The Pillars of life — Matthew 16

0:00 Well, good morning. Good morning. We're so glad that you are all here, and we pray that those who are visiting, that you would feel at home, that we would have welcomed you. But we're glad that you're here, And we're excited to be able to open up God's word and consider a couple of thoughts about the word of God. Now these guys were trying to steal my thunder over here that prayed and, you know, did all that.

0:25 So... Alright. So what I titled this, Boys, Where are these Gentlemen? I wish I would have stayed right here. Now I had to look all over the place for you.

0:32 All right, there's one. There's one. Where's... He's... Oh, oh, yeah.

0:36 Oh, there he is. Hey, I see you. I see you. Alright, gentlemen. I'm so proud of you.

0:43 What an important place in life you're at right now. And so we're gonna... I call this the pillars of life. I was gonna call it the five pillars of life, but that didn't sound very good. If you know your world religions, you know what I mean by that.

0:58 Alright. So we're we're gonna con... I'm gonna give you five things, though. It is five. I was gonna do seven, the perfect number and all that, but I thought that would be too long.

1:07 So these are five things that I want to commit to you. And as I'm talking to them, the adults and everyone else, you listen too because I was blessed by this. All right? So the number one thing I was thinking, all right, what are you going to tell a young man that grew up in church that that heard the word of God that, you know, the parents encouraged him to come to church and to listen and to grow? What are you going to tell him?

1:34 So the the first thing I'm going to tell him is this. Right? Well, let me... Let's go to the verse first. Matthew Matthew 60...

1:42 Sixteen and twenty six. Matthew sixteen and twenty six. What would we have to say to a young man? I'm gonna give you the same words of Jesus, what he said. Now, notice notice the text.

1:57 We're gonna start in verse 25 just for context. Matthew sixteen twenty five. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. And verse 26, for what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

2:25 And the Bible also says in the New Living Translation, I kind of like the way it puts it, what will you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? So if there's one thing I would like to say is just because you came to church and your parents are Christians, does that not mean that you personally have come to the point where you have repented from your sins and you have bowed the knee and said, Jesus Christ, I believe that you are Lord. I believe that you are God, that you died on that cross at my place because of my sin that you were buried, and you rose again on the third day. You can have head knowledge about it, but does not mean that it is real in your life.

3:13 Let me give you an example. Last year, we're in Mexico. I took a team with me. We're in the villages preaching the gospel, there's this one dude. His name is Luke Fleming.

3:22 He was, I believe, 24 years old. And I translated his messages. He's given the gospel all week. And then we come back home, and on the flight back home, he realized, you know what? I'm not saved.

3:36 I'm preaching to people everywhere, get saved. I'm telling them that Jesus died for them, and I personally have never been born again. When he got off the plane, he bowed the knee and said, Lord, would you save me? And he got saved. Who knows?

3:50 Maybe some people got saved because of his preaching, and he wasn't even of the Lord. You never know. I've seen it happen before. And so the the Lord says, what does it matter if you graduate from high school, you become successful, you make a lot of money, you whatever, and then when you die, then what? Right?

4:21 Right? 25 years old. He he got killed a couple of weeks ago. Who was Jeff Gladney? He was 25 years old.

4:31 He had just signed a $10,500,000 contract with the Arizona Cardinals to be a cornerback. He got killed three days ago. 25 years old. Who was Lewis? Lewis was 17 years old, but the difference is that Lewis was a true believer.

4:48 He had made a full commitment to Christ. He made it public. He got baptized to say, tell everyone I belong to Jesus, and he died at 17, but he went to glory. You see? So just because you're young, it doesn't mean I can put it off.

5:04 You never know when the day is gonna come. And so the most important thing to me is that you better make sure you are saved because what does it matter if you gain the world and you lose your soul? Right? Now notice also Luke 12 Go look at... Notice Luke twelve and four.

5:24 Listen to what the word of God says. And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom you... Whom to fear. Fear the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell.

5:46 Yes. I tell you, fear him. Why did Jesus Christ leave heaven? Why was he willing to go to a cross? Why was he willing to suffer and do all that?

5:56 Because of the reality of hell. It is so real and it is eternal. It is forever. And and love you too much to allow you to go there so I'm gonna go to the cross and pay for your sin so you can be saved from hell and when you die, the one who killed you, somebody shot you whatever you... Whatever it may be or so a car accident or whatever, that person can't do anything else.

6:24 But then you're gonna stand before God. And he said, look, if you don't have Jesus in your life, if you don't have his righteousness, if he hasn't cleansed you from sin, then I don't have a choice but to send you to eternity separated from me. So what's the most important thing, Ethan? My man, what's the most important thing? To be saved.

6:50 To know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And what is the promise? Eternal life. Eternal life. Praise God for that.

6:59 Are you... Do you know him? If you don't, go home and and pray. If not, talk to me after the meeting. Say, dude, I'm I'm doubting.

7:07 I'm not sure. Let's talk about it. Alright. Number two. What's the second thing that we should say?

7:15 Alright. Well, let's go to Proverbs. Go to Proverbs. So I was thinking, what is what is important? What is something that they need right now?

