Uh Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Coming up next, we move ahead in our teaching series, God is a Finisher. But first, there's a brief message all of us at Destined for Victory want to share with you. Destined for Victory could not survive without the prayers and donations of friends like you. You are the lifeblood of this media ministry, and we're so grateful for all you've done.
But as you may know, charitable giving decreases sharply during the busy summer months, and our faith can be challenged as a result. I asked Pastor Paul Shepard when he was with us to share his thoughts on this important subject, and here's what he had to say. Yes, it is. And it's simply because people love us and they want to support us. But sometimes we're so glad to be through the winter and the spring, and we're now in the summer and we're ready to take some vacation time and do some things that we've longed to do for months.
And we get to do it, whether it's travel or whatever. But I just want to encourage and remind our listeners that if we're going to keep on preaching the word throughout the year, then the support is absolutely necessary. Because I have found out that the bills don't take vacations, they keep coming every single month. And so we have to be ready to meet them with the finances necessary. And again, it's not about the money, it's what the money does.
Your giving allows us to keep on declaring truth that people need to hear. Day in and day out, month in and month out, so at every season, even in the summer, we get to keep preaching timeless truths if we have the financial support. I want to thank all of our partners, all of our donors, everyone who makes sure to meet the financial needs so that lives are changed, souls are saved, and people come to know who Jesus is and how important knowing him is in their lives. And that's what it's all about: helping change lives by introducing people to the amazing grace and love of Jesus Christ. And we can only do that with your help.
When you make a generous gift today, we have a gift of our own to share with you as our way of saying thanks, introducing our brand new booklet, Rising Above Offense. Think about some of the familiar names in Scripture: Joseph, the Apostle Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ. These and many others were mistreated and wounded, and not always by their enemies. Friends and family were sometimes involved. Rising Above Offense was written to offer you some guidance about how to handle these situations.
If you want to discover the right way to respond when someone offends you, if you want to learn all about the beautiful and amazing power of forgiveness, request your copy of Rising Above Offense when you make your generous gift to Destined for Victory. 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. God knew what he wanted out of you before you ever got to the planet.
Today we live in days where a lot of people are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. I came to tell you, you don't have to figure it out, all you have to do is talk to the Creator. You may already know this, but many people don't. Whether we're old or young, rich or poor, followers of Christ or followers of self, we all belong to God. He is our creator, our designer, and He knows exactly why we're here, because He had our purpose in mind long before the foundation of the world.
Today on Destined for Victory, we feature Pastor Paul Shepard's important message about who you are and whose you are. Today's message, God's Property, starts now. Let's listen.
Now, if you were with us last week, you know we began to talk about the fact that God is a finisher. That, whatever God starts, He completes. And Paul said as much in this passage, where He said, I'm confident, I'm absolutely convicted and assured that God has begun a good work in you and He's going to bring it to completion. That's not only true of the church at Philippi, but thank God that's true of every believer. And I hope you know that God is up to something good in your life.
That you are not saved by accident, you're saved on purpose. We're saved because God wants something out of us, and so He has begun a good work in us, and Paul promises here that He's going to bring it to completion.
Now, last week we began to look at our lives kind of as a construction project in light of this teaching from Paul. You would do well to see yourself as a construction project. And last week we talked about the fact that any construction project begins with a concept. It doesn't begin with raw materials, it doesn't begin with blueprints, it begins in the mind of the creator. of a particular project.
It is a concept thing. And I want you to know that where your life is concerned, it was conceived. In the mind of God first, God knew what He wanted out of you before you ever got to the planet. And that's important for us to know because today we live in days where a lot of people are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. I came to tell you, you don't have to figure it out.
All you have to do is talk to the Creator. He knows what He had in mind when He brought you to this planet. And your life and mind has been conceived. It is the concept of God. And that's why the Bible says things like all things work together for good because we love Him and we are called what?
According to His purpose. He's got a purpose. He's got a concept. He's got a design. We are the product of a divine design.
And God knows what he wants out of our lives.
Now, today, I want to pick it up and go past the concept and talk about the fact that any construction project begins in the mind of the creator, but then that creator has got to acquire some property so that that Construction project can go forward. There must be the acquisition of property.
Well, guess what? When it comes to our lives, God has acquired. Thus, as his own property. I want you to leave here today knowing that you belong to God in a literal sense. We literally belong to God.
In fact, the concept or the vision of a project would mean nothing without the acquisition of property. Because if you don't own anything, you have no place to do a building project. If you own a house and you rent it out to somebody, if they accept the terms and move into your house, they can't come in and say, you know, I don't like that wall over there. I think I'm going to knock that wall out. A renter doesn't have that right, do they?
Because they don't own the property. They are using what somebody else owns. We are here as I bring this message. I'm doing it in a hotel ballroom. Fact of the matter is, we paid them money, good money.
Thank God for the tithe and offerings. Keep sinning regularly. Give sacrificially good money. Mr. Marriott didn't let us in here because he likes us.
