Romans 9 verses 1 through 3. Words of the Apostle Paul. I
say the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience
is bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart For I could wish
that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh." It has pleased God, through the
foolishness of preaching, to save folks. People look at this church of
ragtag people, people who've been in the drug culture, people
who've been out in the world, and we are to some degree of
little significance to this world. We're not the big church. We're
not the money church. We're not the entertaining church.
We are here to preach the gospel. to tell people that they are
sinners, which they already know. There's no one in here that's
really comfortable with themselves. Has somebody already said amen
to that? You're not really comfortable. You know you on the inside are
not what you are on the outside. Kind of have a fear of life.
Wonder what's going to happen to you. Wonder where you're going.
Wonder what it's going to be like. Wonder if you're going
to get married. Wonder if you're going to have kids. Wonder if
you're going to go back to jail. I mean, all kinds of things. Afraid of the drug man. Afraid
of relapse. So there is that void in all
of us. The only thing that makes life
worth living is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. It really is. And this church
has no reason to exist any longer if we are not seeking the souls
of men. You see, I'm here today because
I want someone to come to know Christ. That's why I'm here. Well, you know, Pastor, I don't
think you ought to preach for results. Well, that's you. Go
somewhere else. I want to see things happen. And the new birth is a miracle.
The new birth is something that God does in you. God borns you
again. It is our awesome privilege to
seek out of this mass, of Adam's fallen race, individuals In other
words, every Christian in here ought to have a target. Every Christian in here ought
to be thinking about being used of God to bring somebody to Jesus
Christ. Well, Pastor, I thought you were
a predestinatarian. Oh, I am. I am. But I'll tell
you what I live for. I endure all things for the elect's
sake. I've spoken five different times
to five different groups, very different groups. And I'm talking
about not necessarily churchy groups this week. Maybe religious,
but not Christian necessarily. But my purpose in going there
is to discover the elect. And one of the ways you find
the elect is by preaching the gospel. It's by saying things
like this, is anybody thirsty? Is there anybody here that knows
something's wrong in their life? Anybody here that needs the water
of life who is Christ Himself? You're so thirsty, you know something's
wrong. This world, in spite of everything
good that's happened to you, you know something's missing.
There's just something missing. There are people who attend this
service on Sunday morning that are very wealthy. And I would
say to the drug addict as well as to the wealthy person, you
know something's missing. That vacuum on the inside that
only Jesus Christ can fill. And so everywhere I go and everything
I do has to do with, first of all, the glory of God. And the
other thing is to discover the elect. It troubles me that we go through
a service without someone confessing faith in Christ. That's why we're here today to
preach the gospel. Someone come to know the Lord
Jesus. Enduring all things for the Alexei. I want this church. I want you who are members of
this church to begin to think this way God has saved me not
to sit But to tell out the wonderful story of Jesus Christ Not to
soak up information like a sponge But to shed the gospel light
on someone, you know, I would just say this what about your
children I Why not start with your own family? I'm going to
tell you this. It's appointed unto man once
to die, and after that, the judgment. Your kids are going to die. You
may be long gone, but your children are going to face God. Everyone
in here is going to face God. And when it's time for you to
die and stand before God's judgment throne, will you stand in Christ
complete, or will you stand alone? The old church used to talk about
having a burden for souls. Have you ever had a burden for
someone? Here's the way it works with me. I plot, plan, and scheme
when I get on the trail of somebody. I mean, I pick on space a lot,
but when we're fellowshipping together, he tells me a lot of
the stories while working over at the thrift store. He witnesses. Some of you know He's witnessed
to you. That's the way it should be.
That's the way it should be. To witness is so natural. You don't have to ask me to brag
on my grandkids. Or if you give me an opportunity,
I'll tell you about Matt going to stake. I'll tell you about
that. You know why? Because we love. to tell you
about Christ. If I get close enough to you,
listen, if you start getting a lot of attention from me, I'll
just warn you. Sooner or later, I'm going to
talk to you about knowing Jesus Christ. Start to tremble now or either,
you know, stay away. Don't get too close because I'm
going to tell you there's a Savior who has come into the world to
save Sinners. I know this is going to sound
a little strange to you, but I don't believe in this. I don't
believe in buttoning whole strangers up in the corner and saying to
them, you don't want to go to hell, do you? The way we win
people to Christ is, first of all, win the right to invade
their spiritual privacy. See, I'm trying to become a very
close and dear friend so I can Step over the line with regard
to relationship with Jesus Christ. Usually God will send me someone
that almost is drawn to me. And I feel drawn to them. And
I begin to pray for them. I begin to tell God on them.