7:25 They they just graduated. They're gonna go move on to the next step in life. What is it that they need more than anything? Now I want you to notice, follow with me. We're gonna look at several verses, just one verse.

7:36 Now, to one. My son, if you will receive my sayings and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding. Chapter three and verse one. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. For length of days and years of life and peace will will...

8:01 They will add to you. Notice three and twenty one. Three and twenty one. My son, let them not depart from your sight. Keep sound wisdom and discretion.

8:14 Check... Look at chapter four and verse one. Hear, oh son, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding. For I give sound teaching, do not abandon my instruction. Chapter four and verse 10.

8:31 Hear my son and accept my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. Wow. Look at, four and twenty. My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings.

8:46 Do not let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart. Now Proverbs is is is like a father talking to his son. And in the culture back then, when the dad would speak, the mom was right there beside him saying, yep, you tell him daddy, come on. Talk to him.

9:05 Talk to the boy. You know, give him instruction. And he said, my son, listen to my words. And so here's what it is. Number two would be listen to your parents.

9:18 Oh, no. Not that. Yeah. That. Yes.

9:21 That. Outside of your soul being saved, I would say the second most important thing is listen to your parents. Right now, you need to listen to them more than ever. Right? More than ever right now.

9:35 Dad, I need your wisdom. Dad, help me pray with me. How do I make decisions? What do I do in life? And and and hopefully dad and mom are there for you.

9:44 Right? But no one loves you more, invested more, has prayed for you more, wants to see you do well more, they want to bless you more, they want absolute best for you more than your parents. Do I get an amen from the parents? Amen. That's right.

10:02 Now you better listen because it's true. And there's this tendency, I don't

10:06 need the old people. They're outdated and they just...

10:09 They always want to tell me what to do. Right now, you need them the most. In fact, listen to what second Timothy three two says, for men will be lovers of self in the end times. Right? In these days, there will be lovers of money.

10:24 They're gonna be boastful. They're gonna be arrogant. They're gonna be revilers. And look what squeezed in to all this stuff, disobedient to parents. Ungrateful, unholy.

10:38 One of the things that marks rebellion against God is that... In the end times, it's exactly that. They are disobedient to parents. Now here's something you need to understand. God gave you your parents.

10:53 You didn't choose them. God gave them to you. And so you need to repent right now. Lord, I'm sorry. I said,

11:00 why did you give me them parents?

11:04 Yeah. Even parents are saying that I repent because I said that about my parents. Right? Yeah.

11:10 Why didn't you make them rich? Why did you

11:11 make it... You you can... Whatever you wanna say. Right? Why did you give me them parents?

11:16 Why did you choose them? God in his wisdom decided to give you the parents that he gave you. So if you reject your parents, you're rejecting God. Listen to that. Ephesians six one and three, honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with a promise.

11:36 Right? That it may be well with you that you may live long on the earth. So what is the the promise to this commandment? Favor with God and man. Favor with God and man.

11:49 And so first of all, you gotta make sure you're saved. Secondly, honor your father and your mother. Praise God for your parents. Listen to them. Obey them.

12:01 Respect them. Honor them. And it's gonna be well with you. You're gonna gain favor with God and man. Alright.

12:21 Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Alright. Now listen, be teachable and be respectful.

12:38 What what is very common to young men getting done or... And women. Right? Young people getting out of high school,

12:44 I don't need to listen to anyone, you know.

12:46 I know what I'm doing. Don't be proud and puffed up. Be humble and be teachable. Even in my age, I say, God, want to be teachable. I want to listen.

12:58 Whoever speaks the word of God, I want to listen to what you have to say to me. I want to be taught by you. I'm not at the point where I already heard that I already know. I don't want to hear anymore. Never do we want to have that attitude.

13:11 Don't don't be wise in your understanding. Don't think you know it all because believe me, you don't. And so don't be wise in your understanding, your attitude. Chuck Swindell put it this way, Life is 80% attitude and 20% aptitude. 80% attitude, the way you look at life, 20% how much you know or how smart you are.

13:36 I kind of like that. You know what today's trend is? Today's trend is narcissism. Now, I'm going to describe to you a narcissist. You know what that means, right?

13:48 Okay, here we go. Listen. It says it's one of several types of personality disorders. It is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, A deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. A narcissist personality causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs.

14:22 People with narcissistic personalities may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they're not given special favors or admiration. They believe they deserve. They may find the relationships unfulfilling, and others may not enjoy being around them. And so that tends to be the trend these days. It's all about me.

14:49 Give me attention. You know, I I wanna be noticed. And the complete opposite is true of a believer. A believer is humble, he's teachable, and it's about Jesus. It's about blessing others.

15:04 It's not about me. Don't be wise in your own understanding. Alright? So that's number three. Watch your attitude.

15:16 Alright. Number four. What's the fourth thing that I would say to someone that I think is really important? Second Timothy one and verse 12. Second Timothy one and twelve.

15:27 Go there. Second Timothy one and twelve. Okay. Here's what it says. For this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed.

