Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. We'll get started with today's message in just a moment. But first, as you may know, it's been a challenging year at Destined for Victory. We lost our dear friend and teacher, Pastor Paul, who went home to be with the Lord in January. We don't always know why the Lord works the way he does, but the one thing we do know is that Pastor Paul wanted to keep the media ministry of Destined for Victory going long after he was gone.
Now, here's an important announcement from Destined for Victory's Executive Director, Alicia Shepherd Greer. Pastor Paul's media ministry is at a crossroads, and as executive director and as his daughter, I'm sincerely asking for your help. When my father went to be with the Lord earlier this year, you all showed such tremendous support, and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. But recently, we experienced a change in one of our significant sources of funding, and that change has led to a deficit.
So we need your help to keep Pastor Paul's teachings on the air. Every December we do a special fundraising push. But this year, because of the deficit, it's especially important.
So we're asking you to prayerfully consider giving a gift over and above your normal amount to help us keep this teaching legacy alive. And what's so special is that this month we're offering a special thank you gift. It's a collection of my dad's last year of teaching in the pulpit, and it's called Becoming an Excellent Steward. The family just finished up edits and now it will be going to print. We wanted to make sure it truly captured his voice, and it came out beautifully.
I spent my dad's birthday weekend reading the entire book, and it feels like a book of his best biblical life advice, so I know it will bless you. You can make a donation and request the book by visiting pastorpaul.net. Thank you so much for standing with us and keeping this mighty man of God's teaching legacy alive. God bless you. Thank you, Alicia.
Becoming an excellent steward is available today as our thank you for your best gift of twenty five dollars or more. Your gift will help us address the current financial deficit and keep Pastor's teaching legacy alive on this station. Please don't forget about the brand new book based on Pastor Paul's final messages. It's called Becoming an Excellent Steward and it's reserved for you when you make your most generous year-end gift of twenty-five dollars or more. Your generosity will help Destin for Victory through the current financial deficit and keeps Pastor Paul's teaching alive on this station.
More details are available at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net, or you can make your best year-end gift now by calling 855-339-5500. 855-339-5500.
Now let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, Life Lessons from the Christmas Story. Luke 1, beginning with verse 26. If you have it, say, I've got it. In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. To a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of of David.
The Virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid.
Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son. And you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
His kingdom will reign. will never end. How will this be? Mary asked the angels, since I am a virgin. The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you.
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have. A child in her old age. And she who was said to be barren, is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.
I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me. as you have said. Then the angel left her. At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town In the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zachariah's home.
and greeted Elizabeth. We'll pause our reading there. As we continue the series Life Lessons from The Christmas Story. The account of the physician Luke of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ. Is not only historically accurate, but as is the case with all of the gospel records.
They also teach us some important lessons about the way God would have us live our lives.
So when you study, The Gospels, in fact, when you study any portion of Scripture, You not only have the benefit of the historical data given, but you have the benefit of divine inspiration so that we can know that these are lessons that God. Will use to transform our lives.
Now, we've covered three of them. The first is righteous living matters to God. We noted in the earlier part of Luke chapter 1 that Zachariah and Elizabeth, who were chosen by God to become the parents of John the Baptist, were qualified to do so because They were walking uprightly before the Lord, and we established the fact that righteous living really does matter to God. And then secondly, we looked at the fact that God answers prayer. Life lesson number two, God answers prayer.
The fact is, Zachariah and Elizabeth had prayed for years that God would give them a child. And even when they ceased praying, as they became older and perhaps assumed that the prayer would not be answered, they went on serving the Lord, walking uprightly before Him. But what they discovered is that God answers prayer, and that that isn't based on a timeline we have in our minds. But God may not come when you want Him, but when He shows up, He's on time. And he had a divine purpose for them to have this particular child at a particular time.
So the fact that they had to wait until they were old startled them, but it didn't bother God. Because he knew what he wanted to do. And the fact is, God still answers prayer. And I challenged us to learn to pray in faith, believing that God will hear and answer prayer. We're saved because God answers prayer.
Somebody prayed for you when you didn't even know to pray for yourself.
Somebody was praying for you. Life lesson number three, when you pray, believe and receive. We noted in the last message That when they prayed, they had cast that care on the Lord, and they did not really continue to pray about it.
So, when Gabriel shows up with the news that Zachariah, your wife, is going to get pregnant and you're to give the boys the name John, and he's going to be a great prophet among God's people. Zachariah was not operating in faith, he was operating in disbelief. He asked the question: How can I be sure of this? He's talking to an angel. Gabriel, in fact.
One of only two angels mentioned by name in scripture that suggests they were prominent. Gabriel shows up on special occasions. And God sent Gabriel, he's standing there in the temple in a holy place, talking to an angelic being, and he wants to know how can he be sure of this. Life lesson three, when you pray, believe. and receive what God has for you.
