The Movement Conference 2025 | Night 3

As you return to your seats, isn't it good to be together at the movement this week? My goodness. And I am the forerunner tonight. I will be followed by the bishop of FAC, the bishop of the ALJC, and the bishop of the MVMnt. He's going to be here shortly. And I am looking forward to the word of the Lord from Brother Carpenter. We are forever grateful to this wonderful church family for all of their work, their diligent efforts, their consistent excellence in hosting all of us. And I know we have many of the church family here tonight. Thank you on behalf of all of the guests that are here. You are incredible, amazing people. Thank you. Listen carefully for just one second. I would like all of the full-time ministry. You are paid by a church. I would like you to be seated. And I would like everybody else to remain standing. Tonight, I want to dedicate this message to all of you that are standing. You are part of the movement. You are why we do what we do. >> And we thank you for your ministry. You can all be seated. Thank you. There are many scriptures we could read in discussing the call of God in our lives. And there are several senses of the word call in the scripture. All Christians are called to be saints. That's our highest calling. We are called according to God's purpose. We are called by grace. We are called in hope. We are called out of darkness into his marvelous light. Paul says we are called unto liberty. We are called unto holiness. We are called to walk worthy. But it's not the general call of believers that I want to talk about this evening. This is much more specific. Jesus called his disciples and he gave them power and he taught them many are called but few are chosen. Barnabas and Saul were called to missionary ministry as the church fasted and prayed. Paul was called in a vision to preach the gospel in Macedonia and he declared openly that he had been called to be an apostle. He also taught us that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. When God calls you, he doesn't back away from you. He doesn't leave you. He He doesn't forsake you. You can forsake him, but he will not forsake you. He's looking for you to get back in your place. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul is answering questions concerning marriage and singleness, which incidentally he also describes as being part of our individual calling. But from the very middle of this specific teaching, I'd like to pull one very powerful general principle, and it's found in two verses. 1 Corinthians 7:17. But as God has distributed to every man, as the Lord has called everyone, so let him walk. Everyone say distributed. >> Everyone say called. >> Everyone say walk. >> 1 Corinthians 7 and20. Same chapter. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. So a specific situation, but I want this general principle. So many Christians, even many leaders think the call of God is about some hidden, mysterious, secret place that we only discover at some point in the future. When in reality, the call of God is a today, now immediate, practical place that we find out as we walk with God today. As we abide in his calling today, God is not holding his will and his calling and his empowerment out in front of you like a carrot on a stick. God wants to empower every saint of God that's in this room and part of this meeting. He wants to empower you today. You're not waiting on God's call. God called you when he saved you. There's a calling on your life. Paul said, "God has already distributed it to you." And that word marzo, it means he has assigned it. He has dealt it. He has bestowed it. He has imparted it. You've already got a call. >> Now, we are called from something. That's our salvation experience. And we are called to something. That's our sanctification experience. And in case you think you got your A++ in holiness 25 years ago and you're done, that's not true. If you're still breathing, God's still working on you. If you're still breathing, God is still making you into his image. So, we're called from the world and we're called unto holiness. So, we're called from something and we're called to something. But what I came to tell you tonight is every single day of your life, you are called in the midst of something. It doesn't matter what you're walking through today, you are called right in the middle of it. It doesn't matter what kind of hell unfolded in your life this week. You are called in the midst of whatever you're walking through. God has a calling on your life. Philippians 3:13, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. I forget those things which are behind, and I reach forth unto those things which are before." Here's what Paul said. