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 Kerwin Baptist. 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. Oh, we have a wonderful Savior. Thank God for it. And I appreciate the songs. Good to see all of you.
I think there's a big ball game this evening, is that right? How many Carolina fans are here? Would you wave at me? How many Duke fans are here? We're praying for you.
How many of you do not care? Would you raise both hands, please, in the air? That's very interesting. My son, who's 18, he's a freshman in Bible college this year. He is...
at the Tennessee Kentucky game right now. And um Probably texting me. live updates as we speak, but I'll check them a little bit. I'll be done before the game starts. How many of you are glad for that?
Yes? That's a long time from now. I promise you I'll be done. But I'm really thrilled all of you came. I mean that.
And I know there's a lot of youth events going on. I was in one last night with several hundred young people. It was an all-night youth activity. I didn't stay up all night, but I preached in it and then went and died and rose again this morning for a little bit. But we had a great meeting.
In another state, and Mike and I drove down this morning and really just happy about being with you. How many of you got a Bible with you? Wave it at me, would you please? Let me see your Bible. That's very good.
If you don't have a Bible, it's all right. I'm going to read from it, but I want you to get next to somebody that does have a Bible so that you can look at the verse I'm going to show you. When I'm done today, I want you to remember one verse. And it is found in my favorite book of the Bible. Open your Bible in the New Testament to the book of Philippians, would you please?
Philippians is a book of Christian joy. And I still believe that the happiest people on planet Earth ought to be people who know their sins are forgiven. And they know this world is not their home. They're just passing through, and they've got much more to look forward to on the other side.
So there's joy now, there's joy later. You can't beat being a Christian. Look, he comes to live in your heart the moment you get saved, and then you get to go live in his heaven for all eternity. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. And no wonder he says, rejoice in the Lord always.
And again, I say, rejoice. But I want to bring you in Philippians chapter 2, which is a famous chapter. to a verse that perhaps is not quite as familiar. And yet, it is a verse that Radically changed my life as a young man. You know, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.
That means, look up here just a minute. Every word in the word is important.
So God doesn't use fillers. Nothing's there by accident. Every word is there for a purpose. But there are certain places in Scripture where God gives. Almost like a summary of Biblical principles.
It's almost like. The bottom line. Boiling it all down. It's like the gospel, John 3:16. You can't beat John 3:16 if you want to know how to get saved.
But there are verses like that, all through the Word of God, that are really like keys that open all of the blessing of God on a person's life. How many of you want God to bless your life? What I'm about to show you, one verse.
Now, I'll show you the verses around it because every text has a context. Every scripture has a setting. But one verse, I think, is the key that opens up all that God has. for your life. And it's found, interestingly enough, in the chapter that describes the mind of Christ.
How to think like Jesus. How to live like Jesus, how to be more like Jesus. We come to the verse, Philippians chapter 2. And verse number 13. The Bible says for it Is God Which worketh in you.
Both to will And to do. of his good pleasure. I want you to read the verse out loud with me. You got it in front of you now, Philippians chapter 2, verse number 13. Everybody, read, ready?
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. I've heard people in nursing homes do better. Let's try it one more time. All right? A little more Holy Ghost enthusiasm.
Everybody read it from your heart. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Turn to the person next to you and read it to them. Ready? Get your preaching finger out, point at them, you'll do better.
Ready? For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Turn to the person on the other side and read it to them. Ready? For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Look back at me and say it. Ready? For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. I'm brainwashing you right now. That's what I'm doing.
It's a good brain washing. It's the washing of the word. One verse. Probably, I don't know, 15 years ago now. We took this verse one year in the camp that I was directing and we made it the theme for the summer.
And I spoke each morning from a different part of this verse. A few weeks ago, I was reading through Philippians chapter 2. It's interesting, but I really have not preached on it much since then. I think about it from time to time because of the way it affected my life, but I've not spoken on it much, especially in youth meetings. And a few weeks ago, I was reading through Philippians again, and I came to this verse, and I can't explain it to you.
I've read it hundreds of times, but it's just like it leaped off the page at me again. And it was like the Holy Spirit of God reminded me: this is the whole thing. Look at me. If you get this, you find God's best for your life. If you miss this, you miss the whole thing.
