We'd have a greater witness for God. If churches in the same city would stop fighting each other, you got a devil to fight. Why are you gonna fight your brothers and sisters? We got a spiritual warfare to wage.
Okay. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. You're listening to Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
Sometimes the flesh and blood enemy we're fighting is the one sitting right next to us in church, but it shouldn't be this way. Today, you'll hear an important message about the essentials and the non-essentials of the Christian faith.
Some things are worth fighting over, the rest is just noise. To hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today's, stop by pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Now Here's today's Destined for Victory message. Can't we all just get along? I want to continue to talk. to you from the subject, can't we all just get along? Those are the words that ring in my mind as I study.
This section of Paul's letter to the church at Rome and to the church down through the centuries, because, of course. as one writing to a church Made up of Jew and Gentile, made up of people who come from quite the religious background and people who do not. Paul understood. that they needed to have handles. For getting along in the family of God.
And as it was the case in the first century church, it has continued to be the case throughout church history that we've got to learn how to live together in the kingdom of God. And so we have been exploring this passage, this chapter. To discover the fact that God wants us to walk in unity. And that unity is something that you have to strive to achieve. And we talked in the opening message about the fact that.
Unity has to do with arriving at a place of harmony as opposed to unison. We said that unison would mean everything has to be the same in order to have peace. But that's not God's plan. If he wanted sameness, he'd have made us all the same. But God loves diversity, God loves variety, and you can find unity in the midst of diversity if your goal is agreement.
And we said agreement means harmony. You can take that which is fundamentally different and still cause it to harmonize with other things to accomplish the overall goal. And so I don't have any time for meaningful review, but in the first message, we looked at that concept of harmony and how important it is to harmonize our lives with people. Who are different. And even over in Romans chapter 15, Paul says that that is God's plan for us.
He says in verse 5 of Romans 15: May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Jesus Christ. The goal in the church is unity, and people don't have to become like you in order to be unified with you if we will go after this concept of agreement or harmony.
Now we went on in the second installment of the series and started looking at in practical terms what does it mean to walk in agreement. And the first step, the first practical step Paul gives us for walking in agreement with other believers is to accept others as Equals. And that's the language he uses in Romans 14:1. He says, accept him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on disputable matters. Accept him.
He says that also in Romans 15 and verse 7. He says, accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. And so we talked in the second message about learning to accept one another in the family of God. In fact, you don't get to truly speak into another person's life until they know that they have been honored and accepted as the person God loves.
Sometimes we want to get people straight before we accept them.
Sometimes we want them to conform to our image and our likeness before we accept them. I don't know if you've ever had the experience of being on perpetual. Probation in someone's mind, in someone's heart, where you never quite measure up so that you can be accepted. But God has called us to accept one another. Why?
Because we're all saved by the same grace. Your brother or sister in Christ didn't need a different brand of grace to get saved. They got saved by the same death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that saved you. And they deserve to be accepted. They might have different hang-ups.
But he was hung up for our hang-up. You have no business not accepting someone because of their hang-ups. If Jesus accepted them into the family, you don't get a say in it. We've got to learn that you pick your friends, but you're stuck with your relatives. Stuck with your relatives.
You don't get to pick relatives. God picked them for you. Brought them in the family. Didn't ask you what you thought about it. And we've got to learn to accept.
One another. I told you the story many times. My parents had four of us relatively close together, and then they had a period of nearly 10 years of silence, and we thought it was over. But those folk messed around and went on a cruise. And months later Gathered us at the dining room table.
For an emergency family meeting. And I'll never forget it. The longest day I live, I was 14 years old, and the second youngest child at that point, the youngest, was 10. And my mother sat there, and she finally said, she looked perplexed. She looked perplexed and disillusioned, but she finally.
Said to us, I'm pregnant, I'm going to have another child. And we looked at her. Oh my Lord, we looked at her. I it was like, come, y you gotta be kidding. Gotta be kidding, what's the matter with you people?
She looked perplexed. My dad looked proud. He looked proud. He's sitting on the other end of the table. With a little smirk on his face.
Looked like he was saying Astrite still got it. Don't mess with me, Jack. But here's my point. Whenever I tell the story, it was not a voting meeting. They didn't ask us what we thought.
Had nothing to do with it. Another Child is coming into the family. All you can do is get ready. That's the only option. Get ready 'cause he's coming.
And months later, my youngest brother Kenny showed up. on the scene. And my mother brought him home from the hospital. Here's your younger brother. Go change his diaper.
That's it, man. Just you know. Wasn't a voting meeting. You had nothing, had nothing to do with what we thought, how we felt. And that's the way the kingdom of God is designed.
God saves who He wants to save. He brings them into the family and asks you what you think about it. That's your brother or sister in Christ. You don't like some things about them? Oh, well.
