Maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should have. Maybe I didn't love you quite
as often as I could have. Little things I should have said
and done, I just never took the time. But you were always on my mind. You were always on my mind. Tell
me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died. Give me, give me
one more chance to keep you satisfied. Maybe I didn't hold you all those
lonely, lonely times. And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine. If I make you feel second best,
girl, I'm sorry I was blind. You were always on my mind. You were always on my mind. Tell
me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died. Give me, give me
one more chance to keep you satisfied. Little things I should have said
and done I just never took the time. You were always on my mind. You were always on my mind. You
were always on my mind. What a fickle song. If Elvis always had Priscilla
on his mind, he wouldn't have treated her the way he did. The truth is that you and I experience
and know very, very little about this thing called love. There really is no love except
that amazing love, that unexplainable love, that love of God that passes
all understanding. The real songwriter, in an attempt
to talk about love, penned these words. The love of God is greater
fire than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest
star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair bowed down
with care. God gave his son to win. His erring child he reconciled
and pardoned from his sin. Oh, love of God, how rich and
pure. how measureless and strong it
shall forevermore endure, the saints' and angels' song. When hoary times shall pass away,
and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, when men who here refuse
to pray on rocks and hills and mountains call, God's love so
sure shall still endure, all measureless and strong, redeeming
grace to Adam's race, the saints' and angels' song. Could we with
ink the ocean fill? And were the skies of parchment
made? Were every stalk on earth a quill?
And every man ascribed by trade to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the
whole, though stretched from sky to sky. Always on my mind. You know that's true of God for
you and me. We don't have the fickle love
of man or the fickle love of Elvis Presley or Willie. The love of God. And all I want
to drive home today is this. You're always on his mind. Zephaniah, in the Old Testament,
there's an awesome verse there in the third chapter, in the
17th verse, which says, the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee. He's mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. You know, What an awesome thing it is for
God to look at you with joy. I saw both of my girls after
they were born and they were ugly. God looks at his newborns and
they are beautiful. in his eyes. I often hear new
mothers say that. Have you seen my little angel? Isn't she beautiful? And I always
like to be honest, so I go like this. It's a baby. So at least
I have something to say. He rejoices over thee with joy. he will rest in his love. I want to tell you something
right off. God is not resting and comfortable with your love
for him. What God rests in is his love for you. And that's
what I want to talk about. You're always on his mind. As
we follow this trail of blood through the Bible, We must know
that this event of bloodshedding at the cross was the ultimate
climactic event of the ages when Jesus said, Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do. And we must go beyond simply
that crowd that was around the cross. because he wasn't simply
talking about that crowd that was around the cross. Because
you see there at Calvary, all his elect were there, always
on his mind. And while I'm passing through,
remember this, that Jesus never prayed a prayer that was not
answered. Somebody ought to say hallelujah.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The long-awaited love commendation,
an act of love that has no boundary. Who can tell what is the breadth
and the length and the depth and the height of the love of
God which passes knowledge? When you even have a glimpse
that God would so love you that he would condescend to this world. And you know what you are and
who you are and what you've done. You say, love's so amazing, so
divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Right now he's thinking
about you. Some of you in here are not centered
upon Jesus Christ. Some of you in here are not contemplating
him as Lord and Savior. But if you're his, you're on
his mind. He's actually planning and purposing
and plotting your salvation, bringing you to himself. I know that sounds a little off
base to many, but it's the truth of Scripture. Jesus would go
for a walk one day and there was a little short man who just
was curious about him. He was a crook, a tax collector. His name was Zacchaeus. A great
throng of people are walking along with Jesus and suddenly
Jesus stops and he looks up and having never seen this man before,
he goes like this, Zacchaeus, You come down, for I must abide
at your house today. That's not accidental salvation.
