Thank you, Praise Group. I see
our numbers have increased. Sounds great. Thank you. I want
to thank you this morning for your prayers for my oldest brother,
Ronnie. He is still alive. He's in critical condition. And we, as a family, continue
to request that you pray for him. I don't know what folks
do who don't know the Lord. in times like these. This week,
after we got back, I was going through some papers with regard
to history to the church. And I found this flyer, Unique
Worship Experience, Sunday, May 11, Mother's Day, 11 AM at Clutch
Cargo. That's us. And now we're home. I'm going
to frame that. And then, Kyleen, I have a letter
here that I wrote to you in 2008. Actually, I never sent
it, but it was thanking you for the gifts that you were sending
from prison to the church here. How mighty is our God? I'll give you the letter if you'd
like. And then Back in the day, I had
a three minute radio program on, I don't know, three stations
called Recovery of the Gospel. And I wrote, I have a dream of
a large church made up of pimps, prostitutes, the addicted, the
halt and the hurting. A church where the wealthy, the
blue collar and the redneck have one thing in common, Jesus Christ. They have been redeemed by His
precious blood, and because they were ruined by the fall, redeemed
by the blood, and regenerated by the Spirit, they come together
under one roof to give Him glory. It makes no difference if the
person next to them is of another color, race, or gender. There
is only one thing that matters, and that is that the worthy one
receive glory. Grace Gospel Fellowship needs
your financial support. 65 feet from the front door of Pontiac
Rest Commission is a large old building that housed one of the
oldest congregational churches in Pontiac. In that building,
believers met for years to praise the Christ of Calvary. Today,
it's a three-story bar. First, it was known as Sanctum,
noted for radio advertisement, come worship as you've never
worshipped before. Now it has been bought and turned
into the clutch cargo bar. Secretly in my heart, I've asked
the Lord for this building to house Grace Gospel Fellowship,
the Prince Pauper Church. Can you imagine the headlines
of Oakland Press? Church retakes fallen ground
or bar out church back in. And then after taking the building
back, we would put on the sign the church where everybody is
nobody and Christ is all. That was years ago. Our world is in such a mess. This week, this past week, I
had the privilege and I am grateful to be asked to pray at the Oakland
County Republican Party Convention. This coming Saturday, I will
pray at the state convention. But I'm going to tell you, quite
frankly, The Republicans, the Democrats
and this nation as a whole are in a mess. America needs God. And unless we have a return. We're going to see tremendous
judgment. The worst thing that could happen
in this country is for God to be silent. and become a stranger
in our land, and that's exactly what has taken place. Worse than
the flood that you had last week, worse than the worldwide flood
of Noah's day, the worst judgment that could fall on this land
is for God to withdraw and to not speak. And I will tell you
quite frankly, as we've heard from Scripture, unless God speaks
this morning, you will leave here none the better. We will
have come to a meeting and gone home. The only thing that really
matters is for God and the power of the Holy Spirit to speak through
the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you have your Bible open
to Luke 12 and to Hebrews 11. and that you have listened closely
to the reading of Scripture today, and that when you go home this
afternoon, you will contemplate the things that I tell you. I am going to speak to you today on
Noah moved with fear and with faith. I'm really weary of going back
to the past to claim victory. We're living in in extraordinary times. This
is the only day that you and I are going to have to serve
the Lord Jesus Christ today. Now, we pass by this way, but
one time. We are in a revolution and the
ordinary won't get to first base in our day, we must have a visitation
of the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of God. Things in
our day are not ordinary. We live in a nation that is being
torn to pieces, and for that matter, a world that is being
torn to pieces. I was thinking, actually, last
night, if the doctors took the prescription drugs away from
most Americans, We would fill our insane asylums in 30 minutes. If we got rid of the crack houses,
how would folks live? We are a drug-infested nation
who live in a falsified world. We talk about getting high when
we're really low. We use artificial means to find
peace when there is no peace. Brother Barnard used to say,
and I used to be amazed at him saying this from the pulpit,
I can't blame the drunkard or drug addict too much. If I wasn't
a Christian, I'd get me a bottle and a joint and at least get
a few good nights sleep. If you're going to hell, you
might as well sleep good on the way. That's what the old preacher
said. The greatest enemy of this day
to the souls of men is our churches. I want to repeat that. The greatest
