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[0:00] When love was born so long ago,! God sent a child to earth below.

[0:30] Today he came humble and poor, so in our sense, sinless and pure, and in that birth of God's own Son, a work of love was there begun.

[1:11] He came to us that we might find peace on earth for all mankind.

[1:33] The years have passed, and still today, each looks for love in his own way.

[1:54] Some seek in vain, some have for love, remembering not how God was born.

[2:16] Yes, love was born so long ago, yet here today, and in the midst of the world, the joy for free, not just the cause, when Christ is born.

[2:49] When Christ is born, when Christ is born, within each heart. When Christ is born, within each heart.

[3:23] Born among cattle in poverty sore, living in meekness by Galilee shore, dying in shame as the wicked once wore.

[4:02] Jesus, wonderful Lord. Wonderful, wonderful Jesus.

[4:19] He is my friend, true to the end. He gave himself to redeem me.

[4:38] Jesus, wonderful Lord.

[4:49] Weary, yet he is the world's only rest. Hungry and thirsty, with plenty has blessed.

[5:04] Tempted, he promises grace for each test. Jesus, wonderful Lord.

[5:22] Wonderful, wonderful Jesus. He is my friend, true to the end.

[5:39] He gave himself to redeem me. Jesus, wonderful Lord.

[5:58] Friend of the Friendless. Betrayed and denied.

[6:13] Help of the weak in Gethsemane cried. Light of the world, in gross darkness he died.

[6:30] Jesus, wonderful Lord. Wonderful, wonderful Jesus.

[6:46] He is my friend, true to the end.

[6:58] He gave himself to redeem me. Jesus, wonderful Lord.

[7:18] Amen. The question of whom shall I marry is the second most important question in life.

[7:58] As I have placed it into your bulletin for this morning, how to find a great mate that's really dealing with life's second most important decision.

[8:11] The first being, what will I do with Jesus?

[8:22] For the last two weeks, we have been looking at a family theme. And today, the third and final day in that family series.

[8:33] Whenever I do that, I get a little nervous because I think that somewhere along the line in our public services, we ought to talk about the gospel.

[8:44] And we ought to do that which would call people to the Lord Jesus Christ and that which would explain simply what that gospel really is. Of course, when you run a series on the family or any other topic that you're following, it's difficult to spend a great deal of time on the gospel.

[9:05] But the gospel is important. It is life's number one decision. What will I do with Jesus anyway? So before we jump into the question of the morning or the thought of the morning, how to find a great mate, I want to take a moment and give some priority to this matter of the gospel.

[9:28] The gospel is wonderfully good news. It is good news that in spite of my sin and in spite of my guilt, the Lord Jesus Christ loves me and you.

[9:46] And in love, he has come to this earth and become a man, something he had never been before from eternity past, God in a body.

[9:58] And then after living an absolutely flawless life on this earth, he voluntarily laid down that life for us, paying in full the price of my sin and yours.

[10:19] The Lord Jesus Christ was our substitute there at the cross. He died my death. He died and took my sin upon him as well as yours.

[10:31] And of course, on the third day, he stepped alive and well out of that tomb. To be saved then is to trust the living Christ.

[10:44] It is to understand the gospel. Yes, I am saved. Yes, I am a sinner. Yes, I am guilty. But Christ paid it all.

[10:55] And salvation is essentially a transfer of trust. Transferring my trust from myself and my works and my religiousness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[11:09] And the full salvation and provision that he has made at the cross. And so while we deal with life's second most important question, some of you need to deal this morning with that first most important question.

[11:26] You're not really ready, frankly, to handle the second one until we take care of the first one. What will I do with Jesus? Will I receive him? Will I submit to him as my Savior?

[11:38] Or will I straight arm him and say, no, I don't need you. I can handle this thing myself. I encourage you.

[11:49] I beg of you in the name of Christ to receive him as your Savior. Right now. There's no need to wait.

