When Never Meets Now

0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.800 So I want to thank you, Lord. I don't know 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.040 if they've been to the gym this year a lot yet, 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:07.680 but I thank you that you brought them to church 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:15.600 today and online and on YouTube and Facebook, and I 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:20.160 thank you that someone's on a podcast right now hearing 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:28.120 this word, and they are getting stronger. So, Lord, just 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:32.080 like Dustin Stradley's biceps were so so much bigger than 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.360 the last time I saw him, I want somebody to 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.440 look at us and say, boy, your faith is bigger, 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:43.680 your love is bigger. You're more expectant, your wisdom is growing. 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:48.560 We came today to grow, and we thank you Lord 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.519 for meeting us in this place. You're an excellent trainer. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:56.240 Have your way. Oh I just felt a series coming on. Sorry, 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:06.399 y'all wait, training a sermon or a series? All right, 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:08.800 but we're gonna talk about that a little bit today. 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.760 Are you excited about the word? Oh, this is awesome. 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.480 This doesn't even feel like a normal Sunday. This feels 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:23.679 like a fut orange revived. The let's like a revival. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.760 You know what. I want to read my scripture. I 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.360 want to get right to it. Any announcements that need 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.920 to be made, somebody else make them I want. It's 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:43.520 a preach stay standing, Stay standing, and you'll holler to 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.560 the people online say stand up, tell them stand up 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:56.480 for the word of God, show some respect. I had 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:02.240 so many texts about last week's message about and all 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:06.960 y'all remembered was the trash bags. I'm like, well, if 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.399 I knew you were that easy, I would stop studying 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.720 and just get a wheelbarrow next week or something. But 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.680 I think it impacted us to talk about are you 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:24.240 holding on to something that is hurting you? And we 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.360 might revisit a little bit of that in a moment. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:31.040 But there's a passage, a story that I want to 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.239 share with you from Acts chapter ten. Did you study 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:38.120 it last night? Jason? Okay, I told a few of 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.480 my guys this is where I'm gonna be if you 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.480 want to get a head start. But you will never 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.399 guess where God took me with this one. I don't 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.040 care how many times you read it, because it just 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:54.280 it's powerful. I gotta read twenty verses, so y'all listen 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.760 fast Acts chapter ten, Verse one. At Cessarea, there was 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.720 a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.840 as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.480 devout and God fearing. He gave generously to those in 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:11.639 need and prayed to God regularly. One day, at about 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.440 three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.360 saw an angel of God who came to him okay, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:23.919 and said Cornelius. Cornelius stared at him in fear. What 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:28.840 is it, Lord, he asked. The angel answered, your prayers 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.800 and gifts to the poor have come up as a 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:40.480 memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:45.320 bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. Y'all, 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.360 remember Jesus changed his names, right. You know he can 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:53.280 change your name too. What you've called yourself all your life. 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.280 You get one good encounter with God and he'll show 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:02.680 you a side of you you've never seen before. Go 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.520 to Joppa, get Peter. Now send men to Jappa to 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.400 bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:11.440 He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.160 by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.000 had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.400 devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:28.160 them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. Now, 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.479 while all of that is happening in cesarea, listen what's 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.680 happening in Joppa, and watch how God will hook stuff 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:40.640 up that you didn't even know you needed to pray about. 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.880 About noon the following day, as they were on their 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:51.559 journey going to get Peter and approaching the city, Peter 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.640 went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.440 and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.479 being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw Heaven opened. 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:11.080 He saw Heaven open, woh wow, and something like a 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:15.000 large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.160 It contained all kinds of four footed animals, as well 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:23.239 as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him get up, Peter, 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:33.000 kill and e all the carnivores. Say amen for the vegans. 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:38.679 Surely not, Lord, Okay, surely not. Lord. I have never 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:43.440 eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice spoke to him 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:49.359 a second time. Do not call anything impure that God 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:56.120 has made clean. This happened three times because Peter was 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:01.599 hard headed, and immediately the sheet taken back to Heaven. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.920 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.000 the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:16.640 was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.120 if Simon, who was known as Peter, was staying there. 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.320 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.280 said to him, Okay, you got what Peter was thinking 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.320 and what the spirit was saying, and they were not 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.320 the same. What was going on in his mind was 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:37.680 not what was going on in God's thoughts, So that 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:44.159 could be true of you two, just saying. While he 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.440 was still thinking, the Spirit said, Simon, three men are 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:53.680 looking for you. Okay, so get up and go downstairs. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.680 Do not hesitate to go with them. Do not hesitate 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:03.080 to go with them, for I have sent them. Okay, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.760 let's focus on two verses. Let's look at verse fourteen. 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:15.400 Surely not, Lord, I have never. Everybody say I have never. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.000 And then go to verse twenty where he said, do 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:27.760 not hesitate, I have never, and the spirit said, do 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:37.320 not hesitate. So this is the message. When never meets now, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:45.880 when never everybody say never needs now in your presence, Lord, 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.640 is the fullness of joy, right hand, pleasures forevermore. Release 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.080 the resource of heaven to your people through me. Today, 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:57.760 I pray, I avail myself to you in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:04.320 you may be seated. I'm so glad there was snow 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:09.120 in the forecast. I didn't know. I don't want to 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.440 say I never watched the news, but I could almost 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.440 say I never watched the news. And I'm not going 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:19.720 to say never, because you know, never saying ever, and 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.520 since that's what I'm preaching on. I thought of all 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.520 of the little cliches never say never now or never 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.880 thought of all of them, never never, land, studying a 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:37.720 lot of different sources. But I'm glad I didn't know 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:39.800 that it was supposed to snow. Now those in the 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.079 other parts of the world, you wouldn't really call it 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:46.480 snow if you're in Michigan. But this is the South, 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:52.840 more specifically the Southeastern United States, and we never relatively 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.800 really get snow, so we don't know what to do 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.480 with it when it might come. I mean, we are 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:04.240 more scared of an inch of snow than a gallon 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:09.120 of anthrax. It's a weird thing to watch Southerner's response 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.280 to the snow. And Holly grew up in Miami where 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:16.360 she really never saw snow. Anyway, I'm glad it snowed 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:21.360 because I had this message on Monday and I didn't 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.920 know how I'm awake to preach it on Sunday. And 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.840 so when they said it might snow I was like, well, okay, 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:37.959 I could call the real Christians, the sanctified. So I'm 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.840 here a little early, like I'm here little early just 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.800 in case. We got generators, we got milk in the 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.319 grocery store, but just in case. I said, let's go 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.520 ahead and preach it, because we can do that now. Now. 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.680 I'm glad about that for two reasons. One is the 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:58.840 people who come who just are so hungry that they 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:05.559 skip runch and and I'm I'm skipping brunts for a breakthrough. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:11.480 Ah see what I'm saying. The people online are like, oh, 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.120 it's so much more of the people are so excited today. 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.080 It's the ones we filtered. It's not any of the 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.800 ones that we don't want it. This is like the 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:25.719 the premium Chris Unz. Anyway, no offense if you're not here. 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.200 I'm just playing around. But I was excited because I 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:30.160 was already ready, and I was like I kind of 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:31.720 wanted to preach it when God gave it to me. 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.240 I was like can I preach it now? But you 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.760 gotta wait, you gotta wait, and so that's when you wait, 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.640 it gets hard to wait. And so you're sitting there wanting, 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.800 wanting to wait. But it's like a it's like a 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.440 weight w e ighd. It's like, as I have your message, 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.160 and how can I hold this till I get there? 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:47.880 So they were like a song. I was like, let's 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:49.720 do it early, Let's do it early. Let's do it 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.400 like Bill O'Reilly said one time, We'll do it live. 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.920 Don't look that up on you, But all right. So 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.959 the second reason, though, it's give me the perfect illustration 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:06.880 for this idea of we never meets now. When we 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.760 started this church, I stood up on the first snow 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.720 day that we ever had, and I said, I was 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:18.240 twenty six. I was wearing some probably some true religion 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:23.319 jeans or something like that. Huh, probably some antique denims 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:29.440 with some studs on them. And one day I walked 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.200 in and this guy was like, I've never seen a 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:36.040 preacher with stuff like that on his pockets. Why am 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.920 I telling you this? Okay? I stood up and I said, hey, 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.360 a lot of people were asking me, are we going 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.080 to cancel church? And I just want you to know, 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.920 as long as I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, I'm 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:52.559 twenty six talking like I'm sixty two. I said, as 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:56.480 long as I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, we will never. 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.480 I've went into all these I don't care if it's 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.760 eight inches of snow, I don't care if it And 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:11.120 God's laughing. God's laughing, because what kind of fool would 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.760 I be if now all the technology that has advanced 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.680 for us to reach more people. I was still standing 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.800 up in here with some Savorski crystals on my back 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:29.880 pockets or something, talking about we will never never. You know, 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:36.880 you said never about some things in the scripture when 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:41.520 Peter said never, I have never. I went back and 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:47.280 noticed that every time Peter said never, it closed him 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:51.200 off from what God was trying to do. This isn't 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.400 the first time. Remember when Jesus said, I've got to 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:58.760 go to Jerusalem. There I will be killed handed over, 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:00.680 But on the third day, I'll write, which was the 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.120 whole reason he came to pay the price, the whole 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.920 reason he came to redeem the world, the whole reason 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:12.080 that he came. And Peter said, never, Lord, this will 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:17.920 never happen to you. Everybody say never. Put it in 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:22.160 a chat like in all caps, and think about what 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:28.720 you said. Never about that? Now if we put your never, 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:35.520 and you're now how it started, how it's going. Like 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.440 I heard when guy say, I'll tell you what, I 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.200 never fight with my kids. You know what I thought? 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.280 This is what I thought, because I've got kids now, sixteen, fourteen, ten. 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:53.600 I thought, then you never tell them no. You never 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.280 tell them no, if you never fight with them, you 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.520 never tell them no. That's the only thing that tells me, Oh, 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:03.880 I never yell at my kids, and you're never around them. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.760 The only parents this is true. The only parents that 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.480 don't complain about their kids are the ones who stay 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.760 late at work so they don't have to deal with it, 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:18.839 you know, you skip that time. So I thought, well, 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.280 if you never fight with your kids, if there's never 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.960 any conflict, that means there's never any confrontation and there's 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.640 never any correction. And if there's never any confrontation in 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.240 correction with your kids at any point in their natural life. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:30.960 I'm not saying you have to say no all the time, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:32.880 but once in a while you're gonna have to not 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:41.240 beat their friend beat their father. Hear this, Graham. Graham 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.800 doesn't like this part of the sermon. He's totally out. 