You're in Training, Part 4

Music playing Well, to be an apprentice means going through on-the-job training with someone who has mastered a particular trade. Where members of the Christian faith were apprentices of Jesus Christ, who mastered the business of living and modeled it for all the world to see. Today, Pastor Paul tells us about another apprentice, a fictional character from one of the most popular movies of the 1980s. This young boy shows us what happens when we fully commit ourselves to our teacher and obey his instruction. So stay right here or visit pastorpaul.net to listen to Destined for Victory On Demand.

You can also subscribe to the podcast at Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy yours. Right now, here's Pastor Paul with today's message, You're In Training. Now we're looking at paradigms that will help provide insight in the matter of spiritual discipline. The training that God has all of us going through at different seasons in our walk with him. Earlier in the series, we covered the first paradigm, which was school. And we looked at how school, old-fashioned school, is like God's treatment of us as he is teaching us, equipping us in the matter of spiritual training. Currently, we are looking at the second paradigm, which is apprenticeship.

And I spent all of last message on that. I want to pick it up there and then go to the third paradigm if time permits and talk about military basic training. But before we get to that, I need to make sure we cover all of the ground regarding apprenticeship. I said that in the matter of apprenticeship in biblical times, apprenticeship had three characteristics. The first of those was commitment. The apprentice had to make a full commitment to the mentor, a full commitment to the master, a full commitment to the person who was going to teach them the trade, the expertise that they sought. Commitment is the first key, and I spent time in the last message talking about how important it is to train in the area or to respond to God's training first with commitment to say, Lord, whatever you want from me, I'm going to commit to being sold out.

It's time for us to make the decision. Those of you who are still Brylcreem Christians, Brylcreem Christians, I've said that over the decades and it bears repeating now, Brylcreem Christianity is not biblical Christianity. Young folks say, what in the world is Brylcreem Christianity?

The old folk can answer it for you. Everybody over 50 can answer the question because we grew up with a commercial on TV about a product called Brylcreem, and it was hair grease. That's pretty much what it was, just hair grease. And their slogan was a little dab will do you. It came in this little tube and you would squeeze the tube and a little Brylcreem you'd see on the commercial. They put a little on their finger, then rub their hands together and then hook that head up. And it was a little dab will do you.

That's great for Brylcreem. That will not work for salvation. That will not work for following Jesus. Jesus had no part time followers.

He had no followers who said, well, you know, I see you on Monday and Thursday, but you know, I got other things to do. A little dab will do you will not work in Christianity. And the first thing you need to know is God is calling all of us to be fully committed servants of Jesus Christ. You will not learn what God wants to teach you in this season of your life until you're fully committed.

You got to be all in. Now, I'm giving you not only biblical case studies for these paradigms, but I'm giving you case studies in contemporary time. And in this point, I'm giving you the case study of the movies The Karate Kid. The Karate Kid, both the 1984 version and the 2010 version, both of them had a young boy who wanted to learn karate or in the second version kung fu. And in both cases, they found a mentor who was willing to teach them.

But both mentors required that they were fully committed to the process. I remember in the 1984, Mr. Miyagi said to Daniel before they started the training, you and I need to enter into a pack. And he described to him, he said, if you're going down the road, if you go all the way to the left side, you're fine. Miyagi said, if you go all the way to the right side, you're fine. He said, but if you go down the middle, squish.

Remember when he said that? And he said, that's the way it is with karate. If you commit all the way to the left, fine. Commit all the way to the right, fine. Middle of the road, little bit in, little bit out.

He said, you'll never succeed. And as it is in karate training, so it is in spiritual truth. You and I have to make a sold out commitment off of the fence. None of this, I serve God till it gets inconvenient, till it gets tough. I serve God till my feelings change. None of that, that does not make you a disciple of Christ.

It might make you a church goer and some churches might be happy to just get from you whatever they can get. I'm here to tell you this pastor's job is to call you to full commitment, full surrender to Jesus Christ. You've got to be all in. The second characteristic is obedience.

That's what we're currently looking at. Obedience. Jesus modeled obedience for us. He was our example in all things. When Jesus was about to launch his ministry, he modeled obedience at the beginning of his ministry.

How did he do that? Through the temptation in the wilderness. When you read Luke chapter 4, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan where he was baptized by John the Baptist. And he was led by the Spirit into the desert for the purpose of being tempted by the devil. Why would the Spirit of God lead the Son of God into a desert for the purpose of letting the devil tempt him?

Because it was going to show his full obedience before he launched his ministry. And some of us want to launch some great things and we have great visions for our lives and want to see great things happen. And you envision yourself in a great marriage and you envision yourself in a better job or career.

And you envision yourself and you think God's going to use you in some ways. And I'm here to tell you, before you launch all of that, you need to make sure that you have defeated the enemy in all of the points of temptation. And you are ready to be unconditionally surrendered to God.

