Never Late

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

A man named Lazarus had fallen ill.

He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair.

The sisters, concerned for the brother, sent a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, the one you love is sick.

But when Jesus heard about it, he said, Lazarus' sickness will not end in death, but it's for the glory of God.

So that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.

So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

Martha and Mary called out to Jesus.

John eleven, verse five says, Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

So when he heard the prayer of Martha and Mary, he stayed in the place where he was two days longer.

Gateway, y'all got to help me with this one.

I love Martha and Mary and Lazarus, Jesus says.

They're calling out to me, and I'm not where they currently are.

I love them, have affection for them.

So when I heard that their brother was sick to the point of death, I decided to stay in the place where I was two days longer.

How can you dare say that you love them and delay on them?

How can you say that you love me and delay on me?

How can Jesus say that he loves you and make you wait?

This is not just anybody gateway.

This is Martha and Mary.

This is the Martha that in Luke 10, 38 through 42 was cooking in the kitchen to serve Jesus.

And yes, she was a little overzealous, but she was just trying to serve Jesus.

She brought him into her home because she loved him.

This is the Mary that wasn't helping Martha in the kitchen.

She was sitting at the feet of Jesus, taking in his presence the entire time because she loved him.

The scripture says this is also the Mary that anointed his head with oil, the alabaster veil of perfume, and even the disciples thought that was too much cost to put on Jesus.

But she served him with everything that she had.

Martha and Mary loved Jesus.

And now they're praying to their friend, they're praying to their savior, they're praying to their Lord, they're praying to their Redeemer, they're praying to their deliverer.

Come now, Lord, our brother is sick.

And he's sick to the point of death.

That means it's urgent.

Don't make me wait.

And what makes matters worse is that Gateway Jesus waited on purpose.

He made a decision that I'm going to make them wait.

That just because Gateway, you pray, it doesn't mean that Jesus hasn't heard you just because he hasn't shown up yet.

Maybe on purpose, he's making you wait.

But he even gave them a promise.

They didn't hear it when he said it because they were in a different place, but they believed that's why they were calling on him.

In John 11, verse 4, he says, This sickness will not end in death.

John 11:4

But for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.

So there are promises floating around.

They have confidence.

So if that's the case, Jesus, if you have these promises that we're conquerors, and you have these promises that we have victory, and you have this promises that we have been redeemed, and you have these all these promises that I have been chosen, and you have all these promises.

Why is it that you're taking so long?

See, Gateway, you gotta understand when I opened this passage to read it, it sounded so eerily familiar to me.

In 2019, my mom was sick to the point of death.

And we prayed heaven down.

My dad had been like Martha cooking in the kitchen.

It was sermons, though.

And me and my siblings were sitting at his feet.

We were serving with all he had we had, and I'm not saying that makes me entitled to anything, but I'm just saying we love him.

And we're praying to him for our dear mother in 2019, and she was sick to the point of death.

We had people walking around our house gateway like Jericho, trying to make the walls of the cancer come down.

We prayed based on scripture.

1 John 5 14 says, pray in confidence that if you pray according to his will, he hears you.

Matthew 21, 22, pray believing, and you will receive it.

Philippians 4 and 6, don't even be anxious, Jonathan, just with prayer and supplication.

Make your request known.

We believe the promises, Isaiah 40, 31, that if you wait on the Lord, he will renew your strength.

You will mount up with wings like eagles, you will run and not grow weary.

We believe that God is a God who finishes what he starts.

We believe that we are more than conquerors, and with God, if it's not good yet, God's not done yet.

We believed it, and that's why we were praying.

And as we were praying, I said, Lord, what's taking so long?

She's getting more and more sick.

And with everything that we've been giving, where are you?

Gateway, if the truth be told, many of you are waiting right now.

You have a child that has gone left, and they're just going more and more left, and you've been praying all through 2023, and the only difference between 2023 and 2024 is an hour, but a day, but a second.

