YP Sing Address—B. Anstey, D. Nicolet
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I'd like to speak about 3 old men.
Now I know you're probably thinking that's an unusual topic to take up with a bunch of young people, and this is a young people's meeting. But I'd like to just speak about these 3 old men. Not so much about the old men, but what they were doing at the very close of their life. Because what they were saying, what they were doing is something that's very pertinent to this generation. So let's look in Second Samuel chapter.
19.
Second Samuel in chapter 19. Read a few verses there of our first old man.
Second Samuel 19, verse 33.
And the king? That's David.
Said to Brazilian. That's the old man.
Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem and Brasilia. I said unto the king, How long have I to do to live, that I should go up with the King to Jerusalem? For I am this day four score years old, and I can discern. Can I discern between good and evil? And can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? And can I hear anymore the voice of singing?
Men and singing women, Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden to my Lord the King?
Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king. And why should the king recompense me for such a reward? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back, that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham.
Let him go over with thy Lord the King, and do to him as thou would seem good unto thee.
And the king answered, Jim Ham shall go over with me, and I will do to him what seemeth good unto thee, that whatsoever thou should require of me, that will I do for thee. And all the people went over Jordan, and the king would come over. And the king kissed Brazilian eye and blessed him. Reed returned to his place. Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chim Hamm went with him.
On with him, and all the people of Judah conducted the king.
And also half of the people of Israel. OK, here we have the first old man, and we find this is the last recorded act of Brazilian. And what was he doing? Well, he's a picture to us of the aged Saints that are no longer able to get out to the place where the Lord has put his name. David was telling him to come with him back to Jerusalem, which was the place where the Lord had put his name.
But Brazilian eye was too old and was not able to go.
But what he sought to do is what I want to pass on to this group here this evening, and that is he sought to encourage the younger generation to go in and to fill up the ranks in Jerusalem. And he suggested that ones like Chimham would go over with the king, who was young and strong and belonged to that next generation, that he would fill up the ranks in Jerusalem and be there ready for the King's service and in the King's army.
And I believe that that is a tremendous exercise that the ancient brother and the old brethren should have, and that is to strengthen and encourage the next generation to come on that they would value the place where the Lord has put His name. To understand the truths and the principles of gathering. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst, the Lord could say, and to be willing to be at the Lord's disposal for his use and service.
And for blessing of his people. You know what Jim Ham's name means. It means with a longing desire, longing with great desire. And I believe that that's the attitude that each one of us need to have when it comes to this subject of seeing our place at the divine center where the Lord has put His name. We need to have a desire to please the Lord and to be willing to be.
There to support his testimony and to be used of him if he should choose to use this in whatever way.
And so we find in verse 40 that Chim Ham was willing and he went over with the king and with the people, and that's something that we all need to be exercised about, and that is to be willing to be found there with the Lord and his people in the midst. The latter part of the chapter, I'm not going to read it. It tells us that things weren't perfect there in Jerusalem. In fact, it was a time of a lot of turmoil. And we're never going to say that the place in the assemblies.
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Are always.
Perfect there's always going to be some difficulties at times, but still we need to see that the Lord is there that he's put his name there and that he is inviting us there to that place and so I'm not saying that the Lord's people are perfect anytime amongst them you'll soon find out that we all have shortcomings and but we find here that even though there.
Things weren't all perfect there.
It was a tremendous opportunity and privilege for ones like Chim Ham. And so this was the last recorded act that we have of the great man, Brazilian. He was about to leave the earth. He was passing on. He didn't have the energy or the strength to go himself. But his last desire was that the next generation would be there. Now the Lord wants you and I.
To answer that call, are we willing? Are we like Chim Ham? Do we have that longing desire to not only see our place at the Lord's table, but to be there as a support to it and to be willing to be used to the Lord? You know, every generation that takes the path of faith is going to be tested in some way. And if you were to read on into the next chapter, you'll find that there was a man who would be a picture of a heretical person.
Who sought to take advantage of the fact that there was turmoil among the tribes in Jerusalem at that time and he sought to lead a company away from David.
