A Preview of Coming Attractions (cont'd)

When the devil tells you ever and now here is Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, a preview of coming attractions. This one won't get tired. You know right now, you can have a good day for about 10-12 hours. And then after a while, you start yawning and you feel your engine shutting down. And again, it just happens. You don't have to want it to happen.

You'll be having a wonderful time. But your engine starts shutting down and it's a sign of maturity when you realize that and you cooperate with that. You know how children are. Children just want to play forever. They just play till they conk out. You know, you got to make them take a nap. I don't want to take a nap because they're just scared they're going to miss something. Oh, but you get a little older and you look forward to the bed.

Come on somebody. After a while, nobody had to spank you and send you to bed and all that. Well, you all don't spank anymore. But you know, tell you to go to bed. After a while, you send yourself to bed. Party can be going on in your house. But when you get that right time of tiredness, you're like, you all let yourselves out.

It was wonderful seeing everybody. God bless you. Oh, give me a hug. Oh, I'm going to bed.

Because this one shuts down. Just conk out on you. You're through. Try this again tomorrow.

Whatever I didn't get done today, I'll try tomorrow. But I'm done. And thank God the one that's coming will be able to enjoy God forever and never have to as much as take a nap.

Unbelievable. And we can't even conceive of that in the natural body. But you'll be strong all the time.

And the Bible says it's going to be raised in power. No tiredness, no weakness, no sickness, no disease. Nothing that would bog us down.

Nothing that would weigh us down. Not only the tiredness of the body, but tiredness of the mind. You know, these days a lot of times you are tired not because of your physical activity. A lot of times today you're tired because of your mental and emotional activity.

Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that very often we are tired not because of anything we've done? It's not like you've been working physically hard all day long, but the stress of your mind and your emotions. Because the body tends to catch the mind and emotions diseases. And it carries its frustrations. And if you don't believe me, just watch what stress will do not only to your mind but to your body. You find your neck stiffening up, chances are it's something going on in your mind.

And your emotions, sure you can make a funny move and get your body misaligned, but also stress has a direct impact on your body. And so when the Bible says our next one is going to be sown in power, God is going to remove not only sickness and tiredness and weakness, but he's going to remove everything that would frustrate us. That's why you've got to intercede and pray and cry now, because the day is coming when you won't be worried about any of the folk. You're going to rejoice in the God of your salvation. And you're going to rejoice in those that are there. You intercede for your loved ones who don't know the Lord. Do that now, because God won't let you mess up heaven worrying about them. Now is the time of prayer.

Now is the time of crying and interceding. Oh God save my loved ones and what have you, because when we get over there, you're not going to be up in heaven yet, but did Junior make it? Oh Lord, you mean Junior didn't make it? That would mess up heaven, wouldn't be heaven, would it? You up there worried about Junior?

No, no. Pray for Junior now. Because when you get there, there's a verse in Revelation that says God will wipe the tears from our eyes. And what that means is every painful memory, everything that would cause you frustration will be erased and there'll be nothing but joy. Instantaneous change, a body that won't die, a body without limitations. Fourth, he says, it's a body that reflects the glory and the image of God. Look at what he says beginning in verse 45 in this text. He says, it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam, which is Jesus Christ, was a life giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural.

And after that, then the spiritual. The first man, Adam, was of the dust of the earth. The second man, Jesus, was from heaven. As the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth. And as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

Guess what? When you are in Christ, you are of heaven. When you're born the first time, you're born in the image of Adam. When you're born again, you're born in the image of Jesus. He says, and just as we born the likeness of the earthly man, verse forty nine, we shall also bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

He says, you've got to understand that you are headed to a state where God is going to make you like his son, Jesus. We're going to bear his image now. We bear it spiritually now. We're born again now of his image. But you know what?

It's a funny thing. You've got the image of the everlasting Christ trapped, as it were, in a mortal body where you have to deal with mortal issues and you have to deal with temptation. You have to deal with life here on Earth. But one day God is going to transform us and the true you is going to come out. And that true you is just like Jesus.

First, John, three and two, the apostle John said, beloved, now are we the sons of God? You're a son of God right now. Don't let the devil tell you you're not saved because you have struggles and issues. You are a child of God right now. Don't call yourself a sinner. I'm not a sinner. I was a sinner.

Now I'm a child of God. Yeah. But I know you still have issues.

Yeah. When the devil tells you about your stuff, tell him about his stuff. Because he's not a child of God. Tell him you don't even have the right to talk to me. I know you're not talking to me.

I'm a child of God. You who have the devil always throwing your past up in your face and what you did. If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Tell him where I read the book. Guess where you're going? Yeah, yeah. Talk to him.

Just tell him. Guess where you're going? The book said death and hell are going to be cast in a lake of fire. And that's where you're going to spend your eternal existence.

See, you've got to get your theology straight. You all think the devil's in hell now. He's not dead now. He's in the earth realm now.

He knows where he's going, but he's trying to drum up a lot of company. He's in the earth realm now. The Bible says the day is coming when death and hell are going to be cast in a lake of fire.

