it dominates your life.

And it was ushered in by a lie. So if you want to overcome bondage, you have to start by speaking truth where there have been lies. You have to remove the lies and replace it with the truth. You have to say to yourself, "The word of God tells me in Ephesians 5 that if I need to be stimulated, if I need something to help me get through my tough times in life, don't be drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit."

Bible says God says His Spirit will influence your life. The Spirit of God wants to be the influencing factor in your life. And so you replace the lie with the truth and say, "No, God has a way to get me through and I don't have to rely on this." And you replace Satan's lies with God's truth. Proverbs 23:23 says, "Buy the truth and sell it not." Don't sell the truth.

And let me tell you something, truth is at a premium these days. If you buy it, you're going to have to pay full price for it. You won't find truth in a bargain basement sale. There's no once-a-year clearance on truth. Truth is at a premium. You know why? Because it's a rare commodity. And anything that's rare, you have to pay a big price for it.

And truth now has been thrown out. That's why our society's in the mess it's in. That's why this country is in the mess it's in, because truth has been thrown out. That's why we can hardly pick a president, because truth has been thrown out. And so if you're going to walk in truth, you're going to have to pay a full price. Sometimes that price means you're going to have to be unpopular, because when you walk in truth, it'll make you mighty unpopular with people who have bought a bunch of lies.

I'm preaching good, you just don't know it. If you want to be set free, if you want to overcome bondage, you have to replace Satan's lies with God's truth. Buy the truth and sell it not. Hold on to truth because your freedom is tied to the truth. And then if you want to overcome bondage, not only must you replace Satan's lies with God's truth, but secondly, you must release those who have wronged you.

Uh-oh. We don't like this part, but it's still truth. Jesus, when He taught us how to pray in Matthew 6, we call it the Lord's Prayer, but technically it's not the Lord's Prayer. It's the prayer He taught His disciples to pray. So it's the disciple's prayer. And He gave us a prayer agenda. Taught us how to pray in terms of giving us a prayer agenda. What did He do? He said, "When you go to pray, first spend some time in worship, magnifying the name of your Father."

"Hallowed be Thy name." He taught us to praise God around His name, around who He is. Then He taught us to intercede for the will of God to be done on earth. He said, "Pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The will of God's always done in heaven. He said, "You pray now and intercede that the will of God will be done on earth."

So when you see people who are lost, pray that they'll be saved because that's the will of God being done on earth. When you see injustice, pray for justice because that's the will of God being done on earth. And on and on. He taught us to intercede that the will of God is done in the lives of people on earth.

And then He taught us to pray that our needs are met. He said, "Pray, give us this day our daily bread. Pray that yours and the needs of others in the body of Christ will be met, that God will provide for you everything that you need." We don't have a problem with any of those agenda items. But then He gets down to the next one and He says, "Pray, forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven," past tense, "our debtors."

Don't let that one slip by because the key to overcoming bondage is tucked in there. Jesus said if you are praying and asking God to set you free from your debt of sin, to set you free from guilt of sin, if you are acknowledging that you've fallen short of the glory of God and you're expecting God's grace to cover that, He said, "Make sure that you have forgiven," past tense, "all who have wronged you."

Say, "Pastor, what in the world does that have to do with being free from bondage?" Simply this. You can't be set free by God as long as you have your personal jail in which you're holding everybody who's ever hurt your feelings. Everybody who's ever abused you. Everybody who's ever wronged you. Everybody who's ever offended you. Everybody who has ever made you upset.

You know that we have these little personal jails. And in our minds and in our hearts, we have locked up a bunch of folk. You've locked them up. You are upset with them and you don't mind them knowing it. You are holding them responsible for how they offended you, how they wronged you, how they abused you, how they messed over you, and you are proud of the fact that you have them in jail. Proud of the fact that you don't treat them like you treat everybody else because they're in jail and you're the warden and I don't have to be nice to a prisoner.

You ever seen folk, sometimes they show you that they have a personal jail. You stand there talking to them, having a wonderful time, a little time of fellowship. One person walk in the room, they look over and see them, and all of a sudden their whole countenance changes. You know why? Because they jumped from fellowship to being a warden. They just saw a prisoner walk in. Somebody I'm holding responsible for what they did in my life. I have them locked up in jail in my heart.

And Jesus said if you want to be released from your sin and bondage by your Father, you can't ask for release when you are holding people in unforgiveness. Do you know the word forgive from the Greek means to send away? The Greek means to send away. It means to send the offense away. You can't hold them responsible for what they did if you want to be released from what you did. You have to let them go free first, Jesus said, when He taught you how to pray. Make sure all of your jail cells, the doors wide open. You've let everybody out. Then you go to the Father, say, "See, nobody's in jail. Now can you help me out please?"

We don't understand how powerful a principle this is. We want to reserve the right to hate our enemies. We want to reserve the right to punish people for what they did to us. And you need to understand Jesus simply doesn't give you that right. Now some folk say, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait, wait. See, I have a problem with that. So you mean to tell me that I'm supposed to just let people go free? That tells them it's okay to abuse me. That tells them I'm a doormat. They can walk." No, no, you don't understand.

No one who has ever offended a child of God goes free. The Bible says vengeance is Mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Let me tell you something, somebody who's abused you and messed over you, they might look like they're getting by, but they're not getting away. For the day is coming when they're going to stand before the Lord. The Bible says it's appointed once to every man to die, Hebrews 9:27, and after that the judgment.

And the Bible says about that, that in judgment, every sin and every secret thing is going to be brought to light. Don't you fool yourself if someone has offended you as a child of God, they won't get by. It's going to run into God. God is a parent who says, "Don't mess with My kids," and He means it.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory. Remember any of our recent messages, including the one you heard today, are available on demand at our website, pastorpaul.net. While you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources to help you grow in your Christian faith, including books and DVD messages from Pastor Paul Sheppard. That's pastorpaul.net.

And if you haven't already downloaded our free mobile app, now's a great time to do it. Search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to these messages wherever you go. That's the Destined for Victory mobile app. Download it today, absolutely free. Well, when it comes to faith in Christ, you were immediately made right with God. And it's because of this new relationship that believers have access to peace, joy, hope, even during life's most difficult seasons.

To learn more about the access to blessings you have in Christ, I hope you'll contact us today and request your copy of our latest booklet, Access Granted. That's Access Granted, a great resource based on Romans chapter five, and our gift to you today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: Jesus said, "If you want to be released from your sin and bondage by your Father, you can't ask for release when you are holding people in unforgiveness. You can't hold them responsible for what they did if you want to be released from what you did. You have to let them go free first," Jesus said, when He taught you how to pray.

Guest (Male): And that's tomorrow in our continuing message, When Jesus Comes. Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.