1996 Seven Lights for the New Year's Path

The point: Lay up these truths in your hearts and use them for mutual admonition, teaching, and encouraging one another.

The seven truths are likened to low-voltage ground lights that illuminate only the immediate path, not the entire landscape, providing enough light for the next step without stumbling.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And I want you to consider these portions of the Word of God that I've organized under seven headings as border lights or ground lights that many of you have seen, perhaps some of you have them on your own property, those low voltage lights that are put close to the ground and very close to the air. And I want you to consider these portions of the Word of God that I've organized in this way in order to light not the entire landscape of our property, but to light the path that leads from the driveway to the front or to the back door of t...

1:29 - 2:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Lay up these truths in your hearts and use them for mutual admonition, teaching, and encouraging one another.

The truths presented are described as 'children's bread,' indicating they are essential spiritual nourishment for believers, distinct from the evangelistic appeal of the morning sermon.

lights, which will be our point of reference, giving light upon the path of God's providence as it unfolds. folds in our individual lives. These realities that we shall consider are fundamental and essential to the life of faith. And since the scripture says that we walk by faith and not by sight, that without faith it is impossible to please him, it is crucial that our faith be well grounded in those clear revelations of the mind and purpose of God, which will indeed give light to us as we walk along the pathway of the unfolding of the will of God. Now what we're going to consider tonight is ...

2:49 - 4:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Be prepared to declare, 'Nothing will come into my life but that which is ordained for my greatest good,' even when things seem to be falling apart.

Martin lists common, unexpected difficulties like unplanned pregnancies, miscarriages, home repairs, car trouble, and job loss to emphasize the unknown nature of the coming year and the need for the first 'light'.

A year is not enough. But in which amongst us, I am sure, there will be the shock of unexpected unplanned pregnancies, the grief of miscarriages, the horror of going down in the basement and finding that the bottom is blown out of your water heater, going to work and you throw a rod on your engine, getting the pink slip from your boss. All of the unknown things that will unfold from the 500 or so lives that are in this building tonight. But we have biblical grounds to say if we love God and love Him because we are the called according to His purpose, nothing, nothing will come into my life but...

9:08 - 10:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Be prepared to declare, 'Nothing will come into my life but that which is ordained for my greatest good,' even when things seem to be falling apart.

The entire narrative of Joseph, from his dreams to his enslavement, unjust imprisonment, and eventual rise to power, is used to illustrate how God meant for good what others meant for evil (Genesis 50:20).

A year is not enough. But in which amongst us, I am sure, there will be the shock of unexpected unplanned pregnancies, the grief of miscarriages, the horror of going down in the basement and finding that the bottom is blown out of your water heater, going to work and you throw a rod on your engine, getting the pink slip from your boss. All of the unknown things that will unfold from the 500 or so lives that are in this building tonight. But we have biblical grounds to say if we love God and love Him because we are the called according to His purpose, nothing, nothing will come into my life but...

9:08 - 10:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Settle it now, without knowing any particulars, that nothing will come out of the tomorrows of the coming year but that which is ordained for your highest good.

God's bearing and carrying His people is likened to a father picking up a child who cannot navigate a difficult part of the path, illustrating God's intimate and strengthening presence.

pity he redeemed them and he bore them and carried them all the days of old you see there is not a cold detached sovereignty exercised from afar but there is an intimacy in all their affliction he afflicted that's what sympathy means there is a feeling with the afflicted and the angel of his presence save them and in his love and pity he redeemed them and bore them and carried them there's the picture of the father who picks up the child when they come to a place in the path that the child cannot navigate on his own strength in the strong armor the father reaches around and lifts up the child ...

15:48 - 17:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth light declares that God's grace and power will be sufficient for everything expected of a believer in His will. Philippians 4:13 and 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (Paul's thorn)…

A boulder too big to lift on the path represents an impossible task in God's will, illustrating that if God places it there, He will provide the strength to remove it.

can take the next step and you say the boulders too big for me but if God's placed it there and if in the will of God it must be removed for you to please God that there will be strength Jesus said even to make mountains skip and end up in oceans for if you have faith as the grain of mustard seed you shall say to this mountain be thou removed and cast into the sea and it shall be done what did Paul say in Philippians 4 13 I can do all things Paul you could stand at the base of the Empire State Building and jump over no because when he said I can do all things he said that in a context in a set...

