You Can Give God Something No One Else Can
Key Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-5
Date: June 7, 2024
start serving the Lord from right where you are. That’s just awesome. I love it and praise the Lord for it. Turn to Jeremiah chapter number one.
It seems like the Lord is just changing my plans for today. I was planning on preaching from Matthew 7. It just seemed like the Lord let me go there and took a little twist this afternoon. Seemed like the Lord wanted that. I apologize if I am not fulfilling what I was planning on, even this morning. We were planning on preaching on the four angels of Christmas past, and then tonight Matthew mentioned that, but we just feel like the Lord is changing it, so we’ll go with what the Lord wants. And by the way, congratulations to the Powers on their seventh grandchild. And yeah, can you believe that? And yeah, let’s bow my head, amen. And son and daughter-in-law, they now have four girls. And so Cole, their son, is outnumbered for sure. But congratulations to them. And that’s awesome.
Jeremiah, we could go out—there are so many different angles. And I’m just kind of using this a little bit as a springboard into the subject that I feel like God would have us. And I hope just the truth, the resounding truth, kind of putting all these together, will just permeate your heart and your mind. And you know, the devil, he is just good at, you know, kicking us when we’re down. That doesn’t mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people, the way that works in your life. But he’s good at that. And sometimes just some fundamental, foundational truths are helpful during that, or be reminded of those, maybe I should say. And little different angles of it, and that’s kind of tonight. And the holiday season, the devil just—he tries to work during that time and get someone in the corner and dark, away from it, separated from everybody and everything, and he’ll just—he’ll just beat on in the corner. That’s the devil. And you know, these truths sometimes will shine light into the corner and into hearts, and I pray to do that for us and others tonight. And just the fact that how much God loves you. In fact, I guess the title tonight would be, “You Can Give God Something No One Else Can,” and talk about these gifts.
How many of you have already bought a Christmas gift for someone already this year? Man, you got a head start on me. I tell you what, I’ve got to get busy for sure. We got presents to send to Oregon, too. But I’m off, and I plan on that next two days. And she’s been on me. We’ve got to get those presents ordered, amen. So we’ve got to get them ordered in, amen, you know.
But Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter number one. And we’re just going to look at this as the calling of Jeremiah when God called him. A lot of times we’ll use this verse—really, our main verse we’re going to focus on at the beginning—when we talk about this issue of abortion, it’s a great verse for. But this verse shows us a lot of things how God works when he creates us.
Jeremiah one, we’re going to start verse number four. We’ll read four and five. This is the call of Jeremiah and God commissioning him what he wanted him to do with his life, and some wonderful truths we can see from it. But would you please stand as we read God’s word together tonight? Jeremiah one. We’re going to start in verse number four, Jeremiah one and verse number four.
And the Bible there says, “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,” talking to Jeremiah, “notice that: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” So before you are ever formed, God knew you. In fact, he knew you in eternity past. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.” That means I set you apart. “I sanctified thee. And I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” And God said, before you ever were born, I already set you apart to be this prophet to do a job for me for the nation of Israel.
We’re not going to get too specific about Jeremiah’s life. We’re going to just try to look at, “All right, God told this man, before you ever formed, I knew you. And before you were birthed, I’d already set you aside to do a job for me.” And those fundamental truths, we’re just going to kind of start off with those things tonight. And sometimes we’ll get more in depth. So much you can learn from the call of Jeremiah. Next verse or so, Jeremiah says, “I can’t do it.” And the Lord says, “If I called you, I don’t call the equipped; I equip the called.” A lot of great truths you can learn here, but we’re just going to try to take those fundamental things about how God spoke to Jeremiah about his birth or whatnot, just use those to kind of go at this angle: You can give God something no one else can give him.
By the way, what’s the main thing that God really wants from us? Look at it. Go over in Matthew 22 real quick to hear. Many of you could answer this, but let’s just look at and see exactly what he said. Look at it. Look at Matthew 22. And just look and see what Jesus says here. Matthew 22. And look in verse number 36. Several times you’ll find very, very similar to this in Scripture. Matthew 22:36. “Master,” speaking to Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” So the greatest thing, he says, you don’t love your neighbor as yourself, that’s a second, like unto it. But the great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Now, here’s the thing about it: You can love God in just a certain way that no one else can love Him.
