Q+A 5: When Do We Do It?

Tim Ross | January 31, 2021

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If you have your Bibles I want you to go to 2 Corinthians 6. We have been in a series or month called what? Oh, come on. Have you all been here for this series? Q and A right? Questions and answers, right? This is part five of Q and A. If you're taking notes the title of this message is when do we do it? When do we do? We talked about who are we, where are we, what do we do?, how do we do. This is when do we do what it is that we do. 2 Corinthians 6:1 says this as God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it. For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the right time is now. Today is the day of salvation.' I love that part. Indeed, the right time is say it with me.

Now.

It's now. Today. When should I love? Today. When should I forgive? Now. When should I obey? Right now. When should I turn from my temptation? Right now. When should I be kind? Right now. When should I read my Bible? Now. Right now. The time of salvation is now. Let us pray over the Word, shall we. Holy Spirit, give us the revelation of now. Amen.

Is there anybody beside me, show of hands, quick poll, who just like stuff now? Anybody beside me? You ever put popcorn in the microwave for two and a half minutes and looked at it, and was like "Hurry up"? It's only two and a half minutes, and you feel like, "Let's do it now." Maybe this might not be you, but does anybody have any friends, they throw caution to the wind, they don't care about plans at all, "Hey, I was thinking about going to the mall." "Okay, and when would you like to go?" "Now." Like "Hey, I was thinking about watching a movie today." "Great, what movie do you want to see?" "It doesn't matter, action, romance." "Okay, when?" "Now."

Anybody? Now. Anybody ever gone through a drive-through? There's no cars in front of you. I'm not talking about the Chick-fil-A line. No, we have grace for Chick-fil-A. I'm talking about like a less holy store. You've gotten in line, and there's no one in front of you. They should be happy you showed up. You roll down your window to place your order. Nothing. There's that awkward silence, and then you, the customer, has to do their job for them. "Hello, excuse me. Hello?" "Oh, yes, welcome to Sonic, may I take your--" All the Sonic people just "Oh, God no, you didn't just come for my corn dogs, did you?" "Yes I did." We want stuff now.

If you're wired that way, I want you to know that you're wired like your dad who made you because there are some things that he would like from us now. Not something for us to consider later, but something for us to respond to and move into right now. What we just read in Scripture, points to exactly what He wants from us now and that is salvation. Don't hold it off, don't pontificate it, don't consider to weigh your options and go bag packing through Europe to have a spiritual experience. You don't need to climb to the hills of Tibet. "I've given you the revelation that my son died for you on the cross, and the day of your salvation is right--"

Now.

Not later, now. When it comes to what we have been called to do, and how we've been called to do it, we have to answer this question, when are we supposed to do these things? The answer is now. The answer is today. The answer is not next week. The answer is not after I do whatever I want to do. The answer is right now. I purposed and planned to give my life to Jesus Christ when I turned 40 years old. That was my plan for my life. I was like, "Hey, I really think what my parents are talking about, there's something to it. Maybe there's something substantial to this whole faith thing, but I got to have some fun first. I just can't be giving up my life and stuff. I haven't explored the world. I haven't tried out some of the stuff I wanted to try."

I purposed in my head when I was about 18 years old, as soon as I get out of my parent's house, I'm going to go buck wild. Everything they restricted me from, everything that they said I couldn't do, everything they wouldn't let me do. The Holy Spirit woke up told them that I was doing.

Anybody else had parents like that? Those parents, oh my goodness, why? Why must you have a direct link to the Lord? I can't get away with nothing. My mother would just come in the room, "What you doing?" "I'm not doing nothing," and then she would hit me. It was so manipulative. Mommy, if you're watching, I don't-- I just realized she was watching.

I'm not saying, mommy, you're not a manipulator. I'm just saying it felt like manipulation. Here's what my mom would hit me with, my mom would say-- Because I would lie, default lie, like "No, I didn't. No." My mom would say, "Can you say before God?"

