I told the folks on Wednesday
night I was going to speak this morning on how to scare the hell
out of the devil or our enemies. There is a way, a proven way,
that causes fear among the enemies of God. Greg read to us from Nehemiah
6, verse 15, So the wall was finished on the
25th day of Eyal in 52 days. And it happened when all our
enemies heard of it and all the nations around us saw these things. King James says disheartened,
but literally they were very afraid in their own eyes. And
they perceived that this work was done by our God. I don't know whether you know
the story or not. If you turn to Nehemiah chapter
one, I'll read a few verses just to give you a little background. And I think there is a great
parallel. a word for us here with regard
to our own country and what's taking place here in our own
nation and the great need for awakening and revival and to
see a great need to see a demonstration that our God is not dead. I remember
as a young preacher, the Times Magazine had on its front cover,
God is dead. Well, I don't know what God you're
talking about, they were talking about, but mine's not dead. But
we need a demonstration. We need to see his power. And
I think to a great degree, here at Grace Gospel Fellowship, we
long to be in the house of God and be together because we believe
God's here. In fact, if God's not here, there's
no need of you or I being here. So there came a report back about
Jerusalem and the wall that was fallen down and in Nehemiah chapter
one, verse three. And they said unto me, the remnant
that are left of the captivity there in the providence are in
great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is
broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it
came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept.
and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the
God of heaven. And I said, I beseech thee, O
Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keepeth
covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive
and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy
servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night for the
children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children
of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father's
house have sinned. And then look at verse 11 of
chapter one. Oh Lord, I beseech thee, let
now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and
to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to reverence thy name
and prosper. I pray thee, thy servant this
day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man for I was the
king's cupbearer. And so the story goes in chapter
two that Nehemiah went before the king and he asked to go back
and to be the person that led the rebuilding of the wall around
Jerusalem And he prayed that God would give him favor in the
king's eyes. So he went before the king, and
remember, he could be killed for even looking like he was
down and not happy. But when he went in, the king
said, what's wrong with you? What's the problem in chapter
two? And when the king asked that
question in chapter two, And verse four, I think it very neat
how the Holy Spirit put this in here. The king said, or Nehemiah
said in verse three, let the king live forever. Why should
not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's
supplicators, lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed
with fire? Then the king said unto me, for
what dost thou make request? I love these words. So I prayed
to the God of heaven. That had to be a quick prayer. Nothing is scarier to our foes
than for them to see and hear of the hand of our God in overwhelming
victories. On the other hand, there is no
judgment worse than the silence of God. The church in organized formality
talks about a God who used to do great things. Vanessa found out she had breast
cancer. I believe there's a God that's
able to take care of that. Judy's here. I believe there's
a God that's able to take care of that. I know he will do the
right thing. Don Woodward walking around here
somewhere. God's able to touch him. Johnny
back there. Last night about 9.30, Miranda
called and said that Youngin was laying on the floor in great
pain and agony. And since Tuesday, he's been,
he was in St. Joe and out. And she didn't know what to do. So Ms. Pam came and got me. I
said, tell Youngin I'm coming to get him. I'm going to take
him to Beaumont. So I picked him up about 10 o'clock and sure
enough, he was laying on the front porch there. Tremendous
pain, just tremendous pain, all the way to Beaumont. and got in the waiting room,
you know, and had to wait. You know what, I didn't know
what to do, actually. I've never seen young and like that. But
you know, there are things that pain that can bring you down.
You may think, you may think you're pretty strong, but anyway,
there was only one thing to do, pray for God's intervention.
So when I left there about three this morning, he was out of pain
and doctors ministering to him and he got some sleep and we'll
find out a little later what's going on. Maybe pancreatitis,
but God's the God of pancreatitis too, right? God can heal. So there's nothing scarier than
the silence of God. In fact, no judgment is worse
than the silence of God. I would rather see fire and brimstone
fall from heaven or a universal deluge than the stony silence
of God. Just for God not to speak. I
remember, I was thinking about it this morning when I was a
young boy, My grandmother that we call Tutty, we used to sit
in the swing at night. She didn't have a TV, so we sat
in the swing and she'd show me the Milky Way and the Little
Dipper and Big Dipper, and she'd tell me stories. And she said,
Kenna boy, you know, there was a time in our country when even
unsaved men would honor God. She said, I can remember us having
a couple of weeks of what we call awakening meetings or revival
meetings at Zoar Baptist Church. And the guy next to the church
who owned four or 500 acres, we'd have church in the morning
and evening. And said in the morning when
the guy next door would have been plowing his field, he would
tie the horses up. all the time during service was
going on and would not plow the field until the service was over. That was a heathen did that.
