YP Talk—Ted Allan
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All right, we'll go ahead and get started.
I'd like to start with the hymn this evening 312.
Thinking of the second verse.
We follow the our Guide, who did salvation bring. We follow thee through grace supplied from heaven's eternal spring 312.
Somebody could start it for me.
Almighty Lord.
We learn to.
Victory.
Anchorage, by my blessed word.
With joy we fall.
We are the.
Our God.
Who is salvation?
Brain.
We follow thee through.
Grace of blood.
Amazing eternal spray.
To love the.
Prize for the.
We hear our.
And those we call forever rest.
I wonder being so strong.
That's the Lord's help.
Our Father, we come to Thee this evening and prayer and truly Thou art our guide. We know a verse in the Old Testament says that Thou art our guide even unto death. I just pray, Lord Jesus, that each of these young people here today, and older ones too would seek and follow Thee.
Till they are taken home, or till thou just give the shell.
Preservice Lord Jesus, we do pray. In thy precious name we ask it, Amen.
OK, So for those who weren't here yesterday, I spoke about decision points and I recounted I think 6 people yesterday who made decisions in their life that affected the trajectory of the rest of their life and tried to touch on various aspects. I'll say that.
Each of you have or will face at some point in your life.
The last one I wanted to cover this evening.
Has to do with Rebecca and this particular topic is probably geared a little bit more towards those who are older as it relates to finding a partner in life.
And but yet I certainly, you know, for the younger ones too, might not be at that stage. There's certainly good things to learn from it as you think about that phase in your life.
As I finished my talk, I obviously feel it important to talk about, you know, as we make decisions in life, how it is we discern the Lords will. And so I'll wrap it up with a few thoughts with respect to that because, you know, certainly we talked about various individuals who made some made good choices, some made poor choices.
But I just wanted to kind of bring it together to give you a few things.
Perhaps we see in scripture and also I'll say through experience.
As well in my own life. So let's turn to Genesis chapter 24.
For the account of Isaac and Rebecca.
00:05:10
I'm just going to start by reading one verse to set the context here, and that is verse 58.
And they called Rebecca, and said unto her.
Wilt thou go with this man? And she said I will go.
I recognize in the context of this verse that they were asking Rebecca about whether her family wanted her to delay her departure. And the servant seemed anxious to get back to Isaac with his new bride. And so they approached Rebecca her here. But I just want to focus really in that one question first. Wilt thou go with this man?
And she said I will go.
You know the person that you will marry in life is one of the biggest decisions that you will make.
And it will have a tremendous impact for your life, young person.
You know, I understand here that this particular story is certainly a different setting in that Isaac isn't even here in the present, if you will. This was all done through his father, through the servant to go search a bride for.
Isaac But certainly I think the principles remain as to some of the things I'll touch on here.
This is a very important topic. I'm sure those of us who are older and young people, you've probably observed it, that you've seen people marry who were good help meets for them and also some who were not help meats for them.
And I just wanted to touch on a few points here. And so I'm going to go back to the beginning of Chapter 24.
To just touch on a few things here, it's a very lengthy chapter, so I'm just going to really extrapolate a few verses here to emphasize the points I want to make so.
We're going to start here with Abraham and I'll just start at verse one. It says, and Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 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, the God of earth.
The earth that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.
But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
So here we find Abraham in the land of Canaan. He is very much interested for a bride for his son Isaac, and he gives instructions to the servant to go back to the area in which he lived, to his family, to his country, to his kindred, to take a wife for his son Isaac.
And you know, I'm going to make the.
I'll say the application here that.
The single most important thing, young people, is that you find somebody who is a fellow believer in Christ as to a partner in life, somebody, as it were, from your own kindred. We know that the Israelites were instructed later not to take a wife or spouse from some of the surrounding countries, Moab, some of those places. The Lord was very clear on that point.
And certainly in Corinthians it's very clear that we are not to be unequally yoked.
With unbelievers.
And to really make a decision to not only marry, but to date somebody who is not a believer is really to make a very, very poor choice in your life.
