If you live long enough, you will see some of these trends come and go two or three times in your lifetime.
For example, if you are fifty years of age, you probably have seen the double-breasted suits for men come IN STYLE, and GO OUT OF STYLE, at least three or four times.
It is true, we see many trends in our society that come and go.
And there are some we are glad to see COME, and others we are glad to see GO.
There are a lot of fashion trends I will be glad when they GO!!
• Orange and green hair, jewelry on the eye lids, nose ring, and tongue rings and tattoos.
• I think the worst fashion trend is practiced by so many who are wearing their britches that are about to fall off with their underwear showing.
Their parents never taught them the reason we call certain items of clothing underwear is because it is to be worn under outerwear.
During the times of Abraham, they had a custom that the parents chose the mates for their children.
Two of the greatest decisions a person has to make in this life are:
(1) First, who they are going to spend eternity with, Satan or the Lord Jesus.
(2) Secondly, who they are going to spend their earthly life with.
Those are two of the most important decisions a person must make in this life.
Today we want to look at the different trends in how a person is going to find a life time mate.
Today in our society people search for soul mates in different ways. Some choose a:
(1) Dating service
I heard you pay a company 50 or 60 dollars a month and they send you profiles of candidates that are also trying to find someone to date.
But there are many flaws in this method of selecting a mate.
What is it?
You can almost count on every profile having been embellished to look good.
So the person who is looking does not get the whole truth about this other person until later on when they are married and then it is too late.
Illus: I am reminded of the story of a beautiful opera singer. A man went to hear her sing and fell madly in love with her and her beautiful voice.
After a long courtship they got married. The first night she was getting ready for bed and she:
• Took off her wig
• Took off her makeup.
• Took out her false teeth.
• Took off her false eye lashes.
• She removed her ear rings.
• She removed her girdle.
• She removed a peg leg.
And all this time this fellow that fell in love with this beautiful woman and her voice saw there was not a lot left…he said, “Sing woman, for heaven sake sing!”
A dating service is not the best way to find a mate!!! You do not know what you are getting until later!!!
Some choose the…
(2) Courting method of dating
The courting which was common early on in the United States involved strong rules and customs.
Such as, asking the parents of the girl if they can court their daughter.
Illus: If you saw the movie called “QUIET MAN” starring John Wayne and Maureen O’hara that took place in Ireland this method of dating was on display.
John Wayne was interested in dating Maureen O’hara in this movie but he had to get permission from her older brother because her parents had died. Once the permission was given the couple had to be chaperoned by someone for a long period of time.
(3) Traditional method of dating.
Dating as we know it today developed in the 20th century. It is a practice in which people meet and participate in activities together in order to get to know each other.
This method also has some flaws. That is, when these couples meet they dress and conduct themselves to impress each other.
Many times after they think they have gotten to know each other they find out they have been deceived.
All of these methods of choosing a mate for marriage have flaws.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OF FINDING A MATE?
It is best to first seek the Lord in prayer.
• My wife tells me that when she was a young girl she started praying for God to help her find the right mate.
• Also, I told her when I became a Christian I started praying for God to help me find the right mate.
Illus: And I remember, in college, the first time I saw her God spoke to my heart that she was the one. Not the second, third or fourth but the first time I saw her.
It was such a real experience I could take you to that college campus today and if they have not built a building in that site I can take you to the spot God spoke to my heart.
God still operates this way for those who seek him.
Illus: Let me share with you a secret that very few Christians know.
WHAT IS THE SECRET”
The secret is this…GOD WANTS TO LEAD US IN OUR EVERY DAY AFFAIRS.
Let me tell you a true story about a man who knows all about this secret.
He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 12 years old. With only a fifth-grade education and having come from a poor family, he had not been given the opportunity to succeed in life. Yet this man from Texas became a multimillionaire.