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If Paul was here tonight preaching, here's what he'd say. I'm not there yet, but I choose to do one thing. I forget yesterday and I am reaching for tomorrow. And as for today, as for right now, as for this moment, I keep pressing. I am not going to sit back and be a spectator in my own life. I am called by God. My life matters for the kingdom. So today, I press. If the devil hits hard, I hit harder. If the devil knocks me down, I get back up. I press toward that mark. I am not giving up. I am not turning back. I am not sitting down. I am not shutting up. I am pressing toward the mark. >> We have a little issue sometimes and our language and our lingo and our concepts perpetuate this problem. When we are always hyperfocused on what's next, we can easily miss what's now. >> Especially when we're at a decision point or we're in a little bit of a trial, we assume something. We assume that when God answers prayers about our calling, our ministry, our gifting, we assume God's answer is going to be either yes or no. >> Yes or no. God, is it yes or is it no? In other words, if he doesn't show us a straight, quick path to the fulfillment of our prayer and the fulfillment of our vision, we assume he said no. And then we get discouraged and then we start trying to find a shortcut. Here's what you've got to know about God's paths in your life. His paths are seldom straight and his paths are seldom short. And if we don't understand God's detours and God's timing, we can make critical errors at important junctures in our lives. We try to be leaders when we need to be followers. We try to exert authority when really we should be submitting to authority. We insist on our timing when we should be waiting on the timing of the Lord and trusting him. Or here's what happens a lot of the time. We try to force a door open instead of waiting for God to open it. Don't do that in your life. It's not only counterproductive, it'll set you back in your spirit. You need a door that no man can shut. That's what you need. And God will give you that if you wait on that. Now, I have no doubt in this room full of so many wonderful saints of God, I have no doubt that God has given many of you great promises about your future and great promises about your ministry in the kingdom. And yes, Paul said, "We are all able ministers of the New Testament." We're not all paid by a church, but we are all able ministers of the New Testament. You can't have a movement with one little guy standing up here trying to beg us all to get involved. But when everybody says, "Wait a minute. This is my church. This is God's kingdom. God called me. God equipped me. God anointed little old me. I'm going to oppress." Then we have a movement. So, we need to understand that it's not always yes or no with God. >> Sometimes what you're trying to distinguish between is not God's yes or his no. You're trying trying to distinguish between God's yes and now. >> It's not yes or no. It's yes or no. Sometimes God says yes, but it's not now. >> And that's where we lose it. And that's where we get so frustrated. And here's how that works in our lives. You've received a promise from God and you're trusting him to perform that promise and you're persuaded that God will do it. So, it's a straight shot, right? God gives you a promise and tomorrow performance. Not quite. Romans 4:20, Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. But he was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And all of the time he waited, he was fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. When I was in Bible school back with Noah and Moses, there was this chart they kept putting on the blackboard. Yeah. Blackboard. Yeah. Um, did I date myself well enough? It was called the mountain peaks of prophecy. Some of you older folks, you might remember this. Some of you younger folks, you need to acquaint yourself with it. And it has a prophet standing on one side of the chart and he's looking off into the distance and there's all these mountains and and he sees the tip of some of them. Some of the prophets, they saw the birth of the Messiah. Some of the prophets, they saw the death of the Messiah. Some of the prophets saw the millennial kingdom. Some of the prophets, it looks like they even saw uh a little glimpses of the outpouring of the spirit. But here's the truth. None of the prophets saw the time frame for the New Testament apostolic church. There's a 2,000-year gap between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus. And this is why Jesus offended them because they expected him to come as a conqueror because that was in some of the scriptures. But they didn't realize that the first time he came, he was going to die on a cross and shed his blood to purchase a church. And when he comes back, there's going to be some people that are returning with him. And it's going to be you and me. And he's going to be on a white horse, but so are you and I. And when he comes back, we're going to welcome him back. But they didn't see the valley in between those mountain peaks. and you don't see it either. God gives you a promise and you're so excited about it. God gives you a calling. God gives you an anointing and you're so thrilled with it that you expect that next week you're going to be preaching at the movement. Next week you're going to be leading a church. Next week you're going to be doing something great for God. And God may say yes, but he might not say now. And your path may twist and turn and go backwards and forwards and in and out and up and down. And that is frustrating. >> And when you've got a desperate prayer request in your life and God, it seems like he's given you a word and you're trying to hang on to that word for healing or for deliverance or for your backslider to come back home. And you're hanging on to that word and you're thinking, "Why not, God? It should be happening right now." But God may be getting some things ready. So that when the miracle happens, it's going to absolutely blow your mind and everybody else's mind. And people will be ushered into the kingdom because they knew it was impossible cuz it went on too long for it to be possible anymore. God said this to Abraham. The book of Hebrews records it. Hebrews 6:13. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, >> he swear by himself. So help me me. >> That's what God said. And here's what he promised, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." And so after Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Why does God who cannot tell a lie? Why does God swear to Abraham, "I swear I'm going to bless you." Why? Because God was making a covenant with Abraham to say, "Abraham, I swear I'm telling the truth." Sometimes, Abraham, it's going to look like I'm a liar. >> Sometimes it's going to look like serving me doesn't even work. Walking with me is a fruitless, pointless endeavor. Sometimes things are going to look worse before they get better. Sometimes it's going to look like you're going backward instead of forward. Sometimes, Abraham, it's going to look like I'm trying to kill you. But I swear I'm trying to bless you. I swear I've got your life in my hand. I swear that when I give a promise, it's going to come to pass. I swear I'm going to bless you. >> Before God promotes you to the next level in your life, your faith, your ministry, you will almost find your almost always find yourself walking in that higher level of anointing and authority, but without the position or the recognition of it at first. Here's how this works. It works for saints. It works for preachers. It works for leaders. You receive the anointing for that next level. But then God sends a series of challenging tests into your life to test your faith, to grow your faith, to increase your faith, and to beat the flesh out of you so that you don't get puffed up with pride when your prayer answer comes through and you strut around the church like you did that out of your faithfulness. You didn't do it out of your faithfulness. God did it out of his mercy and out of his grace toward us. So the transition in our lives always has to take place internally before it ever manifests externally. Now in his epistles, Paul writes powerfully about the gifts that God invests in his body. And I want to say unequivocally, you, and I mean every one of you, you are part of God's gifts to his body. >> That's right. >> You and your ministry are part of those gifts. You are not just going to be a gift in the future, young man. You are not just going to be a gift in the future, young woman. You are a gift to the body of Christ right now. Stop getting destination disease. When I get there, when pastor appoints me to that, when somebody invites me to the platform, when somebody gives me a position, when somebody says I've arrived in ministry, that's when I can be used by God. What a lie. From the pit of hell, you can be used by God right now, wherever you are, and whatever your hand can find to do for the kingdom. You disagree, you do so against the word of God. 1 Corinthians 12:4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but it is the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which workketh all in all. Now, I know we talk about the nine supernatural gifts of the spirit, and we should. It's in the Bible. But there are many more gifts in the Bible than just the nine supernatural gifts. Here Paul refers to three categories of gifts. Uh he starts in verse four, he said there are diversities of gifts. He's talking about the supernatural gifts. Then he says there are differences of administrations. These are not supernatural gifts. These are what I call steering gifts. Every saint that leads a department, every saint that helps lead a ministry, every saint that takes initiative and helps pastor push the church forward, that may not be a supernatural gift. You don't have to be speaking in tongues when you exercise it, but it is a spiritual gift. Even if it's not under the supernatural utterance of God's spirit, it's a steering gift. every loyal, faithful saint of God that says, "Pastor, let me handle that for you. Let me pick that up for you. Let me take care of that for you. Let me help in this department. Let me lead this department." You have a steering gift and that is a spiritual gift given to the body. And then Paul says, "And there are diversities of operations." So we've got supernatural gifts, we've got steering gifts, and then we've got these operations. What are they? These are serving gifts. These are where people just see a need. They may not be particularly gifted to do some certain thing. No one in the apostolic movement has the gift of cleaning toilets. It doesn't exist. That's a serving gift. That's a servant's heart. That's a gift of operations. Somebody says, "When people come here, they're going to know we love the house of God, and we honor the church that God has blessed us with, and we want to be ready for the harvest God's going to give us. We're going to have the nicest, cleanest building in town." And pastor, let me help you with that. I didn't need a degree behind my name. I don't need an office at the church. You don't have to give me any accolades or