All right, Joshua chapter 3,
verse 1, And Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed
from Shittim and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel,
and lodged there before they passed over. That is, before
they crossed Jordan. And it came to pass after three
days that the officers went through the host. They commanded the
people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord
your God, and the priest, and the Levites bearing it, then
ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall
be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by
measure. Come not near unto it, that ye
may know the way by which ye must go. For ye have not passed
this way before." You have not passed this way before. So, follow the ark, follow the
Lord, follow the presence of the Lord, because you don't know
where you're going. You haven't passed this way before. And Joshua said
unto the people, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do
wonders among you. Getting ready for wonders. You've
not passed this way before. I'm addicted to Christ. An addict
is someone who is dependent on something else, totally, completely
given over to that. Well, I'm addicted to Christ.
And to be quite honest, when I don't get a hit, I feel like I need Christ. Christ
Himself said, I'm the way, and without me, you can do nothing.
Is that right? Without me, you can do nothing.
I really hate religion. Honestly and truly, I'd rather
be at Joe's bar than in a church house that's going through nothing
but ritual without the presence of the Lord. I know some of you
that are very religious might not agree with that, but that's
OK. At least in the bar, you'll find
something unusual all the time. But church, church can be very
boring. I often think about in the Old
Testament where they were killing all those animals and offering
all that blood up, and they did that every year, and they did
it over and over. How boring that must have been.
But when Jesus came, the true Lamb of God, then things got
really exciting, right? He put away sin. I'm not one
much for holding the fort. I'm a guy that likes to charge
and go new places. and get new highs. I've been
told that the addict's first high is the best one. But that's
not true with Christ. When God saves you and you're
high on knowing that your sins have been forgiven, always remember
this. That's no stopping place. We
need to go higher and higher and higher. The Apostle Paul
said, I'm praying for you that you might be filled with the
fullness of God. Filled with the fullness of God. I don't know that I've ever experienced
that, but I'm going to tell you this. I want to. I want to be
filled with the fullness of God. I mean, I want it all. be full of God. A lot of us are
full of a lot of things. But I want to be full of God,
don't you? I want to know my God is real
and alive and vital. I want to experience God. A little
word I made up, phantasmagorical. It means literally, what I mean
by that is a rush. God rushing toward me where I
see Him in His largeness and greatness and feel Him and know
His presence. Your greatest problem and my
greatest problem is that often in our lives we go for days without
experiencing God. I want to experience God every
day. Every day. When I get up every morning,
it's one of the first things I think of. I want to experience
God today. Show me something great. Show
me something awesome today. I mean, I love the little tornado
that came through. Nobody got hurt. And we got thirty
thousand dollars worth of groceries. That puts me in a praise mode.
The apostles said things like this. Oh, that you might know
the height and the depth. And the width. to know the breath
of the love of God, which passes knowledge. He said, I want you
to know that, but you can't because it passes knowledge. But I want
to be right in the middle of that. How about this? I mean, do you live every day
this way? Our God is able. That's good. That's good. I know that. But I like this, to do. Oh, He's
a working God. He's a right on time God. He's
an active God. He's a moving God. He's a conquering
God. Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above
exceedingly and abundantly all that we ask. Let your mind go
wild in asking God. or think. You ever just sit around
and think about what God could do? What God is able to do in
your life? Christians are such whiners,
aren't we? We shouldn't be whiners. Our God is able. And that's the
God I want to know. And that's the God I want to
experience. We've come out of Egypt. Egypt
is a type of slavery and bondage. I'm no longer a drug addict.
I'm a saved sinner. I'm not what I used to be. And
I'm not what I'm going to be either. We wandered in the wilderness. Any of you got saved and then
wandered in the wilderness? Went right back out there in
the wilderness. eating those cucumbers and garlic that you
had down in Egypt, making bricks. Somebody says, it's so hard to
be a Christian. It's hard to be a crackhead.
