My Past Has A Problem - Tim Timberlake

Hey, I'm Tim Timmerlake, and I want to thank you so much for listening to the Celebration Church podcast.

I hope this message encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and gave you something you can carry into your week.

If you'd like to stay connected, I encourage you to join us live every Sunday at 9 a.m.

or 11 a.m.

on YouTube.

We would love to have you there.

And if you're ever in the Jacksonville, Florida area, come see us in person.

We have a seat safe for you.

Thanks again for being with us.

We're so grateful for you.

And see you next time.

Translation reads.

And immediately we proclaim Jesus in the synagogue.

And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is this made havoc in Jerusalem?

Those who called upon this name.

And has he not come here for this purpose?

To bring them down before the chief priests.

But Saul increased all the more in strength.

And confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was Christ.

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue.

Saying, Is he the Son of God?

And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is this not the same man who brought havoc to the streets of Jerusalem?

And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them down before the chief priests?

But Saul increase all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was.

By your supernatural ability.

Somehow, some way you would change and transform us.

You would renew our minds.

You would regulate us.

You would set us free.

You would heal us.

You would make us whole.

Somehow, some way.

Yes, God, that we would leave this moment differently than how we enter it.

We give you all the glory, honor, and praise.

In the name of Jesus the Christ, our King.

Everybody that's glad to be in this presence.

Shout Amen.

Take your seats in Jesus' name.

After being blinded by Jesus for three days, going without food, going without water.

Having this encounter with Ananias, the word of God says he laid his hands on him.

And what seemed to be scales fell from his eyes, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And after he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was baptized.

Verse 20 begins by saying, And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God.

And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is this not the same man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon the very same name he is now saying is the Son of God?

And has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests?

But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was in fact the Christ.

I love this because it is disruptive in nature.

It does not say that Saul went away to repair his reputation.

It says immediately Saul, after being baptized, went to the synagogue and proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God.

This would have been the very same community he came to persecute.

This would have been the very same synagogue.

People would have ran away from Saul, and now Saul is standing in the synagogue proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God, proclaiming that he is the Messiah, proclaiming that he is my risen king.

And the word of God teaches us it brought confusion to those that heard it because they knew his past.

And one encounter changed his life.

And the Bible is true.

It says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

And just as one encounter changed Saul's life, I believe one encounter can change your life.

I believe when you encounter the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, it does not leave your life the same.

It changes you, it transforms you, it renews your mind, it restores hope to your soul, it revives the spirit, and it allows you to understand without him I can do some things, but with him all things are possible to those that believe.

So an encounter changed his direction.

The disciples gave him community, but now his proclamation reveals his transformation.

Your proclamation is evidence of how significant the transformation was.

Can I get a witness?

You too quiet for me.

I said, Can I get a witness?

And and and I don't want to talk to the people that think they're perfect for a moment.

I want to talk to the people that know you were bound for hell.

I want to know if you understand that you you had no hope without Jesus.

You were destined for damnation and doom.

But somehow, some way, Jesus made you on your road to Damascus and He redeemed you, He saved you, He healed you, He set you free, He cut the chains off of your wrist and your ankles, He restored your soul, and He said, Now you have life and life more abundantly, and now your past has problems.

Yeah.

You're no longer who you used to be.

You're becoming my past has problems.

What is the problems my past has?

The problems that my past has is now I have met Jesus.

I have met the man from Galilee, the one who saved me, the one who healed me, the one who gave me a blood transfusion, the one who gave me the gift of salvation, the one who reminds me every single day.

My grace is sufficient for you.

The one who reminds me every morning there's new mercies for you because I need new mercies.

I am needy for grace.

I am needy for his love.

I am needy for his redeeming power.

I am needy for his resurrection power.

And if you don't know what you have need of, you'll never receive it.

Have we forgotten what he's redeemed us from?

Have you been in church so long that you forgot you were once a sinner?

And sometimes all it takes is somebody that knew you before you knew the Lord to remind you of how bad you used to be.