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.520 He looks so Presbyterian right now on the front road. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.360 But it's true because if I never tell you no, 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.800 if I never tell you no, you will never learn discipline. 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:58.760 If you never learned discipline, you can never get a job. 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.280 You never get a job, you can never leave my house. 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.960 And I need you to lead. So I gotta tell 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:10.280 you no. Some God's once in a while, Okay, parenting 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:20.600 seminar over. I'll never cancel church for snow, I'll never 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:25.040 I mean, how many of you were like at one point, say, oh, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.680 I never go to a church like Elevation. I'd never 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.760 go to a big church. Okay, how many said that 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.240 I never go. Then you're not going to heaven. It's 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:43.120 every troth, every tongue, every nation. So there's only one 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.760 other option that a big church. In the end. In 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.800 the end, nothing against small churches. I'm just saying. Then, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.120 then what happened God spoke to you, or God spoke 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.480 to your kid, or you hit a place you never 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:05.160 first I thought you'd hit. You hit a need that 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:16.240 made you rethink you're never, Whenever meets Now. As easy 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.400 as it would be to pick on Peter, I've got 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:24.960 to take a moment and defend this great disciple. Peter 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:30.000 wasn't holding on to his preferences out of personal selfishness. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.720 If you want to understand Acts chapter ten, you have 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.760 to understand a little bit about Acts chapter one through seven, 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:42.160 where the gospel was following the course of Jesus promise 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.160 in Acts one eight you will be my witnesses in 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:52.320 Jerusalem where he died, Judea, the surrounding area Samaria, past 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.600 the borders of where they felt comfortable going, and to 0:16:55.760 --> 0:17:03.000 the ends of the earth. Somebody say, no boundaries, no boundaries. 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:09.680 Acts chapter ten is a spearhead moment for this mission 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.560 to go forth beyond the confines of the Jewish world. 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.320 But to really understand Acts chapter ten and why Peter 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.000 was in a Tanner's house in the first place, you 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.760 know that's a no. No Tanners work with dead animals. 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.040 Even being close to some of these animals would have 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.640 made him unclean. Now you understand how God has been 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:37.320 moving Peter into progression, so he wouldn't be snobby about 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.720 which certain people God could blessing us. Oh, This will 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.720 not make the sermon, but let's just put it in 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.439 the side note. You can tell you're making progress in 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:51.240 your walk with God when you have less prejudice toward people. 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.080 That's one of the first size. How do you know 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.320 if you're growing spiritually if you memorize more scripture? The 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.680 Pharisees had a lot of those scriptures memorized, and they 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.479 wanted to kill Jesus. How do you know if you're 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.760 getting closer to Jesus if you spend more time praying 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.680 in the morning. If you listen to Christian radio, listen, 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.439 I'll be honest with you. I don't even keep my 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.880 radio on Christian radio. I want to rock when I'm 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.800 in the car. I don't think God might. What good 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.920 is it listening to Christian radio If I'm cussing everybody 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:32.040 out in traffic, that's cutting me off. So the real 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.560 proof of progress in my walk with God, this Peter's 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.640 to finding out, is that as the Gospel is going forth, 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.520 and I follow this, as the Gospel is going Jerusalem, Judica, Sumaria, 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.600 ends of the Earth, It's going to require not only 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:50.280 a geographical but a psychological transformation. Geographical God, I want 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.240 you to do more in my life. God, I want 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.360 to buy a bigger house. God, I want to move 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.880 to another city. God, I want to get past this stage. God, 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:04.760 I want that's geographical. The psychological is Peter, who's a Jew. 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:09.920 Not the most observant Jew, but observant. Y'all know, Peter 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:17.560 was a little rough yet as he's praying and God 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:21.280 shows him something. Remember how it said I won't have 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:23.040 time to read the whole text again, you can read 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:26.479 it later this week, Please do that. Something like a 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:31.960 blanket came down from heaven as he was praying. Now, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:39.280 had he been scrolling or posting at this moment, he 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.679 would have missed the chance to see what God would do. 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:48.560 That's free. He was on the roof of the House 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.080 of Simon the Tanner after raising, by the way, a 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.280 woman from the dead in Joppa. That's what he was 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:57.680 doing in Joppa, and he decided to stay a little 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.880 while because I guess raising people from the dead takes 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.239 a little bit out of you. And he's hungry, and 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:07.280 he's on the roof and he's praying, and a blanket, 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.880 something like a blanket comes down with animals on it, 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:15.960 and some of the animals on the blanket were animals 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:20.800 that he wasn't supposed to eat or touch. According to 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:25.200 Leviticus eleven, if you want to understand Acts chapter ten, 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:30.640 where Peter said never, you have to understand Leviticus eleven. 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.480 Leviticus eleven is the dietary restrictions that God gave his 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.720 people so that he could distinguish them from all the 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:43.000 other people on the earth. It was never really about 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.720 the diet. How many of you received that word. It's 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:47.280 not about the diet. It's not about the diet. It's 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.400 not about the diet. Come on, lift both hands, lift 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:56.080 both hands. I impart the miracle of calorie cancelation, carbohydrate cancelation, 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:00.760 fat burning, cell reduction, all of it. Okay, But it 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:05.280 wasn't It wasn't about his food. It was about his 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:10.080 faith and his frame of reference. That's what God was 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:14.040 showing him because there was stuff on the sheet or 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.800 on the blanket that he was not supposed to eat. 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.720 There was stuff on the blanket that he was not 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:25.479 supposed to eat. And if you really want to study, 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.400 read Leviticus eleven this week. It will make the CDC 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:35.320 guidelines look like a children's book. When you read the 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.400 land Animals that the Jewish people couldn't eat. I mean, 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:40.880 if you wanted to eat a land animal, it had 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:44.520 to have hoofs and chew the cut. Both couldn't have 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:46.840 split hoofs and not chew the cut, couldn't chew the 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:48.960 cut and not. It had to be a specific way. 