Destined for Victory

Guest (Male): Hello, and thanks for dropping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepherd. Before we get to today's message, we'd like to share a quick word about our mission and purpose. For well over a decade now, we've been committed to using the media to share the gospel all over the world and to using Pastor Paul's voice to do it. In fact, I wanted to ask him to talk about the importance of Destined for Victory's media ministry and why he felt so compelled to use his voice to lead people to faith in Christ.

Here's the conversation.

Paul Sheppard: Well, I want to tell you that it's important to me as a discipler that my voice is heard and it is used to help people grow in their knowledge of the Lord and in their faith walk with him. Fact of the matter is my voice doesn't sound like most of the other folks you hear on Christian radio. I'm well aware of that and I'm really comfortable with that. I come from my own unique background both ethnically and in terms of life experience. There are things I share, there are things I say, and there are the ways that I say them that are unique.

I believe that that perspective needs to be heard throughout Christendom. And so while I'm so grateful for all of my heroes, your heroes are mine. I listen to the same people, the guys who have been on the radio for decades and have proclaimed God's word faithfully. I really do appreciate those guys, but I've learned not to be intimidated by them cuz I've got my own way of processing, an own way of sharing and helping people to learn and to grow in their faith. So, it's quite intentional. Sometimes I like to be really colloquial in what I say and how I say it because I'm just using who I am and I think God wants to use that.

He's the one who called me. I didn't call myself. He called me and I believe he knows what he was getting when he called me into the ministry. And so I'm just trying to make a difference because the gospel really does change lives and I believe I have a unique calling to help present the gospel from my own perspective. And I pray that that's resonating with listeners and I pray that that means enough to them that they'll make sure my voice can continue to be heard right along with our other heroes who teach the gospel of Jesus.

Guest (Male): That was Pastor Paul's mission and it remains our mission today to bring timeless truth for a victorious life on radio, online, on our free mobile app, and on every available digital platform. And as you join us in that mission today with your generous gift, we'd like to send you a special gift in return, our latest booklet called Before Qualified. Based on the messages you're hearing right now in the life of Gideon, this outstanding resource takes a deep dive into the man whom God called a mighty warrior long before he was brave enough to go into battle.

Sometimes God calls people who are already qualified, but sometimes he qualifies the people after they've been called. Learn what that can look like in your life in our booklet called Before Qualified. Our thank you gift this month for your generous donation to the Destined for Victory media ministry. 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: And I'm here to tell somebody who's letting God down in their mind and in their heart and in their values and in their priorities, no wonder the enemy is is mopping the street up with you because you've got to lift up and exalt the name of the gods you serve.

Guest (Male): When Jesus taught us to pray, the first thing he told us to do was to exalt the name of our Father in heaven. On today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul, you'll discover that there is great power in lifting up the name of God or to be more exact, the names of God. He is our shield, our provider, our banner, our peace, and so much more. Let's find out how worshiping him for all that he is can unleash his power in our lives. Today's message is called Exalting His Name.

Paul Sheppard: They failed the test because they came up with this surrogate child trying to fulfill a divine promise. They came up with Ishmael, but that wasn't what God said. And so years later, when Abraham's pushing 100, he's 99 and Sarah is pushing 90. She's 89. God says, now if you all are ready, I'm going to give you the makeup cuz you failed the test before. When I make you a promise, the promise is going to be fulfilled on the basis of my power, not your ability to pull something off. And so they finally got in sync and came up with Isaac, the child of promise.

And then years after that, when the boy is in his teens in all likelihood, we get to Genesis 22 and it says, the Lord tested Abraham. And he said, Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son, cuz at this point Ishmael and Hagar had been put out. But God said, because he's your child and God loves us so much, he will bless the mistakes we made when we get back in sync with his purpose. Ain't somebody glad that we serve a God who will bless your mess? After you repent, after you get straight, God said, I'll work it out.

He said, cuz I know it would be on your heart. He said, I'm going to take that son you should have never had and I'm going to make a nation out of him. And to this day, a lot of the conflict that we're dealing with in another part of the world are the sons of Ishmael. And let me tell you something. God said, I'm going to raise up a nation, but now this your only son Isaac, I want you to take him up on the mountain and I want you to sacrifice him there. Now, why in the world would God promise you that through your seed the nations of the world are going to be blessed and then he tells you to sacrifice the very child?

