Thank you.
Welcome to day one of the Heritage of the Lord Conference.
Thank you for making it out.
All those that have traveled.
If you would, find your seats and let's grab our hymnals.
Turn to song 187.
Jesus loves me.
187.
Jesus loves me.
187.
Jesus loves me.
Now this is a kids conference
so I expect you kids to be nice and loud in the
singing this evening.
187.
Jesus loves me.
This I know
for the Bible
tells me so.
Little ones
to him belong.
They are
weak but he is
strong.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
The Bible
tells me so.
Jesus
loves me.
He who died
Heaven's gate
to open wide
He will wash
away my sin
Let his
little child
come in.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
The Bible
tells me so.
Jesus
loves me.
He will stay
close beside me
all the way.
Thou has bled
and died for me.
I will hence
forth live for thee.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
Yes, Jesus
loves me.
The Bible
tells me so.
Good singing.
Let's open up in a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening.
Thank you for this conference.
Thank you for all those that have traveled.
And Pastor Jimenez and Brother Oliver here.
Pray that you bless everyone here.
Pray that you just open up the hearts of the children
that are going to be hearing God's word this conference.
That you would just make a mark in their lives.
And that they would develop a love for you
that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
We love you. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Take that.
Thank you all so much for coming.
And we're going to do a few different
things this evening.
We're going to actually sing a song
in our bulletin.
And so if you have a bulletin,
we're going to sing
I'm Happy.
We're going to have all our kiddos
actually, we're going to ask
if you don't mind, if your kids
want to stand for these
songs, we're going to sing some kids songs.
We've got some hand motions
for some of our songs.
So if all of you
youth, we're going to go ahead and stand.
Alright?
Now in these songs, we're going to sing them
but we've got some
hand motions. So in this one when we sing
we're going to sing I'm H-A-P-P-Y.
And we're going to
form a Y, okay?
And then when we do the
second verse, when it's
I'm Loved, we're going to say
I'm L-O-V-E-D.
We're going to spell the L, alright?
And then when we do the
Saved, it's going to be
I'm S-A-V-E-D.
Alright? So we're going to do the Y
and Happy, we're going to do the L and Loved
and we're going to do the V
I feel like you guys can do it.
Can y'all do it?
Alright? Y'all ready?
Alright, we're going to sing I'm Happy.
I am
H-A-P-P-Y.
I am
H-A-P-P-Y.
I know
I am
I'm sure I am
I'm H-A-P-P-Y
I am
L-O-V-E-D.
I am
L-O-V-E-D.
I know
I am
I'm sure I am
I'm L-O-V-E-D.
I am
S-A-V-E-D.
I am
S-A-V-E-D.
I know
I am
I'm sure I am
I'm S-A-V-E-D.
Now, since you guys all participated, we have bracelets for every single one of you, okay?
I don't think we're going to run out this evening, but we'll have more for the next services.
What I want all of you to do is y'all can all come down and you can pick a bracelet, alright?
So come on down.
All of you kiddos, come down.
You get one.
Pick what color you want.
Pink one?
Alright.
Just get one.
Alright.
Thank you.
Yeah.
You're good.
You're welcome.
Yep.
A blue one? Cool.
Okay.
Yep, there you go.
Alright, go ahead and pick one.
What color do you want?
A lime green.
Yeah, there you go.
You want a blue?
You want a green one? Nice.
You want a blue one?
There you go.
Which one do you want? You want a green, blue, orange?
You want a purple one? There you go.
You want an orange one?
Alright, good job.
You want a blue one? Okay.
You want an orange one? There you go.
Good job.
You're good.
Which one do you want? Pick one.
Go for it.
Pick one.
Pick one?
Which one do you want?
Yep.
Which color do you want?
There you go.
You want a pink one?
Yep, you're good.
You want a yellow one?
There you go.
We're going to get a few more, so if you don't like your color, you can trade tomorrow night, okay?
Just take one. There you go.
Can I take one? Yep.
Here, you want yellow?
Okay, yellow and a green.
Thank you.
There you go.
Yep.
Alright, we're going to have some more for the next...
Thanks so much.
I got one more red one if someone was missing one.
Here you go.
Thank y'all so much.
Alright.
Now also, we have some other cool prizes over here.
Some really cool things. We got some hands.
And we got some fidget spinners and stuff.
We got some swords.
We got some friends.
Now, what we're going to do is we're going to do some Bible trivia, okay?
Now you have to pay attention to win.
Now, in order to win the prize, you have to raise your hand.
And I'm going to do my best to try and pick whoever raises their hand first.
But to be fair, the first group is going to only be eight and under, okay?
So you have to be eight years old or under eight years old.
So if you're seven, six, five, all those work.
If you're nine, it doesn't work, okay?
So if you're eight or under, you get to be in the first.
So we're going to have five questions.
Then we're going to go and up the ante.
We're going to go to 13 and under.
Now, if you're under eight, you get to answer any question that you can ever get right, okay?
So you're always eligible to answer the question.
We're going to go eight, then 13, and then any youth.
So if you're 18 and under, you want to answer the last few questions you can.
Now, here's the only thing.
You can only answer a question correctly once per night.
So you can only win one prize per night.
But we're going to do this tonight, Friday, Sunday morning, and Sunday night.
So you could win four prizes, but you have to get a question right every single night, okay?
We're going to give out 15 every single night.
So we've got five questions for eight, five questions for 13, and five questions for a little bit older.
So if you get your question right, come on down and pick one prize.
You guys got it?
So I'm going to ask the question.
It has to be the correct answer.
And if you get it right, you can come on down and you can pick your prize.
Once you get one prize, just go ahead and sit back down.
You can't answer any other questions after that, all right?
So here's our first question for eight and under.
You've got to sit that hand up right when you got it, all right?
Who killed Goliath?
She got it right here.
Come on down.
Pick your prize.
All right, here's question number two.
Got to get that hand up nice and quick, all right?
Who was the first man created by God?
Right here, Ethan.
Wait to answer until I pick you, all right?
Because you could help somebody else out with the right answer, all right?
So just zip that hand up nice and high.
Good job.
All right, third question.
What is the last book in the Bible?
Aliyah, right here.
What is it?
The answer before I can even call.
These kids know the Bible a little too well here.
I don't know.
Get some harder questions, all right?
Fourth question, all right?
Who built the ark?
Yep, come on down.
All right, this is the last question for eight and under.
What is the name of Jesus' mother?
Yep, come on down.
All right, so now we're going to 13 and under.
So if you're missing out, you're all excited, you're ready to answer.
If you're 13 or under, you can answer, all right?
How many days was Jonah in the well of the belly?
Or the belly of the well, I always say that wrong.
I'm sorry, let me ask a different question because I didn't notice who raised their hand first.
So it would be a blind guess, all right?
Who led the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Right, junior, all right, here we go.
Sixth question, or seventh, yeah, sixth question.
How many times did Peter deny Jesus?
Ethan?
What's the answer?
Good job.
All right.
What disease did the 10 men have whom Jesus healed?
Read.
Bam, you got a leprosy, good job.
What symbol did God put in the sky saying you would never flood the earth again?
Good job right here.
All right, this is going to be the last question for the 13 and under.
Who killed the brother of Goliath?
All right, that was a harder question, all right.
Well, it was an easier question, okay?
Name one of the disciples that saw Jesus on the Mount Transfiguration.
Clayton.
And you're not getting any help.
And who?
Come on down.
All right, so Jesus is any youth, so if you're 18 or under, you can answer.
These questions are going to be a little bit harder, not as hard as Elhanan, the son of Jorgham, okay?
How many sons did Jacob have?
Clayton?
Wrong.
Twelve, right here, come on down.
What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
Bam, nailed it, Psalm 119.
All right, what was the apostle Paul's name before he was converted?
He already answered.
Give back your prize.
Bam, nailed it.
He kept it in the family, all right, so that's good.
All right, what is the last book of the Old Testament?
Right here, come on down.
Here's the last question.