enemy to the souls of men in our day are the churches. Churches are doing more to damn
the souls of men today than all the liquor joints and drug houses
put together. And I know this is going to sound
harsh and hard, and it's going to sound outdated, but it is
the truth. Oftentimes I try to hold back,
feeling maybe it's too much for 2014. But God's man must tell
the truth. Every time I pass by a church
building, my heart beats a little faster. For I know the sovereign
Christ must drive out what's being preached there and bring
back the gospel. The gospel must be brought back. God only speaks through the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. You're going to hell unless God
does something on the inside of you from the proclamation
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have inherited a revolution
in our day. How does this sound to you? If
we are the people of God in our day, we will believe the Word
of God in this generation. We will believe the Word of God
in this generation. Do you believe this to be the
Word of God? This is God's Word to us. Evidently, there is more to being
a Christian than saying, everybody happy, say amen. If we dare to
call ourselves the called out ones, if we dare to take upon
ourselves the scripture where Jesus said, as my Father hath
sent me, so send I you. If we take upon ourselves that
passage and that responsibility, If we are the people of God who
say we believe that this is more than a book, it's a miracle book
written by man and by God, preserved by Almighty God, so that I can
stand here and read to you the words of Almighty God. Do you
believe that? the words of Almighty God. We stand for the reading of Scripture
to honor the words of Almighty God. If I believed what my college
professors said to me years and years ago about this book, I'd
quit today. I guarantee you. If this is not
the Word of God, I quit. If God doesn't have something
to say, if God is not holding the reins of this universe, I
quit. I give up. If you find out this Bible ain't
so, don't tell me, because I've got a lot invested in this business. Well over 50 years of preaching
that this is the Word of God, that God speaks through this
book, I found out many years ago that an unsaved man doesn't
believe one single word of the Bible. If you're here not a believer,
you don't believe this book. And when I found that out, I
said to myself, Lord, it's not fair. And I want you to think
about this. Here we are, Lord, you've told
us to preach the word. We can't put on an entertaining
show and get people saved. We just have one message. It's
all been fixed up for us. God's fixed this message. There
is no other message. He's the way, the truth and the
life, and no man comes to the Father except through Christ.
God has fixed it that way. Narrow is the way. God said so. It's been all fixed up for us
and we can't improve on it. And we can't cut it down or compromise
it or add to it, and all we've got To preach is something nobody
believes. It's true. The natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God. How on earth are we going
to get anybody saved just preaching from a book that nobody believes?
Well, there is a way. They call me a fatalist, a hard
shell, outdated, prehistoric, chicken-eating, hillbilly preacher. And a half a dozen other things.
But the truth is, you can't get anybody saved preaching a message
nobody believes, except God does a miracle in the heart. So we
must have God, whatever else you have. Fancy railings and
pretty pews and nice buildings. None of that gets people saved
unless God inhabits this place. You can't reason with people.
People are unreasonable. The natural man receives not
the things of God, neither can he, because they are spiritually
discerned. Man is headed straight to hell
and he's unable to believe a single word we preach. No wonder the
true preacher cries out aloud. And no wonder I wrestle. I know why I wrestle. Because the only power that can
get the job done is the Holy Spirit. He must be here. He must be here. in a way with our flesh-pleasing,
soul-damning means and methods which have filled our churches
with degenerates who call themselves Christians. We have padded our
church rolls with people who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior and have never bowed to Him. My friends, you heard our brother
read it today. From the Gospel of Luke, Jesus
said it. Things are going to come out.
Read that chapter again when you get home. Things are going
to come out. You can't hide things from God. God knows. I don't
want to be a hypocrite, do you? I do not. I don't want to wear
a mask so that my real features are not seen. I don't want to
be masquerading. The mask is coming off sooner
or later. I don't want to be a part actor
without a heart knowledge of Christ. I don't want to be infected
with it or impressed by it. I want to be owned. I want to
be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I want to surrender all. I want
to bow to His Majesty. I want to confess Him as Lord
and Savior and Redeemer. That's what I want. And I want
others to see Him in me. I do. I was reading to Ms. Pam this morning something that I will keep forever.