As Jesus strolled along with that crowd, he was excited because
he knew what was about to happen. He was about to discover one
that he had loved with an everlasting love up a tree. I bet some of you this morning
are up a tree. You came in here out of curiosity,
but the truth is the Holy Spirit brought you in here to born you
again and for you to hear the message of God's grace. We were always on his mind. The
old songwriter said, it was love that drew salvation's plan. It
was love that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that
God did span at Calvary. This is not simply ho-hum love,
but love so amazing. that John would say all by himself
on the Isle of Patmos, Behold, what manner of love is this?
I'm always quoting that verse. What manner of, what kind of
love is this? You'll never reach the depth
or the height or the breadth or the length of the love of
God that passes knowledge. You can't even say why God would
love you. You and I are over our heads
when we talk about God loving us. We kind of go like this.
Why would he love me so? Why wouldn't he send me to the
lowest hell? And yet, when you're in the crack
house and in the lowest hell, you're always on his mind. That's God's love. And for those
of you who are church people, and you're always in some kind
of churchy situation on Sunday, you may not always be on his
mind. Church people need to get saved.
Probably the greatest group of people in the world that need
to be born of the Spirit of God are church people. Not many Amens,
you know, that's why. When I talk about the love of
God, and I was thinking last night, how we, when we talk of
the love of God, it's ho-hum. It's, yeah, it's kind of like,
love you. Donald Trump loved everybody
in Iowa, he said. I love all of you. I thought to myself, baloney,
you don't even know them. You had a motive. And I'm not
opposing Donald Trump. I may vote for him, I don't know
yet. I said I may. But I do know this, God so loved. God, what was it that brought
God here? It wasn't your church going,
it wasn't your goodness, it wasn't my righteousness, it wasn't my
holiness. What is it that brought God here?
Love. Love for who? Oh, we'll talk
about that a little later. This is not general love. This is particular love. This
is not like me saying, I love women. That won't float Miss
Pam's boat. This is what she wants to hear.
Does Kent Clark love her? I'm talking about particular
love and what you need to know and how glorious it is when you
find out you are always on his mind. He loves you. The apostle would try to explain
it in Romans 5 when he said, God commendeth his love toward
us. in that while we were yet sinners. Some people will die for a good
man. Some will die for a righteous man. But God commendeth his love
toward us when we were without strength and ungodly. That's
what makes it amazing. So amazing. Always on his mind. Not only
are we always on his mind, but we've always been on his mind. I mean, some of you, and I hope
you get it today, I hope you are able to go a little deeper
with me today. In the council halls of eternity,
before there was a world, before the Garden of Eden, before the
Passover lamb and the blood on the two sides of the door that
we've talked about, before the turtle dove offering, before
the great day of atonement, before the first dew fell from heaven,
God had a plan to save a people. God had a plan to save a people. And as we've gone up this blood
trail, you can't sit here not believing in predestination. God would not have left this
to chance. Somebody say amen, or I'll say
it to my, hallelujah! God did not leave this to chance. God did not send his only begotten
son into the world for the chance of saving a scuzzbag like you,
or me. If God's left it up to you, then
God's in big trouble, because we have about 120 crackheads,
heroin heads, shooters, and all kinds of mess in here. God is
not counting on you. God is resting in his love. Okay, I got a little excited there. Here's what Isaiah said. Surely
he hath borne our grief. Surely he... Well, let me ask
you this. Has he borne everybody's grief?
I don't know. I am not going to tell you that
Christ died for you. I'm not going to tell you that.
I'm going to tell you this. He died for sinners. If you qualify,
And I will tell you this, if you're not a sleazebag sinner,
I can assure you Christ did not die for you. But if you feel
yourself to be the chief of sinners, you're always on his mind. I'm
talking to the worst of the worst. Those of you who are sitting
back there hiding from this message, you think you've gone too far,
you've done too much. You're beyond the grace of God.
It is not true. You're on His mind this morning.