Build a bridge and get over it. Because they're in the family. They're in the family. And we have to understand that the first key is accepting. others as equals.
In the family of God, I went on to talk about the fact that even when you realize that there's some things about a person you need to speak to as their brother or sister, and we'll talk about that later in this series. Indeed, we are called to sharpen one another, but you've got to accept before you go to change. In fact, we're not the change agent. All we can do is speak words of life and encouragement and exhortation. God is the change agent.
So we've got to learn to accept one another. He goes on to say, Paul does in Romans 14, accept him whose faith is weak. Watch this, without passing judgment. on disputable matters. And then he goes on to give a couple of examples.
In verse 2, he gives the example of eating. Not everyone in the kingdom eats everything.
Some folk have a restricted diet. In verse 5, he gives the example of sacred days.
Some people hold certain days sacred, while others see every day as being exactly alike. Those are just two of any number of examples Paul could have given to make the second point. What is the second point? It is to allow for honest differences of opinion. First, we've got to accept others as equals in the kingdom of God.
Then, secondly, Paul says we've got to allow for honest differences of opinion. If you're going to achieve the goal of agreement in the kingdom of God, And that is the goal for God and His people, then He says, you want to allow for the fact that you're not going to see everything alike. But these are what he calls disputable matters. These are things that aren't necessarily designed to be right and wrong. But there are some things that are non-essentials.
They will be eternally debatable. People will always see them differently. And Paul is suggesting there's nothing wrong with that. As long as we allow for such differences on these indisputable matters. Don't go away.
The rest of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard, is coming right up. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul says that love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. That's why Destined for Victory is here, to love people enough to share the whole truth of God's Word with them. You can help keep these messages coming your way all year round by sending a generous gift today. Stop by pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.
That's pastorpaul.net. Or call 855-339-5500. Spiritual growth is an essential part of the Christian life, but for that to take place, it requires growth in another area.
So let's listen closely to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message. Can't we all just get along? Now, folks, this is where we've got to really learn how to grow up. You know, I've learned over the years: if you're really going to become the person God's called you to be, that part of the process of spiritual development is emotional development. In other words, in order to be a spiritually strong person, you have to just grow up emotionally.
If you notice your Bible, when it calls you to certain standards of living, those speak to your maturity. And God then has a vested interest in not only growing us spiritually, but in growing us emotionally. I say that because the only way you're going to meet this mandate of allowing for honest differences of opinion is if you stop acting like everything is a knockdown, drag out, it's got to be my way issue. People who are immature have to have their way. My way or the highway?
is their slogan for life. I don't know. Perhaps you haven't met people like that, but I got some I can introduce you to. And of course, you've already met some. who have to have their way.
Everything is important. They don't distinguish majors from minors. Have you met the type? People for whom everything is a major issue. They will fight you.
over things that really aren't that big a deal. But they want what they want, and they will give you trouble until you give it to them. And God is saying to us through His Word, if you're going to get along in my family, you've got to understand the importance of distinguishing major issues from minor issues and essential issues from non-essential issues. In the kingdom of God, not everything is going to be right or wrong. We serve a God whose nature never changes.
We serve a God who is immutable. But that is not to say that every point is one to be contended for as if it's a matter of right versus wrong.
Now, there are theological essentials that bring us together in the family of God, that unify us in Christ. The virgin birth is a theological essential. That's non-negotiable. If Jesus was not born of a virgin by the will of God, then we have no Savior. We're all in our sins.
If Jesus was born like you and I were born, then he was born a sinner. He was not born a sinner because in the fullness of time, God sent his Son, wrapped him up in the womb of a virgin, a girl who had never known a man sexually, And the angel Gabriel spoke to her and said, That which has been conceived in you is a holy thing.
Now, that's a theological essential. I don't care how modern or liberal your theology is. If it doesn't understand that Jesus is the Son of God, not the Son of Joseph, then you can't be in the family because the family is made up of those who are washed in the blood of the sinless Lamb.
So, if Jesus was just a good guy, just a prophet, as some religions call him, then he is not a savior.
So, that's a theological essential. And every now and then, people from other religions want to create sort of a false unity.
Well, why don't we all just get along?
Well, the problem is you all don't know who Jesus is. I can't have fellowship with you outside of Jesus. Jesus is the unifying factor in the kingdom of God. He is the one who saved all of us from our sins. In fact, in the Old Testament, anybody from the Old Testament that you meet in heaven, they'll be there because of Jesus.
They had a faith that looked forward to the cross. We have a faith that looks backward to the cross. But all salvation comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so you got to get it straight. Jesus is the way, not one of them.
The truth, not part of it. The life. Not a little bit of life. He is it. Bottom line.