He is living under an awful sentence. Don't let the devil mess with you because at your worst, you're better off than him at his best. You are a child of God and it does not yet appear what you shall be. Oh, don't let the devil mess with you because you're still getting some things together in your life. It does not yet appear what I shall be.

I'm on the road. I'm on the journey. The Holy Spirit is walking me along and teaching me how to be like Jesus, convicting me of my sin and telling me that I'm a child of God. I no longer live in those ways and I've got to live in obedience to God. And he has me on a journey going from glory to glory. And so you should see yourself on a growth path and God is committed to you.

See, I love God because the Bible says he began the good work in us. He already made us like Jesus in our hearts and now he's teaching us to live like him, walk like him, talk like him, act like him, make decisions like him. And one day when he transforms our bodies, he'll also transform all of us so that we are made completely in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, I'm telling you, the coming attractions are too much, man. We are sons of God right now. And that's why he closes the chapter. Look at what he says when he gets over in verse 54, when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. The second half of Pastor Paul Shepherd's message is coming right up. We want to thank all of you who support Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that help Pastor Paul share the good news of salvation in Christ with a growing audience. Destined for Victory is a listener supported ministry. As we continue to walk through some challenges together, your support is critical because now more than ever, people are looking for answers that only God can give. Give online safely and securely at our website, pastorpaul.net, or give us a call at 855-339-5500.

Again, our number is 855-339-5500. Now, when you give, we have a gift of our own to share with you, and I'll tell you all about it after today's message. A day is coming when all believers in Christ will be transformed, when the eternal weight of God's glory will be evident, and we'll spend all eternity in the light of His glory and grace. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, a preview of coming attractions. The fact of the matter is, my brothers, my sisters, the coming attractions are wonderful because death itself is going to be swaddled up in victory, the last enemy that will be conquered is death. And when God conquers that for us, we will live forever without any restriction in the presence and the glory of God. It says we're going to be raised in glory. We're going to experience such glory.

Well, what would that word imply? Here's what the Bible implies about our life after our existence on this planet. Your best day on earth is not to be compared to a boring day in heaven. Think about your best day. Just think about a season in your life where you just loved everything that went on. That day, oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful day. I have a wonderful feeling everything's going my way.

I'm from Oklahoma. When you have those days, they are not to be compared to what is to come. Here's the way the apostle Paul described it when he wrote the church at Philippi. He said, I'm trying to figure out whether I want to go or stay. Paul talked as though God was going to give him a choice to go or stay.

This man had some incredible calling on his life. And he said, you know, I'm trying to figure out whether to go or stay. He said, if I stay, it'll be better for you. But if I go, he said, it is far better.

And what he was trying to describe, he used the word far describes a great distance. He said, life in the hereafter is far better for the child of God than anything I could experience here. You know, it doesn't matter how much people love you here. If they leave and go to be with the Lord, if the Lord were to say, you know what, they're really crying at your funeral.

I tell you what, I'll let you go back for a few years if you want. You get in God's presence the glory, the excitement, the euphoria in the presence of God is of such a nature, Paul said, that you wouldn't go back to the folk you loved the most if he gave you the chance. You want to live to be able to experience something like that. So live, first of all, so that the people down here miss you. When you cry at a funeral, don't cry for them. If they died in Christ, don't cry for anybody who died in Christ. Because tell you the truth, if they could, they'd be crying for you.

You're the one got to stay here looking around and making plans and got to clutch your bag and got to watch out for pickpockets during Christmas and who trying to rip you off, who trying to steal your identity and cybercrime and all of this stuff we got to think about. They would cry for you. Two different existences altogether. So live so that folk miss you. Because I tell you what, you would never go back to them once the Lord gets you. Now you do want somebody to live so that somebody does miss you when you leave.

Come on now. Since you got to stay here until the Lord takes you, live so that someone does miss you. Don't live where folk don't care that you're gone.

All of us ought to strive to leave our footprints in the sands of time. There ought to be somebody's life who's better because you were here. There ought to be people who will be in heaven because of your influence in their lives.

There ought to be people who are blessed who are the better when they hear you're gone and bring sorrow to them because you were such a blessing. You prayed for them. You encouraged them. You helped them. You ministered to them. You were a blessing. You want to be a difference maker when you leave. I told you all many times when I check out of here as hard as I'm working trying to serve the Lord, I don't want you all to just hear I'm gone and then just go to lunch. But Pastor Paul, what? This morning he gone? Isn't that something?

What you all want to eat? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Time out. Stop the presses. All this praying, all this preaching, all this serving, all this getting this stuff together.

No, I deserve more than that. And some of you all that I had to do all kinds of work to get you straight, some of you all know when you hear I'm gone, I want you to fall out. Just straight up. There's some of you all in this room. When you're here, I'm gone. What? Pat the ball up.

Just go out. They'll pick you up, revive you. Because you knew the tears you made me cry and the nights you had me praying and all this counseling, all this helping you. You want to live so that you make a difference in somebody's life. But I tell you what, when this life is over, not a sorrow, not a way down thought will you have because you will have the ultimate glory, the ultimate experience in the presence of Christ. That's why the old saint sang some glad morning when this life is over. I'll fly away to a home on God's celestial shore. I'll fly away.