[12:00] We come then to this matter, how to find a great mate. And it seems to me that certain questions have to be answered right off the bat.

[12:11] Some of you, I'm sure, are thinking, well, Mr. Warren, it is too late for me. You know, I already made that commitment and the other person got me and I'm in deep trouble, etc.

[12:25] Or some other such rationalization. In case you tend to think that way, I should remind you that there is no such thing as a perfect mate. Now, I know you think you, some of you who aren't married or are looking forward to anything, oh, I'm going to find the perfect person.

[12:45] They don't exist out there. Anyone who is a son or daughter of Adam and Eve has got some problems. And that takes in most of us, though. You've heard people say, you know, as an outsider, what do you think of the human race?

[13:01] But there aren't too many of those floating around loose. I know that. So, when I'm talking about a great mate, I'm not talking about a perfect mate.

[13:13] Please understand that. There is no such thing. I've indicated that to you in different ways over the last two weeks. But nobody believes it anyway until they actually get married and they run into a few disappointments and they say, oh, you know, maybe that was right.

[13:27] Maybe there isn't any such person who is absolutely perfect. So, that's one thing. Some of you may be thinking, well, it's not too late for me, but really, I've made that decision and I'm really not interested.

[13:39] You know, I could care less. That's behind in my life and let's get on with the good stuff now. I would remind you, however, in case you feel that way, that you may have some children around your house who could use some help about how to find a great mate or maybe a grandchild or someone, some friend, a young person under your sphere of influence or instruction.

[14:02] So, although this message may not seem to relate directly to you, you could use it to help somebody else. And really, that's not too bad of an idea, I don't think.

[14:13] So, even though it may seem to be a very specific kind of an area of direction here, there can be a number of different usages for it.

[14:24] I do think it particularly appropriate that my wife is here today. I found a great mate in the providence of the Lord, and I'm glad that she is here with me to defend herself against some of the unseemly accusations that I have made in public over the past weeks.

[14:42] But you can check that out with her down the road. How do you find a great mate? And does the Bible really have anything to say about it? Well, that's a good question, and the answer is found in Genesis 24.

[14:57] Genesis chapter 24. There are only 67 verses in Genesis 24. We should be done this afternoon by about three.

[15:11] Something like that. My sermons aren't really long, they just seem long. Although I have gone home on a number of occasions and said to my wife, I have preached longer there than any place else.

[15:24] I'm embarrassed almost to think about how long-winded you get when you get old. Is that right, Don? Yeah, something like that.

[15:34] Okay. How do you find a great mate anyway? Well, the story before us is how Isaac found his wife, Rebecca.

[15:48] And of course, in that day, parents were very instrumental in setting up the arrangement, as we shall see. And I want to assure you that I'm not going to suggest that we go back to that kind of an arrangement, nor are we going to cover all 67 verses of this chapter, happily, happily.

[16:07] But there are some principles here that apply to how to find a great mate. And that's really what we're after. Now, my methodology this morning is extremely simple.

[16:18] All we're going to do is read a few verses. We're going to take this story bit by bit, just a little chunk of the story. Think about it a moment. And then I'm going to draw out one principle from that section, and then we shall move on.

[16:33] That's the essential methodology this morning. So, we're at Matthew 24, and I shall begin reading at verse 1. Now, Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

[16:49] And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.

[17:09] But thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Now, please notice, it is time for Isaac to be married.

[17:23] No arrangement heretofore has been made by Abraham for some young lady. He calls in his eldest servant, whom we know from other passages was named Eliezer.

[17:33] And he says to Eliezer, Now look, I don't want you to take a wife for my son Isaac from these Canaanites. I want you to go back to Paddan Aram.

[17:46] I want you to go back to my hometown, my home area, my own stomping grounds. And I want you to go back to my family who lived there. And from among one of those young ladies in my family, I want you to bring back a wife for Isaac, my son.

[18:09] Now, from those basic thoughts, I'm going to draw a little principle. It seems to me that what Abraham says to this gentleman can be summarized in these words.