We are here because they are in the business of making money by renting these facilities. And so we have rented it, and for a period of time, we can worship here. But we can't say, you know, we don't like those light fixtures. When we come the next time, we're going to get up on ladders and put something different in there. Try that and see what happened to you.
Why? We don't own the property. Not ours.
Some corporation owns the deed. They get to dictate what happens here.
Now, you know, I'm not preaching just about property. I'm talking about your life and mine. When it comes to the acquisition for God to do what He has desired to do, you and I have been acquired by God. I'm going to establish this in Scripture so that you leave here knowing we belong to God. literally belong to him.
1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20, Paul says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? Who is in you when you're saved? God has taken up residence in you through His Spirit. whom you have received from God. Look at the next sentence.
You are not your own.
Now that's a hard pill to swallow for Americans. Our country was birthed with a sense of independence. Every July, we celebrate Independence Day. We came so we could be free from British tyranny. And what have you.
And I understand that. And in that concept, it's wonderful. In the sense of a democracy, we have some wonderful privileges and freedoms. We ought to thank God for them and we ought to cherish them. Having said that, When it comes to the kingdom of God, throw all of your democracy out of your mind.
Because in the kingdom of God, we are told we are not our own. Paul goes on to say, you were bought. Therefore, honor God. With your body. He purchased us when Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago.
He purchased us. See, we belong to God first by creation. And in that sense, every living creature belongs to God. The Bible says the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. God doesn't have a partial deed.
Everything belongs to him. Every person, every creature belongs to him. The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell therein. You don't have to be a Christian to belong to God.
Everybody is His by creation. But we know that the Bible goes on to tell us, but creation is fallen. Because of sin, creation is out of sync. with the will of God. People have chosen to go astray from God, to not honor God.
And so we live in a fallen world. It belongs to God, but it is fallen because of sin. We live in a fallen world. We live among fallen people.
So much of the disaster we see in our world, the reason why we have to go through all those changes at the airport is because there are some people who are not honoring God's word, which is to love your neighbor and treat people right. And they just as soon blow us up.
So now, instead of just in the old days, you just kiss folk goodbye, they could walk you right to the gate and all that, now you have to kiss them in the car. Because you got to go in and go through some changes before they let you on that plane. Why? Because there are some people who would just as soon take us out. And so we live in a fallen world.
We live among fallen people.
Don't blame what is fallen on God. Don't say, if God were such a loving God, why is there so much evil in the world? There's evil in the world because the world chooses to not honor God. But don't don't Get it twisted, that doesn't mean God's not in charge, He is sovereign. The proof is one day every knee will bow, every tongue confess.
It doesn't say Christian knees will bow. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
So we have options. We love options. You got an option: bow now or bow later. We're all bowing. We're all going to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord.
And so we are his by creation. Then we fell by sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, not all but you. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So, what? We were all in need of a Savior. That's why Jesus came. And Jesus came and in dying on that cross, He redeemed us. That's the Bible word.
Redeem. What does redeem mean? It means to buy back. I had it, I lost it, but I'm buying it back. I'm redeeming.
It And we are His first by creation, now we're His by redemption. We belong to God. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message, so don't go away. Listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net. And while you're there, be on the lookout for some of the best Christian resources on the market, including books and DVDs that feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
That's pastorpaul.net. All of us are gods by creation.
Some of us are gods through redemption. Let's listen closely now to the rest of today's message: God's property. Romans 14 verse 8. If we live, We live to the Lord. And if we die.
And by the way, don't take that if as though you might not die. The only way you're not going to die is if Jesus returns before you get to the grave. But please understand the mortality rate among humans is 100%. We're all going to make the grave unless Jesus comes before then.
So, this if, don't get it wrong, like I'm just going to eat healthy and exercise really well, and I'm going to just stay here. No, you're gonna die one day jogging to the health food store. We're checking out of here at some point or another.
Now, do the best you can, stay as long as you can. Fight the good fight. I got a friend who says, I'm believing God for 120 years. Hope you make it. But we're all going to check out.
But what does he say? If we die, we die to the Lord.
So whether we live or die. We what? Belong to the Lord. Here, the Bible teaches we belong, literally, we belong to the Lord. That is, in fact, why Paul opened this letter to the church at Philippi.
In the first verse, he announces who's writing: himself and his spiritual son Timothy. And then they refer to themselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ. Bondservants.
Now, if you have another translation, you might see a different synonym for bondservants, but very few. English translations get this Greek word exactly right. Let me tell you about that word. The word that was translated here, bondservants. Is a word that literally means slaves.
Slaves. Paul said This is Paul and Timothy writing to you. Who are we? We're slaves of Jesus Christ. What does he mean by that?
He's not saying that God is an oppressive master. Not at all. In fact, he declares throughout this book, he joyfully writes about the wonderful things God has done and the great provisions of God. Paul knows he is not serving a hard taskmaster and oppressive God. Oh, I'm so glad that we serve a benevolent, loving, and gracious, and merciful God.
But Paul was saying I'm not throwing off on God when I say I'm a slave. I'm simply acknowledging that I realize my life is all about doing his will.
Now, here's why I wanted to point this out. Because if we're going to understand what this passage means when it says God is going to finish the work that He started in us, we must understand that that construction project means He will do exactly as He pleases. And we must surrender completely to him. Paul says we are slaves. He didn't purchase us to bind us, he purchased us to set us free to do his will.
But make no mistake about it: God is in charge, he is the sovereign God. And so you and I have to learn how to live from the standpoint of being slaves of Jesus Christ.
Now that's a very different dynamic. Than being just a servant. Bondservant. Is an unfortunate translation because bond servants in those days simply meant that, say, if you owed a debt that you couldn't pay, you or your children could be put into bond service, which means you work off the debt. And for as long as the debt exists, you do what you're told to do so that the debt is being written off along the way.
Everybody get that?
Well, that's bond service. It had its purpose, but that's not what Paul called himself. He didn't say, I hire myself out to God. To be a preacher, and you know, we got mutually agreeable terms. He said, I'm the slave of God.
He called me to be a preacher, so I'm preaching. See, a bondservant or a contractor. Our day, a lot of people say, I'm an independent guy, I don't work for anybody, I'm an independent contractor. Cool. Good.
God bless you. You got it like that. You just go to the company and say, here's the contract, let's come up with the terms. And for this period of time, these months or these years, I will work for you. I'll do these things.
And there are terms that you agree upon. And that's great, but that's not what Paul called himself. He said, I'm not God's contractor. I didn't hire myself out. And we, you who work for companies.
God knows you're not a slave. 'Cause you are quick to let them know. Come on, let's be honest. You are quick to say, look. It's five o'clock.
You come walking into my office with a stack. Excuse me, put it right on that desk. I'll get to it the next time I'm here. Why? Because they don't own you.
You work for them and you do certain things during those hours. But that's hardly ownership. And that's why when you get your paycheck, you don't go running into the boss's office. Yeah! I'm so, ooh, this is wonderful.
Wow. Oh, I don't know what to say. Thank you so much. Listen, if there's anything I can ever do for you. Whoever did that.
Over your paycheck? Of course not. In fact, if they're late getting the checks out. Oh, some of y'all know where I'm going. If they're late getting the checks out.
You will bust up in somebody's office, excuse me. I looked in my cubby and my check is not there. I need my check before lunch because I got to go to the bank and handle some things, and I want to do it during lunch.
So, y'all, and they say, Well, see, the payroll company was running. I don't care anything about the payroll company. If one of y'all got to pull out a checkbook and write me one right now, I want my check before lunch. See, that's why I don't mess with y'all because you're always late with somebody. See, so you know you're not a slave.
'Cause you're working for the money. I'll never forget when we were young people, a few of us who were called to preach, our pastor was a good old-fashioned trainer. My dad, when he was training me in ministry, he'd send me to places where he knew they weren't going to give me a love offering. Because he wanted me to learn early on: you don't preach for money, you preach because it's a calling. And if later on it becomes vocational, you thank God for the provision, but that's not why, that's not the motivation for what you're doing.
And he taught us that by sending us to places that he knew. And so I'd go to show up some little church to speak for their annual Usher's Day, a Sunday afternoon, a little annual Usher's Day, and I'd show up, and they're not even in the sanctuary. And I showed up at the time the service supposed to start. They're still downstairs eating chicken. And.
Oh, I done been around church folk. I can tell you some things. And finally, they start coming upstairs and file into the sanctuary and start the service 20 minutes late. Singing bad devotional songs.
Some of y'all know where I've been.
Sooner and later, they get it all together, and then finally they put you up to speak. And then some of those churches had this little habit, this little custom that if you were the guest speaker for some annual day or something, that somebody would stand you up near the end of the service and have an envelope and hand it to you and say, We are so glad you came to be our guest speaker for this annual day. And we wanted to give you this token of our appreciation. And then they would say, We are not trying to pay you, but we just thank God that you took time to come. And every now and then, after the service, I'd look in the envelope and I saw they were not trying.
To pay me. It was pretty obvious by what was in there, y'all are not trying. To pay a brother. And I never said it, but I always wanted to say, I got an idea. How about y'all go back and try?
My point is, when you're employed, or when you're a contractor, or even in Bible days, if you were a bondservant, you still had ownership. There was an agreement and an understanding. But that wasn't ownership. Paul said, I'm a slave. We have to develop the slave mentality, not that our God is oppressive, he is not.
But from our vantage point, if you want to really enjoy your walk with God and see the construction project of your life go on time, Everything just as God would have it, you got to get out of God's way. Thanks so much for being here for Pastor Paul Shepard's message: God's Property. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously to day, please come see us at Pastor Paul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. God will not put up with us doing it our way.
He will not tolerate that because he is the master builder. He has acquired us as his property, and you're going to do it God's way, or you're going to bring all kinds of trouble into your life. And that's tomorrow in our continuing Destined for Victory message, God's Property. Until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory.