Ain't that enough? Before God. Like, "Can you say before God that you didn't do this?" Here's what my mom would say, "Can you say before God and all His Holy angels.”

Why did the angels have to come, I don't understand why. The angels? We only know two of their names, it's Gabriel, Michael and then the rest of the angles, Satan, and then the rest of them. Beelzebub. I mean the rest of them. She wanted a confession right now, so I purposed and planned, "When I get out of this house, I'm going to go live my life," and then around 40 because I felt like around 40, you need to do something different. I was only 18 at the time. I thought "22 years from now, I can't be still at the club." You just look damn if you're 37 and just-- I just don't think you should be doing that. If you're 37, you're still at the club, you have 3 years or you have now.

On January 14th of 1996, when I was 20 years old, the Holy Spirit was like, "Now," 20 years before my date. You're about to mess up my whole life or you just saved it. You're about to mess up my plans or you have a better plan. You've just taken away all of my fun or you've just saved me from making the worst mistakes of my life. Now is the time. I have three points to this message, three now things that I want to give you. I hope you write these down. I hope that these things are something that you can see yourself applying to your life right now.

Thank you. If you're taking notes, write this as the header, "Now is the right time to," point number one, "confess." Now is the right time for you to confess. Here's what it says in 1 John 1. Not Matthew, Mark, Luke. John in the gospels, but 1 John: his first written epistle, 1:8. "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth." Can I just stop right there? That should make everybody in this room feel better. If you claim to have no sin, John said, "You're lying. You are only fooling yourselves, and you're not living in the truth."

If we confess our sins to him. To who? To God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claimed we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar, and showing that His Word has no place in our hearts. Now is the right time to do what? Confess. Confess what? Any and everything that we may be doing that's breaking the heart of God. When's the right time to do it? Right now. Who's the person to tell it to? God. Just tell Him. He already knows. It can't change until you say it. I've seen so many people. God knows my heart. He knows he's wicked. He knows he's full of deceit, and lust and pride, and egos, and pettiness. He knows what's in your heart, but do you know?

See, you can't be forgiven of something that you're not even aware that you're doing. He says confess. It's something I know, but it's something that you have to come to an agreement on. "I need some help. I confess. Lord, I've sinned." "What'd you do?" "I confess that I'm holding a grudge. I confess that I have unforgiveness in my heart. I confess that because of a fear of failure, I embellished the truth." "Nice, keep going." "I embellish the truth." Another word for embellish the truth?" "I flower my words to benefit me in situations that I feel like I might be compromised or embarrassed." "Go on. What is another word for flowering?" "A lie." "Thank you." "I'm a liar." All the heaven's like, "We like that person. At least they confessed the truth."

If they have something in their life and now they're aware of it, here's the thing, confession is good for yourself. Do you know there's a thing called deathbed confessions? Do you know the strongest implication of deathbed confessions is that you were not meant to live with secrets? The human heart was never meant to live with a secret. God says, "I want you to vertically come to Me." "When?" "Now." "Do what?" "Confess." Confess, and that's where salvation comes from. The very foundation of your relationship with Jesus was started when you confess that He was Lord and you're not. That He is now in control of your life and you are not.

That you have now submitted to Him, and you have changed your mind about the way you think. You've repented about the way that you've been living your life. There's another part to confession that a lot of people struggle with, and I hope that I'm equipping you and empowering you today to grow up in an area because what I've heard a lot of people say is, "Yes, I just talk to God about my situation. Anything I'm going through, I don't need to talk to another person, I just talk to God." If I got to confesses, I just tell God, "Well, well,"

You're just going to be vertical, you're not going to do nothing horizontally. You go, "No, no, no, me and the Lord will work it out." Have you noticed that there is a lot of people that can confess stuff to God but their behavior never changes?

