Elevation with Steven Furtick - When God Gets Ready

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

People label, but God names. You don’t have to chase identity or earn worth, because you’ve always been called, loved, and set apart for something more.  If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References:Galatians 1, verses 11-20Acts 9, verses 3-6Genesis 17, verses 3-5Genesis 32, verse 28Matthew 16, verses 15-18Acts 13, verse 9See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. You know, God amazes me. God has so many ways to confirm what he wants us to know. I'm thankful that God is consistent and patient in my life and in your life. And the truth of the matter is that God wants to speak to us more than we want to hear him. God wants us to know His will more than we want to know it. And so you haven't come here today by accident. You didn't come here today because you heard there were cute girls at elevation.

Even if you came here today because you heard there were cute girls at elevation, you came here today because God has something to say to you. And in fact, as I was writing in my journal on Saturday, I realized that I was writing in my journal on Saturday, I realize that today would be a defining moment that we'll see a testimony on a screen, maybe a year from now, maybe five years from now, of somebody saying it was that day for me. When the Lord fed me, when the Lord led me, when the Lord lifted me, when the Lord gave me a new life. So I'm just excited.

Don't you feel good to be here for somebody's big day? Tell your neighbor, it could be yours. Tell them this could be your big day. Now ask your neighbor, can I get your autograph just in case? Let's ask your neighbor, can we take a selfie together just in case? I want to get a selfie with you just in case I need to prove a year from now that you're not the person you used to be. You're not leaving like you came.

God can change anybody. God can change anybody. God can do anything. I want to speak today for the fifth installment of my series called Called. You heard me right. like pastor, you glitched a little bit. You said a series called, called, called. What's it called? It's called called. That's what it's called. We've been taking a look at several people. I don't call them characters in the Bible. I do say that accidentally sometime. I don't mean to. That makes

them sound fictional. But faith is not for fictional situations or hypotheticals. It's for humanity. People. Flesh and blood and bone and sweat and tears and lies and truth. All of that is found in the Scriptures. Today we're going to look at a passage of Scripture from the book of Galatians Chapter 1. Galatians Chapter 1. And I'm so glad that time ran out because every five minutes I was waiting for church to start, I kept adding scriptures to this sermon. And so it's good that the clock ran out so we can preach. I like to preach real quick. I won't go over three hours. It doesn't take the Lord long to say what he wants to say. But I wanted to give proper context for this message today. We talked last week about a man named Jacob.

God called his name twice. That's kind of what I'm looking for in this series. There are seven people that God called their name back to back two times in a row in the scripture. So you got Moses, Moses, Martha, Martha, Jacob, Jacob, Simon, Simon, who later became Peter, Abraham, Abraham, Samuel. Any guesses who we're going to preach about today? Okay, Galatians chapter 1, verse 11. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism. Any guesses who we're talking about today? You're getting there. You're getting there. Okay, I'll tell you

in a minute. Let's give you some clues. For you've heard of my previous way of life in Judaism. How intensely I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. That word tried would preach itself. Whoever this is saying, I tried to stand against God and God stood against me. I tried to persecute the Church of God and destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentile. My immediate response was not to consult any human being.

I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. But I went into Arabia. That's the desert. I had to get prepared. I had to get ready. And later I returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Seifis and stayed with him 15 days. I saw none of the other apostles, only just. James, the Lord's brother, I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

Whoever he is, he's not lying. Now go over to Acts chapter 9, and I'll show you who we're talking about. Acts chapter 9. Verse 3, as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul. why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked, I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.

Now listen to this. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. Hit me again with verse four. He heard a voice when he fell to the ground. Saul, Saul. But Justin, if you can real quick, circle that. Saul, Saul. and today I want to tell you what my subject is. I want to talk to you about when God gets ready. When God gets ready. And I also have a subtitle to help it stick so you can remember it. Here's the subtitle.

Callings have commas. I'll explain it in 15 minutes, but say it by faith. Callings have commas. Put a comma in the chat. Tell your neighbor, callings have commas. So when he says Saul, Saul, verse four, Saul, now circle what comes between comma, Saul. Just circle the comma for me, Justin. Let's preach about that. Father, I thank you for the little things that give us revelation. Do a big work through it. In Jesus' name,

amen. You may be seated. Something as little as a comma. Such a big calling. Saul. Saul. This moment is unique as Saul is going to kill Christians and he becomes one. Coming to kill Christians and he meets Christ. Called by the one that he's trying to kill. Bless you. And you say he wasn't trying to kill Christ, he was trying to kill Christians. But we found out in this text, didn't we? That Jesus takes it personally how you treat as people. Tell your neighbor, be nice to me. Tell them, you better be real nice to me. The Lord hangs my drawings on his refrigerator.