I understand that it's difficult for you as many of you in school, and perhaps there's not many young people in your assemblies and a boy or a girl takes interest in you at school. It can be very hard to certainly say no to that. Certainly the interests and affections of others can be very appealing.
00:10:11
But to really pursue that, there's somebody who does not know and follow.
Jesus Christ is to really make shipwreck of your life.
You know, because if you pursue in that path and marry that person, I mean, you're really on opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to what, you know, your interests and your cares of life are. I mean, right out of the gate, you would be faced obviously with decisions about raising children and how to discipline and how to raise them, all these things. And you know, there's countless examples where people have done that and it's been extremely detrimental.
So obviously I'm being plain here, but I just want to make the point as Abraham.
He wanted this for his son Isaac, that there would be somebody from his country, from his kindred, certainly as a father. And the fathers and mothers in this room can certainly, I'm sure, attest to the fact as to Abraham's desire for his own children that this would be the case.
The second point I want to make with respect to this is in verse 12. Again, I'm not going to read the whole account, but.
We know the servant goes out, he comes to an area which is really from the area Abraham is from. And in verse 12 he prays. And here he says, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city came out to draw water. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say.
Let down my pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master.
So here I just want to make the very simple point that as the servant went out knowing what his master wanted, he prayed this prayer. And we know that the prayer came to pass. And so this decision with respect to the person that you will court or marry is one that ought to be blanketed in prayer.
I was talking to somebody yesterday and they said how?
Somebody they knew had prayed 4 years with respect to somebody that they had desire to marry, and the Lord opened that door, you know.
This is a decision that's not to be made lightly and to be, as I said, blanketed in prayer. And that's what happened. We know the servant was certainly very specific, you know, and it came to pass in the following verses. We know that Rebecca came out to the well, and we know that when he asked about getting a drink, she offered not only a drink for him, but for his Camels.
And it was very clear that the Lord had answered his prayer.
You know, this obviously is a sensitive topic. I know that many of you in here right now, I'm sure, are praying with respect to this as to who the person would have for you. And sometimes these answers don't come overnight or immediately.
And.
Yet, you know, the Lord did give a clear answer here to the servant, and we know that Rebecca was going to be a tremendous blessing to Isaac. But I encourage each of you as you think about whether the Lord would have this for you to be in prayer about it, even those who may not be at this stage. You know, as I said, you know, there's some in this room who I'll say are at that stage now.
But you know really for all of you, irrespective of age, something that you should be in prayer about as a parent. Obviously we should be praying for our own children that they would find somebody who would be a help me.
I also want to point out the facts in verse 10. Just want to make mention of this as to the fact that this was a very long journey for this servant to make.
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Very far, I mean, from the area where Abraham grew up. And so there was a lot of initiative put forth on Abraham's part to send the servant all the way back here because he knew that that would be what God would have and.
I'll just say this that.
One thing that does concern me, and I'm speaking openly, is that it seems to me that there's been a trend of a lack of initiative, I'll say on the part, especially of men sometimes I think in this regard to put forward, to seek and to get to know people of the opposite sex.
And I that's my own opinion and some of you may certainly challenge me on that afterwards, but.
You need to get to know people. And I realize it's different today. You know, when I was a young person, we had him sang some. You know, the thing of the day was that who were going to ask that him sing used to be a running joke. I remember young men, sometimes they asked over 10 different girls to him sings and they would get made fun of for that. But you know, in so doing, you got to know people through that.
You have to be careful, obviously, as to a young lady's heart, you know, for the men here, I do acknowledge that. But as I see, certainly people get older and they're single, you know, there needs to be some initiative, obviously through the Lord's leading as to what the Lord would have for you and not to be afraid to reach out and get to know somebody.
So if the servant can make that type of a journey, certainly.
The ability to go up and say a few words to somebody, get to know them a little bit, show some courage on your part.
The next point I want to make is in.
Verse 50 So we know that the prayer is answered. He asks basically to go to her home, you know whose family she was. And it was very clear, obviously when he heard, you know whose family she was from, that the Lord was answering a prayer very clearly here. But in verse 50, as he recounts his prayer and what had happened, it says.
