Tap into God's Power, Part 2

Hello and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Destined for Victory. In just a few moments, Pastor Paul Shepherd shares today's message, Tap into God's Power. But before we get started, he joins me now to talk about his brand new full-length book, Lessons from the Vineyard.

Tell us about this book and why you believe everyone should get a copy. The reality of Jesus, the reality of the need for salvation and things like that, the best way we can witness these days is not only with our words, but with our lives. And if we will become people who have ripe fruit of the Spirit in operation in us, if we are loving, joyful, have the peace that passes understanding, have temperance and patience and all of those things that are the fruit of the Spirit, if we are mature in those areas, I think that helps us be much better witnesses than if all we're doing is yapping.

The world really isn't impressed that much with what we have to say anymore. They'll be more impressed by the way we live out our faith. And so this book is written with the hope and prayer that it'll help each of us really grow and mature in the area of developing Christian godly character.

That's what it's all about. At the end of the day, it's not what we say, but it's how we live that's going to impress the world around us. I'm reminded of how many people responded to Jesus when he lived on earth, not merely because of his teachings, but because of the way he lived to serve all those around him. Well, again, this brand new book from Pastor Paul is called Lessons from the Vineyard, and it's our gift to you for your generous donation of $25 or more to Destin for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destin for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Once again, Destin for Victory, box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. One day every knee is going to bow. And so the only thing you can know is that since every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, the question that is most important in your life is when will I bow? Will I bow now in surrender or will I bow later in judgment? But you're going to bow.

Make no mistakes about it. When the time comes that every knee bows before God, every tongue will also confess allegiance to him. In light of what will happen then, today Pastor Paul Shepherd explains how we should now live. Now is the season to allow God to work in us so that he can begin to work through us. With his Destin for Victory message now, tap into God's power.

Here's Pastor Paul. The book of Acts chapter 2 beginning with verse 1. Here's what it says in the New King James version. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Verse 12. So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Others mocking said, They are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, that it shall come to pass in the last day, says God, that I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions.

Your old men will dream dreams. And on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. As we began this message the last time, I hoped to get much farther than I did, but I ended up spending the whole time helping us to understand how important it was that they were all together in the same place and on one accord on the day of Pentecost.

Now I talked about the importance of unity. If we want to experience God, we've got to learn how to experience God. And one of the ways they did it on the day of Pentecost is they met in that upper room. Jesus had told them, stay in Jerusalem, don't go anywhere until you hear from heaven, because I'm going to give you a gift that you're going to need to operate in before you go out and evangelize the world.

And that gift is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. And so they stayed there in one place and on one accord. And I talked about how often the church today does not get on one accord. We are proudly divided in too many cases over minor things, things that should never divide us.

It's okay to have differences, but we should not have division. And so I talked about the importance of unity in the main and plain things of the Lord. Now I want to move on. I've got to cover the other verses here. And so I want you to go with me to verse two. It says, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. What's up with the wind? Why on the day of Pentecost did the Spirit of God hit that upper room with a mighty wind?

Well, I'm so glad you asked the question. I came to give you the answer. Why wind? It's because the wind signifies something, nothing that the Holy Spirit ever does has no meaning. When God does something, there is meaning and purpose behind it. And in the case of the wind, it represents the refreshing, life-giving, energetic, and sovereign work of the Spirit.

I want to say that again. When it comes to the wind that hit the upper room that day, that represents the refreshing, life-giving, energetic, and sovereign work of the Spirit. How do you know that? Because of what Jesus said in John chapter three, verse eight. If you're familiar with the Gospels, you know that John three is when Jesus had his encounter with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. This Pharisee, we're told in John three, came to Jesus by night. Why did he come by night? Well, we're not told why, just that he comes by night. I kind of think it's because he's a Pharisee. He was not supposed to be in the presence of one that they considered a false rabbi. And so why in the world would he come in the open when any and everybody could see him talking to Jesus?

That's sort of my guess. We don't know for certain, but we do know he came at night. Those of you who have children who watch cable TV, you're probably familiar with Nic at Night. Well, I came to tell you, Nic at Night didn't start on TV.

It started back in Jesus' day. Nic came to Jesus by night. And he said to him, no one can do what you're doing except God be with him. So I've come to find out really what's going on in your experience because I can't ignore what I've seen you do. And Jesus went on to tell him, well, you can't see the kingdom until you're born again. And you know the story. Nicodemus said, well, how can I be born again?

It's too late. I'm a grown man. I can't enter my mother's womb again. And Jesus said, I'm not talking about natural birth.

