When the devil tells you about your stuff, tell him about his stuff. Tell him you don't even have the right to talk to me. I know you're not talking to me. I'm a child of God. You who have the devil always throwing your past up in your face and what you did.
If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Hello, and thanks for being here for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Wherever you are, however you may be listening, thanks for making this part of your day.
Well, the devil knows his days are numbered. It's only a matter of time before he's out of time and cast into the lake of fire. That's his future. Over the course of the next twenty minutes or so, we'll offer you a glimpse into your future. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to any recent message on demand, including today's.
That's pastorpaul.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcast.
Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message: a preview of coming attractions. I believe completely in healing, but. Don't take it to some extreme because the fact of the matter is, your body is showing signs no matter how many times God heals you, the time is coming when your heart is going to stop beating. And there are going to be characteristics, no matter how much you believe God for healing, that you got to switch bodies. This one's getting weaker, but you ought to get excited because that means your strong one, your powerful one, is on the way.
And this one won't get sick. This one won't get tired. You know right now you can have a good day for about ten twelve hours And then after a while you start yawning and You feel your s your engine shutting down. And again, it just happens. You don't have to want it to happen.
You can be having a wonderful time. But your engine starts shutting down. And it's a sign of maturity when you realize that and you cooperate with that. You know how children are. Children just want to play forever, they just play till they conch out.
You know, you gotta make them take a nap. I don't want to take a nap because they're just scared they're going to miss something. Oh, but you get a little older and you look forward to the bed. Come on somebody. After a while, nobody had to spank you and send you to bed and all that.
Why y'all don't spank anymore? But, you know, tell you to go to bed. After a while, you send yourself to bed. Party can be going on in your house. But when you get that right time of tiredness, you're like, yo, let yourselves out.
It was wonderful seeing everybody. God bless you. Oh, give me a hug. Oh, I'm going to bed. Because this one shuts down.
Just counts out on you. You're through. Try this again tomorrow. Whatever I didn't get done today, I'll try it tomorrow. But I'm done.
And thank God the one that's coming. We'll be able to enjoy God forever. And never have to as much as take a nap. Unbelievable, and we can't even conceive of that in the natural body. But you'll be strong all the time.
And the Bible says it's going to be raised in power. No tiredness, no weakness, no sickness, no disease. Nothing that would bog us down, nothing that would weigh us down. Not only the tiredness of the body, but tiredness of the mind. You know, these days a lot of times you are tired not because of your physical activity.
A lot of times today you're tired because of your mental and emotional activity. Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that very often we are tired not because of anything we've done. It's not like you've been working physically hard all day long, but the stress of your mind and your emotions. Because the body tends to catch the mind and emotions diseases.
And it carries its frustrations. And you don't believe me, just watch what stress will do not only to your mind, but to your body. You find your neck stiffening up? Chances are it's something going on in your mind. And your emotion, sure, you can make a funny move and get your body misaligned, but also stress has a direct impact.
On your body. And so, when the Bible says our next one is going to be sown in power, God is going to remove not only sickness and tiredness and weakness, but He's going to remove everything that would frustrate us. That's why you got to intercede and pray and cry now because the day is coming when you won't be worried about any of the folk. You're going to rejoice in the God of your salvation. And you're going to rejoice in those that are there.
You intercede for your loved ones who don't know the Lord. Do that now because God won't let you mess up heaven worrying about them.
Now is the time of prayer.
Now is the time of crying and interceding and oh God, save my loved ones and what have you, because when we get over there, you're not going to be up in heaven yet, but did Junior make it? Oh Lord, you mean Junior didn't make it? That would mess up heaven, wouldn't be heaven. Heaven would it? You up there word about Junior.
No, no. Pray for Junior now! Because when you get there There's a verse in Revelation that says, God will wipe the tears from our eyes. And what that means is, every painful memory, everything that would cause you frustration, will be erased. And there'll be nothing but joy.
Instantaneous change, body that won't die. A body without limitations. Fourth, he says, it's a body that reflects the glory and the image. of God. Look at what he says beginning in verse 45 in this text.
He says, It is written: the first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam, which is Jesus Christ. was a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural. And after that, Then the spiritual. The first man, Adam, was of the dust of the earth.
The second man, Jesus, was from heaven. As the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth. And as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Guess what? When you are in Christ, you are of heaven.
When you're born the first time, you're born in the image of Adam. When you're born again, you're born in the image of Jesus. He says. And just as we borne the likeness of the earthly man, verse 49, we shall also bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
He says, you've got to understand that you are headed. to a state Where God is going to make you like His Son Jesus, we're going to bear His image.