Without any formal education or training, he had become very wealthy through investments. In fact, he had never lost one dime in a single investment! How did he do it? He once shared the secret with his friends:
“I always do this. When someone comes along with an idea, I don’t allow myself to think about it mentally. Instead, I go into my closet and pray. I wait as long as it takes until I hear something. Sometimes it can take as long as three days. I come out for some meals and a little sleep, but mainly I remain quiet and alone with the Lord until I know by an inward witness what I am to do.”
He shared that there were times when an idea seemed like a really good one that would surely bring a return, but his inward witness told him not to invest. At others, it seemed like a dead-end opportunity, but his spirit told him to move ahead and invest. Every single time, he made the right choice.
Following the inward witness gave him special insight into the supernatural and how to become financially prosperous.
This man took the time to develop and train his human spirit to be led by the Spirit of God, and you can, too! It won’t come overnight, but you can enjoy this special insight and guidance in every area of your life, as you train your human spirit to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God leads us if we will let Him.
In our text Abraham’s servant was sent out to find the mate for Isaac. Abraham sent him to the land of his people.
When he arrived, he put out a fleece to find the right girl.
Look at Genesis 24:13-27. We read, “Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: (HERE IT IS…NOTICE) I BEING IN THE WAY, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.”
Isn’t it wonderful - God who knows all about a person knows how to bring two people together for marriage?
This servant wanted to find God’s will for Isaac so he put out a fleece.
Is it alright to put out a fleece?
The concept of “putting out a fleece” comes from the story of Gideon, a leader in Israel, in Judges 6.
Illus: When God directed him to gather the Israelite troops to defeat the Midianite invaders, Gideon wanted to be sure it was God’s voice he was hearing and that he understood His directions.
He asked God for a sign to prove that this was truly His will.
(1) So he put out a piece of wool overnight on the ground and asked God to make it wet while keeping the surrounding dirt dry. God graciously did as Gideon asked.
(2) But Gideon’s faith was so weak that he asked God for another sign—this time to keep another fleece dry while making the surrounding dirt was wet.
Again, God complied and Gideon was finally convinced that the nation of Israel would have the victory the angel of the Lord had promised in Judges 6:14-16.
When is it wrong to put out a fleece?
It is wrong to put out a fleece when we know something is in God’s Word that tells us already what we should do.
Illus: For example, In Hebrews 10:25 “For sake not the assembling of ourselves together”.
• You do not need to pray to God and put out a fleece to know if it is His will for you to attend church, (allow ten camels to appear in your front yard). God’s Word has already spoken in His word.
• You do not need to pray about whether or not you should tithe, God’s Word tells you to bring His tithes to the store house of God.
• You do not need to pray about whether you should tithe to your church or send your tithes to some tv preacher so he can buy another Mercedes. God’s Word tells you NOT SEND BUT BRING IT TO THE STOREHOUSE OF GOD. (Your church)
Also, some of these wealthy tv preachers would have you to believe their tv program is to be your church.
But that is not what God’s Word has to say …Look again at what God’s Word tells us in Heb. 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…” This says we are to gather together. This is clear.
But there are times when we might not know what to do and it is not wrong to put out a “fleece”!
This servant wanted to make sure he selected the right mate for Isaac so he put out a fleece.
Notice, what makes this passage so special was that this eldest servant of Abraham went to his home land. There were many young ladies there, but God led him exactly to the right one.
HOW COULD HE FIND THE RIGHT GIRL FOR ISAAC?
The reason he could carry this assignment out successfully, can be found in verse 27. The Word of God said, “... I BEING IN THE WAY, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.”
The Bible tells us that the steps of a godly man… are ORDERED OF THE LORD!!!
He makes it crystal clear how he successfully carried out this assignment. He said, “I being IN THE WAY, the Lord led me…”
I want us to dwell on this phrase, being IN THE WAY.
The Bible is full of phrases that we use every day. Some of the phrases come from the Word of God such as:
• Bite the Dust from Psalms 72:9,
• The Blind Leading the Blind Matthew 15:13-14,
• By the Skin of Your Teeth Job 19:20.