Let me tell you why because confession to God brings salvation, confession to others brings healing. Confession to God vertically brings salvation. He's the only one that can forgive you of sins, but confessions to each other brings healing. I've seen a lot of people that confess vertically but never confess horizontally, and so they're perpetually forgiven, but they're never healed. I'll prove it, James 5:16, "Confess your sins to each other," "Oh no, you didn't, James. Come on, man, I'm just supposed to give it to God now. Ain't got time to be telling people stuff. I'm not going to counselling. They're flawed just like me. They make mistakes just like me. He's no better than I am. She's no better than I am. What are we talking about?"

We're talking about you getting healed and you getting healed won't happen just because of what you say vertically. It happens because of what you say horizontally. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be what?

Healed. Not saved. Confessing to me won't get you salvation, confession to God will. Healing, that happens horizontally. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Honest prayers, the fervent effectual prayers King James says, "Of the righteous man availeth much, but I can't pray fervently for you or effectively for you if you have not told me the real issue." I remember when I was coming up in my 20s and after the service would be over, the sermon has been preached, and then they would have altar call.

I used to work altar ministry. People would come up, "[sobs]," you know when a sermon has impacted you, when God has read your mail, you're like, "[sobs] Okay, I just want to thank you Lord." Then I would say, "Hey, what would you like to pray for? They would say, "Just whatever the Lords shows you." "What?" "Just whatever the Lord shows you." "Let me get this straight, you just got convicted of something so heavily, it brought you to the altar. Now, you want me to ask the Lord something you know? You don't do this with your doctor. You don't walk into the doctor's office, ‘[sobs]'"

Doctor comes in, "Hey, Mr. Ross, what brought you in today?" "Just whatever the Lord shows you." Can you tell me where the pain is, "I really don't really be letting people in like that. Just if you pray and get close, I'll let you know." No, we're going to the doctor's office to meet a person we've never seen before, trusting only the piece of paper that's on the wall. We will let them see stuff on us that we don't even show our spouses. You show them samples of things. "I don't know sir, I just started peeing green stuff. Here, I put some in a water bottle just so that you make sure. I didn't know if it was going to happen again."

We come to church and turn it into a guessing game. You know you're struggling with porn, just say it. Just say, "Oh, you got me. I need to uncomplicate my life. It's affecting my marriage. It's affecting my integrity. My prayer time is blocked. Will you pray for me. It's porn. It's unforgiveness. It's depression." Whatever it is, just say it. Because when you say it horizontally, you can start to be healed. God's going to always forgive you. Every time. "Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry." Let me tell you why it's so easy for you to get forgiveness and go back, because you don't see His face.

Let me tell you what will heal you real quick, accountability. Come to the altar, "Hey, I've been struggling with unforgiveness." Next week, "What's up, bro. Forgive me yet? Oh, my gosh. I know God forgave me but man, you going to talk to me about it, aren't you?" Counseling session starts coming up. The seven-day, the counseling session comes up, "Hey, how'd you do this week? You all right?" "Oh Man, I failed twice." "Great. What brought you to that point? What parameters do we need to put in place so that this doesn't happen again?" You start getting healed when you let people walk with you in your struggle and not just keep taking it to a prayer closet by yourself.

I feel this. Confess vertically, and confess horizontally. All right. Point number two, please write this down. "Now is the time to commit." Now's the time to confess, and now is also the time to commit. Here's what it says in Proverbs 23:12, "Commit yourself to instruction. Listen carefully to words of knowledge." Commit yourself to instruction, listen carefully to words of knowledge. I'm going to slow bake this because we are living in a culture right now where there's a lot of stuff to listen to, but much of it is not anything remotely close to knowledge. It's just foolishness.

You got people with millions of people following them, their podcasts and their Instagrams and their Twitter's, and they're not saying anything that's edifying to you. Here's what I found out. The lack of leadership in the earth is so far and few in between, that people have given up on someone leading them to the promise land as long as they can get them across the street. "I've given up being a man of integrity and character, but at least you're passionate about what you're saying. I'll follow you." Think about who our role models are right now. Think about the top songs that are trending. Think about the people that are binge-watching shows and what those people represent.

