Hello and welcome to another great day here on Destined for Victory where we feature the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Come on your way in just a few moments a call for unity in the body of Christ, something for which He Himself prayed shortly before His crucifixion. Before we get going, though, I'd like you to hear a conversation I had once with Pastor Paul. I spoke with him about Destined for Victory's long standing mission to reach the world for Christ, a mission Pastor Paul wanted to continue long after his preaching days were over. Here's that conversation.
Well, you know, when I think of Victorious, my mind goes back. I'm a kid growing up watching T V in the 60s, so my mind goes back to the wide world of sports. Oh, yeah. There was an announcer named James McKay, Jim McKay, something like that. He had this classic line where he talked about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
And I love just thinking about how thrilling it is to be victorious. I love in any game I'm playing, I want to be victorious. I tell people I don't care whether it's monopoly or something really serious, I want to win. And in life, we can win in Christ, and that's what the Bible tells us: that we are victorious in Him. And victorious means that we're following His lead, that we're letting the Holy Spirit take us where He wants us to go in life.
We're saved by His grace, and then we're simply following His. His direction. And of course, the Word of God is so key to following God's direction because the Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. And so those who tune in to broadcasts like Destined for Victory are really supposed to be receiving guidance so that we can walk in and live in victory. And that's what I pray is happening as people tune in day by day.
Well, we say it every day on the broadcast. In Christ, you are destined for victory. And our prayer is that you will live the victorious Christian life every single day until the coming of our Lord Jesus. You know, the Destined for Victory media ministry can often go to places missionaries can't, into remote areas of the world that are often hostile to the Christian faith. We can also make it inside the homes of elderly shut-ins or those who have no way of getting to church.
Just one more reason why your gifts to Destined for Victory are so critical to the cause of Christ. When you make a generous donation today, we'd love to send you our latest resource as our way of saying thanks. It's a message called Sometimes You Have to Encourage Yourself, and it's never aired before on Destined for Victory. It's not available anywhere else, so request either a DVD or a streaming link with your gift today. Again, that's Sometimes You Have to Encourage Yourself, one of the last messages Pastor Paul ever preached, and it's our gift to you when you give your best 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. You can't ignore what the Bible says and be blessed.
And the Bible says that God's people are to learn how to walk in unity and oneness because in oneness is power. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed for unity among the body of Christ. He asked that all of his followers, both then and in the future, would be one, just as he and God the Father are one. On today's Destined for Victory, you'll hear about two key principles that can help the church achieve that goal.
Now, from Romans chapter 14, let's get started with Pastor Paul Shepard's Destined for Victory message: The Call to Unity. I'm basing. These principles in Romans 14. And the last time we looked at the first. A principle of how to achieve unity, and that was to accept others as equals.
Accept others as equals. We looked at verse 1 of Romans 14, where it says, Accept the one whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters. And I don't have time to get back into that, but that's so important. You got to start with acceptance. You know, a lot of people start with waiting to see if they want to accept somebody.
And you're already on the wrong road because Paul said you start with acceptance.
Now, let me broaden it out. And one of the problems that a lot of Parents have when it comes to their children, grandchildren, and the younger generations who are under their sphere of influence in some way or another is that they have a great difficulty accepting. them as equals. Because you know, old school people like, you know, some of us are from the old school, we know what it was like to hear older people say, I don't want to hear from these children. They didn't want to hear from them because they're like, in fact, some of them used to pretty much live like children are to be seen, not heard.
See, you hear them old school amens? We heard that kind of stuff growing up.
Well, hopefully, as you get older and you and you now have raised one set and some some of y'all are on your second set with your grands, you gotta understand you can't start with children need to be seen, not heard. That's not this world. They got lots to say. How many know they got much to say? And so, what you have to learn to do is accept the fact that they were not raised in our generation.
