Destined for Victory

Guest (Male): Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Glad you're with us. Pastor Paul's message, "When Jesus Comes," comes your way next in just a moment. But first, if you are a faithful listener to this program, you know that recently we shared with you the news about an unexpected financial need. So before we get started today, our executive director, Alicia Greer, would like to share an update and a word of thanks. 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 here 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 a victorious life for many years to come.

Should you choose to make a generous gift today, we have a great resource to send as our way of saying thanks: our latest booklet, Access Granted. Based on the first eight verses of Romans chapter 5, this great resource examines what it means to be justified by faith and the blessings we receive at the point of salvation. Again, that's Access Granted, and it's our gift to you today by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory.

So 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: Read your Bible! It'll tell you he who dies with the most toys is still dead! And after death, the judgment! And God's going to want to know, was your life fruitful? Not how much stuff did you have and where did you live and what did your portfolio look like? What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul?

Guest (Male): God wants you to be fruitful, which is not always the same thing as being productive. On today's Destined for Victory featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard, you'll be challenged to think about the things you're doing that really count in the kingdom of God, the good works that will echo into eternity. As you follow along, think about the areas where you may need to make some changes. The message is called "When Jesus Comes," and it starts right now.

Paul Sheppard: I want to bring to a conclusion this series entitled "When Jesus Comes." We have explored this passage to discover those things that Jesus not only came to do some 2000 years ago, but the things He continues to seek to do in the lives of His people even now. We've seen that Jesus comes to give us eternal life and comes to give us abundant life. We've seen that Jesus comes to give us hope, that He is a binder of broken hearts. He's a healer of the wounds that we experience as we go throughout our lives.

Then we've seen that Jesus comes to give us freedom, freedom from any and every bondage that would prevent us from doing God's will or enjoying our inheritance as God's children. Then we saw that Jesus comes to give us a future, for the passage speaks of the year of the Lord's favor. And that that was not only an every 50-year experience in the life of Israel according to the law, but it is a spiritual reality for us today, that God wants to give us not only hope but a future. And that it doesn't matter where you start when you come to God, He has a plan for your life and He's going to bring you into a good place.

Then we saw that Jesus comes to give us joy, that He came to replace our mourning with dancing, that He came to replace our mourning with gladness, and that He's come to give us instead of ashes a crown of beauty. We saw that Jesus wants to give us all a makeover, not physically, but He wants to give us a makeover of soul and spirit, to deal with those hurtful places in your life and to cause you to see that He's coming to your life to make something beautiful out of it. Jesus comes also to give us a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Now as we wrap it up, I want you to look at the latter portion of verse three, where we find these words: "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." And I want you to see that Jesus comes to give us fruitfulness. I want you to notice that added to the blessings and provisions we've already studied in this passage is the concept of fruitfulness.

Notice the language of the text and you'll see why I chose the word fruitfulness. The language of the text speaks of oaks, that is oak trees, and it speaks of a planting. So we're dealing with an agricultural concept which is very common in the pages of Scripture. God wants to make us fruitful. God is interested in causing each one of us to bear the right fruit in our living.

Now you've got to understand, and I've said it many times before, that there is a difference between productivity and fruitfulness. You can be productive but bear no fruit. That is to say fruit has to do with that which is organic. Fruit has to do with that which has life in it. But the reality is many of us spend our lives trying to be productive by the world's terms instead of seeking to be fruitful on God's terms.

Productivity simply has to do with the manufacturing of anything. If you create it and manufacture it, you have produced it. But how many of us know that there is not necessarily life because you have production? Many of us spend our time working on jobs that are producing things that have no life in them. Nothing wrong with it if it's honest work for an honest living; go on and work it. But understand that your life is to be involved not just in the production of things, but God has created you so that you can be fruitful.

God wants us to bear fruit. God wants us to make our lives count. I say it all the time. You have to understand something about me. As I go from series to series, passage to passage, exegeting the word of God, you will hear me constantly coming back to certain themes along the way. It's not because I have nothing new to say. It is because you need to hear some things over and over and over again. There is a method to my madness.

I want you to hear me preaching to you 10 years from now when you are about to make a fruitless decision. I want to have said it so much that you hear it in your head. That's the goal. I want you to get the word in you. You know, just like good parents used to do us. They said some things so often that you swore you never wanted to hear it again. You said you'd never say it to your children. But how many of us know some things are caught, not taught?

You catch them whether you want to or not. And how many of us as parents have had the experience of having said, "I'm never going to say that to my children because I'm sick of my mama always saying that to me." And then one day as a parent, you hear come out of your mouth the very thing that you said you would never say. Why? Because you caught it.

