I was reading about Daniela and
her friend going to California, and I want to read just a portion
of her diary. And she wrote in her journal,
actually. When she became a teenager, she and a girlfriend of hers
left home and took a trip to California. She says in the book,
they both took their Bibles. Her girlfriend took Good News
for Modern Man, and she took the old King James. edition of
the Bible, of Scripture. She said we would read Scripture
and smoke a bowl all the way to California. We'd
read the Word of God and get high. Now, perhaps to many in
here, maybe you're too religious and that doesn't seem normal,
but that's normal. It really is normal. My mind is a battleground of
voices shouting what to do. She calls the accuser, the devil,
Jab, J-A-B. And she calls God the pursuer.
My mind is a battleground of voices shouting what to do, Jab. I feel like it's out of some
horror flick. I don't know how to make it stop.
I've begged you to. But nothing. Why do you let me
be tormented so? So many questions. I'm afraid
of my questions. I'm afraid of the answers. I
feel like a dirty old abandoned animal cowering in some alley.
Afraid of its shadow. I want desperately for someone
to find me. Yet rebuke is my portion. Jab. Do I have to rescue myself? I
don't know if that is even possible. I feel so bad for my family,
especially Michael, my husband. There is no way they can know
what is going on inside. They just see pain. They don't
understand. They like me, they just like
me wanted to go away. I don't want to get on the roller
coaster in my head so I remain numb. Scripture after scripture,
I thought the Word was to give life, make the lies go away. I'm afraid of myself. I don't
want to talk. I only trust You. Not even my
own voice. My tongue would betray me. I
just want to sit and wait for You or die. If I could die from
sorrows, With what I can, I love you. With all I have, I cling
to you, Master. Tell me what to do." I tell my
children I love them and that Jesus loves them, but I exclude
myself with the only hope offered being rooted in something I must
do. And I work harder. and do a lot
of good, yet fear that is not enough. Jab. So much confusion followed by
condemnation. Because I'm not supposed to be
confused, but then I condemn myself for that. I keep trying
to be what I think I'm supposed to be. But then I'm not sure
what I'm supposed to be. This leads me to being afraid
that God will give up on me. Which leads me to only try harder. until the pursuer rescues me. Later on in the book, she writes
this truth. Before I was known, you knew
me. Being unplanned, I was planned.
Before I followed you, you called me. You had my life in your hand. Why did you find me? Why did
you search me out? Why do you love? Why don't you
ever give up on me? I tried to, but in the darkness
of darkness, you were there. In the loudest of noise, I could
hear you. In the deepest silence, I pained. I feared. I ran. I cried. I don't
understand. And you heard. And you saw. And you understood. Precious,
yes, precious in your sight. To be called precious is past
all joy. In the eyes of my Father, my
Protector, my Love, my Redeemer, I found where I belong. I'm a
twinkle in my Father's eye. Amen. Some of you will not understand
that. Others of you will say, she's
reading my mail. She knows my heart. I know you're here today. I know
you're here today because the Spirit of God has told me you
would be here. And I know you're wanted. You know it, too, to some degree.
You sense it. You're torn, aren't you? On the one hand, you feel unloved.
A freak. On the other hand, you think
there's an unseen hand in your life. Your theology is all balled up.
Who am I talking to? Because of you, I haven't slept. I know you're here. And God knows you're here. Because God gave this preacher
words that ring loud and clear in your heart this morning. You don't have the slightest
idea of who God is. You know nothing about His holiness,
His righteousness, justification, eternal election. All of those
are just words to you. But you are very suspect that
you are meant to be. In fact, You call yourself a
spiritualist when someone gets too close to talking about sin
because you don't know how to deal with that. Spiritualist sounds good. Way back when you were little,
you felt bad about some of the things you did and said. But now that was a long time
ago. You're an adult. You went to church a lot with
your parents. Sometimes you felt something
or someone was out there. You're grown up now. Still, every once in a while,
it's like something is calling you. You feel destined that there
is something out there for you. I'm talking to somebody. You
know I'm talking to you. To others of you, probably what
I'm saying today is ridiculous. But to those of you who are hearing
the voice. Church always seemed to be about
my duty and what I must do, obligation, work, responsibility. There was a lot of fear in church. You've tried. to keep the Ten
Commandments, but you soon gave up. As you got older, life seemed
to get tougher. I penned these words last night,
so I know they're for somebody. They didn't come from me. As you got older, life seemed
to get tougher. It seemed like the more you got,
materially, the emptier you were. Parents died. Parents divorced. You couldn't seem to find the
right man or woman. Relationships failed. And you
got lonelier. But at strange times and in strange
places, it seems like there was Something drawing you. You began to look for love in
all the wrong places. Turned to mind-altering drugs
to fill the pain. But even then there were times
when a still, small voice Whispered deep inside of you. Only to be drowned out by the
beat of the drum of loneliness and drug abuse. Now you're physically ill. Doctors can find nothing wrong.