They were not raised with some of those values, some of those hardline rules and regulations. And so, yes, yes, you've got the things you want to communicate, but don't start from a place of you're not. Up here with me, you're and you have to play a different role, but in terms of your humanity and in terms of your standing before God, He loves them like He loves you. And so you got to start by accepting the fact that they stand before God, and we are to mold, we are to direct, and all of that, but you don't start from a place of rejection or stiff arming. You start from a place of acceptance.
And Paul said, even when it comes to people coming into the church who are different than you are, start by accepting them. Don't look at difference as a threat. Difference in and of itself isn't supposed to be a threat. It's just difference. That's all.
Male and female, different, except the women are women. Thank God for that. We don't need a world of men. We'd all be dead. Just shoot up one another, be done.
Sisters, I know, I know. I'm not sure what my response for this is going to be. Y'all need men. A world full of women? Nothing but Women, I'm not quite sure that's what y'all want.
Some of the sisters are saying, No, no, that's Start with acceptance of difference. And don't assume that difference is going to be problematic. Yeah, you have some things to work through. You have some baseline guidelines and all of that, but you got to start with acceptance.
Now let's move on to point number two. How do we deal with this whole thing of achieving unity? Paul said, not only should you accept others as equals, but number two, allow for honest differences of opinion. allow for honest differences of opinion. I want you to look with me at verses two, three, five, and six of Romans fourteen.
Paul said, One person's faith allows them to eat anything but another whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not. And the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does. Why? For God.
has accepted them. Look at verse five. One person considers one day more sacred than another. Another considers every day alike. Each of them Watch this, should be fully convinced in their own mind.
Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat Does so to the Lord. For they give thanks to God. Whoever abstains does so to the Lord. and gives thanks to God.
Now, let me help you understand. The context. Of course, in the early first century church, people were coming out of all kinds of backgrounds as they came into the church, the family of God. to the Ecclesia The called out of God, people who were called by the Holy Spirit into the family of God. And they're coming from all kinds of mindsets.
So, there were people who thought God wanted you to have a certain, very strict diet. And they were fully convinced of that based on their own background. And others had no such sense of who the God is that they're now serving as members of the family of God.
So there were some dietary things.
Some folks thought, for instance, that some of the meat at certain markets had been offered to idols and now it's being sold on the general market. And some people say, I need to know where this meet came from. And if it came from a temple where it was part of idol worship, I don't want anything to do with it. And no one who knows God ought to have anything to do with it. And the other folks said, this meet good.
You see what I'm saying? And both of them Both of them love the Lord. But when they look at that meat issue, They got differences of opinion. Another was sacred days. Of course, those coming out of Judaism, the Sabbath was, remember the Sabbath to do what?
To keep it holy. And so they had the Sabbath restrictions of the Old Testament teaching. The other folks said, We are one in Christ, we are new in Christ, we're not under Judaism.
So every day is a day to worship God. And so that's how they did that. As the early church developed, of course, we all know from church history that eventually the worship on Sunday became a sort of Sabbath day. It's not literally the Sabbath because Sunday is the first day of a new week. But a lot of people in the church kind of adopted that same idea: Sunday is the Lord's Day.
You even see in Revelation John, who was the apostle banished to the Isle of Patmos, where the Lord used him to give us the book of Revelation, he's on an isle, he's in exile, but he said, I was in the spirit when on the Lord's Day. on the Lord's Day. And so the church came to adopt that. And the reality is, some folks still believe: no, no, no, this day, Sabbath day, is sacred, holy. And changes should be made to what has been given us down through the tradition from Judaism.
And others say, No, no, that's not the case. I treat every day alike. And there were disputes. And look at Paul. He is saying, you get to hold what you believe earnestly as unto the Lord.
And at the end of the day, he's saying, you do what you do because of your relationship with God. And therefore, I love that he said we should not practice any judgment. in the process of that. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message, so don't go away. Remember, you can always come see us at pastorpaul.net to listen to the broadcast on demand.
