Alright, let's turn in our Bibles
to 2 Thessalonians 2. Now I hope this morning that
you'll give me a fair shot at this. That you'll be patient
and not walk out thinking that I have lost my mind. Because I'm just going to tell you about
Your pastor struggles. And if you are truly converted,
if you truly know the Lord, you'll be okay. It's the rest of you
who don't know the Lord that might find this a bit raw. Chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians
beginning with verse 1. concerning the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you,
brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some
prophecy, report, or letter supposed to have come from us saying that
the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive
you. Verse 3, don't let anyone deceive
you in any way For that day will not come until the rebellion
occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed. The man who is doomed
to destruction, he will oppose and will exalt himself over everything
that is called God or is worshiped so that he sets himself up in
God's temple proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember
that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And
now you know what is holding him back so that he may be revealed
at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness
is already at work. But the one who now holds it
back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And
then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus
will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the
splendor of His coming. The coming of the lawless one
will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all
kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders. And in every
sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish
because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them
a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that
all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have
delighted in the wickedness. But we ought always to thank
God for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because from the
beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called
you to this through our Gospel that you might share in the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm
and hold to the teachings we have passed on to you, whether
by word or mouth, or letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal
encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen
you in every good deed and word. This is the crazy part. For a
while now, I've been thinking about this battle that I myself
am in. Not just a battle with outside
forces. Not just a battle with what the
Democrats believe and what the Republicans believe. Nobody should
believe in abortion. Many of you think I am a Republican,
but I'm Christian. I'm Bible. I'm for God. And whoever's on his side, I'm
with them. By the way, just so you know,
all Republicans are not against abortion. There are Republicans,
in fact, in this week's Detroit News, the women of the Michigan
GOP. And this is the Republican women
who are for abortion and same-sex marriage. And they are on the
Republican side because they feel like the Republicans can
fix the economy. But the economy is not the problem
in the United States, my friend. The problem in the United States
is we've told God to get the hell out, and He has. That's
the problem. Somebody ought to say amen. That
is the problem in this country. No God. We have grieved the Holy
One of Israel. I'm not battling simply religious
and non-religious. It's not a battle that I'm talking
about right now with you, even though I do battle in that area. I do battle with all of those
who do not believe that salvation is by grace alone. Catholic,
Methodist, Presbyterian, Muslims, Buddhists, whoever they are,
there's a battle going on. I'm grieved any time I hear salvation
is by free will or by works. I'm always grieved. Because that's
not what the Bible says. You're wrong. You're just wrong. when you say salvation is by
something you do. Jesus is the Savior. Salvation
is of the Lord from first to last. So, I do fight that battle. I do fight the Democrat-Republican
political battle. I do fight the religious battle. But that's not my biggest problem.
There's a battle going on inside of me. That's my biggest issue. You see, because there is evil
lurking within. I'm not talking about you. I'm
talking about me. And those of you who are saying yes, you're
saying yes because you identify with my battle. It's yours too. I'm saturated with slime. That's
what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Not even an inkling of good.
All of you who are sitting here without Christ, You're just slime. You have no
check. There is no battle in you. The
only reason you don't do what you think about doing is because
the Holy Spirit holds you back. It's not that you're a new creature.
It's just that you're afraid of getting arrested. You don't
want to go to jail. You would, but you might get
caught. There's some other folks in here that fight evil because they're holy. You ever want to give up? You ever have the thought of
raising the white flag? You ever get to a point where
you just think about no stress, Never thought about this. You
know, if I just go along with people, they'll accept me. I
mean, if I would just lay some things down. After all, it looks
like I'm losing anyway. Sometimes I fight this battle. I get discouraged because I know
there's some of you in here who really don't care who leads this
nation. You really don't care. You don't care. If abortion or
same-sex marriage is the law of the land or not, you just
don't care. There is no battle inside of you. But inside of
me, sometimes I think about, you know, just don't fight it. Where do we start? What's it
all about? This thing called life. Who's for real? The Democrats
or the Republicans? The religious or the non-religious?
I mean, what is the real thing, really? What is truth? Is there even such a thing as
truth? You ever get to that point? Okay,
maybe I'm by myself. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks
that way. So you're just going to have to listen. And those
of you who go away and say, you know what? Our preacher's crazy.
He's lost his mind. He's had a breakdown. No, no. I'm just being really open with
you. I'm just being open with you. What about good and evil? You
ever think this way? Who's to say what is evil and
what is not? Really now, is abortion wrong?
