Elevation with Steven Furtick - When Never Meets Now

Episode Date: January 17, 2022

God’s will never fails. In “When Never Meets Now,” we’re challenged to invite God into our disappointments and remember that our best days are still to come. (0:00) - You Are Getting Stronger (2:27) - How God Works It Together (7:28) - When Never Meets Now (10:57) - Be Careful What You Say Never About (16:14) - God Is Breaking Down Your Prejudices (19:31) - It's Not About The Diet (23:18) - The Danger Of Blanket Statements (27:02) - It Does Get Better (29:04) - The Devil's Favorite Word Is Never (32:25) - God's Giving You What You WILL Need (35:11) - Trust What God Calls You To Do (39:02) - He Will Never Leave You (41:20) - The Enemy Is Whispering Never In Your Mind (46:28) - Be Sensitive To The Spirit Of God (50:00) - How Do You Like It Now, Devil? (52:54) - Jesus, Why Didn't You Come? (56:25) - Invite God Into Your Disappointment (58:04) - You've Never Failed Me Yet (1:02:19) - Recognize God's Presence Today (1:07:53) - It Was Not A Waste (1:12:05) - Surrender To God In This Moment See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. So I want to thank you, Lord. I don't know if they've been to the gym this year a lot yet, but I thank you that you brought them to church today. And online and on YouTube and Facebook. I thank you that someone's on a podcast right now, hearing this word, and they are getting stronger.

So, Lord, just like Dustin Stradley's biceps were so much bigger than the last time I saw him, I want somebody to look at us and say, boy, your faith is bigger. Your love is bigger. You're more expectant. Your wisdom is growing. We came today to grow. We thank you, Lord, for meeting us in this place. You're an excellent trainer.

Have your way. Oh, I just felt a series coming on. Sorry, y'all. Weight training. A sermon or a series? All right. But we're going to talk about that a little bit today. Are you excited about the word?

Oh, this is awesome. It feels like a revival. Like a revival. You know what? I want to read my scripture. I want to get right to it. Any announcements that need to be made, somebody else make them. I want to preach.

Stay standing. Y'all stay standing and y'all holler to the people online say stand up tell them stand up for the word of God show some respect I had so many texts about last week's message about and all y'all remembered was the trash bags I'm like well if I knew you were that easy I would stop studying and just get a wheelbarrow next week or something But I think it impacted us to talk about, are you holding on to something that is hurting you? And we might revisit a little bit of that in a moment, but there's a passage, a story that I want

to share with you from Acts chapter 10. Did you study it last night, Jason? Okay. I told a few of my guys, this is where I'm going to be if you want to get a head start. But you will never guess where God took me with this one. I don't care how many times you read it, because it just is powerful. I got to read 20 verses, so y'all listen fast. Acts 10, verse 1.

At Cessaria, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. He and all his family were devout and God fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day, at about three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him and said, Cornelius. Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord? he asked.

The angel answered, your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon, who is called Peter. Y'all remember Jesus changes names, right? You know, he can change your name too. What you've called yourself all your life, you get one good encounter with God and he'll show you a sight of you you've never seen before. Go to Joppa, get Peter.

Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon, the Tanner, whose house is by the sea. the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. Now, while all of that is happening in Cessaria, listen what's happening in Joppa. And watch how God will hook stuff up that you didn't even know you needed to pray about. about noon the following day as they were on their journey going to get Peter and approaching the city Peter went up on the roof to pray he became hungry and wanted something to eat and while the meal

was being prepared he fell into a trance he saw heaven opened he saw heaven open Wow. And something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, get up, Peter, kill, and eat. All the carnivores say amen for the vegans. Surely not, Lord. Okay.

Surely not, Lord. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice spoke to him a second time. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. This happened three times because Peter was hard-headed. Immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate.

They called out asking if Simon, who was known as Peter, was staying there, while Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit said to him. You got what Peter was thinking and what the spirit was saying, and they were not the same. What was going on in his mind was not what was going on in God's thoughts. So that could be true of you too. Just saying. While he was still thinking, the Spirit said, Simon, three men are looking for you.

So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them. Okay. Let's focus on two verses. Let's look at verse 14. surely not Lord, I have never. Everybody say, I have never. And then go to verse 20 where he said, do not hesitate. I have never. And the spirit said, do not hesitate. So this is the message

whenever meets now. Everybody say never. Everybody say never. Never needs now. In your presence, Lord, it's the fullness of joy. Right hand pledges forevermore. Release the resource of heaven to your people. Through me today, I pray. I avail myself to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated. I'm so glad there was snow in the forecast. I didn't know. I don't want to say I never watched the news, but I could almost say I never watched the news. And I'm not going to say never because, you know, never say never. And since that's what I'm preaching on, I've thought of all of the little cliches. Never say never, now or never. I thought of all of them.

Never, Neverland. Studying a lot of different sources. But I'm glad. I didn't know that it was supposed to snow. Now, those in the other parts of the world, you wouldn't really call it snow if you're in Michigan. But this is the South, more specifically the southeastern United States. And we never relatively really get snow, so we don't know what to do with it when it might come. I mean, we are more scared of an inch of snow than a gallon of anthrax.