What prophet survived being in the lion's den?
Clayton, there it is.
Third time's the term, I guess.
All right, thanks so much for all of you guys.
That was really good.
And again, we're going to do the exact same thing tomorrow night, and we have some of the same prizes for tomorrow night.
We're going to do a few announcements, and then we're going to sing our third song.
So thanks so much for coming to our conference, The Heritage of the Lord.
We have some bulletins.
If you didn't already get a bulletin, you can lift up your hand nice and high, and in our bulletin we have some special songs that we're going to be singing tonight.
Also, just as a reminder, or just for people that are first-time visitors, we have a couple bathrooms that are just through this door, and they're both family bathrooms.
And then we also have a bathroom on this side, and it's just around here, and it's also a family bathroom.
So if you need to use any of the family bathrooms, those are your three options.
Also, we have a ice machine and a water fountain behind me, and to get to it you'd go through this door and just turn left, and you can go and get that.
If you need anything, you can ask one of our ushers.
They're wearing one of our maroon coats, and they would love to either get you water or help you with any questions that you have.
We're very honored this evening to have Pastor Roger Menes come and preach for us from Verity Baptist Church.
He's been a friend of ours for a long time, and he's definitely a highly sought-after preacher.
So to have him come out here and preach for us is a great privilege and honor.
Make sure to thank him for coming out here and preaching.
He brought his biggest child with him, Brother Oliver, and so we're really thankful that he could come out and participate in the conference.
I heard he's going to try and enter into the spelling bee, and I hope that he's practiced.
But no, we're really grateful to have Brother Oliver out here, too.
He's a great friend of ours, and so thank both of them for coming out here and being with us this evening.
If you have any questions for the conference, you can always ask one of our ushers or email us.
Another reminder, it is a kids' conference, and we want the kids to have a lot of fun.
But please, after the service and before the service, please pay attention to your kids still and make sure you're keeping an eye on them.
You're not just letting them run wild or go wherever.
We just want to make sure that kids are safe and that nothing bad happens or anything like that, no accident or something like that.
So please still pay attention to your children.
Make sure that you know where they are at all times.
Also, immediately following the service, we're going to have ice cream.
So all of the kids that are here and the adults, too.
It's for everyone.
If you like ice cream after the service, we'll have some ushers set up a table up here, and you can come by and get some ice cream.
After all the ice cream and everything like that, we are going to have some volunteers help clean.
If you didn't sign up, you can still volunteer.
So if you'd like to help just kind of clean the auditorium for tomorrow's services, we would love for you to do that as well.
So that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements are for our conference.
Tomorrow night, we're going to have our service at 6 p.m. as well.
So I know that traffic and sometimes it's a little tough, but try to get here at 6 if you can.
And we're going to have pizza immediately following the service tomorrow night.
We're also having a dessert fellowship.
And so I really encourage you to participate.
Saturday morning is going to be our kids spelling bee.
It's from 9 to 11.
And then we're going to have, I'm sorry, I'm mixing that up.
Saturday from 9 to 11, we're having our trampoline park.
And if you need the address, it should be in the bulletin.
From 1 to 3 is going to be our spelling bee on Saturday.
And then from 3 to 5, we have a Sony time.
We have some extra opportunities to do some fellowship.
On Friday morning, we're going to go to a park.
And it's going to be from 10 to noon.
And we're going to provide some snacks and some drinks.
And then there's also Sony time Friday from 2 to 4 that's going to meet here at the building.
Sunday is going to be regular service scheduled for us.
We'll have a 1030 a.m. service.
We are going to have donuts before the service.
So if you'd like to have some donuts before, please show up early for that.
And then we'll still have our Spanish service.
We'll still have our evening service as well.
And so I'm really excited to have a conference where we sing some kids' songs.
And we have some sermons that are focused on the youth.
But I hope that everybody does pay attention.
We do have an overflow room that's just not normally available, but it is available.
It is for anybody if they'd like to go and sit in there as well.
They have a TV and a speaker in there, so you should be able to participate.
It's open seating.
And we have a mother baby room on the other side of this wall.
That is for mothers and their children only.
So if you'd like to use that at any time as well, you are more than welcome to.
With that, I think that's all I had for announcements.
So we'll go ahead and go and sing another kids' song.
It's going to be in our handout, My God is So Great.
My God is So Great.
And then I'm going to have our kiddos stand up for our songs.
And we've got some nice hand gestures we're going to do with these songs.
So if all the kiddos want to stand up so you can see a little bit better, we're going to sing.
And when we sing, we're going to try and put some motion to the song.
So I expect you guys to follow along the best that you can.
But first.
There's nothing my God cannot do.
My God is so great.
So strong and so mighty.
There's nothing my God cannot do.
My God is so great.
So strong and so mighty.
There's nothing my God cannot do.
The mountains are his.
The valleys are his.
The stars are his handiwork too.
My God is so great.
So strong and so mighty.
There's nothing my God cannot do.
Good job. All right.
At this time we're going to turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter number five.
And we'll follow along in reading Daniel chapter number five.
Daniel chapter five.
We're in Daniel chapter five, and we will read the entire chapter as is our custom.
You can follow along silently, starting in verse one.
Daniel chapter five.
The Bible reads there in Daniel chapter five, it says,
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar, while as he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem,
that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines might drink therein.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem,
and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines drank in them.
They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone.
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace,
and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
And the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another.
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers,
and the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon,
Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet,
and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house,
and the queen spake and said, O king, live forever, let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.
There is a man in thy kingdom, and whom is the spirit of the holy gods,
and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him,
whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father,
made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers.
For as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding,
interpreting of dreams and showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel,
whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
Then was Daniel brought in before the king, and the king spake and said unto Daniel,
Art thou that Daniel which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
I have even heard of thee that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me that they should read this writing,
and make known unto me the interpretation thereof, but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.
And I have heard of thee that thou canst make interpretations and dissolve doubts.
Now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof,
thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and of a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another.
Yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor.
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him,
whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down.
But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hearted in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne,
and they took his glory from him.
And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses.
They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,
till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointed over it whomsoever he will.
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this,
but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee.
And thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines have drunk wine in them,
and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know.
And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.
Then was the part of the hand sent from him, and this writing was written.
And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Epharsin.
This is the interpretation of the thing, Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it.
Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Piraz, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck,
and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
And that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldean slain,
and Darius the Medean took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old.
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father God, we thank you so much for this conference, Lord,
and for the opportunity to just help the children be edified.
And I pray that you would fill Pastor Jimenez with your spirit now,
and give him clarity of mind as he preaches to us,
and help us all to pay attention and apply the message so that we can serve you better.
And in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen. All right, well, I'm very excited to be here tonight.
I want to thank all of you for coming out to this Heritage of the Lord conference.
And of course, I want to begin by saying thank you to Pastor and Mrs. Shelley,
of course, for their invitation, and their friendship, and their hospitality.
And I'm excited to be here.
I'm glad that there is a conference like this geared towards the youth.
And I do want to let you know that we actually have a youth rally coming up ourselves,
actually March 7th and 8th of next year.
Our youth rally is geared more towards teenagers,
and it's called the Next Generation Youth Rally, open ages 13 to 19 years old.
And it's interesting because we are planning this, and you guys are planning this,
it kind of just seems like the Holy Spirit is leading towards an emphasis on the youth.
And I'm excited about that, and I praise the Lord for that.
I do have our deacon, Brother Oliver, with us, and I don't know that he's going to be in the spelling bee.
He was, I noticed, on the plane was practicing how to spell the word deacon, which was good for him.
And of course, I'm kidding, I'm glad to have him with us, and I'm glad that he's here.
I'm very excited when Pastor Shelley invited me to come preach at this conference
and kind of explain to me a little bit about it.
I was excited to come and speak to kids, of course, to young people, and of course your parents,
but specifically to preach a sermon geared towards young people that are growing up in church.
And I was excited about that for a lot of reasons,
and one reason is because I'm actually a kid that grew up in church.