That's all you need to know about how easy it is to get somebody to follow you anywhere. It says commit yourself to instruction. Here's the next verse. It says, this is Psalm 37:5, "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you." There's a commitment to instruction, that's horizontal. There's a commitment to the Lord, that's vertical. I committed my life to the Lord 25 years ago. January 14th, 1996, I committed my life to the Lord just over 25 years ago. I've also committed myself to instruction for the last 25 years too. I've always had somebody older than me, wiser than me, that I gave permission to speak into my life.

Any success that you think I've acquired or that you perceive me to have, it's not because I'm smart, but it is because I'm smart enough to get in a room with people that know more than I do, and they are not my peers. Your friends know as much as you. You need advisors in your life with some gray hair. As the Bible said in the Old Testament, the hoary-headed one, the ones with the gray hair got the wisdom. I will literally wake up at 4:30 in the morning to meet with a septuagenarian. It's a person in their 70s, dictionary.com. I will wake up 4:30 in the morning to meet with a person in their 70s that wants to eat oatmeal at 5:00. Just for that person to tell me, "That's the dumbest thing you've ever said."

I'm like, "Saved again. So glad I ran that by you." I've committed everything to the Lord, but I've also committed my life to instruction. Show me what I don't know. Point out my blind spot. Help me see an area that I cannot see by myself. "Hey, you're 20 years older than me, you've been pastoring longer than me, tell me what I don't know. I know I don't know something I should know, but I'm not going to try to wait till I find out, so you tell me. What mistakes have you made that I can avoid please, sir?" I've committed my life to the Lord, but I've committed my life to instruction as well.

In the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Multitude, that's more than two. Two was a couple, they’re saying a couple of counselors. Three to five. It is to say in a few counselors in a multitude. I remember when I was getting ready to transition from the potter's house, Juliet and I, we laid that thing out before about 10 people. We got echoes all the way around from 10 different people that weren't talking to each other. We didn't get them on the same room. We got the phone with them. We were like, "Wow, they feel like we're on the right track. We need to make the next step." Then we talked to the next person, laid out the whole thing again.

Let me tell you something, when you commit yourself to advisors and a multitude of counselors, be prepared to repeat yourself a lot. Hang up the phone with that person, call the next person. The reason why I remember such so many details and dates about the events of my life is because I've had to retell them to all the people that I've submitted to council before I take the next step. People are like, "You got a great memory." No, I've just said it so many times. I know the whole thing by heart. We call people in California. We call people in Delaware. We call people down the street. We call people that were older than us and our same age. We would just wanted to see it from every single angle.

After God has spoken to us, we still submitted it to others because if God told us, He'll also tell them. I can't tell you how many people have left this church and many other churches off of one statement God said. "Did He? He said? I know He said stuff, but He told you that? You just go, 'God card.'" He said. I listened. I'm out. I have nothing to say to that person. I'm not going to argue with somebody that says they heard from God. Here's what I learned to say, "I think God is saying this," and then they start scrolling, "I think God's telling you that too." I'm like, "Cool, let me get 50 more confirmations, and then I'll really know it's God."

If it's really God it should be able to stand up to people that you know hear from God. The only people that throw out the God card are people that don't want their mind changed. "God told me to leave my marriage." He sure did say it. God said it. He just told me." Listen, two weeks from now I'm going to jump all down your marriage. I am going river dance. Maybe I should learn how to river dance first, but I cannot wait. I've just seen too many people throw out the God card to justify sin, to justify disobedience, to justify impatience. It's not even that God didn't say that you couldn't do it. He just said not now. Here you go, "No, God said it."

