God Chose, Appointed, and Answers You

1:18 Do not pass me by. Un-scriptural. that message, that song implies that you got to catch Jesus before he goes by. Pass me down, don't leave me. When the scripture clearly teaches us, he lives in us. As a matter of fact. God is everywhere at the same time. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus.

2:12 I have decided. to follow Jesus, no turn. back no turn unscriptural Sometimes people get upset with me when I try to teach you what the truth of Scripture is. What you sing is important. It reiterates what your theology is. Now, I'm going to read one verse to you right here. It's going to tell you why that song I just emulated and sang is not true. John chapter 15. the other the other songs I sung there are verses to validate those two but I'm not preaching about those I'm preaching on John 15 today John 15 16 says you did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you.

3:33 Ooh, ooh, ooh. Are y'all with me so far? The scripture teaches us very clearly in John 15, 16, you didn't choose Jesus, he chose you. Go ahead, look at your neighbor and say, he chose you. Look on the other side, say, he chose you. So my message today is God chose, appointed, and answers you. That's my message. God chose, appointed, and answers you. All of that right here in this one verse. This one verse from John 15 has embedded in it so much truth that we need to hear and understand and know. And that's what I want to spend some time talking about today. I want to talk about this.

4:25 Jesus is responding to a question that Judas asked him. It goes back in chapter 14. It starts in chapter 14. And Jesus' answer goes through the rest of chapter 14, all in chapter 15, a part of 16. He spent a whole bunch of time. And in the midst of this discussion, he hits verse 16 of chapter 15. while he's answering Judas' question.

4:53 He mentions his very significant and important point, and it's so powerful. What Jesus has to say is so powerful in just this one verse that I'm devoting the whole sermon to this one verse. And what are you devoting it to? I'm devoting it to, number one, three points I want to make. As a matter of fact, let me tell you. One of the ways I try to interpret Scripture is I look at a principle. A program and a promise. A principle, a truth, some truth that God declares. A program that is acted upon in light of the principle. And thirdly, the promise that God gives because of the principle. Are y'all with me? Have I confused you yet? And so I'm going to give you, those are my three points are going to be a principle, program, and a promise. Here's the principle. Here it is. I want you all to get this. This is very, very important. Look at your neighbor. Say, this is very, very important.

5:46 Here's my first point. It's the principle. Here's what it is. God chose you. You didn't choose God. I know that we sang, I decided to follow Jesus, but you could not follow Jesus if Jesus did not choose you. Now, y'all, you know, this 10 o'clock crowd is a little stiff sometimes. I recognize it because I know you think you decided that you came up and made the decision to follow Jesus, But the truth of the matter, if Jesus didn't give you the capacity to choose him, you couldn't choose him. And so the truth of the matter is, and here's where I want to shout, this is what I want to run around this building about. Here's what I want to celebrate is that God loved me enough and loved you enough that he chose you even though you did not deserve to be chosen. Look at your neighbor and say, you didn't deserve to be chosen.

6:47 Y'all might as well tell the truth. You was a jacked up joker. You was messed up. You were tore up from the floor. You was high as a kite. You were lower than low. You were nasty, wicked, mean in darkness. But oh, look, God woke you up and made you see your jacked up condition. He awakened you. He gave you life. He gave you the desire to want to know who he is. He gave you the ability to have the capacity to want to know who he is. And that's so important that we are where we are. We are who we are. We do what we do. We are the persons that we are because the God of the universe chose you. But that's such an important deal for you and I to get and understand that it's not by my doings. It's not because of anything I did.

7:45 Anything you did to help you be where you are today. No need you talk about you pull yourself up by your bootstraps. No, you didn't even have any straps or boots. That's right. I know y'all talking about where those boots at? Where those boots at? You ain't had no boots. If you got boots, God gave you the boots that you got. Is that what they say? Where the boots at? Is that what the song? The fans. But what do they say about the boots? What's the boots? What does that mean? Boots on the ground. It don't matter. You ain't got no boots until God gave you some boots. Do you understand what I'm saying to you today? I'm saying that God chose you.

8:34 In your nasty condition, he woke you up out of it. He chose you. You were as high as a kite. You were floating around, but he chose you. Somebody ought to thank God. Anybody here grateful that you're not where you used to be? That God, you can look back over your life and see that God brought you and took you to a whole different place. You didn't think you would be where you are. You didn't think you would achieve what you've achieved. You didn't think you would be the person that you are, but because God did it, He chose you. Somebody high five your name and say he chose me. He could have bypassed me. He could have walked beyond me. He could have picked somebody else. There are other people more qualified, other people more handsome than we are, than you are, more prettier than you are, more faster than you are, but he chose you.