I often tell people that I was not born saved, obviously everybody gets saved,
everyone that gets saved gets saved at a certain point in their life.
I was not born a Christian, but I was born a Baptist.
I was born an independent fundamental Baptist.
I was born into an independent fundamental Baptist home.
All I've ever known is fundamentalism, and I haven't been a Christian my whole life,
but I've been in church my whole life, and I am, in some ways,
I feel a connection to all of the children here tonight because I was you at one point.
I was a kid in church.
I grew up going to Sunday school, and of course the new IFB, we do things a little different,
but I grew up going to Sunday school.
I grew up going to vacation Bible schools.
I grew up going to youth conferences.
So I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad to be preaching to the kids.
Now, whenever you go somewhere to preach, you always have to try to win over the crowd,
kind of get the crowd to like you a little bit.
Usually you do that with the adults by telling a joke or something like that to kind of warm up the crowd.
Of course, tonight I'm preaching to the kids, so I'm going to try to warm up the crowd with a joke,
but you just have to understand it's geared towards the kids, all right?
So your parents are probably not going to understand it, all right?
You kids, you're the only ones smart enough to get this, okay?
They probably aren't even going to know what to do,
but I'm fully confident that all of the children here will know what to do
and what to say at the right time, all right?
So here's my joke to try to win you over, get your attention for the sermon, all right?
Knock, knock.
See, I knew you could do it.
I knew you would know what to say.
Now, that was kind of weak, all right?
So let's try it again.
Knock, knock.
Interrupting cow.
Moo, moo, moo.
Some of you will get that later, and the kids will get it.
The kids will like it, but the adults are like, I don't get it, and yeah, I know.
All right, well, we're here at the Heritage of the Lord Conference,
and I'm preaching a sermon geared towards young people.
Of course, any time the Word of God is open, it's good for all of us,
and I think it's important for us to understand the importance of the next generation.
I heard someone say years ago, they went out soul winning, and they said that they came back.
They said, I got two and a half people saved, and somebody said, what do you mean?
You got two adults and one kid saved?
And they said, no, I got two kids and one adult saved,
and they said two and a half because of the fact they counted the adult as half
because they'd already lived half their life,
and the children here have their entire lives ahead of them.
They've got an entire life that they can serve God and walk with God and make a great impact for the Lord.
And all of the kids that are here tonight are what we might refer to,
what I would refer to as a second generation Christian.
I am what you might call a second generation Christian.
I was born into a Christian home.
I was raised in a Christian home, and my wife was saved when she was 17 years old.
When she got saved, no one in her family was saved.
She didn't grow up going to church.
Her entire family is saved now, but it's because she got him saved after she got saved,
and she would be what you would consider a first generation Christian.
My father was a first generation Christian.
He was reached by missionaries in Venezuela, and he got saved, and he kind of changed the family line
and, of course, raised our family in church.
My mother is actually a second generation Christian.
On my mother's side, my grandfather was a Baptist preacher.
So on my mom's side, I'm actually a third generation Christian.
On my dad's side, I'm a second generation Christian, but I'm not a first generation Christian.
A first generation Christian is a Christian that was not raised in a Christian home,
and they are established in a Christian home.
A second or third generation Christian would be a Christian who was raised in a Christian home.
So just real quickly, just by raise of hands, let me ask.
Who's a first generation Christian here tonight?
First generation Christian?
All right, you'll notice there's obviously a lot of adult hands.
Who's a second generation, second or third generation Christian?
All the kids should have their hands up if you're here, unless you drove yourself here.
You're a second generation Christian, a lot of adult second generation Christians.
Praise the Lord for that.
And it's important to know and understand the value of the second generation Christians.
In the Bible, the Bible emphasizes and plays an emphasis on young people,
and young people play a big role throughout the Bible.
You'll read stories of young people like Joseph.
You'll read stories of young people like Samuel, stories of young people like Daniel,
and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
You'll read stories about young people that were used of God even in their youth.
So there's an importance here regarding the second generation,
and that's why I think a conference like this is so great.
Now you're there in Daniel chapter 5, and I'd like to just kind of walk through this story
and show you a couple of things, and then I'll make three applications here tonight.
And for you kids, I want you to pay attention, all right, because at the end of the service,
I'm going to ask some questions, and I want to see if you're paying attention
and see if you can remember the things that we learned today.
In Daniel chapter 5, you have a story of a man called Belshazzar.
Notice there in Daniel 5 and verse 1, the Bible says,
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousands.
Here we have this man, Belshazzar, and he throws this party, the Bible tells us,
this great feast, and he drank wine before the thousands.
He drank alcohol, and of course the Bible teaches against drinking alcohol.
The Bible says that drinking alcohol is a sin, and all of you young people,
and I'm not preaching about alcohol, but let me just say this.
Every young person here should make a decision in their lives that they're never going to touch alcohol,
that they're never going to drink alcohol, and they're never going to partake in that sin.
In verse 2, the Bible says, Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine...
Now, you say, what's the problem with drinking alcohol?
Well, you know, the Bible commands against it, but oftentimes when people drink alcohol, they do stupid things.
And here's what we're going to see, Belshazzar.
He's drinking alcohol, which is a sin, and then as a result, he makes a very bad decision.
Notice verse 2, Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem.
So, if you're familiar with the story, you'll remember the fact that King Nebuchadnezzar
was the one who went down and took captive the southern kingdom of Judah.
He's the one that brought the children of Judah into captivity.
He's the one that brought Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego into Babylon.
And while he was there, he destroyed the temple, and the Bible tells us that he took the vessels.
Notice there again in verse 2, Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, the vessels of the temple.
Verse 2 says, Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple.
And why did he do this? Look at the last part of verse 2, that he might drink therein.
So, he got this idea. He's having this party. They're drinking alcohol, which is a sin, which is wrong.
And he gets this idea. Hey, let's get the vessels from the temple of God and use those vessels to drink alcohol out of here in our party.
Look at verse 3. Then they brought the golden vessels, which were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem.
And the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank in them, and they drank wine.
Now notice, not only do they drink wine out of these vessels, and what they're doing, by the way, kids, is something that is referred to as sacrilege.
Because if you remember the vessels that were created for the use of the temple of God, those vessels had been set apart.
They had been sanctified, which means they had been set apart for the use of the temple.
Those were not vessels that people were just supposed to use to drink water out of or to eat meals from.
They were used specifically for the temple, which means that they were sacred, and all that means is they were set apart specifically for that use.
And what Belshazzar is doing, he's taking these items that were supposed to be used in the service of God, in the house of God, and he is using them to drink alcohol out of and to party with.
This is what's referred to as sacrilege. Sacrilege is a violation or a profanation of anything sacred or something held sacred or consecrated to the service of God.
So they're violating these vessels that are meant to be used for the worship of God. They're drinking alcohol out of them.
And then to make matters even worse, verse 4, the Bible says they drank wine and praised the gods.
Now, you see the word gods there? You see the plural, the s there after the word gods? That's not good.
You say, why is that? Because the Bible says there's only one God.
And here they're praising the lowercase g, plural gods. These are false gods, idols that they're worshiping.
Notice, praise the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Here the Bible is telling us that they're worshiping idols.
Now, Belshazzar is just on a roll here when it comes to sinning against God.
He's drinking alcohol. He's performing sacrilege, taking the vessels out of the temple and drinking alcohol out of them.
Now he's appraising idols. The Bible teaches against worshiping idols, praising idols.
Kids, again, learn this. Idols are bad. Idols are not good.
We shouldn't make these idols, these images that are meant to be religious or worshiped.
But here he's praising the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
So I want you to notice the sacrilege of Belshazzar.
But then in verse 5 we see a message that is given to Belshazzar. Notice there in verse 5,
the Bible says, In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand.
Now here the Bible tells us that while Belshazzar is having this party,
he sees a man's hand appear and rode over against the candlestick upon the plaster.
The plaster there is referring to a paste that hardens to make, to dry it up and make a wall.
