Prove It! Part 1

Christ then it's time for your to show up every day. It's time for the show. The way spiritual development in your life. It's time for the show up in the way you tap into God's power to get what you have to go through if you were on trial for being a Christian with there be enough evidence to convict you hello and thanks for being here for today's destined for victory with pastor Paul Sheppard. We read Hebrews chapter 11 we gain a better understanding of what faith in Christ is all about. By faith Abel brought an offering by faith Abraham left his home.

By faith Noah built an ark. Faith is an action word, not merely a belief behavior today pastor Paul encourage you to live a life that bears fruit to let the confession of your mouth become the actions of your hands and feet, stay right here or visit pastor Paul.net to listen anytime on demand. That's pastor Paul.net and you can download or subscribe to the podcasts of Apple podcast or wherever you get yours now. This pastor Paul, today's destined for victory message proven second Peter chapter 1 beginning with verse three his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness, knowledge, and knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love, for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them. He is nearsighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter wrote this second letter during a time when the early church was under intense persecution.

If you're familiar with early church history, or even with Roman history in the first century A.D. you will know that Nero was a who had a particular anger toward the Christian church and he told lies on those who were followers of Christ and tried to stir up all kinds of resentment among the Romans toward these Jews and Gentiles will be added to their numbers. People who really were innocent of the charges, but merely wanted them out of the picture and so because all kinds of trouble and the result was that was intense persecution among the people of God. It is during that time.

Sometime in the mid to late 60s, A.D. that Peter writes this letter to a scattered, a persecuted church that is trying to hold on in the face of all that Nero is doing to try to wipe them out, and by the way, in church history. Whenever there has been intense persecution design to destroy the church. All that has gone is called the church the multiply.

God has a phenomenal way of taking persecution and using it to spread the gospel rather than to quench the gospel and that happened in the first century and it is happening literally in every century they are after. Whenever the enemies of the church lies about God has a way of using it for his own purpose and they should've known that because Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church, and he said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

My brother, my fist. I will let you know God is going I have a people here until he comes again to receive us whole. The devil can do his best buddy will not wipe out the church of Jesus Christ, and all we have to do is to learn to stay in the word and allow God to speak to us through his word and show us how to get through even those dark times was doing such a time of persecution that Peter writes this second letter and I love the theme he presents in the early part of this letter because he wants to make sure that these Christians to whom he right understand that it's not enough to have a profession of faith, but especially in dark and difficult times. They have to have the legal fee and so the premise of this first chapter of second Peter is if you really belong to God. By the way you live your life if you are really a believer. If you're really up of Christ, then it's time for your baby to show up every day.

It's time for the show up in the way you believe God it's time for the show up in the way spiritual fruit is developed in your life. It's time for the show up in the way you tap into God's power to get through what you have to go through Peter's premise is you are called of God.

If you are part of the elect, then prove it by the way you live now just a word about doctrine when you see words like calling and election as you read your New Testament.

They speak to the issue that the Bible is clear about which is that God ordained pre-destined us to be in Christ.

Now Christians debate about what the basis of that election or that predestination is there is one school of thought that says God sovereignly chose who would be saved and who would be lost before the foundation of the world. He did it purely according to his own purpose.

He didn't take anything into account in terms of how you and I would live or what our inclinations would be for or against faith. He just sovereignly chose some to be saved and some to be lost and Benny created the world and what God preordained by his sovereignty is happening the other camps as well.

Yes, God did elect us or preordained us, but it was based on his foreknowledge. In other words that can send God look down the corridor time and so what you would do when you were presented with the gospel message sold whether or not you would say yes I want to be saved or no, no, thank you. I want to live on my own terms.

