Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: You are not going to be set free from the bondages in your life until you decide that you are going to be a follower of Christ as a matter of lifestyle. Because even if he were to set you free, if you don't follow the Lord, you're going to go right back into the bondage.

Guest (Male): The power of sin is a lot like the power of gravity. Let's learn how we can defy it. Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Like a moth drawn into the light or a nail pulled toward a magnetic field, so sin has a way of pulling us with a powerful, almost irresistible force.

The keyword is almost. And coming up next, you'll discover the keys to resisting even the strongest temptations that come your way. Now remember, you're always invited to visit our website, PastorPaul.net, where you can listen to any recent message on demand including today's. That's PastorPaul.net. Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, "When Jesus Comes".

Paul Sheppard: The 61st chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, verses one through three. "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 heal 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."

Our subject is "When Jesus Comes". We've established that this passage speaks not only of the things Jesus came to do nearly 2,000 years ago, but the things that he comes into our lives to do today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And therefore, we can look at this passage to discover not only what he has done historically, but what he comes into each of our lives and seeks to do here and now.

We've seen that he comes first to give us life. And this is mentioned here in the text when it says the Lord was anointed to preach good news to the poor. The good news is that you can have life because of what Christ did for you on Calvary. You can have eternal and abundant life. Then we've seen that Jesus comes to give us hope, as the passage tells us that he was sent to bind up the brokenhearted.

Jesus comes to give hope because there are times in all of our lives when we are hurting because life has not treated us well, people have not treated us well, Satan of course never treats us well. So you end up bruised and wounded and going through a lot of trouble and difficulty at times in your life. But don't worry about it. When you have Christ, you also have hope. Hopeless is not in God's dictionary, and so you have hope when you're in Christ.

Currently, we're looking at a third point which tells us that Jesus comes to give us freedom. Freedom from every bondage that prevents us from doing the will of God and enjoying our inheritance as the children of God. In other words, if there is anything in your life that is whether it's a habit or whether it is an attitude, pattern of behavior that prevents you from doing the will of God, that runs contrary to the way God wants you to live your life and it prevents you from enjoying your inheritance as a child of God, Jesus came not only to save you but to set you free from such bondages.

Jesus didn't save you to bind you, but he saved you to free you. You and I have the right to be free from anything that hinders us from doing the will of God. We talked about the fact that you've got to know your authority and power in Christ. And I gave the analogy of a police officer, if you recall, who goes out with two things: with authority and with power.

The officer has authority in that the police force gives them a badge. And that badge means that even if the officer is much smaller than you—in fact, when I gave the analogy, I didn't understand what I've since come to understand as a result of one of the civil servants in our church. When I gave the analogy, I said you can be as small as the force will allow you in terms of meeting height and weight requirements.

But one of our civil servants sent me word this week to say tell the pastor that there is no such requirement because that would be discrimination. And so the police forces have to take you no matter what size you are as long as you can get through the academy. So that helps make my point even better. So I appreciate getting that information. Always send me little helpful pieces of advice like that because that'll help me to strengthen my points.

So that means you could be 80 pounds soaking wet. And as long as you get through the academy, you can go out being an officer and represent whatever force it is. Now they'll give you a badge. Now you can pull over the guy who is 290, 6'6", and all 290 of muscle. And here you are, 80 pounds soaking wet. But you made it through the academy by the grace of God.

When you pull him over and ask for his license and registration, he might not like the fact that you are puny giving him orders. But he's got to, if he has any sense, he will recognize you wear a badge. The badge means you are not pulling him over on a basis of who you are, but on the basis of who you represent. You have the legal right to ask for what you're asking for.

Now there are people who don't care about authority, that's why they're criminals. So you don't just send out a cop with just a badge. You send out a cop with the badge representing his authority, then you send them out with a holster full of power. And God sends us out with power and authority to be children of God. And part of that is to walk and to live in freedom from bondages that would prevent us from doing the will of God.