The situation is exactly the same.

Lord, where are you?

You have a marriage that's on the last straw, and you've been praying through 2023.

Now you're in 2024, and the situation does not seem to be getting better.

Jesus, where are you?

You have a life that's breaking.

You have an addiction that's breaking you.

You have a person that you're praying for currently that's on their sickbed, and you don't want Jesus to delay.

It's happening right now, Lord.

They have cancer, they're in the hospital.

MD Anderson is not working, nothing is taking root.

I'm coming to you because I believe.

Meanwhile, Jesus is saying, I love you.

Wait.

All I'm saying, Gateway, is sometimes our faith, if the truth be told, it's frustrating.

Because it's not that you don't believe, that's why you're here at the conference.

It's not that you don't believe, that's why you pray to Jesus.

It's not that you don't believe, I saw you during worship with your hands in total surrender to the king.

You believe.

That's not the problem.

The problem is by the time Jesus shows up, the thing that you're praying for is already dead.

And many of you are in your waiting season and you're believing and you're praying.

And you're watching things get worse.

You can come to a new year and still have the same problems.

So many of you can understand Martha's sentiment.

You can feel Martha's sentiment as she waited.

And by the time her brother shows, by the time Jesus shows up, her brother is gone.

And you can feel her sentiment when she comes up to Jesus and says.

He who believes in me will never die.

And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Martha, do you believe this?

Do you believe it?

Martha.

Yes.

I have always believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has coveted this world from God.

And many of you are frustrated just like Martha in that discourse in John 11, 21 through 27.

You're saying, Lord, if you would have been here, my child wouldn't have gotten that far.

Lord, if you wouldn't have been here, the marriage that was breaking in 2023 wouldn't be broken in 2024.

Lord, if you would have been here.

My life wouldn't be in shambles.

Lord, if you would have been here, the person that I prayed for in 2023 would not be dead by the time we get to 2024.

Lord, if you would have been here.

What Jesus told Martha.

Martha.

You're looking at what you lost.

Look at me.

Life stands right in front of your face.

And as long as you look at what you've lost, instead of he who lives, you'll be just as lost as what you're looking at.

Jesus is saying to each person in Gateway tonight, look at me.

I am the fulfillment of everything that you worship, everything that you know, every scripture you study, your hope, your victory, your declarations, all of your redemption.

It's in me.

Look at me.

He's letting Martha know.

And he's letting all of the Martha's in the room know.

I know about your child.

I am his or her redeemer.

I know about your finances.

I am your covering.

Look at me.

I know that your life is breaking or broken, but I am the potter.

I know that that person died, but I am the life.

Look at me, Martha's.

Jesus is drawing her attention to the person of Jesus Christ, in which resides a hundred percent of her victory.

And he's changing your focus in 2024 because it cannot be the year for more if you're looking at what you've lost versus he who lives.

He's telling all the Marthas, where what are you looking at?

I am the resurrection.

That statement of I am found in Exodus chapter 3, verse 11 through 14.

Exodus 3:11–14

Moses says to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?

And then in verse 14, God responds, I am who I am.

What is he telling Moses?

He's telling Moses the same thing he's telling Martha.

He's telling Moses the same thing he's telling you.

I don't want to hear about am I.

Switch the position of the personal pronoun.

It's all about I am.

Moses is looking at Pharaoh.

He's looking at the problems, he's looking at the bondage, he's looking at the chains, he's looking at all of these problems, and he's saying, Who am I?

And God had to correct him.

It's not about who you are, it's about who I am.

And when you change your focus, it's amazing what God can do with your life and your prayers in 2024.

He says, Martha, I need you to look at me.

I'm here.

The fulfillment of Scripture is standing right in front of your face, and you've come to me with hopelessness as if hope is not alive, speaking to you.

And Martha knows the Bible, like gateway, folks.

Jesus said, Your brother will rise again.