• Drop in a Bucket from Isaiah 40:15
• Eat, Drink, and Be Merry from Ecclesiastes 8:15
• Eye for Eye, Tooth for tooth from Matthew 5:38,
• Fly in the Ointment from Eccl. 10:1
• Go the extra mile from Matthew 5:41
• He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword from Matthew 26:52,
• The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil from 1 Timothy 6:10
• Nothing but skin and bones from Job 19:19-20,
• Rise and shine is from Isaiah 60:1,
• The Root of the Matter from Job 19:28
• Scapegoat - Leviticus 16:9-10
• See eye to eye from Isaiah 52:8
• Strait and Narrow from Matthew 7:14,
• Twinkling of an Eye from 1 Corinthians 15:52,
• Weighed in the balance from Job 31:6,
• Wit’s End from Psalm 107:27
• Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing from Matthew 7:15
• Writings on the Wall from Daniel 5.
All of these are popular phrases that are in the scriptures and that we use in our daily lives.
But there is another phrase that you will find throughout the scriptures. It is called “BEING IN THE WAY”
It is utterly surprising how many times that phrase is used in the scriptures. And the reason it is used so many times in the scriptures because it is so important to us as the children of God who want to be led by our heavenly father.
The Bible gives us examples of “BEING IN THE WAY”
(1) God spoke of THE WAY to the Israelites as they marched to Canaan.
Look at Exodus. 23:20. We read, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee IN THE WAY, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.”
(2) God spoke of THE WAY to the Israelites as they marched out of Egypt.
Look at Nehemiah 9:19. We read, “Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in THE WAY; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and THE WAY wherein they should go.”
(3) God spoke of THE WAY to John the Baptist.
Look at Matt. 21:32. We read, “For John came unto you IN THE WAY of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
The Bible frequently speaks about THE WAY throughout the scriptures.
BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT IF WE ARE GOING TO WALK IN THE WAY, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WALK IN CHRIST?
Look at John 14:6. Jesus said, “...I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Once we walk in THE WAY, there are many provisions the Lord has made for us. Such as:
I. “IN THE WAY” THERE ARE BLESSINGS
Some folks have the idea that God is like many parents, that is, he shows favoritism among His Children. But I can assure you that while some parents might do this, GOD NEVER HAS!
The Lord loves everyone here today, just as much as He loved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Some might be saying, “If He loves me as much as He loved them, why is it that He blessed them in a greater way?”
THAT IS A FAIR QUESTION!
But the answer to that question is that these men and women in the scriptures, that God so richly blessed, knew how to walk IN THE WAY.
They knew that to have the BLESSINGS OF GOD on their lives, they had to learn to walk IN THE WAY.
For example, look at Psa. 119:1. We read, “BLESSED are the undefiled IN THE WAY, who walk in the law of the Lord.”
The word “BLESSED” here is the Hebrew word, “Esher”, which means HAPPINESS.
What God is saying here is, “Happy is the man who walks IN THE LAW OF THE LORD.”
That is, they are not allowing the lost world to direct their lives. They are controlled by the Word of God.
Now that is contrary to everything we are being told today about how to be happy. We are being told that if you want to be HAPPY, you are going to have hang out with the ungodly. FOLLOW THE CROWD!
But I want to remind you that this is not what God’s Word says in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
That is, a lost man can go this way and actually think he is on the right path. But one day, he is going to stand before God almighty, and faster than a speeding bullet he is going to realize what a fool he has been.
One of the ways that seem right to so many today is to follow the crowd.
But the problem is this; the crowd they are following does not have the slightest idea of how to find happiness.
If they cannot find happiness for themselves, how in the world are they going to be able to show us how to find happiness?
Illus: To place our hope in the world for finding happiness, is like a drowning man in a swimming pool that cannot swim. And what makes this so bad is if the life guard cannot swim, jumps in to save the drowning man. Listen, if the life guard cannot swim, he cannot save himself. How is he going to save the drowning man?