And Bethiel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord, we cannot speak unto thee, bad or good. It was very clear to them that this was the Lord's doing, and really, what could they say to that? And so they gave their blessing.
And.
I just say this for young people.
Seek the blessing of your family in this matter.
It will be clear, I believe to your family, as to whether it is from the Lord, as much as it may be difficult.
You know, maybe you're sensitive obviously to what your parents think. I hope that you desire your parents input, but to seek their blessing in this particular matter is important.
I remember very clearly my own mother warned me about somebody I had had interest in when I was a young man.
And that person is not my wife.
You know.
I'm thankful sometimes for the warnings and also the words of encouragement from a parent as to this particular regard. You know, recognize that your parents have years of experience. They may see things from a different perspective, but their opinion matters and their blessing is important.
You know.
I may be old fashioned, but I think it's even good for young men really to seek, you know, the blessing of the family with the person that they seek to court, you know, as to get their approval in that regard. I know it's not a popular idea today, but you know, it's a good thing to have the blessing from their family as well. Well, Rebecca's family clearly knew that this was from the Lord.
And, you know, they acknowledged it for what it was.
And, you know, they obviously didn't want to see her go. And as I said at the beginning, the servant was anxious to depart. And they called Rebecca. And that's where they asked the question that I started with. Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
00:20:04
If only it were this easy, right? I recognize it doesn't in the world in which we live work out this way. I know that there's sure, I'm sure there's many a young lady that would only wish someone would come, you know, and seek their heart in this regard. And many are waiting.
But you know, it wasn't easy for Rebecca either, to leave.
I can tell you when I married my wife Julie, we got married, She moved from the United States to Canada. We lived in Prince Edward Island.
There were many days she just cried, she was so homesick.
Her first cousin.
Supposed to be in our wedding party. Caroline Hadley passed away 10 days before we got married of cancer.
There were days that Julie just lied on the sofa and wept.
And what?
And that was our first year of marriage.
It's not. Yes, she loved me, but it's not always easy to move away from home and everything you've ever known.
And that's not unique to her.
I know I'm not speaking to newlyweds here today, but you know, when that day comes for you, young man, you know, be sensitive to that. This is a major life change.
Because you know the reality, if you marry somebody in the assemblies to which you go, more often than not it requires a significant move on somebody's part far from where they grew up.
You know, with respect to, you know, my own wife.
I thank the Lord every day for her.
She's a tremendous blessing to me.
It was about 20 years ago that I had asked her at Montreal conference if we could start dating and we courted for about two years before we got married.
And I was a very happy time.
When her cousin got sick with cancer before we got married, I mean, that was difficult. It was very hard for me to enter into what she was going through.
But that time was a time of getting to know one another.
To know them for their joys, their pains, to see them happy when they're sad.
And that's all part of it.
And it's good to have that time to get to know somebody.
Proverbs 1822 makes it clear it's often read at weddings. Who so findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor from the Lord.
And this is, as I said, one of the most important decisions that will be made. But it can be a wonderful, wonderful blessing to your life.
Genesis 2, which often reads, which is often read at weddings with respect to a helpmeet.
Young persons seek to help me.
You know, my mom always often quoted the verse how can two walk together except they be agreed? It's very important principle.
To have somebody that shares your convictions.
But I will caution you that I think sometimes we strive for perfection. And as I think about people in that respect, you know, none of us are perfect.
What I would say is desire a help me from the Lord.
Find somebody who's a believer in Christ and to seek them.
I'm very, very thankful, as I said, for my wife, and I can truly say that she is my help me. I will say this, and I certainly ought to say this, that Paul makes it very clear in the New Testament, though.
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That not everybody is called to marriage.
And to be a single person for life, maybe you're calling from the Lord.
And Paul made it clear that.
You know, that is a gift in a sense that not everybody has to be able to live that way, but their life can be used in full usefulness to the Lord.
You know, at the end of the day.
The Lord himself is the one who ought to be our All in all.
And.
The Lord can be that one.
To you, young person, if he's called you to be a life of singleness.
I don't think it's often talked about enough.
