Upset the World Part I
Tim Ross | August 23, 2020
“You are never gonna upset anybody else’s life if your life has not been upset first.”
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Transcription
I am so excited to be here today. I want to greet all of y'all, the whole church, family. I am so grateful that you decided to be with us this morning. I'm here to upset your world. There is something that God is about to say to you, there is something that God is about to do through you that is about to change you, not just now, but for the rest of eternity. I'm super hype. As you can see, the set is already set up for me, bars, the set is already set up for me.
We started a new series. It's called Upset the World, and it's based on the book and the revelation that God gave me by the same name. I hope that you will go out and get this book because it is going to bless you. Go to Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, wherever books are sold, get the book, but I'm going to give you the messages that birth this book. We're starting this weekend. You're all ready?
Get your Bibles. I want you to go to the book of Acts chapter number 17. The book of Acts chapter number 17. I want to read the first nine verses then we'll pray and see what the Lord would say to us. All right. Acts 17:1-9, here's what it says, "Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service and for three Sabbaths in a row, he used the scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and prove that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead.
He said, "This Jesus I'm telling you about is the Messiah." Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women, but some of the Jews were jealous. They gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the council. "Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world," They shouted, which is why I just shouted.
"Now they're here disturbing our city too. Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar for they profess allegiance to another king named Jesus." The people of the city, as well as the city council were thrown into turmoil by these reports. The officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them. I want to go back to verse number six, and I just want to read this outlandish statement that they make.
"Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world." They shouted. "Now they are here disturbing our city too." If you want to know the title of the sermon, spoiler alert, is Upset the World. I believe that God wants to upset your world in a way that you live your life for Christ, in a way that you've never lived it before. I'm telling you, it starts for you this weekend. Bow your heads, let's pray, shall well? Holy Spirit upset us. Amen.
Said in my prayers. I pray quick. I want you to think about the chapter that I just read that Paul and Silas are on these missionary journeys. They are going from city to city and they are going from synagogue to synagogue as Jewish men proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that this Jewish Rabbi is actually the prophesied Messiah that has been declared for the last 4,000 years. I just want you to think about that for a moment that God's first prophecy about Christ was Genesis 3:15 when he said, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent and he shall bruise his heel."
4,000 years between the time of that prophecy given to Mary through Eve. Hear me. A prophecy came to Mary through Eve. Eve representing the first woman in creation, God was literally speaking to her but through her down many generations to a person that wasn't even put on the earth yet. Could it be that there's some prophetic words that you're about to step into in your life that were given to your great, great, great, great grandmother? She might've thought it was never fulfilled but had no idea that when God was speaking to her, he was speaking through her to you. It's upsetting to even think about that. That this promised Messiah would die for our sins, and give us a mandate, according to Mathew chapter number 28, "That we are to go make disciples of all nations." Translation, go upset the world. Now, when I make this statement, some of y'all might be saying, "We're already upset. Culture has us upset. Corona has us upset. Everything got us upset." I don't mean angry, frustration, madness. Let's come back to the proper definition of the word, shall we? By definition, the word upset means to overturn, to destroy the power of, to overthrow, to defeat, to vanquish. I want you to think about that. When you talk about an upset, it means simply to turn over.
If you have ever seen something that's been by definition, upset, it simply means it's been turned over. I want to ask you a question. Has your life been turned over? Have you actually turned your life over, not just to the Savior but to Lord? I'm going to take my time right here. We all love to sing the songs about His saving grace, we all love to sing the songs about His reckless love, and that He'll go over every mountain, and He'll run through every sea, and He will come to me. Are you ready to take that L? Tell me, are you ready to take that L? Not that loss, that Lord? Are you ready to take Jesus on as Lord and voluntarily through submission let Him turn your life upside down?
Let me give you another definition for the word upset. It means to disturb or derange completely. To disturb or derange completely. Put out of order. Throw into disorder. Upset a system. To upset a mechanism. To upset an apartment, a place, a person, a thing. I love this one, to defeat or overthrow an opponent that is considered more formidable as in war, politics, or sports. You've seen upsets in basketball, you've seen upsets in football. The team that wasn't supposed to win won, something got turned over. I believe that where you have been losing, you are about to start winning because you're going to allow Jesus to turn your life upside down.
