Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Sermon 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. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina.

And it really has our theme in it, which was really the theme of this entire chapter. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Lord, we love you today and Lord, we ask that you would bless this particular subject. You've had it on my heart for a long time and Lord, everything today has been pointing to this subject that as we follow you, we can still trust you.

When we do not know which way to go, we can trust you. Lord, I want to thank you for your faithfulness in leading us despite our unfaithfulness in following you. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to see and notice today how important and vital it is to the Christian's life to simply follow you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In Isaiah chapter 47, the chapter before, the Lord was dealing with the Babylonians and really, I'm not going to go into all that, but all their faults and their mistakes. In chapter 48, he is talking to the children of Israel. He calls them the house of Jacob.

Obviously that lineage that, obviously the line of Christ would end up going through this family. But he talks about the house of Jacob and obviously what we're talking about here is the children of Israel when they were led out of Egypt and they ended up in the wilderness wondering for 40 years. And we have talked and preached about that so often over the years, but let me just remind you that the children of Israel did not have to wonder 40 years. They could have gotten there in a few days. The reason they wandered for 40 years is because they did not follow what God told them to do.

It's that simple. Now, in this passage, we often use that phrase, God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. This chapter is an example of God providing a better life, a better place, a better future, a better family, a better lineage, a better opportunity, a better everything. And this is also an example of God's people not listening, not following, and not obeying. Although God had all the better over here, God's people became bitter over here. And it all ended up in the fact that they just wouldn't follow what God led them to do. Now as we look at this passage, this has a whole lot for us to learn. And I want to share my heart with you today in a sense that I'm afraid that so often people are living the Christian life and they just really don't understand or haven't grasped what it is to follow the leading of God. It would keep us out of so much trouble. It would keep us away from so many issues. It would bring so many better things to our life and to our family and even to this church. God leads, but we don't follow.

And I want to talk about that today. Notice verse one. Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah. Notice that, the waters of Judah. That's when he led them out of Egypt, obviously, and they went to the parting of the Red Sea.

He said, the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth and not in righteousness. Notice this first verse. He just kind of makes a statement and lets everybody know this is where we are.

I mean, this is where we stand. Don't you like somebody that gets right to it? Don't you hate somebody that beats around the bush? Somebody that's just talking and talking and all of a sudden you realize, you know what, they're trying.

They're trying to get such and such across and they might have had the chance if they just would have said it. But now that they've taken an hour of my time, just because I'm mad, I'm not going to. You ever been like that? It's like I thought about buying that car until I met you, sir. So I'm going to Wicker.

All right, anyway. Number one, I want you to notice the statements he says in this verse. Number one, he said, you are called.

He says, hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel. You have been called. And by the way, if you are a believer in Christ today, you've been called too. You and I need to realize this isn't just we get saved and we just do what we want to do the rest of our life.

We get saved and then we are to follow God. We're called. What does it mean to be called? It means to be called to do something.

You've been commissioned would be a good word. Notice secondly, he said, not only are you called, you are chosen. Look at verse one. He said, you're called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah. He said, literally, I spared your life.

You literally were going for certain death and here I parted the waters of the Red Sea and Pharaoh's armies coming in after you. And if you don't know a lot about the Bible, maybe you remember the old movie with Charles and Heston in it. It was very biblically accurate.

Not really. Don't you love how they did back then, how the graphics? They always show it on Easter. I don't know what the name of it is, but they go through the whole thing with Moses and all this stuff. Do you all know the name of it?

Yeah. Sounds the same, you know, anyway. I was showing my boys when I said, man, they show this every Easter. I said, you know, I remember as a kid, you know, and then it gets to the graphics of the water at the parting of the Red Sea and our generation of kids think, oh my goodness, that was cutting edge when I was a kid, you know, looks like a cartoon man on the waters, you know, or something like that. But as God led them through the waters of the Red Sea, God said, listen, I chose you. You could have died. I could have left you alone and all these things, but I not only have called you, but I chose you.

