All right. We are the people
of God. And if God be for us, who can
be against us? But if God be against us, who can be for us?
All right. Give me about 20 minutes here
now. A mother had made pancakes for her two sons, Kevin and Johnny. After each of them had enjoyed
a helping of pancakes, there was another helping left. The
boys began to fight over who was going to get the leftover
pancakes. The mother said to the boys,
if Jesus were here, he would prefer his brother and let him
have the pancakes. Kevin says, mom is right, Johnny,
you be Jesus. highly favored and blessed. When God intends to bless an
individual, bless a church, bless a nation, he always sends a messenger
to give them the news. In this case, the messenger was
the angel Gabriel. In the gospel of John, it says
there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same
came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through
him might believe. John bear witness to him and
cried saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me for he was before me. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. John was that witness that said,
behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
God always sends a messenger. Paul in 1 Corinthians says that
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. If you are here today without
Christ, there is tremendous possibility that you could hear the voice
of God today through my voice. Again, the apostle in Romans
10, 13 said, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How shall they call on whom they
have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Rest assured, the highly favored
are known by God. Their addresses are known. Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in the state of Galilee. Gabriel
was sent to a gal who was engaged to Joe. And God told Gabriel, She's a
virgin. Boy, God knew a lot about her.
She was highly favored. He knew what state she lived
in. He knew who she was engaged to. He knew what city she lived
in. And then he knew something most
intimate about her. She was a virgin. The Bible says, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. He is the good shepherd and knows
his sheep. Aren't you glad? Paul on one occasion was going
to leave Corinth, and the Lord said to him, don't leave this
city, for I am with thee, and no man shall sit on thee to hurt
thee, for I have much people in this city. Don't go anywhere. I have a lot of people in this
city, and I'm sending you as the messenger boy to tell them
about me. That's God's way. In Acts 16.6,
Paul and Barnabas were on their missionary journey, and this
is a most interesting story. The Bible says that they were
forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. and
the spirit suffered them not to Teri in Mysia or Bethnia. They were led by vision into
Macedonia and to the chief city of Philippi. Verse 14 says, and
behold, a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple was
there of the city of Thyatira. You say, well, what's so big
about that? Well, Thyatira was in Asia. I want it to sink in just a little
bit. The Holy Spirit said, no, you
can't go to Asia. You've got to go over to Macedonia
to a city called Philippi because one of my elector there, a seller
of purple, Oh, you that are highly favored, God's gonna get you.
God's gonna get you. The Bible says the Lord opened
Lydia's heart and she heard the word of God. Onesimus. Onesimus must steal
from Philemon, his owner. He runs off to Rome with what
he has stolen from his owner. and gets arrested in Rome and
thrown in jail with the apostle Paul. The Lord knoweth them that
are his. Thou art blessed and highly favored. Look at you, crack addict, heroin
addict, church addict, whatever kind of addict you are. We're
all addicts. God set a trap for you. You didn't
wanna come to Grace Centers of Hope. You still don't like it,
except this morning, something seems to be warming and stirring
on the inside of you. You're not here by accident.
You're highly favored. And I know some of you are like
this, who me? Does that preacher know what
I've done? No, but God does. The Bible says that Jesus on
one occasion said to his disciples, I got to go through Samaria.
And of course, you know, you've heard me tell this story about
how the apostle Peter, who was always correcting the Lord. And he said, you know, that's
out of the way. The shortest distance between
two points is a straight line. And Peter tried to explain that
to Jesus, and Jesus said, no, you don't understand. I must
need to go through Samaria. You remember the story how Jesus
had to send them out of the way when a woman came to the well.
She had a divine appointment. Oh, somebody here today I know
is highly favored. You didn't know about this divine
appointment that you had this morning with me and you in the
church of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, where you're
going to run smack dab into the arms of Jesus Christ because
you're highly favored today. I might just quickly remind you Who has God sent you to speak
to with the message of salvation? The good news. Who are you sent
to be a Paul to, a Jesus to, a Philip to? for the elect's
sake. See, God hasn't saved you just
for yourself. He saved you for his glory and
saved you to be a messenger to somebody else. How many addicts
do you know? How many people did you smoke
pot with out there? How many people did you use with
who are still out there? Amen. God has saved you to take
the gospel to them. The apostle Paul said, I endure
all things for the elect's sake, that they may obtain the salvation,
which is in Christ Jesus. Now, first today, I would have
you note that because Mary was highly honored, she was also
in the process of being blessed. She was highly honored. She was
highly honored before she was blessed. Oh, well, she was blessed
and being highly honored. I don't know, you get it right.