He loves you. I can tell you that. He became sin for us. He became
sin for us. You know, you needed somebody
to take your sin. And by the way, whoever he takes
their sins, he takes them away. If Christ died an effectual atonement
on the tree of the cross and redeemed you, your sins have
been paid for in full. He who knew no sin. He became
sin for us. He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. You're always on
his mind. See his face set like a flint. He's going to Jerusalem. Is all
that accidental? The disciples tried to talk him
out of it. You know what's going to happen
at Jerusalem if you go. They're going to arrest you.
They're going to kill you. They're out for blood. He set
his face like a flint. A noble man comes up to him while
he's on his way and says, my son is going to die unless you
come to my house. He said, go your way, your son
is healed. He took a little time out. I
said to myself when I was reading the Gospels this week, I said
to myself, you know, when I get stuff on my mind, you can almost
tell. I have a little, you know, you
can tell I'm deep into the shadows of things that are happening.
You can talk and I don't hear a word you're saying. Because
I've got things on my mind that I can't fix. Have you ever thought about,
as you walk this blood trail, and especially when you get into
the Gospels, and he's saying things like in the book of John,
by the way, guys, on my way to Jerusalem, I must need to go
through Samaria. Wait a minute. It's out of the
way. I've got to go through Samaria.
I know it's out of the way, but there's a woman there that I've
loved with an everlasting love who's a harlot and adulterer.
I have to meet her at the well. You know, sometimes I could just
flat out get tickled about the love of God. Isn't it an awesome
thing? you and all your insignificance
in me and all my insignificance. He has a plan and a purpose. And he came to save me, to redeem
me. Not because I'm better than anybody
else. In fact, I know a lot of folks that in outward conduct,
to me, they seem better. I remember growing up in high
school, I would think, I wish I could be like him. Even in the conflict of the ages,
even when his soul, when he was dying a spiritual death, never
has a soul died on this earth till we go to Calvary. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. Sin was imputed. Now I'm over
my head here and probably over most of your heads as well, dying
a spiritual death. He had this thought, Father,
it's about over. I'm about to cry, it is finished. Father, I'm thinking about them. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. Have you ever been under such
stress you couldn't think? And really people got on your
nerves. I mean, you were under such stress. Can you imagine? He had just been in the Garden
of Gethsemane. He had just sweat, as it were,
drops of blood. The clock was running. The computer
was running. And Himalayas of sins was being
imputed to him. All of your sins. Wanted to think about it, it's
a glorious thing. Took all of your mess and imputed
it to Jesus Christ. Took my mess, charged it to Jesus
Christ. What strange and awful sensations
must have come over the perfect man, the God-man, who knew no
sin, had no sin, thought no sin, did no sin, and now sin and guilt
is being imputed. And yet you're always on his
mind. Forgive them for they know not
what they do. Jesus never prayed a prayer that
was not answered. And when you go to the 17th chapter
of the book of John, which I'd like for you to turn there with
me, And I want you to see something
perhaps you've never seen before. It's glorious, it's awesome. The Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy
2.19 said this, nevertheless, the foundation of God stand assure
having this seal. The foundation of God stand assure
having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. The Lord knows. them that are
his. So I don't know pastor, I don't
know whether I believe that Calvinistic stuff. I don't know about that
doctrine of election. And I don't know about that.
The Lord knoweth them that are his. You did not save yourself. If you're saved, God saved you.
God knows his kids, all of them. In fact, what he's going to say,
when we all get there. Father, I have a pronouncement. Father, I and the children which
thou hast given me, any of them missing? No, they're all here,
redeemed by my blood. And then the hallelujahs of a
number of people that no man can number. Please understand
that when I preach the doctrine of grace, I'm not talking about
God taking three or four people to heaven who are good people.
