What a powerful passage of Scripture
it is. Actually, one of my favorite
passages is the first verse of chapter 43 of Isaiah. But now, thus saith the Lord
that created thee. We're His workmanship. We're
new creatures in Christ. He that formed thee, I am what
I am by the grace of God. I'm under construction still.
He's still working on me. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee, redeemed
by the blood of Christ, called by the Holy Spirit, called thee
by name. My sheep, I know them by name.
and they hear my voice, they're mine. What an awesome thing,
what an awesome passage. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Who's God speaking to today?
I know he is to someone, maybe a lot of us in here. For I am the Lord, thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Since I was precious in my sight,
now it's been honorable and I love thee. Therefore will I give men
for thee and people for thy life. What an amazing thought. You
have some enemies, but God will defeat them. In fact, God will
use your enemies to bring good to you. Verse five, fear not for I am
with thee. Everybody in here experiences
fear. He said, well, pastor, you seem
such a bold guy for God. I have all kinds of fears. Like, I wonder if $2 million is really
gonna come in between now and October 30th. I wonder if we're gonna raise
$8 million in the coming year. I know that doesn't scare some
of you, but I know we have 120 staff people that are employed
here. What happens if the money doesn't
come in? I'm not saying I'm biblically
correct. I'm just being honest with you,
that your pastor, I have fear. And I also know this, the Lord
told me not to fear. That makes me fear more because
I do and he told me not to. Eighty times in scriptures we're
told by our Lord, fear not. Eighty times. Thirty times the word of God
says don't be afraid. There must be something to the
fear factor. It must be amongst us. We must experience that because
the Lord addresses it so often in his word. He knew there would be times
in our lives when we were petrified. And my friends, I want you to
know there is no bridge over this Jordan called life. There's going to be some scary
moments in your life. You're going to need some real
truth to get you through. We all, whether living a very
short time upon this earth or for many years, we all experience
this rush of a powerful flood waters, which almost seems like
it's going to sweep us away. that we're going to be overcome.
Life's difficulties shall surely come our way. There is no way
out of it. There is no bridge over these
troubled waters. It's a fact in this life you're
going to have tribulations. We must feel the rush. of the
rivers seemingly about to sweep us away. We're gonna feel it.
But, but the presence of God is better than these mighty rivers. Experiencing and having and knowing
the presence of God. Jesus is here. God Almighty is
here and all is well. Mr. Spurgeon said this, tried
we must be, but triumphant we shall be, for Jehovah himself,
who is mightier than many waters, shall be with us. The cure for the fear factor
is the fact and reality that the Lord is with his people in
difficulties and dangers. The old songwriter says, if Jesus
goes with me, I'll go. Moses said, if your presence
don't go with me, I'm not going. The presence of God. I know you're
here and I know you're fearful. I know myself. I do not distance
myself from you or your life or from what you are experiencing. We all experience fear. You see, the sorrows of life
may rise to an extraordinary height, but the Lord is equal
to every occasion. My son would be 48 years old
on August the 13th. That's his birthday. Some of
the most fearful times of my life was back then. I mean, when
the reality and a lack of understanding, what is God doing? And maybe
even some self-righteous thoughts, why is he doing it to Pam and
I? Well, I would understand if he's doing it to Pam, but not
to me. She knows I'm kidding and you
know I'm kidding. I thought I better get light just a little bit here. And this week, as I prepared
to speak to you, my mind went back to the days when we lost
our infant son. Pam was in Beckley Hospital,
had had the car wreck, an 18-wheeler, back tandem wheels, crushed the
little Datsun that she was in, and Stuart Ward Clark was stillborn. Pam had massive injuries, her
chin nearly cut off, a huge hematoma on her thigh. Her ankle just
looked like hamburger meat. Didn't know whether she was going
to lose her ankle or not. I was in a Bible conference in
Clarksville, Tennessee. I can remember the fear that
gripped me when the phone rang. I was sitting right up front
on the front row. at that Bible conference, and my dad was the
speaker. I heard the phone ring. The office
was way in the back. As soon as it rang, fear gripped
my heart. I said, well, what do you think
was going on? I think God was preparing me
a bit. Soon I got the tap on the shoulder,
went and heard the news that the car wreck had taken place.