Now we said also that you've got to learn to treat your bondage as an enemy, not a friend. Because God won't deliver you from your friends, only from your enemies. So you've got to hate what God hates, despise what God despises. If God doesn't want it in your life, you have to say I don't want it in my life either, it's a hindrance and it's an enemy.

Now currently we're looking at keys to overcoming bondage. Before I get off of this point, I want to make sure you understand fully how to get free from these bondages. And there are some keys in the scripture to overcoming bondage. We've seen the first two already, let me review them briefly and then move on. The first key is to replace Satan's lies with God's truth. Replace Satan's lies with God's truth.

John 8:32 says you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. You've got to know the truth in order to get rid of the lie. Do you know how the bondage got into your life in the first place? It got there because of a lie. See if you're bound with alcohol, you got there because at some point in your life you bought a lie about alcohol. It could have been the lie that you need this in order to get through what you're going through.

I really need this, I can't deal with life being sober. I need this bottle. And you bought the lie and introduced the alcohol into your life. And the little cute monkey became a gorilla that now runs and rules your life. Or maybe you bought the lie that well this is in my family and if it's in your family line you can't do anything about it. That means you're going to be just like your daddy was and your grandmother and everybody else.

Listen, understand something, you can't help where you've been but through Christ you can help where you're going. The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he or she is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. It can stop with you. I don't care what's in your family history that is ungodly and prevents you from doing the will of God, but you can stop it right where it is in the name of Jesus and it doesn't have to go on any further because you are a child of God.

But you've got to know the truth because the truth is what sets you free. And so if there's a bondage of any type in your life, you've got to find the lies that you bought into. The things that are contrary to the teaching of the word and you've got to replace those with the truth. The lie is I need this in my life but the truth is God's word says all I need is Christ and his power and to be surrounded by the body of Christ and I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

The lie is you can't shake it don't even try, better people than you have tried to shake it before, you can't get rid of it. But the truth is in Jesus' name you can do all things. And so you've got to replace Satan's lies with God's truth. Proverbs 23:23 says buy the truth and sell it not. Make sure that you make a quality decision to buy the truth of God's word and to recognize it as the power of God to get you free from your bondage.

Then the second point is to release those who have wronged you. We spent some time in the last message talking about the fact that if you want God to set you free, you've got to set free all the prisoners you have in your mind. The people that you've been holding in unforgiveness. The people that because they wronged you, they offended you, they abused you, you have a little prison in your heart, in your mind, and you're the warden and you are keeping those folk, you're holding them responsible for what they did to you.

And if you want God to set you free, you've got to first set your prisoners free. Jesus taught us in what we call the Lord's Prayer, he taught us to pray forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In other words, it links your forgiveness from God to your willingness to free other people from your own debt.

Guest (Male): Coming up next, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard, so stay with us. To hear any of our recent messages on demand, visit PastorPaul.net. That's PastorPaul.net. You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This program exists only because of you, our listening friends and partners. And we want you to know that you're impacting the world for Jesus Christ. As God leads, please consider making a generous gift to Destined for Victory today. Donate by calling 855-339-5500 or give safely and securely online at our website, PastorPaul.net. That's PastorPaul.net.

Jesus taught us that his truth can set us free not only from the power of death, but from the power of sin. Stay with us now as we bring you the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, "When Jesus Comes".

Paul Sheppard: And so we took time and talked about why that's important and how when you set your prisoners free, you actually set yourself free. See, some folk say well I can't forgive them because they destroyed 15 years of my life. What you don't understand is until you forgive them, they're going to destroy the next 15. Because if you hold somebody in unforgiveness, you have to stay right in that point of time. It freezes time in your life. Have you ever noticed what unforgiveness does to you?

And then the sad thing is the people that you're holding in unforgiveness, they're not even paying you any mind. There you are ruining your life over them. Have you ever dealt with these folk they hold somebody in unforgiveness and you know they're still stuck back at the point of offense? Every time you bring up the person's name that they're holding in unforgiveness, they go into warden mode.