I'm not interested in matters of faith and that based on his knowledge of your decision. Then he elected you are predestined you to be safe and start whining about which is right here to tell you I want to preach on election and calling and I don't care which is right you know why because if you will make your calling and election sure what difference does it make whether God shows you so late or he chose you based on how you would respond what my job is as a preacher tell you you're called of God, and by the way you live. I don't get into the base. I can't win believing women. I believe in what he does not want to win at everything and socialism, called to be a preacher and some of you know my testimony that was a reluctant calling in terms of accepting it for me. I did little bit, which I grew up in a preacher whole and I love my daddy to this day is a retired pastor listens to the broadcast of just about every day. If not every day and love the fact that two of his sons, or breach of the gospel in carrying the torch that he carried faithfully for so many years and so I thank God for him in London, but as I grew up and saw the lifestyle of the person in vocational pastoral ministry, but I don't want. I want to be a regular Christian to be a normal person would have a normal life responsible for the whole church of people. I don't want to have to presuppose core madden semi-happy and somewhat and all of those changes I want in the regular in college. Try not to be a preacher until God finally got a hold of me and made it clear to me.

I was called to preach and the sooner I accepted it, the happier I would be and he also pointed me to scriptures like Jonah and show me the success rate of people who try to run from their calling. I'm saying this not just set up his methadone center because there probably some of you are running from a calling. It may or may not be to a pastorate of mail may not be the missionary work whatever it is, but whatever God called you to do.

I would suggest that you get it done because God doesn't let you when you say yes to his will. And since I'm a preacher I want to when I want to hear them say well done. I believe in women.

I don't care what it is I believe in winning the game and I minute by minute to win it. If I play Monopoly out for blood.

Anybody can make him independently as he slowly all of those kind of people you because in the game just because of the game and you take all my houses know somebody like that on my table to the kiddie table. If you don't care about winning this table I want people who want to win or they even with an attitude that's what I want I want the people who live his life and death. They want your hotels. They want you houses they want Boardwalk Park Place everything they want to leave you broke busted and disgusted and I left the way I am. I want to limit everything so when, in terms of my calling and therefore I choose not to enter into the debates in Scripture about things that can be subtle. I figure if Christians and scholars and theologians have been debating this for centuries. I'm not smart enough to settle the debate so since I'm not smart enough to settle it. I just won't get and instead will do is preach the main and playing things because I can win at preaching, though I can help you see that according to this word, there is some events in the life of a person who is truly called an elect of God, and that's what I wanted to spend more time in this passage and help you see how we are called to him that we truly wall with the Lord Jesus Christ listening to destined for victory with pastor Paul Shepherd, senior pastor of destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California, will be right back with the second half of today's message but first and important reminder if you haven't already, be sure to download a free mobile app so that you can listen to destined for victory right in the palm of your hand. The app is easy to navigate. You can even take notes on Pastor Paul's messages so will be there the next time you tune in search destined for victory in the App Store and download today absolutely free. You may not have everything you've ever wanted. But if you're a believer in Christ you have the greatest gift ever given the gift of salvation is pastor Paul with the rest of today's destined for victory message improvement. Now I read the introductory verses, but introduces it in a rather standard way. He says that all the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received the faith as precious as ours is called the Christian faith of precious gift from God. Please understand that when you saved you have a precious to please understand that when God has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You have an outstanding gift from the Lord. If you don't have many of the trappings you want in your life, you already want because you have the greatest gift in the history of mankind, which is the salvation of your soul through the free gift God has given you in Christ because our faith precious. He says grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Please note that Peter is saying that again he speaking the people under intense persecution that you can expect to receive from God to things in abundance. One is grace and the other is peace and he says you need to expect the believe and receive them through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through getting to know God in an intimate way to talk about that more in the moment. He says you can expect that God will give you grace. What is grace grace is unmerited favor when God gives you grace he's given you something you can't you can't deserve. He just bestows it upon you know what is at grace look like in your life and mine. Grace is an endowment.

It is an ability to get through what you have to go through.

It is the ability to do what you been called to do. It is the ability to build God's plan and purpose for your life and it is an endowment. It is something that is given for a specific purpose.

You know, even when it comes to those who are filling topic they did because they want a certain purpose to be fulfilled. Well, God says, I give my people because I have a purpose for your life and my grace is designed to get you through what you have to go through. Have you ever gone through a season in your walk with God where you felt like God I cannot make it. I can't make it please know when you get to a place where you can't make it if you will look to the Lord. He has said in his word.

I will give you the grace you made. I'll give you grace and that moment to get through what you have to go through. Now here's the trick. He gives grace and abundance, but he doesn't get grace in advance. Somebody missed it. So I have to say it again. He gives grace and abundance, but he doesn't get grace in advance.

