I want you to understand that when I say God's called us to live in victory, it means that whatever would oppose the will of God in your life, whatever would prevent you from doing what God has called you to do and being who God has called you to be, that is an enemy that you should enjoy victory over. Let me ask you, is there anything keeping you from walking in spiritual victory? Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. Always a pleasure to have you with us. When Jesus laid down his life on the cross, he made it possible for you to have eternal life in the hereafter and the abundant life in the here and now.
Today, you'll be reminded that in Christ, you are more than a conqueror, and you are destined for victory. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen on demand to any of our recent messages and get details about how to listen on your favorite digital platform. That's pastorpaul.net.
Now, let's get started with today's Destined for Victory message: dying to enjoy victory. John chapter twelve. Verses twenty four through twenty six. Jesus is speaking and says, I tell you the truth: unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, My servant also will be. My father will honor the one. Who serves me? We are looking at the theme, the overall theme, dying to live.
And we have established throughout this series the principle that. In order to experience true life in Christ, we must first die. to self. The self-life must be crucified that the Christ life can be truly experienced. And so we have driven this principle home, and we have also looked at a number of applications of this principle and how it.
plays out in everyday living. And I want to continue on that course by discussing in this message. The fact that Death to self is also necessary before we can experience and enjoy spiritual victory. The bottom line, my friend, that I want to share with you in this message is that God has called His children to live in and to enjoy spiritual victory.
Now, let me define that. Let me make sure we all understand what we're talking about as we talk about living in victory. I want you to understand that when I say God's called us to live in victory, it means that whatever would oppose the will of God in your life. Would prevent you from doing what God has called you to do and being who God has called you to be, that is an enemy that you should enjoy victory over. And so, your enemy can be person, place, or thing.
Your enemy can be a living being, or it can be an institution, it can be a mental or emotional roadblock or obstacle. It doesn't matter. If there's anything that stands in the way of you fulfilling God's plan and purpose for your life, that thing is an enemy, and God wants you to enjoy victory over that enemy. If there's a habit in your life that's preventing you from being the person God has called you to be, that habit is an enemy, and God says, I want you to enjoy victory over that enemy. If there is a mentality that perhaps you have lived, Under all of your life.
Maybe you brought into life in Christ some of the baggage and burdens and oppression of years in the world. God says, I don't want you to continue to be oppressed as my children. I've come that you might have life and I want you to enjoy life to the full.
So if there is oppression that would prevent you from being who I've called you to be, that oppression is an enemy and I've called you to enjoy victory over it. Anything that stands between you and the place God has for you is an enemy that you should enjoy victory over. I don't know about you, but that's good news to me. That I can and should walk in and experience victory in Christ. The fact of the matter is, our salvation is the most expensive purchase in the history of the world.
Of all of the things that have been purchased in the history of mankind, the single most expensive purchase. was the purchase for your salvation and mine. when Jesus went to the cross and hung between heaven and earth and between two common thieves. He did so because he was paying the greatest price that's ever been paid. in the history of the universe.
And he was paying for your salvation and mine. God so loved us that he paid the price of giving his only son who knew no sin, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, he became sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. In other words, the Son of God paid the price of becoming the Son of Man and was ridiculed and persecuted by men in order that the sons of men might have a right to become sons of God. It was the most expensive purchase in history. And if something costs a lot, it ought to be valuable.
And your salvation is the most valuable resource. On the planet, and what that tells you is: if God paid such a great price in order to make us His children, don't think for a moment that He is not ready to provide you all that you need in order to enjoy life to the full. God is ready to bless His people with victory, and in fact, He has blessed us, we're told in Ephesians 1, with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. That means it's all been paid for, so we might as well enjoy it. Hey, I don't know about you, but I love it when something's paid for.
I can enjoy it better when it's paid for. You know, it's one thing to be paying all right, I'm putting something on it. It's one thing to put something on it and hope eventually you'll all the way own it. But it's another thing that Noah is paid for. Even when some of us drove raggedy cars, I remember some of my clunkers, but they were paid for.
Paid for. It's a done deal. It's rattling, but it's mine. That's a joy. I don't like taking vacations that aren't yet paid for.
I just, you can do that fly now, pay later plan if you want to. It depresses me to pay for something that's already happened. That's just me.
Now, I'm not faulting you. You do your thing, but I'm telling you about me. When the travel agent says, All right, now you're going on this trip. Do you want to put in installments? I said, No, I'm paying now.
Pay now. And the thing has yet to happen, but when it happens, I'll have a smile on my face. I don't want to be laying on the beach thinking about payments. Get that thing paid for if you can.
Now, we go through different seasons. When you're in the season where you can't, then just believe God, be faithful, be a good steward. But thank God the day will come when you can do it in advance and the thing will be paid for.
Some of us have credit card bills right now. We don't know what in the world we're giving visa money for every month. We have forgotten, long since forgotten, what we put on that thing. There's another level you ought to believe God for where you pay for it within that same month that you purchased it. All you gotta do is wait on the bill, the money's there, write the check, bam, it's gone.
