What You Need To Know About God

Thank you for the wonderful music we enjoyed this morning.

I told them in the first service, it's just a joy to be here today and to preach at First

Baptist Pickens.

You won't recall this, but I preached here about 120 years ago, it seems like.

Fred had been your pastor for a short period of time and he asked me to come and preach

revival and that was many, many, many gray hair ago.

So thank you for the opportunity to come and be with you again this morning.

I love your pastor, not just because he's my friend, we've been friends for a long time.

I say this with every ounce of honesty I can muster this morning.

I don't know a man with more integrity, impeccable character and a man of conviction, compassion

than Fred Stone.

You're just blessed here at First Baptist Pickens to have him as your pastor.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me this morning to the book of Exodus chapter 34.

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

I'm going to preach just three verses, verses 6, 7, and 8.

And I want to talk this morning about what you need to know about God.

What you need to know about God.

Let me set the message up for the three verses we're going to read by just giving you a little

bit of background.

I know probably everyone in this room is pretty familiar with the book of Exodus.

You know, I'm sure how it began.

They have gone in search of food because of a famine in the land of Canaan.

They get there and they discover that Joseph is in charge.

And so he invites the entire family to come and to be house guests in Egypt.

Their intention is to return to Canaan after the famine is over.

But they become very comfortable in the land of Goshen, an area there in Egypt.

And Joseph dies.

Another Pharaoh comes.

And I'm confident that probably several Pharaohs came and went.

And suddenly the scripture tells us a Pharaoh arose who knew not Joseph.

And when that happened, these people who had been house guests and privileged guests in Egypt

suddenly become slaves.

And slaves are badly, badly mistreated.

If you're a parent, you can just imagine what it would be like to have your baby boy snatched from your arms

and immediately taken to the river now and submerged there in the water.

And that's what happened.

These people were living miserable lives as anyone does who's in slavery.

And in chapter two of the book of Exodus, they cry out to God.

They say, God, please remember the covenant you established with our father Abraham.

God hears their prayer, is moved with compassion, chapter two tells us.

And he began to put into place a plan that 80 years later would deliver them from the hands of Pharaoh.

He raised up a baby boy who escaped death in the Nile by being raised in Pharaoh's own household.

His daughter rescued him from the Nile River.

At the age of 40, he killed an Egyptian and had to flee to Midian.

There God worked on his heart and character and developed him into the man

who was ripe for the job of leading millions of Hebrews out of the land of Egypt.

Well, you know the story, right?

He comes and ten plagues later, Pharaoh is not only willing for them to leave,

he's adamant.

You've got to get out of here and do it tonight.

And so they flee.

They get to the Red Sea.

God parts the waters miraculously.

Pharaoh has a change of mind and heart.

The water is sweeping and crushing his army.

And they're off to Mount Sinai.

When they come to Mount Sinai, God speaks to Moses and said,

Moses, I want to establish another covenant with my people.

And the covenant is pretty simple.

I'll be their God.

They'll be my people.

I'll bless them and I'll prosper them, protect them,

even as I have to this point in the journey.

All I ask is, they have no other gods but me.

Moses goes to the people.

They immediately agree.

And it looks like they're set for smooth sailing.

But Moses goes up on Mount Sinai, gets the Ten Commandments,

and just as he's ready to come down the mountain,

God directs his attention to what's happening below.

These people who should have been so grateful to God,

who had seen God move in such a miraculous way,

instead of following God in the 30 minutes, figuratively speaking,

that Moses has been gone,

they've already had a change of heart.

And they've taken their gold earrings, melted them.

He's fashioned a God of gold in the likeness of a calf.

And they're bowing and worshiping this God of gold.

God strikes 3,000 dead,

and others are severely stricken with a plague.

And sometime later, God speaks to Moses and says,

Moses, I'm willing to forgive them.

I'm willing to give them another chance.

Come back up on the mountain.

I'll re-give you the Ten Commandments.

But there's something you need to know about me.

And that's going to be the focus of our attention this morning,

that message that God delivered to Moses.

It's a famous message.

In fact, you read these words in the Psalms,

in the book of Jonah,

and in other places in the scripture,

stand with me as we read together.

Exodus chapter 34, verse 6, 7, and 8.

Exodus 34:6

Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed,

Yahweh, Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth,

maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations,

forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin.