That's usually the way God will do it. You don't have to talk
to strangers. In fact, I would encourage you
to find somebody that kind of respects you. Somebody that feels
drawn to you. Somebody that's your friend.
And then tell them the story, the greatest story ever told.
How God invaded history to save sinners. how that Christ came
into the world and died on the tree of the cross. And that is
the missing message today. Often people have said to me,
you know, you Calvinistic folks, you folks who believe it's all
by grace and not by works and that man doesn't have a part.
Well, I believe man has a part in salvation. He does the sinning.
And his part is to do the sinning, and God, of course, does the
saving. Right, Brother Guillory? Amen. We do the sinning, God does the
saving. So I didn't think you folks really
were evangelicals. Oh, we're evangelicals. From
the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, I'm out looking for
God's sheep. I'm out looking for them. And
they're out there. Thousands and thousands and thousands
of them. A number that no man can number.
The Apostle Paul was told by God to stay in Corinth. And God
said this, I have much people in this city. I have many people
in this city. You see, some of you I know are
sitting out there. Maybe you just came over to the
center. Maybe this is your first time on a Sunday morning after
coming to Grace Centers of Hope. You came in with a buzz. You
came in messed up. And you're here today. And you're
really not happy about it. And then over a matter of time,
You kind of look forward to Sunday mornings. And something begins
to change. That's what I'm talking about.
I listened to Amanda's testimony, and it was all I could do in
that very sophisticated luncheon not to holler out, Glory to God! How that God has brought her
from darkness to light. I don't know how this is going
to work exactly, but I want you to listen to me. Try not to get
mad at me. Because always when I go this
way, people are always saying, you know, you bordered on being
political. Try not to get angry or upset
with me. We're in this mess, first of
all, because the gospel has not been proclaimed by the church.
Really, get this down pat. President Obama is not our problem.
We're our problem. It's not the White House, it's
the steeple house. The church is the problem. We
have hid away, and I believe that many across this land of
ours are hungry for a voice. Somebody to just say the truth. So I was asked to speak at a
celebration of diversity, whatever that means. at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
this week. And I did, and I want you to
know what I said. And I want you to listen. You can pick up on this. I said
we must redefine compassion in the United States of America.
I believe as a society we have lost the real meaning of compassion. More and more we're hearing buzz
phrases like compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue. We're wore
out. There's a growing weariness in
this country with regard to the homeless who are on the streets.
I think we have to redefine the homeless. Who are the homeless? Are the homeless houseless? Well,
they may be, but there's a reason they're houseless. It's because
they're not drugless. You see, the state and government
say things like this. This is how far we are from the
gospel. The state says something like this. Every homeless person
deserves a roof over their head. And I say this, not if you're
stealing my car and raping my daughters. Remember what I said about compassion
fatigue. Many cities have adopted the
Greyhound bus therapy mentality. A one-way ticket from Pontiac
to Birmingham. Are you following me on that
one-way ticket? It's true. Many cities have brought Greyhound
bus tickets and put homeless people on them to another city.
So now we have people sitting on the sidewalk, they're fine,
drinking in public, begging to aggressively, sleeping overnight
in the park. Compassion fatigue. And my question is simply this,
is it compassion fatigue? Or is it simply, is it really
compassion fatigue? Or is it a weariness of sinking
millions of donated dollars down the rat hole of entitlement?
You see, I'm not interested in you getting a check. I'm interested
in you getting saved. Because if you get saved, you'll
get a job. You'll go to work. You'll have
self-respect. I want you to get saved. Compassion fatigue. Many are
weary, me included. of, you know, 60 plus percent
of the American budget going to entitlement programs. It doesn't
help anyone. You may live another day just
to use another day. Welfare checks are not compassion.
They're not compassion. Where do you think most welfare
dollars go? They go to the drug man. Listen,
there ought to be more than two amens in here, because I know
there's more than two drug addicts in here. Or former drug addicts. In 1960, we began the war on
poverty. And with it came talk of entitlement. You know entitlement
is not at all biblical. Even the word makes me sick.
Because God says you're not entitled. If you get what you're entitled
to, you'll go to hell. That's what the Bible says. That
there is no difference. All have sinned and missed the
mark. I just want God to give me what I deserve. You don't
have to worry about that. He will, if that's what you want.