It's a weird thing to watch Southerners respond to the snow. And Holly grew up in Miami where she really never saw snow. So, anyway, I'm glad it snowed because I had this message on Monday, and I didn't know how I'm awake to preach it on Sunday. And so when they said it might snow, I was like, well, okay, I could call the real Christians, the sanctified. So I'm here a little early, like I'm here a little early just in case we got generators, We got milk in the grocery store, but just in case, I said, let's go ahead and preach it because we can do that now.

Now, I'm glad about that for two reasons. One, it's the people who come who just are so hungry that they skip brunch. And I'm skipping brunch for a breakthrough. See what I'm saying? The people online are like, oh, it's so much more. The people are so excited. It's the ones we filtered. It's not any of the ones that we don't want it.

This is like the premium Christians. Anyway, no offense if you're not here. I'm just playing around. But I was excited because I was already ready, and I was like, I kind of wanted to preach it. When God gave it to me, it was like, can I preach it now? But you've got to wait. You got wait. And sometimes when you wait, it gets hard to wait.

And so you're sitting there wanting to wait, but it's like a wait. It's like a weight. W-E-I-G-H-T. It's like, ah, it's a heavy. message and how can I hold this till I get there. So they were like, it's on. I was like, let's do it early. Let's do it early. Let's do it. Like Bill O'Reilly said one time, we'll do it live. Don't look that up on you. But all right. So the second reason, though, it gave me the perfect illustration for this idea of whenever meets now. When we started this church, I stood up on

the first snow day that we ever had. And I said, I was 26. I was 26. I was one. wearing some, probably some true religion jeans or something like that. Uh-huh. Probably some antique denims with some studs on them. And one day I walked in and this guy was like, I've never seen a preacher with stuff like that on his pockets. Why am I telling you this? Okay.

I stood up and I said, Hey, a lot of people were asking me, are we going to cancel church? And I just want you know, as long as I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, I'm 26 talking like I'm 62. I said, as long as I'm the pastor of elevation church, we will never. I went into all these hysterics. I don't care if it's eight inches of snow. I don't care if it's eight inches of snow. I don't care if it's, and God's laughing. God's laughing because what kind of fool would I be if now all the technology that has advanced for us to reach more people? I was still standing up in here with some suborce, crystals on my back pockets or something.

Talking about we will never, never. You know you said never about some things. In the scripture when Peter said never, I have never. I went back and noticed that every time Peter said never, it closed him off from what God was trying to do. This isn't the first time. Remember when Jesus said, I've got to go to Jerusalem, there I will be killed, handed over, but on the third day I'll rise, which was the whole reason he came to pay the price, the whole reason he came to redeem the world, the whole reason that he came? And Peter said, never, Lord, this will never happen to you. Everybody say never.

Put it in the chat, like, in all caps, and think about what you said never about. That now, if we put your never and you're now, how it started, how it's going. Like, I heard one guy say, I'll tell you what, I never fight with my kids. You know what I thought? This is what I thought, because I've got kids now 16, 14, 15. I thought, then you never tell them no. You never tell them no. If you never fight with them, you never tell them no.

That's the only thing that tells me, oh, I never yell at my kids, then you're never around them. The only parents, this is true, the only parents that don't complain about their kids are the ones who stay late at work so they don't have to deal with it. You know you skip bedtime. So I thought, well, if you never fight with your kids, if there's never any conflict, means there's never any confrontation and there's never any correction. And if there's never any confrontation and correction with your kids at any point in their

natural life, I'm not saying you have to say no all the time, but once in a while you're going to have to not be their friend, be their father. You hear this, Graham? Graham doesn't like this part of the sermon. He's totally out. He looks so Presbyterian right now on the front row. But it's true, because if I never tell you no, if I never tell you no, if I never tell you No, you will never learn discipline.

If you never learn discipline, you can never get a job. You never get a job. You can never leave my house, and I need you to lead. So I got to tell you no. Sometimes, once in a while. Okay. Parenting seminar over. I'll never cancel church for snow.

I'll never. I mean, how many of you were like at one point you said, oh, I'd never go to a church like elevator? I'd never go to a big church. Okay, how many you said that? I never go to. Then you're not going to heaven. It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation.

