Hello and welcome to another great week here on Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. We've got a great message lined up for you today, but before we get going, I'm pleased to welcome in Pastor Paul's daughter and the executive director of Destined for Victory, Alicia Greer. Alicia, I know we've got a great series of messages that start today. How about setting things up for us just a bit by telling us what we can expect over the next few weeks? My dad would often quote this question that goes, If you were accused of being a Christian, is there enough evidence to convict you?
And that's so important for all of us to ponder as believers because I think we can all agree that the world is becoming increasingly dark. And so what people will need in order to be drawn to the light of Christ are believers who are not just talking about it, but who are being about it, that they can see that evidence of Christ in our lives. And that's exactly what this series teaches us. It teaches us how we prove the profession of our faith through the fruit of the Spirit that we allow God to cultivate in us. And so we should all be on that journey, and this sermon series will help us as we continue to grow in Christ.
And we'll get to the first of these messages in just a few moments. But first, let me tell you about a brand new special offer. Yours today is our thank you gift for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. You know, giving good gifts is more than generosity or kindness. It's a lifestyle that honors God.
In our booklet, Give, Bless, Repeat, you'll be challenged to make doing good a regular part of your life. Along the way, you'll discover how to give wisely, how to bless others without enabling them. Again, that's Give, Bless, Repeat, and it's our gift to you today when you give your generous donation 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. And you can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. Uh 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. When you read through Hebrews chapter 11, you can't help but notice what faith in Christ is all about. Here's a sampling. By faith, Abel brought an offering. By faith Abraham left his home, By faith Noah built an ark.
So, you see, faith is an action word, not merely a belief, but a behavior. Today, on Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard, you'll be encouraged to live a life that bears fruit. to let the confession of your mouth become the actions of your hands and feet. The message is called Prove It. And it starts right now.
The Apostle Peter. wrote this second letter During a time when The early church was under intense persecution. If you're familiar with early church history or even with Roman history in the first century AD, you will know that Nero was a ruler. Who had a particular anger toward the Christian church? And he told lies on those who were followers of Christ and tried to stir up all kinds of resentment among the Romans toward these Jews, and Gentiles were being added to their numbers.
People Who really were innocent of the charges, but Nero wanted them out of the picture, and so he caused all kinds of trouble. And the result was there was intense persecution among the people of God. It is during that time, sometime in the mid to late 60s AD, that Peter writes this letter. To a scattered, a persecuted church that is trying to hold on in the face of all that Nero is doing to try to wipe them out. And by the way, in church history, whenever there has been intense persecution designed to destroy the church, all it has done is caused the church to multiply.
God has a phenomenal way. Of taking persecution and using it to spread the gospel rather than to quench the gospel. And that happened in the first century, and it has happened literally in every century thereafter. Whenever the enemies of the church rise up, God has a way of using it for his own purpose. And they should have known that because Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build my church.
And he said, The gates of hell shall be. shall not prevail against it. My brother, my sister, I want to let you know God is going to have a people here until He comes again to receive us home. The devil can do His best, but He will not wipe out the Church of Jesus Christ. And all we have to do is to learn to stay in the word and allow God to speak to us through his word and show us how to get through even those dark times.
And it was during such a time of persecution that Peter writes this second letter. And I love the theme he presents in the early part of this letter. Because he wants to make sure that these Christians to whom he writes understand that it's not enough. To have a profession of faith, but especially in dark and difficult times, they have to have the real. Bing.
And so the premise of this first chapter of 2 Peter is: if you really belong to God, Prove it by the way you live your life. If you are really a believer, 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 you believe God. 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.
Peter's premise is: if you are called of God, if you are part of the elect, Then prove it. By the way you live.
Now, just a word about doctrine. When you see words like calling and election as you read your New Testament, they speak to the issue that the Bible is clear about, which is that God foreordained, predestined us to be in Christ.
Now, Christians debate about what the basis of that election or that predestination is. There's one school of thought that says God sovereignly chose who would be saved and who would be lost before the foundation of the world. He did it purely according to his own purpose. He didn't take anything into account in terms of how you and I would live or what our inclinations would be for or against faith. He just sovereignly chose some to be saved and some to be lost, and then he created the world, and what God promised.
Preordained by his sovereignty is happening. The other camp says, Well, yes, God did elect us or preordain us, but it was based on his foreknowledge. In other words, that camp says, God looked down the corridor of time and saw what you would do when you were presented with the gospel message. Saw whether or not you would say, Yes, I want to be saved, or no, no, thank you. I want to live on my own terms.
I'm not interested in matters of faith. And that based on his foreknowledge of your decision, then he elected you or predestined you to be saved. And church folk love fighting about which is right. I'm here to tell you, I want to preach on election and calling, and I don't care which is right. You know why?
Because if you will make your calling an election sure, What difference does it make whether God chose you sovereignly or He chose you based on how you would respond? What my job is as a preacher is to tell you if you're called of God. Prove it. Prove it. Prove it by the way you live.