But he will not leave the guilty unpunished,

bringing the consequences of the father's wrongdoing

on the children and grandchildren

to the third and fourth generation.

Would you bow with me this morning

as we go to God in prayer?

Father, I pray today that these words we have just read

would burn in our mind and heart.

I pray God that you'd etch them indelibly in our soul.

Because Lord, we know that just as surely

as Moses and the Hebrews needed to be aware

of those things you revealed to Moses about yourself,

today we likewise need to live every waking moment

completely aware of who you are.

So show us this morning.

Give us a clearer picture of yourself

than maybe some of us have ever had before in our lives.

It is our prayer in Jesus' name,

and for his sake we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

God, in this message to Moses,

reveals eight things about himself

that I want to draw your attention to this morning.

The first thing God says to Moses

is, Moses, you and the Hebrew people need to know

I am a God of compassion.

I am a compassionate God.

I am guessing like myself,

just about every day that you live,

you will pick up a newspaper, a magazine,

you will cut on the news in the evening,

you will drive your car to work,

and you will engage people all throughout the day.

And in the course of a day,

most of us see not one,

but a number of things that concern us.

Things that sometimes break our heart.

Have you ever gone into a restaurant

or you're near a school and you see a child

and the child's not clothed properly

for weather conditions?

Have you ever seen that?

You just know this is a neglected child.

I know school officials tell us constantly,

you hear it on television,

that a large portion of children

from Friday until Monday,

they don't eat properly,

they don't have valuable nutritional foods in their home.

And you hear that,

and it just bothers you

because we don't see any child be without food.

You cut on your television,

you see war-torn areas

and children who have been made orphans

because of the deaths of their parents.

And that breaks your heart.

You hear people at work

and they tell you about their situation.

I was on the phone with a person just two days ago

and they were telling me about a sad, sad situation.

A mother who had lost her son

and had lost her husband

in the same week to COVID.

And you hear that,

just breaks your heart to hear

those kinds of stories.

You've come to a traffic light at an intersection

and there sits a man perhaps in a wheelchair

or he's on crutches

and he has a sign and he says,

I'm homeless,

I'm helpless,

I'm a veteran of the service

and I need help,

I'm penniless.

And those kinds of things at times,

while we know some are scam artists,

we know a lot of those folk

are just in a horrible, horrible situation

and it breaks our heart.

In fact, you know what I'm going to guess?

Every person this morning in this room

has seen something sometime

in the last few weeks,

in the last few months,

that has perhaps even brought you to tears.

You've maybe even prayed about it.

You said, God, intervene in these people's behalf

and help them.

And you've cried crocodile tears.

But you know the difference in concern and compassion?

You can be concerned

and you can get emotionally involved

and you can shed tears,

but you don't have to do a thing.

But compassion is different.

Harold Songer,

who was a theologian at Southern Seminary,

decades ago,

wrote a book on Colossians

and he picked that word compassion

from chapter three in the book of Colossians

and this is what he said about it.

I've never forgotten it.

He said,

compassion is impossible

without involvement.

You see,

you can't have compassion

and see that child

or see that adult

and say,

boy, that's terrible

and boy,

something ought to be done about that,

but do nothing.

You can be concerned,

but if you have compassion,

you have to act

in that person's behalf.

And that's what God does.

In Exodus chapter two,

the Lord heard the cries of his people

and the scripture says,

God acted in compassion.

He raised up a man named Moses

and through 10 plagues

led them out of the land of Egypt.

And that's what happened

when God saw the sin

and the plight of the world

because of our sinfulness

and sent his son Jesus

into our world.

And so God is,

first of all,

a compassionate God.

But I want you to notice

the second thing about God,

and I love this.

He says,

I am also gracious.

Now I want you to think

for a minute.

What does it mean

to be gracious?

And don't even think theologically

about the word grace

for a moment.

That obviously is accurate.

But just think about someone,

a person you know,

who is gracious.

In fact,

if you think about it a minute,

you know what I suspect?

That most people in this room,

you'll get an image

of somebody

who they're the epitome

of graciousness, right?

I think of a lady

in my first church

by the name of Mrs. Edna Poole.

She was just the embodiment

of sweetness.

I mean,

she was always kind.

She was always making you feel good.

She always,

nothing ever displeased her.