How many witnesses do I have listening to me right now that can testify Jesus changed the trajectory of my life?

Therefore, he has changed the subject of what I talk about, what I speak about, what what I sing, how I sing and who I sing to.

He has changed the narrative of my story.

He has given me a life worth living.

And because he has changed my life, the subject of how I talk has changed.

I don't talk about my problems more than I talk about my problem solver.

I don't talk about my problems more than I talk about my promise keeper.

I don't talk about my problems more than I talk about the one who gave me purpose and gave me the passion that I have, and I have my mind made up.

If I was bold in my sin, then I'm gonna be bolder as a saint.

If I was bold headed towards hell, I'm gonna be bolder headed towards heaven.

My subject has changed because I now have a new direction, and the one that gave it to me, his name is Jesus.

When Jesus changes the direction of your life, he eventually changes the subject of your mouth.

When Jesus really changes you, eventually your mouth has to catch up to your miracle.

And if you've ever experienced a miracle from Jesus, how can you remain silent?

I want to remind you of maybe the greatest revelation you will receive today.

When you woke up this morning, it was proof that you are the evidence of a faithful God.

I said, when you woke up this morning, it is proof that you are the evidence of a faithful God.

You are the evidence.

I said, you are the evidence.

You don't deserve it, you did not earn it, you did not purchase it, you don't have enough money in your 401k, but you are the evidence of a faithful God.

You are the evidence of a righteous savior.

You are the evidence that he is in fact a redeemer.

You are the evidence that in fact he is a restorer.

You are the evidence that, in fact, he is a renewer, you are the evidence that, in fact, he is a mind regulator because you in your own power, you can't do the things that you are doing, but because of the grace of Jesus Christ, you are the evidence.

Never forget what he delivered you from, how he set you free, how he changed your direction, how he healed your mind, how you were headed one way, and he said, No, don't go that way, go this way, and this way is better than that way, and on this path, I'll show you things you never could see headed in that right direction.

I'll introduce you to people you never could have met because I am God, and when you follow my lead, I will show you things about your future that you did not discover in your past.

Therefore, making your past have problems.

I'm not who I used to be.

I don't talk how I used to talk, I don't live how I used to live, I don't do what I used to do.

I've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and because I've been redeemed, hear me before you shout.

I don't have to prove nothing to nobody.

I don't have to defend myself, I'll let the great defender defend me.

I don't have to prove nothing to nobody, I'll let him prove his work through me.

I don't have to do nothing and say nothing.

All I have to do is keep proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ and remind myself that the name of the Lord is a strong tower.

And when I'm hide in his shadows, and I'm hiding the shadow of the Almighty God, he says, I'm gonna keep your mind in perfect peace when it has stayed on me.

I wish I had 30 folk that could testify of the goodness of God.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Remind yourself, my past has problems.

Saul doesn't begin his ministry by building a platform, he begins by proclaiming a person, and the person he proclaims is Jesus.

And notice Luke's words.

Immediately.

He did not go to seminary school, he did not enroll in college, he did not seek out higher education, he had the education he needed through the school of hard knocks because he knew who he was, he knew what Jesus delivered him from.

It says immediately.

He did not enroll in an online class, immediately, he did not ask anybody, what should I say?

Immediately, he did not send a direct message to a prophet or to an evangelist, immediately, because he understood the one that saved them is also saved me.

And I don't need nobody else to tell me what he delivered me from.

I know what he delivered me from, therefore, I proclaim that he in fact is God, and beside him there is no one else.

I don't need nobody else to tell me how good God is to me.

I know how good God is to me.

I know the hell he saved me young of.

I know where he delivered me from, I know where he redeemed me from.

Therefore, I have boldness in my proclamation.

All I need is my memory.

All I need is to do is reflect on that time I thought I was gonna die knee deep in sin, but Jesus met me on my road to Damascus and He saved me, He healed me, He delivered me.

Therefore, I immediately proclaim that He is good and He is God, and beside Him there is no one else.

That's why when you come here, you won't just come to a service.