You will note in our land that no longer does the heathen tie
the horses up. There is no respect, there is
no honoring. I'll tell you what can bring
reverential fear even from a heathen, and that's for God to show off. for God to do great things, for
God to do the impossible things. What has befallen our nation
here in America is God has gone silent. He's a stranger in the
land. He's like a man that's turned
to stone. And my great cry is, oh God,
speak. Let us hear from heaven. Let
us see the miraculous. Amen. You know what's a miracle? When God takes a heroin addict
with needle tracks and saves him or her by his grace. That's
a miracle. I don't know how many trillion
dollars right now is being spent by our government almost bankrupting
this nation. on drug abuse and trying to solve
the social ills of this country. And it's not happening. We're
worse off now than we were in 1963. It took a miracle to hang the world
in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. And God is
still in the business of doing that. I want to say to those
of you who are without God today, the worst thing that could happen
to you, my friend, is for God just to leave you alone. Just not speak to you. The worst
judgment upon this nation or church or individuals is, again,
that silence of God. And all God has to do, listen
to me, all God has to do for judgment to fall on a nation or an individual is leave them
to themselves. That's all. Just not speak. And the results of our natural
depravity will destroy us. Just let you do, just leave you
alone. I don't want God to ever leave
me alone. The demons of our depravity are
like maggots in a carcass. They'll consume us. And we see
that happening here in this country. That's exactly what's happening.
God is an absentee God. The President of the United States
said, we're not a Christian nation. I wish that were not true. And
I wish he would get saved. This nation is going that way.
What would be the answer for somewhere, maybe a little church
in the inner city, that God would baptize in His Spirit, and the
gospel would go forth in power, and thousands would turn to Christ
and be converted, and cities and neighborhoods would be changed,
and people would say, God did that. The heathen would say,
God did that. For us to begin to realize, too,
where there's a shout, God inhabits the praise of his people. For
us to realize that we're more than conquerors, that you can't
scare us. For us to come to understand,
if God be for us, who can be against us? And if everything
is working out for good, even in the valley, we can say, praise
God, from whom all blessings flow. God has every intentions of making
our enemies and His footstool. So the Apostle Paul said in the
Corinthian letter, you will often find the preachers of God in
the Bible mocking the devil or mocking death. Oh, death, where
is thy sting? When you go to the funeral of
a believer, let that ring in. Oh, death, where is thy sting? And remember this, on the third
day he got up out of the grave and so shall we. Remembering that our God is able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. You know, one of the great blessings
of my life now is I try to live it in that atmosphere and climate.
I don't care what I come against or what comes against me. My
God is able to do abundantly. He's able above all I ask or
think. And let me tell you, I have a
real imagination with regard to what God can do.
Now I'm gonna just note a couple of things here, and then I have
a little announcement for you. Note the work of the enemy is
to cause fear. God is not the father of fear.
He's the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who saves
to the uttermost. Fear will always hinder the work.
Always, if you look at Nehemiah 6.2, let me read some passages
to you. I hope you'll hold your Bibles
open and watch this. This is a very practical story,
I think, and an encouraging story for me. First of all, in the
sixth chapter and verse two, there was these enemies of Nehemiah
that kept wanting to discourage him. They didn't want the wall
rebuilt. And one of them was a guy named
Sanballat and Gishom. And in verse two it says, Sanballat
and Gishom sent unto me saying, come let us meet together in
some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. That's where the
term Ono came from. Sanballat said, come on down
here and let's have a conference. Well, the Bible says that Nehemiah,
with one hand he had a sword, and in the other hand he was
laying brick, a block. He was building the wall. Come down to Ono, but they thought
it to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them,
saying, I'm doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why
should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you? The enemy's always active, wants
to talk about things. And usually it is pretty negative. I think it's verse 11. Yes, verse 11 of chapter six. And I said, Nehemiah, should
such a man as I flee? And who is there that being as
I am would go into the temple to save his life? I will not
go in. Oh no. That's what he was saying. I know what you're up to. Same
thing in verse 19. Trying to put fear in him. It's interesting how Nehemiah
answered them in verse 20. Then answered I them and said
unto them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore,
we his servants will arise and build. We're not having a conference
about it. We're not going to talk about
it. We don't care about your letters. What we're going to
do is arise and build. Is that what we're going to do
here? We're going to arise and build. Now I understand. that with the Christian and with
me myself, even in chapter 2, 2-4, Nehemiah talks about having
a little fear. I know none of you have any fear,
do you? Does fear come your way occasionally? Of course it does. It does. And what we're trying to do around
here is really be an honest church. Honest before God. And we don't
want to have fear, we want to have faith. We want to believe
God. And I believe this, all through
the book of Nehemiah, when anything came up, he prayed to God. He
just prayed to God. Which way are you going to go?
