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. Today, Proverbs chapter 3. Let me just mention to you a word about next Sunday.
It's going to be different. All right, but we kind of like different around here, and I know some people get really nervous about different, but it's okay. And we like it fresh, and we like to keep it fresh. Anyway, so. Just be patient with us this next week.
We're excited. Just so that you understand, if you're somewhat new to Kerwin, we have a tradition here and have for a while. Will we always have it? Maybe. I don't know if God leads differently.
But we have traditionally done a Christmas offering. And it seems like that's a kind of an inopportune time when we're having to spend money for so many other things. But we don't want Christ to be forgotten. At the very time of the season, he is supposed to be celebrated. And it is the end of the year.
It's a way to thank God for your blessings for the year, to honor him, and for us to show you projects, things that are needed here. If you haven't noticed, Listen, if you've been around here at all, you realize we get as much off a dime as anybody that I know. Everywhere in this room are hundreds of thousands of dollars that we have saved.
So much we do ourselves. And we are trying to get the most out of what we have, building-wise and things. But next Sunday is Vision Sunday. And we're going to present to you some, many of our projects. Depending on, hey, what we end up having for our Christmas offering that we will get accomplished this next year, and we're going to show you some things I think you'll be very, very excited about.
There's going to be some uprooting, some moving around, some new, fresh, wonderful things that hopefully, if God provides through that that we want to do, I think it'll be exciting. It'll look. Fantastic. And then we kind of want to cast you some future vision of just to show you a sneak peek of some possibilities of a new auditorium that we want to show you that we have been working on now for probably six to eight months. And so we want to cast a little bit of that vision.
Here's the deal: we're baptizing next Sunday. We want to go through that. The Scott Matthews family is going to be here singing next Sunday. And so next Sunday, all of our eggs are in one basket next Sunday, and that is Sunday morning. There will be no Sunday evening service next Sunday.
We know we're heading into holidays and Thanksgiving. And so, what we want to do is we want to cast a vision, Sunday morning service. You know, it won't be extremely long, but it'll probably a little bit longer than maybe normal. But we do want to take our time and cast this vision. It has to do with our church.
That's important to us. Where there is no vision, the people perish. And so we want you to see that. I hope that you'll be here next week. There will be Sunday school, there will be morning service.
at 10, but there will not be any Sunday evening service next week, taking into account, obviously, with our Sunday morning activities, we're excited about baptizing. We don't want to hurry through any of this next Sunday morning, thinking, hey, it's a short afternoon and all that people have to do to get back here. I don't know if some of you understand this. Maybe some of you live within five minutes of the church. It's just not a big deal to you.
We have probably five or six families here that drive over an hour for every service. And some of them go home after Sunday morning service and take their shoes off and put their shoes right back on and come right back on Sunday night. And so, listen, we're trying to be respectful of all of our membership. I don't care what organization, what they say about what we do here at this church. We're an independent Baptist church and we are governed ourselves.
We believe that Christ runs this church and we are accountable. But I don't care who says what. We're going to do what God leads us to do.
So we are going to cast some vision next Sunday. And I want you to be here, be here for that, and some things we're going to share from God's Word. Today, Our subject is help. I cannot find God's will. Dealing with this subject of heaven help us.
And God guiding us through what can often be life's chaos. And we've talked about being overwhelmed, we've talked about worry, we've talked about becoming bitter, we've talked about the fact: help me, my heart is cold. And we have hit a number of different angles. Today, I just want to simply give you some familiar scripture. Yeah.
Because I just happen to know of some in our building even today that have sought advice from me. Preacher, I just don't know what God wants me to do. And I'm really seeking God's will in this.
So let's just make sure that everyone here today kind of understands the principle of God's will and how we so-called find it, okay? And we want to kind of make this very clear for you today. And we want heaven to help us through God's word. Because I will be honest with you, what every Christian should desire is to be in the center of God's will. My mom and dad ingrained that in me.