But he wants to be that too, for a married person as well as to be that person who really you strive to follow. That he be you. To be, as it were, your first love.
Well, I'm going to leave it at that, but with respect to this decision point, a partner in life. So again, just to recap.
Somebody who's a fellow believer in Christ. It's a decision that's to be blanketed in prayer. Seek your family's blessing and look to as to whether the Lord is in it, as to whether it be His will, and take that initiative. Don't be afraid to take that first step and get to know somebody.
So I want to pivot now. I'm going to talk about another person that made a choice as well. And it kind of pivots to what I'm going to finish this evening with. I'm going to let's turn to Luke chapter 10. And this has to do with Mary and Martha.
This is somebody who, the Lord clearly said, made a choice.
And they made a good choice.
In verse 38 of Luke 10 it says it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, and she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve?
Or left me to serve alone. Bid her therefore she helped me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and merry hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.
Mary had chosen that good part.
You know, Martha was somebody who obviously was very active in service and busy, and you can imagine her in that home. She was busy getting the home ready and getting the meal prepared and you know, you know, doing everything that needs to be done to make sure that things are running perfectly. And you know, it irritated her quite frankly, that Mary was just sitting there at Jesus feet and why isn't she helping Lord? And she was getting very frustrated.
You know, I think.
Those words jumped out to me this afternoon when I was meditating on this. She said, Lord, dost thou not care? You know, at times I may feel that way, you know, but really this was born out of a heart that made her feel a little self-righteous. I'll say in Prideville, I'm doing all the work. Why isn't Mary helping?
She was probably the personality that, you know, fretted over things perhaps as well, but the Lord sent Mary made the better choice.
And so as I transition to the last half of this hour, I really want to focus on the point that Mary was sitting there at Jesus feet, occupied with him, hearing his words.
She chose the good part.
And so As for the next 30 minutes or so.
I want to share a few things as it relates to the topic. We've talked yesterday evening and this evening about really knowing How can you know the Lord's will?
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But to really know that, you need to know him. And Mary spent time with him, hearing his words and getting acquainted with him. And that was lost, I'll say, on Martha.
And.
I want to read one verse in Psalm 119105, a very well known verse.
As I start start this discussion.
But Psalm 1/19, 1:05 And it says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. You know, as often young people and people who are older often think about, well, what's the Lord's will in a particular matter?
One thing we need to recognize is that much of His will is already made known through the scriptures.
I mean, some things are very clear, right? I mean, if you think about the things that we already considered over the last hour and a half, I'll say.
Lot, for example, right? He lifted up his eyes, he saw what looked good. And if you take the Scripture, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof or the ways of death with respect to purity. And Timothy clearly says flee youthful lusts. I mean, in Scripture things are very explicitly clear as to what the Lord wills for you and your life, and I will say principles.
OK, so I'm not saying.
I don't know. I'll take Rachel for example, whether she goes to County College in Morris or goes to Rutgers, that's different. OK, those types of decisions. But with respect to.
What the Lord's will with many matters of life are already revealed in Scripture.
And sometimes we aren't well acquainted enough to frankly to know what his will is in a particular matter.
Unfortunately, we live in a day and age increasingly where people just frankly don't know the Bible and are not acquainted with the Scriptures. They don't read it. They rely on others. And that's a very dangerous place to be because how will you know, quite frankly, what God's will is?
And so again, I turn to this verse because it makes it clear that thy word, God's words, are a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That's why it's so important to memorize Scripture. It's important to read it, to be acquainted with it. And that's a lifelong process, certainly.
I know that my memory is not great for those who know me.
But you know that which was memorized in my youth, and as you become more and more acquainted with it, you know it's stored up in the Spirit of God can take what is there.
The next thing I would like to say is let's turn to a verse in John 14 six to set the stage for this, a very important verse as well.
It says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, you should have known my Father also, and from henceforth you know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffeth us, sufficeth us. And I should have read verse 5 before this. I apologize. Thomas was the one who.
Question, He said, Lord, we know not whether thou goest and how, and we know the way Jesus said very clearly that he was. The way to know Jesus Christ is really to know.