I don't get into debates I can't win. See, I believe in winning. I believe in winning. That's my, I mean, I want to win at everything. And so, since I'm called to be a preacher, and some of you know my testimony, that was a reluctant calling in terms of accepting it for me.
I didn't want to be a preacher. I grew up in a preacher's home, and I love my daddy to this day. He's a retired pastor, listens to the broadcast just about every day, if not every day, and loves the fact that two of his sons are preachers of the gospel and carrying the torch that he carried faithfully for so many years. And so, I thank God for him and loved him. But as I grew up and saw the lifestyle of a person in vocational pastoral ministry, I thought, I don't want that.
I want to be a regular Christian. I want to be a normal person. I want to have a normal life. I don't want to have to be responsible for a whole church of people. I don't want to have to preach to folk who are mad and some are happy and some are and all of that stuff.
I didn't want to go through those changes. I wanted a regular job. And I was all the way in college trying not to be a preacher until God finally got a hold of me and made it clear to me I was called to preach, and the sooner I accepted it, the happier I would be. And he also pointed me to scriptures like Jonah and showed me the success rate. Of people who try to run from their callings.
I'm saying this not just to set up this message, I'm saying it because there are probably some of you who are running from a calling. It may or may not be to a pastorate, it may or may not be to missionary work, whatever it is. But whatever God's called you to do. I would suggest that you get it done because God doesn't let you win until you say yes to His will. And since I'm a preacher, I want to win.
I want to hear Him say well done. I believe in winning. I don't care what it is, I believe in winning. If it's a game and I'm in it, I'm in it to win it. If I play Monopoly, I'm out for blood.
Anybody can relate to me? Can anybody relate?
Now, see, some of you all are those kinds of people. You're just in the game just because it's a game. And, you know, I just said, oh, it doesn't matter to me. Oh, take all my houses. It's just fine.
No, no, I don't even want somebody like that on my table. Go over there to the kiddie table if you don't care about winning. At this table, I want people who want to win, or they're leaving with an attitude. That's what I want. I want the people who, for whom it is life and death.
They want your hotels, they want your houses, they want board, walk, park place, everything. They want to leave you broke, busted, and disgusted. And that's just the way I am. I want to win at everything. And so I want to win.
in terms of my calling, and therefore I choose not. to enter into the debates. In Scripture, About things that can't be settled. I figure if Christians and scholars, theologians have been debating this for centuries, I'm not smart enough to settle the debate.
So since I'm not smart enough to settle it, I just won't get in it. And instead, what I'm going to do is preach the main and plain things because I can win at preaching those. I can help you see that according to this word, there is some evidence in the life of a person who is truly called an elect of God. And that's what I want to do, spend a little time in this passage and help you see how we are called to prove. that we truly walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's pause right there for just a moment, but don't go away. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Shepard. Remember, you can always listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net. And when you stop by, we hope you'll visit 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.
You may not have everything you've ever wanted, but if you're a believer in Christ, you have the greatest gift ever given: the gift of salvation.
Now let's get you back to the rest of today's Destin for Victory message. Prove it. Now, I didn't read The introductory verses, but Peter introduces it in a rather standard way. He says, To those who, through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, have received a faith. Precious as ours.
He calls the Christian faith a precious gift from God. Please understand that when you're saved, you have a precious gift. Please understand that when God has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, you have an outstanding gift from the Lord. If you don't have many of the trappings you want in your life, you've already won because you have the greatest gift in the history of mankind, which is the salvation of your soul through the free gift God has given you in Christ. He calls our faith precious.
He says, Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God. And of Jesus our Lord. Please know that Peter is saying, and again, he's speaking to people under intense persecution, that you can expect to receive from God two things in abundance. One is grace, and the other is peace. And he says you need to expect to believe and receive them through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, through getting to know God in an intimate way.
And I'm going to talk about that more in a moment. He says, you can expect that God will give you grace. What is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. When God gives you grace, He's given you something you can't Earn you can't deserve, he just bestows it upon you.
Now, what does that grace look like in your life and in mind? Grace is an endowment, it is an ability to get through what you have to go through. It is the ability to do what you've been called to do. It is the ability to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life. And it is an endowment.
It is something that is given for a specific purpose. You know, even when it comes to those who are philanthropic, they give because they want a certain purpose to be fulfilled.
Well, God says, I give my people grace because I have a purpose for your life, and my grace is designed to get you through what you have to go through. Have you ever gone through a season in your walk with God? Where you felt like, God, I cannot make it. I can't make it. Please know when you get to a place where you can't make it, if you will look to the Lord, He has said in His word, I will give you the grace you need, and I'll give you abundant grace in that moment to get through what you have to go through.
Now, here's the trick: He gives grace in abundance, but He doesn't give grace in advance.
Somebody missed it, so I have to say it again. He gives grace in abundance, but he doesn't give grace in advance. I've walked with God for some time, so have some of you. I've never had God give me advance grace. for a trial I'm not going through yet.
