Christianity. That's in the book of Acts 16 verse 6 through verse number 11. That's Acts 16 verses 6 through verse number 11. Confident Christianity. What is it? Can you really trust the Lord to lead in the right way? Let's read the book of Acts 16 verses 6 through verse number 11. Confident Christianity. We can know what we're doing is what God wants us to do. That's what the message is all about. In verse number 6 of Acts 16, the Bible said, Now when they had gone throughout Pigeria and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit, to preach the word in Asia. Isn't that amazing? Wasn't anybody living in Asia? I think so. Lots of people living there. But they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia. The Bible says in verse 7, After they were come to Mesa, they assayed, or that is they tried, they made plans to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit Suffer them not. Wow. How do you tell what God wants you to do? How do you tell? Do you go by the circumstances of life? Is that what you go by? Do you take the easiest path? The easiest path is always one the Lord wants us to go on. It always is. But you consider this, consider it well, because what we call easy may not be what God calls easy. Remember that the Apostle Paul was beaten. He was led out of the city at one point and was beaten and they thought he had killed him. Was he doing the will of God? He was. He was doing what God told him to do, even though there was much struggle that he had to go through. The Bible said in verse number 8, And passing by, and passing by Messah, they came to Troas. So here, they came to Troas, the Bible said in verse number 9, And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. Here he is on his missionary journey, and he does not know what to do next. He does not rely upon a vision, but he trusts God instead. The Bible says, "...and a vision appeared to Paul in the night, and there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed to him, saying, Come over unto Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us or to preach the gospel unto them. What are you doing? What do you have? Confident Christianity. This is what we need today. We need to do what God wants us to do, period. God will work out every detail if we just submit ourselves to do what God wants us to do. I know today, I know this, that there's things that are in the future that we don't know. Right? There are things that we don't know. But we're not cussing at what we know. We're cussing to do what God wants us to do. God will always work out the details of our life. Paul is that kind of person. He wants to do what God wants him to do. It don't make a difference whatever happens. He wants to do what God wants him to do, and he's trusting in God. That's what this lesson is about. Confident Christianity. Do you have confident Christianity, or are you kind of shaky in that? We're talking to saved people, right? Do you have confident Christianity? Look at this, in verse number 10. Immediately after he had seen the vision, the Bible says, Immediately. What does that mean? Right then. Immediately. They went and did what God wanted them to do right then. They didn't wait on anybody. They didn't even wait for it to be approved by the council that had sent them out. They didn't wait on that. But they did what God wanted them to do. That's very important. The Bible says they endeavored to go into Macedonia. That means that they were struggling to go. They worked it all out. They were trying to get the details worked out. Now we're going to go into Macedonia because God wants us to go into that place to talk to them. So confident Christianity. Are you confident? in your Christian life. This is what we're going to be talking about today. Let's go, Lord, into word prayer as we begin the message. Father, I pray, Lord, that you might help me, Lord, today. That I might say what these people need to hear. And, Lord, that I might preach your word your way. That you might get the going on of it all. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you might just touch these people. Lord, that they might be the kind of people you want them to be. I pray, Lord, forgive us for our many sins. Blessings upon us. Keep us, Lord. For it's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen. Well, I'm struggling here. I'm really struggling. Because when I prepared the message I was preparing it mainly for young people. Because young people need to know what God wants them to do, right? I'm a little bit older than I used to be. But that doesn't mean that I don't need to know what God wants me to do. That means that I need to be exactly where God wants me to be. I need to be faithful to Almighty God, just like the young people need to be faithful to Almighty God. Because I have a life to live. I'm accountable unto God. Not to you, I'm accountable to God. Just like Paul and this group. They were accountable to God, right? They were not accountable to the place that has sent them out. But they were accountable unto God and to God alone. Can God take care of the folks back home? You bet he can. Well, I shouldn't have said you bet, but he can take care of it. If we do what God wants us to do, God