Here the Bible tells us that he rode over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace.
And the king, Belshazzar, saw the part of the hand that rode.
So I want you to understand the story. Here you have Belshazzar.
He's drinking alcohol. He's using the vessels of the house of God.
He's worshiping idols and profaning God.
And then in the midst of that, he sees a hand appear and the hand, the fingers, are riding upon the wall.
Now I'm not going to go through, we read the whole chapter at the beginning before the preaching,
so I'm not going to go through all the details, but skip down to verse number 8 and notice what the Bible says.
Belshazzar, of course, gets scared. The Bible says that his knees were shaking together.
And he wants to know what this message is that this hand rode upon the wall.
In verse 8 the Bible says,
Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
Here Belshazzar brings in all these wise men, but nobody can tell him what it is, the interpretation of the message that is given on the wall.
And again, I'm not going to read through all this, we read the whole chapter, but due to the recommendation of the queen,
the queen reminds Belshazzar that there's a man named Daniel,
and Daniel was someone who had been used of God to give interpretations to prior kings,
and that Daniel would be able to help the king.
So Belshazzar has Daniel, and Daniel, of course, is the main character in this book.
It's the reason why it's called the book of Daniel.
And notice what the Bible says, the message that Daniel brings to Belshazzar.
Daniel chapter 5, look at verse 18.
Here's what the Bible tells us, Daniel answered and said.
In verse 17, the Bible says,
Daniel answered and said, and verse 18, here's what he says,
O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom.
And I want you to notice there the use of the term thy father.
Here Daniel is telling us that Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar's father.
Now, here's what we know.
Nebuchadnezzar was the king before Belshazzar.
It's very, of course, likely that Belshazzar was actually the son of Nebuchadnezzar.
Some people make the argument that Belshazzar may have been a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar,
and I don't have a problem with that.
I definitely can see the argument made by that.
And all throughout the Bible, God will often refer to a grandfather or a great-grandfather
or a great-great-grandfather as somebody's father, so that would connect here.
But the point is this, that Belshazzar was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar.
He may have been his son, making Nebuchadnezzar his father.
He may have been his grandson, making him his grandfather.
But Nebuchadnezzar was the king before Belshazzar.
And here Daniel is brought in to tell Belshazzar about this image on the wall, this message on the wall.
Verse 18, O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor.
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him.
Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down.
And when his heart was lifted up.
So now Daniel is speaking to Belshazzar about the prior king, his father Nebuchadnezzar,
and he's saying, look, your father was powerful.
Your father had authority.
Your father, you know, the Bible, he tells us here in the Bible that all people and nations and languages,
they trembled and feared before him.
Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down.
This guy was powerful.
In verse 20 the Bible says, but when his heart was lifted up, talking about Nebuchadnezzar,
when his heart was lifted up, he got proud and arrogant because of the fact that he was so powerful.
The Bible says when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed.
That word deposed means he was removed from his high position.
The Bible says he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him,
and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beast,
and his dwelling was with the wild asses, and they fed him with grass like oxen,
and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of man,
and that he appointed over it whomsoever he will.
Now what Daniel is referring to, and I realize that I'm taking a lot of time here in the introduction,
and I just want you to understand this story, you kids.
What Daniel is referring to is the fact that his grandfather or father, Nebuchadnezzar,
had actually gone crazy for a period of seven years, and the story is actually found in Daniel chapter 4.
We won't take the time to go there now, but in Daniel chapter 4, the Bible tells us that Nebuchadnezzar got so lifted up with pride
that God made him go crazy, and he lived for seven years out in the field.
He ate grass like an ox, and he just acted like an animal, he became like a beast,
and then after seven years, he finally humbled his heart, and when he humbled his heart,
and notice the last part of verse 21, when he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of man,
and that he appointed over it whomsoever he will, then God restored him, and God put him back in his position of authority,
and God allowed his mind to come back to him, and his majesty was restored to him, and he became the king again.
Now that's the context, that's the story in which we find Belshazzar.
Here's the message that Belshazzar is given by Daniel, and the message has to do with his knowledge.
Notice verse 22. Here's what Daniel says to Belshazzar.
And thou his son, Daniel speaking to Belshazzar, he says, thou his son, O Belshazzar, has not humbled thine heart.
And here's what Daniel is saying to Belshazzar. He's about to tell him that his kingdom is going to be taken from him.
That writing on the wall is a message saying that his kingdom is going to be taken,
and in fact, that very night Darius the king came and took over and took the kingdom from Belshazzar, and he lost his kingdom.
And Daniel is telling Belshazzar, here's why God is going to take your kingdom, because your father Nebuchadnezzar got filled with pride,
and God made him go crazy. God made him go spend seven years out in the field like an ox, and God dealt with him,
and God was gracious with him, and God was patient with him, and he humbled himself, and then God restored him.
And I personally believe that that's when Nebuchadnezzar actually got saved.
And God restored him, God restored his majesty, he restored his authority, he restored his power, and he put him back on the throne.
And now Daniel is saying to Belshazzar in verse 22, and thou his son, O Belshazzar, has not humbled thine heart.
Notice these words, it's where I get the title of the sermon, though thou knewest all this.
Here Daniel says to Belshazzar, hey Belshazzar, you're not a first generation person when it comes to understanding and knowing the things of the Lord.
You're a second generation person in regards to understanding the things of the Lord, because you already knew the story of your father Nebuchadnezzar.
You already knew how God dealt with him, and God humbled him due to his pride.
He says, though thou knewest all this, verse 23, but has lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven,
and they have brought the vessels of the house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines have drunk wine in them,
and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know,
and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, has thou not glorified.
The message to Belshazzar was this, that God's judgment was coming upon his kingdom.
Not seven years, not in seven years, in seven hours.
I mean tonight, later tonight, you're going to be removed from your kingly throne.
You say, why? Because thou knewest all this.
Because thou knewest all this.
And tonight I want to quickly give you young people growing up in church,
and I hope you'll understand my heart because I am you.
I was a young kid that grew up in church just like you.
I was a kid that was taken to conferences by my parents on Thursday nights and Friday nights just like you.
In our home, we had a rule.
If the house of God was open, we were going to be there.
We were going to be there, you say, whatever was going on.
If it was geared towards the kids, if it was geared towards the teens,
if it, whatever it was geared towards, we were just going to be there because we were Christians
and we wanted to make a priority of the house of God.
And you young people are growing up in church, and I want to give you three thoughts tonight.
And I'm going to encourage you young people to write these statements down
because I want you to remember them.
Three thoughts regarding young people who, a young person who is growing up in church.
Now you're there in Daniel. We've been in Daniel up to this point.
Go with me if you would to the book of Psalms.
Psalm 16.
If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
If you want to go backwards from Daniel, you go past Ezekiel, Lamentations, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Song of Solomon,
Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Psalms.
Psalm 16.
Three statements for you young people.
As a young person growing up in church, I want you to understand this.
Number one, as a young person growing up in church, you have a great advantage.
You have been given a great advantage as a young person.
If you are here tonight at the Heritage of the Lord Conference, your parents brought you here.
I want you to understand something, kids.
You have been given a great advantage.
In Psalm 16 and verse 6, David, who was also a second, third, fourth, fifth generation believer,
whose lineage went back through the people of God.
Here is what David said, Psalm 16 and verse 6.
He said, the lines.
Now when he says the lines here, he is referring to the physical lines of the tribes of the nation of Israel divided by their families.
But he is also referring to the lineage or the lineal descendancy, the ancestry from which he came out of.
He said, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.
He says, yea, I have a goodly heritage.
The word heritage is a reference to something that is handed down to you, something you inherit.
This is the Heritage of the Lord Conference and you have been given a great heritage.
You and I can say, like David, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.
Yea, I have a goodly heritage.
Some of you kids don't understand it.
Some of you older kids maybe don't understand it.
Some of you teenagers, I'm hoping you're starting to understand it.
You may not even understand it yourself.
But let me tell you something.