And Martha said, I know he will be raised on the last day.

She's quoting Isaiah 26, 19, she's quoting Daniel 12, 2, which is reiterated in John 5.28, that those who are dead will be raised in that day, some to everlasting life, and others to eternal contempt.

So she knows the scripture.

But Jesus was drawing her to the person the scripture was written about.

Why was Jesus drawing her to the person?

Gateway, you gotta understand that you can know doctrine and still be dead.

You can know the scripture and miss the person the scripture is about.

You can be in the church, but the church not be in you.

I know people who have graduated from seminary that are farther from the person of Jesus Christ than they were before they went in there.

I know you know the word Martha's.

I'm drawing you to the person in 2024.

Because your victory resides in the person.

If she knew the scriptures, then why does she run up to Jesus with all that hopelessness and all that fear and all of that anxiety and all of that depression?

Because she knew the scriptures, but she missed the person.

And Jesus said, Martha, look at me.

Gateway, when you're sick, you need more than a medical book.

You need a doctor.

When you're sued, you need more than a law book.

You need a lawyer.

And when you're faced with tragedy, trials, tribulations, pains, children, marriages, finances, losing this, losing that, and sin and death itself, you don't just need a book written about Jesus.

You need Jesus.

Understand that when it came to my mom gateway, I got it wrong.

I was frustrated, just like Martha.

And I said, if you would have been here, she wouldn't have died.

And Jesus knocked on the door of my heart and he says, I already am here.

That's why she lives.

I didn't understand.

I could quote scriptures, but then I was frustrated at the one who gave me victory in the scriptures.

I kept saying she died.

Jesus was saying fiction, she lives, trust me.

I already won.

Victory is mine.

And just because he's not on your time doesn't mean he's not right on time.

He said, Jonathan, how can I be late when I've already won for all time?

You're just not looking at me yet.

You don't understand yet that Jesus has already won.

It may not feel like it, but feelings are not a criteria of your function.

You put your heart on a leash and make it follow the truth.

The truth is you have victory.

The truth is you have won.

Now I'm gonna end this discourse with you the same way that Jesus ended it with Martha in verse twenty-six of John Eleven.

Do you believe this?

Do you believe it?

You're going to need to believe this.

Because in twenty twenty-four things could actually get much harder.

Lord, if you would have only been there, my brother would not have died.

I'm gonna wait on you.

I'm gonna wait on you.

You're good.

I'm gonna wait on you.

I'm gonna wait on you.

Mary.

Where have they laid him?

They laid him right there, my Lord.

This is the discourse of Mary.

And a powerful short scripture is quoted.

In John 11, 35, gateway it says, Jesus wept.

You feel like you're alone, that scripture lets you know you're not.

That's the enemy.

That Jesus, as God emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant to enter into your experience.

Don't you know he's at the tomb of what's died with you?

He'll never leave you, never forsake you.

He has the sympathy, the empathy.

He has actually experienced all things.

And he has his arms around you right now in 2024 as you wait.

In Hebrews chapter 4, 15, it says, We serve a great high priest who can sympathize with your weaknesses.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

And so if you've been lied to today to think that you're gone into 2024 by yourself, let me tell you, the devil is a liar.

Because those tears of Jesus represent him being with Mary and being with you.

Understanding your marital situation, understanding your children, understanding your brokenness, the person that you've lost.

He's at the tomb and he sheds tears.

One thing that I noticed that you need to see is that in both discourses, Martha and Mary came to Jesus with the exact same statement.

They came to him and said, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.

And the interesting thing about the word, the interesting thing about the truth is that even though he had the same statement and the same problem, he gave two different answers.

He gave to each what they needed based on who they are.

To Martha, he gave the theology of Christ, and he spoke to her head and her spirit.

To Mary, he gave tears and spoke to her heart.

But notice that both of them came to Jesus, and then he spoke.

