To those children who are here
today, and you have come mainly because mom asked you to be here. To those of you who are here
for grandma's sake, she has given you the best gift she could give
you. by putting you under the gospel
of Jesus Christ so that you might know why you're
here and for what purpose you are here on this earth. Young
Timothy was brought to Christ by his grandmother and mother.
May it be so today that many of you will come to know the
Lord Jesus this morning. Our God The God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, is a tremendous worker. Have you ever considered how
on the job God is? The Bible says that he never
slumbers nor sleeps. He's always working, always. Today, I will tell you of a God
who has space would say is far out. In fact, I will be over my head
and at points not know exactly what I'm talking about. So you've
got to stay focused in this sense. He's over his head. He's not
a scientist. There's a lot of things the pastor
doesn't know, but I'm going to bring some things up to you.
And what I'm trying to show you is just how awesome your God
and my God really is. He's difficult to describe. I
know he's wonderful. I know he's counselor. I know
he's mighty God. I know he's Prince of Peace.
I know he's the Rose of Sharon. I know he's the Door of Heaven.
I know he's the Bread of Life. I know he's the Alpha. I know
he's the omega. I know he's the beginning. I
know he's the end. I know he's the lily of the valley.
I know he's the fairest of 10,000. But when I've said all of that,
and after I have said it, and I've said it so many times when
I get home, I say to myself, you didn't even come close. There is no aspect of his character
that is describable. How do you describe God? If we
attempt to describe his wisdom, we must say with the Apostle
Paul, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge
of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. If we speak of his love, we can
only say what is the breadth and the length and the depth
and the height of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. If we speak of His power, the
power of God, we say, unto Him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think. If we speak of
his grace, we must say where sin did abound, grace did much
more abound. That in the ages to come, he
might make known the riches of his grace to us in Christ Jesus. Often here, every service, that's
how often we talk about the grace of God. But when we've been there
10,000 years, we've no less days to sing his praise than when
we first begun. And while the ages pile themselves
one on top of another, God is going to be making known to those
of us that he has regenerated and quickened and chosen the
riches of his grace. You say, hallelujah, now he rescued
me, but you don't know nothing about it yet. You don't know
how far he brought you. You don't understand how deep
in doo-doo you were. And he came to you when you would
not come to him. And he has saved you and set
you on the solid rock, his only begotten son. I hardly know where to start
when speaking of this God who works. Because you see, now this
is where I get in over my head, He had no beginning. That's over your head too, why
are you looking at me that way? This God had no beginning. He did not begin. So I'm thinking
this week while I'm studying, how do I describe to them this
God? And to myself, he had no beginning. He is the God who has always
been God. He had no starting date. And
even the writers of the Bible couldn't put it in words. They
got all messed up because in Genesis 1, they said, in the
beginning. Well, there was no beginning,
not with God, but in the beginning as we know it, God created the
heavens and the earth. I do know this about this God. This God who is always working,
he has a plan. Oh, it's such a deep plan too.
Can you imagine, when I go like this, oh, the plan of God, can
you go into your mind, can you even think about the details
of a God plan? Oh, he's a God of details. You
know, we're doing a lot of building around here, a lot of things
going on, and I'm looking at blueprints, and I'm seeing all
kinds of details, and I know nothing about it, except, man,
there's a lot of details. Whoever drew these plans was
into details, even to the 16th of an inch. Well, if man is able
to do that, Contemplate this God who had no beginning and
whose plan is from everlasting to everlasting. How am I doing?
Am I over your head yet? I don't know where I am. I do know this, that this God
had a plan and a determinate purpose. I do know this about
God's plan too. Whatever He plans and purposes,
He brings to pass. My goodness, He must work 24-7. Have you ever thought about how
when there was nothing but God, how he had to plan for keeping
all the planets in order. A planet, this many planets,
one with 22 zeros. I looked that up. What is the
name of that number? It's 50,000. 22 zeros habitable planets or 50
sextillion. How many of you have ever heard
the word sextillion? Oh, you're so smart. I never heard that word. But
now, let me tell you this. If there's 50 sextillion, which
is 500 billion planets, He must be a big God. And they all have
to be a certain amount of miles apart so they don't bump into
one another. And they all, God has to make
sure that they don't hit this little planet called Earth, right?