And from that divine center, and I believe that every generation is going to be faced with a sheba that was the man's name in chapter 20. And where there's going to be a testing as to whether we really understand why we are where we are ecclesiastically, why we're not with a Baptist Church or with some other group, why we're with the Saints that are gathered to the Lord's name. We need to have a firm understanding of the principles.
Upon which we were gathered, and I want to encourage the younger ones here to read the material that is available, pamphlets, books and so on, on the subject of the place where the Lord has put His name. And so when there comes the test, and it's going to come for this generation, it comes for every generation when there will be a sheba, someone will rise up and have a lot of good reasons why we need to leave that place that we'll be able to, from the Word of God, be able to say.
Why we are where we are and we're not going to get moved off that ground. May God give you the grace to answer to what we see in Chim Hem. Let's look at another, the second old man back in Joshua.
14th 15th chapter of Joshua.
Joshua, chapter 15.
Here we have the second old man, and we have here the last recorded act of his life.
Verse 13 And unto Caleb Now on the 14th chapter he too said he was fourscore and in five years of age. But now we read here it says in Caleb the son of Jefuna.
Gave he part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arbor.
The father of Enoch, which is the city Hebron, and Caleb drove out thence.
Three sons of Enoch, Shishai, a hymen, and Telme, the children of Enoch. And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Deber, and the name of Deber before was Kurja Seaver. And Caleb, said he that smiteeth Kerja and taketh, and to him will I give AXA my daughter to wife Anil, the son of Kenaz.
The brother of Caleb took it and gave him, and he gave him AXA his daughter to wife. And it came to pass that as she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field, and she lighted off her *** and Caleb said to her, What wouldst thou?
Who answered, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me the self land. Give me also the springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. Here we have the second old man over 80 years of age, and we find here in this last recorded act of Caleb's life, what was he doing? He was encouraging the next generation as well, and he sought to encourage them to go up and take the inheritance.
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And particularly the city Kerja Sievert. Of course, there was a little encouragement along the way.
He offered to his daughter that for any man that was able to take that city and so that would show us that this Caleb, or at least the man that was going to marry this man's daughter, was going to have to prove himself. Not in the way in which we might think about a man proving himself that he might marry a girl that is he's got a good job and he's able to look after the girl and so on that most parents are interested in. No, this man proved his ability to have that girl.
By the fact that he had an interest in the inheritance, and that was the man to whom Caleb desired to give his daughter. And So what a wonderful picture we have here of Caleb, the old man, encouraging the younger generation to go in and take the inheritance and to make it their own. And so often we find here rises up, he meets the challenge, and he conquers that city.
And he wins the prize.
And it's interesting to see, too, that Caleb's daughter was not just along for the ride. She was a New Girl that had an equal interest in the inheritance. And we see that in the verses that follow that I read. You see there that when she and her husband were brought together, I take it that they were married at that point. And then she, she urges him to ask for her father for a field. And so she was urging him or moving him on in the direction of taking more of the inheritance. And there I see a good sister.
This is good for the sisters that are in this room here that you have an interest in when you get married to encourage your husband.
To get on with taking up with the inheritance that God has given. Now what you might say, well, what is the inheritance? Well, if you're reading in Ephesians, you'll find that the inheritance, as one has said, is under your feet.
Now what that means is that the inheritance is every created thing. It's the material universe. It's what we're standing on.
And Ephesians, God has given to us the whole inherit the whole universe. Someday we're going to share it with Christ.
But that's not the aspect of the inheritance that's here.
And first, Peter, you have another side of the inheritance, and that's where it is a spiritual thing that is reserved in heaven for you. It's our portion of Christian blessings that are ours by title and right through what Christ has given and what he's done on the cross. And everyone of us have an inheritance in that way. But what he wants us to do while we're waiting for the Lord to come and take us home is to have an exercise to enter into those spiritual things and to make them good in our lives, in our souls, and to live in the enjoyment of them.
And we need a Good Wife, and we need a good husband to do that with together.