Psychosomatic is the word. When doctors can't find anything
wrong with you and the pain is real, you're diagnosed psychosomatic. Now, here you are today. Perhaps
the last time you were in this building, you were high. I'm talking to somebody. But here you are this morning. Still lost. Still lonely. Still longing. And with an empty
heart. And you're here and you're hopeless
and you're depressed. Listen to me real close. You
are not here by accident. Can you hear the voice of God?
Through my voice, can you hear the voice calling you? Maybe
you're sitting there like this. My God, it's me. He's talking to me. You probably have it right. Are you burdened? Are you heavy
laden? Hear today the message Jeff read in Ephesians 1-6 that
we are accepted in the Beloved. That it is in Jesus Christ. And that's why he says in the
book of Matthew, come unto me all you that are laboring, and
I will give you rest. The voice has been calling you
for a long time. As I said in my study last night,
I said to myself, when was the last time, how old were you the
first time you heard the voice? And I startled myself. Four. Oh, past. You couldn't have heard
the voice of God at four years old. Well, maybe you haven't, but
I did. At that time, I had no idea. I was just a little rattlesnake. I was a young rattlesnake. I
hadn't grown up yet to be a big rattlesnake. I was to pray, but
I am positive. By five years old, I was preaching
to my pet goat. To trees and cows and anything
that would stand still and listen. Well, Pastor, that's the most
ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. That's because maybe you've never
had God speak to you. And or maybe perhaps at that
particular moment and maybe right now like It happened to me last
night. That question just didn't come
out of my own mind. When is the first time you heard
the voice of God? And I don't mean it was, you
know, Adam, Susie. I just know I was moved in an
inward way on the inside and very conscious that God was there. hearing the voice of God. Somebody
said, well, you couldn't have heard the voice of God. I did. By the way, all of you, you heard your mother's voice
when you were still in the womb. The doctors always tell young
mothers, you know, hold your stomach and have you and dad
talk to the baby, right? You say, well, I don't remember
that. Of course you don't. But that
doesn't mean it didn't happen. God's been there all the time.
And the first thing God does to His kids is give them spiritual
life. And I want to say this. Growing
up in the Baptist church, we made much of the experience,
and we called it, you got born again. But the truth is, no one
in here knows when they were born the first time. You don't
remember when you came out of the oven. But you came out. Right? You don't remember when
you were born. You don't remember the first
time you cried. But it did happen. God gives
spiritual life many times before we realize it. And today, what
may happen as I speak to you is you may realize, I've been
born again! Because no man can hear the voice
of God except he be made alive in Christ Jesus. And this is
God's way through the preacher. If my poor voice is the only
voice you hear today, you will leave here none the better. But
if in the providence of God, through my voice, you hear the
voice of God, you will leave here regenerated, born again,
knowing that God loves you and accepts you in His Son, Jesus
Christ. Accepted. Blessed assurance,
Jesus is mine. How many of you in here, I wonder,
experience that on a daily basis? You know you're loved of God. Let me tell you this. If you
don't, and you're His child, you're miserable. Constantly through Scriptures,
God speaks to the preacher, the shepherd, the pastor, and says,
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. When I was reading the book,
was reading about Daniela and her friend going to California,
and they were smoking a bowl, I laughed out loud. I thought,
how wonderful is the grace of God! Even when you're crazy, God has you open His Word. And
between here and California, it was the Bible and marijuana.
I know I'm talking to somebody today. You think you can be saved
because you've used drugs, and you may already be saved. You
may already be born of the Spirit of God. You just haven't grown
with this grace and this blessed assurance. Be still and know
that I'm God. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth, and be ye saved. For I'm God and there is none
else. That's the way it is. You're accepted in the blood.
No matter the worst about you, the best about you, it has nothing
to do with you being saved. In fact, God hates. All of your
filthy rags of unrighteousness. Every time you try to save yourself,
God hates that effort. God is not in the effort. For
you to save yourself by works which you have done. He has finished
the work in His Son, Jesus Christ. It's accomplished. It's done.