You better be nice to me. The Lord likes me a whole lot. You better be nice to me. He likes my chubby cheeks. You better be nice to me. Don't call me short. The Lord made me five foot eight and a half. You better be nice to me.

Be nice to me. When I was thinking about preaching on Saul, Saul, of course, the comma isn't in the Hebrew or the Greek text. It's just there in the English for us. But it caused me to pause because that's what a comma is designed to do in a sentence, right? A comma says, pause. Let's insert something here. That's one thing that a comma does. Another thing that a comma does is it can introduce additional information. That is called an a positive. Thank you, Ms. Craddock, fifth grade English. It's called an a positive.

A comma can let you know here's some additional information, comma, comma, and additional information. And, yes, I may have had some assistance from a research tool called ChatGPT to bring you this current information today. But another thing that a comma can do is to set into effect a different event or to introduce it. So to set off an element. And I'll explain that in a minute. But one of the things that a comma can do that we're most familiar with is to separate. items into a list. So if you see a list of the apostles, you'll see Simon Peter and Bartholomew and James and John, and there's commas between each of them to distinguish that although they were

12 disciples, they were 12 distinctive people with 12 distinctive personalities. And God used each of those personalities in a unique way that only he could use them to fulfill a purpose than only he could fulfill. And the thing I'm beginning to realize about my life is that not only Do I have to exist within teams and frameworks of organizations and societies? Not only do I have to learn to interact and play and get along with others, but I have to learn to get along with myself. I have to learn to get along with myself because even within this one person named Stephen, I have commas. Usually I don't come down to the floor until about 30 minutes into my sermon, but I'm coming early today. I'm heeding up.

Walking a little slow because I did some squats yesterday, a little heavier than I intended. I'm going to get there, though. Now, in this section, I was visualizing this before I preached it, and I thought it would really help us set up for the message, is that I have multiple callings represented just in this section of the room. And I'll prove it to you because I have one name, Larry Stevens, Ferdick, Jr., legally. I go by Stephen. But to multiple people here, they all call me something different.

She calls me son. That's my mom. They're not putting her on camera. There she goes. She's too pretty to miss her camera shot. Can you see her? Not at all. That's definitely not her.

Came down a little earlier than they were ready for me. Back there in the back, somebody in the back smoking a cigarette instead of working the camera. I need to check into that. Because back there in the back, they call me boss. Not that I'm a dictator or anything like that, but I'm the boss. She calls me boss. Mom calls me son. She gave me a name, Larry Stevens-Ferdick, Jr., and she knows me in a role.

She calls me pastor. This is Cherish. She works on our team. Give it up for Cherish, everybody. She calls me pastor. She calls me son. He calls me Dad. He used to call me Daddy.

The saddest day of my life is when he dropped the D-Y. I was like, Dad? Just Dad now? He's like, yeah, just Dad now. I'm like, oh, this is the first step of this. And the next thing you know, he's going to be on drugs. Like I start spiraling out of control this whole process of adulthood. So, son, Pat, My best friend from high school is over here.

His name is Eric. He calls me Bo. It's a South Carolina thing. Don't worry about it. It's kind of like in Australia, mate, or like you might say dude or you might say bro. But in South Carolina, we say Bo. And it's incidentally what I call my dog. But there's no correlation.

He was calling me Bo long before I had a Boston Terrier named Bo. So I'm illustrating to you, stay with me for a moment, I'm illustrating to you that I am called all that. I am called son. I am called dad. Daddy, I'll always be daddy. I am called, I am called Bo. She calls me babe.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now we got a problem if he calls me babe. But I am babe while I'm still beau It's not like I And babe one day and beau the next I might be beau one day and babe the next

I might be dad one moment and son the next Because I was a son before I was a dad And I'm still a son while I'm a dad And I'm still a boss while I'm a babe And sometimes she calls me babe And sometimes she calls me boss But the message I'll get off this

The message that I'm trying to give to you today is a simple one. Callings have commas. The process of your development isn't that you stop being something and become something else. If it was, it'd be easy. If you stopped being son when you became dad, you would know what to do and you'd be a good one. But the truth is, you have to learn to become a dad while you're still a son and a little boy in some ways yourself. I'm preaching so good you can't say amen. You had to write that down.