I like it when Christians at certain times, certain places, they sing to the Lord. Whether it’s, you know, I sing only “He Is Lord” far away, literally, amen, so nobody can hear me, you know. I sing ten or eleven miles away, amen. You know, that’s what I sing, you know. So I sing solos all the time—solo, so low, you can’t hear me, amen, you know. But I like it when you, maybe you’re along the Lord in the car and you sing to Him. Lesteroloff used to say, “Every Christian ought to give the Lord a concert every day.”
And you have that special, unique voice that can sing to the Lord like nobody else. And God likes to hear you sing. God created your voice the way it is for a reason. So many things—Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nation, for you other things—but God has made you in the greatest commandments to love Him. You can love Him like nobody else can love Him.
I thought about Brother Fontaine. You remember Brother Fontaine, you know, when just something really spoke to his heart, he’d kind of—he said, “Oh, that was so special,” you know, or “The Lord’s so good.” And he had his own unique way of just kind of expressing the Lord, “Oh, Lord, you’ve been so good,” you know, it just gets me there. And everybody has a little unique way to love God. And here’s the thing: I love Him different than you can love Him, but you can love Him different than I can love Him. But if you don’t love Him that way that you can love Him, He won’t get that love, because nobody else can give Him that type of love.
And God had made Jeremiah for this specific job. God’s made you for so many specific things. But the main thing is loving, and you can love Him like nobody else. Here’s the temptation of the devil: “Well, you’re not as good a Christian as so-and-so, so you can’t give God…” No, no, no, that’s not true, because so-and-so can’t love God like you can love God. That’s why it’s important, whatever level you are at, just love Him. Now, yes, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” And who was it? Spurgeon used to say, “I want to live so when I say, ‘Lord, I love you,’ the Lord says, ‘Charles, I know you do.’” There’s that angle of him for sure. That’s biblical. But you can love Him like nobody else can love Him. You can sing praises to Him like…
You know, some people, when they love the Lord, they like to write letters to the Lord. Well, that’s not me. I mean, it’s just, and there’s maybe a time or two of my life, but for the most part, that’s not me. But some people, they love it, and praise the Lord, they love it, and that’s the way they love God, and it’s wonderful. I think it’s awesome. Sometimes I like to read, though, if they want to share it with some other people.
But just the way you love God. It’s interesting how different people pray. Not right or wrong, per se. But I thought about Ernest Reveley. Brother Dylan’s funeral, there was a man here, a preacher that knew Ernest Reveley. He was a man that had a large rescue mission back in the day, and they housed hundreds and hundreds of people over the years. Saw so many saved. And Ernest Reveley—I’ve heard several different stories about him, all the same angle—that it was his type of man, but he wasn’t the most organized guy in the world. And I heard sometimes he, you know, the rescue mission, they would just have a lot of bills and they kind of get backed up and they needed the bills. And I heard he would just spread the bills all over his desk. I mean, just fill his desk up, and he would pray. And he wasn’t trying to be facetious or disrespectful. He said, “Now, Lord, you led me to start this rescue mission. And, Lord, it’s your rescue mission. And so, Lord, these are your bills. And you’ve got to pay your bills, Lord. You’re going to get a bad testimony around town. You’re going to have a bad reputation. You’ve got to pay your bills.” And he wasn’t trying to be, but that’s just his unique way of prayer.
Heard one time he couldn’t find his keys to his car. I know you’ve never been like that, never in your life, you know. And the other person was with him and said, “I heard him over there, ‘Lord, help Ernie, help Ernie, help Ernie, help me find him like, Lord, help me find him like, Lord, help me find his keys.’” Now, you may not pray like that. G.B. Vick, a great, great preacher, pastor. He was a businessman. And I’ve heard people that prayed with him and said, you know, when Jimmy Vick prayed, it was just like a business meeting. Very orderly. And, you know, it started off maybe worshiping and then this, but just like it was outwind. And that was his style of prayer.
