Good morning, church. We will be treading some very
deep waters this morning. If you have a Bible, open it
to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 and verse 1, it
starts, In the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from
God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear
witness about the light. that all might believe through
him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the
light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming
into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He
came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But
to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, He gave
the right to become children of God, who were born not of
blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and
dwelt amongst us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the
only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore
witness about Him and cried out, This was He of whom I said, He
who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. And from his fullness we have
received grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever
seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He has
made him known. Amen. Let's pray. Father God, we humbly approach
you this morning, looking at your words, that you became flesh and dwelt
amongst us. It's hard to wrap our minds around
this. It's hard to wrap our minds around
the fact that you are the creator of all things. and you sustain
all things, not a speck of dust moves without your order. You
even know the number of hairs on our head. Lord, you're an intimate God,
a God who loves his people, a God who goes after the one and leaves
the 99 behind. You're a faithful God. And when
you're on pursuit, you will not be stopped. You will not stop
until you bring that one home. And Lord, we believe you're going
to do that this morning. We believe that you are on the
hunt this morning, that there are lost souls in here. Lost
souls that when I read your word this morning, they thought what
I was saying was crazy. but you're coming after them.
And they may bend their knees today, or maybe in weeks to come,
but you're after them. And Lord, you are also a God
who loves his sheep. And we know that you're ministering
to us this morning, your sheep. And what a sweet sound it is
for us to continue to hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus
Christ died for sinners, Lord, that you took upon the wrath
of your Father on the cross, and in exchange you gave us your
righteousness. These are some deep waters. But Lord, we thank you that you
are a good God, and that all you've asked us to do is to believe
and confess you as our God. to repent of our sin and to turn
to you. And so, Lord, I pray today that
as pastor comes forward to bring your word and expound your word,
Lord, I pray that you would use him, speak through him, even
as you're preparing his mind right now, Lord, that we would
hear you through him. Thank you for his faithfulness
to the word and... And Lord, we thank you that you
are a good and righteous God. We ask these things in the name
that is above every name, and that name is Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Isn't Isn't the word of God wonderful
and awesome? When you get to be my age, you
often look over your life with regard to spiritual matters. John chapter one was always one
of my favorite chapters. I've been raised religiously, but quite frankly, there's nothing
in religion for you. It's in Christ Jesus. And I was
thinking all week about what I would say to you today, And somewhat about where we're
going here at Grace Gospel and what's going to take place. Thinking about my own life and
your life. I want to talk to you today about
awful and awful transgression. Just an awful transgression. When I was a little boy growing
up, I used to often, almost weekly, set up chairs in the basement
of 7208 Jackson Street in Warren, Michigan. And I was probably
seven, eight years old, and we would have church. And by we,
I meant, I mean me. I was the song leader. I was the preacher. And the chairs were empty, but
they were my audience. And I was thinking this week
how I used to take John chapter one, and I almost had the entire
chapter memorized. I mean, I could go after it. You know, and I enjoyed doing
that. And I said to myself this week,
you know, Kent, you were not playing church. You remember
how you felt and what you experienced as you had church in the basement
with empty chairs? You know, you can worship God
by yourself, alone, How boring church can be if God is not there. In fact, I don't wanna play church. I have often thought that many
times as an eight, seven, eight year old boy there in the basement,
I encountered God. I mean, there was probably some
flesh in it because I would rapidly quote John chapter one. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Amen. How awesome is that? In the beginning,
this great God, this sovereign God, this one who created the
heavens and the earth. And I remember so many times
when I would get to the 14th verse, And the word, hallelujah,
I would say. I was part Pentecostal then. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. I would have all the hand actions. And it was absolutely amazing
to me. I was experiencing God. It was
spirit worship. It wasn't just the emotions of
an eight-year-old. I was encountering God Almighty,
and that he would draw so near and make himself manifest to
an eight-year-old is just something else. I remembered many times
at my grandmother's house, there on the farm, walking out in the fields, preaching
to those cows. None of them got converted, but
we had a great church service out in the field. I know this may seem a little
strange to you, but I've preached in the tobacco patch, pulling
big old green worms that long off the tobacco leaf. Just me
and God and the big long green worms. experiencing God. I'm going to
write a book one of these days, because I have some things to
tell, not religious things, but things like I just told you,
or things like how God is doing the impossible here, how we are
seeing signs and wonders and miracles of this mighty God right
here in this place. And I know in my own heart, there
are great things to come. Great things. I see so many of
you, your lives changing. You're getting your children
back. You're marrying each other. You're
coming to know the wonder of the grace of God. And there is
a takeover. Amongst us and I simply mean
this that God is taking the folks who come around here Changing
their lives and they're becoming leaders in this church That's
what I've always dreamed about And God saves you you're not
too bad and God saves you for a purpose. So at any rate And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us and Doesn't that just blow your mind? That though
this God who created the entire world system, you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. I actually thought this week
as a little boy how rich God was to me. I don't know how many
of you as little boys got to preach at eight years old, but
I did. I can tell you another, it's
crazy. I can remember being at Lincoln
High School football field in a four-point stands, ready to
bust the guy across me back on his duck and think about the
gospel. Out there on the football field,
I said, that's really, really weird. I want to tell you this.