will always bless. But I was thinking about young folks and how that they need to have a confident Christianity. We have tried, as we've been here, And I know every family has tried to raise their children in the way that they need to go. I know that that's on the mama's and daddy's hearts, that the children would do what God wants them to do. Regardless, God will always take care of them. He will always do that. It is very necessary that the children learn that. I don't know. Right now, I'm just in a confusion about who the message is really for. But if it's for you, I pray you'll take it and I pray you'll use it. I don't care how old you are. Or I don't really care how young you are. I really don't. You might be just a little bitty guy. You might be a little bitty guy. But listen, God has a reason, God has a plan for your life. God wants you to be faithful to Him. You might be old and barely able to get around. I don't know. But God has a plan for your life. God has something for you to do. So I'm sick, I'm in the hospital a lot, and I can't get around good. You know what? I don't remember who it was. I think Brother Cecil can probably tell you, but I can't remember who it was. But this guy was in the hospital, and a preacher went in there to see him. And he said, well, what are you doing back in here? I'll see you back in the hospital again. And he said, oh, these nuns, I just need somebody to witness to them. I don't know who it was. But there's a man that was very ill. Very ill. But he wanted to be a witness for the Lord. That's what counts. That's what the whole message is about. Sometimes, young people, as they're growing up in their home, and I think this is really good, I think this is really good, for mamas and daddies to be in charge. Mamas and daddies are the boss. I said to my children, I said to them, I mean it, boy I mean it, I don't care. If I'm 100 years old and they're 70 years old or 80 years old living in my house, they're going to do exactly what I say. I believe that. Boy, they're going to do what I say. I believe that. You may think I'm going too far, but I don't think I'm going too far. Because if they're living in my house, I'm supplying for them, I'm the boss. That's it. They do what I say. When they get out on their own, I don't bother them. They do what they want to do then. That's what I believe. So you may be a young person in your father's house, your mother's house, and you need to be in submission to them. I believe that's God's will for you. I believe that. I know Beth was, I forget how old she was when she got married, I can't go there because I'd get in trouble if I do. But anyway, her and Brian always made sure where they were going that it was alright with us. That's over 30 years old. I think that's good. So that's what I'm saying. is that regardless, you need to be under authority as a young person. You need to be under the authority of your mother and your daddy, and you need to do exactly what they say to you, and you don't need to talk back to them. You don't need to do that. I tell you what, if you talk back to your mom and daddy, I'll tell you what they need to do. I tell you, I don't know what your mom and dad's going to do because I can't tell them. I will tell them what to do. But I tell you what, they need to take you out and they need to limber up a little stick and they need to wear you out. Boy, they need to whip you and they need to make you mind. Why? Because they're older than you and they know what's best for you and besides that, you're under their authority. You're under their authority. And when they spank you, when they whip you, whatever you want to call it, they're doing you a good service. And when you listen to that, well, that's good. I mean, when you listen to your mother and your daddy, that is good. Don't think that's bad. But that is good. You say, well, that whipped me. That hurts. I know it does. I got them. I know what you're talking about. I know all about that. I tell you what, those little limber switches are about that long. When they're real limber, boy, they do hurt. Oh, boy, they do hurt. My sister, though, she drug in a big old dry limb. The story behind it goes like, we had to go cut her own switches. So my sister got this big old dry dead limb, this big round. It was a great big thing. Mother got tickled and she couldn't whip her then. But she met up for it next time. Because Dean brought a little old tiny switch in there, boy just about that long. Mother said, this is right. And she whipped her twice for that once. I tell you what, you need to be under the authority of your parents. That's what I'm telling you. That's what I'm saying all out for. That you need to listen to your mom and dad. You need to obey them because it's good for you. Your mom and daddy know more than you know. God has arranged it this way. Your mom and dad are not stupid. They know you and they know what's best for you. You listen to what they're saying to you. It'll be good for you. One of these days, though, you're going to grow up. One of these days, you're going to grow up. Listen, you need to have a fix in your heart and your mind that what you do is what God wants you to do. I say this to every one of you young