Let me tell you, it's not easy to be a drug addict. Is it an
easy life? You know it's not. Not an easy
life. And on top of that, just for
those of you who aren't drug addicts, but you haven't had
experience with that, but you've been in religion all your life.
It's hard to live in this world. That's right, the drug addict's
not the only one who has problems, would you agree? We're all addicts
in here. Life's tough. But how horrible
it is without any experience with God on a daily basis. Hard
to make it through. And really, that's why many Christians
have turned to the false gods, right? Life was unbearable, so
you just took an artificial high. But you don't have to do that.
If you want to feel clean and high and wonderful and have a
joy that passes understanding in your heart, you can have that
in Jesus Christ. Some of us have never crossed
Jordan, and that's what Joshua was talking about. He said, we're
about to cross Jordan. We're about to go where you have
never gone before. And usually the first thing that
happens and sets in is fear. The only thing fear and faith
have in common is they both begin with F. How about this? I can do all things through Christ. I'm more than a conqueror. through
Jesus Christ. So the Lord, I believe, here
is about to take us over Jordan. It's going to be a new thing.
Some of you are going to... I'm not crossing. We've never
been there before. I'm going to tell you this now
beyond doubt. Clutch cargo is ours. Say, well,
how do you know that? I know that by faith. I'm absolutely
positive now. It's been growing on me, but
I'm there now. Now, I believe I'm prepared, but I don't know
whether some of you are. See, we got a million dollars
we need out there in front of us. I mean, to really get that
place fixed up, get it ours, get it in our name. How many
believe that's going to happen? That's good. That's even more
proof it's going to happen. We believe that our God is able. Think about what that would mean
to this city. That thing's been a bar for 15 years. Old congregational
church building. Now we're going to get inside
that thing. We're going to own that thing. We're going to slick it
up on the outside and on the inside. Instead of dark and ugly
and the smell of liquor in there, there's going to be the sweet
smell of the presence of God in that place. Think about what the world's
going to say. Think about what Pontiac's going
to say. Think about the jaw dropping that's going to happen in this
city when we get that. It's going to be a testimony
where even the heathen are going to say, hey, the Lord has done
great things for them. And we're going to be happy about
it. So we haven't crossed over, Jordan, but we're getting ready
to go across. You know, that first step of
putting your toe in the water, where are you going? We're going
across. And you need backing for that
too. I don't want to look around and y'all be 500 yards behind
me. We need to begin to cry out if
you're not as an individual. Show me thy way, O Lord. And
you being a part of this church, having been born of the Spirit
of God, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, now God is saying
we're going over Jordan. And it takes us collectively
by faith to take those steps. So, well, Pastor, do you have
anything close to a million? Not even close. But by faith, it's in sight.
I can see it. I can see it. I know this, too.
God isn't going to just hand us a million dollars. I know
people out there that have it. and probably will help, but I'm
going to tell you this. He expects you to give your dime
if you made a dollar this week. He expects you to put your pennies
in the bucket. I don't care if you collect pop
cans, put them in the... We might have to get a bigger
bucket, but everybody in here can help buy that building. In
fact, we all have to be in it. I will not render unto the Lord
that which costs me nothing. We're working on selling the
Hummer. You know, that's not just something I want to lead
you. Listen, take something kind of precious to you and give it
to the Lord. Something that costs you, something
you feel a little pain. You know, when I'm driving around
that Volkswagen in January and there's eight feet of snow on
the ground, that's not going to be a lot of fun. That's going
to cost me a little bit. Do you get what I'm saying? Find
out you have some kind of collection that's worth, you know, $5,000.
Sell it. And the man has lost his mind.
