Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

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. God gave men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Now, if there's anything the last two Sundays that I was able to preach, if there's anything that you are, I hope that you are able to see, the theme for those couple of weeks is that God is a God that gives you chances.

And aren't you thankful that He doesn't cast you away? And He's talking obviously here in Isaiah about God's chosen people, the Jewish people, and sometimes people wonder, why were the Jewish people chosen? We say they were the chosen people.

Why is that? And simply this, that Jesus had to be born in the lineage of somewhere. And God chose the Jewish people because that's the chosen people because it was from there that Jesus would come through that line. And also God used the Jewish people oftentimes as an illustration of Christians. In other words, oftentimes He would give illustration in the Old Testament of His dealings with His chosen people.

We often think of going through the wilderness, through the Red Sea, all that they went through. It's often a picture of how we treat God the way they treated God in the Old Testament. But we're talking here, He says, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. Look at verse 10, Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And all God's people ought to say, Amen, to those verses.

Why are we dealing with these verses today, Brother Haughtry? I was, when I was in evangelism traveling and preaching, I was preaching, my dad's preaching at a church in Georgia this morning. They called, the pastor called me actually this week and talked me, getting ahold of dad, wanted dad to come down for the Sunday. The pastor of this church used to be in my dad's youth group when my dad was a youth pastor years ago.

In Lakeland, Florida. And my dad's, I was preaching at this particular church in Georgia where dad's at today. I held a number of revival meetings there. And I was preaching there one year and a man came up to me after the service and I had preached something along the lines of encouraging that, you know, God helps you and strengthens you, whatever the case might be. And he came up to me after the service and I don't know the gentleman's name.

I don't remember his name, but it brought to my remembrance when dad was going down there this week. I remember that man came to me and he was kind of had tears in his eyes at the back of that church. And he said, preacher, I want to thank you for what you preach tonight. He says, you don't know what I'm going through in my life. He said, but I came to church tonight in desperate need of something to hold on to. And I remember that phrase. He said, I came needing something to hold on to. And it just might be that this morning that you need something. To hold on to. Now I could say a lot of things, but if they came from me, you probably couldn't hold on to them very securely because I'm human and I'll let you down. But I have found that there are some promises that God has given us in his word and what God has promised you can hold on to. And over the next couple of weeks, I want to speak on the promises of God.

Because it just might be in your stage, in your life, whatever you're going through right now, you need something that you can take to the bank. You need something more than rhetoric as we hear politicians use often. We hear rhetoric that use that word so much. And what does rhetoric mean?

It means absolutely nothing is what it means. But you don't need rhetoric. We don't really sometimes need stories.

And we really, as often, sometimes as they drive home a point, we don't need a bunch of illustrations. We need something. We need something that cuts right down to the meat of the matter.

And we need something to hold on to. And so this morning I want to begin dealing with the promises of God. And I can think of no better place to start than in Isaiah chapter 41 verses 9 and 10.

If you have a piece of paper and a pen, you might want to write some of these things down. It's a bit informative this morning, but I want to be an encouragement to you. I've tried to the past three or four times that I've preached to be an encouragement to you. And I feel that today is the direction God would have us to go in. Look at verse 10, if you will.

We find first God says, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Now as you look at verse 10, I see five areas that God gave promises to. Five promises that God made. And when He made them to these people, remember in the New Testament Jesus had come, it was made clear that what God has promised to the Jew, He has also promised to the Gentile. So what He's promised them, He's promised us. This is a promise from God.

I notice first in that first phrase there's five things and I'll give you the promises, but first I want to give you the reason those promises were needed. We see first He says, Fear thou not, fear thou not. That means first that there was fear involved in their lives. Second He says this, Be not dismayed, that means that there was confusion in their lives. Now the last three promises He makes when He gives these promises, He insinuates what the need was. He said this, He said, I will strengthen thee. That means that there was weakness there.

He said, I will help thee. That means there was desperation there. And then He said, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, which means there was weariness there. There's a difference between being weak and being weary. There have been times I've been weak, but I wasn't weary. But there's been times I had strength, but I was weary. It wasn't that I was tired.

It wasn't that I've just been worked so hard. It was the fact that I've just been discouraged. And I'm going to tell you something, discouragement takes your strength immediately in your life. So I want to look at these five things and it might be that maybe right here this morning in your life there is fear or there might be confusion or there might be weakness or there might be desperation or there might be fear.

There might even be weariness right now. I've seen it seems in God's house and with God's people right now I was very burdened while we were on vacation. God woke me up one night and I just couldn't sleep. And I was just very burdened about our church, about so many that I see that aren't faithful and aren't here and aren't just have it plugged in or maybe they did.