And God wanted someone to pray to Him just like Bill Rice down here. Not me, he’s been gone years and years ago. Will Rice, his grandson now runs the Bill Rice Ranch. But Bill Rice started it. They say, they say he was just—He’s a little bit of a unique man, very friendly. Everybody loved him. He’s just very good with people. But as Pro-Life, they said you would find him sometimes. I heard of a preacher that stayed down there. And he said, about 3 a.m., I was staying in one of those cabins down there. And he was about 3 a.m. I heard a horse out there. And so I was like, “What? No world is going on? There’s horses there.” But he said, you know, there’s a horse walking around where it’s not supposed to be walking around. So he said, it got up and looked out there. And Bill Rice—he said you’d find him fairly often like this at 3 a.m. or whatever, just weird times, out riding his horse in the middle of the night praying. It’s just him. And he had just like a cowboy, you know. But I’m saying everybody’s a little different in how you pray to God. And you can pray to God like I can never pray to God.
And here’s the thing: So if you don’t pray to God like that, God will not hear that certain type of prayer, because you’re made uniquely to pray to God that certain way. Isn’t it amazing sometimes? There are some leadings and some guidance on how we pray, but it never tells you how specifically to pray. Now, there’s the Lord’s Prayer as a model, an outline prayer. We understand all that, but there are specifics. Why? Because you’re different. You’re going to pray to God different than I do. And so you can do so much for God that nobody else can do.
I often think of it: You ever been to where there’s an orchestra? We went a couple times to the symphony orchestra up in Nashville. At least twice I’ve been there for field trips, amen, one with my son, one with my daughter, amen. You know, my wife and I have been there a time or two, too. But it’s amazing to me. There will be 70 people up there playing, whatnot. And that leader of that orchestra, you know, sometimes they’ll say, “Oh, over there, you’re off.” I’m like, “How in the world? I mean, sounds pretty good to me, 70 different people playing. How do you know one’s off?” But they’ll know. And that’s where God is with every single one of you. You have a unique thing that you can give to God that nobody else can give to God. You’re made uniquely to do certain things for Him.
Now, let me say this: Don’t compare. Look, if you will, over in 2 Corinthians chapter number 10. You’ve heard this verse before. I want you to see it tonight. But 2 Corinthians chapter number 10. And I want you to see it. God here is speaking through the Apostle Paul, and he’s speaking to these Christians here at Corinth. And I want you to see what he says. First Corinthians 10 in verse number 12. Look at verse number 12 there, would you please? Verse number 12. And right there, he says, “Did I say first? If I said first, I was wrong. It’s 2 Corinthians.” What did I say? I said, “Thank you, Brother Ted. I appreciate that. Amen. Good, good. I was right for once in my life. How about that? Amen.” Look at 2. Look at verse number 12. He says, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they measuring themselves by themselves—that’s what you call comparing—and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.”
This afternoon, I was laying down for my Sunday afternoon nap. Somebody say amen right there. Oh, that’s good, preacher. I mean, every good Christian has a nap on Sunday afternoon, friend. And if you can, amen. And I can sneak one in there today, you know. But before, I probably shouldn’t, but I haven’t been able to keep up with the news reel very much here lately. And I’ve got this CBN news app. You know, let me just click over there a little bit and see what’s going on. And it’s Christian news, and I like to get that angle if I can and whatnot. And one of their things was about this church in India. And I just, wow, I can’t remember the exact headlines. I’ve got to see this before I drift off to sleep, you know. And I clicked on it. I don’t know a whole lot about it besides what was told in the news article here. But it’s a church in India; they run 300,000 every Sunday. I’m like, “Wow.” That’s kind of the headlines. That’s why I clicked on it, began to watch it a little bit, and they interviewed the pastor of it, and his goal is to start, I think, 30 or 40 mega churches in the next 10 years. And he really believes India is ripe for the gospel. It’s their time to expand the gospel around the world, around India. And just love it. And they cook, I believe it is, 50,000 meals per Sunday. And they showed about 4 a.m. the streets were already lined with people coming in—the workers specifically coming into the church. And if I remember right, their auditorium seats 18,000. They have five different services. And I don’t know—I don’t know everything about the church. It’s just amazing. And I thought, “Wow.” And he wants to start 30, 40 mega—I think it’s 30 mega churches in the next 10 years. And boy, it’s just amazing. 300,000.