Now, hey, maybe you didn't grow up in a Christian home. No problem if you didn't. Look at the grace of God. Look at you here now and look what God's done in your life. And I'll be honest with you, somebody that has been saved out of a life that might not have had anything, they have almost a greater appreciation for Christ.
And they love church and they can't wait to hear things. And you never might cuss at you while they're talking to you. Who cares? All right. They're new to this thing, and maybe they're old and they still cuss when they talk.
It's okay. You're not going to get judgment for me. I just like to see God work in people's life. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit was sent to do that work in people, not me. All right.
So I'm going to preach the Word of God. And I'm excited.
Sometimes you grow up in church, you grow up in a Christian school, Christian home. You've had to do it all. You've seen it all. And there can be a coldness, an apathy about God's house.
So it doesn't matter what your history is, your background. We want to help today in the fact of how do I know God's will? How can I find God's will. Appreciate Brother Frank reading our passage. Let me just give you some statements and we'll jump right into it today.
There's a lot of people that believe in the idea that the will of God is a secret maze. Mm-hmm. With cheese on the other end of it, or something. It's gotta be solved. It's this mystery.
And some people believe it's kind of like a hidden map that only the spiritual elite can find. And it's just not that way. The Bible teaches that God's will, listen to me. The Bible teaches that God's will is not hidden from you. It's hidden for you.
It's not hidden from you. You think God doesn't want he you think he's gonna make it hard for you to find what he wants you to do that wouldn't be fair at all would it so God's will is not hidden from you It's hidden for you There's a reason why he doesn't just lay things out the day you get saved There's a reason why God doesn't just send you a piece of paper to let you know everything, because there's a relationship. that you and I must develop with him. for us to understand the will of God. And if God just gave you the directions, you would just do it without relationship.
And God does not want you to do anything without relationship.
So there are certain things in the will of God that will never be available to you. They'll never be open to you until you develop a relationship with Christ. That's part of it, okay? It's not about guessing His will, it's about growing into it. It's about growth.
God's will is always found by a heart. that walks closely. with God. In fact, listen to me, it is not as much about the will of God. as it is about your walk with God.
Yeah. In fact, I wouldn't even worry about it, hey, I need to find the will of God. I just wouldn't even worry about it. I'm going to be honest, I'm 53 now. I went through the Christian teenager at Christian camp, and the preacher got up.
And, you know, oh my goodness, made God's will sound like if I make one mistake, I'm never going to find it. And oh my word, if I miss God's will, then I'm going to be in a pit somewhere, and life is over, and all these different things. And listen to me, I want to help you with this today. I would not even worry. Right.
About the will of God. All you need to worry about is your daily walk with God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. and all these things shall be added, even the will of God. All right, so you seek your walk first, and the will of God will follow.
A walk with God always ends up in the will of God. Are you understanding a little bit? Say amen.
So let's try to fix maybe how you and I have been taught. incorrectly. And ironically, let's go to the Bible. Hey, that's a novel idea. Let's see what the Bible actually has to say, not the evangelist.
Okay, so notice if you would. Let's pray and we'll jump into it. Lord, I love you. Thank you for all you've done. Lord, you want these people to understand your will more than anybody.
And so, God, I just pray that you would help us today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Number one, very simply today, God's will is a matter of confidence. All right, now, if you're keeping notes, you need to write that down.
God's will. Is a matter of confidence. You say, What do you mean by that, preacher? Look at verse 5, Proverbs 3.
Now, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 is the most well-known of the verses we read. But you've got to finish this whole little section to understand what they really mean.
So in verse 5, it says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
So God's will begins first as a matter of confidence. Notice first the person of our trust. Trust. in the Lord.
Now this word trust It means to rely upon, it means to have confidence, and you know that. But let me explain what this word trust in the Hebrew really means. It means to lean upon something without fear of it collapsing.
Now. When you came into this building and you sat down You fully trust it. in the chair you're sitting in. Most of you did not pick it up, turn it over. Look underneath to see if the screws were all still in place.