You kids are going to wake up one day and you're going to be in your mid-twenties or in your early thirties or in your mid-thirties or early forties.
And you're going to realize that, wow, especially as you begin to talk to other people, you're going to realize I was given a great advantage.
I grew up, I'm speaking me, Pastor Roger Jimenez, I grew up in a Christian home.
I grew up in a home where I never worried about whether my parents were going to separate.
I never worried about whether they were going to get a divorce.
To be honest with you, and I don't say this, I only say this as a testimony to my parents and I don't say this to embarrass or shame anybody else, but I'll be honest with you.
I can stand before you tonight as a grown man and tell you, I never even remember, I do not have a memory of ever even seeing my parents fight.
Now, I'm not saying they didn't fight, I'm sure they did fight, but they had the sense to fight, not around their kids.
I don't have a memory and I realize that not everybody has that and I'm not trying to shame you if you don't have that testimony, but I would encourage you, try not to fight around your children.
And I can tell you to the testimony of my parents, I don't have a memory, I have a lot of memories of my parents laughing.
I have a lot of parents of my parents joking around with each other and a lot of memories of us as kids growing up laughing.
I don't have a memory of my kids as a child of my parents fighting.
I didn't grow up in a home where there was drunkenness.
I didn't grow up in a home where there was drug use.
I didn't grow up in a home where there was chaos.
Not everybody has that privilege and I'm not beating up on you if that's not your testimony.
I'm just telling you this, I was given a great advantage and all of you kids have been given a great advantage.
You can say tonight, the lines are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage.
You might say, my parents aren't perfect.
You might say, my parents, they do this or they do that.
Let me tell you something, if they have you here at this church, at this conference, you've got it good.
You say, well they're not everything they should be.
Hey, none of us are, but if they've got you here, they're trying.
You've been given a great advantage, kids.
You've been given a great advantage.
You've been given a great head start.
You've been given a great start in your life.
Keep your finger there if you're there in Psalm 16.
Keep your place right there, we're going to come back to it.
Go with me if you would to the New Testament book of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 3.
If you can find the T-books, they're all clustered together.
1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy Titus, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy Titus, 2 Timothy 3.15.
And by the way, you know, you can tell when someone is a second generation Christian,
when they were raised in a good, godly Christian, you can tell.
My wife and I were just spending time with some of her family.
They came to visit, and they're not Christians.
I mean, some of them are saved because my wife got them saved,
but they don't go to church or anything like that.
And while we were there, we met a young man who had married into the family,
and it just became apparently clear.
We were like, this guy's a Christian.
I mean, you can just tell.
And not that anybody else was mean or rude or whatever,
but there's just something about a kid that grew up in church.
He had a smile on his face, and he was hospitable.
He introduced himself and shook our hand.
And it's just like, this is not just a normal kid.
And then, of course, he introduced himself, and he said his name was Uriah,
and we're like, well, of course, yeah, yeah.
This guy grew up in church.
And there's just something about kids that grew up in church.
I'm not saying all kids, but generally speaking,
there's going to be something different about you,
especially in a church like this.
You're going to get to speak to people and have some confidence.
You're going to have some just common courtesy.
You're going to look people in the eye and shake hands.
The young men shake hands firmly.
There's just some giveaways.
You can always tell, and look, I don't mean this in a rude way,
and if any of you say this, I don't know it, okay?
But you can always tell when people didn't grow up in church.
For example, here's something that people will say when they didn't grow up in church.
And politicians do this a lot, which you can tell they didn't grow up in church.
They're like, I really like that verse in 2 Corinthians.
That verse in 2 Corinthians 13, it's like, you didn't grow up in church.
Or you grew up in Europe or something.
Because, you know, kids that grew up in church, you know what we call it?
2 Corinthians.
And people didn't grow up in church, some of you are like, I say that.
I know, you're a first-generation Christian. We're not mad at you.
We just kind of smile when you speak.
2 Timothy 3.15.
Second-generation Christians, they call it the Book of Psalms, and they call it Psalm 23.
First-generation Christians, Psalms 23.
It's like, no, no, no, it's just one Psalm.
But those are the things that you learn when you're a kid.
You've got parents that teach you and help you.
2 Timothy 3.15, are you there?
That's what the Bible says, 2 Timothy 3.15.
And that, here's what Paul said to Timothy.
He said, and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.
You know, Paul said that about Timothy, but that can be said of every kid in this room right now.
That from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1.
If you flip back to chapter 1 and verse 5.
2 Timothy 1.5, notice what Paul says.
He says, when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice,
and I am persuaded that in thee also, Paul is telling Timothy, hey Timothy, you've been given a great advantage.
You've been given a great heritage.
The lines are fallen unto you in pleasant places.
Keep your place right there in 2 Timothy.
Now you've got your place in Psalms, and you've got, keep your place in 2 Timothy.
Go to Romans real quickly, Romans chapter number 3.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans.
Romans chapter 3.
Hey kids, you've been given a great advantage.
You say, what exactly is the advantage?
The advantage is, the same advantage that the Apostle Paul in Romans 3,
he tells us that the children of Israel, and specifically the Jews, which is what he's dealing with at his time,
he says they've been given a great advantage.
Now in Romans chapter 1 and 2, Paul takes the time to explain and to teach the fact that we're all sinners.
We all need salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nobody gets into heaven because they were born into the right family or born into the right lineage,
which is usually what the Jews, especially in the Bible times, even today,
they think they're going to get a free pass because they were born into a certain lineage or family.
And Paul says, that's not true.
But he says, there is an advantage that the Jew had.
And you young people here tonight, you have the same advantage.
You say, what was the advantage? Romans 3 verse 1.
He says, what advantage then hath the Jew?
Because Paul just got done telling us, hey, there's no difference between the Greek and the Jew,
circumcision and non-circumcision.
Everybody needs to come to Jesus, we're all sinners, and deserve to go to hell.
So then he answers the question, he says, well, what advantage then hath the Jew?
Or what profit is there of circumcision?
He's saying, if everyone is a sinner, and what advantage then is there to being a Jew?
And Paul says in verse 2, much every way.
He says, it was an advantage to being a Jew.
You say, what is it?
Here's what it is.
Chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
You say, what was the advantage for the children of Israel?
And by the way, their advantage didn't help them.
They messed it up.
But what was the advantage to being a Jew?
Here was the advantage to being a Jew.
It was the fact that they were given the oracles of God.
They were given the word of God.
Therefore, they had the best chance to be able to understand it, to be able to believe it.
They weren't heathens, right?
I mean, it's the same thing as when we go out and we knock on people's doors.
You find a Catholic, and you say, well, they're not saved.
But you know what?
At least they have some belief system that involves the Lord Jesus Christ,
and some belief system, some biblical foundation.
Though they're not saved, it's a lot easier to get them saved than to just start with a Hindu
who doesn't even believe in Jesus or a Muslim.
So the advantage for the Jew was that they had been given the oracles of God.
And you know what, kids?
What is the advantage that you have?
Here's the advantage that you have is that from a child, thou has known the Holy Scriptures.
That you have been given the oracles of God.
That thou has known these things.
That thou knewest all this.
That these things have been made clear unto you.
You have been given a great advantage.
And you know, we live in a day, and one of the reasons I'm excited about a conference like this
is because we live in a day today where Christians often, they want to,
and I get why people do this, but they want to, you know, make a big deal about people's sinful past.
You know, some guy who was a drug dealer or a gangster or a thief or something, and they got saved.
And look, I'm not speaking ill of those guys.
I got a church filled with those guys.
We love those guys.
Praise God for those guys.
But you know, sometimes that kind of, you can develop this culture where everybody's kind of like,
well, I was this and I was that.
And you know, you grow up in church, and people are like, what's your testimony?
And you're like, well, you know, when I was seven, I didn't eat my peas, and you know, I didn't take the trash out.
And you know, it's like, there's not much of a testimony there.
Hey, praise God you don't have a testimony.
Don't be ashamed of not having a simple testimony.