But the cry of your own soul is, ought to be, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. You are what you are by the grace
of God. You don't even have enough sense
to play the radio separate and apart from the grace of God.
It's true. Every ability, every gift you
have is by the grace of God. When entitlement came in in the
60s, here's what went out. Great words like thank you. I hear people all the time. I'm
around it. I hear people all the time talking
about what they deserve. Or like this, you know what?
You cheated me on my entitlement check. I didn't get the same amount
of food stamps. It's never thank you. I'm so
appreciative. I'm grateful. Thank you and please
and God bless you. I see that. I saw that this week
on a sign. A guy was holding up. Hungry and homeless. He wanted you to give him a $20
bill too so he could feel good. And then, God bless you. That's
a kind man. You know that's true. You know
that God bless you is just thrown in there. How am I talking today? Is anybody awake yet? Now remember,
I said this at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Compassion must be hard-headed
and warm-hearted. Charity is a great word. It really
is. But charity must be withheld
at times. It's true. Sometimes you withhold
charity. Sometimes you say, you know what? You knew better. Two things have
happened as a result of entitlement. First of all, the poor and using
person is demoralized. You don't feel good about yourself
taking a hand out from somebody. You can't feel good about yourself.
I know this. No man by nature can feel good
about himself when he's nothing but a low-down leech. No. Men have been made by God
to work, to earn, to provide. And they get value from that.
The poor have been demoralized. And secondly, many in this nation
are suffering from compassion fatigue. Because they give and
give and give and see no change. There are many who don't mind
giving. Many who, with a caring heart, do give. I think about
the responsibility we have to the people who give that 5.7
million dollars. They want to see results. And
I do too. In America, we must learn to
withhold charity. until suitable objects of charity
can be found. A suitable object. A person who
says this, Pastor, I am so low down. I have destroyed myself. I do need help. I do need a Savior. I'm a sinner. That's a suitable object. The
person who comes to me and tells me what they deserve, I have
very little time for you. It's very, very true. Because
you're not at the place yet. It's my thought that we must
redefine the homeless. Ninety-eight percent of those
who come to Grace Centers are addicted to drugs and or alcohol. And America's problem is not
a lack of housing. America's problem is a drug problem,
a demon problem. It's true. We now have in this
nation a third generation of people who use drugs, neglect
their children, live in filth, will not work, and then expect
to be supported by charities. Not Grace Centers of Hope. Notice
that. Grace Centers of Hope. Hope. Hope. Is it really compassion to keep
the drug addict alive by housing, clothing, and feeding them? And
will a cold check from Washington really solve the issues that
have driven them to the streets to sedate the pain of life? And
I'm going to say this to all of us in here, all of us in here,
whether you're a suburbanite or you're in the center, all
of us in here, there's nothing you can ever obtain here in this
world that will sedate the pain of your life. Only Jesus Christ
can do that. Only Jesus Christ can do that.
Assistance which does not touch habits of life and the inner
forces which form character is superficial. I want you to be
a new person, right? I was thinking again about Amanda's
testimony yesterday. You couldn't help but see it.
Once I was lost, now I'm found. I can't tell you the many people
who are not Christians who came up to me yesterday and said,
you ought to get that in print. You ought to film that. You ought
to have that to show people. Well, one day we are going to.
Compassion in America has come to mean leniency, to be lenient. Like, you know, you've heard
me say this before. There's this guy that has murdered
a little girl. Kidnapped and murdered this little
girl. And his attorney says to the jury, I hope you will have
compassion on my client. Really? Compassion? Is it compassion? No, that's not compassion. That's
leniency. I hope you'll be lenient. What
was he really asking of the jury? He was asking for leniency. Compassion
really means to suffer together with another. To participate
in suffering. It's not a cold check. You need
somebody to come alongside you. Somebody you can talk to. Somebody
you feel like you can trust. Somebody that you truly believe
loves you. That's true compassion. It really
is. That's why I say I'm not about
giving money away to drug addicts. I'm not. I am about, can we talk? You know, what's really behind
you sedating? What's really behind that? What's
really behind your addiction? Just so you know, we're all addicts.