You didn't do that.
Now, there are some chairs you can't trust. When I go to people's house and they have these little formed, plastic, flimsy, you know, it has the little slats in the back, it's all one piece, and it has the legs that aren't even solid. It's kind of a half L. Y'all know what I'm talking about? That is just, it's just waiting for a fat person.
It's just, it's just, it's just saying, you know, oh, look at you, Daniel. You come sit in this chair. Let's make an idiot of you. You know, I just, I don't do that. I don't put my trust in the.
But when you came in here today, the fact that you're sitting in it, most of you didn't check. You didn't, none of you called me and said, listen, who manufactured this chair? You simply put everything you had into that chair and you had full confidence that it wasn't going to collapse. That is what we're talking about when it means trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
Okay, our faith and trust is not in some plan, it's in a person. God's will is not in a process, it's in a person. The direction of God is discovered when our devotion to God is deepened. I don't think some of you got that. The direction of God, which is his will.
is discovered. when our devotion to God is deepened. The closer we get to Him, the closer we are to His will. It's just that way. Discerning God's will involves faith.
not some formula. Yeah. Some preacher gives you a five-part formula for finding God's will. Find another preacher, okay? Unless I did that, and if I did, keep the notes.
It's very, very good, okay? Listen, God's will begins with surrender, not strategy. That's good. Let me give you a couple verses. Psalm 37, 3.
Trust in the Lord. Notice this, and do good.
So the trust leads to something. It means that my trust is in a person.
So when I trust in the Lord, not in the process, when I trust in the Lord and do good.
Now notice this.
So shalt thou dwell in the land. That's the culmination of God's will. And verily thou shalt be fed. What is God's will? Being where God wants you to be, God providing for you when you're where he wants you to be.
This is God's will. Trust in the Lord and do good. I do good because I trust in the Lord. Notice Jeremiah 17. Blessed is the man.
Blessed. is the man that trusteth in the Lord. And whose hope the Lord is. Listen, it does not say, blessed is the man that finds God's will. Right.
It just doesn't say that. It doesn't say, blessed is the man that finds God's will.
Now, you are blessed. if you find God's will. But God doesn't say that you're blessed if you find God's will. No, he says you're blessed if you trust in the Lord. You're not going to find God's will if it doesn't first begin with confidence.
In the Lord, okay? A man is blessed by realizing. that nothing apart from God will ever work. It is total dependence. On the Lord, the person of our trust.
Notice secondly, the passion of our trust. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. There's the difference. That's better. That was wimpy.
Did you hear that? It's hard to make an impact. Trust in the Lord. So I had to.
Okay, there we go. The hands have to be a certain.
Okay, anyway, uh my mind, okay. Notice what it says. When I do trust. I trust with Oh. My heart.
That means I put total trust not partial trust. into something. Partial trust brings partial peace. Partial trust brings partial provision. God doesn't want a piece of your heart.
He wants to be first place in your heart. You and I will, at times in our life, struggle to find God's will. because we hesitate to fully trust and surrender. It's just that simple. With all thine heart shows the marriage of trust and faith.
Trust and faith.
So that is combined. Trust and faith are two different things. What are they combined with all thine heart? I trust. with everything.
So I trust with faith.
Now, what does that mean? It means I will begin discerning God's will. when I begin to have absolute confidence in the Lord. What do you mean? Confidence that I can trust him with my life.
Confidence that I can trust him with my family. Confidence that I can trust him with my future. Confidence that I can trust him with my finances. Confidence that I can trust him with my own failures. Confidence that I can trust him to be faithful even when I'm not faithful.
I can trust him and I can have full confidence in him and only in him and that I believe and trust that if I put my trust in him, he will put me in his will. If you don't believe he will, he won't. It's not that he can't. But faith, he has to be believed. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
The person of our trust, the passion of our trust. And notice, thirdly, let me give you these verses: Psalm 9:10. And they that know thy name. Shalt seek the LORD thy God. Notice if you would um In verse Deuteronomy 4:29, but if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him.