Goodbye. And let me tell you something, there's a wonderful thing when you understand that your salvation and your life in Christ is paid for. Jesus paid the price. And there are no more payments left, and you can just enjoy it. And so, really, when you're reading your Bible, you're reading the will, you're reading what Jesus purchased for you, you're reading what He has given you as your spiritual inheritance.
That's why you shouldn't let the enemy talk you out of reading your Bible because your Bible is the reading of the last will and testament. That Jesus Christ left you a wonderful inheritance, and He's in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father to make sure you get everything you got coming to you. And so, since this is paid for, we might as well enjoy all that we have in Christ. And the premise of this part of our series is that Jesus has purchased our victory, and therefore we should not live in defeat any longer. Anything that stands between you and the will of God is something that we ought to believe God to enjoy the thrill of victory.
I love that statement: the thrill of victory. We ought to get tired of the agony of defeat. And seek God and believe God for the thrill of victory.
Now, if you don't know what those terms mean, it's because you're too young. You're too young, but all of us who are forty and over 40 and over. Come on now. Don't leave me by myself. 40 and over.
I know y'all are trying to be cute. Don't be that cute. 40 and over. Y'all know what I'm talking about when I say the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. I'm talking about before there was cable TV, before there was satellite direct TV and DISH and all this stuff.
Before ESPN, there was just old-fashioned television. That's all it was. Do you want to watch TV? That's what they called it. Just old-fashioned television.
And all you needed was an antenna. You didn't need wires coming in from everywhere. All you need is an antenna because it's going to pull the stations in your city from out of the air. And you don't have to pay for anything but the TV. And everything else you just get.
Y'all remember those days? And you just had five, six, seven channels in your area. That was it. All she wrote. Whatever you were going to see, you were going to see on those channels.
In fact, you didn't have a VCR, so if you missed it, you missed it. That's all. You just missed it. You mean it's off, it's gone, it's history. Goodbye.
I'm telling you, that was back in the day. Stay with us. The rest of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepard is straight ahead. Our mission at Destined for Victory is to preach timeless truth for a victorious life, and we couldn't do it without you, our listening friends and partners. You are the ones who provide all of our financial support, and that generosity is especially critical at this time of the year when donations to our ministry tend to decline.
To make your gift today, please visit pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. Do you want to experience the thrill of spiritual victory? Find out how next, in the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, dine to enjoy victory. Y'all remember, ABC had a show called The Wide World of Sports. Thank you, thank you.
Thank you for my help. Wide world of sport. And when it was coming on, they had highlights of sporting events as they talked through the opening monologue. And one of the things there was they talked about the thrill of victory, and they'd be showing some victorious sporting moments. And then they said, and the agony of defeat.
And you'd see folk failing miserably, a ski or falling all over the snow. Oh, those were the days. Whether you think they're the DAYS or the DAZE, those were the days. Let me tell you something. The thrill of victory is what we ought to aspire for.
Since Jesus paid such a high price for it, we might as well enjoy our victory in Christ. Victory is to be normative in the life of a child of God. Shouldn't be a happy coincidence, a sudden surprise. Oh, look at this. No, it is to be normative in the life of a child of God.
Read your Bible. Romans 8:37 says, We are more than conquerors. It'd be good enough to be conquerors. But the Bible says through Christ, we are more than conquerors. 1 Corinthians 15:57, thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:14 says, Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. 1 John 2:13, I write to you, young men, because you have overcome The evil one. 1 John 4, 4. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Folks, victory ought to be normative in our lives as children of God.
And since Jesus purchased it, we might as well enjoy it to the full. And so you are not supposed to lose. You are made to win. In Christ, you are destined to win because of who he has made us to be. And for that reason, it would pay us to look at a case study in Scripture of a person who had to learn how to go from a life of defeat to enjoying and experiencing victory that God had already provided.
To do that, I'm going to ask you to turn your attention with me to Judges chapter 6. Judges chapter 6 provides a wonderful case study as we would seek to learn how to go from people who experience defeat and actually think that that's somewhat normative to people who decide that I don't want to live in this any longer. I want everything God has for me. Judges chapter 6. If you're new to your Bible, it's closer to the front than to the back.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges. Seventh book in your Bible is Judges. Judges chapter 6, and when it opens, it opens telling you about the plight of the Israelites during the time of the Judges. And it tells you, verse 1: that again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Now, if you know Israel's history, if you read your Bible, you understand that they would often, God would bring them into a wonderful place, give them exceeding great and precious promises. But before long, just give them a little time, and they would get into some new disobedience, some new mischief, something that was clearly not God's plan for their lives. And God, as the ultimate parent, punishes his children, disciplines us out of his love to show us that it never pays to be outside of his will. God is the ultimate parent, and he is the one that we as earthly parents should pattern after. And while he loves us with a crazy love, a ridiculous love, it is not a love that will love us to death, but he is committed to loving us to life.
So that when his kids are disobedient, There are real consequences so that they might learn that the best life is the obedient life. The one who has established his plan and purpose for our lives knows how he created us to be and to live, and he knows what he's provided for us.
So, when he gives us guidelines in his word, when he gives us precepts and principles to live by, it's not to restrict us, it's to cause us to enjoy and maximize our lives.
So, when you live in sin, you are insulting God because you're saying, in essence, God, I think my way is better than yours. And so God, as the ultimate parent, disciplines his children. The Bible says whom he loves, he disciplines. And so he's making us into obedient children of God. And as he did in Old Testament times, he's doing today.
Now here we see a shining example. They were doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. And so God said, I will take their enemies, who at the time were the Midianites, and I will use their enemies as a discipline tool. I'll use their enemies to be a rod on their backsides. I will use their enemies to teach them that it doesn't pay to be outside of my will.
And so they did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the consequence was that Midian oppressed them, you're told in verse 2, so greatly until they were living in shelters, in mountain clefts, in caves, in strongholds. Here are God's people that have a wonderful heritage. I mean, when you think back on these folks' four parents, these are people who have come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, people who have come from Joseph, people who have come from Moses and Joshua. They have seen the mighty hand of God. They've heard about his works over and over again.
And yet they're doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. And as a result, instead of being mighty people who walk around and all the nations say, oh, don't mess with those folk, they serve the true and the living God. Instead, here they are hiding in mountain clefts and caves. Can't even go to the store for looking to see if the Midianites are out there. Y'all see any of them?
Uh-uh, I think you can go, here, get my bread while you're going. God's people who ought to be living in resounding victory having to resort to sneaking out to the store because they're afraid if the Midianites catch them, they'll beat them up and take their groceries. And let me tell you something, you and I can get into the same kind of pattern when we live in disobedience to God's plan for our lives. I want you to understand in no uncertain way that it never pays to disobey God. I don't care what the enemy tells you.
He's been honing that lie for centuries. Talking people into getting out of God's will started way back in the garden. I know what you think God said, but the truth is. And he loves getting us into disobedience because he knows when you're in disobedience, you're unable to access the victory that God has prepared for you. And so here they are experiencing defeat.
in the worst way, hiding in clefts and caves and strongholds, trying to find a way to plant their crops without them being taken, trying to find a way to just survive. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in survival mode. I want to experience everything that God has for me. And so let's look at how it is that this can play out in our lives by studying this case in Scripture.
So the Bible tells us that they're under the hand, the oppressive hand of the Midianites. And verse 7 says they cried to the Lord because of Midian.
Now, I don't know at what point during the seven years did they wait till the seventh year to start crying to the Lord? We don't know. We just know somewhere along the way, they finally got tired of being oppressed when they knew in their hearts they were to be God's people and they cried to the Lord, God, we can't take this anymore. And if they were like some of us growing up, their cry had to mature. Because you know, when you first start crying under any discipline or punishment or restriction or whatever you were under, any discipline at first, you're just crying because you don't like the consequences.
But your cry has to grow up. Your cry has to get to a place where not only do you like the consequences, but you're ready to change. You know, there's two stages of the cry. The first is, ouch, it hurts. The second is, all right, I won't do it anymore.
And when their cry grew up, when they said, All right, Lord, we're ready for change, we're ready to get in sync with your will. Then verse 8 tells you he sent them a prophet. And the prophet began to speak to them and show them that they had brought this on themselves.
Now, to be sure, there are times when we are oppressed as God's people in the midst of living in obedience. But I want to let you know it's different when you're experiencing oppression, but you're walking in obedience because you're in the position where God can bring you into victory. And so, please understand when you're serving the Lord, even when you're in obedience, you might experience some oppression, but it's only for a season until you come to discover God's plan for bringing you out. And once you know God has a plan for bringing you out, you get into faith and believe Him for that, and you'll enjoy victory. Not so with the person in disobedience.
Uh It may not always be the thing we want to hear, but for those of us who love God and who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, everything that happens to us is designed for our ultimate good. Take comfort in that truth to day. And if you haven't gotten around to downloading our free mobile app, there's no time like the present, search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to these messages wherever you go. You know, the Christian life is a joyful, abundant, victorious life, and it's no accident. It's your inheritance already purchased by Jesus Christ.
And yet, so many believers live in defeat, selling their birthright for things worth far less. In his booklet More Than Conquerors, Pastor Paul Shepard uses the unlikely story of Gideon to outline the path from defeat to victory. If you want to understand how to take on a victor's identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart, you really need to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource. It's called More Than Conquerors, Yours this Month, for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. and 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. If you've been trying to do it in the power of the flesh, God has simply been teaching you that you can't change your life. You can't change your life.
You can't get rid of your sins by your own power. You cannot clean up your act. You can't get your attitude pure. You can't stop some of your foolishness until the power of God is introduced into your life. If you're trying to overcome a pattern of sin in your life and you feel helpless, it's because you are.
But there's good news coming your way in our continuing message, Dying to Enjoy Victory. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
