YP Sing Address—P. House
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
So I'd like to tell you a little story before we start just to.
Set the stage a little bit.
This summer I did a job that lasted about four or five months and.
After a while you get to know people pretty well and in the course of time.
I was speaking to the.
Husband and wife, a little bit about the Lord, and I gave them a Bible and they told me the next day that their son had come home after work and had said, hey, what's this? And they said, oh, it's a Bible. He said, where'd you get it? I said all from Paul. He said, well, why didn't he give me one?
So they told me this story. Well, the next day Kerry Doug went out and we had another one for him. So when he got home from.
School or from where? From work. I guess he got his Bible and so he was really happy to have it, but he'd never had a Bible before. He didn't know anything about it. He didn't know how it worked, how to look up versus and he didn't know anything. They didn't either. So we had a little time together where we just started at the beginning where we looked at the table of contents and.
We talked about the New Testament and the Old Testament.
We talked about the Lord Jesus. We talked a little bit about.
How the earth was formed and all those kind of things.
And you say, well, why are you telling me the story? Well, I'm telling you the story because there's nobody here.
That can relate to someone that doesn't know anything about the Bible, doesn't know anything about God, doesn't know anything about the Old Testament, doesn't know anything about John 316 like we had tonight. So what I'm going to say right at the beginning is that every one of us, me included, has a tremendous advantage.
You know, when I was a kid, I hated that I was brought up in a Christian home.
I didn't like that.
But you know, now when I look back, I thank the Lord all the time from my dad and from my mom. You know, my bookmark in my Bible for my Bible readings is a picture of my dad and mom.
You know, when I was your age, a lot of you I, I didn't want a picture of my dad and my mom in my Bible. Now, I mean, my dad's in the glory.
My mom's an old lady. I love my dad and mom. They taught me about the Lord Jesus. What a tremendous advantage that we have, young people. We have so much.
Now I want to tell you a little bit about.
A situation that all of us have.
You know we need a we need purpose of heart to follow the Lord. We need it all the time.
And we need to have good habits for ourselves.
And sometimes.
Good habits can kind of wane a little bit.
Maybe we don't read our Bibles enough.
And maybe we don't pray enough, and maybe we have situations where we do what we think is right instead of praying about what to do.
And so.
When I look back as a young person, I really valued conferences.
Because it was an opportunity for me to reset a little bit.
And to think about where I was at.
And I used to really enjoy them. And there was some old brothers that made a real impression on my life. I could tell that they really appreciated what they had. And I want to challenge each one of us tonight. First of all, do we really appreciate what we have?
How many times if you thank the Lord for the Christian family that you have?
How many times have you thanked the Lord for your parents?
The people who brought you to meeting, who brought you to hear about the Lord Jesus, who had family readings with you night after night after night, how many times have you thanked the Lord Jesus for that? And how many times have you thanked your parents for what they've given you? It's a tremendous thing, you know.
I need to tell you another story about me. I'm sorry to talk about me, but I know this very well because it happened to me.
00:05:05
You know it's not really cool to tell your dad you love him, You know when you're 15182030?
It's it's just not cool, right?
Well.
When I was.
I don't know how old I was, but I'd grown up and I had my own kids and stuff, but.
One day my mom called and said dad sat a stroke.
He's not dead, he's still here, but he can't talk anymore.
And he's paralyzed on one side.
And my dad had Parkinson's, you know, where you shake. And so every time my dad got one of these diskinetic trauma things that he had, he would literally shake on one side for two hours.
If you can imagine shaking violently on only one side of your body, it was terrible to watch.
And at the end my mom would take a bath towel and she would rub my dad down and it would be soaking wet from sweat.
My dad suffered a lot, but my dad couldn't talk.
One of the biggest sorrows in my whole life.
Is that I could tell my dad, Dad, I love you. And I went to see him every week for months. He was 12 years like that. But for 12 years, I never heard my dad say I love you, Paul.
I lost out.
I had the opportunity to say, Dad, I love you and I didn't. It wasn't cool. I lost out so much. Do you think I told my dad I loved him after he couldn't talk anymore? I sure did. Every time I saw him, I told him that. I hugged him, I kissed him. I said, Dad, I love you. Nothing he could punch with a couple of fingers. I love you back.
But you know, that only lasted for a couple of years, and then his shaking was so bad he couldn't even do that.
So I just encourage you.
To tell your parents you love them.
I want to just read a couple of verses. I know this has been a long day and I've sat for a long time too. So Genesis chapter five first, and we're going to read a little bit about Enoch. He's one of the men in the in the Old Testament. That's been a help to me. Genesis 521 and Enoch lived 60 and five years.
And begat Methuselah in Enoch walked with God.
After he begat Methuselah 300 years, and begat sons and daughters, and all the days of Enoch were 360 and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Then Hebrews 11.
And verse.
Five, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his his testimony he had the before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God.
Tonight, I want to talk to you a little bit about your testimony.
Your testimony.
You say, well, what do you mean exactly? Well.
I don't know how many of you are in high school, how many of you are in junior college, how many year and university, How many are done that and working? I don't know.
But you probably have friends.
People that you chum around with.
At your work or your school or whatever it is, what do they think about you?
Do they know that you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do they know that you have new life in here?
Do they know based on how you live before them, you know it says that Enoch walked with God.
That's a privilege to walk with God.
Now how do you do that?
How do you do that? You know Enoch lived for 365 years.
And then God took him.
00:10:00
Why 365?