You know, I thought this morning, praise the Lord, we had a pretty good crowd in here. But after I heard that 300, and I watched that article, I thought, “We didn’t have many people here today.” And can I be honest with you for a little bit? I thought, “Man, we’re little peons,” or me, talking about me, not you. I’m a little peon here. I mean, what in the world am I even doing trying? And I felt like maybe the devil was starting to belittle me a little bit. Y’all never feel like this, do you?
And I realized, “Paul, what in the world? You’re not being wise right now, Paul, because you’re comparing.” And the Lord spoke to my heart, “Paul, don’t you go there. What’s your goal anyway? To do what I want you to do? Are you doing what I want you to do?” So praise the Lord, man. I’m happy right where I’m at, doing what God wants me to do. I love where I’m at. I love the people that God’s given to pastor. I’m enjoying it, man. Praise the Lord for that. But you know it’s out quickly, and I wasn’t trying to do anything bad. And I rejoice in that. I praise the Lord God’s doing that over there. I’m thankful, but if I start comparing… I always say this, but comparing leads to two things: either pride or pity. Always does. And don’t do that. Hey, you’re made uniquely to do what God’s called you to do.
I thought about it. Number one, I thought, “Well, am I doing what God wants me to do?” Yep. Well, that’s what it’s all about. And praise the Lord, I get to do what God wants me to do, and I’m fulfilling what he has for me. That’s my goal in life. That’s success for a Christian: to find what God wants you to do and do it. That’s success.
And then I thought about this. Well, you remember me often—I’ve told the story, those who’ve been around here for a long time—the story number 77. You remember the story, you know? But about the fellow walking down the beach. There had been a storm that night, and early the next morning he is walking down, and there are starfish, just thousands of them on the beach there, you know, and they are going to die if they don’t get back out there in the ocean. And he is walking along, and he is just picking them up, and he is throwing them back out, you know. And some fellow walked up behind him. He said, “What are you doing?” He said, “You can’t pick up all those thousands of starfish. What difference does it make?” And about that time, he reached down and he picked up another one and he said, “Well, it mattered to that one.”
Friend, as long as you are doing what God wants you to do and you are reaching the people God wants you, it matters to them. So don’t compare. If you don’t watch it, Satan will get you comparing when you don’t even realize it. God had called Jeremiah to a specific job. God had made Jeremiah specifically to do that job. And that’s success right there.
Look over, if you will, in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. You will know these first two verses, probably all three verses, very well. It illustrates the truth a little bit more. But Ephesians chapter 2, we use these verses often in what comes to salvation, 8 and 9, a great, great verses. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 there. And he says right there, he says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” By the way, I don’t use maybe when I’m talking about the term “saved,” because that means so much to different individuals. But inside the Christian realm, I like to use the word “saved.” I mean, that’s a biblical word. “Are you saved?” And it’s very definite, you know. “I’m saved. I’m a born-again Christian.” I’ve said this before, but I try to be a little bit careful using the word “relationship,” because I have a relationship with my neighbor—they are good people. But then I have a relationship with a wife—two different things. So it’s a little bit vague. But if I ask, “Are you saved?” it is very clear. You understand? Very, very clear. Everybody has a relationship with God; they are His creation, and He is their Creator. But not all have I saved. See, and these are Bible words. “For by grace are ye saved through faith: that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Here’s what I want you to see: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God has created you uniquely in Christ Jesus to do some work, some good work, to serve Him. Nobody else couldn’t serve Him like that.