30:22 - 31:33 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth light declares that God's grace and power will be sufficient for everything expected of a believer in His will. Philippians 4:13 and 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (Paul's thorn)…

Paul's experiences of want and abundance (Philippians 4:13) are used to illustrate how God's grace was sufficient for him to be cheerful and thankful in all physical circumstances, without hard thoughts of God.

can take the next step and you say the boulders too big for me but if God's placed it there and if in the will of God it must be removed for you to please God that there will be strength Jesus said even to make mountains skip and end up in oceans for if you have faith as the grain of mustard seed you shall say to this mountain be thou removed and cast into the sea and it shall be done what did Paul say in Philippians 4 13 I can do all things Paul you could stand at the base of the Empire State Building and jump over no because when he said I can do all things he said that in a context in a set...

30:22 - 31:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect not in removing weakness, but in the midst of weakness.

God's warning to Israel not to let blessings turn their hearts away from Him is used to illustrate the need for grace to remain faithful in times of abundance, just as Paul had.

all things are his the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof why then were there times when God wouldn't open up his hand and provide even a decent meal for his servant where do you find strength to bless a God like that you find it from the God who says my grace is sufficient for you and when he was flush Paul how did you find grace not to let God's abounding blessings turn your heart away from him as God had to warn Israel to remember again and again for me that I've got to get breakfast when you're going into the land's that when you go in and I fulfill my promise to drive out your en...

32:56 - 34:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Look into all the unknowns of the coming year and say as men and women of faith, 'Nothing will be expected of me in the will of God, but that his grace and power will be sufficient for me.'

Paul's repeated prayer for the removal of his thorn and God's response, 'My grace is sufficient,' is a primary illustration of God's power being made perfect in weakness.

Whatever Paul's thorn in the flesh was, whatever this messenger of Satan to buffet him was, it was something that made him consciously and physically weak, so much so that Paul was convinced it was inconsistent with his doing the will of God as an apostle. So what did he do? Verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 8, Concerning this thing, I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. He's referring most likely to three seasons of intense, earnest, importunate prayer focused on one thing, that it might depart from him.

34:21 - 35:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Look into all the unknowns of the coming year and say as men and women of faith, 'Nothing will be expected of me in the will of God, but that his grace and power will be sufficient for me.'

Paul's three-time prayer for the thorn's removal is subtly linked to Christ's three-time prayer in Gethsemane, suggesting a divine pattern of earnest supplication.

Does this have overtones of anything else you remember in the Bible? Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. How many times? Three times.

35:05 - 35:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Look into all the unknowns of the coming year and say as men and women of faith, 'Nothing will be expected of me in the will of God, but that his grace and power will be sufficient for me.'

Paul's experience of being deserted at his first defense, yet the Lord standing by him and strengthening him (2 Timothy 4:16-17), illustrates God's sufficient power and presence in times of isolation and weakness.

I commend you, Hebrews 13, 13, 20, and 21, that beautiful benediction. And then the illustration of this, not only in Paul with his thorn, but Paul in his period of being deserted, 2 Timothy chapter 4, toward the end of his earthly pilgrimage. He says in verse 17 of that chapter, 2 Timothy chapter 4, at my first defense, verse 16, no one took my part, but all for me. May it not be laid to their account.

37:10 - 37:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Remember that if it's God's will for you to go through, over, under, or remove an obstacle, there will be sufficient grace.

Apparent impossibilities faced by believers are described as 'God's own theater constructed in his providence to display his own power,' emphasizing His glory in overcoming human weakness.

Every measure of grace and strength and protection and preservation I need to do the will of God. God is committed to get it. The apparent impossibilities which you face are but God's own theater constructed in his providence to display his own power. His own grace and power.

38:20 - 38:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Remember that if it's God's will for you to go through, over, under, or remove an obstacle, there will be sufficient grace.

The five categories of people God chooses (foolish, weak, base, despised, not) are called 'God's five-ranked army of descending human weakness' through which He conquers the world, illustrating His use of the humble.

He chooses the base. He chooses the despised. The despised and the things that are not. One servant of God called them God's five-ranked army of descending human weakness with which he will conquer the world.

40:14 - 40:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Translate the doctrine of divine decrees and God's sovereignty into your daily life, finding consolation in His control even in personal misfortunes like a car accident.

Recent natural disasters like California mudslides and Midwest floods are cited as examples of 'forces of nature' that God sovereignly decrees and executes, reinforcing His control.