It's because when God blesses us, he doesn't bless us for us. He blesses us for his name's sake. And we reap many benefits and byproducts of his blessing. But he has to make sure that we don't take the blessing to ourselves. And so every now and then you'll see God bless you, but he tests you with the blessing because he wants to make sure you know your husband is not yours, your wife is not yours, your job is not yours, your money is not yours, your career is not yours, your ambition, your gifts are not yours.

They are mine and if you take what is mine in another direction, I cannot bless you. So he said, I want you to take him up on the mountain and I want you to sacrifice him there. And he takes him up on the mountain and at one point in the trip, read it in Genesis 22, Isaac says, Father, we have the wood, we have the materials to build the altar for a sacrifice, but we don't have the lamb. Where is the lamb? And Abraham looked at his son and said, my son, God will provide the lamb.

And the moment came when they built the altar and placed the wood there. The moment came when Abraham had to take his son and place him on the altar. What a defining moment in scripture. Because here you see not only the unconditional obedience of a man who's determined to follow God. But you find the unconditional compliance of the son of the promise. You know, when you're looking at Isaac in Genesis 22, you're seeing a really good type of Jesus Christ because like Isaac, Jesus laid his life down. And Isaac was willing in that moment to lay his life down.

You got to understand this is a strong boy. And his daddy is 113 115 years old. Abraham did good to get up the mountain. If Isaac is determined not to be sacrificed, there's nothing Abraham's going to do about it. You know a lot of y'all can't fool with your teenagers now. But this is the unconditional obedience of a man and the unconditional compliance of a son. And Isaac gives himself. Doesn't understand what's going on, but he gives himself. And Abraham lays him on the altar and raises the knife, no doubt thinking in his heart, I don't know why in the world God would do this, but God is going to raise him up because he made a promise about this boy.

And so it's mine to obey and it's God's to do the rest. And when he raises the knife with intent to sacrifice his son, the Lord speaks out of heaven and says, don't do it. I was testing you and you passed the test. He said, I want to let you know that now that I know you have not even withheld the most precious thing to you, your only child from me, I am going to bless you in unbelievable ways. I'm here to tell you, if you will give God what you've been struggling and withholding from him, it will be the beginning of the release of the thing that God has in store for you and your future.

And after that moment, the Bible says, Abraham declared that place Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. Let me tell you something. Whatever it is you need in your life, he will provide because what God did was he gave them a ram. He looked over on the side of the mountain there and there was a ram with his horns caught in the bush. And he said, there's your sacrifice. Wherever the will of God is, the provision of God is. When God gives you a vision, God gives you provision. When God guides, God provides. God will never lead you where he will not take care of you.

And so all you got to do is get in his will. When you get in his will, it's the safest place in the world. I'd rather be broke and in his will because I know he will meet every need and he will supply all that is needed when I am in the will of God. God will provide. I want somebody to know that you can rejoice because you serve the God who provides. We not only serve Jehovah Jireh, we serve Jehovah Nissi. That is found in Exodus 17. Exodus 17 you'll find that he is Jehovah Nissi.

And here's what was going on there. The children of Israel have come out of Egypt. They've crossed the Red Sea and now they are finding themselves under attack from the Amalekites. Let me tell you something. When you come out of sin, don't be surprised when you find that you have new enemies. It's because we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We're wrestling against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places. And when you decide you're going where God wants to take you, the enemy decides he's going to do everything to stop you.

And the Amalekites come out against the children of Israel. But all Moses did was say, we don't have to panic because this battle really is not ours. This is the Lord's. He said, what I'm going to do is get up on the top of the mountain and I'm going to lift up the staff of God in my hand. And he sent Joshua to go on down into the valley and fight. Get some fighting men and you fight the Amalekites and I'm going to lift the staff because this really is not our fight. We're just vessels and God is going to war against them.

And the staff represented the presence of God in their midst. And Jehovah Nissi means the Lord is our banner. Now, banner in scripture had to do with warfare. It had to do with the sign of a mighty army. And so a mighty army would have a banner that went before them and that declared how powerful they were. In fact, you see a little bit of it in today's world because many sports teams develop a mascot around the idea of it was to represent our power and who we are. That's why I don't understand these schools that have this little pitiful mascot.