folks. When you're growing up, you need to do what God wants you to do, not what feels good. Don't do what feels good. If you do what God wants you to do, you will never regret that. But if you do what you feel like doing, you know what I'm talking about? I know what I'm talking about. You know also. You don't want to listen. You want your way. You'll do things your way. Listen. I know what that is. But there's consequences to pay. You need to listen to your mom and daddy. But there's going to come a day. There's going to come a day when you're going to grow up. When you have to make your own decisions. But you need to make your decisions based on what God wants you to do and not on what you feel like doing. I mean, that's it. You need to pray. You need to pray. I'm talking to you that are saved. You need to pray that God will bless you. If you're lost today, I don't think it's wrong at all for you to pray that God would bless you, that God would show you the right way to go. I don't think it's wrong. I know I've been told the opposite of that. But if you're lost, you need to ask God to direct you exactly where you need to go. You need to submit to Almighty God as you grow up. You need to do that. Because you have a life to live. Look in the book of Genesis 19. Genesis 13. Genesis 13. Look, you need to follow what God wants you to do. Genesis 13. There could be somebody here today. There could be somebody here today that's going to wind up just like Lot. There could be. There could be somebody that don't hear anything at all about following God. You could be that person. You need to listen to what God says to you and follow what the Lord leads in you. Look at Lot. That's what the message is about, Lot. Lot, in this case, was a was following after Abram. Right? I think Lot was a saved person. But Lot, instead of following God, was following Abram. You see that? That is always wrong. Abram was a good man. Abraham, who he became. He was a good man. It's good to follow good men. Let me tell you something. You need to follow God before you follow good men. You see that? That's the truth. Because if you don't follow God, you'll wind up in the same place Lot wound up in. You need to follow God. You need to be open before God. The Bible said about this man Lot, look in verse 7. And there was a strife. between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, and the cattlemen, and the Canaanite, and the Persians that dwelt then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Abram said, it wasn't Lot, it was Abraham that came to Lot and said, okay, let's stop this fighting. Here's what we're going to do. Here's what we're going to do. Abraham said, you choose a land that you want to go to and you go there. And I'll take what's left. Alright? But look what happened. In Genesis 13 and verse 10. Lot lifted up his eyes. I tell you what, don't do this. Don't do that. Don't do what Lot did. Lot lifted up his eyes. He looked with his eyes at the situation that he was going into, and the Bible said, "...and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as it cometh unto Zor." Look at that. So what did the Lord do wrong? The thing about it was, was that Lot made a judgment based upon what he believed. Did Lot ever ask the Lord? Did Lot ever ask the Lord? Have you ever made a decision based upon what you see? Based upon what you see, have you ever made that decision? I have. We talked about Sanskrit this morning. I have. I remember making a decision. I remember this. Making a decision almost 30 years ago now. That I was not going to preach another message. That I was tired of this mess. I wasn't going to be involved in that no more. I'm done with that. I told Brother Cecil that. I was living down in Russellville, Arkansas. I told him I'm through. I'm through. You know what I said? Okay. I told the same thing to Gerald Blue. I said, I'm done. He said, okay. That was almost 30 years ago. Not quite. A lot of water been on the bridge since then. And here I am. Still preaching. I thank my God. You see, have you ever made a decision based on what was in front of you? Don't do that. Have you ever made a decision based on what you can see? Don't do that. Make a decision based on what God sees. That's the reality of it all. I'm talking to young folks. Listen. You need to see what God sees. Not all the free old... You need to look at what God wants you to do. And whatever God wants you to do, God will always work it out. Somebody says, I don't understand how God's going to work it out. No. No, you don't. I didn't either. I have no idea how God's going to work it out. I tell you what, that's His business. My business is to do what God wants me to do. That's it. I remember at Willow Hill, when I passed it over there, I told the folks, I said, they talked about a radio program for years and years. They talked about one. They just talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked, talked. Never did anything. Never did anything. Never did anything. Nothing. Not a word. Not nothing. According to their own offerings, I approved of them. I said, you don't give enough to hardly pay me. Much less to have a radio broadcast. I was brave in those days. That's why I told them. They decided