I'm sure you've noticed that
I have not said a thing about yesterday's football game with
the, or the person that scored the
first touchdown for the Spartans. Amen. That was my grandson. Okay. All right. A little bragging rights there. I'm glad that you're here today. You may be here and just so hopeless. You know, every year about this
time, I don't know how many people that I get to chat with that
are just absolutely depressed. maybe because of things in their
life. But I wanna make one thing really
clear to you. I think you know it. The gospel
is good news. It really is good news. Hopelessness is not known in
the quarters of faith. If you're feeling hopelessness,
it's because your mind needs renewing. And I hope I can renew
it today by the help of the Spirit of God. You see, no hope is not
in the new nature. It's fleshly. No hope is carnal. It's a part of you where no good
thing exists in your flesh. It's very true. And I don't know
whether you know this, Depression, I know a lot about depression.
I've been there, done that. Depression has to do with where
you get your head stuck in your belly button and everything is
about you and how you feel. To say that we as Christians
have no hope goes beyond the truth. God is the sinner's hope,
and that's what I want to talk to you about today. God is the
sinner's hope. The Bible says that He is a very
present help in time of need. The new man is jubilant, joyful,
spiritual, fed. The joy of the Lord is our strength.
And I pray today that you'll be full of joy as we talk about
the good news. Actually, hopelessness has no
home in the life of a child of God. It has no home. Hopelessness is a squatter who has no ownership to your
soul. Jesus bought and paid for your
soul at Calvary. Do you have a squatter in your
life today? Do you come in here depressed?
I hope you leave having removed the squatter. You're a child
of God, you have good hope. A hope that is steadfast and
sure. It's absolutely positive. I wonder
if you're here today I've been reading your mail, so you're
thinking, he's talking to me, somebody told him. No, every
year this happens around Christmas time. Do you feel deserted? Do you feel lonely, without hope? It really is a life from the
pit of hell. Jesus himself said, a mother may forsake her suckling
child, but I'll never leave you, and I will never forsake you.
That's awesome news. You say, well, pastor, you're
a pastor. I have failed over and over and
will never accomplish my dreams and goals. Has he not promised
this, that he who begins a good work in you will perform it?
He's promised that. What hope we have. Hey, he began
the work. He said he'd finish it. That's
a good hope. Do you feel life to be too hard,
too difficult, slippery slope? You seemingly cannot reach the
top. Child of God, you can do all
things through Christ Jesus. So I hope today you'll leave
here. That was the first message, that you'll leave here with a
good hope. Now, I wanna talk about the same thing, kind of. The holiday season, In the month of December, it's
a great season. It really is. Getting the Christmas
tree, that was always fun. Kind of crazy how we do that,
though. Decorating the tree, it's beautiful,
at least for about 30 days. Christmas music, I love Christmas
music. Miss Pam and I was actually out
at Somerset Mall on Black Friday. Something we said and kind of
made a vow that we would never do, but her phone wasn't working. So we had to go out there to
get her phone back. But I kind of enjoyed it. All
the lights. I mean, you couldn't, you could
hardly move in the mall. There were thousands of people
out there spending thousands of dollars. Children smiling,
Christmas cookies. It's a time to spend, at home
with family and the fireplace and those we love and those that
love us. Another good thing about this
time is the economy is booming. It's great. You're spending all
your money that you'll have to pay in January when the credit
card bills. But I asked myself as we were
out at the mall Friday, I asked myself, wonder, How many of these
people who are shoulder to shoulder really understand what undergirds
the activity of this joy that I have? What is it that undergirds
the activity, the joy that I have? It's really very simple. It's
a promise. It's a promise. You see, back
in the beginning of time, a horrible thing happened, horrible, absolutely
horrible, an event so tremendous that it plunged the entire universe
into chaos, into anger and sin. Man, under the influence of Satan,
rebelled against God, his creator. His maker. It was a treacherous
deed that day in the Garden of Eden. There was a break with
God. Fellowship was broken and mankind
was without any desire, without any desire and without ability
to make it right with God. What hopelessness! I have a good hope, but it's
not in me, and it's not in you, and it's not in what's going
on here. My hope is in the Lord who gave himself for me. What hopelessness? Man without
strength to restore himself. Some of you know something about
that. How hard you've tried to get
off of drugs, and you're not a bit better. Because the truth
is, In yourself, there is no hope. You are without strength. Think about that. That day when
the snake, Satan, a woman and a man tried to overthrow God,
overthrow their maker. You know what I'm thankful for?
in spite of what happened in the garden. And you'll never
understand the joy of the Lord till you know that, what happened in the garden.