Fear or faith? I want to choose faith. I want to live by faith
and not by sight. One of the great weapons of the
enemy is to get you afraid. Don't be afraid, little child
of God. Throughout the scripture, the Lord would say, fear not,
little flock. When you pass through the waters,
they shall not overcome you. I will be with you. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
in the fiery furnace. Cast in there. They weren't afraid. They wouldn't
bend, they wouldn't burn as the song goes. And the Lord was in
the fiery furnace with them. I remember several years ago,
I'm gonna tell you some of my experiences with regard to fear. Several years ago, there was
a young man over in the mission. And he was so undecisive and
so very insecure. And then there was just this
other guy who was always influencing him and took him up here to the
bar on Saginaw Street. Well, I heard about it, it kind
of ticked me off. So this was in my younger days. So I went
up to the bar. I walked in, they're sitting
there on the stool, and I said to this overbearing guy, the
bully that was always taking this kid out and influencing
him for evil, I said, I'm taking him back to the center with me. And then this guy got off the
bar stool and he goes, you're on my turf now, preacher. But you know, God is God in the
bar. I'll tell you another story.
One of our guys stole the van and took off. And we heard about
him being in a crack house. I'm not going to tell you what
street. But me and Young and a couple other guys decided we
were going to go and repossess the van. It was about one o'clock
in the morning. We found the place, found the
van park, and we were hiding behind these cars at the crack
house. And these guys started to come
out, and three of them had shotguns. You know, I just felt, letter
of the Lord, it was time to go back to the mission. I'm talking about what you meet
up with in life. 74 Seneca, anybody live in that
house here? Yeah, a few of you. 74 Seneca
was a crack house, and there was a crack dealer that was renting
the house, but he was selling crack out of there. And we bought
it. We got it. So I decided it was
my responsibility to ask him to leave until he put a 38 right
there. and said, I'm not leaving. And
I just felt in my heart, bless your heart, you're not leaving,
not today. I'm leaving. When we started trying to get
this place, it was called Sanctum, and it was an ungodly mess. Even the name, they were advertising
on radio, come worship as you've never worshipped before. So I
became very active, not only at City Hall, but here in the
community about stopping them from getting their liquor license.
They were 65 feet from our front door. So we went to Lansing,
the Liquor Commission ruled against them. And then many of you know
the story that within a few months, a police officer came in my office
and he goes, you know, they got their liquor license. I said,
oh no, they didn't get their liquor license. The Liquor Commission
has already ruled. I was there, ruled against them,
said they got it. So I called Lansing. And just
so all of you know, the Republicans were in charge then. And just
so all of you know, Republicans are sinners too. So anyway, I
was talking to them in Lansing and the lady goes, oh pastor,
do you didn't get our registered letter that we reversed ourselves? I said, you didn't send me any
letter. She said, what are you saying? I said, what do you think
I'm saying? Anyway, they did reverse, gave them their liquor
license, declared that we were not a church, we were a rescue
mission. I remember the city hall riots
over us trying to stop this place from being turned into a bar.
It was such an ungodly mess. I also remember getting phone
calls over 35, or the receptionist would get them and they would
be something like this, tell the preacher he's going down. I just interpreted that I was
going down to Kentucky for a few days of rest. And then one of our illustrious city
council members called me the poverty pimp. So when I read
Nehemiah, I kind of think, yeah, I could kind of be a little Nehemiah. They made little of God's work.
And Nehemiah would pray, and here's what he said. Nehemiah
said this, turn their reproach up on their own heads. and give
them for a prey in the land of captivity. You know, they tried
to run us out of Pontiac. Some of you don't remember that.
They tried to make us look like we were the cause of all the
problems. They raided the mission and took, I don't know, 27 people
out of there, handcuffed a six-year-old in the wee morning hours of 5
a.m. But in the end, the mayor lost
the election. The police chief was fired by
the mayor. The city went bankrupt. The city
was on the top 10 list for worst cities in America to homeless
people. But look what God's done. We have the clutch cargo building.
