I invite you this evening to please turn with me in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. We'll be considering verses 5 and 6. Our theme for this evening is decisions, direction, and discerning the will of God. Proverbs chapter 3. Picking up at verse 5, Solomon writes the following words. He says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Would you please pray with me? Our great God and Heavenly Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, We bless you, O God, this evening as your people. We thank you for the Lord's Day Sabbath, where we can set ourselves aside for you, to be taught by you, to be instructed from your word, to be helped on our way to heaven. Lord, we thank you for, in your wisdom, you have given us this great oasis for our souls. And Lord, this night we look to You by faith through Christ to do us good. To teach us much and to help us on our way to the celestial city. We pray, O God, that You would come and quicken us. Help us, O God, for indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We do desire, O God, to worship You, to know You, to be instructed by You, O God, but we pray that you would come and help us to this glorious end. O Lord, as the psalmist said, so also with us our souls do easily cleave to the dust. So rend us from such things, Lord, for this hour. Come, we pray, with an outstretched arm and illumine our text to us. Help us to receive much good from it. And for all of these things, we will praise and bless your most holy name. Father, as we read tonight with the psalmist, we say again that we look for you in this sanctuary that we might see your glory and power. Come, we pray, by the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen. Perhaps you've heard the funny story about the young farmer boy who wanted to know what God was calling him to do with his life. This boy was so desperate to know the answer about this matter that each day when he went into the field to plow corn, he begged God to reveal his will for his life. What should the boy do? What was his great calling as an individual? Well, one day while the boy was plowing corn, he looked up into the sky and it looked as though the clouds were coming together in an unmistakable combination of letters. Now, although at first things seemed a bit uncertain, after a few minutes, things became quite clear to him. Yes, as he looked into the sky, the clouds seemed to form the letters P.C. It was clear, yes, the letters P.C. were there in the sky, but what could this possibly mean? Finally, it hit him. Finally, he knew what he was called to do in life, because quite obviously, the letters P.C. meant preach Christ. Finally, he knew what his great calling was in life. And so after this wonderful experience, the boy immediately rushed into the home of his pastor to share the great news with him. And he asked him if he might have the great privilege of preaching Christ that Sunday to the congregation. Well, after some hesitation, the pastor agreed, and after the sermon on Sunday morning, the young farmer boy met with the pastor and asked him, saying, So what do you think about the sermon that I preached, Pastor? To which the pastor replied, saying, Son, I'm not sure if the Lord was speaking to you in the clouds or not. However, if he was, I think he could have been telling you that what you are to do in your life is plow corn. Now, although such a silly illustration could make us chuckle a bit, it is sad to think that, in a real sense, there are many people who seek to make major decisions in their lives in the same way. There are multitudes who either look to the sky for direction, or trust in visions, or in dreams, or go by their own fallen impressions in order to make very important decisions for future days. Well, this begs the question, then, and it is this. How do we, as the people of God, make good? decisions. How can we who know the Lord through Jesus Christ know his will and direction in our lives for the decisions that we will have to make? This is what we're going to consider this evening in our time together as we continue on in our series in the book of Proverbs. Since all of us will be faced with very important decisions to make in our lives, such as what career should we pursue, who should we marry, what should we do with aging parents who are in need of around-the-clock care, etc. And therefore, such a verse as the one that is before us this evening is absolutely vital for us to understand so as to guide our thinking and our practice in life. This text, which is perhaps the most familiar text in the book of Proverbs, furnishes us with helpful instruction so that we can know what to do in life when it comes to making good and God-honoring choices. So, as we come then to this passage for this evening where Solomon gives his son a lesson on decision-making, I ask you to notice with me first in your Bibles in 5A a prerequisite. Note the words again. Solomon says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Now, in these opening words here, we have the positive side of Solomon's instruction on this topic. Solomon will speak negatively in just a few moments in 5b in this section of Proverbs, but for now he begins this instruction by commanding his son, saying to him first in our text, trust in the Lord, trust in Jehovah. Now, what a great place to start when it comes to making good God honoring decisions and knowing the will of the Lord, that is to say, his will of direction or his revealed will for our lives. You see, far from fretting and far from allowing ourselves to