any praise or any position. Just let me serve. Just let me help. Just let me pick that up. Just let me do that. That's a gift to the body of Christ. I don't want to cross swords with anybody, but I don't believe the Bible locks us into tight restrictions or rigid definitions of spiritual gifts. >> Furthermore, I do not believe God is limited by these first century lists anyway. We deal with other things today. I firmly believe, you can disagree, I firmly believe there is a gift that God has put in his body today and I just nicknamed it the gift of technology. >> Here's how this works. I can't do any of this. I can't for sure do any of that up there. Aren't you grateful that God has gifted some people and they can help us with excellence? I think if the Bible was being written today and Paul was making a list of gifts, there'd be a few more added just because of some of the extra things that we did. So, I don't know what God has gifted you to do. But here's what I know. If he saved you, he called you. And if he called you, he gifted you. And if he gifted you, you should be using your gift. There are far too many churches that are like a football game. >> A few people on the fields badly in need of rest. >> And thousands of people in the stands badly in need of exercise. >> And we got way too many churches like that. Come on, pastor. Preach to me, pastor. Get with it. Your worship leader. Come on, music team. Come on. And all you people that run the departments, teach my kids and keep my kids in the nursery. And what are you doing to push the kingdom of God forward? If God saved you, he called you. And if he called you, he gifted you. And if he gifted you, what are you doing with your gift? >> Let me hasten. I think I said that today and I probably lied. But anyway, Ephesians chapter 4, how does God give us our gifts? The answer is very simple, but I think it's a little profound and I think it's very meaningful. Ephesians 4:7, but unto every one of us, watch this, is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. It's right there in verse seven. God gives us grace and his grace gives us our gifts. Now, grace is a beautiful, wonderful, powerful word in the scripture. It's found all the way through the scripture. In the Old Testament, in the Hebrew language, it's hen. And in the New Testament, it's had. But it carries the same meaning under both covenants. Grace. We preach this all the time. Grace is undeserved favor. You aren't worthy of it, but you receive it. You could never earn it, but God gives it. Grace makes its first appearance immediately after God decides to destroy the wicked world with a flood. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And grace makes its final appearance at the conclusion of John's glorious vision in the very last verse of the Bible. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So mostly grace in the scripture is used in this salvation sense, this salvific sense. Ephesians 2:8, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. You didn't get yourself saved. And you can't keep yourself safe. It is the grace of God that is actively working in our lives every day. By grace are you saved. Don't let all the people that are preaching some easy peasy message and they're they've offended you cuz they preach grace so loose and so cheap and you know that's not true. Don't let that stop you from talking about grace. Don't let that stop you from appreciating grace. If it was not for the grace of God, where would any of us be? Romans 5:20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. You need to thank God for his law. That's the only way we know what a mess we were in. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. I thank God for his grace. cuz there's a lot of days that I would have been a disaster had it not been for the grace of the Lord Jesus. It's a it's a beautiful thing to understand. You are not pulling yourself by your own bootstraps. You are not in your little boat floating through life all alone. The grace of God has appeared unto us. So mostly in the Bible, grace is used in that salvation sense. Grace is undeserved favor. But there's another sense of the word grace in the Bible. Grace is also not just undeserved favor. Grace is unreserved power. Grace is bigger and stronger than you are. Grace achieves more than you and I could ever accomplish. Grace enables more than you and I could ever envision. Here's what grace is in this sense. It is the supernatural multiplying the natural. You give it your best shot and then the grace of God comes in and says, "And I'm going to take your efforts and I'm going to multiply it by a hundred. I'm going to multiply it by a factor of 10. I'm going to multiply it by a factor of a thousand." Grace comes in and it's the supernatural multiplying the natural. Grace is undeserved favor, but grace is also unreserved power. Acts 4:33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Watch. And great grace was upon them all. There it is. Where there's great grace, there's great power. Where there's great grace, there's great power. Ephesians 3 and 7. whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Where there's great grace, there's great power. And Paul is amazed by this. Unto me, you can hear the awe in his voice. Unto me who am less than the least of all saints. I