[18:22] When you are looking for a mate, you need to have some personal standards. You need to have some standards in your mind as to what you're looking for.

[18:38] Abraham says, Not that, but this. He had, in a sense, a standard or a bottom line drawn.

[18:49] And he says, Now this gal has got to meet this particular requirement. There's a tendency among young people to be standard-less.

[19:01] And to think with regards to marriage, well, I'm really not too much of a catch soul. The first person who comes along, the first one who shows an interest, the first one who asks, that must be the one.

[19:21] We tend to be very much like the unsaved world in this connection. Like the song says, Some enchanted evening, you will see a stranger.

[19:39] You will see a stranger across a crowded room, and somehow you'll know. You'll know even then that somehow you'll see him again and again. Well, that makes for a nice song, frankly.

[19:52] But that's crazy. Do we really think that we can go through life and just all of a sudden, without any thinking, without any talking, without any communication, just somehow a tremendous feeling just comes over us, and all of a sudden we have fallen in love?

[20:14] That's ridiculous. But that's the way we think it's got to be. What is wrong with sitting down and talking with someone?

[20:25] What is wrong with writing down a few things and saying, Now, this is what I want in a mate. I would like to have this, that, and the other. Whether it's written or unwritten is not the question. You ought to have some standards in your mind.

[20:40] This is what I want in a marriage partner. Now, in our particular sentence, the particular verses involved here, he says, Look, I don't want her to be a Canaanite.

[20:55] I do not want you to take a gal from the Canaanites among whom we are dwelling. I want you to go back and get someone in the family. And that seems to me to be a very obvious spiritual truth.

[21:07] That, beloved young people, if you're going to marry anybody, marry someone in the family. Marry someone in the family of God.

[21:19] Say to yourself, I will not marry anyone unless they're truly a believer. They're really born again. You may say or think, Boy, that sounds harsh.

[21:33] That sounds narrow. That really limits the field. It really doesn't limit the field, frankly. You come to Cedarville College and you see 1,700 or more young people over there, and hardly is that a limited field.

[21:47] There's all kinds of eligible and very excellent young people there. And I speak not only of Cedarville College, but of a number of Christian colleges where these young people gather themselves for study and growth.

[22:03] Not really limiting the field at all. But the biblical question has to be asked at this point. Can two walk together except they be agreed?

[22:17] It's a rhetorical question, and that means there's no answer given in the text because the answer is so obvious it doesn't need to be answered. Absolutely not! You can't walk together.

[22:28] And I've mentioned that to you before, so I'll not drive you nuts by repeating things. But have some personal standards. Do a little bit of thinking and ask yourself now, Just what kind of a guy, just what kind of a gal do I really want to link myself up to in life?

[22:47] The bottom line, they must be a believer. Otherwise you invite only sorrow and agony into your life.

[23:05] It is true. Well, the story doesn't end there, neither does the sermon. verse 5. Some of you may wish it would end there, but not yet. The servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land.

[23:24] Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abram said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son there again.

[23:36] The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke unto me and that swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land.

[23:49] He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Now, the servant was a very normal human being.

[24:03] And so, when Abraham said to him, I want you to go, it was a good thousand miles or so. This was not just across the street. This was a long ways. And he says, Well, look, when I get back there, suppose I find a young lady and I give her the invitation and tell her all the wonderful things that are waiting for her, and she says, No way, Jose.

[24:22] I'm not coming. What do I do now? Shall I take Isaac back there? Now, that was a good question. I shall phrase it, you notice the word here, peradventure.

[24:37] See, what verse is that? Verse 5. Peradventure. We don't talk like that anymore in our modern-day English. It means simply, what if?

[24:50] What if? What if she won't come? What if we never get together? What if he goes to Cedarville College and she goes to Faith Baptist Bible College and their paths never quite cross?

[25:05] What if? What if he's looking for a blonde and I'm a brunette? What if I live in Columbus and he lives in California?