We hang our hat there. That's where we draw the line in the sand. If you don't know who Jesus is, I can love you, but I'm praying for your salvation. You are in your sins until you know who Jesus is and what He did for you. That's a theological essential.
There's no wiggle room there. No room for discussion there. He was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. The Bible says he knew no sin.
He who knew no sin became sin for us on the cross. He lived a sinless life. He lived a life that modeled perfection. He lived a life that was absent of guile, of malice. of hatred.
of anything that would offend his heavenly father. Jesus was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He died a substitutionary death. He didn't die because he was a criminal.
He died because of how much he loved you and me. In fact, he said to those who were torturing him, and as he was preparing to go to the cross, he said, You all got to get this straight. Nobody's taking my life. I'm laying it down. Jesus could have rescued himself.
But he loved you and I so much that he didn't rescue himself so that he could rescue us. Had he rescued himself from death, then we would have been lost in our sins. But he loved us so much that he gave his life. He died a substitutionary death. He rose with a bodily resurrection.
Jesus is alive now. If you don't believe that, then you don't have a Savior. He is alive right now as we speak. He is alive, he is in heavenly places. The tomb is empty.
It will forever distinguish Christianity from the religions created by man. For all of those religions were formed by people whose graves you could go to and pay respects to. But when you get to the tomb, you'll find that it's empty. For three days later, God the Father raised Jesus Christ up. He was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses after his resurrection.
And he ultimately went back to heaven saying, Don't worry, fellas, I'm coming back. I'm coming back again. That's an essential. You have to believe in his virgin birth, his sinless life, his vicarious death, his bodily resurrection. Those are essentials.
Those are knockdown, drag-out, non-negotiable points. But now we've got to allow for honest differences of opinion on many other theological points. And you know how you can tell which ones are debatable? They are the ones that have been argued for centuries throughout the history of the church and will continue to be argued. Points like eschatology, the doctrine of last things.
Is an honest difference of opinion. People who love God, believe His Word. Trust in Christ for salvation, living for Him in a life of obedience. They believe some of them are what they call premillennial, some are post-millennial, some are amillennial. If you don't know what those terms mean, you might be better off anyway.
Now, it's okay to investigate those matters. It's certainly okay to be fully convinced, as Paul said in verse 5, in your own mind.
So you can study those issues, but study them knowing that people smarter than you and me have debated these issues for centuries. And if people smarter than us can't settle it, I don't think we stand a chance. That's my personal position. I know people feel very strongly: oh, it's important to believe it this way or that way.
Well, you know. Going and hold that position, I respectfully disagree about its importance. Because again, if you know Christ, whatever his plan is for end times, you're gonna enjoy the good part of it. That's what's important. My job as a pastor is not to convince you of my eschatological construct.
My job is to help you become a fully devoted, mature follower of Jesus Christ so that whatever he's going to do in the end, you'll enjoy the good part.
So, I have my personal opinion on it. I don't share it publicly because that's not a passion for me. Functionally, I'm pan-millennial. It'll all pan out after a while. I have my views, but I don't share them publicly.
Because if you're in the premillennial camp, You believe there'll be a secret rapture, and if you look up one day and realize there has been no secret rapture, as the amillennial camp would say, that every eye is going to behold him, and so all at once, all of us will see the Lord in the second coming. If you believed in a rapture all these years and you find that there was no rapture, that there's the second coming, then you'll know you were wrong. You'll know you were wrong at that point. We don't have to get all worked up over it beforehand. If you're a millennial and you don't believe in a secret rapture, but you find yourself going up in one.
You will know you were wrong. You got me? Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory. Remember, any of our recent messages, including the one you heard just now, are available on demand at our website, pastorpaul.net. And while you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources that will help you grow in your Christian faith, including books and video messages from Pastor Paul Shepherd.
That's pastorpaul.net. And if you haven't already downloaded our free mobile app, now's a great time to do it. Search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to these messages wherever you go. That's the Destined for Victory mobile app. Download it today.
It's absolutely free. And we have a great thank you gift to share with you this month, our latest booklet, Improving Your Serve. This outstanding resource will help you learn to develop a lifestyle of service and follow in the steps of Jesus in the process. Improving your serve is our gift to you this month for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone.
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You want to learn to walk in unity with people around essentials, not non-essentials. And we love fighting. There's so many other battles like that. The Calvin-Arminian debate: can you forfeit your salvation or can't you? And all of that.
We just go back and forth, and it's been argued for centuries. And if the argument hasn't been settled by now, my belief is that it won't be settled till Jesus comes, at which point it really won't matter. That's next time in our continuing message: Can't We All Just Get Along? I hope you'll join us. But until then, remember.
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory. Um