So there's only one other option than a big church. In the end, in the end, nothing against small churches. I'm just saying, then what happened? God spoke to you or God spoke to your kid or you hit a place. You never... Ferd. Thought you'd hit. You hit a need that made you rethink your never. Whenever meets now. As easy as it would be to pick on Peter, I've got to take a moment and defend this great disciple. Peter wasn't holding on to his preferences out of personal selfishness. If you want to understand Acts 10, you have to understand a little bit. about Acts chapter 1 through 7, where the gospel was following the course of Jesus' promise in Acts 1.8, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, where he died. Judea, the surrounding area,

Samaria, passed the borders of where they felt comfortable going, and to the ends of the earth. Somebody say, no boundaries. No boundaries. Acts chapter 10 is a spearhead moment for this mission to go forth beyond the confines of the Jewish world. But to really understand Acts chapter 10 and why Peter was in a Tanner's house in the first place, you know that's a no-no. Tanner's work with dead animals. Even being close to some of these animals would have made him unclean. Now you understand how God has been moving. Peter in a progression so he wouldn't be snobby about which certain people God could bless and use. Oh, this will not make the sermon, but let's just put it in the side note. You can tell you're

making progress in your walk with God when you have less prejudice toward people. That's one of the first signs. How do you know if you're growing spiritually? If you memorize more scripture, the Pharisees had a lot of those scriptures memorized, and they wanted to kill Jesus. How do you know if you're getting closer to Jesus? If you spend more time praying in the morning, if you listen to Christian radio? Listen, I'll be honest with you. I don't even keep my radio on Christian radio. I want to rock when I'm in the car.

I don't think God might. What good is it listening to Christian radio if I'm cussing everybody out in traffic that's cutting me off? So the real proof of progress in my walk with God. What Peter's deciding out is that as the gospel is going forth. Now, follow this. As the gospel is going, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth, it's going to require not only a geographical, but a psychological transformation. Geographical. God, I want you to do more in my life. God, I want to buy a bigger house. God, I want to move to another city. God, I want to get past this stage. God, I want, that's geographical.

The psychological is Peter, who's a Jew, not the most observant Jew, but observant. You know Peter was a little rough. Yet, as he's praying and God shows him something, remember how it said, I won't have time to read the whole text again. You can read it later this week. Please do. Something like a blanket came down from heaven as he was praying. Now, had he been scrolling or posting at this moment? He would have missed the chance to see what God would do.

That's free. He was on the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner. After raising, by the way, a woman from the dead in Joppa, that's what he was doing in Joppa. And he decided to stay a little while because, I guess, raising people from the dead takes a little bit out of you. And he's hungry, and he's on the roof, and he's praying. and a blanket, something like a blanket comes down with animals on it. And some of the animals on the blanket were animals that he wasn't supposed to eat or touch, according to Leviticus 11.

If you want to understand Acts chapter 10 where Peter said, never, you have to understand Leviticus 11. Leviticus 11 is the dietary restrictions that God gave his people so that he could distinguish them from all the other people on the earth. It was never really about the diet. How many of you received that word? It's not about the diet. It's not about the diet. It's not about the diet. Come on. Live both hands. Live both hands. I impart the miracle of calorie cancellation, carbohydrate cancellation, fat burning, cell reduction, all of it. Okay. But it wasn't about his food. It was about his faith and his frame of reference.

That's what God was showing him. Because there was stuff on the sheet or on the blanket that he was not supposed to eat. There was stuff on the blanket that he was not supposed to eat. And if you really want to study, read Leviticus 11 this week. It will make the CDC guidelines look like a children's book. When you read the land animals that the Jewish people couldn't eat, I mean, if you wanted to eat a land animal, it had to have hooves and chew the cut, both. Couldn't have split hooves and not chew the cut.

Couldn't chew the cut, and not, it had to be a specific way. If you wanted to eat sea animals, Leviticus 11 says this. It has to have scales and fins. No shrimp. I don't want to live in a world. Fried shrimp, boiled shrimp. How many of y'all can't hear shrimp without hearing above a gulp? Okay.

Y'all are old. That's an old reference. And most of the, Holly, the most restrictions were on the birds. The most protected were the birds. And then most of the flying insects that couldn't eat. Well, I want to anyway. All that was on the birds. blanket that came from heaven. How can something that I have been taught is not of God come

from heaven? Never. I had never eaten any of these things. Well, Holly never ate boiled peanuts till she met me. That's right. I converted her, corrupted her, whatever. She thought they tasted like dirt. She made them for me Monday night, though. And she was eating them too. She said, never. I would never eat this. You know what I mean? And what if it's not about the diet?

What if it's not about the food? What if the way we look at our life and the things that happen to us and the things that God allows? Even the things that we're praying about is on the completely wrong level. Because what if we think that the person we don't get along with is about that person? and don't realize that that person is something that God is using in his project called you. When they annoy you, they become sandpaper. I'll keep going. It's taking you a while to warm up to the idea that, wait a minute, this doesn't have hooves.

Wait a minute. This doesn't have fins. Wait a minute. This didn't chew the cud. Wait a minute. This can't be of God and I call BS. You all weren't here last week? Belief system Your belief system is formed by your personal experiences and then like I said last week you call that truth

Oh, all women all men all millennials all boomers all Gen Z all churches all Baptist all All black people, all white people, all, all. And I call BS on all of it. I call, you know, BS also could stand for, watch this, you ready? Blanket statements like Peter made. I don't never eat anything like that. Never, Lord. Never.

