I'll talk to you today on the
subject blessed and highly favored. The story of Mephibosheth that
Greg has read to us this morning. Mephibosheth being blessed by
King David is one of my favorite grace stories in scripture. And
I know you can tell because I often mention him when I'm preaching. There are so many stories in
scripture that magnify the grace of God and are pictures of the
grace of God, like the story of Mephibosheth. The story of
the babe that was born and left out in the open field is a picture
of God's grace. That baby was not cleaned or
swaddled, was not powdered, and was left out in the field to
the loathing of itself, the scripture says in the book of Ezekiel.
That baby was without strength. The apostle Paul said in Romans,
when we were without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. A story of grace. The valley of dry bones without
strength. And the prophet was asked by
the Lord, can these bones live? And he said, thou knowest. And
God said, preach to the dry bones. And the preacher began to preach.
And a miracle happened. The bones began to shake and
to come together. And flesh came on the bones. They could do nothing for themselves.
And yet there was a God of grace, a picture of the grace of God. The story of Gomer the harlot
who married the preacher and had affair after affair, ended
up being pimped down on Skid Row. And Gomer came looking for her. And all the time she was pimping
herself out, Hosea's servant was watching over her, taking
care of her. That is what we call prevenient
grace, not preventing grace, but grace before grace. Did you
know you had the grace of God resting on you before you were
converted? God was protecting you. That
was grace before he revealed himself to you. Jonah, who couldn't get his message
right, swallowed by the great fish, but lived three days and
three nights in the fish's belly, went to Wales Valley University,
and then he got the right message. He said, salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation by grace. The story that we've heard about
the potter and the clay. Not much about clay. Clay can't
fashion itself. Clay can't make itself. Clay
can't mold itself. That was you and I, but there
was a heavenly potter who fashions and molds us. The Bible is filled
with grace stories. We are saved to the praise of
the glory of his grace. If it's not by grace, then it's
by works. It can't be by both. It's not
grace and works. So either you lift your hand
up and say completely, to the glory of God am I saved. I've
been predestined to glorify him and to praise him. Moses, you
remember, wanted to see God's glory. The Lord told him he could
not see the full glory and live. Do you know you would have a
heart attack and I would too if I could really completely
see the full, rich, marvelous grace of God in my life? You couldn't bear it. Well, some
of you are about to fly away just a few minutes ago, right?
There was a hallelujah. Think about what it's gonna be
when we stand before God and we have a clear understanding,
not as clear as it will be because Ephesians 2 says that through
the ceaseless ages of eternity, while eternities pile themselves
one on top of another, God is going to be revealing to us the
riches of his grace and mercy to us in Christ Jesus. So Moses would hit in the cliff
to the rock so he wouldn't die. But he got a glimpse of it. And
you know, I think it's the 33rd chapter of the book of Exodus.
He got a glimpse of the mercy and grace of God. And God said,
here is my glory. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. Until you've got to that place.
where you understand it's not your will, it's not your works,
it's not self-salvation, it's not baptismal regeneration. God actually, sovereignly picked
me, saved me on purpose. I'm old enough now where I can
say it. God saves who He wants to. I've heard it long enough it's
not true. God's not trying to save anybody. His name shall
be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
Do you want to be saved? You will be. So I don't understand
what you just said. It sounds like it contradicts
No, no. If you're here today and something
inside of you is burning toward Christ, you want to know him,
you see you like Mephibosheth are a dead dog, helpless, hopeless,
unworthy, then the Spirit and the bride say, come, I'm getting
happy. Let him who is a thirst come.
Whosoever will, let him come. You can come now. You can come
while I'm preaching. You can come at the close of
the service. In fact, I'd love to see the
day and long to see the day. And we've seen it a few times
when the Spirit of God was on this place in such a way that
people just came while I was preaching. I call that Holy Spirit
interruption. You're in a dangerous place today
if you're without Christ. A miracle could happen today. Here's the background on this
Mephibosheth. He was five years old when his
father was killed by David's men. His name was Saul, King
Saul. Who hated David? He just hated
David. He was 12 when David was made
king, this Mephibosheth. Saul hated David and wanted to
kill him. Jonathan was Saul's son. And he and David loved each
other. Now, in spite of what's going
on in our world, it's all right for guys to have a best buddy.