I mean, these kids could get in your way. And they're expensive. They cry a lot. Keep mothers
up. Interfere with plans. And we
don't have the money to support them anyway. So why not kill
them? I mean, we could catch them in
the first 30 days. you know, before they have any consciousness.
Why not? Why not have same-sex marriage? Or even why marriage at all?
You know, that's kind of kooky. Go to the courthouse and spend
$28 to get a piece of paper. Why not just shack? The President of the United States
of America said Friday, that those who oppose him are living
in the days of black and white television. You know, back in
the days of father knows best, leave it to Beaver, happy days.
Back when God was in the schools, back before the shootings, back
before abortion, back before men were marrying men and women
were marrying women, back when we had a balanced budget, back
before we had a $16 trillion debt, strong military. Who would
want to go back to that? You ever just think, I'm not
going to stop progress. Is that what we call progress?
Well, I mean, that's the way we're going. Some of you are
looking at me like, yes, he's lost his mind. We thought he
went away to rest. He's had a breakdown while he's
been gone. Not at all. I'm just putting it out there
because I don't think I'm getting some of your attention. I know
it's got to be confusing for young people. with no upbringing
to see religious people talk one way and live another. I mean,
what's that all about? You know, I am not so much in
the world, but I'm in the religious atmosphere of things. And I'm
telling you, the world doesn't have anything on us religious
folks as far as hypocrisy. There's more hypocrisy in the
churches for sure than any one place I know. Oh, we're just
such pretenders. President Obama's whole family
went to church two Sundays ago. I saw it in the paper. He's a
professing religious person. So I wonder what Junior thinks
when he hears the president talk about same-sex marriage and abortion. I wonder what that young person
thinks. My president believes that we ought to abort kids and...
I know you're... I got your attention now. I know
I got your attention now. I'm just telling you what I think
about. Kids have to think about it. You know, when I was a kid
attending Harding Elementary School, I wanted to be President
of the United States. Not anymore. Used to be the most admired person
in this country was the President of the United States. Something's
happening. We are not going back to black
and white TV. We're going and moving toward
a stage when the lawless one is going to be revealed. We're
not getting better. No, we're not getting better.
You ever think about it? Is there anything really sure? Are there really any absolutes?
I mean, why do we have prisons? I mean, do you ever really think
that deep? What right do I have to send you to prison just because
I got on a black robe and sit on a bench? Why are you looking at me that
way? I mean, if we're going to just
turn loose, let's turn loose, right? Let's don't do it gradually. Let's just swallow the whole
pill at one time. Let's don't cut it in half. Let's
don't just inch toward it where people get real comfortable and
don't see it. I'm a black-white guy. I think
the Bible is that way. It is right or wrong. In drugs, what about drugs? Hey,
anybody knows about drugs? This church does, right? They call us the drug church. I mean, if we can grow it, make
it, then why not use it? Why not smoke it? Makes people feel better. I mean,
listen. You see this coming? Let's use
marijuana for medical purposes. And a little more wine for our
stomach's sake. That's what the Bible says. Drink a little wine
for your stomach's sake. Sure quiet in here. And then there's sex. Hey! That's a driving force in most
of our lives. Who actually believes that if
two consenting adults agree, or if one is stronger than the
other in wanting to have sex, what's wrong with overpowering
a person and doing? I mean, what's wrong? I need
it. You got it. I need it. You don't want to,
but I want to. Who's to say that's wrong? I mean, it releases tension. You're denying me one of my needs?
You say, well, Pastor, you have lost your mind. No. No. I'm just showing you what's going
on. We're just moving toward lawlessness. I mean, let's get real. I, for one, am sick of the world
of hypocrisy and control. This whole thing... This is what
I hear people say. This whole thing of responsibility.
Who do you think you are in accountability? You're holding me accountable?
Hey, let me ask you this. How many of you that maybe work
at Grace Centers of Hope or one of the elders, or I don't know
where you are exactly, but have you ever thought about this?