that they wanted a radio broadcast and the first thing you know, they wanted two boxes at the back. One to put the funds for the radio programs in and one for the radio search office. That's what they wanted. It wasn't very long until they had more money in the radio fund than they did in the treasure. See there? You can do it. I tell you what, you can do it. The whole thing I'm talking about is help to you that are young. You need to step out by faith and not trust nothing else. Just believe what God said and God will work it out. How's He going to do that? I don't know. I don't know how God's going to work it out. But God will work it out. If you do what God wants you to do, God will bless. Right? You think? You need to do what God wants you to do and God will bless. If you don't do what God wants you to do, God will not bless. That's it. I mean, that's across the board. That fits us all. But the Bible says in verse number 11, Because Lot lifted up his eyes, and don't do this, don't do this, don't look around you and see all the things that you couldn't do. Don't do that. But you look around and you see what God wants you to do. Because He's your Master. He's your Lord. He's in charge. You need to do what God wants you to do. The Bible said, because of verse 10, when Lot lifted up his eyes, and because of that, in verse 11, Then Lot chose him all the planet of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves one from another. I tell you what, there's no doubt, there's no doubt in my mind that Lot was following Abram instead of the Lord. There's no doubt about it. But you need to follow the Lord. You need to have in your mind that you're going to do what God wants you to do. The Bible said in verse 14 that God spoke to Abram. And this will happen. I tell you what, folks, this will happen. The Bible said in verse 14, the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, and that's no accident that that little phrase is in there. Bible said in verse 14, and the Lord said unto Abram after that lot was gone, the Lord said, now, now we got all that out of the way, here's what I want you to do. Abram, here's what I want you to do. I want you to lift up now your eyes. Notice this, in verse 14, God told Abram to lift up now thine eyes. I want you to look. I want you to look in the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward, and all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. Look at that. Did God do that? Yeah. Yeah. And more. What are we talking about? We're talking about confident Christianity. But you know what? You can only be confident if God is your Lord. You can only be confident if you're really following what the Lord wants you to do. You can't be confident if you just follow what your daddy wants you to do. You can't be. You are an individual person. You have an individual life. You have a responsibility to use your life, the one that you have. I don't have it, you have it. That you can dedicate yourself to the things of God and God will always bless. Did God bless? You know the end of it. You know how God blessed Abraham. He changed his name and when he was 100 years old he had a child. Well, it happens a lot. And the story is told about a lot. Listen, listen, listen, listen. If you follow, not what God says, but you follow the best advice you can get, you might wind up just exactly like a lot. But you need to follow the Lord. You need to do what God tells you to do. You need to be active. in doing what God wants you to do. Because if you don't, you are the one who is going to pay the consequences of that. You're the one. But think about this. Lot. not only faced the consequences of his disrespect or his disobedience to God in going where he wanted to go, but his wife was turned into a pail of salt. He had incest with two daughters that came out of Sodom and Gomorrah. No doubt other children of his died in that land. Lot didn't do what God told him to do when he got out. Because he said, I can't live in that city because they know me and all that. I want to go into this mountain up here. That's where he went. I'm telling you that what you do with your life, I was going to say, it's not my problem, it's yours. It really is. I tell you what, it affects me. It affects me. If you don't do right, that affects me. It affects other people as well. But you're the one that's going to be facing the most of it. You need to do what God wants you to do. and be obedient unto him, and always be active in his will. In the book of Acts 16, you see, it is one thing to be confident in ourselves But it's a totally different thing to be confident in the Lord. You can be confident in yourself, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about being confident in the Lord and doing what God wants you to do. Look what the Bible said. We won't read verse 6-9 again. But notice in verse number 10, but after they had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. In verse number 11, therefore, you know what therefore is therefore? It's because of verse number 10, because they were trusting only in the Lord. That's all they had. They had no promise of anything else. They had no promise of anything else. The Bible said they were surely