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.160 If you wanted to eat sea animals, Leviticus eleven says this, 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:58.879 it has to have scales and fins. No shrimp. I 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:06.400 don't want to live in a world fried shrimp, boiled shrimp. 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:08.440 How many of y'all can't hear shrimp without here and 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.840 bubbah God, Okay, y'all are old. That's an old reference. 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:18.720 And most of the Holly, the most restrictions were on 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:24.400 the birds. The most protected were the birds, and then 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:27.400 most of the flying insects that couldn't eat, welln't want 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:32.320 to anyway. All that was on the blanket that came 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:36.399 from heaven. How can something that I have been taught 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:46.520 is not of God come from heaven? Never I had 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:50.119 never eaten any of these things. Well, Holly never ate 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:56.320 boiled peanuts till she met me. That's right. I converted her, 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:02.840 corrupted her. Whatever she thought that tasted like dirt, She 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:05.399 made them for me Monday night though, and she was 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:09.399 eating them too. She said, never, I would never eat this, 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:13.399 you know what I mean? And what if it's not 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:16.760 about the diet. What if it's not about the food. 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:20.040 What the way we look at our life and the 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:22.320 things that happen to us and the things that God allows, 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:25.280 even the things that we're praying about, is on the 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:28.920 completely wrong level. Because what if we think that the 0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:31.440 person we don't get along with is about that person 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:36.080 and don't realize that that person is something that God 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:43.280 is using in his project called you. When they annoy you, 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:54.879 they become sandpaper. I'll keep going. It's taking you a 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:58.800 while to warm up to the idea that Wait a minute, 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.320 this doesn't have whoop. Wait a minute, this doesn't have fins. 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.760 Wait a minute, this didn't chew the cud. Wait a minute, 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:14.600 this can't be of God. And I call bs, y'all 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:22.320 were't here last week. Belief system, belief system. Your belief 0:24:22.320 --> 0:24:25.080 system is formed by your personal experiences. And then, like 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:31.399 I said last week, you call that truth. Oh, all women, 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:38.680 all men, all millennials, all boomers, all gen Z, all churches, 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:45.119 all Baptists, all black people, all white people all all all, 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:50.640 and I call BS on all of it. I call 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:55.800 you know. BS also could stand for watch this you're ready. 0:24:56.440 --> 0:25:08.320 Blanket statements like Peter made, I don't never eat anything 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:16.840 like that. Never, Lord, never, well ie never. That's how 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:19.760 you'd say it, that you were prim and proper well 0:25:19.920 --> 0:25:24.920 lie never. But what do you do when, like Peter 0:25:26.720 --> 0:25:33.959 never meets now and you realize that the way you 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:39.520 saw God when you were eighteen was shaped by your experience, 0:25:40.240 --> 0:25:47.080 not his word or his spirit. What did you do 0:25:47.160 --> 0:25:50.400 when you find out that the Lord is my shepherd 0:25:50.680 --> 0:25:54.159 doesn't mean that he keeps everything bad from happening, but 0:25:54.240 --> 0:25:59.720 that he walks through the valley with you. So when 0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:03.080 we may blanket statements, I mean I remember hearing somebody 0:26:03.119 --> 0:26:09.440 say one time, I never doubt God's word. And incidentally, 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:11.240 this was a preacher and he was out of the 0:26:11.240 --> 0:26:16.120 ministry three years later for an affair, And I wondered, 0:26:16.320 --> 0:26:18.840 is the reason you never doubt? Because you never did 0:26:18.880 --> 0:26:22.440 self inventory to see what was really in you? So 0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:25.400 it's easy to make a blanket statement. Right watches those 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:27.040 of you who are here for the first time, watch 0:26:27.040 --> 0:26:31.320 how good they do with this? God is good and 0:26:31.400 --> 0:26:34.760 all the time. See, I love that. I'm not knocking 0:26:34.800 --> 0:26:37.679 that that's true. I believe that all things work together 0:26:37.760 --> 0:26:39.760 for the good. That doesn't mean all things are good. 0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:47.160 That doesn't mean it's all good. That's not what we mean. 0:26:47.359 --> 0:26:54.040 We say God is good. Do not call that evil 0:26:54.480 --> 0:26:58.000 which I have called good? Do not call that good 0:26:58.080 --> 0:27:01.360 which I have called evil. I need to calm down, y'all, 0:27:01.400 --> 0:27:07.720 because this blessed my life. Do you realize how many 0:27:07.800 --> 0:27:10.879 of the things that you are sitting in right now 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:19.040 somebody said never about at one time. How many of 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:21.399 you are sitting in a now that used to be 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:25.280 a never in your life. How many of you never 0:27:25.359 --> 0:27:30.159 thought you would finish's let's start eighth grade. I was 0:27:30.200 --> 0:27:31.720 going to go to college, but I was like, we 0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:33.600 shall work our way up. How many of you never 0:27:33.680 --> 0:27:36.880 thought How many of you never thought you finished high school? 0:27:37.080 --> 0:27:39.680 How many you never thought you'd finish college? You went 0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:43.399 to college, y'all. I still have dreams sometimes that I 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:48.399 didn't finish college. To this day. I finished college like 0:27:48.520 --> 0:27:53.359 seventy years ago, and I'm still dreaming about it. Like 0:27:53.680 --> 0:27:55.000 there were moments when you're in the middle of it. 0:27:55.119 --> 0:27:56.879 When I wrote my first book, my editor he'd been 0:27:56.960 --> 0:27:59.720 editing books. He edited the Prayer of Jabez, remember that. 0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:02.760 So he brought me a book on our first meeting 0:28:02.840 --> 0:28:04.880 and I was like, what's this. I didn't even really 0:28:04.880 --> 0:28:06.520 want the book. I didn't even really know who the 0:28:06.520 --> 0:28:10.120 author was, So what's this? He said, you just need 0:28:10.160 --> 0:28:13.320 this so that you can have a reminder that books 0:28:13.320 --> 0:28:18.639 do get finished. We hadn't started yet. He knew that 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:22.760 I would hit points in the process where I would 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:28.680 feel like I'm never going to finish this, so he said, 0:28:29.240 --> 0:28:33.840 put this up somewhere so you can see that books 0:28:33.880 --> 0:28:37.960 do get finished. And I think the Lord put me 0:28:38.040 --> 0:28:41.920 up here this week and Peter, to let you know 0:28:45.160 --> 0:28:52.560 that it does get better, that it does get better, 0:28:56.920 --> 0:29:02.000 that it does get better. I said it three times 0:29:02.040 --> 0:29:09.320 like the angel, because the devil says never over and 0:29:09.600 --> 0:29:16.360 over and over and over again, because the devil understands 0:29:16.400 --> 0:29:22.600 the power of repetition better than you do. Last week, 0:29:23.160 --> 0:29:26.800 I told you this is Jesus John chapter eight that 0:29:27.200 --> 0:29:29.960 the devil and we talked about the devil is a liar, 0:29:31.000 --> 0:29:34.480 but he doesn't sound like a liar. He sounds like you. 0:29:37.080 --> 0:29:42.880 His native language is lying, and one of his favorite 0:29:42.880 --> 0:29:51.720 words is never. Never. You know what depression is. Depression 0:29:51.800 --> 0:29:55.360 is when you finally give up hope that it will 0:29:55.400 --> 0:30:00.200 ever be any different than it is right now. The 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:05.280 reasons behind it have medical roots and also have clinical treatments. 0:30:05.320 --> 0:30:09.240 That's not my point. My point is that the devil 0:30:09.320 --> 0:30:11.720 knows how to tell you and make you feel like 0:30:14.000 --> 0:30:19.040 you're never gonna be happy again, You're never gonna be 0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:30.360 loved again. Never. That's the language that he lies with. Never, never, 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:33.160 and he tells you never, He tells you never. He 0:30:33.960 --> 0:30:38.360 tells you never about certain opportunities. You know, well, that's 0:30:38.400 --> 0:30:41.400 never gonna happen. Nobody ever notices you anyway. Have you 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:45.840 ever noticed how they never notice this, how the devil talks? 