Do you ever think about that when I'm up here preaching that
I'm one just like you? And that I condemn the very things
that I may think of but I don't practice? Do you ever think about
how hard it is to turn or put somebody out of the mission when
I have thought about doing the same thing you've done? I just
didn't do it? Think about it. I mean, just
think about it. I'm going somewhere. I'll get
there. You'll eventually catch on. Right at the end, you're
going to catch on. I mean, I've thought about this. It would
seem to me that as the African American people grow in number,
and the white enslavers decrease in number, that the African-American
race has every right to enslave white folks. I mean, that would
only be fair. I mean, if you believe in survival
of the fittest, or if you just believe that there really is
no absolute, that survival of the fittest, whoever's the most
powerful, controls everything, And death, what's death? Who
knows? It's just a dissolving, a recycling. Who knows, the next time I might
come back a chicken, or a bug, or a spider, or a fish. I've always wanted to be able
to swim. Only problem with that, I've
always wondered what it would be like to be willing to die for
a worm. Any of you fish with night crawlers?
You say, well, what is all of that? I've never heard you. You're
just crazy. You've just lost your mind. No. Here's what I'm saying. Sometimes I want to give up. I get discouraged the way you
get discouraged. Sometimes I want to hoist a white
flag. But I can't. It's a good thing that you can't
give up because you would. Oh, yeah. There's nobody in here
that wouldn't give up if you could. But you can't because
greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world. Yeah. You see, I'm going to keep on
fighting. Because I have no choice. Even
when my flesh says, I quit. I'm like some of you quitting
smoking. You got a cigarette in your hand, blow and smoke
up now. I quit last week. I quit 18 times. I told the first service, you know,
sometimes, I know it's my flesh, but I watch some of you smoking,
especially right after you eat, you're going like this. I look so relaxing. I just want to go out there and,
hey, let me... But I don't. I usually go, hey,
there's smoke coming out of your mouth. Now listen to me real quick here.
There will come upon this nation and the nations of this world
a day when the lawless one will not be held back." I'm just telling
you. Some of you have been in the
crack house or, you know, the place you buy your heroin or
your drug. You know how dangerous it is. You've been shot at. Some
of you have been stabbed. You've been there. You know all
about that. It's a dangerous place. And some of you have escaped
for your lives. You've run from the crack house
and got in a safe place somewhere. Just think about a day when there
is no safe place. When it's complete lawlessness. That's why I said before, those
of you who are without Christ, you don't have any check. The
only reason you don't do what you want to do now, you are totally
depraved and lawless. The only reason you don't do
is because that police officer and the blue light that comes
on in the car. The billy club and the 38. That's the only reason
you don't do it. You don't want to spend time. It's there. And there is no check. All of you without Christ are
demonic. You're evil. There is no good
in you. There is no good in you. That's why your little 2, 3,
4 year old gets big enough and sticks his tongue out at you
because it's a baby rattlesnake. You don't teach your kids how
to cuss and steal and lie. It's naturally in them. And if
they're not born again, they'll continue in their wickedness.
And the only thing that will hold them back is the law and
government and the Spirit of God. That's what holds folks back.
The government and the law. You ever thought about this?
What if government and law becomes total, absolute lawlessness? Wicked. I hear people say this
all the time. I saw a bumper sticker this week.
Throw them all out of Washington. You know what the bumper sticker
was saying? They're nothing but a bunch of hoodlums and crooks
up there. Lawlessness. Oh, they wear suits? They look
good. But they pass laws like partial
birth abortion. How barbaric is that? You say,
Pastor, you've said that and said that. Yes, and you're going
to hear it and hear it and hear it and hear it. Until you get
this in your mind. Everyone in here ought to pray,
God, come back. Everyone in here who has children,
sending them off to school, you need to pray, God, come back
in our schools. I don't want my baby shot. What do you think is happening?
What do you think is happening? Kids dream up these ideas of
going to school. And this is not, hey, this is
not an inner city problem, in case you folks don't know. Littleton,
Colorado, those kids drove Corvettes to school and lived in half a
million dollar houses. But they were told they're nothing
but gas and dust. You have no purpose in life.
You have no reason for existing. except your designer jeans, that's
all. When government and law go together,
we're in a heap of trouble. I'm going to tell you something
else. What holds back right now is not only government and law,
but there's a breakdown in government. Do you see there's a breakdown
in government? Do you see what government is doing? Government
just moved on the turf of the Catholic Church. Next time it'll be the Baptist
church. Next time it'll be Grace Centers of Hope. Hey, you can't
put people out for stealing a wash rag. You can't put people out
for smarting off. You can't put people out because
they're unruly. That's what'll happen next. Hey,
you don't hire homosexuals over there at Grace Centers of Hope.
You don't hire gay people over there. You're breaking the hate
laws in this country. We're going to lock you up. Some
of you are not going to believe that until you see me behind
bars. The ministry and the activity
of the church and the effects of the gospel hold things back.