Unconditionally surrendered. And the devil, of course, he doesn't tempt you to sharpen you spiritually. He's trying to bring you down. But the same process that could bring you down will also take you up if you say yes to God. And some of you all are mad that the devil is just fighting you on one hand after the other. Some of you say, the enemy is so busy in my life, and he is. But I'm here to tell you, God sent him into your life.

Not for the purpose of destroying you. The enemy's trying to destroy you, but God's trying to use it to bring you to a higher place. To teach you the value of unconditional obedience. He modeled it at the beginning of his ministry, and then he modeled it at the end of his ministry. After his ministry was over and he was getting ready to go to Calvary, as he was facing Calvary, knowing that was the next thing on the divine agenda for his earthly life, what did Jesus do? In Matthew 26, he went into a garden called Gethsemane. Said to his disciples, most of his disciples, sit here a while, while I go over there and pray. And then he took Peter, James, and John, and walked farther into Gethsemane. And he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

And he said, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Listen, if you are a fully committed disciple of Christ, you better surround yourself with some other fully committed people. Some of you all are independent and trying to be surrendered to God. It's not going to work. The devil will knock you off of you by yourself. You can't walk a dangerous neighborhood by yourself.

You just don't do it. We grew up just knowing there were parts of town. I lived in Philly, but not all Philly was welcoming of me.

There were neighborhoods growing up. I knew if I had to go in there, I better not go alone. Yeah, I'd take my cousin Stevie with me. Yeah, I'd take a hoodlum with you. My cousin was a sure enough hoodlum. I love fighting.

Rather fight than eat. You got to go certain places. Oh, Stevie, what you doing? Nothing. Come on, go with me.

I got to go to West Philly. Take care of something. You need a hoodlum with you. And listen, you need some spiritual hoodlums. You need some folk who know how to be militant and pray and have faith and believe God. You need some folk who know how to stand on the word. Tell the devil where to go and join my map so he won't get lost.

Some of y'all too independent for your good. Jesus modeled that. He took all of the disciples into the first part of the Gethsemane. Then he told eight of them, stay here. And then he told Peter, James and John at seven because Judas had already gone. Then he told Peter, James and John, come on with me a little farther. And he opened up to them, said, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death. Fellas, I feel like I'm about to die. Why? Because he knew he's now at a new point that requires a surrender he's never had to face before.

The surrender at the beginning of his ministry was good. But, you know, when you progress through school, just because you aced this test and you passed that grade, when you get to the new one, you got a whole other set of things to study. Jesus now was facing something new. That's where some of you are. Actually, you ought to realize that what you've been doing is growing. You say life's getting harder for me. My challenges are getting harder.

My giants are bigger. That's a compliment. I mean, you've been passing your test. You didn't get left back. Because if you got left back, you'd see the same things coming recycling in your life because you haven't passed those tests yet. And you ever had the same test, different person, same test, different job, same test, different dynamic, same test?

That tells you you haven't passed it yet. Because the enemy is smart. He's not going to throw stuff at you and he know you already defeated him in that way. Whenever something comes at you and it really doesn't faze you, the devil didn't send that.

He's smarter than that. You know it came from him because it make you say, hmm. Yeah, I tell singles all the time, when somebody come hitting on you trying to get you into an ill-risk relationship and they don't do anything for you, the devil didn't send them. That's just somebody taking a shot. It's just somebody saying, hey, you never know unless you, hey, I might get lucky today. You know when the devil sent them because it makes you go before God.

Lord, I need some help right now. Coming up next, the rest of today's message. You're In Training with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. If you've never stopped by our website, pastorpaul.net, I invite you to do so when you have some time. You'll find all of Pastor Paul's recent messages on demand, plus a host of great resources at our online store, including books and DVD messages from Pastor Paul.

Learn more about the ministry and about all the great things friends like you are doing through your prayers and financial support. Once again, that's pastorpaul.net. And watch selected video clips by subscribing to Pastor Paul on YouTube.

To find more details and links to all of his social media sites, visit pastorpaul.net. Well, if you want God to tell you about the plans he has for you, first, you have to obey what he's already told you, because obedience precedes revelation. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message.

You're In Training. You know when the devil sent that opportunity to make money under the cover, under the table, because you know I'm really, I could do this, and you see yourself, envision yourself getting away with that. That's the real temptation that's going to make you go before God said, Lord, help me. And Jesus was at a new place in his life now as he faces Calvary. And but he modeled for us obedience because he prayed it through and notice he didn't pray it through right away. He had to pray three times.

He was saying the right thing the first two times. But just because you say it doesn't mean your heart's all the way there. You've got to wrestle everything, the emotions. You've got to wrestle everything down. And he was saying not my will but thine be done.

If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. But he finally had a break. Look at what it cost him. The Bible says he prayed until blood broke through.

And instead of sweating, he was bleeding. Listen, some of you all haven't wrestled hard enough yet. Oh, I came with a word for you. You haven't wrestled harder. See, you're spoiled rotten.