His will, his desire for your life and so on. And so I thought I would give an example through a story. So.
Not this year, but the year prior.
00:35:02
We had another international student live at our home. Some of you may have known that, and this was a young man from South Korea. His name was Jay Chung and Jay was from the Seoul area.
You know, it was really a desire on Julianne's part to open our home, to use it for the Lord, to bring someone in to share the gospel with them, to get acquainted with other cultures and so on. And so one of the when we heard through the school where children were going that there was a need to host.
This young man, we were given a letter. We read about him. We read what he liked, what he didn't like. We knew he lived in Wisconsin for a year.
On a very rural setting, lived on a farm. We knew he's from Seoul area. We knew like soccer. He's very social. You know, we knew kind of the basics about him, but we really didn't know Jay.
Well, we made the decision for Jay to come to our house.
Still remember going to Newark Airport, going in, all I had was a pitcher. I'm like, OK, this guy's in here somewhere. And I found him near the baggage terminal, the suitcase and thought, well, he looks Korean and kind of standing on his own and probably him. So went out and introduced myself and anyway, we drove him back to our house and.
I wish you could have known. I mean, it was such a bright, sociable young man and had an affinity to draw people to him.
That was very clear. He made friends very quickly.
We learned that he was from a single parent household. His father had left him. He was very young. He was raised by his mother. His older brother is in the Korean military, was stationed near the DMZ at the border of North Korea. And that was what all young men in South Korea do. They have to join the military. For two years he told us quite openly he didn't want to join the military, but that was the expectation, even if he was here in the United States, that he would have to go back and serve.
So we had a really great time getting.
To know him.
He came into our house we, you know, through lessons learned with Emma. We sat him down, went clearly over expectations about what was permitted and not permitted in our house. He was to attend the family Bible readings with us and basically live as part of our family.
Umm, But you know, we thought we knew him. He lived with us four months.
When he went back to Korea for Christmas break, we got a notice from the school that he had, because it was a Christian School, they monitor all the activities they're doing. He had been searching about how to vape and how to purchase weed, oil, smoke marijuana.
This came as a complete surprise to Julie. And I mean, all we really knew was, you know, that he was searching for it on the Internet. So we went to search his room to see if we could find anything. We couldn't, but it was a very different return. When he came back from Korea. We had to sit him down and ask him some very pointed questions.
And unfortunately, he did have a vape device. He had had brought back some liquids that he had planned to give to friends and we had to confiscate all that we had to notify.
Basically the coordinator who coordinates for international students and he got on a discipline plan. And anyway, it was very eye opening. We thought we knew him. He was living in our house.
Months went by.
And I got a call one day from the principal. We thought everything was back on track.
And principal of school basically said that something had come to light on social media and he was involved, could have come to the school and came to the school and.
Julie and I were there, principals there, Jay was there. Before we went to the school, I asked Jay. I said is there anything?
Really. That I need to know about. We knew it involved a picture on social media.
But he said there's nothing beyond that.
And lo and behold, there was much more than that.
Without getting into it, he ended up getting expelled from the school. Nearly lost the ability to finish high school in the United States.
00:40:08
It was very difficult circumstances in which for him to leave our family. It affected our family deeply.
And why do I say all this?
I say it because, you know, we thought we knew Jay. We read about him. He lived in our house for seven months.
But it's clear we still didn't know him, even though we spent that much time with him.
We found a burnt spoon in his room, we found things that called into question if there were more serious drugs, things getting delivered to our home. It was a scary situation. He denied it all basically.
And I say this because to know somebody, it's one thing to read about somebody, it takes time to be with them to get to know somebody. But you think about had I gone to Korea and got to know his mom, to live in his apartment, to see his school, I would, you know, get to know a whole other side of him and his friends.
You know, and so to get to know somebody takes time, young people.
And to get to know somebody is to know what their desires, what their wants, what pleases them, what displeases them, and so on. And so I say this because, you know.
Thomas here, he said, Lord show how can we know the way, and Jesus said I am the way, you know, He wanted them to know him intimately.