Pam was in Beckley Hospital. Later, the baby was stillborn. And as time went on, I went to
Beckley, drove to Beckley with friends who were here last week
from Lancaster, Kentucky. They drove me up there and picked
up the body and drove back to Lancaster, Kentucky on a Sunday
afternoon. No need to lock the doors. Nobody's
going to steal the baby's body, but lock the doors. Went into
Brinesville Church on Sunday night and worshiped. But I can
tell you this, fear. There was fear. What's happening
in my life? Trouble in my way. You're gonna
have trouble in this life. But I brought that up to tell
you this. The most amazing moment that
I've ever had with the reality of Jesus Christ was standing
at the grave of Stuart Ward Clark and speaking the last words over
his body. A sense of the presence of God. Now, you may think this is a
bit sick, but there was joy unspeakable and full of glory in my soul. I know I didn't understand it
myself at that point, but I do know this, for whatever you're
going through and for whatever fear you have, there is one who
can calm your fears with his presence and power, a consciousness
that God is here and in control of my circumstances. In this life, you're going to
have enemies. I read some of the things that
were posted on Facebook this week. I didn't know I was that
bad a guy. I knew I was depraved. Bad things are going to be said.
You're going to have people who are not going to like you. Persecutions
and cruel mockings which burn like a fiery furnace. But the Lord said, fear not,
because when you're in the furnace, I will be there with you. You
will not be burned. No, not even the smell of fire
shall remain upon us. You know the story of the three
Hebrew children persecuted for not worshiping the king, got
thrown in the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Have you ever heard that song?
Every time I say those names, I want to kind of, Shadrach,
anyway, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, thrown in the fiery
furnace. And the king said, heat it up
seven times hotter than it's ever been. threw those boys in
there. And then the king wanted to check
to see how it was going. Opened the door to the fiery
furnace and the king said, didn't we throw? I say, one, two, three. I say, one, two, three, four. Oh, there was one in the fiery
furnace, even the presence of the Lord himself. Here's the promise. When you
pass through the waters, I'll be with you. The presence of
God. There's nothing more important
here today than God being here. The presence of God. I hope you brought him with you
today. When I was a young boy living
in Warren, would deliver the Detroit Times. And I was so impressed
with my Catholic customers. They got up so early. Somebody's car. Everybody check your phone, do
like this. Let me see if that's mine. The devil is using my car today. Now what's the chances of that
happening? There are none. Surely the Lord is in this place. Fear is a very common thing and
throughout scripture you will find people like myself leaders
in the Christian church being afraid. In Joshua chapter one, Moses had died. You know, I'm gonna be honest
with you. I know Joe's here and several of our men leaders are
here, but sometimes I get extreme fearful about And I know the
Lord's able, I know all that, and you can say all that, but
I'm admitting my own fear. Sometimes I get fearful, like,
what if I had a stroke? Who would they call? Who would
be there? Who would direct the sheep? I do fear that. Who would be
the fundraiser over at Grace Centers of Hope? I'm just identifying with you.
I'm just, this is kind of, how many of you have been to confession
in the Catholic Church? That's what I'm doing today.
This is a confessional. But Joshua said, God said to
Moses, God's servant, Moses, my servant, is dead. And then
God said this, chapter one, verse three, to Joshua, every place
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said to Moses." Everywhere you go, I'm going
to be with you. You're going to have victory over all of your
enemies. Look at verse 5, there shall
not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy
life, As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not
fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of good courage. Fear makes you run. There's not
many victories in fear. The victory is in this. I know
whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Who shall separate
me from the love of God? I am persuaded that neither life
nor death nor principalities nor powers. Oh, the presence
of God, how awesome it is to live your life. Look at verse
seven. Only be thou strong and very courageous. Kent, you don't have to worry
about who's gonna be the pastor when you're gone. When I take
you, I'll have a Joshua. And besides, you won't be worrying
about it when you're gone anyway. Look at verse 7, turn not thou,
the latter part of verse 7, turn not thou from it to the right
hand or to the left. Don't get your mind on this fearful
thing, that thou mayest prosper wherever you go. knowing that
the Lord is with you. Look at verse nine. Have not
I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed, for I the Lord thy God is with thee, whethersoever
thou goest. Don't fear, little flock, the
Lord Jesus said. I love the stories of the Old
Testament. Gideon, I've mentioned the last few Sundays. in Judges
6. You remember Gideon, he was out
there hiding from the Midianites, hiding from them, and taking care of his sheep,
and the angel of the Lord appeared under Gideon. Who's the angel
of the Lord? Jesus. Jesus' appearance in the
Old Testament as the angel of the Lord. And the angel of the
Lord appeared to him and said, hail thou mighty man of valor. And I always say this, I always
laugh when I read those passages, and Gideon goes, you talking
to me? That's about what he said. Who,
me? Mighty man of valor? I'm here
hiding from the Midianites, taking care of these stupid sheep. And
you say I'm a mighty man of battle. Yes, you are. And what's going to make you
a mighty man of valor is that I'm going to be with you. I'm
going to give you victory, not with 40,000 army soldiers, but
with 300 of you that lap like a dog. 300? pictures and funny noises that
makes the enemy think that they're surrounded by this mighty host
and they're all gonna run. That's the way God does things.