And one of our members wrote this, and they're not here today. Not merely in the words you say,
not only in the thoughts confessed, but in your most unconscious
way, Christ is expressed. For me, it was not the truth
you taught, to you so clear, to me so dim. But when you came
to me, you brought a sense of Him. And from your eyes, He beckons
me. And from your heart, His light
is shed, till I lose sight of you and see the Christ instead. Jesus Christ instead. Amen. Let others see Jesus in you. Every day in your smile, in your
kindness, in your walk, in your talk. This is a day of silly familiarity
with God. I'm telling you to be entrusted
with the dreadful and divine secrets that God has revealed
only in this book requires a consecration to the death and a courageous
faith, not silly familiarity with God. If I were you, I wouldn't use
God as a byword. Oh, my God, I wouldn't say that
if I were you. He's much bigger than that, much
more precious than that, or even my Lord. Oh, my Lord. Those have
become slain things, and it gives, I think, some indication of how
we really feel about God. Only those who have a vision
of God and of themselves have passed through the humiliating,
heartbreaking times, will be able to witness a good conversion
that will get the job done in this age of silly familiarity
with God. Oh, that I might know Him. You
know God? Or you know the guy upstairs? Men and women with the boldness
of a Daniel and tears of a Jeremiah. Oh, for men and women with a
knowledge of a thrice holy God. and his purpose written down
here in black and white. The Christianity we have got
today is sickening. We're pretty well resigned to
letting this generation go to hell, unprayed for, unwept over
and unwitnessed to. Brother Barnard used to preach
in the factories and in the schools and on the streets, and now God's
been outlawed even places I go. Sometimes, oftentimes I rise
up in sneaky disobedience where I'm not supposed to say, Jesus,
don't tell me not to do that. We must have a baptism of earnestness. What's going to work now? Men
and women must tell out the terror of the Lord. I want to tell you
about the terror of the Lord today. I want to talk about it.
I know. I know this. And let me say this to you real
quick. As a Christian, you don't have to live in fear with regard
to condemnation. But let me tell you, there is
a healthy and good fear. I love my father, but I feared
his 48 inch belt. I reverence my dad. There is
a holy reverence. And I think probably the place
that we have missed it today most in the church. We talk very
little about the justice and the holiness of God. All your
secrets are coming out. Every sin and every disobedience
must receive a just recompense of reward. Sin is either going
to be paid for in full And that can only happen through the blood
of Christ or forever in everlasting hell. Because God is just. God is of pure eyes than to look
upon sin. This country will not get away
with what's going on in this nation. God will visit this nation in
wrath. It's going to happen. God's going
to visit this world in wrath. Because He's holy. God is holy. Jesus said this, Fear not them
which kill the body, and after that have no more that they can
do. But fear Him. And I say to every
one of you in here without Jesus Christ, You will appear before
this God. I say to everyone in here that
there comes a day when every knee shall bow and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's the teaching
of this Bible. You know, the fear of man is
one of the greatest obstacles which stands between the soul
and heaven. What will men say of me? What will they think of
me? What will they do to me? How
often these thoughts bind men and women, boys and girls, hand
and foot. Thousands would take the lion's
den, but they will not face the laughter of relatives, neighbors,
and friends. It's true. Many of you use drugs
Because it's the thing to do. It's the thing, it's the end,
it's the party, it's the life. And what do other people think?
And me, a virgin? Are you kidding? What's the best remedy against
the fear of man? The fear of God. That's the best remedy against
the fear of man. The reverencing of God. It's the beginning of
knowledge to reverence God. This Bible says you're stupid
without a reverence for God. The fool has said in his heart,
no God for me. You know, if I fear God, there
is no one else that I need to fear. It's true. We must turn our eyes
from those who can only injure us in the life that now is. To
him who can condemn both soul and body to eternal misery in
the life to come. Have you ever thought about this?