We're still here. We're bigger and better. We've never been against this
city. We're serving this community. Lives are being changed. Neighborhoods
are looking much better. Saginaw Street is not boarded
up. I remember when every building on Saginaw Street was boarded
up. The economy is on the move here in Pontiac. Investors by
the scores are coming to this city. I believe that's because
of God and the gospel. the work of God will cause the
enemies to reverence, to fear. It says, when all our enemies
heard and saw, heard and saw. Somebody asked me not too long
ago, Pastor, all those houses on Seneca Street, why, you know,
it'd be much cheaper if you didn't put hardy board on those. Oh
no, we're putting hardy board. You know why? It looks like houses
in Birmingham. Why would we do cheap? I want
people to see. People say, those houses are
beautiful. There's a reason for that. You
know, when I came to Pontiac Rescue Mission, I can remember
the reputation that Seneca Street had. One of the worst streets
in this city. Now the Sheriff Department gets
very few calls. It's a safe street. They mocked Nehemiah. In fact,
Nehemiah said that to Sanballat, he will prosper us, therefore
his servants will arise and build. That ought to be our attitude.
God's for us. We have nothing to fear. Nehemiah
would pray here, O our God, we are despised. Turn their reproach
upon their own heads. I'm just saying this to this
church today. God's done great things for us.
And it would almost seem like awakening is on its way. We're
not a boring church. There is the Spirit of God in
this place. And we are grown here because
of that. And this church ought to have
a reputation. And every one of the Lord's churches ought to
have a reputation. Don't get near that church unless
you want to quit crack. Don't get near that place unless
you want to stop using. But I'm telling you, there's
a power over there that's changing people from the inside out. And look how happy those people
are. Their reputation ought to be
God's in their preaching, God's in their singing, God's in their
witnessing, everything they do, God is in it. This church must
be known in hell. The seven sons of Sceva, they
liked what Paul was doing. He was doing miracle things was
happening under the apostle Paul. And the sons of Sceva said, hey,
we can make some cash off this. So they tried to use Paul's message
to heal people and to cast out demons. And the demons came out
and said to the seven sons of Sceva, Paul we know, and Jesus
we know, But who the hell are you? I don't think they said
hell, but something like that. Grace Gospel Fellowship, we know.
Grace Centers of Hope, we know. How do you know? Because Jesus
is there and people's lives are being changed. That whole city's
being changed. If you read the whole book of
Nehemiah, you'll find out that they not only built the wall,
but built the place of worship back. And Ezra the scribe read
the scriptures in 8 and 9, and the people all stood up as they
heard the scriptures read. And they began to mourn and repent
of their sins. And finally, Nehemiah said this.
He said, OK. We're past that now. Everybody's
to be happy. You know, there comes a time
when you really realize there's no condemnation. You need to
quit thinking about what you did 10 years ago. There's no
condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. There's not
a person in here who hasn't messed up. Let's move on to a place
of joy in the Lord. Again, I say rejoice, as we sang
from Philippians chapter 3 today. Joy, happy, glad. Review how
God, if you take, Psalm 44 is a great psalm. If you read Psalm
44, it's just kind of giving a history of how God blessed
Israel. And also the ninth chapter of
the book of Nehemiah, he goes over about how God brought them
through the Red Sea, how God gave them bread and quail out
of heaven, how he gave them water out of a rock. Now I'm going to tell you something. Seven years ago, about seven years ago, I met
a gentleman by the name of Bill Davis. We had a very unusual meeting
because I met Bill Davis in TCF Bank. And I had one of these
buckets like this. And it was full of change. And we were having some kind
of change campaign. I don't remember exactly what
it was. But I was pouring them into the coin counter. And as I was doing that, he tapped
me on the shoulder. And he said, could I interrupt
just for a minute? He said, I've been standing here
looking at the back of your head. Where do you get your hair cut? Well, I'd never been asked that
exactly before. And I said, you know what? As
soon as I get this done, I'll be glad to get you Pete's number. A guy named Pete cuts my hair
on Rochester Road. And he said, well, that would
be wonderful. He said, by the way, is that a charity? I said,
yes, it is. Grace Centers of Hope. He said,
I never heard of it. I said, well, we're the oldest, largest
homeless shelter in Oakland County. I gave him the whole spill, you
know. He said, do you take women's clothes? I said, yes, we have
thrift stores. He said, well, my wife just passed
away two weeks ago. She had a heart attack. Actually,
I found her in bed. She'd had a heart attack and
died. And we have lots of clothes. And I said, well, I'll give you
the thrift store number you can call. They'll be glad to come
and pick them up. He said, well, I've got some
furniture, too. So I said, OK. So anyway, I went
out in the car and got Pete's number. Two weeks went by, and somebody
came in my office with a $3,000 check. They said, there was a
guy in the kitchen helping us with the food, prepare the meal.