Well, I want you to catch this truth. I want you to understand that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses. The goal of life is not productivity. It's not the manufacturing of stuff or the acquisition of stuff. God's goal for your life is not for you to have as much as possible. Don't you buy into this stupid philosophy: "He who dies with the most toys wins."

Read your Bible. It'll tell you he who dies with the most toys is still dead! And after death, the judgment. And God's going to want to know was your life fruitful. Not how much stuff did you have and where did you live and what did your portfolio look like. What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul?

I've been preaching this way for a long time. I was preaching this way when you all were on the euphoric high of the Dow when it was pushing up, looked like it's about to hit 11,000, and folks were losing their minds with delirium and just happy and excited. "Oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful day. I have a wonderful feeling everything's going my way." But now that the coaster is heading down, I want to let you know that the same gospel I was telling it to you when you were on the high, now that you're sober, maybe you'll hear me.

A man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he possesses. Don't give your life to stuff, to the acquisition of things. You've got to give your life to that which develops godly fruit. He's come to make us fruitful. That's why you see agricultural terms in the Bible, because God's interested in making you fruitful. Fruit is organic. It has life in it. It has the ability to reproduce after its kind.

God wants you to be a person that other folks want to be like. God wants to make you an example of what godly living is really all about. Some of us were blessed to have godly parents and grandparents. They didn't have a lot of stuff necessarily. Even if they had things, you who were raised in wealth and had the trappings, if you were raised in godliness, you were taught not to pay much attention to that, to see it only as that which you can use as a good steward for the glory of God, for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Some of the most fruitful people I've ever known don't have two nickels to rub together. But God knows their life abounds with fruit. And God wants to make you a fruitful person.

Guest (Male): In case you joined us late, you're listening to Destined for Victory, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. 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. That's pastorpaul.net. Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, "When Jesus Comes."

Paul Sheppard: God's interested in who you are, not what you drive. If you have the trappings of success and you got it honestly, if God has blessed the work of your hands, don't feel bad about it. Use it for His glory. Enjoy what He's given you. I tell you all the time, I'm not against you having things. I'm against things having you. But you've got to understand God didn't send His Son so that you could get stuff. Contrary to the preaching of some, He sent His Son so that you could bear fruit.

Bear fruit. Jesus said, "I'm the vine. You're the branches. If you stay connected to me, your life will bear fruit." He said, "But without me, you can do nothing." Folks, I'm telling you, we've got to get God's priorities at work in our lives. And God says, "I have come to make you fruitful."

Now you've got to understand that fruit must be cultivated. See, when the Bible speaks in agricultural terms, it's giving you a principle. It's not just using an analogy. This is a principle of living. There are two common laws at work: the law of technology and the law of the harvest. I tell you, the law of technology is good for what it can produce. Law of technology is great for making things quicker and better and more efficient. And you know, all of us are in the same boat. Once you get used to technology, it spoils you. And it's great. It's a blessing in many ways.

But if you're not careful, the blessing will become a curse inasfar as you think all of life has to do with efficiency. And you've got to make sure to understand that efficiency is good, but effectiveness is better. Doing things right, doing things quickly, doing things efficiently is good, but doing the right things is essential. And God has called us to understand the law of the harvest, because it is designed to cause you to bear the right fruit. And you can't get fruit overnight.

Fruit has life in it. Therefore there has to be the time when it first takes on life. The seed falls into the ground, the Bible says, and dies. But don't worry about it. If you nurture it correctly, then life will spring forth from that seed. Now it takes it a while to go from seed to maturity. That doesn't happen overnight. You ladies who went into a doctor's office one day and he told you you are pregnant, you're going to bear a child, it means that seed and egg came together and life was produced. But he doesn't say, "Now come back tomorrow afternoon so we can deliver this child."

He's simply telling you that there is a journey of life that has begun, but it has to be cultivated and developed over time. And eventually that which has been done in secret will be seen openly. See, when you start out, you have to tell folks you're pregnant. "Oh child, we're going to have a baby." You have to tell people. I remember when I got in front of the church in Philadelphia on a Tuesday night to let the church know Meredith and I are pregnant. That's just what I told them. Meredith and I are pregnant. Yeah, I was going to take credit for half of that. Devil is a liar if you thought she was going to get all that credit. I did that.

Said we're pregnant. Now we had to start out telling people she was pregnant. But in a matter of time, people told her. You see what I mean? Because that which is done in secret, when you're dealing with the law of the harvest, eventually comes to be seen by any and everyone. Now roll that into your life and you'll get the principle. There's some godliness God wants to cultivate in you, and it starts very much in secret.

It starts in the secret of your heart. It starts in a place of surrender. It starts in a place of obedience. It starts in a place of saying, "God, not my will but Thine be done." It starts in a place where you make those tough decisions to line your life up with the will of God. And when you first start following Jesus, you're not spiritually mature. You're not bearing much fruit. But when you make the right decisions, it's only a matter of time until anybody can see the fruit.