You couldn't do anything wrong

in Mrs. Poole's eyes.

You know somebody like that?

I bet every person in this room

has had an experience

where someone

has shown you grace.

A spouse,

a child,

an employer,

an employee,

a teacher.

My 11th grade teacher

in El Paso, Texas

who taught me chemistry,

Dr. Crawford,

he was a gracious,

gracious Southern gentleman.

You know how I know that?

He promised me

the last day of class,

he said,

if you'll promise me

you'll never touch chemicals,

I'll give you a D plus

in this class.

I didn't earn that D plus.

He gave it to me.

It was by his grace

and his mercy

I got out of chemistry class

because I knew nothing

about chemistry,

but he was a gracious,

loving man

and knew I was doing the best

that I could do

under circumstances.

Some of you are married

to gracious spouses,

right?

You've lost your cool,

you've lost your mind maybe

and you've said some things

that were just irritable

and they were critical

and they were mean spirited

and you thought to yourself,

she or he should never forgive me

for what I just said.

But they do anyway, right?

And that's a form of grace.

God says,

I am a gracious God.

Here's a third thing

I want you to see about God

and boy,

you ought to remember this

as long as you live.

I am slow to anger,

he says in verse six.

I am slow to anger.

You know,

if we did a survey this morning

what we'd find right here

at First Baptist Pickens,

there were some of you

who were raised

in moderate churches

and the guy never raised his voice.

And some of you

maybe were raised

in liberal churches

where the pastor said

God is pretty tolerant

and he gave you an image of God

that wasn't accurate

according to the scriptures.

And some of you,

like myself,

were raised in fundamental

very, very conservative churches.

And back in my day,

and I'm nearly 70,

back in my day,

if you were conservative,

most every preacher

was pretty loud

when he stood up

in the pulpit to preach.

In fact,

my recollection

as a child,

it doesn't mean

it was accurate.

I'm sure those guys

were gentle

and kind-spirited.

But you know

how I remember guys

in the 60s

who preached

in conservative

fundamental churches?

They always seemed

to be mad about something.

I mean,

they would preach

and preach so hard

and it didn't matter

what the subject matter.

They could preach on love

but they could do it

as though they were mad, right?

They were angry.

And so I developed

an image of God

if I'm honest with you

and here's my image of God.

I saw God

as this Western gunslinger

and he had two

white pearl handled pistols

and he had itchy trigger fingers.

Have you ever seen

the old Westerns?

They start doing that motion

with their fingers.

They're like,

go ahead,

make my day.

Draw it,

I'll shoot you dead.

I remember the first time

I ever used a word of profanity

on the playground,

I thought for sure

a lightning bolt

would come out of the heavens

and hit me in the top of the head

and just kill me

right there down the spot.

Because I just thought,

man,

God is looking for me

to mess up

and the second I mess up,

the hammer's gonna fall

and I'm gonna be dead

as three o'clock

in the afternoon.

Any of you ever

had that kind of image of God?

You know what the Bible says?

The Bible says,

God is not quick

to pull the trigger.

God says of himself,

I am slow to anger.

I am long suffering.

And you see it

in the scriptures.

The psalmist often cry out

because they've been asking God

to help him

and he says,

God,

how long will you go

without punishing

these evil people,

right?

We also know it

from personal experience.

You know I know it

from experience

because I know

how I've lived

and if God were quick

on the trigger,

I'd have been dead

a long time ago.

And the truth of the matter

is I suspect

a lot of you

in this audience

wouldn't be here either,

right?

So God is slow to anger.

Let me show you

a fourth thing about God.

He says in verse six,

the latter part of the verse,

I am rich in faithful love.

Let's talk about that

for a minute.

What does it mean

to be rich?

I'm going to put you on the spot.

How many in this room

are rich?

I mean,

you're just filthy,

just admit it,

you are filthy rich.

Anybody here filthy rich?

I mean vulgar wealth.

Any of you got that?

I figured you wouldn't

own up to it

even if you did.

I know one of you

doesn't know.

I'm just teasing.

Let me just tell you though,

most of us in this room

would say

if we were honest,

I'm okay.

I'm paying my bills,

got a little money

in the bank,

I'm doing all right.

I got food on my table,

roof over my head,

clothes on my back,

I'm all right.