I walk with God for some time so have some of you have never had God give me advance grace for trial. I'm not going through yet what you have is the grace to handle what you're going through right now in your life but you may have some things down the road coming. You may have.

For instance, a calling. That's gonna blow your mind.

God might ask you to do something that you just can't imagine being able to do when he calls you and when you say yes and begin to move out in obedience when you have that kind of grace.

You can look at some people right now and see what they're going through and I like to say like never go where you can't do it with the grace you have, because the grace you have is designed to get you through what you're going through to see what I mean. But you're calling give higher challenges get higher than your grace will exceed the level of your challenge, so I want somebody to be encouraged to know that when you needed God will have it available for we we shop at Costco and we like to get big boxes of things you know you like you want to grace value pack your coworker coming out of the place with a big goal value pack of things, God will give you grace like that. God give you the grace and what you're going through in this season of your life and that's all you have. In fact, the grace seems to be dispensed day by day, because if you're like me you had those times when you say God I can't make it another day. Well you can make it another day on the grace you have caused the grace you have is for the people when you might say God I can make it another day. Go to sleep go to sleep. Why, because tomorrow all you can say no. According to her they ought to be a first batch of grace to get me through what I'm about to go through God and Jesus and those yesterday. Wait a I need a fresh batch of grace and Peter said you can believe God for grace and abundance. He said you can also believe in for peace and abundance and peace. Of course, is that through that quality that God will create and cultivate in our lives which will allow us to experience, not an absence of trouble, but in absence of anxiety and overwhelming anxiety about our trouble so you might be going to difficult times and peace as it spoken of in Scripture isn't the absence of the tribal deliverance every now and then God will deliver you sooner or later will be faithful will deliver you from what you're going through, but before he did. As you plummet. He promises I'll give you please while you're going through it. See, we want to be delivered from God or God bring me out of this. But as I said in the message about Joe, one of the things we have to learn to be whether we want to or not. His weight on on God because he doesn't operate by your schedule. Have you learned by now I need you to come through.

By the end of the month and the end of Levi and you have seen God yet. He's with you because he has given you grace and if you trust them to give you peace.

Now please please know this piece is in something you get automatically. Peace is something that is conditional to conditional promise.

We know that because when you look in places in the Scripture that talk about it. You will see the conditions. For instance, in Philippians chapter 4, you will see that the peace of God that passes understanding only comes after you have done some things that Paul talks about he said. First of all that you need to learn to rejoice in the Lord always.

In other words, if you want peace make the choice to rejoice.

Some of us make the choice to complain. Some of us make the choice to blow up all the negative circumstances. Paul says no make the choice to rejoice find something to rejoice in God about. And if you can't rejoice in your circumstances rejoice in the God who will bring you through your circumstance. Make the choice to rejoice.

The also says be moderately temperate in your living with Christ. Make sure that you allow God to bring balance into your life that you don't become overwhelmed by your negative circumstances which allow God to bring the fruit of temperance or balance in your life will talk about that as we move through the text that he also said you gotta learn to pray if you want peace because when you have trouble what are you going to do. You gotta do something with it. When the Bible says no you about it, but instead, pray about. Paul said don't worry about anything but a about everything and he said you will learn to give your petition over to God. I often say that we are going through difficulties and tough times can Lord to be prayerless.

You can't afford not to pray. If you have an rough lot that will make you say well you know you have an array of vehicles like Vonage original flight plan going to small group when you all the more because you gotta believe God through your tough time.

Gotta learn to play and cast those cares on God because if you don't about it, you will worry about some of us have learned if you pray and pray right, God will deliver you from the worry and give you a piece that passes understanding. I don't know about you but that's the best news I've heard all week you I already have the power to live a life pleasing to God. The wisdom, faith or desire. Each has been freely given to all who put their faith and trust in Christ. Wealth is an area of your life that needs a little work, learning to walk by faith, learning how to live a life that pleases God. The destined for Victor ministry team would be happy to pray on your behalf. Visit Pastor Paul.net and use the contact feature to send us your prayer requests while you're there, be sure to request Pastor Paul's monthly letter of encouragement. Yours, at no cost or obligation.

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