Well, I never. That's how you'd say it if you were prim and proper. I will lie, never. But what do you do when, like Peter, never meets now? And you realize that the way you saw God when you were 18 was shaped by your experience, not his word or his spirit. What do you do when you find out that the Lord is my shepherd doesn't mean that he keeps everything bad from happening, but that he walks through the valley with you.

So when we make blanket statements, I mean, I remember hearing somebody say one time, I never doubt God's word. And incidentally, this was a preacher, and he was out of the ministry three years later, for an affair. And I wondered, is the reason you never doubt because you never did self-inventory to see what was really in you? So it's easy to make a blanket statement, right? Watch us. Those of you who are here for the first time, watch how good they do with this. God is good, and all the time?

See, I love that. I'm not knocking that. That's true. I believe that all things work together for the good. That doesn't mean all things are good. That doesn't mean it's all good. That's not what we mean. We say, God is good.

Do not call that evil, which I have called good. Do not call that good, which I have called evil. I need to calm down, y'all, because this blessed my life. Do you realize how many of the things that you are sitting in right now, somebody said never about at one time? How many of you are sitting in a now that used to be a never in your life? How many of you never thought you would finish? Let's start. Eighth grade. I was going to go to college, but I was like, we should work our way up. How many of you never thought you'd finish high school? How many you never thought you'd finish college? You went to college.

Y'all, I still have dreams sometimes that I didn't finish college. To this day, I finished college like 70 years ago. And I'm still dreaming about it. There were moments when you're in the middle of it. When I wrote my first book, my editor, he'd been editing books. books. He edited the prayer of J-Bez. Remember that? So he brought me a book on our first meeting. And I was like, what's this? I didn't even really want the book. I didn't even really know who the author was. So what's this? He said, you just need this so that you can have a reminder that

books do get finished. We hadn't started yet. He knew that I would hit points in the process where I would feel like I'm never going to finish this. So he said, put this up somewhere so you can see that books do get finished. And I think the Lord put me up here this week. And Peter, to let you know that it does get better, that it does get better, that it does get better. That it does get better. I said it three times like the angel. Because the devil says never, over and over and over and over again.

Because the devil understands the power of repetition better than you do. Last week, I told you, this is Jesus, John chapter 8, that the devil, and we talked about the devil is a liar, but he doesn't sound like a liar. He sounds like you. His native language is lying. And one of his favorite words is never. Never. You know what depression is? Depression is when you finally give up hope that it will ever be any different than it is right now. The reasons behind it have medical roots and also have clinical treatments. That's not my point. My point is that the devil knows how to tell you and make you feel like you're never going to be happy again. You're never going to be loved again? Never. That's the language that he lies with. Never. Never. And he tells you never. He

he tells you never about certain opportunities, you know? Well, that's never going to happen. Nobody ever notices you anyway. Have you ever noticed how they never notice? This is how the devil talks. What's point in trying? They never notice. They never, they never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never.

And eventually you just agree with the devil to get them to shut up. Okay. Okay. It's fine. The truth will set you free." But I left something out last week, Chetwin. I left this out last week, and I want to give it to you now. In 832, he says, the truth will set you free.

But watch what the Jews say when Jesus confronts him with the truth. He said, the truth will set you free. You got the verse? Quickly, quickly. Verse 32, they answered him, I can't believe I left this out, all. We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of us. anyone. Hundred years in Egypt?

Ring a bell? There's never been a people that were in captivity more time than the Israelites. Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, put it back up. We've never been slaves of anyone. Oh, I don't struggle with that. I'm a good Christian. Oh, I don't really deal with that. I raised my kids in the fear and out perdition of the law.

Okay. It's called a selective never. It's when you're not. It's when you're not. you've reduced down the whole thing to the current person. As a matter of fact, they were under Roman oppression at the moment they said that. Denial. Y'all, I've used therapy in my life on and off to be a good pastor without shame for years.

I talk to somebody in a heartbeat. I will. Well, you should talk to the Lord. I talk to him and people. Because I can't see him. Thank you, Pastor. You make us feel so much more, because I thought you never struggled. No, I do.

I struggle. I struggle a lot. That's how I get these little messages. I go down to hell. I box the devil six days. I come back and tell you here something to try on him. All right? But my fear was I was like, I'm probably not going to finish strong, man.

I mean, good grief. I struggle with this and I deal with that. Oh, my, you know, most people, nine out of ten ministers I heard one time don't. And the person said to me in a counseling session, you may not, but I actually think you will. And here's why I think you will, because you know you might not. Now, some people would call that being negative. When Peter said, never, Lord, I will never deny you. Isn't it funny how he was the first one that did?

When you say never, you know, I never. No, I mean, I would never deal with that. I think it's crazy. God will give people the word that they need for something they're about to go into, and they won't even write it down or listen to it. Because they don't know they're going to need it. Because God is giving you what you're going to need for where he knows you're going to be. And you're so like right here, right now in this season,

if it doesn't say exactly what I wanted to say right now, you might need this. You might need it Thursday. You might need it in three years. You might need it for somebody else. It might not even be for you. I don't know what Peter was praying about on the roof in Acts 10, but I don't think he was praying for Cornelius because he didn't even know he was.