When I say upset the world, that can sound daunting. "Tim, I hear you, I feel you, but the world is big. I don't even have a passport. I've never been out of my city. I'm close to a State line, so I've been to another state, but I've never traveled anywhere. When you say upset the world, what do you actually mean?" Here's what I'm telling you. You can upset the world around you. God has put all of us in spaces and places where we can upset the world that is literally around us. Whether it's yourmama name, or your cousin's name, or your friends down the street, or the people at your job, or the people at your school, each and every single one of us has an opportunity to upset somebody's world.
Now, you know that I shoot three-pointers. If I was going to be on a spiritual basketball team, it would be the Golden State Warriors because I shoot threes. I'm Steph Curry with mine. I shoot threes. I've got three points to this message that I want you to write down, and please take notes because notesrule the entire world. When you take good notes, you get good quotes, and you get to go outside and spit those notes.
I want to give you three points, and I want you to put this as the header on it, okay? In order to upset the world, there's got to be three things that you do. There's got to be three things that you're apart of, there's got to be three things that you're thinking about. Write this down. In order to upset the world, point number one, you must be upset first. You are never going to upset anybody else's life if your life has not been upset first. Now, I'm passionate about this particular point because I gave my life to Jesus Christ January 14th of 1996. I was 20 years old. I was sitting in the back of the church and that is the day that my life literally got turned upside down.
I had some regional fame and success in California because I was a battle rapper and I had made a name for myself. I was doing shows all over LA and I had a little clout. I had a little juice. I went to the club that night party to the morning, got home about five o'clock in the morning, took a little nap, woke up around 7:30 and I was going with my parents to church. Not because I love Jesus because I love my parents and I was living in their house and I was 20 years old and I just felt it was a smart thing to do since I was under their roof that I probably should go to church with them to just let them know listen, I don't believe in your God but I believe in you.
Since you're kind enough to let me stay in your house, I think that it'd be nice if I just showed up to your church. I showed up to church, went through Sunday school with Sister Beverly Walker. Then after it was over, we had a little break about 15 minutes. Church started. I'm sitting in the back of the church and I'm there to do what I do every single weekend at church up until that time. I was going to write raps, then I was going to laugh at the people that spoke in tongues, then I was going to wait for church to be over. Then my homeys would go come pick me up.
Then we were going to go to Venice Beach and we were going to chill on Venice beach to about five or six. Then we were going to go to M&Ms, eat some nice food. All my people from Cali, you feeling me right now. We was going to go to Dulan's, we was going to go to Roscoe's. Then from about 7:30, eight o'clock to about two in the morning, we was going to Cruz Crenshaw Boulevard and I was going to get with any girl that wanted to get with me. That was Sundays for me. Wash, rinse, repeat. Go to church with my parents but then go do me until January 14th of 1996. I'm sitting in the back of this church and I got my entire world turned upside down.
I want you to think about this. I'm chilling minding my own business in the back of the church. The Holy Spirit says to me while I'm trying to write raps and people are trying to worship, you're a sinner. Is literally what He said. Yyou're a sinner. It wasn't this condemning statement. It was literally a revealing statement. A lot of times you think that if somebody points out a part of your behavior that might be wrong that they must be condemning you. No. Every single one of us has blind spots and so you need some people in your life that will expose your blind spots and let you know that there is something I see that you don't see.
The Holy Spirit was kind enough to just say, "Hey, man, you're a sinner. You are disconnected from God. You are out of fellowship with the God that created you." I'm sitting on the back row and I've heard every single sermon. I'm a PK kid. I heard every single sermon. Every single weekend I heard every single altar call and I missed all of them. This day with no altar call doing morning worship while I'm sitting in the back of the church, you're a sinner. It was like he was pointing out a mustard stain on my shirt. "Hey, man. You got something right there." The moment he pointed it out and I looked at it, I thought-- [crying]
Have you ever hit the ugly cry when the Lord speaks to you about something that you know you shouldn't have been doing. When you finally get it you've been doing it and you were cool doing it and so you got a real revelation that you shouldn't be doing it. Then all of a sudden you're like, [screams] That ugly cry, I got hit with the ugly cry that day and I'm in the back of the church back row, last row of chairs sitting there weeping while people are going through morning worship had no idea at the time that my life was being turned over.
That the Holy Spirit had literally grabbed my life, started turning me over on the back row of this church. I'm sitting there and I'm balling. [crying] "I can't get my legs to Jesus right now. It ain't a good time. I got a show next week. Maybe after I get done with the show. I'm really promiscuous right now and I got some girls out there and maybe I should wait until I can explain it to them." The Holy Spirit's like, "No, you need to do this right now." "I have an addiction to pornography and I got a stash under my bed. Let me go clear that out first." The Holy Spirit said, "No, you don't understand. If you don't walk out of here with me today, you won't clear that out first."