You'll never understand Calvary till you know what happened in
the garden. The total depravity of men and
women. You were born into this life
with your great-grandmom and dad's nature, Adam and Eve's
nature, which is a fallen nature. You were not born loving God.
You were not born an angel. You were not born with a righteousness
within. You were not born even with the
desire to come to God. You hid from God. You forsook
God. We all did. But how grateful
I am in scriptures for the but God. But God. What a God He is. and you have
he made alive who were dead in sins and trespasses, wherein
in times past you walked according to the course of the swirl. In
your flesh was no good thing. You did what you wanted to do
and said, this God will not reign over me. Thank God for his sovereign
grace and mercy, that when you would not and could not come
to him, he came to you. Now I want to tell you what undergirds
the Christmas season. I don't know when Christ was
born. From reading, I suspect it was in the spring. It wasn't
December 25th. Some religious group called that. And somehow we got a Christmas
tree, and I don't know how we got all that, but it's like Easter. We're supposed to be celebrating
the resurrection, and bunnies lay eggs, which I never have
understood all of that. God made a promise in the book
of Genesis. It was the first promise that
God made wherein God said, I'm going to do something about this.
I'm going to reverse what just happened for you, I God. I'm going to crush the snake's
head. I'm going to defeat Satan on
your behalf and give you everlasting life. I will crush the serpent's
head. That was the first promise. And
then, oh, when you get to read your Bible this way and you begin
to, there it is again. There it is again. Somebody's
coming. God is coming. That's what God
said. I'm coming to earth to do for
you what you cannot and will do for yourself. I am come down
to deliver you. That's what God said. What an
awesome promise that is. And throughout scripture, Moses
and the prophets began to tell us somebody's coming. Somebody's
coming. And people who had the enlightenment
of the Spirit of God, the angel of the Lord, knew that this was
a promise that God had made in Genesis 3, 15, that he was going
to crush the serpent's head. And that salvation was going
to be, not by going to church and being good, but by God invading
human history and coming down to this world. I remember sitting
in Grace Church as a little boy, and I just couldn't get it, and
I wish my dad or other preachers would just come right out and
say it. Well, I'm going to come right
out and say it today. God has come to earth. He promised to come, and He came
on purpose to save us from our sins, and we rejoice in that. Isaiah would say, this somebody
is coming. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. This God-man is coming. He's going to be born in Bethlehem,
the prophet said. How'd the prophet know that?
Because God made a promise in Genesis 3.15. So when all the
hullabaloo about Christmas and all the lights and trees and
decorations, think about this. I've got a God who in his word
has said, I'm coming to save you. I'm coming to deliver. You're not hopeless. You're not
hopeless. If God be forced, who can be
against us? Isn't that a great truth? So God promised to crush the
serpent's head. That's the way to kill a snake.
That is the way to crush its head. And by the way, some of
you need to really get this straight. It's not, you know, the middle
verse of the Bible. It's not that you know the longest
verse of the Bible. It's not that you know how many
chapters are in the Bible. or how many thou shalt nots are
in the Bible, or how many books are in the Bible. The key to
the Bible is the promise God is coming to earth. And you find
Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks this book. This book
is such a closed book, unless you just get a very, actually
it's a very simple thing. God is coming. God is coming. And before, December 25th, we
will hear more about what God is coming to do. But when He
gets here, lo and behold, the Son of Man, the Son of God, He's
dying. We wouldn't suspect that, would
we? Except here's the truth. The God of the Bible is a just
God. Anybody go in court this week?