Hey, praise the Lord that you have a testimony that says, hey, my testimony is that the lines are falling onto me in pleasant places,
and I have a goodly heritage.
I didn't struggle with drugs.
I didn't struggle with alcohol.
I didn't go to prison.
I didn't live that life.
Praise God.
Because I was given an advantage.
You kids here tonight, as a young person growing up in church, I want you to know that you've been given a great advantage.
You've been given a great advantage.
Go to Luke chapter 12 if you would.
Luke chapter 12.
You're there in Romans.
You go backwards.
You got the work of Acts, then John, then Luke.
Luke chapter 12.
I said number one tonight that as a young person growing up in church, you've been given a great advantage.
But let me say this, number two tonight.
As a young person growing up in church, not only have you been given a great advantage,
but as a young person growing up in church, I want you to know this and I want you to understand this,
that you will be held to a greater accountability.
God is going to hold you more accountable than He will those who did not know or were not given the same advantage you were not.
God's going to hold everybody accountable.
But in Luke chapter 12, the Bible is clear that God will hold some people more accountable and to a greater accountability than others.
Look at it.
Luke 12 and verse 47.
And that servant, which knew his Lord's will, all right, this servant, notice he knew the Lord's will.
Just like it said in Daniel 5-22, though thou knewest all this about Belshazzar,
just like it said in 2 Timothy 3-15, that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, referring to Timothy.
Here this servant, he knew his Lord's will, but notice what he did, and prepared not himself.
He knew, but he did not prepare, neither did according to his will.
Notice what the Bible says, he shall be beaten with, notice this word, many stripes.
You see that?
This guy knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, and he will be beaten with many stripes.
Now compare that and contrast that to the guy in verse 48.
But he that knew not, you say, who's this guy?
This guy didn't know the Lord's will.
This guy could not say the lines were fallen unto me in pleasant places, I have a goodly heritage.
This guy would say, I didn't know, I wasn't given the advantage, I wasn't given the oracles of God.
Here the Bible says, but he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with, notice the word, few stripes.
Here God tells us, look, God's going to hold everybody accountable, he's going to judge everybody.
But God says, if you knew the will, you knew what you were supposed to do, and you chose not to do it,
he says you're going to get beaten with many stripes, and the other guy who did not know,
hey, he's still going to get punished, he's still going to get beaten, but he's going to get beaten with few stripes.
You say, why is that? That's not fair.
Why is that? Here's why.
For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required, and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more.
You know, the Bible says, whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required.
And you young people, let me tell you something here tonight, you have been given much.
You've been given a lot.
You've been given a great advantage, but because you've been given a great advantage, you will also be held to a greater accountability.
Whosoever much is given of him shall be much required.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
Ecclesiastes chapter 12, if you kept your place in the book of Psalms, remember you're supposed to keep your place in Psalms?
After Psalms you have Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
As a young person growing up in church, you will be held to, you have been given a great advantage.
That's a good thing.
But I want you to also know that you will be held to a greater accountability.
Isn't that what we saw with Belshazzar?
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his heart in pride.
God gave him seven years.
Now God put him out in the field like an ox.
And God humbled him.
He gave him seven years.
But Belshazzar, hey, the handwriting on the wall that same night, judgment came.
You say, why?
Because Belshazzar knew already, though thou knewest all this, he still filled himself with pride.
Though thou knewest all this, he still committed sacrilege.
Though thou knewest all this, he still drank alcohol.
Though thou knewest all this, he still worshiped other gods.
And because of that, his judgment came down harder and faster.
You say, why?
Because whosoever much is given of him shall much be required.
And you can look.
I'm one of you.
I'm a second generation Christian.
I'm a church kid. I grew up in church.
You can sit there and say, well that's not fair.
You know, it's not fair that God's going to judge me harder because I happen to be born into a Christian home,
that God's going to judge me harder because I happen to grow up in steadfast Baptist church.
God's going to judge me harder because my pastor is Pastor Shelley
and because he's a faithful man of God that has given us the word of God and taught us.
That's not fair.
Hey, let me tell you something.
You know what's not fair?
What's not fair is that you were born in the United States of America in a Christian home
where you were given every opportunity to be saved.
You know what's not fair?
Being born a Hindu.
You know what's not fair?
Being born in Pakistan.
You know what's not fair?
Being born in a situation somewhere that because of other people's choices in the rejecting of God's word in other places,
those people have a very low probability of getting saved.
You say, well I'm thankful that I'm saved.
Yeah, well here's the thing.
You were given a great advantage.
But with that, with that comes a great accountability.
God expects a lot of you.
God expects more of you.
God expects great things from you.
Ecclesiastes 12, are you there?
Why don't you notice verse 1.
Ecclesiastes 12, 1 is a verse that's often referred to when dealing with young people or speaking to young people.
Ecclesiastes 12, 1, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.
And that's a great verse and I love that verse.
But I want you to understand the context in which that verse is given.
Now, Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1 is the first verse in chapter 12.
But that does not mean that that verse is separated from the previous context.
Because the context of Ecclesiastes 12, 1 is actually the last few verses of Ecclesiastes 11 verses 9 and 10.
Now, let me just explain this to you.
When Solomon, who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, when he wrote this book, he did not divide it into verses and chapters.
Now, there's nothing wrong with the verses and chapters.
We're thankful for the verses and chapters.
We're glad they're there because we can use them to reference and I can tell you to turn here and turn there and we can all be on the same page.
But it's not like Solomon said, all right, well now I'm done with chapter 11.
Now chapter 12, remember now thy creator.
He's writing this all within the context and here's the context that leads us to Ecclesiastes 12, 1.
Notice it.
Ecclesiastes 11, 9.
Rejoice, rejoice, O young man in thy youth.
Let me tell you something, young people.
You've got something to rejoice about.
You say, what?
Just being young is something to rejoice about.
One day you're going to wake up and realize you can't get out of bed as fast as you used to get out of bed.
And when you do get out of bed, everything hurts.
And you can't run like you used to run.
You can't throw like you used to throw.
You can't stay up late like you used to stay up late.
Just being young is something you should rejoice about.
That's why I always think it's funny, you know, teenagers are notorious for complaining.
They like to complain about everything.
In fact, you know, just to let you in on a little secret with dealing with teenagers.
If you want a teenager to do something, just tell them to do the opposite of what you want.
You know?
It's like, I don't want you to take out the trash.
Oh, I'm going to take out the trash.
So you tell me not to take out the trash.
Like, okay, well, you're the boss.
Rejoice, O young man in thy youth.
And let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.
Here's what he's saying.
Go ahead and enjoy your youth.
And look, I'm telling you, young people, enjoy your youth.
You've been given a great childhood.
You've been given a great advantage.
I hope you'll enjoy your youth.
And walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.
Here's what Solomon is saying.
He's saying enjoy your youth.
And then he says this.
And if you want, he says if you want, go ahead and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.
He's saying go ahead and do whatever you're going to do.
Because oftentimes young people will get this attitude that says I'm not going to let you tell me what to do.
I'm going to do what I want to do.
I'm going to make my own decision.
And here's what Solomon is saying.
He says go ahead, walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.
But then he says this.
But know thou.
He says, look, young man in thy youth, let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.
And walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.
But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
So what is he saying?
Here's what he's saying.
Do whatever you're going to do as a young person, but realize that for what you do as a young person, God will hold you accountable.
For all these things, God will bring thee into judgment.
And because God is going to bring your youth into judgment, he's going to hold your youth accountable.
You say, why would he do that?
Because you've been given such a great advantage that he expects so much from you, he's going to hold you highly accountable.
He says, therefore, don't miss it.
Verse 10, especially you older kids, you teenagers, don't miss this.
Therefore, here's what he says, remove sorrow from my heart.
You say, what does that mean?
Here's what he says, young people.
Here's what he says.
Please don't miss this.
He says, when you are a young person who realizes that you're going to be held accountable, that God will bring thee into judgment for the sins of thy youth,
he says you can decide right now to remove sorrow from my heart.