Who's supposed to be scared at that? You know what I'm saying? You know uh well well we're the ducks. What? We supposed to be scared of ducks? No no no no. You want to be you want to be we are the we are the USC Trojans. Fighting folk. I found that out cuz I gave them a whole lot of money educating my daughter down there. I said, you all better win this game much money as I'm paying down here. You know, but in Bible times, a banner spoke of a warring army. It spoke of their strength, of their power.

And God said, don't worry because in Exodus 17 he said, the Lord is your banner. I'm your banner. When your enemies come out against you, I'm the one that steps out. It says, is there a problem here? You come out here messing with my kids?

Guest (Male): In case you joined us late, you're listening to Destined for Victory featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepherd. Stay with us. The second half of today's message is straight ahead. 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. Click contact in the main menu of our homepage and our ministry team will be happy to lift you up in prayer. Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's message, Exalting His Name.

Paul Sheppard: Listen, when the enemy comes against you, he's not coming against you. He's coming against the gods you serve. And we have to learn that God is Jehovah Nissi. He is our banner. Now, that necessitates that you are fighting a holy war. Oh, let me help you now. You can't have a carnal battle and get God to fight it for you. But if you are about the business of doing his will, if you are living your life to please him and the enemy in the midst of that comes against you as you're seeking to please God, here's the good news.

God will fight your battle because it really isn't your battle. When you are in sync with his will, your enemies are God's enemies. Your problems are God's problems. Your challenges are God's challenges. And he steps out and says, I am the one who will give you the victory. And that's why as long as Moses had the staff up, the staff of God represented God's presence in their midst. And whenever you saw that, then you saw the Amalekites running and they were being pursued by Joshua and the fighting men of Israel. But whenever he got tired and dropped his hand right there in Exodus 17, then you'd find Joshua and them running and you'd find the Amalekites chasing them.

And when Moses and Aaron and Hur who were on the mountain saw that, they said, oh we got to keep this thing up cuz if you let God down, if you don't exalt him, if you get carnal and think you can do it, then the enemy will show you you don't have any power. And I'm here to tell somebody who's letting God down in their mind and in their heart and in their values and in their priorities, no wonder the enemy is is mopping the street up with you because you've got to lift up and exalt the name of the gods you serve.

This really isn't about me. You can talk about me. You cannot like me. You can resent me. It's not about me. But if you fight against God, you got a problem on your hands. And so Aaron and her said, oh we got to help this situation. And one got on one side of Moses and the other got on the other and they lifted up his hands so that he could hold the staff. And they were under him and put a rock under him so he could sit down and keep his hands up and they had him up.

Whatever you got to do to lift up the name of Jesus, find yourself a seat in your life and keep him lifted up. For if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men unto me and I'll fight every battle you have. I want to let you know that he's Jehovah Nissi. Do I have time to give you one more? Let me give you one more. He is Jehovah Shalom. Jehovah Shalom. You know what that means? That means God is my peace. You find that in scripture in Judges chapter 6 when Gideon has been selected to be the leader of God's people against a massive alliance of the enemy.

Gideon feels completely unqualified, but God sends an angel to let him know it's not about you. It's that you're chosen. And Gideon's trying to explain why he's disqualified. I'm the least in my family, all that stuff. And angel says, no, you don't understand. From God's perspective, you're a mighty warrior and your challenge is to see yourself the way God sees you. And so the angel is there ministering to him and giving him divine instruction. And he says, well let me prepare something for you in honor of your visit. And in the course of doing so, he gets the revelation that this is a divine being.

This is one that comes from the presence of God who's standing here. And he says, oh I've seen the Lord. And he got scared because he thought he was going to die. See, Old Testament folk were much more reverent. They understood that God's not just somebody around the corner. You know, we act so casual with God. You got to understand. Jesus did teach us to have a personal relationship, but personal doesn't mean irreverent. God's not your buddy, not somebody from around the block. You can just obey him when you want, discard when you want. No no no.