To live a hell on earth and die and go to hell. How's life treating
you? All of you that are without Christ,
how's life doing you? You have joy and peace and happiness
unspeakable every day of your life? Or is there trouble in
my way? We must, as Jesus said, confess
Christ upon earth if we expect Him to own us as His saved people
at the last day. That's what Jesus said. You don't
confess me, I don't confess you. I want to confess you. I do confess
you. We must not be ashamed to let
all men see that we believe in Christ and serve Christ and love
Christ and care more for the praise of Christ than for the
praise of men. I really, honestly, and maybe
it's because I'm getting on up there, but I really don't give
a rip what you think of me. But I do care. about that woman
who sits at the right hand of God saying, well done thou good
and faithful servant. To defend the person of Christ. I'm not talking about nosy, noisy
boasting. Or blowing a trumpet about self.
I fear myself the most. And later on, if we have time,
I'll see if we do. Noah not only feared God, Noah
feared Noah. And he had reason to fear Noah.
Who would have ever thought this man who built the ark would would
get drunk and do all the shenanigans he did? But he did. Daily opportunity we as Christians
have to witness. And it's true, people will laugh
at us, ridicules, there'll be contempt, mockery, all of that,
maybe even persecution. But my course and the Christian
course is perfectly clear. In one way or other, I'm going
to confess Christ. If men do not confess him, he
will refuse to acknowledge us as his people. He will disown
those who do not confess him as cowards, faithless and deserters. He will not plead for them. He
will not be their advocate. And brother, I'm telling you,
you need an advocate. You need a mediator between you
and God. You need an intercessor. You
need somebody. You need an attorney, my friend. To bear the consequences of my
sin when I think about how holy God is. Is unbearable. Confessing Christ before men,
are you going to do it? Will you do it? You know, I wish
the Holy Spirit were here in such power that people would
be popping up all over this place saying, I confess him. He's my
Lord. He's my savior. He's my redeemer.
You should. You ought to do it. You must
do it. Confess Christ. By faith, Noah prepared an ark
to the saving of his house. By faith. Without faith, it's
impossible. Please, God. Say, Pastor, I have
problems with that faith thing. I bet you do. Noah believed God and believed
what God said. Do you? It's the only way to
heaven. You got to believe God and believe
what God said. Built an ark. You ever thought about that?
Noah believed God and he walked with God. He who does not believe
that God will punish sin will not believe that God will pardon
it through the blood of Christ. He who does not believe that
God will cast unbelievers into hell will not be sure that he
will take believers into heaven. Men do not prepare an ark. to
escape from a flood unless they believe that there's going to
be a flood. Hear it. You who profess to be
the Lord, be not unbelieving with regard to the terrible threatenings
of God to the ungodly. Though the threat chills my blood,
though nature shrinks from the overwhelming doom, I believe
God. Noah's faith cared nothing for probability or possibility,
but rested alone in the Word of the Lord. And this is the
faith of God's elect. I believe God. And God said this, it's appointed
unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment. I believe
God. Every sin and every disobedience
must receive a just recompense of reward, you better be in the
ark. Someone said, you know, that
art business and flood business, how do you come up with that?
Oh, I know it's in the Bible. But how do you reconcile that
with science? I'm really not concerned about
reconciling science and God. I no longer live in the region
of argument as to the word of the Lord, but dwell in the realm
of faith. I'm not squabbling about whether
there was a flood or not. There was. And I'm not really
itching to prove my superiority in in reasoning with unbelievers. We are children of light. Worshipping
our God by bowing our whole minds to the obedience of faith. I
believe God. Noah believed alone and preached
on, though none followed him. Think about that. There were
no other believers. He stood like a solitary column
in the midst of a ruined temple. His faith was held up to ridicule. Everyone was skeptical. They
attempted to pull his faith to pieces. For 120 years he preached. And at the end, not one person
was ready to go into that ark. Think about that. For years,
the old man's ark lay on high and dry ground. For years and
years. Only by grace did Noah exercise
such faith as this. You know, faith is a miracle.