You say, what does that mean?
You can decide right now to not do stupid things in your teenage years that you will regret for the rest of your life.
You're not the average adult.
As a pastor and as a pastor's wife at Verity Baptist Church, my wife and I have been there for 12 years,
and oftentimes when people come to us, grown adults in their 40s and their 50s, needing counsel and needing help,
and they've got some major thing that they've got, some skeleton in the closet or something,
usually it's something they did in their teens.
Usually it's something they did when they were a very young adult.
It's a stupid decision, a sinful decision, and Solomon is telling the young people, hey, if you were smart, you would remove sorrow from my heart.
You would live your life in such a way that you would minimize future regrets.
You would live your life in such a way that you would not bring a bunch of baggage into your future marriage.
You would live in such a way that you can remove sorrow from your future and from your heart.
And then he says this, and put away evil from thy flesh.
This is what David refers to in Psalm 25, 7 as the sins of my youth.
He said, why would I do that? Here's why.
For childhood and youth are vanity.
You're not going to be a child forever.
You're not going to be a teenager forever.
I often tell our church people in Sacramento, we are not raising children.
We are raising adults.
We are raising children to grow up to be godly, disciplined, Christian adults.
We're raising them to be adults.
And you young people, you might think, oh, you know, it's so far away, you know, before I can start dating, before I can get married, and before I can do this, and before I can do that.
Hey, it's going to pass like that.
Don't get ahead of yourself.
Generally speaking, people are just not content in life.
You talk to a little kid, and what do they want?
They're always looking for the next birthday, right?
I mean, they turn four, and they're like, I'm almost five, you know.
And then when they're 12, they're like, I'm almost a teenager.
And when they're a teenager, I can almost drive.
And when they can drive, I'm almost going to be 18.
And when they're 18, you know, and then it's, well, you know, you can't be content.
You can't be content until you're married, and then you get married, you can't be content until you have a child, then you have a child, then you're not content until the child grows up.
And it's like you're just always searching for the next.
Hey, why don't you just live in the season of life you're in, enjoy the season of life you're in?
Why don't you just decide, I've got six children at home, they range from 15 to four years old, and my wife and I, we're just trying to enjoy that time.
We're not always going to have them at home.
They're going to grow up and leave us one day, and we just want to enjoy them while we have them.
And you kids, you say, I'm just a kid. Enjoy being a kid. I'm just a teenager. Enjoy being a teenager.
Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't push the dating thing. Don't start trying to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
Look, the purpose of dating is marriage, and you can't get married if you don't have a job, if you don't have a car, if you don't have anything going on in life.
You're not going to get married when you're 14 years old, so you don't need to be dating when you're 14 years old.
You don't need to be opening that door and getting yourself ahead. You say, why? Because you will make mistakes that you will regret.
And you can decide right now, as a kid, and say, I'm not going to create baggage for my future self.
I'm going to understand. I'm going to know, thou, that for all these things God will bring the end to judgment.
Therefore, remove sorrow from thy heart and put evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.
And that is the context in which Solomon says, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in Ecclesiastes 12, 1, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.
Say, why would you serve God when you're young? Here's why.
While the evil days come naught, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
You have a great opportunity. You've been given a great advantage. And you will be held to a greater accountability.
Go back to 1 Timothy, if you would. 1 Timothy chapter 4. If you kept your place in 2 Timothy, if you go backwards from 1 Timothy to 1 Timothy chapter 4.
While you turn there, let me read to you from Hebrews 10, 26. You go to 1 Timothy 4. Let me read to you from Hebrews 10, 26.
The Bible says, for if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.
And I'm not going to get into all the details of Hebrews here, but the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to help us understand, as New Testament believers, how the Old Testament carried into the New Testament,
and how there are some things that no longer apply in the New Testament from the Old Testament, and that there are some principles that we can still carry forward.
And the writer of Hebrews is telling us that if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.
And he's using an example from the Old Testament, because in the Old Testament there was a certain sacrifice called, that you could do a sacrifice for what was referred to as the sin of ignorance.
When you sinned and you did not know that what you were doing was a sin, or what you did not purposely set out to perform that sin, and you just did it, you didn't premeditate it,
then there was a sacrifice, you still had to bring a sacrifice, because whether you knew it was right or wrong, if you did it, God still held you accountable.
But when somebody decided that they knew what the Bible says, they knew what they were supposed to do, they knew what God expected from them, and they decided to do it anyway, hey, there's no sacrifice for that sin.
In the Old Testament there was no sacrifice for that sin, and what the writer of Hebrews is telling us, he's saying, look, be careful about these sinful, willfully sinning against God, knowing what you're doing is wrong.
Because God is going to hold you accountable for what you know. If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.
And you young people, let me just tell you something, and I hope you say, are you trying to scare us? Yes.
God will hold you to a greater, if you decide to leave this church, you decide to grow up and become a drunkard, you decide to grow up and smoke marijuana, you decide to grow up and do drugs, you decide to fornicate, you decide to do all matter of sin that you know God doesn't want you to do,
hey, God will hold you to a greater accountability. He may put Nebuchadnezzar out in the field for seven years, but he'll take your kingdom in one night.
That's not fair. It's not fair that you were given a great advantage. It's not fair that thou knewest all this and you did it anyway.
It's not fair that you've been given this knowledge that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures that thou has received the knowledge of the truth. That's not fair.
God says, I'm going to hold you to a greater accountability. Let me say this as the last point tonight, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 12.
I said, number one, as a young person growing up in church, you will have a great advantage, you have a great advantage.
Number two, as a young person growing up in church, you will be held to a greater accountability.
Here's the third and final point tonight. As a young person growing up in church, you will have and you potentially can have the greatest accomplishments.
Because you've been given such a great advantage, you have a great opportunity before you to accomplish great things for God.
1 Timothy 4 and verse 12. Notice what Paul told a church kid. Remember Timothy was a church kid, right?
He said, the faith that is in thee, which was in thy grandmother, and he refers to the grandmother and the mother, Lois and Eunice.
He says that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures. Notice what Paul tells Timothy. He says, let no man despise thy youth.
He says, you go ahead and you serve God and don't let anybody despise thy youth. But be thou an example of the believer in word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity.
You can do great things for God in your youth. God used young people all throughout the Bible. I mentioned them at the beginning of the sermon.
He used Samuel from a very young age. He used David from a young age. He used Joseph from a young age.
He used Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach. All these were young people that he used greatly. And I'm here to tell you young people, let no man despise thy youth.
People will say about your generation. I'm talking about the kids sitting in this room right now. They will say one of two things.
They will either look at you and they will say of your generation, look how they carried the baton.
Because the race that we're running, it isn't an individual race in the sense that we must run the race that is set before us, but it's a group race in the sense that we have been handed a baton.
We have been handed something. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage.
Hey, I was handed this knowledge and this doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works, not of repenting of your sins.
I was handed the King James Bible. I was handed soul winning. I was handed fundamentalism. I was handed separated living. I was handed those things.
And people will say of you, like they will say of us, look how they took what they were handed and they carried the baton. They ran the race that was set before them and then they gave that baton to the next generation.
I often say this at our church, there is no success without succession.
If we do not, and this is why conferences like the Heritage Lord Conference, this is why the Youth Rally we're setting, the reason that they are so important is because we have to make sure the next generation grabs the baton that that is handed off properly.
And we want people to look at you and say, look how they carried the baton. Look what they did with what they were given.
The truth is this, you can accomplish a lot more than we will ever accomplish if you stand on our shoulders. You find this in the Bible.
You know that Joshua accomplished a lot more than Moses? Now in the Bible, who is the greater character? The greater biblical character is Moses.
Now I love Joshua. Joshua is my favorite Bible character. The reason we named our first son Joshua is because he is my favorite Bible character. I love Joshua in the Bible. But Moses is definitely the greater of the two characters.
But who accomplished more? Moses led a bunch of people in a wilderness for 40 years. Joshua took the next generation, crossed the Jordan River, conquered the land, took the land and had these, the book of Joshua is an exciting book with all these victories. Why?