You don't get right and then come to me, you come to me and then get right. I'm sitting there sobbing. Since I'm a PK, I know how to host service go and go and I know when the alt call is going to happen and that was a long time from when I realized that I was disconnected from God. I stood up during testimony service. Here's what I said. I said, "I give up." That was my testimony. Everybody was looking like, "Give up what?" Said, "I need to get saved right now." That day my life got turned upside down. Let me tell you something. It's been 24 years since that moment and I'm still not over it. I am still as upset 24 years later as I was the day that I gave my life to Jesus Christ.
All the homies that I had in the hood, was like, "Yoh, you're not giving up these shows, and you're not giving up this status and you're not giving up these women for Jesus. You're probably going through a phase." They bet me $20 that I'd be back in six months. That was 24 years ago. Since then, I've buried some of them. Since then, I've had to write some of them. If you don't know what that means, they're in imprison. Since then, I've had to counsel the rest of them sometimes at two or three o'clock in the morning because they're going, "Yoh, man, is it really worth me giving this up? Is it really worth me turning my life upside down for what you're talking about?"
I'm like, "Yes, man, your life will never be the same." The only reason why I'm able to do what I do the way I do it is because I'm upset. I am as upset now as I was 24 years ago. I'm telling you, when you really get on fire for God, there is nothing and no one that's going to stand in the way of you being who God has called you to be good.
It's going good. All right. You got to be upset first. Point number two, please write this down. I'm coming for somebody right here. I'm just telling you right now before I even read it. I'm coming for somebody right here. Point number two. In order for you to upset the world, you have to let go of religion. In order for you to upset the world, you have to let go of religion. I'm talking to my lifelong church people now. I'm talking to the people that were born and raised in church. I'm talking about the people that go back three and four generations. Yes, man, I love church. Church is good, but is he good or is it just a religious practice that you enjoy?
Here's what it says in Acts chapter number nine verses 1-22. I'm reading a lot of scripture and you're going to deal with that. Okay? "Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord's followers." He went to the high priests, he requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus asking for the cooperation and the arrest of any followers of the way he found there. He wanted to bring them both men and women back to Jerusalem in chains. Let me just pause right there and say, yoh, Paul was a very devout religious leader.
He was a Pharisee. He loved God but even in him loving God, he was missing the fact that Jesus was his Lord. He couldn't see it because of his religion, you would think because of his religion, he could see Jesus. It was because of his religion that he actually couldn't see him. I think I need to pause right there. How many of us are doing a lot of stuff for God without God? How many of us are endeavoring to go out and do a bunch of big stuff for God that he never said he wanted to do through you? As he was approaching Damascus on the mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
I love this question he asked. "Who are you, Lord?" Yoh, I just want y'all to think about that real quick. Jesus talked to Saul directly and Saul's response was who are you, Lord? Could it be that there's a lot of people that love the church but don't know the Lord of the church? Could it be that Jesus wants to come into your life and do something significant in your life while you think you already have a relationship with him? The real question that you might have on the inside is I don't even know you, Lord. I know about you but I don't know you. Let me take my time.
A couple of years back at Embassy City, I was preaching a message and a man in his 70s came down to the altar and he gave his life to Jesus Christ. We celebrated the fact that he had opened up his heart and given his life to Christ. Here was the thing that tripped us all out. We already thought he was saved. We already thought he had a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not only did we wind up mind blown by it, but his son was mind blown by it as well. His son said, "Hey dad, I saw you go down to the altar for salvation but you're already saved, right?" He said, "No, son, I'm not."
He said, "I thought I gave my life to Christ in 1974, but I didn't give my life to Christ. I gave my life to my denomination." Who are you? Lord? You might know Assemblies of God, but you might not know the God of the assembly. You might know Baptist, but you might not know the Lord of the baptism. You might know Church of God in Christ, but you might not know of the Christ in God's church. You might know Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, but you might not know that the world was assembled by the Pentecost that happened in Acts two. Who are you, Lord?
I know that I might be upseting your world right now because I'm trying to turn you over so that you step out of the skin that you were born into and step into the skin you're supposed to be born again into. "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked and the voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." The men with Saul stood speechless for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but saw no one. They heard the sound of someone's voice but saw no one. They heard the sound of someone's voice but saw no one. They heard the sound of someone's voice but saw no one.