I thought about this the other day, and I was trying to thank the Lord for—I was born in Tennessee and lived here about seven to eight—about eight, I think it was—and then we moved to Florida, and for the most part, I grew up in Florida. And I never dreamed that the Lord would let me come back to Tennessee. I’m very thankful for it. In fact, we were about to start a church. We were traveling through Nashville. My wife said, “How about Nashville?” you know, and I said, “No,” you know. In my mind, I told her, I said, “Well, there’s a church on every street corner of Nashville. This isn’t it.” And then I thought, “My side, I said, God never let me go back to Tennessee.” I like Tennessee, but God won’t let me go back there. But I think God knew what he was doing. And when you come to start a church, especially back 23 years ago, 24 years ago now, in LaVergne and Smyrna, you know, there’s the new crowd, if you will, but then the old-timers—if you weren’t a Tennessean at that time, they are good to you, but you’re on the outside, you know. But I can say, “Hey, I’m a Tennessean.” What line? And I just think how God uniquely put all that. He knew eventually I’d be back in Tennessee. Now, God has done that for every one of us. And He’s uniquely made you to do things, to serve Him in certain ways.
There was a young man here this morning that he got saved, oh, maybe a month or so ago. And he brought a friend today. And they were leaving the doors there. And I said, “Hey, Preston, who’s your friend?” You know, he introduced his friend and whatnot. And I questioned his friend. Now, I can’t remember his name. Maybe I do remember his name. It came to my mind. But I said, “Hey, do you know for sure you’re going to heaven? Have you ever been saved?” Something along that line. And he said, “No.” And I said, “Would you let me get a man to talk to you about your salvation?” Now, I was thinking about Brother Kevin. Brother Kevin was standing right there, the Welcome Center. And I was thinking going that way. And if he had known Brother Kevin, he had probably been excited about it and knowing it. I don’t know if he knows Brother Kevin or not, whatnot. But this is what the young man said that they got saved about a month ago. He said, “Well, Garrett’s the one that talked to me. And let’s get Garrett.” The young man said, “Yes, I’ll let a man talk to me about it.” And then this man, he said, “Well, Garrett’s the one that talked to me, and let’s get Garrett to talk to him.” I said, “All right, you’re going to do it. If I can get Garrett, you know, get Garrett.” And I said, “I think he—I don’t know if he’s out of jail yet or not,” you know.
But here’s the thing: Garrett is a young man that kind of could relate to these teenage young men, and Garrett’s got an outgoing personality and a likable personality, you know, and he wears those very small belt buckles, you know, where people get kind of… I’m teasing. I shouldn’t go that far. But here’s the thing: This guy, this teenage young man, he obviously has a connection with Garrett. And God had made Garrett uniquely designed, where they bonded pretty good, and they showed men like Garrett. And so God had Garrett uniquely made for that good work. And God has you uniquely made for all kind of unique works. That is before ordained that you should walk in them.
By that you should walk—it’s not a one-time thing; you just as you go through your life, He’s got all kind of jobs He’s made you to do, and He’s already preordained that you should walk in them. You’re uniquely made. We had to let him call the house the other day, and I’m going to tell some things I shouldn’t tell him this part here, but called to talk to my wife about a certain situation. And my wife put it on speakerphone. The lady didn’t know I was listening in. And my wife was like, “Do you want to talk about this? Do you want to address the situation? Do you want to…?” you know? And she’s kind of, you know, secretly saying all this stuff. “And you want me to talk to…?” you know, and whatnot and all that. And this is my comment: It was all of a sudden that I said, “Ms. Tavvy, praise the Lord.” And she agreed, of course. But we were like, “Praise the Lord” that the Lord has uniquely designed this lady in our church to influence and shine in this lady’s life. And she needs someone right now, so bad. And God has got this lady in our church gifted and made in such a special way and just in a certain position where she can influence. And I was like, “Hey, let her have it. Praise the Lord, something we don’t have to do.” And this person is made uniquely to shine into that person’s life. And you’re made to shine in someone else’s life.
It’s interesting going soul winning sometimes. Going soul winning sometimes, and I’ll never know—I’ll try different angles, you know—but sometimes I feel like if I say, “You know, we’re from Brother Rutherford County Baptist Church, and I’m Pastor Paul, and this is Ted, or whoever may be,” sometimes if I use that phrase, “Pastor Paul,” well, they don’t want to talk to me. And they’ll think, “All right, man, I’m the pastor. See, let me talk to the pastor.” And sometimes I’ll use that phrase, “Pastor Paul,” and they don’t want to talk to me. And they don’t talk to Ted. You know, and it’s just the pastor. “Well, you know, he don’t understand me. He don’t know me.” Whatever the thing. I don’t know. But it’s amazing. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it hurts. But I’m saying, look, God’s made you. We had a visitor last Sunday, Brother Bill, the coworker of him. In my situation, I probably never meet the guy. But God had Brother Bill uniquely designed with the right person and the right work ethic. Do you agree with that, Brother Marlin? After he gave you a hard time, he says no. I’m teasing about that. But God’s got Bill uniquely designed where Bill could reach that guy and got him in church. I probably never would have reached that guy. And same thing. God has you uniquely put there for a certain reason to reach someone.