No, no, no, we don't want to come to a service, we want to come to an encounter.

I'm coming to make an appointment with the Almighty God.

I'm coming to sit down behind the sacred desk with the Holy Spirit and for him to tell me this is what you used to do and this is who you used to be, but this is who you're becoming, and this is the plans that I have for you.

I'm not just coming to hear three songs, sing some spiritual karaoke, hear a motivational speech, drop something in the bucket, and leave here feeling good about myself.

I want to be changed, I want to be transformed, I want to have my mind renewed.

I need perfect peace.

I've been through too much hell to sit here and listen to a TED talk.

No, no.

You need to remember that he saved you, he healed you, he delivered you, he set you free.

You better stop playing with him.

You better stop playing like he ain't saved you, like he ain't healed you, like he's not a good and a mighty God.

You better stop playing like he is not the creator of all things, even you.

You better stop playing and acting like he's not the Alpha and the Omega, the one who finished you before he started you, the one that woke you up this morning, called you in your right mind, the one who gave you life when the doctors told you you had no life left, the one who saved your kids, the one who delivered your grandbabies, the one who woke you up and reminded you that you got a life worth living, and as long as you live it with me, I'ma lead you and I'ma guide you, and I'ma deliver your path.

He says I'm gonna lamp into your feet, and I'm lighting to your past, and I'm gonna win some help from people, and I'm gonna celebrate some people, like the next minute.

Immediately immediately immediately immediately immediately, they don't take much for me.

I said they don't take much for me.

I am living the prayers that I used to pray.

They don't take much for me.

I am not the same old wretched that I used to be.

They don't take much for me.

I'm a destined for him and damn nation, they don't take much for me.

I'm no longer confused about the purpose and the plan that he wants had for my life, that don't take much from me.

Immediately.

He had a memory of who he used to be.

He had a memory of the anger he used to deal with.

He had a memory of how he used to steal, how he used to persecute.

He had a memory, and immediately, you need to have an immediate, you need to be reminded that you ain't been saved all your life.

At some point, you used to be a hoe, at some point you used to be a thief, at some point used to be a liar, at some point used to be a deceiver, but immediately.

I'm talking about this what's going on with the number of medicine.

I'm talking about you know you would dangerous danger.

What is anybody?

Immediately he proclaimed.

Saul teaches us.

You don't need to know everything about Jesus to tell somebody what you do know about him.

You don't need to know every scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

All you need to know is that He saved your life, He healed your mind, He restored your soul, He grabbed a hold of your babies, He gave you life and life worth living in when you understand the significance of that.

How can you remain silent when the enemy is shouting?

The reminder is that you may not know the entire Bible, but you know enough to tell somebody who found you.

You know enough to tell somebody who saved you.

You know enough to tell somebody who healed you from cancer when doctors told you it's nothing else we can do.

You know enough to know who gave your past problems.

Because a real encounter with Jesus eventually becomes impossible to keep private.

Nobody knows what he's done for you.

And you don't know him the way you should.

Because there should be some remnants, some evidence, some breadcrumbs, some testimonies.

That testifies of his grace and his mercy in and through your life.

And the clearest evidence that Jesus has become Lord in your life isn't that you mention his name.

It's that you're no longer ashamed to identify with his name.

The word of God says that if you are ashamed of me in front of a few, I'll be ashamed of you in front of many.

Immediately, he was not concerned with how he was perceived.

Immediately, he no longer thought about his past more than his present.

Immediately, he did not prioritize his reputation over his obedience to God.

Immediately he proclaimed.

Verse 21 says, and all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the same man who made havoc in Jerusalem?

Everybody in the room remembered Saul.

And notice they don't question what he's saying, they're questioning who sang it.

Isn't this the man?

They know his history, they know his pedigree, they know his reputation, they know what he's done.

And yet God chooses to confront them with the declaration that Jesus is the Son of God in the presence of people who knew that he persecuted people who came in the name of Jesus.

Leads us to point number two.

God doesn't have to erase your past to make it testify for your future.