15:45 And here's what I want you to listen. For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day. Now one thing that I find common in camps and in conferences that I do is this, that a young person will come to me and say, you know, I grew up in church. I grew up hearing God's word, and my parents told me about God and all, but I don't know what I believe. I'm totally confused.

16:17 I'm not sure why this phenomenon happens, but here... The... Here's one thing that's true, and you need to understand this, that the devil and the world is coming after you. He's They're gonna attack your faith from every angle. The goal is to get you to deny Jesus Christ.

16:42 That's right. And so because the devil knows that if he can get a... That if God can have a young person that knows what to believe, they're really saved, that obeys their parents, that's teachable, that is convinced that the Bible is true, that Jesus is Lord, that you need to be saved, you get a young person committed, he's gonna do some serious damage to the kingdom of Satan. And so what does Satan say? Who am I gonna attack?

17:12 Forget the old folks, you know. They can hardly walk and they have to stay home and pray sometimes for it because they can't even come to church. Right? I'm coming after the young people because I want them to curse God. I want them to walk away and I'm gonna use whatever it takes to get them to walk away from God.

17:31 So you need to understand that. And Paul said, I know whom I have believed in and I am convinced. I'm convinced. He wasn't ignorant. He studied the word of God and he became convinced that this is true.

17:47 Are you convinced young man? Are you convinced? I hope you are. Look at second Timothy three and fourteen. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned.

18:06 And now notice that you have become convinced of. See that? So you grew up hearing the word of God and you became convinced that it was true. And what does the word of God do as you become convinced that it's true? Notice verse 15, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings, the Bible, which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

18:33 So are you convinced? Because if you're not convinced, it's only a matter of time and you're gonna walk because someone else is gonna convince you about something else, and you're gonna be dragged away. You need to have conviction. Know what you believe. Alright.

18:49 So that's the fourth one. Now, the fifth one. The fifth one is very interesting. Go to... Oh, the the promise of the of the fourth one was that he's able to guard what you have entrusted unto him until that day.

19:03 Now go to Proverbs three again, and we're gonna get the fifth one. Alright. So we're almost done. It didn't take that long. Let's go to Proverbs three, and look at look at the the the the...

19:17 You're not gonna like this one. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty good so far, but what? Watch this one.

19:31 So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. New wine. So what is the the the fifth one? The fifth one? Honor the Lord with your with your first fruits.

19:45 In other words, be generous and give and give. Now, the reason there's not young people at church is because nobody gives and they can't even afford to pay for the light bill and and have a building. You know? And then you might say as a young person, well, I only make $50 a week, you know, so get $5. Right?

20:06 It's what they call the widow's mite. Throw in your $5 and God's gonna bless you. Do you realize that it's rare to see a young person generous? You know, there's money for food, there's money for clothes, there's money for party, for everything else, but here comes the bag and, you know, not even a a 0.25. Oh my goodness, to see a young man that's generous, that gives, that acknowledges God.

20:33 You know, God, everything I have comes from you, even the intelligence to be able to work and study and make money. And consequently, when when the bag comes out, we don't even pass it around. You know, it's back there if you were wondering. But how wonderful when a person is generous and they acknowledge the Lord. You know, there was this young guy, young kid, he was a farmer, farmer's son.

20:58 And the... He was a Christian and and he heard about giving. And so the... One of the cows had twins. And the parents said, look, son, we're gonna give you these two cows.

21:09 And and he goes, oh, I just heard a sermon about young people should be giving. And so, Lord, one of them is yours and one of them is mine. You know, and so that's what I'm gonna do. I'm I'm gonna give you the whole one of them. And so couple of weeks later, he he wakes up in the morning, he goes to the barn and guess what?

21:27 One of them was dead. So then he prays, I'm sorry, Lord, but your cow died. You know? And so the Lord said, what do you mean? That was your that was your cow that died.

21:42 So how important when when when a a person, a young person is generous? Your bank account your bank account reflects your priorities. Where's your money going? You can invest in heaven, and God will credit to you when a soul gets saved. It'll be given a credit to you for that.

22:07 So wow. Be generous and give. And what is the promise? You always have enough. You always have enough.

22:16 Yeah. So let's review and we'll we'll we'll stop. Number one, your soul. Your soul. Are you saved?

22:23 Do you know that you have eternal life? Do you have a a relationship with Jesus Christ? Number two, your parents. Honor your father and your mother, and you're gonna be blessed when when that's true. Third, your attitude.

22:37 Be teachable. Be teachable. Fourth, your conviction. Know what you believe. Are you convinced that Jesus Christ is Lord and the word of God is inerrant and trustworthy and is true and your money be generous and give.

23:01 How exciting to see a young man giving to the kingdom of heaven. Right. Father, thank you for your word. Bless it to us. Thank you for these young men.

23:11 So grateful for for Logan, for Trevor, for Ethan. Oh, God bless them. We pray that their lives would glorify you. We commit them to you. Oh, God, thank you for your word and for what you had to say to us today.

23:27 Be with us now as we go home. In Jesus blessed name, amen.