So glad to have you here. What
a happy day. Aren't we miracles of God's sovereign
free grace? I am going to do my best because
Sue Luther's here. She always times me. So 30 minutes
and we're out of here, Susie. All right, go. I just, I'm going to be, I hope,
the simplest I have ever been. I know simplicity, being plain,
doesn't necessarily save anybody. I know that. I know it takes
a revelation to believe on Jesus Christ. I know it takes the power
of the Spirit of God. But we live in a day of much
confusion with regard to Christianity and religion as a whole. I can
remember times in my childhood where I just couldn't find an
answer to some of my questions. I remember the first time I realized
that Jesus and Santa Claus did not know each other. I can remember the first time
that I realized that bunnies don't lay eggs. And then there was the whole
religious part, Santa Claus coming down the chimney with gifts for
good boys and girls, and Jesus being born in a stable. And I
remember also feeling that I should like Jesus more, but I wasn't
sure I did. You can laugh at that. You probably
had those feelings as a child too. Then, of course, there was
the whole Good Friday thing where everything was gloom and doom.
But on Saturday, we had an egg hunt. The eggs were multicolored,
actually tasting a lot like chocolate, and laid by white rabbits. On Easter Sunday, everyone seemed
happy. I thought it was because they
all got new outfits. I really never understood why
the ladies had on hats, but I really liked Easter bonnets as a kid,
I remember that. I also noticed many of the people
in church on Easter Sunday I never saw again until Christmas service. While I'm older now, things are
much clearer with regard to the bottom line, and that's what
I want to talk to you about, the bottom line. The world has
gotten messier in my 70 years, and religion continues to adorn
itself with what I think are rags and rituals. It's horrifying what is taking
place in the name of God and religion in our day. My goal
this morning is to give light to strip the camouflage from
the message of the Bible. To those of you who, no matter
what your station in life may be, whether you're an addict
or president of the bank and with us this morning, who have
almost lost hope in this crazy world, I want you to know that
the star of Bethlehem still shines very bright. Though it seems we are in the
three hours of darkness on a Friday afternoon in this world, in this
nation, and maybe in your life, let me say clearly, this may
be Friday, but Sunday morning is coming. For those of you who may not
have read your Bible, Sunday morning was the great getting
up morning. He arose from the grave. Now in our scriptural
reading today, Greg read this morning where Jesus tells us
in John 17 that he has a work to do, that the Father has sent
him on a business trip and given him a job to do. From the hill,
Mount Calvary, At the closing of the three hours of darkness
when the sun refused to shine, Jesus cried with a loud voice
and said, it's finished. It's done. It's accomplished. That is, the work which the father
gave him to do was finished and done. On several occasions, he
said, I must be about my father's business. Jesus was here on purpose
for a purpose. Now, let me be very simple and
very plain. The Bible is made up of 66 books with one goal and one object,
to deliver a message. There's only one message. It
is the revelation of God coming to Earth to save poor sinners. Many of you talk about the Ten
Commandments and let me be a bit blunt. You don't have them memorized
and you don't keep them. There are over 600 direct commandments
in the Old Testament. Do you know what they are? Then
how can you get to heaven by keeping them? This Bible is not
about how to go to heaven by works. Be careful about the Ten
Commandments. Don't get caught up in the Ten
Commandments. If the Ten Commandments do anything
at all, they're like a mirror who show to you and I that we
have a dirty face. God says don't do it, and we
see we do it, right? The second thing that I would
say to you today is The Old Testament declares somebody's coming. The New Testament declares that
the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That Jesus Christ was
God in human flesh. That God invaded history. What a message. What a truth. And we have every indication
of why God came to earth. Listen, if you could save yourself,
God would not have come to earth. God did not come to earth to
make Baptists or Catholic. He came to save rebels who could
not save themselves. We have indication of what that
work was. When John the Baptist was standing
one day by the river in John chapter two, Jesus came walking
by. And John made a big mistake because
he said, behold, the Lamb of God. And the Bible says that
they left the Baptist and followed Jesus. You Baptists won't like that
joke, but. At any rate, John said, behold, the Lamb of God. Lamb of God? Lamb of God. How does that connect with who
this man Jesus is? Oh, he's the sacrificial lamb. This message of the Bible is
very clear that Jesus Christ is a substitute that he is a
sacrificial lamb, that he came to die in our stead and in our
room and in our place and take our sins away. You see, sin is against God.