My past is going to testify about the faithfulness of Jesus.

My past is going to testify that He is a holy and a righteous God.

My past is not a disqualification from my present.

My past is a proposal to show who God is in my life and how great of a God I serve because it does not create in me a pride to think to myself that I have gotten to the place I have gotten because of me.

It brings me to a place of humble submission to understand I have gotten to the place I have gotten because of surrender.

Sometimes we want people to forget who we used to be.

When God says no, let them remember.

It serves as a greater testimony for what I have done.

Because if they remember who you were, they'll have greater context for what grace has done.

I said, if they remember who you were, they would have greater context for what grace has done.

Only grace could position you where you position.

Only grace could keep you alive when you wanted to die.

Only grace could sustain you, only grace could give you enduring power, only grace could allow you to do what you're doing the way that you're doing it.

Only grace.

So don't pray that God would allow them to forget.

Pray that God would allow them to remember who you used to be.

So every time they see you now, they remember, yep, that's only Jesus.

That's only the mercy, the grace, the love.

I know Jesus is real because he saved them.

I know who they used to be, I know what they used to do, I know how they used to roll.

Only the grace of Jesus could do that in their lives.

And it is possible the part of your story you wish nobody remembered may become the part that makes your transformation undeniable.

That part of your story may make it so undeniable.

The grace of Jesus Christ, how he's restored you, how he's redeemed you, how he's made you a new creation.

Behold, the old has passed away.

I am doing a new thing.

You may look the same, but God is doing a new thing.

You may stay in the same house, but God is doing a new thing.

You may get in the same car, but God is doing a new thing.

You remembering who you are.

You pray five minutes a week, so you got a little pride.

You read your daily devotional, so you got a little arrogance.

But you need to remember what he saved you from.

You need to remember that you too were on the road of Damascus.

Walking in pride, riding your high horse, arrogant, egotistical.

But Jesus met you at the point you did not even know you needed to be met.

And he changed your life, filled you with his spirit, allowed you to be renewed by his precious presence, and gave you a testimony for you to proclaim about his grace and his mercy and his love and kindness towards you.

And I want you to know your history does not disqualify your testimony.

Sometimes your history is what gives your testimony volume.

See, when you don't know what he's redeemed you from, your testimony has no volume.

Nobody can hear it.

You sit in service with your arms crossed and your mouth closed.

You sit in praise and worship, holding on to the back of the seat like somebody go kidnap you.

You sit in service and you clock watch, waiting for the clock to hit the right time for you to grab your stuff before offering time and leave.

So you can make the game on time today.

But when you have evidence, see, I'm not so far removed from my past that I have forgotten what he's delivered me from.

Every single day, you need to think about what he's redeemed and saved you from, which brings you to a greater place of humility and understanding.

If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where in the world would I be?

I know where I would be.

I don't know where you would be, but I would be dead, trapped in sin, spending eternal death in hell.

But God saw fit to send his son to cut me off and give me grace and give me the gift of salvation and give me an understanding of who he is, so that when I wake up every single day, I remind myself the old is past, and behold, I am becoming who it is God desires for me to become.

We're living in a generation where everyone has a platform, everyone has a microphone via social media, and we like to give reviews, critiques, and our opinion about other people's lives and decisions while failing to forget that we too have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Of what we should do when we're reminded of our past.

They are hearing from the man who once persecuted Christians for proclaiming the name of Jesus, now proclaim the name of Jesus.

It is the same face, different fire.

The same voice, different message.

The same man, different master.

He reminded Saul, because of me, your past now has a problem.

And then Acts chapter 9, verse 22 says, But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 9:22

Notice the progression in the text.

In verse 20, he's proclaiming he is the Son of God.

Verse 21, people are questioning and confounded.

In verse 22, Saul is strengthened.

Their skepticism did not silence him, their skepticism strengthened him.

Let people be skeptical of you.

It is not your calling to approve other people's opinion of who they think you are.

It is not your mandate to verify that someone else's perspective of who they think you are is in fact accurate.

Accurate.