Either way, she was blessed. Here's what I'm saying. The angel
Gabriel went to Mary, and how religious when we get to talking
about Mary and the birth of Jesus. But I was thinking probably that
if the angel were to come today, he would say something like this.
Hello, Mary. What's up? You're highly favored. You're highly favored. Somebody
really likes you. In fact, he's here with you. He's always liked you. You've
always been very special to him. The apple of his eye. In fact,
he chose you out of all the women that will ever be born to bear
the Son of God. Highly honored. And if you read
the whole story, Mary was much like us. When the angel said
that, she did something like this. She was troubled. Who, me? You talking to me? Highly honored. Yes, Mary. You see, you were loved with
an everlasting love. Highly favored. Some of you here
today, wallowed in the stables of sin. Here you are, black as
all hell. Don't even know why you're here,
didn't want to be here. But in the providence of God
and in the power of God, he shut you up. to where there was nowhere
to turn, you hit bottom. And here you are in a homeless
shelter in the inner city in a church. It's kind of scary, isn't it?
When you think about it. You see, the truth is you were
elected. Who me? There he goes again. Me? Is that preacher saying I
was chosen by God? Let me ask you this. Is something
happening on the inside of you right now? Do you have thoughts? Maybe there is a God. Are you
sitting here and something beginning to stir on the inside of you? That is not an accident. That
is not your free will. That is not something that you
stir up. You see, the Holy Ghost is here.
The Holy Spirit is here. Jesus Christ is active today. I know he's here. You were preordained, and now you are being sought
out. The hound of heaven is on your trail. He's sniffing you
out, and you can't cover the smell. Yeah, that's a sinner,
all right. Yeah, that's John, that's Jill.
Yes, for sure. The Spirit of God, the Hound
of Heaven is after you. And Mary, she says she was troubled
at this saying. I can tell you the truth. The
first time that I really saw that God had elected me, that
God had chosen me, I had all kinds of questions like, how
could you love me? I believe when a person finds
out that God's loved them with an everlasting love, they're
startled. Some of you never heard before
you came here that God was an electing God, that He was a predestinating
God, that He was a sovereign God, that He was able to save
to the uttermost even the chief of sinners. And you came and
heard, and it was that message that the Holy Spirit took And
you even said things like this to yourself. And can it be that
I should gain an interest in the Savior's love? Died he for
me who caused his pain? She was troubled. And she said
to herself, that's called self-talk. Self-talk. Many of you in here
right now, You're going back and forth because you've done
so much mess. Oh, I'm not talking about when
you were unsaved, I'm talking about today. And you're going
back and forth. Could he really love me? You
don't have to go back very far to be caught up in the wonder
of God's amazing grace. that he loved and loves you. Are you amazed at being highly
favored? Look at you, you're not dead sleeping in your grave.
You're highly favored. Did you ever wonder how could
it be? That's what was going on with
Mary. I'm highly favored. You see,
Mary knew herself. The Spirit of God had turned
her inside out. Say, well, she was a virgin. I know. But probably
not a spotless virgin. Say, well, what do you mean by
that? I mean, because if Mary didn't have Christ in her heart
as well as at her breast, she went to hell because she was
a sinner. Oh, some of you are about to
pass out right now. Did he actually say that? Yes,
Mary was no saint. Mary was not sinless. I've often
thought about Joe. What do you think that guy thought?
Yeah, she's pregnant, but she's never known a man. I know Joseph. I know he went like that, right? You still with me? Highly favored. Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful
is the Savior's love to me. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus
found me. Down in Lodibar, no light could
I see, but his great arm under. And wonder of wonders, he saved
even me. The songwriter said, I stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder. And
I'm going to tell you this, no wonder, no salvation. Every saved person is amazed
that God could love them. because he only saves sinners.
And we know we're sinners and we have evidence that we're sinners,
but we stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and are amazed
at this gospel. Note that the angel answers Mary
when she said, how can this be? In verse 35, the Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee. That's how. I'm still there. I believe in old time Holy Spirit,
God wrought conviction and quickening to eternal life. The only hope
for you today is for the Spirit of God to be here and for Him
to be active and for Him to come where you are because you won't
come to Him unless He first comes to you. That's what's so awesome
about it. Jesus said, all the Father giveth
me shall come to me. Well, there it is. They shall
come. Yes, they shall come. And Jesus
then followed up with, no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me, draw him. Oh, you're not getting goosebumps
like me. I love my preaching today. I'm
just enjoying this so much today. You know I have bragging rights.