This is the secret. of the blessed life. If I had to describe the verse, I would describe it this way, and I'll show you why in just a moment. I would say this is the obedient life. I said, Do you want the blessed life?
Everybody says, Oh, we want the blessed life, but don't miss this. Obedience always brings the blessing. And how do you miss the blessing? But not obeying God. Still got your Bible open?
Look at Philippians chapter number 2. Back up. Remember, I said to you, this verse has a larger context. Back up to verse number 8. Here is the description of Jesus.
And being found in fashion as a man. Stop, lift your head and look at me just a minute. Jesus Christ is all God, and yet Jesus Christ became all man. Maybe you think he doesn't know what you're dealing with. I want you to know: the Bible says, We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He got hungry and thirsty and tired and weary and discouraged and sad. He was tempted. He was all man. And it's in his humanity.
We read this. Look at it carefully. Being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself. And became, what's the next word?
I didn't hear you. What's the word? One more time. What's the word? This is the obedience of Jesus?
Yeah. I'm talking about God who became a man. Who walked on this earth for 33 and a half years? The Bible says he was obedient. Obedient to who?
Obedient to the heavenly Father, obedient to the purpose for which he came, obedient to all the will of God for his earthly life. How many of you know if Jesus was obedient, we probably should be obedient too. And don't miss this. Look at the verse carefully. He wasn't just obedient.
It doesn't stop there. It says he was obedient unto what? Unto death, even the death of the cross. See, look at me. There's a whole lot of people who come to meetings like this and they want to be obedient for a moment.
Obedience starts with a moment, but obedience doesn't end in the moment. Obedience is not a decision, it is a way of life. The Bible says that Jesus was obedient all the way. to the death of the cross. Can you see him in your mind?
It's a 12-year-old boy. How many 12-year-olds were here? Wait a minute. Let me just say, you're 12 years old. When I was 12 years old, God changed my life in a youth meeting just like this.
And when Jesus was 12 years old, he sat in the temple and he said, Don't you know I'm supposed to be about my father's business?
So, as early as 12 years of age, he's already conscious that he's there for a reason and he's yielded to what God wants him to do. And when he gets ready to go to the cross, he says, I finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And when he cries his final words to the cross, he cries, it is what? Finished. He was obedient unto death.
Stay with me. Come down, would you please to verse number 12, working our way back to our verse? Wherefore, my beloved? As ye have always, what's the next word? I want you to take your pen, and in verse number 8, I want you to circle obedient unto death.
That's Jesus. And in verse 12, I want you to mark obeyed, that's us, and connect the two in your Bible and in your thinking. Verse 8 is the obedience of Jesus. Verse 12 is obedience to Jesus. Look, please, if Jesus was willing to obey the heavenly Father so you and I could have our sins forgiven, have salvation, go to heaven forever, then the least we can do is find out why God made us and saved us and obey what God has for our life.
Look at verse 12. He said, As ye have always obeyed, Not as in my presence only. But now Much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It's all about an obedient life.
Most of the time in youth meetings, if you talk about obedience, everybody talks about obeying your father and obeying your mother. Lift your head and look at me just a second. Obedience to your parents is the obedience of your childhood, but obedience to God is the obedience of your life. I'm a 47-year-old man. I was with my dad and my mom for a little while yesterday.
I love them. I honor them. They're in their 70s now and still happily serving Jesus. They're my heroes. Been married for 50 years and been faithful to God and I thank God for them.
But at this juncture of my life, I don't obey them, I honor them. But they don't tell me when to get up in the morning like they used to. And they don't tell me when to come home at night like they used to. I don't obey them. But at this juncture, I'm still obeying somebody.
I'm obeying the Heavenly Father. See, I think I can say with certainty that the Christian life from start to finish is a life of obedience. How do you get saved? Look here. How do you get saved?
You obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. You obey the gospel. How do you live the Christian life? You obey the word of God.
