Good news. The gospel is good
news. We're so glad you're here. Looks
like we have our first overflow into the balcony. We're delighted
all of you are with us as well. For those of you visiting with
us, I tell one of my corny jokes usually on Sunday morning. The
pastor was trying to raise money for the paving of the church
parking lot. This is a true story. He announced that the person
who gave $1,000 would get to pick the next three hymns. A
little widow lady in the back of the church raised her hand
and said, pastor, I'll give $1,000 toward the parking lot. The pastor said, well, thank
you so much, Sister Jones. Which three hymns have you chosen? She said, hymn, hymn, and hymn. All right. We're glad you're here. You are a person of destiny. Bible is so very, very clear. You may hear words that you don't
often hear when you're in church today, like the word predestination. Here's what the Bible says in
Ephesians one, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. He has already blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. All those blessings He's
already bought and paid for. You are a person of destiny.
Those blessings are headed your way. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. According to the good pleasure
of His will. And we should be without blame before him in love. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. Let me read it again. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. Grace is glorious. Unmerited
favor. Wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to the good
pleasure of His will, having made known unto us the mystery
of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath
purposed in Himself. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are
called according to His purpose. You, child of God, are a person
of destiny, just like Esther. You are here on purpose for a
purpose. You are not an accident, child
of God. You have a destiny and a destiny that was predetermined. That's what the Bible says. And
that everything is working for your good. And some of you here
maybe have never heard this truth, even though it's not hidden in
some obscure corner of the Bible. It's there from cover to cover
that God is God all by himself, that God is sovereign, that God
has a plan, that whatever God purposes, he brings to pass.
You are a person of destiny, just like Esther. You have come
to the kingdom. Maybe you don't know it, but
the truth is you have come to the kingdom for such an hour
as this. You're right on time because
God is an on-time God. Last Sunday, we talked about
due season. You are a person of destiny.
I want that to sink in today. Destiny simply means this, something
to which a person is destined. a predetermined course of events
often held to be a resistless power, brought to pass by a resistless
power. God is moving you. Amen. Getting you where he wants you.
All things work together for good, but all things don't seem
so good. But in the mix, you will find
that God is working out his purpose. In the sickness, in the sorrow,
in the valley. You have a destiny. Destiny means
this, to declare beforehand. And that's exactly what God has
done. He's declared this beforehand, before the foundation of the
world. God has devised or a set purpose for you, a specific purpose
and plan for you. Every child of God has been commissioned
by God, by the Most High God. You have been predestinated. I don't do this often, but I
think I'll do it this morning. Say it, I have been predestinated. See, God didn't strike you dead
for saying predestination. It's a Bible word. It's a good
word. It's a comforting word. Aren't
you glad this world is not out of control? Aren't you glad that
God has a plan and a purpose? Aren't you glad that God holds
the reins? Aren't you glad that God is sovereign? Providence has selected you. Election put a mark on your house.
And in the providence of God, the gospel came to you and you
trusted Jesus Christ. That wasn't something you did.
That wasn't an accident. That was all foreordained of
God. And you had nothing to do with
it. So every praise, oh, I don't wanna sing today. But every praise
belongs to our God. Let me get you a little excited
about this. Think about it. What might God
do with you? You know, nothing is impossible.
Our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask to think. No one in this place today knows
what capacity slumbers within your bosom. slumbers within you
a bosom. It's slumbering, it hasn't come
out yet. I know this, God has chosen the
base things of this world, the nobodies. And look at us here
today, a bunch of nobodies. Most of us are bipolar. See, all of you bipolar folks
have been diagnosed that. You're not special. Most of us
are bipolar. But God has ordained and predestined
and has a purpose for our lives. And each of us share in the purposes
of heaven. And know for sure, you cannot
fail if God has a purpose for you. And he does. Whatever God
has ordained shall surely come to pass. Our God never fails. Say, well, what if I'm not willing? God will make you willing in
the day of his power. You see, we don't do things against
our will. God makes us willing in the day
of his power. It's not drudgery. I'm not going
to heaven pulled by the hair of my head. I'm going to heaven
because I want to. I wanted to be here today. I
wanted to be with you here today. It's my will to be here. Think
about this. You have lost family. You may
have come to the kingdom for such an hour as this. out there
in the crack house last year, now in the church house today,
knowing Jesus Christ. You may be the one that God has
ordained to stop the generational curse. Well, my dad was a drunk. My great grandfather was a drunk.