And now it's hit and miss. And folks it's more than just we want to tell you to be at church. It's the fact that when you're a pastor you love these people whether they know it or not. And you see how desperately they need church and they need God's house and they need the things that you're offering to them but you can't make them come. And you're burdened for them.

And it just might be that maybe you're weary and you say, you know what I want to want to and I want to have the desire and I want to be motivated but I'm just not. Well this morning God gives five promises. Number one this morning I want you to see this that the answer to fear is the companionship of God. Notice what he says. He says fear thou not.

Why? For I am with thee. First promise he gives is this.

I am with you. Now you say preacher I don't understand. Let me read you some verses and then I'll say a little bit more. Psalm 56 3 and 4 says this. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee. I have put his word in God.

I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. That means my flesh, what I can do to myself or what some other individual might be trying to do to me.

It doesn't matter. Because God is with me I will trust him and I will put my trust in him and I am not going to live in fear of what some individual might do to me or what even my own flesh could do to me because I know God is with me. Exodus 33 14 and he said my presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest. Dear friend when you're scared of something in your life or fearing something and oftentimes we we hear these terms all right preacher people you know are you living in fear or are you well how do I apply that to my life preacher I don't know. Maybe you have a doctor's appointment coming up there's been some issues in your life and you are absolutely scared to death of what might turn out. Maybe there's a situation in your life that you're waiting for something to happen and you're scared of how it might turn out. Maybe in your own marriage you've got an issue right now and you you fear how this thing is going to play out or you feel maybe you have children and you see them going a different direction or maybe you have a child that's wayward and as you pray that God would bring them back sometimes it might almost there might be fear that I don't know what might happen or what God might have to do or the direction that they've taken what that might cause in their life. I don't know what you might be fearing but I know this there's things I fear. There's things that come into my life sometimes that if I was honest it's not like I'm in a corner trembling it's just as I go through life day by day there's just this ever presence there that I'm a little bit anxious about what might happen and I'm here to say that when you fear certain things in your life there is the only answer for that is for you to realize that God is with you all the time wherever you go he's there. God said don't fear because I'm with you. You know I believe that the bible teaches greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world and God has given you a promise this morning and you can walk out of this building and you might not ever remember the illustrations of the stories but there's one thing you ought to remember that in God's word he said I am with you and you ought to hold on to that this morning.