I told you we're going over Jordan. And what God demands, God provides. Yes. And listen, you don't have
to write a big check if one diamond ring is all you got. That's all
you have, and you give it all? That's all you have of any value? Or if you only have a penny,
but it's all you've got, and you give it to the Lord, it's
the same thing as giving a million dollars, right? In fact, you
may be more blessed because you gave all you could. The millionaire
is going to give us, say, a million dollars, but he's got eight million
left. You give all you have. The Lord,
that's honorable to the Lord, right? Find new ways of giving. Learn to give. You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor. You do the same. I guarantee
you, you can't out-give God. You cannot out-give God. I dare
you, double-dog dare you to try it. Just make up your mind, I'm
going to out-give God. And do it privately. Don't tell
anybody what you're doing. The only reason I tell a lot
of things is because I want you to know that I'm not asking you
to do anything I don't do myself. No leader should ask other people
to do what he or she will not do. Is that right? We set the
example. Follow me as I follow the Lord.
So I want us to think about that. We're getting ready to go over
Jordan. Therefore, it's important to
maintain faith. Faith. You know, many times you've been
defeated out of fear. And I guarantee you this, when
you fall, what you need to ask God for is faith. Lord, let me
trust you. Trust God. This too shall pass. Joy comes in the morning. Vigorous
faith. I've told you this thousands
of times in 33 years. If I was going to ask God for
one thing, it would be more faith. I want to trust him more. Because
without faith, it's impossible to please God, and faith is the
victory that overcomes the world. Some of you self prophesy. I've
seen this over and over in this church. Some of you are just
not used to success. I'm going to talk more about
that in a few minutes. He glorifies God most whose faith staggers
least. It's dishonoring to our God when
faith falls to a low ebb. God's saying, trust me. And your
faith falls to a low ebb. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
Yes. Some of you are just suspicious
of spiritual attainments. You're suspicious. I don't know
whether that's real or not. I don't know whether I have everlasting
life or not. I think I... Somebody said, I've been saved
three times. No, you only got saved one time. What happened was your faith
got weak and you wandered around in the wilderness some more.
That's right. And then fear set in. Do you
have full assurance? Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Full assurance. I'm saved, saved,
saved, saved to new heights sublime. Amen? Amen. You know, you see
the grapes on the vine, but you can't see that the juice is in
the glass. And therefore, your faith groups. See, in my mind, I see us not
meeting here. I see us meeting a block up the
street. In my mind, I see this a women
and children's shelter. In my mind, I see that. You know what we all love to
do? Have you ever seen an old hen get on her nest and it's
very difficult to get her off her nest? She's just sitting
there. She begins to sing, kind of. And to route her, you've got
to go in there and literally, you know, move her. That's where
some of us are. We've made our nest, nice little
Grace Gospel Fellowship church with about 200 people. And then some rogue preacher
comes along and says, we're moving to the bar. We dread the unknown tomorrow. We dread tomorrow. Tomorrow just
scares me to death. You know, I look forward to tomorrow.
What's God going to do tomorrow? I had no idea we were going to
get $30,000 worth of meat and cheese and groceries. And as
soon as I heard, I said, thank God! What an exciting Saturday! God at work. Some of you have grown used to
the wilderness. I see this with some of you who are addicted
to drugs. I see this. You get all better.
