Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: Some of you, God's hand is on you. He's calling you to do something that you think is impossible right now. And instead of talking to Him about what you see as the impossibility, you're consulting with flesh and blood, with people who you think know, and you're trying to figure out if you can do it. And God says you have failed an exam. Because when I speak, there's no one who can second-guess me.

Narrator (Male): "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." That's Jeremiah 29:11, and this is Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. You know, God gave Abraham several tests during his lifetime. Some of them seemed impossible; at least one of them was unthinkable. But God had a plan for Abraham, and as you'll see today, He has one for you as well.

Before we start, let me remind you to stop by pastorpaul.net when you get a chance. That's where you can hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today's. Pastorpaul.net. Now let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, Dying to Pass Your Test.

Paul Sheppard: In Romans 4, Paul said we serve a God who speaks those things that be not as though they were. God is so much God until He'll talk about something that hasn't happened yet as though it's old news. When you walk with God, you have to learn to develop His language. When God says it is so, you have to get in line and say it is so. We don't know some of the particulars, but it's not up for grabs. God will give us His provisions and He'll give us His knowledge and wisdom as we begin to move in the direction that He's called us to go in.

They failed the exam. 13 years later, God speaks up. And God says, "If you're ready, I want you to take the makeup." Now, the makeup is harder, because when I first talked to you, Abraham, you were 86. Now you're 99 and you still have to believe me for the same thing. Sarah skirted the issue before, but now she's 89. And I've destined her to be the mother of this child. So you at 99 and your wife at 89 have to believe me for a greater miracle now than you would have had to believe me for in the first place.

I love the fact that apparently they said, "Well, you know what? We better believe Him this time." Because you know something about God? God's in no hurry. Had they failed this one, I'm sure that God would have given them another period of time and they'd have been 113 or 114. You're not going to outlast God's will. You're not going to say, "Well, give it a little time and maybe God will leave us alone." He has ordained His will in eternity past, and He is going to bring it to pass. The only question is how many changes are you going to have to go through before it happens?

So they said, "We better believe this time," which is what they should have done years ago. So now here they are, 99 and 89, and Abraham's like, "All right, well let's believe God." In the evening time, he says, "All right, baby, you ready to turn in?" He's got to believe God. They've got to do their part. It's going to be a miracle, but they have to believe God for the miracle. So there he was at 99. "Baby, what do you say? You ready to turn in?"

Sarah said, "If you come in here and help me with these dishes, then we can go early." That's not in the text, by the way. But it helps make my point. They had to get in cooperation, in sync with what God wanted to do. The same thing happens in your life and mine, because there are some blessings that are on the other side of a test of our faith.

So here is one exam that he took. He passed an early exam: pick up and leave your country. He failed an intermediate exam. And now he's taking the makeup, and thank God they passed it this time. When Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah's 90, God gives them a son, the son of promise.

Then the story picks up, and by the time you get over toward Genesis 21, you find that they cast out Hagar and Ishmael. Hagar made a couple of mistakes. First of all, when she first got pregnant years ago, she started treating Sarah a little funny. Very unwise. Sarah sleeps with your boss. Very unwise. She's the woman of the house. Don't fool yourself. They made you a wife, but it's her house.

She started getting a little funny because she was pregnant and Sarah was not. So Sarah just mistreated her. Ultimately, she tried to run away. An angel said, "No, go back and submit. It's your fault this happened." Hagar submitted.

Well, what happened is after the child Isaac was weaned, Ishmael, who at this time is 14 years old, mocked the child. During the time that they were celebrating the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael's over there mocking. Sarah saw that, and this woman is 90 and has a baby. You know she was a mother and grandmother all wrapped up in one.

There's no way she was putting up with that. I mean, you know how Sarah treated that child, how protective she was. You have your first child at 90, your friends do good to see the baby, let alone hold it. "Oh, Sarah, can I see?" "No, you'll give him germs." You know how protective she had to be of that child. And then some boy that did not come through her loins, the child of her rival, is going to mock the child. She wasn't having that.

In Genesis 21, she saw that. She went to Abraham and said, "Put him out." Abraham said, "But baby, that's my son. And his mother is your handmaiden." Sarah said, "Put him out and put her out with him." Abraham had to cast them out of his house. He had to disown the child, Ishmael. But they do have the son of promise.

That brings us to Genesis 22 and another test. Genesis 22 says sometime later God tested Abraham. When it says sometime later, it's very significant. Another series of years has passed. So much so that Isaac is now, in all probability... we're not given his exact age, but in all probability, Isaac at this point is a teenager. Isaac is not some little baby when you get to Genesis 22.

The Bible says God tested Abraham. What does it mean when it says God tested Abraham? If you have King James, King James says God tempted Abraham. It's an unfortunate rendering because you know in James 1, James makes it clear in his letter that God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt any of us with evil. Sometimes people see the word tempted in James 1 and see the word tempted in Genesis 22, and they say it must be a contradiction. How could James say God doesn't tempt people and Genesis 22 says God tempted Abraham?