Amen. It's all right for guys to love
one another in a Christian way. It's all right, guys. You can
say amen to that. I know what some of you are thinking. But
David and Saul loved each other. They were best friends secretly.
And David, who was trying to be killed by Saul, and Jonathan,
who was Saul's son, David and Jonathan made a covenant. There
was an agreement made together that David would keep the oath
that he had made for Jonathan's sake. By the time David began
to seek Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth had married and had a young son
actually. David began to inquire about
any that were left of the household or family of Saul. And Ziba was
a relative of Saul and was asked to come to the king's court where
David inquired of him concerning Saul's family to see if there
were any left of the house of Saul. that he might keep the
oath that he had made to Jonathan. David said to Ziba, I want to
make it clear that I don't want to kill those family members
who may be alive. I don't want to kill them. I
want to show them the kindness of God. You know, I have read
this story thousands of times. Never has that little phrase
jumped out at me and it is repeated over and over in this story of
Mephibosheth. I want to show the kindness of
God unto him. Great kindness, some large favor
and or benefit. I want to show the kindness of
God. You'll find that again in 1 Samuel
20 and verse 14. Has the Lord been good to you?
Has he been good to you? Then you and I are to show the
kindness of God to other people. It's a way of glorifying God,
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do to the glory of God. I'm good to those who don't deserve
it because I want to show you the goodness of God, the kindness
of God. Do you know it's not rules and
regulations that bring you to salvation? 25 years ago when I got to the
old Pontiac Rescue Mission, the Ten Commandments was all over
the walls over there. Homeless people were no good,
stinky, dirty. They'd never get any better.
It was pretty well a downer place. Get them in there and lock them
up. And then beat them up with a Bible. That's not what it's
all about. You know what Grace Centers of
Hope through Grace Gospel Fellowship is doing? We are feeding people
who don't even like us. We are clothing people who never
say thank you. You know why? Because the goodness
of God has brought us to that place. We want to show you through
giving those who do not deserve how good God is. Because when
I didn't deserve, God was good to me. It's not legalism that
causes people to repent. It's when people stand amazed
in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene, and wonder that he
could love them, sinners condemned unclean. Oh, how marvelous, oh,
how wonderful is the Savior's love to me. The Bible says, work
with your hands that you might make money. This is the Kent
Clark rendering from a book of Ephesians. Work with your hands
that you might have to give to those who have not. Your money is not for you. God
has saved you by his grace and given to you. Look at you, how
good God has been to you. Now show off God's goodness. Pave that parking lot out there
for me. Now let's look at this marvelous
allegory, but don't forget that. I'm not going to forget it. God's
taught me something. I knew that to be true, that
the way to show God's goodness is by being good to other people.
Why would you do that? Do you know that people who have
experienced grace are gracious people? People who have received
mercy are merciful people. That's why in this congregation,
I don't believe there is a spirit of judging and judgment because
we know what we are. We're only sinners saved by the
grace of God. Now, Jonathan had a son named
Mephibosheth. David had made a covenant, as
I've already told you, to bless Jonathan's lineage. Let's take
note, first of all, that the triune God also made a covenant. Way back there, before he ever
created the heavens and the earth, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit in covenant planned and purposed to save
a people. This was not, you know, I heard
a preacher say this, very popular preacher. He said that God had
to revise his plan after Adam and Eve sinned. I'm sorry, God
doesn't revise his plan. He carries out his plan and his
purpose and nothing can stop that and nothing can hinder that.
God in covenant promised and chose a people before the foundation
of the world. Election is a Bible truth that
needs to be proclaimed, that you have been saved and God is
the author and the finisher of your salvation. Salvation does
not begin with you. He's the author, he's the finisher. And he who has begun a good work
in you will complete it. And that good work that he completes
is not only soul salvation, but life salvation. I've got some
good news for you. If God has saved you, he planned
on doing it. And not only did he plan on saving
you, he planned on using you to the praise of the glory of
his grace. And you are blessed. You're not
going to be blessed. You are already blessed with
all spiritual blessings. They're coming your way. They're
flowing out to you. God has determined to do that
and will surely do it. Kyleen sprained her leg and she's
confessed to me. She and Dave were out dancing.
And she said to me, maybe we shouldn't have been dancing.