don't deserve this, but unto me is this grace given that I should get to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And finally, grace is not just undeserved favor. Grace is not just unreserved power. Grace, when it rests on your life, it is not only powerful, it is personal. It is not wrong scripturally to say my grace, the grace that God gave me. Paul says it more than once. So grace is not just undeserved favor and unreserved power in your life. Grace is uncommon gifting. Here it is. God uses everything that happens in your life to direct your ministry and develop your maturity. God by his grace can turn your darkest trial into your greatest testimony. By his grace, he can turn that mistake that you made into one of his awesome miracles. And he lovingly, patiently molds you into a vessel that he can use, filled with gifts that only he can give. And those gifts, you hear me? They are as unique as your retina scan or your fingerprint. >> Those gifts are unique in your life. No one else on this planet has the unique combination of gifts that God gave you. And Paul talks about this Romans 1:5, by whom we have received grace and apostilhip. It was God's grace that made me an apostle. 1 Corinthians 3:10, according to the grace of God which is given unto me. It's it's my grace. God gave me this grace and I became a wise master builder. So I laid the foundation of the apostolic church in Corinth and another came by behind me and builds thereon. And he gives a little warning here like the elders do once in a while. But let every man take heed how he buildeth there upon. But Paul never mistake it. Paul knows he didn't get there by himself. Paul didn't deserve to be a Christian, let alone an apostle. But it was the grace of God that got into his life and gave him his place in the kingdom. So here it is for tonight. Your grace defines your place in the kingdom. God gave you unique grace in your life. Your grace defines your place. I can't take your place. Brother Carpenter can't take your place. Your pastor can't take your place. Your spouse can't take your place. Your grace, the grace that God gave you, it defines your place in the kingdom. Stop waiting around for next. Stop waiting around for tomorrow. Stop waiting around for next year or next month or the next conference or the next Sunday even. You have grace for today. You have grace to do something that matters today. God gave you grace for right now. >> So if you are used in the supernatural gifts of the spirit, we thank God for you. But you have that unique place because of unique grace. If you are an anointed administrator or an organizer or a worship leader or a musician or a ministry leader, you have that unique place because God gave you unique grace. Whatever spiritual gifts you may have, they are not given for you and your ego and your Facebook profile. They are given for the body of Christ so it can be edified. >> It's not about you. I don't care. I don't care how many thousands of people may follow you. That's our lingo today. >> That grace is not about you. It's about the body. It's about the ministry of the body. It's about the edification of the body. Don't puff up in pride every time God anoints you a little bit. You need to humble down. You need to hunker down. And you need to thank God for his grace. God gave you the grace to sing that song and move that congregation. God gave you the grace to preach that sermon and see someone filled with the Holy Ghost. God gave you the grace to pray that prayer and see someone delivered or healed. Your grace defines your place. You don't define it. I don't define it. Your grace defines your place. So if you've got gifts, and there are people with amazing gifts in this room, use them in humility and use them in love and use them in submission. And for heaven's sake, use them for the glory of God. >> Got a couple more scriptures and I'll be out of here. 1 Peter chapter 4, as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards. Watch of the manifold grace of God. because it's God's grace that gives you your gifts. So if any man's going to speak, speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Why? That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Romans 12. Paul's not going to let Peter get away with that. He's going to say it even better. Romans 12 verse 6. Having then gifts, someone say gifts. differing according to the grace that is given to us. Someone say grace. >> So there it is again. Your grace, the unique grace God manifests in your life. That grace gives you your gifts. And they're different. So whether prophesying, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministry. Or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, or he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. Or he that ruleth with diligence. Or he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. In other words, whatever you're doing, you keep this in mind. It's not you doing it after all. It's the grace of God that touched you and anointed you and called you and empowered you. So, if anybody's going to get the credit, it's not going to be you and me. It's going to be Jesus. To him be all glory and all honor and all praise. >> Your grace. Someone say my grace. >> My grace. >> You say that feels weird. That feels a little possessive or arrogant. No, it's