Faith is the gift of God. You wouldn't believe it had not
God given you faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Do we
need God or do we not? I don't have any faith. Faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Oh, that
somebody would hear today. That God in the power of the
Holy Spirit would open your deaf ears where you could hear and
see and live. 120 years of preaching and no
converts. Building a ship and no water
to float it on. That's faith, brother. 120 years of warning people that
God is about to destroy them, and yet no flood. Noah believed
alone and preached on, though none followed him. Can you imagine what people were
saying? I tried it. I tried to imagine. I guess the
old man's life can be considered a failure. He's a good old man,
but he's an alarmist. Never rained before. Well, Father Noah. When is this flood coming? The ground could use a good soaking. Oh, man, you shouldn't prophesy
until you're sure. And Noah went right on warning. And went right on preaching and
went right on shipbuilding. There's a storm coming for all
of those of you who are here and just so very skeptical. I
would have you look at Iran. I would have you look at Israel. I would have you read the book
of Daniel. I would have you consider what's
going on with Russia. It's almost like when you read
the Bible, reading what is about to happen when the blood is up
to the horse's bridle. You'll be concerned about your
grandchildren. There will be somewhat of fear
that will grip you until you get this mapped out that God
has you. and in the great day of God's
wrath. And it is coming. The great day
of God's wrath is coming when the world is going to be on fire. But it is well with my soul. And God is not angry with me. Noah being warned of God of things
not yet seen, moved with reverence. And that's the way we move here.
That's the way this church needs to move. With holy reverence.
Yes, it's coming. God is holy. God is righteous. Get in the ark. Get in the ark.
Get in the ark. Trust Christ. He had a holy fear
of judgment. And I want to say this to this
church. And this is so key to what we preach here. You must
see the holiness of God and the justice of God to appreciate
the shedding of the blood of God in His Son, Jesus Christ. Sin had to be paid for. God is not a fuddy-duddy God. God is not a Santa Claus. God
is holy, holy, holy. God is righteous. So your sin had to be paid for.
And what a glorious thing it is when you realize what a sinner
you are. And what a sinner you have been.
And that Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. Sin and left
the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. I'm
about to get happy preaching judgment. I know it's true. Says Noah passed the time of
his sojourning here in reverential fear of God. Noah moved with fear. You need
a clear understanding of what Jesus said. If I go away. And he did. I will come again. He hasn't forgot you, believer.
So, I know some of you, I thought last night, yesterday, I thought
some of them know and clearly understand with regard to my
preaching about no condemnation to those that are in Christ.
And they might get a little confused as I begin to talk about fear. Perfect love tests without fear.
You see, really, I'm not living down here in a fear of condemnation. I know all things work together
for good. I've just spent days in a hospital room with my oldest
brother, hooked up to every kind of machine known to man, trying
to save his life, and thinking about death and the hereafter
and why do things happen. Seeing his wife who fell asleep
driving the car in which they were in, and the awful guilt. You know, I am so glad Jesus
will fix it. I know that. Everything's going
to be alright. It's going to work out all right
because all things work together. I have heard this week of people
here in our own church with cancer and Eric here and others of our
church family that are hurting medically. Brother and old daughter. So much sorrow, but you know,
this world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. I do hope to get the pass through
before my children pass. I do hope that that's just kind
of a natural thing with me. But in this life, those things
are going to happen. They're going to happen, but
my great hope is this is not the end, right? When a Christian
dies, they're in the butt stage of endless joy and happiness.
Yeah, we're left behind. We feel the pain. We feel the
sorrow. You know, when you get my age,
you start reliving life again. I mean, you start thinking about
it. You know, all of those things. My deal is this. My deal is this. And I've been thinking about
it a lot. I've been thinking about what's going to happen
out there when I get home. Huh? See, you know what? The reason we're so quiet in
here is because we really know so little about heaven. We can't
figure it out. And many of you have ideas about
heaven. You know, you're going to have
gold pits up there and streets of gold. You're going to be all
of you're going to be gold miners. The streets are gold, but what
the Bible describes is down here. Isn't there a lot of mess? Would
you say there's a lot of sorrow? A lot of sadness? It won't be
that way over there. Complete joy. You know that high
you've been looking for? You'll have it over there. Because
it's in Christ. Everything's perfect. It's all
perfect. You know, Arthur, that bothers
you? Here and back here. That's arthritis. All of you
older folks know about that. We won't need Motram over there.
There's a land that is fairer than day. We're headed toward
that. But while we're here, sin is
real. And God is holy. And you're going
to have to face God. This is not a game. You're going
to spend eternity somewhere. For all of us who are Christians,
as I said earlier, Noah not only feared God, He trusted God, but
Noah feared himself. That's the way I go through life.
Trusting God. Fearing God. And not trusting
myself at all. Having no confidence in my flesh.
Believing that I am what I am by the grace of God. And living for Him. You know,
I was reading Yesterday, again, the story of Noah building the
ark. It's an amazing thing, he built
that ark exactly the way God said. He did not attempt to alter
one single thing. He didn't change one single thing,
whatever God said, that's what he did. He used the measurements
God told him to use. He used the wood God told him
to use. He put the window and the door
where it should be. Silly familiarity with God. You
know, God doesn't expect us to give him our leftovers and our
garbage. That's what they did in the book of Malachi. The very
best. I want to give God my best and
I want to do it God's way. I know quite often it's been
said, you know, Clark believes you can live like you want to
and still go to heaven. Yes, I do. I wish I could live
holier. The truth is, I live like I want
to. You see, I pleased to be here
today. I wanted to get back to you from
Kentucky for Sunday service. I wanted to do that. I hated
to leave my brother, but I wanted to come home to be with you in
God's house. I'm not doing things I don't
want to do in the sense that this is drudgery for me. I was glad when they said, let
us go up to the house of the Lord. I am glad to write checks. He's worthy, is he not? Now,
I'm going to put it to you. What are you going to do? What are you going to do with
this message? I'm talking to you that are without Christ.
I'm telling you there's a God, he's holy, you're a sinner and
you've got a problem. And I'm going to tell you this,
too. If you leave here, Rejecting Christ. Refusing Christ. Not bowing to Christ. One day
you will hear this message again. And it will be a testimony against
you. You were there. You heard my
preacher boy. You heard what he said. He warned
you to flee from the wrath to come. He pled with you to trust
Christ. To bow to Christ. To believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you did not. But you will
now. And God then will take you by
the lap of the neck and throw you into hell. I know. I can see you looking
at me. We're more educated than that
now, preacher. God hasn't changed. Hell is hot. God's real. And let me tell you
this, too. Maybe there's some of you here
thinking this. I've gone too far and done too
much. I want to tell you He's a greater Savior than you are
a sinner. Where sin piled up, grace piled
up higher. I want you to know there's nothing
you've ever done, ever said, or ever thought about doing that
the blood of Christ cannot wash away. It's true. It's true. And I want to tell you this too.
He promised. Him that cometh to Me, I will
in no wise cast out. He promised you if you come. The old preachers used to say,
venture on Jesus. Venture on Jesus. Venture out. He'll not turn thumbs down on
you. You don't have to run down this
aisle, but if you want to, you can. Trust Christ. The Spirit and the bride say
come, let him that is a thirst come. Are you thirsty? Are you
tired of life? Tired of this world? Tired of
using? Tired of wandering? Tired of
worrying? Tired of being stressed out?
Tired of pills? Try this one, the gospel. If you'll come, He'll welcome
you. He'll receive you. He'll forgive you. Say, Pastor,
tell me what I must do. That's what I'm trying to do.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? You don't
even have to come up here. Right where you are, without
moving a muscle. Trust Christ. And I know if it
happens, you'll know it. And I know something else. You
can't wait to confess Him. You'll want to confess Him. I
don't care what people think. He's my Lord. He's my Savior.
He's my Redeemer. He's the fairest of 10,000. I'm
not ashamed. Will you? Can you? Are you able? Do it now while we stand and
sing.