There would be

some of you in here

if you were honest,

you would say,

I'm a little bit in need.

I got a little bit more

month than money.

I think I'll make it

but I don't really know how.

Some of you

are well off.

You not only have enough,

you can take care

of some of your wants

as well as some of your needs.

And even if you're retired,

you see yourself

making it to the end

without a lot of trouble.

But do you have

unlimited resources?

No, we don't.

Even those of us in here

who are doing pretty well,

we're probably not

in that category.

To be rich means this.

It means you have

not only enough,

it means you're never

going to run out.

And you've got

not just more than enough,

you've got way more than enough.

Something catastrophic

can happen,

you're still good to the end.

I doubt there's anyone here

this morning in that category.

Maybe so.

But probably not.

How many of you know

the name J.K. Rowling?

There you go.

These young people all do.

A lot of you older ones.

She's the author

of the Harry Potter series.

She published those books

and went from being

a poor person,

lived in a small apartment

with her daughter,

had divorced,

to a very, very wealthy woman.

In fact,

after those books

became movies,

it may surprise you

to know this,

she is the first

billionaire author

who is female

in the history of the world.

They had her on a show

because she actually

went from being very poor,

couldn't pay her bills,

to very, very, very wealthy,

a billionaire.

And they asked her,

was it a difficult adjustment

for you mentally

to adjust from having

very little to having a lot?

And she said,

yeah, it was.

She said,

in fact,

I remember the day

I turned the corner.

I was in a super expensive

department store

in London

and I was looking at purses.

This was an extravagant

department store

and she said,

I was looking at purses,

all of them,

which were a couple thousand

dollars and more.

And she says,

I'm looking at these two purses

and I like this one

and I like this one.

They're just about alike

except the color is different

and I can't make my mind up.

Do I get this one?

Do I get that one?

And she said,

all of a sudden it dawned on me,

why are you in a frenzy?

You can not only buy

this pocketbook

or that pocketbook,

you can buy the store

if you want to.

You can buy everything.

You're never going

to run out of money.

That's what it is

to be rich.

God says,

Moses,

you need to understand

I am rich

in love.

I like that song

that Brother Hester wrote

this gentleman

saying a moment ago,

about God's love for us.

God is rich

in love,

isn't he?

It's never going

to run out.

Let me tell you something.

If you've never

come to understand this

and you can

put this in your mind

and heart

and really believe it,

cling to it,

it'll change how you live.

There is nothing

you can do today,

not one thing

you can do today

that will make God

love you

any more

than he already does.

And there's nothing

you can do today

that will make

God love you

any less

than he already

does.

The scripture says

in Romans 5, 8,

but God demonstrates

his love toward us

in that while

we were yet sinners,

enemies of God,

Christ died

for us.

Isn't that an overwhelming

statement to think about?

We say that so often

in church,

I'm afraid it doesn't even

ring in our minds

what that really means.

Let me illustrate

it for you.

Suppose I ask you

right now to take out

a sheet of paper

and a pencil

and I said,

here's what I want

you to do with

nobody looking,

move apart a little bit

and with nobody looking,

I want you to put

the names on a sheet

of paper of every

person you know

today for whom

you would be

willing to die

if you had to.

You know what I

believe about you?

I don't think

there's a person

in the room

that probably

wouldn't have

at least one name

on that sheet

of paper.

In fact,

my guess is

you'd surprise

yourself.

My guess is

when you got to

really thinking

about it,

you would be

amazed about

how many people

you would be

willing to give

your life for

today

if you had to.

But let me ask

you a second question.

On that same

sheet of paper now,

flip it over

and put the names

of those people,

you would be

willing for your

son or your

daughter to die

for.

And I'm going to

also venture a guess.

You can't think

of a single name.

There's not a person

alive you would

let your son or

daughter,

you'd die for

plenty.

You wouldn't let

your son or daughter

die for any.

My friend,

Isaiah tells us

in Isaiah 53,

it pleased God

to bruise his

son for us.

One of the most

mysterious verses

in the Bible.

I can't get my

head around that.

It pleased God

to bruise his

son in our

stead.

And then

fifthly,

he goes on to

say,

I am also rich

in truth.

I am also rich

in truth.

1 John 1,

5 says,

God is light

and in him

is no darkness.

That's how it

reads in the

English text.

