First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the park.

Stay, if you can, turning to the 24th chapter of the book of Joshua. Peel your eyes down to verse number 15, and in your private devotion, you might want to read that entire chapter. But for the sake of this message, we zoom in to verse number 15. New Living Translation says, "But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods of your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?"

Here is the other focus: "But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." Amen. You may go to your seats around the building even in the presence of our God. I want to talk in this service using the subject "Draw the Line." Draw the line, draw the line. Don't cross this line. Draw the line.

I grew up and we would have after-school fights. Now it's too violent because people are carrying guns and knives to school and all of that. But back in the day when some of us were coming along, it was just fisticuffs. That's all. Nothing but a little healthy fight after school. Amen.

And going back to the early days of school, we had who we called the Duke of the school. That was the person who could beat everybody up. Nobody could beat them up. And every now and then, there would be a challenger to who's really the Duke of the school. The line would be drawn. Matter of fact, there were always on the outside of those gatherings instigators who had no intention of ever getting involved. They verbalized, they talked, they teased, and even perhaps would even participate from their position.

"You're going to take that?" And then sometimes they would even go a step further and they would shove you into the person. We came not to see two individuals talk, but we came to see them fight. My mother never liked that. She always would say, "When you see that, you need to come straight home." But I looked around, I didn't see Mama.

And so I was like the rest of the crowd because I wanted to see the line drawn and then potentially someone cross the line. At 8:00 this morning, God has given us a word. And that word is clear, it's confrontational, and it's corrective. It is a word for people who are tired of living in the gray areas of faith. It's a word for people who are tired of straddling the fence.

Matter of fact, I would believe that in this room and at this hour is not the fence-straddling hour. It's for persons who have made a distinctive decision: "For me to live is Christ." And if I go further in that, to die is gain. And I don't even have to talk about my physical death, but I can talk about death to negativity, death to darkness, death to those things that would minimize potentially where God wants to take you.

This scripture, it is a word for people who know that you cannot walk with God and keep walking with everything else at the same time. I've got to make a decision. I've got to be clear. I've got to be what I would even say sold out for the cause of Christ. And that's why last night when we gathered, I talked about faith that costs you something. It ought to cost you something. It's not something that I go through in a casual way because there comes a time, comes a moment in every believer's life when you have to draw the line.

I'm drawing the line. I'm not going to give up, give out, give in. Joshua is now an old man. He's fought battles. He's buried his friends. Matter of fact, it even reminds me of an old sermon that was on one of my dad's sermons. It was a sermon by the late Dr. Caesar A. W. Clark, who pastored the Good Street Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. And the title of the sermon was "I Die Daily."

In that sermon, Dr. Clark talked about all of the friends who had gone on and he felt like as they had transitioned, a little bit of him had left. Some years ago, I was there in the New Orleans Superdome as Dr. Clark was preaching a sermon and the title was "After 50 Years, What Shall I Preach?" I was there in the New Orleans Superdome when Dr. Clark preached that sermon. And then some years later, I had the privilege of having him to come and to preach at our church in Harlem, New York.

I found out because I had some access through Dr. Clark, through my in-laws, and my late mother-in-law Dr. Wepta Norma Carter said, "I can get a hold of Dr. Clark." And we got a hold of him and I made up a service. I said, "We're going to have a 12:00 service on a Wednesday." Look, on a Wednesday. And the sanctuary was full and people were traveling, Bishop Turner from New Jersey all over the city. They said, "You got Caesar Clark coming to you?" Yeah, yeah. I was, boy, I thought I was rolling.

But I want you to know that in this text, Joshua is an old man. Dr. Clark got up that Wednesday with a cane in his hand and he grabbed the pulpit. He says, "I'm old and I'm slow." But his word was still powerful. And I've come to see, I can stand here today, I can thank Him because when I would have a bad report card, my dad would get home about 5:30 in the evening because he was bi-vocational. He worked a government job by day and then he also was pastoring.

But I wasn't always doing my homework and I usually brought all my books home on the day I brought my report card home. When I brought my report card home, that was a good time for me to bring all my books home and it was too late to redeem the grades that I had, but at least I would be looking studious when he would enter the door. And he would come in, I would have all my books open right there on the dining room table where he could see me. And then next to me, I would have a sermon playing. Amen.