All you have to continue to do is proclaim the goodness of Jesus Christ, and Jesus will fight the battle for you.

You don't have to defend yourself, you don't have to tell people this is how much I've changed.

All you got to do is keep standing every single day on the word of God and finding yourself in his presence and finding yourself in prayer and finding yourself in worship.

And the word of God says, He will be your strong tower.

Saul didn't go back to them and say, I'm not that man anymore.

I'm not a killer anymore.

I'm not a persecutor anymore.

The thing that he did was he proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God.

Who you were.

You outgrow it.

How do you outgrow it?

By continuing to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.

In verse 21, everybody is talking about Saul.

In verse 22, Saul continues to grow.

That is maturity.

Let them talk.

Because here's the reality of your life.

When Jesus has redeemed you and transformed you, and people continue to talk about who they think you are, that's gossip.

What makes gossip witchcraft?

Gossip changes the narrative of who God says that you are in the mind of someone else.

And God does not play about who he has already redeemed.

So if you've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you don't have to track down a lie.

He's already sent the Holy Spirit to track it down and to silence it.

All you have to do is continue to proclaim that he is, in fact, the Son of God.

But you cannot proclaim that he is the Son of God if you're so distracted by what everyone else is saying.

You don't have to stop becoming because someone else is still discussing who you used to be.

God's voice is the loudest voice in your life.

Every other voice pills in comparison.

But when God's voice gets quiet in you, every other voice gets loud around you.

And the reason you're stressed about what other people are saying is because you don't know what God has said.

The reason fear is screaming and you believe what fear is lying to you about is because you don't know what God is saying.

The reason you are stressed at the thought of what if and if this happens and when this happens and if this takes place, or if this doesn't take place is because you don't know what God is saying.

When you lose your awareness of God, you exaggerate authority in other people.

When you lose awareness of God, you exaggerate outcomes that aren't reality.

When you lose awareness of God, you make things bigger than what they actually are.

But I want to encourage you today.

When you make God bigger than what you currently are faced with, those things you're currently faced with begin to fade away and you find yourself in his presence.

And if you get lost in his presence, nothing else matters.

The less impressed you are with God, the more intimidated you'll become by people and situations and circumstances.

That's why you talk about things more than you talk about your creator.

That's why you talk about problems more than you talk about your problem solver.

That's why you talk about pain more than you talk about the purpose that he has in the pain.

That's why you talk about all the difficulties more than you talk about what is happening in the difficulties, and you're growing and you're changing and your mind is being renewed, and he's taking those things and he's allowing those things to mature you and grow you up in his presence so that you won't think that you got to where you are in your own power and ability.

So if you fear the crowd more than you fear God, you already know who has become your God.

Saul was not concerned with how people viewed him.

He was focused on proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God.

When heaven's voice becomes your anchor, human opinions loses its ability to move you.

I don't care what people say about me.

Everybody got an opinion about me.

Everybody got an opinion about me.

He's this, he's that.

He dresses like this, he does this.

You shouldn't have long hair as a man and preach the word of God.

Everybody got an opinion.

I don't care what they say about me because I have heard from God, and his voice in my life is the loudest voice that holds weight, value, and substance.

Therefore, I am not debating what people think about me that don't have a heaven of hell to put me in.

I am so focused on the one who created me, made me, purposed me, anointed me, graced me, gave me mercy and love, and I will spend the rest of my life proclaiming that he is in fact the Son of God.

Why are you spending all this time trying to get people's approval who will never like you?

Trying to be liked by them and they will never like you.

The reason they will never like you is because they don't like themselves.

And when you do that, you will see in your life that as some people will always discuss your past.

God is developing your future.

I am not who I used to be.

I am who He's called me to be.

Therefore, I don't overcome my old reputation by arguing with it and arguing with fools and arguing with people that don't know me and arguing with people that won't like me.

The only thing I have to continue to do is continue to grow in the things of God.

Don't spend your strength convincing people you've changed.

Don't spend your time convincing people you change.