Thou seek him with all thy heart. and with all thy soul. You'll find them. And when you find him, you find his will. Are y'all getting it?
When you find him, you find his will.
So God's will is not separate of him.
So quit worrying about God's will, just find him.
So notice thirdly the proof of our trust. You say, what do you mean, preacher?
Okay, we've got to finish this passage. Do you know in verse 3 it starts, trust in the Lord with all thine heart? And then it leads to a number of things.
Now, look all the way at verse 9. I got them on the screen for you. Honor the Lord with thy substance. And with the first fruits, of all thine increase. What?
Listen to me. Get this.
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty. And thy press is notice, shall burst out with new wine. What do you mean here, preacher? Listen, so I honor the Lord before my barns are filled. That's right.
is that I obey even when I don't know.
So, my person is the Lord, my passion is with all my heart. And here's the whole deal: when I do trust in him with all my heart, I am going to honor him with everything I have. Not because all of a sudden he's filled my barns.
Now I'm going to give to him. No, I'm going to give to him before he ever fills my barns. Why do I give to him before he's ever filled my barns? I give to him because I have confidence that he is going to fill the barns. Oh, if we can just get a hold of this.
This is what faith promised missions giving is all about. This is what grace giving is. God, I'm going to give you this before you give it to me. And the reason I commit to give it to you is because I have confidence. If you've laid this on my heart to do this, I have confidence that you're going to meet the need you're going to provide so that I can give what you told me to give.
Why is this important? Why is it important for me to honor God with my first fruits before he ever even fills my barns?
So I trust.
So I am showing proof of my trust. that I give everything to him. even before he has so-called given everything. To me. That's faith.
Because I trust and have confidence in him. This means I might not know what lies ahead. Listen to me, Kerwin. It's not long this morning, you got to get this principle. This means I might not know what lies ahead.
But I know whatever lies ahead. I have confidence. And trust that God has it covered. The depth of our trust is revealed by what we do when we don't understand. Faith is not believing in spite of evidence.
Listen to me. Faith is obeying in spite of explanation. It's obeying before God even explains it to you. Let me prove it biblically. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8.
When Abraham left Ur, he didn't even know where he was going. God just said, leave and go. Guess what? Abraham packed up everything, left. Look at verse 8 in Hebrews 11.
It's on the screen for you. By, here we go, faith. And faith is trust and confidence. and faith all together. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance.
So God said, I'm going to give it to you, and I haven't given it to you yet. But I'm going to give it to you, so I need you to go. What do we normally do? God, you give it to me, then I'll go. God, you proved yourself to me, and then I'll prove myself to you.
No, no, no, no, no. That's not how you find God's will. You find God's will by saying, God, you told me to go, you've not provided yet, but I'm going to go even though you haven't provided yet, because I want to show you that I have confidence and faith and trust in you. And when you do that, there's no way that He won't provide. Because he honors faith.
Look at the verse. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance.
Notice this, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing whither he went. He didn't even know where he was going, but his confidence was so strong in God leading and providing. That he stepped out. And here we go.
Here's the whole principle. Notice this verse: he was called to go. He obeyed and he went out. It's that simple. He was called to go.
He obeyed and he went out. God said, Go. He went. Yeah. My trust is only proven.
By my obedience. Amen. You can't say you trust God. if you're not obeying him. It just means you're thinking about trusting God.
Number two. God's will is a matter of counsel. God's will is first a matter of confidence. We can't get past this, we're going nowhere. Second, God's will is a matter of counsel.
Notice what he says. And lean not on thine own understanding. You better make sure you're listening to the right source. And let me tell you who you and I listen to. We either listen to ourselves or we listen to people or we listen to God.
It's a matter of where we get our counsel. You with me? Say amen.
Okay, very simple. and lean not. On thine own understanding.