I want you to do something. By the way, if you've been saved, not only are you called, but you've been chosen. God has some, listen, you might be sitting here today and if you're a believer in Christ, you don't even know this. You might not even know this right now. But God has a special plan for your life and you cannot even imagine what he wants to use you to do.

You can't even imagine. It amazes me sometimes we're just totally oblivious to what God would be doing or would want to do in our life. We kind of think we're worthless and we think, well, I'm not much use and I don't have a lot to offer.

And oftentimes we sit right here and we don't even understand how God chose us to do something. Notice the third thing he tells me. He said, not only are you called, not only are you chosen, but you're connected. Notice what he says.

Now this is interesting. He says, which swear by the name of the Lord. That word swear means oath or commitment.

He said, you've been called and you've been chosen and you have literally made a commitment to me. You've made an oath. We're connected.

I thought. I mean, you know, you came to me and said you're in bondage and here we are serving Pharaoh and we need you to lead us out of here and get us out of this bondage. And God said, I made a commitment. I made an oath with you and we had a bond.

We had an agreement and I led you out of Egypt. Notice what he says, fourthly, unfortunately, he says you are counterfeit. Notice what he says. He says, you make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness. He said, you talk a good talk and you say all these things, but it's not true. You're not sincere.

You don't really mean it. And what do we see about the children of Israel so often? They're over here. Oh God, we love you. We need such and such thing.

God gives it. Then they argue again. Now they're mad. And then here they go to this thing. God comes back and they apologize and they're fickle up and down, up and down, up and down. And this is what God says. He says, you make mention of me and you talk about me and you've got a lot of things to say, but it's not real. It's not true.

So all of a sudden they know exactly where they stand right away. God says this, listen, you have been called. You've been chosen. I thought we were connected, but you are counterfeit. You say, dear friend, how do you know if you're real or if you're counterfeit?

The real people follow him. The counterfeit don't. And I don't mean counterfeit. Maybe I'm saved. I'm not saved.

I mean counterfeit. Like, do you really want to serve God or is that just talk? He said, you make mention. Oh, you hear a lot of people talking a lot of things. Oh, I just love the Lord, want to serve him.

Do you really? Notice if you would, verse three. He says this, I have declared the former things from the beginning and they went forth out of my mouth and I have showed them and I did them suddenly and they came to pass. I want you to notice these things out of verses three through eight.

We're going to go very quickly this morning and we'll be done. But you've got to get this entire passage. God literally makes a legal case to the children of Israel.

Number one, I want you to see this. Look at verse three. God always has been and will be sovereign.

Notice what, look what he says in verse three. He said, I've declared these things from the beginning. That means before you were, I was. I was in charge way before you showed up.

And I'm going to be in charge way after you're gone. I declared these things. I knew these things.

I created these things from the beginning. Notice verse three. And they went forth out of my mouth. I'm sovereign, God says. And I showed them, notice this, I did them suddenly and they came to pass.

Whatever God says he's going to do, he does. He says, it started with me in the beginning. I'm the one that said it. I'm the one that made it happen. I'm the one that's caused it. I'm the one that made sure it took place.

It came out of my mouth. It came out of my commandment. I'm sovereign and you're not. Dear friend, may I remind all of us today, God's sovereign, we're not.

God always has been and always will be sovereign. Number two, I want you to look at verse four. Because, this is what God says to them, because I knew that thou art obstinate, that means stubborn. Thou art obstinate and thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow brass. You're just stubborn, hardened.

He said I knew it. Notice verse three, God always has been and always will be sovereign. Verse four, man always has been and will be stubborn.

There's life. God is sovereign, we are stubborn. Thus creates the conflict.

That's the way it's always been. God says, hey, I'm sovereign, but let me tell you something, I knew that you were obstinate. I knew you'd be stubborn.