I'm called all of that. Tell somebody next to you, I'm all that. Don't be too impressed by me, but I'm all that. I'm not saying I'm doing it all well, but I'm all that. I'm boss, I'm babe, I'm Bo, I'm Dad, I'm Daddy, I'm all that. I'm all that. And I'm trying to figure out from the passage that we read, and I may not even go out on the stage Today, I might preach it all the way from down here.

Because I want to look in your eyes today and try to figure out even through that camera. What all are you? What all are you? Let's take it a little deeper than we did before. I was looking at comments the other day of a sermon that I preached, trying to figure out if I did a good job. Well, that's a dangerous place to go to get an assessment of your performance as the comments section of you too.

I scrolled a little bit and someone said, this man is so anointed. I felt kind of good. I know it's prideful. I know I shouldn't care, but I felt kind of good. I thought, yeah, I am kind of oily. I am kind of anointed. I am kind of greasy. That was a good sermon. I scrolled a little more, didn't have to scroll very far. Someone else said, this man is so annoying. So all it took was a little bit of scroll in, and I went from anointed to one person and annoying to another. Tell somebody, you're all that. You're anointed? You know what's coming next, don't you? And you're annoying. Paul was pretty anointed, would you agree? I know in the text we called him Saul, Saul, but of course he went on to become the great missionary to the Gentiles named Paul.

He became Paul after Jesus got a hold of his life. So we say, but he could be kind of anointed. I think any time that someone falls asleep when you're preaching out of a window and you raise them from the dead, that counts as anointed. I think any time you turn to a sorcerer and say in the name of Jesus, shut up and the demon has to leave, you're anointed. I think any time God can do miracles, not just from your hands, but from your handkerchiefs, you're pretty anointed. I think that if your shadow is enough to bring healing, you're pretty anointed. At the same time that Paul is anointed, I'm sure that if we were in his close proximity, we might say that he's a little annoying.

I know you don't like to call your Bible characters annoying, but these are not characters. These are conflicted human beings. These are people with pasts. These are people with preferences. These are people with proclivities. These are people with weaknesses. These are people with limps like Jacob. These are people with distracted minds like Martha.

These are people with stutters and stammeres and excuses like Moses. These are people with shaky faith like Abraham. And yet, what we're learning in this series is that you are called all of that. I recently released a song in the verse says, I'm a sinner, grace is still healing. I'm a story, time is revealing. I'm all of these things, but mostly I'm thankful. Could that be true?

I'm a sinner, grace is still healing. I'm a story, time is revealing. And just in case you're looking at one chapter in my life, don't forget, I'm all of these things. I am all of these things. can be kind, can be cruel, all of these things. And the sooner we admit that we have the capacity to be called all of these things accurately in any given situation, the more we will learn to rely on the Lord who never changes. The more we will learn to rely on the Lord whose character is consistent. And the more that we will learn that it is important that although

I'm dad and I'm son and I'm pastor and I'm boss and I'm beau and I'm babe. I'm all of these things, but I cannot go to people to figure out who I am too soon because people don't see me how I am. They see me how they need me to be. He doesn't need a friend. He's got friends. He needs gas money. So I'm dad. I'm not an ATM, but he might see me that way. And I can get frustrated, seeing him as, what do I look like to you? Do I just look like a cash app to you? Do I look like a living, breathing cash app to you? Is that what I look like to you?

But I'm all of these things. I'm all of these things. Paul was Hebrew of Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, studied under Gamaliel, which would be the equivalent of the highest degree of internship you could imagine. He's all that. Paul, Saul was all that. And yet when the moment came for God to call him, as important as he was, God didn't set up an appointment. Jesus did not ask Saul's administrative assistant, can I get some time on the books with my man Saul? It'd be nice if he could squeeze me in. You know, sometimes I think that we forget how sovereign God really is when we're making our schedules.

And then something just comes along and knocks your whole plan apart. And you realize that it's so important for all the different roles that you have in your life to realize that for all of the roles that you have, there is only one resource that will never run out. And his name is Jesus. So Paul said in Galatians chapter one that when God called me, by His grace. I did not immediately confer with human beings. Why is that? Because they are not the source of what I am. I'll try to say it another way. That will be better. Okay. People label, but God names. People label, but God names. And people label through their lens of what they see,

but God names through his lens of what he gave you. Paul said from even before the wound. And so the moment when we see Paul being knocked down by the glorious light of Jesus Christ, I mean, it's a pretty dramatic moment in Acts chapter 9. The Bible says that as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Now, this is somebody that you know the Christians were praying about, because the faith of the Christians was flourishing, but there will never be flourishing faith without a fight.