That blows my mind. You ever think about that? I
mean, I think about stuff like that. When I think about God,
we have made the God of the Bible such a small God. Some of you
here, some of you here think so small about God and thus about
yourself. You know he saved you for something
big. We'll say, some of you are going
like this, well, Pastor, you call us crackheads. Well, wait
a minute. Saved crackheads have been saved
for a huge monstrous purpose. But even to make it gooder, Think
about this, the one who saved you, how big he is, how awesome
he is, and how he's working. Greg read the scriptures. We're
his workmanship. I want you to consider that.
We are God's workmanship. God created us. And I'm talking
about created us anew, as the Apostle Paul was talking about.
And Philippians says this, listen, you know you can't fail as a
Christian? You cannot fail. Stop talking
about you being a failure. Because He, He who, He who has
no beginning, who hath begun, I'm about to get happy by myself
here, who hath begun a good work in you will accomplish it. He never fails. Say, well, Pastor, you don't
know about my past. I know about your future, though,
if God saved you. You are heaven-bound. You are
predestined. You were loved before the foundation
of the world. You are going to make it. And not by the skin of your teeth
either. God's going to bring you in with
a high hand. God doesn't just barely save
us. He saves us to the praise of
the glory of His grace. Have you ever thought of the
planning that went into making an apple tree? I mean, I thought
about that last night. Making an apple tree produce
apples. I mean, none of this makes any
sense to me, except there's gotta be a big God. You know, in my
backyard, there's a pear tree. And about a month ago, I saw
these little buds start to come on that tree. And I said, what a mighty God. And then it turned into a beautiful
white flower. What an awesome God. And then
a little bump that looked like a baby pear began to appear. What an awesome, tremendous,
mighty God this is. Huh. And you know, he was right on
time. You know, I have noticed that things happen in the spring. Oh, I'm deep today. You're not
thinking I'm deep today, but I'm deeper than you or me can
really go today. The heavens, the maple trees,
the flowers, I saw All winter, there was five little red tulip
bulbs covered with snow. And I saw a month ago, those
little things start to stick their heads up out of the ground.
And this morning as we left home, I saw those five red tulips. That's Miss Pam's favorite, tulips. You know, we must've planted
those things five years ago. And every year they do the same
thing. What a mighty God. He's working. You know, he knew about those
five tulips. He planned on those five tulips. Yesterday, I told
about the story many of you have heard about the old man that
was throwing the starfish back in the ocean. I was telling about
that. There was an old man throwing
starfish back in the ocean, for those of you who haven't heard
it. And there was thousands of them that was washing up on the
shore, and the old man threw it back. And some young whippersnapper
came by and said to the old man, old man, you can't make a difference.
He picked up one of those starfish, threw it back in the ocean, and
said, I did with that one. In February, when we were at
Marco Island, these shells were washing up with these little
creatures in them. I don't know what you call them, little sea
creatures. And they were washing up. And every morning, I would
walk along the beach there. And I got to watching those things.
And some of those things were alive. I brought one home that
it was dead. It was already dead. So we cleaned
it out and brought it home. But that first morning that I
walked down there, I began to pick those things up and throw
them back in. You know, I do that with worms
too. After it rains on my driveway, there's worms on my driveway. I think you're gonna get run
over and I pick those worms up. Big old night crawlers and I
put them in the grass. Some of them are crazy, they
crawl right back. But I picked them up. Well, anyway, I began
to throw those shells back in the ocean. I just began to pick
them up and throw them back. Those that I could see were alive.
And there was a couple that was walking behind me. And they stopped. They said, what are you doing?