be filled with all kinds of anxiety, etc., Solomon says that the very first place to begin regarding this topic is by trusting the Lord. Now, what does the word trust mean here in our passage? Many people have all kinds of ideas about what it means to trust in the Lord, but oftentimes their ideas stand in conflict with the Bible. And so we should know that this Hebrew word here for trust in our verse carries the idea of complete reliance. This verb has the idea of having confidence in someone or in something, and it's used in Psalm 22 in verse 9 to speak about a baby resting peacefully in its mother's bosom, the point being that a true trust in God will always give us peace within. Now this call to trust in the Lord, trust in Jehovah is really the center and marrow of all true biblical wisdom. My point is, if we were to search the scriptures through and through, we would see that trusting in the Lord is at the core of what it means to be a true Christian. And many scriptures bear this out. And so, for example, just to highlight this, we read about such a thing in Psalm 37 in verse 5, where we're commanded by the psalmist to commit our ways to the Lord and trust also in him. Again, in Psalm 62, in verse 8, we're called to trust in the Lord at all times, and this is because He is a refuge for us. Additionally, in Psalm 115, in verse 9, the writer calls us to trust in the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. And then in Proverbs 28, in verse 25, we're told that we are to trust in the Lord, for He that does this will be prospered. So again, this is what Solomon is calling us to do in the very first part of our passage. Here he says to us that as we go through the world with all the decisions that we will have to make, be that big decisions or small decisions, we are to be sure that we are fully believing upon our great God who is promised to lead and direct us in all things. Solomon says here, that for those who have been redeemed by God's grace, we are to look to Him with a true faith being fully persuaded that through Christ, He will guide our feet accordingly. To use New Testament language, we are to walk by faith and not by sight knowing that without faith it is impossible to please the Lord as we're told in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7 and Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6. Now of course, implied in this command to trust in the Lord is the fact that He alone is worthy of our Trust implied in these words is that the Lord is utterly dependable and therefore he can be trusted. And so friends, the point is we must trust him as his people. The call to trust in the Lord again presupposes that Jehovah is trustworthy as Christians. We must fully believe in the Lord, for our God is the God who is all-wise and all-powerful. He is the God who always is, hence the name Jehovah, and He is the God whose promises in Christ are always yes and amen. Dear ones, since our God alone is the true and living God, and since He is a covenant-keeping God who cannot lie, I say that we can always look to Him in time of need, and in doing this, we will be blessed. Now this is exactly what the prophet Jeremiah says to us in his own book. There in Jeremiah chapter 17, and verse 17, in expressing this thought to Ati, Jeremiah says, bless is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord. And for those of you who are familiar with that passage there in Jeremiah, you know that the opposite is true, because there he says, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes man his own flesh. The curse comes upon the one who trusts in others, but the blessing of God comes upon those who trust in the Lord. Now, notice next in the second part of this opening sentence here, the manner, the manner in which we are to trust in the Lord. Solomon writes, trust in the Lord. And then he says that we are to do this with all our heart. Now, here's where the rubber is going to hit the road for some of us, I'm sure. You see, while for some of us we will say out of one side of our mouths, oh yes, I trust the Lord. However, sadly, oftentimes we don't do this with all of our hearts. Sadly, Our trust in the Lord is a divided confidence, and this is seen by the fact that we are often so worried about the future as if there really isn't a God in heaven who has promised to take care of us. But friends, When Solomon says here that we are to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, he's saying that we are to do this with all that we are. He's saying that our total inner beings, that is to say our hearts, our minds, our wills, and yes, even our emotions, all that we are comprised of without reserve, must constantly be trusting in Jesus Christ, our Lord. The point is, our trust in the Lord must be comprehensive. Our trust in the Lord must be total. It must be exclusive, for I say that either our God is trustworthy to lead us or not, and if He can't be trusted with all, He cannot be trusted at all. Well, dear ones, since we know that in fact our God can be trusted with all, we are never to be half-hearted toward Him, knowing that as we read in James chapter 1 and verse 8, a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Now perhaps this would be a good place for us in the message, for all of us, to ask the Lord for forgiveness, knowing that oftentimes we have had a divided heart concerning him. Perhaps there are some of us here tonight who have fallen woefully short of really trusting the Lord with all that you are. And you need to ask him for forgiveness, being that this is a great