Not just the gospel. You find out what God has put in His Word and revealed to us, and you say, Lord, whatever you said, that's exactly what I'm going to do. And how do you live in power and joy and victory? You learn to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God that lives in you. You obey the gospel and you obey the word and you obey the Spirit.
The Christian life is always to be a life of obedience. And I want to ask you a personal question right now. Can you honestly say before God who already knows the answer? That at this moment You are living the obedient life.
Now let me get more personal. Is there anything? Anything God has told you to do. and you have not yet obeyed him. Last night the meeting I was in was Primarily an evangelistic meeting.
They had, I don't know, 29, 28, 29 youth groups there, and maybe. about 500 and some young people and youth workers. It was it was great. We were packed into a gym and Now they had lots of games and had great music and And then it was my turn to preach. And I preached a really, really simple gospel message.
It was all about everybody needs to know who Jesus is. From John chapter 1. When I finished preaching, I gave the invitation, and it was encouraging. Oh, it was so encouraging. You know, preachers don't see everybody, but they do see some people.
I got good news for you. The preacher may not see you, but Jesus does. And I was watching. I noticed a big guy on the front, big tough-looking guy. And when I'm giving the gospel invitation, he's got his head bowed, he's got his hands clasped, and he's praying.
I watched him. And the moment I asked who's trusting Jesus as their Savior, he stood up. We had a great host of young people saved last night. It was really encouraging. And they've had lots of young people come to the altar and pray, and people are praying.
And I had not even thought about this until that moment. I had no inclination at all to even say this in the meeting. But I'm standing there, and I felt definitely prompted to the Holy Spirit, and I said. Is it possible maybe there's somebody here tonight in this meeting? That you're saved and you love Jesus, but you believe God's called you to serve Him and you've never obeyed that, and you want to say to the Lord, Lord, I'll do whatever you want me to do in my life.
And the moment I said that, I see a young man, 18 years old, off to my right, I didn't know him at the time. His hand goes straight up in the air. He's already in the altar. His hand goes straight up in the air. And I said, if you mean it, stand up.
He jumped to his feet. Litter is here. We're looking at each other now, eye to eyeball. And I said, if you really mean this, you want to give your life to God, I want you to leave where you are. He had to step over people and around people.
And I said, I want you to walk out that back door, and somebody's going to meet you back there and talk with you and pray with you. He made his way up. The meeting ended, and I left, and I was walking out the back door right as he was coming back in from being with a personal worker. Man, I wish you could have been there. I wish I could transport you at this moment, drop you right in that conversation.
Because at that moment, I met a young man, 18 years of age, who had just obeyed God, and I cannot describe to you the joy that was on his countenance. He said to me, God spoke to me. I know God wants my life. And he said, I've said yes to the Lord. I like what you said earlier.
He said, I said yes to the Lord tonight. You know what he was doing? At that moment, he was taking a definite step of obedience to God. I say again: the greatest life of all is the life of obedience to God. Don't you wait till you get to heaven to discover why you were on earth.
I'm going to tell you why you're here. You're here to find out how God made you, and why God made you, and why you're here at this moment, and obey whatever it is God has for your life.
So let me give you a handful of truths from this verse. Number one. I want you to know that the obedient life Is not for the preacher, it's for Jesus. That's really important. Matter of fact, look back at verse number 12.
Paul, that's a pretty good preacher. Said, my beloved, I sure love you, but I want you to do this. Look at it. You did it in my presence, but now I want you to do it much more in my absence. I've been in youth conferences, youth rallies, and camps.
All these years. I like them. And sometimes I get worried about them. Because sometimes I think we almost give people the idea that there's this magical moment that just changes everything. And if you just get in the moment, then it'll all happen.
I want you to understand something. I want you to listen to me very, very carefully. You may pray a prayer, you may commit something to God, but the real test of your obedience will not be what you do in this auditorium, it will be what you do when you go back home. It will not be standing around a bonfire. It'll be what you do Monday morning when you get up, go back to your school campus, whether you're really going to obey God or not.
See, look, your preacher can't follow you around everywhere, and your parents aren't going to be with you forever, and your youth director is not going to be checking up on you the rest of your life.