Now, we bear it spiritually now, we're born again now of His image. But you know what? It's a funny thing. You've got the image of the everlasting Christ trapped, as it were, in a mortal body where you have to deal with mortal issues and you have to deal with temptation and you have to deal with life here on earth. But one day, God is going to transform us, and the true you is going to come out.
And that true you is just like Jesus. 1 John 3 and 2, the Apostle John said, Beloved, Now are we the sons of God? You're a son of God right now. Don't let the devil tell you you're not saved 'cause you have struggles and issues. You are a child of God right now.
Don't call yourself a sinner. I'm not a sinner. I was a sinner.
Now I'm a child of God. Yeah, but I know you still have issues. Yeah, when the devil tells you about your stuff, tell him about his stuff. Because he's not a child of God. Tell him you don't even have the right to talk to me.
I know you're not talking to me. I'm a child of God. You who have the devil always throwing your past up in your face and what you did. If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Tell him where I read the book.
Guess where you're going? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk to him. Just tell him where guess where you're going. The book said death and hell gonna be cast in a lake of fire, and that's where you're gonna spend your eternal existence.
See, you got to get your theology straight. Y'all think the devil's in hell now. He's not there now. He's in the earth realm now. He knows where he's going, but he's trying to drum up a lot of company.
He's in the earth realm now. The Bible says the day is coming when death and hell are going to be cast in the lake of fire. He is living under an awful sentence. Don't let the devil mess with you because at your worst, you're better off than him at his best. You are a child of God, and it doth not yet appear what you shall be.
Oh, don't let the devil mess with you because you're still getting some things together in your life. It does not yet appear what I shall be. I'm on the road, I'm on the journey. The Holy Spirit is walking me along and teaching me how to be like Jesus, convicting me of my sin and telling me that I'm a child of God. I no longer live in those ways, and I've got to live in obedience to God.
And He has me on a journey going from glory to glory. And so you should see yourself on a growth path. And God is committed to you. See, I love God because the Bible says He began the good work in us. He already made us like Jesus in our hearts, and now He's teaching us to live like Him, walk like Him, talk like Him, act like Him, make decisions like Him.
And one day, when he transforms our bodies, he'll also transform all of us so that we are made completely in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Oh, I'm telling you the coming attractions are too much, man. We are sons of God right now. And that's why he closes the chapter. Look at what he says when he gets over in verse 54.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, the mortal with immortality, then the saying. That is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepherd. As always, you can hear any of our recent messages on demand at pastorpaul.net.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. You know, in order for the great commission to be fulfilled, it has to be funded. It was that way during the Apostle Paul's life and ministry, and it remains that way to day. We are so grateful for the prayers and donations of friends and partners like you, because you are reaching people all over the world with the love of Jesus Christ. Let's keep that momentum going, and let's do it together.
To make a safe and secure donation online, go to Pastor Paul dot net or call 855-339-5500. And how's this for some good news? One day all believers in Christ will be transformed, and on that day, the eternal weight of God's glory will become evident, and we will spend all eternity in the light of His glory. Yeah.
Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message: a preview of coming attractions. Fact of the matter is, my brothers, my sisters, The coming attractions are wonderful because death itself. Is going to be swallowed up in victory. The last enemy. That will be conquered is death.
And when God conquers that for us, We will live forever without any restriction. In the presence and the glory of God. It says we're going to be raised in glory. We're going to experience such glory.
Well, what would that word imply? Here's what the Bible implies about our life. after our existence on this planet. Your best day on earth. Is not to be compared.
to a boring day in heaven. Think about your best day. Think about a season in your life where you just loved everything that went on that day. Oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful day.
I have a wonderful feeling everything's going my way. And from Oklahoma. When you have those days They are not. to what is to come. Here's the way the Apostle Paul described it when he wrote the church at Philippi.
He said I'm trying to figure out whether I want to go or stay. Paul talked as though God was going to give him a choice. To go or stay. This man had some incredible calling on his life. And he said, You know, I'm trying to figure out whether to go or stay.
He said, if I stay, it'll be better for you. But if I go He said it is far better. And what he was trying to describe, he used the word far, it describes a great distance. He said life in the hereafter is fall Far better for the child of God. than anything I could experience here.
Do you know it doesn't matter how much people love you here? If they leave And go to be with the Lord. If the Lord were to say, you know what, they're really crying at your funeral. I tell you what, I'll let you go back for a few years if you want. When you get in God's presence, the glory.
The excitement, the euphoria in the presence of God is of such a nature, Paul said, that you wouldn't go back to the folk you love the most if he gave you the chance. You want to live to be able to experience something like that.
So, live first of all, so that the people down here miss you. When you cry at a funeral, don't cry for them. If they died in Christ, don't cry for anybody who died in Christ. Because, tell you the truth, if they could, they'd be crying for you. You the one got to stay here looking around and making plans and got to clutch your bag and got to watch out for pickpockets during Christmas and.