offense to the Almighty. Dear friends, I say that since the Lord loves to forgive his people, when we come clean before him, When the searchlight of his word shines within us and we say, Lord, I have not fully trusted in you. I have not cast all my cares upon you, knowing that you have cared for me. Lord, I've been divided in my confidence. Please forgive me. Please wash me. Please remove this dreaded sin from my heart. Perhaps now would be a good time for some of us to ask the Lord to forgive us from the deep recesses of our hearts. So come with me secondly then, in our passage to consider negatively in 5b a prohibition, a prohibition. Having told us what we are to do, positively speaking, as we seek to make decisions in life, trusting God first, Solomon now issues a very pointed warning and says to us, note the words again, he writes, and lean not on your own understanding. Now, as we begin to look at these words, I do want to clarify what they are saying so that there'll be no mistakes here. You see, when we're commanded in this verse not to lean on our own understanding when it comes to making decisions, this does not mean that God would have us not to use our human reasoning at all. Friends, the point is this verse does not indulge in anti-intellectualism. Nor is it against us studying out various options and decisions that are before us. No, Solomon here does not say that we are not to use our understanding, that is to say our own wisdom and insights, etc. Rather, he says that we are not to lean on our own understandings. Now, the sense in the word lean here means to rest on something for support. And it's the same word that's used in 2 Samuel 1, verse 6, where it speaks about Saul leaning on his spear. And so the idea in the passage is that when it comes to making choices in life, our own perspectives, our own ideas, our own thoughts about what should be and what should not be are not to be the final bar of things apart from God and His revealed truth. The point is simply stated, We are not to allow our own comprehension to be that which we rely upon as the sole basis in the decision making process. What is the sin that Solomon is really coming against here in this portion of Scripture. Well, clearly, it's the sin of pride, right? Clearly, it's the sin of self-reliance, self-conceit, which sadly is often based in self-ignorance, because our own understandings are so limited. Dear ones, our knowledge of things is often so faulty, and therefore, the call here in the passage is to either trust in our faulty and falling understanding or ultimately trust in God whose understanding is much greater than ours. Now, if we're going to be good decision makers, then we must be clear about the choice that we are to make here as God's people. Again, since human understanding is so short-sighted, we must be sure that in all things we are leaning on God's understanding above our own understanding. And so, friends, very plainly, these words condemn a know-it-all kind of attitude. These words condemn smugness, and they set forth the truth that Solomon said in Proverbs 26 and verse 12 when he wrote, do you see a man who lies in his own eyes? The reply? There is more hope for a fool than for him. This verse also condemns what Solomon says in the very next verse in this chapter. Note it there in your Bibles. Solomon says, do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. And so you see that as good as common sense and acquired knowledge are, We must never forget that all of us have blind spots. We don't know all things. This is simply a byproduct of our fallen human natures. I say that since God's wisdom is higher than ours. And since his understanding of things is infinitely more perfect than ours, the point is that Solomon says to us quite literally that we are never ever to make our understanding the primary source of what we do in life. Brothers and sisters, I say that since even our best thoughts are imprecise, God's ways must be chosen over our ways, even when they seem to contradict our own earthly human wisdom. Now, that's humility. I think this is what we should do, but God says something different. Therefore, we submit to what God has said to us. We say, Lord, again, as Isaiah says, Your ways are higher than our ways, Lord. Therefore, when God says that which seems to go against what we think is right, we bow to the Lord and we take His own wisdom. Thirdly, then, consider with me in 6a a prescription. A prescription. If we are going to make good decisions in life and discover God's will, Solomon says concerning the Lord, noted again, that in all our ways we are to acknowledge Him. Now again, as with verse five, we have here another command in our passage. But what exactly does it mean to acknowledge the Lord in all of our ways? Does it mean just simply, oh, we acknowledge God, I acknowledge God. Oh yeah. Does it mean that we just adopt a bunch of God talk? No, it doesn't. Simply put, the word acknowledge here means to know. And so Solomon is saying to us that if we are going to make good decisions in life, we must personally be mindful of the Lord in all that we do. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways. Be personally mindful of the Lord in all the decisions that you're going to make. He says that we must confess the Lord and own the Lord, bringing Him and His truth into every circumstance and decision that we encounter. Here the word acknowledge also carries the idea of seeing. And so the point is that Solomon is saying to us that we must have a practical recognition of God's presence in our lives and live accordingly to this fact and to make decisions in light of this. The bottom line is, as Christians, we are never to leave God out of the picture. Every decision, every choice, big or small, seemingly difficult or not, we must not leave God out of the picture. Acknowledge Him, know Him, see Him, understand He is there in all your ways. And so, if we do all that Solomon has commanded us thus far in our verse, with the help and grace of God, what will the necessary effect be that comes to us? If we trust in the Lord exclusively, with all of our hearts not being divided concerning Him, if we don't make our own fall in understanding the standard in all things, and if we openly seek to acknowledge our God for who He is, what will the outcome be? We're given the answer in the second part of this verse. So having seen a prerequisite, a prohibition, and a prescription, come with me forthly now to consider in 6B a promise. A promise. What will be the grand end of the person who by God's grace trusts in the Lord with all of his heart? and does not lean on his own understanding, but in all of his ways he realizes that God must be there. God must be looked to. Well, Solomon tells us when he says here, concerning the Lord, note the words again, and he shall direct your paths. Now what a great promise this is, right? This is the focal point of the passage. Remember, 3.1, just to give you some context here. My son. Solomon is teaching his son. how to make decisions. Guidance for the young, that's the heading here over chapter 3. So, how does the son, how does anyone come to learn how to make good decisions in their lives? Here's the answer. Do all these things, Solomon says, and he will direct your path. Dear brothers and sisters, I say that since we are not to look into crystal balls, or to have our palms read, etc., we need to know what paths we are to take in life so that we can honor our God. Well, these words tell us here again that if we do what God calls us to do in the prior verses, then we will be directed to make good and right choices in our lives. As one writer says in commenting on this text, quote, when you abandon yourself to God in trusting obedience, finding your entire support in Him, and striving in every avenue of your life to know Him more intimately, He guarantees that the path before you will be clearer and smoother than otherwise it would have been, and that He will keep you in His will. And so, again, I say what a great promise this is. Well, of course, these words don't mean that the right path that God will lead us down will always be trouble-free. They don't mean that at all. However, they do mean that the way that he takes us down will be straighter than the wrong path in life. My point is, sometimes the path for us in the will of God will be very hard. It will be difficult. However, if we know that it's the right one, we will most gladly go down that path knowing that God will give us grace to bear all that comes our way. And so in this sense, we can say, if you have a little footnote in your Bible there in verse six, and he shall direct your path footnote by the word direct, that is to say, he will make smooth or straight your way. Well, here then is the exposition of this very foundational yet very important passage concerning making decisions and discerning the will of God. Here Solomon says, trust in the Lord. He calls us to not lean on our own understanding as the ultimate source of all things. He calls us to acknowledge our God in all of our ways, with the result being that he will direct our path. Now, along with this very helpful passage that we must pray in and work out in our lives with the help and grace of God, there are six other things. that are intimately connected to this topic, which we must do if we want to do well in this vital area of life. There are six things that we must apply to the topic at hand. And the first is that with everything else that has been said, if we are going to make good decisions in our lives as Christians, we must search the scriptures Dear ones, when it comes to making right choices in life, choices that please God, glorify His name, and will be good for us, we must have our Bibles open before us. Since the Bible is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway, it alone is the inspired rule and roadmap for us as Christians. Dear ones, the Scripture in its entirety, the Bible is to direct us, not hearing voices from God, not drawing sticks, not picking random Bible verses out of context, not flipping a coin in order to know the will of God, but the Scriptures are wanted to be before us, and therefore, very practically speaking, as God's people, we must know our Bibles through and through. We must be familiar with what the Bible tells us, combing through the Scripture so that we can think God's thoughts after Him. What does God want me to do about this thing or that thing? Do we know? And Sadly, so often, when people run into trouble in their lives, when they make wrong decisions, it's because they don't know what the Bible says. They haven't studied the Word of God. They're not regularly spending time in the scriptures to really find out what is God's will for this thing or that thing. But you say, Pastor, what about when you don't have a specific text that says, for example, thou shalt not go to this college. Thou shalt pursue that career, etc. What do you do when you don't have a text that speaks directly to your situation? Well, at that point, you are to take the general principles of the Word of God and examples in Scripture