I said, some of these things are alive. I'm picking them up
and throwing them back in. They said, OK. So they started picking
them up. And then there was a young man
came along and he saw us and he started picking them up. Pretty
soon there was like 20 of us throwing those things back. And I said to Miss Pam yesterday
when I got home with my shell that I held up. I said, do you
know that this shell was predestinated to be right there on that beach
and for me to pick it up and to tell those people today about
God had his eye on that shell. That's how big I believe God
is. That that was all ordained in
purpose of God. You ever thought about what would
happen if grub worms and moles took over your yard? You wouldn't
have much of a yard. I mean, I think deep. Think about
that. And even last night, I was thinking
about, what about skunks? What if every time you went out
of your house, you got sprayed by a skunk? That would be awful. See, some of you are looking
like, he's lost his mind. He's totally lost his mind. Think about the work of creation. God worked. God is a worker. There had to be a plan. There
was a purpose. There was a design. I thought
last night, too. You know, there had to be a lot
of work go into designing a giraffe. Only God could think of a giraffe.
And I thought of a hippopotamus, too. Think about the work that
went into, you ought to be smiling, don't look at me that way. I'm
talking about God working. I'm talking about the uniqueness
of God. And how on earth did he get all
those animals on that ark? He's so big, he just told the
animals two by two to go to the ark. Isn't that something? He is so sovereign, so awesome,
so big that when he said, go get on the ark, two by two. But you know, I really thought
last night too, when he created a woman, Lord have mercy. There's no man in here understands
a woman. Only God. And that's why God
told us husbands in the Bible, you have to study her. I tell
every couple I marry, I tell the groom, now you're supposed
to study her because you don't have a clue. And the women said, amen. And God in detail planned and
purposed the minuteness of all this stuff. Now I really want to get serious
with you. What about the redemption plan? What an amazing wonder this plan
of redeeming us truly is. God knew Satan was going to mess
things up. I heard a preacher years ago,
a nationally known preacher say, God had to change his plan when
Adam and Eve sinned. God never has changed his plan.
He's not that kind of God. He's on the job. And he knew
all about Satan's tempting our first parents, Grandpa Adam and
Grandma Eve. And they became haters of God.
They fell from that blessed estate and God knew all that was going
to happen. I'll tell you this, the fall
of man calls for a definite plan. Thank God for God. And thank
God that he is a God worker in salvation. Thank God we're saved
by God. Thank God you're not saved by
your works or your will or what you do. We'd all go to hell.
Left to ourselves, we would all perish. It's so very, very true. So, some of you like this, some
of you don't, but I really like it. So you know what God did?
God, before the foundation of the world, chose a people that
he was gonna save. He chose them. He deliberately chose them. He
on purpose chose them. And He wrote their names down
in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's how detailed He is. You're
not saved by accident. You're saved on purpose. You're
here on purpose. It's true. According as He had
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. It's all right. You can get happy about that. You and I weren't worth choosing.
I mean, the most amazing thing to me is that I'm in his plan.
That he actually chose me. I think about Youngin. You know,
he's been here 18 years. He had to work for where he is
now. We have to work, but God, before there was a world chose
us. You're not an accident. You ought
to let that get in your soul and in your heart. Say, I love
the Lord. I know the Lord. And maybe for
the first time this morning, you're hearing this wonderful
truth that he chose you. I guarantee you, if you are trusting
Jesus Christ, it is because God chose you. Say, Would you like to know you
have been chosen? Then trust Jesus Christ. Amen. You can know that this morning,
that before the foundation of the world, God chose you. How so? Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's what the scripture says.
Am I right about that? So God, thinking about what Satan
was going to do, and how he would reverse it and reconcile man
to himself. Think about this. God had to
plan and purpose to save you without getting himself dirty.