I'm talking about God taking a number that no man can number. Those who've lived in the slime
and the miry clay and in the caves of iniquity and have hid
out, they've been sought out and brought to the feet of Jesus
Christ. And they'll praise Him throughout
eternity. Jesus said this in John 10. I'm the good shepherd. I know
you're holding your place in John 17. I'll get there. Jesus
said, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for all the goats and sheep. He didn't say that. He said,
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. No man taken my life from me.
And then, you know, those Pharisees got all stirred up and they were
ready to crucify him for what he had just said. And here's
what Jesus said, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. My sheep hear my voice. Do you hear his voice today?
Calling you maybe for the first time you're kind of shaking your
head About who me always on his mind me. I Just used two days ago Yeah,
you were on his mind then too You're not here by accident He
brought you in here to hear some good news some glad tidings. I And here's what Jesus said, too,
there at John 10. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and I give unto them, them who? The sheep who hear his voice. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. You know, a sheep is the dumbest
animal in the barnyard. You know, you can take a dog,
you can take a dog and drop him off 10 miles from home. And before
you get back, he's back. You can take a sheep a hundred
yards from the barnyard, let him get out and wander. He has
no idea where he is or how to get home. I've heard people say, oh, Jesus
chose the sheep to be a type of his people. Yes, he did. Stupid,
dumb sheep. He said, I give them eternal
life. No man's able to pluck them out of my father's hand.
You don't want to be in your own hands. You don't want to
be the captain of your own ship. You don't want to do simply what
you want to do. In fact, more than anything else
in all the world, if you're here without the Lord today, you ought
to want Him to mold you and make you. That's what you need. You're not willing until He makes
you willing. You'll never come to Christ until
the power of God works in you. Is the power of God working today
in you through the gospel? You feel something. You sense
something. You almost want to put your hand
up. It seems so amazing and almost too good to be true. Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do. Watch this in John 17. This is
amazing. Always on his mind. Look at verse
nine. I pray for them. By the way,
John 17 is the Lord's prayer. If you want to read the Lord's
prayer. Now there's a model prayer. Our Father which art in heaven,
most of you quoted that in mass or somewhere. But that's not the Lord's prayer.
That was the model prayer. Here's the Lord's prayer. These
words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven in verse
one and said, Father, the hour has come. So Jesus is praying. And here's what he said. I pray
for them. I pray not for the world. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, we got a problem here. I thought the love of Jesus was
universal. No, it's peculiar, particular. It's awesome. It's quite shocking
whom he loves. Have you ever seen an absolutely
ugly guy with the most beautiful girl? And you go, what on earth
was she thinking? That's a poor illustration. But
Jesus Christ, the beautiful one, the awesome one, the handsome
one, the holy one, is all I saw, ugly folks. Isn't that something? I pray not for the world. Who's
the world? It may be multimillionaires out
there. It may be all those self-righteous people who think they're better
than everybody else. who wouldn't come into an inner
city church, even think about it. You know, I know this sounds
strange, but I might as well say it, I'm thinking it up here.
It was awesome how when the Lord took David Mardigan out, he brought
all those other folks in here. They didn't never come in here.
God is a providential God. God is moving the checkers. I'm
still waiting to see who got saved at that funeral. I'm still
waiting to hear what God did during that funeral here. I pray
not for the world. Now when you get that all figured
out and you can explain how God has a general love for everybody
and he's trying to get everybody saved but he can't do it because
they won't let him, that won't fit here. I want to talk to those of you
who have a hunger and a thirst in your heart. If you never have
it, you'll never come to the water of life. If you never have
it, you'll never come to the bread of life. If you never have
it. You see, you're in a mess. You're
in a mess without Christ. Here's the fix you're in. You're
dead in your sins and trespasses. You better hope Jesus prayed
for you. Simon Peter was never going to
let the Lord down. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah. They all may leave you, but I'll never leave
you. Cock-a-doodle-doo. The rooster crowed. He denied
the Lord three times. And the Lord said to him, Peter,
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. Let me tell you something. You wouldn't keep on keeping
on if Jesus hadn't prayed for you. I would not be in this pulpit
today if Jesus had not prayed for me. That my faith fail not. So I pray for them. Them who? Them which thou hast given me.