They can tell you every detail, every offense, they can read the list of offenses, they can tell you what they did, what they were wearing when they did it, how sick of them they are, and just on and on and on. Have you ever looked at the person they're talking about? You don't see that same pain in their life, they've gone on about their business. You are making a fool of yourself when you're holding somebody in unforgiveness who isn't paying you any mind.

Do yourself a favor, obey the word of God, set the captive free. We said that you release them into the Lord's hands. They're not getting by with what they did to you. Vengeance is mine, I will repay the Lord says. If they don't repent, they're going to meet it in judgment. So you release them into the Lord's hand and he then has a clean shot at them because God loves your enemies and he really would rather save them and cause them to repent than to punish them.

And see, that's the problem, you wanting to get them. God, get them! In Jesus' name. You want just kind of spiritualize it. Spiritualize your hatred and your desire for vengeance. No, it doesn't work that way. You have to say Lord, help me to forgive them and to release them into your hands. And then God can deal with them accordingly.

But you've got to release those who have wronged you. And we I don't have time to go into it but we went into Matthew 18 and looked at the parable of the unforgiving servant who was forgiven $20 million. And then he went out cruising the streets looking for somebody who owed him 20 bucks. And that's the way you are when you hold somebody in unforgiveness. God has forgiven you a lifetime of sin, and how dare you want to go collar somebody over a little 20-buck offense.

You got to learn to release them into the Lord's hand so that you can get on with your life, the healing can get on in your life and God can do wonderful things including set you free from your bondage. So you got to release those who have wronged you. Now, let's move on to a third, fourth, and fifth point in how to overcome bondage.

The third point is not only to replace Satan's lies with God's truth, which is number one, and release those who have wronged you, which is number two, but number three is resolve to live in obedience to the word. You got to resolve to live in obedience to God's word. Now, it's very interesting, in John 8:32 we often talk about you'll know the truth and the truth will make you free, but it is important to look at the verse before.

Verse 31 is just as important as verse 32. Turn to John chapter eight and look with me at verse 31. It says this, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." Then it says, "And you'll know the truth and the truth'll make you free." But you got to get that first point which is if you hold to my teaching, you're proving that you're really a follower.

The Bible doesn't describe disciples as people who have merely prayed the sinner's prayer. The Bible describes disciples as people who after being born again, begin to walk following Jesus as they go. People who begin to develop a lifestyle that is Christian, a lifestyle that is following Christ. In other words, the fact that you came to an altar one day or got on your knees or wherever you prayed and asked Jesus into your life, that doesn't make you a disciple in biblical terms.

It means that you were born. But discipleship has to do with the process of growth after birth. See, and so the Bible here, Jesus is saying, you can prove to me that you're really my disciples by following me, by obeying my word, by taking seriously what I have taught you to do. And to begin to incorporate it into your lifestyle.

Let me tell you something, my brother, my sister, you are not going to be set free from the bondages in your life until you decide that you are going to be a follower of Christ as a matter of lifestyle. Because even if he were to set you free, if you don't follow the Lord, you're going to go right back into the bondage. And so the word of God says you've got to obey God in order to experience freedom and to be able to maintain freedom.

The word of God tells us how to live and what God wants us to do and that's going to be the key to your freedom. Let me give you an example. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, you'll find these words. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted above that which you can stand, but will with every temptation create a way of escape that you may be able to bear it."

Now the Bible teaches you then that temptation is not something God wants you to succumb to. And so it teaches us to flee. There are scriptures where Paul was talking to his son in the faith Timothy. And he says Timothy, flee ungodliness. You got to run from it. See, a lot of folk think the only display of strength is to stand fast. That's one version of strength, but when it comes to temptation, the version of strength you apply there is the strength to run.