I would have my books out and a sermon playing because my father did not come from a generation of timeouts. He did not come in, "I'm going to put you on punishment." No, no, it was going to be punishment all right, but it was going to be more immediate. Matter of fact, that was the day when he would come in and he would tell me to go to his closet and pick it out. Pick out which one you want him to use.

He had a whole lot of belts hanging in there and I would go back in there, look up, and I'd find the thickest belt because I wanted some wind resistance. And he said, "No, no, you picked the wrong one. You got to go pick another one. You're not going to go back to the early '60s with that wide belt." But I want you to know that in Joshua 24, he's an old man. He's fought battles, he's buried his friends, he has led Israel into their promise.

And now he gathers the people at Shechem, not for a celebration, but for a confrontation. He tells them in verse number 15, "I need for you to choose today, today." I don't need your decision to be tomorrow, but today. "But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." Joshua is saying you can't stay undecided forever. What Joshua is saying is you can't stay neutral forever. You can't stay casual forever. You can't straddle the fence. You got to make a definitive decision on whose side that you're on.

Faith requires you to draw the line. And I came to preach to somebody in this early morning hour who knows God has been dealing with you about drawing a line somewhere in your life. Matter of fact, the Lenten season is a great season to start drawing some lines. Draw some lines because when you're fasting and pushing away, those are the moments I'm trying to draw closer to God.

We have in our bookstore a Lenten devotion that daily you can say, "How can I draw closer to God?" Because drawing a line is dealing with your habits. Drawing a line is dealing with your relationships. You can't allow other people to take away your joy. Why is it that one person can ruin your day? That is too much power to give any one person that they can come in and say a word to you and then just totally throw you off.

And you got to draw a line in your commitment to God. I am committed. I'm sold out for the cause of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel because your next level is on the other side of your decision. Once I've drawn that line, there's a blessing on the other side. Drawing the line, I'm going to start tithing. I'm going to start participating in the church.

That's why I was so fired up to see folk who were out early yesterday morning serving our community. And then I walk in the church last night and some of the people who've been all over the county and into the district and back over, and then in church. I thank God for that kind of enthusiasm because when you think about it, you think about the energy and enthusiasm that you used doing things that did not do you any good.

I got some folk in here right now, you used to shut it down. You used to be there when they would say, "I don't care if you go home, but you got to leave from here." You were the ones who were there when they started blinking the lights and they started yelling "last call." And I thank God that you have seen your life move and now you're drawing a line. I'm drawing a line. You got to draw the line.

And my first point that you need to realize is that faith requires decision. Faith requires a decision. I've decided. That's why we sang that song, "I Have Decided." I'm sold out for the cause of Christ. I'm not going to sit down on God. I'm going to lift up my hands and give God praise. When you think about all the blessings God has sent your way, you got a whole lot to praise God for. Joshua said, "Choose today." It requires a decision. Choose today.

He didn't say choose next week. He didn't say choose when it's convenient. He didn't say choose when everybody agrees with you. He said, "Choose today" because delayed decisions create weakened faith. You've been waiting around too long. You got to make that decision. I'm going to jump in right now. It might be your time that you can say, "Lord, I turn it over to You."

And God can take the things that the world has counted out, and other people could count you out, but God has counted you in. Delayed decisions create weakened faith. I got to make my move right now. That's why Shalamar said, "Make that move right now, baby." I'm not going to wait until later. I'm making my move. You cannot grow strong in faith while remaining undecided about God. I've made a decision.

I know God is alive. I know that He is the Alpha and the Omega. I know He's the beginning and the end. I know He's the first and the last. Many people want God's blessings without making God their choice. We got up this morning because we had our minds stayed on Jesus. I'm so glad that you could sleep all last night and you remember the old church when you would get up and the deacons would pray that my bed was not my cooling board, that the blood is running warm in my vein.

I will bless the Lord at all times. And so I don't come in here with a lazy praise. I'm grateful for these singers back here. I'm grateful for these musicians. I'm grateful for every greeter and every usher. But I'm also grateful to God because I came out of a church that when we left, my church of where I was baptized at the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Temple, Springwood Avenue, it became Westlake and then back to Springwood.

But then my dad pastored the church around the corner in Asbury Park on DeWitt Avenue. Now DeWitt Avenue was a tough avenue, but we pastored around the corner and we didn't have all these musicians around. But we had the clapping of our hands, we had the wooden floors and those wooden pews, and we would still have church. Do I have a witness here? After all of this is gone, you need to have a faith that is not wrapped up in all this other stuff, but a faith that looks at the power of God.

My God, I've made God Jesus my choice. And then when we walked into that church, it was a smaller church and it was the kind of church that everybody had to get involved. And when I walked in there, now I got to tell you the story that when I was at my other church, they had what they called Youth Sunday. And on Youth Sunday, they would pick out somebody to speak, they called it Youth Speaks.

I said, "I don't ever want to do that. I just want to get out of here so I won't have to participate in any Youth Speaks." And I was so glad when my dad took that church around the corner. I said, "I don't have to worry about any Youth Speaks because I felt it coming." I felt somebody was going to say, "How about you?" And I said, "No, baby, don't worry how about me."

But we walked around the corner to this True Vine. Now you know that's a black church. True Vine Baptist Church. That's what it was. We walked into True Vine Baptist Church. There was a deacon up there by the name of Deacon Westbrook and he was clapping, and then there was a young man next to him and he was up there, they were leading devotion.

Now the guy leading devotions next to him, I think I'm going to have to invite him to preach at Highland Park, but he ended up being a preacher. Matter of fact, pastors now in Jersey City, New Jersey. And I walked in the room and the old deacon said, "Come on up here." I said, "I thought I ran away from that when I left my other church. I didn't come over here to be up front." He said, "Come on up front."

And my God, that was the beginning of pulling me out of my shell because I wasn't about all that public stuff. I considered myself to be publicly shy. And so he was pulling me out. What I'm trying to tell somebody, that faith is not accidental. God does nothing by accident, but everything by His providence. Faith is intentional. And even Jesus said in Revelation chapter three, verse number 15, "You can be hot or cold, but don't be lukewarm" because lukewarm faith has no power. Do I have a witness out there?

When you go get your coffee, you don't want it lukewarm. When you go get your hot tea, that's what it is, it's hot tea, not lukewarm tea. I want hot tea. And so you look at that in this month that we celebrate our history and our heritage, there were freedom fighters who had to draw the line. They could not stay neutral because neutral would have kept them enslaved. They had to decide, "We're going to march."

And here this week, we had the great leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson and we can celebrate him today for running for president. We can celebrate him for all of the positive things that he brought into this world. And I thank God for that. And I was privileged to be in his company a number of times. Right there, I was there when he and Al Sharpton and others, and we've been marching and all that kind of thing.

Matter of fact, I worked for IBM, spent about 10 years for with IBM, but I had met Al Sharpton back in the day. I knew Al when Al didn't know how to wear a suit. He was wearing a warm-up and a medallion. His hair was big, he had big glasses, but he was Al. Everybody knew who he was. And it was after the Tawana Brawley episode over in Brooklyn.

But I was working for IBM Corporation and many of the folk at IBM don't look like us. But one of the things that I decided to do, I had a photograph because Al had done a prayer breakfast. And I had a picture with Al Sharpton. It was me, Al Sharpton, and one of my running buddies. And I blew that picture up and I took it to my IBM office and I put it there just in case I had any trouble on the job.

I wanted them to know I knew Al because those were the early days of the National Action Network when Al would send by his folk and they would come by and get their donations. They knew to come to 909 Third Avenue, New York City and they would say, "We're here for the donations. While y'all working, we out here in the streets and we need some donations."

And that's what we would do. But what I'm trying to say, they were drawing lines. And your spiritual freedom begins with a decision. You're going to be able to get to the next level of your faith because you make a decision to get there. You're not going to get there by accident. You're going to get there because you decided to get there. I decide to pray harder. I decide to praise louder.

I decide to share my faith. I decide to fall down on my knees. I'm not going to wait until later. I'm going to grab your hand right now and we're going to pray and believe that a miracle is going to take. I wish I had a witness in here. When you think about the power of God and what God can do, I turn it over to Him. That's just my first point. But the second thing I need to tell you is that faith requires separation.

Joshua said, "Choose, choose, choose between the gods of your ancestors, your God, your ancestors served or the Lord." Joshua understood you cannot serve everything. You can't serve everybody. You can't be a friend to everybody. Some folk you got to make a decision. Faith requires separation. Some things cannot go where God is taking you.

