Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Have your body. Turn to Ezekiel.
Pardon me, that's another good song.
Okay. Ezekiel chapter 14, please. Ezekiel chapter 14. While you're doing that, thank you again for the invitation to come back tonight. It's been a wonderful, wonderful time to spend time with your pastor.
Brother Hawtry and I are old friends even though we're new friends, and I'm thankful that the Lord has brought our paths together. We're on the same page on a lot of things, and could I say this? You have a good pastor. Amen. You're saying amen very loud, but listen, that's a big responsibility.
As you're getting fed the truth, that means you're responsible for more truth. You've got a wonderful preacher that is feeding you week by week from the timeless truths of the Word of God. And what a blessing that is. But now we've been entrusted with the Word, entrusted with the gospel, it's time to take it. To the next generation.
And I hope that you appreciate the pastor that you have. You're there in Ezekiel chapter 14. And I'll let you know this, our family does get to travel. And we just came from out west earlier in the summer. And we love to visit the nearest national park when we can.
Can I tell you what not to visit when you're going out west? Don't visit the Four Corners. I mean, all it is is imaginary place. on some lines that men have drawn up and then you arrive at it and you look at it and you're like, Yep, there it is. Nothing spectacular.
You go, you take your picture by it, and then it's kids load up in the van and drive two hours to any inhabited town. But if I could make a recommendation, why not go up to South Dakota and the west side of the state and see Mount Rushmore? How many of you have ever seen this wonderful national park, Mount Rushmore?
Okay? Wow, this is an amazing, an amazing park to see. It has four of what I think are some pretty good presidents that the United States has. Who's on there? Let's say it together.
There's George Washington. Who else is on there? Thomas Jefferson. There's Abraham Lincoln, and because Teddy Roosevelt instituted the National Park System, there's Teddy Roosevelt. Four pretty good presidents.
Now, what you and I do is we like to put the Best four of whatever it is, whatever list we're making, we call it the Mount Rushmore of whatever grouping that is. Today in Ezekiel chapter 14, God himself is going to give us a highlight reel, if you will. Uh some big, bold names today. He repeats them, and I think he repeats them for our attention and for our learning today. Let me introduce you to these four, to these characters that God mentions.
Actually, there's not four, but there's three. And here it is in verse 12. Ezekiel chapter 14, verse 12. Make a Texan feel real welcome. If you're there, say yeha.
Okay, good. All right, we can keep going. The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, Son of man, When the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then I will stretch out my hand upon it, and I will break the staff of bread thereof. and will send famine upon it, and I will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah.
Daniel and Job were in it. They should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it.
so that it be desolate. That no man may pass through because of the beast. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God. They shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only shall be delivered.
But the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Sword go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God. They shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. but they only shall be delivered themselves.
Or if I send pestilence into that land. and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast. Though Noah Daniel and Job were in it. As I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall deliver but their own souls by their Righteousness.
There's a word that keeps popping up. It's deliverance. And if your salvation sounds like anything, it is a deliverance. Your sin is worse than you thought it was, but Jesus is better than you could ever believe him to be.
So if you trusted Christ with simple, childlike faith, You are in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus Christ. Those nail-pierced hands are in the hands of the Almighty God and sealed with the Holy Spirit. And could I assure you, God's grip don't slip? He's gotcha. And he's got you forever and forever and forever and forever.
Christ is mine forevermore. Today, we have a highlight. of these three names. God's gotcha forever. And because we're in Christ, we're new creatures.
Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. But we have been delivered from the old man in the old way. and we have been rescued by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me set the context of this particular passage. Through this hypothetical situation that Jesus is creating, he is promising that Jerusalem.
will be taken captive. And there will be no remedy. This is sure to happen. Like other prophecies that you find out through all of the Old Testament, he provides a way of mercy, but not here. He says this is going to happen.
And then he proposes this hypothetical situation where these three men of faith that were of old that God Himself highlights. And who were they again? Noah? Daniel And Job. Tonight, by God's help, I want to preach to you on the Mount Rushmore.
of faith. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, would you use your word to impact our life? Help us to stop right now. and say yes to your word.
Lord, thank you so much for the examples of these three men. Lord, would you encourage us by it? Lord, help us to be more obedient because of their examples. In Christ's name, amen. Who is your Mount Rushmore of baseball?