The answer is the word temptation there is an unfortunate translation because it doesn't mean God enticed Abraham to do evil. Temptation, as spoken of in James 1, means enticement to do wrong. Whenever you're enticed to do wrong, know this: God didn't do it. God is trying to bring His will to pass in our lives. He's not trying to get you to fail; He wants you to pass every exam. He doesn't tempt you to do wrong. He doesn't tempt you toward evil. God is always leading us in the light. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, the Bible says.

There's another fellow whose job it is to entice you to do wrong. Here in Genesis 22, when it says God tempted Abraham in King James, the NIV and others have the better rendering: God tested him. It was not a temptation, an enticement toward evil; it was a test of his faith and obedience.

He now has a son, and he's no doubt enjoyed watching this boy grow up. He's just loving it. He only has one child because Ishmael's been cast out. He only has one child now and he's loving watching him grow up. Just like God will do in your life and mine, God waited until life was getting good. The boy's growing up, Abraham's enjoying watching his son, and just when things get good, God springs the test.

He says, "I want you to take your son." Look at what it says here in Genesis 22: "I want you to take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Imagine the severity of that test. It took you until you were 100 years old before you got the boy here. Now, just when you're enjoying him, God says, "I want you to take him to a mountain and offer him as a sacrifice." But Abraham passed the test.

Look at verse 3. Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. I'm always amused by the fact that it says nothing about Sarah. He just got up early in the morning, got them all together, and got out of town. That last time he consulted Sarah and they put their heads together, they came to the wrong conclusion. Sarah obviously exerted a lot of influence in Abraham's life and in his thinking, and he couldn't afford to give her a chance to weigh in on this, especially this.

Imagine what she would have said if Abraham would have gone to her and said, "Baby, God spoke to me again." "Oh, what'd He say this time?" "Well, He told me to take Isaac up on the mountain and kill him and offer him as a burnt sacrifice." Sarah would still be talking to Abraham about how crazy he was. "Abraham, what is the matter with you? If you think you're taking my baby..." So he just got out of town, got his servants together, saddled up the donkey, and said, "Let's go. Come on, y'all, let's go."

Narrator (Male): And the Bible says he cut enough wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God told him about. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Don't go away. We have more of today's Destined for Victory message, Dying to Pass Your Test, coming up next. We want to thank all of you who support Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that are especially appreciated right now in this season where we often see giving to the ministry decline.

To join us in our mission to preach timeless truth for a victorious life, please prayerfully consider making a safe and secure donation today at our website, pastorpaul.net. Or give us a call at 855-339-5500. 855-339-5500. There are many parallels between the story of Abraham and Isaac and the crucifixion of Christ. All of them will bless you; some may even surprise you. Now here's the rest of Pastor Paul's message, Dying to Pass Your Test.

Paul Sheppard: There are several parallels in this passage between what God did here in testing Abraham and the foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus. Let me just show them to you. It's just one of those neat things God put in the scripture where He gave us a precursor, a glimpse of some things He would do centuries later as He would bring this covenant to pass through the death of Jesus Christ.

Look at the parallels. Number one, Abraham had to give up his only son. You have a father giving up his only son. That's mentioned there. God said, "Take your only son." You know that that's what God did when He got ready to save you and save me. He wanted to show you how much He loved you by giving up His only son. There's the first parallel: the sacrifice of the only son.

Secondly, it was to take place on a mountain. Jesus didn't die just anywhere, but they took Him outside of the city and took Him up on a hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull. It was a hill where everyone could look up from the city and see the crucifixion taking place. The second parallel is that he was to be sacrificed on a mountain.

Third, it says that on the third day he looked up. You know the glory of third-day events. There's a whole lot of third-day action in scripture. This boy was to be sacrificed on the third day, but when Jesus came, He was going to be raised on the third day.

Now look at another one. It says that after they did that, verse 6, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. The wood for the offering is placed on the one who is to be offered. You know what that parallel is. When Jesus was on His way to Calvary, they took the cross and made Him carry His own cross to the place where He would be sacrificed. That's a wonderful illustration of how God foreshadowed the death of His Son.

There's one more here that I love. It says as they went, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son," Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Do you see the parallel there? Isaac not only carried the wood for the sacrifice, but when he looked around and said, "Father, we've got everything but there's no lamb," the Bible says Abraham had to bind his son and place him on the altar.

I submit to you that Isaac trusted his father enough to allow himself to be bound. Consider the circumstances. The servants are not there. It's not like they could have ganged up on Isaac and bound him against his will. The servants were left at camp. Only the father and the son are going to the place of the sacrifice.

Consider this: this boy's a teenager. He's just coming into his prime. Abraham, on the other hand, is about 114, 115, 118... he's somewhere in there. He did good to get up the mountain. It could have very well been that by the time they got to the place Abraham said, "All right, just give me a minute now."

He cannot bind this boy unless this boy submits to his father. Do you see the parallel? Jesus looked at those who were ready to crucify Him and said, "You're not taking my life; I'm laying it down. I love the people so much that I'm willfully giving up myself as a sacrifice." Isaac gave himself, put himself in the hands of his father, allowed Abraham to bind him and lay him on the altar. At that point, the Bible says that Abraham raised a knife with clear intention to slay his son.