Oh. Oh. God gave some folks to Christ? Yes. Look at verse 2, as thou has
given him power over all flesh. Does he have power over all flesh?
Yes, he does. That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou has given him. Is that what your Bible
says? Then believe that. to as many as thou hast given
him. It would seem like, well, verse
11, and now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
which thou hast given to me. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me. I was given to Christ. And all
of this happened before the foundation of the world. I think one of the most amazing
passages in all of the Bible is found here in John 17. Let
me read it to you. Verse 23. I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast
loved me. I don't get that. I was always
on his mind. God has loved me as he has loved
Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, that's something. I mean, I'm standing out. I know
I'm the preacher, and I know I'm supposed to explain that,
but right now I got goosebumps, and I have no idea the depth
of that. I have a lot of questions. How
could God love me like he loved his own son? I'm always on the
mind of God. You see, there's this thing called
the eternal counsel that the Bible talks about. That before
the foundation of the world, The triune God had a council,
a meeting, and I know I'm breaking it down, trying to break it down
so we can grasp it. God the Father was there, God
the Son was there, and God the Holy Spirit was there. And this
is simple elementary stuff, the way I'm trying to break it down,
but it's so true. You see, God the Father on his
part elected a number of people that no man can number. He chose
them. That's called election. So I
don't know whether I believe the way you believe the Bible.
Ephesians 1, 4, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. I'm always on his mind. Yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with cords of
love I have drawn you. Before I formed you in your mother's
belly, I already loved you and ordained you to eternal life.
And we're bound to give thanks for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you, 2 Thessalonians
2.13. Put that in your pipe and smoke
ad. That's the Word of God. That's
not something to hate. That's not something to fight.
And you say, well, that leaves people out. No, I'll tell you
what leaves people out. If God doesn't do something for
somebody, that leaves everybody out. If God doesn't take the
initiative, if God doesn't choose, you're always on His mind. He
saw you running. He saw you in the hood. He saw
you setting the fires. He saw you robbing banks. He
saw you. He saw you. He saw you. And loved you and kept you alive
until you came to repentance and faith, having been drawn
by the Spirit of God. Here's a passage for you. Think
about this. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Shall? And him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Oh, you have a destiny. You have
a date to come to Christ. And let me assure you, some of
you are going, well, I wonder if I went forward trusting Christ. I wonder if God would reject
me. I mean, he knows all the mess I've done. No. He won't
turn thumbs down on you. I mean, right now, if you want
to run down this aisle and fall up here and say, I'm trusting
Christ, come ahead. Nobody's stopping you. Amen. Here's what Jesus said. This
is in your red Bibles. No man can come to me except
the spirit of God draw him. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me, every last one of them. I don't know who you are.
I don't know why you're here. I don't know how you got here,
but I do know this. If you're his today, he's calling
you. Can you hear your Savior calling?
Can you hear your Savior calling? Through my voice, do you hear
the voice of God? Through the gospel of Jesus Christ
calling you to repentance and faith, You were always on his
mind. Always on his mind. The everlasting covenant, the
love of God. Now here, I'm gonna let you go.
We're gonna go. But I just want you to think
about this. We've been on this blood trail
for months now. Do you think after seeing all
of the stuff that's going on, and how that it was done according
to the scripture. And now we've got to calvary
the climactic event of the ages, the purpose of God, the one purpose
of God to redeem a people. Could it all be left to chance?
Would God, would you give your only son for the chance of somebody
perhaps being saved? I doubt if you would. I can only
speak for myself. I wouldn't. God wouldn't either. So you're sitting here among
400 people. and you're a little uncomfortable
because things are going on on the inside of you, you want no
one to know. I mean, there may be a tear trickling
down your cheek, so you yawn to kind of cover it up. Or you look at me like this. because right now you're scared
to death. You're scared in this sense.