I don't care what you're fearing or what you're facing or what you're getting ready to go through I don't know what it might be or what might happen by the time you get home I don't know but I do know this that God is with you whatever you go through he will not leave. Listen to me there are times in our life where we're not with him but there's never a time in our life where he's not with us. There might be times we don't go his direction and we don't do what we ought to do but he never leaves us nor forsakes us the bible says. Promise number two I see this he says this be not dismayed I am thy God. Number two I believe this the answer to confusion is the recognition of God's sovereignty. Be not dismayed what does that word dismayed mean that word dismayed means bewildered and that means confusion. Why did this happen why am I going through such and such and why did this go on this way and why did that person do this and why did this of all times in my life if I've heard this and if I've said this to myself you know I've been honest with you in the past year and a half two years I think you know really right when I take over a church for the first time in my life God you got to give us a special in each child we got to be in the hospital four months really right when the first year pastor you got to take my mom the biggest prayer warrior on my behalf that that I had I mean God really right now really and oftentimes you and I be we become bewildered it's not that we don't think God's in control it's the fact we think why now and why did this happen and all that I've done and I've taken these steps why did this still happen I've seen people go through things and and they would say but brother Daniel I've supported the church I've given to others I've given to people I've been over backwards to be good and then why would God let this happen to me listen to me dear friend whatever you might be bewildered about or whatever you might be confused about there is one thing that is the answer to that you'll never make sense of it in your mind and you'll never be able to justify it run the numbers and for it to make sense to you nothing will ever make sense to you about half the things that will happen in your life the one thing you've got to hold on to is this he is my God he's in control that's it God is sovereign he's God not me when God said I am thy God what he's saying is this you're not your own God I'm your God I'm in control see oftentimes you and I get so mad about things in our life that we really have no control over and what ought comfort us is the fact that we know very personally the person look at me that is in control that ought to comfort you I don't understand I don't know why this has happened and it's brought a whole bunch of stuff into my life that I don't like or agree with or understand but there ought to be a comfort to you to know that God is my God I have given my life to him if you've trusted Christ as your savior you've given your life to him you've given control to him and if he's God let him be God let me give you a verse Joshua 1 9 have not I commanded thee be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest preacher what do I do when I'm confused and I don't let me tell you let me tell you what you do when you're confused you recognize and remember the fact that God is sovereign he's in control if you were able and willing to give yourself to him in salvation then just give yourself to him in this circumstance say God you are in control what look at verse 9 before verse 10 in Isaiah chapter 41 you notice this he says I have what chosen thee God is letting them know I'm the one that's sovereign I'm the one that chose you you didn't choose yourself you didn't chose me I chose you listen folks God created us created us God's the one giving us breath every second of the day if you're alive God is God and that ought to comfort you you might be confused about things but you don't have to be confused about who's in control hello bless God the folks at the motel in Hawaii were more responsive hey Sunday morning we were sitting outside looking at the beautiful sunset listening I got up at five in the morning to watch the service and we didn't have live streaming Ben is officially fired I got up on vacation now they're having problems with the live streaming but the audio was there so bless God my wife will bear witness fact we blare the audio and brother Joe is literally preaching to folks in Hawaii I bet you wish you were preaching to folks in Hawaii don't you look at me folks there's one thing you ought to know God's in control he's sovereign I don't know why it happened to you I don't know why you're going through what you're going through I don't know any of that I don't know why I'm going through what I'm going through I don't know why anybody you go I just know this God's in control we don't have to be confused about that and that's a comfort all God's people said promise number three we're almost done we're over half almost halfway promise number three he said this I will strengthen thee now he would not say I will strengthen thee unless they needed strength so what was going on with him is they were weary they were they were tired they they were weak they didn't have any strength I mean literally it wasn't the fact that they were just tired of serving God it was the fact that they were tired how many of you have ever been there it's not that you're tired of serving God and it's not that you're tired of God and you're not tired of church you're just tired anybody want to say that's me today I'm here but I am worn out God said this he gave him a promise and this is a promise you and I can hold on to I will he said strengthen you you know the Bible says the joy of the Lord is our what strength our strength comes from him look at me our strength does not come from a motivational tape series now that can give us some good wisdom or some help but your strength as a Christian does not come from a book or a CD or a radio program your strength comes from God and that's the only and that's the only place it can come from see you and I I think oftentimes stay tired and we stay weak because we're trying every other resource to gain our strength besides the one that can actually give us the strength and you say well what do I do when that comes the answer to weakness is strength from God let me read your verse first chronicles chapter 16 says this seek the Lord and his strength seek his face continually you've got to go to him for it you can't just say well I need strength from God and then you don't read but we don't read our Bible we don't pray we don't spend time with God we don't seek him or go to him we just say hey I'm tired God needs to do something no you and I approach him we go to him for it and he gives it his strength the Bible said is made perfect in our what weakness Psalm 73 26 my flesh and my heart felleth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever some of you must say preacher I have a habit I have something in my life it could be temper it could be anger it could be drugs it could be alcohol it could be a lot of things and you say preacher I have tried and I've tried to overcome this and and I just I just I'm weak I'm weak well look at me dear friend let me tell you where you go that's God that strength has to come from him that has to come from him and dear friend I'm going to tell you you'll never be able to face something you'll never overcome anything on your own you might for a while you might for a season but you'll never fully overcome anything until you get your strength from God oftentimes people will come to a pastor for help I'm sure brother Joe over 50 years plus of pastoring now I'm sure he's faced this and they want strength from you and the only thing really I can do as a pastor is to show you where the strength comes from there's not something magical I'm gonna say that's gonna say all right I get over this addiction all right I'll quit losing my temper all right well I'll quit you know looking at this or get