And so you see here a very important marriage. It's been said it's the first marriage in Canaan. And what an example it is a young man that has a desire to take the inheritance that was his interest. And he lo and behold, we find he has a wife at his side that was encouraging him to ask for even more. This is what we want to see amongst the young people, an interest, a thirst, a desire for the things of God. You know, there's a lot of dead fish in this world.
Floating downstream, so to speak, but God has given to us at least we should have the exercise to want to go on the spiritual energy.
To take a hold of our blessings that we have in Christ, to enter into them and enjoy them in a fuller and deeper way. This is something that's an individual thing. We don't do it together and it's something that each one of us need to be concerned about.
And look what happens here when he there was they asked Caleb for the field. You find here that he gives not just the springs of water, but he gives the upper springs and the nether springs. So he gave them even more than what they asked for. And this searches my heart. If someone was to ask us, give us a little of the inheritance, could I do that? Could I impart something that would be for the refreshment of that next generation that is coming?
And what turned out with this lovely marriage? Well, if you turn over to the book of Judges, you'll find just what happened. The people of God got themselves into an awful state. They were under oppression from a king, from a faraway land, and they were in big need. And it was their fault that they were under that trouble because of their sin, their waywardness, their carelessness, and they needed to deliver. And God knew where to look for a deliverer. And this man, Othniel was raised up at that time to lead the children of Israel against that enemy, to overthrow that enemy.
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And he is what we speak of as an overcomer. And as we've said many times, there's only two kinds of Christians, you know, as the overcomers. And there's the overcome. Those who are overcome with the cares of this life, the world, the flesh, the devil, have precedence in their life, and their lives are rendered useless for the service of the Lord. That's the overcome. We hope that there are none that will end up that way in this light in this room.
Then on the other hand, there's the overcomers, ones like Osneil, who showed himself to be one that was interested in the inheritance. Now let's look at the last of these old men that's in the New Testament, and that's the apostle Paul in two Timothy chapter one, second Timothy chapter one. Now we have here this third old man, and we find his. This is the last recorded act of the apostle Paul.
He's spoken of.
In Philemon, as Paul the agent, he was an old man. I don't know exactly what his age was. And what do we find him doing here as he writes his last epistle, and as at the end of the Pistol he speaks about the time has come when he is going to lay down his sword, so to speak, as he has served the Lord, and the Lord was going to take him, and he was given a sense to know that his time was now come to an end.
So what was he doing?
He was seeking to encourage the next generation to take up with the the batons, so to speak, the torch. And he speaks to Timothy. And in this chapter, what is he doing? Well, there's many things, but one I want to just read here is verse 13, second Timothy chapter one, verse 13. He says hold fast the form of sound words. This should read have an outline of sound words.
Which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus, that good thing or good deposit which was committed to thee.
Keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in US.
This thou knowest, that all day in age should be turned away from me, of whom are fat, jealous, and homogeneous. The Lord give mercy unto the House of Anastasia first, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me the Lord. Grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day, in how that many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, that thou knowest very well. Chapter 2. And thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace.
That is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou hast heard of Maine among many witnesses.
The same commit thou of faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
So here we have Paul the Aged and he's seeking to encourage the next generation to get an outline of sound words. Now I've heard people speak in this verse many times and they usually use it in this way that they tell the next generation, the brethren, that we need to get ahold and learn Pauls doctrine.
And get it and learn it in an outline form. Now I don't want to set that aside altogether, but that's not exactly the point of this verse. Now, the reason why I tell you that he's not exactly telling Timothy to learn his doctrine here is because in the third chapter he says, thou hast fully known my doctrine. So he surely wouldn't be telling him here you need to learn my doctrine. No, Timothy already knew that. But what Paul is telling him to do here is to take it a step farther.
And the purpose of that is so that he may be serviceable to the Lord, that he may use it in the dispensing of the truth and communicating it to others.
As we had in the second chapter.
You see, it's important that we get the truth, not just that we know the truth in our souls, we know what is right about this point or that point, but that we get it in an orderly way in our our souls so that we are able to use it for the blessing of others. For the object here in this chapter and second Timothy is that Paul was seeking to get Timothy to use his gift and to be serviceable to the Lord and that he may be able to communicate the things that Paul had taught him to others.