0:30:46.480 --> 0:30:48.800 What's point in trying? They never notice. They never say 0:30:48.800 --> 0:30:51.840 thank you, They never appreciate you, never never never never 0:30:51.880 --> 0:30:57.320 never never never never never never never never, and me eventually, 0:30:57.360 --> 0:30:59.000 you just agree with the devil to get him to 0:30:59.040 --> 0:31:04.680 shut up. Okay, it's fine, the truth will set you free. 0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:07.520 But I left something out last week, Chapmen, I left 0:31:07.520 --> 0:31:08.880 this out last week, and I want to give it 0:31:08.880 --> 0:31:11.520 to you now. In eight thirty two, he says, the 0:31:11.600 --> 0:31:14.120 truth will set you free. But watch what did Jews say, 0:31:14.120 --> 0:31:16.440 when Jesus confronts them with the truth, he said, the 0:31:16.480 --> 0:31:20.760 truth will set you free. You got the verse quickly, quickly, 0:31:21.640 --> 0:31:24.680 verse thirty two. They answered him, I can't believe I 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:29.360 left this out. All we are Averhim's descendants and have 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:39.560 never been slaves of anyone who hun four hundred years 0:31:39.600 --> 0:31:44.280 in Egipt bring about there's never been a people that 0:31:44.320 --> 0:31:48.960 were in captivity more time than Israelites Assyria, Babylon, Egipt. 0:31:48.960 --> 0:31:52.840 Put it back up. We've never been slaves of anyone. Oh. 0:31:53.000 --> 0:31:56.520 I don't struggle with that. I'm a good Christian. Oh 0:31:56.680 --> 0:31:59.920 I don't really deal with that. I rused my curtain. 0:32:00.000 --> 0:32:03.680 I the fear of that position of the low. Okay, 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:11.200 it's called a selective never it's when you reduce down 0:32:11.280 --> 0:32:14.000 the whole thing to the current person. As a matter 0:32:14.040 --> 0:32:16.880 of fact, they were under Roman oppression at the moment 0:32:16.920 --> 0:32:27.440 they said that denial, y'all. I've used therapy in my 0:32:27.520 --> 0:32:30.080 life on and off to be a good pastor without shame. 0:32:30.160 --> 0:32:37.600 For years. I talked to somebody in a heartbeat, I will, well, 0:32:37.640 --> 0:32:40.000 you should talk to the Lord. I talk to him 0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:47.920 and people because I can't see him. Thank you, pastor. 0:32:48.280 --> 0:32:51.920 You make us feel so much more because I thought 0:32:51.960 --> 0:32:54.600 you never struggled. No, I do. I struggle. I struggle 0:32:54.640 --> 0:32:56.920 a lot. That's how I get these little messages. I 0:32:57.000 --> 0:32:59.560 go down to Hell, I box the devil. Six days, 0:32:59.760 --> 0:33:05.920 I'm back and tell you here's something to try on him. 0:33:05.960 --> 0:33:13.280 All right, But my fear was I was like, I'm 0:33:13.280 --> 0:33:16.200 not gonna I'm probably not gonna finish strong man. I mean, 0:33:16.440 --> 0:33:18.920 good grief. I struggle with this and I deal with that. 0:33:19.440 --> 0:33:21.920 Oh my. You know, most people, nine out of ten 0:33:22.000 --> 0:33:24.880 ministers I heard one time don't and the person said 0:33:24.880 --> 0:33:28.160 to me in a counseling session, you may not, but 0:33:28.320 --> 0:33:30.520 I actually think you will. Here's why I think you will, 0:33:30.560 --> 0:33:37.120 because you know you might not. Now, some people would 0:33:37.120 --> 0:33:45.520 call that being negative. When Peter said, never, Lord, I 0:33:45.600 --> 0:33:49.600 will never deny you. Isn't it funny how he was 0:33:49.640 --> 0:33:54.920 the first one that did. When you say never, you 0:33:54.960 --> 0:33:59.720 know I never, No, I mean, I would never deal 0:33:59.720 --> 0:34:03.240 with that. I think it's crazy. God will give people 0:34:03.280 --> 0:34:05.800 the word that they need for something they're about to 0:34:05.800 --> 0:34:07.320 go into, and they won't even write it down or 0:34:07.360 --> 0:34:10.640 listen to it, so they don't know they're gonna need it. 0:34:11.719 --> 0:34:15.680 Because God, God is giving you what you're going to 0:34:15.760 --> 0:34:19.719 need for where he knows you're going to be, and 0:34:19.760 --> 0:34:22.319 you can only you're so like right here, right now 0:34:22.360 --> 0:34:24.880 in this season. If it doesn't say exactly what I 0:34:24.960 --> 0:34:31.120 wanted to say right now. You might need this. You 0:34:31.200 --> 0:34:35.000 might need it Thursday. You might need it in three years. 0:34:35.800 --> 0:34:38.239 You might need it for somebody else. It might not 0:34:38.400 --> 0:34:42.840 even be for you. I don't know what Peter was 0:34:42.880 --> 0:34:45.080 praying about on the roof and extend, but I don't 0:34:45.080 --> 0:34:47.000 think he was praying for Corneli, just because he did't 0:34:47.000 --> 0:34:51.560 even know who he was. And yet God answered a 0:34:51.640 --> 0:34:55.880 prayer that Peter wasn't even praying by sending something to 0:34:55.920 --> 0:35:00.400 the Gate that Peter didn't even ask for. And so 0:35:00.760 --> 0:35:04.200 it left me wondering. As I preached today, listen to me, Epham, 0:35:04.400 --> 0:35:06.359 listen to me. Let me know where you're listening from. 0:35:06.480 --> 0:35:08.480 Let me know what city, what town, what Hamlet let 0:35:08.480 --> 0:35:10.480 me know what state, Let me know where where you're 0:35:10.480 --> 0:35:14.160 listening from. So I can say this, it's at the gate. 0:35:18.480 --> 0:35:20.920 This delegation put that in the chat? Would you put 0:35:20.920 --> 0:35:23.160 that in the chat? More people are watching online today 0:35:23.160 --> 0:35:25.480 than usual, So let's have a child and then you 0:35:25.520 --> 0:35:27.480 can touch somebody if you're in the room, say it's 0:35:27.520 --> 0:35:29.520 at the gate. It's at the gate. It's at the gate. 0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:31.600 It's at the gate. It's at the gate. It's at 0:35:31.600 --> 0:35:38.400 the gate. Now. Now Cornelius is thirty miles away from Joppa. 0:35:40.080 --> 0:35:44.600 He sends a delegation. It takes them almost a day 0:35:44.680 --> 0:35:49.040 to get there. One commentator said that Cornelius sent an 0:35:49.120 --> 0:35:53.319 extra beast for Peter to ride back on. I don't 0:35:53.320 --> 0:35:56.440 even know who Peter is, but he's going to need 0:35:56.480 --> 0:36:00.600 to get back in a hurry. We were you paying 0:36:00.600 --> 0:36:02.319 attention when I read? Or were you still kind of 0:36:02.400 --> 0:36:08.759 like drowsy. God told Cornelius where to get Peter, but 0:36:08.840 --> 0:36:14.839 he didn't tell him why. You know, the story ends 0:36:14.880 --> 0:36:16.960 pretty cool. I didn't get all the way there, but 0:36:18.120 --> 0:36:20.160 I'm not closing my sermon either, But let's skip to 0:36:20.160 --> 0:36:23.839 the in for a minute. He said, he said, go 0:36:23.920 --> 0:36:28.360 send for Peter. And when Peter got there to Cesareah, 0:36:28.400 --> 0:36:32.359 thirty miles away, there was a crowd waiting to hear 0:36:32.400 --> 0:36:36.480 the message of Jesus, and Peter preached I got to 0:36:36.520 --> 0:36:39.200 show you this verse. It's Acts ten thirty four. When 0:36:39.239 --> 0:36:42.880 he got there, he began to speak, and he said, 0:36:43.520 --> 0:36:53.399 I now ld hold him down. Will he can't handle it? 0:36:54.200 --> 0:37:01.200 I now realize in verse thirty four because I obeyed. 0:37:02.600 --> 0:37:10.480 In verse nineteen, I now realize how true. So you 0:37:10.600 --> 0:37:18.959 don't know the truth until you obey the word. Now, now, God, 0:37:18.960 --> 0:37:21.680 give me strength to preach this. God give me strength 0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:25.920 to preach this. God, you keep asking God to explain it, 0:37:26.239 --> 0:37:29.640 and He keeps telling you to trust it. You keep 0:37:29.719 --> 0:37:32.920 asking God to explain it, and he keeps telling you 0:37:33.040 --> 0:37:36.600 to obey it. You keep asking God to make sense 0:37:36.640 --> 0:37:40.000 of it, and He keeps calling you to walk in it. 0:37:40.640 --> 0:37:48.040 And everything that God did in my life, well, it 0:37:48.160 --> 0:37:51.360 was something that at one time I never thought possible. 0:37:51.680 --> 0:37:53.799 So I'm preaching to you. I'm not talking about Peter. 0:37:54.000 --> 0:37:56.480 I'm not talking about Cornelius. I'm not talking about the 0:37:56.520 --> 0:37:59.000 fish with the scales. I'm not talking about the animals 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:02.399 with the hoofs, talking about the gentile world, the Jewish world. 0:38:02.560 --> 0:38:07.440 I'm talking about you right now on the roof seeking God, 0:38:07.760 --> 0:38:10.480 trying to figure out what in the world is this 0:38:10.560 --> 0:38:13.640 coming into my life? What does this mean? Why am 0:38:13.680 --> 0:38:16.759 I here? What is this season? How can it be? 0:38:17.120 --> 0:38:19.759 What will it take? Can I do it? And the 0:38:19.840 --> 0:38:28.120 devil is saying never, and God is saying now, now 0:38:29.480 --> 0:38:35.360 who are three letters? But I feel it in my spirit? Now, 0:38:36.280 --> 0:38:42.960 inn ow devil. Now, surely the Lord is in this place? 0:38:43.440 --> 0:38:47.880 When now? How do you know it? By faith? Now? 0:38:48.000 --> 0:38:54.560 Faith is the substance of things hoped for. I can't 0:38:54.600 --> 0:38:57.480 see it, but I know it. I can't prove it, 0:38:57.600 --> 0:39:01.400 but I believe it. It's a promise. It's a promise. 0:39:03.320 --> 0:39:07.279 Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you. 0:39:07.719 --> 0:39:12.240 That's what God said never about. That's what God said 0:39:12.360 --> 0:39:17.399 never about, Never take his presence from me. There will 0:39:17.440 --> 0:39:19.600 never be a day in my life. There will never 0:39:19.640 --> 0:39:21.719 be a moment in a day. There will never be 0:39:21.760 --> 0:39:26.600 a nanosecond that he won't be God. There will never 0:39:26.640 --> 0:39:28.560 be a valley that he won't walk me through. There 0:39:28.600 --> 0:39:30.759 will never be a shadow that he won't like the way. 0:39:31.000 --> 0:39:33.319 There will never be a mistake he won't redeem. There 0:39:33.360 --> 0:39:36.040 will never there will never, there will never, there will never, 0:39:36.239 --> 0:39:38.680 there will never, there will never. There will never be 0:39:38.719 --> 0:39:41.080 a sin he won't forgive. There will never be a 0:39:41.200 --> 0:39:43.800 chain he can't break. There will never be a mountain 0:39:43.840 --> 0:39:52.440 he can't move. That will never never, never, no, never, Okay, 0:39:52.520 --> 0:39:56.840 touch at least three people. I'll say never, never, never, 0:39:59.520 --> 0:40:06.960 a new never. But the whole thing, this is the 0:40:07.000 --> 0:40:15.680 part you won't like hinges on now because as Peter 0:40:15.840 --> 0:40:21.560 is sitting on the roof saying never, and I just 0:40:21.560 --> 0:40:22.640 want to make sure I break this down, I don't 0:40:22.640 --> 0:40:24.839 know if I broke it down good enough. He wasn't 0:40:24.880 --> 0:40:29.000 trying to get Peter ready for a barbecue downstairs. That's 0:40:29.040 --> 0:40:31.320 not how the verse is, yo. Holly is so carnal. 