Some of you are so afraid. Some of you talk like this. Oh,
I'm such an insecure person. You know, I'm a nobody. Let me
tell you, if God can make a jackass talk, he can use you. If God
can make a rooster a crow, he can use you. God is mighty. Moses said, I stutter. God said,
who made your tongue? Who made your mouth? I'm going
to go with you. Finally, Moses just kept on.
You know, some of you just keep on talking about how scared you
are and how afraid you are and how you can't do this. How about
this? I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. Moses had all kinds of excuses. And I was going to turn to Exodus
3 and read how God said, wherever you go, I'm going to go with
you. But by the way, I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart, and
he's not going to let the children of Israel go. I read this week
five times where God said something like this, I'm going to harden
Pharaoh's heart. I want you to go tell him, let
my people go. But I'm going to harden his heart.
He's not going to let them go. So I'm going to send flies and
locusts and frogs. I'm going to send all kinds of
things. And Moses went through all of
that, and God would just keep assuring him, I made the frogs,
I put them in Pharaoh's bed. I sent the plagues, I'm still
with you. Finally, Pharaoh said to Moses,
I don't know your God, neither will I let Israel go. Okay, we're
going to have to turn over there to Exodus 3. I got to read that
to you. I just want to read it to you.
After Pharaoh said that, Here's what the Lord said to Moses. I love these passages. This is Exodus 6. Wherefore say unto the children
of Israel, I am the Lord. Watch this. I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rid you
out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched
out arm and with great judgment. I will take you to me for a people,
and I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the
Lord your God. Verse 8, I will bring you into
the land. I love the shalls and wills of
God, don't you? Like in John 6, all the Father
giveth me shall come to me, because I'm going to draw him. These
are the promises of God. So here's what I'm saying. Are
you fearful right now? What I would do is something
like this. When I get afraid, I run like
a kid that can't see his mommy. I run to the Lord. You know,
I used to hide in clothing stores when I was a kid. You know how
kids get under the clothes and dresses that are hanging up,
and mom begins to call and look? Well, this time my mother didn't
call and look, and I began to realize I haven't heard her voice,
and I realized I'm lost, and fear gripped me. when you find
yourself in that situation, call on the Lord. I need your comfort.
I need your presence. I need to know that you are with
me. So, the presence of God will
defeat your fear. When I know the will of God and
sense the presence of God, I'm not afraid of hell. because Jesus
is with me, amen. The second thing that will help
you with fear is the sovereignty of God. Oh my goodness, the sovereignty
of God. Here's what God said, I created
you, I formed you, don't be afraid, I redeemed you. I called you
by name, you're mine, you belong to me. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Even in your deepest fear, in the coldness of your heart,
when you think He's not there, He's there. He's an omnipresent
God. His eye is on the sparrow and
He watches over me. The sovereignty of God. Look
at Isaiah chapter 44. And I know we're turning to Scripture,
but Scripture is the power of God, the word of God. So let's
look at this. Isaiah 44, just the next chapter
over. Isaiah 44, verse 5. One shall say, I am the Lord's,
and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another
shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself
by the name of Israel. In other words, there's some
false and phony gods out there. But now notice this God. But
thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel. You have a king, I
do. And I'll tell you this about
my King, He rules, He reigns, He's sovereign. None can stay
His hand, nor say unto Him, what doest thou? He's King of kings
and Lord of lords. And that's what we're to proclaim.
Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel and His Redeemer, the
Lord of hosts. I am the first, I'm the last
and beside me, there is no God. and who as I shall call and shall
declare it, who shall call and declare it and set it in order
for me since I appointed the ancient people, that's predestination
right there, and the things that are coming shall come, let them
show unto them. Who is the God who's able to
declare I'm gonna do this and then perform it? That's my king. He says, I'm going to do it,
and he performs it, and look at verse 8. Fear ye not, neither
be afraid, have I not told thee from that time, and have declared
it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea,
there is no God, I know not any. And you go down to verse 11,
and again, don't fear. Why? Because God is in control. This world is not a runaway.
God holds the reins. You're not a runaway. God is
in control. You remember Nebuchadnezzar,
he was strolling through his palace one day and he was looking
over his kingdom in Daniel chapter 4 and he said, is not this the
great kingdom that I built? for my own glory. And the sovereign
God said to him, the kingdom is departed from you. You're
going to go out and live in the field for a few years. And your
toenails and fingernails are going to grow until you're going
to look more like an animal than a human being. And the Bible
says that came to pass. And then revelation came. And
here's what Nebuchadnezzar said. I, Nebuchadnezzar, have learned
that God is God, that he's in control, that none can slap his
hand and say, don't do that. You know, some of you in here
are so religious, you have that kind of God. It's kind of a God
you can move around and tell him no, and you know, you're
kind of in control. I'll tell you, it's not good
to be a controller when fear sets in. And all controllers
eventually, fear's gonna sit in. Things are gonna get out
of control in your life. I love the sovereignty of God.
I proclaim the sovereignty of God. I rest in the sovereignty
of God. I'm not afraid about $8 million. You gotta go back to where I
was first speaking to get that. Because He's promised to supply
all of our needs. He's a sovereign God. If you
go to Isaiah 46, he declares his sovereignty. In Isaiah 46, verse 1, Belboweth
down, nebow stoopeth, their idols were upon the beast and upon
the cattle, your carriages were heavy loading, they are a burden
to the weary beast. You know what that says? That
says that they had their gods, And the oxen was carrying their
gods. And it was such a heavy burden
for the oxen to carry these gods around. And they bowed down to
gods they had made with their own hands. That's still going on. Verse
2 says, they stoop, they bow down together. They could not
deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. Now
I want you to look at verse 9. Well, let's see. Let's go back
to verse 7. Well, it's 6. Well, 5. To whom will you liken me and
make me equal and compare me that we may be like? The unbelievers, they lavish
gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire
a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god, and they fall down, yea,
they worship. They worship a god they've made
out of gold and silver. They bear him upon the shoulder,
they carry him, they set him in his place, and he standeth
from his place, shall he not remove. In other words, wherever
they put this God, that's where he stays. He's not a moving God,
hallelujah. We have an active God. We have
a God who moves. One shall cry unto him, yet can
he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Oh, our God is
able to deliver you when you are in great fear, in times of
trouble. He is able. Our God is. Look
at verse 8. Remember this and show yourselves
men. Bring it again to your mind,
O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. I am the God who declares the
end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. That's the God of the Bible.
Look at verse 11. I have spoken it, I will also
bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will also do it. I know
God's purposes and plans. I'm getting happier. God's purposes
and plans shall not fail. I know the plans I have for you.
They're good and not evil. I have bought you blessings.
They're in my storehouse. And as you go down through life,
my eye is on you. I'm caring for you. And when
it comes to cross Jordan, when death comes, you won't have to
cross Jordan alone. Jesus died all your sins to atone. And when the darkness you see,
he'll be waiting for thee. You won't have to cross Jordan
alone. There's no reason for us to fear.
Our God is in control. I can remember as a boy saying
this to other bully boys, my daddy can beat up your daddy. I have a papa who's able. He
is indeed able. You know, Isaiah gives this example
in verse 11. You remember the prophet in the
Old Testament, he was fearful and he went and hid in a cave.
And here's what God did. God saw him hiding in a cave
and he was hungry. So God called a buzzard bird.