Please get that in your head. There will never be flourishing. Faith will never flourish without a fight. Let me say that again. Faith will never flourish without a fight. It can't. The enemy will leave you alone if you are not walking in faith. But the moment that you walk in faith, he fights you. So that's why he's been fighting you. Why, God? I'll tell you why God. God. God is working in your life.

And we see Saul in Acts chapter 9. Can I preach a little bit with an outline? We see him go from fighting to falling to following. From fighting, everybody say fighting, to fighting. to falling to following. He said I was locking up Christians and consenting to the stoning of Stephen, and I thought I was doing good, and it wasn't like I knew I was wrong, but one of the most beautiful moments of your life comes when you encounter the utter relief of realizing you were wrong. What are you doing the moment when you realize that I was, say the word? Well, you had a hard time getting that out your mouth.

You sound like you went to the dentist and got some Novacaine before you said that. Did you hear how hard it was for you to say I was wrong? I was wrong to put that pressure on you. I was wrong when I got angry with you and I said, you made me mad. You didn't make me mad. You just revealed what was already in my heart as anger. at somebody else. I was wrong to yell at you. I was wrong to believe that you knew God less than I did because you struggled with something that my exposure did not enable. I was wrong to judge

you like that. I was wrong to think that I was right to the exclusion of others having the right to know God in their own relationship. I was wrong. I'm going to do a series sometime in the 20th year of ministry called All the Things I Was Wrong About. And it's going to be a 20-year series. Because that should be the process of your Christian life, is realizing that you are wrong and repenting. And you said, well, Pastor Stephen, that's not what I came to church for. I believe in the blood of Jesus, and I'm right about it.

I believe in the resurrection, and I'm right about it. I believe that he saves and he's coming again on the clouds on a horse, and he's going to kick his enemies in. He's going to have his blood dipped in robe, and he's the lion, and he's the lamb. And I believe all of that. And I know I'm right about it, and they're wrong. You know, you can be right in the wrong way, to have an arrogant disposition that thinks that you know everything, to be the kind of parent that punishes your kids for stuff that you know that you did 10 times worse.

And look at them like, what in the world is wrong with you? You know exactly what's wrong with them. It's called your DNA. That's what's wrong with them. What's wrong with them is you. I was spanking one of the kids one time. Please don't take me to court. And the Lord said, what are you going to do?

Spank the you out of them? Wow, that helped me. Because I realized that sometimes the most righteous thing I can be is wrong. How open are you coming to church today hearing something that you might be wrong about? Or do you just want to say amen to all the stuff that you already say you believe, but don't live anyway? Now Saul is an interesting character because other people in Scripture we see and Jesus is rescuing them from a life of sin. That was not Saul's testimony. Saul was not a horrible sinner.

Saul wasn't rescued from some gross sin. Saul was rescued from self-righteousness. He says, I was advancing, I was going, I thought I was right, and I found out I was wrong. And watch this. The whole word that God wants to give you today hinges on this. Sometimes you have to be wrong, before you're ready. Sometimes you are not ready for what God wants to do next in your life because you are not willing to be wrong. Are you willing to be wrong for a moment to humble yourself in the side of the Lord so that he will lift you up? To be able to say, maybe there is another way to do that. Maybe there was a better way to approach that. Maybe I don't know every style of worship. Maybe I don't know every way that God can move in a church. Maybe I don't know every way that God can... Maybe I shouldn't be putting periods

in places where God puts a comma. Maybe I shouldn't write people off so quick. Maybe I shouldn't just throw people out so quick like their milk that went bad. Maybe I shouldn't just make up my mind that they can't change because the truth is I'm still changing. I'm still changing. I'm still changing. I'm still learning, I'm still growing, tell your neighbor, give me space to change. I need a little room to change. I've got a little cocoon and I'm changing in here and I might break out and I might get wings, but I'm struggling against this right now. Why would you put a period in a place where God puts somebody else in a cocoon to transform

them into something that you've never seen before? Why would you do it to yourself? Why would you do it to yourself? Why would you put a period on your purpose when God put a comma? I'm trying to say he's not done with you yet. I'm trying to say nothing is over till God says it's over. I'm trying to say everything that the enemy meant for evil, God has a way of turning it for good. I'm trying to say that the weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper.

I'm trying to say that your ladder will be greater than your past. I'm trying to say that if you're still breathing, there's a reason that you're breathing. I'm trying to say that I don't care what they said about you. I care what God knows about you. Because people label, but God names. And you might be addicted, but you might not stay that way. And you might be bankrupt and broke, but you might not stay that way. And you might be mean and bitter, but you might not stay that way.