0:40:31.440 --> 0:40:34.000 All she thinks about is when is the next mule? 0:40:34.719 --> 0:40:37.160 Is that true? We'll be watching a show and it'll 0:40:37.160 --> 0:40:39.839 be like a shootout and there'll be bullets flying and 0:40:39.880 --> 0:40:43.240 people flying everywhere Christian gangster movies all of a sudden, 0:40:44.160 --> 0:40:47.399 and then there'd be all this chaos and she'll look 0:40:47.440 --> 0:40:53.279 at me and she'll go, when did they eat? And 0:40:53.320 --> 0:40:56.319 I'll be like, Holly, it is a heist. This is 0:40:56.400 --> 0:40:58.840 not That's the first thing she looks for. And know 0:40:58.920 --> 0:41:01.440 what you're gonna hate acts because it doesn't even say 0:41:01.480 --> 0:41:07.560 if Peter ever got his lunch. God had something more 0:41:07.600 --> 0:41:12.279 important at the gate, even than what he was praying for. 0:41:15.080 --> 0:41:21.200 Does he have something better for you? Has the devil 0:41:21.239 --> 0:41:25.000 been saying never? Have you been looking at a stack 0:41:25.040 --> 0:41:39.959 of bills, not the Buffalo bills, snow day humor, snow 0:41:40.040 --> 0:41:45.080 day humor, and then saying, well, I never pay this off, 0:41:45.160 --> 0:41:49.880 so quick. Principle to serve me, okay, for your leadership, 0:41:49.880 --> 0:41:53.400 for your company, for anything, your fitness, for your emotions, 0:41:53.400 --> 0:41:58.640 whatever one immediate action is worth a thousand good intentions. 0:42:03.800 --> 0:42:05.600 I wonder how long Peter would have stayed up on 0:42:05.680 --> 0:42:11.680 the roof smelling food in a trance, and the Lord said, 0:42:11.680 --> 0:42:13.960 you won't find out what I have for you on 0:42:14.000 --> 0:42:18.640 the roof. God showed him something while he prayed. He 0:42:18.800 --> 0:42:21.759 spoke something that contradicted what Peter thought. Now that's been 0:42:21.800 --> 0:42:26.120 happening inside of you lately, the devils saying never you're 0:42:26.160 --> 0:42:29.480 thinking it, okay, Well I never will, especially when it 0:42:29.520 --> 0:42:34.279 comes to addictions. Y'all. When I talked about freedom last week, 0:42:34.600 --> 0:42:37.800 half the people couldn't even hear me because it's like, 0:42:37.800 --> 0:42:41.839 oh yeah, I heard a sermon like this. I did 0:42:41.880 --> 0:42:49.320 rehab three times. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I tried this already. 0:42:50.040 --> 0:42:51.640 Cool man. I hope you get them while they're young, 0:42:51.719 --> 0:43:01.080 because once you've been in it this long. Never I 0:43:01.120 --> 0:43:03.200 hesitate to do this because he could you could take 0:43:03.239 --> 0:43:07.520 it and make it something I don't mean. But even 0:43:07.600 --> 0:43:10.719 some of you that thought like you will never have 0:43:10.760 --> 0:43:19.680 another relationship, you never You're bringing so much baggage from 0:43:19.760 --> 0:43:24.440 Leviticus eleven of how you think things have to be, 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:32.080 and you're like, nope, they have scales, Nope, they have fins, Nope, 0:43:32.120 --> 0:43:36.840 they have hoofs, Nope, they chew the cud. And so 0:43:36.960 --> 0:43:40.759 then you make blanket statements about what God can and 0:43:40.920 --> 0:43:44.239 can't do in your life. One of the greatest things 0:43:44.280 --> 0:43:48.480 we're celebrating doctor King's legacy in the United States this weekend. 0:43:48.760 --> 0:43:54.160 This Monday, our outreach teams went out and did amazing things, 0:43:54.200 --> 0:43:57.960 probably by the time you see this message. But one 0:43:58.040 --> 0:44:00.919 day a man touched my heart because he said, I'm 0:44:01.040 --> 0:44:05.160 seventy two and I hated white people all my life 0:44:05.600 --> 0:44:07.440 until God brought you on my TV and gave me 0:44:07.480 --> 0:44:12.800 the word and we met and he said thank you, 0:44:12.880 --> 0:44:14.239 and I was like, no, thank you. I spent a 0:44:14.280 --> 0:44:16.799 lot of my time wondering if people hear what you say, 0:44:16.880 --> 0:44:18.600 or if it matters, or if you're just giving people 0:44:18.600 --> 0:44:23.080 a little sermons to get through the week or whatever. 0:44:23.760 --> 0:44:26.279 That's hard for me to believe. But thank you for 0:44:26.360 --> 0:44:29.520 telling me, and then I talked to him a few minutes. 0:44:30.280 --> 0:44:32.080 He told me a lot of the story of why 0:44:32.120 --> 0:44:35.279 he felt the way he felt, and I got it, 0:44:35.360 --> 0:44:36.920 and I was like, well, do you still like me 0:44:36.960 --> 0:44:39.439 after meeting me? He's like, I like you better, he said, 0:44:39.480 --> 0:44:50.080 but you are shorter in person. But I never thought 0:44:50.120 --> 0:44:57.520 I would listen to a white preacher. I never. And 0:44:57.920 --> 0:45:04.040 that becomes the in the limitation, when the devil says never, 0:45:04.280 --> 0:45:10.319 then you just stopped looking good. Things never happen to 0:45:10.360 --> 0:45:15.640 you that happened to others. I never have any luck. 0:45:16.160 --> 0:45:22.760 I never get any breaks. It never stops. I never 0:45:23.040 --> 0:45:30.920 get ahead. That is the devil's language. He took God's 0:45:30.960 --> 0:45:35.960 word never will I leave you, and he co opt 0:45:36.440 --> 0:45:41.200 God's word for his purpose, like he did with Jesus 0:45:41.280 --> 0:45:44.920 when he was tempted. He took God's word, throw yourself 0:45:44.960 --> 0:45:48.319 off the angels, turn the bread into stones. He took 0:45:48.440 --> 0:45:52.399 God's word never, and now he's using it against you. Never. 0:45:52.800 --> 0:45:55.520 You're never going to finish, They're never going to notice, 0:45:55.640 --> 0:45:58.680 it's never going to change. It never makes a difference. 0:45:58.920 --> 0:46:02.000 And then then here's my face, Well you never can 0:46:02.080 --> 0:46:06.879 be sure, so why even try. And now we're living 0:46:06.920 --> 0:46:10.120 at a time where that's almost true, Like, why put 0:46:10.200 --> 0:46:14.680 anything into calendar anymore? Because if your second cousin gets sick, 0:46:14.719 --> 0:46:19.279 you're gonna be in the house for three weeks. Leviticus 0:46:19.320 --> 0:46:22.319 eleven has nothing on the year twenty twenty. I can't 0:46:22.360 --> 0:46:25.439 keep up with any of the rules. Okay, so now 0:46:25.480 --> 0:46:27.480 I feel like, well, why even try because I can't 0:46:27.480 --> 0:46:30.680 predict it. But don't you understand that it becomes even 0:46:30.880 --> 0:46:34.120 more important to be sensitive to the spirit of God 0:46:34.400 --> 0:46:43.160 when you can't depend on the circumstances. Give me verse five. 0:46:43.440 --> 0:46:46.800 Look what God was telling Cornelius when Peter was saying, 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:50.600 never acts ten? Verse five of there they are now 0:46:51.320 --> 0:46:57.600 sin men say it? Say it? What did God say? 0:46:58.520 --> 0:47:10.520 What did Peter say? What happens when never meets now? 0:47:11.840 --> 0:47:18.680 What happens when the God who exists in eternity steps 0:47:18.760 --> 0:47:22.960 into the fullness of time in the presence of the 0:47:23.040 --> 0:47:30.359 Lord is I don't want you to see this as 0:47:30.360 --> 0:47:32.600 a Bible story. I want you to see it as 0:47:32.880 --> 0:47:42.640 a spiritual reality. When never meets now, When never meets now? 0:47:44.000 --> 0:47:46.319 When they told them that they would never go to 0:47:46.360 --> 0:47:52.560 the moon, now, I mean, I know people who are 0:47:52.560 --> 0:47:57.520 planning their vacation for twenty thirty two to Mars. Where 0:47:57.600 --> 0:48:00.560 you going, Myrtle Beach? Where you going Mars? And you're laughing, 0:48:01.680 --> 0:48:04.680 You're laughing, they laughed. I remember as a kid, I 0:48:04.680 --> 0:48:08.319 wanted to live at Walmart. I did. That was a 0:48:08.520 --> 0:48:10.560 I was a fantasy of mine when I was like 0:48:11.160 --> 0:48:14.400 thirteen or fourteen, because I wanted to live in the 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:19.799 CD section. CDs were brand new, and when my mom 0:48:19.800 --> 0:48:22.000 would take me to Walmart, I would just spend all 0:48:22.080 --> 0:48:24.680 day as long as she would let me. She had 0:48:24.719 --> 0:48:28.680 to come drag me out truth and I'm be ut. 0:48:29.080 --> 0:48:32.880 There's the Lemonheads, and oh, there's the Rollins band, and 0:48:32.920 --> 0:48:36.279 there's I was into the deep cuts of punk rock, 0:48:36.719 --> 0:48:41.280 not the green day stuff. No way more subcultural than that. Wow, 0:48:41.440 --> 0:48:43.279 I wonder what that sounds like. I've heard of it. 0:48:43.360 --> 0:48:45.319 I wish I could listen to all of it. What 0:48:45.440 --> 0:48:48.000 if I had every CD in the world that was 0:48:48.040 --> 0:49:02.640 ever recorded? What was my fantasy is now on my phone. 0:49:03.440 --> 0:49:07.319 I don't appreciate it. I fuss at it when it 0:49:07.360 --> 0:49:15.560 takes three seconds to load. This text is never going 0:49:15.640 --> 0:49:19.879 to come through. It's been seven seconds. When the ninth 0:49:19.920 --> 0:49:22.680 President of the United States died, I read that it 0:49:22.719 --> 0:49:24.719 took one hundred and ten days for the message to 0:49:24.719 --> 0:49:34.200 get to Los Angeles. Yeah, talk about if this message 0:49:34.239 --> 0:49:37.399 is never coming through, we think we wait a long time. 0:49:37.760 --> 0:49:39.680 Oh how long was the wait at chick fil A? 0:49:39.840 --> 0:49:45.719 It was for adbur I named for ever hie. Wait? 0:49:46.200 --> 0:49:50.960 How long did he preach today? He preached for eber y'all, 0:49:51.000 --> 0:49:54.240 Paul preached so long. One time a boy named Unicus 0:49:54.280 --> 0:49:56.680 fell out the window. And you to cuss too if 0:49:56.719 --> 0:50:03.839 you fell out a window. As I'm saying this, the 0:50:03.880 --> 0:50:07.840 gospel is going out all over the world while I'm preaching. 