Over at court, they talk about justice. They talk about justice. Every once in a while, they kind
of excuse things and do nice things for us over at Grace Centers
of Hope. But for the most part, justice
demanded that you pay the price of your sin debt. Justice demanded
it. You have sinned and justice,
God's justice demands that you pay the price. You don't have
anything to pay, neither do I. That means we're in a heap of
trouble. How wonderfully simple but glorious is this gospel.
When I had nothing to pay, God himself came and paid and satisfied
his own justice on my behalf. Isn't that the craziest, most
wonderful, the most thrilling thing you have ever heard? That
God has come to earth. If we strip the garment off of
the religious part of the season, we'll see God fulfilling this
promise that He was coming to earth. In fact, in 1 Timothy
3.16, the Apostle Paul said this, and without controversy, great
is this mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Who is that walking the Judean
acres? That's God Almighty in human
flesh, not come to spy out our sins, but to deliver us from
our sins. Hallelujah. Praise God. Remember, I've told you that
my first message that I ever preached when I was, I don't
know, seven years old, eight years old, I preached this message
to empty chairs time and time again. Even at eight years old,
this was a thrilling thought. In the parsonage of the basement
at 7208 Jackson Street, I held church down there in the basement.
Nobody that was there but me. But we sang just as I am. We
had all kinds of singing. Of course, I was the song leader.
But then I would began to preach. Let's turn to John chapter one. I remember it so well. It's like
yesterday, kinda. And the word was made flesh.
That's what I would say. And the word was made flesh.
I would raise my finger that way. And dwelt among us. And I would say, hallelujah. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And you know what? Even the Spirit
of God, way back then when I was a little boy, would thrill my
heart with my own preaching. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was God. All things were created by Him.
Without Him, nothing was created. And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. What a great truth. You know
why? Because He promised that was
gonna happen. God promised that in Genesis 3.15. Somebody, I
heard a preacher say this on TV once, you know, God was not
aware that Adam and Eve was going to do what they did and had to
come up with a plan pretty quick. From all eternity, this God had
purpose to reveal His grace. Have you ever thought about this?
What if God had not revealed His grace? He had that glorious
attribute of grace and mercy. And here it is. Yes, he was just. Yes, he's holy. Yes, he's righteous. But there's this grace thing.
Here's the track some of you need to get on. If you're depressed,
get over yourself. He's a God of grace and mercy. Yes, you've messed up, I've messed
up. We're all a bunch of mess ups. But in sovereign grace,
God has come to save us from ourselves and from hell and Satan
and the world. and he did it on the tree of
the cross. I want to read some scriptures
to you that I've been reading all week. I've been reading these
scriptures and thinking about what to say to you. Let's go
to Luke 18. I'm almost through Luke 18 and verse 31. Then he took unto him the 12, and said unto them, Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets,
you ought to highlight that, and all things that are written
by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. Oh, Christ wasn't blindsided
by the crucifixion. He said, I know my sheep, I lay
down my life for my sheep. He willingly laid down, this
was the purpose of God from Genesis 3.15. A promise kept, for he
shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and spitefully
entreated and spitted on. And they shall scourge him and
put him to death and the third day he shall rise again. And
you know what the 12 said? They looked at one another. What
is he talking about? That's what they said. Verse
34, and they understood none of these things. Say, well, they
were saved. They were, well, not all of them,
but there's a lot that saved people need to really see. And one thing you need to see
is, that God promised in Genesis 3.15 that He was going to invade
history, that He was going to come down to this earth. Isn't
that something? You know, in our trip to Rome
and Paris and, you know, around the world a bit, I was amazed
at what human beings can do, what great buildings they can
build. And I remember thinking this
as we viewed those places. I remember thinking this, boy,
if man can do that, how big is God? The God that created. The God
who one morning walked out and said, let there be light, that
God. He's a mighty God. Let's go to Luke 24. This is
an interesting passage too. Luke 24, and let's begin reading
at verse 25. Then he said unto them, O fools
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,
all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory and beginning, oh,
I'd love to, I would have loved to heard this message, and beginning
at Moses. Way back in Genesis, and all
the prophets, he expanded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. Wouldn't you have liked to have
heard that? Jesus began in the book of Genesis and explained
to them all through the Old Testament the things concerning himself.