Paul gives us excellent commentary in the New Testament as to what happened that day. Paul says the reason why Abraham was ready to slay his son is because he understood that God had promised to make a nation out of Isaac. He knew even if this test calls for me to kill my son, it's because God's going to raise him back up.

In other words, he knew not to put his question in front of obedience. That's what caused him to pass the test. Rather than say, "God, how are You going to make a nation out of a dead boy?" he said, "I'm just going to do what God said and leave the results to Him." When he raised his knife with intention to kill his son, then God spoke out of heaven and said, "Don't do that. I have another sacrifice." He looked over in the bush and there was a ram caught in the thicket. He said, "That's your sacrifice."

He said, "But Abraham, I want to tell you, now that you have proven that you will not even withhold your son from me," He said, "I've got all kinds of blessings that I want to bring into your life and I'm going to bless the world through you because of your obedience this day." Let me tell you something, my friend. There are some exams God puts you through and puts me through. There are many blessings He wants to give us, but they're on the other side of obedience. We have to learn to take our "why" and not allow our "why" to prevent us from doing what God said.

Sometimes God speaks to our hearts about something and we say, "Lord, why?" We want to get it all figured out and straightened out before we decide whether we're going to obey God. But what you have to learn from Abraham's example is I've got to obey God and let Him lead and guide me through the entire process.

My friend, I'm here to let you know if you will do that, you're going to see God take your life, your ministry, your calling, your family, whatever it is He has ordained to bless, to some exciting places of blessing because of the obedience of His people. We must die in order that we might do His will.

What is God speaking to you about that seems difficult, that seems impossible? What are the things He's called you to do and you have unanswered questions and you really aren't sure that you're going to be able to pull it off? Let me suggest to you that it's an exam you've got to pass. You pass God's exams by doing exactly what He told you to do.

You have unanswered questions, but you say, "Lord, I don't understand how You're going to do this." God doesn't mind you asking questions. Read Luke 1. When Mary got the word from Gabriel that she was going to bear in her body the Son of the living God, she said, "Okay, Lord, how is this going to be?" It wasn't a question of unbelief; she was just trying to get her facts straight. "Here I am a virgin, I'm unmarried, and You say I'm going to have a child who will be Your Son. Okay, Lord, but how is this going to happen?"

It was a question not born of unbelief; it was a question of ignorance. She just wanted some information. Because it had no unbelief in it, God gave her more information. He said, "The Holy Spirit's going to come upon you and overshadow you, and God is going to produce it inside of your body." She said, "Be it unto me according to Your word."

That's all right when you say, "Okay, Lord, I'm willing to do it. I just need You to lead me and guide me through the process." He's more than happy to do that. But we must learn that we cannot afford to fail the test of faith because there's always a makeup afterwards and the makeup is harder. We must die in order to pass our test. If we will pass our test, we will see that God has some blessings for us on the other side of obedience.

Narrator (Male): Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, Dying to Pass Your Test. Our mission at Destined for Victory is to point people to the love of God and to the good news of His salvation. To do that, we need your help, especially during the busy summer months when donations tend to take a dip. With that in mind, Meredith Sheppard has a few words she'd like to share with you during this critical season in the life of the ministry. Meredith?

Meredith Sheppard: Hi, this is Meredith Sheppard. Pastor Paul was my beloved husband. I want to take a moment to thank every person who has supported Destined for Victory through your prayers and financial gifts. Your generosity allows us to continue bringing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to listeners near and far. Many are encouraged, strengthened, and reminded of God's faithfulness because you chose to invest in this work.

We often hear from listeners who tell us that they heard Pastor Paul's message at just the right moment—a word of hope during a difficult season, a reminder of God's love when they felt alone, or a message that helped deepen their walk with Christ. Those moments are made possible through your partnership.

As we look ahead, especially during these summer months, we invite you to continue standing with us. The need for the Gospel has never diminished, and every gift, large or small, helps keep these broadcasts on the air and extends our reach to those who are searching for hope and truth.

If this ministry has been a blessing to you, or if you believe in the importance of sharing God's word through Destined for Victory, I would be honored by your continued support. Simply visit our donate page at pastorpaul.net/donate. Together we can continue proclaiming the good news and touching lives for the glory of God. Thank you for your faithfulness, your generosity, and your commitment to advancing God's kingdom. I thank God for you and pray His richest blessings upon you and your family.

Narrator (Male): When you give generously today, we have a special gift to share with you as our way of saying thank you. It's our latest booklet, More Than Conquerors. The Christian life is a victorious life, and it doesn't happen by accident. 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 the 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 want to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource today: More Than Conquerors.

You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. Or by visiting pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. Or by mailing your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.

Paul Sheppard: I want you to understand that when I say God's called us to live in victory, it means that whatever would oppose the will of God in your life, whatever would prevent you from doing what God has called you to do and being who God has called you to be, that is an enemy that you should enjoy victory over.

Narrator (Male): That's next time in our continuing message, Dying to Enjoy Victory. But until then, remember: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.