If anybody ought to be dancing, it's Kyleen. God has done great things for her. It's
people who have been saved. Amen. So God made this covenant. He said, well, pastor, I don't
know about all that. All you listen, this is not difficult
about this covenant thing. It's really not difficult. You
can't understand the Bible and put the pieces together without
understanding that there was a covenant before the foundation
of the world. For instance, when, when God
says, when the Lord says, all the father giveth me in John
six, all the father giveth me. shall come to me. Huh? Wonder what that means? Well,
here's what it means. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. Years ago, I had this guy was
really giving me a tough time. He was a preacher. Really, he
wasn't giving me a tough time. Actually, I really enjoyed it. I took him like Grant took you
don't want to listen. You don't you don't want to talk
to me in denying the doctrine of election because I'll eat
you up and spit you out. I mean just to you know just
to be played. I know what the Bible says. I
know it's been revealed to me. Nobody knows anything unless
it's revealed. And I don't mean to be haughty
by that. I just simply mean this. You can't understand the Bible.
I mean, it just doesn't make sense when Jesus says in John
7, Father, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them to me. Father, thou hast loved them
as thou hast loved me, and thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. That's old King James, but it
still rings true. You love me before the foundation
of the world. You can't understand the Bible unless you can get
a hold of this. Before I formed you in your mother's belly, I
knew you, I loved you, you were precious in my sight before you
ever came out of the womb. Amen. I know my sheep. I know my sheep. My sheep hear
my voice. And they follow me and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. That's covenant
redemption. Or how about this one? I lay
down my life for the sheep. No man taketh my life from me.
I lay it down that I might take it up again. Now, you can hang on to that
and kind of mull that a little bit when you go home today. And
I hope when you get home that, like Kylene, you start dancing.
God chose me. You know, David danced. In fact,
David was dancing about the covenant that God had made with him in
the doctrine of election that God had chose him. And his wife
said, you're stupid. You're supposed to be the king
and you're acting about half Pentecostal. I don't know if she didn't say
quite that, but something like that. She mocked David and David
said to her, You hadn't seen anything yet. I mean, David got
down, you read that in the Bible. He said, you're gonna mock me,
but watch this. Nobody can stop our happiness
in the Lord. That wasn't very good, was it? You know, I wish I could dance
like black people. I just wish I had your rhythm. I'm praying that on my grandson,
Caleb. He can dance like nobody's business. I'm saying, thank you, Lord.
Put it on him. Let him dance. Happy, joy. Well, real quick
here. Note in verse four of 2 Samuel
that there was a question. You know, God never asked questions
for information. Like in the book of Genesis,
Adam, where art thou? It wasn't like God didn't know
where he was. God knew where he was. And he
wanted Adam to admit where he was, hiding in the bushes. That's where God finds most of
us. Some of us are smoking the bushes.
Others are But God finds us all in the bushes. I mean, it's weed actually, right? God knows where to find you.
You are not so lost that God can't find you. Your location is not a surprise
to God either. Well, God would never, if he
hadn't come there, you wouldn't be saved. If God didn't go to
the bar, if God didn't go to the crack house, if God didn't
go where you were, you know, occasionally God goes
to some of these dead churches because he's got to find you.
You're all hooked up in some kind of denominationalism. You've
got a double darkness on you. Lost as lost can be. God sometimes
saves people out of the choir loft. God found some of you when you
were singing, not 99 bottles of beer on the wall, but oh,
how I love Jesus. But you didn't. And then God
found you. Some of us, like our brother
said this morning, have for years been in church, but never experienced
the glory of it, the thrill of it, the awesomeness of it. Mephibosheth. Where is he? Do you know you've been sought
out? God doesn't come just stagging
around like a blind man trying to find somebody to save. You were sought out. And while
you were being sought out, he passed by some folks. So I just want God to be fair.
No, you don't. You don't want God to be fair.
We're not talking about being fair. We're talking about amazing,
unmerited favor. Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound. I guarantee you every saved person
in here knows somebody better than them. That's the way you
think. Why did God save me? I can understand
God saving John or Susie, but why would God save me? You're
on the right track. the places God finds us. Where
did he find you? Second, we take note that there
was a summons that came from the king's throne. Do you know
that there is a day and a time? The apostle Paul said, I got
apprehended. You can read that in the Bible,
that's the word he used. I was apprehended on the Damascus
road. You were skedaddling to hell
and the Holy Spirit ran faster than you. He caught up with you. And here was this summons, David
said, he's down in Lodibah, fetch him out of Lodibah. Does that
give you goosebumps? Fetch him out of Lodibar. Where
is he? Oh, he's a long way off. He's a long way off. God saw
you a long way off and you didn't even know it. You were working
your way toward knowing Jesus Christ in the sense you were
on your way. Amen. God saw you down there. in all of your mess, a long way
off, down there in Lodi Bar. How long were you down there
in the place of no bread, no pastor, down there in the hog
pen, eating husk, down there on the dung hill, but somebody
came to seek and to save that which was lost. Found you in those bushes. discovered
you down in the hog pen. Can you imagine? Now, listen
really closely because the Lord put this on my heart. I think
there's somebody like that here today. Can you imagine the fear
that Mephibosheth must have felt when he heard there was a summons
from the king for his arrest? Now, in those days, what the
new king did was wipe out all the relatives of the old king,
right? And Mephibosheth was hiding out down in Lodibar. And he'd
been down there several years when he heard there's a summons. Some of you in here, this gospel's shaking you up. Some of you asking questions
like, Am I going to have to appear before the judgment seat of God?
Am I going to have to give an account of all those things that
I've done even before I was saved? Some of you have a lot of fear.
Let me tell you this, or maybe this sickness and what's going
on in your life. I know you have fear. I understand
that. I understand that. But you know,
our God says this, fear not, I got you. Fear not, I got you. Faith is a wonderful thing, isn't
it? To believe God, to trust God, when everything seems against
you, trust God. He's a giant killer. He is indeed. But Mephibosheth was afraid.
He was summoned back to Jerusalem. Now what even makes it more difficult
is He couldn't walk. He was lame on both his feet.
And sometimes when God has quickened, you know, a lot of people don't
find out they're saved immediately after being quickened. You know what it means to be
quick and it means to be given life. You know by the time you get
afraid, He's already given you life. Otherwise, you wouldn't
have all of this stuff. You wouldn't even be thinking
about it. You'd just go out and get stoned. Like you have in
times past about everything else. But everywhere you go, there
seems to be this, I'm going to face God. You know, some things
that preacher says, he says we're all going to face God. He says
that we all must give an account of the deeds done in the body,
whether they be good or bad. And I've done a lot of bad stuff.
I don't want to face God. Something going on on the inside
of you. Because people who have been made alive began to think
like living people. You may be here and you're going
like, You know, that preacher, that
preacher, he tries to scare the hell out of us. You know, that
preacher, he doesn't really know what's going on. Let me tell
you this. The reason you think that way is because you're dead. You're dead in sins and trespasses.
There's nothing in you that has life in it, spiritual life. When
you start getting, you know, I was thinking about Caleb today,
he's almost three years old now. I was thinking coming over, I
remember when he was born. You know he doesn't? So well,
pastor, how can you be born again of the spirit of God and not
know it? Do you remember when you were
born? So I see some of you have signs
of life. I go, uh-oh, this is a good thing. This is a good thing. You're
asking questions. Amen. It shows spiritual life. The Spirit of God is no doubt
here today. We've already felt the presence
of the Lord. He is here today. And probably
somebody back there is hiding out in Lodibar. You've heard
You know that God invaded history, came down to this earth, went
down into the grave, got up the third day, ascended back into
heaven, and he's coming back again, and you don't really feel
comfortable with all that. Down in Lodibar. Oh, it's a great
thing when God says, fetch her out of the crack house. Fetch
him out. Fetch him out of his Lodibar.
When God the Father says to God the Holy Spirit, there he is,
this is the day, this is the time, fetch him out. Amen. That's the way it happens. The
hound of heaven gets on your trail. You are not here by accident. You are here on purpose for a
purpose. You know, I've been doing a little
study of fear. When you get older, you start thinking about the
grave a little bit. You start thinking about things.
Some of you kids are not quite there yet, but you ought to think
about it because it is appointed unto man once to die. I'm glad
to be able to sing, it is well, it is well with my soul. There's
more said about fear in the Bible than there is about the holiness
of God. In fact, God is constantly saying
something like this to his kids. Fear not. Fear not, I will be with you.
The water shall not overflow you. If you go into the fiery
furnace and there's only three in there, I'll show up, there'll
be four of us in there. Amen. Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego have nothing on me. I've been in the furnace many
times and realized, hey, I'm not alone in here. And the fire
will not burn thee. God means good for his people. Amen. Good things are on the
way because all things work together for good, even when you and I
cannot see it. Somebody ought to raise their
hands and say, thank you, Lord. I'm glad you're in charge. When I'm
out of control, you're still in control. Amen. Don't be afraid. You've been
summonsed. I hope you get the summons today.
I'd like to be in here preaching when people begin to just pop
out of there. I've been apprehended. And it's with joy and gladness. I want to confess Him. I want
to acknowledge Him. I have trusted Him today. He's my Lord and my Savior, my
King. Think about a man left to himself.
I was listening to Franklin Graham this week and he was telling
about human trafficking in the United States and in many other
countries. And I sat there and listened
to him talking about how children are kidnapped and their kidneys
are harvested and their livers and body parts I heard how men are hired on
fishing boats and if they get hurt on the boat, they just throw
the guy that's hurt overboard and let him drown. Women sold
into slavery, sex slavery. You think about a person without
God, you think about the people who do that. Think, listen, if
you're gonna fear anything, fear yourself. I'm talking about your
depravity. I believe in total depravity.
That you were born, your heart is messed up, your brain is messed
up, you're just a total mess up. And what happened to Mephibosheth
is he got messed up in a fall. His nurse was running and fell
to get away from David and David's men. and she fell and he was
lame on both his feet. That's what the Bible says. That's
what Greg read to us this morning. He was lame on both his feet.
The impossibility of men coming to God without God. What a glorious
thing it ought to be when you're able to say, oh, he came to me. He came to me when I could not
and would not come to him. He came to me. You are the call
according to his purpose. Mephibosheth had to be carried
into the king's presence. You know what? I read that story
again in the Bible where these three guys couldn't get their
friend to the Lord. So they cut a hole in the roof. I want so bad as pastor here
at Grace to carry you to Jesus. Every time I preach, I wanna
be carrying somebody to Jesus. Say, well, pastor, all of that
doctrine you talk about, all of that stuff, it doesn't sound
like you wanna carry people to Jesus. The apostle Paul said,
I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they might obtain
the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. I am sure there's somebody
here today that God has purposed to eternal life. He said, well,
how can you know that? I know that because he's called
me to preach the gospel. And only people who are hungry
eat at the trough. He that is thirsty, let him come.
I say to you, are you thirsty for the water of life? Are you
hungry for the bread of life? Then come on to Christ, come
and welcome. Trust him, believe on him. You not only have to be found,
you have to be fetched. I was thinking about that word
fetched. You know, when I was a kid, my dad raised bird dogs
and we would pheasant hunt or quail hunt. And when a bird was
shot in tall weeds, my dad would say, fetch. That dog seemed to
know exactly what that word meant. That tail would start wagging.
Next thing you know, that dog would disappear out of sight
and then pretty soon show up and have that bird in his mouth.
And he'd bring that bird to my dad. That's what the Holy Spirit
does. He not only finds you, he fetches
you. He brings you to Jesus Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is
to bring people to Christ. I like this too. David the king
showed kindness. kindness to Mephibosheth. And
the Bible says restored all he'd lost. Some of you have lost 15,
20 years. Do I have a witness to that?
You lost that down in Lodibar. You're out there in the world.
Wasted years, wasted years. Oh, how foolish. Some of you have said, you know,
I'm 50 years old now. been using for 30 years. Wasted
years, wasted years. You know what God has promised?
God has promised to restore. God is a restore. I tell the guys this and it's
true. Do you know that most people don't become millionaires till
they're over 50? There's still hope for some of you. God is able to, just because
you're 50 years old or 60 or 70, I'm looking forward. Listen,
I'm looking forward. I have preached for 50 years
and never preached in the spiritual atmosphere of the power of the
Holy Spirit and seeing Christ magnified like I am here at 70.
He is a restorer. I can remember 19 years old,
20, 21, 25, 30, 40. I can remember saying things
like this. Lord, there has to be more than
this dead dry stuff. Send me some big sinners. Watch
what you ask for. Send me some big sinners to hear
the gospel and save them by your grace. Restored. I want to say to every
former addict in here who's been saved by the grace of God, there
are multiple things coming your way because God is going to restore
those locust-eaten years. Children you've lost, make them
home. You'll be reunited with them. Marriages put together. In fact, we're going to have
a marriage here after church. Today. You've lost a house because of
your drug use. Here's a great place to get a
house back. You say, well, and not only that, maybe your health.
Maybe you've lost a car. Oh, cars are donated here, aren't
they, Joy and Jill? I mean, you never know what God's
going to do. Lastly, Mephibosheth was amazed at the
grace of the king. He was amazed at it. He said, why are you doing all this for
me? I'm a dead dog. He didn't just say I'm a dog,
I'm a dead dog. You know, it's one thing to be
a dog with your tail wagging and man's best friend. It's another
thing to be a bloated dog laying beside of the road dead. He said,
I'm a dead dog. And, and here I am in the palace
of the King. Here I am with everything being
restored to me. Amen. He was amazed at the grace
of God. Are you? This is what it's all
about. Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
I'm found, was blind, but now I see. And it gets gooder. Listen to this. Four times in
the passages that Greg read, David said, Mephibosheth, and
you will eat at the king's table continually. You will eat. You know what that means? That
means continual blessings. continual blessing. I don't know
who's telling you, but it's not the Lord that you've had it,
that you're through, you've messed up, you know, you have all of
your memories. I know this. I know that God
saves you and then, well, then increases the blessings. He just
said, there are great things headed your way. Believe it. Quit fighting it. Quit remembering
the mess. There's nobody in here that's
not a dead dog. We've all been a dead dog. Were
it not for grace. I don't know. I wanted to, I
don't know whether I brought it or not, but Brad gave me a
joke. Let me just see real quick if
I brought it. I think it would fit here. I
probably didn't bring it, but it was this guy who was trying
to score points with God. in getting to heaven. He said,
I've been married to the same woman. He's telling Peter this. I've been married to the same
woman for 50 years. He said, that's one point. He
said, I've been faithful in church most of my life. That's two points. The guy goes like this. I wish
I had brought it. He goes like this. This is a
punchline. He goes, Well, it looks like if I'm going to make
it to heaven, it's going to be by the grace of God. St. Peter
said, bingo, you're in. Forget the points. You can't
score enough points. We are accepted in Jesus Christ. Now what I want you to do, this
is very simple. Maybe there was some heavy stuff. Maybe you never
heard of Mephibosheth. You never heard of Lodebar. You
never heard of Saul, David, Jonathan. You never heard of all of that.
But you're here today for the first time in your life. Scales
have been taken off your eyes. You know what you are. A dead
dog. A sinner. And you know there's
a God. And what I'm telling you is that
God invaded history. Isn't that good? That God invaded
history. I'm so happy about that. In the
person of his son, he went up on Calvary. The holiness of God
had to be satisfied. You, in order to go to heaven,
have your sin debt paid for. and everyone here today who is
willing to trust Christ shall be saved. I can say to everyone
here today, if you want him, he wanted you long before you
ever wanted him. And you are being drawn now to
Jesus Christ. Well, what should I do, pastor?
What should I do? I think you ought to trust him.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Amen. Trust Christ and do it right
now. You know what I'm doing? I do
this, I do this all the time. This is gonna sound kind of weird
maybe to you. You know what I do? I trust Christ
all the time. I say to myself, if I wasn't
trusting him a minute ago, I'm trusting him now. I'm trusting
Christ. I, in this pulpit, even though
I'm the pastor and doing the preaching, I'm refreshed. I am renewed as I speak to you. And it's not me doing it. It's
a supernatural refreshment of the Spirit of God within me.
When you clap, I'm clapping on the inside. When you laugh, I'm
laughing. Because I'm experiencing it again
and again. That's why it's so important
to be in God's house. You know the old story about the Indian
who had two dogs. He had a black dog and white
dog. I was telling the guys this this week. Those two dogs would fight. And
this man said to the Indian man who owned the two dogs said,
which one wins? He said, the one I feed the most.
Oh, you need to be fed. Yeah, because saved people can
wander, you know. Every saved person is going to
leave here today going like this. Wasn't that song wonderful? He
didn't throw away the clay. Pastor Clark called us a dead
dog. Wasn't that great? There's a dead dog. Wasn't it
great? That's not a perfect place over
there. Their services aren't the fanciest, but wasn't it glorious
to see Christ again? That's the way we are. Let's
stand together, come to Christ, trust Christ, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.