Because the blood of Jesus has a way of breaking. you out of the prisons of your previous life. There are some people in this room who have been in the prison of your past so long, but I want you to realize that callings have commas. The next time the devil starts telling you it's over, just do one of these. And keep walking. The next time people say your best is behind you, just do one of these and keep walking. The next time somebody's saying something about you and you know it's not true, don't even say anything back, just go, boop, and keep walking. Because God does calm us. Because God looks at dry bones and sees armies.

Because God looks at Red Seas and sees highways. Because God looks at Saul and sees Paul. Because God looks at Simon sees Peter. Looks at Jacob sees Israel. I'm so glad God does calm us. And it's just a quick thing he can do to get you to see something in yourself that you never saw before. Watch this. It is so important that you realize that big doors swing on little hinges. And something as small as a comma, saw, something as ordinary as light when beinged into his eyes turned the world upside down.

At this point in his life, Paul thought I've arrived. At this point in his life, Paul thought I knew it all. At this point in his life, Paul thought he was everything but wrong. At this point in his life, Paul was ranked at the top. But just when he got there, God orchestrated a falling into a new calling. The Bible says in Acts chapter 9, verse 4, that as Paul was riding along, he fell to the ground. and heard a voice saying Saul, Saul. It's very interesting to me that he couldn't hear that voice until he was falling.

Sometimes it takes a heartbreak for you to be able to hear God. Sometimes it takes an interruption to get your attention. And Saul fell off. That's what the young people say. Man, he fell off. Did you hear about Saul? He was doing good. He was doing good, man, but I heard he's around there with that cult called Christians.

Saul fell off. In fact, I don't know if you noticed it when I read in Galatians chapter 1, because let me give this. This is very important. You have to live it now and explain it later. You have to live it now, survive it now, explain it later. When I read you Galatians chapter 1 verses 11 through 20, I read that on purpose first, but it's not what Paul said while he was going through his conversion.

what he said 14 years after the fact. And Saul, excuse me, Paul, the artist formerly known as Saul, saw his Hebrew name. He was named after the first king of Israel. He was from the same tribe of Benjamin. The name Saul means to hear, or to ask, excuse me, not to hear, to ask. Isn't that crazy that in the beginning of the passage, he's asking for letters to persecute the church? And after God gets done with him, he's asking Jesus, who are you? And God is changing his questions. That crazy? And as he's explaining to the church at Galatia, now this is a group of Christians who

didn't grow up Jewish. It's a group of Christians who we would call Gentiles. He's who Paul was called to reach. And he says in verse 13, I know you heard of my previous way of life in Judaism. How intensely I persecuted the Church of God. You heard about my previous way of life. Now, stop right there. Have you been imprisoned in your previous?

This is the scary thing about consulting with people. People will put you in the prison of your previous. In Saul's case, it wasn't a life of sin. It was a life of self-righteousness. But see, to them, he was a Christian killer. And so they could never forget what he represented to them. And that's why it was important that he went straight to God. I heard a story one time about three baseball umpires, and they were talking about their philosophy of calling balls and strikes.

Well, one of the baseball umpires said, I call it like it is. And the next umpire said, I call it like I see it. And the third umpire said, it ain't nothing till I call it. I believe God is saying today, it ain't nothing till I call it. You might think you're really something. Your resume, it ain't nothing till I call it. Paul, who was so credentialed, Paul who was so capable, Paul who was so incredibly charismatic, said, you heard about my previous way of life.

Now, get ready, because this is a really powerful reflection from the apostle. He said, you heard how intensely I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age, among my own people, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. I want to show you verse 15, because it's what really lit my spirit on fire for somebody in the room today. Paul says, after all of that you've heard about me, after all of that that I did against Jesus, I was fighting against him.

Now I'm following him. I was fighting against him. Now I am filling the world with His God. His teaching. I am filling the world with the message that I used to fight against. This is how big God can do it. This is how drastic of a change God can make. It is too soon for you to give up on anybody.

It is too soon for you to give up on you. It is too soon for you to give up on freedom. I was telling somebody the other day, this is the way I am and it will never change. And they said, it's too soon for you to say that. You've got too many experiences, you've got too many valleys, you've got too many mountains, you've got too many tomorrow's, you've got too many next months, you've got too many next years. It is too soon for you to say that. It is too soon for you to say I'll never.

It is too soon for you to say I'm not. It is too soon for you to assume that what you've seen so far is all there is to you. Because Paul, who was called Saul, thought, I've done. it, this is it. And God laughed because where he put a period, God put a comma. He said, you heard about my previous way of life. You heard how I advanced. You heard how zealous and passionate I was. And then verse 15 says something very powerful. But when God, comma. I know it's going to take a minute, but you're going to get it. But when God, comma.