0:50:11.840 --> 0:50:15.479 If you would have told twenty two thousand and six 0:50:15.600 --> 0:50:19.480 Elevation Church that we would not have to build campuses 0:50:19.520 --> 0:50:22.320 all over the world to reach people all over the world, 0:50:22.880 --> 0:50:28.239 we would have said. I told one guy that it 0:50:28.280 --> 0:50:30.279 was in my heart to have a diverse church, and 0:50:30.320 --> 0:50:32.400 he said, well, you better not do it in Charlotte, 0:50:32.440 --> 0:50:39.160 because you will build a diverse church in Charlotte. Now, 0:50:44.520 --> 0:50:54.560 I said, now, hi, y'all, I get now devil, Hi 0:50:54.680 --> 0:51:01.040 y'all like it. Now take a look got us? Now 0:51:01.320 --> 0:51:05.320 we're gone. We're all. We're rich, we're poor. We're coming 0:51:05.520 --> 0:51:14.520 from ANDREI contract with a praise had to day. So 0:51:16.000 --> 0:51:19.440 you can keep your blanket statements, you can keep your 0:51:19.480 --> 0:51:24.279 broken systems. You can keep the bs. Get me Jesus, 0:51:24.880 --> 0:51:29.320 get me the gospel, get me the work. The breath 0:51:29.480 --> 0:51:39.359 is thus spare now now now now, okay, okay, I'll 0:51:39.400 --> 0:51:42.239 clap my hands and praise God when I get over 0:51:42.320 --> 0:51:45.440 this little cold. You better praise Him with a running 0:51:45.480 --> 0:51:51.120 nose and a fever. You better weigh a tissue and 0:51:51.360 --> 0:52:04.879 prize him. Now now now, now, now, now, now, get 0:52:04.920 --> 0:52:08.120 in on it. Get in on it when you got 0:52:08.120 --> 0:52:19.480 a rich joice now now, why whoa Some people are 0:52:19.560 --> 0:52:25.080 waiting for heaven to give God PRIs when we all 0:52:25.120 --> 0:52:29.480 get to heaven, what a day that will be. But 0:52:29.600 --> 0:52:34.200 I read in my Bible this is the day that 0:52:34.480 --> 0:52:41.680 the Lord. They can't hear me Jesus, this is a day. 0:52:46.760 --> 0:52:53.240 Now now now, now, now, now, now now now. Remember 0:52:53.600 --> 0:52:57.600 when Martha sent for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. 0:52:58.320 --> 0:53:03.920 Remember that story. I apprecied it a good twenty times 0:53:04.680 --> 0:53:07.960 in this pulpit. But if you never read it, you 0:53:08.000 --> 0:53:11.239 need to read it in John eleven. Because they sent 0:53:11.840 --> 0:53:15.960 for Jesus and he never came. Some of you feel 0:53:16.280 --> 0:53:20.520 like Martha, and you sent for Jesus, and he never came, 0:53:21.200 --> 0:53:24.600 and you prayed, and he never came, and you asked 0:53:24.920 --> 0:53:28.480 and it never changed. And you tried and it never works, 0:53:28.840 --> 0:53:34.600 and you did it and it never made sense. So 0:53:34.719 --> 0:53:37.719 I want you to do what Martha did. In John 0:53:37.760 --> 0:53:43.200 eleven twenty, it says she heard that Jesus was coming. 0:53:43.440 --> 0:53:45.480 Somebody say, he's here, he's here, he's here, he's here, 0:53:45.480 --> 0:53:47.200 he's here. No, no, no no, the other person. Next year, 0:53:47.200 --> 0:53:49.359 he's here, he's here. He's here, he's here, he's here. 0:53:49.400 --> 0:53:51.279 Put it at the chat. He's here, he's here. He's 0:53:51.320 --> 0:53:54.120 not coming one day, he's here right now. He's at 0:53:54.160 --> 0:53:56.640 the gate. He's at the gate. He's at the gate. 0:53:56.840 --> 0:53:59.440 He's at the gate. He is the gate. He is 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:06.720 the way, the truth, hand, the life. She went out 0:54:07.719 --> 0:54:17.680 to meet him. What happens when never meets now? So 0:54:17.719 --> 0:54:20.640 he didn't come when you wanted him, like you wanted him, 0:54:21.120 --> 0:54:27.440 how you wanted him. But he's here now, So it 0:54:27.480 --> 0:54:31.720 didn't happen like you wanted, when you wanted, how you wanted. 0:54:32.440 --> 0:54:35.800 So he didn't answer what you prayed, how you prayed, 0:54:36.200 --> 0:54:39.520 when you prayed, like you prayed. But he's here now, 0:54:42.440 --> 0:54:45.440 so you didn't do what you should have, what you 0:54:45.480 --> 0:54:48.160 could have, what you would have. So you wasted the 0:54:48.239 --> 0:54:52.160 last couple of years wandering around, so you're disoriented. So 0:54:52.239 --> 0:54:55.120 you did it, so you missed it, so you lost it, 0:54:55.280 --> 0:55:01.480 so you let it slip away. But you're here now, now, now, now, 0:55:01.719 --> 0:55:10.840 And she went, this is for somebody. I had to 0:55:10.840 --> 0:55:13.600 call Martha because if I just preached about Peter, this 0:55:13.680 --> 0:55:16.080 message would be for the men. So I wanted to 0:55:16.080 --> 0:55:19.480 bring Martha with Peter so they could both tell you 0:55:19.560 --> 0:55:34.839 the same thing, that it's at the gate. Now. Had 0:55:34.840 --> 0:55:38.479 a man tell me, I've never given to the church, 0:55:38.520 --> 0:55:41.360 but when I die, I'm gonna will ten thousand dollars. 0:55:41.880 --> 0:55:44.120 And that's why I thought God has to kill you 0:55:44.160 --> 0:55:52.719 to get ten thousand dollars. How are you smart enough 0:55:52.760 --> 0:55:55.799 to have ten thousand dollars to give and stupid enough 0:55:55.840 --> 0:56:04.359 to say something like that? Now you better give it? Now, 0:56:05.719 --> 0:56:09.839 you better grab him, hug them, love them. Now am 0:56:09.840 --> 0:56:16.319 my preaching? And she heard Jesus was coming sent for 0:56:16.400 --> 0:56:21.640 him when last Verus was sick. He never came. And 0:56:21.680 --> 0:56:23.960 that's the first thing she told him. You never came. 0:56:26.000 --> 0:56:31.799 You never came, So you invite got into you never. Yeah, God, 0:56:31.840 --> 0:56:36.800 I I'll be honest, like, I don't even really feel 0:56:36.840 --> 0:56:40.640 like this is going to work for me. Started a 0:56:40.640 --> 0:56:45.040 lot of New Years like this on the nose shrimp diet. 0:56:50.560 --> 0:56:58.879 But you're here now. But you're here now. You could 0:56:58.920 --> 0:57:08.120 have died, you almost quit. You wouldn't have been at 0:57:08.200 --> 0:57:15.200 church tomorrow to hear this message. So God had me preacher. Now. 0:57:25.480 --> 0:57:32.120 Everything changes when never meets now. And I think this 0:57:32.200 --> 0:57:35.520 is more than a sermon. I think it's a meeting. 0:57:37.560 --> 0:57:41.720 I think it's a divine appointment for somebody who's been 0:57:41.720 --> 0:57:49.600 in neverland and it had happened, and you don't see 0:57:49.640 --> 0:57:53.360 how it's going to happen. So I could remind you 0:57:56.680 --> 0:57:59.240 that a lot of your now's used to be Nevers 0:58:03.120 --> 0:58:07.240 wrote a song years ago that said, you've never failed 0:58:07.240 --> 0:58:13.080 me yet. I've seen you move the mountains, and I 0:58:13.120 --> 0:58:23.320 believe you've never failed me yet. My buddy Robert mdou 0:58:23.360 --> 0:58:25.800 went to a church and he was the guest preacher 0:58:25.840 --> 0:58:28.600 and they were singing that song do it again, and 0:58:28.640 --> 0:58:32.800 they changed it. He said it was weird because the 0:58:32.840 --> 0:58:35.840 way we wrote it said, your promise still stands as 0:58:35.840 --> 0:58:39.040 great as your faithfulness. I'm still in your hands. This 0:58:39.120 --> 0:58:42.400 is my confidence. You've never failed me yet, he said. 0:58:42.440 --> 0:58:45.240 But when they got to that part, they didn't say yet. 0:58:45.280 --> 0:58:53.080 They just say you've never failed me. And he asked 0:58:53.080 --> 0:58:55.160 the pastor, and the pastor said, we don't like that 0:58:55.240 --> 0:59:02.680 part because when it says yet, it implies that he might. 0:59:02.720 --> 0:59:05.920 But see what I think the word yet put that 0:59:05.960 --> 0:59:09.160 in the chat to say yet, yeah, yeah, yeah, yet yeah. 0:59:09.240 --> 0:59:16.080 It implies that God's past faithfulness is the best predictor 0:59:16.480 --> 0:59:25.920 of his future performance. So it means that if he 0:59:26.160 --> 0:59:30.000 kept me breathing. Have you ever stood next to an 0:59:30.000 --> 0:59:35.240 answered prayer? Have you ever stood in the living proof 0:59:35.320 --> 0:59:40.480 of a moved mountain? Have you ever just fogged a 0:59:40.520 --> 0:59:43.160 mirror with your breath to annoy the devil that it 0:59:43.200 --> 0:59:51.320 didn't work when he tried to kill you? And I'm 0:59:51.360 --> 0:59:57.600 telling you you've never been here before. Be easy on yourself, 0:59:58.000 --> 1:00:02.400 Be patient with your process, Be open to what God 1:00:02.480 --> 1:00:08.280 is doing in this season. Be like Martha, get your 1:00:08.360 --> 1:00:14.400 disappointed butt down there to the gate and ask Jesus 1:00:14.440 --> 1:00:19.680 why he never came. Be like Peter, go downstairs and 1:00:19.880 --> 1:00:22.840 see about this thing God sent you. It's at the gate, 1:00:22.960 --> 1:00:26.240 it's standing there, God sent it. It might not look familiar. 1:00:26.400 --> 1:00:28.400 It might be weird, it might not be what you 1:00:28.480 --> 1:00:31.480 prayed for, it might not smell like ribs. But God 1:00:31.520 --> 1:00:36.480 sent it. God sent it, and hey, you can't hesitate. 1:00:36.800 --> 1:00:47.120 You have got to move now thirty miles. I grew 1:00:47.200 --> 1:00:51.000 up in Monks Corner, South Carolina. Tiny town, not too 1:00:51.000 --> 1:00:54.280 tiny now twenty thousand people, they said now, or something 1:00:54.360 --> 1:00:56.680 like that. It was much smaller when I was there. 1:00:56.880 --> 1:00:59.640 So when people would ask me where are you from, 1:00:59.800 --> 1:01:01.920 I couldn't tell a Monk's Corner. I would have to 1:01:01.920 --> 1:01:05.360 say from a town that's thirty miles north of Charleston 1:01:05.480 --> 1:01:15.280 called Monk's Corner. Jappa was thirty miles from Caesarea. And 1:01:15.360 --> 1:01:20.200 when I lived that close to Charleston, I never went. Now, 1:01:20.240 --> 1:01:24.560 me and Holly spend our vacation days there. I never 1:01:24.600 --> 1:01:28.120 went when it was so close. Now I appreciate it more. 1:01:30.520 --> 1:01:34.080 I wonder what God has given you now that you 1:01:34.200 --> 1:01:39.280 never stopped to enjoy. I want you thinking about this 1:01:39.400 --> 1:01:42.960 message for a long time. I want you to ask 1:01:42.960 --> 1:01:46.720 the Holy Spirit, long after I shut up, what are 1:01:46.760 --> 1:01:51.480 the nevers, the nevers that I've accepted that I need 1:01:51.520 --> 1:01:55.000 to reject? What are the nevers that I need to 1:01:55.040 --> 1:01:58.840 accept now, like I'm y'all, the time for me to 1:01:58.840 --> 1:02:03.120 be in the NBA has come and gone. You understand, 1:02:07.000 --> 1:02:08.640 I'm not going to be a brain surgeon at this 1:02:08.720 --> 1:02:11.240 stage of my life. I'm good with that. I've accepted that. 1:02:12.000 --> 1:02:22.080 I'm a heart surgeon. I'm a soul surgeon. She said, Jesus, 1:02:22.200 --> 1:02:28.640 we sent for you, you never came. And she expressed 1:02:28.960 --> 1:02:34.040 her frustration. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful, she said, 1:02:34.120 --> 1:02:39.200 Lord John Elevin, if you would have been here, my 1:02:39.320 --> 1:02:43.360 brother would not have died. And this is where God 1:02:43.360 --> 1:02:45.520 told me to leave you at the gate. Peter, Martha, 1:02:45.600 --> 1:02:47.360 I'm leaving you at the gate here with this verse 1:02:47.440 --> 1:03:00.600 twenty two. But I know that even now God will 1:03:00.640 --> 1:03:05.840 give you whatever you asked. When she said now, she 1:03:06.080 --> 1:03:11.480 recognized the presence of God. When you recognize this presence, 1:03:12.800 --> 1:03:20.600 you are open to his power now. And Jesus looked 1:03:20.600 --> 1:03:24.000 back at her with a question, here it is your 1:03:24.000 --> 1:03:28.440 brother will rise again twenty four and Martha answered, I 1:03:28.480 --> 1:03:30.480 know he will rise again in the resurrection of the 1:03:30.560 --> 1:03:35.840 Last Day. And Jesus said, I am that's present tense. 