And we rest in that. You're chosen. Who, me? Yeah, you. You're chosen. Well, God shows everybody. How
does that float your boat? I am absolutely positive, and
you've heard me say this if you've been here any time at all. If
I tell Miss Pam, you know, I just love all women. All women are
very special to me. I just want you to know that,
Pam. I love all women. That doesn't float her boat.
I know what floats her boat. I love only you. You're the most
beautiful woman in all the world. This is the way God makes love
to His kids. I chose you. You did not first
choose me. I first chose you. God says,
I'm in charge of salvation. And I chose you when you were
ugly. I didn't like your smile. I didn't
see any good in the way you looked. There's none good, no, not one.
Then how did you get saved if you're no good? God had to take
the initiative. And I'll tell you, I know it's
tough because in our flesh we reason about this thing of election
night. See, your problem today is this.
Why would God choose me? That's a good question. Because
there was nothing good in you for God to say. And the amazing
thing is, He chose you anyway. Before you were formed in your
mother's belly, He already loved you. Oh, you're not here by accident. I'm talking to somebody. We call
this objective. It means outside of yourself. Before you were ever born, before
He ever created the world, He had already chose a number of
people that no man could number and wrote their names down in
His book. And then sent His only begotten
Son into the world to buy them, to purchase them, to redeem them
off of the slave market of sin. And He paid your debt in full
and you have no debt. Stop your worrying, your insecurity. It's paid. You're His. Blessed
assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine! You'll get a little happy when
you know that. It'll take that sour-puss look off your face.
You ought to see what I have to preach, too. You've been bought with the precious
blood. Would he buy you to lose you?
You say, Pastor, you don't know what I've done. You know, I believe
the Lord saved me when I was a child, but I've done the craziest,
wildest. You still hear the voice? That
voice never stops calling, never stops speaking. I would ask how
many of you have heard the voice in the crack house, but I won't
do that right now. Isn't it amazing the places God
goes? And you took him with you and
didn't even know it. You're bought with the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. You're a peculiar, particular
people, the Bible says. The Bible is a love letter from
God. You say, well, pastor, who are
you talking to? I'm talking to those who hear the voice. No
matter how weak it is. And I'll tell you this, if you're
wrestling with this, tis a point I long to know, am I His or am
I not? You are. Because you would never
ask that question. People who are unconverted, unregenerate,
don't think that way. They don't think this way. What
am I doing? The unregenerate don't think
that way. Only the regenerate think that way. When you're out
there doing things you are not supposed to do, and that still,
small voice that you try to ground out says, what are you doing
here? Maybe even when you're high and
keeping out the curtain to see if the police are around, and you hear that still small
voice, no, the sheriff's not here, but I am. I'm talking to somebody. Jesus said, my sheep hear my
voice. And not only that, but they recognize
it. My sheep hear my voice, and they
know me. They recognize that voice. I often say, one of the saddest
observations of my 50 years of preaching is that not many professing
Christians have a personal experiential, a daily realized assurance that
God loves them. I'll tell you what will make
this a great day for you to leave here knowing beyond any shadow
of a doubt that you're loved of God. It's a sad thing. Good to God that we knew. And
the Apostle Paul in the Ephesian letter was always talking like
that. And even his prayer beginning
in the first chapter, he said, I pray that you might know the
exceeding riches of His grace and the power that works in you. The same power that raised Jesus
Christ from the dead. And I know some of you are sitting
here thinking like this. You just can't. I just don't
see it. I don't see. I just can't believe. I've never been loved. I was
bullied when I was a kid. People made fun of me. You know,
I've always been insecure. You know all of that stuff? That
doesn't come from God. That doesn't come from God. He
said it's done. It's accomplished. It's finished.
I bought you. I paid for you. You're purchased
with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And I'm going to tell
you something else. Even your doubt won't take you
to hell. Even your unbelief will not take
you to hell. Thank God, right? Anybody in here ever feel not
so saved? The rest of you are liars. There
are times when all of us sense, how could it be? How could I
be His? And yet, that affects nothing. You are because He loved you,
He chose you, He redeemed you, He bought you, He taught you,
and He's going to keep you. And what happened this morning
with our sister is she just got a little happy. That's all that happened. Get
a little happy. You see, it's not, God loves
me, ho hum. But it's, God loves me! Thank
You, Jesus! And when I know that I'm a much
stronger person, no doubt about it, I'm a much happier person.
