God was merciful to David. And He will be merciful to you and me today. I had a fellow—I’d heard him speak down in Pershing Square years ago, deriding and ridiculing the Bible. I saw him in church one Sunday evening when I was pastoring in downtown Los Angeles. After service he came up to me and he says, “Preacher, I have a question to ask you. Why did God choose a man like David?” I said, “I’ll tell you why God chose a man like David. So that you and I would be able to come to Him. Because if God will take David, He might take you and He might take me.” And I said, “That’s the reason.” The “sure mercies of David”—how wonderful they are.
April 23, 2024
The first word after the crucifixion in Isaiah 53 is “sing,” and it’s a call to Israel to sing. But they’re not singing over there today. In the past, Israel has been a barren wife. But her future is more glorious as there are going to be many children in the future. The Word of God makes it clear that the great days are right down yonder ahead of us. It gets “gooder and gooder” all the way along, if you’re a child of God. Today’s better than yesterday. And you want to know something? Tomorrow’s going to be better than today. Can’t have it any more wonderful than this, friends.
April 22, 2024
You see, redemption brings a song into the world. All that the world can produce is the blues and rock music—not pretty. Not really joyful—it’s always a plaintive note. And I want to tell you, it’s only redemption that can give you a song. And here we have it. The world sings the blues. The redeemed sing of blessings. The world has its rock and roll. The redeemed sing of redemption. The world plays jazz. The redeemed have the reality of joy. And someday, we’re going to all join in this.
April 19, 2024
We have a living and rejoicing Savior—for His suffering led to satisfaction. He took our hell that we might have His heaven. He is happy, for down through the ages multitudes—yea, millions—have come to Him and found sweet release from guilt, pardon for wrongdoing, and healing from the leprosy of sin. Christ said there’s joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, and that number can be multiplied by millions. Think of the joy and satisfaction of Christ today. Friends, we have a happy Christ, a joyful Christ, and it’s going to be fun to be in His presence.
April 18, 2024
Now suppose for a moment that God did give His Son to die for you and He did make such a tremendous sacrifice. Grant that the cross is God’s remedy for the sin of the world and that it is the very best that even God can do. Now suppose also that you go on rejecting His proffered and gracious offer of salvation. Do you think that you can reasonably expect God to do anything for you in eternity? If God exhausted His love, His wisdom, and His power in giving Christ to die, what else can He do to save you? It’s no light thing, my friend, to turn down God’s love gift to you.
April 17, 2024
You see, when God created the heavens and the earth, it was without effort. He merely spoke them into existence. But when God redeemed man, it required His bared arm, for salvation was His greatest undertaking. You see, one of the objections offered to God’s salvation is that it’s free. Now if you mean by that that for man it’s free, then that’s correct. Man can pay nothing. Nor does he have anything to offer for salvation. The reason that it’s free for man is because it cost God everything. He gave His Son to die upon the cross. Redemption is an infinite task that only God could perform. Salvation is free, but it’s surely not cheap.
April 16, 2024
And I’m here to tell you today, there’s no short route to satisfaction. Even God did not go the short route. He could have avoided the cross and accepted the crown—that was Satan’s suggestion, you remember—but suffering comes before satisfaction always. Perhaps today you are sitting in the shadows of life. Trials confront you. Problems overwhelm you. And if that’s your case right now, then let me encourage your heart and fortify your faith for saying that you’re on the same pathway that God followed, and that it leads at last to light if you walk with Him. “For weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning….”
April 15, 2024
One of the things you’ll note about present-day Jerusalem, you do not find a joyful song anywhere. And that’s true of the churches that are there. I listened. I never heard a joyful song. But the way you’re going to know when we get to the Millennium is everybody’s going to have fun. “Break forth into joy….” There’s going to be joy. God doesn’t care today, I think, for all of us saints walking around with long faces, complaining and criticizing. He wants us to have joy. John says, “I’m writing these things to you that your joy might be full.” Not just have a little fun, but have fun all the time.
April 12, 2024
God says, “I’ll take that cup of judgment away from you. And now, I’m going to bless you.” How can you say that God is through with the nation Israel? Why, even poetic justice demands that after all of these years of judgment upon this land, this city, and this people—that God will bless them, and that God will get the victory. And if you don’t see it, oh my friend, will you listen to Him again. “Awake, awake. Wake out of sleep, because knowing the time, it’s high time to wake out of sleep.” And say, there are a lot of Christians today should wake up and get up and get going for God.
April 11, 2024
I can’t think of a better hang up than right here on this matter of the Word of God. My friend, the greatest sin in the church today is not this or that. The greatest sin is the ignorance of the Word of God and the lack of study of the Word of God. It’s nonsense today to say, “Oh, I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I believe it is God’s Word. I’ll defend it with my life,” and then never study it. My friend, if God has spoken between the pages of Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22, then somewhere between there He’s got a word for us. And if it’s God speaking, we ought to listen to Him.
April 10, 2024