I thought it was an interesting story about a church. You know, years and years ago, they used to, in smaller communities and little country churches, everybody would pray for one person to get saved. And I’d be on the prayer list: “Let’s pray for Joe to get saved,” Jody, whoever it is, you know. And, boy, everybody had been praying for this man to get saved, and he came to service. And everybody’s here, “Joe’s here, Joe’s here,” you know. And everybody’s praying, you know, and the preacher kind of changes his message to salvation. You know how all this works. And everybody’s praying, and during the invitation, Joe didn’t come forward. And the preacher even—back in the day they would buttonhole them, you know, I mean, goodness gracious, you know—even the preacher went down and shook his hand and said, “Hey, Joe, we’re praying for you. You want to get saved and all that?” And he said, “No,” and just wouldn’t do it.
And there was a mentally challenged man in that church. Some of those have the sweetest spirit, just a certain way about them. And that mentally challenged man went over there. And everybody’s like, “Oh no, that’s over. We don’t need—he don’t know how to talk to somebody.” And he went over there, and he did it in a unique way, kind of like only a mentally challenged person could do it that way. And he just went to him and he said, “Won’t you get saved so you don’t have to go to hell?” That broke that man. And that man came down the aisle. I’m saying God had that handicap, man, made that way. God’s made you a unique way to do things for God that nobody else can. Mom, Dad, God put that child in your home to raise that child for the Lord. You are the parents He chose. He’s designed you to do that. He’s made you to do that.
A couple of thoughts. We’re going to look over in Genesis real quickly here. Genesis, Genesis, chapter number one, just real quickly. Genesis chapter number one, you’ve probably seen this. I thought we’d take time and do it real quickly tonight. Genesis one, look in verse number four real quickly here. Genesis 1 and verse number four. It’s just a little bit after the book of Revelation, amen. First book of the Bible. Come on now. First page of the Bible. Genesis 1 and verse number four.
Genesis 1: “And God saw the light, that it was…” What’s the next word? Good. Look if you will, in verse number 10. Verse number 10: “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was…” What’s the next word? Good. Look down if you go to verse number 12 right there: “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind; and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Look at verse number 18, verse number 18: “And to rule over the day and over the night, to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Look in verse number 21, right there, verse number 21: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Look in verse number 25, verse number 25: “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
Look in verse number 26: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image.’” He’s made the animals. He’s made the plants. He’s made all that. He never said this day, “That’s good.” All those things are good. But now He said, “Let us”—that’s the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” So you can fellowship and talk to God like none of His other creation can. “And let them”—notice what He does with this creation, mankind—“let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” So God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. By the way, that takes care of this transgender and all the other stuff. He created them, He created them male, and that’s what God did. Leave that alone. It’s God’s decision.
Now, so He made mankind. By the way, you can reflect the image of God like nobody else. You have just a certain reflectionary image of God, like this guy, like nobody else. Now notice what He says here. Look down, if you will, in verse number 31, verse number 31. He just made mankind. What does He say now? He said, “And God saw everything that He had made. And, behold, it was…” What’s the next few words? Very good. I mean, He made the animals—that’s good. And the land, that’s good. Light, it’s good. See animals, it’s good. But when God made mankind in His own image and His own likenesses, it is “very good.” You’re God’s crowning creation.