And yet, God answered a prayer that Peter wasn't even praying. By sending something to the gate that Peter didn't even ask for. And so it left me. wondering as I preached today. Listen to me, Epham. Listen to me. Let me know where you're listening from. Let me know what city, what town, what hamlet, let me know what state. Let me know where you're listening from. So I can say this. It's at the gate. This delegation, put that in the chat. Would you put that in the chat? More people are watching online today than usual, so let's have a chat. And then you can touch somebody if you're in the room. Say, it's at the

gate. It's at the gate. It's at the gate. It's at the gate. It's at the gate. Now, Cornelius is 30 miles away from Joppa. He sends a delegation. It takes them almost a day to get there. One commentator said that Cornelius sent an extra beast for Peter to ride back on. I don't even know who Peter is, but he's going to need to get back in a hurry. Were you paying attention when I read or were you still kind of like drowsy? God, told Cornelius where to get Peter, but he didn't tell him why. You know, the story ends pretty cool. I didn't get all the way there, but I'm not close in my sermon either, but let's skip

for the end for a minute. He said, go send for Peter. And when Peter got there to Cesarea 30 miles away, there was a crowd waiting to hear the message of Jesus, and Peter preached. I got to show you this verse. It's Acts 1034. When he got there, he began to speak, and he said, I now, L.D. Hold him down, Will. He can't handle it.

I now realize in verse 34 because I obeyed in verse 19. I now realize how true. So you don't know the truth until you obey the word. Now, God give me strength to preach this. God give me strength to preach this. God, you keep asking God to explain it and he keeps telling you to trust it. You keep asking God to explain it and he keeps telling you to obey it. You keep asking God to make sense of it and he keeps calling you to walk in it.

And everything that God did in my life, well, it was something that at one time I never thought possible. So I'm preaching to you. I'm not talking about Peter. I'm not talking about Cornelius. I'm not talking about the fish with the scales. I'm not talking about the animals with the hooves. I'm not talking about the Gentile world, the Jewish world. I'm talking about you right now on the roof, seeking God, trying to figure out what in the world.

is this coming into my life. What does this mean? Why am I here? What is this season? How can it be? What will it take? Can I do it? And the devil's saying never.

And God is saying now. Now. Three letters. But I feel it in my spirit. Now. In O.W. devil, now. Surely the Lord is in this place. When? Now. How do you know it? By faith. Now faith is the substance of things hope for. I can't see it, but I know it. I can't prove it, but I believe it. It's a promise. It's a promise. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. That's what God said never about. That's what God said never about.

You never take His presence from me. There will never be a day in my life. There will never be a moment in a day. There will never be a nanosecond that he won't be God. There will never be a valley that he won't walk me through. There will never be a shadow that he won't light the way. There will never, there will never, there will never, there will never, there will never, there will never be a sin he won't forgive. There will never be a chain he can't break.

There will never be a mountain he can't move. We'll never, never, never, never, never. Okay, touch at least three people and say never, never, never, a new never. But the whole thing, this is the part you won't like hinges on now. Because as Peter is sitting on the roof saying never. And I just want to make sure I break this down. I don't know if I broke it down good enough. He wasn't trying to get Peter ready for a barbecue downstairs.

That's not how the verse ends. Y'all Holly is so carnal. All she thinks about is when is the next meal? Is that true? We'll be watching a show, and it'll be like a shootout, and there'll be bullets flying and people flying everywhere. Christian gangster movies, obviously. And then there'll be all this chaos, and she'll look at me, and she'll go,

when did they eat? And I'll be like, Holly, it's a heist. This is not, that's the first thing she looks for. And you know what? You're going to hate Acts 10, babe, because it doesn't even say if Peter ever got his lunch. God had something more important at the gate, even than what he was praying for. Does he have something better for you? Has the devil been saying never?

Have you been looking at a stack of bills? Not the buffalo bills. Snow day humor. Snow day humor. And then saying, well, I never pay this off. So quick principle that served me, okay? For your leadership, for your company, for anything, your fitness, for your emotions, whatever. One immediate action is worth a thousand good intentions. I wonder how long Peter would have stayed up on the roof, smelling food, and a trance. And the Lord said, you won't find out what I have for you on the roof. God showed him something while he prayed.

He spoke something that contradicted what Peter thought. Now, that's been happening inside of you lately. The devil's saying never, you're thinking it? Okay, well, I never will. Especially when it comes to addictions, y'all. When I talked about freedom last week, half the people couldn't even hear me. Because it's like, oh yeah, I heard a sermon like this. I did rehab three times.

Oh, yeah, I tried this already. Cool, man. Hope you get them while they're young, because once you've been in it this long, never. I hesitate to do this because you could take it and make it something I don't mean. But even some of you that thought like you will never have another relationship, you never? You're bringing so much baggage from Leviticus 11. of how you think things have to be. And you're like, nope, they have scales.