Somebody's not going to always be looking over your shoulder, but there's always a God in heaven who has his eye on you. And I think one of the greatest things you'll ever learn is your own personal accountability to Jesus Christ. I'm gonna tell you when you're grown. Has nothing to do with your age. Matter of fact, I know some 40-year-old people who still haven't grown up.
I've met 50-year-old babies. And I met some 15, 16-year-old young people that I think they got it. They've got some maturity. I'm going to tell you when you really are starting to grow up, it's when you start to realize that you are going to answer to Almighty God someday for your actions, and it's not up to somebody else to make you do it, and you can't blame somebody else for not doing it. It's not between you and them, it's between you and Him.
And you stop doing it for the people and for the preacher, and you start doing it for Jesus Christ. Show you a little secret on how that happens. Look at the end of verse number 12. He said, You do it with fear and trembling. You know what that means?
It means you stand in awe of who God is. Hey, you get a clear glimpse of who God is and what Jesus did for you. It'll change your life. It won't be about a preacher preaching a sermon. It won't be about the rest of the youth group doing right.
It'll be this: the love of Christ constrains me. Calvary captured me. Jesus got a hold of my heart. And I'm not doing it now to impress somebody else or please somebody else or go along with somebody else. I'm doing it because of what Jesus Christ has done in my life.
Can I show you something interesting? Mark the last phrase of verse 12 with fear and trembling, and jump down to verse 14, almost like bookends on this amazing verse. He says in verse 14: Do all things mark this without murmurings and disputings. Look at the contrast. I'm going to tell you how to do right without murmuring and disputing.
That means without fussing about it. How many of you know you can do your chores at the house gladly, and you can also do your chores of the house slamming the door and muttering under your breath? How many of you are with me on that? Yes? Look here.
You can live the Christian life because somebody's looking over your shoulder and you're not really happy about it, or you can learn the joy of obeying Jesus every day. And I'm going to tell you how to do it without murmurings and disputings. You do it with fear and trembling. See, when you do it for people, after a while, you get so bored of people, you just fuss your way through life, you'll talk about how difficult it is. But when you do it for Jesus.
It changes everything. The second truth I want you to write down, would you please? Number one, it's not for the preacher, it's for Jesus. And number two, it's not to be saved, it's because you are saved. And that's really important too.
Matter of fact, look at verse number 12. Would you please? When I stop. When I stop, I want you to say the next words. Everybody ready?
Wherefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, say the next two words. Ready? Work. Work out. Everybody mark in verse 12, work out.
How many of you know what it is to work out? How many of you know you should probably do more of it, yes? Work it out. Look, please, there's something good. The exercise, the discipline, the repetition, the routine, the working out of a thing.
Don't miss this. Look at verse 13. For it is God which, mark these two words, worketh what? He works in And we work out. Can I tell you what this doesn't mean?
It doesn't mean that you work your way to heaven. Let me let you know a little secret. You can't do it. You're not perfect. I'm not perfect.
You could try all of your life, but you'll never get good enough to satisfy the justice of a holy God and to make it to a perfect heaven. If you're trying to work your way to heaven, I want to remind you: it is not by works of righteousness which we've done, it's according to His mercy He saved us. Praise God. On the cross, Jesus did all the hard work. The work's done.
So, we're not talking about working to be saved. Don't miss this. We're talking about working for Jesus because you are saved. Don't you tell me you've met the creator of the universe and it made no difference. Don't tell me you had a head-on collision with a God who is perfect light with Jesus Christ, and you can go right on living any way you want to.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Preacher, do you believe in works? Yes, but not before the cross, after the cross.
That's what James talked about, the faith that works. And why do we do the right thing? Not because the youth director says you have to.
Now you can do it for that reason, but you won't do it long for that reason. You do it. Because Jesus Christ has been so good to you to save your black-hearted, hell-deserving soul. He has shown you His mercy, and because of that, you want to demonstrate what God has done on the inside. My wife flew to Texas today and I was worried about her.
She travels with me all the time and We do a lot of travel together. When we're apart, I'm thinking about her. I stepped out a moment ago and I said, hey, Jamaican. She had just gotten there and getting the rental car and all of that. And you know, I love her.