His father was a drunk. Well, it's time for it to stop.
And God has purposed that you be the person to stop it. Who knows the little ones that
will come to Christ here through this church and through what's
going on here in the inner city. Thousands and thousands of homeless
kids across this nation of ours. I saw this morning a commercial
for children in some foreign country. And I said, we've got
a nation of children right here in this country that needs to
know the Lord and be cared for. Perhaps that's you. Who knows
how many addicts may come to know Christ because of you? Somebody
out there is asking, what happened to Susie? Oh, she got religion.
No, she got Christ. All I know is she's so happy.
She's so contented. She seems like she's got a purpose.
She's not out here drugging with the rest of us. Amen. Who knows what you can
do? Coming into Pontiac today, I
said to Ms. Pam, look what God has done. It almost seems like a dream
to me, impossible. And then I know me pretty good.
I do stupid things. Yesterday, let me tell you about
a stupid thing I did. I have a tendency to leave my
car running when I get out of it. You know, I got one of those
new push-button things. Well, yesterday I had meetings,
and I got home, and I was kind of in a hurry, and I drove into
my driveway, pushed a button a couple times, just thinking
it went off, and I bent over to get some things out of the
floorboard. The car took off. I took the side of my garage
out. pin my leg up against the garage
and I'm looking around, nobody is killing me, I feel like it's
crushed. And I'm looking around, nobody's
there to help me. A horrible thing was I had to
back up the car that way to get it off from the, anyway, what
was I? Things happen in life. I marvel at God uses me, that
was my point. I can't even turn off the car
motor. Don't you know that in these
dark times, God is making lamps with which to remove the gloom?
I see the lights coming on, don't you? Martin Luther was on his way
when the Pope was selling indulgences. Some of you may not know that
history, but they used to sell, I mean, if you wanted to send,
you could buy an indulgence. Like I'd like to commit fornication
tomorrow so you could buy from the church an indulgence to do
it. Martin Luther was on his way
when the Pope was selling indulgences. John Calvin was on his way when
the church was declaring false doctrine. He would be heard in
Geneva. And I thought last night, I was
on my way When there in the barnyard in 1949, I knelt down beside
my pet goat and prayed. I was on my way when we moved
from Lowe's, Kentucky, from that little two-bedroom house to Warren,
Michigan. I was on my way when I failed
the fifth grade because I wasn't a good reader, and I was held
back a half a semester. I was on my way when I became
captain of the safety patrol in the sixth grade. I was on
my way when I became a reader devouring Christian books and
biographies by the eighth grade. I was reading like a mad person.
I was a speed reader. I was on my way in high school
becoming president of the student council. I had no idea. I was
puffed up in pride. president of my class. I was
on my way to kingdom work for such an hour as this when I left
7208 Jackson Street in Warren, Michigan that cold, snowy morning
in January 1964, having never spent a night away from home
in my life, headed for Lexington, Kentucky, where I would attend
Georgetown College and Lexington Baptist College. I was on my
way when I attempted to detour and play college football. for
self-centered reasons and got pneumonia and dropped 40 pounds
and had to drop out of school. Oh, I was on my way to Pontiac
for such an hour as this. I didn't know it. Many of you are sitting there
and you can't even dream of what you're on your way to. But God
has a plan and God has a purpose. I can look back in my life and
see God digging ditches and saying, you can go that far, but not
a step further. I can see God turning me around
and turning me back. Now I've told a little story
of my own destiny. Every Christian in this place
has a story. Those of you who are children
of God and you've been saved a month or you've been saved
60 years, you can look back and say, that was no accident. That
was no accident. That was no accident. Have no fear. God has placed
you where you are and ordained you for his purpose. This week
they were telling me we need $400,000 here in about 60 days. That'll rock your boat a little
bit. But that's not too much for God. I don't know where it's
coming from, but I know it's coming. I know that women and
children shelter is going to be built. I know that. I know
we're going to start here in a couple of months. If God has a purpose to be served
by a man, that man will live out his day. You know, I have
often heard in 50 years of preaching that God called Jonah and the
preachers have said, and I've heard them say this and I used
to shake my head, If you don't do what God wants you to do,
he'll get somebody else. Let me tell you, brother, read
the story of Jonah. God didn't get somebody else.
Jonah was going, now he had to go to Wales Valley University
to get there. But when God got through with
him, he went where God told him to go. Amen. God has a design purpose and
plan for you. Say, well, pastor, you know,
I've been in the hood. I've used heroin. You know, there
isn't anything. I've had abortions. I've prostituted. God's got a plan for you. Amen. God saved you on purpose for
a purpose. And let me tell you this too. All the devils in hell
or out of hell may come against you, but God's child has a work
to do in the name of Jesus Christ, and he will drive away the smoke. It's a bad day for demons when
they oppose the manifest destiny of one of God's little children.
It's going to be a bad day for demons. People often come to
me and say, Pastor, do you believe in demons? Absolutely, but I
also believe in Jesus Christ, who has all power. Predestination
is not a sleepy doctrine. It's not something that ought
to be preached occasionally. It ought to be herald to the
church of Jesus Christ. You know why most churches are
down and there's gloom and doom and defeat? Because this truth
isn't preached. How about this one? I can do
all things through Christ that strengtheneth me. Amen. Nothing can defeat you. You are
heaven bound, child of God. You are heaven bound. Paul said,
I'm persuaded neither life nor death, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus. It's God's decree. There is no
altering it. He purposed it. There is no defeating
of God's purpose. In God's purpose, you are invincible. Like a fanatic when it comes
to God's work to which you have been ordained. That's kind of
the way I feel. I've been told that. You're crazy. You're a fanatic. And we have
seen some crazy things here. You know, we've been trying to
raise big bucks for this women and children's shelter. And you
look over the history of this place and God did it with pennies.
God did it with quarters. God did it with pop cans. God, even some of you threw in
lottery tickets that had been scratched already and they were
losers. But anyway, God uses those things. When you become so fanatically
insane as to be absorbed by a passion for the glory of God, the salvation
of men, the spread of the gospel, and the glory of God, that insanity
is a mighty force. I told you last Sunday, we'll
start filling this balcony pretty soon. Honestly, I didn't know
it was going to be quite this quick, but we're glad to have
all of you in the balcony. And let me tell you this, when
you have nothing else to shoot at the enemy, place yourself
in the gun and shoot yourself at the enemy. Nothing is more
powerful than a man or woman ordained of God for a purpose
of God to do the purpose of God has all the backing of God. You weren't around when God went
out one time and said, let there be light. That's all he had to
say. And it was so. God has but to
speak the word. Enthusiasm about what we do.
You know, I've been called a Calvinist and I know what that means. Some
of you don't know what that means and you don't have to know what
it means. It just simply means I'm a grace person. And I'm telling
you from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, I'm a
grace person. But I'm telling you, my friend,
everybody I know who says they're a grace person isn't smiling. Nobody ought to smile like people
who've heard the good news, the glad tidings, that it's by the
grace of God. Good news. Why are you frowning? Everything's working for your
good and God's glory. You have nothing to frown about.
I like to see us jump a little bit in here. You know, some of you high church
people don't like that too much or it scares you a little bit.
Don't be afraid. Wanda's okay. I got her right here up front
here. Wanda's fine. And I've said this so many times
here in this place. If you knew where Wanda came
from, where God's brought her, you'd leave her alone, let her
shout too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, I've
been hearing some of you kind of... Now, I know we don't want
chaos here, and you got to give me time to preach. Don't scream
until the whole thing, I don't have time to preach. But I'm
hearing some, you know, sounds over here. I haven't got you
spotted just yet, but I like you. I really like you. And what I like best is you're
doing it at the right time. You know, if I was giving the
football scores or something and you did that, that wouldn't
be the right time. But when I say Jesus paid it all and you say,
woo, oh, that's the right time. Nevermind if men think you're
crazy. When you're overwhelmed yourself
that God chose you, overwhelmed with a flood of zeal, You know,
your zeal for Christ and the glory of Christ and that men
give Him glory. God inhabits the praise of His
people. There's something going on here.
And it's really simple. We just give Him all the glory.
We try to sing songs that give Him all the glory. I preach the
same thing every Lord's Day. And you come and hear the same
story. Isn't that great? That is awesome. I'm saying you
are a person of destiny. Say, pastor, I just, you know,
you are called according to a purpose. Some of you back there are way
in the back, already been passing notes this morning or whispering
things while I've been preaching. Some of you back there around
the coffee shop when you should be in here, trying your best to get away
from God. He's calling you way back there. You're getting uncomfortable
way back there. That's because you're a person
of destiny. Some of you just came out of the crack house.
Some of you just shot up last night. Some of you in here hearing
the gospel for the first time. Some of you guys, I know you've
never been in church before, before you came to Grace Sooners
of Hope. You are a person of destiny, if God, amen. God in his providence, you didn't
get here by accident. God has preordained, predestinated
you to be conformed to the image of his son. And now think about
this, all of you saints here, you're not nearly as good as
you act in your outward conduct. So the reason I don't go to church
is because there's so many hypocrites in that church. Well, you'd be
in the wrong place if you come here, because this place is full
of hypocrisy. Everybody sitting here is a hypocrite.
Amen. What does it mean to be a hypocrite? You wear a mask. And you know, were it not for
the predestinating God, you'd go to hell. Every last one of
us. That's true. You know what goes
on in your, I'm a Christian. Maybe you are and maybe you're
not. Christians don't strut nearly as much as you do. Christians
know, were it not for the grace of God, I'd be in the crack house. You need to go back and see you
are a person of destiny. Go way back. You need to go way
back. Go back before God flung the
Milky Way, the sun, the moon, and the stars into heaven. Go
back before angels and seraphims and cherubims fan the air with
their wings. Go back to the eternal counsel.
of the Godhead when there was only God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And there you will find you are
a person of destiny in the choice, in the election, in the choosing
of you to salvation before the world. Go back to Calvary. There you'll
find you're not an accident. Your name was written in the
palms of His hands. He was not dying in order to
save some way, somehow. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. 2,000 years ago, He had already
paid your sin debt. It was paid to God. The blood
is not offered to you. It was offered to God, and God
accepted it. And so you have no debt. I'm
about to get happy all by myself here. There is no condemnation to those
that are in Christ Jesus. I said, well, I just, I fear
dying. I have to appear before God.
I can't wait to get there. I'm going to tell him it's your
fault I'm here. You did it all. You bought the ticket. You paid
the price. I'm redeemed by your blood. Yeah, when I get to heaven,
he's not going to hear the last of it. Go back and know this, go to
Calvary and know it's finished, it's done. You keep thinking
about what you did and you know, all of that and the devil throws
that in your face. That's because you need to understand
this, don't let slew foot do that. Tell him to go back to
hell where he belonged. You know, you say that to other
people, go to hell, say it to the devil, go to hell. There's no judgment for those
in Christ. He's an accuser, but Jesus paid
it all. Go back just a few weeks ago
or maybe a few years ago. You were lost and on the floor
of life. Go back where you can see prevenient
grace. Some of you in here should have
been dead a long time ago. You were down in the hood, down
in Lodi Bar, in the crack house. People were shooting. Some were
shooting up, and some were literally shooting. Why didn't you OD? I know hundreds of people in
the last 25 years that are dead and in the cemetery. They OD'd.
And here you sit with crack marks up and down your arm. And maybe
just last week, and you're sitting back there right now, Can that
be true, what he's saying? Maybe you're looking at your
track mind. It's true, he died for sinners. You say, I'm such
a scuzzbag. Oh, that's good, you're a sinner. All you good people are in the
wrong church. I have nothing to say to good
people. But if I can find a lousy, no good for nothing tumble bug,
I got some good news for you. If you'll trust Jesus Christ,
you'll be washed white as snow. And you can come to Christ just
as you are. You don't have to get better.
I'm not inviting you to the baptismal pool. I'm inviting you to this. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all their guilty stains. You're a person of destiny.
Maybe fresh off the street. You're not here by accident.