9:35 Amen. Amen. I don't understand some of y'all sitting here with your arm folded and your nose stuck up in the air like you don't know what I'm talking about. But the truth of the matter is God made you who you are, took you where you are, woke you up from where you are. You don't have to beg me to thank God. I don't need nobody to make me cheerlead. When I think of the goodness of Jesus, when I look back at where I have come from, I can't help but to give him thanks and give him praise. He's worthy to be praised. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

10:29 Go ahead. Dap up your neighbor. Say, he chose me. He didn't have to. He could have picked somebody else, but thank God he chose me. Somebody say, he chose me. He chose me. I'm grateful. I'm thankful. I'm giving him the praise. Amen. And you know what? His was great. He chose you in spite of your history. You Now, humans ain't like that. Humans will cut you off, child. I remember when you did so and so. But thanks be to God that we serve a God who looks beyond your history and still chooses you.

11:11 Matter of fact, he not only looks beyond your history, he looks beyond your faults. He knows your personality. He knows your weaknesses. Amen. And he still chose you. Oh man, I wish I had a praying crowd with me the other day. Matter of fact, you're not just an accident. You were in God's master plan. You know, I get excited about the fact that God saw me before the foundations of the world.

11:47 God saw you before the world was created. he already knew about you. That's how awesome our God is because he knew the future before the future came. He knew about you and chose you anyway. Yeah, he knew how nasty you were going to be. Go ahead, tell him. He knew you were going to be a nasty joker. He knew, but he still chose you. He knew you were going to be stuttering. He knew Moses was going to be a stutterer, but he chose him anyway. And he chose you anyway. In spite of your weaknesses, in spite of your shortcomings, in spite of all of your failures and all of that, he still selected you to be on his team.

12:37 He picked you out. He bypassed so many other people, more qualified, more handsome, more prettier, more sharper, more this, more that, but he still chose you. Oh, somebody ought to thank God he chose you, he chose you, he chose you. You didn't choose him, he chose you. He knew your journey, your history, your secrets. He know your secrets. Ain't that something? He still chose you and he still know your secrets. Now I'm looking at this crowd and I can tell some of y'all got some skeletons in your closet. Oh, the Holy Ghost said, no, Pastor, they don't got skeletons. Some of them got some fresh bodies still laid up in the corner.

13:28 Yeah, I'm trying. I'm doing the best I can. I'm doing the best I can. Y'all drug him up in the closet last night. It's still, some of them still breathing. That's just another thing. Some of them still breathing. But in spite of it, God chose to use you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Peeked you up out of the muck and myra. Thank you, Lord. And chose you. Yes, Lord. And the question is, why would he choose to use you? Right. Why you? Right. Other more qualified people, why would he choose you?

14:10 I'm asking you all the questions. Why would God choose you? here's why I'm glad you asked the question it says in the text John 15 16 he says but I chose you and appointed you he appointed you you know what the word appointed means I'm glad you asked the question it means to be set in place it means to be given an assignment it means God put you where you are you know First Baptist Church thank you very much who is that? let me come back there and preach to you for just a second here's the deal I need you to get this is is that where you is? you was at the last service you was just at the 8 o'clock service

15:05 you know what she said at the eight o'clock service because i was talking about how god chose us and pulled us out and she said she came down the aisle she was running up down the aisle while i was preaching and i was talking about how god chose us that's about how good god has been us and she said if he hadn't chose me she said i would still be in the crack house Amen. Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Somebody ought to thank God for what he did for her. Hey!

16:07 Glory, glory, glory! Hey!

16:30 Great is our God. I don't care how low you have fallen, how ugly your sin has been, it does not matter how long you've been in it. We serve a God who has the power and the ability to deliver you and pull you up out of it. Thank you. And she's so thankful. She said, did y'all hear? I'm going to be at 12 o'clock too. Go ahead and let's give God thanks for what he did for her.

17:28 And while you're on it, thank him for what he did for you. Thank you. I got to, let me keep going here. Because if I don't keep going, we're going to get stuck right here.