1:03:37.320 --> 1:03:41.200 Present tense isn't going to happen one day it didn't 1:03:41.240 --> 1:03:45.240 happen one day, and now it's gone. Jesus said, I 1:03:45.280 --> 1:03:59.440 am here, I am powerful, I am able, I am faithful. Now, Ashley, 1:04:00.080 --> 1:04:03.760 my favorite scripture says, now to him who is able 1:04:03.800 --> 1:04:09.520 to do immeasurably more than we asked or imagined. Now, 1:04:09.720 --> 1:04:12.120 I never paid attention to that word. And when you're 1:04:12.120 --> 1:04:13.680 reading the Bible this week, because I know you read 1:04:13.680 --> 1:04:15.400 it for three hours a day, when you're reading the 1:04:15.400 --> 1:04:17.520 Bible praying on the roof and the sheep comes down 1:04:17.520 --> 1:04:19.320 this week, just look at every time you see the 1:04:19.320 --> 1:04:21.200 word now, and look at every time you see the 1:04:21.200 --> 1:04:25.320 word never, and ask the Lord, did did that never 1:04:25.320 --> 1:04:27.560 come from you? Did that never come from the devil? 1:04:27.720 --> 1:04:30.200 Did that never come from my biases? Is that never? 1:04:30.280 --> 1:04:34.160 Limited to a season of life? And listen, listen, some 1:04:34.240 --> 1:04:37.680 of us are chained to limitations that do not exist 1:04:37.720 --> 1:04:42.040 anymore in this season. It used to be true, and 1:04:42.080 --> 1:04:46.520 it's not anymore. It used to be true and it's 1:04:46.600 --> 1:04:49.800 not anymore. It used to be true that the Gentiles 1:04:49.840 --> 1:04:52.320 couldn't come to the God of Israel, but it's not 1:04:52.480 --> 1:04:57.160 anymore because he tore the veil and his presence, his 1:04:57.440 --> 1:05:08.720 presence has no lit this has no borders, Jesus said, 1:05:09.640 --> 1:05:13.920 the one who believes believes. Do you believe? Do you believe? 1:05:14.640 --> 1:05:16.800 You believe a little bit of faith? Must see faith? 1:05:16.840 --> 1:05:21.680 Stand up, Stand up. He who believes in Me will 1:05:21.720 --> 1:05:27.360 live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing 1:05:27.400 --> 1:05:37.640 in Me will what will? What will never die. It 1:05:37.760 --> 1:05:43.000 is not dead, It is not over, it is not finished. 1:05:44.360 --> 1:05:51.520 Your best days are not in a rear view mirror. No, no, no, no, 1:05:57.640 --> 1:06:00.520 you are. You are to drag your never into the 1:06:00.520 --> 1:06:11.479 presence of your now. Spoiler alert, Lazarus got up even now, 1:06:12.920 --> 1:06:17.920 even now, even now, in the face of never. So 1:06:20.520 --> 1:06:25.120 I want to pray about your nevers, and I want 1:06:25.120 --> 1:06:30.400 to call you to your now. The devil's such a liar. 1:06:32.040 --> 1:06:34.840 He's so good at it. You would be too, if 1:06:34.880 --> 1:06:41.520 it's all you ever did. He's had a lot of practice, 1:06:41.640 --> 1:06:45.120 and you let him. You built him a practice court 1:06:45.880 --> 1:06:48.920 in your mind, just letting him dribble never up and 1:06:48.960 --> 1:06:51.000 down the court never never never never never never never 1:06:51.080 --> 1:06:55.640 never never never never. But now, in this present moment. 1:06:57.840 --> 1:06:59.800 Isn't it a clue that we call it the presence 1:07:00.600 --> 1:07:07.640 of God, not the pastess of God, not the future 1:07:07.640 --> 1:07:12.920 of God. When never meets. Now, I want to minister 1:07:13.000 --> 1:07:15.360 to somebody who's going through heartbreak you never saw coming, 1:07:16.720 --> 1:07:19.640 was going through transition, you never saw come in. He's 1:07:19.720 --> 1:07:21.880 learning a skill you never even thought you need. Who's 1:07:21.920 --> 1:07:24.520 walking through something that you heard about but never really 1:07:24.560 --> 1:07:29.680 dealt with. This word was for you, so you can 1:07:29.760 --> 1:07:36.760 drag it into the presence of the Great. I am 1:07:36.760 --> 1:07:44.040 so rich, I gotta stop. I'm going to pray one 1:07:44.080 --> 1:07:46.680 more thing. Remember God spoke to Peter while he was hungry, 1:07:47.440 --> 1:07:49.040 So if you're waiting for lunch, this might be a 1:07:49.040 --> 1:07:55.880 breakthrough moment. Okay, breathe in, breathe. A lot of us 1:07:55.880 --> 1:07:59.440 feel like things in our life were wasted because we 1:07:59.480 --> 1:08:01.200 gave and we tried, and we loved, and we cared, 1:08:01.200 --> 1:08:04.320 and we encouraged and we served. How many times did 1:08:04.320 --> 1:08:10.160 Cornelius pray and God didn't send anybody to help. How 1:08:10.160 --> 1:08:12.840 many alms did Cornelius give these god fearing gentiles they 1:08:12.840 --> 1:08:16.320 were attracted to Judaism but not accepted within it. How 1:08:16.360 --> 1:08:20.559 many times did he pray and felt nothing? How many 1:08:20.560 --> 1:08:24.800 times did he give and receive? Nothing happens to all 1:08:24.840 --> 1:08:28.920 of us. What's the point in that? Why even try 1:08:32.880 --> 1:08:34.960 three or four years ago. I was getting ready to 1:08:34.960 --> 1:08:38.080 come back and preach, had an eight week series plan. 1:08:39.320 --> 1:08:41.760 I was going to do it. I was going to 1:08:41.760 --> 1:08:44.200 do it big. Some of y'all are new to the church. 1:08:44.240 --> 1:08:50.519 We used to always have the series in advance, and 1:08:50.560 --> 1:08:56.559 then the world became so stupid that I stopped trying 1:08:56.600 --> 1:09:01.160 to plan. God and we'll go back to that one day. 1:09:01.160 --> 1:09:04.960 But I told all the creative team what the series 1:09:05.000 --> 1:09:06.760 should be called. I told all the campus pastors what 1:09:06.840 --> 1:09:10.800 the series would be called. You remember Special Zoom Call. 1:09:11.080 --> 1:09:14.920 Before zoom was a thing. I was an early adopter. 1:09:18.760 --> 1:09:21.919 I want to preach the first week of it, and 1:09:21.920 --> 1:09:25.599 and it wasn't. When I say, it just didn't feel 1:09:25.600 --> 1:09:27.840 like what God wanted me to preach. I said, I'll 1:09:27.840 --> 1:09:31.599 get it next week. And that happened again and again, 1:09:32.320 --> 1:09:35.360 and I preached, but I couldn't preach that. It just 1:09:35.400 --> 1:09:39.800 didn't feel like I was preach it. So I never 1:09:39.840 --> 1:09:43.680 preached it. They designed graphics. They had them loaded in 1:09:43.720 --> 1:09:45.960 the computers. I don't know what they do, but they 1:09:46.000 --> 1:09:47.599 do back there to make stuff come on the screens. 1:09:47.600 --> 1:09:50.519 But they did all of it. Amazing team. They just 1:09:50.600 --> 1:09:56.200 had it already, but we never used it. I thought, well, 1:09:56.240 --> 1:10:01.479 that was a waste. I had page of notes, I 1:10:01.520 --> 1:10:04.360 had a sermon title for the first sermon, never used it, 1:10:05.080 --> 1:10:07.760 studied it, never preached it, prepared it, never served it. 1:10:09.720 --> 1:10:15.400 Thought I wasted everybody's time. And I I'm sharing this 1:10:15.439 --> 1:10:18.960 with you for a reason because I had an appointment, 1:10:20.200 --> 1:10:26.080 songwriting appointment, me and Christen Brandon and Tiffany meeting, and 1:10:26.120 --> 1:10:29.360 I said, there's this sermon that I never preached, Chris 1:10:29.920 --> 1:10:32.840 talking about it. Maybe it could be a song that 1:10:32.960 --> 1:10:47.640 was called Graves into Gardens. Now now, now, now, the 1:10:47.720 --> 1:10:52.599 series that I never preached became the biggest song that 1:10:52.640 --> 1:11:02.920 our church has ever released. It wasn't wasteful. You see 1:11:02.920 --> 1:11:06.839 what I'm saying. Daniel's Son, all that waxing, all that painting, 1:11:07.280 --> 1:11:16.400 all of that God God, not mister Miagi, but the Master, 1:11:16.840 --> 1:11:28.200 the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Resurrection, the Saved, And when 1:11:28.640 --> 1:11:33.400 never meets now, you're gonna be so glad you didn't quit. 1:11:34.680 --> 1:11:36.920 I can't wait to read your testimony when you put 1:11:36.960 --> 1:11:40.479 it in the comments. I can't wait to hear what 1:11:40.840 --> 1:11:43.719 never you broke through because the power of the Holy 1:11:43.760 --> 1:11:47.680 Spirit released in these moments that we share. But it 1:11:47.800 --> 1:11:51.800 might not be today. You now, might be in a 1:11:51.880 --> 1:11:57.639 year now, might not be till your children are grown. David, 1:11:58.080 --> 1:12:02.120 and build the temple so that you can see that 1:12:02.200 --> 1:12:12.600 your investment was not a waste. Father. Even now, no 1:12:12.720 --> 1:12:17.760 word from your mouth will return to your VOI. It 1:12:17.760 --> 1:12:21.840 will accomplish what you intend. I thank you for every seed. 1:12:21.920 --> 1:12:25.160 Lift your hands. I thank you for every seed. Lift 1:12:25.200 --> 1:12:28.719 them online, lift them, receive this word. Stop being so stubborn, 1:12:29.439 --> 1:12:31.599 Stop being in your own head and thinking things through. 1:12:31.800 --> 1:12:34.559 Worship God for a moment. Surrender to God for a moment. 1:12:34.720 --> 1:12:37.200 All that other stuff doesn't work. You control in stuff. 1:12:37.439 --> 1:12:42.160 Lift your hands to your father, who knows the plans 1:12:42.160 --> 1:12:49.880 he has for you. Even now, we will not worry 1:12:49.920 --> 1:12:56.759 about tomorrow, for it shall only wear us down today. Now, 1:13:02.439 --> 1:13:06.200 whatever standing at the gate in their life, Lord, whatever 1:13:06.280 --> 1:13:11.040 Cornelius they're meant to minister to, whatever their life is 1:13:11.080 --> 1:13:14.599 meant to preach, whatever purpose you've given them to fulfill, 1:13:19.400 --> 1:13:26.040 I declare gardens where there were graves. He who believes 1:13:27.120 --> 1:13:32.160 will never die, and even dying, shall they lift. You 1:13:32.240 --> 1:13:35.120 brought us here today to build our faith God, and 1:13:35.160 --> 1:13:39.599 it worked not because we just feel it, but because 1:13:39.640 --> 1:13:48.599 we know it to be true. You've never failed me yet. 1:13:49.840 --> 1:13:52.440 And just to finish the sentence so there's no confusion. 1:13:53.439 --> 1:13:59.840 You never will give God grace. Come on, give God 1:13:59.840 --> 1:14:03.000 and that's right. Praise well. If you enjoyed today's podcast, 1:14:03.080 --> 1:14:04.840 there are a couple of things I'd love for you 1:14:04.920 --> 1:14:09.240 to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. 1:14:09.560 --> 1:14:11.920 You can also help us reach others by investing today 1:14:11.960 --> 1:14:15.720 at Elevationchurch dot org, slash give and thanks again for 1:14:15.800 --> 1:14:17.760 joining us on the Elevation Podcast.