Who's trying to rip you off? Who's trying to steal your identity and cybercrime and all of this stuff? We gotta think about. They would cry for you. Two different existences altogether.
So live so that folk miss you. Because I tell you what, you would never go back to them once the Lord gets you.
Now you do want somebody to m live so that somebody does miss you when you leave. Come on now. Since you gotta stay here until the Lord takes you. Live so that someone does miss you. Don't live where folk don't care that you're gone.
All of us ought to strive to leave our footprints in the sands of time. There ought to be somebody's life who's better because you were here. There ought to be people who will be in heaven because of your influence in their lives. There ought to be people who are blessed, who are the better when they hear you're gone and bring sorrow to them because you were such a blessing. You prayed for them, you encouraged them, you helped them, you ministered to them.
You are a blessing. You want to be a difference maker. When you leave. I told y'all many times when I check out of here as hard as I'm working trying to serve the Lord, I don't want y'all to just hear I'm gone and then just go to lunch. But Pastor Paul, he's he goes.
What? This morning he gone? Isn't that something? All right, what what y'all wanna eat? Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Time out. Stop the presses. All this praying, all this preaching, all this serving, all this getting this stuff together. No, I deserve more than that. And some of y'all that I had to do all kinds of work to get you straight.
Some of y'all know when you hear I'm gone, I want you to fall out. Just Straight up. There's some of y'all in this room. When you're here, I'm going what papa? Pat the burglar.
Wow! Just go out. They'll pick you up, revive you. Because you knew the tears you made me cry and the nights you had me praying and all this counseling, all this helping you. You want to live so that you make a difference in somebody's life.
But I tell you what when this life is over Not a sorrow, not A way down thought. Will you have? Because you will have the ultimate glory. The ultimate experience in the presence of Christ. That's why the old saints sang some glad morning when this life is over.
I'll fly away. To a home on God's celestial shore. I'll fly away. See, the young folk sing only young songs, but some old songs need to hang around every now and then. When the shadows of this life have gone, I'll fly away.
Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away. One verse said, just a few more weary days and then. I'll fly away to a land where joy shall never end. I'll fly away. Sometimes we still sing that hymn when we all get to heaven.
I grew up here in the Saints sing it. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing His mercy and His grace. In the mansions bright and blessed, He's prepared for us a place.
So, you need to get excited. I know we all want to claim our promises and our blessings now, but we're too earthbound for our own good. I want to tell you something, that's something to look forward to. Yes, God has exceeding great and precious promises for us here, but when this life is over, I've got something to look forward to. We've got a preview from the Word of God upcoming attractions.
And that's why you got to get your life right and do it right away. That's why you can't afford to live as though you have forever. Because you don't know when you're checking out of here. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message: a preview of coming attractions. Always glad to have you with us.
You know, none of us can accomplish God's will all by ourselves. Every person, every group, every ministry needs a little help from time to time. Pastor Paul and I often talked about the power of partnership, and I once asked him what he would say to you, our friends, and here's what he had to say: I want them to know your partnership is very, very important and necessary. When you think about it, starting way back, I'm thinking about Moses. He could not have been Moses without the partners God gave him.
God raised up Joshua. The Bible called Joshua Moses' minister before it called him God's minister. And Joshua was one of those key people. Aaron, his brother, was one of his key partners. Every man or woman of God since then, all the way into, of course, when you get to the ministry of Jesus, Jesus himself required partnership.
Isn't that amazing that the God-man. Needed partners. He took Peter, James, and John farther into the Garden of Gethsemane and he said, Just stay here and watch with me. And he cried and poured out his heart to get ready for that moment when he would lay down his life for us. And he needed that partnership.
He had Peter, James, and John. He also had Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Then when you look at the apostles, there is no Paul without Timothy, without Silas, without Barnabas. And on and on, all of us need partners.
So the bottom line is: I'm so grateful for every man, woman, boy, and girl. Who has become a partner for our ministry?
So you can keep on providing this platform so that we can reach even more people for the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, your partnership with us is more important than ever. For as little as $20 a month, you can become a Destined for Victory partner. And when you do, we'll send a few thank you gifts your way, including one of our most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile. Call 855-339-5500 and learn more about becoming a Destined for Victory partner.
You can make your pledge over the phone, or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. You can also partner with us from our website, pastorpaul.net.
Now, if you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift to the ministry today, we'd love to send you our latest booklet, Grown Up Faith. For more information on this outstanding resource, please visit pastorpaul.net. If you're really a follower of Christ, Then it's time for your faith to To show up every day. It's time for it to show up in the way spiritual fruit is developed in your life. It's time for it to show up in the way you tap into God's power to get through what you have to go through.
That's next time when we'll share a message, prove it. Until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