and then apply them to yourself. But again, my premise is the same. Our primary source book as Christians is God's Word. God's Word is to be our main standard in all things. Secondly, when it comes to making good and godly decisions, of course, we must pray. We must pray. The point is, dear ones, with whatever decisions we need to make, we need to seek the face of God, Jehovah the Lord, the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-wise, all-seeing God. We can only see this far. He can see everything that is before us. Now, at this point, negatively speaking, we're not to be like Joshua, who, in the Old Testament, went in the midst of his prosperity, erred by neglecting to ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord, as we read in Joshua chapter 9 and verse 14 concerning the matter of his treaty with the Gibeonites. They're in that passage because Joshua thought that things were so clear concerning that situation. In his own understanding, he made a bad peace treaty with those people. And this affected him all of his days. He did not ask counsel of the Lord. And so unlike him, in this one area of his life where he made a bad decision. In all things and in all circumstances, big or small, easy or difficult, we must seek our Father who is in heaven. Seek him for his wisdom. Knowing that if any man lacks wisdom, he is to call upon the Lord, and He will give to him wisdom liberally and without reproach. We are to call upon His great name, knowing that according to James chapter 4 and verse 2, we have not because we ask not. And so I ask you here this evening, dear Christian, when it comes to those decisions that you need to make, are you a man? Are you a woman? Do you do everything else in our verse? You begin by trusting God and doing those other things. But then, having searched the scripture, you say, Lord, make this clear to me. Lord, you're infinitely wise. You're altogether full of wisdom. Lord Jesus, in you are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Give me guidance. Brethren, we must pray. As a church, we must pray when it comes to the decisions that we will make. As an eldership, we must pray. Look, what should we do? What should we not do? Help us, Lord. Give us your mind. Thirdly, when it comes to making good and godly decisions, we must get wise, mature, godly counsel. Now, notice I said wise, mature, godly counsel, and not just mere counsel. That is to say, the counsel that we think is best. The point is, we're not primarily to get counsel from those who are our immediate peers, those who are necessarily our best friends, but typically they'll tell us what we want to hear. And here, H-E-R-E, I'm thinking about you young people in this place specifically. Here, young people, listen. I trust that most of you are familiar With what happened in the life of Rehoboam, as set forth in 1 Kings 12, Rehoboam was one of the sons of Solomon. And in his decision making, he took the advice of the younger men in the nation, as opposed to the older, more mature, wise, godly men. And in doing this, he split the nation in half. His bad decision caused a civil war in the land. And this was horrible indeed. So again, younger people, when it comes to making decisions in life, listen to me. Get good, godly, wise, mature counsel. Speak to your parents. Yes, I said speak to your parents. Speak to your pastors. Speak to people in the church. who have been Christians for more than three years. Get good, godly, mature counsel for your lives, knowing that according to Proverbs 15 and verse 22, without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed. Fourth, when it comes to making good and godly decisions, we must consider God's providence in our lives. By God's providence, of course, I'm referring to the situations that He has ordained for our lives by His grace. God's providence in our lives is what is, simply put. And oftentimes our circumstances are helpful in determining what we should do or what we should not do in the days ahead. Viewing providence can be useful in helping us to make decisions as Christians. But let me be clear here that providence is not to be the final word in the decisions that we make. Again, the scriptures alone are to be the final word. Again, providence can be useful. Our particular circumstances in the providence of God can help us to make decisions. But again, Providence is definitely not enough for us to make a definitive choice. And here, I think, for example, of that example, I've given many times in this pulpit, and it's found in the book of Jonah. And I ask you to please turn with me there in your Bibles. Turn with me to Jonah, chapter one, Jonah in the minor prophets. Just notice this in your Bibles with me. Some of you might recall Jonah, chapter one, In verse 2, God spoke to Jonah directly. He said, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against the city, for its wickedness has come up against me. Well, in the next verse, we're told that instead of Jonah doing this, that he fled to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, or Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. And so he paid his fare and went his merry way, or at least he thought so. Now, what's so striking here is that Tarshish was in the opposite direction from where Jonah was to go. He was supposed to go to Nineveh, which was northeast, but he disobeyed God and went west to Tarshish. And lo and behold, when he went down to the ship port, there was a ship there, in God's providence, ready to go in the exact opposite direction that God had called them to go. And so you see Jonah could have reasoned to himself and said, ah, look, God's providence in this situation. I mean, look, I'm running from the Lord. Oh, I know he gave me a great command, but his providence has obviously changed things. Now he wants me to go on the ship away from the direction that he's called me to go. Is that what God's providence was telling him? No. And in this Jonah greatly sinned. Notice the passage. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai. saying, Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it. For, here's why, their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, the opposite direction from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, the place away from where God commands me to go. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. So is God happy with his decision? I don't think so. It's a whale of a story, I can tell you at another time. God was not happy with his decision. God overturned his decision. But is God's providence? No. The revealed will of God was, go that way. And of course, God orchestrated all things that came to pass. But he should not have read into the providence of God and therefore make his decision or accept it as that which he was to do. God gave him a command, go, preach. But the shift, Lord, the shift. It's kind of like when my wife and I, one time way many years ago, we were talking to a girl in the church and she wanted to marry an unbeliever. The Bible says, she confessed Christ, don't be joined with an unbeliever. What fellowship does light have with darkness? Well, I've known this guy my whole life. As it were in God's providence, he's been my best friend. Our families know each other. We get along great, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Look what God's providence has brought about in my life concerning this individual. What fellowship does light have with darkness? And she could not hear the word of God and went off and married this man to her own fault. Providence can be helpful. But it is never to be understood, as thus says the Lord. Fifth, when it comes to making good and godly decisions, we must ask ourselves four very important questions to determine our course in life. Here they are. First, will God be glorified in what I choose to do? That's an important question. Why? Because Paul says in first Corinthians 10 verse 31, that whether we eat or drink, Or whatever we do, we ought to do all to the glory of God. Should I do this thing? Will God be glorified? Question number one. Two, we ought to ask ourselves when we make a decision, is the thing that I'm considering doing lawful or sinful? Is this choice that I will make lawful, pleasing to God, or sinful? Will this choice violate God's word? And if it will, I must not do it. Third, we must ask ourselves, will the thing that I choose benefit others or not? Because it's not all about us. Not all about me. Will others benefit from this decision? Because we have to love our neighbors as ourselves. Lastly then, by way of questions, we need to ask ourselves when we are making decisions. Will my choice make me more like Jesus Christ, the Lord? If God's ultimate goal in our lives is conformity to Christ, Romans 8 and verse 29, then therefore we need to ask that question. Will this decision help me to be more holy, more like the Son of the living God? Well, six would then. When it comes to making good and godly decisions, we must make good and godly decisions. So what's my point? Well, my point is, we must not stay in limbo forever. Oh, that's so terrible. And I meet people, I'm trying to decide on this thing or that thing. And weeks go by, months go by, years go by, no decision is made. Decide something, friend. And if it's a wrong decision, trust that God will work it for your good. Romans 8. If it's the right decision, bless God for it. We can't remain indecisive in life. No, this does not honor God. Rather, we are to do everything that we've spoken about tonight. And after we've seriously and prayerfully done those things, after we've done those things, we are to trust God with the rest. Kevin DeYoung, a very popular writer in our day, a good writer. He has a good book called Just Do Something. I believe that's the title. Just Do Something. Do something based upon the principles of God. They brought you, as it were, to the end of the diving board. You need to jump. Believing God that He will guide you because you've done what you need to do. Trusting God that He will direct your path. For He said in His Word, the way of the righteous shall be made plain. You go forward in faith, having done all that God's Word has set before you. So, dear friends, I hope that what we've considered this evening will be profitable for you in the days ahead. I think about some of you young people. You've got a host of decisions that you will make in the days ahead. What choices should you make? On what principles? Tonight we've considered these things. Dear congregation, since the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5 and verse 17 that we are not to be unwise concerning the will of the Lord, but we are to understand what that will is. I pray that God himself will grant this to be so for all of us by his great and unfailing grace. In my time that remains, I want to end with a word to any non-Christian here this evening. This evening we've been talking about making good and godly decisions. This is so important for all of us, young or old, whoever we are. Us older folks are going to have to make decisions in the days ahead. We need wisdom from