And so to know him, yes, to know the Scriptures, is deeply, vastly important.
But it takes spending time with him.
What is your quiet time like with the Lord young person?
Do you have a quiet time where you sit and reflect?
You know this question in verse eight that Philip said, Lord show us the Father and sufficeth us, you know.
Over the last five years, I'll just speak plainly. At times I would cry out and said, Lord, just show me what to do and I'll do it.
And that's the easy way sometimes, because it doesn't require faith to do that in a sense, right, but to know the heart of the Father, what pleases the Lord.
You know, if we're intimately acquainted with him, I should know what pleases him and what displeases him.
And so often we just want to just say, just tell us what to do and I'll do it. And I'm guilty that I'm still guilty of that.
And that's a hard lesson to learn.
And so we'll turn to the well known verses in Philippians. I know that time is slipping away here, but in Philippians 3, right, he's well known versus that Paul could say.
In Philippians 37.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yeah, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
That I may know him in the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
And so young person.
We are all in a process of still getting to know the Lord.
Through the difficulties in our life as well as the joys.
And that's why I said, you know, for us, you know, to get to know Jay and I'm a better be nice to go to where they grew up to see their home.
Julie and I's dream one day to get to China, to see where Emma lived, to meet her mom and dad.
00:45:02
You know, Ben and I had the privilege about a year and a half ago to get to Japan when my sister was living there. You know, I'm so thankful that Ben and I had that experience to be able to experience a little bit of what they were experiencing there living on a military base in Japan.
It just helps you understand in a whole different way what somebody's going through and so.
We can get to know Christ through the experiences of our lives.
The last five years have been very difficult for me.
But you know, I wouldn't trade it for anything because you get to know the Lord in a way that you wouldn't experience otherwise.
You know, that's why it can be said, if you suffer as a Christian, happy are we because our happy are you because you understand a little bit, just a little bit, what it was for Christ to suffer.
When people would spit in his face.
To mock him.
And so, as you perhaps experience in some small measure at school, what it is to suffer for the name of Christ.
It's a privilege to be able to do that, because in so doing you get to know a little bit Christ your Lord and Savior.
And a little bit different, more intimate way.
You know, we will never certainly know fully what he went through.
But to know Him is to know Him through the experiences of life, both in the joy and the pain, in my desire is young people, that you would truly know the Lord in your life, not just about Him, but truly know Him.
And I would encourage you this evening either write it on a piece of paper and pray it as a prayer and just say, Lord, my desire is to know you.
There's nobody more important than life young person than knowing him.
He's a friend that sticketh closer than her brother.
This world will let you down. You know, we were talking yesterday, I think it was about the fact that life, frankly, can be unfair. It's chock full of trial and tribulation, and other people disappoint.
But this is a friend who loves you no matter what.
And.
You know, I recounted a vessel or vessel conference a couple years ago in the open meeting, but that little hymn that was very precious to me, it's kind of been Julianized theme song, Pennsylvania.
With the God of the mountains is still God of the valleys.
There will be valleys in your life, young people, there will be mountains, but he is still God of both.
Get to know him not only in the mountain but also the valley. Some of you may be going through a very difficult time right now.
You know, I knew what it was for the first time in my life to suffer real anxiety.
Felt sick all the time.
And it's a very precious thing to be able to release these things to the Lord.
Because He is a God who is deeply, intensely interested in your life with the big things and the small things. This is not some far out mystical thing that you hear about meeting. This is reality and the reality of your life.
That I may know him in the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
So I'm going to read two more verses and then I think we're done in Ephesians 5. Is the first one Ephesians 5/17?
Wherefore.
Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
00:50:02
Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. That is my prayer really for you.
That you would know what the will of the Lord is and to do it.
I will say this too that.
With respect to the Lord's.
Will and knowing it, it's true. He doesn't speak audibly to us.
But there are times in your life where you will know it's the Lord speaking to you. Not audibly, but I'll say in the quietness of your heart.
And you will know it.