That's verse 11. I am the God who can make a buzzard
take food to my servant who's doing my preaching for me in
a fire country. You know it's just not natural
for a buzzard to take his food and give it to anybody. but God's able to do that. What
a mighty God we serve, the sovereignty of God against fear. What's the
goal in all of this? The glory of God. Fear is not
a good thing, this kind of fear. Lack of feeling and sensing the
presence of God, that's not a good thing. Not believing in the sovereignty
of God, I don't see how you make it through life. The end purpose of man is to
glorify God. Well, how do you glorify God? Full of fear. Here's what God
says, don't forget this, I'm the one that formed you. I formed
you for myself, and then I love this. You shall show forth my
glory. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my glory. You know what I love to see?
I love to see the presence of God come down on this place,
and some of you just can't help it. Hallelujah! Praise be to
God! You just can't help yourself. Right now, I know there are some
of the people of God in here, you're hearing me very clearly
today, and you're going, that's my God. He's a God of all comfort. He's not a God who is a fire
off. I sense His presence here today. I'm not afraid. Miss Pam
used to sing that to the kids. I'm going lion hunting. I'm going
lion hunting. I'm not afraid. I'm not... I
don't know what that has to do with the message today, except
that came to my mind. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. Well, I'm telling you, there's
an enemy out there, but I'm not afraid. Even everyone that is called
by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed
him, yea, I have made him. I have redeemed him, I have called
him. This week as I was reading different
passages in Isaiah, especially this 43rd chapter, I thought
about how our world is eaten up with addiction, and there's
so much fear. Everybody's trying to get high,
have some kind of, I don't know what, euphoria. And I thought to myself, Lord,
I want to see so many people come to know you. I thought that.
crack and heroin and addiction and depravity is so deep and
so strong. And the Lord, as that thought
was going through my mind, I was reading Isaiah 43 and listening
to this. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. I believe
God spoke that to me. I mean, I took it to, because
I was thinking, I know you're hiding back there, way back in
the back row, maybe up there in the balcony. You're hiding
back there. You didn't want to be here to
begin with. You're a crack lover, you're a heroin lover. Alcohol
has totally taken you captive. The world has just surrounded
you. How is a little preacher like
me and a little inner city church like this going to see you turn
and really help you? Oh, we have such a big God. And
God said to me, don't you fear about my elect coming to know
me. Because I will say to those down river, south of here, give
them up! I will say to those up north,
I will say to my sons and daughters who are hiding in the crack house,
who've camouflaged themselves, you're here today. Some of you
moms and dads are here today. You don't know the Lord. You're
seeing a wonder in some of your children because they haven't
used for a few months, but you yourself don't know the Lord.
I'm telling you the power of God brought you here. You're
not here by accident. I'm telling you that there is
a God who draws His people, calls His people, brings them out of
their Lodibar, and gives them a new life and a new start. I know some of you are here and
you've been using for 20 years. Your life is a disaster and you're
50, 60 years old, maybe older, nothing but a disaster. You're
bound to be thinking now, I'm near death, I'm getting closer,
there's so much, my life has been a total wreck. You know
the Lord can turn you totally around. This is a miracle place. because our God is sovereign
and able, and He has a plan and a purpose, and all things are
working together for the good of His kids and to His glory
and honor. You see, I don't think I've done
a very good job today, but I've thought about this. I've kind
of formed these points as I went through Monday through Friday.
I began to think about preaching today, There are things that happen
all week that might stir a little fear on my inside. Things happen. I got to thinking about fear.
And I thought to myself, you know, you're the preacher. You're
supposed to exhibit this great faith. Well, what is it that
sustains me? Well, the presence of God. Really, there's no need, nothing's
gonna be accomplished this morning if he's not here. Not one single
thing. We can do all of the crazy religious. You know, I can shake holy powder. I can do all, we can go through
all, or we can just be, you know. We can just be churchy religious. I don't know what your denomination
is, but your denomination is not going to take you to heaven.
It's going to take a mighty God on the inside, and God has to
be present. It's so vital for God to be here
today. It's vital. What if God is speaking
to someone here today? I think He is. You know what
makes Sunday morning exciting to me? God's going to be over
there. And I love to see this. I love
to see this. God gives hell more trouble than
hell gives us. I love to see the victories.