Because Joshua was some great person? No, it was because Joshua took what was given to him from Moses. He stood on Moses' shoulders and accomplished great things.
What about Solomon and David? Who is the greater character in the Bible? Solomon or David? David absolutely is. Jesus will sit on the throne of David.
But who accomplished more? Solomon did. Solomon's kingdom was greater, stronger, more successful. You say, why? Why was that? Because Solomon did not start from scratch.
Solomon stood on the shoulders of David and accomplished great things. What about Elisha and Elijah? Who is the greater character? Elijah or Elisha? Elijah is.
But yet Elisha, the Bible tells us, had a double portion of Elijah's spirit. He accomplished twice as many miracles and he did twice as many things as Elijah. You say, why? Because Elijah stood on the shoulders of Elijah.
I'm here to tell you something, that you have been given a great advantage and God expects a lot from you and you can accomplish great things if you carry on what we are giving you tonight.
If you carry on what your parents are giving you at home, if you carry it on, if you think about the new IFB movement, and I'm thankful for the new IFB movement,
and often times as I travel this country, people will say kind things to me, and I don't feel like I deserve it, but they'll say kind things to me about the establishment of the new IFB movement.
And of course, Pastor Anderson, back in 2005, started Faithful Word Baptist Church and that was what we would later know as the first new IFB church, if you want to call it that.
And five years later, by God's grace, we started Verity Baptist Church and for a long time it was Faithful Word and Verity Baptist Church. It wasn't even the new IFB, it was just two churches.
Now we've got churches all over the place, soul winning being done all over the place, missions works being done all over the place.
You say, how did that happen? You know what's interesting? It happened with two church kids!
Pastor Anderson grew up in church as an independent fundamental Baptist, just a kid in church. I grew up in church.
And think about even just the men here tonight, Pastor Shelley grew up in church, Pastor Mejias grew up in church.
I'm just here to tell you that God, and I'm not saying that if you didn't grow up in church, God can't use you, but I am saying this.
Those of you that grew up in church, that got saved at a younger age, that gave your youth to God, hey, you can accomplish great things for God!
And God expects you to. God expects you to.
People will either say of your generation, look how they carried the baton, or, or they will say, go to Judges chapter 2 if you would, Judges chapter 2.
Judges chapter 2, quickly. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Judges chapter 2.
They will say, look how they carried the baton, or they will say, look how they dropped the ball.
They'll say, look how they carried that baton that was given them, or they will say, look how they fumbled it.
Look how they dropped it.
Judges 2a, and Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died, there was success in the succession of Moses to Joshua.
Was there not?
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died, being 110 years old.
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaiash.
And also, all that generation were gathered unto their fathers, the generation of Joshua.
Notice, and there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord.
There is no success without succession.
Nor yet the works which he had done for Israel and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam.
And by the way, let me just say this, in the new IP we haven't came up with anything new, we've just revised some things that were dying.
We were given soul winning, we were given heart preaching, we were given the King James Bible.
We were given, we've definitely tightened up some things and made some things better and corrected some things.
But by and large, everything that we have, we were given.
And we are just being faithful ministers, carrying the batam that was handed to us, and we're trying to make sure that as we leave the scene,
and we're not leaving the scene any time soon, all of us are young men, we want to make sure when we leave the scene and we hand that batam to you young people,
you are ready to grab it and you are ready to go, you are ready to run, you are ready to stand on whatever accomplishments we've accomplished and accomplish great things for God.
It's interesting to me that in Judges there, in the passage we just read, the generation of Joshua, which was a generation of which it could be said,
though thou knewest all this, Daniel 5.22, that it could be said that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, 2 Timothy 3.15,
that it could be said after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, Hebrews 10.26, of that generation it was said there arose another generation which knew not the Lord.
So what will it be? Will you carry the batam as the next generation? Will you realize that you've been given a great advantage and you will be held to a greater accountability and you can accomplish greater things for God?
Or will you drop the ball? And will it be said of you, there arose another generation which knew not the Lord?
And my prayer, and I believe the prayer of Pastor Shelley and the prayer of every pastor and man of God here tonight, is that the young kids in this building right now will decide, right now I'm going to live for God.
I'm going to take this thing of Christianity seriously. I'm going to pay attention in church. I'm going to read the Bible. I'm going to develop a walk with God. I'm going to get to know God like Samuel got to know God and heard the voice of God even from a young age.
I'm going to take advantage of the advantage that I've been given. I'm going to take heed to the accountability that I will be held to.
And by God's grace, we will all accomplish great things. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for these young people here tonight. Lord, I pray that they would make decisions.
I pray that subconscious and conscious choices would be made tonight, that young people would decide I'm going to live for God.
Some of these older kids and these teenagers would say, you know what, I'm going to make a decision. I'm going to be pure to the day I'm married.
I'm not going to live my youth in such a way where I'll have all these regrets as an adult.
Lord, I pray that you would help us to do everything in our power to help this next generation live for you.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
If it's all right, Pastor Shelley, if it's okay, can I just ask a few questions?
We've got some coloring books that my wife and I put together.
And we didn't bring them tonight, but what I want to do is just ask some questions, and if any of the kids that answered properly,
Brother Oliver, our deacon, is going to write down your name, and we're going to ship you our Herb Meyer coloring books as a gift for being here tonight and for paying attention.
So just ask you some quick questions from the sermon to see if you're paying attention.
And I'll try to do this as well as Pastor Shelley did, but he's a lot sharper than I am, so I'll try to keep my eye out.
First kid to raise their hand. What was the name of the king that saw the handwriting on the wall?
I think I saw your hand first.
All right. What's your name?
Junior. All right, Junior. Is that your first name?
No, that's good. As long as they know who you are.
All right, Junior. All right, here's another question.
What was the name of the man that was brought in to interpret the handwriting on the wall?
I saw a hand over here. Were you first? Was it you? Was it you? I think it was you.
What's your name? Go ahead and answer. Let's hear it. Daniel. All right, what's your name?
Haley. Haley. You want to write that down? Haley. All right. Let's make it a little harder.
What was the second point of the sermon? I saw your hand go up. What was it? You took notes?
I'm having trouble hearing you. Can you speak up?
Okay. All right. That's good. I'll give you that one. What's your name?
I'm sorry? Reed. Reed. You got that? Reed. All right, one last question.
What was the name of the king that went crazy for seven years? I saw a hand up there. That was you.
I can't hear him, but I don't think he got it. All right, your hand was first? Nebuchadnezzar. What's your name?
Parker. All right. Good job, Parker. You guys did a good job paying attention. God bless you.
I'm going to put some oil in my lamp. Like I had before, I'm going to have the kiddos stand up, all right, so we can get some blood pumping in our legs again.
All right. Give me oil in my lamp.
All right.
Give me open my heart, keep me yearning, yearning, yearning, keep me yearning till the break of day.
Sing, Ozena, sing, Ozena, sing, Ozena to the king of kings. Sing, Ozena, sing, Ozena, sing, Ozena to the king.
Good job. All right. One more. We're going to do. I've got the joy, joy, joy. All right.
Now, this one, we're going to clap. OK, so when we do, I've got the joy, joy, it's going to be the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
All right. And we'll do it on every single one of the verses. OK, so we're going to sing.
I've got the joy, joy, joy. I've got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.
Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Where? Down in my heart to say. And I'm so happy. So very happy.
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
And I'm so happy, so very happy
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus
Down in my heart, where? Down in my heart, where?
Down in my heart, I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus
Down in my heart, where? Down in my heart
Down in my heart, I've got the love of Jesus
Down in my heart
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
And I'm so happy, so very happy
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
I've got the peace, the passeth understanding
Down in my heart, where? Down in my heart
it understanding down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart to stay and I'm so happy, so very happy,
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart and I'm so happy, so very happy, I've got the love of Jesus
in my heart. All right, good job, kiddos. Thank y'all so much for coming and you can go ahead
and get some ice cream.