I don't care if you're president of the bank in here today or
who you are, we're all addicts. We all have something that, outside
of God Himself, that we seek comfort. And it really never
does comfort us. Only a great time in the presence
of the Lord will comfort you. The reality of fellowship and
knowing God. Descending into the misery. Compassion
is personal involvement, personal action. And I say this to you,
the American people are not money stingy. We're time stingy. And what I've wanted for 25 years
or 33 years now is a church that's giving back. Not Sunday morning
religion. Not just come over and sit and
say hallelujah on Sundays. But a church that rolls up its
sleeves and gets in the battle, gets your hands dirty, and especially
those of you who have been saved from that darkness and that mess
out there, how you ought to give back. Do you know how much you
owe? What is your life worth? You
haven't used in six years, seven years, ten years, fifteen years? My, so what is that worth to
you? It ought to be worth everything.
You ought to be naturally a give-back person. Really, I try to correct
myself in saying Christians ought to witness. No, Christians will
witness. Your life will be a witness.
People will like you, actually. You know, one of the things,
and I think Darren mentioned this, Several of our girls tripped
in those stilts they were wearing. I don't know. You ladies ought
to have a revolution. And whoever invented those shoes
that makes you walk like this? Anyway. Probably some sissy guy in Europe
invented those things. Anyway. Oh, these shoes are Dimenchi
Catinchi. Well, you still look miserable
in walking in them. What was I talking about? Oh, one of the things yesterday
was a couple of the girls fell, actually fell. And Mary Alice
from New York, Known all over the world, this lady, wonderful
lady. The greatest thing I saw yesterday, she went out there
and fell herself. I mean, it was a pretend fall.
But she just laid out on that runway. You know how good that
must have made those girls who tripped, or how good it made
them feel? I thought that was the best thing
about the whole show. It showed a love. You know, Jesus,
when the woman was taken in adultery, you remember, and brought to
His feet, and they said, Moses says, stoner, what do you say?
And the Bible says the most amazing thing. And Jesus bent down. Now you've got Jesus and the
adulterous woman eye to eye. He identified with her. That's
the way Christians ought to be. I hope you're on the trail of
somebody. That you're making friends with
somebody so you can win the right to invade their spiritual privacy
where they'll listen to you. To face the misery of others
with a smile. A smile is so important. Christians ought to be the happiest
people in the world. You must be. And you know, people
need a smile. You ought to smile a lot. You
smile a lot. People are wondering what you're
smiling about. Religious people don't smile
much. They're into all the rules. When you're religious and into
all the legalities of religion, you don't smoke, you don't chew,
you don't drink, you don't, you don't, you don't, you don't.
And you look as miserable as you are. And then you go up to somebody
with a smile on their face, they have a smile on their face, and
you say, don't you want to be a Christian like me? It's not real impressive. The truth is that this old world
is hurting. This old world is hurting. And
it needs a smile. It needs Christ. It needs people
who know the Lord. If we're going to turn the city
upside down, and we are, it's going to be with this gospel
of God's grace. Now listen to me, really. I thought
about, I was going to talk this morning about the old hymn, Just
as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Today you're here, and I know
that you know you're a mess. And I know that you know you're
frightened, like many of us. You have fears every day. There's
only one place to find real rest. Do you fear tomorrow? Do you
fear failure? It's in this realm that you find
confidence in life. And I love to live in this realm,
like I am today. I'm very at peace with myself
and with the Lord. And I know what I'm saying to
you is true. This city can be turned upside
down as we begin to love people. We begin to love people. Care
about people. as we began to discern between
right and wrong. I'm so concerned about my country. America leads the industrialized
world in teen violent crime, teen suicide, young people killing
themselves and killing one another. There's something wrong. There
is something wrong. The family, the breakup of the
family, the building block of a solid society, You know, it's
absolute proof that young people who come to know Christ live their lives drug-free, for
the most part, after they come to know Christ. Alcohol-free,
as far as getting drunk is concerned. Christ in you will change you.
And how about if you knew this, that everything in your life
is working for your good and for God's glory. If you knew
this, you don't have to fear peer pressure, because God has
loved you and chosen you and saved you and redeemed you, and
that He is actually moving the checkers. and working everything
for your good. You'll sleep good at night. You'll
rest good. Here's what I say to you now.
Say, well, what should I do? Join the church? Get baptized?
No, don't do any of that. Simply trust Christ. Well, I
don't know what that means. It means simply this. Believe
that you are a sinner. Know that. And you are. Whether
you deny it or not, you are a sinner. And therefore, there's a problem
between you and God. And God has come down here in
the person of Jesus Christ and died in the stead, room and place
of sinners. And all who trust Him, believe
on Him, shall be saved. That's it. That's true. I'm a Christian. I believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ.