Taking Authority Over Our Enemies, Part 2 (cont'd)

It's not by might or by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. Hello and thanks for being here for this Tuesday edition of Destined for Victory. Coming up next, Pastor Paul Sheppard talks about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit in his message, Taking Authority Over Our Enemies.

But first, he joins me now from his studio in California. Pastor, in just a few short days, we'll be coming up on a presidential election. I know we're not going to tell people who they should vote for, but would you say we should? Can you share some words of wisdom for those listening about how we can prepare our hearts in advance of exercising our right to vote? Pastor Paul Sheppard, I love the hymn, and I'm thinking about it now in answer to your question. My hope is built on nothing less but Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

And come January 20th of next year, whether you're happy about who's being sworn in that day, or whether for you it's a day of sackcloth and ashes, the fact of the matter is I think you need to make sure that your hope lies firmly and solely in Jesus Christ. It can never be in the White House. It can never be in a party. It can never be in Congress. It can't even be in the decisions made in the Supreme Court. It has to remain in Christ.

All other ground is sinking sand. And I think if our listeners put their hope in Jesus Christ, then we will continue looking to Jesus who wants to walk in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Spirit of the Lord wants to empower you. It is not by might. It is not by power. It is by my Spirit, says the Lord. If you want to walk in victory, you have to walk by the Spirit. But how do you do that?

What does it look like in everyday life? Well, part of the answer comes your way next as Pastor Paul shares the story of Gideon, an Old Testament judge who allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon him in a mighty way. As you follow along, you'll be reminded that in order to have authority over the devil, you first have to let God have authority over you.

So now let's join Pastor Paul for today's Destined for Victory message, taking authority over our enemies. Gideon goes before the Lord, you see, beginning in verse 36, and he says, Lord, if you will use me to save Israel as your promise, then I just need to make sure. Gideon didn't want to jump out there in presumption and assume that he was to be the general.

Now, he should have been seen all along. God is raising him up to be the one who actually leads this, but he just wants to make extra sure. So look at what Gideon did. I placed a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.

And that is what happened. Gideon rose up the next morning, squeezed the fleece, rung out the dew, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, see, this is a man who's still learning how to walk in authority.

He got to get his bearings and so do some of us. And so look at it, verse 39. Now he ought to know by the fact that God honored the first part of this, that God is with him, but no, he needs double sure. Then Gideon said to God, do not be angry with me.

Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground around it covered with dew. That night the Lord did so. Only the fleece was dry.

All the ground was covered with dew. Now Gideon knows that God has raised him up to lead Israel and the spirit of the Lord has come upon him and he's ready to fight. Now let me tell you something. You and I don't have a whole lot of time to be doing a bunch of fleecing.

That's why I bothered to read that to you. I need you to know that's old covenant. This is a man who doesn't know who he is in Christ.

He doesn't have the assurance. He doesn't have the better covenant you and I operate in. You and I operate under a covenant where God said I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and my spirit alone is going to show you the way to victory. Don't be bothering God with a bunch of crazy fleeces.

You got to learn to be controlled by the word and the spirit. That's the way God leads us. That's the way God speaks to us. That's the way God leads us into victory. Don't get into this spooky superstitious Christianity.

Lord if you really love me I want you to let my phone ring in three minutes. That's not biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity is I know he loves me because he sent his son to die for me. I know he loves me because he has come into my heart by his spirit establishing a personal relationship with me. What can separate me from the love of God? Nothing and nobody. I don't need my phone to ring.

I know God loves me. You need to walk in the word. Walk in the spirit.

None of this superstitious stuff. Lord if it's really you telling me to join that church then I want you to have somebody call me today and they ask me what church do I go to? I'm telling you what I've heard Christians say.

That's foolishness. You know how you know you're supposed to join the church? Because the Bible says you should not forsake the assembling of yourself together with other believers and you need to do it all the more as you see the day of the Lord's return approaching.

You need to commit and connect to a local church. The early church formed local congregations. That's how you have your New Testament. You wouldn't have a word from God except that there was the church at Galatia, identifiable members.

I go to the church at Galatia. Paul wrote us a letter. Here are our leaders. Here are our workers.

This is who we are. Church at Ephesus. Church at Colossae. Church at Rome. Church at Thessalonica. Church in Laodicea. Church in Smyrna. On and on there were identifiable believers with leaders and with assignments and responsibilities and visions from God and you need to be part of a 21st century local church.

Don't need your phone to ring. Join the church. I'm already joined to Christ. Now I'm going to join a local expression of his universal body.

Quit this foolishness. I go where the Spirit leads me. I just get up on Sunday morning and he tells me which church to go to and that's where I go.

Just as mixed up as a barrel of fish hooks. That's why you're spiritually crazy now. You don't have a pastor who can look you in your face and say are you on crack or something? You need people. Identifiable brothers and sisters who walk with you in small groups and ministry organizations who can talk to you, who can reprove you and rebuke you. You need pastors to submit to. You need to be in alignment with what God is doing in our local body. Don't make it spooky and spiritual.

Quit putting out fleeces. That's Old Testament. We have a better covenant. We know who we are in Christ.

I don't need phones ringing. Oh yeah, every now and then God has done stuff like that. I'm not saying he's never done that for anybody. Sure there have been times when he'll do that but that's not, generally speaking that is not the way God deals with his people. Under this covenant he's given you his Spirit. There is no better guarantee than the Holy Spirit himself and he's in your life. But now Gideon is ready to lead Israel into victory and it's time for you to get ready to go into victory. You've lived under defeat long enough.

It's time for you to move into victory and how you gonna do it? By operating under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Now if you say the Holy Spirit is already in you because he's the one who came into your life establishing a relationship between you and God. So you say so then what's this business about being filled or baptized, some people use that term, with the Holy Spirit.

What's this infilling stuff about? It means the Spirit who is in you now, he becomes your power source. See you got to understand he lives in you and he has regenerated you and made you a child of God but you're not going to automatically have power. You have to yield to and you have to call on God and say Lord I yield to you. I get my flesh out of the way.

I get my mind out of the way. I want your power to come upon me. See you have the Spirit, now the question is does the Spirit have you? If you say you have the Holy Spirit you don't have to get, I'm praying to get the Holy Spirit. You already got him. What you need to be praying now is that he gets you. Oh this is good.

That he gets you. Because you're used to operating by your old identity and you're used to operating by your own ingenuity and you're used to doing what you think is right and you're used to having flesh power and willpower. I'm a person who's just always when I make up my mind I just get things done. Welcome to spiritual warfare.

You can make up your mind all you want now. You cannot get things done spiritually speaking except by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your willpower isn't going to get you the victory I'm talking about. You got to learn to live under the influence. There's a world of difference when a follower of Christ lives under the influence versus when they don't.

Don't believe me? Ask Peter. Night before Jesus was betrayed Peter was bragging about his willpower.

Wasn't he? Luke chapter 22. If all the rest of these folk forsake you Lord I got your back. You pick some folk I don't even know why you picked them. These people aren't going to go down with you. But Peter said but I'm your boy though I got you. When they come we're going to go back to back we're just going to fight them off.

Just me and you. Jesus said Simon. Simon. He was still bragging they had to call him a second time. He said Satan has asked for permission in the heavenly realms to shake violently shake your life like wheat being sifted.

The sifting of wheat in ancient times you know we have sophisticated sifters now in ancient time it was a violent shaking. And Jesus said Satan desires to violently shake up your life. He said Jesus said to Peter but I prayed for you. And he didn't pray that he wouldn't be shaken. In fact, Jesus knew to shake up is going to be good.

Because you need to be shaken loose from your self confidence. He said but I prayed that your faith would not fail. Stay with us the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd is coming your way next. We want to thank all of you whose prayers and financial support helped Pastor Paul share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're a listener supportive ministry, one that depends on your faithful giving to fulfill the Great Commission and to keep these messages coming your way year round.

To make a safe and secure donation. Visit pastor paul.net that's pastor paul.net or give us a call at 855-339-5500 again the number is 855-339-5500. Have you ever had your faith in Christ shaken.

If so, you're in good company. A familiar story comes your way next and the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, taking authority over our enemies. Once again here's Pastor Paul Shepherd. Some of you have been shaken, I've been shaken. But oh if you're a true child of God, of everything that fell off of you during your time of shaking, your faith was still intact. You knew God is still at work in my life.

Oh this is bad but God is not finished with me yet. He said Peter I prayed that your faith wouldn't fail. He said and when you are converted. I love that he used that term.

Cause see we love matching up our definitions with terms. Now converted, now Peter was already a follower for almost three years. So why would Jesus call it a conversion as if he's just becoming a follower. Because conversion doesn't just mean when you started the journey. Conversion sometimes means when you get it.

Do you know sometimes it takes you years to get it about something in your life. Oh I've been walking with him for some time but Lord I get it now. Converted, change of mind, change of heart.

Oh I see. He said and when you're converted Peter, your job is to strengthen your brothers. Your job is to strengthen your brothers. Now this is just Jesus predicting what's going to happen. Peter still doesn't know how powerfully true these things are that evening. But hours later, by early the next morning, by the time the rooster is growing, Peter has denied knowing his savior three times. You who have sinned badly, miserably, failed miserably and the devil is telling you God is through with you.

That story is there. You can't sin worse than to deny the only savior of the world. And Peter did it three times. I don't know him. Third time he cussed and said he didn't know him. He said I bet you all think I'm not a disciple now.

Blankety blank, I don't know him. Jesus predicted it. Said it was going to lead to a violent shaking of your faith.

And the result will be you'll learn to quit putting trust in you. So you'll be now available for the Holy Spirit to do what he wanted to do. Seven weeks after that weekend, 50 days after the resurrection, guess who the Holy Spirit chose to preach on Pentecost?

Peter. The others forsook the Lord, but Peter not only forsook him, he denied him. So God said I'm a show folks that I already knew who you were when I called you. See, we get shocked. God doesn't get shocked. You have never made God say say what? God has never looked at you in your worst moments in heaven and call gabers. Come here.

Do you? God knew who you were. And he told Peter, I'm gonna use you to strengthen others. Church is built on the apostles, the foundation of the apostles like Peter, people who had forsaken Jesus just seven weeks earlier.

And now here they are on the day of Pentecost, along with the other of the 120 spilling out into the streets of Jerusalem, speaking the wondrous works of God speaking in tongues they've never learned because the Spirit gave them utterance. There's a world of difference when you live under the influence than when you don't. It's time for some of us to make up in our minds. I need to be under the influence. Some of y'all are too sober.

That's why you can't experience victory. You're too spiritually sober. The one type of getting high that is legitimate is getting high in the Holy Ghost, getting high in the Spirit.

Oh, that's what happened on Pentecost. They were so drunk in the Spirit that it mimicked being drunken with wine. Now being drunk with wine we know has very negative connotation.

But the fact that it mimicked it, it just shows you when you're under the influence of the Spirit, folks know there's something going on. Even if they don't know what it is, the people in Jerusalem mocked them and said these folks are full of wine. But when Peter started preaching, he said no, they're not drunk like you think they are. He said it's only nine o'clock in the morning, the beer taverns are not even open yet. They're not drunk on wine.

They didn't wake up early drinking wine. He said but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. That in the last days, say of God, I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Sons and daughters will prophesy. Old men will dream dreams.

Young men will see visions. That's where we live now in the Holy Spirit dispensation. That's where you got to get before God and say fill it up, Lord. You got to pull up to the bar of the Holy Spirit's anointing and say fill it up.