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And it was necessary that he would get it in an orderly way, that he would get it in an outlined form so that he could communicate it.
And that was Paul's great exercise before he passed on. Sometime prior to this, he had been teaching Timothy all along.
But now he's telling Timothy, take it a step further and get it in an orderly way so that you're able to communicate it to others. And that's what I would desire for you. Let me give you an illustration of this just happened about a week ago. A brother came to me, maybe it was two weeks ago, and he said, you know, someone asked a certain sister.
They run into a person that had tried to tell them that the church was going to go through the tribulation. The sister said, no, that's not true. I know that the church doesn't go through the tribulation. So they went to this brother and said, I don't know any verses about that, but how do we explain, you know, that the church doesn't go through the tribulation? And he said, I knew that the church didn't go through the tribulation, but I didn't know how to tell her. That's my point. He didn't. He knew the truth of it, but he didn't have it in a way that he could.
Have ready use of it and say, well, This is why. Here's the six or eight verses that you need to look at and there it shows you right there. See, now you can have it and you can communicate the truth.
Used of the Lord we call this working knowledge of the truth and that's what we need to be exercised about if we're going to stand in an evil day. If we're going to be used in a day like we live, it's important that we get the truth down in an orderly way in our soul. Now Darby says that this.
These few words here are the most difficult words that he had to translate. And so he said that there's no real English word or even a couple of words that describe what is being said here, but he has a footnote and I couldn't.
Quote that to you, but it's something like this, he says. Get a systematic expose of these things, which I have taught you.
Outline point form that you may be able to clearly tell.
The things that I have taught you to others.
That's kind of a mouthful, but you get the picture.
In other words, he's saying you need to get it in an orderly way. So when we're talking about the subject of forgiveness, you say, oh, well, the forgiveness, yes, that's simple. You know, there's four aspects of forgiveness. There's this kind, there's this kind, there's this kind and this kind. And this means this. And you know, we can take it up in an orderly way so that people can get a hold of it. We are not going to be much of A help to pass on the truth if we can just say, well, I know the church doesn't go through the tribulation. I know it because Dad said so. But does that help anybody? The man that maybe really interested and wants to know, maybe he's mixed up on that. You can't help him because you can't point it out from the word of God.
And what Paul is saying here is you need to keep it by the Holy Ghost, not by a bunch of argument, not by determination.
We need to be able to show it by the word of God. He says that in the second chapter. A little further on. I won't read that. And so we have in this third old man. His parting exercise was that Timothy would now get the truth that one step further than having learned it, but get it in a way so that he could be serviceable in the time when Paul was going.
And so in chapter 2, verse two, he says the things were stars heard of me and many would among many witnesses the same commit thou a faithful man. They're able to teach others also. You've heard this many times. There's four generations there. The things that he heard from Paul went on to Timothy. There's a second and then he says commit thou to faithful men. There will be the third generation who are able to teach others also. They pass it on to a fourth generation. So there you have it. That's how the truth is going to be passed on. We are going to have to get a hold of it ourselves.
For ourselves to walk in for our own personal enjoyment first and then to be able to communicate it as best we can to the next generation. Let me ask you, are you up to the challenge?
Caleb threw out a challenge. Who can get to the city? I ask you, Are you ready to take up with the scriptures? Are you ready to take up with the truth that has been once delivered to the Saints? Are you ready to take it up in such a way as that you can be used of the Lord in His vineyard for the blessing of His people? I challenge you tonight that you may make a decision to want to get into the Word of God more deeply than you've ever done before, because the time is short.
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Let's pray our God and Father, we just, it's an incredible privilege. I wish I could tell you all what it means to me to be able to stand here and talk to you for just a little while. And I do promise it will be just a little while. I'm going to tell you two stories. They're both true stories. One of them, some of you have heard the first story. I'm going to guess that quite a few of you have never heard this true story.
The other story we've all heard many times.
For those of you who have heard the first one, bear with me.
Little girl.
Six years old.
When she was 4.
She was an auto accident.
Lost her dad and mom was orphaned.
When she was 5.