You think a little bit of tough time and God's supposed to deliver you. Oh, Lord, it's rough this week. They hurt my feelings this week. Oh, shut up. People hurt your feelings without trying. That's nothing. That's not a trial. Grow up, you big baby.

No, no. God has kingdom plans for you. He wants you to shake up lives, change people, get them saved, get them out of sin. He wants you to be a difference maker, to be a world changer.

You can't cry over some little pitiful trial. So you've got to learn that God wants you to get down to the place where you break through and say whatever it takes, I'm going to say yes to God. Obedience, obedience. When you look at obedience in the example of the Karate Kid, I love it, especially the first one. The obedience thing is seen most clearly in the first one.

There's a little bit of it in the second one too. But in 1984, the original Karate Kid, after Daniel made the pact with Mr. Miyagi, here's what Mr. Miyagi said to him. He said, I promise teach karate. That's my part. You promise learn. I say you do. No question. That's your part.

Deal? That's what he said. Go over that again because you didn't hear God speak to you. I'm going to say it again.

And this isn't Miyagi talking to Daniel. This is God talking to you. I promise teach spiritual development. That's my part. I promise make you strong believer. That's my part. I promise give you heavy anointing. That's my part. I promise use you greatly. That's my part.

You promise learn. I say you do. No question. God said, I say you do. No question.

Somebody didn't hear him. I say you do. No question. That's your part. Deal? And you got to say to God, Lord, that's that deal.

I'm going to do what you say. Now, Daniel said, deal. Here's what happened next. He had him in the yard. There were four vehicles in Mr. Miyagi's yard beside his truck.

There were four other vehicles. Soon as they struck the deal, Miyagi picked up a bucket with soapy water and a sponge, pulled it out, put it in Daniel's hand. He said, wash all cars, then wax.

Daniel began to protest. He just said, deal. And as soon as he got the soap and the water and the sponge and was told, wash all the cars, then wax. He said, yeah, but. And Miyagi cut him off.

Remember, deal. Then Miyagi said, wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Breathe in through nose, out through mouth.

Daniel said, yeah, but. He said, wax on, right hand. Just repeated it for him. Wax off, left hand. Breathe in through nose, out through mouth.

Not just one car, all the cars. Daniel did it. When he got through, the next scene, Miyagi is at the floor of his outdoor garden. He had these wooden floors that went throughout the outdoor area in his yard.

And he had sanders. Daniel came over, saw them. He said, oh, wow, this is cool. Put them on his hands, started acting like it was an instrument, playing.

And Miyagi said something about how much he played. Then he said, sand the floor, the whole floor. Showed him how to do it, the motions.

And Daniel started doing it. Next scene is night. Daniel's just finished sanding all the floor. Comes over to Mr. Miyagi.

I'm finished. Miyagi says, okay, come back 6 a.m., start early. Next day, next scene. Miyagi has him by the fence. He's got this long, elaborate fence, wooden fence.

He tells Daniel, paint the fence, the whole fence. Shows him how to do it, how to stroke. Go up high with the brush, come down, and just showed him exactly how to move it. He said, use the larger panels, use your left hand.

Smaller panels, use your right hand. Making him ambidextrous. And he does that all day. In the evening, he comes back and thinks he's finished. And Mr. Miyagi said, both sides?

And Daniel said, not yet. And had to start again. Worked late into the night. When he finally got through, Mr. Miyagi says, come back in the morning, start early.

In the morning, Mr. Miyagi wasn't even there. Daniel walked over and saw paint buckets, paint brush, and a note. Note said, paint the house. Explained how to stroke, how to use both hands, paint the house. Daniel was fit to be tied. You may not always understand God's methods. Like Daniel, you may grow frustrated, confused, even angry at your teacher.

But remember this key principle. God's ways are not our ways. There will be times when things he's trying to teach you will seem completely unrelated to the problems you're facing in your day-to-day life.

But as you get to know him, as you fully submit to his training and instruction as Daniel did, you'll begin to see how it all makes sense. Thanks so much for being here for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. To hear any recent message on demand, including today's teaching you're in training, visit pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net. Stop by anytime to find out more about the Destined for Victory ministry, to shop for resources at our online store, or to make a safe and secure donation. In appreciation of your generous gift today, Pastor Paul will send you his booklet, Creating a Relational Legacy. Earlier this month, Pastor Paul and his wife Meredith spent a few days here on Destined for Victory talking about the ways we can improve and strengthen our personal relationships.

And this booklet highlights the major themes of those messages. Again, it's called Creating a Relational Legacy, and it's our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Just call 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, CA 94538. Again, the address is Destined for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. And if you need prayer today, the Destined for Victory ministry team would like to join you in prayer. From the homepage at pastorpaul.net, use the Contact Us feature to let us know how we can pray for you. While you're there, be sure to ask for Pastor Paul's monthly letter of encouragement.

It comes at no cost or obligation. This is what God was working on all along when he was telling you, shut up and listen to me. I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to do you good and not harm. They are plans to give you hope and a future, and you have to learn to do what he says with no question. It requires obedience. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, You're In Training. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.