Take those three words and get them in your spirit. Now put them in your mouth and say them, but when God. I want to see the chat light up right now with that three words. But when God. One of the favorite phrases for us to shout about in churches, but God. This is a little bit. different. But God means it seemed to be going one way, now it's going another. It looked like this, it was really that. I was dead in my sins and transgressions, but God made me alive.

Paul wrote that, by the way. Paul wrote that after he'd spent his whole life fighting against the thing he was now following in. Paul wrote that, by the way. Don't you dare tell me that you're done. Don't you dare tell me that nothing good is going to come from you. Don't you dare tell me that it's over. Paul wrote that. But win God, comma. I wish you could see this on the screen. You're listening to this on a podcast. If you are listening to this sermon and not watching it, pull the car over and look at the screen right now, or pull up this verse in your U-Version app. Pull up Galatians 115 because I want you to see, but when God, which means what? That it's on his schedule. Not mine. But when God.

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. But when God, they wrote me off, talked about me like a dog, said I was annoying, but when God, I was up to my neck in it, I didn't think I could take another phone call or a text message with bad news, but then a light shone from heaven and knock me off my horse and knock me off my rightness. But when God, people said he'll never get up, people started playing in my funeral, people started writing my obituary, people started talking about me behind my back, but when God, comma, I see my list. When did Saul's name change to Paul? I know when Abraham's name changed. I know when Abraham's name changed. I know when Abraham's name changed. Genesis chapter 17. Check this out.

The Lord took this man named Abram, and he said, I like to buy a consonant, Vena. I like to call him Abraham. Look at this. Genesis 17. Abraham fell face down. Abraham, what? Somebody else fell that we were just talking about.

Oh, so sometimes the fall signifies that there's a call coming. There's a call coming. There's a call coming. I'll know what you fell into this week. Some of you fell back into something this week that you thought you walked away from. But after the fall, there is a calling. You're going to help somebody get set free from it. I know y'all don't like this, but sometimes it takes wrong to get you ready.

It takes wrong to get you ready. Stop beating up on yourself. Paul said, by the grace of God I was called, it's time for you to fall into calling. Now, Abraham fell face down. He wasn't called Abraham yet. He was called Abraham. Abraham means exalted father. That's a prigate.

They call Abram. Why you need an upgrade? Well, when he fell face down, God said to him, that's the call after the fall. As for me, this is my covenant with you. You'll be the father of many nations. Because Abraham means exalted father. Abraham means father of many. So now we see that God is exchanging a name as a setup for expansion.

I don't want you to just be a father. I want to be a father of many nations. Who else? You want to see Jacob? Genesis 32. He's wrestling with God all night. He don't know it's God. He's fighting.

And then he falls. And he says, I'm not letting go to your blessing. When he falls, God said, I see you struggling with God, humans, and you have overcome. So you're no longer going to be called Jacob, which means heel grabber. But now your name is Israel, which means overcomeer. Because you struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Wow, he got a new name because he was not just carrying himself. He was carrying a nation.

He was all that. All that was coming forth out of him. All of that was meant to be from him. All of that. Abram. Abraham. Jacob, Israel. Who else? Simon? Peter. Well, he makes a confession. Jesus says, Who do you say that I am? Matthew chapter 16, verse 15. He said, I know who you are. You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. He said, blessed you, Simon, Barjona, son of Jonah, because

flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. You can't figure this out by thinking it. You can't figure this out by studying it. You can't figure this out by doing a DNA test. You can't, what is it called 23 and me? You can't do 24, 25 me. The only way you can know me is the Father in Heaven reveal. Now I'm going to reveal who you are now that you see clearly who I am. I say you are Peter, Petros, Seifus, Rock. And upon this rock of the revelation that you have of who I am, I'm going to show you who you are, I will build my church. So every time that God gave someone a new name, he was building something.

Every time that God gave them a new name, he was enlarging something. Every time that God gave their new name represented a new assignment, a new sphere, a new domain, a new level of Wait. So when did Paul become Paul? Saul! Saul! Now, I have to confess to you here. I would like to tell you that I learned that in Bible school, and I never forgot it. But my limited mind just always thought that when God touched him on the road to Damascus, because he went blind and then he met him in named Ananias and he got his sight back and he was able to see. and then he went into the desert to prepare for three years. I always thought that somewhere in that Acts chapter 9, somebody, God or Ananias or somebody said, And verily, verily, I say unto thee, Saul, you will no longer be called. Saul, you will now be called Paul.