I was thinking, I read something this week in the New Testament
where the Apostle Paul said, I'd rather die than give up my
bragging rights. And I said, well, that ain't
right. And then I found out what his bragging rights were. God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross. Boasting is excluded. I stand in Christ alone. I have
righteousness imputed, bragging rights, amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. Has the Holy Ghost come
upon you? The power of the highest overshadowed
you? The Holy Ghost still overshadows
you. Lots of times the Holy Ghost said, you've gone far enough.
You're not going to go any further. Think about what you could have
done that you didn't do. That's called the Holy Ghost
in sanctifying power that has held you back. You're not nearly
as bad as you could be were it not for the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Apostle Paul said,
in those last days, the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the
way. Saints and sinners, the truth
is that the Holy Spirit is holding back. It does look to me to some
degree that he may be stepping aside and just letting this world
do what it wants to do. I hope not. In fact, I pray for
this, for a baptism in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is
the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who is omnipresent. Jesus said, I'm
going away, but I'll be here with you. I will not leave you orphans.
You'll not be fatherless and motherless. I will be here in
the person of the Comforter. I'm glad for the Spirit of God,
and he's here, and he comforts us with the gospel. Mary, the
power of God is going to be upon you. Nobody is ever converted
separate and apart from the power of God. Oh, it took a miracle
to hang the stars in space, but when he saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. That's the
truth of this Bible. And you have been made alive
who were dead. Remember when your whole life
was crack cocaine? Remember when your whole life
was self-righteousness? Maybe, do you remember when your
whole life was the bottle, or pornography, or adultery, or
fornication, or your whole life was getting a man, or getting
a woman, or your whole life was just taken up with something? It takes the power of God to
take that away from you. You've heard me tell the story
about eating in Ponderosa and the little boy, about three or
four years old, had corn on the cob and his parents were getting
ready to leave the restaurant and he would not put down the
corn on the cob. He just would not put it down
and was screaming. When I pulled out a Hershey bar
and went like this, let's trade. Oh, when the Spirit of God showed
you Jesus Christ, did a work in your heart, you were through
with crack cocaine. You fell in love with Jesus Christ,
and now He's the Lord and Savior of your life. And you have been made alive
who were dead, dead in sins and trespasses. dead like a man who's
been stabbed 10,000 times, inactive toward God. And then God came
walking in the Valley of Dry Bones one day. God came to the
open field where you lay in your own blood. You had not been swaddled
or cut. And God said, live! It was a
time of love when he sovereignly spoke to you. Live! And he quickened you. Hallelujah! Live! Today he's speaking to
folks. He's here today. predestination
went before and marked the houses in which the heavenly blessings
were to be bestowed. What an awesome thing. Think
about this. When you were out there in Lodi Bar, when you were
in the hood, when you were shooting up, when you were out there in
the crack house, when you were sleeping around, when you were
just one total bag of mess, God had loved you and had predetermined,
and you were headed this way, headed to God, headed to Christ,
being drawn by the Spirit of God. You are not here by accident. You are here on purpose for a
purpose, and you are highly favored. I know, I know, I'm trying to
convince you. I hope somebody is able to go
like this today. He made a believer out of me.
I didn't know I was highly favored! The Apostle Paul said this, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, having predestinated us according to the good pleasure
of his will. Think about that. Just think
about that. You old saints here today, don't
you know you're blessed today? Don't you know blessings are
coming out of the storehouse? I see some of you back there,
85, 80 years old, just kind of feel like you're living your
last days. Oh, that storehouse is still full of blessings. God's
still pouring them out. Because all things work fail.
Oh my goodness all things work together for good to them that
love the Lord to them who are the called According to his purpose
he has blessings stored up for you that you have not received
yet They're all bought and paid for they're headed your way.
I hope you're highly favored Say well I think I'm, I think
I'm, I think I'm about through. Yogi Bear was a smart man. He
said, it's not over till it's over. That's the truth. And God
still has blessings for you and things for you. No matter what
your age is, you're highly favored and he's working everything for
your good and for his glory. Some of you have an attitude
of Ichabod. You're down in the mouth. The
glory of God has departed. I think I'm saved. You can't even
sing, I'm bound for the promised land. You sing it, I'm bound
for the promised land. I'm gonna start calling you icky. The glory has not departed. The
glory will never depart. God's hand is on you. God's spirit
is in you. You're a child of the King. You're
a joint heir with Christ. You're more than a conqueror.