[25:15] How in the world are we ever going to get together? Et cetera, et cetera. What if? Abraham says, you leave all those what ifs to God.

[25:32] You go, don't you dare take my son back there. We're supposed to be here. You go, and then notice what he says. In fact, I need to emphasize this. Verse 7. I like to call that the language of faith.

[26:05] Abraham knew the Lord. The Lord, he says, is the one who has led me out of there. The Lord is the one who has provided for me up to this point, and he's not going to fail me now.

[26:21] So the Lord will send his angel, and he will lead you, and you'll find her. Don't worry about it. I shall draw a principle from that. Not only are we to have personal standards and decide the kind of a person that we want, but this little section of verses tells us that we must trust the Lord.

[26:46] Trust the Lord. Leave all of the what ifs to God. Make this a matter of personal trust.

[26:59] leaving it over into the hands of the Lord. Do you think the Lord can lead you? Do you think the Lord can superintend your development and the development of another person so that when the two of you meet later in life, your two lives mesh and gel, and you tend to meet one another's basic needs?

[27:24] Do you think the Lord is really capable of that kind of thing? He is. Do you think the Lord cares enough about you and knows you well enough so that he could actually match somebody just with you?

[27:44] Trust him. Leave all of the what ifs to the Lord and trust him? You see, our problem is, very frankly, that we tend to be very cocky as believers.

[28:04] We tend to think, hey, you know, I'm a pretty nice looking guy and I got a good mind and I've got certain abilities and so on. I can make this decision for myself.

[28:19] I can figure this one out all by my lonesome. I don't need the Lord, really. And the young lady similarly can think, hey, you know, I am really a sharp gal and I'm getting all of these dates and all of this kind of interest from these young men and this is a decision that I don't think I'm really going to have any great problems with.

[28:40] Yes. Far better to turn away from a cocky attitude, an attitude that says, hey, I can handle this.

[28:54] I'm sharp enough. I'm beautiful enough. I'm good enough to do this on my own. Far better to take a humble spirit and say, you know, I'm not so sure I know how to make this decision and I'm not sure I really know myself.

[29:10] well enough even to know what kind of a person I need out there. So, Lord, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you to lead me. The Lord has taken care of me up to this point.

[29:25] The Lord has met all of my other kinds of needs. That's what Abraham was saying. Certainly, I can trust him for this biggie. Trust the Lord.

[29:37] Well, the story moves on and so shall we. Verse 10. The servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed.

[29:48] For all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and he went to Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

[30:05] And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham for thy servant Isaac.

[30:19] And thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. Now he arrives at the edge of town.

[30:31] That's where the well was. He went at least to the most logical place. This is where the gals would come. They were the ones who drew the water in those days. And so he heads right for where he knew the young ladies would be.

[30:47] And having stopped there, they begin to come out of the city and he does what you and I would have done, I think, as well. He prayed.

[30:59] And he just told it like it was to the Lord. Here I am standing outside the city and the women are coming out. And then he has this little game plan.

[31:11] Let it be that the gals to whom I say give me a drink, that she'll not only give me a drink but she'll also volunteer to water the camels.

[31:23] Let her be the one. She's got to be in the right family and she's got to have some of these other personal qualities we shall see in a moment. But he has this little game plan. And as we shall see, before he got done praying, before he could say the amen, I call it the unfinished prayer, before he got done, Rebecca was on the way out.

[31:50] Now the application or the principle that I draw from that is extremely simple. And it is this. Make it a matter of prayer.

[32:02] This man prayed. And he asked the Lord, essentially, Lord, you lead me. You direct me to the right gal.

[32:14] Or to reverse the sexes, Lord, you lead me to the right young man. He made it a matter of prayer.

[32:25] Young people, do you pray about the partner that you're going to marry? What do you pray about?

[32:38] Is it really that important to pray about it? Is it really life's second most important decision? You bet your life it is.