So I read all through Acts chapter 9, and I was like, wait, I missed it. Where is it? Maybe I'm reading the wrong version. It took me about two hours. I just kept reading. I read Acts chapter 9 where Saul got knocked down and fell and God told him, I'm going to call you to be a chosen vessel. I read Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 11, Acts chapter 12. I read the whole rest of the book of Acts, and God never changed his name.

And I was shocked. Because I thought just surely, if he's going to be representing Jesus now as the Apostle Paul, that God must have given him that new name. Well, it's not until Acts 13, verse 9, that we see when Saul became Paul. Pause real quick, comma, comma, comma, pause, pause. I'm telling you this, because sometimes we don't know when we're changing. Sometimes it's 14 years later when you're writing the book of Galatians that you realize, Oh, it wasn't a fall. It was a calling.

What looked like falling was actually calling. What looked like a disability was actually my unique gift. What looked like a learning disorder was actually my brilliant mind just firing a little different than everybody else's. What looked like a rejection from people was God's redirection for something that he called me uniquely to do. Why aren't you helping me preach? I'm trying to help you recategorize, reclassify some stuff, because it ain't nothing until God calls it. You can't call it good, you can't call it bad. You can't call it success.

You can't call it failure. It's nothing until he calls it. And here is the mighty Apostle Paul saying, God who called me from my mother's womb. And then I realized in Acts 13, verse 9, oh, this is the most annoyinged verse I've read all year. All this will change your life. All this will set you free. Because everybody's waiting for this change to come, you know, when I'm going to feel better and be better and do better and get taller and get richer.

And everything's going to be going to be going to be going to be nice to me and smile at me. And I'm not going to struggle with this anymore. Acts chapter 13 verse 9. Here it is. Then Saul, comma, who was also called Paul. What? You mean God didn't. change his name? Nope. Saul was his Hebrew name. Paul was his Roman name. Because he was all that. I said he was all

that. To be born in Tarsus of Sicily, where Paul was born, gave you a unique advantage that although I am Jewish by heritage, I am Roman by citizenship. So it means that I'm Saul and I'm all. Also, Paul. Saul isn't bad. Paul isn't bad. I'm just both. Saul is the life I built until I met Jesus. Paul is my name. I'm going to take the gospel to the Gentile world with. So God is saying to somebody, I don't know your given name. I don't know your legal name. I don't know what God has you standing on the precipice of. I don't know what you're shaking about. I don't know what you're dealing with. I don't know what you're dealing with. I don't know who's talking to you about it. I don't know whose counsel you're keeping. But God has somebody here so you can hear today. You already are. You already are.

You already are. Stop trying to be that. You already are. Stop trying to give sex to get love. You already are loved. Stop trying to give yourself away to people who do not have the capacity to receive it. Because the Bible says, when it came time for the Gentiles to hear the gospel, Saul, who was also called Paul, stepped forth. And the Book of Acts never calls him Saul again.

Because listen to this, listen to this. It's time for you to use your other name. It's time for you to step into what God already called you. And didn't it? just bless your socks off to realize that there was not a moment where he said, you shall no longer be Saul, you shall be Paul. He said simply, I just want you to use what I already gave you. And maybe that's the calling in this season of your life to start using what he already gave you, to start using the resources that your Heavenly Father has already placed in your spirit through a deposit, Because I'll tell you one thing about it. Everything I've got that's worth having, I got it by grace.

Paul said, when God was pleased, give me Galatians 115. One more time. When God was pleased. When God was pleased. And then what comes between those commas? Who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. So I just want to say to you today that the grace was there before them, mistake was ever made.

Oh, I can hardly preach this to you because God is putting it inside of me. I make mistakes, but the grace outran the mistake. The grace outran the mistake. So when you get done feeling sorry for yourself and get done groveling and thinking God won't forgive you and God won't use you, you'll realize callings have commas. when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb, my name has always been Paul. I don't know who this is for, but you've always been Paul. Some pain happened to you, but you've always been Paul.

You've always had a purpose. You've always had a unique gift. You've always had that smile that can light up a room. You've always been able to listen to people. You've always been able to unlock things. It just got buried for a little while. But I'd rather be wrong for a little while. I said I'd rather be wrong for a little while.

I'd rather go blind for a little while than spend my whole life fighting when God has called me to follow. So maybe we didn't come today asking God to change us into something that we're not. Maybe we came to allow God to remind us, I already got it. I already got it. I already got it. I already got it. The grace came before the mistake was made. High five, three people say, I already got it. Before I pray, he hears me. Before I cry, he's got a clean X. I already got it. May this be the day, may this be the day that you stop running to people and letting them put periods where God put commas. Because callings have commas.