18:20 Amen. Praise be to God. One more time. God, you chose me. No telling where you would be had he not chosen you. No telling how deep in sin you might be had he not chosen you. We have no idea how nasty, how ugly, how jacked up you would be, but oh, thank God, he picked me up out of my sin. I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but somebody here needs to know he can pick you up out of your sin. You don't have to stay on drugs. You don't have to stay in sin. You don't have to stay down. He will pick you up and pull you out.

19:28 And the reason he did that, he says that he chose, he says, I chose you and appointed you. God chose you and God appointed you. The word appointment means to be placed, to be set in a location, to be positioned.

20:00 In 1989, the First Baptist Church of Glen Arden needed a pastor. The pastor, the prior pastor died in 1988. He passed and they went through a year process. And in October of 1989, they did a vote. And some of the members of the church feel like they picked, they chose me. They voted for me. But what I've come to realize is they didn't select me. I got appointed here. Oh, I wish I had a prayer crowd. You know why that's important?

20:52 When you get an appointment, can't nobody disappoint you. Somebody ought to give God a shout. You didn't appoint me, so you can't disappoint me. Amen. Amen.

21:21 Now, appointment not only means he's set, so God knew Elder Featherstone. God knew. When I became the pastor, I think 350 people voted. 350. But God knew when he appointed me that he was going to use me to help get thousands of people saved. and he appointed you for the things he's called you to do because you're called to make a difference in the lives of hundreds if not thousands of other people some of y'all don't understand that you have an assignment too you have a call you have a gift matter of fact Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

22:21 Appointment means not only that you've been set in a place, it also means you've had a deposit put in you. There's something that God has put in you for you to make a difference in the lives of other people. There are people you have relationship with. There are people you know. There are people who you are friends with, people who you are related to, that God is going to use you you to help make a difference in their lives. our assignment, our theme, our call for 2025 is be a disciple, make a disciple. God is calling you because he's anointed you and called you and gifted you and empowered you to make a difference in the lives of broken and bruised people. So since you've been chosen and appointed, you need to get on your job and do what it is God has called you to do.

23:20 If you don't get them from here, have to make one more question. If you don't get one more question, get your word in the door. If you don't get one more question, get your word in the door. If you don't get one more question, get your word in the door. If you don't get one more question, get your word in the door. If you don't get one more question, get your word in the door. give me just a second one. me can prosper. Nothing that anybody does to me can hurt me because I've got an appointment. I got an appointment. You got an appointment. Do y'all hear what I'm saying to you today? I got one, you got one. You got people that God's called you to help.

24:18 Some of y'all sitting on your jobs. You're not doing what God called you to do. My assignment is to come and tell you, you got picked out, chosen, he knew how jacked up you were going to be he knew how nasty your history would be and I can't get past the fact that he still chose me and I can't get past I cannot get past the fact that he still chose you Look at you. He chose you. He picked me up out of the muck and mire and gave me an appointment. Saved me, forgave me, cleansed me, washed me, delivered me, and then gave me a job to do. Somebody give God the praise right there.

25:11 I mean, tell him like you really sound thankful. I'm thankful. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I'm grateful that he picked me and chose me and gifted me. Put something inside of me. He put something inside of me. I was, I was growing up a quiet, shy person. Didn't have the courage to stand up in front of people.

25:41 I wonder how many people in here right now that I'm standing in front of a picture. I get it. I'm excited. I feel like running around this building. I'm giving him the praise because in my natural self, I ain't supposed to be doing what I'm doing. But he picked me up. He chose me and appointed me and put a deposit in me. Amen. That I'm doing something that I thought I would never be doing. I never thought I would be preaching. I never thought that would be my assignment in life, but that's what he did. Amen.

26:34 And he put something in me. Don't take this wrong. I'm a pretty good pastor, if I would say so myself. Can I get an amen right there from anybody? I'm good enough to be y'all pastor. Y'all choose me, y'all come back to hear me every week. I must not be doing a bad job, hey. He making a deposit in me, and all I'm trying to tell you is you got a deposit in you for you to do what God has called you to do. I want you to look around at somebody and say, you got to call, and you got to call, and you got to call, and you got to call, and you got to call, and put your leg down. You got to call, too.

27:28 You got to call. Put your yellow on. And you got to call, and you got to call, and you got to call. There's some people you're going to change, and some people you're going to have an impact, and some people whose lives will never be the same because of you. And because of you, you're gonna make a difference in your community and in your family. You are going to make a difference. All you have to do is have the courage to share the truth. Do y'all understand what I'm trying to do? You've been chosen and appointed. And guess what?