Think of all the unknowns as I referred to some of the things that unfolded in this year in these very realms. Making no reference to the mudslides in California, to the horrible floods in the Midwest, the likes of which they haven't known in recorded history. And we could go on and on. Dear child of God, as we move into the pathway of the year before us, we need to move with this confidence that nothing, nothing will transpire in our own national life, in international affairs, politics, economics, and the forces of nature, that our wise and sovereign God has decreed and executed it. Ephesian...

41:41 - 42:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Translate the doctrine of divine decrees and God's sovereignty into your daily life, finding consolation in His control even in personal misfortunes like a car accident.

The swirling tropical storms seen on newscasts are vividly described as 'God's big toes stirring it up,' a powerful image of His personal, active control over nature.

He hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm and the clouds or the dust of His feet. And when we see in our newscasts the weather report and the satellite pictures of the swirling tropical storms, to be able to say that's God's big toes stirring it up, the clouds or the dust of His feet. I love to think of it that way. Oh, they think that because they've got computers that can track them and they know the forces at work that somehow these things are all just happening.

42:57 - 43:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Translate the doctrine of divine decrees and God's sovereignty into your daily life, finding consolation in His control even in personal misfortunes like a car accident.

The devastation of homes in Florida by a hurricane, even those of believers, illustrates that God's sovereignty applies even when suffering strikes His people, prompting trust in His decree.

No, there is a personal wise sovereign God at work. You and I need to believe this especially if in His own sovereign wisdom and the execution of His sovereign rights the devastation strikes you. Think of our brothers and sisters down in Florida who one day sat in lovely homes and the next day looked at a pile of rubble. And God didn't cause the wind and the rain that tore those houses to pieces to cut a swamp that bypassed the homes of the children of God or even their places of worship.

43:35 - 44:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Translate the doctrine of divine decrees and God's sovereignty into your daily life, finding consolation in His control even in personal misfortunes like a car accident.

A common accident like a car going out of control on an icy road is used as a relatable example where believers can find consolation in God's sovereign providence, not chance.

And in the midst of legitimate grief and tears of a sense of loss the child of God can look up into the face of the God who has His way in the whirlwind and the storm and say, Father, this has not come by some chance combination of the forces of nature. This has come by Your sovereign decree and by Your imminent all controlling providence. The next time you get a fender bender your car goes out of control on the icy road and smacks into a tree, this is your consolation. This is your consolation. And dear people of God, it does no good to make an articulate accurate confession of the doctrine o...

44:16 - 45:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Translate the doctrine of divine decrees and God's sovereignty into your daily life, finding consolation in His control even in personal misfortunes like a car accident.

A story of a Pentecostal pastor explaining God's sovereignty to a worldly banker by asking, 'If you were God and had made the world, would you run it or turn the job over to someone else?' illustrates the simplicity and truth of God's active governance.

A friend of mine who a number of years ago coming out of a Pentecostal background where he had been well grounded in a very defective theology in the providence of God through his reading of the Bible and other good books came to embrace the truth of scripture that God is sovereign in every realm creation, providence and grace and he began to preach this in his church and he was in a little town where he was well known he had a very popular television broadcast so he was known throughout the town pastor of the largest Pentecostal church probably the largest non Baptist church in that particula...

46:57 - 48:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not continue playing Russian roulette with your never-dying soul; you are not the master of your fate.

Unbelievers are depicted as playing 'Russian roulette with your never dying soul,' spinning the chamber and pulling the trigger daily, hoping there's no bullet, to highlight their precarious position without Christ.

and everything that transpires in the coming year brings us closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus if you are not a Christian I hope what you have heard has made you envious to become one what do you have of this kind of solid granite reality on which to stand as you face the coming year you go on playing Russian roulette with your never dying soul you spin the chamber every day and pull the trigger and hope there is no bullet in the chamber and you have made it through another day God may stop your heart in the middle of the night my unconverted friend what a horrible position you are in now ...

63:06 - 64:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to Christ, enter the feast of gospel dainties, and receive these blessed realities as your possession.

God is portrayed as a 'street hawker' urging people to 'come buy wine and milk without money and without price,' emphasizing the free and costly provision of salvation in Christ.

the God who could crush you is the God who in Christ condescends to urge you to come come to the feast of gospel bainties prepared purchased by the blood of Christ spread before you in the gospel and he says ho everyone that thirsts come buy wine and milk without money and without price God stoops to the imagery of a street hawker who ought to have no trouble getting rid of his wares he said you can have them for nothing someone else is paid for them with his own precious blood and he offers them to you freely why will you lie why will you live your empty self serving life in a climate of desp...

64:31 - 65:57 Read in full sermon