If you have not experienced God in a very personal way, you're
missing out on life. You really are. I don't want
to go to church and sit and be numb all through that and get
it over with and go home. I want to experience God. Tomorrow's
Monday. Another day to experience God
and to be in the presence of the God who loves me and gave
himself for me. Think about it. Though he was
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Now, when you leave here,
you may say, I wonder what that pastor's point was. Just this,
unless you're in a state of wonder, you're not doing much worship. Can you imagine somebody coming
in and saying, you know that clutch cargo across the street?
Here's the deed to it. That's not an ordinary thing,
folks. And here's $500,000 more to fix that building up. That's
not an ordinary thing. Somebody ought to tell about
what God has done here and what you've experienced in your life. Personal experiences. Well, what
I wanted to say to you is this. Have faith in God. Let me say it again. Have faith
in God. When I was a little boy growing
up, I was raised in a religious atmosphere where sins got numbered
or ratings with regard to being small sins or of a more serious
type. Now, we really never discussed
it in the manner in which I'm talking with you this morning.
There was a constant flow of young people on Sunday morning
during the invitation time. That's the part where we stand
up and sing, and at least in the Baptist church, they call
that invitation time. And people would have opportunity
to come forward and confess their sin. And of course, we all sat
there and listened to them as they confessed their sin. Some
of you were not raised Protestant, but Catholic, so what you did
wasn't as public, but you went to the confessional booth, and
that too was a sham. The priest could see you, but
you couldn't see the priest. But more than likely, though
you didn't know which priest it was, he probably never forgot
some of the stories you told him. You probably shouldn't have
told him because he was a sinner just like you. You know how we
love to hear one another's sins and transgressions and kind of
feed off of them in the lusts of our flesh. Of course, some of you who are
Catholic, and I'm not after Catholics at all, I'm tough on the Baptist.
You know the stories of the priest's own transgressions and sexually
abusing children. You know about the Baptist pastor
who ran off with a woman. You know about that, happens
all the time. What I'm telling you is not things that just happen
once in a while. I've been in this for, probably
60 years now, at least in ministry, 60 years. I've seen all kinds
of mess in church. But mostly, you know, we have
big sins and little sins. You know, sexual sins are the
big ones. You know what I mean? Adultery. Or we would have young
people come up and young ladies and young men and confess. And
the young lady was pregnant by John. They hadn't gotten married.
Oh, those were, and we'd have them confess before the church
and ask for forgiveness. Oh, those were awful things.