You can do all things through Christ. Your God is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think. There
is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Nothing
can separate you from the love of God. Be persuaded that neither
hype nor death, nor angels, nor demons, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, You're a winner.
You're highly favored. You're in the will. You'll never
be taken out of his will. You have a mansion, a crown,
a robe. God is for you. You are highly
favored by grace and thus chosen. You were loved freely. Have you
got it figured out yet? You were loved freely. In other
words, God loved you without a cost. It just keeps getting
gooder. You're blessed by grace. Every
good and perfect gift comes down from the Father above. Think
about all the gifts he has for you. He didn't save you to be
icky. Amen. I want you to leave here today
with a non-icky attitude. You're not a loser. How come
you're still living back in the crack house days? How come you're
still living back in the condemnation days? Some of you, it's because
you're going to the wrong church and hearing the wrong message. Grace doesn't make icky people. It makes people who know the
glory of God is upon them and they're highly favored. You're
not a defeated heroin addict. There was a young man here last
Sunday, trusted Christ, simply trusted Christ. Hallelujah. First person I asked about today
was, is he here? Checking to see God did a work
in his heart. You're not a jail bird. If the
Son sets you free, you're free indeed. Claim it. Acknowledge it. You're not who
or what Dad told you you were. You're not what Ms. Vandenberg
told you you were. She was my sixth grade teacher
who said I would never amount to anything. Ms. Vandenberg? Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I'm highly favored. Some of you parents are giving
your children that icky feeling. Stop it. Who said that? Some comedian used to say that.
Stop it. Just stop it. That's what I'm
saying to you as a child of God. Stop the icky stuff. Say who you are. I'm a child
of the King. I'm a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I'm blessed and highly favored. You know, I was thinking last
night about the things I know. I know that new women and children
shelter is ours and paid for. I know that that daycare will
be doubled for homeless kids. I know that that parking lot
is going to get done. I know we're going to turn this
city upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know thousands
are going to come to know him as Lord and Savior. I believe
this nation can be turned around, and I'm not going to sit on my
duff and wait. I'm going to be a voice calling in the wilderness. And then I'm going to watch as
God blesses America again, because I believe our God's able. I'm
blessed. Look how he's blessed me. You
know, I was thinking about how, about I don't know, five o'clock,
the sun had gone down. It was in the winter. I came
out of that, my office over there and outside the building of 35
East Huron. And there was people with red
hair and green hair and pink hair. And I mean, they looked
like there's some from other planet. They were lined up around
this place. I just held my hand. I said,
God, give me that place. It looked like the pink hairs
had it. But you know what happened? We got the building and the pink
hairs got saved. Hallelujah. They came to Christ, found significance
in Jesus Christ. Now let me talk to you seriously
and quietly here. Did you feel a joy springing
up inside of you that you've never felt before today? Maybe
you're here for the first time, you don't even own a Bible. You
don't even know what in the world is going on, you know something's
wrong. But you heard the gospel today, that God invaded history,
born of a virgin. Walked the Judean acres without
sin. Knew no sin, had no sin. Went
up on Calvary and sin was imputed to him and he took your place
and suffered your hell. Died in your room and died in
your stead. Today, you believe that. You trust him. That's right. Simply trust him. You may not be a theologian.
You may not know how many chapters are in the Bible or the middle
verse of the Bible or the books of the Bible. You don't know how to find John
3 16, but somehow or other today, a
mysterious thing has happened on the inside of you. You have
said that is true. I believe that, that Jesus Christ,
God in the flesh, took my place and bear my sin in his own body
on the tree. And you know what? I'm gonna
confess him. I had the guts and the boldness
to be a drug addict for 15 years. Or I was lost in churchanity
all those years having no joy. Today, I'm going to step out
and declare that Jesus Christ is my Lord. I'm going to confess
Him today. I don't know about tomorrow.
I don't even know about this afternoon. I just know something
happened in here today. I just know that I believe this,
that Jesus is the Christ. And not only that, but the most
ridiculous thing is, I believe I'm highly favored. I believe
I'm blessed. I have no reason to think why
I would be blessed. In fact, I have every reason
to think just the opposite. But somehow or another, I know
it's true. And I'm excited about tomorrow
because I know who holds tomorrow. I'm not icky anymore. I'm blessed
and highly favored. Ichabod is not my name. The glory
has broke out on the inside of me. Have thine own way, Lord. You're the Potter. I'm the clay. Let's stand and sing. Trust Christ.