They heard the sound of someone's voice but they didn't see anything. Could it be that you're having a revelation that your friends ain't heaven? Could it be that God's upsetting your world right next to somebody whose world is not being upset at all? You're trying to convince them to see what you see, but they don't. It might be God saying, "It's time for you to separate from that relationship because I'm trying to call you closer to me and you're trying to drag them with you." I got to slow down on that. I'm trying to call you closer to me, but you're trying to drag them with you.
He couldn't convince them to see what they see even though they heard what he heard. Saul picked himself up the ground and when he opened his eyes, he was blind. Oh, God. It's so good. His companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. Now, there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision calling Ananias. "Yes, Lord," he replied. The Lord said, "Go over to Straight Street." Oh, can I just pause right there? Isn't it crazy when you've been living a crooked life that God in his grace will put you on Straight Street?
Isn't it amazing when you've had all of these rules that you've bended in your favor that God would correct you and put you on Straight Street? "Go over to Straight Street to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus, his name Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him in a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again." "But Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I've heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem. He was authorized by the leading priest to arrest anyone who calls upon your name."
The Lord said, "Go for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings as well as to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake," Ananias went and found Saul. He laid hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Somebody got his world turned upside down, yoh. Instantly, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward, he ate some food, regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. This is so dope.
I want to stop but let me just finish this. Immediately, he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue saying, "He is indeed the Son of God." Let me tell you something. When you get your life turned upside down, you don't even wait. When your life has been turned upside down, you know it and you don't need to go to Bible College to proclaim him, you don't need a master's in divinity to proclaim him, you don't need a doctorate in theology to proclaim him. When he turns your life upside down, your testimony is enough.
We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. When you know that you were blind, but now you can see, when you know that you were down, but now you are up, when you know that you were trapped, but now you've been released, something changes on the inside of you. That testimony changes everything, and you start to speak it instantaneously because you might not know all the Hebrew and you might not know all the Greek but you do know, I was lost, now I'm found. I was old, now I'm new. I didn't used to be convicted of the stuff I did and now I can sense God telling me I shouldn't be doing that. I've had my life turned upside down. All who heard him were amazed. "Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus's followers in Jerusalem?" Can I just say that this is something y'all going to go through in the next few months.
After you let this message get on the inside of you, people are going to say, "Is that Tasha? Tasha used to smoke weed every day. She's always talking about the stuff that she can see because she used to get so high, but now she's saying that she getting revelation but she ain't been smoking. Is that's the same girl?" "That can't be Tony. You remember Tony was out there wilding. Tony was always hitting the liquor. Tony was stealing from everybody. Tony stole his mama's money. You mean to tell me he's tithing? Not Tony. That can't be Tony." Upside down.
He didn't come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests. Saul's preaching became more and more powerful and the Jews in Damascus couldn't refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Religion is not an issue for God, the absence of God is. Let me tell you why God in the Old Testament told the children of Israel, "I hate your religious practices." Now, remember God's the one that told them to do those religious practices. Why did he turn around and hate what they were doing? Because they were doing it without him.
I have a date night with Juliet religiously. Friday nights is our date night. I love spending time with my wife. We've set aside time religiously to spend together. Now, if she were to wake up on a Friday morning and be like, "Baby, I'm not feeling that well, and so I don't think we can go to the movies tonight." I was like, "Oh, no problem. I'm stil go to the movies though because we set aside this time to go to the movie so I'm going to the movies." If I go to the movies without Juliet who I set time aside to spend time with, then what I'm doing no longer benefits me or her.
See, when you come to church and you want to be in God's presence, that's good religion. When you're willing to come to church whether God is present or not, that's bad religion. When you forget who you're actually doing it for, it's bad religion. Nothing was wrong with Saul being a Pharisee. It's just that he did not have Jesus as the Messiah as he was still trying to fulfill the Torah. When he found out that Jesus was the Torah, it changed his life which brings me to point number three. In order for you to upset the world, you got to let go of your independence. In order for you to upset the world, you must let go of your independence.
Here's what it says in Luke 5:1-11. 'One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon its owner to push it out into the water so he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it is deeper and let your nets down to catch some fish."
Jesus got on a fisherman's boat and told a fisherman how to fish. Who does he think he is? "Master," Simon replied, "We worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing, but if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." I got to stop right here. Thank you Holy Spirit. I think for some of y'all, the first step of you walking into a relationship with God where you may not trust him yet but you step out on faith is just by you merely responding to whatever he tells you to do by, if you say so. I don't even know why I'm out here like this, but if you say so. I don't even know why I'm doing this but if you say so. I don't even know why you told me to say this but if you say so.