And then it doesn't seem right. I'm paying my bills. Something
wrong with that. I'm being successful. That can't be. I just feel uncomfortable. I need to go out and get me a
rock. You know, just to kind of settle
my nerves. Listen, on Christ the solid rock
you stand. It's all right for you to be
more than a conqueror. It's all right to be clean. It's
all right to have money in your pocket. It's all right to own
a house. You've been saved. You fear success. God made you
and born you again and gave you gifts and talents and abilities. Amen. I preached it. I preached
it right out of him. Now that we got the bucket here
and money in the bucket, anytime you get ready, he won't bother
me. Some of you got used to the stench
of your own body odor living out there in that mess. And because
you smell like dial now, you think something's wrong. You have nice clothes and a clean
house. and drive a car, and you're not
eaten out of dumpsters. That's good! Some of us get just so suspicious
of spiritual attainment. Holy courage and brave reliance
on God, fervent zeal, confidence in prayer, unspeakable joy. It
just doesn't seem right to be happy. It just doesn't seem right. Christ is so much greater than
crack. Some of you have this fear when
it comes to new doctrine. People come in here to this church
and they see what Grace Centers is doing, our baby over there,
Grace Centers of Hope, and see what the ministry is doing. And
then they say, I'm going to go over there to church and hear
Clark preach. And then I preach a good, hot sermon on election
and predestination. Ha! Wait a minute, I've never heard
that before in my life. See, you're afraid to go over
Jordan. It's time for some of you to quit drinking milk. The
preachers had the baby bottle, and you haven't come to full
joy. Full joy is knowing this. Hey, I didn't come to Him. He
came to me. Hey, Christ wasn't lost. I didn't find Him. He found me. He called me. He saved me. And then you begin
to see, I was down there in Lodibar. But before He formed me in my
mother's belly, He already loved me. And before I came forth from
the womb, He'd already set me aside. And He sent the Hound
of Heaven after me, down to my Lodibar, and brought me out. Some of us find out that we'd
rather, like Jonah, go to Tarshish than bear testimony for God in
the streets of Nineveh. Contrary to the course of faith,
if God tells me to go to Nineveh, I go to Nineveh. Sometimes following
God makes no sense, at least to the flesh. But you know, when
I came to Michigan, I was living on a nice farm. I had just built,
Miss Pam, a nice 5,000 square foot brick house. We were building
a new church and it just didn't make sense to leave that and
come to 13 people in a family room on Hamilton Court. Didn't
make sense. But I couldn't wait to get here.
There was something inside of me. Couldn't wait to get here.
And I kept telling the Lord we were building a new church building
and just couldn't move. I just couldn't leave right in
the middle of that. So he sent a tornado and blew
it down. That happened, didn't it? That
happened. Ask Miss Pam. Got that thing
framed up all night. I'm still hanging on to, I can't
go to Michigan. I can't go to Michigan. Wanting
to go to Michigan, but I can't go to Michigan. And a tornado
came and blew it down. I said, I'm going to Michigan. You see, our God is a God of
plan and purpose. I had the most wonderful thing
happen on WMUZ radio this week. Chris, the announcer on the morning
show, said, Pastor, before we talk, I need to ask you a theological
question. He said, and I was thinking,
what on earth is he going to ask me? He said, you know, the
Bible says that all things work together for good to them that
love the Lord, to them who are the called according to his purpose. He said, it seems like that is
kind of a special bunch of people. Oh, he should not ask that question.
And we had a wonderful time. And I wonder how many radio listener
calls that he got. But God has a people that no
man can number. They're not just a few people,
not just a few people, but a number that no man can number. God has
planned and purposed and determined to save them by his grace. Say,
well, Alpaca, I believe in whosoever will. I do too. I don't believe
in whosoever won't. The question is, whosoever will,
where do you get the will? How come you're willing and others
aren't? It's God who makes us willing in the day of His power. You see, a higher power has brought
you to where you are. You ever think about this? God
has gone before you. and brought you here. You don't
have to worry what's over Jordan. God's already been there. And
God's been mapping this life of yours out. It's no accident
that you are here today. God's providence never places
us in the wrong place or position. You are here by appointment. My times are in His hands. Thank
God, Pastor, I'm getting older, too. I fell out of bed this week. First time I've ever fallen out
of bed. Sound asleep, rolled over, and the next thing, I'm
laying on my side in the floor. I was looking around, trying
to figure out what happened. What hit me? And then, yesterday,
I was going to wedding rehearsal out at the Cadbury. And I was
going to turn in there. I thought I was getting in the
turn lane. I was getting in the lane of traffic. This guy came
around the corner at 60 miles an hour and was weaving all over
the place to miss me. You know what? I think that's
old age. I'm not sure. Those two things. But I know
this. I'm in the hands of God. Whatever
happens, whatever He's got planned, that's all going to work out.