I know I'm loved. I'm a mess, but I'm loved. I'm a Gomer, but I have a Hosea. You have to read the story. One of the things that I see
happening here, and I praise God for it, and hope that it
happens more, Little participation in the expression of praise. Well, you know, you kind of hold
that down here. Not real praise. You see, here's
the deal. Here's really the deal. God has
given pastors with discernment. And if you're a phony, I'll know
it. So everybody just relax. If somebody in here goes to shouting,
I can out shout them. What I usually do is kind of
look at them and wait until the Spirit of God lets them calm
down a little bit. Detect it's real and it's of
God. You know why most of us in here
are afraid of something like that? Because we haven't been in it
for a long time. We just don't really understand what's going
on. Here's kind of my prayer. I'm
praying that the most sophisticated people in this church began to
shout. You know, and it kind of startled
you, but you just can't stand it. Isn't that something? We can go to a Tigers game, throw
the beer and the popcorn, the pop and the popcorn. Up in the air over this guy being
paid $40 million to hit a little ball over a fence, but we get
in the house of God and hear the greatest message ever told,
that God came to earth, and not get excited about it. Thank you. I want the church to be alive
with activity of God. The activity of God. Something
God does inside of you. You say, well, that's all subjective. I've heard this all my life.
You have to be real suspicious. I heard this in the Calvinistic
church. You have to be real suspicious of that subjective stuff. I kind of know that, but I'll
tell you. I'll tell you this. When I was a little boy, something
happened to me. And it happened on the inside.
Now, I don't know exactly when it happened, but I know it happened.
Now, I know I was eight years old when I found out it had already
happened. And I go back to when I give
my testimony, I talk about being an eight-year-old boy and trusting
Jesus and my dad witnessing to me. But something happened to
me before that. I looked back last night and
said, something happened to me before that. I was just reconciled
as an eight-year-old boy. I just came to really realize
it. Hey, God came into the world in the person of His Son and
died in my room, standing place, and I found out. And I'm going
to tell you this, I've never got over it. The sweetest place
to me to be is whether I'm sitting where you are or I'm up here
filled with the Spirit of God, either hearing a preacher preach
the Gospel or you give your testimony. It's a sweet thing on the inside. I mean, I had to act preacher-fied
today to sit still while we were singing. I wanted to do something. And Wednesday night I did something. I jumped. Then I grabbed my back
because it hurt. But joy in the Lord. You know, the early church turned
the world upside down. Yesterday I was... seeing all
the people from Chrysler and General Motors and all of the
work that they did. And the mayor was there and city
council there at the opening of that house. And I said, you
are a mighty God. You are a mighty God. Before
I left yesterday afternoon, Andy Meisner called me and he said,
Pastor, I just want you to know I'm going to Louisville, Kentucky
for a wedding. I can't be there today, but I
want you to know we're going to give you 27 Fair Grove, which
is three houses down. Andy Meisner is a dear friend
of Jewish descent. He's our county. Trager has been
so good to us. Things like that just don't happen. God is doing something here.
And I know why He's doing it. I keep pounding it and pounding
it. We give Him the glory. We give Him the praise. And we
give Him all the honor. Let's turn this city upside down
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's see neighborhoods change.
People change. Drug addicts recovered. A church
that praises God. A few Wednesday nights ago, you
know, the city gave us a 100% vote. In fact, the mayor made
the motion for us to get our parking lot permit. A week from
Monday, I hope this place is full of bulldozers and so forth
and so on. A $500,000 parking lot going
in here that'll knock your eyes out. How can those things happen? I'm telling you, our God is alive
and worthy to be praised. Today, I'm afraid we have, in
most places, a generation of 70-year-olds who rejoiced in
privilege and shun responsibility. And now we have a generation
of 20-year-olds who neither rejoice in privilege nor take to heart
responsibility. I want this church to get younger.
I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about I don't want
this church to get old and die out. I don't want there to be
30 of us sitting in here having a little private club meeting
called praise and worship. I want the 17 and 18 year olds
and those 27, 30 year olds. You know what? This has happened
in my lifetime. I've watched it happen. Every
move of the Spirit of God got weaker and weaker and weaker. I'm telling you, I am living
in a day when I am more conscious at nearly 70 of the presence
of God in this place after 50 years of preaching than I have
ever been. I am very much conscious. We're not playing church here.
Amen. We're not playing church here.
It's the real thing. You'll be surprised what you'll
hear from this pulpit. I mean, it's shocking. Not religious words, but telling
it like it is and Christ coming into the heart of even the chief
of sinners. You're here today. Maybe you've
waddled in the stables of sin. You're black as all get out.
But deep down inside, there is a voice, a still small voice
that's saying this. He's talking about you. He's talking about you. And you
may not know Genesis from Revolutions about the Bible. Some of you
didn't get that. Think about that just a little
bit. You can't even find books in
the Bible. But there's a voice. There always
must be that voice. That's the way God does it. We
used to sing in the old church, didn't we, Brother Sanders, Brother
Nose? I can hear my savior calling. Have you got a call? Have you
heard his voice? Have you heard his voice today?