Behold, the Lamb of God, here I am. Here I am keeping my promise. I'll tell you, you'll have a
brighter tomorrow if you can lay hold on what I'm saying, that
you're not alone, that you have not been forsaken. Say, well
now, you know, pastor, this is a wonderful time of year, and
you know, I appreciate what Grace Centers does and all the wonderful
things, but you know, you don't know about me. Oh, but I have
a God who knows all about you. He saw you when you were a little
alley rat down on Skid Row. He saw you when you were in Lodi
Bar. He knew all about you. And he
just permitted you in his providence to dig a deeper hole. and deeper
and deeper until there was nothing left. Till Judge Alexander said,
you can go to Jackson or you can go to Grace Centers of Hope.
You go, hey, I think that's a good deal. I'll go over to Grace Centers
of Hope. And here you began to hear the
promise of God. then I'm going to come down and
save a whole lot of folks, a number that no man can number, and they're
all going to be sinner folks. The only people God saves are
sinner folks, you know. If you're not lost, you don't
need to be found. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. So here we're still in November,
but we're contemplating this. We're thinking about this. What's
all this fuss about? What's all these lights about?
These trees, this joy that's supposed to be out there. And
isn't it amazing how people all around you can be so happy and
in that big crowd, you can be so miserable. I know what I'm talking about,
and I know I'm talking to somebody. Your mind needs to be renewed.
I've been there and done that. You need to contemplate this.
Oh, what a wonder that Jesus found me. Out in the darkness,
no light could I see. He put his great arm under, and
wonder of wonders, he saved even me. Amen. Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which
testify of me. So as we go through what the
world calls the holidays, and we participate in umpteen parties
and bright lights and go to the mall shopping and do all of those
things. Let's not forget this great thing,
this awesome truth. God came to earth to save me. You know, I just can't get over
that. I just can't get over that. Well, that's what you preach
all the time. I know I'm determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know, I just don't feel like
I'm growing. You may not be. You're growing
when you get to this point. God. God has come to earth. Oh, that's growth. I wonder how
many of you today, for the first time you've heard a preacher
say, God came to earth to save me. I wonder if anybody here
ever met that first time you've heard that God, that Jesus Christ
was the God man. You've heard it now. Yeah, thank
you. Thank you for that. Jesus Christ was God in human
flesh. He didn't come down here wandering
around to do something some way or other for somebody hopefully.
No, he came down here to save his people from their sins and
he's going to do it. Let's stand together and praise
our God. You remember the story of old
brother Simeon? Old man Simeon. Old man Simeon
was hanging out at the temple because the Spirit of God had
told him, you're not going to die until you see God's salvation,
the Lord's salvation. And old brother Simeon and Mary
and Joseph brought the baby and old man Simeon went up and here's
what he says as he, the Bible says he took the baby up in his
arms. Can you imagine that old man?
Here's old brother Simeon. God the Holy Spirit has told
him to go up there and wait because the promise is going to be kept.
The baby's brought there. He takes him up in his arms and
looks at him and he says, let thy servant depart in peace for
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. I wonder how that felt to be
holding your creator, the God of the universe, there in your
arms. Isn't that insane? That's insanely
wonderful. That is so awesome. God in human
flesh. Junior, he knows about you way
back there. You're 20 years old, you came
in here drunk. He's been watching over you so
you didn't get killed because way back there in Genesis 3.15,
He made a promise that he's gonna come down here and get you. He's going to save you. And my
sisters, he knows how many abortions you've had, how much mess you've
had, how you've lived your life. God knows all of that. But way
back in Genesis 3, 15, he said, I'm gonna come and get them.
I'm going to save every last one of them that have been given
to me. Isn't that good news? That's
such good news. Okay, I'm enjoying my own preaching. Let's sing together.