I'm going to stay on the right side of the road, though. And you may find yourself in
the furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found themselves
in the furnace. But you know what? God was in there too. My times are in His hands. You
know, the truth is, if it was better for you to be in heaven
right now, you'd be there. Isn't that good to know? If it
was better for me, because God is working everything for my
good. You see, the fact that I'm here means He's not through
with me. Right? I hope you believe that. I hope
you know that. Infinite, unspeakable, boundless
love arranges our pathway. So whatever you're going through,
this too shall pass. God's right in the middle of
it. God's all over it. If you're His, He's working it
all out. You may be very confused, but
God's in control. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. Our present pathway may be new
to us, but it's not new to your God. Everything that happens
today or will happen tomorrow may be new to us because we only
live in the present. You understand that? We only
live in the present, but all things are present to the eye
of God. Tomorrow, there is no such thing
with tomorrow with God. He sees everything at once. Is that right? That's how big
our God is. There's no tomorrow with God.
There's no mañana with God. It's today. It's now. It's always. It's present. God sees your beginning
and the ending of your life. God sees it all, all now. And
that's good to know. No such thing as yesterday with
God. Past, present, future. These
are all human terms. These are all human terms. God
is looking down upon all things at once. You know, God never
has an emergency. God never has an emergency. God
is never surprised. God is never shocked. And God
is never at the end of his resources. God has never given up. You give
up, but God doesn't give up on you. And some of you in here
are licking your sores right now, but just remember this,
greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world. Some of you have got to the place
where you should be, really, feeling you're no good, that
God is good, you're no good, and God has saved you by His
grace and His unmerited favor. And you need to know He that
began a good work and you will complete it. So, you know, I
may give up on you. Others may give up on you. But
if you're God's, he will never leave you nor forsake you. It's you read this chapter, chapter
three of Joshua. And I love it so much because
the whole chapter is taken up with this. The Lord said unto
Joshua and then it says this. And Joshua said unto the people.
Now, whether you like it or not, you've got to put up with a preacher. And here at Grace Gospel, it's
not a deacon board. It's a pastor and elders. And God speaks to us and God
leads us. And then it's our duty to say
to you, thus saith the Lord. Let's go get the bar. Here's a great lesson to be learned,
and it's in the song. "'Tis mine to obey, "'tis his
to provide." It's true. All right, we're going. We're
going. Get ready, Tom. I got some ideas
about that stage in there and how I want it to look. About
that balcony, I've been thinking about it. I love simplicity in
the house of God. You know what I mean? I have
ideas about it being white and bright in there and, you know,
no darkness in there. Maybe beautiful cherry wood and,
you know, I mean, why not? If we're going for it, let's
go for it, right? The chief point in every decision
we make is to wait for the Master's voice. And once you hear it,
don't hesitate. Don't hesitate. The rough ride
of life is never so sweet as when omniscience, omnipotence
and infinite love are all leading the way. So, well, Pastor, you
act like this Christian monk and your life is now trouble
in my way. Every day, trouble in my way.
But my confidence is in my God. I'm trusting Him. The living
God, the God of the covenant, the God of the mercy seat, the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the reconciliation
of the blood, this God I'm trusting. He has so loved me that he gave
himself for me and I'm trusting him. When you know, when you
know what God wants you to do, don't hurry, but don't hesitate.
When I know what God wants me to do, what I actually do... You see, I've been planning on
this a long time. I would say 14 years ago, I went out to get
in my car. Actually, it was dark. It was
night. I went out to my car and I just felt so urged to do this.
Lord, I claim this. I believe You want us to have
it. I'm trusting You. Now, that was a long time ago.