Not only can some things cannot go where God is taking you, some people can't go. They can't go where God is taking you. You've got to understand this reality. You cannot serve everybody. You can't be a friend to everybody. Somebody's not going to like you. Some things cannot go where God is taking you. Some habits cannot go. You had some bad habits, you got to pray over them. Leave them behind.

Some mindsets cannot go. Some relationships can't go because you cannot carry Egypt into the Promised Land. I can't go with an enslaved mentality. I've been liberated. God is a liberator. Matter of fact, some of you are looking at my robe. This is a liberation robe. We got it as we finished our doctoral work at United Theological Seminary and we were going through a debate on what our robe color was going to be.

And some of our group wanted a red robe because a group ahead of us who had graduated from United Seminary, they all had red robes. Now that was a powerful group. The group had Johnny Ray Youngblood, it had Frank Madison Reid III, it had Vashti McKenzie. They all had red robes. And so some in our group said they didn't look good in red. And then another group, other folk said, "Well, we're not going to get a red robe" because our group, we were studying Afrocentric preaching under Jeremiah Wright and the late Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu.

And so we were talking about Afrocentric preaching, another way of talking about black preaching, liberation theology, James Cone, all that kind of stuff. And so some of us said, "We want Kente robes." But then another group of our class, they said, "No, we don't want Kente robes because I already got a Kente robe." Now I didn't have a Kente robe at that time and I would have loved to get one. They said, "No, I got Kente already."

So then we had a vote. We had a vote and we said let's come up with an idea. We'd gone back to the room. Anne Lightner-Fuller was the president of our group. And so I went to Anne and said, "Anne, they don't like red, they don't like Kente." I said, "So here's my idea. Let's come up with liberation." And so I was thinking Marcus Garvey, red, black, and green. I said red, black, and green. I said red, black, and green is a good liberation color.

I threw that to Anne. Anne said, "That's a great idea. Let's take it to the group." The group voted. Group said this is what we're going to do. So only our doctoral group has this robe. It was about 12 of us in the group: F. Bruce Williams down in Louisville, Kentucky, David Kelly in Brooklyn, New York, Anne Lightner-Fuller, some others that you know. And so this was our color.

But then when we graduated, I ran into the late Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. So we walked in with our robes. Dr. Proctor looked at us and he says, "Who picked these colors?" And so he asked me. I don't know why he asked me. He said, "Who picked these colors?" And I told him, I said, "Doc, this is liberation. This is red, black, and green and our class voted that this was the color."

Dr. Proctor looked at me and he said, "You will be the last group who will pick your colored robe. No group after this will ever pick their robe again." He said, "The reason why you will not get to pick your color robe is because green is the color of agriculture. You need a theological color. Theology is blue, red, or black. That's it. Those are the choices. Not Kente, not anything else. It's either red, blue, or black."

And so Dr. Proctor said, "Y'all enjoy that robe because no one else graduating from this institution will have a robe that color." Okay, just a little sideline story. Let me get back to my message. You cannot carry, come on back now. You cannot carry Egypt into the Promised Land. Even Abraham had to separate in Genesis chapter 12.

What does he say? God said, "Leave your country." I need for you to leave where you are in order for you to go where I'm sending you because separation can lead to elevation. Somebody ought to write that down right now. Separation can lead to your elevation. Sometimes you got to separate from some things that are holding you back and holding you down.

You got to separate. You cannot go to another level physically if you keep eating like you're not trying to grow. One of my airlines that I don't necessarily like to fly, and I will leave unnamed, it always looks like folk flying that airline have too much luggage. It always looks like they got too much stuff. And when God is trying to take you from where you are to where you need to go, you can't carry too much stuff.

Some things you've got to let go. You cannot go to another level spiritually if you keep feeding habits that weaken your faith. You can't keep doing things that are hurting you if you're trying to go to this next level. You got to tell somebody, "Draw the line!" I'm drawing a line because I'm not going back to where I once was. And whatever it is, God, You have for me, I turn it over to You.

Here's my third point, and then we can get juicy in here, Nate. Here's my third point: Faith requires declaration. You got to say it. Joshua said, "As for me and my family, me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He said it publicly and he said it boldly so that everybody would understand this is where I stand.

He declared it publicly because your declaration strengthens your direction. Got into a conversation this week, Steve Wilson, you're going to appreciate this conversation. Got into a conversation this week and a couple of pastors that asked me, "How did you ever start running? How did you go about starting to go running?" And I said, "Well, you know, I started running because of a challenge.