That which is natural is natural. But I'm talking about you have to be born again of the water, the natural birth, and the spirit, the spiritual birth. Then Jesus went on to say something profound. And that's why I want to point this out about wind. Jesus said to him in verse 8 of John 3, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Did you see what Jesus said? He said, look at the wind.

It goes where it wants to go and it accomplishes what it chooses to accomplish and it doesn't stop by your house to ask permission. The same thing is true of the Holy Spirit of God. We need to understand that he comes to blow refreshing wind. He comes to energize us. He comes to do a mighty work and he is sovereign just like the wind. God is sovereign. He does what he wants to do. I hope you understand that while God gives us the choice to make some decisions as we live our lives, you and I will never be sovereign.

You know why? Because sovereignty means you don't answer to anyone. The only way you could be sovereign is God would have to make you God. You call all the shots and you don't answer to him.

That will never happen. God is the only sovereign in the whole universe. That's why the Bible says one of these days every knee is going to bow.

Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You are not sovereign. You get to pick the clothes you're going to wear that day. You get to pick what your career is going to be. You get to pick a lot of things. That's free will that God has given you to make certain decisions, but free will and sovereignty are two different things. I have the will to make choices. Here's what I want for breakfast today.

Here's what I want to do this weekend. You get to make choices, but you're not sovereign. Why? Because one day every knee is going to bow. We're all going to give an account to the Lord.

Judgment day is coming. And so the only thing you can know is that since every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, the question that is most important in your life is when will I bow? Will I bow now in surrender or will I bow later in judgment? But you're going to bow.

Make no mistakes about it. I don't care what your mindset is. I don't care what you say you believe. Well, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God.

I'm so sorry. I'm going to pray that God will open your eyes and help you understand that we live in a created world. And it had a creator who is sovereign. Our creator is sovereign. And so if you're blinded, spiritually blinded and you believe in the beginning bang and you can't even account for where the stuff came from that banged.

Come on. If you say you're an atheist, you don't believe in a creative being who created the universe. So you believe in the beginning bang. Well, the logical question is where the stuff come from that banged. Something from something had to start it. Nothing from your grandmama taught you this. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

You can't have a universe and nobody ordered it. We'll be right back with more of today's Destin for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd. Remember, you can always listen on demand at PastorPaul.net. That's PastorPaul.net, where you'll find a host of great resources at our online store, including books and DVD messages from Pastor Paul.

Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told his disciples to go and wait in Jerusalem until they heard from him. We pick it up right there next in the rest of today's message. Tap into God's power. Once again, here's Pastor Paul.

In the beginning, not bang, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And so you need to know one day every knee is going to bow. So my brother, my sister, go on and bow now. Don't wait till later in judgment. Bow now and surrender.

Why? So you can enjoy the refreshing, energetic, sovereign work of the Holy Spirit as he blows his wind into your life. I think you know by now we all got some dusty, dirty stuff that needs to be blown out of our lives.

The Holy Ghost says, I show up to blow through your life. I'll make some changes and blow some things away. And I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a fresh wind. I want a refreshing, life-giving, energetic work of the Spirit of God in my life.

Every now and then things get stale in your life and you need a fresh wind. And the Spirit is present to be a fresh wind in our lives. So that's why we see wind in the upper room. Now what about these tongues of fire? It said they were like forks of fire and they were over each of the people in that room. Okay, what's that fire about? I'm so glad you asked such good questions.

Let me go on and answer it for you. Luke chapter 3 beginning with verse 16. John answered and said, I indeed baptize with water, but one mightier than I is coming whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. But notice, John the Baptist said, I am not the Messiah.

There's one coming behind me. He's mightier than I. I'm a baptizer in water, he said, but this one who's coming behind me is a baptizer in the Holy Spirit and fire. He said he's going to give you not just the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he's going to give you a baptism of fire. What in the world is the fire about? Well, fire represents the cleansing, purging work of the Spirit. The wind represents the energetic work of the Spirit, the refreshing work, but the fire represents the cleansing, purging work of the Holy Spirit.

What do you mean? Fire cleanses? Yes, it does. There are some things it consumes. That's why it talks about the chaff. There are some things that the only thing God can do in your life is just burn it up. How many of you all know you've had some stuff?

You don't have it now. You're perfectly holy now. But back in the day, you remember when you had some stuff, the only thing the Holy Ghost could do was just burn it up. Oh, you know you had some stuff that needed to be burned.

Don't even try it. You know you had some mess and junk in your life. You had messed over some stuff so well that God said, the only thing I can do is just consume this with my fire. But there are other articles even in nature that when fire hits them, they aren't consumed, they are cleaned. They are purged. Precious metals go into the fire.