[32:49] This decision determines who you wake up and look at first thing every morning and the last one at night. This one, in many cases, determines where you will live and the kind of job into which you will move.

[33:09] Do you know that many companies actually are asking now many questions about the wife as they are about the husband? They're thinking of hiring. Very important decision.

[33:20] Why should we not pray about something so major? Someone says, well, maybe we shouldn't bother God with it. He's pretty busy up there, you know.

[33:31] He's got a lot on his mind. Well, that is true. But think of what the scriptures say. When one bird falls, he knows it.

[33:47] And even the very hairs of our head are numbered. Some of us in descending scale, but they're numbered. And my thought has to be this.

[34:00] If God knows so much about the details, if he cares so much about the little minutia of his creation, then how much more will he care?

[34:12] How much more is he interested in a decision of this magnitude? You bet your life you can pray about it, and it doesn't bother God because it's major.

[34:28] You see, when we pray about something, we are essentially saying to the Lord, Lord, it's in your hands. I don't know enough to make the decision on my own.

[34:40] I'm not capable of handling it. You make the decision and let me in on the result. And that's a pretty good way to handle it.

[34:52] This man prayed. I should like to extend that just a bit. I think it's good not only for young people to pray about their prospective mate, but I think it very wise for parents to pray and for grandparents to pray.

[35:15] You still have to think about it. That little baby born into your home or into your children's home, they're going to be there perhaps 20, 22, 18, 19 years.

[35:29] Somewhere else on this earth there is another baby born in another home. You may not be aware of that situation, that family, but there's another boy girl being raised and trained in another home, going through certain experiences of life.

[35:44] Why can we not pray in advance for the development of that other person? Why can we not from the cradle bring that little child home and say, now Lord, we pray not only that you'd save this person and give them a productive life for you, but let's also pray for their prospective partner.

[36:06] It really is that important. It really is. Make it a matter of daily prayer. This man prayed.

[36:18] I'm not going to suggest to you that you have some kind of a fleece, as this gentleman had. He had some type of a plan. I call it a game plan. I'm not suggesting that, but I'm taking the broader sense here.

[36:31] Let's make it a matter of prayer. Well, the story develops a little bit more. We'll pick up at verse 15. It came to pass, before he had done speaking, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milchus, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother.

[36:54] She was of the right family, with her picture upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon. Incidentally, not many people in the scripture are called fair or beautiful.

[37:12] Don't think of this word fair here in terms of, oh, she was fair. On a scale of one to ten, she was a five, something like that. It's not that meaning of the word fair. Very fair doesn't even move her up to an eight.

[37:25] She was beautiful. That's what the text is indicating. She was a beautiful young lady. And beyond that, and perhaps better than that, verse 16, not only was she very fair to look upon, she was a virgin.

[37:39] Neither had any man known her sexually. She went down to the well and she filled her pitcher and came up. The servant ran to meet her and said, let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

[37:55] And she said, drink, my lord. And she hasted, please notice the terms here for hurrying. She hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink. When she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

[38:13] And she hasted, she hurried and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again unto the well to draw water, and she drew water for all of his camels. Now, that's quite a young lady, isn't it?

[38:28] I'll give you the principle first this time, then we'll look at the details. From these verses I learned this basic principle. When you're looking for a great maid, concentrate on what is on the inside, not on what is on the outside.

[38:45] The invisible, not the visible. There is the tendency to look strictly at the outside of a person. He's got to be tall, dark, curly-haired, 180 pounds, muscular, and tender at the same time.

[39:06] All of that. Or the young men, they're saying, boy, she's got to be blonde-haired, and blue-eyed, and a certain shape, and a certain height, and all of that kind of thing.

[39:19] And if she doesn't meet those qualifications, too bad. This man didn't pray for anything like that. He was not looking at anything external.

[39:34] He was looking at the inside of this gal. And that's what this game plan, frankly, was all about. what was it on the inside?