I don't even know why I broke up with him but if you say so. I don't even know why you told me to move to Tulsa, but if you say so. I don't even know why you told me to sell that car, but if you say so. If you say so, I'll go. "No disrespect rabbi, our business works at night. We fish and we fish in the shallow part of the water at night because when we throw our net, the fish can't see them. You telling us to go out in broad daylight in the deep where the fish can see, but if you say so."
This time their nets were so full of fish, they began to tear. A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. I love this. When Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man." Listen, I got to tell this to somebody right now, you think that God's got to beat you up for where he has found you and wants to come into a relationship with you? No. He will bless you up. He don't have to beat you up, he will bless you up.
Jesus gets on a boat of a man that doesn't even know if he's who he says he is. He blesses them so good the dude's reminded of his own sin. Sometimes, God ain't got to beat you up to get you to see that you need to follow him. He'll bless you up, and the blessing will be so extravagant the only thing you can say, "I don't even deserve, I don't even know why you're even doing this for me because you know what I did last night. The fact that you still gave me a promotion, I might need to stop this foolishness." God has more than one way to upset your world. Sometimes he needs to make the scales pop from your eyes. Other times he just blesses you because it's with loving kindness that he draws you.
"Oh, Lord, please leave me, I'm such a sinful man," for he was all struck by the number of fish they had caught as were the others with him. His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid," Jesus is such a boss. "Hey, man, don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people." It's just stinky. "The way you just caught this fish, I'm going to let you do that with people. The way I just blessed your business, I'm going to let you be a blessing to people." As soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Now, listen y'all this point jacks me up. You mean to tell me that a business owner just had the single greatest day of business, the single greatest day of sales in the history of the company and their response to that level of blessing is I quit. [laughs] Their response to that blessing was I quit the business. Wait a minute. You just had the single greatest day in the history of your business. I know, but I would rather have the person that blessed me than to stay here with the blessed thing. I don't know who I'm talking to, but God wants you to know, I want you to get in love with me and not what I do for you. Fall in love with the blessesser and not the blessing.
Everybody do this. I don't know where you are. Just do it. I don't even know where you are. You at your coffee table. You're in traffic, you shouldn't be watching me right now anyway, but you are. You can listen to the audio, you still want to watch it. I got to see what he's doing.You in bed. God is trying to overturn you. God's trying to literally upset your world. These people have caused trouble all over the world and now they're here disturbing our city too. That's the gospel message for the last 2000 years, it's going from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Amphipolis, Apollonia, and Thessalonica. That's it.
Corinth, Ephesus, Dallas, Tulsa, Irvine, Boston, Nassau, Singapore, Australia, Korea, China, Iran, Israel, Iraq. It's going all over the world. Now, he's here disturbing me too? You coming through my phone, Jesus? I didn't even know if I was going to wait for Tim's whole message. It wasn't Mike and I thought maybe I'll turn them off, but you're trying to overturn something in me. You're trying to turn me upside down or from heaven's perspective, we're trying to turn your right side up. The kingdom is upside down, but it's actually right side up. The world is what's going the wrong way.
Heaven orients us to go in the right way. Listen y'all, God wants to upset your world. He wants to do it in a way that causes you to be permanently changed. I'm not just this turned up because I'm a preacher. I'm turned up because I'm a believer. My world got upset. I spent the last 24 years in a partnership with the Holy Spirit being sensitive enough to go, "Lord, you want me to upset them? You want me to buy their groceries? You want me to give them encouraging word? You want me to give them a smile, give them a hug? Do you want me to pray for him? What you want me to do?" I've been upset.
I've had religion that's void of God's presence emptied out of me. I've signed over my declaration of independence and I am totally dependent on God. Y'all, he upset my world. Will you let him upset yours? Listen, bow your heads, let me pray for you. Father God, I thank you so much for this opportunity that you are giving us all to go on a journey, a journey to find you, a journey to receive you, and a journey that will literally turn our lives upside down.
If you're not saved, you might want to just open up your heart and your mouth right now and confess that Jesus is Lord, and God raised him from the dead. That you repent, you renounce your sins. You turn away from the way you were thinking about the way you were living your life. Not only do you accept Jesus as savior, you now receive him as Lord. Father God, I thank you for every single person that has made that declaration, prayed that prayer and decided to make Jesus Lord of your life. I'm going to be back next week. Told you, you're stuck with me. I'm going to be back next week for part two. Your world's been upset and I'm teaching you how to live like it. I love you guys. I'll see you next week.