Nope, they have fins. Nope, they have hooves. Nope, they chew the cud. And so then you make blanket statements about what God can and can't do in your life. One of the greatest things we're celebrating Dr. King's legacy in the United States this weekend, this Monday. Our outreach teams went out and did amazing things, probably by the day. time you see this message, but one day a man touched my heart because he said, I'm 72, and I hated white people all my life until God brought you on my TV and gave me the word.

And we met, and he said, thank you. And I was like, no, thank you. I spent a lot of my time wondering if people hear what you say, or if it matters, or if you're just giving people little sermons to get through the week or whatever. That's hard for me to believe, but thank you for telling me. And then I talked to him a few minutes. He told me a lot of the story of why he felt the way he felt, and I got it. And I was like, well, do you still like me after meeting me? He's like, I like you better. He said, but you are shorter in person.

But I never thought I would listen to a white preacher. I never. And that becomes the lid and the limitation. When the devil says never, then you just stop looking. Good things never happen to you. They happen to others. I never have any luck. I never get any breaks.

It never stops. I never get ahead. That is the devil's language. He took God's word, never will I leave you? And he co-opped God's word. for his purpose. Like he did with Jesus when he was tempted, he took God's word, throw yourself off the angels, turn the bread into stones. He took God's word, never, and now he's using it against you. Never. You're never going to finish. They're never going to notice. It's never going to change.

It never makes a difference. And then here's my favorite one. Well, you never can be sure, so why even try? But, and now we're living in a time where that's It's almost true. Like, why put anything in the calendar anymore? Because if your second cousin gets sick, you're going to be in the house for three weeks. Leviticus 11 has nothing on the year 2020. I can't keep up with any of the rules. So now I feel like, well, why even try because I can't predict it?

But don't you understand that it becomes even more important to be sensitive to the spirit of God when you can't depend on the circumstances? Give me verse 5. Look what God was telling Cornelius when Peter was saying never. Acts 10 verse 5. Hurry up, hurry up, there they are. Now, sin men. Say it?

Say it? What did God say? What did Peter say? What happens when never meets now? What happens when the God who exists? exists in eternity, steps into the fullness of time. In the presence of the Lord. I don't want you to see this as a Bible story.

I want you to see it as a spiritual reality. Whenever meets now. When never meets now. When they told them that they would never go to the moon. Now, I mean, I know people who are planning their vacation. for 2032 to Mars. Where are you going, Myrtle Beach? Where are you going, Mars?

And you're laughing. You're laughing. They laughed. I remember as a kid I wanted to live at Walmart. I did. That was a fantasy of mine when I was like 13 or 14. Because I wanted to live in the CD section. CDs were brand new, and when my mom would take me to Walmart, I would just spend all day.

As long as she would let me. She had to come drag me out. Truth? There's the Lemonheads and oh, there's the Rollins band and there's I was into the deep cuts of punk rock. Not the Green Day stuff. No, way more subcultural than that. Wow, I wonder what that sounds like. I've heard of it. I wish I could listen to all of it. What if I had every CD in the world that was ever recorded? What was my fantasy is now on my phone. I don't appreciate it. I fuss at it when it takes three seconds to load.

This text is never going to come through. It's been seven seconds. When the ninth president of the United States died, I read that it took 110 days for the message to get to Los Angeles. Yeah. Talk about this message is never coming through. We think we wait a long time? Oh, how long was the wait at Chick-fil-A? It was forever.

I mean, for us. Ever. I wait. How long did he preach today? He preached forever. Y'all Paul preached so long one time. A boy named Uticus fell out the window. And Uticus, too, if you fell out a window.

As I'm saying this, the gospel is going out all over the world while I'm preaching. If you would have told 2006 Elevation Church that we would not have to build campuses all over the world, to reach people all over the world, we would have said, I told one guy that it was in my heart to have a diverse church, and he said, well, you better not do it in Charlotte because you will build a diverse church in Charlotte. Now? Said, no? You can keep your blanket statements.

You can keep your broken systems. You can keep the BS. Give me Jesus. Give me the gospel. Give me the word, the presence, the spirit. Okay, okay. I'll clap my hands and praise God when I get over this little cold. You better praise him with a runny nose and a fever.

You better wave a tissue and praise him now. Now, get in on it. When you're going to rejoice, now. Some people are waiting for heaven to give God praise. When we all get to heaven, what a day that will be. But I read it my Bible, this is the day. They can't hear me, Jesus. This is the day.

Now, now, now, now, now, now, now. Now, now, now, now. Remember when Martha sent for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus? Remember? You ever read that story? I've preached it a good 20 times in this pulpit. But if you never read it, you need to read it in John 11 because they sent for Jesus and he never came. Some of you feel like Martha and you sent for Jesus and he never came.

And you prayed and he never came. And you asked and it never changed. And you tried and it never works. And you did it and it never made sense. So I want you to do what Martha did in John 11, 20. It says she heard that Jesus was coming. Somebody say, he's here, he's here, he's here, he's here, he's here. No, no, tell the person next to you, he's here, he's here, he's here, he's here, he's here, put it at the chat.