She had a stroke.
Perhaps due to the auto accident?
Left her right side totally paralyzed. Five years old.
We're going to call her Susie. I don't know what her name was for sure. I just know the story is true.
When Susie was six years old, something else went haywire with her.
She began to go blind.
And so she found herself in a hospital.
Being prepared to undergo, and I think they call them an MRI.
Put them in the put a person in a tube and the things spin around. They get pictures and they were going to do an MRI to see if they could determine the cause of the problem of the blindness.
And it was a busy day.
They had a lot of people lined up, a lot of work to do, a lot of Mris to do. Things needed to go quickly. They needed to go right the first time, and though it was a helpless, partially crippled little girl, they needed to get her in and out quickly. So in a fairly brusque manner, the technician said. Susie, remember when we put you in there, don't talk, don't move.
If you talk or if you move, it's going to cause a shadow on the picture. We're not going to get a good picture and we'll have to do it again.
So they slide Susie in and close the door and they begin the procedure.
And justice As they're starting, the technician notices a blur.
They hear some sort of muffled sound from the tube.
So they stop. They pull Susie out, and with a measure of impatience.
The technician said Susie, remember what we said.
Don't talk.
Don't move.
We've got to get this picture taken.
So they put Susie back in.
Start up the procedure again, no more than get started, and again there's movement and sound.
The picture is blurry.
This time the radiologist, who was just a bit perturbed by now.
They pulled Suzy out and he said Susie.
We said no talking and she looked up with that crippled.
Half smile on her face and she said I wasn't talking.
He said. Susie, we heard the noise. We saw your movement. You can't talk. I wasn't talking, Susie.
What were you doing?
I was singing, you said. No talking.
You were singing.
What were you singing, Susie?
I was singing Jesus loves me. I always sing that when I'm happy.
You happy tonight?
Can you sing Jesus loves me?
In whatever circumstance you find yourself.
Everyone of us.
Has a whole bunch more reasons.
To sing Jesus loves me.
Than Susie did.
Wonder if he's real?
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To my heart.
I'm not talking about salvation. I wonder if he's really real to me, to you.
So that every circumstance of life you and I meet.
We can sing Jesus loves me.
Matthew 27, The question that was asked tonight, this is the other story.
Just a few verses, we'll read them.
And I want to talk about them again.
Matthew 27, verse 11.
If you and I are going to be able to get the good of this account.
For our hearts and lives that we might have the joy and the happiness that Jesus wants us to have.
We're going to have to be able each one of us individually.
To make a better decision, a better choice than Pilate made.
Jesus stood before the governor. Verse 11. I want you to think about that for a minute. Beloved young people, here's a man like you and me, Pilate.
He's an important man.
Carries a lot of power, a lot of authority. He's got the strength of the Roman Empire behind him and the armies if needed to back him up.
He's in a pretty good position.
He's sitting on his throne on the judgment seat, carrying the authority of Nero's Arab Caesar, whichever Caesar it was at that time.
Making decisions that mean life and death.
Acting as and in behalf of, I suppose, what we could call an absolute monarch.
If he says you die, you die.
If he says you live, you live.
No lawyers.
No debates, no Supreme Court.
Pilot's word Period.
And sitting there in that room, in his robes, on that seat.
Standing in front of him.
You think about this beloved young people with spit running down his face.
Having been beaten and mocked.
The one who held that man's breath in the palm of his hand.
God.
The Son, the Creator of the universe to.
Standing as a common criminal to be judged before a mere man.
The one standing there with the word of his mouth. The life of Pilate, with all of his.
Dignity and glory snuffed out.
That's the picture.
Get that into your hearts because beloved young people, tonight I'm going to ask you to do a little bit of role-playing.
I want you to put yourself in the place of Pilate.
I want you to think of yourself as Pilate.
Not as an unsaved man, which I fear he was.
But as one who in your life beloved young people at your age?
Make determinations in your life, every day of your life that you alone make decisions that you alone make.
And in the sphere of your world, you are like Pilate.
You decide for instance.
When you get up to go to school or go to work, in a measure at least, what you're going to wear, what you're going to eat, what you're going to say, what you're going to do.