Whatever's cultivated in secret eventually is seen by any and everyone. That's a principle of the law of the harvest. Farmers don't sow the seed one day and then get down on the ground to see if they see anything tomorrow. They're not looking to see anything yet. They're interested in making sure the ground is properly tilled. They're interested in making sure the temperature is right, that the moisture is at the proper level, that the heat is the way it ought to be. And all they've got to do is do the work of cultivation, but the seed is that which brings forth its own life.

Well, that's what God does in our lives. When He says, "I want to make you fruitful," you've got to be an active part of the process. It's a principle of Scripture. The Bible says whatever's done in secret's going to come out openly. Do you know why some folks are mean and nasty and cantankerous as old people? You know there are two kinds of old people: old people you love to be with. You know those types that you just love to be with them. They find the good things in life. They laugh, they smile, they still tell jokes. They're old.

I had grandparents like that. My maternal and paternal grandmothers were just known for having people falling out laughing. Just joyful, happy people. Just excited about life every day. Sure they had their trouble, had been through all kinds of stuff in their lifetime, but the fruit that had been developed over the years was still ripe when you saw them in their old age. They saw the good parts of life. They love younger people. They encourage them. They help them. They instructed you lovingly even when they rebuked you. It was with redemption because they wanted to see the best come out of your life.

Now there's another kind of old people who you just have to make me spend time with them. You have to make me do it. You have to force me to do it. You have to give me a very good reason why I have to. Because they're full of all the wrong stuff. They're mean, they're nasty, they're negative, they're cantankerous. They don't like people much anymore. They're sick of everybody. Don't like all the changes in life. Don't like how you're living your life. They're just unhappy. They just sit somewhere you almost want to say, "Where is the hearse? Where..."

I'm telling you how I feel. Some folks you think the best thing in life is just hurry, let's put them out their misery. Jesus, come get them. You know how sad when you sit around thinking the best things that could happen for some folk is that they go see the Lord? Because it looks like they've lost all the joy and the flavor of living on this side. They're just miserable and bent on making everybody else miserable. Why are there two types of old people? Because of what they cultivated when they were younger people. Do you know something? You're going to be one of those two types.

Now the question is, if you keep cultivating what's being cultivated in your life right now, which kind are you going to be? If you're criticizing folks now, you're going to be a criticizing wonder later on. If you're unhappy and always unsatisfied and never folk can't get things right for you now, you are going to be a terror to live with later on. If you're not showing yourself a friendly, loving person unconditionally and sacrificially now, you're going to be a lonely old person later on. Why? Because what's cultivated in secret eventually comes to light.

It's coming out. Whatever's there is coming out. Bible says be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. It's coming. It's happening. And you who are practicing sin in secret, you have to understand you can't do that with impunity. The Bible teaches that God's going to bring every secret thing to exposure. It's coming out. It's coming out. It's not a matter of the people. The law of the harvest has nothing to do with the people. It has to do with that which is sown is also reaped.

If you are sowing in sin and corruption, it's coming out. A lot of folks think it's about the folk. "All right, I'm by myself now. I can do this because the folk aren't around." That's not the issue. You are never alone. God is always with you. It has nothing to do with who sees you, who doesn't see you. It has to do with the fact that God is with you all the time. And His Word says whatever you do in secret is coming to light.

Ecclesiastes, the wise man, as he wrote that book, when he ended it in chapter 12, he ends it with these words: "Here's the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments," whether folk are around or not. Why? Because God will bring everything into judgment with every secret thing. On the day of judgment, all your stuff is coming out. The stuff we knew about and the stuff we didn't. It's coming out.

God says, "I'm bringing it to light." See, God is merciful. God is loving. God is kind. But God has told us in His Word there is a day of reckoning. And we're living in the period of grace. Don't you take grace for license. Grace is not license. Grace means God's going to help you. God's going to be long-suffering while you trying to get your act together. Isn't that good news? Because if it was all God's holy and God's just and the accounts due right now, we're in trouble. But the Holy Spirit comes into our life to sit as a refiner's fire. And He comes to do a work that is a progressive work of cleansing and making us the people God wants us to be. So in the meantime, don't take this as a time of license. It's a time of learning to submit to the will of God.

Guest (Male): In 2 Corinthians chapter 3, the apostle Paul tells us that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It won't happen overnight, but little by little, day by day, you'll become more like Jesus as you walk with Him in faith. Thanks so much for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory message, "When Jesus Comes." 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. Again, pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: The Bible says there's only one way to God. God so loved you that He sent His Son to be the only redemption. Without Jesus you're lost, I don't care what you glean. You get through gleaming without Jesus, you're sunk. There's no need of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Guest (Male): That's tomorrow on 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.