And don't insult God with your lack of faith. When an angel is telling you what God said, that's not the time to ask for confirmation. And we talked about that in the last message. He could have asked some legitimate questions. He could have said, when will this be?
Because even Mary, when the angel visited her six months later, she said, How will this be, seeing that I'm a virgin? When the angel came to announce that she was going to bear the Son of God, she said, How will this be since I'm a virgin? That was a question born of faith, where she only sought information. But Zachariah's question is born of doubt and he's seeking confirmation. He wants to know, is this really true?
Are y'all just playing with me? Is this some sort of heavenly version of punct or something, you know? You don't know about that show, don't worry about it, nothing. Got a few MTV folk in here. They know what I'm talking about.
And here's the point. You've got to learn when you pray, believe and be in a position of expectation that God will answer prayer. Because God does not conform to our circumstances. He transcends our circumstances. He could have asked, when will this be if he were in faith?
I said in the earlier message, he could have said, Now, you know, Lord, am I going to be the one?
Now, I just want information. Are you going to do this through me? This is nothing immaculate. This is going to be me? He could ask that 'cause he's an old man, his wife's old, so he just wanted to get clear.
So he'd know what go home and tell Liz. I'm sure, you know, if he had been in faith. Man, he could have operated in faith. He could have gone home and told her, hey, you know, God gave us a promise. We owe, but one more time, baby, one more time.
No, we've been hanging out like brother and sister, but God's about to change some things. And it's going to be a special anointing, so we can't fool around now. You got to. When you pray, believe and receive. What God has for you.
And don't Insult God with your lack of faith.
Now I want to move on. And look at the portion of the story that now shifts to Nazareth, Where Mary is living. And we are told Beginning at verse 26 of Luke 1. That this virgin Has the same angel that came six months earlier. To inform Zachariah that his prayer had been heard.
Six months later, this angel shows up in the town of Nazareth and tells Mary. that she has been highly favored of God. The Lord is with her and the And that she is going to be with a child and give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus. He'll be great, will be called the Son of the Most High. He'll sit on the throne of David, will reign over the house of Jacob.
His kingdom will never end. Here's her question of faith: How will this be? Since I am a virgin, and because it was a question of faith, she got a very different answer than Zachariah. Zachariah asked a question of doubt: How can I be sure of this? The answer was: well, you'll be sure because you won't be able to speak till it happens.
See, because he wasn't in faith, God said, I tell you what, since you don't know how to believe me, let's just have you in temporary. A dumbness. Years ago, I preached a message from this passage: don't be dumb, believe God. And God struck him dumb for a while.
Now, Mary asks a question of faith, seeking only information, and so God gives her the information. What does he say? He says, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so that the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. And even Elizabeth, your relative, is pregnant in her old age because with God, nothing is impossible.
Now, look at what the angel said about the birth of Jesus. We've got to establish this. This is where there are many doctrines where it's okay for us to agree to disagree. There are lots of minor points. We don't have to all be on the same page.
But when you talk about doctrinal essentials, here's one of them. Jesus was not born of a man. He was born from heaven. God borrowed the womb of a virgin who had never known a man. To bring Jesus into the world.
And again, talk about righteous living. The only person God could have used to bring Jesus was a virgin. Because anything else would have been questionable.
Well, we do know that there's some other activity going on. And so, you know, they didn't have DNA tests back then. And God honors holiness and righteousness. And so He chose someone about whom there would be no question. She has never known a man.
And God selects her, and we are told the Holy Spirit comes upon her. and overshadows her. She is impregnated with divine seed. And so we can't budge from that. I don't care if you want to get along with folk from other religions, that's a knockdown drag out right there.
When it comes to Jesus, don't you call him a prophet? He's more than a prophet. I know, I love getting along with folk too, but I'm not going to lower him to a prophet so you can be happy. The Bible is clear. Jesus is not only the Son of God, but he is God the Son.
Jesus was born of a virgin by the power of Almighty God. And that is a doctrinal essential because if Jesus was born of a man, then he was born a sinner. And a sinner can't save you. He was born the sinless, spotless Son of God. God wrapped himself up in flesh.
John 1 and 1, in the beginning was the word. The Logos. And the word was with God, and the word was God. And then we're told later in John 1, and the word that is God became flesh. and dwelled among us.
He's no prophet. Don't let folks reduce him to a prophet.
Well, you know, we honor him in our tradition. We honor him as a good man, not good enough. Not good enough. Don't put him alongside Mohammed and them. Jesus isn't in that category.
Those were all men. Those were all men born of a mama and a daddy. Jesus was born from heaven. King of kings, Lord of Lords. One day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
That's no prophet. That's someone the prophets are bowing to. When Moses and Elijah hung out with him on the Mountain of Transfiguration, Peter got happy, saw all three of them, and tried to lump them together. Imagine Peter and James and John out there hanging out with Jesus, and he's transformed there on the mountain, and out of eternity come Moses and Elijah. Man, that had to be something.