At least in some measure. If you're in school, Oregon working, maybe not as much as you'd like. Lots of decisions that at your age you're making now.
It's your world, and I don't say that flippantly or in a negative sense.
You're responsible.
You are, in a sense, ruling and governing.
Over the sphere.
Of the world called my life.
And every day that you get up and every day that I get up to do that.
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The creator of this universe.
My blessed Savior.
And I hope yours.
Stands before you and you've got a decision to make.
And you've got some pressures that are going to try to cause you to make the wrong decision.
The scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders.
And the people, The world.
Let's read a little more. Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, art thou the King of the Jews in the Greek? I was noticing that a little bit earlier, probably that could be spoken this way. Pilate looks at Jesus Christ and he says, Thou art the King of the Jews.
And that's why the Lord Jesus said, And thou sayest.
Who's the one that's going to have the rule in your life? You see, there were two.
And Pilate had to decide which one of those two was going to walk free.
And he was going to be brought under the pressure, as I said, of the religious leaders.
And of the people.
And he was going to ask them.
The question we heard in the Gospel tonight What will ye that I do with Jesus?
You have a choice, beloved young people.
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
Creator God.
Or Barabbas.
The son of the Father who is Barabbas. He is the substitute, the son of the Father.
They can't both be really the son of the father, can they?
One is truly the son of the Father.
The other is.
A murderer.
A robber.
When he was accused of the chief priests and the elders.
You know, there's a lot of things.
With a religious, a Christian flavor that are going to come to you every day and accuse Jesus. And what I mean by that is to give you plenty of reasons to not get too taken up with this religious stuff. Don't want to get too legal. I don't want to get too religious. There's a world out there.
And so there's going to be pressure to tell you that you can go part way, you can play the role of a Christian, you can kind of be religious. You can talk about God, you can talk about the Bible, you can talk about church.
But don't you be talking about Jesus.
Religion isn't interested.
In the Son of God.
It's interested in.
Comfortable, politically correct terms. Christianity, like I said, Bible, God, work, school. You can you can get into some good debates and discussions about those things. I don't say they're wrong.
What happens if you say, hey, I want to tell you about Jesus?
Then how much interest is there in an in depth discussion?
So the.
Chief priests and the elders accused him. The Lord Jesus didn't answer. He didn't have to answer.
He's God.
Beloved young people, you've heard about how much he loves you. You've said in meetings today and heard about the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, how much he cares for you, how much he wants you to have a happy life. But I want to tell you something about Jesus my Savior, and I trust your Savior.
He doesn't have to answer to anybody.
Not you and not me.
Because he's gone.
And I see this reverently. He can do and he does do.
00:40:05
Just exactly what he wants.
And it's.
Pretty solemn.
And if you'll excuse me, I say this in love to myself first. Pretty foolish.
To think.
That I get to make choices.
Irregardless of what he thinks.
Pilate said unto them, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against them, against thee?
He didn't answer a word.
Pilots wanted to get some reaction. He had to make a decision. He's got Barabbas here. He's got Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews. And I think down in his heart he knows somebody that's even more than the king of the Jews, and it's really bothering him. And he's got him. And one of them is going to walk free. Who is going to beloved young people tomorrow in your life, have liberty and freedom? Who are you going to give the reins to your life to tomorrow?
A robber, a murderer, a liar who says he's the son of the father.
Or the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who hung on a cross? And while he was hanging there, suffering was thinking about you personally and me.
And not only thinking about you, knowing everything you've ever thought, said or done, and everything that you and I ever will think, say, or do.
He knows it all.
And He hung on that cross, and if you know him as Savior, beloved young people, He not only knows it all, He paid for it all.
And only he can.
And now there's a decision for you to make. Who's going to be freed in your life? Who's going to be given liberty in your life to act?
In his own wisdom and way and purpose for your blessing.
They had a notable prisoner, verse 16, called Barabbas.
Therefore, when they were gathered together, pilots said unto them, Whom will you?
That I release unto you, whom will ye earlier it says now at the feast, the governor was won't to release unto the people a prisoner.