Now he can't be like some of the judges. He's not like some
of the judges. He's not like some judge you can pay off. He
is a holy, righteous God. So in His purposing and planning,
He planned to save us according to His holiness and justice. What that means is that sin has
to be punished. Now who else could have come
up with a plan like this? God, in order to save you, planned
to become flesh. Now, bottom line is this, you
know, if I'd have been God, I'd just damned us all. I mean, you
know how you work. Somebody hurts you, you hurt
them. Think about this. Man tried to push God off the
throne. Man in his heart says, this God
will not rule over me. I'll do what I want to, when
I want to. And you can see that the United States of America
is becoming more violent. More crime in the street. Honestly,
I almost turned off the news this week. Just murder, murder,
murder, murder. 18 miles from us or less in Detroit. Babies being shot. This whole
area, Oakland County, third wealthiest county in the United States.
Crime, drug use, meth. Just meth. And of course, the more ungodly
a nation becomes, the more unruly it becomes. God had a plan to
be just and justifier. Think about this. This God who
is all-knowing, omniscient, omnipresent, in the beginning had a plan. And he's carrying out every detail
of that plan. I'm very happy today because
I know my God reigns. He's on his throne. This world
is not a runaway. It's not a runaway. Boy, saving us took some work.
And you know, to some degree, we can all say this. We who are
Christians, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. You
know, sometimes people go like that. You're a piece of work.
Oh, oh, yes you are. And so am I. I'm a piece of God's
work. I'm God's handiwork. What a plan that God himself
purposed to come to earth. The God I just talked about,
that God of the apple tree and the giraffe and the planets and
that God who has no beginning. And then what about His love?
He loves you. I really don't get the love of
God, do you? I'm glad He loves me, but I don't get it. Didn't
deserve it. had nothing to do with God, was
not a good person. There's none good, no, not one.
And yet he loves me and loved me. And he died in my room in my
stead and paid my sin debt. Isn't that something? He came
down here to earth, born in a stable in Bethlehem, walked the Judean
acres without sin, went up on Calvary, laid down his life,
paid my sin debt and said, it's finished. What's finished? The
work. The work of redemption is finished. Oh, he worked on Calvary. Therefore,
God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above
every name." Let me tell you, this plan of God, this purpose
of God, this working God will not fail. It will not fail. I was thinking about not only
about the great work of him redeeming me and saving me, but I was thinking
about how he had to work to even find me. Oh, I was hiding. You were hiding too. You weren't
so good that you just one day woke up and said, oh, I'm going
to run to God. I'm going to go find God today. I'm going to
trust God today. No, you were hiding. Adam and
Eve hid. You were too. And so God began
to search for you like he did that one lost sheep. There was
nine in nine safe in the foal. Many of us here today are in
the foal. Some of you that God has chosen
and loved and redeemed are not in the foal yet. And he's seeking
you. You're His, and He's seeking
you today. You're not here by accident.
He's working. So many times I hear preachers preach, and it's as
if God is not active, that God has, I hear preachers say things
like this, God has done all He can. My friend, God has not done
all He can. You better hope He has not done
all He can. While I'm preaching today, God
is on the hunt. He knows where you are, slimy
sinner. He knows where you are. He's
loved you with an everlasting love, and he's seeking you out
of Lodibar, dead dog. like Mephibosheth, dead dog,
but you ever seen a dead dog beside the road? Let me tell
you something. Not only is the seeking difficult, but when he
finds you, you're a dead dog. You're dead in sins and trespasses. When God found you, you didn't
have a heart for God. God had to give you the desire.
That's what the scripture said this morning, that God works
in you, giving you the very desire. God works in you to will and
to do of his good pleasure. Let me tell you, if you want
to be saved, it's because God wants you to be saved. Because
he worked that desire in you. Some of you sitting back there
hiding or saying things like this, could it be really me? Pastor, do you know what I've
done? No, no, probably not. But God knows what you've done,
where you've been and who you've done it to. God knows and loves
you. Your name's in his book. He's
going to find you. Perhaps it's today. Perhaps you're
that shell that I found, you know? Only God, in this case,
is finding you as one of his elect. He's loved you with an
everlasting love. Therefore, in tender kindness,
he's drawing you to himself. Oh, he's a working God. He's
on the job. And I'm gonna tell you something
else. Before you die, you're going to be a happy sheep. God didn't save you to be miserable.