You're more than a conqueror. The truth is, my friend, we win. I don't know what you're thinking
about, but this is what you ought to be thinking about. God has
predestinated you to be conformed to the image of his son. And
because he predestinated you, and because it's God's work,
you will be conformed to the image of his son. When you get
to heaven, you'll be just like Jesus Christ. And who did that?
Not you. Some of you aren't saying amen.
Come on now. Well, you know, I heard it was
like this, you know, the devil had a vote, God had a vote, and
I cast the deciding vote. I told you this Wednesday night,
you were not a registered voter when the election took place. And you make the devil and God
have the same power, and you're the decider of your fate? I don't think so. When we get
to heaven, we'll say, Thou art worthy to receive glory and honor
and praise, both now and forever. We'll say, Pastor, I don't have
that blessed assurance you sang about. I'm not sure this is my
first time ever hearing grace. In fact, I haven't been in church
in years and years and years. I'm totally caught up in Lodibar. I'm down in the hood. I'm in
the drug culture. Or I see some of you, some of
you, I suspect, you're all caught up in religion.
Religion will take you to hell. You know religious people are
mean people. Did you know that? I wanna tell you today that you're
a person of destiny. And I wanna say this to you.
Grace is like a heat seeking missile. Like a heat seeking missile.
And you know, with those heat seeking missiles, sometimes the
target tries to get out of the way of the missile. Whichever
way you turn, the Lord's there. He's gonna shut you up. He's
gonna find you. He's gonna bring you to Jesus
Christ. There were 99 sheep safe in the fall. One was out. The shepherd said, I gotta go
get that sheep. The sheep was lost. Jesus left the 99, the
shepherd did. Trailed that lost sheep over
the mountains of vanity. through the slew of depression,
finally found that lost sheep and lay hold on it. And the shepherd
didn't say, now get on back to the foe. The Bible says he picked
the sheep up and put it on the shepherd's shoulders. And he
brought the sheep all the way back. Jesus said, I'm the good
shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. Nobody takes my life from me.
Jesus said this, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my Father's hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. Jesus said, no man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him. You're going
to be drawn. There's a heat-seeking missile
after you called grace. And it's called irresistible
grace. Well, what if I choose not to?
Well, if you're God, you're going to choose to. You're going to
choose to trust Christ. You're going to bow. You're going
to bend. You're going to buckle. You're going to hoist the white
flag. You're going to lay the shotgun down and come to Jesus
Christ just as you are. Grace will find you because you're
a person of destiny. Some of you probably may leave
here. I hope not. By the way, grace is a powerful
magnet, too. Some of you sitting here right
now, you haven't come all the way, and you don't completely
understand this. It's the first time you've ever
heard this grace message, but you can feel something drawing
you. If I were a Christian, that's what I would believe. You may
not know it. You may already be in given life.
You know what? By the time you begin to seek,
God's already found you. because you were dead in sins
and trespasses. You had no spiritual activity.
Dead men don't come to Christ. It's only living men. You have
to be born again. And the wind blows where it pleases.
So is everyone that's born of the spirit of God. So the hound
of heaven is here today. And I know he's here. I know
he's here. And you know what the hound,
he can smell a sinner a mile off. He's running through these seats
today. Looking for a person of destiny. He's gonna lay hold
on somebody. Perhaps he already has. And you're
saying like this, I'm lost. Well, what has really happened
by the time you say you're lost, you've already been found. Cause
you wouldn't know you were lost. We're not part of the spirit
of God. You see, isn't this far out? Isn't this wild? Isn't this
crazy? Isn't this awesome? Isn't this
wonderful? If I was a Pentecostal, I'd shout
right now. I was a Pentecostal. Where's my who girl? I can tell
that's you because I'm embarrassing you. Give me just one of those.
There it is, there it is. Let's stand and sing. I want
us to sing just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood
was shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come. Say, well, Pastor, I
don't know about all that predestination stuff. Well, just lay that aside
right now and come to Christ just as you are. That's the devil
making you, you know, trying to throw you off. Maybe I'm not
predestinated. Let me tell you this. You were
predestinated if you have a desire to come to Christ. Because you
wouldn't have a desire to come to Christ except God worked it
in you. So, if you've trusted Jesus Christ
today, you want to tell us about it, we'd love to hear from you
today. We'll rejoice with you while we sing.