I'm annoying and anointed. I'm Saul. I'm Paul. I'm messed up and I got a message for the world. You a shepherd or a singer, David, my calling has commas. You a sinner or a saint, Stephen. My calling has commas. And before I was born, I hear Jeremiah being echoed right now.

He set me apart. Because another thing a comma can do, watch this. It can set something up to set something off. Acts 13, verse 9. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, he fell. Now he's filled. Why?

Because callings have Comeas God's not done with you dude God's not done with you bro God's not done with you mate God's not done with you beau God's not done with you mom God's not done with you babe

God's not done with you son God's not done with you cherished God wants all of you all that I've come a long way I've seen how you work There's so much goodness and grace How much?

All right Because I know who I am Saul But I can't stay where I'm at Paul Yeah it's a new assignment What's the next line? Y'all got to sing it

Now you got it declare Put it in the devil's face You're not done with me. You're not done. Gets ready. When God gets ready. When God gets ready. I brought you to this moment in this sermon to let you know that you might have been wrong.

But while you were getting it wrong, God was getting you ready. And you're ready now. You're ready to use the name he gave you. You're ready to use the gifts he gave you. You're ready to use the gifts he gave you. You ready to use the experiences he's given you? The sweet ones and the bitter ones. While you were getting it wrong,

Paul says, I did all that stuff, man. I thought I was ready, but when God got ready, I tried it in my own strength and I fell. But when God got ready, I went completely the wrong way. I was making good time, but I was on the wrong road. But when God got ready to reveal his son. Now watch this. There's one more thing I've got to give you.

He says, when God was pleased, to reveal his son and me. Watch this. Reveal doesn't mean that it started to exist. Reveal means I let you see what was already there. So my sister, my brother, my friend, my son, my wife, my mom, get ready to see what God will reveal now that you fell into his arms. Get ready to see what God will reveal now that you've stopped fighting and started following. Get ready to see Saul become Paul and confess it. For everybody who has somebody in your life that you love, man, we've all been there. Somebody who's going the complete wrong way.

Maybe you even brought them to church this morning. Don't look at them right now. It'd be awkward. But I remember looking at my dad when he was skipping church and I said, I'm praying for you. God's going to get a hold of your life. He said, what you didn't know at the time is that I had a drinking problem and I was so low and I didn't know what I was going to do and I felt sorry for you because you believed that God was going to do something in me.

But neither of us was laughing when he came to the altar two years later and surrendered his life to Jesus. So I've seen this. I've seen it in our church. God is so strategic in his preparation. When God gets ready, it's different than when people get ready. I used to always get frustrated in church. They'd say, God's getting ready to bless you.

ready to move. God's getting ready to show up. God's getting ready to turn it around. And I would think he's God. Why does he have to get ready? That's something we have to do before we leave the house. What's God doing? Putting on his coat because it's a little cold? What's God doing? Putting some makeup on? What's God doing? God's getting ready? He's not preparing. He's God. He's already prepared. He's not preparing. He's positioning so that when it's time, for Paul to write the letter to the Galatian church, he can do it with his name, Paul. When God gets ready, no person can stop it. When God gets ready, no devil can stop it. When God gets ready, when God gets ready, you take where people put a period and make it

a comma. Right now, right now, there's somebody who needs to give their life to Jesus in this room. Bow your head and close your eyes. Please don't fight this off. Jesus told Paul, go to the city and you'll be told what you must do. And in the obedience to follow that instruction, he received his assignment. Right now, I want to lead you in a prayer that the light of the gospel that you've received today would not just bring you light in this room, but it would transform your life for the rest of your life. And there's somebody here who's never put your faith in Jesus, or you did, and then you went the wrong way. He's not done with you yet. He brought you here. Don't you understand? He loves you so much that he called you by name today. He's speaking to you.

I'm not speaking to you. I don't know you like that. That's Jesus speaking to you. Telling you that if you will call on his name, you will be saved. Right now, heads bowed, eyes closed. All over the room. I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And if this prayer expresses your heart, the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Right here, right now. This is your moment. Repeat after me. Heavenly Father,

today is my day of salvation. I am a sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe He died, that I would be forgiven. given and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. I am a child of God. On the count of three, shoot your hand up if you prayed that. One, two, three, all over the room. Hands going up. Hands going up. Angels starting to party in heaven. Come on. Chain's breaking off.

Hands going up. New life's beginning. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.