I love her more with every passing day. I never take this ring off, it never comes off my finger. In fact, I don't know if I can even get it off my finger. I can't today. It's stuck there.
I like wearing it. You know why? Because I love her and I want to be identified with her. And I want people to know: I got a wife. I belong to somebody, and she belongs to me.
Listen to me. If you really belong to Jesus and He belongs to you, you should be unashamed to be a true follower of Jesus every day. And you ought to be working out because he's working in. By the way. We used to sing a song as kids.
He's still working on me. Right? Really, the right way to say that is, he's still working in me. Because he doesn't start on the outside and work in. He starts on the inside and works out.
You know, in a meeting like this, when you feel that little tug on the inside, that wasn't the singers, that wasn't the preacher. That's the Holy Spirit of God working in you. Don't work against God. Don't fight against God. Don't push back against God.
Labor together with Him. Work with the Lord. I'm going to tell you, you start pulling in the same direction the Holy Spirit's pulling in, and there is no telling what God could do with your life. You're not doing it to be saved. You're doing it because you are.
There's a third thing I want you to write down, and it's this: it's not your effort, it's his enabling. I want you to listen to me real careful now, kids. You cannot live the Christian life. Let me repeat what I just said. You cannot live the Christian life, it's impossible.
Through your own energy and effort. you will be a frustrated person. That's why people come to meetings like this, make decisions, go home, and six weeks later, they're not even in Sunday school. And I meet him everywhere I go. I've tried that once.
There's your problem Because the Christian life is not about you trying a little harder, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, making it happen, getting it done, being the man. That's not the Christian life. It's not a life of dependence on self. It's a life of dependence on Christ. Look at the verse.
For it is God It's not you. It's God. Which worketh in you, don't miss this word both. Everybody circle the word both in your Bible. Both to will And To do.
It's not just a decision, it's a way of life. And it's not through your strength, it's through his power. But look at the word both. Both is really important. He's the one who puts the desire in you to do the right thing, and then he's the one who gives you the power to do what he now desires for you to do.
July 27th, 1989. It was a Thursday night, and I said in a meeting like this. Place was filled. There was a balcony in the church, and I was seated alone in the farthest, darkest corner of that building by myself in that meeting. And a man got up and preached like a wild man, and God really spoke to me.
I don't remember the sermon. I just remember God really spoke to me. And that was the night, I'll never forget it. That was the night God let me know He wanted me to serve Him with my life and I scared me to death. My parents were in the meeting, I wondered what they would think.
My friends were in the meeting, I was worried about what they were thinking. I'm back there battling and struggling with the Lord. And finally, I remember the moment that I said yes to Jesus. There was a moment of obedience. There was a moment where I waved the white flag and said, Whatever you want, Lord.
And I left my place, then I walked down the aisle and I knelt in the farthest part of the aisle on the altar by myself. And I was weeping. And I remember I said to the Lord, Lord, you can have my life. Whatever you want, you have my life. Started something in me that night.
I'm testifying now. Here we are. 35 years later. And I am doing this afternoon. What God put my in my heart that night a desire to do.
Don't miss this. It wasn't what I wanted, it's what God wanted for me. The psalmist said, Delight thyself also in the Lord. He'll give you the desires of your heart. That doesn't mean God's going to give you everything you want, it means he's going to put a new wander inside of you.
See, some of you got the wrong desires right now, so God's going to fix your want to.
Some of you think, man, I could never really enjoy church. I could never enjoy serving God. I could never. Oh, yes, you can. When you get right with God, He works on the inside and gives you new hunger and new thirst and new desire.
And then, hallelujah to God, He not only helps you desire it, He helps you to do it. In fact, I'm learning that more every day. The night I surrendered to preach, an old country preacher came up to me. Put his arm around me and said, So God's called you to preach. I said, Yes, sir.
He said, Great. Get your first sermon together. You'll preach next week in a cottage prayer meeting. And I said, Wait a minute, let's talk about this thing for a second. I'll never forget what he said to me.
He said, Son, if you don't start serving God. 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 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 of salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept him as our saviour. 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 ten nine 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 Savior? 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.