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And when Old Testament folk encountered the divine, they were afraid. They said, that's it. I'm going to die. And the angel spoke up and said, no no, don't worry. Peace be unto you. God's not going to kill you. He's got a plan for you. He didn't send me here to kill you. And because of that encounter, the Bible says that Gideon declared that Jehovah Shalom. God is my peace. I'm here to tell somebody that God wants to be your peace. When you are worried that you are going to die, God wants to be your peace cuz you're not going anywhere until he's ready for you.

When you think that your circumstances are overwhelming, God wants to speak peace because there is nothing going on in your life. There is no challenge that is greater than the God you serve. And I want you to understand that you don't have to worry. In fact, worry is a very futile emotion because worry produces nothing good. Haven't you figured that out in your life? At this point, there is nothing good gained from worry because not only don't our worries solve our problems, worries add additional problems. Now I'm worried and I got stomach trouble. I still had the original problem.

Now I got stuff going on in my body. Now I can't sleep well and when I sleep, I don't rest well. Anybody ever slept all night and woke up tired? There could be some things on your heart that you're worried about, that you're trying to control, when you need to give them to the God who wants to take your problems cuz he can do something about them and give you his peace. And I found out in studying the scriptures that peace doesn't come just from God to you. Peace is an exchange offering. You don't get peace until you give him your worries, your problems, your challenges, your doubts, your struggles.

I can prove it in scripture. The Bible says, don't worry about anything, Philippians chapter 4, but pray about everything. You've got to give all of those things you would worry to God in prayer. Then the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. It's an exchange offering. God says, I have peace for you. Do you want it? You say, oh yeah. And you go to grab for it. He says, give me your problems. You say, well I I don't I don't know. See, I been I don't know.

No no. You have to trust God with your stuff. Trust God with your spouse. Trust God with your job. Trust God with your money. Trust God with your ambitions. Trust God with that big decision you're facing in your life. Trust God with your kids that you don't know how to raise or the ones you've raised and now they act like you never raised them. You got to trust him with whatever it is because you will not get the peace until he gets the problem. You missed it. I got to say it again. You won't get the peace until he gets the problem.

And it's a divine exchange. But Gideon found that you don't have to worry when you serve God because God is the beginning and the end. He knows what he started. He knows when it will be done. And in the meantime, the devil can pronounce all he wants. But God is going to have the last say. No challenge in your life will reflect the final outcome of your life. It is God who began the good work in you. And he will bring it to completion. Well, let me wrap this up. There's so much more I could reveal.

I just wanted to wet your appetite. You study the scripture and when you come across the names of God, look into them because they all reveal something about the God you serve and you'll praise him and worship him more the more you get to know who he is. But let me tell you something. If you don't know Hebrew and you don't know Jehovah Jireh and Jehovah Shalom and Jehovah Nissi and there are others I didn't have time to cover, Jehovah Shammah, the God who's there, Jehovah Tsidkenu, the God our righteousness, on and on, the Lord our Shepherd, the Lord our Healer, just on and on.

You'll come across them in scripture. If you don't know all that Hebrew, if you know one name, you got it made. If you know the name of Jesus, if you know the name of Jesus, oh you got it made. Now you can't just know the name. You got to know who the name belongs to because in him, Colossians 2 says, is all the fullness of deity wrapped up in bodily form. Jesus is our peace. Jesus is our provision. Jesus is our Healer. Jesus is our banner of victory. Jesus, the Old Testament said he's a waymaker.

The folk that taught me the scripture, they didn't know Hebrew and Greek and Aramaic and all that, but they said he's a waymaker. He's a heart fixer. He's a mind regulator. He'll open a door that no man can shut. They said he's a rock in a weary land and a shelter in a time of storm. God will be whatever you need him. I heard folk say he's my doctor in my sick room. He's my lawyer in my courtroom. Whatever I need from God, he is that. He has eternal isness. And he is the God who will supply my every need.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much for being with us for today's Destined for Victory message, Exalting His Name. To learn more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose or about the special gift we've got for you when you give generously today, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: It's okay to be real, to be honest. It's okay to be authentic. I'm concerned that there are too many of us in the body of Christ who in our effort to be our ideal selves fail to realize that we must start by being our real selves.

Guest (Male): That's next time in our message, Deal with How You Feel. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.