Now, it may take a few years. It has with me. I've gone through
depression and had suicidal thoughts and, oh, I probably shouldn't
have told you that. I mean, not lately. Not lately. But see, all of you aren't where
you're gonna be. See, you got some growing to do. And
all of that, all of the depression and all of the stuff that you're
going through, God's going to work it for your good and for
his glory because God is at work. You know, if I hadn't have gone
through my depression, I wouldn't understand some of you kooks. I wouldn't understand when people
say, I'm so depressed, I just don't want to go outside. Unless
I had been so depressed, I didn't want to go. I couldn't even mow
the grass. Just depressed. I'll be honest
with you. I can remember up in the bedroom in my bed,
pouring pills in my hand. I know you're shocked, aren't
you? Look at you. But you pastor, I thought you were the holy man.
Holy cow, I'm saved by the grace of God. That's why I am. I'm no different than you. I'm
a work in progress. God is still working in me. And
you know, every morning when I get up, it's kind of like this
anymore. What are you going to do today?
What are we going to do today? He walks with me and talks with
me a long life's narrow way. You asked me how I know he lives.
I know he lives within my heart and he's at work and he's working
things for my good and for his glory. Do you know actually that
you haven't even experienced according to Ephesians 1, You
have not as yet, some of you don't even have a clue of what
God has already bought and paid for, for you. I'm talking about
blessings. I'm talking about hallelujah
things. I'm talking about this is a day the Lord's made, I'll
rejoice and be glad in it. I'm talking about living like
that. I'm talking about a river that's overflowing on the inside
of you, that your cup runneth over, that this is a day the
Lord's made, I'll rejoice and be glad in it. Did you wake up this morning
and say, good Lord, it's morning or good morning, Lord? I want
you to wake up every morning and say, good morning, Lord.
You know, he got you up this morning. You know, people who have heart
attacks, most of them die in their sleep. I read that this
week. So every once in a while, I wake
Ms. Pam up like this. You awake? Some of you know she's had a
heart attack, so sometimes I go like this. She's snoring, but
I'm checking her pulse. God has a plan and a purpose,
and he's at work. And I'm telling you, my friends,
this one thing I know. I know this for sure. God is so active around this
place. There are things happening that absolutely could not happen
unless God was here. Look at you, this place is packed
today. And people are coming and things
are happening. We're having pastors come here
on Sunday morning while they're on vacation to our services. You know why? Because something
that we have longed for, and I have longed for, for years,
is not just to talk about God, but experience God. To say and
sing in Christ alone, and goosebumps come up and down your body, and
you say, He's here! He's alive! You sense His presence
and His power, amen? God said, work. I want to read
this passage again, and I did several, just went online and
got several versions of Philippians 2.13. This is the New International
Version. For it is God who works in you
to will and to act in order to fulfill his good pleasure. I like that. New Living Translation. For God is working in you, giving
you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. English Standard Version. For
it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good
pleasure. I'm so weak. Don't say that. When you're weak,
you're strong. When you're trusting Him, when
you're leaning on the everlasting arms. I just don't think I can
do it. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. It's certainly not in our power. I mean, you look what's happened
here. Look what is happening here. Here we are in a building that
over a million dollars has been given to us So far. We're about to do, God giving
us a new parking lot, $600,000. God giving us a new women and
children's center, $5.5 million. Somebody said to me yesterday,
so all these things coming to pass, you're going to sit down
and rest a little while when God does. Right, when God does
it, and he's a busy, he's a busy guy. He's at work. What I want
you to go away from here as a Christian, I want it buried deep. Just think
about the, you know, you can think about the giraffe if you
want to, or the hippopotamus, or the whatever. You can think
about the apple tree, and then start applying it to yourself.
I know I know God. I know I love God, but man, I
got so much mess in me. Well, you're not supposed to
be counting on yourself anyway. What are you doing? Get your
head out of your belly button. There's nothing in there. That's
any good? Get your head out of your belly
button and start looking away to this God who's able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think with you. Let's stand and praise him.