I often think of Samuel when he said speak Lord for your servant heareth he didn't know. It was the Lords verse, our voice at the beginning. I've had this discussion with some of my children, 'cause they've asked about this and how they know and thought thinking perhaps they haven't heard his voice.
Ask the Lord you know when he speaks.
Say speak, Lord, for your servant hearth.
I recounted this story before, but I'll say it again. I mean, there's been numerous examples, but this one was about a year and a half ago.
Julie and I were praying in fervent prayer one night.
And tears before the Lord.
Went to bed the next morning, I got up, I went into the restroom.
And the words came to my mind very clearly. Thy prayer has been heard just out of the blue, and I knew it was the Lord speaking to me. It wasn't.
It was just very precious to me because I went to bed feeling like, well, I released my burden, but just to know the Lord was assuring me he had heard my prayer. And so there will be times, young people where that's still small voice will speak to you.
You will know it for what it is.
And heat it when you hear it.
But I'll say by and large, the will of the Lord is revealed through the scriptures. Much of what His will is for your life is laid out. Spend time and quietness before Him.
And as you live life in the desire to serve and please the Lord little by little here, there, you know, we learn just a little bit more of His ways in dealing with us and His desires for our life.
You know, sometimes, as I gave an example before this college, that college, you know, things like that, I think more often than not the Lord is interested in our hearts as to our motivation, our desires.
And.
You know, that is what we all need to think about and search out as to our motivation sometimes in these decisions.
Our priorities, because our priorities, my priorities, sometimes get very mixed up.
And poor decisions can be made as a result of that.
So the last verse I'm going to read is in Isaiah chapter 58.
Verse 11.
When the Lord shall guide thee continually.
And satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a water garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
The Lord seeks to be your guide. He will be your guide. You seek His direction for your life. Young people, I care deeply for all of you.
As I've recounted over these past two meetings, I know that life is filled with challenges. These are very difficult days in which we live.
My prayer is that all of us here would remain faithful until the Lord gives the shout, calls his home.
So keep on.
Get to know him and pray that say Lord, I want to know you, you know, because it's.
00:55:07
Like Dave said earlier, acts versus process. This is a process, I believe, getting to know him. This is not something that happens like that. I'm sure you know, the most elderly people we know who are godly Christians will tell you they're still getting to know him and learning about him. It's a lifelong process, you know, sometimes I think about.
Jacob.
At the end of his life, and he said few and evil have been my years. You know, he was a very different man than he had been earlier in his life, that he recognized how weak he was and how his heart was prone to do evil.
And so, as we grow with the Lord and seek to please Him, we will recognize more and more how much our hearts are capable, really.
Of the flesh and doing what the flesh desires.
So my prayers, the Lord would keep you and preserve you and keep you in the path of faith, following Him until He does come. Before I pray, I just want to read. I'm not. We're not going to sing to him.
Actually, you know what? Let's sing. I'll read it first and then we'll sing it. 311 I came across this this afternoon. I don't think I've ever heard it sung before, but it just struck me as to the topic over the last two days.
Says while to several paths dividing we are pilgrimage pursue.
Mayor Shepherd safely guiding still be kept in constant view. May the bond of blessed Communion, every distant soul embrace. Till an everlasting union we attain our resting place. Maybe we could sing 311.
While to several.
Passive fighting.
We are.
In which person?
May our Shepherd.
Safely guarding.
Still be captain.
Constant. Beautiful.
May the.
Bond of.
Bless Communion.
Every day.
And soul. And praise.
Till.
Never.
Lasting Union.
We.
Attain.
Our resting place, just pray.
Father.
Help us to be like Mary.
He sat at Jesus feet.
Listening to his words.
That our eyes may be focused upon Him.
May it be collectively our desire in this room today that we may know him.
Through the joys and trials of life, through the hills and valleys that we may taste in some small measure what it is to know him by walking with him through this pilgrimage we are walking on.
Keep us Lord, we do, pray. Preserve us till thy coming. We feel it so.
Very near storm clouds are dark overhead. We know that these dear young people, Lord, are living in extremely challenging times.
We pray to keep all of us, Lord, walking faithfully until thou dost come, or thou dost call us home. We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.