Baseball is my thing. I love baseball. I grew up in a tiny town a little south and west of here called Houston, Texas. And in Houston, Texas, they've got a ball team named the Houston Astros. And we all stand at attention and cross our heart when the name of Astros.
Nolan Ryan is mentioned. He belongs on the baseball. Mount Rushmore. Who belongs on yours? Is it Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle?
You might include Mickey Mantle because last year at this time, The highest amount ever paid for one piece of sports memorabilia, $12.6 million, was paid for a Mickey Mantle rookie card. You might include him. On You're Mount Rushmore because of his mint rookie card. Who is it? Is it Hank Aaron?
Lou Garrick? Ted Williams? Would you side with the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros and put Nolan Ryan up there? He had 50 major Records that nobody's gonna break, and nobody gave him a psy young, that is egregious.
Well, in the case of our text, God's thoughts land on three men to showcase his deliverance.
So This siege. This destruction of Jerusalem is going to happen. But if individuals will be delivered, They are to take note of these three men. Ready? Noah?
Daniel And Job. And their names occur multiple times. And their reference occurs multiple times all throughout our passage. Though these three men in verse 16, though these three men in verse 18. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job in verse 20.
Each of them would be delivered. Their families wouldn't be delivered. Others wouldn't be delivered, but they would be delivered. They themselves only shall be delivered. God is using these three men as an illustration to show how severe his judgment will be on Jerusalem.
But he also shows how merciful he is by pointing to their faith and then offering. Deliverance By another way.
So what was it about Noah? Or Daniel. Or Job. That was so special that God himself highlights their example.
Now God is not a respecter of persons, is he? I said, God is not a respecter of persons. No. But he is a rewarder of faith, isn't he?
So when God thinks of these three men, Here's one reason why. There are three enemies in the New Testament. That Jesus teaches about that you and I will battle every single day. In fact, today you've already gone through the battle and might again. And as soon as you wake up in the morning, you will face these three enemies.
And here they are. The world? The flesh And the devil. And these three men overcame each one. as you'll see through our text.
Noah overcame the world. Daniel overcame his flesh. And Job overcame the devil. And you and I can have the same deliverance and victory today. You will have trials.
You will have suffering. You will have temptation. But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Have you ever accidentally asked somebody how they're doing and they actually answered you? Wow.
Well, Brother Johnson, I'm doing just fine under the circumstances. What are you doing under there? You are more than conquerors. You are an overcomer. God didn't save you so that you could go from defeat to defeat.
You've been saved to go from victory unto victory. His army shall he lead.
So today we have the truth that Jesus tells us we have. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
So, whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. You want to win?
You want to have deliverance? You want to have victory unto victory? Then put your faith in Christ today. and win over the enemies. Of the devil and the world and our flesh.
In fact, Revelation chapter 12 says this. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. It's Jesus' power in us that helps us to overcome. By the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. It's amazing to me that Noah, Daniel, and Job won the victory.
And we're instructed to win the same way.
So let me give you the first example. Noah overcame the world. And how did he do it? Noah overcame the world by patience. Here's Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11, if you're taking notes, here it is. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7. This is the hall of faith. By faith, Noah. being warned of God of things not seen as yet.
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. by the which he condemned the world. And became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
So Noah had an enemy, and the enemy was. The world, and you have an enemy too, and it is. The world. What was Noah doing? He was preparing something that nobody had seen for something that no one had seen.
And he did this for decade after decade, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years went by. and the world came up to him. and scoffed at him, mocked him. You are crazy for building this large, what is it? Not next to any body of water.
You say that there's a flood, you say that there's a judgment. Oh yeah? It's been 30 years it's been 75 years and nothing's happened. What was the main assault on Noah? It was the world.
And I think it when people are big, And problems are big, and God is small, that's when anxiety begins.
So many of us are having our leash yanked back and forth because we're looking for the approval of the world. Do you know what Jesus calls this world an adulterous and sinful generation? We don't need their hand claps. We don't need their likes and loves. We don't need them to subscribe to us.
Listen, we have a Savior. We have the victory. The main assault on Noah was the world. Here's what 2 Peter says about What happens in the last days, which is our days? Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.
walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise? of thy coming. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continued as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water, perished. The world that then was is the world that is.
It's a world full of scoffers. And they say the same thing. Hey, you're still gathering? And it's been over 2,000 years. Where's Jesus?