There's 365 days in a year, right?
So I take it that he walked with God every day for 365 years.
Now none of us are going to live live to 365.
But we've lived a lot of days. You do the math. It's thousands for me.
Quite a few thousands.
But you have lots of thousands too.
How many days have you walked, forgot with God?
You know it's a privilege to walk with the Lord.
To enjoy him every day now, Daniel.
Daniel is.
Another man in the Bible that's been a tremendous encouragement and help to me.
As a young man, as a middle-aged man, as an old man.
And Daniel, chapter 6, he'd already live and lived through the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. And here we have another empire in power. And he was servant to this man Darius. He was the most powerful.
Administrative person and the whole of the Empire. He was the head one and we know the story of how he got thrown into the den of lions and as a kid we enjoyed that story.
But I want to look at it from a little different perspective. I'm going to read just one verse in chapter 6 and verse 10 it says Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four time.
As he did a four time, this characterized him.
And you know, these guys that didn't like him, they realized they could get him if they could prove that he was praying to the God, to the true God, right?
Soon as they saw him praying, they went to the rice and they're like, hey, you know Daniel, that Jew?
Well, that's the testimony he had. He was a man of prayer, and he didn't pray just once or twice. He played three times, and he kneeled down and he faced Jerusalem. And we know from the Old Testament about Solomon's prayer why he did that. Look it up if you want to learn why or you don't know why.
Daniel had this testimony and he had a daily walk with God.
So what about us?
What about me?
What about you?
Three times a day.
How many times a day do you read?
Once, twice, three times? Do you read it all?
I hope you do you pray in the morning.
You pray at lunch, You pray at supper. Do you pray when you go to bed?
I'm not making any rules, I'm just asking you questions. You don't have to answer me, but this is the opportunity we have.
And so this is an encouragement for us. You know, there's people in the Scriptures that walked with God every day.
Daniel prayed three times a day and everybody knew it, and it wasn't for show. You know, Daniel could have closed the windows when the edict came down from the king and he wouldn't have been in trouble. But as he did every other day, he opened the windows, got down on his knees, and he prayed to the Almighty God of heaven. And that's what we have.
We have that. What a legacy we have. Let's take advantage of what we have, OK?
Now we'll just stand on the Apostle Paul.
I want to just read a little bit.
About him too.
So in Second Timothy chapter 3.
He says to Timothy, he said in verse 10, Second Timothy 310 it says, But thou hast fully known my doctrine.
00:15:04
Manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, and so on.
Thou hast fully known my manner of life.
And so.
Now is an opportunity for each one of us to think about how we're doing.
What's our manner of life?
There's no rules, it's simply opportunities that we have.
Opportunities to walk with our God all the time.
To pray all the time. To read all the time.
But if we read for two minutes and that's it, we pray for 25 seconds and that's it.
We're missing out.
Think about who God told us about. He told us a lot about Enoch. He told us a lot about Daniel, and he told us a lot about the apostle Paul too, because he appreciated these ones. And what's written is for our learning and our our what we can gain from it too, isn't it? OK, now there's just a little bit more I want to read about Paul.
You know, there's some verses in the.
2nd Corinthians, Chapter 11.
And there was an old brother when I was young that taught us, you can remember all the things that the apostle Paul went through because it's found in Second Corinthians, Chapter 11 from 22 to 33. So two Second Corinthians, then it's Chapter 11, two ones.
Then there's two twos from verse 22.
To 20 to 33. So there's two threes. OK. So he talks a little bit about what he went through for the Lord.
But then it says at the end, beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
You know, I'm a little bit older now and I I can understand this verse a little bit better.
You know, there's a little more care we have as older ones maybe.
But I used to read this verse and wonder exactly what it meant, exactly what he was caring about. But you know, when you get a little bit older.
You appreciate people.
A little bit more because you know the kids of.
You know, the kids of of of the the dad and mom of the kids, right? And then you appreciate their kids and you just you benefit as you get older because you know a little bit more about people and the the kids of the kids and the kids and so on. And it's such an encouraging thing just to the apostle Paul had this care for all these dear ones.
Now I want to read then just in closing in first Timothy.
Can you hear me OK at the back?
OK, I'll just talk louder.
Chapter 4.
So first Timothy chapter 4 it says in the 12Th verse.
It says, Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in Word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith and purity. Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is indeed which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things, give thyself holy to them, that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself and onto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and then that hear thee.
So here we have the apostle Paul, and he says, let no man despise thy youth.
You have your your young age and that's a good thing. You can enjoy sports, you can play them, you can have a good time together. Some of us that are a little older can't do that like we used to. So we have our youth, but let's not despise it and let's not let's be a testimony for the Lord as young people. And so these verses are very critical because one of the things is in conversation.
00:20:21
Yet it's important to what we say.
But.
This is a reference, I think, to the way, the manner of life, the way that we live.
And so my little encouragement for us tonight is that the apostle Paul.
He was an example of the believers.
The way he lived and everybody knew it and Timothy knew it. And then Paul told Timothy what he needed to do.
How we needed to live and so it's a little encouragement for us to be a help to other people that we really care about. Why? Because we want you to go on happily for the Lord Jesus. We want you to be blessed. We want you to to have something years down the line, but it's a daily thing now. So what you need to do is be near to the Lord every day to enjoy what you can to read.
To pray to have a walk with him every day so that when you get older.
And you're a man and a woman of God for the glory, for His glory. May each one of us have a real desire to please the Lord.