See, the young folk sing only young songs, but some old songs need to hang around every now and then. When the shadows of this life have gone, I'll fly away. Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away. One verse said just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away to a land where joy shall never end. I'll fly away. Sometimes we still sing that hymn when we all get to heaven.

I grew up hearing the saints sing it. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing His mercy and His grace in the mansions bright and blessed. He's prepared for us a place. So you need to get excited. I know we all want to claim our promises and our blessings now, but we're too earthbound for our own good.

I want to tell you something. That's something to look forward to. Yes, God has exceeding great and precious promises for us here, but when this life is over, I've got something to look forward to. We've got a preview from the Word of God of coming attractions, and that's why you've got to get your life right and do it right away.

That's why you can't afford to live as though you have forever because you don't know when you're checking out of here. Several years ago, it was the last time that New Year's Eve was on a Sunday. In fact, that's coming up in a few weeks where New Year's Eve is on a Sunday. The last time that occurred, probably six years ago if you factor in leap year, we had visitors in our Sunday morning services. In one of the services, two people visited. I found out about this after the fact because my phone rang on a Thursday and on the other end at the office and on the other end was a young woman crying, and she explained to me that she and her boyfriend had visited our church the previous Sunday.

It was New Year's Eve. She said, I'm a believer. My boyfriend is not. She said, I've heard you on the radio, and I don't live in the immediate Bay Area. I live in California but not in the Bay Area, but I heard the broadcast and I was blessed by it, and then she knew she was telling me about having this unsaved boyfriend, so she quickly said, I know you preach against that. She said, but I had an unsaved boyfriend, and I was hoping he would come to the Lord because I really wanted to marry him.

We were talking about getting married, and I was just praying that he would come to the Lord. She said, so I invited him to go with me that particular New Year's Eve to your Sunday morning service, and she said he did. We sat through one of your services, and he didn't respond to the altar call, but after service he said to me, you know, they announced that watch night service they're going to have tonight leading into the new year. He said, why don't we stay down in this area and go to that service?

And she said, okay. She was glad that he wanted to go to a second service. They hung around in the area, got something to eat, and stayed around and attended our watch night service that night. Well, as is my tradition, on watch night I don't preach. We do a lot of singing and praise and worship testimonies and what have you, and we just bring in the new year worshiping the Lord basically, having a good time, a fellowship together.

But I always give an altar call. And that night I gave an altar call, as usual, on watch night, and I said, you don't need to go into the new year until you have a new life. And I said, if you don't have a new life in Christ, you're not ready for the new year. You need to give your life to the Lord. You need to get off to a real start. And I said, if you're here and you need to receive the Lord, come on down.

Let us pray with you. Two people responded. One was a boy, a preteen boy.

His father came with him, and the other was this young man in his 20s. The Lord convicted him, and he came down. Prayer counselors took him aside, prayed with him. We rejoiced.

We sang in the new year, went home. Four days later this Thursday, she's on the phone telling me that this happened, and she said, Pastor, I'm calling you because today he was killed in an automobile accident. She said, but I want to tell you, my heart is broken because I was really hoping to marry him, especially now that he had gotten saved, and I would have loved spending life with him. She said, but I want to tell you, the last four days I didn't even know him. She said he was a completely different man. She said for the last four days he has just talked about the joy that he feels, that he feels like a weight was completely lifted off of him, that he now had hope and he had a future and he had a life. He was forgiven of his sins. He had standing with God. She said, and I hardly knew who he was, but it was amazing to see the transformation in just four days.

And today he was snuffed out in a moment. And she said, I'm calling to thank you for giving him a chance to receive Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, folks, tomorrow is not promised. Christmas is not promised. If you don't know the Lord, now is the time so that you can be ready for those things to come. Thanks so much for joining us for today's message, a preview of coming attractions. You know, a day is coming when our joy will be made complete. But even now, as we look forward to that great and glorious day in which Christ returns, joy inexpressible is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

Eternal joy in the hereafter, abundant joy in the here and now. That's the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel message. Pastor Paul wants to share with the world through the Destined for Victory broadcast.

He couldn't do that, though, without listeners like you. Your prayers and financial support are the lifeblood of this ministry. As you were able to give this month, we have a gift of our own to share with you. It's Pastor Paul's booklet. It pays to serve Jesus. In Mark Chapter 10, Jesus tells us that all who follow him will receive 100 times more than they give up. Yes, there will be tough times and sacrifices along the way.

You may have to give up a few things, some old habits, maybe even a relationship or two. But as you'll discover in this outstanding resource from Pastor Paul, following Jesus is always worth it in this life as well as the one to come. That's Pastor Paul's booklet, It Pays to Serve Jesus, and it's our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory this month. So please call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone.

Or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. And you can also make a safe and secure donation from our website, PastorPaul.net. I came to tell somebody, there is nothing good in sin. If there was something good in sin, God would leave you in it. Sin feels good. There are pleasures, the Bible says, in sin.

But have you ever noticed what comes after the pleasure? There's a paycheck, the wages of sin, the paycheck of sin is death. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, It Will Be So Worth It. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. And in Christ, you are Destined for Victory.