Why? Because God knows our frame, the Bible says. He knows us. Can I say today that you and I have a tendency to be a bit stubborn. Maybe it's just your pastor. Maybe the godly members of Kerwin Baptist Church are not stubborn in the least bit.

Maybe it's just me. But I think if we're all honest, we have a tendency to be stubborn against a sovereign god. Notice here what he says in verse six. Thou hast heard, see all this, and will not ye declare it. I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. God always has been and will be sovereign.

Man always has been and will be stubborn. Notice verse six, God always has been and will be smarter. He said you didn't know it, I knew it. I told you all this, you didn't know it. I showed you hidden things. I showed you new things and you didn't know it.

Guess what? I know things God says that you don't know. And may I remind you today as we go through life and we feel maybe God wants me to do this, but I don't want to do this and I just don't know what to do and I don't know what God wants me to do and I don't know if I should be here or go there, get this job, not get this job, do this with my family, not do this, go here to church, not go here to church. We have all these decisions and dear friend, I want you to know God is sovereign, we are stubborn, but he's always smarter. He knows things that we don't know. It always has been that way. Look at me, you and I, we often try to figure out the mind of God, give up.

We can't figure it out. Notice number four in verse eight. Yea, thou heardest not, yea, thou knewest not, yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened. In other words, that's where it all started when you quit listening. For I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously and was called a transgressor from the womb.

Notice again verse eight, from that time that thine ear was not opened. Dear friend, I want you to get this, God always has been and will be sovereign. Man always has been and will be stubborn.

God always has been and will be smarter. Number four, trouble always has and will begin when we stop listening. That's where it always starts. I was a pastor, I've seen a lot of times, God blessing people, you know, they've made some decisions and grown and done these things and God begins to bless and then they get used to that blessing and then before long, now, they kind of quit listening. Now, well I'm good now and you bless me so much, I'm just going to enjoy this for a while. And before long, God's not the priority, God's house isn't the priority, the things of God aren't priority, His word isn't priority and that's when trouble starts.

When we quit listening to God. Sometimes there's times you want to just, in Christian love, grab him by the neck. And I'm sure there's times that people out of Christian love want to grab my neck and just want to shake him like, who do you think gave this to you? Who do you think's blessed you? Who do you think's done all this for you? Why are you turning your back on him now?

Why are you leaving him in the dust now? That's where trouble always starts, when we quit listening to the following of God. May I, as we begin in verse 9, let me give you the list of these things and we'll go home today. God begins to describe how I will lead you. I want you to notice in verse 9, number 1, I want you to see this. He says, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger and for my praise will I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off. God says this, He establishes where they are in verse 1 and then He establishes how things are in verses 3 through 8.

I'm sovereign, you're stubborn, I'm smarter and trouble, this always starts and it started when you quit listening to me. And so now God understands this is what they've done but God says, if you're willing, I'll forgive and I'll give you another chance and I'll give you another opportunity. Notice number 1, we see God's refraining. I love this in verse 1, He said, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger. May I say this, God makes it clear that His anger and judgement would be deserved. Dear friend, do you know if God decided to judge us, we would deserve it? God says, you know, it's for me and my sake that I am going to defer mine anger which means it's nothing you've done that deserves for me to stop my anger.

It's only me and my decision. That means this, it makes it clear that His anger and His judgement would be deserved and dear friend, it would be in our lives. Number 2, I want you to see this out of this verse, God makes it clear that it is His decision either way. Look at me, why? Because He's sovereign. God says it's for my sake I'm going to defer mine anger. It's for my praise that I'm not going to cut you off but either way it's His decision. It's not like you and I make that decision. It's not like you and I can control that. Look at me, God's sovereign. The third thing I see in this verse is this, that God makes it clear that His decision is based on His agenda and His praise.

He said I'm going to give you another chance, I'm going to refrain from cutting you off which means just judging you. He said I'm going to refrain from my sake and for my praise. And dear friend, I want you to understand everything God does in our life is either for His agenda or for His praise. The problem with you and I is everything we do is for our agenda or our praise. God lets it know right now, hey it's my decision not yours and whatever I decide it's going to be based on what I want and whether I get the glory for it.