If you look it

up in your

Bible,

you know how

it reads in

the Greek text?

There's only one

word difference.

Here's what it

says if you

transliterate that.

It says,

God is light

and in him

is no,

none,

darkness

at all.

Now you

English teachers

are having a fit

right now,

right?

You can't say

no,

none.

It's a double

negative.

But in Greek,

it's acceptable

and it's

because it's

used for

emphasis.

In other words,

what John is

saying is this.

Listen,

I knew Jesus.

I walked to

Jesus.

I touched

Jesus.

I fellowshiped

with Jesus.

And I'm telling

you this,

if you examine

his character,

every inch of

his character,

every inch of

his being,

there is not a

trace of darkness

in him

anywhere.

Isn't that

remarkable?

How many

times do you

think you

sin a day?

You ever

thought about

that?

I don't know

about you,

but I can get

behind slow

traffic and sin

three times

before I get

to the office

in the morning,

right?

God,

in all of

his existence,

in all of

eternity,

has never had

an evil thought,

has never spoken

an evil word,

has never done

anything of an

evil nature.

He's perfect.

He's so unlike

us.

He's perfect.

So he says,

Moses,

you need to be

aware.

I am rich

in truth.

Now how's that

going to play

out?

It means he's

going to be

holy like you

and I cannot

imagine holiness.

It means he's

going to be

just and we'll

talk more about

that in just a

moment.

And then there's

a sixth thing

he says.

He maintains

faithful love to

a thousand

generations,

verse seven.

It's one thing

to love somebody.

It's another

thing to maintain

love for somebody.

Let's just be

honest.

I don't want to

show a hand or

shake a head.

Have you ever

met anybody that

you loved them

when you first

met them but

five minutes

later,

no,

not so much.

Some people,

a little bit

up go a long

ways,

right?

And you can

take them in

small doses but

not major chunks

of time at a

time,

right?

We like to

love on a

seasonal basis.

If you're good

to me,

you do what I

say,

you act in

accordance with

my will,

then I like

you.

But you

don't,

man,

you'll be the

flavor of the

month.

Pastors have

found that out

a lot of times.

When I first

started pastoring,

I had an older

pastor come to

me and he just

said,

can I give you a

tip on something,

buddy?

I was about 25

years of age,

fresh out of

seminary.

I said,

what's that?

He said,

be careful about

the guy who

helps move your

furniture into the

pastoring.

He'll be the

first guy to

help you move

it out.

In other words,

people can turn

on you pretty

quick.

When I pastored

in St.

Central,

North Carolina,

there was a

man who had

served before me

who had just

had a heart of

courage and

great,

great man of

God.

When he was

unpopular,

he opened the

doors of our

church to all

races.

And boy,

there were folks

who got mad about

this one lady in

particular.

She wrote him

hate mail.

She wrote

editorials in the

paper.

She did everything

she could to make

his life miserable

before she finally

up and left the

church.

I came as the

next pastor.

All that was

history now was

all behind us.

Church had a good,

healthy relationship

to all the races

and everything's

found no longer

issue.

This lady came

back to our

church.

She sat there

for a few weeks

and then she

came and said,

I think I'd like

to come and

join the church.

One of the

deacons overheard

her.

And he came to

him and he

said,

Pastor,

I'm not telling

you not to

let her join,

but I want to

tell you something.

You better be

careful about her.

Says,

you'll be the

flavor of the

month if you're

not careful.

And he told me

all that happened

to the former

pastor.

So I was

guarded with her.

Well, she kept

coming and guess

what?

Over a period of a

couple months,

she joined.

She just loved

me and my wife

to death.

Every time she

had a party at

her house, we

were the honored

guests.

I was going to

be the next

Billy Graham.

I was the

greatest thing

since last

spread.

She hugged me

and loved on

me until one

day, about a

year and a half

later, I came to

the church and

said, you know

what?

I think if the

church is going

to continue to

grow, we need

to relocate.

I became the

voice piece of

Satan himself.

She hated my

guts, turned on

me just like

that.

The last Sunday

she was at our

church, she sat

according to that

building right here

on the front row.

She came in with

a bag from a

grocery store,

didn't know what

was in it,

shoved it under

the first pew,

sat through the

whole song service,

participated when

it got time for

the message and I

stood up to

preach.