Is he talking to me? Spirit of God bearing witness
with the message today, he's talking to you. Do you hear it? Do you hear him? The Holy Spirit? If you do hear, it's because
you've already been quickened. Your ears have been opened. You have spiritual life. You're
like a newborn. You're crying. And probably, you know, you're gonna
mess your diapers and all kinds of things as a young Christian,
that's going to happen. But the spirit of God keeps on
drawing you. You keep on growing. Now, I will
tell you, We got a little bit of meat today. This was not baby
food, so to speak. I didn't have a baby bottle,
but I gave you a T-bone. You're always on his mind. And
when you walk out of here and you're thinking about, you know,
the devil, his great ploy is to get you to think you're not
on his mind. You've messed up. You've gone
too far. You've done too much dirt. You're such a crazy person. If you just leave here with this, I'm always on his mind. He promised
never to leave me nor forsake me. He's promised to direct my
steps. He'll pick me up when I fall.
Greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world. He that
hath begun a good work in me will perform it. He's going to
accomplish it. He didn't save you to take you
a fourth of the way or half of the way. He's going to take you
all the way. Say, well, how do you, how do you know that pastor?
How do you know that? Because all things are working
for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. For whom he did for love, he
also did predestinate. Whom he predestinated, them he
also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. Whom he justified, them he also glorified. I am persuaded that neither life
nor death nor all those demons out there, principalities, powers,
things present, what's going on right now, things to come,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, sometimes I get so
depressed, Pastor. Sometimes I get so depressed. He knows all about your depression.
He knows all about it. Been there, done that. He'll
bring you through. And by the way, what are you
depressed about if you're always on his mind? If he has a plan
for you, you mess up, you fall down, he picks you up. And you
know what? Most of the time he's carrying
us. Most of the time he's carrying
us. Aren't you glad he carries you? Just to those of you who
are without Christ, let me say this again. Pastor, I don't know
whether I'm elected. I don't know about all that predestination.
That's none of your business. Your business is to trust Christ
right now. Your business is to confess Christ
right now. And actually, when I'm talking
about predestination, when I'm talking about God's election,
I'm talking to God's people. That's to lift you up. Because
you have so much mess, you have every reason to think you're
not His. You oughta, amens oughta going
up all over this place. You have every reason to think
you're not His because of what happens through your life, every
day. There's enough mess in your life,
every day, you go like, how could I be saved and think that and
do that? So election is for you, the people of God. For those
of you who have not come to Christ, that's none of your business.
Your business is to skedaddle to Jesus Christ as fast as you
can. and trust Him and believe on
Him. And guess what? Soon after you
trust Christ, you'll find out, I was chosen. This wasn't an accident. I was
on His mind all the time. And you'll get happy again. And
that's what's happened today as we sing every praise to our
God. Well, Carolina's probably gonna
win tonight. Okay. We're glad to have you
today. Glad that you're here. Those
of you without Christ as you leave, I hope you leave here
and you'll go home and crawl up under your bed somewhere and
ask God to be merciful to you, the sinner, because he will.
He will. I guarantee you, if you cry,
He'll answer. If you trust Him, thou shalt
be saved. He's given the guarantee. Him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's any
him, black him, white him, red him, rich him, poor him, church
him, drunk him, prostitute her. The free offer of the gospel
come to Christ. Amen. All right. Sometimes when I get here, I
don't want to go home. Greg, you come and dismiss this
with you. I can say this, and I do love you. You know what? I love being your pastor. I love
being here. I love you being my sheep. It's
the love of God. We have a great relationship
here. And God is doing such awesome things. Things that I've been
praying for for 50 years. And it's a marvel to me. An absolute
marvel and wonder. And Milton used to sing, my God
is real. My God is real. Every day he's
real. All right, Greg, you come and
dismiss this.