And when they come out, they're even more valuable because they're not only precious metals, but now they're cleansed of impurities. And let me tell you something, the Holy Ghost comes to not just baptize you in the Spirit, He comes to baptize you in fire, meaning He wants to purge and clean up some things in our lives. See, we've got to understand, God wants to use us, but He doesn't want to keep us junky and not of much value.

When God anoints us with gifts and wants to use us to minister to other folk, one of the things He does is make sure He's cleaning up some stuff in our lives so that we are vessels fit for His use. Now be very clear, the gifting is there. There are a whole lot of people who aren't living right who are gifted.

Come on, somebody. And they have genuine gifts. That can't be of God.

Look at how raggedy they live. No, the gift came from God. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. But you're going to have to answer one day for not only how you use the gift, but how you prepared your vessel for the use of the gift. I'm preaching good. You're just waiting to understand. This is good.

I'm going to get this CD myself. We need to not only be gifted, we need to be purged. We need to be not only gifted, we need to be surrendered and under the influence of the Holy Spirit so He can build character in us and not just giftedness. You know you don't have to have character to use your gift. You can use your gift and have a messed up character.

You can use your gift and all kind of jacked up in the way you live your life. And that does not glorify God. So look at what Malachi says in his prophecy.

Malachi chapter 3 beginning with verse 2, here's what he says. Who can endure the day of the Lord's coming? Who can stand when He appears?

Watch this. He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi, purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord what? An offering in righteousness.

You see that? Malachi looking down the corridor of time, looking to the day when the Holy Spirit would come, and then be succeeded by the Holy Spirit who is Christ in us, the hope of glory. And he said when that day comes, He's going to come and sit as a refiner's fire in our lives.

I love that. When the Holy Spirit shows up, see a lot of folks talk about, oh, I experienced God. He hit me in that service. He didn't come to just hit you. He came to sit in your life. I'm glad for the hits, but I need more than a hit. I need the Holy Ghost to take a seat and say, now there's some stuff here that we got to burn up.

And He puts His fire on it. And we need the cleansing, purging work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that when you find your gifts, you use them in purity. You use them in a way that glorifies God, doesn't hinder your ministry because we not only see how God uses you, we're seeing how God is developing and maturing you. And so don't just spend your time in your giftedness. Spend your time letting the Holy Spirit cultivate fruit of character in your life.

That's when God can really use us for His glory, when we are not a hindrance. Because you ever seen folk who said, boy, they're gifted, but they sure don't know how to live. They're making poor decisions, marrying everybody. Every time they turn around, they got a new spouse. Did I just go there?

Oh, I said that out loud. All these singers and preachers, just every time one of my preacher friends said, I had an anniversary and invited a man to preach and he preached. A couple of years later, I had him back and he came in. He said, let me introduce you to my wife. He said, that wasn't the one that was there a couple of years ago. And he said, I wondered, how in the world you going to swap wives? And I don't know. Because I need to know not only why do you have another one, but was it biblically justified? Oh, Lord, where did I go? That's not in my notes.

I guess that's for somebody. You can't just drop off the one that you're not happy with, grab you another one, and call yourself anointed. Yes, there are biblical grounds for divorce. Don't write me emails.

I know. But some of these folk, not you, but somebody I know, they're ignoring biblical grounds. They're just saying, God wants me happy. What verse is that? I've read this book most of my life.

I haven't seen He Wants Me Happy. So just drop this one off and pick you up another one and keep on rolling. Ooh, let me get out of that. So let me tell you something. Back to Acts chapter 2. He comes to not only fill us, but He comes with tongues of fire to do a cleansing, purging work in our lives. Don't tell me how you're anointed by just talking about your giftedness. Tell me how the Holy Spirit is cleaning some stuff up in your life.

That's what I want to know. I want to know, are you being cleansed? Oh, I know that you're so powerful.

Oh, my God, that person's so powerful. When they look at you, you just fall out under the anointing. I don't care about how you're knocking people out.

I care about how you are walking, how you are living, how you are disciplining your life. And so we need to understand that we need to tap into God's power because it not only fills us with the Holy Ghost, but also with fire. And fire does a cleansing and purging work in our lives. Thanks for being with us for today's message, Tap into God's Power. For more information about Destined for Victory or Pastor Paul Shepherd's brand-new book, Lessons from the Vineyard, stop by our website, pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net. You don't have to stop getting high. You just got to change what you're getting high on. Don't go to the lounge for that.

Don't go to the bar for that. For what I'm talking about, you got to pull up to Joel's place. Joel's place, because Joel's the prophet who said, in the last days, I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. And that is next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Tap into God's Power. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.