This afternoon, little Zoe—Robert and Zoe—Zoe has won the hearts of our church. Zoe, I’m going to get Zoe to take up bucket offerings, you know. She’ll get more money. Everybody—she can get anything from Zoe. I mean, she can probably do it, you know. And little Zoe, she was leaving, and she had a little paper, and it says, “Oh, let me see her paper there,” you know, and she opened it up—little manger scene. And, you know, she can’t—she’d probably draw better than me, but, you know, anybody else can draw properly. She, you know, just a little kindergarten, you know, drawing crayons. But, you know, it was unique and special about it. It was Zoe’s. And she had made it. And I said, “Oh, so you did a good job,” and that’s good. And, “Who’s that?” “That’s Mary. And that’s Joseph. That’s Jesus and all that stuff,” you know. And look, you’re made by the hand of God. To God, you are His unique, special creation.
By the fact, God doesn’t make a mistake. God didn’t mess up. You ever see kids in Sunday school or school? They’ll make their handprints on the paper. You’ve seen that. And I run home, “Mom, Dad, look at my—these are my hands,” you know. It’s nothing special, but it is special because it’s their handprints. And if you will, you are God’s handprints, and you are special to God. You are uniquely made to love Him and serve Him like nobody else can serve Him.
You ever think about it? You know, mankind fell, and God gave His only begotten Son to redeem us back. The angels failed. God didn’t do that for them. The angels aren’t made in His image and His likeness. A third of them fell, and He said, “Hey, they’re demons, and there will be an everlasting darkness.” Didn’t do that for mankind. You’re His crowning creation. You’re special. You’re unique to God. Yeah, yeah. He loves you like nobody else.
And then just the last thought: 1 John chapter 3, real quickly here. 1 John chapter 3—not St. John, but 3rd John. First, Second, Third John, Jude, Revelation. Just a little before the end of the Bible. And 1 John chapter number three. And one last verse and thought, a little illustration, we’re done for thine. First John chapter 3. And look in verse number 1 right there. 1 John 3, verse number 1. He says, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. What manner of love the Father has given to us, bestowed upon us, that we should be called—hey, that’s God’s son over there. You ever have someone say, “Hey, that’s Bill Johan’s son right there,” or “That’s his son over there”? They say, “Hey, that’s God’s daughter over there. That’s God’s son right there.” And He says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has that we are called.” You are a born-again Christian. You are born of the family of God, adopted and grafted in. You are called—you are a daughter, a son of God. He loves you that much.
It is always neat to me to watch this. We don’t have a big school, but we have 12 students this year, and at pick-up time, they get dismissed at 3 o’clock, and the cars are lined up out there. And they will dismiss. And sometimes—I don’t get to do as much as I like to—but sometimes I am there, you know, and we will walk the kids out to the car. But anyway, the school building will be over there, and they are inside of us, and they will open the door. And, you know, the children will come out. And those children, more often than not, they look to see if their parent is lined up out there. It’s a big deal to them. And if their parents—especially if their parents are just a little bit late—you can tell it kind of bothers the kid. You know, their mom, their dad to be there. Brother Robert, I was talking about the other day, and he said, when Zoe comes out, more often than not, she will look over and see me, and I look at her, and we wave at each other. And something about that bond there. And those kids, when they walk out, they want their mom. They might act tough around, you know, each other and all that, but they want their mom and their dad somebody to be there. And same thing with you and God; He will always be there. He is your heavenly Father. You are saved. And He says, “That’s my son. That’s my…” Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
You are here tonight and you say, “You know, I want to love Him. I want to love Him, but I want to accept, believe, realize, take by faith, how much He loves me.” The book of Jude says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” It doesn’t mean keep yourselves lovely, because He doesn’t love you because you are lovely; He loves you because He is loving. But it means keep yourselves where you know His love. Keep yourselves in the love of God.
You said, “Preacher, I want to accept by faith that I’m special to God. I’m His daughter. I’m His son. I’m made uniquely. I can give Him something that nobody else can.” I want to accept that fact. I want to believe that. The best this whole human person can do, I want to, by faith, believe that I’m special. You are. There is a difference in knowing it in your head and knowing it in your heart. And you said, “Preacher, by the best I can, I’m going to keep myself in the love of God, and I’m going to accept the fact that I’m loved by God. I’m going to think on that a little bit more. I’m going to dwell on that a little bit more. I’m made uniquely; I can do special things for God nobody else can do. I’m going to do my best to dwell and accept by faith these different things.” You said, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about that right there.” If that is your desire, you raise your hand. Preacher, I’m going to by faith—I’m just going to accept that and try to believe that and see that, know that, and feel that. That’s good. That’s good. Because He does. No one else in all the world is made like you are. And you can give God something nobody else can give.