But what if the church goes to sleep? And we have. The church
has gone to sleep. This could never happen in Washington
if the church was awake. You know why? Because we're voters.
We're voters. We have convictions. And the
government doesn't tell us. We tell the government. Clint
was right the other night. Make my day. Have you ever thought about this?
The church goes to sleep. And we begin this social gospel
preaching. No blood, no cross, no substitution,
no power in the blood, no forgiveness, nothing about sin. The gospel
is watered down. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Nobody gets saved without the
power of the gospel. And if the gospel be lost, it's
lost to them that are blind and ungodly. Your greatest concern is not
to get Junior up at Western to get a degree. Your greatest concern
ought to get Junior under the gospel where he can come to know
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You send him up there, he's going
to be a heathen. Or Central or Michigan or Michigan
State. You better have a foundation
before you send your kids away to school. They better have a
foundation. The way for them to get a foundation is to find
them in the house of God. But lastly, this is the reason. Lastly, under this point. The Holy Spirit holds things
back. I'm going to tell all you men why your wife is not being
raped today. Because the Holy Spirit is holding
back evil men. Oh no, you don't want to think
about it, do you? You don't want to think about it. There's not
a man or woman in here whose flesh is good at all. It's totally evil. And when the
Holy Spirit steps back, permits lawlessness to rule and
to reign, you know what hell is? Weeping and wailing and gnashing
of teeth. No satisfaction. A desire. And it's never fulfilled, no
matter how many times you attempt. When the Holy Spirit's taken
out of the way and lets you do, as an ungodly, unchristian person,
do what you want to do, you'll break into my house. Of course,
I don't plan to be here when that happens. I'm going to be
with the Lord. But when that craziness happens,
it's going to be a crazy world. The pastor, you're trying to
scare us. You're trying to scare us. No, I'm just trying to get
you to open your eyes and see. It's happening right in front
of you. I thought last night, I was thinking this. You know,
I could still be alive in the trumpet sound? I really believe. I was trying
to find some things. I was trying to find some reasons
why the Lord wouldn't come back now. I even thought last night,
maybe Mr. Lawless is already here. I mean,
if Mr. Lawless was working back then,
that spirit of lawlessness was working when Paul wrote the Thessalonian
letter, where are we now? If we really realized where we
were, there would be moaning and groaning in here as to what could happen. I tell
this and nobody listens, but this world could just go up in
flames so quick. You know, I mean, just take little
old Iran, little old Israel, little two nations over there. They're in a fuss. The Arabs
hate Israel. The Muslim group is all behind
Iran. Israel sits there right surrounded
by all kinds of enemies. Do you think Israel is sitting
over there without bombs? One thing I know about the Jewish
people, they're prepared. I remember when they won a seven-day
war. The war only lasted seven days.
That's my kind of war. I believe we're going to have
a war. I think we ought to have one. I mean, if we're going to
have it, let's have it. Somebody ought to win. I don't think there
ought to be a Korea or Vietnam. I know what some of you are thinking.
Yeah, you're crazy, Pastor. You just release all the bombs.
You got that right. I'm going to win. I mean, if
you've got an enemy, destroy him, right? Okay. I might have gotten the
flesh there a little bit. There's a secret power of lawlessness
at work presently. No one has discovered it as yet.
It is amazing to me. That's why I'm screaming today.
It is amazing to me how hidden and subtle and underlying this
force is. And it's all caused by the devil.
That's what I read you in Scripture. All caused by the devil. It's
going on right now. We have this veneer of decency. It's a veneer. You know what
I mean? It's a phony decency. Do you know any nations that
are united? And we call it the United Nations. What a farce that is. We have yet to see the real horror
of complete lawlessness. We see some horrible acts, criminal acts. A guy went into
that theater. Well, you know, he was sick.
He was. But if you'd kill my baby, my
six-year-old, and shot my baby's mother, you'd be hurting too. Crazy. Crazy what's going on
in this country. I don't know. We've just kind
of gone to sleep about it all. Why does God allow all this to
happen? To show people, the nations, their sinfulness? and the alternative
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Listen to me. Either Christ rules
you or the other guy. There's only two choices. Satan
himself or the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You know what? I love to be ruled by Jesus Christ. In fact, that's my prayer. Rule
me! Reign over me! You're my boss! You're my Lord! You're my Savior! And those of you who have not
chose the Lordship of Jesus Christ to rule in your life, you're
nothing but evil. I resent that. I'm sure you do. I'm sure you do. But I've read the Bible. You
say, well, Pastor, you seem a little haughty. No. I know who made
me to differ. I'd be in the same boat as you.