[39:48] It is what's on the inside that counts, isn't it? What kind of a gal was this gal? Well, right off the bat, I think you'll agree with me, she was very generous. She comes out and finds a stranger in, quote-unquote, distress.

[40:07] Actually, she crossed a social barrier here, because women in that day did not speak to strangers or to men. He was both, a man and a stranger. And she crosses over that social barrier out of kindness, and she says, sure, I'll give you a drink.

[40:22] And then she volunteers to go ahead and water all of those ten camels. Now, we may not think too much of that, but have you ever tried to fill up a thirsty camel?

[40:35] I mean, this was a long trip, I said, a thousand miles or so, ten of them. You know how camels are with water, I don't have to tell you about that. Listen, their water tank was not on E for empty, it was on B for bone.

[40:48] The thing was bone dry. And we see her saying, oh, sure, I'll just go right ahead. And so she runs back to the well and she runs back to the trough and she's running back and forth, hurrying to take care of these animals.

[41:02] She was generous. But also, she was a hard worker. poor. That was a lot of work. And the text makes a point of it, and so I will too.

[41:18] Not only was she a generous kind of a person, and not only was she a hard-working, industrious kind of a person, person, but she also was sexually pure.

[41:33] She was a virgin. She had not entered into sexual relationship outside of marriage with just a stranger. She had kept herself sexually pure, which in this day and age is quite an accomplishment.

[41:52] It's what's on the inside. Young men, you, or young ladies, you may say, he's got to look a certain way, or he's got to have a certain color hair, eyes, or body shape, or whatever.

[42:02] You will learn quickly, and perhaps too late, that the physical appearance is secondary. It is the personality that counts.

[42:19] You know the kind of a mate you need? You need someone who is kind, because there's going to be times when you need kindness. And you need someone who is not afraid of work, because there's going to be a lot of times in your married life when there's going to be a lot of work to be done.

[42:40] And you don't want someone who's afraid of work and laying around and can't handle work. And you also want someone who is sexually pure, someone who has kept themselves just for you.

[42:55] What great joy there is in that kind of a person and relationship. So concentrate on what is on the inside, the personality of that person, not simply what is on the outside, the physical appearance of someone.

[43:20] We move on. Verse 21, And a man wondering at her held his peace to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

[43:41] I like that word wondering, wondering at her. We would say it in our modern day, he stood there pinching himself. Is this for real?

[43:53] I just prayed that prayer and I just got my eyes open and bang, here she is and look at her, she's running back and forth and she's doing everything that I suggested to the Lord she ought to do. I can hardly believe it.

[44:04] Is this really happening? Now had it been me there. She would have gotten about halfway done, about five of those camels satisfied and I would have said hold it.

[44:16] You convinced me, you know, let's get this thing over with. He put the ring, by the way, the text in moment talk about a ring. Don't think a ring on her finger or a ring in her nose. He put the ring in her nose symbolizing an engagement situation.

[44:31] I would have said, you know, you don't have to carry through with all of your word here. I can see that if I let you go, you would go ahead and do all ten, but let's just get on with it.

[44:46] But he didn't do that. The man wondering at her held his peace. The principle is simply this.

[44:59] Let some time go by in your relationship. Time. Take your time.

[45:11] There is no grand rush. The little statement, marry in haste, repent in leisure, is all too true.

[45:29] Some young people think, well, we better get married because it may not last. We can't stand being apart from a summer.

[45:41] Some of the kids at the college, I think they worry about that. He lives in Connecticut and she lives in Illinois and we got to leave each other for three or four whole months now over the summer. Will it last? Oh, hi, Gary, how is Sue?

[46:03] And all of a sudden there's kind of a let's look for the nearest hole Warren because you just asked the wrong question. Things have a way of happening over the summer.

[46:18] Better to happen over the summer than after marriage. And someone says, well, what do you do about that? You know, you don't want it to fall all apart and absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder and all of that kind of stuff.