He's here, he's here, he's not coming one day. He's here right now. He's at the gate. He's at the gate. He's at the gate. He is the gate. He is the way. The truth and the life. She went out to meet him. What happens when never meets now? So he didn't come when you wanted him, like you wanted him, how you wanted him. But he's here now. So it didn't happen like you wanted him. when you wanted, how you wanted. So he didn't answer what you prayed, how you prayed, when you prayed, like you prayed. But he's here now. So you didn't do what you should have, what you could have,

what you would have. So you wasted the last couple of years wandering around. So you're disoriented. So you did it. So you missed it. So you lost it. So you let it slip away. But you're here now, now, now, now. And she went, this is for somebody. I had to call Martha, because if I just preached about Peter, this message would be for the men. So I wanted to bring Martha with Peter so they could both tell you the same thing that it's at the gate. Now, had a man tell me, I've never given to the church, but when I die, I'm going to will $10,000. And this is why I thought, God has to kill you together. get $10,000? How are you smart enough to have $10,000 to give and stupid enough to say something

like that? Now, you better give it now? You better grab them, hug them, love them now. Am I preaching? And she heard Jesus was coming, sent for him when Lazarus was sick. He never came. And that's the first thing she told him, you never came. You never came. You never came. So you invite God into you, never. God, I'll be honest, like, I don't even really feel like this is going to work for me. Started a lot of New Year's like this on the no-shrimp diet. But you're here now. But you're here now.

You could have died. You almost quit. You wouldn't have been at church tomorrow to hear this message. So God had me preach it now. Everything changes whenever meets now. And I think this is more than a sermon. I think it's a meeting. I think it's a divine appointment for somebody who's been in Neverland and it had happened,

and you don't see how it's going to happen. So I could remind you that a lot of your nows used to be Nevers. wrote a song years ago that said, you've never failed me yet. I've seen you move the mountains, and I believe you've never failed me yet. My buddy Robert Madhu went to a church, and he was the guest preacher, and they were singing that song, Do It Again. And they changed it. He said it was weird, because the way we wrote it, it said, your promise still stands great as your faithfulness. I'm still in your hands. This is my confidence. You've never failed me yet. He said, but when they got to that part, they didn't say yet. They just say,

You've never failed me. And he asked the pastor, and the pastor said, we don't like that part. Because when it says yet, it implies that he might. But see, what I think the word yet, Put that in the chat too. Say yet, yeah, yeah, yet, yeah, yeah. It implies that God's past faithfulness is the best predictor of his future performance. So it means that if he kept me breathing, have you ever stood next to an answered prayer? Have you ever stood in the living proof of a moved mountain? Have you ever just fogged a mirror with your breath to a annoy the devil that it didn't work when he tried to kill you. And I'm telling you, you've never been here before. Be easy on yourself.

Be patient with your process. Be open to what God is doing in this season. Be like Martha. Get your disappointed butt down there to the gate and ask Jesus why he never came. Be like Peter. Downstairs and see about this thing God sent you. It's at the gate. It's standing there.

God sent it. It might not look familiar. It might be weird. It might not be what you prayed for. It might not smell like ribs, but God sent it. God sent it. Hey, you can't hesitate. You have got to move now.

Thirty miles. I grew up in Monks Corner, South Carolina. Tiny town. Too tiny now. Twenty thousand people, they said now, something like that. It was much smaller when I was there. When people would ask me, where are you from? I couldn't tell a monk's corner. I would have to say, from a town that's 30 miles north of Charleston called Monks Corner. Joppa was 30 miles from Cessaria. And when I lived that close to Charleston, I never went. Now me and Holly spend our vacation days there. I never went when it was so close. Now I appreciate it more.

I wonder what God has given you now that you never stop to enjoy. I want you thinking about this message for a long time. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit long after I shut up, what are the nevers? The nevers that I've accepted that I need to reject. What are the nevers that I need to accept? Now, like, I'm, y'all, the time for me to be in the NBA has come and gone. You understand?

I'm not going to be a brain surgeon at this stage in my life. I'm good with that. I've accepted that. I'm a heart surgeon. I'm a soul surgeon. She said, Jesus, we sent for you. You never came. She expressed her frustration.

It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. She said, Lord, John 11. if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. And this is where God told me to leave you at the gate, Peter, Martha. I'm leaving you at the gate here with this verse, 22. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you asked. When she said now, she recognized the presence of God.

When you recognize his presence, You are open to his power. Now, and Jesus looked back at her with a question. Here it is. Your brother will rise again, 24. And Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day. And Jesus said, I am. That's present tense.

Present tense isn't going to happen one day. It didn't happen one day and now it's gone. Jesus said, I am here. I am powerful. I am able. I am faithful. Ashley, my favorite scripture says, now to him who is able to do. Inmeasurably more than we asked or imagined.