I think I can remember every couple. kind of held a little sense of
Pharisee-ism about, well, so far so good for me. Nobody pregnant,
no fornication, because we numbered the sins. Now, today, I want
to tell you the greatest sin that you and I commit. The greatest
sin. You know what it is? not trusting
God. It's true. Have faith in God. Not simply believe, and some
of you are here saying right now, oh, I believe in the big
guy upstairs. We all believe in God. Have faith
in God. Are you truly trusting God? I
have told you hundreds and thousands of times, if God were to give
me one blessing, I would ask for this. Give me faith to trust
you. Give me faith to simply believe
in you and on you and through you. Faith in God. Some of you
came over here to church because you had to. Some of you came
because, I mean, that's the right thing to do on Sunday, is get
over there. And go to church and get that
over with. Here's the greatest sin. Your
greatest sin and mine. God. God became flesh. God came down here. God condescended
to this earth. God came down here. And not to spy out your sins,
but to save you from your sins. And God came down here that you
might have life. and have it more abundantly. Why are you miserable? I'll tell
you, because you're a big sin committer. You will not trust
God. My biggest problem and yours,
I said this way, I got a rebuke this week. I was telling somebody
about the lady who came and I said to one of our folks, I don't
see him here today, but I said to him, I can't believe it. $500,000 commitment. I can't
believe it. And this person said, what do
you mean you can't believe it? You're the pastor. You have seen what God has done.
And I immediately recovered and said, well, you know what I mean?
It's a miracle. And this person wouldn't let
go, but that's not what you said. I want you guys to stay off my
back when I say something and tell you something. Don't be
preaching to me. Have faith in God. Trust God. Why wouldn't we believe God?
Your greatest sin and mine is not trusting God. And let me
just kind of draw you a little picture here. God Almighty, before
the foundation of the world, was it got a purpose and plan?
He predestinated and he was the great architect of this whole
deal. You are alive, those of you who
are believers in Jesus Christ, and you are in his plan and purpose.
He was thinking about you. You know, I would say this, frankly,
to all of those of you who are across the street, in the program,
or in the village, Your greatest problem is not crack. Your greatest sin is not using
heroin. Your greatest sin is you will
not come to Christ. No, no, no, no, no. I'm not going
to settle with that little amen you just gave me. Your greatest
sin is that God has come into the world in the person of Jesus
Christ, and you've turned to crack, or you've turned to heroin,
or you've turned to some other God, and you have not trusted
and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. How horrible are you?
God Almighty so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that you might have eternal life in him. And he said, you
will not come to me. And then there's some of you
who are Christians and you talk about God. You talk weird when you get religious. Just weird, but you don't trust
God. You're just using religious lingo. God is not the great factor. I'm getting happy here. The great
in your life personally, every day, hallelujah. He's a great
God. He's working everything for my
good. No, you got that religious stuff.
Can you imagine what would take place here in Pontiac if 300
of us in here really would trust God? Boy, do I have a problem? I know
we're, you know, we're now in getting set for budget across
the street and I'm in fretful mode. I've preached to myself
all week. You know, I have to listen to
my messages too. So when I'm at home, I don't
just, You know, let you guys have it. I'm thinking about,
okay, so you need $8 million. What's God done for you so far?
And I would hear things like, can't you trust me? There may
be some bumps, but I'm the same God that brought you here 33
years ago. And Kent, you know, back then
your budget was 600,000. Now it's 8 million. Who do you
think over the years has taken care of all that? It wasn't you,
hillbilly boy. Amen. Trust me. And then this lady
walks in this week out of nowhere. And what a crazy story that is.
Oh, it's a God story. I will supply all your need according
to my riches in Christ Jesus, your riches. Do you know God
has already bought things for you and they've already been
paid for that you haven't even received yet? What would happen
if I just believed God? What would happen if I, you know,
we make, is it five after 12? We make such big deals about
our sin. Some of you think far more about
your sin and what you've done and your past than you think
about what he did on the tree of the cross for you, in your
room, in your stead. He wiped out your sin. Why do
you keep bringing it up? Why do you keep thinking about
it? Why are you living a life of condemnation? Why are you
unhappy? They're gone, gone, gone. Yes,
my sins are gone. Buried in the deepest sea. That's
good enough for me. I shall eternally praise God. My sins are gone. Trust God. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but He loved us. Why don't you believe that? Here
in his love, God loves me. Believe God. And this was manifested
in the love of God toward us. When we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. Why don't you step into that?