If you come to Jesus' gateway with your 2024, you'll see that the word of God has the unique ability to theologize with you, to comfort you, cry with you, emote with you, sympathize with you, empathize with you, and it has the power to resurrect you.

The scripture has everything you need for your burdens, your pains, your troubles, your trials, your tribulations, and your tears.

If you come with an unveiled face, the Bible says.

Yes, to enter into her experience, but also because that tomb represents everyone who would be impacted by sin and death who would not believe in Jesus.

He's at the tomb crying because it represents all those that would not come to Jesus and would not be raised, and that tomb will be their final resting place.

The power of sin and death, he's staring at it and he's crying.

But if he knows he's gonna raise Lazarus, why is he crying?

He's crying for all of those that would not be raised to everlasting life.

So, Gateway, my prayer is that Jesus' tears back then weren't for anyone in here online right now.

He's at that tomb.

And in verse 38, it says, When he came to the tomb, it was a cave.

And there was a stone laying against it.

Jesus planned to raise Lazarus from the dead.

As long as that stone was there, Lazarus would still be dead.

Because that stone was that hard, brittle thing that needed to be moved in order for a miracle to be experienced.

And many of you are thinking you're waiting on God, and God is saying, No, I'm waiting on you.

The stone is still in the way.

Because without faith, it's impossible to please God.

So I see your tears and I sympathize with you, but there's a stone still laying in that tomb.

That stone could be your doubt or your disbelief, your unforgiveness, your sin.

That stone could be your self-sufficiency, your pride.

That stone could be you standing in your own way, or thinking that it's been dead too long for Jesus' power to be able to do anything about it.

Your stone could be your own logic.

And as long as that stone is there, your situation will stay dead.

Martha.

Mary, where's Martha?

Now I'm gonna ask you to do something tonight, Gateway, so that we can experience a miracle and whatever has died in your life.

I'm gonna ask you what Jesus asked Martha and Mary in verse 39 of John 11.

Because you cannot see a miracle in 2024 until that stone is moved.

Jesus wants to see your faith, and when he sees your faith, he can come through because he's able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that you can ask or think, according to the power that works in you.

Gateway, Mary, Martha, remove the stone.

But my Lord, he has been dead for four days.

Remove the stone, wrong answer.

That's what many of you do, don't you?

Lord, don't you know how long this marriage has been stinking?

Lord, don't you know how long I've been in this situation?

Lord, don't you know how long I've been living with this unforgiveness?

Lord, don't you know how long I've been living with this doubt?

Don't you know how broken broke really is?

Don't you know how problematic my problems are?

Don't you know how bad it is?

And Jesus is not asking for your logic.

He wasn't asking Martha on a lesson in mortuary science.

He told her to show faith and move that stone.

So as long as you choose you over his power, you will not see the glory of God.

Your 2024 will be just like 2023.

He's waiting on you to move the stone.

You're not waiting on God.

God can do it whenever he's ready.

He's waiting on you.

And so if that stone for you is still there and you're making excuses and God's been pricking your heart on where he wants you to move, how he wants you to go, who he wants you to forgive, how he wants you to show love, how he wants you to give, how he wants you to do this.

And you're saying the amount's too big.

I don't have this.

I ain't got you're showing all of these issues.

Those are your issues, those aren't his issues.

He's waiting on you.

And that was the anther of Martha, and that is normally the answer of the church.

And so God stays an ethereal spirit and never never land that never operates in our here and now, not because he can't, but because we won't.

I'm gonna give you another chance.

If you want to experience a miracle and you want your situation to be resurrected, then you have to show the faith.

Gateway, Martha, Mary, remove the stone.

This is something hard for you, I know.

It's something that's gonna be a struggle for you, I know.

I know you've never led a family before, I know.

I know it's gonna be hard for you to forgive, I know, but when you move that stone and when you show him that you're willing to put in the faith and the work that works it out, when you move it, and when you let that thing roll away, when you show it that you're ready to give your life to Christ, when you say, I'm ready, it's my time.