I don't know, we've almost become very, well, we're very fuzzy
in our country today and throughout the world with regard to what
sin is. Sin is against God. God, you
see, is holy. Man is born depraved, is a sinner,
and cannot save himself. The Bible says we're without
strength when we were helpless and hopeless and undone. Christ came to die for the ungodly. The Bible also says this, that
every sin must receive a just recompense of reward. I hear
people say this quite often, and now that they know a little
bit about me, they're learning not to say anything like this,
but often people say to me, I just want God to give me what I deserve.
Don't worry about that, baby. If that's what you want, that's
what you're gonna get. As for me, I don't want what
I deserve. I want mercy. I want grace. So here is the message that we
proclaim at Grace Centers of Hope and here at Grace Gospel
Fellowship. Did you hear the guy playing
the saxophone? You know, I'm picking on you
a little bit. And like me, Daryl was brought
out of Lodibar. So when I tear up around here,
I'm listening to somebody sing, or somebody pray, or somebody
give a testimony, and I tear up, I know where God brought
them from. From darkness to light. We're
all wonders of the grace of God. So Christ came to purchase. He was on a definite mission.
to pay the price. Did he pay it for you? Say, well,
how can I know? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He just didn't die for everybody
in a general way. He died in particular. And those
who come to him and come to him by faith can rest assured their
debt is paid in full. That there's no condemnation
to those that are in Christ Jesus. We are saved by his doing and
dying. By his doing and dying. You see,
you had a debt you couldn't pay. And a righteousness that you
could not produce. All of our righteousnesses, the
Bible says, are filthy rags. We had Bill Davis's funeral here,
and I was telling how, just last Saturday, and I was telling the
audience how Bill used to say to me on the golf course, I'm
a good person, aren't I, Pastor? I go, no, Bill, you're a sinner,
like the rest of us. And he'd say, you know, I just
don't quite get that. But he did get it before he died.
I mean, he really did. He trusted Christ. We're all sinners. We've all
fallen short, and Christ came and died for sinners. Now, if
you're a good person, you're in the wrong church, because
just look at us. What a mess. But we've been saved
by the grace of God. Amen. Somebody this week, several of
you have insinuated or at least made note that Miss P.M. died August 20th, and her birthday
was April 3rd, and she celebrated her 40th birthday, is that right? People said to me, Pastor, you
must believe in miracles. Your wife died and is alive.
I said, not only do I believe she's died and alive, but I believe
Jesus died and got up out of the grave, was buried and got
up out of the grave. He conquered death. And that's
why we're here today, not to be religious. but to celebrate
this truth. I serve a living savior. He's
in the world today. I know that he is living. Whatever
men may say, he walks with me and talks with me along life's
narrow way. You asked me how I know he lives.
He lives within my heart. My savior is alive. In fact,
I talked to him very early this morning and everything's okay.
Everything's okay. That's why he died. to save us,
and that's the good news. And what happens is this. Look
at what religion is doing. The Muslims, ISIS, they're all
doing it in the name of God, their God. That's not my God. That's not the Christian God.
The Christian knows this. that Jesus Christ died on the
tree of the cross and their room stayed in place, went down into
the grave and got up the third day, ascended back into heaven. And there he sits as our attorney. Any Christians here need an attorney
at God's right hand? I do. The rest of you lying,
you've all messed up. No matter what your profession
of faith is, no matter what denomination you are, you need a lawyer. You
probably thought enough during church service already. If it
were by works, we'd all go to hell. You've already accused
me of lying. He's not going to quit early.
It's not going to be short. Here's what the scripture says.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Here's what he said. He said,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be
also. Isn't that great? We're living in mess. And I personally
believe according to what I know from scriptures, it's going to
get worse. ISIS will probably visit the United States of America.
We're going to see things happen in the Middle East that we have
never seen before. I believe that's going to happen. But you know what? My heart is
not really troubled. You know, the truth is, I'm like
the rabbit who says, who got caught and says, don't throw
me in the briar patch. The rabbit loves the briar patch.
Absent from the body, present with the Lord. The only thing
you can do to me is take my physical life. As soon as I leave here,
I'm with the Lord. And it gets gooder and gooder
thereafter. I'm glad this world is not my
home, I'm just a passing through. I have a good hope that's steadfast
and sure. Listen, when I die, I'm not dead
like the dog Rover, dead all over. I'm headed to heaven. Amen. It gets better. So here's the Christian life.