Why don't you enter into that? by faith Abel, by faith Noah,
by faith Abraham. It's impossible to please God
without faith. You think you're getting off
the crack pipe, pleases God? Not nearly as much as when you
say, at the cross, at the cross, where my savior died. There to
my heart was the blood applied. Glory to his name. Amen. We're concentrating on the wrong
thing. Amen. That's why I often say to you,
yes, we have what we call a rehab program center across the street,
but Christ is the heart of that. It's not going to be whole dependency
classes that takes you to heaven. Amen. And just so you know, I'm as
codependent as I can be. I wouldn't even know how to dress
myself if it wasn't for Miss Pam. I'm codependent. I said to her this morning, what
socks am I going to wear? She said, these. She said, they're in your shoes,
in your bedroom with your suit I've already picked out. Co-dependency. It's not a bad, it's not a bad
thing. Works pretty good for me. I was thinking about some of
the old hymns this morning and this is called Calvary. Years
I spent in vanity and pride. Caring not, my Lord was crucified. Knowing not, it was for me he
died on Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary." You're looking for liberty? What is it that
got you so weighted down? A lack of faith in God. Because if the Son sets you free,
you're free indeed. You may not know it, you may
not enter into it, but you're free. You're free indeed. How much bondage we feel. when
we shouldn't. It's just this simple. And I know some of you may be
thinking, it just can't be, you know, all the problems in life. I know, but he's handled all
of those. It's kind of funny when you get
older, the way you live, Ms. Pam and I live. Oh, that's every time we get
up. Oh, oh, there's a pain somewhere. But you know, my future is so
bright. My future is so, so absolutely
wonderful. We've heard the song, I can only
imagine. I try to imagine sometimes. This last thing I'll say to you,
And I want you to go home thinking about this. It wasn't my fornicating
that I did when I was younger. It wasn't my adultery. That's
not my big problem. Jesus has already taken care
of those. My problem is I can't trust him. Or Jesus said, I'm
come that you might have life, but you won't come to me. You
will not come to me that you might have life. Now, I want
to say to those of you who are without Christ, you're sitting
there in unbelief. Unbelief is active disobedience. I want to say this to those of
you who are converted and you have a profession of faith in
Jesus Christ. Your unbelief... is not a small
thing. Your unbelief is active disobedience
to God who says, trust me, believe on me, come to me. How good God is. Come on to me,
all ye that labor. Boy, life is a labor. And you're
heavy laden, you're just soaked. You know what's a bad testimony?
No matter what condition we're in, when we walk around like
this. No hope, no God of miracles,
no wonder, no awesomeness. It's true. You know, a great
testimony to being a believer is putting a smile on your face. And causing people to go like
this, what are you smiling about? And you are able to say, my God
is real. I sense him, I feel him deep in
my soul. My God is real. A bad testimony
is when people, you know, people have lost faith in church. People
have lost faith in going to church. Numbers are falling. You know
why? I remember this. 30 years ago,
Time Magazine's lead story was, God is dead. Oh, I was outraged. And then a few days later, I
got to thinking about it. And I said to myself, that's
very true. They have a dead God. I don't
have a dead God. And I have proof that he's living. He does the most outrageous thing. I want to double dog dare you
today. This doesn't sound very deep
theologically, but I want to double dog dare you to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Right where you are, right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Yeah, but I use crack. Yeah,
but I use heroin. Yes, but you know, I drink way
too much. Yes, but yeah, some of you are
too churchy too. It's not trust in the Baptist
Catholic Methodist. It's believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, I know the angels are shouting
right now. I'm a poor preacher, but I'll
tell you what, when I take a text and run to Christ, they get happy
up there. In fact, they're saying up there
right now, he's doing it again. He's doing it again. Look how
many people he's making mad there, over there. Come to Christ, will
you? Come, let us reason together.
That's what he said. Come, let's talk about it. The
spirit and the bride say, come. He that is a thirst, let him
come and drink of the water of life freely. Change your mess for his righteousness. Trust Christ right where you
are right now, and then come and tell us about us. And then
all of you religious people, us, let's say this right now,
this morning, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna leave this
building trusting God. I got a lot of things that are
scaring me, a lot of things deep down inside that are messed up,
but I know this, He's the author and finisher of my faith. And
I know this, he who has begun a good work in me will complete
it. And I know this, I want to give him glory and praise, not
in word only, but in my life. I want people to see me smiling
and ask, what am I smiling about? Where I can tell them, there's
a God in heaven who loves me and has forgiven me.