You gotta understand while this stone is being moved, right now in your heart, Jesus is in heavenly places tapping God the Father.

And he says, God the Father, do you see this?

They're moving the stone.

God the Father is saying, Yes, son, I see it.

Are you ready?

Because I'm ready.

Jesus is gonna say, I've been ready, I've been waiting on them.

And it says that when he moved the stone, they prayed.

Jesus prayed to his father because don't you know that Jesus is your advocate?

Don't you know that he makes intercession?

And when you move that stone in your heart, when you move that stone in your situation, he's gonna tap God the Father and say, Thank you, Lord, that you always hear me.

Now let's do this thing, let's get it done in all of their lives because we've been ready.

And then he ushered in three words in verse 43.

He ushered in three words to everyone in this room.

Once that stone was removed and he prayed, he said, Lazarus, come forth.

Lazarus, come forth, Lazarus, come forth.

You're Lazarus, come forth.

If you have a marriage that you need prayer for, come forth.

If you have a child that has run away, come forth.

If you have addiction that you've been struggling with, come forth.

This is an altar call for the Church of Gateway.

And everyone who is online, if you have something where you need to be resurrected, you want to experience the power of God, come forth.

He's calling you right now.

We're gonna have a moment and a time of prayer for you to come forth.

If there's anybody in here and you're saying, My name is Lazarus, I've got something that needs to be raised and resurrected.

I'm calling you in the room and online, come forth.

He's calling you at this moment to come forth.

There's a stone that needs to be moved, and as soon as you move it, there's something that he's gonna do in 2024 that he's not done in 2023 because he's making you wait.

Why did he make Mary and Martha wait back then?

So that you can see their testimony and you wouldn't wait right now.

He used their life to speak to your life, and he wants you all over the room and online, whatever campus you're at, he wants you to come forth.

He wants you to come forth for a time of prayer, a time for redemption, a time for salvation.

He wants you to move.

And what I love, Gateway, is when he said Lazarus come forth, it wasn't even over.

Because when Lazarus came forth, he still came forth bound.

He experienced the power, but he was still in the swaddle and clothes and in the bondage.

So in verse 43, he said, Lazarus, come forth.

But in verse 44, he said, Unbind him and let him go! Unbind him and let him go.

You're bound by depression, let them go! You're bound by anxiety, let him go! You're bound by the struggles of life, let him go! You're bound by sin and death, let him go! We're gonna have a bottle of the room, people are gonna be battled! I'm playing for the child, I'm paying for the people of the spirit, I'm telling that people will come out of the jail cell, I'm telling that the jail cell will swing up, and people will be let go because of the power of God in the room.

G wanna give him some price, but what he's gonna do.

Take one minute.

2024 will be the year for more.

Not because he couldn't do it in 2023, but we moved stones in 2024.

And he's prayed and he's made intercession.

And now is the time.

I'm gonna say a prayer for everyone in the room and everyone who has come forth.

And after this prayer, I'm gonna send it back to the campuses, and I'm gonna allow the campus pastors to do your work with your altar calls that you have at your campuses.

Heavenly Father, I love you and I honor you.

We give you the praise and glory because you are a way maker, you are a promise keeper, you are a light in the darkness.

We're totally dependent upon you to break the chains.

We're totally dependent upon you that these people in this room right now will be let go and that they will be raised to the newness of life.

If there's anyone who has come up here or in the campuses that have not given their life to Christ, we pray, Lord, that you will raise their spirits right now, that they will say, Lord, I believe, I believe with all of my heart that you have lived a perfect life, died a sinner's death, and been raised on the third day.

And I ask for you as my king to save me.

Say it right now, Gateway.

Save me, Lord.

Save me, Lord, set me free, unbind me, and let me go.

We expect it in 2024.

We give you the glory in Jesus' name.

All of Gateway said.

Let's go.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.