You had all these prophecy conferences in the 60s and 70s. Oh yeah? Where is he now? And they Say you're dragging your family into it. That you're prioritizing the gathering of the assembling of the faith family on Sunday.
You're bringing your kids into it. Oh, they laugh. And they scored. And they scoff. Other featured people throughout the Old Testament.
would have gotten another chance to take a stab at the world. King David could have done some saber rattling and some, he could have lopped off some heads of some Philistines. Samson grabbed the jawbone of a d of a Donkey and he grabbed some foxes and sent them to burn the crops and brought the house down on the followers of Dagon. That's That's a nice thing to th to fascinate about. When the world attacked Moses, he was able to allow the Red Sea to collapse upon the army.
A Pharaoh. Even Gideon. Who is described by his fear, even he got to march. Elijah got to call down fire from heaven. If you were God, would you like to exercise some divine retribution?
If traffic is anything like it is back home in Texas, maybe you want missiles attached to your car. I don't know how bad it is out here. But not Noah. He didn't have any supernatural vindication. How did he overcome the world?
And it's scoffing and scorning and attacks. Same way we overcome the world. Be patient. Be patient. Don't get in such a hurry.
When you get impatient, you only start to worry. Hey, be patient. The Lord is going to Set everything that's wrong right again. In fact, we're reminded in James chapter 5 to be patient because the judge standeth at the door. If I were to tell you...
that the Lord is coming soon. What would it do to your plans for the day? Judge standing at the door, it's like if I were to tell you that in 48 hours Jesus were to take an international flight from Heathrow Airport all the way to Greensboro, and then he had to take a car all the way here, and in 48 hours, you were going to see Jesus face to face. He was going to be right here in this auditorium.
Well, in two days, that would certainly change your plans. You would wonder what you were fighting about. You would prioritize your attitude. You would instruct your children to be right there to see Jesus face to face.
Well, imagine he already took that international flight, and in 45 minutes, he's going to take his Uber from the airport, and he's going to be right here in the auditorium.
Well well you You wouldn't argue. You wouldn't complain about lumpy mashed potatoes at lunch. You wouldn't, you wouldn't. complain anymore. In fact, you would want to see the Lord Jesus Christ.
You might even tell somebody else that Jesus was going to be here in 45 minutes. You might text your whole friend list. You might go out and finally talk to your next-door neighbor about the gospel and get them here in 45 minutes. Imagine he already made that trip from Greensboro. And I could see him just on the other side of those double doors that were in the back.
I can see him. And his hand was on the door, about to open it up and come through. I could see him, you couldn't.
Well, you wouldn't even be looking at me. You'd be looking toward that door. You'd be looking for his appearance. Do you know how soon the Lord's coming back? The judge standeth at the door.
It could be soon, and I wish it would be. You know how we can overcome this world that will burn, that will perish, that is a very temporary thing? Just be patient. The Lord is in control. How did he overcome the world?
He obeyed the word of the Lord by every swing of the axe and every hammer. Of each peg, He was able to be patient. You wonder what in the world this world is coming to. I'll tell you what it's coming to. It's coming to an end.
And it will come to Jesus. Every tongue, tribe, kindred, and nation will bow their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of all to the glory of God the Father.
So think of Noah's courage. He was able to stand when the world scoffed against him. If I were to instruct If I were to instruct a pastor, To build an arc, he'd probably get a Home Depot credit card, some CAD software, and run up a huge line of credit.
Well, what did Noah have to do? First of all, the word of the Lord only came to Noah. He had to convince his family. And then he was a faithful preacher and a prayer warrior who met the Lord at an altar every day. He had to convince his family, and he only was able to convince his family, but his gospel, the truth of the imminent.
judgment of the Lord had to be pro preached and proclaimed. Imagine Day after day, building, and day after day, preaching, and proclaiming, and only having your family as converts. Almost all of the New Testament gives us admonitions about a Christian's attitude toward the world and its scorn. And you ought to be long-suffering like the Lord is and be patient. Don't let it get to you.
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The Lord has overcome the world. The second man on the list is number two, Daniel overcame the flesh. And how did he do it? He overcame it on purpose.
Daniel chapter 1, verse 8 tells us. of his decision. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now he's a young man. If he was like Any other young man, the king's meat would have been very tempting. These would have been the best portions of meat. If they were anything like Texas BBQ, we're talking about a full rack of ribs. We're talking about filet mignon.