Whom he would.
Nice guy, one person gets to go free.
Think of it God.
And a murderer.
And he's got to make a decision.
Who's going to go free in your life?
Who's going to be free?
To order and direct your life tomorrow, beloved young people.
There's a world here.
That is doing everything it can to rob you.
Of every joy.
Happiness. Satisfaction that the Lord Jesus Christ wants you to have.
More than that, that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to ensure that you.
Can have it.
And there's the world Barabbas.
Who wants the liberty?
And the people want him to be have liberty.
And the rulers want him to have liberty.
And you, like Pilate, have to make a decision now.
What will you do? Who will you release?
In your life.
I want you to really think about that.
Because, beloved young people, the issues of your happiness.
For the days that God has ordained, you're going to live upon the face of this earth, and he alone knows how many days that is.
You don't know.
I don't know.
Insurance companies that calculate average ages don't know.
Nobody knows how many days you personally have from this moment yet to live on this earth.
God does.
Barabbas doesn't.
00:45:02
And how you live those days.
Didn't the Lord Jesus say that He wanted our joy to be full?
Now I want to ask you bluntly, beloved young people.
And I say this very reverently. Was he kidding?
Was he fooling when he said I want your joy to be full?
Think for just a minute what out there in Barabbas world can promise you full joy.
Joy that lasts.
It can give you a lot of joy and a lot of excitement. It's kind of like that roller coaster ride.
And it's quite a kick for 3456 minutes.
And then it's over.
And you've got to go back for more.
That the kind of joy the Lord Jesus wants to give you.
Why he hung there and suffered so you'd have a few minutes of fun and then months of sorrow.
A few hours of excitement and a lifetime of regret.
That's what Barabbas gives.
Not what Jesus gives.
So, beloved young people.
May I say reverently tonight?
The Lord Jesus is standing before you.
And Barabbas is there.
Which one are you going to release?
Which one are you going to say, Lord Jesus? I meant it when I said Lord.
You have rights in my life. I'm done planning.
I'm done thinking my own thoughts.
From now on, I want to hear what you have to say, Lord Jesus.
It's not wrong to dream. I hope everyone of you is dreaming.
In a good way.
Talking to the Lord every moment of the day, letting Him know what's in that heart of yours.
What you care about, what you'd really like to have, what you'd like to be, what you'd like to see developed in your life or the life of one you love or other loved ones or friends. That's good.
But stop with that.
Just tell him what's there.
Don't take it in your own hands and say I'll release Barabbas because I think he's going to get me there.
That's what the world is telling you.
It's got all sorts of systems and plans, philosophies, and if this philosophy doesn't work and you end up wrecked and miserable from that one, hop over across the street to the building across the street. They got a different philosophy and you can sign up there and for a certain amount of money they'll give you some life skills according to their philosophy.
Or.
You can release Jesus.
And you can tell in Lord Jesus.
I want you.
To be in charge in my life.
Whom will ye that I release?
Pilate made his decision.
I don't think we're going to see Pilate in heaven.
Don't know, maybe we'll be surprised.
But I'll tell you what, for the last 2000 years if he's not there.
He's in an agony about the decision he made that day.
I hope you've accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
And I hope you'll let him give you the life he wants to give you.
A life of joy and happiness and satisfaction.
And fruit.
I don't know what that life is. I don't know what direction it will go, but he does, and he has the power to make sure.
That it goes in your best interests.
Beloved young people.
Barabbas, this world doesn't.
It'll only do.
To you.
What we said Absalom did to the hearts of the men of Israel.
Stole their hearts and LED them to try to kill and destroy their rightful king.
00:50:09
We're going to pray now.
I'm going to ask you to do something. I don't want to be melodramatic, and you don't have to do it. Only God knows if you will. But I'd like to encourage you while we pray.
To give the Lord Jesus freedom.
In your life.
Tell him you want him to be free.
To move and act for your best blessing.
I can tell you something.
It's a wonderful decision to make.
And he wants to hear it.
And he will not.
Fool any of you.
None of us.
He only gives the best.
Let's pray.