His name was Bill Davis. And he gave $3,000. So, and then
the following week, I'm trying to show you how God sets things
up here. The following week after he gave
the $3,000, I was in Big Boy at Dequindre and 18 Mile Road
eating breakfast. Lo and behold, I hear this guy,
hey pastor, is that you? I yell back, yeah, Bill, it's
me. He said, can I come over and
sit with you? I said, well, sure you can. He
sat down and he goes, I mean, we don't know each other very
well, but he said, you know, I don't have anybody to preach
my funeral. He said, would you preach my funeral? I said, well,
I'd be glad to. I said, you need to clearly understand
that I have never preached anybody into heaven though, Bill. So
I said, oh, that's okay. I just feel like I'd like to
have you preach me. So I said, okay. And he said,
you know, too, maybe we can talk more. I'd like for you to come
over to my house. And he said, would you mind bringing a bottle
of wine? I said, no, I wouldn't mind.
So I went home, I told Pam, I said, now, all you religious people,
just be calm now, just be calm. You see, I'm not an alcoholic.
And sin doesn't come in a bottle for you religious people. And
if you can stay, if you're an alcoholic, you better leave it
alone. Okay. So I went home and said to Pam,
What kind of wine would I take over there and where am I going
to go get it? She said, well, stop at maybe one of these liquor
stores where nobody would know you. I'm just being a little real
to you with you now. So if any of you saw that seven
years ago and you kind of, Anyway, I went over. I mean, I got the
wine, went over there. We were sitting there talking,
and he said, you know, Pastor, I just, I don't know exactly
why, but he said, I want to give you $10,000. Well, I don't think
it was the wine. I said, I accept. Anyway, he, He gave me a check laying there
on the table for 10 grand. And then, of course, to make
the story a little quicker, he bought the Bill Davis house and
paid $18,000 for that on Moreland Street that's been remodeled. He helped me print For Known. He and I would often be out on
the golf course, and I would do the radio program from the
golf course, Sylvan Glen Golf Course, and I would be talking
to Chris on radio about the zoo walk, and Chris was always writing
me about how He was in front of me and he was raising more
money for the zoo walk than I was. And Bill would say, that guy's
not going to get away with that. And after we get through playing
golf, he'd write a check for $1,200 or whatever I was behind,
he would up it and I'd be in the lead the next day. Needless
to say, we played a lot of golf. Approximately two and a half
weeks ago, Bill Davis passed away. He used to say to me, I'm
a good guy, Honorary Pastor. I'd always say, Bill, you're
not a good guy. He knew the answer to that. All of sin didn't miss
the mark. You need Jesus Christ. You need
a Savior. And lo and behold, his housekeeper
was witnessing to him too, and really led him to the Lord in
the hospital before he died. And we had his funeral here.
I'm here at Grace Gospel Fellowship. As most of you know, we're in
a capital campaign to raise over $5 million. Standing right up there in the
balcony, Bill Davis's son, Danny Davis, said to me, Pastor, the
family is going to give you a million dollars. So I think we have a picture
of the William A. Davis Women and Children's Shelter. You know, I couldn't wait to tell you.
I've known for about a week or so. So I was talking to Danny
the day before yesterday. I said, could I tell the church?
He said, sure, go ahead and tell them. God's done great things
for us. I've never been given a million
dollars. And of course, he saved me. He didn't give it to me.
He gave it to us to see this thing happen. And who would have
ever thought that a meeting in TCF Bank, you see what God does. You find instances throughout
the scripture. And for you personally, he's
going to have people cross your path. God is directing this in
our individual lives. Bill Davis, longtime roofer,
that was his business. And God brought him to us and
to all the future moms and kids who are gonna get their life
back. What a great thing. Well, I stumbled around a little
bit, but I want you to begin to see, yeah, there's problems.
Yeah, you may get a gun pointed at you. All kinds of things may
happen, but God is in the mix. This is a real life. I want us
to be a praising church, and we should be a praising church.