I'm going to tell you this too. Here's a free invitation to you.
Those of you who are under the rule of Satan, here's a free
invitation to you, given by Jesus Himself. Come unto Me. All ye
that labor and are heavy laden. How's life going for you out
there? How's the devil working for you? You've been sexually
abused, physically abused, verbally abused. The world tromps on you. You tromp on the world. How's
life going? How's it going for you out there?
You know, the Christian life is a hard life. No. Oh, no. No. It's a battle, alright. But greater is He that's in us
than he that's in the world. The problem is you keep going
the wrong way. Those of us who fall down, we
get up. We have a check inside of us. People without God. are no better
than vicious animals. You know what? It's just time
to draw the line. And really, I mean, this election,
there's really a line drawn. There really is. Nobody wants
to talk about the line. I'm going to talk about the line. That way you don't say he's a
Democrat or Republican. I'm going to talk about it. On this side
is you can kill babies. On this side, No kill babies. On this side, same-sex marriage. On this side, marriage is between
a man and a woman. Now you tell me how you're going
to choose. Amen. Don't get quiet on me. Look at some of you looking at
me like, well, I guess we know where he is. I hope you do. I'm
not trying to hide where I am here. This church is not hiding
over in a corner, shaking. We're saying this is what God's
Word says. We're a voice in this wilderness.
Yeah, we're human and we don't think we're better than anybody
else. Lord knows, if anything, I'm trying to convey to you my
own struggles and my own humanity and my own depravity and my own
flesh. And I'm saying to you, yes, I
struggle, I fall, I want to quit, I want to raise the white flag
at times in my flesh, never in my new spirit. Oh no, in my new
spirit, I'm more than a conqueror. You can't defeat me in my new
spirit. Greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world.
I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. I'm talking
about my own flesh. But you need to see both sides.
We need to see it. I never want you to think that
your pastor is some kind of superhuman. I'm not. I'm just like you. Sometimes
worse. I suffer with bouts of depression.
Somebody told me this morning, as soon as I walked in, I saw
you depressed, Pastor. Then after you got to preaching,
I knew you were depressed. It wasn't depressing this morning.
It was just heavy, this truth. I just want to scream, Wake up! It's high time to awake. Now I want to tell this to all
you signs and wonders people. When the Antichrist comes, when
the lawless one comes, he's going to raise the dead. Now, I wonder
where you're going to be when he goes out to the cemetery and
raises your great-grandmother out of the grave. This is God. The Bible says the very elect
would be deceived, if it were possible. I'm glad it's not possible.
I'm not looking for signs and wonders. I'm looking for somebody
with nail prints in His hands and in His feet and in His side.
I'm looking for Jesus Christ who shed His blood for the remission
of my sins. You're not going to impress me
too much if you heal somebody from cancer. You're not going
to impress me too much. Because they may live two weeks and a
truck hit them out here on Perry Street and they'll die. Amen. Something's going to get you.
Something's going to get you. Cancer may not get you, but that
truck may. So you're going to die. What
impresses me in that testimony of that little lady right there
who says, I was lost. I didn't know God. I was out
there in the world. I mean, you think about this.
If you're talking about chance, what chance in the world did
she have? A mother who's a heroin addict.
A father who got life in prison. What chance? And then God sought her out.
That's why the Apostle Paul said, I'm almost through here. Let
me read it one more time. The Apostle painted this horrible
black picture of how lawlessness was going to take over the world
before the Lord comes. That's one reason I know the
Lord hasn't come yet. This thing's not getting any
better. And Paul said, before he comes
back again, don't worry about it. Before he comes back again,
this devil is going to be revealed. This lawless person is going
to be revealed. There's going to be great signs
and miracles and people are going to follow this lawless one. And then he's going to return. One of the ways that you can
have some kind of assurance that you're his is you're not going
along with it. I get down, but I get to thinking
about this. You know what? I'm not going
along with it. I say no. I say no. And I say this. You know, even
the devil trying to get me down and use things that we're in
the minority and it's never going to happen and the country can't
turn back and we've gone too far. All of that kind of talk
just drives me to Christ. And I can't go along with that
kind of stuff. I'm more than a conqueror. How can you be more than a winner?