And when you stop by, be sure to check out our online store where you'll find books and video messages that feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. That's pastorpaul.net. Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts. When it comes to matters of faith, even mature believers in Christ sometimes struggle to accept opposing views, but that's exactly what Jesus calls us to do, to disagree without dividing.
Now, let's get you back to the second half of today's Destined for Victory message: the call to unity.
So, I want to talk about some of those kinds of things we do as Christians. Where we just divide over things we really shouldn't divide over. You can disagree without dividing. We must learn to do that. Stop trying to make everybody think like you before you're okay with them.
You're not gonna be married. You're not gonna be. Nothing's gonna work in your life.
Some folk are just going to see it differently than you. And stop trying to beat them all into subjection. It's not the will of God. And it defies a principle. The Bible says we need to walk in unity, and unity does not require that we all believe exactly alike when it comes to disputable matters.
Now, there are essentials, there are essential things we need to believe. Jesus Christ came from heaven. As the sinless Son of God, born of a virgin. Lived a sinless life here on earth, died a substitutionary death on the cross so that you and I can be saved. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
That's not a disputable, that's an essential. If you don't believe that, you're not saved. You know why? Because he's the only Savior.
So the church proclaims that that's the good news. Don't listen if you're somebody watching, you don't yet know the Lord. Don't get mad. See, y'all, there y'all go. Jesus is the only way.
Do yourself a favor and Say, instead of getting mad that Jesus is the only way, thank God Jesus is the way. You have an opportunity. To come to him. Don't get mad. Get saved.
Getting mad that Jesus' only way would be, I've said it over the decades, that would be a little bit like being in a burning house. The fire is all around you. You are in this one area that the fire is getting to slowly but surely, and you don't see a way out. And suddenly, a firefighter bursts through with their tank and all that, and they got something for you. And say, Come with me, jump on my back.
I'm going to take you out of here. I'm your only way out. You don't stand there and say, I resent you saying you the only way.
Now, who said you the only? How come you the only one can save people? Nobody would do that. You would jump on their back. And right.
To safety. Thanking God as you go.
So don't let the enemy make you offended By the cross. The cross shouldn't be a place of offense. The cross is a place of blessing. A provision of salvation. And I've Atheists and agnostics, and said, Well, I want nothing to do with that.
All right, well, I love you, praying that you will come to see that the Lord loves you and has a plan for your life. I'm not going to fight with you about salvation, I'm going to preach the good news. And if you reject the good news, I still love you. Love all the folk in your life who don't love Jesus. Please love them.
Love them well because your love for them is much like God's love for them. He doesn't wait for them to say yes before He loves them, so you've got to do the same. And love all the folk in your life and in your sphere of influence who don't yet know the Lord. It's those who have proclaimed, I want nothing to do with you and your Jesus.
Well, if you choose not to have anything to do with Jesus, but why don't we still have a relationship? Why? Because I want to be salt and life in their life. And so we got to allow for honest differences of opinion on disputable matters. Essentials, like who Jesus is, we're not debating that.
I'm going to share the good news, and that's it. But there are other disputable matters. Eschatology, let me just give you some of them. Eschatology, what's that? The study of last things, the study of how God's going to wrap up human history.
That's eschatology. What's going to happen after the church age, so to speak? What's going to happen? Church folk have different opinions on that. Scholars have different opinions who have gotten PhDs and THDs, theology, doctor of theology, and all of that.
They have studied for years and come to different conclusions. There is the premillennial camp. There is the amillennial camp. There is it's not as large, but the post millennial camp. And then The way it fleshes out, there's an informal one called the Pan-Millennial Camp.
The folk who say, oh, it'll all pan out after a while. I kind of don't know, kind of don't care. I just want to be there when it happens, whatever good is going to happen. And so, listen, I'm not going to fight with folk.
Now, historically, the Church of God, the movement that our church is part of, historically is an amillennial movement.
So I've heard all of my life in all Church of God camp meetings and all the amillennial position that there will be no literal reign of Christ and a literal kingdom on earth. a thousand year reign. And so the amillennial camp says, no, when the Bible talks about that, it's language that is not to be taken literally. It is to be taken figuratively. It's talking about the reign of Christ in our lives.
And they have a whole build out why they believe what they believe. That's the amillennial camp. The premillennial says, no, there's going to be a literal. Rapture, there's going to be a literal, the church comes back, and we literally live on earth for a thousand years, and Christ will reign in Jerusalem and all of that. And so, church folk for ages have fought those battles.
And people often, not often, but every now and then people say, Pastor, what's your position on it? I say, I believe what I believe, but I believe I might be wrong.
So I choose not to waste. Preaching time. Talking about something that a position That may or may not be true.
So instead, I know what I believe personally, but I'm not going to put it out there as though this is what I think everybody ought to believe, because scholars decades, centuries before me have done that and failed to persuade each other. I'm not going to fight with you.
So here's my position. If you believe in a rapture, No, let me start with the amillennials. Church of God folk historically have been. If you believe the amillennial position that there'll be no literal rapture, the amillennial position is that the next thing that will happen on the eschatological calendar is that every eye will behold him. The Lord's going to come and everybody's going to see him at once.
That's the amillennial position, that the second coming. is the next thing to happen. Whereas the premillennial position says no, the next thing on the calendar is the rapture, which is the secret catching away. of believers out of the world.
Some of you have seen the movies and all that.
Some of us go way back in the day, how David, and all of them.
So.
Some folk believe the rapture is the next thing that happens, and church of God faith says, No, it's not going to be a rapture, it's going to be a second coming. Everybody's gonna see them. The rapture is God's gonna get them all out the world at once, instantly. No more Christians, no more followers of Christ. and that that period will last for seven years.
Three and a half of tribulation, three and a half years of great tribulation.
Some of y'all are saying, what in the world is he talking about? I need to make this point. After that, they say, then the second coming is, every eye will behold him, and all of that, judgment, and all of that.
So I tell folk. Believe what you believe, study what you've studied. If we want to do a class in our school of discipleship, Pastor Kevin and I will get together, and what we'll do is present both sides: say, here's what this and we'll let you see all the evidence for that. And one says, Now, here's what this side believes, and then it's up to you what you believe. Cause you know what?
If I'm saved, Whatever God's will is. I'ma enjoy that. That's where I am. That's where I've always been. I'm enjoying that part.
I'm not going to spend my time fighting with you. Oh, I did it in my earlier ministry. I remember having a debate, a public debate one time with a guy on that. I really, I got no interest in that. Believe as long as you know Jesus.
This is a disputable matter.
So I tell my amillennial friends If you don't believe in a rapture and one day you find yourself going up in one. You find yourself going up in one. You said, Look at that. I didn't know that was gonna be. We all got snatched out together.
You will know then your position was wrong. And your premillennial friends will be up there, y'all going to be there. I told you what was going to happen.
So I tried to tell you. By contrast, if you are a dispensationalist, you believe everything that Tim LaHaye and all them, all the movies, and everything. You bought it, hook, line, sink, all the whole thing. And the next thing that happens is every eye beholds him, and there is no rapture. You say Lord has Jesus.
You'll know then your position was off. Why should we Divide. Over which is right. Believe what you believe. But don't sweat it.
Here's a good rule of thumb, a familiar saying that we all need to remember. In the essentials, unity, in the non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity. We're so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message, the call to unity. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously today, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.
Some things I'm afraid that if I indulge, I won't have the control I want to have. Oh, I'm talking good.
Sometimes it's not sin, but I have difficulty in this area. Any of y'all been honest enough with yourself to say that some stuff I could do, but I need to stay away from that. Cause it where it takes me. That's tomorrow in our message, the call to unity. Until then, though, remember.
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