What you have is the grace to handle what you're going through right now in your life. But you may have some things down the road coming. You may have, for instance, a calling that's gonna blow your mind. God might ask you to do something that you just can't imagine being able to do. When he calls you and when you say yes and begin to move out in obedience, that's when you'll have that kind of grace.
So that's why you can look at some people right now and see what they're going through in their life and say, ooh, I could never go through that.
Well, you can't do it with the grace you have. Because the grace you have is designed to get you through what you're going through. You see what I mean? But if your calling gets higher, or if your challenges get higher, then your grace will exceed the level of your challenge.
So I want somebody to be encouraged to know that when you need it, God will have it available for you. See, we shop at Costco and we like to get big boxes of things. You know, you want a grace value pack. You know, where you're coming out of the place with this big old value pack of things. God won't give you grace like that.
God will give you the grace for what you're going through in this season of your life. And that's all you have. In fact, The grace seems to be dispensed day by day. Because if you're like me, you've had those times where you say, God, I can't make it another day.
Well, you can't make it another day on the grace you have, because the grace you have is for today. But I tell people when you're up late at night saying, God, I can't make it another day, go to sleep. Go to sleep. Why? Because tomorrow you can say, Now, Lord, according to your word.
There ought to be a fresh batch of grace. To get me through what I'm about to go through, God, I'm getting ready to go to work, Jesus. And those folk, you know how they worked my nerves yesterday, they're waiting on me today. I need a fresh batch of grace. And Peter said, You can believe God for grace in abundance.
He said, You can also believe Him for peace in abundance. And peace, of course, is that fruit, that quality that God will create. And cultivate in our lives, which will allow us. to experience not an absence of trouble. But an absence of anxiety, overwhelming anxiety about our trouble.
See, you might be going through difficult times, and peace, as it's spoken of in scripture, isn't the absence of the trouble. That's deliverance. Every now and then, God will deliver you.
Sooner or later, if you'll be faithful, He'll deliver you from what you're going through. But before He delivers you from it, He promises, I'll give you peace while you're going through it. See, we want to be delivered from. And that's nothing wrong with asking God, oh God, bring me out of this. But as I said in the message about Job.
One of the things we have to learn to do, whether we want to or not, is wait on God. Gotta wait on God. Because he doesn't operate by your schedule. Have you learned that by now? Have you ever told God I need you to come through by the end of the month?
And the end of the month flew by. And you haven't seen God yet? But He's with you. You know why? Because he has given you grace.
And if you trust him, he'll give you peace.
Now, peace, please know this. Peace isn't something you get automatically. Peace is something that That is conditional. It's a conditional promise. We know that because when you look in places in the scripture that talk about it, you will see the conditions.
For instance, in Philippians chapter 4, you will see that the peace of God that passes understanding only comes after you've done some things that Paul talks about. He said, first of all, that you need to learn to rejoice in the Lord always. In other words, if you want peace, make the choice to rejoice.
Some of us make the choice to complain.
Some of us make the choice to blow up all the negative circumstances. Paul says, no. Make the choice to rejoice. Find something to rejoice in God about. And if you can't rejoice in your circumstances, rejoice in the God who will bring you through your circumstances.
Make the choice to rejoice. He also says, be moderate, be temperate in your living with Christ. Make sure that you allow God to bring balance into your life, that you don't become overwhelmed by your negative circumstances, but you allow God to bring the fruit of temperance. Or balance into your life. And we'll talk about that as we move through the text.
Then he also said, you got to learn to pray if you want peace. Because when you have trouble, what are you going to do? You got to do something with it.
Well, the Bible says, don't worry about it, but instead, pray about it. Paul said, don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. And he said, if you will learn to give your petition over to God. I often say that we who are going through difficulties and tough times cannot afford to be prayerless. You can't afford not to pray if you're having it rough.
A lot of times the devil will make you say, Well, you know, you're having it rough. You don't feel like going to church. You don't feel like praying. You don't feel like going to a small group.
Well, that's when you ought to go all the more. Because you got to believe God through your tough times. And you got to learn to pray and cast those cares on God. Because if you don't pray about it, you will worry about it. But some of us have learned: if you pray and pray right, God will deliver you from the worry and give you a peace that passes understanding.
Now, look with me at verse 3 of 2 Peter 1. He says here, God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory. And goodness. His divine power, look at that, has given us everything we need.
Now, Peter is encouraging people who are going through some difficulties they've never experienced before. And Peter's saying, right off the bat in this letter, I want you to know. that God's power has made available to you. Everything you know. Me.
To get successfully through this life and to do it while pleasing God. Isn't that great news? You and I already have the power to live a life pleasing to God, the wisdom, the faith, the desire. Each has been freely given to all who have put their trust in Christ. We're so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message entitled Prove It.
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. Because a lot of us think Christianity comes in a do-it-yourself kit. And we think, well, I got saved, and so my job now is to try to live the right kind of life. I want to let you know the Bible says no.
You are not asked to try to be a godly person because if we could be godly on our own power, Jesus would have never come. And that's tomorrow in our continuing 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.