Anybody familiar with that kind? The strength to get in the wind and to get out of temptation's neighborhood. You want to get away from the gravitational pull of temptation. And so the Bible teaches you how to do that. Stay away from it. You can't get close to it. You can't play with it. When you have a bondage that has been in your life for a long time and has become very comfortable, when you ask the Lord to set you free, you've got to also be making the decision God, and when you do it, I'm not going to play with this anymore.

I'm going to get out of its grip, I'm going to get away from it so that it can't do to me what it has done. So if you're trying to seek the Lord's help to get out of an illicit relationship, but your heart is all wrapped up in a relationship that doesn't glorify God, God will break you out of it. God'll give you the power to get out and to say no and to stay out, but you've got to then make the decision not to live in temptation's neighborhood.

Let me give you an example. You remember Joseph in the Old Testament? That young man in Genesis chapter 39, you see him down in Egypt. He's been taken there as a captive, he's a slave now in the household of a man named Potiphar. But the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered even though a slave, he prospered and God blessed him so that Potiphar put him in charge of all the other servants in the house and he became Potiphar's personal valet.

Now the Bible tells us in Genesis 39 that Sister Potiphar put her eyes on Joseph. He's a handsome young man from another country, looking good around there, all successful, you know the stuff that really gets you sisters. You know, handsome man, successful, good at what he's doing, a man of integrity, young man and all that. And Sister Potiphar around there looking at him and she said the Lord is my shepherd, I see what I want.

And so she set her eyes on him to have him. And the Bible says that she approached him one day and said Joseph, come to bed with me. Now you got to understand something, you cannot tell me that Sister Potiphar wasn't fine. Sister Potiphar had it going on. Now Potiphar was one of the top men in Pharaoh's cabinet and it was true in that day just like it's true in this day, that whole thing of trophy wives and a lot of powerful men love to have just that really sharp looking woman on their arm to take to all the Pharaoh's, you know, special dinners and what have you.

And so Sister Pot had it going on. But Joseph understood that he is in bondage. He's in bondage as a slave. He wants to get free from this, he wants to experience God's will for his life. He knows God has better things for him than this. So he can't afford to be distracted by the devil's side show.

God's got plans for your life and you can't afford to put yourself in a position where the devil keeps running these little side shows by you that preoccupy your mind and prevent you from knowing and doing the will of God.

Guest (Male): Are you in bondage to sin today? Are you facing a temptation that seems impossible to overcome? Meditate on God's holy inspired word and remember this truth from 1 Corinthians 10:13, the Lord will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will always provide a way of escape.

Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, "When Jesus Comes". But before we say so long, our executive director Alicia Greer wants to express her gratitude to you, our listening friends and partners. So Alicia?

Alicia Greer: Thank you so much to everyone who responded to our appeal. We are so grateful for your support. We're not all the way out of the woods yet, but I can say that your support has helped and we're so grateful for all of you who are continuing to support the ministry.

You know, my dad often quoted Philippians 1:6 that talks about God being faithful to complete the work that he has begun in us. And I just know that God is faithful to complete the work that he began in Destined for Victory. That work did not end when my father passed. And I have every hope and confidence that God is going to see the work through. And so we're excited to continue to move forward and we're so grateful for your support.

Guest (Male): Yes, all of us at Destined for Victory are so thankful to all of you who listen to these messages and who so generously support our media ministry with your prayers and gifts. And as you heard Alicia say just now, with your help, our plan is to continue bringing timeless truth for victorious life for many years to come.

When you make a generous gift today, we have a great resource to send you as our way of saying thanks, our latest booklet, Access Granted. Based on the first eight verses of Romans chapter five, this great resource examines what it means to be justified by faith, the blessings we receive at the point of salvation.

Again that's Access Granted, our gift to you today by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. If you'd like 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: Listen, I wish somebody would make up in your mind today you're going to resolve to live in obedience to the word, no matter what price you have to pay. The word says don't play with sin. Don't hang out, don't preoccupy yourself.

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