on high. You need wisdom, my dear non-Christian, in your life as well. But my friend, I say that there's one decision in your life which is the most important, and that decision is directly connected to your relationship with Jesus Christ. And you see, my friend, because you're not saved this evening, already you have made a bad decision. You've already made a bad choice, if you will. Right now, you're choosing to live apart from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus says in His Word that based upon that choice, you have already put yourself on the broad road that leads to destruction. Bad choice. Bad path. Think about it. Some of you here this evening, You are on this road that leads to destruction. Jesus says in life there are only two paths. Narrow is the way. Straight, constricted, is the way that leads to life. And few there be that find it. Narrow is the way to be blessed in this life and blessed in the life to come. But it is a constricted way. It's a narrow way. It's a way of discipleship and following hard after Christ. It's a way of taking up your cross, denying self, cutting off right arms, plucking out right eyes. It's a difficult way, but indeed it's the most blessed way. Because in contrast to that way, as I said, there's this broad way, and Jesus says, many there be that are on that road. And my dear non-Christian here tonight, because you have not turned from your sins and asked Jesus to save you, because you have not trusted in His finished work on the cross of Calvary, you are on the road that leads to destruction. You say, Pastor, how do I get out of that road? How do I get out of that path which By nature I was born into, and by practice I have continued on. How do I get out of that path? There's only one way. It's by calling upon Jesus to deliver you out of the road, out of the way of destruction. If you see yourself on this terrible path, this path apart from Christ, apart from truth, apart from righteousness, apart from salvation. If God is showing you that you are not right with Him, call upon the Lord. Oh Lord, deliver me from this road which is apart from You. That is not the smooth road, as it were. It's the road of destruction, the road of despair. It is the road that will destroy my soul ultimately in the final day. Is that the road you want to stay on? That's the road that most people in this world are on today. And I say let the world mock or deride us Christians. Ah, you're so narrow. Ah, you're Bible only. You're Jesus only. Mock, mock, mock. Heckle, heckle, heckle. I say thanks be to God that we are on the right road. Thanks be to God that He has put us on that narrow path that leads to life. If you're a non-Christian here tonight, my great desire is that you would see yourself as a sinner before God. See yourself in truth. Acknowledge what your own conscience says about you. Guilty before God. and fly to Christ by faith to be saved. Ask Him to wash you. Ask Him to cleanse you. That's what He does. He's the Savior of sinners. If you come to Him and humble yourself, if you come owning your sins, Jesus will receive you with open arms. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, All that come to Me, I will in no wise put aside. The Greek is even better. Those who come to me, I will never, no, never cast them out. That's a Savior I can love. That's a Savior I can run to each day of my life. Those who come to me, initially with salvation, and then every day afterwards, I will never, no, never cast you out. What a Savior! What an invitation! What a gracious A statement from His lips. My dear non-Christian, this is the Jesus of the Bible. And He invites you to Himself. Notice I said He invites you to Himself. He doesn't invite you to the front of the church. He doesn't invite you to pray a prayer. He doesn't invite you to sign a card. He doesn't invite you to do any of those human methods of salvation, if you will. He calls you to call upon His name. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. There are many people here tonight who are on the narrow road that leads to life, and we are very thankful. We got on this road only by God's grace. We want to see you making your pilgrimage with us to heaven, side by side. looking at the things of the world and say they're passing, they're fleeting. No real joy, no real hope, no truth. It's confusion. And loving the way of the pilgrim's path to the celestial city. Join us, my friend. Repent and believe the Gospel. This is the best decision that you will ever make in your life from the human side of things. Look to the Lord. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will be saved. Let's pray. Our Father, we confess that oftentimes we have made decisions Way too much in our own strength. We have not leaned on you. Rather, we've leaned on our own understanding. We've not looked to you in your word, Lord. We've not humbled ourselves to get counsel from others. Lord, we have messed things up many times because of such things. We do ask you to forgive us, Lord. We pray that we will trust you with all of our hearts and not fret afterwards. Pray, Lord, that You'll help us to make good decisions, both individually and corporately as a congregation. Oh God, might we always seek Your mind. Might we know Your will according to Your Word and be blessed as we seek to execute that will in our own lives. Go before us, we pray. Go behind us, we ask. Hedge us in with Your truth. Guide us and guard us. as we seek to travel to glory. Bless our considerations, we pray, O God. Help us, we ask in Jesus' worthy name. Amen.