I'm closing in case you don't know. I'm closing. I'm going
to just do a quick review, but I am closing. Who are Christians? They are people who have been
quickened by the Spirit of God and given spiritual life. And
they have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And their hope
is in nothing else. Their hope is not because they're
Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Church
of God, Church of God in Christ, Assembly of God, hallelujah,
Pentecostal. We're trusting Jesus Christ alone. Here's what the Bible says, for
by grace, unmerited favor, are you saved through faith, and
that faith is not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Think about what a miracle this
is. I have a few degrees. I have a few, so I've gone to
school a little bit. And here's what I actually believe,
that God came to earth. That's a miracle. I believe that
a virgin conceived. That's a bigger miracle. Joseph
believed that too. Have you ever thought about Joe? I mean, Joe must've had some
thoughts when the angel first came to him and said, the girl
you're engaged to is pregnant. What a miracle it is to believe. You know, pastor, you preach
that faith in Christ, just trust Christ, your life changes, you
preach that, you know, you just, that's really too simple. Well,
if it's so simple, why don't you do it? I actually believe that a virgin
conceived, God in human flesh, gave birth, that he was a perfect
man on this earth, always obeyed his heavenly father, weaved a
robe of righteousness that was imputed to me. I stand before
God today, just judicially, just as if I'd never sinned. I am
not guilty because of Jesus Christ. I'm as good as God in Christ. It was imputed. It was accredited
to my account. And then he went up on Calvary
and bare my sins in his own body on the tree, and God punished
him in my place. And my debt is paid. And when
he got through paying my debt, he said, it's finished, it's
accomplished, it's done. Now what? Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We see miracles here happen
in that way. Most of this crowd today, or
many in here, have been gloriously transformed. Your life has been
changed. And it's all because of the one
who sits at the right hand of God. and he's gonna take you
all the way. I love those passages and I believe
this in these dark days when I see, you know, the whole Muslim
movement, the ISIS, the hate, the malice, you know, Christians
are not haters. Christians don't cut people's
heads off because they're not Christians, amen. We don't do that. Actually, what
we do is, after we're converted, we start giving back. We want
to be like our master. So we start telling everybody,
I was worse than you, and he saved me. If he saved me, he'll
save you. Though your sins be as scarlet, black as all hell,
he'll wash them white as snow. Do you know that all the blessings
that we are receiving were all planned and predetermined before
the foundation of the world? Blessings, how come you got quiet
on that? Blessings that are, there are
no accidents with God. You didn't get lucky. You didn't
get lucky. There's nobody lucky, you're
blessed. And God blessed you on purpose
for a purpose. The empty tomb. There's no religion
in the world like Christianity. Buddha's dead and gone. Mohammed's
dead and gone. Has a few crazy followers in
the sense of ISIS and those folks. It's not true, Christians. It's
a glorious thing to be a child of God. Look what's happening
here. Miracles. Yes, we believe in
a resurrection. Yes, we celebrate it today. Yes,
we have a living savior. Now, Very simply, you came in
here an unbeliever. If the spirit of God would touch
your heart today and give you life, you would trust Christ.
I wonder if he has. Maybe some of you in here have
never been in church before. This is your first time. And
the only reason you're here is because they sent you over from
across the street. You're fresh out of the crack
house. maybe fresh out of the whorehouse, prostitutes, drug
addicts. Maybe you're a filthy self-righteous
church person. The blood of Christ can make
you whole too. Amen. I doubt that there is much that
God rejects more than self-righteousness, because the whole message is
he came to save people who are not righteous. That's the message
of the Bible, that he came to deliver us from the pit. And
I want to encourage you right now, maybe you're battling, I
mean, on your inside, you're so full of fear. You know you're
a mess. You know what I've said is true with regard to sinnership. You know you're a mess. Maybe
you're addicted, can't get loose from the demon. I was reading
last night about those that are addicted to heroin. What a horrible,
horrible struggle they have to get free, even physically. 10
times the worst flu that you've ever had physically. Jesus Christ can deliver you
from that and save you from that. In today's world that's gone
crazy, you want some peace? You want some joy? Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll know what you're doing
here, and you know where you're headed when you die. And you
can say, it's well with my soul. You can know that there is no
condemnation for you. There's no hell for you, and
that God has a plan for you. You're not here by accident.
You're here on purpose. Let's stand and praise a risen
Savior and say to the world, He's Lord. He is risen from the
dead, and He is Lord.