I Ain't Never in My Life! - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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I Ain’t Never in my Life!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Intro: One of the most wonderful things about the Christian life is all the new things that God has for us.

From Day One, it is all BRAND NEW!

·        New Christians are called “newborn babes” in 1 Peter 2:2.

·        Salvation is called “the New Birth.”

·        Jesus came to implement “the New Testament” Mark 14:24

·        Christians are told to put on “the new man.” Ephesians 4:24

·        We are looking forward to a “new heaven” and a “new earth.” 2 Peter 3:13

·        Heaven is called “the New Jerusalem.” Revelation 3:12

·        God’s mercies are NEW every morning! Lamentations 3:23

One of the highlights of the Christian is the long list of FIRSTS that God has in store for them.

The Christian Life is the greatest life!

Every day is amazing. There’s never a dull day in the ministry!

If you walk with God, there will be many days where you will say “I Ain’t Never in my Life!”

All things literally do become new!

I. I Ain’t Never in my Life HEARD This Before!

John 7

·        43 So there was a division among the people because of him.

·        44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

·        45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

·        46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

Next week, we’ve got Youth Conference. Bro. Charles Hamilton and Bro. Michael Lindsey will be here and they will unload the truck. Mark my words.

The week after that, we’ve got the Navajoland Revival in Arizona with preaching every night. (40 members going)

The last Saturday in August, we’ve got Bro. Bob Reno coming in for Leadership Orientation.

On September 25^th, Missionary David Cloud will be here for a 4 hour night of teaching.

In October, we’ve got some of the best preachers in America coming in for 4 days of preaching.

If you think that you’ve heard it all, you are in for a surprise.

And if you think I’m going to instruct them not to preach something you’ve never heard, you’re crazy!

·        That Bible is inexhaustible.

·        The riches and the truths are endless.

·        I don’t care how long you’ve been saved.

·        I don’t care how long you’ve been reading your Bible.

·        I don’t care how many times you’ve been to church.

·        You haven’t come close to hearing it all.

In fact, something is wrong if you don’t find yourself saying often, “I Ain’t Never in my Life Heard This!!

I don’t want to repeat what I preached just a few weeks ago, but Apollos didn’t know it all.

There were Biblical truths that he had not heard.

·        Acts 18:26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

He was mighty in the scriptures, but there were things he didn’t know.

Don’t get shocked if you hear truth for the first time.

If you do, you’re under the assumption you know it all.

Imagine how many Christians can identify with the philosophers on Mars Hill.

Acts 17

·        18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

·        19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

·        20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

·        21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

II. I Ain’t Never in my Life SEEN This Before!

Mark 2

·        10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

·        11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

·        12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Matthew 9

·        32 As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.

·        33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

I Ain’t Never in my Life Seen This Before!

Mark 8

·        22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

·        23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

·        24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

·        25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

You know what he said when he looked up? I Ain’t Never in my Life Seen This Before!

My life as a Christian has been filled with first-time experiences.

Seeing God move and work in the hearts and lives of people has made the journey priceless.

·        I’ve seen people get saved during an offering.

·        I’ve watched sinners run down the aisle under conviction.

·        I’ve seen old saints of God stand and wave their handkerchiefs and praise the Lord.

·        I’ve seen people give their jewelry and car keys in an offering.

·        I’ve seen church services last four and five hours.

·        I’ve seen invitations last for two hours while people were getting saved and getting right.

Trust me – you ain’t seen it all!!

You’d be shocked how much of the Bible you haven’t read before!

Jesus confronted the Pharisees with this question in Mark 2:

·        23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

·        24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

·        25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

·        26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

·        27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

They said, “We Ain’t Never in our Lives Seen This Before!

Jesus said, “Have ye never read your Bible?”

Jesus actually asked them that TWICE in Matthew

·        Matthew 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

·        Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The truth is, they no doubt HAD read it, but they had NEVER SEEN it!!

The problem with a lot of people is they are scared of something they haven’t ever seen.

They don’t agree with things that is in the Bible – they just ain’t never seen it before!

III. I Ain’t Never in my Life FELT This Before!

Acts 14

·        8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:

·        9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

·        10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

Acts 3

·        2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

·        6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

·        7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

·        8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

Luke 19

·        29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,

·        30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.

·        31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.

That donkey had never had a man sit on him.

Until today. You know what he said?

I Ain’t Never in my Life Felt This Before!

I’ve seen people get touched by God for the first time.

You know what they said?

I Ain’t Never in my Life Felt This Before!

I remember the first time I come up out of my seat shouting.

I remember the second time I did it.

I had never felt anything like that before.

I remember when God dealt with me about complete surrender.

The conviction and the moving of God was incredible.

I Ain’t Never in my Life Felt This Before!

IV. I Ain’t Never in my Life DONE This Before!

·        Acts 10:14 “But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.”

God confronted Peter about preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.

You know what his response was?

I Ain’t Never in my Life Done This Before!

You know why some of you won’t tithe? You ain’t never done it before.

You know why some of you won’t pass out tracts? You ain’t never done it before.

You know why some of you won’t go soulwinning? You ain’t never done it before.

You know why some of you get petrified thinking about leading someone to Christ? You ain’t never done it before.

You know why some of you won’t come to the altar? You ain’t never done it before.

You know why some of you won’t raise your hand in worship? You ain’t never done it before.

Conclusion: I don’t know where you are tonight, but I can assure you of four things:

·        God wants you to HEAR things you’ve never heard before.

·        God wants you to SEE things that you’ve never seen before.

·        God wants you to FEEL things you have never felt before.

·        And God want you to DO things you’ve never done before.

Are you up for it?

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Laodiceans in Revelation 3 were wretched and miserable and poor and BLIND.

One of the problems with the people in Ephesians 4:19 was they were “…past feeling…”

The ones deceiving their own selves in James are those that HEAR the WORD but are not DOERS.

·        James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.