Maybe you hear this tonight and you say, “You know, I want to love Him back. I want to love Him back. I want to love Him.” Never be perfect at it, but I want to love Him with all my heart and soul and strength the best I can. I want to love Him with my unique love. I want to praise Him and worship and love Him. God spoke to my heart about that. I want to preach. I want to do that. I want to love Him back. I want to love Him back. Let you just look up. The hand of God bless him. You can give Him something nobody else can give to Him. God bless you. God bless you.
Tonight, if you are not a born-again Christian, if you are not His son or His daughter, He would love to adopt you, welcome you to the family of God. He would love to make you one of His own. You could be one of those created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You are not saved by good works, but you are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. “Preacher, I need to get saved. I want to know for sure when I die, I’m going to heaven. I want to settle that. I need to get saved.” In my life, you slip your hand to a preacher, I want to make sure I am a born-again Christian. Hey, if you are a child of God, you are loved. Who can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? Nothing. Nothing.
Let’s just spend some time saying thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me precious in Your eyes and valuable and unique. You thank Him. You love Him a little bit tonight. Would you do that? Father, thank you for these things, Lord. We know they are true from Your word. We see them, but Lord, help us to know them in our hearts. Lord, help us to accept it by faith and help us to guide our hearts in the way of these truths. Lord, would You make these few minutes a special time between You and Your people? And Lord, we will thank You for what You do. And it is in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Every person has a call on their life. Every person. I don’t know what the calling is, but you’ve got a calling. One of the highest callings for a lady is to be a wife. Highest callings for a man, a lady to be a parent. God has a calling on your life in some way, somewhere, some avenue. You are made uniquely designed for Him, to love Him, to serve, and to worship and pray. And thank Him for that. Love Him for a while. I would ask Him, “Lord, give me wisdom. I’m not wise when I compare. Having to be wiser, I want to quit all that. Let me just accept what You’ve called and made me to do and enjoy doing it. Be content in doing that.” Have me to gain some wisdom. I don’t want to be unwise. Amen, amen.
So glad you are here tonight. And keep praying for Brother Frank. He is doing well. I haven’t talked to him in a minute, but knee surgery. Keep praying for him. Ms. Shelby. She is still with her radiation treatments. She has one more tomorrow. So keep praying for her. Pray she will get all the way past the low immune system and whatnot, and others at her sake. Let’s don’t forget to pray for them during this time. Would you do that? She is planning on being back next Sunday. Wow. She said, “I don’t mind that I can’t be around people for the most part. She said, I just want to get back to church.” And that’s special. Great, great people. Pray for them to be able to get back as soon as they can, and for Brother Frank’s knee to heal all the way. It’s been the year of the knees, that’s for sure, around here. Hopefully it is not contagious, amen, you know. We don’t want any more of that. But glad you are here tonight. Appreciate everybody being here. All of our folks coming back. God, to have them jammer and your friend. I appreciate y’all coming tonight, and the Talkingtons and James. Dave and Cheryl have been with us for a couple weeks—three weeks. Three weeks. We’ve tried to convince them to move from Colorado. I think it has a lot to do with something about grandkids in Colorado who lives down the street from them. I don’t think we’re going to convince them to do it, you know, but I’m always glad to have them down. Appreciate them being with us. And that’s awesome. And they’ve been a blessing, been involved, and they’ve been around here. A couple of us have been trying to convert them over to the Baptist way. I don’t know if it’s working or not. They go to a gospel preaching church. We’ve just been giving a hard time. And praise Lord, they’re in a gospel preaching, teaching church. That’s a good deal. But he did. I did hear a comment. He said, “Maybe I’m getting a little bit in the back.” He said he called me Brother Dave. And he is. He’s my brother in Christ, amen. And praise Lord for it.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - You Can Give God Something That No One Else Can - Sunday PM 12102023