And it is very obvious today, that the lost world is in serious trouble, and if you put your confidence in them to find happiness, you are in serious trouble as well.
It is a strange thing about following people.
• If we see a man fall in a ditch we learn from his mistake and do not to follow the path that he has chosen.
• But we see people who are following others who have made a mess of their lives follow the same path they followed.
Remember that old saying if the, “Blind lead the blind they both fall into the ditch!”
They do not have the slightest idea of how to find the happiness and contentment that we all long to have.
That is why God’s Word says, in Psa. 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Listen, we should speak and be friendly, and share the gospel with all mankind. But if you want to find the happiness and contentment that your soul longs for in life, you need to stay away from the influence of the ungodly as much as possible.
This is exactly what the Word of God tells us.
Look at Prov. 4:14, we read, “Enter NOT into the path of the wicked, and go NOT IN THE WAY OF EVIL MEN.”
As loving parents, we do all we can to tell our children to stay away from evil companions, but that same advice is good for every adult.
• Be careful who you associate with on your job.
• Be careful what you give your mind to as you watch television.
• Be careful of the things you read.
• Be careful of the places you go.
We can be corrupted by evil as much as our children can.
When we are walking IN THE WAY of the Lord, God will bless our lives. But we have to walk IN THE WAY.
If we leave this pathway, we can expect to miss out on blessings!
“IN THE WAY” THERE ARE BLESSINGS.
Also-
II. “IN THE WAY” THERE IS INSTRUCTION
Look at Prov. 4:11. We read, “I have taught thee IN THE WAY of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.”
Today, we see people making decisions that you can’t help but wonder at. HOW COULD THEY REACH SUCH A DUMB DECISION?
Illus: In the world of trading on the stock market it is a tricky thing in knowing what to invest in and what not to invest in.
However, there is such a thing as called “Inside Trading”. This is where a person like Martha Stewart got some inside information that gave her an advantage over other traders.
If a person gets this inside information they can make a fortune over night.
The information is that someone knows someone who has inside information on future stocks and they are able to make decisions based on that inside information.
Did you know that God knows what is going to happen today, tomorrow, next month and the future? We have a tremendous advantage over lost people. And as we walk IN THE WAY He is able to guide us into making good decisions.
Some people have never made a sensible decision in their life. Their lives consist of making one dumb decision after another.
Their only hope is to come to the Lord Jesus for guidance.
• Look at Psalm 32:8. We read, “I will instruct thee and teach thee IN THE WAY which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”
• Solomon said in the Book of Proverbs 4:11, “I have taught thee IN THE WAY of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.”
“IN THE WAY”
I.THERE IS HAPPINESS
II.THERE IS INSTRUCTION,
but also-
III. “IN THE WAY” THERE IS LIFE ETERNAL
Look at Proverbs 12:28. “IN THE WAY of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.”
There are many advantages of walking IN THE WAY, but the greatest of all these, is that we who are IN CHRIST have eternal life.
Look at John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Notice, the Lord said, “And I GIVE unto them eternal life…”
There is nothing you can do to earn it, it is a GIFT.
• You can join every church in this city, and still be lost.
• You can get baptized in every creek in the county, and still be lost.
• You can give so much to the church that it makes the national news, and still be lost.
• You can do so many good deeds that your picture makes the front cover on every national magazine, and still be lost.
You can do all these things and still be lost.
Jesus made it clear about how you get IN THE WAY, He said, “...I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
On another occasion He said, “I AM THE DOOR!” That is, if you are going to enter heaven you have to go through him!!!
Conclusion:
I want to ask you something important, “ARE YOU IN THE WAY?”
I. “IN THE WAY” THERE ARE BLESSINGS
II. “IN THE WAY” THERE IS INSTRUCTION
III. “IN THE WAY” THERE IS LIFE ETERNAL
Illus: There is a song we use to sing, “THE GLORYLAND WAY.”
The Gloryland Way Congregational Singing
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May 9, 2011