Wow. Notice this fourth thing, He says God makes it clear that He controls our very existence. Look if you would at verse 9, He says for my praise while I refrain thee that I cut thee not off. That means God controls whether you even take your next breath or not. That means this, God can cut us off like that.

Wow. Notice if you would the second thing in verse 10 we see not only God's refraining but God's refining. Look at verse 10, He said behold I have refined thee but not with silver. Now I thought when I first saw this it was some kind of refining process with silver. Now we know that we refine gold but I understand there's a little bit of a process like that that can be done with silver. And I thought maybe He's saying like you know we always use a verse when I'm tried I'll come forth as gold and like the refining of gold or whatever the case might be.

But that's not what He's talking about here. This word silver literally means money or income. It literally means prosperity. Now listen get this, this is what God is saying. I'm going to refrain my anger so what I'm going to do is I'm going to refine you. And this is how God said, notice this, He said I'm not going to refine you with silver which would mean prosperity. He said I have chosen you or thee in the furnace of affliction.

In other words I'm going to refine you but I'm not going to use prosperity to do it, I'm going to use affliction to do it. Are you with me this morning? Is everybody still with me?

No we don't have much longer but I want you to get this. Understand this, refining is always part of God's leading. When God is refining you and there's difficult things in your life and you don't understand what God's doing. And why is this process, why is God allowing this? If you are going through the refining process and all of us have, that's some time or another. I want you to understand that is part of God's leading and where to follow. You say well I don't like the refining process, nobody does.

But that's part of it. Notice this out of this verse two, refining is necessary. Do you know what refining does? Refining takes something that isn't valuable and it makes it valuable. Do you understand for you to do something for God, refining is necessary. Or we won't be useful. Notice this, it is during the refining process that many people quit following.

Because they don't like it. God says you deserve my anger but I'm going to hold my anger right now. What I'm going to do is I'm going to refine you. I'm going to mold you.

I'm going to make you into what you need to be so that you can be useful for me. And that is often where people quit. Because difficulty comes. God's making us into what he wants us to be but we get mad and we quit listening. I want you to notice this, God says I have not refined you with prosperity or possessions. God said I have refined you with affliction. May I say this, that often times prosperity doesn't teach anybody anything.

Now you can learn a lot from it. But may I say that often times God's not going to make a great change in you by just giving you a bunch of stuff. God's going to refine us through affliction.

Now I want you to notice something very very important. Notice God says I have refined you with affliction but he says specifically a what of affliction. A furnace. God says as I refine you I have chosen the furnace of affliction. Now can I ask you something, what happens in a furnace? First thing is there's heat. When you're in the furnace it's hot. And dear friends some of you might be in your life right now you're in the furnace and I'm going to tell you the heat is going to be applied. Second what happens in a furnace there's pressure.

Pressure builds up in a furnace. Why? Because the third thing it's confined. There's nowhere else to go. For a furnace to work it has to be closed off. Dear friend this is what God said I'm going to do. I'm going to close you off. I'm going to apply pressure. I'm going to apply heat. And let me tell you what else takes place in a furnace.

There's a breaking down of something. When you put wood in a wood furnace what does it do? It burns the wood. It breaks it down. What do you do when you put metal or something in a furnace? It melts it. It makes it moldable.

A furnace breaks something down. And dear friend that's what God said he has to do with us sometimes. He has to refine us in the furnace of affliction.

I want you to notice number three in verse eleven we're almost done. I want you to see God's reason. He said for mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it for how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory unto another. Notice God's reason.

He says whatever I do let me tell you the reason I do it. It's for my sake. It's for my name. It's to make sure that my name doesn't get polluted. It's to make sure I get the glory because this first God says I'm not going to give my glory to anybody.