She reaches

on the pew,

pulls out the

grocery bag,

sits it up on

the pew beside

her, pulls out

yarn and some

sewing needles,

and begins to

yarn while I

preach.

Broke my heart,

tore me up.

I had a hard

time getting

through that

message.

Thankfully, she

left that day,

never came back.

But I want to

tell you something.

God says I'm not

like that.

I don't love you

when you're good.

I love you all

the time.

365 days a year,

throughout all

eternity, I

maintain faithful

love to a thousand

generations.

There's a seventh

thing I want you

to see, and boy,

you're going to

love this.

He says, I

forgive wrongdoing,

rebellion, and

sin, in verse

7b.

I forgive wrongdoing,

rebellion, and

sin.

Now let's just be

straight.

I am going to ask

you to raise your

hand.

We'll see how

transparent you can

be.

Any of you here

ever been guilty

of wrongdoing?

Raise your hand

high.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I hope everybody

in the room's got

your hand up.

You just did

something else

wrong.

Anybody ever

rebelled?

Now you know

what rebellion

means, don't

you?

Rebellion doesn't

mean you made a

mistake.

That's what we,

I made a mistake.

No you didn't.

You rebelled.

Rebelling means I

know what to do,

I'm not going to

do it.

I deliberately,

willfully say,

I'm going in

this direction.

You want me to

go in that

direction?

I'm going in

this direction.

That's the

difference in

just messing

up, isn't

it?

That's willfully,

deliberately

singing it

against God.

He says,

I forgive

wrongdoing,

I forgive

rebellion,

I forgive

sin.

You know

why that's

good news

for us?

Because every

one of us

in this room

are sinners.

For every

one person

that's ever

been born

save Jesus,

all have

sinned and

come short

of the glory

of God.

There's none

righteous,

no not one.

Isaiah 53,

6 says,

Oh,

we like sheep

have gone

astray.

Listen to

this.

We have

each one

turned to

his own

way.

Remember

that song

Frank Sinatra

made popular,

I did it

my way?

That's the

problem with

sin.

We want to

do it our

way instead

of God's

way.

But God

says,

Moses,

understand

this,

let them

know.

They need

to know

about me.

I am a

God who

forgives

sin.

I forgive

wrongdoing.

I even

forgive

rebellion.

When they

shake their

fist in my

face and

they just

refuse to

do it my

way,

I will

still forgive

that.

Boy,

what a great

message from

God.

And then

here's the

last thing.

I will not

leave the

guilty unpunished.

He says at the

conclusion of

verse 7,

I will not

leave the

guilty unpunished.

And what

he's implying

is this,

I am

just.

I am

just.

He wanted

to make

sure,

even though

they understood

all these

good things,

they understood

that I am

just,

I will not

leave the

guilty unpunished.

I close this

story,

it's embarrassing,

but it's the

best way to

illustrate the

point I'm

trying to

make.

So at my

expense,

I tell this

story this

morning.

I'm about

38 years old

at the time.

I'm pastoring

Western Avenue

Baptist Church

in Statesville.

It's 1987.

And there

in 1987,

they came out

with a new

Camry.

They changed

it from that

little square

Camry car,

some of you

will remember.

They changed

to a more

rounded look.

It had a

seat belt that

came across

automatically and

fashioned you.

Man, it made

you feel like

you're a big

shot, right?

It's still just

a Camry, but

I loved it.

I knew the

one I wanted.

I'd seen it on

commercials.

It was wide,

had beautiful

hubcaps,

wheels,

and it

had a blue

velour interior.

Doesn't sound

like much now.

Boy, it was a

fancy thing then,

right?

That's the one I

wanted.

I went to the

car lot, a truck

had just pulled

in, I saw it.

I told the guy

that sells me, I

want the one

right up there

on the top of

that truck, but

it's on the

top.

That's the one

I wanted.

Bought that car,

was so proud of

it.

A few weeks

later, we lost

our minister of

music.

Our personnel

committee heard

about a guy in

Gastonia, North

Carolina, and we

decided we'd go

over there and

hear him, meet

him, take him

that.

We went in

two cars, there

were about eight

of us all together,

one staff person,

six committee

members, and

myself.

So we'd get in

two cars and we

go over there.

I'm in my 87

Camry.