A challenge my younger brother who made the statement to me, 'I bet you can't run a marathon.'" Okay, challenge me. How long do I get? He said, "Well, you got to do 26.2 miles in less than seven hours if you want the police to help you to get through the streets." Because at seven hours, they let the traffic go. I said, "I will finish before seven hours."

I said, "Now, I did not have any idea what 26.2 really looked like. I mean, I know what it looks like from a car." But I had no idea what that looks like or feels like on foot. But I said to myself, poorly trained, "I'm going to make it." Now, do know that that first marathon, it was ugly, it was pathetic, but I finished in six hours and 36 minutes. It was ugly, it was an ugly race.

It was the ugliest marathon I've ever done in my life. It was so bad that we were running through Baltimore and a man asked us, "What is this?" And we responded, Deacon Epps said, "The Baltimore Marathon." And the brother, you know brothers, brothers going to keep it real, he said, "Is it a run or a walk?" Because all of us were walking and we were all just trying to get to the end.

But what helped me to do it was the day I stood up at First Baptist Church of Highland Park and I made a bold declaration: "I'm going to do a marathon." And see, there's no way that I was going to say that and not do it. And by saying it, every day while I would get up and go running, I would think about what I had said. See, when you say something, it can help to move you in a certain direction.

And so after that ugly debut marathon, I do need to let you know, give you a good report that one year from that, I did that same marathon in four hours and 52 minutes. And I'm not a great marathon runner today, but I still plan to get another one or two in. I'm still planning it. I'm not telling y'all when it's going to happen, but it's going to happen.

Your declaration can strengthen your direction. Do I need to say that again? Your declaration can strengthen your direction. If you're dealing with an addiction, if you're dealing with a negative habit, you say it publicly. You release it around you so that other people can also, because once you release it, they can help you. Because they're going to say, "Didn't you say you weren't doing that anymore? Didn't you say you weren't going to act like that anymore?"

Say it out of your mouth and then the rest of you can catch up to it. Life, here it is, life and death are in the power of the tongue. Your words are powerful. Joshua said, "I don't know what you're going to do, but as for me. As for my house, we're going to serve the Lord." And if somebody in this room needs to make a declaration this morning: Devil, you had your season. Fear, you had your season. Doubt, you had your season. But today, I said today, I'm drawing the line.

And here is the shout: Your breakthrough is on the other side of your line. Because when you draw the line, God draws His power. When you draw the line, God releases His favor. When you draw the line, God opens doors no man can shut. Joshua drew the line and a nation followed him. And I thank God there's somebody in this room this morning, perhaps 75 of you in this service, can declare: I'm drawing the line.

I'm drawing the line on fear. I'm drawing the line on inconsistency. I'm drawing the line on casual faith. I'm drawing the line today. And if you draw the line, God will draw the blessing. Do I have a witness here? Won't He do it? If you draw the line, God will draw the victory. You ought to tell somebody, "Neighbor, today is my line-drawing day. I'm drawing the line." I feel like preaching this morning.

Because when you draw the line, peace can come. When you draw the line, power can come. When you draw the line, clarity can come. When you draw the line, victory can come. Is there anybody here who can stand on your feet and shout to the world: I'm drawing the line! Shout yes! I'm drawing the line. I can lift up my hands, I can give God the glory because when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that He's done for me, my soul, my soul got to cry out "Hallelujah!"

He is the beginning and the end. He is a doctor in a sick room. He is a lawyer in the courtroom. Can't nobody do me like the Lord. He'll put clapping in your hands, He'll put running in your feet, He'll put joy in your heart. Do you love Him today? And if you love the Lord, draw the line. Draw the line. Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm drawing the line. I'm not going back to where I once was.

I'm going forward. Faith forward in the power of a living God. But it all starts with drawing the line. I'm drawing that line. I'm not going back to that. Whatever You have for me, Lord, I'm turning it over to You. And that's the best decision that you could ever make. We have to draw lines. And I thank God for lines. They taught us that in kindergarten. They said you can color, but color inside the lines.

And here we are as grown adults, and that's all God is saying: "I want you to color, but inside the lines." And if you do that, Sandra, God's going to bless you. God's going to meet you. God's going to keep you better than anything you could have ever decided just because I decided to draw that line. Come on, let's give God some praise in this house.

You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the World Wide Web, fbhp.org. And remember, there's power at the park.