Commit yourself to the Lord and commit yourself to instruction. "Oh, I'm trying to leave this alone. I'm trying to leave it alone. Let me go slow." I'm going off memory, so this is not going to pop up on the screen. After Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, takes over. Rehoboam gets the advice and counsel from Solomon's counsel. Now, Solomon is, outside of Jesus, the wisest man Scripture says that ever lived on earth, but he had counselors. Doing a robot now. Maybe all of that wisdom didn't just come from Solomon's head. Some of that wisdom probably came from him talking to his advisers, his elders. Rehoboam listens to those guys, and he listens. He's like, "Okay." Then he goes to talk to his friends, his homies, the people that know him best.

"That old guy, he don't know nothing. He's from a different generation." They see things differently. "I need to talk to people that get me. You feel me?" He went and talked to that person. Here's what his friends came back and said, you know what you should tell them, people?" This is his homies. "You go tell them people that your pinky is thicker than your father's waist." First of all, what kind of clap back is that? I don't even have context to what-- You're going to be harsher to them than the previous authority figure was, the previous king. He listens to his homie's advice, and the whole kingdom goes to ruin. I just know the elders were in the corner like-- His daddy listened, but they didn't.

It hurts me to see people that will not give others permission to speak into their life make dumb decisions, and all I can do is wince like, "Oh, that must have hurt, but you didn't ask so I didn't tell you." Juliet had to help me with this because I'm a helper to my core. If you don't know this about my wife, you'll learn it the more you hear her. The girl just has a gift of wisdom. It's a gift. I firmly believe that if Juliet wrote maybe 13 verses, God would instantly canonize it as Proverbs 32, like, "Hey, I thought we were done, but she wrote it. I'm letting it in." I was trying to help a person who was drowning. The visual image that I had in my mind, because she put it there.

She goes, "Timmy, I got to tell you something, honey. You're such a helper. You're so nice to people, nicer than I would be." She was like, "Because I don't have time for foolishness and God has just graced you for foolishness. I don't know." She said, "I'm tired of seeing you run to the end of the pier and trying to convince somebody that they're drowning." She said, "I know this is going to be tough for you because of the way you're wired, but I'd rather see you run to the pier and stand there until they realize they're drowning." I was like, "That must be the sexiest thing you've said since two o'clock." It changed the way that I help people.

I don't run out to people no more that don't ask for help. I don't just jump into the affairs of people because the only person that's frustrated at the end of that is me because you don't want to change. Because you don't want advice, so I'm not going to give it out for free no more. I'm going to stick with my counsel as you can stick with yourself, and do you until you have done you and want to repent and come back. Now is the right time to commit. Last one, please write this down. Point number three, "Now is the right time to commence." That's right. They all start with C. I made it happen, two syllables, confess, commit, and commence.

It's one delicious verse. Y'all want to buy me some, buy me Proverbs 9:6. One verse, and we're out. Leave your simple ways behind. Listen, Danvers, bless me so much because I heard so much more in that one line with those five words. Leave your simple ways behind. [chuckles] Listen, that verse blessed me so much because I heard so much more in that line, with those fine words, leave your simple ways behind. Leave your simple, petty, childish, unscrupulous, ridiculous, implausible, unjustifiable, familiar spirit, leave those simple ways behind and begin to live.

Oh, you haven't lived until you've left those simple ways behind. Some of us have merely existed through life because we wanted it our way. We wanted to do it when we wanted to do it, how we wanted to do it, where we wanted to do it with whom we wanted to do it with, and you have not been living. You've been existing. You haven't experienced joy yet until you experience what it's like to not have to be in control of every decision. You haven't experienced love yet until He's led you into the love that He's wanted you to have. You have not experienced life, the way it was intended to be lived into you leave your simple ways behind. [chuckles] When should you do that?