I love to hear you tell your story. I was going to prison
for sure. I mean, they were going to send
me away for sure. And somehow or another, A friend
of mine who just got out of prison themselves told me about Grace
Centers of Hope. And then Pastor Clark or Miss
Pam or one of the caseworkers showed up at court and said, I could come over. That wasn't an accident. That
was on purpose for a purpose. Say, well, you know, I found
God when I was, you know, 25 years old over at Grace Centers
or Grace Guides. You didn't find God, He wasn't
lost. He had already found you. In fact, there never was a time
when God did not love you. Think about that. Yeah, I've
loved thee with an everlasting love. That's a long time. He watched you all through your
mess. You should have been dead a long
time ago. Should have been shot down on Six Mile. Somebody out
there should have said, hey man, I should have been shot dead. But God was there. I hope this happened today. I
believe it did. I have a consciousness that the
Lord's here. I hope that you do. And I do know this for sure. Give Him glory. Give Him glory. Don't take any. So often I hear something like
this. You know, I just, your God's
really not my God, I know that. We don't have the same God. Yours
sometimes sounds mighty weak to me. You know, God is trying. God
never has tried anything. Whatever he purposes to do, he
does, hallelujah. He accomplishes his purpose. Or give God a chance. God doesn't
play lotto. God picks and chooses, and their
names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation
of the world, and then He predestinates. He lets you run as far as He's
gonna let you run, and then digs a ditch right in front of you,
and you can go no further, and turns you. You've been turned
by the turner, right? God turns you. He works in you
both the will and to do of His good pleasure. What a glorious
time it is to be over in 17 Up in the men's dorm. And since
there's more than bedbugs in this place, God is in this place. And you began to have a consciousness
of the presence of God. And it's so shocking to you.
It's so awesome to you. You began to love the things
you once hated. And you can't wait to get over
to the house of God to see what he's going to do today and what
that hillbilly preacher is going to preach. and you go out and say things
like this. You say this to one of your addict friends. Oh, it
was a glorious time today, huh? Where were ya? I was over there
at the house of God. Oh, Clark has really messed you
up. You've really been messed up
big time. I liked you better when you were
using. They don't get it. They don't
get it that God did something on the inside of you. You're
no longer the old you, right? Some of you, lastly, some of
you here are really churchy. I always like to not only hit
on the person who's using drugs, but I really like to get after
you church people who are so self-righteous. I'm a Catholic. or I'm a Baptist, or I'm a church of God in Christ. You know how we brag about our
church anity? God's not going to have any of
that. When you get to heaven, there'll be more than Baptists
there. In fact, there might be a mighty few Baptists, but there's
going to be some Baptists there. Say, pastor, you shouldn't say
things like that from the pulpit. You really offend people sometimes.
I know. I really do. Because I know this. Jesus has
said, I'll not give my glory to anybody. And when we all get
to heaven, we're going to praise him. We're going to bow down.
We're going to worship him. There's not gonna be all this
denominational mess. It's gonna be to God be the glory.
We'll fall down before our King. And you know, I was thinking
today too, what a great future we have. Those of you who are
depressed and you get down easily, let me tell you, your future's
great, child of God. because Jesus is coming back
again. We had a memorial service. There's nothing that affects
me, I suppose, more than our losing someone here, overdosing. And we had a memorial service.
But what a victory service that was, Friday. How, oh, you say,
well, how could you have victory? The person OD'd. Oh, I know,
but before the person OD'd, they came to know Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior. And knowing the past about people
and when they OD, I don't go, sure for hell, fell back. No, greater is he that's in you
than he that's in the world. and you have an appointed death
day. I'm not advocating ODing, but I am saying this. I messed
up a lot of times when God should have taken me out of here. I
mean, you have too. Oh, I got three amens on that.
You have too. This church is so filled with
mess ups. I love to be here with the rest
of you. I is one of you. But I know this, when I leave
this old body, absent from the body present with the Lord, I
know that. He's gonna make sure that happens.
Fear not. So whatever this week brings,
I hope you'll just remember this. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Jesus will speak to you. Don't
be afraid. I formed you. I formed you. You're mine. You belong to me.
Pastor, I don't believe you ought to be giving those folks over
there who are addicts any kind of security. What about you,
self-righteous person? There is no security outside
of Jesus Christ, but in Him, it's full security. I am heaven
bound. I give unto them eternal life.
They shall never perish. I know you're a failure, but
don't be afraid. You got a great shepherd of the
sheep. He's the captain of your salvation. He's going to take
you all the way. He's never going to put you out
of the will. I know it's 12 minutes after 12, and I'm trying to quit.
He's never going to take you out of the will. He's going to
take you all the way. All the way. Let's stand together.