on the computer looking at that there's nothing I can say that would do anything more than maybe motivate you for a day or two but he gives you strength and is willing to give you the strength to overcome it every day of your life if you'll let him but you got to go to him third promise I will strengthen thee fourth promise I notice is this he says this I will help thee now what's the difference preacher I will strengthen thee I will help thee blah blah blah it all means the same thing no it doesn't what does it mean I will help thee means this you're desperate if you look in the story in the chapters before Isaiah you find that these were very desperate people they had gotten to this point and God noticed that and he's giving them the comfort of knowing this you know what I know you've done wrong and I know that maybe you've messed up but I chose you I have not cast you out and because I haven't cast you out let me tell you what kind of God I'm gonna be to you and he starts giving them these promises and it might be that maybe you've let God down and I know I've let God down and all God's children have let him down at one time or another but what's wonderful to know is that he hasn't cast us out because he chose us he created us he saved us by the grace of God if you've been saved and so he says I'm gonna show you what kind of God I'm gonna be to you even though you haven't been a very good person to me I'm gonna be a great God to you and I'm gonna give you some promises and he says this I will help thee the first thing I notice is this these people didn't deserve his help and neither do you and I can we get off our high horse a little bit we don't deserve God's help anybody here want to say well I want to tell you something I deserve for God to help me no you don't you and I don't deserve anything we have in our life that God's given us you say well I just don't believe you ought to belittle yourself let me tell you something dear friend the Bible says the best we have to offer is filthy rags in the eyes of Christ we're sinners we're dirty rotten sinners you say well it's not my fault well you're kind of right because we were born with a sinful nature but all of us have a will and a choice we don't deserve God's help and for God to say I will help thee you and I ought to be grateful from that right off the start I'm getting help from somebody that I don't deserve it from I think if all of us were honest maybe the way we behave to our parents at times in our life if I let myself I could come up with a number of things that I could say you know I don't deserve for my dad and of course my mom's home will be with the Lord now I didn't deserve their help I did enough to I mean they did everything for me growing up and then I just did things to them that just should be inexcusable and I I don't deserve their help but they kept helping me you know what you and I we don't deserve God's help but he's promised it Wow he didn't promise he didn't say I will help thee if you're good he didn't say I will help thee if you behave he did not say I will help thee as long as you deserve it God made a promise I will help thee you ought to be grateful for what's not written there aren't you glad it stopped right there no conditions I will help you by the way in God saying that God knows this we we have to have his help we don't deserve it but we can't exist without it God knows we have to have his help or we have nothing what a God he knows that we're nothing without him we could do nothing without him we're up a creek without a paddle without him but he still says I'll help you anyway I'll give it to you that means this number four the answer to desperation is God's promise to help let me read you some verses and I won't be along with this but I want you to hear this Isaiah chapter 41 and beginning in verse 17 same chapter when I just want to read this to you when the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them listen what God said he would do when they were in need I will open rivers verse 18 I will open rivers in high places rivers don't exist in high places folks do you know that rivers exist in low places he says I will but rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys not a normal place for a fountain and I will make the wilderness or like the desert a pool of water not a place for a pool don't often see that in the wilderness and the dry land springs of water I will plant in the wilderness the cedar the shitta tree in the myrtle and the oil tree all these trees I'm not going to take the time but all four had different purposes I might preach on this next week because it's really good some of you guys like to dig in your Bible you look up these trees in this passage and this is what God said one causes shade one causes nourishment one anyway I'm not even gonna get into it it's exciting what God said I'll do he says if I have to I'll put well I'll put rivers up in the high places I'll put fountains in the valley I'll make pools of water in the wilderness God says whatever I have to do to meet your need and to help you through whatever you're going through I will do it look at me folks the one person that said he'll help you everybody else in your life might not help might leave you alone might you know write you off whatever the case might be but the one person that actually can help you is the one person that promised it am I the only one that's excited this morning Joshua 1 9 we already read that but I want to read it to you have not I commanded thee be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be it out of this made for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest you say well preacher I think I've done too much that God won't help remember verse 9 I have not cast thee off last this morning he said this I will uphold thee I find fifth that the answer to weariness is the righteousness of God it's a preacher that doesn't really make a lot of sense the answer to weariness ought to be a nap the answer to weariness ought to be vacation let me tell you something my wife and I just had a wonderful vacation I mean I just couldn't tell you how wonderful it was just to spend time together I mean we had perfect weather God was so good to us and the flight home was absolutely miserable I could stay all day to tell you everything we went through on that flight home we were more tired when we got home and you think anybody's gonna care after that you've been to Hawaii oh you're tired oh poor baby boo boo boo I told her I say ain't nobody gonna care now I said this whole thing hadn't gotten a vacation for a year or two you know once you have it that's it no more complaining you're done you can go on vacation but guess what you can come back from vacation more tired than you left on vacation we're not I mean we were rested but you know what I'm saying let me tell you something there's a lot of things that you might say well I'm weary and I'm this the only answer to your weariness as a Christian is the righteousness of God you say that doesn't make sense let me read you a passage of Scripture Romans chapter 3 we're almost done this morning therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin but thank God for that if it was all based on the law we'd be in trouble but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets listen to this even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference that means it bad if you're a Jew Greek if you're black white doesn't matter we're all the same in God's eyes and his righteousness by putting faith in him through his righteousness it has given us a way of escape the Bible says we now have a hope for glory to exist and live with him forever in heaven this has all been done because of the righteousness of God look at me dear friend would it have mattered if Jesus died on the cross if he wasn't pure there's a lot of people that died on crosses in those days none of them saved me 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 kerwinbaptistchurch.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