[46:32] What if it doesn't? Good. Better to lose them now. You say, you are a meanie. You don't know how much that hurts.

[46:44] That's terrible. No, no, you got to take the long look, kids. Better before marriage. Broken heart, social embarrassment, pain, tears.

[46:57] Better now than later when it's much worse. The acid test of true love is time.

[47:12] The acid test of true love is time. Will at last. I remember thinking that on a number of occasions as a pastor.

[47:26] We had the joy of going into a number of different homes and speaking to people about the Lord as their Savior. On occasion they would kneel on their living room carpet with me or in their kitchen beside one of their kitchen chairs and we had the joy of having people accept Christ right in my way.

[47:48] Before I ever got to the car many times as I was putting my hand on the doorknob to pull the car open the question would come to me did they really understand that? I wonder if that was for real if they really knew what they were doing and before I could get the door all the way open the answer was chasing itself through my mind time will tell we'll see if they were really born again if they really understood the gospel and made a viable decision you cannot hide that time will bring it out so too with love am I really in love is this gal is this guy really the one for me time will tell do not get in a rush let some time go by that's hard but it's necessary we come to the end of the story and to the end of the message we better pick up reading in verse 22 and it came to pass as the camels had done drinking and 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

[49:18] 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 bore unto Nahor she said moreover unto him we have both straw and provender enough and room to lodge in and worshiped 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 I being in the way the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren what a thrill it was when this man realized that Rebecca was from the right family Abraham's brother's daughter and

[50:26] I like the words when he says here I being in the way the Lord led me there's a principle there the last one and a very important one I don't exactly know how to say it because it's not a simple little ditty there's more to it than just that but I'll take a shot at it if you're going to find a truly great mate you're going to have to concentrate on doing the will of God for today and leave tomorrow with the Lord he says I being in the way that doesn't mean he was an obstacle I was in the way of somebody but it means I being on the way as I was moving along the

[51:28] Lord led me have you ever tried to move or steer a car that was not moving back in the days before power steering came in if a car was sitting still you could try and move try and turn that wheel and you fight to get that wheel it was only once the car started rolling down the road then you could move it actually with just one finger you can move it without the power steering similarly do not expect God to lead you if you're not doing the known will of God now it is only as we move along doing what we know we ought to be doing only as we concentrate on being in the way being in the will of God doing what we're supposed to be doing now it's only as we concentrate on the now that the

[52:32] Lord will graciously lead us into the tomorrows and take care of tomorrow for us we ought to ask ourselves the question what is the will of God for me now maybe it is to go to college maybe it is to finish high school maybe it is to do that term paper due before the Thanksgiving or the Christmas break I'm really behind a holiday here what is the will of the Lord for me now it is to have my devotions every day it is to me to be in submission to my parents I ought to be doing all of those things now and it's only as I am concentrating on being in the way now that the Lord can lead me how important the Lord does not lead stubborn stopped Christians he leads those who are moving in his will today now there is a sense in which

[53:42] I have tricked you today not deliberately but it seems to come out that way we talked about how to find a great mate and we said that in order to do that you have to have some personal standards and that you need to trust the Lord and that you need to make it a matter of daily prayer and that you need to concentrate on the inside not the outside and you need to let some time go by and you need to concentrate on doing God's will for now but when you think about those six things you begin to realize that it's really not so much a matter of finding a great mate it is much more a matter of being the right kind of person and so if you will concentrate on being the right kind of a person the Lord will lead you to a great mate did it work for

[54:53] Isaac then it will work for you too let's pray together father we thank you for your word we're thankful that you are interested in both the small details of life as well as in the major decisions I pray father that we might be able to take these basic principles and apply them to our situation we do thank you that you lead your people help us to be willing to be led we ask it in Jesus name amen we're going to sing together hymn number 580 in conclusion hymn number 580 please he leadeth me

[55:58]  I trust that this song will be meaningful and true in your life's experience 580 we'll sing verses 1 and 3 please let's stand as we sing first and the third please