You to look up and here's Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. And here's the point. They said, This is wonderful. Why don't we build three tabernacles? God spoke out of heaven.
And said, no, no, no, no, you're missing the point. Don't put Moses and Elijah. In the same category with Jesus. He said, this is my beloved Son. Hear ye him.
No three tabernacles like they all are on equal footing. One day Moses will cast his crown down before Jesus. Elijah will cast his down before Jesus. Every knee will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord.
So I'm sorry, I love getting along with folk, but at that point, We have to part company. Because Jesus is God.
Furthermore, you can't call him a prophet. Did you read some of the things he said? You're not a prophet when you say before Abraham was, I am. You walking around hundreds of years after Abraham been dead. And you say, before Abraham was, I am, that's not a prophet, that's a crazy man, unless he's God.
And Jesus is God. And so here you have the account of exactly what happened. God overshadowed Mary. And that which was born in her was a holy thing. And now we're told that even her Relative Elizabeth.
Is going to have a child in her old age, and that she is no longer barren, but she is in fact six months pregnant.
Now, this is very important. The angel reveals to Mary That her relative, many think it is her cousin Elizabeth. is pregnant, she's six months Pregnant. Mary's just getting the word. That she is going to bring the Son of God into the world.
But Elizabeth has already, six months earlier, received her promise. Of a child in her old age. And so the angel speaks this. Why did Gabriel tell Mary about Elizabeth. I'm glad you asked the question.
Y'all ask wonderful questions. Because of life lesson number four. When you're pregnant with divine purpose, Choose your company wisely. When you're pregnant with divine purpose, choose your company wisely. God knew That Mary was going to need the right company.
In order to fulfill God's purpose for her life.
So the same messenger That came to Elizabeth is sent to Mary. And he not only tells Mary about her own promise, But he tells Mary about the promise currently being fulfilled in the life of her relative Elizabeth. That's because when you're pregnant with divine purpose, You gotta choose your company. Wisely.
Now, the Bible teaches that God is a God of purpose. Everything God creates has a purpose. And when you and I confess Jesus as our Savior and Lord, We come into the plan and purpose of God. And God not only saves you so that you can enjoy Him, but He saves you so that you can fulfill His purpose. That's why Ephesians 2 and 8 says, For by grace, Are you saved through faith?
That not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. In other words, you and I are not saved because of what we did, but because of what God did for us. You're saved by grace through faith. It's not of your works, it's of God's grace. But then it goes on to say, verse 10.
You are God's workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. To do good works, watch this, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Did you get that? Before you were saved, God not only had his hand on your life.
But he knew what he wanted out of your life. When you get saved, you begin the journey of understanding and fulfilling what God had already ordained for you. It is amazing that God didn't just start loving you, He loved you when you were still His enemy. He chose you when you were still out there in your sins. Because he not only wanted to save you, but he had a place for you in his kingdom.
He had a purpose for your life. And I want to talk to you a moment about divine purpose. If you are born again, you are the product of divine purpose. The fact that you're saved, the fact that you've said yes to the Lord, means that God has a work for you to do. He doesn't want you to get saved and then just pack your bags and sit by the window and wait for heaven.
But there is something for you to do. And you can call it divine purpose. And it is spoken of not only in Ephesians 2:10, it's spoken of in scriptures like Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, where Paul says. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Then he says, For it is God who is at work in you.
Both to will and to do. Of his good pleasure. God is at work in you. While you work it out, God is working it in. His purpose is important.
Now, I want to let you know: fulfilling your divine purpose is the key to the life of fulfillment that so many of us want to have.
So many people talk about being fulfilled. Let me tell you something: fulfillment is doing the will of God. If you choose your own purpose, you may be wrong. There's a principle. If you want to know the purpose of a thing, don't ask the thing.
Because the thing is the created, not the creator.
So you don't ask the thing what it was created for. People who walk around this world saying, I want to know my purpose. And then they go to try to dream it up. You're missing it. If you want to know your purpose, go to the one who brought you to the planet.
God knows why he sent you to the planet. And it is only when you link your life with Him That you can discover and fulfill your divine purpose. It begins with accepting Christ. There is no divine purpose greater than that. When people walk around and talk about fulfilling their purpose and they're not even saved, they're missing it.
Job one is give your life to God. Accept Christ as your Savior. He is the only way for you to begin that journey of divine fulfillment. Uh Thanks for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message: Life Lessons from the Christmas Story. 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 visit pastorpaul.net.
That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. Before He formed you in the womb, God not only knew His plans for you, He knew you. Here's Pastor Paul. I want you to understand that there is a purpose that God preordained. For your life.
Now, if you're gonna discover that purpose, you're gonna have to choose the right company. And be careful about who you hang out with. That is next time in our continuing message: Life Lessons from the Christmas Story. But until then remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory.