We're talking about the best that money could buy. But I guarantee that The king's meat was not found in the kosher section at Harris Teeter. I promise you that. The king's meat was exquisite. But it was also forbidden.
And how is a young man who had a natural temptation for this wonderful cut of beef. and wonderful slices of meat. How is he to overcome that temptation? He did it on purpose. And could I tell you when he made that decision?
He made it before he entered into that temptation. He made a determined decision. And he came to that conclusion. Way before he entered into that temptation. The difference between doing something and not doing something is a matter of decision.
And it's a matter of holy resolve. If you quit smoking... You do it on purpose. You do it because you decide to do it. When somebody gets out of bed early to go out and exercise, they do it on purpose.
Nobody accidentally falls into their running shoes and runs for a mile without stopping, without doing it on purpose. If somebody loses weight... And for goes the extra dessert, they do it on purpose. Keep this in mind. Disciples are disciplined.
That's the root word of disciple. They say yes to something good. They say no to something bad. They say yes to the word. They say yes to Jesus.
They say no to temptation. They say no to their flesh. Christians who overcome the flesh don't go through life winging it. or flipping a coin, or ho hoping for the best. There was a photographer commissioned to photograph a forest fire out west.
He was told that a small plane would be waiting for him at a certain airstrip to take him to that fire. And just before sundown, he was running a little late. He wasn't really caring. He ran and drove to the certain airstrip, and sure enough, there was a small plane waiting for him. And he parked his car, jumped out.
Jumped into the plane with all of his equipment and said, let's go. The pilot. faced the wind and soon they were in the air. And a few minutes later, The photographer said to fly over the north side of the fire and make several low passes. And the pilot said nervously, Are you sure that's necessary?
And the photographer said, Yeah, get super close because my editor expects me to get some. High detailed close-ups of this fire. Then there was a very long pause. And the nervous pilot said, You mean you're not my instructor? Hey, listen.
That photographer was a little careless. He just hopped in. Hey, listen, we have to do things on purpose. God has a plan and a purpose for our life, it's called God's will. And God's will isn't some ethereal, unknowable, grab at it, but you can't really understand God's will.
No, you can understand God's will, and it's in God's Word. And you must overcome the flesh on purpose. You have to be intentional. With your children. and intentional with your wife.
And intentional, that's a good word, it's an intentional with the word. I, in junior high, collected basketball cards. That's because uh the Houston Rockets went back to back as uh world champions. and uh Jordan Fever was in full swing and so uh my friends and I would collect as many collections as we possibly could. I was looking for a full set but I ended up settling for Houston Rockets bench players.
And three-point shooters that I thought were cool, like Reggie Miller and John Stockton. When I entered into a trading scenario, I realized I wasn't a very good fan or even an aficionado. Or a good collector, because as I was pursuing cards that wouldn't retain their value, my friends were only after the Jordans, the Kobe's, and the Shaqs. They were after a specific card and a specific player. And then when I would trade away my valuable cards, guess what?
They wouldn't trade me back. And I learned a very valuable lesson. Don't make a bad trade. Do not trade something valuable for something that isn't valuable. Don't throw away your flesh for your testimony.
Don't throw away a temporary pleasure. for something that will help you. Communicate the gospel. When you are focused. And careful.
and determined And cautious. You're victorious. Say yes to what is right. Say no to what is wrong. That is not profound.
That's purposeful.
Some in this room have made some bad trades. I'm not thinking of anybody in particular. But do not trade eternal life. For the pleasures of sin For a season. Don't trade your eternal soul for something That isn't valuable.
Oh, don't what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Your soul is immeasurable in value. I've known people that only like the trappings of Christianity. Do you know what I mean? The aesthetics.
The the things that rel The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. It is our desire for you to know him personally. Would you take a moment to hear this to day? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No matter how hard we try, We're not good enough to obtain God's glory. or to get to heaven. Because of that, sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through the world.
through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin, or the payment of our sin, only equals death and separation from God. But it's only through God's gift salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept Him as our Savior. Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
All you have to do is receive Christ. by faith as your Saviour. Romans 10.9 says That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way.
and calling upon his name. Bible says whosoever that's anyone can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your Saviour?
If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at Crowin Baptist Church. Dot com. or visits that person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you.
Mm-hmm.