And yet I am in Christ. I'm more than a winner. Let me read it to you. Here's
where I am. Right back where I started. Here's
where I am. I've been preaching this for 50 years. Here's right
where I am. He talks about all that crazy
stuff. Then he gets down to verse 13. He says, But we're bound
always to give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because God chose you. That's called election. Before the foundation of the
world, God chose His elect people. Wrote their names down in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Christ came and died for those
people and secured their eternal salvation. And you know what? He's coming back for all those
written in the book. He's going to set this old world
on fire and burn it up. And we're going to inhabit a
new heavens and a new earth. Man! Somebody said, well, you
know, Pastor, I haven't gotten married yet. You know, I hope
the Lord doesn't come back right now. Well, I'll tell you, two
weeks after your marriage, you wish the Lord would come back. I got a witness. You're in trouble. You're in trouble. You know what? You get a new car. Sunshine got
a new car yesterday. You know that new car smell?
Oh, it's a new car smell. It smells so good. She's going
over there to get it. She's so excited. She said, I
feel like I'm going to throw up. I said, don't throw up in
a new car. You'll mess up the smell. But pretty soon that new
car smell will go away. The seats will get dirty. The
white will turn cream. And the new car won't be nearly
such a big deal anymore. What I'm saying is things down
here are fleeting. Fleeting. This world is not my
home. I'm just a passing through. I'm so thankful that I watch
all this political stuff and just meet up with different people.
I think about Brooks in the hospital now. And I think about him and
pray for him. And I think about it's all gone. At least for a little while.
His health is gone. His bones are broke. Not much down here, folks, really.
You wish I could live forever. Not me. Not me. I got up this morning thinking,
Lord, one day this will be over. How many of you got up and you
had some aches this morning? Look at that. Look at that. Yeah. I'm full of Advil right
now. So I knew you were full of something. You ever thought about this?
I mean, your happiest moment that you've ever had in life
when you get to heaven is just one eternal moment of joy. No more Advil. No more oh. No more oh my elbows. No more I'm sick of my stomach.
Nervous. No knots. Those of you who have
gardens, no weeds. It's not going to be boring.
I told the first crowd this, and I'm going to tell you this,
and I think it would be good. I want you to think about this. Go home
and put all the mess-ups and the hurts and the emotional scars
and how you've been abused and the ones that have died that
you love, put them all in one column. And then go over here and make
another column. when I get to heaven, no more losses, no more
sickness, no more sorrow, no more death, no more drugs, no
more falling down, just eternal peace and joy and life. Greater than what Adam and Eve
had before the fall. Perfect communion with God. Have you ever been in God's house
where the Spirit of God was there in such a way? And you're not
much for putting your hands up. But that particular day, you
couldn't hold back. The glory of God was there. And
there was such a joy and a peace that flooded every crack and
crevice of your soul where you had to say hallelujah. And you
were not ashamed or inhibited. That's heaven. That's what it's going to be
like. Now, I want to speak to you that
I call devils real quick, then we'll stand and sing. Choose life. Choose life. Step over the line
to Jesus. Choose Christ. Turn from lawlessness
to the Savior and the Redeemer. Trust Him. Fall at His feet. Exchange your old dictator, the
devil, for a loving Lord and Savior. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. You say, preacher, you don't
know what I've done. I do know this, though. Don't be such a
big shot about being a sinner. You're not. Half the sinner,
He is the Savior. Let me put it a different way.
He's a bigger Savior than you are a sinner. Your sins can't
beat up on Him. He'll top it. Where sin piled
up, grace piled up higher. Who in here is free from sin? I mean, we've all sinned and
missed the mark. But many of us have gone to the
fountain filled with blood, and we're clean, and we're free from
condemnation. If the Son sets you free, you're
free indeed. How many failures do we have
in here? About 200. How many mess-ups do we have
in here? About 200. But God, for His great love,
for with He loved us even when we were dead in sins and trespasses,
for by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourself,
it's the gift of God. God chose you. Christ died for
you. You were born and the Holy Spirit
sought you out of the hood, sought you out of your lodibar, sought
you out of your mess, and brought you to Jesus Christ. You didn't
even walk. You didn't get to Christ on your
own. You were carried by the Spirit of God. You were brought.
You were born again. You were given life. And so we
praise Him. Just so you don't go home down,
dear Christian, we win. We win. Let me quote it. For
whom He did for know, He also did predestinate. Whom He predestinated,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? I am persuaded that 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. Amen. Let's stand together.