Now, I never paid attention to that word. And when you're reading the Bible this week, because I know you read it for three hours a day, when you're reading the Bible, praying on the roof, and the sheet comes down this week, just look at every time you see the word now, and look at every time you see the word never. And ask the Lord, did that never come from you? Did that never come from the devil? Did that never come from my biases? Is that never limited to a season of life?

And listen, listen, some of us are chained to limitations that do not exist anymore in this season. It used to be true, and it's not anymore. It used to be true, and it's not anymore. It used to be true that the Gentiles couldn't come to the God of Israel, but it's not anymore because he tore the veil. And his presence has no limits, has no borders. Jesus said, the one who believes, believes. Do you believe?

Do you believe? You believe? A little bit of faith, mustard seed faith? Stand up. Stand up. He who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will... What?

Will what? Never. Will never die. It is not dead. It is not over. It is not finished. Your best days are not in a rear-view mirror. No, no, no. No.

You are to drag your nevers into the presence of your now. Spoiler alert, Lazarus got up. Even now. Even now. Even now in the face of never. So, I want to pray about your nevers, and I want to call you to your now. The devil's such a liar. He's so good at it. You would be, too, if it's all you ever did. He's had a lot of practice. And you let him, you built him a practice court in your mind, just letting him dribble never

up and down the court. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, but now in this present moment, isn't it a clue that we call it the presence of God? Not the pastest of God? Not the future of God? When never meets now. I want to minister to somebody who was going through heartbreak you never saw coming. It was going through transition you never saw coming.

He's learning a skill you never even thought you need. Who's walking through something that you heard about but never really dealt with? This word was for you. So you can drag it into the presence of the great I am. So rich. I've got to stop. I'm going to pray. One more thing. Remember, God spoke to Peter while he was hungry.

So if you're waiting for lunch, this might be the breakthrough moment, okay? Breathe in, breathe out. A lot of us feel like things in our life were wasted because we gave and we tried and we loved and we cared and we encouraged and we served. How many times did Cornelius pray and God didn't send anybody to help? How many alms did Cornelius give these God-fearing Gentiles? They were attracted to Judaism but not accepted within it. How many times did he pray?

and felt nothing. How many times did he give and receive nothing? Happens to all of us. What's the point in that? Why even try? Three or four years ago, I was getting ready to come back and preach. I had an eight-week series plan. I was going to do it. I was going to do it big. Some of y'all are new to the church. we used to always have a series in advance. And then the world became so stupid that I stopped trying to plan God. And maybe we'll go back to that one day, but I told all the creative team what the series should be called. I told all the campus pastors what the series would be called. You remember, special Zoom call before Zoom was a thing. I was an early adopter. I went to preach the first week of it in. And it wasn't, when I say it just didn't feel like what God wanted me to preach.

I said, I'll get it next week. And that happened again and again. And I preached, but I couldn't preach that. It just didn't feel like I was preach it. So I never preached it. They designed graphics. They had them loaded in the computers. I don't know what they do, but they do back there to make stuff come on the screens, but they did all of it. Amazing team. They just had it already, but we never used it. I thought, well, that was a waste. I had pages of notes. I had a sermon titled for the first sermon.

Never used it. Studied it, never preached it. Prepared it, never served it. I thought I wasted everybody's time. And I'm sharing this with you for a reason because I had an appointment, a songwriting appointment, me and Chris and Brandon and Tiffany were meeting and I said there's this sermon that I never preached Chris talking about it maybe it could be a song that was called Graves Into Gardens now now now now the

series that I never preached became the biggest song that our church has ever released it wasn't wasted You see what I'm saying, Daniel, son? All that waxing, all that painting, all of that God. God. Not Mr. Miyagi. But the master, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the resurrection, the Savior. Never meets now. You're going to be so glad you didn't quit.

I can't wait to read your testimony when you put it in the testimony. in the comments. I can't wait to hear what never you broke through because of the power of the Holy Spirit released in these moments that we share. But it might not be today. Your now might be in a year. Your now might not be till your children are grown, David, and build the temple, Solomon, so that you can see that your investment was not a waste. Father, Even now, no word from your mouth will return to you void. It will accomplish what you intend. I thank you for every seat.

Lift your hands. I thank you for every seat. Lift them online. Lift them. Receive this word. Stop being so stubborn. Stop being in your own head and thinking things through. Worship God for a moment.

Surrender to God for a moment. All that other stuff doesn't work. You control and stuff. Lift your hands to your father who knows the plans he has for you. plans he has for you. Even now, we will not worry about tomorrow, for it shall only wear us down today. Now, whatever standing at the gate in their life, Lord, whatever Cornelius that they're meant to minister to, whatever their life is meant to preach, whatever purpose you've given them to fulfill, I declare gardens where there were graves. He who believes,

We'll never die and even dying shall they live. You brought us here today to build our faith God And it worked not because we just feel it But because we know it you've never failed me yet and just to finish the Senate so there's no confusion You never give God grace come on give God a great praise Well if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You can also help us reach others by investing today at Elevationchurch.org slash give. And thanks again for joining us on the Elevation

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