Just continue to live, continue to grow, continue to move, breathe, have your well-being in the things of God.

And when you spend the rest of your life doing that, your life will testify of his grace and his mercy and his undeniable love towards you.

I truly believe the greatest testimony you could live out in front of someone is to live your life with the recognition and understanding that you are not who you were.

Why aren't you the same?

Because you met someone.

Oh, I've met a man.

Better than any other man I've ever met.

Who looks at me with such love in his eyes when I can be a lovable.

Who says, I'll take what you have and replace it with what I have.

What manner of man is this?

Lay down his life for a wretch like me.

You deserve eternal torment, but I'll take it in your place.

You deserve damnation, but I'll take it in your place, and I'll kneel it to the cross.

Every single lash I receive, I got you on my mind.

Because I love you.

And I will make it my point throughout all of eternity that no one will love you the way I love you.

You can search high and low and never find another love like what I have for you.

There's nothing you can do that would allow me to love you more and love you less than I already do.

And the reason I love you the way that I love you is because you belong to me.

What manner of man is this that he would see more in me than I could ever see in myself?

Matter of men would take me neck deep in sin and say, give it to me.

Let me clean you.

Let me wash the blood off your hands.

I know you committed the crown, but let me remove the evidence.

I'll take responsibility for it.

I want to take your past.

And I want to become a problem to your past so that people don't identify you by what you did.

They identify you by what you've been delivered from.

What a mighty God we serve.

That says, I'll leave you blind enough until you can see me.

You can search, you'll never find nobody like me.

You can look, you'll never find nobody like me.

I am who you need.

I am what you need.

I have all that you have need of.

If you would just surrender to me.

All that you have need of, his hand shall provide.

Let me tell you about it.

He speaks from eternity into time.

I've met a man that went planted here in the earth.

That said, I'm willing to carry the cross for you.

I've met a man that says every sin you've ever committed, I'm willing to take responsibility for it.

I've met a man.

And this man that I've met, he's unlike any other man.

He does not lie.

He does not cheat.

He does not steal.

He does not gossip.

When I get sick, this man, he heals me.

When I'm tormented, this man, he gives me perfect peace.

When my mind is staying on him, I've met a man.

When I'm afraid, he reminds me, perfect love, cast out all fear.

I've met a man that says, take ye this mind.

I've met a man who I can worship when I'm worried.

I've met a man that says, I'll calm your anxious nerves.

I've met a man that will never let my hand go.

I've met a man that has the ability to save my soul.

I've met a man who every time I encounter his presence, I'm changed.

I've met a man that reminded me that I shall live and not die when I wanted to die.

I've met a man.

Unlike any other man.

He's not just a man.

He is also God.

And his name is Jesus.

And he's speaking to you right now.

What you feel is the undeniable presence of Jesus Christ.

Those tears flowing down your face.

That is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Those hairs you feel standing up on your arms, that is Him grabbing you by the hand and allowing you to know everything is going to be alright.

If you're listening to me, whether you're in this room or whether you're watching in celebration every word, I want you to meet the man I have met.

Not just meet him, but I want you to develop a relationship with him.

I want you to develop intimacy with him.

I want you to know him and not just know about him.

I want you to know him as your Lord, your master, and your savior.

If you need to know him today.

It's not just Jesus the teacher, not just Jesus the rabbi, but Jesus the Messiah.

I want you to stretch both hands to heaven right now.

That's you online.

Give me this camera.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Put it in the chat.

That's me.

I want to know him.

I want to meet him.

I want to I want to know him as my Lord, my master, my savior, my redeemer.

Because my Redeemer lives.

He's not dead.

He's alive.

Lift those hands high.

Repeat this after me, Lord Jesus.

I repent from my sin.

I turn away from my iniquities.

I turn towards you.

I thank you for your grace and your mercy.

Your love towards me.

Your mercy that has kept me.

And I confess with my mouth that you and you alone are my Lord, my master, and my Savior.

And so I turn my life over to you.

I believe with all my heart that you have redeemed me and have made me a new creation.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.