I don't care what you've done, I don't care where you've been.
I'm just saying this. Maybe you've driven to California
and smoked a bowl or two. Or three. Maybe you're even surprised
today. Maybe this is your first time
ever in church. And maybe you even say something
like this, you know, could it be that even though I never went
to church, that that voice... Oh yeah, because
God is sovereign. But you'll never be reconciled
to Christ until you hear the Gospel. I said, well, what are
you saying, Pastor? I'm saying this. God can go to
your lody bar and find you in the hood and you'll never be
churchy at all and do something on the inside of you and start
to draw you. I'll never forget, and I don't
know whether you're here today or not, but there was a guy downtown
in the hood and he was physically bat off. He was ODing, all kinds
of things. And another drug person told
him, said, you need to get to Pontiac Rescue Mission. This
was years ago. You need to get to Pontiac Rescue Mission. You
desperately need help. He said, I don't know where it
is. This guy gave him 50 cents to get on the bus. Guess where
the bus stopped? Right in front of Pontiac Rescue
Mission. Don't tell me that was an accident.
What God does, He does on purpose. I'm glad He's that kind of God.
See, it was all planned, if you hear the voice. It was all planned
for you to be here today. That's what I meant when you
kept me awake. You made me write all this stuff. I even thought
while I was writing this stuff, they're not going to know what
I'm talking about. And the Spirit of God said, oh, some of them
will. You see, When you speak God's
language, people who hear God's voice interpret that to be God. And some of you know. And today
is the first day of your life. You don't have to go back to
the doubt, the fear, the mess. Today with Christ you can have
life and assurance And know you're loved. I remember several years ago
when I was teaching one of the ladies' classes. And I was teaching
on God the Father. God being a Father. And one of
the ladies in that class had been abused and sexually abused
by her father. And one of the other girls said
something about I've never had a father. I've never known my
father. And I said, I will try to mentor
that. I'll try to be your father. This
girl who had been raped by her father jumped up out of the class
and started running down the street. She didn't want a father. The only thing she knew about
father was not good. You may be here that way today.
But I'm telling you this, there is a heavenly Father. who is
touched with the feelings of your infirmities. He knows that
ache. He knows that void. And I'm sure
I've not got to the end of the book, but just as sure as shooting,
before I finish this book, she's going to say I have a father
vacuum. Something like that. I know it's coming. I can see
it coming. Maybe, young lady, you're here
that way. Or maybe, young man, Or maybe old man. Some of you have gotten old like
myself. And you still don't have blessed
assurance. It's only in this that you find
blessed assurance. Jesus paid it all. All the dead
I owe. Sin has left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. When
you stand before God, you'll stand before God without guilt.
Without blemish. You know, the Old Testament says
that God sings over you. You know, we sing over God, but
have you ever thought about what would God sing? He can't sing
over us, how great thou art. He could sing how great thou
art not. But God sings over us. The Bible talks about God being
filled with joy when we stand before Him without blemish or
spot. Say, I know some of you here
because of spots. Because of spots, you feel like
you're not loved of God. Let me tell you this. There is
no spot in God's ointment. There are no flies in the ointment. You're standing before God without
spot. That's why He came. Yeah, your
flesh is still a wild ass' coat. That's what I said. You're still
a wild ass. That's what you are. Bucking
and snorting your flesh. How many in here know that in
my flesh dwells no good thing? Let me see. That's true. That's
true. That's what happens in the child
of God's heart. But also, there's a new nature.
Greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world. That's
where the voice comes in. Many times you're grieved over
what you do. You chose to do it. You did it.
You made up your mind you were going to do it. And you did it.
But you were grieved by it. What is that? That's greater
is He that's in you than he that's in the world. And He's going
to keep on keeping on till you stand in His presence blameless
and spotless. He's going to take you all the
way. All the way. I'm going to quote it. For whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. Whom He predestinated,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified them, He also
glorified. And let me tell you this, you
will not find the fingerprints of man in that verse. It's all
He foreknew. He predestinated. He called. He justified. He glorified. To God be the glory. Let's stand
and praise him together. Is he your Lord? You hear the voice? I'll tell
you what that voice is telling you to do. Confess him as Lord. Bow today. Let him know. You don't care who believes it
or who doesn't believe it. You've heard the voice of God
today. And you know you're his. Come
tell us about it, will you?