To be quite frank with you, I thought I stumped my toe several times
in 14 years. I thought, that must not be. And then God began to bring it
back around. You know, God doesn't get in a hurry. You do know that,
right? And then I began to plot and plan and scheme and ask the
Lord and to tell people. And finally, to bring it before
you. I want to stop with this. In
this chapter, God tells the people this, sanctify
yourself. He didn't say, I'm going to sanctify
you. You have some responsibility and so do I. So sanctify yourself. Be thinking about holy ways and
holy things. I've been accused a lot of not
believing in holiness, but my God is holy. I believe in holiness
as best we can. Holy thoughts. Like I hope some
of you are sitting here saying something like this, you know,
what can I do? How, Lord, should I separate
myself and give to this cause? How can I help? Or maybe it's
just who do I know? Uncle, aunt, somebody. that God
would use you to speak to about helping. And those dollars come
and God's way comes through that. You know, God, he's full of surprises. He's full of surprises. I love
God's surprises, don't you? And I know right now he's saying,
I got a surprise for you. And Hayden always goes, what
is it? Sanctify yourself because tomorrow
I'm going to do wonders. I'll tell you what's going to
carry us through this. You're going to see things that's
going to blow your mind and you're going to remember today's message
and you're going to say things like this. He told us. I wish Herb was here. This is
Herb Minnis, who's out there somewhere. He used to have such
a clear mind, and he used to be able to express to me, you
know, when you bought that little house over there on Seneca, we
all thought you were crazy. When you would say, one day we're
going to own this street, I thought you had lost your mind. And that little dumpy house,
should have been tore down. If you saw pictures of it, you
would know. Humanly speaking, should have been... And now look. Look. I'm not saying at all that
I'm a prophet. I do know His voice when I hear
it. I do. And I know that He takes
frail, spotted men and calls them to preach. And then He gives
them the message. And then He leads them and makes
them shepherds over people. You see, if you're a member of
this church, I'm your shepherd whether you like it or not. You're
stopped. Only one time in 50 years, but
it happened right out here in the parking lot. I said, as your
pastor, I've got to tell you this. She said, I'm firing you. First time I ever got fired.
I was fired as her pastor. Now, the only way to get rid
of me is you've got to fire me as your pastor, because I don't
want you to be my pastor. But otherwise, for the most part,
you're obligated to listen. Because God speaks through His
preachers. He really does. And your spirit
will bear witness with my spirit. I just ask you this. Pray about
it. Just pray about it and see if
we don't hook up about this. And you get excited about it.
And then just think about this, what I can foresee. I don't know
how much longer I have here on this earth, but I do know this. One day I'm going to see the
kingdom of God happening over there in that building. I'm going
to see people saved. Can you imagine a thousand people
in that building? I can. And not to have a crowd
just to have a crowd, but wouldn't it be wonderful if we had, say,
800 former addicts that God had brought out of darkness into
light? You know, as we get Pontiac cleaned
up, maybe we'll think about Birmingham. I just suspect there's some centers
over in Birmingham, don't you? I just suspect there are some
people that need to be saved and born again. And I know, you
know, I know this. I know people to some degree,
and I think there are people who know the Lord, but they say
things about like this to me. I know it's hard for you over
there. All of that sin. I'm praying
for you, brother. I think I'm praying for you.
Your church is deader than a doornail, and I wouldn't go there if I
was out there. I'd come someplace like this. I want to see God
doing something, don't you? I want to see him doing something. And you cannot come here and
see what's going on here without saying something going on there
that's absolutely miraculous. I don't know how they're doing
it. I do. I do. You know, like this, you
know this. Every morning when I get up,
I need $25,000 to keep Grace Centers of Hope going. How would
you like to have that on you every morning? But you know what
I've learned to do? Not take it for granted, but
Jehovah will provide. And He has provided and provided
just like that beef we got yesterday. Ooh, y'all are going to be eating
good over there at the mission for a while. And we're going
to talk about, we may have to share some. There's a lot of
food over there. I wonder if there's any ribs,
Brother Gary. Might be some ribs over there.
All right, let's stand and praise him together.