I need you like never before. Fill me to overflow. How do you get drunk? You keep drinking.

There's no mystery to it. How do you get drunk? Keep drinking. That's all.

No science to it. Keep drinking. In my neighborhood growing up, we have people we call winos. What made you a wino?

That every time we saw you, you had a brown bag in your hand. I'm talking about growing up in my neighborhood. Some of y'all can relate. You didn't grow up in the suburbs.

Don't try to be cute. Some of y'all grew up like me. Sometimes sitting outside the church, sitting on the step, brown bag, and they held it toward the top because what was in the bag had a neck.

Oh, come on somebody. And every now and then they just pull it up and swig. And we call them winos because they were always sipping. I'm here to tell you it's time for you to become a Holy Ghost sipper. Just all through your day. Sip. Sip. Getting ready to go to church. Sip. Getting ready to go to work. Sip. Getting ready to go to school. Sip.

Just all day. Just drinking, drinking, drinking. Drinking in the Holy Spirit. Drinking in his power. Drinking in his anointing. Drinking in the ability to be in God what you can never be apart from him.

Everywhere you go. Living under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That was the difference. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and you can tell when somebody's under the influence even of natural wine, of natural drink because people talk differently and they behave differently. Guess what? When you get under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you'll talk differently. Your speech will betray you. There are certain things you only say when you're spirit filled. I was telling the men in men's fellowship, I was listening to a pastor preach and he was just sharing some of his testimony having gone through some hellacious experiences with church folk in his past. And he said, I went through a season where they did me so wrong that I asked God to get them and I knew the Bible said vengeance is mine but I told God I want to be there to see the vengeance. He said and the Holy Spirit told me no, the vengeance you want is not what I have in mind. God said I'm not out to kill them because they did you wrong. He said the Lord told me I could pay them back by making rather than killing them by making them stay alive and watch me bless you anyhow. He said I don't have to kill folk to get vengeance.

I can make them sit there and watch you dine at the table of my anointing. He said and the Lord shut me up. He said because before that I wanted God to kill some folk. He said I told God I want some funerals.

See some of you haven't gotten raw enough yet. You haven't gone through enough but I tell you life can get you to a place where your flesh says God hears exactly what I want to happen. You have a hit list in your mind. Holy Spirit said no I'm going to make you behave differently. I'm going to make you love those that treat you wrong. I'm going to make you do good to folk that have done you wrong.

You know why? He said because I'm still in control. I can discipline them any way I choose. I can deal with them any time I want to.

It's not your place to tell me what to do. So you got to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You'll behave differently. You'll speak differently. You'll speak blessings instead of cursings.

You'll operate by the fruit of the Spirit. You'll have love instead of hatred. You'll have joy and not just happiness.

Happiness depends on what happens but joy you can have even when the wrong things are happening. God will give you a peace in the Spirit that passes understanding. You look at yourself and say it doesn't make any sense how peaceful I am. I ought to be losing my mind right about now. I ought to be going crazy. They ought to be calling folks on me and I'm sitting up here in perfect peace.

Why? Because you're under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The good news of the gospel is this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and we now have the power to break free from slavery to sin and death and enjoy the abundant joyful life that only comes through faith in Christ. Well, at a time when there's so much pain and uncertainty in the world, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ remains a source of hope for all who embrace it.

And now more than ever, many are searching for that hope. This is why your prayers and financial support of Destined for Victory are so critical. As our way of saying thanks for your generous donation, we'd like to send you a booklet called Little Is Much When God Is In It. Written by Pastor Paul, this is a great reminder that God can use you to impact those around you and He can do it despite what you lack. That's Little Is Much When God Is In It, our gift to you today by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone 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. And so because we are people called of God, because we are people of faith, we must learn that our God is going to lead us in ways that are very counterintuitive because He wants to ensure that through your life and mine, He gets all of the glory. That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Taking Only What God Gives Us. Until then remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.