I'm so proud of

that Camry, if

you hadn't picked

up on that yet.

And this other

guy who was

chairman of the

committee, he had

a mid-80s Olds

Mobile 98, about

as long as this

middle row in the

auditorium.

I mean, you had

to go to the

airport to turn

the thing around.

Remember those?

Get about 10

miles per

gallon, just a

big, big, big

old car.

So we finish our

meeting, we're

out in the

parking lot, we're

standing around

chewing the fat.

You would think

we're a couple

17, 18-year-old

kids.

I'm saying, man, I

love my car.

It's got a button

you can push and

it'll send extra

gas to the

carburetor and

it's for power

situation.

He says, that

little runny

foreign car?

He says, I want

you to know I

could blow the

doors off that

thing.

I said, no, you

couldn't.

Yes, I

could.

We argue like

two little

schoolboys, right?

So we get in the

car.

We're all laughing

and having a good

time.

We get in the

car, half of them

in my car, half of

them in his car.

We head back to

Statesville.

77 takes you all

the way to

Statesville.

You get to

Interstate 40.

You get on

Interstate 40, you

go about a mile and

a half.

You get off the

exit and right

there's our

church, right?

So we're coming

back on 77

heading north and

I turn to the

people in my car,

about four people

in my car and we

get up here to the

cloverleaf connecting

us from 77 40.

I said, fasten your

seatbelts because when

we come off this

cloverleaf, I'm going

to blow his doors

off.

So we come off the

cloverleaf and just,

I'm not going to do

it for long, but I

just for a second, I

stomp on the

accelerator.

I mean, I push it

through the floor

board.

We fly past this

guy, right?

We're waving to him

as we go by.

We just fly by him

like he's standing

still.

I get to this bridge

just maybe a quarter

of a mile down the

road where I'm

beginning to slow up

because my exit's

coming up and as I

do, I look down at

my speedometer and

it's 94 miles an

hour.

Shame to say that,

94 miles an hour.

I let off the gas and

just as I do, I look

in the left-hand lane

of the oncoming

traffic and there's a

highway patrolman.

Brake lights are

everywhere.

But I figure, hey, I've

only got to go a half a

mile and I'm going to

get off the interstate

and I'm not going to

run from him.

I'm just going to

conveniently disappear.

I'm going to get down

to the bottom of the

stop sign and I'm going

to go across to the

service road and my

church is right there

and I'm in the clear.

So I just, I didn't

violate the speed

line.

I just went down to the

stop sign, crossed the

road.

He's got to come

across a hundred

yards of terrain, right?

So I go up through the

parking lot of this

restaurant, get over the

big hill and I'm home

for, I'm about a quarter

mile from my church, half

mile from my church at

most.

Just as I'm several

hundred yards past that

hill, I look up and out

of nowhere, this police

car gets airborne and sets

down a couple times hard,

blue lights flashing and I'm

just, I want to puke just

to be honest with you,

right?

No, that's a word you're

not supposed to use when

you preach but that's how

I felt that moment.

I pull off the side of

the road, he comes flying

up behind me, he starts

getting out of the

patrol car, I'm getting

out of my car because I

don't want the people

inside to hear what I

know he's going to say

to me, right?

So I go walking back to

the patrol car, he's

getting out of the car,

he's putting on his

smokey the bear hat, he's

walking toward me and he

takes about a step and he

looks up and when he

does he says, put me

pastor?

And I said, Carol, I

know him, he's Carol

Ward, he's been out of

the patrol car and a

member of our church.

I just walk over to the

passenger side of the

patrol car and he says,

what are you doing?

And I said, I'm getting

in the car so you can

write me that ticket.

He says, what were you

doing?

I said, I was showing

off, acting like an

idiot, I'm sorry.

And he says, looks me

dead in the face.

He says, your face

tells me you are never

going to do that again.

Are you?

And I said, no, sir, I'm

not.

And I haven't, I'll be

honest, I haven't.

He says, go get in your

car and go home and don't

do that again.

Yes, sir, thank you.

I get in my car and

everybody's laughing.

You going to jail?

That was Carol Ward.

He didn't, he didn't find

me.

He didn't find you.

In the meantime, we've got

to tell you this, while we're

standing on the side of the

road, that other car with the

other four people in it, they

come by and they're going,

I'm standing on the side of

the road with Carol at the

time.