Whether you're 14 or 40, 20, or 60, you can still leave something simple behind you. Put the verse back up, please. It says leave your simple ways behind and begin to live. I love the semicolon there because it's still not done. There's a comma and a semicolon. Slow down right there. Learn to use good judgment. We were never supposed to learn by experience. It's one of the biggest lies that we've ever been told as humans. We learn by experience. We're supposed to learn by faith. Stove is hot, take my word for it. You weren't supposed to learn that yourself. You were supposed to learn that by faith. "Dad said it's hot, must be hot." Learn to use good judgment.

When you're using good judgment, that's when you start becoming obedient to the things you know are right even though it's not something that you would rather do. Listen after 25 years, there's so much of my flesh that's been crucified on the cross with Jesus that it don't even yell no more. Pops up in my head and I'd be like, "You already know we can't do that." It sounds fun, but I'm not a kid no more. I left the simple things behind me. I'm 45 years old. I'm a grown man. Listen, I just don't have time for some stuff. Not that it was even a sin, it was just too simple. I had to leave it behind. I'm an avid gamer. Oh my goodness.

I have my games. Listen, I had a custom controller, custom headset, TV dedicated to me, a whole setup dedicated to me. I could spend seven hours gaming and feel the presence of God. It rubbed my wife the wrong way.

Wow. I did not see that co-sign coming. Out of everything I've taught, that's when you want to holla back? December of 2018, while I was playing the game, He said, "I hope this has been fun. Time's up." I heard Him so clearly. He just said, "Time's up." I finished my game. "Go left, go left, go left. He's behind you. He's behind you." When it was done, I disassembled the gaming unit, put it in the custom travel carrier case that I had for my game, I was about that life, and I brought it to church. I don't know why I brought it to church. I just brought to church. There was a first time guest that came, and we were talking and they were like, "Yes. I like games."

This guy's easily 20 years younger than me. I'm like, "What do you have? A PS4 or Xbox? He said, "No, I have Xbox, but I gave my PS4 away but man, I would love to have a PS4." Again, I was like, "Come on, Lord, really? You going to make it that easy, for real?" I picked it up and handed it to him, and it was over. I started living life. You'd be amazing what you get back in seven hours. He just said, "Put the simple stuff away." It wasn't that it was a sin. He's just like, "I want something more for you. In order for me to give you more, you got to clear some stuff out." Today, right now, is the day of your salvation.

Right now is a good day to confess. Right now is a good day to commit. Right now is a perfect time to commit to living the life that God has called you to live the way He's called you to live it. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? Whether you were in this room or watching us online, what I know is that God is speaking to you, not about somebody else, but about you. What is He saying to you? What will you allow Him to do through you by obeying what He said today? You may be in this room, and you've never given your life to Jesus before, now's the time. Not next week, now.

You may have been in church all your life, but you've never given your life to Jesus, now's the time. You may have been around church culture because your parents bring you or Sunday is a thing that you've done, and you've committed a life to church culture, but not to the King of the church, now's the time. With every head bowed and every eye closed, there may be someone in here, this is your now moment. This is the moment where you give your life to Jesus. The question I want to ask very simply is would you be against giving your life to Jesus today? Would you be opposed to giving him your life now?

If the answer's no, then my follow-up question is, what stands in the way from you taking that step today? Is it a confession? Is it an inability to commit? Is there a hesitation you have to commit? I'm telling you, if you make that decision today, you have no idea what you maybe avoiding tomorrow. If your answer is no, you're not opposed, and you can't find anything that's an obstacle that's in your way, with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you want to give your life to Jesus, I just want you to raise your hand. It's that simple. I see that hand, raise it up high. You should be proud to lift it up. Thank you. "I'm giving my life to Jesus today."

If you're watching this online, and maybe you never given your life to Jesus, I just want you to type the word citizen because that's what you become if you've given your life to Jesus, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Just type it in the chat. I'm a citizen today. Holy Spirit, I thank you for every sing person that just gave their life to Jesus, and I thank you for every single person that has committed to the now of their salvation, their confession, their commitment and their commencement. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you guys, I love you.