gathering, endeavoring to go into Macedonia because that's what they believed God wanted them to do. You need to do that. You must do that. Don't have confidence in nothing else but God. You see the difference between the Apostle Paul and his group and Lot? Because Lot, when he moved into that land, it looked good. I mean, on the surface it looked really good. But where was his confidence? Where was Lot's confidence? It was not in God. It was in what was before him, what he could see. And he failed. He failed miserably. He lost his family. He lost everything. Don't be like that. You have a life ahead of you that you need to live for the sake of God. God is calling you to be a faithful follower of Him. God knows that you need to make, can I say, God knows that you need to make the decision? I don't know what else to say. I don't know what other word to use. But God knows your failings. God knows your faults. And if God is calling you, you need to listen to what He wants you to do. And you need to be obedient unto Him. And not just look at the things that you see. But you need to look further than that. You need to have spiritual eyes. Not just fleshly eyes. The Bible said in verse number 11, Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course. With a straight course. Understand. When you put some of these words together, in verse number 10, the word immediately, they didn't wait. We endeavored. So they tried. They were working all the situation out. They had some details working out about the move. They had to make all that arrangement. And they were endeavoring to do that. And then in verse number 11, they came with a straight course. They headed straight toward this town of, I can't hard pronounce it, Samathrachia. And the next day came to Nippolis, or whatever that word is. And then, verse number 12, they came to Macedonia. And there, on the 7th, on the 13th, verse number 13 on the 7th day, they went out of the city by the riverside, and they sat down there. And they prayed and that's where they met Lydia. Listen, you don't ever know. You don't ever know what God has in store for you. But you, you, you must step out by faith and trust God. God knows the best. God wants you to be a faithful follower of Him. It's no accident at all that you're in this church. It's no accident that you're here. But we pray for you that God would touch you, that God would move upon your life. Well, we're going to stop right there. We might take this up at another occasion. I don't know. But understand that you have a decision to make. What are you going to do? Are you going to follow the Lord? Or are you going to follow yourself? That's it. Are you going to follow the Lord? Or will you follow yourself? There it is. As plain as I know how to put it. Will you follow the Lord? Or will you simply follow yourself? What are you going to do? If you're lost today, you need to trust Christ. You need to step out by faith into the unknown. You need to trust God. He can wash away all your sins. He can make you right before Him. You can't be right any other way. You cannot be. It's impossible for you to be right any other way. You need to trust the Lord. Recognize you're a sinner. Repent and believe in Christ. Trust Him. There's nobody else you can trust. You're already saved. You have an obligation to those lost who are around you to be a witness to them. Let me ask you a question. If you're a lost person, have you ever talked to people that are around you that are lost? I'm talking about people right here in this congregation. Have you ever talked to them? Maybe they're waiting on you to talk to them. I don't know. But I know you need to do that. You can start out by being a witness for Christ right there where you are. It's a lot easier to go somewhere else to be a witness. But you know when I get there? I'm there. The same old me is there. The same thing that hindered me right here, the same thing that hindered me somewhere else. I need to be what God wants me to be right here. And you need to be what God wants you to be right here. God wants you to be a witness for Him. That's the truth. I know it's easy to think, tomorrow I'll be better. I doubt it. You'll be the same person tomorrow you are today. You need to trust the Lord. Be obedient unto Him. God can take care of everything if you trust in Him. You may be trilling when you talk to somebody. I have been. I have been. God is well able to overcome all that. Just trust the Lord. And He can take care of everything. If you're lost, trust the Lord. If you're saved, we ask you to just trust the Lord. That's it. Or if you're lost, you need to repent. If you're saved, you might need to repent too. Trust the Lord is our prayer. Okay, Brother Brian, if you would, please come. If you stand, if you would, for our song of invitation, pray that the Lord would help us today to be what He wants us to be, to do right before Him. If you're lost, trust the Lord. Repent, trust the Lord. If you're saved, maybe you need to repent and trust the Lord. God can take care of all that. We pray for you that God would help. And I ask you to pray for me that I may be what God wants me to be always. Because I'm as follower as you are. God is not. That made it trust in the Lord.