I get back, man, they're

razzing me.

I get back home, my wife

gets on me.

She plays Holy Spirit for

me.

Any of you men ever have

wives do that?

You know, you could have

lost your ministry.

You could have killed those

people.

And all of that, she was

right.

I just sat there and took

it.

Two days later, I get a

letter from a state firm

agent who, by the way, was

in my back seat.

He says, don't worry, I'm

not raising your rates, but I

just want you to see what

they would have been had

you gotten the ticket for

what happened.

It went up astronomically.

Now, I want to tell you, I

am so grateful to Carol

Ward for his showing me

leniency.

But I want you to understand

this perfectly clear.

That is not justice.

Any teenager in this room who

had gotten stopped driving

that crazy would have gone to

jail.

That was not justice.

I was shown favoritism because I

was his pastor.

Because he knew me.

At best, because he thought,

this is not characteristic of

this guy I know.

But it's still not justice.

And I want to warn you because

I think there are a lot of folk

out there who think because I

grew up in church, I hung out

at church.

My name's on the roll, First

Baptist Pickens.

I showed up there a whole lot.

They think when they stand

before God, God's going to look

at them and say, oh yeah, I

remember you.

Yeah, you were there all the

time.

Come on in.

It's okay.

I'm going to give you a pass.

The Bible says he can't sweep our

sin on the carpet.

You know why?

Because he is rich in truth.

Because he is holy and he is

just.

He is not a doting grandfather.

He is going to find us guilty

of sin.

You say, well how can he forgive

us?

Because while he finds us guilty

of sin, he pays the penalty

for us.

He does the unthinkable.

He steps from behind the judge's

seat and comes in the form of

his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,

and sheds his blood on the cross

that you and I can have eternal

life.

The Bible puts it this way.

All we like sheep have gone

astray.

We've each one turned to his own

way.

And the Lord has laid on him the

iniquity of us all.

He takes my sin and transfers it

to his son.

I close by telling you this.

This book I hold in my hand is my

copy of the scripture.

But what if it weren't?

What if this book were the history

book on the life of Ralph Carter?

You could turn to page one and you

could read on page one where I was

born on December the 18th, 1951 to

Ralph and Doris Carter.

You'd read within a few pages.

I have a brother and a sister,

Teresa and Ricky.

You'd read about my childhood,

attended 13 schools in 12 years

because my dad was in the military.

You'd read some things that fascinate

you, some that would bore you to tears.

You'd read some things that say,

well, you know, he's an okay guy.

He's a guy I'd like to hang out with.

And then you'd read some things where

you'd say, well, man, that was a good

thing he did.

But I want to tell you, you'd read a lot

of places that you'd go, what?

You'd read some of those pages that we

try to keep closed where you'd say,

why did Fred Stone have that guy come

preach?

My goodness, he's not a guy who should

be standing in the pulpit preaching.

Why did we get him?

There's some things in this book,

if they were open and you came and read

them, I've got to be honest with you.

I'd be humiliated to death.

Things I just wouldn't want anybody in

the world to know about.

Thoughts I've had and actions I've taken

and things I've said.

I don't want nobody to know those

things.

But if it was open in the presence of

God and I was judged out of what is

written in my life's book, in the

presence of God, I wouldn't just be

embarrassed.

I would be eternally condemned.

And the only hope I have is that

someone else has paid the penalty of

my sin for me.

And that one is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if he's never, ever pardoned you

of your sin, I want to tell you

something today.

I don't care what you've done, he

will.

All you need to do is ask him, Lord

Jesus Christ, forgive me of my sin.

I know I'm not worthy of sin.

I know I can't get there by attending

church, by giving my tithe, by singing

the choir, by being good, because I just

can't be good enough.

I've already messed up too much.

So I plead for your mercy.

I plead for your grace in my life.

If you've never done that today, I'm

going to ask you to consider doing that

right now.

To right now as we have music played,

one of your staff will come and stand here

at the front.

I'm going to ask you to slip out of your

seat and just come to the front.

You may need to talk to him.

You may just want to come and kneel here

at the altar.

The one you really need to talk to is God.

And just say, God, I just need you in my life.

I'm begging you for salvation today.

Would you come?

Let's stand.

Let's have our music.

Let's have our music.