Now this little phrase, lean not. Here's what's interesting in the Hebrew here. Listen to this. Trust means to lean on with no fear of it collapsing. This little phrase, lean not, literally means don't lean because it will collapse.
Don't you love the Word of God? It literally trust in God, it won't collapse. But anything that has to do with you, don't trust it. Because you are going to collapse. Notice this, first the weakness of self.
And lean not. Lean Not. This is you putting your trust in something that you can't trust. And that's what happens when you and I try to lean on us. on our own understanding.
Our understanding is limited. biased and it's imperfect.
Now look at this verse, Isaiah 55, 8, you know it. God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So don't lean on your understanding. You don't even have understanding. It's a myth. It's an illusion. People say, preacher, I understand.
No, you really don't. I'll get up here. Listen, let me help you understand. I don't even really understand. There is no understanding apart from God.
Notice, secondly, the weakness of self, secondly, the warning against pride. He says, Lean not unto thine own. Thine own.
Now look what he says in verse 7. Two verses later, be not wise. in thine own eyes.
So, this whole passage is connected. It all starts with trust. Even to your giving, you won't honor the Lord with your substance if you don't trust Him. You won't trust him if you're wise in your own eyes.
Okay, the warning against pride. Here's a good hint. Listen to me, anything that is thine own. cannot be trusted. Anything that has to do with you.
Anything that has to do with moi. That's French for me, okay? cannot be trusted. Pride says, I know best. Faith says, God knows best.
Many miss the will of God because they just think. that they know. Yeah, that's right. Proverbs 14, 12. I love this.
There is a way which seemeth right. Not that is right, that seemeth right. Unto a man, but the end thereof are ways of death. Our understanding will always lead us nowhere. Because it seems right to us.
So there is first the weakness of self, lean not. There's the warning against pride. Don't lean on your own. Be not wise, and notice thirdly the wisdom of dependence. Look what he says, lean not on thine own understanding.
Look at verse 7, fear the Lord and depart from evil. If I trust myself, I'm going to end up in evil. What did the verse before just say? If I trust me. But the end thereof are the ways of death.
And what does he say here? Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
So dependence upon him. is the only way that you're ever going to find God's will.
Sometimes God delays revealing His will to us until we lay down our reasoning. Until we get our minds out of it, till we get our flesh out of it. Stop figuring it out. Spend time with God. Stop figuring it out.
Instead, spend time with God, and His peace will guide you. Philippians 4:6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, notice this. which passeth what? God just said in Proverbs You can't understand.
And here's what he says: God's peace. carries you when you don't have understanding. That's the dependence. That means I can have peace with God. I can end up in God's will and I still don't even understand the whole thing.
But God's peace passes your understanding and shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I think you understand. Notice number three. God's will is a matter of communion. See, we're already on number three.
How many are there, preacher? Don't worry about it. Number three. There's only four. Number three.
God's will is a matter of communion. Communion. What does he say in verse 6? And all thy ways Acknowledge him. Yeah.
Acknowledge him. This is. A relationship. Acknowledging him simply means, look at me, Kerwin. You probably have not understood.
Many of you have not understood this word. Acknowledging him simply means communicating with him. Notice first we acknowledge him daily. In all thy ways, not just the big ways, not just the big decisions. You won't lean on him for the big decisions if you're not daily leaning on him for the little decisions.
In all thy ways, you won't trust him with any of your ways if you're not trusting him with all of your ways. Listen to me: if you acknowledge him in all your ways, he will guide you in all your ways. Let me put it. even more simply if I can. If you acknowledge him in all your ways, He will guide you in all his ways.
Good. The word acknowledged does not mean a shout out. Hey, I've made a decision what I'm going to do with my life. Hey, God, hope you're okay with it. Just wanted to acknowledge you.
Just want to give you a point? Little shout album, you know, kind of a thing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This doesn't mean a shout out. Listen to me.
We often want God's will for big decisions, but we forget him in the daily direction. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192.
or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