Do you hear that? God says I'm not giving my glory to anybody. That means this often when we are being refined it is to accomplish his plan. It is to protect his name or it is to make sure he gets the glory.

That's always his reason. Notice if you would number four we see God's reminder. Verse thirteen to sixteen I won't read it all but God begins to give his credentials. He says that I lay the foundation of the earth. My right hand spanned the heavens. I love this in verse thirteen I just want to read this part.

Notice the end. He says when I call unto them they stand up together. He said I made the heavens I made the earth.

When I call them I can make them stand up or sit down. Who rotates the sun? Who rotates the earth? Who rotates all the planets?

Who hung them into space? Who keeps everything running? God does.

Right in his hand. I love this God's reminder in verse thirteen and sixteen. Do you know often when you and I are being refined that's when we need to be reminded.

Reminded of what? Notice verse thirteen. My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth God created.

Notice the second he says my right hand spanned the heavens. When I call unto them they stand up together. God controls. Notice verse thirteen. God commands. He says when I call unto them. Notice if you would verse sixteen. God commissions. Look at the end of verse sixteen. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning from the time that it was there am I. And now the Lord God and his spirit hath sent me.

Did you hear that? Now the Lord God and his spirit hath sent me. Jesus is saying God and the Holy Spirit hath sent me. He's commissioned.

I don't know how you look at it. You and I need to be reminded. He created. He controls. He commands. And he's been commissioned. I know this is a lot of information on a Sunday morning but hold on we're almost done. Now notice verse sixteen we see God's request.

I love this. Notice the first phrase. If we're going to follow God said I led you. I had a better place. You didn't listen. You rebelled. You did your own thing. And this is all that's happened. Now if I'm going to give you another chance.

I got one request. Look at verse sixteen. Come ye near unto me. Hear ye this.

This is what God says. Alright if you're going to follow me we're going to start this over. You've got to get close to me. And you've got to listen. Wow.

Really hard. Now why did God say that? Well do you know the only way to follow is to be close enough to hear? Now if one of you. If I'm sitting here and I have maybe a particular item that I've got to put together. And I don't know how to put it together. And you know how to put it together. And let's just say you say well preacher I'm going to give you directions of how to put this thing together. Maybe the Rubik's Cube. I don't know how to do a Rubik's Cube. Or I can get the whole thing quickly.

You know maybe some of you do. You say preacher I'm going to show you how to do it. So you go out that door and you go all the way about a mile down the road. And you start giving me directions.

Not going to help me one bit. Now you're giving me directions but why doesn't it help me? Because I can't hear. And dear friend often times God is leading but we're not close enough to him to hear it.

And it's not up to him to do all the work. He said draw nigh unto me I'll draw nigh unto you. We've got to get near to him. And when we do we've got to listen. Listen to me I want you to get this. If you feel you're having trouble finding God's direction in your life.

If you're having trouble knowing the way you should take. Then what is needed is for you to draw near to him. That's what's needed. It's not go get this book that book you know take this course take that course.

Just get near to him. Notice if you would in verse 17 as always happens. God's repairing. See God refrained then he began to refine.

But it's all for a purpose. God doesn't put us in the furnace just to let us melt into nothing. God refines us so that he can repair us. Notice his repair in verse 17. Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer the holy one of Israel I am the Lord thy God.

Notice this. Which teacheth thee to profit. Which leadeth thee by the way that thou should its go.

Notice God's repair. He said I am going to teach you how to profit. Now you say alright God's going to teach me how to make money. It's not what he means here.

Although that would be great. What he is saying that word profit listen to me it means valuable profitable. What God is saying I am going to teach you how to be profitable. I am going to teach you how to be the kind of individual that can do some good. I am going to teach you how to be somebody that will accomplish something that will be profitable in the kingdom of God. Notice this the only way to make something that is broken to be profitable is to put it back together.

Are you looking at me? Remember the furnace it breaks things down. The only way to make something that's broken the only way to make it profitable is if you fix it.

It's not profitable unless you put it back together. God bless you.