not arrogant at all. It's the understanding that God has led you in different paths for his glory. It's the understanding that God has placed you uniquely in the body. Would you stop wishing for somebody else's life? Would you stop hoping for somebody else's ministry to fall upon you so you can be like them? You're not called to be like them. You're called to be the best version of you that you can possibly be. They that compare themselves among themselves are not wise. That's what the Bible tells us. Would you stop the comparison game? Stop it with numbers and stop it with giving and stop it with ministry and stop it with results and stop it with praise reports. Would you stop playing the comparison game? Because you are not called to compete with somebody else in this room or somebody else back in your city. You are called to compete. You're called to compete with last year's version of you. Be better for God this year than you were last year. Be more prayerful. Be more anointed. Be more committed. I'm competing. I'm not competing with you. I love you. I'm cheering you on. I am competing with last year's version of Woodward. But here here it is. Um, God not only chooses what gifts you receive, God chooses how you receive those gifts. Sometimes your greatest gifts will be birthed out of your greatest trials. >> Sometimes your greatest strength will come out of your greatest weakness. Sometimes your greatest anointing will grow out of your greatest attacks >> and your greatest power will be birthed out of your greatest pain. God not only chooses what gifts you receive, but in his wisdom, he chooses how you receive those gifts. This happened to Paul. 2 Corinthians 12. and lest I should be exalted above measure and start believing all my own Facebook posts through the abundance of the revelations. That's kind of one of our buzzwords now. Oh, that's deep. That's deep. And since I had a whole lot of revelations and wrote them all down and sent out epistles and lest I would be exalted, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. It was the messenger of Satan to buffet me, to beat me mercilessly every day, lest I should be exalted above measure. God wanted to knock the pride out of me so he could use me. And so he says this, I begged Jesus three times. Three times I went to earnest, tearful, fervent prayer. I beg Jesus, please take this away from me. I can't stand it. It's hurting me. It's destroying me. I can't take the pressure. And I asked God to let it depart from me. And he did not answer my prayer. Here's what he said. My grace is sufficient for thee. Paul, you don't understand. You're going to write half the New Testament. You're going to travel over the then known world 2,000 years after your body is turned to dust. They're still going to be preaching some of those revelations that you received. So, I can't have you puffed up with pride. So, you don't understand, Paul. You didn't only receive the gifts because those are what I selected. I chose the method that I would give you your gifts. And the method was not pretty. And the method was not painless. And the method the method was not something you enjoyed. My grace is sufficient for you. And here's why. We got to get this. God said, "My strength is made perfect in your weakness." As long as we puff up and we get proud of our accomplishments, God, he just lets us do it on our own. But the minute somebody in this room says, "Jesus, I don't think I can do this on my own." He's like, "Good. I was waiting for that. You thought that it was the devil attacking you. It was me letting that come into your life so you wouldn't get so stinking proud of your ministry and your accomplishments and your faithfulness to the church and your service in that department. I was letting some stuff come into your life cuz here's what you don't understand. You prayed, "God, use me." And so that's what I'm doing. I'm using you up. I am using you for my kingdom. And here's what you don't know. that a week from now, two months from now, five years from now, you don't know when it's going to be, but I'm going to lead you to the next level. You can feel the next level inside of you. It is nagging at you. It is pressing on you. It is almost just driving you crazy. I know I'm called. I know God's spoken. I've seen the dream. I've had the vision. God said, "You just hang in there. My grace is sufficient for you." And on the days when you want to slap yourself silly cuz you don't think you're anything, God says, "We got you just about where I want you right now." And so Paul, he's pretty smart. He gets it instantly. Okay, next verse. Most gladly, therefore, I'm going to glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Here's what his prayer is. Jesus, if this is what it takes, I'm all in. If this is what it takes, sign me up. If this is what it takes to benefit your kingdom, bring it on. Come hell or high water, come trials or temptations, come setbacks or sickness, if this is what it takes, my sole desire is to be used by you. Oh my last scripture, 1 Corinthians 15. This is our go-to passage. The first four verses we we say and I declared unto you the gospel. You remember this one? How that Christ was he he died and he was buried and he rose the third day according to the scriptures. This is Paul's go-to explaining the powerful gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you've taught a Bible study, you've been here. But then after to prove that the resurrection was true, he quotes a lot of people. He said, "This person saw it and this person knew in it. These people were around and Jesus appeared to these people." And he lists this long laundry list. >> And then he says this in verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 12 of 1 Corinthians 15 verse 8. And last of all, he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. I wasn't first. I didn't get it. In fact, I was an enemy of the church. If you knew the old me, you wouldn't like me at all. If you knew my testimony, you'd probably sit on the other side of the church. I wasn't always the Apostle Paul. I was Saul of Tarsus. I was evil Saul of Tarsus, persecuting the church, arresting Christians, persecuting God's people. So, I saw him last. He appeared to me on the road to Damascus. I was like one born out of due time. And I don't want to be insensitive here, but that's a very strong kind of an ugly Greek word, ecroma. Paul, it's the word they would use for an abortion or an a still birth or a baby that was born with some horrible defect. Paul said, "When I came into this kingdom, I was born into it wounded. I have a lot of baggage. I have a lot of stuff that I'm not very proud of and it still hurts when I think about it and I have to hang my head sometimes. Can you imagine Paul listening to some of the testimonies in this room? I was raised in the apostolic church. I got to filled with the Holy Ghost when I was eight years old and all those testimonies. Can you imagine him listening to that? He appeared to me last. And when I got into the kingdom, I was like one born wounded. I was I was like a deformed Christian. I was a deformed apostolic. I've got more baggage in my past and I still struggle with all of the memories of that. For I am the least of the apostles. It's not even proper that I would be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. You either take me with all the baggage or you don't get me at all. You either take me with all the history in the past or you don't get me at all. It's not me doing it anyway. So it doesn't matter where I came from or what I did back there. What matters is today I'm going to make a difference for the kingdom. And by the grace of God, I am what I am. I've come through hell and high water. I've come through sickness and pain and strife and misunderstandings and critics and enemies. I've come through false friends. I've come through all kinds of persecution. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And so here's my determination. Stand. And with his grace which was bestowed upon me, it was not in vain. I'm not going to let God waste his grace. If he was so good to give me grace, I am not going to waste it. I labored more abundantly than they all. Paul's not bragging. He's just saying, I had so much time to make up. I just thought, I am not sitting around. I'm going to put both hands and both feet in the harvest and I'm going to work as hard as I can. Yet not I. But it was the grace of God which was with me. It's not you. It's not me. It's the grace of God. I speak to every saint of God in this building that serves in your local church and you came to this conference. I speak to the wonderful people of this local church and you're here supporting what your church is doing. Your grace, yes, your individual grace. Some of you, you've had the grace to go through a sickness that I can't even comprehend. You've gone through some kind of long-term affliction that it would just drive me crazy. and and and you don't know why and you don't like it and you didn't enjoy it, but you trust God. >> By the grace of God, I am what I am. >> By the grace of God, I can do what he's called me to do. By the grace of God, I can be a benefit to his kingdom. Even though when I look in the mirror, I think, who are you? But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Oh my. >> Reach over and take the hand of a brother or sister, a friend, family member. Lift every hand as high as we can get it right now. And just pray into that understanding. God has given you unique grace to benefit his kingdom. God has given you unique grace to bless his church. God has given you unique grace and he is developing you. He is not unkind. He is not unfaithful. He is not unreasonable. God has given you that unique grace. And that is why we are here. We are going home with understanding. We are going home with equipping. We are going home with anointing. We are going home with tools and technology. But here's how we're going home. We're going home knowing that the grace of God is going to use us. The grace of God is going to develop us. and the grace of God is going to lead us. I wish you'd pray more than a 15-second response to a preacher. I wish you'd lean hard into that in the Holy Ghost. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Would you pray in the Holy Ghost? Let the Holy Ghost speak through you right now. There's a liberty when you pray in the spirit. Yeah, we pray with the understanding, but we pray in the spirit, too. This is apostolic. Pray in the spirit. God's grace is coming upon you right now. The understanding of what he's doing in your life is coming upon you right now.